I would like to begin a discussion of the possibility of creating an experts exchange for the Gottesman Libraries. At the meeting of part-time library staff last week there was some discussion of the ways in which the part-time staff might share their knowledge of the variety of program areas at the College with each other and with patrons. We have about 40 or so "experts" on our part-time staff; each of these individuals is in a masters or doctoral program at the College, and each has specialized skills in research in their content areas. Moreover, members of the staff have other specialized ...

A story in the Chronicle of Higher Education explains how some universities are contracting to provide specialized information services via cell phones to on-campus and commuting students. The services include a range of information including the weather, course announcements, school closings, available computer lab spaces, and even student blogs on the dormitory and social scene. Proponents of these systems note that cell phones are displacing email which is now used by students to talk to old people and that the ...

This article on The Mind of an Inventor has a great description of the threshold experience at the entry to the Applied Minds facility in Glendale California that should be of interest to those of us thinking about the transition space into the renovated lab. The description begins with "Behind an ordinary reception area, a door opens to a small room with only a red phone booth that could have been a prop in an Austin Powers movie." The entire article is worth a read as well.

It looks like online video shows are growing in popularity among college students according to an article in Newsweek. Check out "The BC."

Thanks to the TSG for a great presentation and discussion at lunch today. I want to push a bit on an idea that evolved during the discussion. The idea that we should be facilitating a network instead of building a center is worth some further thought. What if we stopped thinking that we need to do a lot of things to support teaching, and instead, started surveying what was actually going on in this area in the college. We could create a network map (perhaps following the model that Brian Carolan discussed this summer). Once we assemble the network map we could then consider how we might f...

I came across a piece on multi-user virtural environments, and it reminded me of Jeff's comments on the UT library at yesterday's meeting. The article is Ketelhut, D. J., et. al., Extending Library Services through Emerging Interactive Media. Knowledge Quest v. 34 no. 1 (September/October 2005) p. 29-32

An article from the NY Times discusses Folksonomies and highlights delicious, 43things, and PledgeBank.

Take a look at Facebook, a site for networking among college and high school students.

Frank, Anthony, and Michael have been exploring ways to define some new positions in the technology development group. One role that seems critical is that of solutions architect. This and other development team roles are discussed in a series of articles on developer.com. Because our group is too small to have all of the roles specified, we are really looking for people who can perform in multiple roles. However, the skills of the solution architect seem essential for everything we are doing.