LISNews Librarian And Information Science News

Though it's rare for any post at LISNews to get more than a few comments, on rare occasions a thread will take off and degenerate into the worst of what the internet has to offer; name calling, profanity, anger, stupidity and raw emotions. There have been a few occasions when people suggested I shut the comments down on specific discussions because of what they're seeing.

So I put the question to you, the raving lunatics that cause it to be raised in the first place: Is it ever appropriate for us to shut down a thread on LISNews because of what's being written?

I'll officially launch a new site Monday, so I'm looking for feedback, ideas, critiques and criticisms now. The new site is LISWire - The Librarian's News Wire - http://liswire.com/

"LISWire is a brand new idea from the guy behind LISNews & LISHost, Blake Carver. The plan is to allow member companies and organizations to use LISWire to send their full-text news releases and multimedia content to librarians, journalists, library professionals and the general public. We're going to build a network to distribute this information world wide. "

Let me know what you think... How does it look? Does it seem useful? Do we need to change something, anything?

Leave a comment below, hit the contact form, or drop me an email btcarver at lisnews.com

The live call-in segment for LISTen: The LISNews.org Podcast is postponed until later this month. With pressures coming off of PLA and heading right into Computers in Libraries I am finding that this week is not good timing in terms of having an available audience. This matter is not dead but merely on hold.

What can others learn about you by the way you organize your feeds?

Generally mine seem to say I live in Buffalo, I'm a parent, a librarian and a small business owner. What do they say to you? How are yours organized?

Mine say I LIVE [I meant live, not love, though I guess I do both] in Buffalo, read some comics, have an interest in cryptozoology, like to read about economics and search for bargains. I try and follow the latest developments in technology, security, business, health, the supreme court, Linux, gadgets, economics and personal finance. I read what librarians are writing on the web. I like to get ideas for running and marketing a small business. I follow web trends and security issues for computers. I have a folder for psychology because I have a BA in psychology, a folder for my wife's business, one for friends, and one for random stuff that doesn't fit elsewhere.

Here are mine:

I was just reading a post on PUBLIB and noticed a pattern, I think that a particular author "does" email. That got me thinking, is email part of working for most people now, or is it still something that needs to be done separately? For me it's like eating, or breathing even. My email program is always running, there is no "doing" email, it's just always on. Email is not a distinct part of my day, it's how many reference questions come in while I'm at work, and it's how all support requests come in for LISHost. Email isn't something that can be put off until I have free time, it's how work begins. Because of LISHost I can't go more than an hour or two without at least checking on email, the servers and support requests; ever. While I know I'm probably an extreme example, even during a regular workday I wonder if people still "do" email. 5 years ago when I worked in a huge academic library I was surprised so many people would block out time special time to "do" the email.

So I'm curious, do you "do" email? How do you handle it? Do you "do" your feed reader or twitter or something else?

It's never a bad idea to take a step away from the library world and see what else is out there. No doubt we could learn a thing or two from other professions. That's what this list is all about.

Is there a blog we should be reading that's NOT written by a librarian or FOR librarians? How will that blog help us do our jobs as librarians better? What things do we need to know about? What's the most interesting, useful or entertaining site you follow outside of the LIS World?

You don't need to send me a complete list of 10, just one or two of your favorites will be just fine. Let me know why you think other librarians should be reading your favorites. Leave a comment below, or hit the Form. I'll post the final list on Monday!

The Aye's have it. We shall build a new list: The 10 Non-Librarian Blogs Librarians Should Read In 2008.

It's never a bad idea to take a step away from the library world and see what else is out there. No doubt we could learn a thing or two from other professions. That's what this list is all about.

Is there a blog we should be reading that's NOT written by a librarian or FOR librarians? How will that blog help us do our jobs as librarians better? What things do we need to know about? What's the most interesting, useful or entertaining site you follow outside of the LIS World?

You don't need to send me a complete list of 10, just one or two of your favorites will be just fine. Let me know why you think other librarians should be reading your favorites. I'll post the final list in a week or two.

The week is now coming to a close and folks are returning from ALA Mid-Winter.

The last episode of the LISTen trial season is set to air on Martin Luther King Day next week.

I'm curious if there's any interest in a list of "other" blogs we should all be reading. Unlike the 10 Librarian Blogs, this new list would be 10 NON librarian blogs that should be read by librarians. I'm thinking of blogs that highlight things that are outside the LIS World, but are applicable to our what we do. Blogs that will help us do our jobs. Places we can go and read things outside our normal circles of knowledge.

This could be things like technology trends, marketing, human resources, intellectual property, publishing and search engines.

If you think such a list is worthy, let me know, or drop your list in the comments below. I'm not sure this will be worth pursuing. If there's enough interest I'll start working up a list.