Check out these two contrasting views posted on blogs today about libraries in Second Life: Stephen Abrams’ “Rev up your avatars – future libraries’ third presence in Second Life” The Librarian’s Guide to Etiquette, “Second Life, Joining” [And in the same vein, see also: “Get a First Life.”] Where do you fall in the Second …Read more »

Click here to see the Web 2.0 video on YouTube that has been making the rounds on library blogs this week. The video, Web 2.0 … the Machine is Us/ing Us, highlights the idea of the web linking people – sharing, trading, and collaborating. Library 2.0 brings those concepts to libraries – community, collaboration, and …Read more »

Lawrence Lessig’s presentation of his orphan works proposal is now available on his blog.  Libraries are particularly interested in what Congress will enact regarding “orphan works” (copyright-protected materials whose copyright owners cannot be located) for library digitization projects. Lessig’s proposal covers only published works, not unpublished works.  Because many digitization projects include unpublished, unique materials …Read more »

Read or listen to this great story from NPR. “Librarians are finding that patrons are eager to switch over from checking out CDs and cassettes because they love the portability and convenience of digital downloads.” “…downloading a digital book from the public library works pretty much like downloading audio material from a commercial site — …Read more »

Yesterday I posted to this blog about Will Sherman’s 33 reasons that librarians are still important. Today, I found a good follow-up blog post by Helene Blowers in her LibraryBytes blog, suggesting five more reasons that she gleaned from listening to her stakeholders: A literate society is import for our community to prosper. Libraries provide …Read more »

Copyright law professor, Lawrence Lessig, is posting a series of presentations on his blog over the next couple weeks.  The presentations will outline arguments for five Internet-related proposals that he believes Congress should enact this year: Orphan Works, Remix Culture, Network Neutrality, Spam, and Harmful to Minors Material.  The first presentation will be posted later …Read more »

Will Sherman’s answer to this question is “no” in his post yesterday listing 33 Reasons Librarians Are Still Extremely Important. Read the list, pick your favorite, and hope that he’s right…

There are just a few spaces left for the R U A nOOb? Bridging the Gap Between Boomers and Gamers Special Program on February 15, 2007 at Lansing Community College – West Campus. Also, today’s the last day to register and be in the running for the MP3 player which will be given away at …Read more »

Here’s a photo of MLC staff taken today in Second Life. From left to right: Diana, Aaron, Ruth, Evette, Mark, Randy, Brian, and Suzanne. If you’re in Second Life, please stop by and visit our MLC building in Cybrary City (see especially our rooftop hot tub with complimentary bathing suits). One of our neighbors in …Read more »

The Computers in Libraries 2007 conference will be held April 16-18, 2007 in Arlington, VA.  MLC, in conjunction with the Missouri Library Network Corporation (MLNC) is pleased to be able to offer discounted rates to our members. Registration Information is available at http://www.mlnc.org/. Registrations must be received at MLNC no later than Friday, March 9, …Read more »