October 8, 2008
Links 35
1. The Boston Globe posted a few of Yann Arthus-Bertrand's photos seen in the Earth From Above exhibit. To see more, visit Arthus-Bertrand's site or his other site. (Don't ask me why he has two sites with nearly identical URLs.)
2. Sad Guys on Trading Floors - a new photo blog. So far, this entry is my favorite.
3. Eleven things the next president should do for science
5. A creepy WP article about Palin's campaign rallies, with excerpts like these:
Palin then went on to blame Katie Couric's questions for her "less-than-successful interview with kinda mainstream media." At that, Palin supporters turned on reporters in the press area, waving thunder sticks and shouting abuse. Others hurled obscenities at a camera crew. One Palin supporter shouted a racial epithet at an African American sound man for a network and told him, "Sit down, boy."
...
"One of his earliest supporters is a man named Bill Ayers," she said. ("Boooo!" said the crowd.) "And, according to the New York Times, he was a domestic terrorist and part of a group that, quote, 'launched a campaign of bombings that would target the Pentagon and our U.S. Capitol,' " she continued. ("Boooo!" the crowd repeated.)
"Kill him!" proposed one man in the audience.
08 Oct 13:48 | Link | Category: Libraries & Digital Information, Link Dump '08, Photography, Politics, Science
September 1, 2008
Links 33
1. Surf like a Bushman - I just noticed this great article in my bookmarks list (which is finally shrinking to a more manageable size after 33 entries). I thought I would never find it again, so I'm pleased to be able to share it. Foraging theory is a useful, powerful way to investigate and explain animal behavior -- and (though some might disagree) a wide variety of human behaviors as well. Most humans now live in environments remarkably different from the one(s) in which we evolved, but it is reasonable to assume our brains still use the machinery and 'rules' shaped throughout our evolutionary history. Many of us now spend time browsing through text and images on the web rather than browsing through the woods looking for a particular plant or food source, but might modern humans 'forage' on the web in the same way we would forage for food as hunters & gatherers? From the article:
Imagine you're a financial analyst looking for data about an investment company. You've found a useful site on the Web, but it's starting to feel a bit stale. You'd like to move on, but you know that a search will take time and there's no guarantee that other sites will be any more useful. When should you abandon the dwindling supply? This, Pirolli and Card argue, is analogous to the problem faced by hunter-gatherers. And it can be solved in the same way.
The article (originally published in New Scientist) is a great read. This sort of research could have a significant impact on how we design information retrieval systems, although the authors note there are some limitations:
The analogy between food and information looks like being a big help to Web designers. But at some point, Pirolli says, it's likely to break down. For one thing, there's the question of evaluating costs and benefits. Biologists and anthropologists can always draw up an energy balance sheet for a foraging behaviour in joules. The value of information isn't so easy to measure.
2. How It All Ends - You've probably seen this guy before. If not, take some time to watch this video. It's slightly obnoxious (more so than his previous videos), but his arguments regarding global warming are very well-reasoned. If you really get into it, you can visit an enormous list of related videos in the 'More Info' box of the YouTube page.
3. Aboriginal archive offers new DRM - Short but intriguing article from the BBC (via John Hawks). It's difficult to overstate the importance of preserving the history and culture of indigenous groups, especially given that they are increasingly being subsumed by cultures around them and disappearing. Providing access to the information can be complicated by cultural rules, a lack of computer skills, and the like. For example, the archivist in the article encountered the following issue when displaying a slideshow of preserved photographs:
After loading them onto her laptop, she took them back to Tennant Creek and set up a slideshow - where she noticed that people turned away when certain images came up on screen.
For example, men cannot view women's rituals, and people from one community cannot view material from another without first seeking permission. Meanwhile images of the deceased cannot be viewed by their families.
These are issues we might not immediately think about. (I wonder how well some of our 'social software' might translate to other cultures.) The solution to this particular problem was to design a system that restricted access by requiring individuals to input name, age, sex, and standing within their community -- what the article describes as "a new take on DRM." Interesting stuff.
4. Did You Know - a video on globalization and the information age. Interesting, but long... and I'm not sure I trust their numbers. It would probably be better as a web page with proper citations.
5. Google to Host Terabytes of Open-Source Science Data
6. MIT Entrance Exam, 1869-70 - from the MIT Archives & Special Collections. Take the exam and see how well you do. You can also try your hand at the 1876 exam.
