Everyone's Blog Posts - Library 2.0

NFAIS Forum on Usage Statistics: Registration Discount Ends October 3

2008-09-24T19:52:57.237Z

Early Bird registration for the NFAIS one-day meeting, Usage Statistics: New Developments and Practical Applications, ends next week on Fri day, October 3rd. This meeting, scheduled for October 21, 2008 at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, 365 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY from 9:00am to 4:30pm, will take look at some of the new developments in usage statistics that have recently emerged, as well as the current practical applications of usage statistics. It will open with an update on the progress made by the two key standards for the creation and harvesting of usage statistics �?? Project COUNTER and SUSHI. Release 3 of Project COUNTER, just issued in August 2008, will have practical implications for both publishers and librarians, and SUSHI has developed considerably since its initial launch in 2006. This meeting will look at the current relationship between COUNTER and SUSHI and how these standards will move together in the future. Publishers and librarians will present case studies on how they currently gather, analyze and make informed decisions based upon the data that usage statistics provide. Of equal importance, they will highlight the pitfalls that must be avoided throughout the process so that the statistics are not unintentionally misused. The implications of three new related projects will also be discussed: NISO�??s development of identifiers that will allow for the precise recognition of an institution and its relationships with its various libraries, departments, offices, etc., and two initiatives that are attempting to provide usage-based metrics for the scholarly evaluation of articles and journals (Project MESUR and Usage Factor). The meeting will close with a visionary discussion on how usage statistics can be improved and used in the future to help institutions make informed decisions. Whether you are new to this field and want to quickly come up-to-speed or an experienced information professional who wants to remain up-to-date on the rapidly evolving field of usage statistics, this meeting is for you. Come and join your peers for an enjoyable and fact-filled day that will provide information essential to your organization, and provide you with an opportunity for networking within the Information Community. The preliminary program, registration form, directions to the meeting location, and list of nearby hotels is available at: http://www.nfais.org/events/event_details.cfm?id=53. Register now as seating is limited. On or before October 3, 2008, NFAIS members pay $295 and non-members pay $345 (registration fee includes continental breakfast, lunch and an afternoon refreshment break). After October 3, 2008 NFAIS members pay $345 and non-members pay $395. If you are registering for the NFAIS Humanities Round Table that will be held on October 20th at the same location (see http://www.nfais.org/events/event_details.cfm?id=52), you will automatically be given a 10% discount on your registration for the Usage Statistics meeting For more information contact: Jill O�??Neill, NFAIS Director, Communication and Planning, 215-893-1561 (phone); 215-893-1564 (fax); mail to: mailto:jilloneill@nfais.org. Founded in 1958, the National Federation of Advanced Information Services (NFAIS) is a premier membership organization of more than 60 of the world�??s leading providers of databases, information services, and information technology in the sciences, engineering, social sciences, business, and the arts and humanities. Jill O'Neill Director, Planning & Communication NFAIS (v) 215-893-1561 (email) jilloneill@nfais.org

job open in Geneva CH

2008-09-22T08:58:00.422Z

International School of Geneva Geneva, Switzerland Seeks for beginning January 2009 HEAD LIBRARIAN/LIBRARY MEDIA SPECIALIST The library media specialist has a working knowledge of child development, teaching strategies and learning styles and is responsible for helping students develop the knowledge, skills, and attitude to become effective, self-directed, life-long learners. The successful candidate will model the IB learner profile, possess exceptional communication and interpersonal competencies, and demonstrate technological and problem solving abilities. We are looking for a bilingual English/French librarian who is able to collaboratively plan, implement and evaluate research and information literacy within the curriculum with teachers. Training or experience working in an IB Primary Years Programme (PYP) school would be an advantage. This post carries a Level 1 responsibility allowance. Qualified applicants who are available to start January 2009 will be given priority; however, we will also receive applications for availability starting September 2009. Please address your applications to the Primary School Principal, Mrs. Maggie Lopez and email your letter of application to ines.wingate@ecolint.ch before 3rd October 2008. www.ecolint.ch

New Blog at Central TAFE Library

2008-09-16T02:07:58.175Z

At last I have been successful in getting agreement to set up a blog on our new Library website. I held a competition amongst my colleagues for a blog title and came up with The Fridge. It can be viewed at http://librarycentraltafe.wordpress.com

1000 times processing power in 10 years

2008-09-13T06:03:32.431Z

I finally listened to this podcast, Will We Recognize the Future featuring Ray Kurzweil on Talk of the Nation's Science Friday. Kurzweil talks about how processor speeds doubling each year, which means that processors would be 1000 times as fast in a decade. His larger point was that speeds will increase at such a rate that it will be difficult to predict how things will change. We will exponential growth and that he is predicting that the integration of humans and computers will slowly come to pass. He has some good predictions that are worth listening to.

