Hi. I always lose that hour when I am sure that I need it the most. I have done some things on the site here: added the links page to the new format and linked it on the sidebar; same goes for the technically legal library signs; the 404 page is up and working and I’m still trying to get a contact form working in php instead of the outmoded one that I do have which I am aware can be flakey. At work I’m putting together a manual about how to update the web site which I hope will be clear and helpful. I’m damned proud of that site and I hope it continues to be a good and useful site even when I’m not there to mess with it.
Month: April 2005
how popular are podcasts really?
The Pew Internet survey says that 6 million people have downloaded podcasts. Here’s some discussion about why that number is probably somewhat, or even very, overstated. [rc3]
DRM – why do libraries care?
From the DRM Blog: Rent, Lease, or Buy – Which Model Is Right For You? No one is saying there’s something wrong with any case, but you don’t want to think your library is buying something when you’re really just renting the right to use it.
I have half a dozen songs from one service and three songs from another service and about 100 songs from a subscription service. I try the services because I cannot give my readers good advice if I do not try the various schemes for selling/renting digital content. But, because I am no longer paying the monthly subscription, I do not have access to those 100 songs I downloaded. The other songs have to be played through “authorized” players and so again I feel constrained. I have some open source software that I like for playing music but cannot use it with any of the content I downloaded.
ranganathan and digital libraries
You know how much I love Ranganathan. Please read the article in Library Journal by Michelle Cloonan and John Dove “Do digital libraries violate the Third Law?” and in-depth and thorough look at twhether moving our collections in to the digital realm is subtly or not so subtly reinventing the close-stack system of bygone days. At the same time, the article gives sensible suggestions for how to increase access to information in general by using technology sensibly. Of note: don’t assume “your entire patron base has access to your electronic resources because you have purchased and installed them.”
The third law is violated when valuable resources that would truly delight the reader are effectively hidden away or crowded out by the noise and onslaught of irrelevant data. With increasing access to more resources and more ways to search for them, every book or information source can make its way to its appropriate user.
As Ranganathan asserted, “It should be the business of…the librarian…to adopt all the recognized methods of attracting the public to the library, so that every potential reader may be converted into an actual one, thereby increasing the chances for the fulfillment of the Third Law.”
Ranganathan’s Third Law, inherently the most elusive of the five, is the most forceful. Getting authoritative information sources to potential users is the raison d’être of librarians and libraries
Walt Crawford blogs
Linked here anecdotally on the first, but mentioned in full today. Walt Crawford has a blog, Walt at Random. As someone who prints and reads every issue of Cites and Insights, I’m sure I’ll enjoy this as well.