Library 2.0 Gang

More...

The Mashup, where data from one or more sites is brought together to add value to the data on another site, is only four years old. Google Maps, the basis for so many of these was released in February 2005. The iconic early example being HousingMaps.com which brings together [mashes up] data from Craigslist.org and displays it on a Google Map. Nevertheless in those few short years the mashup has become an established part of the web, and libraries are not immune from the trend. Links out to Google Book Search, WorldCat, and many other ways of enriching the library interface are not that uncommon an addition to OPAC and other library interfaces. Read More »

More...

In last month’s show there was some speculation as to what reaction there would be from the organisations that supply ‘traditional’ library systems to the OCLC announcement of their web-scale, cloud computing, library system initiative.

In an attempt to answer that speculation I took the unusual step of bringing together a specific set of Library 2.0 Gang members from that community as against our usual open house of whoever is available. Read More »

More...

New Gang member Frances Haugen from Google, joined Marshall Breeding and myself for a discussion about one of the recent trends in computing and the Internet, Cloud Computing, and how it will influence libraries, especially in the light of recent announcements by OCLC.

To give us an introduction in to the topic, our guest this month has a background in libraries having been a colleague of mine at Talis for several years.  Dr Paul Miller can now be found at Cloudofdata.com, working at the interface between the worlds of Cloud Computing and the Semantic Web, providing the insights that enable you to exploit the next wave as we approach the World Wide Database. Read More »

Paul provided us with an overview of what is meant by Cloud Computing, before the conversation moved on to the OCLC strategy to move library management services to Web scale.

More...

The subject of this month’s episode is the Mellon funded Open Library Environment (OLE) Project which has been in operation since the middle of last year with the goal to define a next-generation technology environment based on a thoroughly re-examined model of library operations and connected to other enterprise technology systems.  Leading to a design for a next-generation library system using Service Oriented Architecture. Read More »

More...

Google is a company, or even a whole topic, that all librarians seem to have an opinion upon. Held up as the shining example of the way search should be presented, or the death of guided search dragging eyes away from the 'quality' resources held in libraries - a possible answer to the confused mess of eJournal aggregation - the organisation wanting to scan in all the books and then either replace, or facilitate greater access to, the worlds libraries - a wonderful resource to add value to library holdings.   Just some of many, often contradictory, opinions.   The constant  being that the majority of librarians have an opinion on the subject. Read More »