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NYPL is Moving to Drupal

June 17, 2008 – 10:32 pm

I’ve previously mentioned my preference for content management systems over traditional websites.  We use Drupal at MPOW and it allows almost everyone in our office to easily contribute to our site.

Drupal is also becoming a popular choice for libraries and now the New York Public Library is joining the party.  Josh Greenberg recently posted on NYPL Labs that they are in the process of moving their site to Drupal.  It’s not only an informative post about Drupal, but also a cool look at the process that NYPL is going through to rebuild their site in a CMS.  Looks like it will be a good fit for them.

I gotta say that having a “behind the scenes” blog is an awesome idea.  It can give the public more of a connection to the library while also keeping the rest of the staff informed.

By Glen | Posted in Digital Content, Libraries, Open Source, Software, Technology, Web 2.0, Web Development | Tags: | Comments (1)

Do Libraries Make You Sick?

June 10, 2008 – 10:37 am

A group of people in New Mexico claim that they are “allergic” to WiFi signals. They are trying to get WiFi removed from all public buildings and guess where they are starting? Libraries.

So that’s why people aren’t going libraries! They don’t get headaches from trying to figure out our catalogs or navigate our poorly designed sites. It’s the free WiFi! Maybe libraries should pass out tin-foil hats. Or would that just amplify the signal?

As crazy as this sounds, there are many people who claim to be electro-sensitive. My question for this group is why focus on WiFi? There have been tons of other signals bombarding us for decades. And if there really is something in the 2.4GHz range that affects people, why should this be treated differently than any other allergen? Should we remove all other sources of pollen and dander in cities? Seriously, many people suffer from and have to manage their allergies. Why would a WiFi allergy be any different?

Before these people start attacking libraries for providing a free, needed service, they should check their own neighborhood. I bet a few of their neighbors are leaking some sickening WiFi from their homes.

By Glen | Posted in Annoyances, Humor, Libraries, Technology, Wireless | Comments (0)

Google Doctype Helps Web Developers

May 26, 2008 – 10:57 pm

Google recently unveiled Google Doctype. It’s an online encyclopedia for web developers. Many aspect of development are covered such as CSS, Javascript, security, and performance.

Google Doctype is basically like Wikipedia for web development. Anyone with a Google account can add content. So the site will get better as more people contribute. I’ve spent some time browsing around the resource, but of course since this is from Google you can search as well.

My only issue so far with the site is that I haven’t found any RSS feeds for different sections. It would be nice to be able to subscribe to updates and changes, but this is a beta release so maybe that will be available down the road.

By Glen | Posted in Programming, Technology, Web Development | Tags: | Comments (0)

Can Libraries Drop DRM?

May 18, 2008 – 11:47 pm

The Free Software Foundation has an ongoing campaign against Digital Rights Management. They promote their cause over at defectivebydesign.org and I think it’s generally a good site to learn about DRM and how it is restricting digital freedoms. Recently, the group held a protest at the Boston Public Library where they demanded that libraries drop DRM from their digital content. They are also going beyond Boston and pushing an open letter to libraries to remove DRM.

Now I dislike DRM just as much as the next person. In fact, I probably dislike it more than most people. I understand that it makes content unnecessarily difficult to access and leaves out people without access to certain software or hardware. But the sad truth is that libraries don’t really have much choice. DRM is put in place by the vendors and if libraries boycotted those companies they wouldn’t have much digital content to offer their users.

We’ve seen the retail sector start to move away from DRM with vendors offering unprotected music and such. We are also starting to see library vendors offer DRM-free content. So we are hopefully seeing the beginnings of a trend away from locked-down content. There’s still a long way to go and it’s not going to happen over night. Baby steps.

So while I appreciate all that the Free Software Foundation does, demanding that libraries drop DRM now is just not feasible. Our users want popular, digital content and libraries need to provide it if they want to stay relevant. Should users complain to libraries about DRM? Sure. Should libraries complain to their vendors about it? Definitely. Boycotting digital content, however, is just not an option.

By Glen | Posted in Annoyances, Books, Digital Content, Libraries, Open Source, Software, Technology | Comments (0)

CO-ASIS&T Presentation

May 14, 2008 – 5:58 pm

COASIST Talk - Getting Results with GoogleLast night I had an opportunity to speak at a CO-ASIS&T event at Columbus Metropolitan Library. I spent the hour sharing some tips and tricks for getting better results from Google.

You can find the slides on Google Docs. Thanks to everyone for the great questions and discussion! I hope to make it back to Columbus for some more CO-ASIS&T programs.

By Glen | Posted in Libraries, Presentations, Technology | Tags: | Comments (1)