New Google Librarian Newsletter Released…04.21.09

After a long hiatus, the Librarian Central Google Newsletter has reappeared.

Here are the contents:

“…In This Issue:
Letter from the Editor

Features:
Google Book Search
Google Sky
Google Health

Best of the Inside Google Book Search Blog – the last 6 months:
Your Library, My Library
Go, go, Book Search gadgets
Around the world in 80 pages (give or take a few)
University of Virginia opens exhibit on Google Book Search
Book Search Back to School Edition

Announcements:
Doodle 4 Google
Scalpel, check. Book search, check...”

“The Whuffie Factor: Applied Cluetrain Manifesto for the Twenty-First Century”…04.21.09

The Whuffie Factor: Applied Cluetrain Manifesto for the Twenty-First Century post on BoingBoing by Cory Doctorow discusses the just-released today Whuffie Factor – Using the Power of Social Networks to Build Your Business by Tara Hunt which many of us should read.  Here is an excerpt of the review:

Tara Hunt’s The Whuffie Factor is a quick, insightful update to books likeThe Cluetrain Manifesto, the seminal work that described the means by which conversations were conducted online and advised companies on how to join the conversation without seeming smarmy or patronizing. As Hunt points out, Cluetrain preceded the rise of blogging, not to mention Twitter, social networking services, and all the other key elements of modern online conversation.

Hunt’s book is a lot shorter on theory and manifesto than Cluetrain and a lot longer on practicalities, devoting a lot of space to explaining how all these tools work and citing examples of different commercial and charitable organizations that have used them to good effect (as well as citing cautionary examples of companies that bungled things badly, usually by being caught out in deceit of one kind or another)…

Hunt’s central thesis is that participating in community and gaining social capital is the fastest, most reliable way to attain success for products, services, causes and movements than advertising and marketing are, and she sets out to re-educate executives and marketing people who haven’t cottoned on to this. There’s something of a holy mission in explaining the networked, twenty-first century reality to successful but out-dated people, if only so that execs get enough religion to give excited junior people rein to do experimental and exciting things online…”

Week-Long Sabbatical from Blogging April 22-29, 2009…04.21.09

Do to circumstances beyond my control there will likely be few or no posts from the Lone Wolf Librarian starting April 22, 2009 until April 30, 2009. Of course, “Stick around. I’LL BE BACK…”

Sunset on the Charles by Pear Biter

Participatory Librarianship Keynote Title and Abstract…04.21.09

This is a very important and interesting abstract and keynote title from Dave Lankes, associate professor at Syracuse University’s School of Information Studies, about the “Conversants” project from his post today “Conversants Keynote Title and Abstract” that articulates “participatory librarianship”:

“…The mission of librarians is to improve society through facilitating knowledge creation in their communities. Through service, innovation, and leadership librarians facilitate conversations in schools, communities, colleges, government, businesses, and beyond. It is this act of facilitation of knowledge in partnership with communities that makes a library – not collections, blogs, catalogs, or ivy on walls. This is the central premise of participatory librarianship. This keynote will explore the new role of librarians as a passionate and powerful force focused on the social good. It will present a unifying approach to librarianship that seeks to make sense of Library 2.0 and information commons alike.”

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) Tips Beyond the Basics…04.21.09

Since there is such a huge interest in this subject, here is a list of recent SEO tips from Gabriel Weinberg who’s start-up search engine is DuckDuckGo which I featured recently:

“…I’m talking about Google here (and by extension Yahoo, Live, etc.) and not Duck Duck Go (my search engine), which has different optimization parameters…

If you don’t know the basics, read Google’s SEO Starter Guide first.

External link (anchor) text is the most important factor…In my experience, external link text matters way more than anything else.  That is, the actual words in the links back to your sites and pages.

If you get link text right, link back sites’ pagerank matter way less. Usual SEO advice is to contentrate on link backs from high pagerank sources…However, higher pagerank links are much harder to get than lower pagerank links.  And what is often missed is that if you can get even a few lower pageank sites to link back to you using the key phrases you want to rank for, you can rank highly on those search terms even with little or no high pagerank link backs.

