Just Say No

I wonder what Nancy Reagan would say? I do feel that I suffer from this, anyone else?

See BBC article 'Infomania' worse than marijuana

New Partnership of NLM and Google

This is from NLM.

Google Co-op Beta
Google Co-op beta is a community where users can contribute their knowledge and expertise to improve Google search for everyone. Organizations, businesses, or individuals can label web pages relevant to their areas of expertise or create specialized links to which users can subscribe.

Once a user has subscribed to a provider's content, all of that provider's labels and subscribed links are added to the user's search results for relevant queries. These contributions serve as meta information that helps Google's search algorithms connect users to the most relevant information for their specific query. Users interested in contributing can get started at http://www.google.com/coop.

For example, a doctor can label web pages related to arthritis, and users who subscribe to that doctor's information will receive options at the top of the results for more specific information such as "treatment," "symptoms," or "for health professionals" when they enter a relevant query.

As a first step, Google has worked with partners to annotate web pages related to health and city guides and to offer dozens of subscribed links to specialized content such as restaurant and movie information. Going forward, the broader online community will begin building out new topic areas and subscribed links to help improve the way people find and discover information online.

Users can subscribe to content and providers at www.google.com/coop/directory. Google Co-op is available today on all English language Google domains including Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom.

Google's press release with more search options can be found here:
http://www.google.com/press/pressrel/new_tech.html

Google Librarian Center

Could this be the beginning of a Google Librarian alliance? If you haven’t subscribed to the Google Librarian newsletter, I recommend it. It’s not very frequent so it’s not a burden on your email and it’s always good to see what Google has brewing.
Google Librarian Center

Speaking of Google. Rumor has it that the Google Health will be released this week.
Full Story
Another Story

RLG and OCLC Merge

"Two of the world’s largest membership-based information organizations have agreed to come together. The combined organization will offer an integrated product and service line, and will give libraries, archives and museums new leverage in developing services, standards and software that will help them support research and disseminate knowledge online."

Read the Full Story

Bubble 2.0

Has anyone in this group read the Cluetrain Manifesto? It was written in 2000 at the time before the first Internet bubble burst. Not only am I'm struck by how much of it still rings true today, but it makes me really appreciate the first bubble itself. Many of the concepts and technologies that burst 5 years ago are now coming true due to, in my opinion, better infrastructure and less hype. There was an interesting story on Marketplace entitled Dot-com Deja Vu where the reporter points out that while all of the "get rich quick" folks left town after the bubble burst, the developers stayed the course and for that reason we have a lot of the interesting Web 2.0 technologies that we see today.

Some things are timeless

This article is from 1998, but still relevant today.
Is Strategic Planning for Technology an Oxymoron?

Will Libraries Survive?

This is an interesting article that seems to mimic several conversations I've heard around the water cooler.

Libraries: Standing at the Wrong Platform, Waiting for the Wrong Train?