"If you could contact a librarian via Facebook or MySpace for help with your research, would you? If not, why?"

That was the question asked of 300+ college students in a recent University of Michigan Library survey. See the results on the right.

According to Suzanne Chapman at UM:

The main impetus for this question comes from a current trend for libraries to create Facebook apps that allow OPAC searching and other library related functionality from within Facebook. There has also been a lot of discussion and experimentation with using Facebook for reference and outreach.

Thanks to Leah Ujda over at the UW Digital Collections Center for forwarding this to me. We'd just been discussing this question last week at our semi-annual UW Madison Libraries Reference Retreat. Good to have some data to consult.

Posted by Bonnie Shucha at 9:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

YouTube is developing a Video Identification system which will help copyright holders identify their works on YouTube.

From the about page:

We have worked with Google to develop one-of-a-kind technology that can recognize videos based on a variety of factors... Copyright holders can choose what they want done with their videos: whether to block, promote, or even--if a copyright holder chooses to partner with us--create revenue from them, with minimal friction. YouTube Video ID will help carry out that choice.

Source: beSpacific

Posted by Bonnie Shucha at 2:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

"The older demographic has a bunch of interesting characteristics, not the least of which is that they hang around."

This prospective and relative stickiness is helping drive a wave of new investment into boomer and older-oriented social networking sites that offer like-minded (and like-aged) individuals discussion and dating forums, photo-sharing, news and commentary, and chatter about diet, fitness and health care.

That's a quote from a New York Times article examining the use of social networking applications for older Web users.

The sites have names like Eons, Rezoom, Multiply, Maya's Mom, Boomj, and Boomertown. They look like Facebook -- with wrinkles.

Posted by Bonnie Shucha at 10:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

"Many political pundits have said the 2008 presidential race will be the election of YouTube," says JS Online. "Local lawmakers are picking up on that trend..."

The article explores how Wisconsin's legislators are using video to communicate directly with the public via the web. Note the use of WisconsinEye.

According to the article:

State lawmakers are making a push for greater visibility on the Web by bringing their messages right to constituents' computers... Lawmakers find that the technology gives them an unfiltered connection to their constituents.

A recent e-mail newsletter from Rep. Mark Gundrum (R-New Berlin) featured a link to WisconsinEye video of a meeting his Committee on Judiciary and Ethics had with members of the state Supreme Court. "There's no way the public would really know about something like that or hear about issues of importance to the court otherwise," Gundrum said. "If there's something that I think is of interest, it's a great thing to make that stuff as accessible as possible."

Posted by Bonnie Shucha at 9:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In the category of dumb criminals, JS Online has an article about people bragging about their crimes on MySpace - complete with photos. Of course, it doesn't take long before the police come knocking at their doors.

Posted by Bonnie Shucha at 1:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

There is an interesting article on The Fourth Amendment and Privacy Issues on the "New" Internet: Facebook.com and MySpace.com in the Fall issue of the Southern Illinois University Law Journal.

Abstract:

Facebook.com and MySpace.com are two of the most trafficked Web sites on the Internet. These Web sites form a "new" type of internet where users can create profiles and share information like never before. With the exploding popularity comes the usage by law enforcement of these Web sites to investigate criminal offenses and the corresponding privacy concerns of citizens.

The Comment explores Fourth Amendment jurisprudence beginning with landmark decisions, then discusses Fourth Amendment cases dealing specifically with cyberspace communications, and goes on to discuss how a court faced with a Fourth Amendment issue on Facebook.com or MySpace.com might apply the holdings from prior cases.

Thanks to my UW Madison Library colleague, Amanda Werhane, for the tip.

Posted by Bonnie Shucha at 4:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

"Scribd is YouTube for documents," says Neil Squillante of TechnoLawyer. This free online library where anyone can upload supports .doc, .pdf, .txt, .ppt, .xls, .mp3, and more.

What's in it for legal practitioners? According to Technolawyer:

-- You can use Scribd as a free document conversion tool, albeit with a limited number of file formats right now.

-- You can use Scribd to convert documents into MP3 files that you can listen to while commuting, which means you can drive and bill. Ka-ching!

-- You can use Scribd as a quick and dirty extranet for clients.

-- Someday, I suspect Scribd will also perform free OCR.

That's all great and yes you can keep your documents private, thus using Scribd solely as a technology tool.

But I think Scribd might even have greater utility as a marketing tool -- both for you personally and your firm.

I can also see applications for librarians. Scribd seems like the ideal place to share the many presentations and guides that we do. I've posted a few of my PowerPoint presentations.

To get started, check out:

• Delivery Tools for Legal Professionals (blogs, rss, alerts, podcasts) - by me
  
• Blogging in Libraries: Finding, Reading and Creating Library Blogs - by me
  
• Dennis Kennedy's collection of articles on e-discovery
  
• Neil Squillante's "Jar Jar's Law"

Posted by Bonnie Shucha at 10:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Wisconsin State Journal has an interesting article on one of the biggest trends to hit the Web: YouTube.com, an amateur video Web site.

The paper reports that Madison film making duo Aaron Yonda and Matt Sloan have had almost a million viewers download their YouTube short film "Chad Vader, Day Shift Manager, Episode 1" If you are a Star Wars fan and haven't seen this yet, I highly recommend it. Very funny.

Legal professionals may also be interested in another Yonda/Sloan short film series entitled "McCourt's in Session".

Posted by Bonnie Shucha at 9:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

"If MySpace is where teens and college students meet and mingle, Lawbby says it is "where lawyers mingle," whether for business or pleasure. Like MySpace, users can create their own profiles and groups, post photos and create blogs." - Robert Ambrogi's Lawsites

It looked interesting, so I gave it a whirl. If you decide to create a profile, let me know!

Posted by Bonnie Shucha at 10:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)