Widgets are great strategies…they help you get link-backs from a variety of sites, often on their front pages and often on multiple pages within the sites…it doesn’t matter if they are all low pagerank sites because you can control the link text…If you do a widget, don’t forget you need that static link in it.  That is, it can’t all be JavaScript.

Don’t guess search term volume. Use Google’s Keyword & Trends tools.

Select terms that convert… Ideally, don’t guess here either…

Don’t bother if you can’t get in the top 10…A good thing to do is to add one more word to the general term, so if you end up ranking well for the specific term you are helping your rankings for the more general one as well. Then if it turns out the specific one was easy (you quickly become #1), you’ve already gone part way on the general one.

Don’t pay any for any general SEO service…Note I’m not saying don’t pay anyone for SEO, because if you need basic help, a consult from someone in the know might be helpful to, for example, tell you how to re-layout your site and to explain this post to you .

Beware of nofollow links. Nofollow links are links with a special attribute that tell search engines to ignore them.  To check a link, view the source of that page in your Web browser and look for rel=nofollow in it… Don’t waste your time submitting comments and editing Wikipedia articles with your links because it won’t help you.

Don’t waste your time with Google Sitemaps...

Don’t ignore the long-tail…First, make sure you have a static site… Second, look at all the content you can produce or have produced.  Can you combine it in interesting ways that people would find useful?  For example, at Duck Duck Go we have category pages.

Make as flat a site hierarchy as possible. Pagerank seems to flow logarithmicly from a homepage to its internal pages.  So if you have pages you want ranked highly, either you need links back to them directly or have them linked directly from your homepage…

Use directories instead of subdomains. For example, domain/blog instead of blog.domain.

Less is more. Ranking is distributed across your site, so less pages, less links on them, and less text on them will concentrate your ranking potential on what is left.

Don’t do anything black hat. You will get caught, you will not pass go, etc.”

“Is the Mobile Web Coming of Age?”…04.21.09

Here is an excerpt from a BBC post yesterday Is the Mobile Web Coming of Age relevant to librarians and everyone else:

“The strategies of companies ranging from Google to Microsoft and from Apple to Yahoo suggest they believe the future of the internet lies in mobile phones - but many in the industry believe the mobile web is still a long way from realising its potential…

Nokia’s executive vice president of markets Anssi Vanjoki told the BBC: ‘Steve Jobs did a great service for the digital industry by focusing the attention where we wanted it to be – on mobile and content.

‘More than one billion people have a Nokia device in their pocket. We see a big learning curve taking place with these so called mobile computers, which are about always being connected 24-7-365.

‘Everyone has an interest in mobile. And if we look at those four billion subscribers, the majority of growth is in the developing world.

‘We believe most of these people who experienced telephony through a mobile device will experience the internet through a mobile device.”

Sir Tim Berners Lee told the BBC: ‘In developing countries it’s going to be exciting because that is the only way that a lot of people will actually get to see the internet at all.”…

Google’s vice president of engineering Vic Gundotra said the migration to mobile was a natural progression for the world’s leader in internet search.

‘The entire world is moving to mobile and mobile is the most personal of all personal computers. They are increasing their importance and it has a dramatic impact on the future of Google.’

‘This year we are going to sell more internet-connected phones as an industry than the entire notebook market. These devices will become our agents, support us with advice, be our friends.

‘Through mobile and Google we are going to make the world’s information accessible and useful to everybody.’”

“A Periodic Table of Visualization Methods”…04.21.09

Thanks to Libology for this very helpful excerpt about data visualization tool A Periodic Table of Visualization Methods from VisualLiteracy.org: 

A Periodic Table of Visualization Methods is a great resource if you have information you need to present visually, but don’t know the best way to express it.  Simply go to the site and let your mouse hover over the examples in the different categories.  Note the creative use of the Periodic Table structure…”

SEO [Search Engine Optimization] Tools 101, Part 1…04.20.09

Ron Jones of SearchEngineWatch has started a series of posts including today’s SEO Tools 101, Part 1 which begins:

“Those new to the world of SEO may feel a little overwhelmed with all of the tactics that are needed to achieve higher rankings. A good starting place for newbies is Mark Jackson’s search engine optimization column here at Search Engine Watch.

My purpose in this two-part column is to arm you with some good tools to get you started. There are too many tools to list them all here, so I’ll only cover a few.