01 Sep 13:40 | Link | Category: Human/Primate Evolution & Behavior, Libraries & Digital Information, Link Dump '08, Science, Technology & Computing
August 26, 2008
Links 29
1. Walk Score - "Walk Score calculates the walkability of an address by locating nearby stores, restaurants, schools, parks, etc." - This is a clever tool that calculates how walkable your neighborhood is and displays results using a Google Maps mashup. I'm pleased to say my new neighborhood gets a "very walkable" score of 89 / 100. (Of course, that was one of my primary reasons for choosing this spot.) The site does a good job of showing what businesses, parks, and other facilities are within walking distance (for my neighborhood, at least... I'm not sure what their data source is, so your mileage may vary). Two limitations are the wide definition of what constitutes, say, a grocery store or restaurant, and the limited list of eight items per category.
2. Where the Hell is Matt? - This video has been floating around for months, but apparently I've never linked it to it. Hmm. This link is for any of you who somehow missed it. (There's a larger Vimeo vid at APotD.) The guy's site is here.
3. An anthropological introduction to YouTube - I'm fascinated by the intersection of technology and culture (beyond just the hype of the 'social web'), so I thought this video was worth sharing. It's a lecture by Michael Wesch, "a cultural anthropologist exploring the impact of new media on human interaction (and the impact of human interaction on new media)." He's currently working on an ethnography of YouTube.
4. Brain Scanners Can See Your Decisions Before You Make Them - If you take some time to study research on human behavior, you will find ample evidence supporting the interesting and unsettling fact that your 'conscious brain' doesn't always make decisions for you. (Libet's experiments are probably a good start.) Instead, you unconsciously make a decision and act, after which you consciously feel like you're making a decision and usually come up with some rationale for the decision you made (post hoc). It's strange, but there are all sorts of weird and fascinating experiments that demonstrate the phenomenon. (They tend to involve simple, quick sorts of decisions, so for now let's avoid deep, thorny philosophical discussions about whether or not free will is an illusion. Still, it should give you pause to realize you're not as 'in control' as you believe.)
5. Presidential Election Already Decided ... In Voters' Minds - Continuing in the same thread, an article in the current issue of Science (you'll need a subscription to read past the abstract) demonstrates how people often have their mind made up at an unconscious level based on mental associations, even when they consciously believe themselves to be undecided. The Wired article explores what this could mean for, say, politics. Creating negative associations in the unconscious minds of voters would, sadly, seem to be the best (or at least easiest) strategy for winning elections. And... when we think we're basing our votes on rational, informed judgement, are we really just going with our gut and coming up with post hoc justifications for supporting one candidate or another? (Our 'gut' having been influenced by negative association, dominance displays, assessment of sexual attractiveness, etc.) As depressing as that thought is, it would explain much about politics. (Once again, the great Stephen T. Colbert was on to something with his notion of truthiness that comes "from the gut".)
26 Aug 17:56 | Link | Category: Human/Primate Evolution & Behavior, Libraries & Digital Information, Link Dump '08, Politics, Science
February 12, 2008
Libraries and the Google Generation
According to a study by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the Pew Internet and American Life Project, young adults (18-30) are the heaviest users of public libraries. This might be surprising considering that they're also the so-called Google Generation, but I suspect it isn't surprising to librarians. (Interestingly, those who visit libraries are more likely to use many sources of information. I wonder if young people, having been born into an age of information, are more comfortable with it or crave it more.)
I think this bodes well for libraries that restructure as socially-inviting information centers (as opposed to simple book repositories or Internet cafés). As I type this, my school's library is in the midst of a major seismic renovation. When complete, a central feature of the library will be a knowledge commons -- a sort of research central, where students can interact with each other, get technology support, speak with reference librarians, etc. I have seen similar changes in local public libraries, as well.
There's no denying an ever-growing need for help sifting through information. (In fact, a recent study found that young people - the Google Generation - are lacking in information skills.) But it should not be forgotten that humans are tremendously social animals. We still want a physical place to congregate, communicate, share information, etc. Libraries are seizing on this fact. The main library in Salt Lake City is a pretty good example. It is, more than ever, a community center and a place for people to congregate. Along with the library, there's a coffee shop, art gallery, gardens, a radio station, and various shops. There are also some fairly unconventional choices within the actual library. (USA Today called it America's unquietest library.)