Blonde Barrow Bookworms

2008-09-10T14:45:25.840Z

Hi - Welcome to our first attempt at blogging! I work in Barrow-in-Furness Library, and the other blonde (Hilzee) works in Carlisle Castle Library HQ. We don't know what to say, but we are happy to talk about anything (and usually do) even quite complicated non-blonde subjects. We just had lunch at a little cafe called Review. Food was gorgus gourgueo gor loverly and struggled to walk back to work after the amount of cake we had to eat. Almond toffee shortbread, chocolate peanut slab and lemon and lime polenta - heavenly. (and that was just Ruth's portion - Hilzee). Check out the pictures on Flickr - we've just refurbished the children's library, and a fan of ours has posted some pics of the front door! (Must point out that we are the Real Barrow, not the Alaskan one, who gets their name from one of our local naval heroes). Read some books if you are bored: Your Inner Fish by Neil Shubin - great chapter on why you fall over when you have a few too many 'sherbets' 100 shades of white by Preethi Nair - looking at culture through the eyes of a child

Back to School Deal

2008-08-30T00:27:18.927Z

ClassOf1 is currently offering a special pricing for unlimited Year-Long and Monthly online tutoring with its Back-to-School Deals. Purchase a Year-long unlimited tutoring subscription and get help any time for an affordable price of $499 - 50% off on our regular price! Additionally, you can enter the ClassOf1 Back-to-School Sweepstakes and get a chance to win one of our four cool prizes. Ensure you have the right help to succeed in your new school year. Start learning with us! Get tutoring help for the new school year Prepare for exams and quizzes Learn how to solve difficult homework assignments Click >>> more details

Blyberg @ Bibcamp 2008

2008-08-26T08:11:44.848Z

Earlier this spring John Blyberg visited the Swedish unconference BibCamp. John Blybergs talks where filmed by Daniel Forsman. You could check out the result here: A space for everyone - The New Darien Library Twopointopian

Job Posting, Alaska State Library - Outreach Librarian

2008-08-22T18:36:30.483Z

Application and full listing available at http://notes4.state.ak.us/wa/PostApps.nsf/0/3148EC2E16FE3E51892574AD006107DE?OpenDocument. - Are you PASSIONATE about libraries? - Have you ever told someone you barely know that they ought to use a proprietary database or other library resource? - Would you like to design and implement a distance education program? - Are you a self-starter who thrives in a collegial atmosphere? - If you answered "yes" to more than one question, then apply to be the Alaska State Library's newly designated Outreach Librarian! Help raise awareness of core library services to state employees. Help us get our program of distance instruction and web tutorials from dreams to reality. Meet people from around the state and from every region of planet Earth. What does an Outreach Librarian do? Generally speaking: - Promotes awareness of State Library services to state agency employees through direct contacts by mail, phone and physical visits, - Coordinates and supports library educational and other outreach activities for State employees and others, and - Provides reference and bibliographic services to selected state agencies and to the public. As part of reference, the successful candidate will spend between 8-10 hours a week on our public reference desk. - Keeps up to date on the latest marketing and promotion literature and passes on best practices to staff of the division of Libraries, Archives and Museums. - If these types of duties appeal to you, apply today! If you have questions about this position or Juneau, Alaska, where it is based, please ask by sending me an e-mail at dan DOT cornwall AT alaska DOT gov or by leaving a comment here. The State of Alaska complies with Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Individuals with disabilities who require special accommodation, auxiliary aides or services, or alternative communication formats call 1-800-587-0430 or 465-4095 in Juneau or (907) 465-3412 (TTY) or correspond with the Division of Personnel at the address above. We are an equal opportunity employer and support workplace diversity.

Wikis and Tiddlers and Libraries, Oh My!