To make things simple, I’ll break them down into categories: keyword tools; SEO site grader tools; linking tools; browser toolbars; and other SEO tools. Many of these tools have a free or limited version with the option to upgrade to a premium version for a fee…”

QR Code Decalogue (10 Commandments)…04.20.09

Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:3-17 – also Deuteronomy 5:7-21) in QR Code form from QR Code on Facebook.

World Digital Library Debuts Online…04.20.09

The Washington Post reported today:

“A globe-spanning U.N. digital library seeking to display and explain the relics of all human cultures has gone into operation on the Internet for the first time, serving up mankind’s accumulated knowledge in seven languages for students around the world.

U.S. Librarian of Congress James H. Billington, who launched the project four years ago, said the ambition was to make available on an easy-to-navigate site, free for scholars and other curious people anywhere, a collection of primary documents on all subjects and authoritative explanations from the planet’s leading libraries.

The site (www.wdl.org) has put up the Japanese work that is considered the first novel in history, for instance, along with the Aztecs’ first mention of the Christ child in the New World and the works of ancient Arab scholars piercing the mysteries of algebra, each entry flanked by learned commentary. ‘There are many one-of-a-kind documents,’ Billington said in an interview.

The World Digital Library, which will be officially inaugurated Tuesday at the Paris headquarters of UNESCO, the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, has started small, with about 1,200 documents and their explanations from scholars in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Portuguese, Spanish and Russian. But it is designed to accommodate an unlimited number of such texts, charts and illustrations from as many countries and libraries as want to contribute…”

“Data Visualization Is Reinventing Online Storytelling”…04.20.09

Here follows an excerpt of an interesting post on Advertising Age last month titled Data Visualization Is Reinventing Online Storytelling by Garrick Schmitt:

“Today’s consumer seems to have an insatiable appetite for information, but until recently making sense of all of that raw data was too daunting for most. Enter the new ‘visual scientists’ who are turning bits and bytes of data — once purely the domain of mathematicians and coders — into stories for our digital age…

Publishers: The New York Times, which has always done stunning infographic work, is helping to push data visualization to a mass audience with its ‘Visualization Lab.’… Similarly, the Economist employs data visualization to graphically represent an ongoing conversation as part of its ‘Debate’ series, which enables the user to track the developments and change in sentiment on a daily basis.

Advertisers: Visa, as part of its new ‘Go’ campaign, is integrating data into its advertising. The ‘Go’ microsite features seemingly random bits of data (16,438 people in Paris smiling back at the Mona Lisa) that the user can explore to see how Visa is ‘helping more people go places and do things.’…

Products: Flickr, the online photo-sharing service from Yahoo, just recently released the Flickr Clock a browser — and very nifty advertisement, actually — that showcases the videos that users are now able to upload to the site… .

Agencies: The Flickr project was created by Stamen Design, a small San Francisco design studio that has been behind some of the most impressive work in the infographic space. The firm has created the SFMOMA ArtScope project which is a completely interactive and visual browsing tool that makes browsing the 3,500 objects from the museum both immersive and entertaining. The firm also created Oakland Crimespotting, a service that elegantly — and frighteningly — maps crimes occurring across the city and enables users to sort through the data in a personally meaningful way (e.g. block-by-block).

Artists: The rock band Radiohead is working to turn data visualization into an art form with its music video, ‘House of Cards.’ Using neither cameras nor lights, the band employed two technologies called Geometric Informatics and Velodyne LIDAR to capture 3D data and transform it into a series of stunning images. Radiohead recently opened up the data to the world, in partnership with Google, to remix.

All of this data visualization is, of course, really just a new way to tell stories (or create experiences) out of the very base matter of the web itself. Data visualization is probably not a foreign concept for anyone familiar with the work of information-design pioneer Professor Edward Tufte, but it’s the advances in technology at the presentation layer and the new found ability to tap into once hidden data sources that is enabling these new visual scientists to chart a new narrative course…”

Check out also Visual Complexity.