It's no surprise that people with high-speed Internet access use the library less than those with dial-up or no Internet at home, but they go to libraries just as heavily when they have problems to solve. As the ALA president says, libraries need to make sure people are aware of the resources available at libraries. I think libraries should increasingly focus on becoming vibrant social centers, as well.
Finally, here's a link I previously blogged (almost four years ago): 10 Reasons Why the Internet Is No Substitute for a Library. It's slightly dated, but most of the points still apply.
12 Feb 20:05 | Link | Category: Libraries & Digital Information, Technology & Computing
February 7, 2008
Sheet Music Consortium
I occasionally become obsessed with a piece of classical music. This time around, it's Chopin's Nocturne No. 19 in E minor - Op. 72, No. 1. (Don't let the opus number fool you. It was actually written very early in Chopin's career but wasn't published until after his death.) It may well be my favorite of his nocturnes... or at least among the top three. Anyway. I decided to learn it, which meant tracking down sheet music. These days, it's not very difficult to find sheet music for well-known compositions (unlike the "good old days" when you had to take a trip to the music store, hope they had a copy of the piece you were looking for, and pay some exorbitant amount for it). However, doing a simple web search means sifting through lots of extraneous links, commercial sites, and such.
For well-known classical pieces, my first stop is the wonderful Mutopia Project, which has a decent selection of sheet music (based on public domain editions and created using LilyPond). If that doesn't work, I often try to find a site that focuses on a particular composer, like chopinmusic.net. They had a PDF version of the song. Theirs appears to be scanned from a print version and unlike the copy I found at Mutopia, it has fingering, which is helpful at first (even if you don't end up following it exactly).
Finally, it's often useful to check with university libraries and music departments, which often have extensive sheet music collections, many of which have been digitized and put online. (See this list, for example.) The University of Chicago has a large collection of Chopin first editions, which is pretty cool.
But the reason I'm writing this post is because today I stumbled across a site that I had previously been unaware of. Several schools have formed a Sheet Music Consortium, using OAI-PMH to make their collections interoperable. What this means is that in one step, you can search several sheet music collections at once. (There are currently seven data providers.) I tried it and immediately located a digitized, accessible copy of the nocturne from the Library of Congress. I love stuff like this. I hope the project continues to grow and incorporate even more collections.
07 Feb 18:53 | Link | Category: Libraries & Digital Information, Music
January 3, 2008
Shelving Game
Shelving books has never been so... fun? weird? trippy?
Check out this Library of Congress classification game. The chipper music and the gruff "you're not done yet" aren't so bad, but the "YES!" and "ALL RIGHT!" guy seems a little too enthusiastic about shelving books.
I must admit that I played through to the end. My inner librarian loved the fact that I could shelve all the books and have them stay in perfect order, because my time working at a library taught me that this never happens in reality (at least not at a public library). Patrons constantly put books back on the shelf in the wrong spot and, more importantly, shelving never ends. You never finish shelving. It's a constant process that must be diligently monitored. And if the computers go down or a power outage occurs, the backlog takes ages to clear out. It's like the 'Seinfeld' episode in which Newman explains why postal workers 'go postal':
Because the mail never stops. It just keeps coming and coming. Piles of it, more and more! And you have to put it all out, but the more you put it out, the more it keeps coming in! And then the barcode reader breaks! And it's Publisher's Clearing House Day!
(Maybe it would be helpful for library workers to have someone standing next to them saying "YES!" and "ALL RIGHT!" every time they shelved a book correctly.)
03 Jan 0:59 | Link | Category: Interactive, Libraries & Digital Information
September 6, 2006
Library Photos (or "Hot Library Smut")
I found this post at the nonist and had to share.
Maybe I'm just a library junky (which is to say, maybe other people don't value libraries aesthetically) but I think the photos (from a book by Candida Höfer) are astounding. I've fantasized about what it would be like to visit historical libraries (starting with the Great Library of Alexandria), yet I have failed to take the opportunity to visit many truly awe-inspiring modern libraries. (Note that most of the libraries on the page are from Europe. I wonder why everyone seems to make museum trips to Europe, but no one makes library trips.)
I would love a copy of that book. For a taste of what it might be like to have big, glossy versions of the photos on that page, check out the panorama of the British Museum reading room (3 MB) from Wikipedia's "Library" entry.
