It is now the last week of LIBR 559M, the week of summer term which marks the end of the academic year, which in the bigger scheme of things means September is just around the corner. Not too early, in fact, to start thinking about 2012. For those who follow such things, 2012 is the […]

It was many years ago, long even before the advent of Web 2.0, that I remember first hearing Internet pundits telling us that soon we would be able to subscribe to The Daily Me, a virtual newspaper delivered to our computer screen and customized exactly to our individual requirements. Don’t like sports? There’s no sports […]

Many Internet users have shifted from being passive consumers of content to creating it, but even creators have information needs, and the librarian can have a role as a facilitator of the creative process. The users of social media want to learn how to use new tools, they want to find ideas to inspire creative […]

One of the questions facing us as information professionals is, when do we collaborate, and when do we work alone? In some cases, we won’t have the choice. Some external force, perhaps a manager or funding agency, will tell us we have to collaborate. In other circumstances a new task brings with it the question, […]

Web 2.0, or so we are told, underlies the recent proliferation of online social media. Is it a technology, a business model, a cultural shift, or maybe a bit of all three? Here’s a quick look at all three facets, along with a few arguments that suggest ways in which Web 2.0 is more alike […]

Following along the thread of hyperconnectivity, I thought I’d share this somewhat amusing attempt to convey what life might be like in a world where all of our everyday devices were networked together. http://www.wired.com/beyond_the_beyond/2011/04/design-fiction-ericsson-social-web-of-things/ Whimsy (and anthropomorphism aside), I think it’s dubious to suggest that machines are capable of social interaction. But would this kind […]