2008-08-18T20:56:38.330Z

How many of you out there are using TiddlyWiki (or other wiki platform) willing to share what you've created? Our library is currently using TiddlyWiki to create dynamic pathfinders that link off to subject searches within our subscription databases, link to Worldcat searches, etc. We're also using it as a way to organize/display theses and dissertations (with abstracts) by author, title, subject, advisor, program, etc. We've been relying primarily on available plugins like those found at Tiddlytools. I'd be very interested in how other libraries are using this type of technology to deliver dynamic services...let me know! Our examples (big hat-tip to Mark, our Reference Librarian and TiddlyWiki guru) Psyche and Nature Links (created as a companion for our Psyche and Nature Conference) Depth Psychology Dissertations (some of our holdings in this category) Motif and Tale Types (created as a course companion, not intended as a stand-alone, but a good example, in my opinion!)

Twitter as RSS and News(ish) stuff

2008-08-03T23:11:46.047Z

I have some folks I follow on Twitter, not for the conversation, but as a feed of what they post elsewhere on the web and the like. It takes the place of RSS for me, just another presentation of what I might see in a more screen-hogging fashion on my RSS reader. Here's my list. bbctech BarackObama CNETNews cnnbrk cnn engadget MarsPhoenix NASA hpnews NewYorkerDotCom nprpolitics Techmeme nytimes TheOnion woot Do you have some that you would recommend I add to those I follow? What is cool is which ones you wind up actually being able to engage in the conversation some times as well! It's all so 'vogue and rogue' to be out there for some, to be able to tell these folks what you think in a way that you know might actually get notice in an instant. I'll follow up with a list of Social Media folks I follow soon. (cross-posted from Smaller Indiana)

Bill to ban kids from Facebook, MySpace in libraries

2008-07-29T15:04:04.770Z

According to USA Today the US congress is considering a bill that would bar children who use computers in public libraries from accessing Facebook and other social networking websites without parental permission. ALA says this bill is another attempt by the federal government to interfere with library users' privacy and free speech,

New WorldCat Facebook Application

2008-07-28T16:03:36.404Z

A new WorldCat application called CiteMe is available on Facebook. Type in an author, title, subject or ISBN and a formatted citation comes up in the Facebook environment. You can get formatted citations in APA, Chicago, Harvard, MLA or Turabian style. If your library has a Facebook page, this might be a useful application to include on your page. To see more about this application, use the link below: http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=23927330784

Aquabrowser

2008-07-25T00:57:56.787Z

Anyone out there using this product? The Vendors came to the library today to demonstrate. I like it? I am interested in both good and not so good about this product. Thanks.

My Favorite Social Networking Tools and Services - FriendFeed

2008-07-24T14:08:58.874Z

I poated this on my BabyBoomer Librarian Blog this morning

While not one of my favorite tools, FriendFeed is a necessary tool for letting others see what I am doing all over the web. It brings together most of my social networking into one feed. My major problem with it is the fact that it also is another place for people to hold conversations. There are getting to be too many of them. I think it tries to do too much. Others may not find it that way. My FriendFeed is http://friendfeed.com/billdrew . I organize the feeds I want to read in Google Reader so I do not usually read or follow any in FriendFeed. If I am going to comment on a post, I prefer to do that in the original location of that post where everyone can see it, not in FriendFeed where only those following that feed can see it. FriendFeed goes too far in one way and yet not far enough. It is hard to put my finger on it. It just feels broken and uncomfortable to use to me.

I have received the Fulbright grant and the next academic year I'll study in UCLA (CA).

2008-07-24T04:57:51.844Z

I have received the Fulbright grant and the next academic year I'll study in UCLA (CA).

Self Check out for books

2008-07-21T00:36:10.825Z

Anyone using this system? Our library is thinking of using this system? How well does it work?

Where Have I been?

2008-07-21T00:27:39.506Z

Not log in to Ning that's for sure. It's all changed.

My favorite social networking tools and services: ScribeFire

2008-07-18T14:11:13.047Z

While not strictly a social networking tool, a big part of my social networking is blogging. I have used many different editors to create posts on my Blogger blogs. ScribeFire is the best editor I have found outside of the one built into Blogger. I use it constantly. I have it installed as an add on on my portable hard drive with FireFox Portable. ScribeFire is compatible with Blogger, WordPress, Drupal, and most of the other major blogging platforms. The ScribeFire website describes it best:

ScribeFire is an extension for the Mozilla Firefox Web Browser that integrates with your browser to let you easily post to your blog: you can drag and drop formatted text from pages you are browsing, take notes, and post to your blog.

Click on the ScribeFire logo above to get ScribeFire. I wrote this post with ScribeFire.

