http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/20/technology/personaltech/20basics.html?em&ex=1206676800&en=9d3733b8625e0d92&ei=5087%0A
Here is something of a primer for the bloggers among us.
Some of the paragraph headings:
Don’t expect to get rich.
Write about what you want to write about, in your own voice.
Fit blogging into the holes in your schedule.
Just post it already!
Keep a regular rhythm.
Join the community, such as it is.
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There are some good links to famous and successful (?) bloggers: http://www.blogmaverick.com/http://www.blogmaverick.com/
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Why Old Technologies Are Still Kicking
Why Old Technologies Are Still Kicking: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/23/technology/23digi.html?ex=1221883200&en=6282d3c9731ebd9c&ei=5087&WT.mc_id=TE-D-I-NYT-MOD-MOD-M038-OP-0308-L1&WT.mc_ev=click&mkt=TE-D-I-NYT-MOD-MOD-M038-OP-0308-L1
I came across this item in the New York Times. The fact that it speaks of the premise that I espouse incessantly, of course made it alluring for me. I itch to pass it on to all those out there who are doomsayers or want to reinvent (and you spend), reinvent (you spend) like a snake oil merchant.
Here are snippets:
"The weight of legacy is underestimated, according to John Staudenmaier, editor of the journal Technology and Culture, because innovation is so often portrayed as a bold break with the past. A few stories of technological achievement fit that mold, like the Manhattan Project, but they are rare indeed."
"…But the old technology or business often finds a sustainable, profitable life. Television, for example, was supposed to kill radio, and movies, for that matter. Cars, trucks and planes spelled the death of railways. A current death-knell forecast is that the Web will kill print media."
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I think the points made are worth bearing in mind as we consider our strategies for our library future. It is the business of conducting our library operations that is paramount, not the latest technology and who is using or not using what.
I came across this item in the New York Times. The fact that it speaks of the premise that I espouse incessantly, of course made it alluring for me. I itch to pass it on to all those out there who are doomsayers or want to reinvent (and you spend), reinvent (you spend) like a snake oil merchant.
Here are snippets:
"The weight of legacy is underestimated, according to John Staudenmaier, editor of the journal Technology and Culture, because innovation is so often portrayed as a bold break with the past. A few stories of technological achievement fit that mold, like the Manhattan Project, but they are rare indeed."
"…But the old technology or business often finds a sustainable, profitable life. Television, for example, was supposed to kill radio, and movies, for that matter. Cars, trucks and planes spelled the death of railways. A current death-knell forecast is that the Web will kill print media."
***********************************
I think the points made are worth bearing in mind as we consider our strategies for our library future. It is the business of conducting our library operations that is paramount, not the latest technology and who is using or not using what.
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Youth have too much time on their hands and too much money
“…there is one fault in the present system of bringing up [children] ..is the fact that there is too much ease, pleasure and sport and youth has too much money…and too many opportunities to gratify their desire for pleasure….they would be more skilled …and succeed in business, if life was not so easy for them and they did not have so many opportunities for wasting time in material pleasures.
To those who want to get on in life and want to be successful, concentrate your ambitions and ability on the better things in life, which are infinitely more important than the frivolous things that appeal so readily to youth in this country.”*
* Sydney Myer
Governing Director of the Myer Emporium
Extract from an address to Swinburne students in the 1931 June edition of Open Door, the College Magazine
To those who want to get on in life and want to be successful, concentrate your ambitions and ability on the better things in life, which are infinitely more important than the frivolous things that appeal so readily to youth in this country.”*
* Sydney Myer
Governing Director of the Myer Emporium
Extract from an address to Swinburne students in the 1931 June edition of Open Door, the College Magazine
Who would have thought to call the anthropologist in to find out what students in libraries (really) want?
I came across this survey through a Google alert. I glanced at it to see if my colleagues who are deeply into this kind of information may be interested.
After a quick look, even I was interested in some of the points made about students, especially about those millennial ones, who are supposed to be a cohort, as opposed to being individuals.
The premise of the (yet another) survey of library users is that an anthropologist was called in to undertake some of the research. The chapter headings include: “Library design and ethnography”, “Then and now: how today’s students differ”, “The Mommy model of service”.
A particularly interesting chapter focuses on “student-centred “ – Google lists 13,000 results for Student- Centred- Universities. "…consequently to be truly student-centred, we must be cognizant of the high-level student trends, BUT truly fluent in the local campus situation." ( P83)
Here is a link to the survey document: http://www.alastore.ala.org/SiteSolution.taf?_sn=catalog2&_pn=product_detail&_op=2434
I have an electronic copy of the paper on file.
After a quick look, even I was interested in some of the points made about students, especially about those millennial ones, who are supposed to be a cohort, as opposed to being individuals.
The premise of the (yet another) survey of library users is that an anthropologist was called in to undertake some of the research. The chapter headings include: “Library design and ethnography”, “Then and now: how today’s students differ”, “The Mommy model of service”.
A particularly interesting chapter focuses on “student-centred “ – Google lists 13,000 results for Student- Centred- Universities. "…consequently to be truly student-centred, we must be cognizant of the high-level student trends, BUT truly fluent in the local campus situation." ( P83)
Here is a link to the survey document: http://www.alastore.ala.org/SiteSolution.taf?_sn=catalog2&_pn=product_detail&_op=2434
I have an electronic copy of the paper on file.
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