Back in January, Paula J. Hayne wrote two articles for ITI Newslink on information and technology trends in 2008. They are definitely worth checking out if you're looking for a Cliff's Notes version of what you should be paying attention to in the coming year in terms of user and staff technology services.
Here's a fun site for you: WhoDitty. Look up song names through fragments of lyrics, artist name, where you heard it, etc. It's heavily ad-laden and once the search has run, you have to click again to see the actual results (bummer, dude). It works quite well for the lyrics search particularly. I did a number of searches, like "when you slam down the hammer…" and the top hit was the right one ("Speedway" by Morrissey for those interested parties). The site provides direct links to buy the MP3 from either iTunes or Amazon (more ads).
I still recommend AllMusic.com for all information related to music and musicians. They have quite a database, with complete discographies, biographies, contributions to other recordings, and a ton more.
A very interesting report from the Secure Enterprise 2.0 Forum is available now as a 15 page PDF: "Top Web 2.0 Security Threats." If you work in IT in a library, or for web services, you should take a look at the report to see if your work is secure or if there are more things you could be doing to protect yourself. It includes a lot of programming language lingo and so is probably not the most friendly document for the layperson. They feature different types of threats, and then sometimes give real world examples of the threats. I do want to emphasize that many of these holes are already covered through proper use of firewalls, staff passwords, account information security, etc. However, a quick read-through might make you re-think some of your practices, particularly if you have not re-examined your security protocols since the advent of Web 2.0 (which was several years back, so I hope that you have done a self-audit since then).
Want to track the White House's latest plans for the economic crisis? Check out the optimistically-named FinancialStability.gov, a site created by the White House to communicate information to the public about the problems facing the country's financial system and its citizens, and provide tips and links for people. The site officially says "coming soon," which is funny since they are already running radio ads on NPR for it. The site has some helpful links though, and might be a good place to start if you're looking for places to point patrons when they have questions about the stability plan and what it means for them.
Update: Also check out Recovery.gov – a site with a bit more content.
Happy news! LibrarianInBlack.net is now available in syndicated format on the Amazon Kindle (and the brand spanking new Amazon Kindle 2). A company called Newstex syndicates a number of blogs in different subject areas, including several librarian blogs. The content also goes into databases provided by companies like Lexis Nexis and EBSCO. It makes me happy to have my content out there in other formats, if you will, and the teensy tiny royalty checks aren't too bad either. Last year I made something like $55.
If you haven't taken a look at the Kindle 2, it's worth a glance. It's still Digital Rights Management-laden, but it does have several new features like a crisper display, more storage space, 3G wireless, a new slim 1/3" thick design, longer battery life, a text-to-speech feature where Kindle will read books, periodicals, and blogs (even mine!) out loud to you.
So…long live the Kindle 2 and long live syndication in all its various glory.
If you like open source lemme hear you say "yeah!"
If you like open source lemme hear you say "yeah!"
Check out Open Source Living, a huge resource that lists open source software in many, many categories and offers a forum for discussions about open source products as well as other OS-related issues. Being community-driven, it continues to expand with more and more resources daily. Take a look and see if you can't help but bookmark the darn thing 
And, in a bad budget year, may I make a humble suggestion that library IT departments take a look at their software expenditures each year and see where an open source product of sufficient quality, reliability, and ease of use (like Open Office) might make more sense than renewing those 200 licenses for Microsoft Office?
I'm late to the game, but I'm gonna say it anyway: Google Earth got bigger with its 5.0 edition with the additions of explorations of the ocean floors and of historical images of the earth's surface as well. See how things have changed – see ice disappear from glacial areas, see deserts grow, see cities expand, you name it. Oh yes, and all the little fishies and underwater volcanos are cool too For more info, check out the lengthy write up from the always awesome ars technica.
My local paper, the Marin Independent Journal, recently published a 16-page insert section celebrating the San Rafael Public Library's 100th anniversary: 100 Years Ago in San Rafael: a Front Row Seat for Lizzie. Completely original content created to tell the story of a young girl present for the conception and building of the San Rafael Public Library through a Carnegie grant, it was written by Tina Stolberg and illustrated by Tim Park. What a lovely and rare thing for a local paper to have 16 pages dedicated to a library. Go SRPL!
Looking to make your home greener? Do you like solar panels but have no idea where to start? Check out the Green Home Guide. You can search for particular types of green housing professionals based on where you live. Currently it is very limited and only includes Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area, and New York, but is growing apparently (like something green should!). They also offer an email newsletter, an RSS feed for new content, and an Ask a Pro feature where you can ask your own specific questions about green housing and an expert will respond! Nice!
This has been all over the news of late, but that doesn't make it any less juicy. A NASA group was assigned to find barriers to innovation within the organization. So they did. And their final product was not some stodgy memo or report, but a video which they have so nicely posted on YouTube for all to see: Barriers to Innovation and Inclusion.
If you find that you have barriers to innovation and inclusion at your own library, you will find this video very applicable to your own situation. Every organization's problems are pretty much the same. Yes, even NASA too.
I can't help but think that this might be a good video to show at a staff meeting, or at a staff training for managers. We all have the best intentions, but we squash each other from time to time without even meaning to. And then there are those who actually do mean to squash people and ideas, but there's not much to be done about them except to get them fired.
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