Sunday’s New York Times has an article about the changing role of librarians in this new digital age. While the article has a focus on school media specialists, it is an interesting read, and a great bit of visibility for the profession.
It also discusses some of the challenges that librarians face today; balancing an ever-shrinking budget with an ever-expanding amount of information, and the need for a trained professional to filter out the relevant content.
(It’s also the second most emailed article of the day!)
Article here.
And to off-set that bit of negativity, here’s a list of PC World’s Top 50 Gadgets.
A great list full of some pretty awesome items (and moments of great nostalgia– remember the “Speak and Spell”?)
PC World has an interesting list of “The 25 Worst Tech Products of All Time.” Librarians being the charge leaders in this new age of technology and gadgets, I thought you might find it interesting to take a look back at those technological advances that almost made it but, for whatever reason, didn’t quite get off the ground.
Article here.
LawyerKM has an interesting article arguing for the benefits of using Twitter as an information resource for lawyers and law firms.
Article here.
The ABA has an interesting article about using Google Alerts to help out lawyers.
Watching the Digital Radar with Google News Alerts
By Sharon Nelson and John Simek
Read here.
This suggestion was especially interesting:
▪ Gauge your return on investment for marketing activities—for example, if you send out a press release or host a national seminar, enter identifying terms for it and see how often it appears in blogs and on the Internet generally.
In an attempt to provide information from a source that’s not in some way related to Google, a group of academic libraries who have been participating in the Google pooling of resources has created a back-up.
The libraries seek to “create a stable backup of the digital books should Google go bankrupt or lose interest in the book-searching business.”
Article here.
An interesting article in Wired magazine gives us a look inside Jay Walker’s private library.
Which is very pretty.
*Very* pretty.
Article here.
India welcomes its first E-Law Library.
SeattlePi.com has an article this morning that says that the average law student has “28 pounds of books worth about $1,000 per semester” in their backpacks. Amazon.com and other content providers are examining e-books as a back (and wallet) friendly alternative in a conference later on this month.
Books a weighty issue for law schools
We’re going to take this opportunity to promote PLI’s own Online Library, which allows online access to all of our Course Handbook and treatise titles, with releases automatically updated; a space and budget saving alternative to a print subscription. For more information, email us at LibraryRelations@pli.edu.