Italy and Brazil are up to something good - the Italian Undersecretary for Communications Luigi Vimercati and Brazil's pop-star turned Minister of Culture Gilberto Gil have issued a Joint Declaration on Internet Rights(pdf), which proposes the creation of an international "Internet Bill of Rights." Among its key provisions: "Privacy, data protection, freedom of expression, universal... Continue Reading →
ut does widgets.
I seriously appreciate this UT Libraries Widgets page: It's listed under the research tools drop-down on the main library page, which is smart. It blends library-created add-ons with useful "information organizing" and "collaboration" widgets, which is also smart. It explains what the apps can do in clear language, stating simply that "widgets bring the Libraries... Continue Reading →
fireshot – firefox screen capturing extension
My colleague Chad recently recommended a Firefox screen capturing extension - I've been playing with it for a day or two and have found it to be extremely handy. Fireshot installs as a simple toolbar icon in your browser: And also allows screen capturing from a popup menu: The interface resembles Paint or other simple... Continue Reading →
are you ready?
Some things are not meant to be discarded. Xoxo, Vanya.
student insight into faculty techology integration
"Faculty Integration of Technology into Instruction and Students' Perceptions of Computer Technology to Improve Student Learning," a recent study by Jared Keengwe featured on Educause Connect, surveys 800 undergrads for their perceptions of technology adoption and teaching effectiveness by faculty at "at a participating medium-sized midwest public university." A similar survey, the 2007 ECAR Study... Continue Reading →
emotion seconded.
Sherri Saines, a coworker of mine and First-Year Experience librarian at Ohio University, posted yesterday on her ideas for a "anti citation-style movement," naming the multitude of problems reference and instruction librarians are all too familiar with - style variations, adherence to typewriter-era notions of scholarly communication, students frustrated beyond the point of belief, etc.... Continue Reading →
third-generation search engines
It's been out for a week now but I just got around to reading Newsweek's "Searching for the Best Engine" article, which compares efforts by various companies to shave Google's market share by improving on their "second-generation" search model (first generation = query matching, second generation = weighted link-frequency ranking). Although much of it reads... Continue Reading →
wikipedia vision
I heard about a new Wikipedia/Google Maps mashup this morning on NPR called Wikipedia Vision, which allows you to watch real-time anonymous Wikipedia on Google Maps: It only tracks anonymous edits because IP addresses are needed to pinpoint geographical location, while registered user IP adresses aren't tracked by Wikipedia. Wikipedia Vision was created by László... Continue Reading →
(underwhelming) meebo firefox extension.
I've been trying out the new Meebo extension for Firefox: It enables a collapsible Meebo contact list that displays on the left side of the browser window and also sends popup notifications to your desktop when messages arrive: Although it has a lot of potential to improve Meebo's functionality for Firefox users, it also has... Continue Reading →
internet librarian 2007, or where i’d rather be at the moment
Internet Librarian is underway in Monterey with its usual round of excellent presenters and topics. Many library bloggers are offering good coverage of the conference. To name a few: Librarian in Black Free Range Librarian The Shifted Librarian Library Voice I wish I could have attended the opening keynote by Joe Janes, Assistant Dean at... Continue Reading →
info-mational 