Archives
Monday, June 26, 2006
David’s First Experiment with Screencasting
David Lee King » Blog Archive » David’s First Experiment with Screencasting is a perfect example of how and why screencasting is so useful. I’m subbed to a wonderful daily screencast for photoshop and photography. There are some things on the Internet that just seeing the other guys screen makes so much more sense than simply listening to him (or her).
Hopefully that made sense. It’s Monday morning…
Web Tools — laura
Thursday, June 22, 2006
Yes, OPACs suck. Now what?
- blyberg.net » OPACs in the frying pan, Vendors in the fire
- A Wandering Eyre » OPACs (everyone together now) SUCK
- Rethink the role of the library catalog | TechEssence.Info
The topic of catalogs has come up again (Does it ever really leave?). And they’re thinking about redesigning it according to what it’s actually used for. Personally, I think the only thing needed in common is the database. Make the database open and write however many different pieces of software you need for what you need to do. Throwing all of the functions needed into one piece of software is part of what’s made it so hard to deal with already. We need to strip out the unnecessary first, then add in all the cool Web 2.0 stuff as it looks useful. And if it turns out not to be used, strip it out again. Yes, this is a much harder approach than it sounds but we’re in a hard time technologically. We get all the stuff that doesn’t work along with all the stuff that does. The thing we have to remember is to not only buy into technologies because they’re cool but to also declutter our space for users.
Library Links — laura
Springer’s unexpected response to FRPAA
Springer proposes a policy that would require full-text open access immediately upon publication –provided that the policy makes clear that publishing in peer-reviewed journals is an inseparable part of research and therefore that the funds for doing so (article processing fees) will be available to researchers as a special overhead on their publicly-funded research grants.
I was hoping that someone else would pick up on this. It looks ok, except for the assumption that peer-review is a necessary part of research. I vaguely remember that there is a little doubt on this. Peer-reviewed publications are a required part of academic career-building. As long as that’s true they will be necessary. This is an area where I just don’t knoe enough to do the kind of in-depth analysis it deserves.
Open Access — laura
Wednesday, June 7, 2006
Hilary Rosen rethinks lawsuits and DRM
Boing Boing: Ex-RIAA head Hilary Rosen rethinks lawsuits and DRM
Hilary Rosen, the former head of the RIAA, who oversaw the lawsuits against Napster, Audiogalaxy and MP3.com, has published an editorial questioning the idea of suing music fans as a way of building a sustainable music business. She’s also questioned the usefulness of DRM, noting that it’s time to “rethink that strategy.”
Copyright — laura
