Searcher articles from January 2009

Searcher archives from January 2009

Searcher's voice: what's next?(EDITORIAL)
January 1, 2009... The best written show in the history of television was The West Wing. (I have spoken, but if you don't believe me, Netflix or Blockbuster awaits.) And the recurring mantra of our beloved President Jed Bartlet, played by Martin Sheen, were the...

Is the medium still the message? Consider the book.(PUBLISHING TRENDS)
January 1, 2009... As technology advances, it reverses the characteristics of every situation again and again. The age of automation is going to be the age of "do it yourself." --Marshall McLuhan [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] In his 1964 book,...

Searching the widgetized web.
January 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] For some months now, as I've been learning more about widgets, Facebook applications, and tinkering with iGoogle, I have started to see the web in a new way. That's not an easy trick for a guy who first saw the web...

It's raining browsers: Firefox 3, Internet Explorer 8, and Google Chrome.
January 1, 2009... Browsers, browsers, everywhere. That's how it feels lately. It seems as if every major browser either has a new full-featured version or a new beta version, while brand-new browsers join the fray. Currently, the top two browsers (by usage,...

The art of the deal: negotiation advice from library leaders and vendors.
January 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATIONS OMITTED] Negotiating is one of the most important skills a librarian can have. Unfortunately, library schools do not uniformly teach the art of negotiating, so many librarians remain woefully unprepared to engage in...

U-content: Project Gutenberg, me, and you.(U-CONTENT)(User generated content)
January 1, 2009... Perhaps you've heard this one. What's the difference between the gang answering questions over at Wondir and the stranger sitting on the bar stool next to you? Answer: The stranger may buy you a drink. Here's another. What do...

Interview with Michael Hart.(Interview)
January 1, 2009... Michael Hart is one of the original internet pioneers, sharing credit with starting the Open Source Movement in 1971, along with Richard Stallman at MIT. Both started totally independently of each other but at the same time. Michael's (and...

The changing language of search.(LiveLinks)
January 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Part 1. Nu Speak In any successful search, you have to consider not only the client's information needs but also the nature of the information in the source database. For example, in studying cultures with oral...

Age quod agis: productivity and procrastination on the web.(INTERNET EXPRESS)
January 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] As happens every month, I once again face a deadline and a blank page in Microsoft Word. A thought, an image scuttles across my frontal lobe just behind my eyes: my bathtub... with footprints in it. Suddenly, I am...

Contacts.(Directory)
January 1, 2009... Beth Ashmore Samford University Library 800 Lakeshore Drive Birmingham, AL 35229 (205) 726-2038 Internet: bashmore@researchinglibrarian.com URL: http://www.researchinglibrarian.com Association of Independent...

Correspondence.(electronic books)
January 1, 2009... I strongly agree with the title of Nancy Herther's article in the September [2008] issue of Searcher ("The Ebook Reader Is Not the Future of Ebooks"). The reader is not the future of e-books, the content is, which in my opinion is why some of...