06 Sep 0:33 | Link | Category: Libraries & Digital Information, Photography
August 24, 2006
AOL's little accident
By now, you've probably heard about how AOL publicly released web search terms entered by 650,000 of its subscribers over a three-month period. The data was originally released on a research site, but quickly found its way, well, everywhere. The whole problem is that although the search terms were not connected to a user name, they were connected to a numeric ID. Unbelievably stupid on AOL's part (they have since admitted their mistake and booted their CTO). I mention the incident because it's interesting for a number of reasons, particularly issues of privacy.
People everywhere downloaded the data set and began to analyze it. Here's a good overview complete with some basic analysis of the data, including top search terms and such. Interestingly, the top search on AOL is... Google. Also look at the top ten searches including the term AOL. You'll see all of them have to do with canceling AOL service. Heh.
Lots of people have sifted through the data. Some of it is funny, some disturbing, some baffling. Adam D'Angelo provides some examples of searches by various users and says:
Compared to some of the data, these examples are on the safe side. I'm leaving out the worst of it - searches for names of specific people, addresses, telephone numbers, illegal drugs, and more. There is no question that law enforcement, employers, or friends could figure out who some of these people are.
User 17556639, for example, is disturbingly preoccupied with murder. Paul Boutin of Slate writes:
The New York Times quickly sussed out that AOL Searcher No. 4417749 was 62-year-old Thelma Arnold. Indeed, Arnold has a "dog who urinate on everything," just as she'd typed into the search box. Valleywag has become one of many clearinghouses for funny, bizarre, and painful user profiles. The searches of AOL user No. 672368, for example, morphed over several weeks from "you're pregnant he doesn't want the baby" to "foods to eat when pregnant" to "abortion clinics charlotte nc" to "can christians be forgiven for abortion."
While these case studies are good voyeuristic fodder, snooping through one user's life barely scratches the surface of this data trove. The startup company I work for, Splunk, makes software to search computer-generated log files. AOL's 36 million log entries might look like an Orwellian nightmare to you, but for us it's a user transaction case study to die for. Using the third-party site splunkd.com, I've parsed the AOL data to create a typology of AOL Search users.
(His seven types are: The Pornhound, The Manhunter, The Shopper, The Obsessive, The Omnivore, The Newbie, and The Basket Case.)
The data is funny and disturbing (and sordid and bizarre) at many levels. This sort of thing has enormous ramifications, though. I'll leave it to you to imagine how this type of data could be used and abused by everyone from crazy individuals to unscrupulous organizations to governments.
To search the records for yourself, try a site like AOL Log Search. I played around with it for five or ten minutes and found plenty of weird, disturbing stuff. For example, I searched for the term "Firefox" and then clicked on one of the IDs that showed up. User 3151814 was interested in Firefox, "geneolgy," "sincitystrippers," "names of angels demons," "alien government newworldorder," "sons of gods sons of daughters," and biblebrowser.com.
(It would actually be pretty interesting to see my own search history all compiled and thrown together. I wonder what I would think about myself based on it.)
For further reading:
More on what Google (and other search engines) know about you (from Boing Boing back in January).
U.S. Wants Companies to Keep Web Usage Records
EFF page on AOL's Massive Data Leak
Update: More profiles. Also read: The Database of Intentions.
24 Aug 16:50 | Link | Category: Libraries & Digital Information, Technology & Computing
April 26, 2006
Berkeley on iTunes
A few weeks ago, I mentioned that Stanford had opened up part of their iTunes U program to the public, so anyone could download audio of various visiting lectures and other events. Now it seems UC Berkeley has taken the idea a step further by actually opening up course content to the public. Cool.
Head over to itunes.berkeley.edu to get in.
If you have trouble choosing a course, I suggest you try IB 31: Animal Behavior. I haven't actually listened to the lectures, but animal behavior and behavioral ecology are fascinating topics. If you don't want to commit to listening to a whole course, there are a few lectures with intriguing titles:
- On the Trail of Our Human Ancestors by Tim White
- Studying the Human Condition: Habits of an Anthropologist by Nancy Scheper-Hughes
- Making Science Accessible by Eva Harris
- History of Information
- Open Source Development and Distribution of Digital Information: Technical, Economic, Social, and Legal Perspectives
- Search Engines-Technology, Society, and Business
- Bush Science: Use and Abuse of Science in Policymaking by Various.
26 Apr 19:56 | Link | Category: Cool Links, Human/Primate Evolution & Behavior, Libraries & Digital Information
April 8, 2006
Stanford on iTunes
Stanford University is using iTunes to deliver digital content. Part of the project is a completely free public site from which you can download lectures, music, and other stuff. Check it out here. You'll need iTunes, but I'm not sure whether or not you need an account to download.
