Friday, April 24, 2009

Kolowich, Steve “Law Reviews Create Web Magazine Offering Condensed Articles” The Wired Campus. April 22, 2009 http://chronicle.com/wiredcampus/article/3728/law-reviews-create-web-magazine-offering-condensed-articles

The new online magazine The Legal Workshop offers readers a condensed version of law reviews written by the author of the particular article but in plain English so an average person can take advantage of the information in the article. Typically articles in law reviews are very long reads and many do not have the time or the background knowledge to understand the language used to critique laws. The idea behind this project is to make law reviews more accessible to a wider audience than was possible before the existence of the online magazine The Legal Workshop. According to Michael Montano, the editor of Stanford Law Review, “we owe it to the public to produce work that is relevant to society as a whole.”

I have never read a law review but I imagine that it is no easy task but from reading this article and comments on it this is a good idea. I believe that the idea of offering summaries of law review that are more accessible to the general public is a good thing as long as nothing is taken away from the review. I believe that nothing will be taken away from the article as long as the author of the article writes the summary as well. So from the information given in the article I believe that this will turn out to be a very helpful resource. I bet that it will also be a good resource for lawyers who already know how to read law review as a time saver.

Thursday, April 16, 2009

American Libraries. 15 April 2009. http://www.ala.org/ala/alonline/currentnews/newsarchive/2009/april2009/googlescanobjections.cfm?persistent=&expy_dt=

Consumer Watchdog, the consumer advocacy group has expressed concern to the Justice Department about the settlement of the lawsuit between Google and publishers. Under the October 2008 settlement, Google would be considered the “most favored nation” and guarantees Google the same terms from the proposed Book rights Registry that any future competitor might be offered. In eyes of some peoples this would prevent any competition due to Google’s dominance already in the industry. Although library advocacy groups are not against the digitization of groups they have expressed concerns about the settlement including equal “access to the Book Rights Registry, pricing privacy and intellectual freedom.” The groups argue that the privacy of the users of the digital books including data bases of what books have read, even the amount of time spent on each page. Another problem that was found that authors can opt out of having their books included in the registry this would make it possible for books to just disappear off the registry without warning. Google will allow users to access 20% of the text free of charge. The ALA, ARL, and ACRL are working on a position paper for libraries.
I believe that online books are a good thing and if Google provides the service with the best quality then Google should have the rights to do so. Google has been getting better since it started. I do not believe it is the government proper role to provide a crutch for new companies. As long as Google is not getting any additional help from the government I believe that it is not encouraging a monopoly.

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Duke, Alan. Colbert demands 'democracy in orbit' after winning poll. 31 March 2009. http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/TV/03/31/colbert.nasa/index.html?eref=rss_tech

The comedian Steven Colbert, host of the Colbert show, recently demanded that he new wing of the international space station be name after himself or he would take control as “space's evil tyrant overlord.” NASA set up an election to determine the name of the new wing and Colbert received 230,539 of the more than 1.1 million votes cast, coming in at first place. The second runner up was Serenity. Serenity was the name of a spaceship in the television series "Firefly," which was started from a 2005 movie. NASA reserved the right to "ultimately select a name in accordance with the best interests of the agency. ... Such name may not necessarily be one which is on the list of voted-on candidate names." Colbert has received the support of at least one congressman. Colbert has had a history of getting his name out there, including a presidential election bid, a flavor of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream as well as a plane operated by Virgin America airlines.
If a government agency is going to have a vote for the name of something, it needs to follow thru. The situation could have been easily avoided by have selected group of possible name, and then allow the public to vote from the pool. I find it hard to believe that someone in the public relations department did not see something of this manner coming. If a government claims to be democratic and one of its agency attempts a ploy to get more people interested in the operations of the agency they should at least honor the election results. NASA could have just set up the illusion that people had say but they didn’t.

