"The online version of my presentation at SLS is now online...." [Library Stuff]

During dinner, Aaron took pictures with his cameraphone, too. And for the younger kids around the table, here's more info about Land of the Lost. You just don't know what you missed....  ;-)

Aggregators and Usability

"When we launched RSS feeds at Medscape, it was up to me to create the page that explains to physicians what the heck it's all about. That's when it really hit home that it's next to impossible to explain how this all works to people who are not intimately involved in blogging or working on the Net in some other way. I still get emails at least a few times a month that basically say, 'This sounds good, but what the heck do I need to do?'

I see three potential ways out of this logjam: 1) Wait for Aggregator vendors and RSS feed developers to come up with a better way to integrate their products so non-technical users can actually use them without getting buried in an avalanche of acronyms, right mouse clicks, and orange and white icons. 2) Wait for Microsoft to build RSS readers/aggregators into IE and/or Outlook. 3)Pursue an idea that came from Jenny at the BloggerCon aggregator session: 'pre-filled' news readers/aggregators. I'd be very interested in working with a freeware news reader/aggregator vendor to distribute, through Medscape, a special version of of their software, pre-filled with Medscape's 25+ news feeds to as many doctors as want it (my main candidates? AmphetaDesk and NetNewsWire Lite. Morbus? Brent?)." [Tales of Hoffman]

I'll reiterate what I said at the BloggerCon aggregators session: aggregators need to get easier to use. After that goal is achieved, they need to get easier to use, after which point they need to get easier to use. Then we can take them mainstream and start teaching "normal folks" to use them effectively and efficiently.

I think some of this can come from libraries, much the way we teach internet classes now. I mean, seriously - who exactly do you think is going to introduce aggregators to the public at large? If there was an easy-to-use aggregator, subscribing to sites was easier, more sites provided RSS feeds, and we came up with a usable alternative to a button that says "XML," I can see where a library might pre-populate it with local feeds from the library itself along with other local, relevant agencies.

At a university, the library could do this for students and faculty, especially by department. At a public library, this could be done for local residents (combining feeds for local government, local media, local schools, etc.). At a special library, it could be done for the organization's employees. And a school library could do this for both teachers and students (which might dovetail with some information literacy instruction). There could also be permanent links to an online reference service, reference databases, and the online catalog. And imagine the day we get secure authentication in aggregators, so library patrons can just enter their barcode numbers to subscribe to fee-based magazines, journals, or databases.

A reader asks for help identifying corporate librarians who are blogging, preferably in their professional role. My guess is that they are overwhelmingly hidden behind the firewall when they do exist, but please drop me a line or leave a comment if you know of any. Thanks!

"With almost every girl and boy in Australia using the internet - 93 per cent, according to the latest reckoning - a new 'kid society' is blooming.

Internet messenger services, email, text and mobile phones are broadening children's social networks and making them virtually inseparable from one another.

As far as the online industry is concerned, internet use among young people is at saturation point. It is such a part of family life that 6 per cent of households report that they keep their computer in the dining room. A further 25 per cent have it in the living room, according to a new survey of internet attitudes by RedSherriff....

And while children may log off, they never leave. Their circle of internet friends gets bigger with the inevitable transition to mobile phones in the early teens. And that is when the messaging starts....

Internet and messaging exchanges between children and teenagers are inevitable and mostly positive, Associate Professor Nightingale said.

'The kids also quite like little digital cameras and use the cameras to introduce themselves to each other,' she said.

Writing a message means disclosing more feelings and creating deeper relationships. Mobiles and SMS were more 'here and now' than the internet, she said." [Sydney Morning Herald, via Smart Mobs]

Should librarians care about this widespread adoption of instant messaging, connectivity, and interactivity by teens and tweens? New Scientist implies the answer is a pretty resounding yes.

Teenage Generation Is Biggest Ever

"Today's teenage generation is now the biggest the world has ever seen, according to a UN report released Wednesday. One in five people on Earth are adolescents between 10 and 19, and about half the world's population is under 25....

However, if their healthcare and social needs can be met, the adolescents could develop into the largest, most vibrant workforces ever seen when they reach adulthood.

'It's a pig in a python thing,' Marshall told New Scientist. The large teenage blip on the demographic chart will grow older demographically dominating the smaller younger and older age groups."