New privacy settings for Facebook -- updated today

Oh, hurrah. First, an apology of sorts ("we just missed the mark" -- REALLY?!?) and today more control over privacy settings (see below for screenshots of the settings)... but remember, if you post it to the web it is archived somewhere on the WORLD WIDE WEB.

...and really -- is it so surprising that Facebook was doing this?
"The Wall Street Journal reported that advertising companies, including Google's DoubleClick and Yahoo's RightMedia, were receiving information that could be used to look up individual profiles, which, depending on the information a user has made public, include such things as a person's real name, age, hometown and occupation."

Facebook is a company, not an altruistic network. For those still interested in quitting facebook, May 31 has been proclaimed Quit Facebook Day.

New privacy settings: May 2010




Basically, you just want to go through each of these carefully.
Under Account>Privacy Settings







Personal information and Posts

• More options to provide tighter control over who can see information.
• Don't forget individual application settings, either -- especially important if you do game play, quizzes, etc. Just click on the link at the bottom of the Personal Information and Posts section.
  

Contact information

• I don't really notice much difference here, but I haven't compared my screenshots from earlier versions, either. I have my website info open because I do want people to be able to find me on the web -- I just don't want them to be able to see what I am communicating to my friends without me approving them first (by accepting a friend request).
  

Friends, Tags and Connections section

• More options to provide tighter control over who can see information.
• Don't forget to doublecheck your networks, either, by following the link at the bottom of the Friends, Tags, and Connections section.
  

Search

• How people can find you, especially on the web. Remember everyone = everyone on the 'net
• Because I want people to be able to find me, I do allow my profile to be indexed in Google and elsewhere. If you do not want your profile displaying (preview it to see what it will look like to a random stranger) then uncheck the allow box (if it is checked)
  

Applications and websites -- which includes the instant personalization

• How applications interact with you and is different from application settings via the Personal information and posts. Application settings available there are how the individual applications interact with your wall and profile.
  
• Because I want people to be able to find me, I do allow my profile to be indexed in Google and elsewhere. If you do not want your profile displaying (preview it to see what it will look like to a random stranger) then uncheck the allow box (if it is checked)
• 
  

Please do review the Instant Personalization settings, as this really opens up your information.


Sorry this is hard to read but it says:
"Facebook's instant personalization pilot program helps you connect more easily with your friends on select partner sites. You'll find a personal and social experience the moment you arrive on our select partner sites -- currently Microsoft Docs.com, Pandora, and Yelp. We're working closely with these partners in a pilot program so you can quickly connect with your friends and see relevant content on their sites. These sites personalize your experience using your public Facebook information. When you arrive on these sites, you'll see a notification from Facebook at the top of the page. You can easily opt-out of experiencing this on these sites by clicking "No Thanks" on the blue Facebook notification on the top of partner sites."

Finally, you can block people by email address:

..and always, check your profile!

Authority, Linked Data, RDF Webinar (Free!)

Linked data is a HOT topic amongst the semantic web community (and the NYT also has their big linked data project) -- sigh, novel concepts like authority records, controlled vocabularies, etc.

Why gosh. Why didn't libraries think of those? Oh wait, we DID. ;-) Anyhow, it might be interesting & free webinar -- discussions of the VIAF, RDF, etc. I'll be there virtually.

-------------------------
OCLC Research to Host TAI CHI Webinar on Linked Data, 27 May 2010 at 2 pm EDT (UTC: 18:00)

DUBLIN, Ohio, USA, 21 May 2010—Linked Data is a hot topic. It provides a mechanism to expose library data in a way that is understandable to non-librarians, thereby facilitating community development of services that go beyond traditional library resources and creatively exploit library data in valuable new ways.

In this webinar, OCLC senior research scientist Ralph LeVan will explain what Linked Data is about and how OCLC produces it, using examples from VIAF (The Virtual International Authority File). He will also discuss topics such as Real World Objects, Generic Documents, Content Negotiation and RDF. In addition, he'll discuss the Open Source infrastructure OCLC uses to make this happen, and which you can use to expose data in a text database like Lucene.

Webinar participation is free and open to all but advanced registration is required.

This is the fourth webinar in the OCLC Research Technical Advances for Innovation in Cultural Heritage Institutions (TAI CHI) Webinar Series developed to highlight specific innovative applications, often locally developed, that libraries, museums and archives may find effective in their own environments, as well as to teach technical staff new technologies and skills. Recordings of these webinars are made available on the OCLC Research Web site and in iTunes.
More information

Register to Attend the 27 May OCLC Research TAI CHI Webinar on Linked Data
https://oclc.webex.com/oclc/j.php?ED=135379932&RG=1&UID=1123627717

OCLC Research Technical Advances for Innovation in Cultural Heritage Institutions (TAI CHI) Webinar Series
http://www.oclc.org/research/events/taichi.htm#ld

OCLC Research Webinars in iTunes
http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=284764834

What they don't teach in lib school

Interesting group of materials (presentations, webinars, etc.) about employer expectations and what they do not teach in "library school" in regards to the cataloging profession.

