Submitted by Jason Griffey on November 23, 2009 - 2:57pm
This past Thursday, Google announced its next large software project, currently named Chrome OS. The announcement came in the form of a press conference and a question and answer session that included not only the lead engineers on the project, but Sergey Brinn himself. This is not to be confused with their Chrome browser, a successful project in its own right, rather it is a new operating system, designed by Google and focused around the Chrome browser. Yes, that's a little confusing. Let's see if we can lay out what Google is doing, and make some sense of it for those who didn't watch the announcement. First up, a short video produced by Google that explains Chrome OS:
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Submitted by Daniel A. Freeman on November 19, 2009 - 10:21am
As part of our ongoing partnership with WebJunction, we’re thrilled to announce the next in our series of Webinars--Integrated Library Systems: Open Source and Customization with Marshall Breeding.
Currently, the focus in the ILS market is on customizability. How much ability does a library’s software give the end-user, their institution and its IT staff when it comes to modifying the ILS to suit their specific needs? When they do have the ability to customize the program, how deep does the customization run? Is it accessible? User friendly? Read More »
Submitted by Richard Wallis on November 8, 2009 - 5:47pm
Until fairly recently it has been all quiet on the shared cataloguing front. Cataloguing departments taking records from the Library of Congress, other National libraries, or one of many other libraries that share their Z39.50 connections. Many libraries also being members of an organisation to share the cataloguing load, such as OCLC, or Talis Base in the UK. About a year ago dust started to stir on the surface of this stable landscape, when OCLC caused a curfuffle with their move to redefine their record reuse policy. Then in January, open source library system vendor announced ‡Biblios.net, a free cataloguing service in which you can share with other libraries. In the last few weeks we have had SkyRiver arrive on the scene. Not much visible on their site yet, but according to press releases they hope to deliver quality at a lower costs - so things are a changing. Read More »
Submitted by Tom Peters on November 6, 2009 - 4:22pm
Everything I read and hear about the forthcoming Nook portable eReading device from Barnes & Noble (http://www.nook.com), including Jason Griffey’s post here on the TechSource blog, indicates that the Nook will be a significant new development in the burgeoning portable eReader device market. It may become the much-anticipated Kindle Killer.
The Nook clearly is not a crock, but earlier this week, a news release raised another question: Is the Nook a Crook? Read More »
Submitted by Cindi Trainor on November 2, 2009 - 3:22pm
 Hearing Rick Anderson's recent KLA talk, titled "The Five Sacred Cows of Librarianship: Why They No Longer Matter, and Why Two of Them Never Did," made me wonder what "sacred cows" exist in the field of library technology. I posed the question, "What are the sacred cows of library technology?" in Google Wave. What followed was a discussion about digital technology among library technologists that generated many ideas and was a great way to try out this new communication tool. Some of the ideas offered up were "sacred cows" to those in the field, but others challenged ideas held more widely in librarianship.
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