Cloud Computing – “Cloud Bigger Than the Internet”…04.20.09

There is a short and sobering article in Cloudonomics Journal yesterday by Roger Strukhoff entitled Cloud is Bigger Than the Internet II - Nothing Changes Everything, But This Changes a Lot of Things which I have excerpted here:

“Penicillin, Post-It Notes, and Viagra were all semi-accidental discoveriers. The researchers weren’t necessarily looking for these market-busting products when they were monkeying around in their labs.

The Web was introduced in similar fashion. But additionally, legions of very smart people had been discussing hypertext and hyperlinks for years before the Web came into being. Its realization certainly kicked off a new era of dot-com innovation. But the dot-com crash illustrated that the Web itself didn’t really give us a new paradigm–it just made communications a lot more convenient, while also spawning endless amounts of trivial chattering…

Do we have a ‘father’ (or mother) of Cloud Computing? Probably not… 

But as Cloud is adopted, it will be historically clear that we have finally caught up to where electricity was in the late 19th century...

But just as ‘the current wars’ in Edison’s time over whether to adopt AC or DC seem quaint and amusing to us today, the initial cloud-v-cloud skirmishes over the next several years will seem quaint a century from now.

It’s a done deal. Cloud is the way of the future. For the first time since computing resources started to be managed by customers in the 1950s, Cloud places this responsibility back on the shoulders of utility providers.

Sure, pesky things such as application development, deployment strategy, capacity planning (which will become much more sophisticated once people realize they can micromanage this), and knowing exactly what you are trying to do with your IT will remain in the hands of the business.

And it is here where Cloud becomes most profound. Electricity doesn’t enable a company to do anything. Computing resources do.

Farming out your IT functionality means you can now focus on making all the great brains in your company–and brains are not computers, never have been, never will be–spend their time inventing the future, rather than hassling with problems of the present.”

BookSwim – “Netflix for Books”…04.20.09

More competition for the library – BookSwim could be very successful, particularly for those who don’t live close to a good library–”Unlimited Rental Plans Starting at…$9.95“:

“BookSwim is the first online book rental library service lending you paperbacks, hardcovers and now college textbooks Netflix®-style directly to your house, without the need to purchase! We stock all the latest bestsellers, new releases, and classics with free shipping both ways! Read your books as long as you want — no late fees! Even choose to purchase and keep the books you love! And now… textbook rental.”

FREE – Embed Documents and Files in Your Webpage or Blog…04.20.09

Here is a useful FREE item:

“embedit.in is a service that allows you to embed your documents and files in your webpage or blog instead of having to link to them. The files display directly in the browser, no software required…”

Week-Long Sabbatical from Blogging April 22-29, 2009…04.19.09

Do to circumstances beyond my control there will likely be few or no posts from the Lone Wolf Librarian starting April 22, 2009 until April 30, 2009. Of course, “Stick around. I’LL BE BACK…”

Sunset on the Charles by Pear Biter

How Will Cloud Computing Affect You?…04.19.09

Here is an excerpt of a good, concise explanation of “cloud computing” – a hot topic at the moment – titled Cloud Computing – How Will It Affect You? 

“…Another emerging concept that has the power to change how we perform tasks is taking place before us as well, and it is called ‘cloud computing.’ Simply put, it is the ability to use resources and tools via the Internet without actually owning or being near them. The only requirement is to be able to access them….

The concept of utilizing resources in these networks is being adopted by businesses both large and small. These resources are categorized to describe their function, and include:

1.Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)

2.Platform as a Service (PaaS)

3.Software as a Service (SaaS)

4.Web 2.0

In the most general terms, Infrastructure as a Service means that companies may no longer need to own and house their own back-end servers and other network computing infrastructure besides an internet-connected PC or laptop in order to maintain business functionality… .

Platform as a Service is also known as ‘cloudware’, and refers to the availability of development tools in creating web applications and services to the end user. Like IaaS, you never ’see’ the inner-workings of this environment unless you are a computer programmer or IT resource, but it exists nonetheless and again affords those who use these tools the ability to reduce costs while running their businesses.

Sofware as a Service is defined as software applications that are subscribed to and accessed only through the Internet, and not installed on local PCs or laptops...These solutions are gaining tremendous popularity, because end users do not need to install, update and maintain software locally – only connect to it and use it when the need arises.