Thursday, March 26, 2009

Chen , Stephanie. Where 'Undo Send' and other Gmail ideas are born. CNN. March 25, 2009 http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/03/25/gmail.labs.email/index.html?eref=rss_tech

Gmail the email program developed by Google has a special function called Gmail labs. In Gmail labs special features such a undo send feature and a feature that prevents drunken emails from being sent are available to willing users. Google uses Gmail labs like a test market to see what features Gmail users would be most likely to use with the intent that the features that received a good response would become a part of Gmail. To encourage innovations Gmail lab engineers are allowed to devote twenty percent of their work week to their own projects. With the undo email feature once a email is sent a window will pop up and remain for 5 seconds so a users can check to make sure that the rely to all button was not pressed. To prevent drunken emails, one feature requires users to do a series of math problems before being allowed to send emails between certain hours specified by the user. Another feature prevents a user from checking their email too often. Google maps came out of Google labs so just maybe the next standard part of the program will be out of Google labs.
I find it interesting that Google has programs such as Google labs but one should expect such innovations from a company that was born on new ideas. It is a good and cost effective way to promote new ways of thinking and test would the Google using public wants. I do not use Gmail but I may start just to see the 36 features available from Gmail labs.

Monday, March 23, 2009

Foster, Andrea L.. "Information Navigation 101". Chronicle of Higher Education (3/9/2007): http://chronicle.com/free/v53/i27/27a03801.htm

In Foster article on information literacy in college students she shows the reader that today’s generation of college students may be more accustom to the use of technology but when it comes to research they are lacking. Foster says that the “explosion of information” has made it harder for many to make decisions because of the massive increase in the amount of information readily available to many. The newly availability of information has caused a need for college libraries to offer courses and short seminars to teach students how to conduct research in the information age. Over time the definition of the information literacy as expanded but has come into its own in the information age. Due to the need to be information literate some colleges have required students to meet some sort of competency requirements such as a test or a class with a set grade minimum.
Many of the readings that have been assigned for this class have stated that many complain that students take advantage of search engines such as Google too much for research. In my major most professors will not let you use a website as a source; I believe that this problem is often over stated because in many fields the most current information is available on Google. I agree that some sort of information literacy requirement should be required but it should be in the field that is selected by the student. For example some one who is majoring in guitar performance should not be tested on how to get the financial statements of Barclays bank and a business major does not need to know how to play a chord in E flat.

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Bell, Steven J. The Infodiet: How Libraries Can Offer an AppetizingAlternative to Google. By: Bell, Steven J., Chronicle of Higher Education, 00095982, 2/20/2004, Vol. 50, Issue 24

In the article “The Infodiet” the author Steven J. Bell states that the search engine Google has become a major competitor in the fight for what young scholars use for research. In the past the preferred source of information was academic libraries now because it is easy to use and it can be done quickly many use Google not in addition to libraries but in many cases in place of. The author compares the mentality of “super size it” that many have used for fast food restaurants, also for the search for information. Like fast food and other junk food, information from Google can be considered “not good for you” because it provides you with lots of information that may not be correct and it is hard to digest, leading to “infobesity.” It is pointed out that search engines with similar search features are available in most libraries but these databases contain higher quality data but still the quality of student research is still declining. The author calls for help from librarians to help students and professors to stop students from relying on Google.
In the research for my history classes it is next to impossible to use Google except for Google scholar but I still have to use something else to read what I used Google to find. Most of my professors will not let me use an internet sources in any shape or form. Except if it is a copy of something that exists in print as well. I can not speak for other departments but I believe that very few in students pursuing a history major are suffering from “infobesity.”

Thursday, February 19, 2009

Thomas Frey. The Future of Libraries Beginning the Great Transformation http://davinciinstitute.com/page.php?ID=120

Frey begins the article by explaining the importance of libraries in the past. According the Frey libraries played an important role in the preservation of Da Vinci’s artwork but it makes one wonder what has been lost in the past that could have been saved by libraries. Frey identifies 10 trends in technology and says that books are a form of technology and so is writing but literacy will be dead by 2050. The ten trends are: Communication systems are continually changing the way people access information, All technology ends. All technologies commonly used today will be replaced by something new, We haven’t yet reached the ultimate small particle for storage. But soon, Search Technology will become increasingly more complicated, Time compression is changing the lifestyle of library patrons, Over time we will be transitioning to a verbal society, The demand for global information is growing exponentially, The Stage is being set for a new era of Global Systems, We are transitioning from a product-based economy to an experience based economy, Libraries will transition from a center of information to a center of culture. Frey includes recommendations for libraries to improve to fit into the future needs of people as technology changes.
I agree with Frey that libraries need to adapt to current technology but I get the impression from reading his article that he believes that libraries are not adapting on their own. Libraries have been adapting to technology for along time now and I believe that libraries are already centers of culture, although this is more true for some libraries than others. In my opinion libraries would be more of centers of culture if they had more funding. It is a question of not what libraries want to do it is a question of what libraries can do.