Tuesday, March 27, 2007

Copyright???

As librarians we are always interested in copyright law and its place in today's world. Recently another copyright issue has been in the news involving YouTube and the Viacom network. I know many people feel it is okay to make a copy of any materials out there as long as it's for their personnal use but if materials are copyrighted doesn't the owner have the right to the profits from their work?

How do you feel? Should copying movies or music off the web always be okay or are there times when it should be illegal? Do you think that if materials are allowed to be copied it will eventually limit the number of items being produced because the profits will not be there? Is this all moot because we can not control it anyway?

RM

Saturday, March 24, 2007

More Web 2.0 -- or was that 1.0...?

I'm not into cubbyholing everything, but sometimes it does help us understand things. Ah, labels, labels. I tend to see things more as a continuum, so how about helping me out a little here:

Amy said, ". . . what I think Web 2.0 means is a new way to connect with people and build community and share ideas and actually start to put the web infrastructure to good use."

This sounds really good to me. And then I think about newsgroups, listservs, and IM, which have been around for "internet eons." And wonder if they are not a part of Web 2.0 . . . or Web 1.0 -- and then my head starts to spin, and I get a little dizzy, and major confusion sets in.

So, why do we need a new name ("2.0") for something that some of us perceive as a evolution, or progression? It's not that I mind, but . . . why?

Friday, March 16, 2007

Unmoderated

Yes, folks, we are now an unmoderated blog. However, we will delete posts if they are flames or use inappropriate language -- we represent a public library, after all. But we do want to hear your opinions and ideas. Come join the conversation!
k

Thursday, March 15, 2007

Library 2.0? Web 2.0!

What do you know about Web 2.0? I think it is running parallel to, or perhaps a little ahead of, what is being called Library 2.0 (at least by Karen Schneider, but to learn about that you should check her blog). It has something to do with wikis, and blogs and other forms of "social networking" - which I take to mean online interactivity with other humans. [Side thought: Does that then make email and IM a part of web 2.0, instead of web 1.0? and what about web 1.01 - web 1.99?]

Sounds like the place we are all heading, like it or not.

So I signed up for this "webinar" -- also a new term to me -- to learn about using web 2.0 tools in our library. I do it from the library, using a computer and either a headset/microphone or a telephone line (no, I won't be tying up the line and keeping you from reaching our fabulous staff). I'm kind of excited about it. Maybe it will be similar to the online seminars my brother participates in, where the instructor somehow passes control of everyone's computers from one particpant to another, so all can view the same thing. Gee -- isn't that just a wee bit scary!

Meanwhile, beside blogs, what are you doing with Web 2.0?

k

Sunday, March 04, 2007

Electronic Books?

What do you think about electronic books? In case you don't know, they are books that you can read on a computer, or download to your eBook reader (gee -- *another* electronic toy to buy!).

I like audio books on tape and CD. We are now able to provide these for download to a CD, MP3 player or other device (except iPod, for some reason), and we have lots of them available at the library. Those are fine. But personally, I can't imagine reading a novel electronically -- even using one of those cute little eBook readers that are close to the size of a book. They're harder on the eyes, use electricity (I tend toward sustainable living), and just don't feel the same.

On the other hand, I have used NetLibrary books online for reference purposes. That is handy when I'm looking for a specific piece of information from a specific source if I can't find full text of that source through normal search engines or Gale Databases, and I'm not at the library.

When I'm helping a library patron look for a book, I seldom recommend the eBooks. When I do point them out, the response generally is "no, thanks." Yet we are told they are growing in popularity, and more and more are being entered into our catalog. In a few cases we can't even find a hard copy of some recently-published non-fiction books any more -- all copies in the system are electronic!

Maybe I'm just getting old and becoming a Luddite.

If you want to see what I mean, check them out. They are being provided by our library consortium (C/WMARS). You can find them through our website at <www.naplibrary.com> by clicking the "eLibrary Catalog" in the right hand menu or just looking for them through our online catalog link in the left menu. The consortium subscribes to at least two vendors for eBooks.

Yikes!

k