Today the Code4Lib 2014 Conference Keynote Speakers Committee announced the keynote speakers for the upcoming conference in March 2014: Valerie Aurora is the founder of the Ada Initiative, a non-profit organization that seeks to increase women’s participation in the free culture movement, open source technology, and open source culture. Aurora is also known within the […]
You Don’t Have Enough Tech
By on November 5, 2013
I recently spoke at the Information Today “Library Leaders Digital Strategy Summit”, a mini-conference held in conjunction with the Internet Librarian Conference in Monterey, California. I was signed up to be on a library technology panel, and to focus on what library managers needed to know about technology. In the execution it was less formal, […]
Mozilla Promotes ‘Web Competency’ with New Standards
By on October 31, 2013
The Mozilla Foundation’s new Web Literacy Standard is intended to serve as a roadmap for competent Web use and comprising “the skills and competencies people need to read, write, and participate effectively on the Web,” according to Mozilla’s site.
The Post-MARC Era, Part 2: Where the Problems Lie, Part 1
By on May 8, 2013
In Part 1 of this series I looked at what has become the inevitability of change in our fundamental bibliographic metadata standard MARC. And by MARC I really mean the collection of technologies, rules, carrier formats, and what have you that could be hung off that rubric. However, as I turn to identifying specific problems […]
The Post-MARC Era, Part 1: If It’s Televised, It Can’t Be the Revolution
By on April 17, 2013
Please note: This series of posts outlines my opinions and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of my OCLC colleagues or of OCLC as an organization. Also, these opinions are held regardless of any impact the paths I suggest may have on my employer. You will not be able to stay home, brother. You will […]
Automation Marketplace 2013: The Rush to Innovate
By on April 2, 2013
In this time of transition of the library automation industry, stakes are high for the vendors that are creating innovative—or even transformative—products and competing to bring these products first to the market. Establishing momentum early is essential in the library arena, which is attentive to the successes of a vendor’s peers and risk averse.
On Being Weeded
By on March 21, 2013
It finally happened. Someone confessed on Twitter that they were weeding one of my books. It had to happen at some point, and likely already has but remained unconfessed. I mean, this book is ancient history. It talks about Gopher and WAIS for crying out loud. And the very first edition (finished in 1992) barely […]
Google Drive as an Institutional Repository
By on March 18, 2013
Innovation comes in many guises. When we hear the word we probably most often thinks it means creating something new. But innovation can also be using something that already exists in a new way. Innovation of the latter variety was recently exhibited in an interesting post to the Code4Lib list. The message, from Chris Fitzpatrick, […]
Data Recovery From Corrupt MS Office Files
By on March 13, 2013
Anyone who follows me on Facebook knows that recently I experienced a corrupted Microsoft PowerPoint file. I still don’t know what caused it, but the upshot was that a file that I worked on for an hour (and saved!) would no longer open after several different attempts. Finally, in frustration, I set out to recreate […]
How the Web Reinforces My Worst Tendencies…And How You Can Too
By on March 11, 2013
I’m impatient. Just ask my family. I hate to waste time — so much so that I obsessively shave minutes from almost everything I do. And then I multi-task. As I back the car out of the garage I am buckling my seat belt, hitting the garage door opener, and turning on my headlights. I […]
