 |
Jenkins Internet Librarian Quoted |
|
“Five years ago, I wouldn’t have known about Randy Pausch, let alone seen his last lecture. I’ve watched the complete 76-minute lecture three times now. YouTube has made it is so easy for me to do this. . . . But for every Randy Pausch, there’s a hundred Tricia Walsh-Smiths,” said Jenkins Law Internet Librarian Dan Giancaterino. |
|
|
Submitted by: Ida Weingram, Head of Outreach Services
|
Dan Giancaterino’s Internet expertise has once again been called upon by Michael Smerconish. Usually Dan is a call-in guest to his talk show, but this time Michael wanted a response to the Inquirer Currents column he was writing comparing two very different (and popular) YouTube videos: the farewell lecture by a college professor who’s dying of cancer, and an online rant by a woman about her ex. The article appeared in this past Sunday’s Inquirer, 
Comments (0)February 12, 2008
|
|
Hi. My name is ______ and I’m addicted to Facebook. |
|
But not all is well in fb-land. A recent article from the NYT mentioned that Facebook users should be wary of the fact that their deactivated account is actually still somewhere in the system and you can bring it back from the dead rather easily:
Basically, Facebook is so confident in their stickiness that they almost expect you to come back to reactivate your account, if you ever delete it. I admit I’ve done this a couple times before, and I felt more thankful than violated that they kept my info instead of completely removing it. What’s the big deal if they keep your wall posts and favorite quotes? It’s not like they’re keeping your home address and cell phone number. And if they are, then it’s the user’s fault for putting up that stuff on their profile page in the first place. |
|
|
Submitted by: RayAna Park, Former Web Developer
|
Web sites that want their site to be sticky can learn a thing or two from January 15, 2008
|
|
Won’t Somebody Think of Steve Jobs’ Children?!?! |
|
According to the New York Times, MySpace has teamed up with 49 states (the rogue 50th state is not mentioned in the article) to announce a new safety initiative to protect minors from the potential dangers of using their social network.
Too bad this new measure won’t actually help the issue. Any net-savvy teen/tween/toddler will take all of 5 minutes to set up another email account on one of the many, many free services out there. Attempts at stopping them is futile, parents should instead supervise their children or make sure they’re aware of the (overly-publicized) dangers of the internet and how to avoid them. I think my feelings on the whole matter are best summed up by this Slashdot member’s comment:
On a completely unrelated note, the Macworld keynote speech by Steve Jobs is now over. It was a live blogger’s dream. Here’s the quick and dirty: 4 million iPhones sold since launch, iPhone & iPod Touch will be getting software upgrades, iTunes movie rentals, upgraded Apple TV, and last but not least the new MacBook Air. |
|
|
Submitted by: Anne Baynes, Assistant Network Administrator
|
November 30, 2007
|
|
Dan Bought a Cordless Drill at Target Last Friday |
|
Black and Decker, 24v. With 115 bits. At 7:45 am. Boy, was the store crowded. Whaddaya mean you don’t care? Obviously you’re not a Facebook user. Last week they launched Beacon, an advertising program that sends your Facebook friends news about what you’ve purchased from online partners such as Overstock.com, Travelocity, and Fandango. Beacon has ticked a lot of Facebookers off. News stories tell about holiday and birthday purchases that have been inadvertantly revealed to their recipients. To date more than 50,000 people have signed a petition requesting that Facebook modify Beacon. The crux of the issue is that they want to be able to click one box in their profile to opt-out of Beacon for good. Facebook won’t let them. They’ve modified Beacon so that you have to explicitly OK a news alert about your purchase. (Give them credit for that.) But this points out the problem with being a social networking site valued at $15 billion. You have to turn the eyeballs into revenue, or you won’t be valued at $15 billion much longer. |
|
|
Submitted by: Dan Giancaterino, Internet Librarian
|
October 25, 2007
|
|
Call Me Old and Busted … |
|
… But I just don’t get the Facebook hysteria. Yesterday Microsoft threw a quarter of a billion dollars at them in order to acquire 1.6 percent of the company. That makes Facebook worth about $15 billion. And that’s also insane. Now I know that the NY Times talks about how there’s “a belief that [Facebook] is creating an important new operating system that, unlike Microsoft’s Windows, exists on the Web instead of on personal computers.” But does it seem right to you that a social networking site is valued about the same as Weyerhaeuser? Or three times more than Delta Airlines? Or seven times more than Del Monte Foods? Because, for better or worse, these companies actually *do* stuff that matters — they make the things that we build our houses with, they produce the food we eat, and they take us places where we want to go. |
|
|
Submitted by: Dan Giancaterino, Internet Librarian
|
April 19, 2007
|
|
Social Software: Building Collaboration, Communication & Community Online |
|
Meredith Farkas presented on “Social Software: Building Collaboration, Communication & Community Online” - yep that’s the title of her book (which I’m ready to get signed!). So what are the characteristics of Social Software according to Meredith?
What can Social Software do for libraries? Number one - it will help us disseminate information. We can use blogs for library news, research tips, new books, new librarian articles, things in the area news - so many options! Wikis can be used as subject guides. Dowling College Library is doing amazing things with podcasts. Next, we can get feedback from our patrons - like I wrote earlier, no one wants to bother with the comment box at your circ desk - but they’ll comment online. It also makes the patrons feel like a part of the library - like they’re making a difference. It allows us to capitalize on the collective intelligence of colleagues and patrons! There is so much we can learn from the people who come into our libraries - why not give them a chance to contribute? Also, why not use a reference wiki and share with those around you - what are you afraid of?? What strategies can we use to implement these changes? First - avoid technolust! Don’t make changes just cause they’re cool - do your homework - very similar to what David was saying. Think about whether patrons will use it - and I’d like to add that even if you think they won’t and it’s free and easy to set up - DO IT!! Why not give it a whirl, maybe you don’t know everything about your users. Next, involve staff at all levels of planning - they also want to be involved. Help them play with the technologies and see what they’re about. A great presentation overall - you can see the entire thing online - I love it when speakers get their info up nice and early! |
|
|
Submitted by: Nicole Engard, Former Web Manager
|
October 20, 2006
|
|
If I Lived in a Virtual World, I’d Never Have to Unclog the Toilet |
|
There’s a virtual world called Second Life. You create an avatar that lets you be whatever you want to be, look however you want to look, go wherever, do whatever. Second Life allows you to buy property, clothes, sex, etc. with real dollars converted into SL’s currency, the Linden. As of this morning, there are around 275 Lindens to the dollar. (The NY Times also has some background on this.) I’m not a SL resident, so I’m not passing judgement here. But a million people are already part of SL. Here’s the ticker from the SL Web site as of around 10:00 this morning:
I’ll interpret: SL has more than 1 million residents, about half of whom are active participants, and they’ve spent more than $485,000 in the last 24 hours. All I can say is, “Go figure.” Anyway, the Inquirer has an article this morning about a local guy (an attorney, imagine that!) who found a way to game SL to buy land below the going rate. In response, SL froze his account with $2,000 in it, seized his virtual property, and resold it. He’s filed suit in Chester County Court for damages from a breach of contract and a violation of the Pennsylvania Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law. Only in America. [update] On a side (related) note - there is also a very successful library in full swing within Second Life. The Second Life Library 2.0 project is providing training, presentations and library services in-game all of the time. You can learn more at InfoIsland.org. [/update] |
|
|
Submitted by: Dan Giancaterino, Internet Librarian
|
RSS