Web 2.0 describes the whole of the social networking movement on the Internet, and includes but is not limited to destinations such as Facebook, MySpace, eHarmony, LinkedIn and Twitter. These sites offer the ability for people all over the world to share common interests, stay connected and learn more about each other – and these sites aren’t just for the young… 

The next time you are on the Internet and upload a photograph and use the online tools to modify that picture, you are participating in ‘cloud computing.’ The picture is probably loaded to a site that uses IaaS for their servers, PaaS in order to provide the visual interface in which you modify the photograph, and SaaS applications you’ll use to access your email program and social networking sites in order to send it to or post it for those with whom you would like to share the picture.”

Getting Management to Accept the Need to Incorporate Social Media an Organization’s Marketing Plan…04.19.09

Here is an excerpt from a good post Why You Need a Social Media Champion from Search Marketing Gurus that is important for libraries, non-profits, and business: 

“Lets face it, Social Media can be pretty tough sell to the senior management or to clients who have just gotten their arms around the whole ‘SEO and PPC thing’.  Trying to force them into putting social media into a marketing plan can be a pretty tough sell if you are just looking at it from a dollars and cents perspective, or even a links & search engine results perspective.  The toughest thing with social media is that its rough on seeing the immediate return – except when it’s ‘bad’.

I use the term ‘bad’ loosely as it could be PR-wise, bad because something went viral and the traffic took down your server to you couldn’t sell anything, or bad because it just doesn’t seem to be working.  There can be a thousand other references to ‘bad’ and when things seem to go down hill with online marketing efforts in social media, ‘bad’ is usually how it ends up being described.

This is why agencies or companies need a person or a department that is their social media champion.  Social media is a vital part of marketing as a whole, not just online or offline.  It’s not something that can be attempted lightly, without resources being attributed to it, otherwise it will end up ‘bad’.

These are just a few of the reasons that if you don’t have a social media champion on your team you should consider getting one:

Dedicated to Creating a Presence & Conversation in the Social Media Circles Your Audience is in…

Understanding Your Audience & Objectives to Measure…

Help Set Social Media Policies…

Promotes Social Media Throughout the Company – Everyone Has A Stake…”

“An Illustrated Guide to Using Twitter”…04.19.09

The above “illustrated guide to using Twitter which highlights some of the ways twitter can be helpful either for personal use or business…”

When you visit An Illustrated Guide to Using Twitter, just click on the image to enlarge.

How to Opt-Out of Online Behavioral Advertising…04.19.09

Thanks to a link from Seth Godin, I learned about how to opt-out of online behavioral advertising. You can go to the Network Behavioral Adverstising website page Opt Out of Behavioral Advertising. Here is what they say:

“The NAI Opt-out Tool was developed in conjunction with our members for the express purpose of allowing consumers to “opt out” of the behavioral advertising delivered by our member companies.

Using the Tool below, you can examine your computer to identify those member companies that have placed an advertising cookie file on your computer.

To opt out of an NAI member’s behavioral advertising program, simply check the box that corresponds to the company from which you wish to opt out. Alternatively, you can check the box labeled ‘Select All’ and each member’s opt-out box will be checked for you. Next click the ‘Submit’ button. The Tool will automatically replace the specified advertising cookie(s) and verify your opt-out status.

Opting out of a network does not mean you will no longer receive online advertising. It does mean that the network from which you opted out will no longer deliver ads tailored to your Web preferences and usage patterns.

If you have any questions, please visit our FAQ section…”

“Top 10 List For New (or All) Librarians”…04.18.09

Excerpted from OPL Plus (not just for OPLs anymore) from the post Top Teh List for New (or All) Librarians:

“…10. Never lose your enthusiasm over purchasing a book truck.
9. Keep track of the things you do, the questions you are asked, etc.
8. Promote yourself and your services–don’t be afraid to blow your own horn.
7. Don’t be shy about asking the Solos list a question–that’s why we’re here.
6. Make nice with the following staff: IT people, office management, supplies purchaser, HR, your boss’s assistant, mailroom and receptionist (i.e., Everyone).
5. Find small ways to be visible, such as posting notices or comics on a bulletin board, or emailing news items to all of the staff.
4. Hold an “amnesty” day when clients are asked to return “lost” material (even though there really is no penalty).
3. Get to know your patrons and anticipate their needs.
2. Always have treats available in the library.
1. Good luck, have fun, and don’t let the turkeys get you down! (Good advice for all of you, not just newbies)…’

