Tennant: Digital Libraries

November 19, 2009 | Link This | Email this | Comments (4)

For some reason, we love to take quizzes. In fact, if the email I receive from Facebook is any indication, we are flat out crazy about taking quizzes. So I decided to create a quiz to help you figure out if you have what it takes to be a digital librarian. May the best librarian score high.

1. You are an academic librarian and you are faced with the opportunity to either launch an institutional digital repository on your own or collaborate with your university press to launch a scholarly publishing effort over which you will have limited control. You decide to:
   1. Say "thanks but no thanks" and launch a digital repository that you can control.
   2. Say "let me start our repository first and get back to you on your idea later".
   3. Say "sure th

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Industries: News & Features

November 16, 2009 | Link This | Email this | Comments (0)

At various times I've written about Blacklight, a next-generation library discovery tool. For a while it seemed to be primarily only a University of Virginia project, but recently it has really come into its own. At the Digital Library Federation Fall Forum this past week, it attracted a roomful of people to share what they are doing with it or to find out more about it.

Development partners includ...Read More

Industries: News & Features

November 13, 2009 | Link This | Email this | Comments (1)

In two unrelated and yet similar moves, Google has released two very interesting software initiatives. The first is that they released a set of Javascript tools they are calling "Closure". These tools include:

Closure Compiler
Closure Compiler is a JavaScript optimizer that compiles web apps down into compact, high-performance JavaScript code. The compiler removes dead code, then rewrites and minimizes what's left so that it will run fast on browsers' JavaScript engines. The compiler also checks syntax, variable references, and types, and warns about other common JavaScript pitfalls. These checks and optimizations h

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Industries: News & Features

November 9, 2009 | Link This | Email this | Comments (0)

Within hours I will leave for Long Beach to participate in the Digital Library Federation Fall Forum. I don't say "participate" lightly. Although the event will only cover two days, with related events fore and aft, it will be a DLF Forum like no other. It will require the participation of all who attend if we will be successful in our goal of emerging from the meeting with a set of achievable goals related to the conference topic, "Strategies for Innovation."

I wished to go prepared, so in my self-assigned homework I did a little reading on what others think about innovation. I want to highlight one such article, since I think it provides useful advice to any organization hoping to reach escape velocity from m...Read More
Industries: News & Features

November 3, 2009 | Link This | Email this | Comments (3)

I've long been a fan of the writing of Meredith Farkas, as is true of many of my colleagues. She is perceptive, nuanced,  and an excellent writer, which presents a triple threat against ignorance and obfuscation. Her latest post, "Shades of Gray", is no exception. I suppose this makes Meredith the anti-Annoyed-Librarian, to whom I will not link despite the fact that we share the same platform.

Meredith uses her usual level-headedness to view some of the recent controversies of libraryland, where some have attempted to paint some controversial issues as either black or white. They are neither. Go read it, I'll wait.

Let's be clear -- Libraries are in some very trying times. We are being assailed from...Read More
Industries: News & Features