Higher Education

I learned about the ‘The Google Public Data Explorer‘ from ResearchBuzz.org.   Very interesting!  Might be of use in the classroom or for doing a research project or paper.
In Google’s own words, the resource subtitled,’Data visualizations for a changing world’:
‘makes large datasets easy to explore, visualize and communicate. As the charts and maps animate [...]

Continue Reading Introducing the ‘Google Public Data Explorer’

An article on InsideHigherEd.com entitled, ‘Text Generation‘,  got me started thinking about texting and communicating with students.   Personally, I don’t think in most cases the students should have a teacher’s cell phone number.  However, I think it would be interesting to provide texting options with the ‘library and specificially the ‘reference librarian’ as in the [...]

Continue Reading Texting and Communicating with Students

InsideHigherEd.com posted an interesting article about ‘the university library of the future’.  The article simply entitled, ‘Libraries of the Future’, begins:
‘The university library of the future will be sparsely staffed, highly decentralized, and have a physical plant consisting of little more than special collections and study areas.’
Read on…http://www.insidehighered.com

Continue Reading University Libraries of the Future

The September 28th issue of Time magazine had an interesting article entitled, ‘Where Wikipedia Ends’ that although Wikipedia hit the ‘3 million article mark’ in August 2009 its ‘growth line flattened’ in early 2007.  The article looks at some of the possible reasons such as ‘has all knowledge been summarized’, has the site become too [...]

Continue Reading Wikipedia ‘is suddenly adding fewer articles and has fewer editors’

Strategy+Business magazine (www.Strategy-Business.com) had an excellent article in their 54th issue, Spring 2009.  The article was entitled, “The Library Rebooted“.  Here is a brief quote:
“Their world has changed–a lot.  The library’s underlying promise hasn’t changed; the library is still a way for us to break beyond the immediate boundaries of our world, to…But the environment [...]

Continue Reading “The Library Rebooted” - a comprehensive article on the state of libraries

Kimberly Miller of the Palm Beach Post wrote a good article, State university officials take aim at slashing book prices examining the issue and seeking solutions.  Some excerpts:
“The rising cost of textbooks has long been a sore spot for students and parents. And for good reason. Textbook prices have increased at twice the rate of [...]

Continue Reading Soaring Textbook Prices and Solutions

The Internet and the news are full of reports of how libraries are meeting the needs of hurting patrons.  Here are a few examples:
Libraries are bustling with job huntersHouston Chronicle - United States
Hard times are boom times for public libraries, experts say, noting
that scanning computerized job banks and filing résumés via the
Internet largely have [...]

Continue Reading Recession and Public Libraries

Jen Matsick wrote a thoughtful and insightful article comparing advertising and marketing of books as compared to other forms of media:
“Books are a bit of a unique element of the world of entertainment. Unlike movies and music, which can be heard, seen, and advertised using just about every aspect of the media - television, radio, [...]

Continue Reading ‘Blockbuster Books’

Ironically one of the best passages about the value of libraries I’ve ever read came from an article about library cutbacks and closings in Pennsylvania:
“In Franklin’s and Carnegie’s times, the library offered access to encyclopedias and books. It gave everyone a chance to educate himself during a time when access to education, especially higher education, [...]

Continue Reading Library Cutbacks in Pennsylvania and Lower Income Citizens

Fallon, NV’s Lahontan Valley News reports in “Libraries thrive in poor economies” that
“People’s wallets are getting lighter and are going out less unless it is to their local library.  As the economy continues to slide, local libraries are experiencing a sudden influx in clientele using their free services.”
Read on…http://www.lahontanvalleynews.com

Continue Reading “Libraries thrive in poor economies”