Theory

Avoiding The future of libraries and research being decided by Google

Great Post from Karen Coyle:
"It's not enough for libraries to gather, store and preserve huge masses of information resources. We have to be actively engaged with users and potential users, and that engagement includes providing ways for them to find and to use the resources libraries have. We must provide the entry point that brings users to information materials without that access being mediated through a commercial revenue model."

Why Don't More Authors and Publishers 'Get' Libraries?

If you're on twitter and you're a book person, you probably follow @glecharles, aka Guy LeCharles Gonzalez, the LoudPoet. If not, you should.

Here's a bit from a recent post from his blog:

Beyond all of the philosophical reasons to support libraries, there are three very concrete reasons I can think of: -- Read More

  • Discoverability: With the volume of books being published each year growing exponentially, it’s increasingly difficult for any book to rise above the noise and connect with its audience. While “curation” is the buzzword du jour, librarians have been curating books forever, and there are far more libraries than bookstores in this country. Most library websites are better than your average independent booksellers’, too, and as ebooks become increasingly popular, being visible on more than Amazon, B&N and Goodreads will be a critical advantage. As ebook business models evolve, direct partnerships with libraries become an option, too, like the recent innovative deal between the Colorado Independent Publishers Association and Douglas County Libraries.
  • When old cliches were new

    When old cliches were new
    " For Barlow, we can be natives of the future through desire and understanding. Being a native is an act of will, not an accident of birth. Likewise, being born after a certain date doesn’t make one a native of the future. It requires opportunity and imagination. Information wants to be free only because it also wants to be expensive. Digital natives are born, but natives of the future need to recreate ourselves again and again."

    The Economics of Digitization: An Agenda for NSF

    A Very Defiant Duckling Named Ender sent over The Economics of Digitization: An Agenda for NSF [PDF] by By Shane Greenstein, Josh Lerner, and Scott Stern. He added " Which might be a key place for librarians to fit into."

    Our starting point is the gap between research and recent changes brought about by
    digitization. The increasing creation, support, use, and consumption of digital representation of
    information touched a wide breadth of economic activities. In less than a generation digitization
    has transformed social interactions, facilitated entirely new industries and undermined others,
    and reshaped the ability of people –consumers, job seekers, managers, government officials, and
    citizens – to access and leverage information.

    Commensurable Nonsense (Transliteracy)

    Commensurable Nonsense (Transliteracy)

    Rothman, what’s your problem? Why are you picking on those nice transliteracy people?
    I’m not. I’m picking on their ideas and their writing. Their writing because it is awful and their ideas because…well…I think they have no new ideas.

    The world changes as technology changes. Education and libraries adapt (well or poorly, but they adapt). There’s nothing new here. There’s no need for a new movement, a new term, or so much discussion about nothing.

    Library Christmas Carol

    From The Wikiman Blog, a "Library Christmas Carol", a seasonal look at changes in libraryland. The story has the classic characters of Scrooge and Marley, but is updated to include online subscriptions, social media, the Ghosts of Libraries Past and other Library 2.0 stuff.

    The Book Lust Author Speaks

    How we dote on Nancy Pearl...she's got two action figures and she's way lusty (now the author of five Book Lust Books and a Book Lust Journal)...no one quite like her in the library world.

    From Americana Exchange: This is the Nancy Pearl who started the city-wide book discussions - the format where everyone in town reads the same book at the same time and talks about it. It was an idea that was widely adopted, expanded and has now spread to practically everywhere.

    This is the Nancy Pearl who teaches, blogs, speaks, broadcasts and can easily be found at her own site, not to mention on facebook and on twitter. She is also a participant in the facebook group, "Oprah, Libraries Need You!", found here: http://is.gd/fuL2q

    And talk about iconic high visibility librarian, this is the Nancy Pearl who has her own action figure (both Regular and Deluxe).
    More from Nancy Pearl here. -- Read More

    Ten Things You Won’t Find On Your LIS Class Syllabus

    I generally try to avoid posts comprised of a list but every now and again I get inspiration to put one together. I give credit to Jill Hurst-Wahl for providing a catalyst with her blog post “What I want LIS students to know”. In doing my own reflection of the last couple of years, I’d like to offer my own advice on this avenue. -- Read More

    Introducing transgibberish: What does it mean to academic libraries?

    Transgibberish is recent terminology gaining currency in the library world. It is a broad term encompassing and transcending many existing concepts. Because transgibberish is not a library-centric concept, many in the profession are unsure what the term means and how it relates to libraries’ instructional mission and to other existing ideas about various literacies. Transgibberish is such a new concept that its working definition is still evolving and many of its tenets can easily be misinterpreted. Although this term is in flux, academic librarians should watch developments in this new field to continually assess and understand what impact it may have on the ways they assist and interact with their patrons and each other.

    Article on transgibberish here.

    A few heretical thoughts about library tech trends

    A few heretical thoughts about library tech trends
    "This is a blog devoted to covering new tech that might be used for libraries to benefit users. That said, there are times when I wonder whether some of the current tech trends that are hot now will end up being duds or dead ends (in fact some definitely will, the million dollar question is which ones!). It's very easy to get into a condition that some have dubbed as "techno-lust", so let me play devil's advocate this once and share with you some heretical thoughts I have had about library tech."

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