Archives for posts with tag: Technology
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Licence Culture Wars – Librarians Set to Battle HarperCollins

February 28, 2011 //

From LISNews: Librarian News:

Library users, librarians, and libraries have begun to boycott publisher HarperCollins over changes to the terms of service that would limit the ability of library users to borrow ebooks from libraries. A new website, BoycottHarperCollins.com, is helping to organize their efforts to get HarperCollins to return to the previous terms of service.

On February 24, Steve Potash, the Chief Executive Officer of OverDrive, sent an email to the company’s customers — primarily US libraries — announcing that some of the ebooks they get from OverDrive would be disabled after they had circulated 26 times. Soon after, librarians learned that it was HarperCollins, a subsidiary of News Corporation (NWSA), that intended to impose these limits.
Immediately, library users, librarians, and libraries began voicing their opposition to the plan by HarperCollins, with several library users and librarians urging a boycott.[full article]

26 times? I think the days of touting the freedom and ease of access of eBooks via libraries are coming to a middle. The recent excitement over rising eBook usage glosses over the implications of events like Kindle’s Orwellian muck-up a year or so ago.

A face-off with a vendor has been brewing for a while, and more are sure to follow.

EBook providers are going to switch to increasingly intransigent and limiting terms because they sense threats to their profits from other directions, such as piracy. Frustratingly, HarperCollins’ policy and others like it will slowly throttle a library’s ability to supply eBooks conveniently (for the user and the library) and affordably (for the library).

If eReaders continue to boom, and they likely will, people could choose to absorb the cost of eBooks themselves for the sake of quick access. This is unfortunately probable, since people who can afford an eReader of any sort can likely afford the cost of compatible books (related demographic info).

The outcome could be rough. Libraries will eventually loose any iniative  they’ve gained on this front and could be pushed out as an eBook access point. And, as new technology eventually surpasses print, public libraries could end up standing on a fairly bleak precipice.

Enough, doom saying. The collective weight of librarians, library users, and other supporters could roll this trend back. Visit www.boycottharpercollins.com and get involved.

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Categories Book News, Library News, Public Libraries, Technology, User experience

Trying to be a Social Media Moderate? I Propose a Rule of Three

February 23, 2011 //

Rule of Thirds

My weekly update came from LinkedIn today. Nowhere on the internet is a profile I more readily let languish. I’m not the only one.

Most of us are begrudgingly committed to LinkedIn because of the ongoing buzz as a job seach tool. Following the advice of the Internet, I need to spend that 45 minutes and update my LinkedIn profile. Afterall, not much looks worse these days than an out of date profile.

And, then what?

I find it hard to invest time in a social media tool that makes me feel like I need a tie and my interview face to use it. Not to mention, where do I find the time for it amongst my professional and personal responsibilities.

I’m not a full-time social media guru, after all. Like a lot of information professional, social media is important, but only one part of my professional reality. So, I’ve been thinking about a social media strategy that could work for me (and maybe you, too). Read the rest of this entry »

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Categories Employment, Technology, User experience, web tools

If the Trains Ran on Time…

February 22, 2011 //

Via @NYPLMaps (New York Public Library’s Map Division).

Conductor: www.mta.me from Alexander Chen on Vimeo.

From Chen’s site:

Conductor turns the New York subway system into an interactive string instrument. Using the MTA’s actual subway schedule, the piece begins in realtime by spawning trains which departed in the last minute, then continues accelerating through a 24 hour loop. The visuals are based on Massimo Vignelli’s 1972 diagram.

A  mesmerizing way to re-present geographic information. It also reminds me of video games (gotta love SNAFU) I played back in the Eighties.

For anyone not hip to it, the NYPL’s Map Division has been tweeting an online map of the day. Cartographophiles (a word?)  like me can dig it. But, if one new map a day isn’t enough, why not look at their digital collection and drool.

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Categories Library Bric-a-brac, Public Libraries, User experience, web tools

Watsonmania: Semantic Web is Still a Little Elementary (ZING!)

February 18, 2011 //

Shelock and Watson

I’ve been busy lately, combined with a long commute and it means I’m not really watching Jeopardy! these days. So, I missed seeing this whole Watson hoopla.