“TOP 50 Kindle Tools Kindle 2 Sites”…04.17.09

Here is the beginning of the information posted today from Top 50 Kindle Tools, Kindle 2 Sites:

“…Kindle Tools and Software

1. Kindle for iPhone – Must-Have if you have an iPhone or iTouch.
2. Mysteria – Great Reminder Tool that lets you keep reminders for when books become available in Kindle format.
3. Calibre – Kovid Goyal’s One-Stop solution to most of your ebook needs.
4. InstaPaper -  A fast, easy, free tool to save web pages for reading later.
5. Kindle Feeder – Send RSS feeds to your Kindle or Kindle 2.
6. Alex Yatskov’s Mangle (Manga + Kindle) software that lets you create manga for the Kindle.
7. Free Kindle Calendar.
8. Free Kindle Weeekly Planner.
9. Skweezer – Take any page and “squeeze” it into a smaller version more readable on K1/K2…

Kindle Conversion Tools…

Kindle Games, Cool Stuff…

Kindle Hacks…

Free Kindle Books and Deals…

Kindle Tips…

Kindle Community – Blogs and  Forums…”

FREE – Screencapture and Screencasting with Jing…04.17.09

Thanks to Michael Sauers of the ITART – Information Technology and Access Round Table for reminding us today about FREE screen capture/screencasting software Jing:

“Jing from TechSmith (the makers of SnagIt which I use every day and highly recommend) is a free downloadable screencapture and screencast package. I’ve not yet played with it myself but it looks very simple to use. To best show you how it works, here’s their basic video tutorial.”

Here is a YouTube tutorial on using Jing:

The State of America’s Libraries Report 2oo9 Released…04.17.09

ALA this week released The State of America’s Libraries Report 2oo9.

“The importance of libraries in American life continued to grow in 2008—and accelerated dramatically as the national economy sank and people looked for sources of free, effective help in a time of crisis.

A Harris Poll released in September revealed that 68 percent of Americans have a library card, an increase of 5 percent since 2006. In-person visits increased 10 percent in the same period, and 76 percent of Americans had visited their local public library in the year preceding the survey, compared with 66 percent two years ago. Online-visit data were even more remarkable: 41 percent of library card holders visited their library websites in the year before the poll, compared with 24 percent in 2006.

Libraries, an excellent community resource in ordinary times, in extraordinary times become something of a goldmine…”

Librarians and Others “How to Survive Redundancy and Recession”…04.17.09

This is an excerpt from the SLA blog posting How to Survive Redundancy and Recession

“The April 2009 issue of Information World Review features a great article that quotes SLA CEO Janice Lachance. The article is all about how info pros looking to protect their jobs, or find new employment, can have the most success in this brutal economy…

From the IWR article, How to Survive Redundancy and Recession by, Archana Venkatraman:

Lachance believes the key to recovery is ‘to build in trust because at this point, companies are not willing to take any risk’. She points to corporates’ need for valid, actionable information as proof that businesses will continue to invest in people who can provide this kind of information.

She adds: ‘The current crisis has forced all organisations and institutions to rethink their approach and make difficult decisions on staff. But this creates enormous opportunities for information professionals around the globe to be proactive and part of the organisation’s mission and strategy, and to make themselves more resourceful and useful.’

Lachance advises information professionals looking for work to ‘change the way they talk about their function and value’. Critical thinking, strategic analysis and provision of valuable, unbiased information are key to success because companies are looking for precise, valid and accurate information…”

Social Media in 2009…04.17.09

Here is an excerpt from a Mashable! post today titled The Web in Numbers: The Rise of Social Media with some very interesting figures:

“2009 is the year of social media. Once, Twitter was a place where you could read about someone else’s cat. Now, it’s the first place you go to when there’s breaking news. Sites likeDigg, Reddit, and Facebook can now leave a huge impact on the real world; lives are changed, important questions are asked (and answered) there. Many milestones have been reached; the growth of nearly every aspect of social media has and continues to be enormous…

