Wednesday, October 04, 2006

LJ on teh Google

From a recent Library Journal article on Google and other Webbery.

In just a decade, the evolution of the Internet has upset the balance in an information ecology that had served libraries for centuries. What will the next decade look like? Blogs and RSS feeds have changed the way we gather and look at news. Wikipedia, the living, free online encyclopedia that anyone can edit, is changing how we think about reference. Services offered by Amazon.com and NetFlix are winning the hearts, minds—and habits—of our users.

“All of these things,” Janes says, “are opportunities.” Libraries today, he observes, cannot affort to be paralyzed, wed to old modes of service, bureaucratically pinned-down, or too reticent to take advantage of the fact that, in a world drowning in information, libraries should be more vital than ever.

“Many librarians today don’t really know what they do best, so here they are concerned about competing in Google’s space instead of choosing to compete in what we do best,” Abram says. “That is creating context, learning, community, and improving the quality of the question.”

Also, props to Democratic Virgina Congressman Rick Boucher, LJ's 2006 Politician of the Year! Excerpt:

Early to recognize the incredible usefulness of the Internet and new technology to his constituents, Boucher was and is a visionary, seeing and solving problems and creating policy solutions as new technologies arrive. He has long been a friend and ally to libraries in the 9th District and the nation. He is one of the architects of federal law and policy on information technology, the Internet, copyright, and intellectual property and a formidable opponent of actions that threaten the access rights of libraries and users.

Boucher’s work to preserve the concept and extend the dimensions of “fair use” in copyright and to ensure that libraries and citizens can continue to have free access to all the riches of the Internet and the entire intellectual record have made him Library Journal’s 2006 Politician of the Year.

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