Andrea’s at CiL and has some tips for presenters that are right on the money. I went to show off one of our library databases at an elementary school yesterday. Everything was fine until we got to the database login page. For some reason IE wouldn’t let us in, the tech guy had gone home, and no one else knew if there was a firewall or virus software on the machine. Fortunately, I had brought all the screenshots of the database that I had used when I was demonstrating it on public access TV. Oddly, the demonstration search I had used for the TV show just happened to be the same as the name of the town I was in. I walked away from that talk looking well-prepared and smart instead of tech-clueless and frustrated. And that IE problem we were having? We switched to Safari as an afterthought when I was on my way out, and we logged in to the database no problem, vexing!
Category: ‘puters
wifi in the library questions
The fiddling librarian is looking for some advice for publicizing the WiFi node he’s setting up at his library. Anyone been there, done that?
google print + harvard library
Interesting wrinkle in the Google Print Library project as it’s being worked out at Harvard Library. Publishers think Google needs to ask their permission before it copies their works, even if they’re in the public domain.
“The law does not permit wholesale copying (which is what digitisation is) by a commercial organisation of works that are still in copyright,†she wrote. “It is also illegal to make those works available digitally once they have been copied.â€
Morris wrote that Google needs to obtain permission from publishers before using their work. While she wrote that it may be impractical to ask every publisher, Google should ask permission through collective licensing organizations.
Also interesting, seems that while Google Print actually destroys the books it scans, Google Print Library does not.
classes I wish I could teach at my library
Aaron outlines a few classes he wishes he could teach at his library. I have always maintained a similar list in my head, here are some titles.
“Where is all the porn that people are talking about?” Even in an unfiltered environment, good free porn can be hard to find. We’ll discuss how to locate what you’re really looking for and learn all new meanings for the words virus and trojan.
“P2P, it’s not just for music and porn anymore!” With more people joining peer-to-peer networks lately, there’s more to download than ever before. You can get software, television shows and even games. Learn how to effectively search and download whole new media types.
“How to really cover your tracks” While it’s pretty difficult to be truly anonymous on the ‘net, there are a handful of techniques that can boost your anonymity above the threshhold of most average citizens ability to figure out who you are.
other information poor pitfalls
Sethf explains one of the pecadillos that I have a hard time putting in to words. His example concerns filtering and just who is responsible for overfiltering. These problems magnify when people believe what they are told by vendors [and other advocates with an agenda] about hardware and software “solutions” to their problems. It’s important to maintain a critical perspective to provide the best service to our patrons. Remember, to them we’re the experts and we shouldn’t outsource that responsibility just because we’re outside of our comfort range with new technologies.
It’s a tale of a typical “censorware shuffle”. The administrators have no idea what blacklists are in place and what’s blacklisted (they probably think censorware “filters pornography”). The service reseller (SonicWall), as a hardware manufacturer, just repackages the censorware blacklists (here, “Cerberian”). The censorware company will say the site fits their category, so it’s the school policy maker’s fault. Everyone’s fingers point to someone else. And the eventual effect of it all is that the government has a free hand to propagandize. While critics – who remember, are sometimes told by net-bubble-blowers that The Uncensorable Internet gives them an equal opportunity to be heard, because you can put up a website – are marginalized from important audiences.