My favorite social networking tools and services: Ning

2008-07-18T13:10:01.951Z

Without a platform to create social networks, social networking would be limited to IM and e-mail. My favorite site for creating social network website is Ning. Ning was started by internet pioneer Marc Andressen and Gina Bianchini . I do not work for Ning nor do I receive any compensation from them. I have created a very active network there called Library 2.0 and a private network that was used to organize an event for my daughter's graduating high school class. Technical support at Ning is excellent and is free. There is Network Creators where ideas and suggestions are shared. It is a great place for newbies as well. You can use Ning in hundreds of ways to develop your social network. The Ning platform is also under constant development with new features coming available for free on a monthly basis. Features for the free version of Ning include:

Use your logo �?? or any other image �?? at the top of your network. Fully customize the look of your network by choosing a theme or creating your own design with CSS.
Add Text & Widgets - Insert widgets from other websites or create an area for your weekly column, special promotions or community announcements.
Member Profiles - Each member of your network has a fully customizable profile with their photo, basic information and everything they�??ve contributed to the network. Each member also has their own blog.
Event Listings - Schedule events, invite network members, and keep track of who�??s attending.
Interest Groups - Create groups inside your social network around hobbies, interests, affinities, geographical locations and more.
Real-time Activity Stream - Keep up with the members of your social network. Find out what your members are saying, how they�??re interacting and what they�??re sharing.
Discussion Forum - Get people talking. Start a discussion on any topic and watch your members respond with posts, photos and attachments.
Custom Video Players - Upload original footage or share videos from popular video services like YouTube, Google Video and Vimeo.
Photos & Slideshows - Post photos and organize them into albums. You and your members can show off your photos in galleries or slideshows.
Viral Widgets - Create a network badge that your members can display with pride on their MySpace profile, blog or website.
Facebook Integration - Members can share photos, videos and music from your social network on their Facebook profiles.

Give it a try. It is free and easy to use. It is also fun!

My favorite social networking tools and services

2008-07-17T20:46:17.680Z

I posted this on BabyBoomerLibrarian:My favorite social networking tools and services this afternoon.

I have been thinking about posting more about my favorite social networking tools and services. What I have decided to do is to write a series of posts about them. The posts will probably be short essays of no more than a few hundred words at the most. I will start here with a list of them. I consider tools to be computer programs, clients, or widgets that assist or enhance the social networking experience. Services I consider to be web based or internet based in some way. Some things I use may be both. I have written about some of them before and may recycle and update some of those posts. My Favorite Services This list is not in any particular order. It is more of a stream of consciousness thing. Some are more web based applications than a web site. Some may not be strictly social networking services. Some are about who I am online. This

Ning
FriendFeed
Twitter
reTaggr
claimID
LinkedIn
FaceBook
LibraryThing
StumbleUpon
Del.icio.us
Technorati
Flickr
Blogger
Second Life
Google Reader
BrightKite

My Favorite Tools This list is not in any particular order. It is also a stream of consciousness thing. Some may not be strictly social networking tools. They enhance the experience for me. All are are on my laptop furnished by TC3. Some are on my portable external hard drive in Portable Apps format.

Twhirl
FireFox and Add Ons
- StumbleUpon Toolbar
- ScribeFire
- TinyURL Creator
Pidgin
Lok8

My social networking experience is mostly via laptop with some via my cell phone using SMS. I will write about both where appropriate. I use SMS quite a bit with my daughter and my son. We have unlimited texting. I do not use web browsing on my cell phone because of the data charges. I have a Motorola Razr on AT & T. My laptop is an HP Compaq with lots of memory and disk space. As I write the posts, I will link to them from this post via the lists above. Thats it for now.

