Phil the Web Crawler

- Lego Man with Canadian flag to space and beyond!  Compliments of some bright Canadian teens!

- Fair-Use Guide Seeks to Solve Librarians’ VHS-Cassette Problem.

- Nancy Pearl, the librarian of ‘Book Lust,’ signs a deal with Amazon.  Some are calling her a traitor.

- Jon Stewart’s take on SOAP-AHHHHH!  Or how Congress has no idea how the internet works.

- Interesting thoughts regarding Digital Collections, the care and feeding of, at a recent ALA Breakout Session.

- THEY’RE BAAAAAACKKKKK!! Stange sounds reported across the globe.  What is that sound?

- There are already a slew of forces at work trying to reinvent the text book with technology. Will Apple be able to push them all aside? Or will its announcement just serve to further confuse educators?

- Everything you wanted to know about the big business of educational publishing in this report.

Conversation at the Cove with Guy Robertson

Guy at The Cove

If you are a LibTech alumnus from Langara College or a current student, then you know Guy Robertson — the instructor who could give a lecture describing building evacuation techniques without putting students to sleep. Since 1993, Guy has taught library history, bibliography, and records management at Langara. He is a published author and writes articles about various topics including emergency preparedness, fraud prevention, information security, and records managements for Feliciter.

His relaxed and conversational teaching gives students a welcome reprieve from Marc 21 and bibliographic searching. I found myself looking forward to his lectures (even the one that ended at 9:30 pm).

Recently at the Cove, a popular pub in Vancouver’s Kitsilano neighbourhood, I spent a couple of hours with Guy. We talked about his work, life and passions.  Incidentally, the Cove happens to be one of his favourite pubs. He has frequented it since it opened in the 1970s. Guy is candid and amusing; he shared with me his passion for reading and for travelling in Britain.

Phil the Web Crawler

• Information dieting and information bloating seem to be all the rage as we move into the new year post holiday feasting.  From Clay A. Johnson’s Information Diet to this latest thought piece on over indulgence of information Gluttony Goes Viral.
• JSTOR Tests Free, Read-Only Access to Some Articles.  ”It’s about to get a little easier—emphasis on “a little”—for users without subscriptions to tap JSTOR’s enormous digital archive of journal articles.”
• This just in! Opposites do not attract.  Although we love to repeat this optimistic cliche about human nature, decades of psychological research have demonstrated that the truism isn’t true.
• The Church of Kopimism - If information is knowledge and knowledge empowers then is the act of sharing that knowledge a spiritual imperative? The four-thousand members of the Church of Kopimism would tell you it is. Check out this segment of CBC’s The Current.
• Libraries continue to struggle south of the border.  Library Journal’s annual budget survey reveals that many public libraries are, at best, furiously treading water.
• SOPA in a nutshell by The Guardian.  Watch this great 2 minute video here.
• How to prevent tech related injuries.  Tips and tricks for prevention.
• Faculty member on the hunt for educational uses for the iPad.
• “Any online program that imposes significant technological requirements upon its students is a program [that] is poorly conceived and ill designed,” says Harlan Platt, a finance professor and faculty director of Northeastern University’s online M.B.A. program.
• Harvard University Press has partnered with DeGruyter for eBook sales. Will this be the only way to secure Harvard e-books, (i.e. is this exclusive)?  Find the answer here.

2011 LTAIG Salary Survey – Corrected

The LTAIG salary survey results are posted on the LTAIG website under Archives, then Surveys. Click here to read the survey.

(Edited to correct the survey link – sorry everyone!)

Thanks again to all who took the time to complete the survey!

2011 LTAIG Salary Survey Committee,
Sandra Cole & Vaunda Dumont

Phil the Web Crawler – Computer in your clothing

A research team at Cornell University has taken a major step towards building a wearable computer that looks like an ordinary shirt.

Phil the Web Crawler – SOPA part 2: The ALA take

Three copyright-related bills are currently in play at the start of 2012 – all of which take aim at any website beyond U.S. borders that distribute counterfeit or copyright infringing products.

The ALA has done a great job comparing the three main copyright related bills before congress right now in the US.  Find it here.

Phil the Web Crawler – E-textbooks save students little

Besides little or no cost savings this survey found there were also some technical hurdles.

Phil the Web Crawler – Battle over the US Stop Online Piracy Act heats up

An important battle is shaping up over the US’s Stop Online Piracy Act, known as SOPA.  The fight pits the big donors of Hollywood against Silicon Valley.

Phil the Web Crawler – Newspaper shares plunge 27% in 2011

Remember the storm over New York Times switching to a paid model?  It did not help as their shares dropped over 20%.  Guess which publishing conglomerate bucked the trend.

An Interview with Guy