Snip: Wikipedia and its stated ambition to “compile the sum of all human knowledge” are in trouble. The volunteer workforce that built the project’s flagship, the English-language Wikipedia—and must defend it against vandalism, hoaxes, and manipulation—has shrunk by more than a third since 2007 and is still shrinking. Those participants left seem incapable of fixing the flaws that keep Wikipedia from becoming a high-quality encyclopedia by any standard, including the project’s own.
Tag Archives: information
Evgeny Morozov on Why Our Privacy Problem is a Democracy Problem in Disguise | MIT Technology Review
As Web companies and government agencies analyze ever more information about our lives, it’s tempting to respond by passing new privacy laws or creating mechanisms that pay us for our data. Instead, we need a civic solution, because democracy is at risk.
Snip: “When all citizens demand their rights but are unaware of their responsibilities, the political questions that have defined democratic life over centuries—How should we live together? What is in the public interest, and how do I balance my own interest with it?—are subsumed into legal, economic, or administrative domains. “The political” and “the public” no longer register as domains at all; laws, markets, and technologies displace debate and contestation as preferred, less messy solutions.
But a democracy without engaged citizens doesn’t sound much like a democracy—and might not survive as one.”
A lengthy but thought provoking read on the right to privacy and democracy. Read: Evgeny Morozov on Why Our Privacy Problem is a Democracy Problem in Disguise | MIT Technology Review.
Jaron Lanier Discusses Big Data, Privacy at NYPL LIVE Event | The Digital Shift
The original developers of network technology wanted to democratize access to information, but while networks have succeeded in improving access, the ways in which governments and corporations are now gathering and using personal data has been an unfortunate consequence, argued author and computer science pioneer Jaron Lanier during a LIVE from the New York Public Library (NYPL) event on October 10. In a wide-ranging interview with NYPL’s Director of Public Programs Paul Holdengräber, Lanier also discussed the role that libraries play as people find it increasingly difficult to keep information about themselves private.
Read the full story: Jaron Lanier Discusses Big Data, Privacy at NYPL LIVE Event | The Digital Shift.
Love Horror Films and Fiction? These Links Are For You
Fun and/or informative links for the horror lovers. I don’t mind a good thriller or gothic fiction (horror light?) but horror is a genre at another level of scary, which is too much for me. Guaranteed I will have nightmares.
FILM
Five great zombie short films you can watch online | CNET
The Greatest Horror Movies You Haven’t Seen | Flavorwire. 15 films are discussed.
Top 100 Horror Movie Recommendations | IMDb
Browse free Sci-Fi / Horror Films available at the Internet Archive | Archive.org
Libraries and Librarians in Horror Movies | Ellyssa Kroski | OEDb
21 Free Hitchcock Movies Online | open culture
FICTION
HWA Bram Stoker Award™ 2013 Reading List and What is Horror Fiction? | Horror Writers Association | Horror.org
9 Books Scarier Than Any Horror Movie | Mashable
Horror comics to get you in the Halloween mood | USA Today
Scary & Horror Book Recommendations (some even have romance!) | Maryse’s Book Blog
Links to Horror web resources and book recommendations. | The Monster Librarian
CARRIE (2013) TRAILER (In Canadian theatres this Friday, October 18)
E-patients and their hunt for health information | Pew Research Center
Lee Rainie, Director of the Pew Internet Project, described the Project’s research on how patients and caregivers seek health information in the digital age and how people fit librarians into their general information needs as well as their specific health needs.
Wiki editing session at Brown University recognizes women in science | Brown University
For generations, including this one, women in science have remained underrepresented and underrecognized. On Oct. 15, 2013, from 3 p.m. to 8:30 p.m, people who want to change that can gather at a Wikipedia “edit-a-thon” to increase the representation of women in science and technology. The event marks Ada Lovelace Day, named for the 19th-century female scientist who pioneered computational programming.
The Joy of Data Driven Storytelling | Leslie Bradshaw
5 Best Read-It-Later Apps | Mashable
Read-it-later apps have enjoyed a huge jump in popularity as of late, and for good reason — they allow us to prioritize our time, and choose when and where we want to catch up on the latest Miley Cyrus news. That way, we can at least have a semblance of control over some aspect of our lives.
Check out some of the most popular read-it-later apps. Each has its own downloadable bookmarklet for web browsing, and follows the dual-purpose trend of not only being a read-it-later app, but a read-it-later-in-a-prettier-way app.
Apps reviewed:
- Instapaper
- Readability
- Evernote Clearly
- ReadKit
The Ultimate Who-To-Follow Guide for Tweeting Librarians, Info Pros, and Educators | Ellyssa Kroski – OEDB.org
Wondering about who you should be following on Twitter to keep up with the steady stream of updates in Libraryland? Well, here’s a list of lists! This quick guide will give you 30 great lists of librarians, instructors, and information professionals that you’ll want to follow on Twitter as well as tweeting authors’ accounts and people and publications to follow to gain tech insights. Check out each of these and start subscribing!!
See the list: The Ultimate Who-To-Follow Guide for Tweeting Librarians, Info Pros, and Educators | Ellyssa Kroski – OEDB.org.
This really is the ultimate guide to LIS professionals on Twitter! I would add to the other categories:
Book Lovers
- Shelf Awareness @ShelfAwareness
- The Bookseller @thebookseller
- Huffington Post Books @HuffPostBooks
- Publishers Weekly @PublishersWkly
- Book Riot @BookRiot
News & Technology
- The Modern MLIS @themodernmlis
- MIT Tech Review @techreview
- Buzz Feed @BuzzFeed
- TEDTalks Updates @tedtalks
- PCMag @PCMag
- Flavorwire @flavorwire
- TIME Techland @Techland
- Gizmodo @Gizmodo
- Harvard Biz Review @HarvardBiz
- Fast Company @FastCompany
The Anatomy Of A No. 2 Pencil | HuffPost Books
For logophiles and those who love quirky stuff:
It is assumed the reader is already somewhat familiar with the #2 pencil. Let the remarks below serve only to further refine his or her understanding in the context of best sharpening practices.
Read the full excerpt: The Anatomy Of A No. 2 Pencil | HuffPost Books
infophile 