Over 3000 members

2008-07-03T13:36:00.791Z

Sometime in the past two weeks, Library 2.0 went over 3000 members. While I am well aware of the fact that many people just join and never return, that number is amazing to me. The community is also truly international in scope and membership. Here are the countries that have at least visited the network along with the number of visits (Google Analytics) since August 15, 2007: Country/Territory Visits United States 43798 United Kingdom 2818 Canada 2758 Australia 1897 India 1199 Netherlands 709 Germany 672 Sweden 633 New Zealand 574 Turkey 552 China 517 Spain 448 Greece 447 France 440 Italy 417 Slovakia 411 Denmark 363 Poland 285 Philippines 278 Indonesia 275 Ireland 264 Finland 260 South Korea 248 Norway 239 Portugal 230 Czech Republic 228 Taiwan 185 Israel 183 Singapore 182 Malaysia 181 Hong Kong 177 Switzerland 174 Brazil 171 Belgium 166 Thailand 159 Egypt 153 South Africa 149 Japan 146 Russia 144 Slovenia 138 Puerto Rico 133 Hungary 127 Argentina 114 Mexico 104 Austria 91 Lithuania 82 Fiji 82 Romania 74 Palestinian Territory 74 Iran 71 Saudi Arabia 67 Croatia 63 Pakistan 56 (not set) 54 United Arab Emirates 53 Nigeria 51 Colombia 46 Latvia 45 Ukraine 40 Uruguay 38 Estonia 38 Chile 36 Trinidad and Tobago 32 Vietnam 30 Jamaica 29 Kenya 29 Peru 29 Bulgaria 28 Morocco 25 Venezuela 23 Serbia and Montenegro 23 Luxembourg 22 Kuwait 22 Qatar 21 Sri Lanka 18 Ghana 17 Belarus 16 Cyprus 15 Bosnia and Herzegovina 14 Paraguay 14 Lebanon 14 Armenia 13 Costa Rica 11 Myanmar 10 Jordan 10 Albania 9 Iceland 9 Algeria 8 Nepal 8 Bahrain 8 Brunei 7 Oman 7 Guam 7 Ivory Coast 6 Ethiopia 6 Macedonia 5 Dominican Republic 5 Mauritius 5 Sudan 5 Serbia 5 Bangladesh 5 Guatemala 4 Barbados 4 Panama 4 Tunisia 3 Bolivia 3 Honduras 3 Zimbabwe 3 El Salvador 3 Netherlands Antilles 3 Ecuador 3 Somalia 3 Tanzania 3 Namibia 3 Maldives 3 U.S. Virgin Islands 3 Senegal 2 Seychelles 2 Mongolia 2 Saint Kitts and Nevis 2 Syria 2 Belize 2 Cayman Islands 2 Libya 2 Uganda 2 Macao 2 Uzbekistan 2 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 2 Georgia 2 Togo 2 Haiti 2 Azerbaijan 2 Malta 2 Botswana 2 Moldova 2 Grenada 2 Saint Lucia 1 Benin 1 Cambodia 1 Guyana 1 Bermuda 1 Djibouti 1 Yemen 1 Cuba 1 British Virgin Islands 1 Bhutan 1 Aruba 1 Madagascar 1 Equatorial Guinea 1 Tajikistan 1 Zambia 1 Bahamas 1 Malawi 1 Martinique 1 Vanuatu 1 Mauritania 1 Turks and Caicos Islands 1 Reunion 1 Antigua and Barbuda 1 Dominica 1 American Samoa 1

Blog

2008-06-30T17:43:05.798Z

http://babyboomervegan.blogspot.com/

Contest: Create a book cover for the LibWorld book!

2008-06-25T10:11:20.339Z

LibWorld is an international project with the aim of connecting global librarianship. After publishing dozens of excellent blog postings about national biblioblogospheres all around the world we are going to make a book about global library related blogging. And of course we are as 2.0 as 2.0 can be! So our book cover will be user generated content. So take part in The LibWorld Cover Contest and spread the word!

Help Build a Library Q&A Custom Search

2008-06-20T00:57:43.794Z

Does your library blog answers to reference questions? Help me and James Jacobs of Stanford University build a Google Custom Search Engine of library Q&A sites. Help show off the combined expertise of librarians everywhere! For more details, please see http://freegovinfo.info/node/1888 or just add a Library Q&A blog in comments.

Scandinavian Public Library Quarterly with a 2.0-theme

2008-06-18T10:32:31.368Z

The latest edition of Scandinavian Public Library Quarterly has articles of different kinds connected to social technologies and Library 2.0 issuses. You are all welcome to download the magazine here (pdf. 600kB) I, myself, wrote an article on interaction in libraries as part of the 2.0-movement.