But, I did catch this op-ed from CNN:

There is no doubt the IBM supercomputer Watson gave an impressive performance on “Jeopardy!” this week. But I was worried by the computer’s biggest fluff Tuesday night. In answer to the question about naming a U.S. city whose first airport is named after a World War II hero and its second after a World War II battle, it gave Toronto, Ontario…

Both the humans on the program knew the correct answer: Chicago. Even a famously geographically challenged person like me (I come from the UK and know there is something called the Midwest beyond Chicago) knew the answer.

Why did I know it? Because I have spent enough time stranded at O’Hare to have visited the monument to Butch O’Hare in the terminal. Watson, who has not, came up with the wrong answer. This reveals precisely what Watson lacks — embodiment.[full article]

I’d change “embodiment” to “context” and we’d be at the problem faced by the semantic web (the sort of AI searching magics touted by Watson’s masters at IBM). All merit due to the Watson-box for it’s win, but it’s still essentially a search engine.

The ability to retrieve and process static information, then buzz in at beyond human speeds is novel. Still, if you put Watson on a line between Google and the average human, it’s not far beyond Google.

People do love these John Henry type battles. Man vs. progress. It’s easy to see it as a clear win for Watson, given the strict rule structure of Jeopardy. Back in the day, Deep Blue did well at chess, but that’s an even more strict rule based environment.

Computers will always do well where the playing field is resonably and consistently structured.

And, Watson’s shown that he’s not good at guessing below a certain confidence threhold, and I guantantee that confidence goes down the less rules there are. Intuition is a hard thing to fake and this is what drives a lot of people’s information seeking behaviour.

Anyways, I think the greater challenge will be to see a computer win at Family Feud.

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Categories Technology

Social Media Clutter? Must We Add Four Square?

February 11, 2011 //
A lonely man on the four square field.

A random lonely man on the four square field.

The below infographic has been bumping around (It came to me via Stephen’s Lighthouse, who got it here.).

four square growing

It’s good news for Four Square. Is it good news for us? Is it yet another social media time drain we have to adopt to survive online?

At the moment, I personally don’t really get Four Square. Why would someone want to be mayor of a retail outlet, like Starbucks or wherever?

In that light, Four Square looks like a thin game layer draped over an overt marketing carrot-and-stick. Looking at the top check-ins that the infographic lists, it’s clear that Four Square wants to make sure businesses see the value.

Four Square could be a new outlet for vacuos, vain consumer culture. But, that’s what people we were saying about Twitter a couple short years ago.

As one friend noted, Egyptians are using the Internet to free their country and we’re using it to show we went to Wendy’s. That’s the point. It took a few years for people to find ways to do such impressive things with  Twitter and Facebook.

I may not start my Four Square account this weekend. I’m still not completely sold on Twitter (but it’s growing on me). There is a part of me that will try anything (at least for a while) once I have the time.

Should libraries get in on Four Square?

There are so many competing social media demands, that taking on a new platform can drain other efforts. It’s important to weigh the cost/benefits of getting involved and to develop a manageable, adaptable, and achievable strategy.

Librarians are already hatching ideas and talking about it.

 

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Categories Public Libraries, Technology, User experience, web tools

Crowd Sourcing Maps and Volunteer Geo-Information

February 8, 2011 //

Map of London

Hand-drawn map of London by Stephen Welter

The New York Public Library hosted a neat looking panel today.

Future Library: Socializing History with Maps, Hosted by The New York Public Library

Event Description:

Speakers:

  • Matt Knutzen, Geospatial Librarian at the New York Public Library
  • Alex Rainert, Head of Product at Foursquare
  • Jesse Friedman, Product Marketing Manager at Google Maps and Earth
  • Jack Eichenbaum, Queens Borough Historian[NYPL’s event listing]

It’s a shame when you hear about something interesting, and it’s too late, and it’s in another country. Where are the teleporters, already? Science, I’m looking at you

Moving on, it’s exciting to imagine maps being used like wikis.  It’s a field that has largely been dominated by businesses and advertising, but there is a lot of potential here for less commercial uses. OpenStreetMap is an open source project already doing this.

Other popular free(but not commercial free) resources, like Google Maps or Bing’s equivalent, can be an underused tools for pushing community information out to library users and visitors.

Imagine walkable or bikeable tours you could follow via smart phone, with info links, archival photos galleries, recorded personal testimonials, and other information. Online maps can be turned passing on community knowledge that is often lost or fragmented by .

Or arts walks. Or even digitally augmented literary scavenger hunts combining geo-caching and book releases.

