Lunchtime Listens: YouTube mistakes/Twitter/Web Radio
The Public Relations/Technology blog For Immediate Release featured several topics of interest to librarians in issue 222:
- YouTube, Viacom and the removal of videos
- Twitter and its potential in business;
- and at 46:09 - Comment from Clarence Jones on copyright royalties and it's implications (bad) for streaming radio providers.
Director of National Security Archive on C-SPAN; Rosemary Award Winner For Worst FOIA Performance Announced
Webcast: Tom Blanton, Director of National Security Archive at George Washington University chatted with Briam Lamb on C-SPAN this morning for about one hour. Direct to the Real Video. Also, the National Security Archive has just awarded the 3rd Annual Rosemary Award for Worst FOIA Performance to the U.S. Air Force. Continue reading
TerraFly’s Data
In the early days of the web, TerraFly.com from Florida International University was super cool. Using TerraFly you could virtually fly over the United States using USGS imagery. This feature is still available. Well 7 or so years have passed and the imagery, well, it's everywhere and in some cases better. However, this free service still as one very cool and very useful feature, gobs of local data. From Census info to local hotels to fires, it's in Terrafly. Give it a try. 1) Go to TerraFly 2) Enter in an address or just a Zip and make sure your pop-up blocker is off. 3) Wait for a couple of two new windows to open. 4) Review imagery. Now, click on a specific point on the image. 5) A new window will open with filled with local data. If you clicked a few blocks away some of the numbers and items would be different. Here's what a page for a specific address looks like for a spot in Chicago. Cool! Continue reading
Lunchtime listens: code4lib conference
This is the first post of what we're calling "Lunchtime listens." The idea being that there's LOTS of good audio/video out there of direct or peripheral interest to the documents community. We're going to post them to FGI to make them more easily findable and give y'all something to do during your lunch breaks (alone or in groups as a brownbag viewing session :-) ) besides staring out the window (not that there's anything *wrong* with staring out the window!). If you come across A/V that you'd like to share with FGI readers, please email us at admin AT freegovinfo DOT info. And without further adieu, Check out the video from the 2007 code4lib conference in Athens, GA. Day one is online including keynote by Karen Schneider, Emily Lynema's talk on "free the data," breakout sessions and lightning talks. Their plan is to put video from the entire conference online. I know several people who went to Code4lib and were completely blown away by the energy, discussions, and community! Code4lib is a "group for folks who are interested in the convergence of computers and library/information science." In other words, they're a growing community of library hackers, developers, open source advocates and fellow travelers who have an active listserv, irc channel etc for communication and support. Continue reading
Sunshine Week: Charlotte Observer Info Pros Share Resources, Answer Questions About Public Records on New Blog
It's always cool to see librarians/researchers getting a bit of the spotlight. Maria Wygand and Marion Paynter two researchers/info pros at the Charlotte Observer are publishing the, Your Right to Know blog with info about public records (what they are, where to find them, and how to use them). Impressive work and a great idea. Btw, a link to the blog also appears in the print edition of the paper and on this web page where you can find all of the Sunshine Week articles. Continue reading