the LOC is blogging April 24, 2007
Posted by ayucht in : Check this out! , add a commentfrom the debut post on the Library of Congress’ new blog:
‘What Hath God Wrought?’Posted on: April 24th, 2007 by Matt Raymond
“Those were the first words ever transmitted electronically, in 1844, by Samuel Morse. That message and Morse’s invention of the telegraph marked what was undeniably, at the time, the most significant communications revolution since the advent of movable type.
If you are reading this, then chances are you have some sense of how the legacies of Morse and those who came before him and since have transformed our daily lives. It is an inescapable fact that the Internet is redefining at an accelerating rate how we get information and interact.
And if you’re reading this, then you probably know how blogs are an intrinsic part of that larger medium. The Library of Congress knows it too.
The Library has in its care more than 134 million items, with 22 million items online. That’s a lot of content, by any measure. More and more people online are looking to blogs to help them navigate and make sense of the content that’s “out there,” to say nothing of the world around them. With some 71 million blogs at last count (or so says Technorati), it’s a conversation an institution like the Library should be a part of.
The Library of Congress was producing electronic content long before the Web even existed, so it’s fitting today that we become one of a (surprisingly) small handful of federal agencies with a bona fide blog.”
CHECK IT OUT!!! http://www.loc.gov/blog
(posted by Alice Yucht)
A-flutter about Twitter? April 22, 2007
Posted by Laura Pearle in : Hot Topics , 9commentsA recent post on LM_NET pointed me to Kathy Sierra’s blog post about Twitter. Many of us have heard about Twitter, some of us have used it… the same applies for Ning, Furl, Del.ic.ous and all other 2.0-isms.
The problem for me – and I suspect for many – is the time issue. Does this sound like you?
I’m trying to provide a good program for my students. I’m trying to create passionate learners, independent thinkers and be a partner with my teachers in curriculum. I’ve got to consider budgets and previewing books and websites and databases for student and faculty use. I don’t have all the staffing I could want (or use). There are standards and testing that I need to support. Our website could use an overhaul, not to mention our A/V equipment (which I’m responsible for maintaining). And let’s not forget all the union/district/school meetings and professional development/in-services I need to attend. At the same time, I’m reading blogs and e-lists to connect with other librarians, and reading professional literature.
And then I’m supposed to Twitter and set up IM reference and create a MySpace page and be a real Friendster (or is it Facebook?) and Furl and… and… and…
The problem is that many of us are trying very hard to keep up, but technology expands while time seems to contract.
Sometimes, I wish that people like Michael Stephens, Meredith Farkas and Stephen Cohen could spend a month in my (sometimes sensible) shoes as I try to keep all these balls in the air. And then I wish that they’d look at all the technology thats “out there”, the 2.0 stuff that they say I must use and help create a program where I can do just that. Because, as Kathy Sierra suggests, without that, my head might just explode.
(posted by Laura Pearle)
SLJ response to the American Libraries blog issue April 11, 2007
Posted by Laura Pearle in : Check this out! , 1 comment so farBrian Kenney has written a great editorial about school librarian bloggers and American Libraries.
AASL’s own Doug Johnson, Joyce Valenza, Chris Harris, Diane Chen, Frances Harris, Rob Darrow and Carolyn Foote were asked to respond for an upcoming issue of AL that will rectify their recent omissions; incoming AASL President Sara Kelly Johns and AASLBlog Co-Editor Alice Yucht were also asked to contribute.
(posted by Laura Pearle)
