Library Stuff

Boston Globe – “They posted quotes around campus from Henry David Thoreau. Meditation groups discussed Buddhist techniques of emptying the mind and overcoming attachment. Some sipped organic tea or took knitting and crocheting classes. The dean took off his shoes and socks and led students in qigong, a traditional Chinese breathing exercise to promote awareness of body and mind Still, no matter how much administrators at Clark University sought to promote their Day of Slowing — 24 hours without texting or checking Facebook or listening to an iPod — nearly every student in the academic commons of the main library yesterday was either talking on a cellphone, checking e-mail on a laptop, or otherwise connected to a digital device.”

CNN – “As technology evolves at breakneck speed, thorny legal issues are emerging, experts say”

CJOnline – “Boomers are also connecting to old favorite places through social media. David Lee King is the Digital Branch and Services manager at the Topeka Shawnee County Public Library. The library has 20 to 30 blogs that customers can comment on. It has a Facebook page and Twitter, YouTube and Flickr accounts. King said the biggest challenge he sees for boomers trying to adopt social media is understanding that it’s about connections with people. “The goal isn’t to interact with your computer. It’s to meet somebody,” King said. “That’s a hard jump for some people who aren’t used to these kinds of tools, but if you immerse yourself in it for a month or so, I think you’d probably understand.”

Great quotes DLK!

Louis Gray reviews the “relaunch”.

He also mentions that Eric Berlin, an old high school chum (and librarian) is now working for Technorati. Congrats Eric!

NYT – ” It is a rare criticism of elite American university students that they do not think big enough. But that is exactly the complaint from some of the largest technology companies and the federal government.”

Slate Magazine – “How the brain hard-wires us to love Google, Twitter, and texting. And why that’s dangerous.”

BBC – “A study of new slang terms entering English finds that technology is driving and perpetuating them.”

Mitch Joel – “Is your company blocking access to YouTube? Can no one get on Facebook or check out MySpace? Is your IT department still trying to sell your senior management on the absurd notion that allowing people to access websites that have Flash animation on them could cause some kind of security breach, or worse, cripple your entire technological infrastructure with a deadly computer virus?”

Los Angeles Times – “A national study released today by the Pew Internet & American Life Project said that the ubiquity of cellphones and computers among kids may actually be a good thing for families.”

NYT – "To save you some time, I was going to give you a 100-word abridged version. But there are just too many distractions to read that much. So here is the 140-character Twitter version"