LISNews Librarian And Information Science News

I recently discovered Xobni ("inbox" backwards), a tool that seems like it might have a particular appeal for librarians. Xobni is a sidebar that works with Outlook and offers analytics, searching, email organization, a social networking method of organization and more.

Libraries across the country are seeking alternatives to Rosetta Stone after they pulled out of the library market. This attests to the commitment in public libraries to help people learn foreign languages, especially if the foreign language happens to be English.

As new options become available, and as libraries explore the idea of adding video games to their collection, a publisher for the wildly successful Nintendo DS hand held video game system is already publishing games to teach English to Japanese students.

Games have long been used as a teaching tool. Why should it be any different in the digital age?

One of a modern parent's nightmares is finding out there's a gunman on campus at their children's school. It's hard to get information in and out of that situation and it's incredibly nerve wracking.

So what if a student knows how to Twitter?

In a recent incident at the University of Richmond, a report of an armed man on campus brought a lockdown. Students were able to get information in and out and comfort each other using Twitter.

It's perhaps fitting that he was named Sparks.

Not too many people will know the name. It's not as famous as Edison or Watt. But everyone knows what he invented because his invention is everywhere these days.

Morgan Sparks invented the transistor.

Now the science community mourns his passing at the age of 91. His invention paved the way for the modern world and had profound effects on computing and information science.

As many libraries make the transition to RFID tags, the implications of processing high volumes of materials become larger. The greatest thing about RFID tags is that, with proper technology, you can read multiple tags at the same time. Barcodes still require a one at a time read.

Now a new technology allows not only the simultaneous reading of hundreds of RFID tags, but also the simultaneous reading of different types of RFID antennae with the ability to assess and acquire information on new tags previously unknown to the reader.

Hundreds of items at a time? Sign this circ jerk up!

Here's A Neat Web Worker Daily Post that gives a great breakdown of the options for getting online on the go. They cover Cellular Options from all the carriers and Wi-Fi Options you're likely to run across. HSDPA, EDGE, 3G, USB/PCMCIA, EVDO... holy acronyms!

Digital Transition Looms, but Do Americans Have a Right to TV?

The huge information campaign and an incentive program are casting American taxpayers up to $1.5 billion. And it's illuminating to put the government's $1.5 billion allocation in perspective. Consider: The proposed 2009 federal budget for adult basic and literacy education is $574.6 million. The Rural Development program has approved 85 loans totaling $1.68 billion since 2002 to help fund broadband infrastructure rollout in underserved areas. Is nationwide availability of speedy Wikipedia queries as important as delivering Ryan Seacrest digitally to your living room?

See Also: IMLS Budgets [PDF]

Spam e-mail turned 30 just a few days ago and this article tells us the history of spam. It's an interesting read and well worth the time just to see who the 1st spammer was. Also check out this cool site of spam poetry, that's right poems created from spam.

Everyone who's ever worked in a modern office uses Post-Its for something. I use them for coffee cup coasters because, once I tack one down, I know it won't blow off the desk. The design is brilliant and simple and that's probably why no one ever tried to improve on it.

Until MIT got their hands on them.

They've added RFID tags to Post-It notes.

Freak out.

One never knows how and where information may be encoded.

Take the case of an Bell telephone engineer back in the early 40s. He noticed that an oscilliscope seemed to spike every time the brand new, fancy, and highly top secret encrypted teletype machine coded a letter. He figured out that, if one studies the spikes, they could read the plain text the machine was encrypting.

And thus was born TEMPEST, the US Government's top secret method of gathering information based solely on the electromagnetic waves that all electronic devices give off. Newly de-classified documents recount the history of this still highly confidential information gathering system.