There are lots of interesting lectures. All the audio I listen to tends to be music, but I think I'm going to forgo the music once in a while to listen to some of these. Some recommended downloads (even though I've only listened to a few of them so far):
- Daniel Dennett: Intelligent Design
- Peter Godfrey-Smith: Philosophy of Science
- Robert Sapolsky: Stress and Coping: What Baboons Can Teach Us
- Denise Clark Pope: Getting Ahead in School: How We Are Creating a Generation of Stressed-Out, Materialistic, and Miseducated Students
- David Laitin and James Fearon: Postmodern Imperialism
- Laura Carstensen: Aging and the Perception of Time
- Robert Dunbar: Is Global Warming Real? Climate Change and Our Energy Future
- Steve Jobs: 2005 Commencement Address (or video)
While I'm on the topic of iTunes downloads, episodes of The Daily Show and The Colbert Report can now be downloaded. They're expensive at $1.99 a pop, but you can also purchase a 'multi-pass' that gets you sixteen episodes for $9.99. (They download automatically the day after they air on TV.) It's still not the cheapest way to get your Daily Show or Colbert Report fix (at about 60¢ an episode), but it's very convenient. I got a pass for The Daily Show just out of curiosity, and once the sixteen episodes were up, I really missed being able to watch The Daily Show - commercial-free - whenever it was most convenient for me.
08 Apr 1:00 | Link | Category: Art & Entertainment, Cool Links, Libraries & Digital Information, Technology & Computing
February 1, 2006
Who IS reading in America?
(I promise this will be the last post about literacy.)
We've already established that a good chunk of college graduates are "illiterate." Is this yet another sign that Americans are reading less and less?
I don't know that I have much insight. I can say from my time working in a public library that the fluffy stuff is what gets checked out... but it's probably always been that way. (This reminds me of the time a young man was checking out a John Steinbeck novel. I was having a brief conversation with him about it, when another clerk walked by and seemed flabbergasted that the guy was reading it for fun. He smiled and said, "Well, Dan Brown's not for everyone, I guess." Damn, I felt like hugging that guy, since I had checked out about fifty thousand copies of The Da Vinci Code in the previous hour.)
What does it mean when high-achieving college students are reading less proficiently than their counterparts a generation ago? Are we slowly becoming a nation of non-readers?
This isn't the first time I've seen a red flag raised. Ten years ago Lewis Lapham heralded the death of literature in a published letter to his nephew (himself an aspiring writer) in Harper's magazine. I wondered then, as I do now: Could this be true?
Schurmann points out that he's "always found literacy and literature outside the mainstream and in the private corners and cracks of society. Below Manhattan, in the city's subway system you can find more readers of classical and contemporary literature than you can in all the city's libraries." He concludes that "it's society's outcasts who will continue to treasure and reproduce literature."
I have no answers for the Department of Education. I'm not sure if a "proficient reading level" is even that important for students in higher education. To Mr. Lapham, however, I would say that literature seems to come from the dysfunctional edges of culture and society.
(When he writes about Hemingway and Wilde and Flannery O'Connor, it reminds me of a fantastic Nick Cave song, There She Goes, My Beautiful World.)
It's an interesting take, and I think he makes an excellent point. Of the people I consider amazingly well-read and broad-minded, I would guess off the top of my head that the majority either never went to college or dropped out. (I also know a fair number of grad students who are just amazingly clueless. [Remind me to share my story about the linguistics grad students sometime.]) I think this says something about intelligence, conformity, the educational system, society's fringes and subcultures, art & artists (literary and otherwise), and many other things. I need to toddle off to bed, so I can't get into it... but it's food for thought. Mmmmm... tasty.
01 Feb 0:02 | Link | Category: Libraries & Digital Information, Opinion & Thoughts
December 10, 2005
Google Earth / Windows Live Local
If you haven't used Google Earth yet, you're missing out on one of the coolest little apps in quite a while. There are a number of other similar products, but I haven't yet seen one that's quite as nicely done as Google Earth. I've been eagerly awaiting a Mac version of Google Earth for months, and finally it has arrived! (Well, sort of. It hasn't been officially released yet, but if you're resourceful you should be able to find a copy floating around the internets. I downloaded a copy and it runs perfectly on my G5. Hopefully an official release will come shortly.)