The sessions focused on the disconnect between what you learn in library school and the reality of working in cataloging. Panel members shared their professional viewpoints and personal experiences related to the changing technical skills, education requirements, cataloging and bibliographic access competencies and employers’ expectations for catalog librarians in the 21st century.

More here:
http://www.loc.gov/catdir/cpso/careercat.html

Question of the Day: Upsize a 72dpi to 300dpi?

Q: Can you take a 72 ppi photo and make it look good at 300 ppi? Or, is it only used for taking a 300 ppi image and making huge posters?

A: My first thought (depending on what the image is of and whether I could get a higher res one easily -- because that would seem to be the better choice) would be to edit in an image editor (e.g., photoshop) , then save at a higher dpi, and then re-edit to fix any problems, smooth out jaggyness, fix white balance, color correct, etc. at the pixel level...
It does seem like Genuine Fractals, a Photoshop plugin does some of this.

It would still be chancey and it might be easier to either re-do the image (take a new photo or get the original and resize...)

I really have never heard of a good way to upsize, given that the pixels are just not there to begin with. If anyone knows of a way to do this, I'm interested -- although I shoot in a raw format and scan in TIF, just to avoid this issue.

Facebook is "uncool"

"Facebook is officially 'out,' as in uncool, amongst partners, parents and pundits all coming to the realization that Zuckerberg and his company are - simply put - not trustworthy," Calacanis wrote on his personal Web site.

[and more]

Earlier this month, the Electronic Privacy Information Center and 14 other privacy and consumer organizations filed a complaint against Facebook with the Federal Trade Commission, accusing the popular social network of "unfair and deceptive trade practices" and violating users' expectations of privacy and consumer protection laws.

Full article here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/05/14/MNIO1DEDJL.DTL#ixzz0nvaCzM1h

In all reality, it's just a matter of having a better choice, until then, I'm not sure anything would drive away the facebook community. If (When) someone(s) will build the next thing, which is easy to use (and possibly migrate and/or interact with existing facebook users), people will use it. Myspace is a perfect example -- lots of people I know WERE there, now they are facebook. Perhaps, myspace should use this opportunity to rebuild...and where is Google in all of this? Orkut didn't seem to really take off in the U.S.

Facebook was fortunate in that it built a huge community of educated and engaged users (given that it started out primarily tied to .edu email accounts) before it was opened up to the world -- and in the process, sucker punched users.

..but then again, why would we trust our privacy to a 3rd party company?

more of my writings on facebook here and privacy here.

Library of Congress film preservation -- the ultimate archive

Cellulose nitrate is a very flammable material, but it also happens to be a very high quality clear plastic — 35mm motion picture film was almost exclusively nitrate, from the beginning of filmmaking through 1950 or so in the US, possibly as late as the early 60s in Russia and eastern Europe. But after a number of notable fires, it was banned for projection in a theater except under very special circumstances.

It was replaced by cellulose triacetate, but because of nitrate’s nature to deteriorate, the content on all of the thousands of previously collected films was at risk. They needed to be copied to safety prints, which is primarily what we do.

--lots more at this interesting article

Lifespan of digital formats -- how long will that flashdrive last?

A sampling of common digital media and their life expectancies (assuming you take care of them):
• Floppy disk - This can theoretically survive between 3 and 10 million passes
• CD and DVDs - It depends heavily on the materials used in their construction (PDF), but you're looking at anywhere between 2 and 10 and 25 years, in the best of circumstances
• Flash storage - Also depends on the type, letting you write between 10,000 cycles with multi-level flash memory, or 100,000 with single-cell flash
• Hard disk drives - Kind of a crapshoot—anecdotally, five years is a good average, though they can last shorter or longer, depending, again, on how they're built

Very interesting article on digital decay and the life of digital media.

Facebook & privacy (viva le revolution)

First off, one big caveat: It is simply impossible to have the old Facebook experience with the old level of privacy. If you want the old level of privacy, you're going to have to give up some functionality; if you want all the old functionality, you're going to have to give up some privacy.

http://gawker.com/5522433/how-to-restore-your-privacy-on-facebook

There you go, from the horse's mouth (and also tips about how to tighten down privacy). Of course, we are using a COMPANY's website, so I wouldn't have a problem with fb eliminating ANY illusions of privacy. At least, in that capacity, it might be more honest... and of course, my usage of it (as well as many users) would drop or change dramatically. What bothers me is the constantly shifting sand of privacy, at times, seemingly at odds with its origins.

I realize things change, but change has been dramatic for Facebook and stands in stark contrast to its early days. When I joined facebook, you have to have an .edu email address -- in other words affiliated with a university or school in some way. EVERYONE meant everyone in facebook, not the world. No one could see ANY of your info, unless they were another facebook user (and logged in). You could control what was shared from your wall through your friends. Privacy was tight and set by the user.

