Rowland Institute Library Blog

seems to put libraries in a negative light, if you only read the first
paragraph or so.  But read on and see what kinds of work libraries
are doing in collaboration with Google and others to make their
research materials visible to online researchers. 

a number of companies have joined NetNewsWire (Source: Library Stuff)

a BioMed Central paper compared

A rollicking article from Time Out New York quivers at the irony of
increased convenience and access afforded by internet leading to an
overwhelming morass of information.  Hard to stay astraddle of the
metaphors, never mind having time to read the thing.  Blogs are a
big part of the problem, they say.  That’s right, shoot the
(instant) messenger.  (Source: the (sci-tech) Library Question ; actually read Randy’s thoughtful post)

I enjoy Rory Litwin’s Library Juice, a one-of-a-kind, bi-weekly
newsletter that focuses on progressive issues in librarianship,
especially intellectual freedom.  It’s wonderful reading and Rory
is much to be praised for his time and ingenuity.  The following
paragraph  made me pause, however:

“… so many people, librarians included, have started
their own blogs for no discernible reason and through blogs have
renewed their irrational excitement about the Web in general.  It
appears to me that in most cases where someone has started a blog that
is useful, it would be more useful if it were not a blog but a website
with a different structure.  I say this because if there is one
thing that is essential about blogs, that they all have in common, it
is not the ease of updating them, not RSS feeds, not the ability to
post comments, and not the capability of having a community of users
add content. It is the chronological structure.  Many people are
now using the blog format where a chronological organization is not
appropriate to the content they are putting up, for no other reason
than that blogs are hot and there are services supporting them.
 This is irrational.  I feel that librarians should be a
little more mature and less inclined to fall for Internet crazes like
this.  That is not to say that a blog is never a useful thing,
only that blogs – as everything on the web – should be seen for what
they are and not in terms of a pre-existing
enthusiasm.”

Some of what Rory says is well taken, particularly that we should not
be quick “to fall for Internet crazes.”  However, all the elements
he names (RSS feeds, community, content) work in concert with
chronology; none necessarily trumps the other. And blogs are certainly
easier to maintain than websites.  A lot of librarians don’t have
access to
their own servers or may have to fight battles with IT departments to
put up content, not that my own situation reflects that. And a blog,
not just being something “hot,” is
dynamic and can promote the library’s services.  Most of
the blogs that I read either promote a special topic (e.g. Library
Stuff, the (sci-tech) Library Question, Kept-up Academic Librarian,
Library Stuff, Open Access News, Research Buzz) or a personal viewpoint
on selective topics
(Confessions of a Science Librarian, Christina’s Library Rant, j’s
scratchpad, to name only a few.)  (And what’s the matter with RSS
feeds, anyway?)  Besides, is the chronological
format ideal for Library Juice?  It has been operating in
blog-like fashion, albeit edited and consolidated with considerable
care.  Finally I would take from Rory’s comments that the
chronology and the content must work together.  Whatever we put in
our blogs shouldn’t be left to rot and should be reasonably, easily
accessible (I have a lot of work to do on the latter,
admittedly.)  Librarians should blog, but also keep in mind
potential audience, and Walt Crawford’s dictum “First have something to
say.” 

Another NYT article examines widespread scouring of personal data by
government agencies, practices that would be restricted with private
companies. 

A New York Times article explores the disturbing e-mail practice of
“phishing,”  whereby folks receive e-mails purporting to be from
organizations such as eBay or financial firms such as Citibank with
bogus content and links to bogus web sites.  The real risk is
giving away sensitive information in the process. 

George Porter of Caltech writes an extensive commentary on the fleating
nature of online journals, citing several horrific examples of when a
journal ceases publication and the publisher does not deign to maintain
the electronic archive (he also mentions a few instances of publishers
following good practice and maintaining backfiles if a journal has
ceased or changed publishers, etc.)  He also highlights the LOCKSS
(Lots of Copies Keeps Stuff Safe) project, praises the publishers who
are participating, and chides the holdouts for their
fecklessness. 

An article in Free Pint discusses the promise of the “semantic web,”

The latest issue of LLRX (Law Libraries Resource Exchange) has plenty of interesting reading, including an article on spyware, musings on the future of search engines, and a reprint of Christina Pikas’s solid overview of blog searching.  (source: beSpacific)