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Monday, October 29, 2007

John’s Eight Laws of Library Technology

Greetings. I have worked in the information technology industry for over a decade, mostly as a web developer for IBM. One day I was in my local library, looking at the library OPAC, thinking, ‘Why isn’t this more like Amazon?’ That thought took me to library school. It turns out librarians were thinking the same thing, and they are busy reinventing the OPAC. To my surprise, what I learned at library school was that I was less interested in library technology than librarianship. I have recently launched a new blog, slowreading.net, where I intend to focus more on reading research and practices in libraries and in culture. But I have a number of thoughts on information technology that I have not unpacked. I wanted to do small justice to them by summing them up in a single post. I hope they are useful to somebody in the library field. [The 8 Laws of Library Technology are]:

1. It all comes down to data and rules... 2. Organized information is handier than disorganized information... 3. The rate at which data is being recorded is accelerating faster than our ability to manage it... 4. Librarians should not build their own software systems... 5. These days there is only one way to acquire a system: buy a package, and two, custom build it... 6. RSS and XML are cooler than you think... 7. Print is the next evolution in information technology... 8. Library technology is less interesting than librarianship... Continue reading

Filed under: librarianship, libraries, library2.0, print, software, technology

[NB. info courtesy: Sukhdev's World: Library Technology ]

See also:
  • Librarians and Techies – A NEXUS
  • Mining The Library Catalog: Emerging Trends, A Literature Survey
  • Alternative Cataloging / Information Visualization
  • Saturday, October 20, 2007

    How can i practice gratitude

    [PDF] The Saint, the Surfer and the CEO



    See also videos:

    Nuggets of wisdom, inspiration, and advice
    Search by topic By faith By name

    and much more @ Inspiration -- Beliefnet.com


    Thursday, October 11, 2007

    Announcing Academic / Research Librarian of the Year DEADLINE

    Do you know the next
    ACADEMIC / RESEARCH LIBRARIAN OF THE YEAR?

    The deadline is quckly approaching. Please get your nominations in by December 7, 2007

    This award recognizes an outstanding member of the library profession who has made a significant national or international contribution to academic or research librarianship and library development. This award recognizes and honors achievement in such areas as:

    • Service to the organized profession through ACRL and related organizations
    • Significant and influential research on academic or research library service
    • Publication of a body of scholarly and/or theoretical writing contributing to academic or research library development
    • Planning and implementing a library program of such exemplary quality that it has served as a model for others

    Award: Plaque and cash award sponsored by YBP Library Services

    Send nominations to:
    Academic / Research Librarian of the Year Award
    ACRL, 50 E. Huron Street , Chicago , IL 60611

    See details in the Awards Section of the ACRL Web site: http://www.ala.org/acrl


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    ACRL News


    ACRL forms positioning libraries task force
    ACRL/LAMA Joint Spring Virtual Institute accepting proposals
    ACRL releases “Achieving Racial and Ethnic Diversity among Academic and Research Librarians”
    ACRL seeks nominations for 2008 awards recognizing outstanding achievements in academic librarianship
    ACRL announces forthcoming title: “Studying Students: The Undergraduate Research Project at the University of Rochester"
    More News

    Monday, October 08, 2007

    Audience participation ideas

    "Depending on the size of your group, and especially when you're conducting a workshop or longer training, you will want to encourage participation from your audience.

    There are always some participants who participate more and some who participate less. It's easy for people who are shy to sit back and wait for the more outgoing members to speak up. How do you keep some people from dominating and help others to break out of their shell?

    Here are some ideas that have worked for me:
    1. Toss a Koosh ball or beach ball into the group
    2. Hand out small cards or pieces of paper with words or phrases on them for participants to discuss.
    3. Use an anonymous question box. continue reading details at

    Speak Schmeak: things I'm thinking about speakers and speaking

    Saturday, October 06, 2007

    Indian Library Professional Earns International Award

    Mr. Debal C. Kar, Fellow, Library and Information Centre, The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), was awarded with the SLA Diversity Leadership Development Program (DLDP) award for 2007 for his commitment and dedication to the profession. The Special Libraries Association (SLA) based in Alexandria, USA, a nonprofit global organization for innovative information professionals sponsors the award. SLA serves more than 11,000 members in 75 countries in the information profession, including corporate, academic, and government information specialists.


    Mr. Kar besides being a technical expert on India’s library and information science, is also a sitting member on several government of India committees on library and information science and a board member of several of India’s leading library related associations. He has organized two International Conferences on Digital Libraries (ICDL) in 2004 and 2006 respectively. The first ICDL was the largest digital library conference in the world and its organization and conduct was widely appreciated. He has published 25 articles in refereed journals and presented papers in more than 20 conferences. Source: THE MADRAS LIBRARY ASSOCIATION [MALA]'s Infozine (www.sla.org).

    Monday, October 01, 2007

    A word about Taxonomy and standard platform @ Google


    Here is an interesting insight, trend and prospects by Special Libraries Association Asian Chapter outgoing president's Jane Macoustra.
    See the article 'Goolge Librarian: An Assessment' byJane Macoustra, SLA Asian Chapter NEWSLETTER 2006: Vol.3 Issue 3 & 4: 3-5

    See also in the same newsletter:
    Advancing your career: Mentoring, networking, grants and awards, p. 6 -7