The exact opposite is true now. Public is the norm and if you want privacy, you have to work hard to tighten it down (and keep it tight), plus give up some of the ORIGINAL functionality.

Maybe these folks can build the next SM site to take down Facebook -- but then I wonder, can they make it viable without selling out their most coveted assets -- our demographic and personal information?

I bet Myspace never thought they would fall, either. Perhaps, it is time someone takes a whack at Facebook. viva le revolution!

Google is good, libraries are better (friday humor!)

they forgot:

• where's the stapler
• the printer is jammed/outofpaper/not working

(btw, I did start out in public services...)

Call for chapters (International Students and Academic Libraries)

CALL FOR CASE STUDIES/BOOK CHAPTER PROPOSALS
International Students and Academic Libraries: Initiatives for Success Proposal Submission Deadline: June 30, 2010
Editors: Pamela Jackson and Patrick Sullivan, San Diego State University Publisher: Association of College & Research Libraries

Have you developed programs or services for international students at your academic library? If so, the editors of this upcoming volume to be published by the Association of College & Research Libraries would like the hear from you! We are looking for approximately 10-15 case studies
to illustrate successful initiatives that support the library, research, and information literacy needs of international students.

Introduction: According to data in the Open Doors 2008 report, the number of international students studying on U.S. campuses is at an all-time high. Approximately 7% of U.S. college students are international students (national average), while on some campuses, as many as 22% of the total student body is international. These students
bring with them special skills and insights, but they also present unique challenges for our educational systems. Libraries can play a critical role in connecting these foreign students, not only to our universities and colleges, but also to the information literacy skills they will need to succeed. Many students have not previously had
librarians available to assist with their research. It is therefore critical that we clarify the role that librarians can play in their educational careers.

Objective of the Book: This book will present case studies of academic library initiatives that support the library, research, and information literacy needs of international students. The target audience of this book will be other librarians, like you, who have a desire to more effectively reach out to international students on their campuses. The
case studies will offer varied perspectives and reliable ideas about how to encourage international students to use the library and break down barriers to their success.


Suggested Topics include, but are not limited to the following:

· Library Orientation to International Students

· Instruction/Information Literacy to International Students

· Outreach Programs Targeted to International Students

· Library Collections for International Students

· Reference Services for International Students

· Programs for International Graduate Students

· Web Resources and Distance Education for International Students

· Marketing Library Resources to International Students

· Multilingualism in Library Instruction and Outreach

· Collaboration with International Student Organizations

· Celebrating Diversity for the Benefit of International and
National Students in the Library

· Assessment of International Student Learning

Submission Procedure: Proposal Submission Deadline is June 30, 2010.
Academic library professionals are invited to submit their proposal of not more than 2 pages. Your proposal should include: 1) the names and contact information for all authors (identify a main contact); 2) a clear description of the academic library initiative for international
students you are proposing for the case study; 3) a brief description of your academic institution; and, 4) information about the author(s) showing his/her qualifications for writing the case study/chapter.
Submissions should be in Microsoft Word. Authors of accepted proposals will be notified by July 31, 2011. Accepted authors will have until January 31, 2011 to prepare their case study chapters of approximately 4000-6000 words. All submitted chapters will be reviewed by the editors. Guidelines for preparing chapters will be sent upon acceptance of proposals. This book is tentatively scheduled for publishing in August 2011 by the Association of College and Research Libraries, however, we are hoping for early completion in time for ALA in June 2011. For additional information regarding the publisher, please visit
http://www.ala.org/acrl/

If you would like to see a recent ACRL publication of case studies to more fully understand the style of this book, please take a look at:
Information Literacy Programs in the Digital Age: Educating College and University Students Online (Alice Daugherty and Michael F. Russo, editors) or Library 2.0 Initiatives in Academic Libraries (Laura B. Cohen, editor).

Inquiries and submissions can be forwarded electronically (Word document):
Pamela Jackson, Information Literacy Librarian
Library and Information Access, LA1101C
San Diego State University
San Diego, CA 92182-8050
Tel: 619-594-3809
Email: pjackson@rohan.sdsu.edu

the tell all generation, privacy & cultivating a digital identity

Very interesting article about privacy concerns, digital identity, especially as relates to social media:

In a new study to be released this month, the Pew Internet Project has found that people in their 20s exert more control over their digital reputations than older adults, more vigorously deleting unwanted posts and limiting information about themselves. “Social networking requires vigilance, not only in what you post, but what your friends post about you,” said Mary Madden, a senior research specialist who oversaw the study by Pew, which examines online behavior. “Now you are responsible for everything.”

Indeed, because if you are not creating your digital identity, someone is creating it for you... on a social media site, on a discussion board, on the web in general...

More here