This week’s 4cast:
1. Watch Your Back, Wikipedia
As Wikipedia has become increasingly huge (see 4cast #72, item 4), it was inevitable that for-profit competitors would emerge. But it wasn’t until last week that a truly terrifying rival appeared – Google, and its Knol project.
- Google to Wikipedia: “Knol” thine enemy (Ars Technica)
- Official Google Blog: Encouraging people to contribute knowledge (Phil Bradley’s weblog)
- A Few Thoughts On Google Knol (TechCrunch)
- Google’s ‘Knols’ aren’t a Threat to Wikipedia (Compiler from Wired.com)
2. Spam? What Spam? Oh… You Mean All of THAT Spam.
Although Google claims that improved filtering technologies are causing many spammers to give up on junk e-mailing, another recent report shows that 95% of all e-mail sent in 2007 was in fact, spam. So who’s winning the war?
- Spammers Giving Up? Google Thinks So (Wired)
- Study: 95 percent of all e-mail sent in 2007 was spam (The Open Road)
- Spam takes control (Stephen’s Lighthouse)
- Statistics: Symantec’s State of Spam Report: December 2007 (ResourceShelf)
3. You’ve Got a Bad Online Reputation
A recent Pew Internet study shows that people are increasingly aware of their online identity and the importance of making sure their digital tracks don’t lead searchers (potential employers, for example) to unflattering places. Still, most Internet users either don’t worry or are completely oblivious to the amount of information that’s floating around about them online.
- PEW Study Finds Most People Don’t Google Themselves That Often After All (Search Engine Land)
- Citizen: Google thyself! (Chicago Tribune)
- Digital Footprints Report from Pew (Out of the Jungle)
- adults’ views on privacy (new PEW report) (apophenia)
4. Premium Bibliographic Resources Fail to Engage Remote End-Users
From a non-librarian’s perspective, one of the biggest deterrents to using the public library is confusing industry jargon, both inside the library and on the library website. John Kupersmith, a reference library at UC Berkeley, has developed a comprehensive list of library jargon and alternative terms that a non-librarian might actually comprehend.
- Library Terms That Users Understand (John Kupersmith)
- STEP ONE: STOP CALLING THEM DATABASES!!! (Library Garden)
- An analogy for undergrads (Library Juice)
- What Is In A Name? (The Krafty Librarian)
