Web 3.0? March 31, 2008
Posted by Will in technology.Tags: monetization, Web3.0
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So now we have someone telling us about Web 3.0. I truly hope this isn’t how Web 3.0 turns out, because it’s the “monetization” of Web 2.0. Here’s the ABC News article: http://abcnews.go.com/Business/Story?id=4538886&page=1
Overdrive breaks the iPod barrier March 26, 2008
Posted by Will in libraries, technology.Tags: Apple, audiobooks, DRM, iPOD, MP3, WMA
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Overdrive has just announced that they will be releasing 3000 or so titles in MP3 format, minus DRM, thus compatible with the Apple iPOD. Library Journal has the details:
http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6542329.html?rssid=191
This is a BIG, can I say HUGE change for libraries, since up until now, downloadable audiobooks from library vendors have all been in WMA (Windows Media Audio) format, which is NOT compatible with iPODs, much to the chagrin of libraries and their patrons everywhere.
Netflix unwittingly expands library lending March 10, 2008
Posted by Will in libraries, technology.Tags: DVD, lending, libraries, movies, Netflix
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Some libraries apparently have been using Netflix to supplement their own movie holdings, letting patrons use a library Netflix account to borrow items the library doesn’t have. Someone asked about this on Publib, but didn’t get any responses. This issue also came up for discussion at the CLAMS conference I attended this week, but the consensus was that the practice violates the Netflix terms of use, as is also pointed out in this brief Newsweek article (which was cited on Publib).
Google pilots patient medical records project March 4, 2008
Posted by Will in online tools, technology.Tags: Google, hospitals, medical records, privacy
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Guess what Google’s up to now! They’re setting up a pilot project with the Cleveland Clinic to house patient medical records in a secure site on Google. Patients will be in charge of their own records, and can electronically transfer their own records if they change doctors or hospitals, etc. From the announcements I’ve read, it’s not clear to me if patients can use the Google search interface to search and interact with their own records.
Here’s a Seattle Times article on it, which addresses privacy concerns
Here’s a Wireless Healthcare article
Here’s the Cleveland Clinic’s own announcement
I couldn’t find a Google announcement.
Library-a-Go-Go February 14, 2008
Posted by Will in libraries, technology.Tags: ATM, automation, books, libraries, vending
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The Contra Costa County Library is the first in the country to roll out library book vending machines: stick in your library card, choose a book from one of the 400 or so popular titles in the machine, and out comes the book. They are putting the machines (4 to start) in BART stations and shopping centers. Here’s a link to the complete story replete with pictures of the machine and how it works: http://www.nbc11.com/news/15293003/detail.html?treets=bay&taf=bay
Technology Predictions for 2008 February 14, 2008
Posted by susanbarrett in libraries, technology.add a comment
TECHNOLOGY PREDICTIONS FOR 2008
[SOURCE: Pew Internet & American Life Project, AUTHOR: Jessica Vitak]
After a year filled with change for the industry, many experts have offered their predictions for what consumers, corporations and the government can expect in 2008. After sifting through dozens of news articles and blog posts, five key trends stood out: 1) technology goes green, 2) the evolution of the PC, 3) the cell phone industry expands, 4) the web slows down, and 5) social networks adapt, moving more firmly into the corporate world as a form of collaboration.
http://www.pewinternet.org/pipcomments.asp?r=1451(From Benton’s Communication-Related Headlines, 2-24-08)
Microsoft tries to buy Yahoo (again) February 1, 2008
Posted by Will in online tools, technology.Tags: acquisition, buyout, Microsoft, monopoly, Yahoo!
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By now, most of you have probably heard the other big acquisition news story of the day. Microsoft has just announced another bid to buy Yahoo. And this time, they are hinting (if not threatening) to go directly to the stockholders, and simply buy the stock, if Yahoo management seems disinclined to accede to the buyout. The New York Times has an interesting analysis piece, and I’m sure it’s already all over the web and the blogosphere.
Amazon Buys Audible: big ideas for Kindle? February 1, 2008
Posted by lrobinson in online tools, technology.Tags: amazon, Apple, e books, Internet, kindle
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Interesting New York Times blog “Could Amazon and Audible Rewrite the Rules of Publishing?” Amazon is acquiring Audible.com and there is lots of speculation the next generation of Kindle readers may get an “upgrade” to allow audio books too.
Steve Jobs of Apple predicted DOA for Kindle when it came out since, in his words, “people don’t read anymore.” Sort of sounds like a spoiled sport. Though, there seems to be evidence that supports that theory.
Wowsa, this could mean big things for the Kindle and for reading. NYT blogger Brad Stone wonders “How about a service that allows you to seamlessly switch from reading a book on your digital device to listening to the same book read aloud as you get in the car, or if your eyes are tired, or if you simply want to hear a crucial scene acted out? And then to switch back to the printed page?”
Be sure to read the NYT blog comments. I hope that with Amazon’s seeming ambitions to get people to read again includes the perspective (and perhaps help) of the library community.
Design Thinking and Innovation January 23, 2008
Posted by Will in libraries, technology.Tags: design, development, innovation, services
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Everyone should read the article titled “Design Thinking” by Steven J. Bell in this month’s American Libraries (January/February, 2008, pp. 44-49). You can find the article online in ProQuest: here’s a direct link, but you have to authenticate.
The article focuses on applying the design process (understand, observe, visualize, evaluate, refine, implement) in libraries, and in developing new library services. The article is based at least partly on a book, The Art of Innovation, by Tom Kelley and Jonathan Littman, who write about the experience at IDEO, one of the leading design firms in the country.
Why is this a trend for libraries to watch? On the first page of the book, the authors write that “The biggest single trend we’ve observed [in the past decade or so] is the growing acknowledgment of innovation as a centerpiece of corporate strategies and initiatives. What’s more, we’ve noticed that the more senior the executives, the more likely they are to frame their companies’ needs in the context of innovation.”
On pages 6 and 7, they outline the process that Bell lists in his article, the “method to their madness,” which is the “understand, observe, visualize, evaluate, refine, implement” process I listed earlier.
I’ll be reading this book to see what ideas I can adapt as I work on the brand new statewide downloadable audiobooks project, and I’ll post any especially significant insights here on the Trendspotting Blog.
Wikipedia Usage January 3, 2008
Posted by jeff in online tools, technology.1 comment so far
Wikipedia users
4/24/2007 | 
Report | Lee Rainie Bill Tancer
More than a third of American adult internet users (36%) consult the citizen-generated online encyclopedia Wikipedia, according to a new nationwide survey by the Pew Internet & American Life Project. And on a typical day in the winter of 2007, 8% of online Americans consulted Wikipedia.