Like most web-based tools, I’m pretty sure the most en-genius ideas haven’t been thought of yet. The opportunity is there for any locally minded persons who want to plant a few flags in the digital world.

Also, how cool would it be to be a Geospatial Librarian. I want one of those business cards!

***Addendum***

Stephen Welter’s portfolio site. Why not promote the analog approach?

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Categories Library Bric-a-brac, Public Libraries, Services, Technology, User experience, web tools

Do You See What You Need?

February 4, 2011 //

A great little info-graphic from Information is Beautiful (my favourite info-design site):

But, this is not necessarily a new concept (from the I.is B. post).

This structure has been around for a while. (In fact does anyone knows who first came up with it?). The only new thing is relating it to visuals. And giving it a nice font.

One interesting thing. If you visualise information without designing it, you often end up with a mush or a meaningless thicket.

A lot of times, as part of the reference process, “information” and “data” are considered enough to meet user needs, leaving the higher levels of the triangle to the user’s discretion.

As librarians increasingly become moderators or brokers of information, staking a claim on those higher tiers may be worthwhile. Information design can do a lot to achieve this.

Libraries are in the information sharing business, so considering how we present information visually is pretty important. I’m a big fan on the role design can play in representing complex ideas. The ability to take raw information and make it informative is something that makes good information design invaluable.

It may seem like a superficial concern, but information design is going to be more and more relevant.

The list is the simplest and most ubiquitous tool for returning information to users (be it via search engine, OPAC, or written lists of suggested titles).  Even tag clouds are essential elaborate lists, but they are moves in the right direction.

The drive towards the semantic web (one day, maybe?) will lead to increased  expectations from users.  Search tools and providers will  have to consider more complex and subtle contextual inputs. Because the results themselves will be increasingly nuanced, the dynamics of how this information is presented will be crucial.

I’ve really no idea about how this will turn out. But, since search engine results are essentially laid out the same now as in the 90s, I’d be open to any sort of evolution.

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Categories Library Bric-a-brac, Services, Technology, User experience, web tools

Boston PL’s Flickr Stream

February 3, 2011 //

Palestine Line

The Boston Public Library has been developing a pretty amazing and eclectic photo gallery up on flickr, all stuff scanned from their archives and special collections.

I’m partial to the Travel Poster collection. There’s also impressive Match Cover and Stereograph sets.

SterographIt’s a pretty extensive (almost 17 000 items)  example of a library using popular social media software to push out parts of collections normally inaccessible to the average library visitor.

Also, it’s just plain neat.

Houdini scrapbook

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Categories Library Bric-a-brac, Public Libraries, Technology, web tools

Are Libraries Faced with a Tyranny of Customization?

January 14, 2011 //

latte everywhere

Next week, I start a new job in a government library. As I bid farewell to the multi-national mega-chain retail cafe, I want to write a few posts about customer service and library user experience.

There was a recent Globe and Mail article about choice and customer experience. It boiled down to this:

A myth I often deal with is: “Our customers want lots of choices, and the ability to customize.”…

Big consumer myth No. 2 relates to customization, specifically to companies believing that customers want to customize products. This myth is tied directly back to the logic around consumer choice limitation as a good thing…

Offering your customers more choices, whether in products or features, and the ability to customize will likely not do them, or you, any favours. Having the courage to limit choice, and taking the time to create a personalization path, can create a more favourable customer experience, and may just increase your sales.[full article here]

Are libraries embracing too much customisation? Is this interfering with user experience?

Read the rest of this entry »

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Categories Public Libraries, Services, Technology, User experience

Future of the Book

January 12, 2011 //

legos gutenburg

One of my favourite CBC Radio shows, Ideas, has posted a podcast on the future of the book. It’s a round table discussion with perspectives from publishers, editors, and writers with, of course, a decidedly Canadian outlook.

Ideas host Paul Kennedy moderates a panel from the 2010Blue Metropolis International Literary Festival in Montreal.  Two publishers (Yvonne Hunter from Penguin Canada and Kim McArthur from McArthur Books) and an academic/author/blogger (Andrew Piper from McGill) discuss the uncertain future of an endangered species. [Listen here.]

This episode is a really good cross-section of the issues around the evolving world of eBooks, print books, and the push and pull between them.

A few things have got me to thinking.

Read the rest of this entry »

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Categories Book News, Technology, Uncategorized
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