Free Range Librarian

K.G. Schneider’s blog on librarianship, writing, and everything else, since 2003.

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Entries Tagged as 'Hot Tech'

LinkedIn is *NOT* Facebook for Grownups

May 7th, 2008 · 11 Comments

I’m hustling to get out of town in three hours for the SOLINET Annual Member Meeting, and I have slides that need updating and tweaking, but I heard something last week I need to nip in the bud.
Linkedin is not a Facebook alternative. Linkedin, for those who do not know, “is an online network of [...]

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Tags: Hot Tech

Two Weeks, Four Conferences

April 27th, 2008 · 4 Comments

A long-overdue post about the best of the best from Connecticut Trendspotting, NISO Discovery, a Kent Campus visit, and Computers in Libraries. (I have since attended IA Summit and Florida Library Association…more about them later!)

Quick Takeaways:

Clearest tech trends rippling through the presentationsphere: mobile interfaces, intelligent folksonomies, open source
Favorite presentation: Helene Blowers, Computers in Libraries, [...]

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Tags: Hot Tech · Librarianship · Uncategorized

Crowdvine versus SWIFT

April 13th, 2008 · 5 Comments

Some post-Computers-in-Libraries reactions are floating in about SWIFT, the conference software purchased by ITI. (Note: before I get into this, I want to underscore what a fabulous time I had in my drive-by attendance — trip report forthcoming, I promise! — and I bow and offer my humble thanks to Cindi, Roy, John, and Kate [...]

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Tags: Hot Tech

Big Bend Library Camp?

March 22nd, 2008 · 3 Comments

“At other conferences I’ve attended, I’ve had many moments–including during actual presentations–when all I’ve wanted was to get online to check my email and feeds. Not today.”– Joshua Neff, from The Goblin in the Library, reporting on his experiences at Library Camp Kansas
I’ve been watching these library unconferences pop up hither and thon and thinking, [...]

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Tags: Flori-duh · Hot Tech

Top Technology Trends, ALA Midwinter 2008

January 9th, 2008 · 6 Comments

Mild post updates:
First, if you are attending Midwinter and want to see the LITA Trendsters in action, it’s Sunday, January 13, 2008, 8-10 a.m., LOEWS Congress B. The session will be recorded, but we’re so much more fun f2f.
Second, under interoperability/open data I’d add NISO’s ballot item to establish a working group on serial knowledge [...]

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Tags: American Liberry Ass'n · Hot Tech · Standards Schmandards

Email problems fixed, it appears

December 6th, 2007 · 2 Comments

I’ve been watching for about 18 hours, and I think my email is fixed. Who messed it up? I believe I did, in the middle of resolving another problem, by unwittingly pressing a button that deleted my MX settings in Dreamhost that tell Fastmail it’s my email provider. Dreamhost Support tried to suggest this [...]

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Tags: Hot Tech

Kindle doesn’t light my fire

November 19th, 2007 · 20 Comments

For the last three weeks I’ve been the perfect candidate for a high-quality ebook reader, such as the Kindle that Amazon debuted today.
As I crisscrossed the country — Tallahassee/NorCal/Tallahassee/Denver/Chicago/Tallahassee/Atlanta/Panama-City — I lived in the rarefied world of the highly-connected business traveler, my small body bristling with smartphones, Bluetooth headsets, teensy high-powered wifi-enabled laptops, iPods, [...]

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Tags: Hot Tech

Don’t stand so close to me

November 9th, 2007 · 1 Comment

Note: as a reminder, my email to bluehighways.com and freerangelibrarian.com is still very screwed up. I have had any number of people tell me they sent me email; I’ve participated in small threads where other people see responses that never arrive. I’ve sent myself email from other accounts that get there. And of course, I [...]

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Tags: Hot Tech

Caution about emailing me

October 24th, 2007 · 5 Comments

Email you send me to my personal addresses (kgs@bluehighways.com and kgs@freerangelibrarian.com ) may be going into the bitbucket. So if I don’t respond, don’t assume I didn’t see it. Post here to the blog or IM me at either of those addresses or freerangelib, or email me at work.
I’ve recently had tussles back and forth [...]

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Tags: Hot Tech · Vast stupidity

Libraries, Google, OCA make first page of the New York Times

October 22nd, 2007 · No Comments

Zowie! The front page of the NYT — above the fold, no less — has a gorgeously long article about research libraries rejecting scanning deals with Google and Microsoft and choosing instead to go with the underdog, crunchy-goodnik Open Content Alliance.
Among other things, it feels gratifying (if a little alternate-universe) to see the national paper [...]

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Tags: Google · Hot Tech