Opps, Maybe Not the 'Future' After All

 

Interesting how titles tend to change over time. I was going through a number of old posts and saw a reference to an article in Newsweek from 10 years ago, extolling the virtues of the recently released Amazon Kindle. The title of the article was, "The Future of Reading". Since it was a relatively old link, I clicked on it just to make sure it still worked. And it did -- only the title of the article now read, "Amazon: Reinventing the Book".

That was funny. Did I get the original title wrong? I went to my best friend, Archive.org and looked the thing up -- and sure enough, the original title was "The Future of Reading"

So between 2007 and now, apparently the Kindle no longer rated as the "Future" of reading. This is understandable. For every true 'revolution' in technology, there are always a dozen (or more) false starts. This was one of them.

Staats-Zeitung, My Uncles and Abraham Lincoln

I saw Sidney Blumenthal discuss his book "The Political Life of Lincoln, 1849-1856" at Printers Row Lit Fest over the weekend.  He talked about the critical role local newspapers played in the anti-slavery movement -- some of which Lincoln wrote articles for.  One newspaper in particular was the Chicago-based "Staats-Zeitung".  This rang a bell for me as I recalled my uncles Julius and Ernest being involved with the same paper in the late 20s early 30s. Below is a copy of the newspaper's listing from the "Illinois Newspaper Directory & History" (1934).

Current Cites for May 2017

Current Cites for May 2017 is out! You can find the issue here...

I couldn't resist recommending something non-library this month -- an interview with Tim Berners Lee, inventor of the WWW. His advice for "young computer scientists" was what you might expect from a true innovator, namely, "ignoring conventional wisdom and following their own instincts."

Current Cites for Apr. 2017

Current Cites for Apr. 2017 is out! You can find the issue here...

The article I recommended almost seemed like an April Fool's joke when I first saw the title, "The Rewards of Predatory Publications at a Small Business School". But nope, it was serious -- the argument being, if you don't understand the 'incentives', you won't know how to counter them. Um, okay.

Group Shot at Drupal MidCamp 2017

(Yeah, that's me on the right, front row.) Drupal MidCamp was held at DePaul this year. Here's a link to the larger image...

No Dear, ISPs Are Not Websites

 Snider, Mike: "ISPs Can Now Collect and Sell Your Data: What to Know About Internet Privacy Rules", USA Today (4/4/2017).

So here's an analogy: if 50 years ago AT&T (or whatever they called themselves back then) had kept records of all your phone calls and then started selling that information to the highest bidder -- would they have gotten away with it? I don't think so. (In fact, interesting research topic.)

ISPs are not websites. They're governed by different rules, regulated by different agencies and golly-molly, ya just can't get on the internet without them. That makes them a utility and frankly, there's no similarity to Facebook, Google, etc.

But, hey, we're living in a free country! There's nothing keeping those ISPs from setting up their own groovy websites so they can take advantage of the same benefits. Problem solved!

Hippy Talk Circa 1970

 Early 1970s article from the Chicago alternative magazine 'The Seed'. Love the hippy talk: "head shop", "trick", "bust" and "rap".

Usability-Thursdays

MPOW: I set up shop at the computer lab in the Student Center and then hustled out to the hallway to ask students if they had time to test out a page. Some had to go to class. Others said yes (8 in total).

Results went on the writing pad and my cellphone served as a stopwatch.

Funniest moment: Someone who does webwork for another dept. said, "I wish we did testing too."

Current Cites for Jan. 2017

 Current Cites for Jan. 2017 is out! You can find the issue here...

First Books of 2017

Actually I've had the 'Handbook of Usability Testing' for years -- the first edition, that is.

Something funny about that article title...

Something funny about that article title...

Looks Like Uncle Julius

Found this picture in a book titled, "German Chicago: The Danube Swabians and the American Aid Societies". That older fellow with the bowtie sure looks like my Uncle Julius.

Behind the Scenes in WYSIWYG

 Looking at the 'plain text' behind the WYSIWYG. I'm impressed:

<hr />
<p>&nbsp;
<h3>Alumni Receptions 2017</h3>
</p>

Email Outside of Work? France Says 'Non Merci'

A couple of interesting articles on the law just passed in France regulating (remember that's not outlawing!) emails outside of work.

Deutsche Welle reports:

From today, organizations with more than 50 workers will need to start negotiations to define the rights of employees to ignore their smartphones and not be forced to check and send emails on weekends and in the evenings.

Engadget comments:

French companies will be more likely to respect your work/life balance -- even if they don't mark certain hours as off-limits, they can't make unexpected requests that force you to drop everything.

Distinguished Guest in Library

 Welcoming distinguished guest in town for the holidays.

At the Reference Desk with an Eye on a Couple of Things

Wednesday evening. Seventh game of the 2016 World Series. Audio was off but we could take a peek at the video every once and a while if only to check the score.

The Gift to Be Indexing

Indexing? It's a tough job but someone's gotta do it. That said, I largely agree with the sentiment expressed below. I guess the way I would express it isn't "reflecting how the reader thinks" so much as establishing categories (or stepping stones?) of content that the reader can then plow through.

The role of the index in digital products has become a subject of heated debate when information professionals gather to formalize standards. Some publishers and authors are under the misguided impression that a full-text search can replace the traditional subject index. The American Society for Indexing (ASI) has spent the last few years reminding the world that a good index is not just a concordance; it adds value to a digital object beyond the basic word search. An index created by a good indexer reflects how the reader thinks and offers entry points that may not be written in the text. With increased attention on analytics and search, there is also a strong argument to be made that indexes are more important for digital publications than print ones.

Badgett, Nan. Medford, NJ. "A Review of "The Accidental Indexer", Information Today, 2015, 240 pp. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/19322909.2016.1229075

Yabba Dabba Doo!

Go Cubs! Go Cubs! Go Cubs!

Lost in Space

Yesterday's stroll through the southwest side of Chicago. Finally found Ogden and Western (though when I got there, I had to ask what way was north).

Current Cites for Sept. 2016

Current Cites for Sept. 2016 is out! You can find the issue here...

This month I recommended a helpful article from the Journal of Web Librarianship that discussed the use of Google Analytics to improve library website design.