My (Library) Maps

Google Maps has an interesting new feature called “My Maps,” which lets anyone create a map with annotated placemarks, routes, and shapes. It’s not “new” in the sense that no one has done it before: sites like Community Walk and Quikmaps have been doing this for a while using Google’s API. But it’s new for Google to feature it within Google Maps itself.

On automation and humanity

I’ve been thinking a lot about automation since I started library school (well, ok, information school). The topic comes up often in classes, and usually the attitude of my colleagues is that any repetitive task, that is, anything that can be performed without thinking, can be performed instead by a machine, or a computer. And any task that can be performed by a computer should be. I’ve always felt there was a lack of skepticism about this in my program, and so I was excited to get the opportunity to meet Lee Hoinacki and hear him speak Tuesday.

Illich’s Institutional Spectrum

Wow, keeping up with a blog is tough. And this is only my second post. I have no shortage of ideas (so far), just a shortage of time in which to compose them into coherent pieces. All day today I’ve been struggling to piece together a piece about libraries and marketing, using Ivan Illich’s institutional spectrum as a philosophical background. I finally realized that it’s just too involved to try to write right now (and it would probably make for a very long post), so I’ve decided to write it in pieces. Here’s the first one–the philosophical backround.

Vonnegut and Libraries (So it goes)

Many great bloggers have posted very nice things about Kurt Vonnegut in the last few days.

Thanks especially to Library Journal for putting up the 1973 article from the interview they did with him. And thanks to Jessamyn West at librarian.net for posting a link to this article.

I just want to take this space to post a few quotes, pulled from some of his writings, about libraries and librarians.

Hello world!

Ok, I have officially joined the blogosphere. I’m learning everything from scratch, so please share comments and feedback!