The Web 2.0 "buzz" starts with new technologies such as virtual worlds, cell phones and handheld devices that offer 24/7 web access, tagging, social networks, and blogs and brings together various web capabilities in unique combinations. Web 2.0, however, is about much more than the technology--it is about a change in focus to participation, user…

Jerome Myers originally dreamt he would be a cultural anthropologist, but instead he ended up negotiating contracts for major publishers. When his librarian sister suggested that academic librarianship might be more satisfying, he signed up for Brooklyn Public Library's (BPL) librarian trainee program and enrolled in the library and information…

The information industry continues to consolidate, just as agribusiness has consolidated and now dominates farming. Both the family farm and the small information company still exist but are becoming rarer in an age of mergers, acquisitions, and increased economies of scale. Small companies distinguish themselves by high quality, special themes,…

The 1972 conference of the American Society for Information Science leaned heavily on international information exchange and drew a record number of both exhibitors and members. (Author)

In this article, the author discusses teaching library and information science (LIS) students about online searching. She discusses the many changes that have taken place over the years in terms of searching and also in terms of the role of the librarian in helping with searches. The author also mentions that although searching now has become a…

Discusses the 1992 conference of the Association for Library and Information Science Education (ALISE). Topics discussed include job seekers and available positions; the influence of libraries versus the influence of information theories on library school programs; award-winning research; cultural diversity issues; and accreditation by the…

Competitive Intelligence (CI) has become an attractive concept for Library and Information Science professionals, as information and research functions have become commoditized by end users, and financial, competitive, and performance pressures increase the need to demonstrate value. In the current competitive and cost-cutting environment,…

Knowledge is an integrated whole and we need to avoid the unfortunate lack of communication and interaction that invariably follow compartmentalization. The key to the ideal, a humanistic information scientist, lies in a liberal education of which the humanities are an integral part. (21 references) (MES)

The plain fact about information science...is that its practitioners do not know what they are talking about and are unable to describe the product they are trying to produce. (16 references) (Author)

This interview with John Perry Barlow (Grated Dead lyricist / technology expert) addresses issues concerning cyberspace, technology, and culture. Topics include the idea of community; the Internet; the Electronic Frontier Foundation; the role of libraries; print materials; concepts of information; peer-to-peer technology; file sharing; and…

This article summarizes the 1986 Midwinter Meeting of the American Library Association (ALA) held in Chicago, Illinois, January 18-23. Discussion covers debate over Lacy Report, censorship, ALA's financial situation, divestiture and the ALA endowment, debate among ALA candidates, federal matters, continuing education, service to members, and…

A traditional librarian argues that there is no "science of information" and that librarianship belongs to the humanities not the sciences. Traces the replacement of librarians with "machine people,""digital theorists," and other "off-the-wall types" from the 1960s to the present. Proposes a course of…

The theme of the 1987 annual conference of the Association for Library and Information Science Education (ALISE) was "Information: Relationships with Other Disciplines." Educators agreed that to survive programs have to engage in interdisciplinary interaction, the crucial factor being either which discipline to join or how the school…