By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Are Librarians Totally Obsolete?
Another one of those articles that leaps to the defense of librarians. It's just not convincing. Many of the arguments are of the "we won't let you" variety - the author points out that not all books are digitized, that online collections require registration, that Google's book search doesn't work, and the like. These, though, are artificial barriers, created by publishers. Librarians - some, at least - collude with the publishers because they think it will keep libraries relevant. It won't. At the first hint that librarians will no longer provide free labour (indexing, sorting, enforcing accessrestrictions) for publishers, they will be disintermediated. Why do you think Blackboard signs deals with publishers? No, librarians, if they want to remain relevant, need to curate digital archives and manage e-print repositiories. There is the idea of a library as a big collection of books and journals you bought from publishers to make available to your staff and students. Many librarians cling to that idea. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Building a Library Web Site On the Pillars of Web 2.0
The pillars are pretty much gospel these days, though I have to admit that I'm a little iffy on number 3. Perpetual beta. Me, I want software that works, not explanations for why it doesn't (and I get enough email about my site to know other people feel that way too, even about noncommercial web sites). The question not is whether these are all the pillars, or whether there are more. And do we need them all? Who added "rich user experience" to Web 2.0. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. If the Academic Library Ceased to Exist, Would We Have to Invent It?
This article makes the case for the academic library by predicting what might happen were its services discontinued. Sadly, the predictions aren't very imaginative; people continue to need monographs and textbooks, and try to find them offline (since they aren't available online). My own prediction beings a lot like the authors: save $2.7 million by ceasing journal subscriptions and textbook purchases. Instead, the library takes the money and spends it archiving placing academic staff publications into an institutional archive, freely accessible to the public as a whole. The university's original mission. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Science Library Pad
I know some of my colleagues at NRC read this newsletter, so they'll be interested to see this blog from Richard Akerman from CISTI, the National Research Council's library system. Akerman, in turn, discovered my site through a posting on Slideshare. Here's his presentation on Slideshare. I like this: "Web 2.0 is also opening up science to the public." Anyhow, some good stuff in his blog, including this cite from FastForward: "SOA is about enterprise efficiency. Web 2.0 is about individual empowerment". More...