Let's build a better online world for our kids

2008-06-13T18:49:58.819Z

We are a group of educators who for the past 7 months did an extensive research about on-line research and the education world. According to studies most students (and teachers) have difficulty conducting an efficient on-line research and most do not understand how Google or other search engines work. Students, well versed in IM and SN (Social Networking) stumble when they conduct on-line research. Even with technology many Librarians and Educators still use the web in isolation. Many find great links that... stay on their computer, on their own website or their own blog. So a group of us, educators, would like things to change. We dream of a search engine that is unique to the education community with searches that produce text, video, audio results at the same time, where both commercial and school created material is accessible and monitored (we have a whole plan), where the resources will be identified, contributed and monitored by librarians and educators in phase one and Middle School / High School students in phase two. A search engine that it's content will grow by the education community. and we want Google to be a part of it, to work with us to develop it and provide the technology. But, we need librarians, teachers and students to talk about the day-to-day difficulties of navigating the web. We need educators to speak up so we can show that there is a real need not just plain statistics. If you feel the same way please take a vote and please leave a comment to have your voice and opinion heard. Please comment on our growing blog that is dedicated for this endeavor only. http://www.cangooglehearus.blogspot.com/ Together we can make a difference

How Mobile Devices are Changing the way we Live.

2008-06-08T19:50:41.954Z

Have you used Google Mobile yet? I have just sent the link to my Blackberry and maybe I'll have some time to test it out this week. If it make my life easier as it is touted... i will be bragging about it to library staff. The Apple iPhone still catches my eye as a really fun phone that "does it all".... just heard the new Apple iPhone will be out this week? Rumors? I still might wait for the touch screen BlackBerry to be release in the fall. Decisions, decisions........ i have the family share plan on Verizon and the data does not eat my phone minutes....like the Apple plan would... at least the minimal one I looked at did... It is an exciting time to live if you can afford these fun tech toys.... Maybe it will help with environmental issues if I don't get lost going to a new restaurant... i won't use extra gas. Let me say that getting LOST isn't all that bad.... i usually discover new things! Roxy Tech

OpenBook -- Book Covers and Data for your WordPress Blog or Website

2008-06-08T15:20:42.051Z

The OpenBook plugin for WordPress is now available, version 1.0 beta. OpenBook is for book reviewers, book bloggers, library webmasters, anyone who wants to put book covers and data on their WordPress blog or website. The data comes from Open Library, a neutral source of book data. I built OpenBook for my own interest, but thought others might benefit from it too. OpenBook is an open source product. You can download it, view/modify the code as you like. It is just in beta phase, but it seems to be working quite well. Download it here: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/openbook-book-data/ More information: http://johnmiedema.ca/openbook-wordpress-plugin/ Contact: openbook@johnmiedema.ca

an oldie but goodie, hello Central Library

2008-06-03T06:10:29.904Z

The Houston Public Library just reopened the Central Library after a two-year, $17 million renovation. Amidst the hoopla that involved, a few things were rolled out quietly: a new Web site, a new brand, the Summer Reading Program, the HPL Mobile Express (a computer lab on wheels), and HPL Express Discovery Green (a reading room in the new downtown Houston park, where the library is providing free wifi to the entire 12 acres of the park). I'm breathing a sigh of relief that the Central Library is opened, and that the reopening went very well. Now I'm working on getting the word out about the rest. Just a moment of shameless self-promotion from the person whose job it is to make sure that the word gets out.

The Future and Past of Information...and Libraries...and Google Books

2008-06-02T03:39:39.025Z

For over my entire career in libraries, I've been reading about the doom and gloom, end of the world-type stories about libraries, but I wanted to post about this particle, The Library in the New Age in the New York Review of Books. I enjoyed, and there are a number of reasons that it is very relevant to libraries and Web 2.0. First, it takes a historical perspective in understanding the question, "What is information?" here's a quote: Information has never been stable. That may be a truism, but it bears pondering. It could serve as a corrective to the belief that the speedup in technological change has catapulted us into a new age, in which information has spun completely out of control. I would argue that the new information technology should force us to rethink the notion of information itself. It should not be understood as if it took the form of hard facts or nuggets of reality ready to be quarried out of newspapers, archives, and libraries, but rather as messages that are constantly being reshaped in the process of transmission. Instead of firmly fixed documents, we must deal with multiple, mutable texts. By studying them skeptically on our computer screens, we can learn how to read our daily newspaper more effectively�??and even how to appreciate old books. from The New York Reivew of Books, Volume 55, Number 10 · June 12, 2008 The Library in the New Age By Robert Darnton Second, it helps us tone down the hype surrounding blogs (in this case, but I think technological change in general) and take a broader view. Yes, things are changing, but the degree of change and the impact of that change may or may not be as significant as we think. (It might be, but we need to keep the wide perspective.) Third, the perspective on the Google Book project (and Google in general) in relation to libraries is great. Let us not forget that each has its own role to play.