In March, YouTube reached 100 million monthly viewers in the US. 6.3 billion videos were viewed on the site. Its competitor, Hulu, is also growing fast, but not nearly as fast as YouTube. In March alone, YouTube has grown almost two Hulus in size. According to some calculations, YouTube will serve 75 billion video streams to 375 million unique visitors in 2009…

Finally, here’s another sign of the times: Nielsen Online’s latest research shows that social networking is now more popular than email. According to their study, 66.8% of Internet users have used social networks, while only 65.1% have used email…

Twitter itself is growing at a crazy rate; although it already has a very large audience, it grew 76.8 percent just from February to March. Its yearly growth rate? 1,382 percent. According to Nielsen, Twitter currently has 7 million unique monthly visitors. If it keeps growing at this rate, it’ll have nearly 100 million visitors same time next year…”

Google@Omgili – “Help to crack Google’s secret”…04.17.09

Google@Omgili is an interesting search engine highlighted today by Pandia Search Engine News in their post Help to crack Google’s secret that describe it as follows:

“Search engine Omgili wants your help to crack Google’s secret. Their experimental search engine Google@Omgili combines Omgili’s own answer search engine with Google search results. It is also an effort to find the most essential elements of Google’s user interface, so Omgili users can have the best of both worlds.

The look and feel of the search engine should be similar to Google’s, but it also includes some unobtrusive yet useful features.

The main benefit of Google@Omgili is that it finds forum discussions about the results Google returns. This way you can find more people who are interested in the same topics as you are, and get in-depth information through discussions about the topic you are researching..”

VisualCV Nominated for Best Employment Website – Annual Webby Awards…04.16.09

VisualCV, Inc., which I mentioned here previously, announced today that it has been nominated for the best employment website by the Webby Awards.

“VisualCV.com gives you an easy new way to present your Curriculum Vitae (CV) online. VisualCV replaces the traditional resume with an online professional profile. VisualCV.com is the first website that allows you to create an Internet-based resume, build and manage an integrated online career portfolio, and securely share professional qualifications with your customers, partners, employers and colleagues…”

Taipei Public Library’s “Open Book” Branch Using RIFD…04.16.09

The video below is about the Taipei, Taiwan’s public library‘s “Open Book” branch using RFID.  In the UK, the RFID in Libraries Conference 2009 will be held in November.

FREE “Evernote” – “Remember Everything”…04.16.09

Although I had read many very positive – some even raving – posts about it, I have never mentioned a really very cool and useful FREE software called EVERNOTE which is described as:

“Evernote allows you to easily capture information in any environment using whatever device or platform you find most convenient, and makes this information accessible andsearchable at any time, from anywhere. Did we mention that it’s FREE?“

MayDay – “Do One Thing for Emergency Preparedness”…04.16.09

Preservation is one of my “pet peeves” because its importance is obvious to librarians but many of our organizations take a blind eye to it as they often do to other efforts to insure perpetuity.  It’s considered many times to just be an expense that can be easily “overlooked” as not being a budgetary expedient.

“Each year, archives, libraries, museums, and historic preservation organizations set aside May 1 to participate in MayDay, an initiative to protect cultural heritage from disasters…

• Learn more about MayDay from our news release. A text version and logos are available to use in newsletters and other publicity.
• What are you doing for MayDay 2009? Share your institution’s story and be automatically entered to win a prize from our MayDay partner Gaylord Brothers! Details here…
• Need some ideas for what to do on MayDay? Click here for a list of suggested preparedness activities.
• See what other organizations are doing in 2009; learn what libraries, museums, and archives did for MayDay in 2008…”

I like their slogan:

“Do One Thing for Emergency Preparedness“

BTW, previously I posted about the FREE disater planner “dplan”:

“...dPlan is a free online tool that creates disaster plans – practical plans.

‘dPlan is a free online tool that will help you simplify the process of writing a disaster plan. Enter information about your institution using the comprehensive fill-in-the-blank template. This template will guide you through the steps necessary for effective disaster planning.

Once completed, dPlan generates a printed disaster plan specific to your institution. The resulting plan contains contact information for staff and key personnel, preventive maintenance checklists, salvage techniques, and much more. dPlan can be updated continuously to reflect the changes that occur at your institution.’”