This week’s 4cast:
1. Get On Out There & Socialize
Five Weeks to a Social Library describes itself as “the first free, grassroots, completely online course devoted to teaching librarians about social software and how to use it in their libraries.” They’re currently in week four, but Meredith Farkas (the Chairperson) has been keeping track of the highlights on her blog, Information Wants To Be Free. Meanwhile, Robert Doyle (Illinois Library Association) recently gave an interview discussing the negative atmosphere surrounding social networks, especially in the eyes of some legislators.
- Highlights from Week 1 of Five Weeks to a Social Library (Information Wants To Be Free)
- Highlights from Week 2 of Five Weeks to a Social Library (Information Wants To Be Free)
- Highlights from Week 3 of Five Weeks to a Social Library (Information Wants To Be Free)
- Thoughtful Advocates: An ALA TechSource Interview with ILA’s Robert Doyle (ALA TechSource)
2. DRM’s Going Down, Dude
The anti-DRM wardrums are beating louder and louder in many different circles, but are consumers, music executives, and hardware manufacturers really listening? Do they even care?
- Macrovision’s DRM valentine: Consumers not only need it, they will love it (Ars Technica)
- Music execs criticise DRM systems (BBC News)
- An Economic Explanation For Why DRM Cannot Open Up New Business Model Opportunities (Techdirt)
- DRM Causes Piracy (Slashdot)
3. Open (for Business) Source?
As the open source movement continues to make inroads both inside and outside the library community, it’s inevitable that some companies are trying to find a way to squeeze a profit out of all the warm fuzzies.
- Has open source lost its halo? (Computerworld)
- Is “Open Source” Now Completely Meaningless? (O’Reilly Radar)
- open source software in libraries, a query (librarian.net)
- How the Open Source Movement Has Changed Education: 10 Success Stories (OEDb)
4. Of Pipes & Mashups
Since its unveiling several weeks ago, Yahoo! Pipes has a lot of techies drooling and talking about mashups.
- Yahoo! Pipes (Lifehacker)
- yahoo pipes (walking paper)
- Yahoo Pipes (and a nice tutorial) (LibrarianInBlack)
- 5 Ways to Mix, Rip, and Mash Your Data (TechCrunch)