In related news, Microsoft's Virtual Earth has become Windows Live Local (also still in beta). I can't say I understand the name change, and the interface isn't very usable yet (in Firefox, at least) -- but there are some cool features. The Birds Eye Images are extremely cool. There's also an interesting "locate me" feature (that has caused some concern among privacy advocates).
I've wasted entirely too much time looking at maps and aerial photos today. The silence shall now resume.
10 Dec 17:39 | Link | Category: Interactive, Libraries & Digital Information, Technology & Computing
October 27, 2005
Asimov on libraries
From Isaac Asimov's memoir:
Now, when I read constantly about the way in which library funds are being cut and cut, I can only think that the door is closing and that American society has found one more way to destroy itself.
27 Oct 21:50 | Link | Category: Libraries & Digital Information, Opinion & Thoughts
April 8, 2005
Google Maps
If you've been under a rock for a few days, you might have missed all the buzz about the new satellite imagery feature from Google Maps. Check out Google Sightseeing (from Shreddies) for quick aerial visits to places like Rainbow Bridge, Alcatraz, and the Neverland Ranch. Chris of Cynical-C has also put up a list of interesting views from the Golden Gate Bridge and Las Vegas Strip to Burning Man setup.
I have to agree with Mark Morford's assessment that it's creepy, but in a very cool way. I'm actually a little surprised by the buzz, since TerraServer has been around for ages, and their aerial photos are far more detailed than Google's. But apparently Google's imagery is more comprehensive. And the interface and loading speed are both quite impressive.
Incidentally, TerraServer has a collection of famous places, too. Click the "urban areas" tab (when available) for color photos.
Now I'm going to sit back, imagine the CIA spying on me, and muse on that whole WMD thing. I have this vivid memory from school during the 80s of some official-ish person telling my class that, using spy satellites, the military could tell if someone was drinking Coke or Pepsi (ah, for the heydays of the cola wars...) because they could tell what color of aluminum can a person was holding. I've always wondered if that was true...
Oh, here are a few of my creepy TerraServer photos:
- Part of my university's campus
- The neighborhood where I spent the first half of my life (things do look a bit different now)... I'll spare you the long slideshow of other places I've lived.
Weird. Anyway, remember: You are being watched.
08 Apr 14:53 | Link | Category: Cool Links, Libraries & Digital Information, Misc. Tidbits, Technology & Computing, Travel
October 12, 2004
Dispatches from a Public Librarian
Hopefully those of you who haven't worked for a public library will find this as humorous and interesting as I did: Dispatches from a Public Librarian.
It includes lists of lost & found items for the day, odd stories about patrons, notes about books, items found in the bookdrop, etc.
(The only gift I ever had the luck to receive in the bookdrop was a meal from McDonald's. The fries had flown everywhere making many of the books greasy and smelly. But apparently this was pretty mild - in years past employees found, among other things, a dead cat and what one of the librarians gingerly referred to as "fecal matter".)
12 Oct 14:32 | Link | Category: Libraries & Digital Information, Misc. Tidbits
June 10, 2004
Old Films
If you have broadband, you should head over to the Prelinger Archives (part of the wonderful archive.org) to check out some of the old films housed there.
A Case of Spring Fever is one of the strangest technology films I've ever seen. "Coily" is, uh, quite the character. Quite bizarre, but very entertaining.
You might also want to check out a 1927 instructional film on usage of dial telephones. A film about early atom bomb testing is also quite interesting.
If you're in the mood for an actual feature film, may I suggest 1938's Reefer Madness? (As a side note, you should also check out Eric Schlosser's excellent book of the same name.)
(via Incoming Signals)
Update: Check out Boing Boing's Prelinger Archive gems
10 Jun 0:44 | Link | Category: Art & Entertainment, Libraries & Digital Information
May 12, 2004
10 Reasons Why the Internet Is No Substitute for a Library
When acquaintances find out I work part-time at a library, too many of them ask me if people even use libraries "when they can use the Internet instead."
For those who haven't visited any type of library for a few years, I'd like to report that libraries are far from being dead. From what I've seen, they seem to be thriving.
Forgetting fiction & audiovisual and focusing mainly on non-fiction & reference, here are ten reasons why the Internet is no substitute for a library.
12 May 0:21 | Link | Category: Libraries & Digital Information, Misc. Tidbits, Technology & Computing