This week’s 4cast:
1. Gettin’ Famous…
The red-hot Learning 2.0 program at the Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County recently received some national attention from Wired News. As librarians bask in the afterglow, some are also taking the opportunity to revisit the program’s goal – to keep librarians involved in the latest technological goings-on.
- 23 Learning 2.0 Things (PLCMC Learning 2.0 blog)
- Twenty-three 2.0 tasks for librarians (librarian.net)
- In other happy news… (Information Wants To Be Free)
- ‘Wired’ on Learning 2.0 (Library Laws)
2. … and Feelin’ Feisty
Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal recently published an opinion piece forwarding the idea that today’s younger generations are more interested in owning than borrowing, and that libraries are losing their collective attention. Some librarians did not take this lightly.
- Of the Places You’ll Go, Is the Library Still One of Them? (Wall Street Journal)
- A recent Wall Street Journal article… (LibrarianInBlack)
- Didn’t I just…? (blyberg.net)
- Librarians’ Labours Lost? (Richard’s Blog: Text & Academic Authors Association)
3. This Semantic Web Can’t Just Build Itself
A Canadian researcher recently made the prediction that the so-called Semantic Web – that is, an emerging, more intelligent version of the World Wide Web that relies heavily on open standards and super-rich metadata – will ultimately fail. Why? Because companies just won’t play nice with one another.
- Stephen Downes says Semantic Web will never work (Science Library Pad)
- A Better Web is Coming – Big Business Or Not (Some Random Dude)
- Will the Semantic Web fail? (Nodalities)
- Why the Semantic Web will fail, NOT. (eBiquity)
4. If You Can’t Beat NetFlix, Join It
The Brooklyn Public Library is evidently interested in partnering with Netflix for some kind of DVD rental service that would allow BPL patrons to access the entire Netflix catalog. Details are still very, very sketchy, but it would be the first such partnership in the country.
- Ahead of the Bell: Netflix-library pact? (BusinessWeek)
- Netflix & Brooklyn Library Deal? (Hacking NetFlix)
- Brooklyn Public Library exec director Dionne Mack-Harvin eyes Netflix (Superpatron)
- NetFlix & Brooklyn PL (Tame the Web: Libraries and Technology)
