Information Cascade

This is interesting. In 2008, Time magazine asked,"How many blogs does the world need?" claiming that there were already too many out on the super highway of information. The blogosphere has grown at a tremendous rate, with tens of millions of active blogs generating hundreds of millions of postings per year (http://spinn3r.com/.)

This activity leads to a huge amount of information. The question is, if you have ten minutes a day to spend on the blogosphere, which blogs should you read to keep track of the big stories?
I recommend the LRC Digital Newsletter for librarians, students, and faculty members. Please join and be my guests!

A good blog captures good stories and creates a large information cascade. An information cascade is a spread throughout the blogosphere at a tremendous rate, with tens of millions of active blogs generated hundreds of millions of postings per year.

Bibliography:

1. Kinsley,m. "How Many Blogs Does the World Need?"- Time Magazine, Nov. 2008; www.timecom/time/magazine/article/0,9171,860888.00.html

Technology Policy

Every organization that provides access to computers and Internet usage at the work place has a Technology Policy for employees.
The social networking sites include both computer and Internet usage. This is the continuation of the argument to dismiss any Facebook or Twitter within profession until the Technology Policy is updated and includes the changes regarding the tsunami of social networking.

Protection from external treats are as important as internal treats. Technology Policy for social networking is a necessity.

Literacy Day

"Literacy is a cause for celebration since there are now close to four billion literate people in the world. However, literacy for all – children, youth and adults - is still an unaccomplished goal and an ever moving target. A combination of ambitious goals, insufficient and parallel efforts, inadequate resources and strategies, and continued underestimation of the magnitude and complexity of the task accounts for this unmet goal. Lessons learnt over recent decades show that meeting the goal of universal literacy calls not only for more effective efforts but also for renewed political will and for doing things differently at all levels - locally, nationally and internationally," - says in the UNESCO web site.

International Literacy Day will be observed on September 8.

September 8 was proclaimed International Literacy Day by UNESCO on November 17, 1965. It was first celebrated in 1966. Its aim is to highlight the importance of literacy to individuals, communities and societies. On International Literacy Day each year, UNESCO reminds the international community of the status of literacy and adult learning globally. Celebrations take place around the world.

Statistical Facts on Twitter

Steven Johnson reports that Twitter had 17.1 million visitors internationally in April, but with the U.S. population at more than 300 million, the percentage of users that are American is pretty small.

According to Nielsen, 60% of users drop out after a month. "Once just a fad?"

I am raising the question, is the coverage of Twitter in the media out of the proportion?

We are waiting for the business etiquette. If the officials in the business want professionals to use it, there should be policies and regulations, the legal aspect and responsibilities, and more to come. Till then, please do not push the buttons too far now, and have regrets later.

140 Characters

I love the new social networking sites-Facebook.com, Mysapce.com, Change.com, and Linkedin.com.
Twitter is very popular too, and is one of the fastest growing social networking sites.
Twitter has space to write a message that includes 140 characters.

As a Librarian of the 21st century, I want to be where the modern technology is, at the Library 2.0 level.

On another hand, I am worry about E-Generation's information literacy. The 140 characters' writing space reduces the exercise in writing to a concise form filled with symbols and abbreviations. The smallest school paper includes a minimum of 100 to 500 words. The young adults have serious problems with grammar, punctuation, and vocabulary development. The short remarks such as "I am laughing" or "I am clapping" have a regression effect. To be anthropologically correct, it will shrink the brain from the size of a dinosaur to the size of the lizard.

No arguments, it is a good formula or an instrumental tool for building a community of friends and supporters of any online community or organization of people who share the same interests and activities.

After all, I made the point by using almost 140 characters.