"Yahoo hopes to 'Shine' with advertisers on new Women's site" cnn.com
http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/ptech/03/31/shine.yahoo.ap/index.html
"Yahoo launches Shine website for women"http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jZIuj0pc1jpKO3cT1mQYiwHrBLnA
Two separate articles reviewed the new Yahoo! website, Shine, which launched Monday, March 30, 2008. (http://shine.yahoo.com) Each article reviewed the topic differently; one addressing the financial need for Yahoo! to create a successful website and the other targeted to the demographic for whom the website was created. Although the point of view and targeted audience of each article is different, the basic information is the same – Yahoo!’s newest website, Shine, is aimed towards women between the ages 25 and 54, will be presented in blog form (newest information towards the top of the page) with editor commentary and will include information on parenting, sex, love, fashion, healthy living and food.
According to the article posted on cnn.com, Yahoo! is working with Heart Communications Inc. which publishes Redbook, Cosmopolitan, Good Housekeeping and other women’s magazines, as well as other similar companies. This article also stated that Yahoo! may have chosen to target women of this age group because in many cases they are prominent decision-makers in their households, concerning product purchasing.
According to the article posted on afp.google.com, website editor-in-chief Brandon Holley (Is this a guy?!) said, “Yahoo Shine speaks to you as a friend, telling you the secrets and tips to simplify your life.” The article also informed that the website will “showcase popular blogs” as well as display articles written by a news staff.
Financially, this is a great decision for Yahoo!. Personally, I have never preferred Yahoo! search engine, mail, games or any other service; however, this may be a fun, interesting, helpful new site for women. Especially because women’s magazines sell extremely well (I don’t know many women who don’t purchase People, Cosmo, Redbook or some other variation on a regular basis), I think that if this site catches on, it could do really well for Yahoo! and the associated companies as well. But really – is Brandon Holley a guy? Yahoo! should keep that secret – no woman wants to take womanly advice from a man.
Monday, March 31, 2008
Monday, March 24, 2008
"Memphis Mayor Wants to Close Five Libraries"
"Memphis Mayor Wants to Close Five Libraries"
By: Norman Oder -- Library Journal, March 20, 2008
Willie Herenton is the mayor of Memphis, Tennessee and plans to close five of the nineteen branches of the Memphis Public Library and Information Center as well as four community centers in an effort to save almost $2 million a year. Previously, Herenton made a decision to appoint "two nonlibrarians at the helm of the [Memphis public] library," and this along with this new decision have aroused a lot of criticism among Memphis residents. While the mayor referred to the libraries to be closed as "underused" and "deteriorating," some online commenters replied, stating that the libraries were instead, "neighborhood anchors."
Although an efficiency study conducted last year determined that it would be beneficial to close those five libraries, it also indicated that the resources from those libraries should be relocated to other centers; however, Herenton's statements did not address what would be done in reference to the resources from the five libraries after they close.
Some suspect that the announcement may have been intended to encourage a tax increase from Memphis residents if they realize that they may risk losing five of the public libraries in their area without it.
The problem remains seemingly unsolved. I can not imagine closing down five libraries within an area. In my small hometown of Sneads Ferry, North Carolina, we have a very small, very old branch of the Onslow County Public Libraries. Despite that this library is underused in comparison with other larger libraries is more densely populated areas, it is still very important to the members of our small community. Without it, the closest library would be at least thirty minutes away from our home. I hope that Herenton and the rest of the Memphis community can come to a different conclusion, one that will save the libraries in Memphis.
By: Norman Oder -- Library Journal, March 20, 2008
Willie Herenton is the mayor of Memphis, Tennessee and plans to close five of the nineteen branches of the Memphis Public Library and Information Center as well as four community centers in an effort to save almost $2 million a year. Previously, Herenton made a decision to appoint "two nonlibrarians at the helm of the [Memphis public] library," and this along with this new decision have aroused a lot of criticism among Memphis residents. While the mayor referred to the libraries to be closed as "underused" and "deteriorating," some online commenters replied, stating that the libraries were instead, "neighborhood anchors."
Although an efficiency study conducted last year determined that it would be beneficial to close those five libraries, it also indicated that the resources from those libraries should be relocated to other centers; however, Herenton's statements did not address what would be done in reference to the resources from the five libraries after they close.
Some suspect that the announcement may have been intended to encourage a tax increase from Memphis residents if they realize that they may risk losing five of the public libraries in their area without it.
The problem remains seemingly unsolved. I can not imagine closing down five libraries within an area. In my small hometown of Sneads Ferry, North Carolina, we have a very small, very old branch of the Onslow County Public Libraries. Despite that this library is underused in comparison with other larger libraries is more densely populated areas, it is still very important to the members of our small community. Without it, the closest library would be at least thirty minutes away from our home. I hope that Herenton and the rest of the Memphis community can come to a different conclusion, one that will save the libraries in Memphis.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Book News: Penn State Libraries Get Hemingway Letters Archive
"Book News: Penn State Libraries Get Hemingway Letters Archive"
By: Michael Rogers -- Library Journal, 3/11/2008
http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6540020.html
Penn State University Libraries have recently purchased an enormous collection of personal letters of the famous author, Ernest Hemingway. According to the article the collection contains "more than 100 letters, telegrams, and notes from 1917 to 1957." The author's nephew, Ernest, inherited the collection from his mother, Hemingway's sister.
William L. Joyce, the head of Penn State's Special Collections Library, notes that the documents will reveal a more personal side of Hemingway that has rarely been known to the public, showing greater dimensions of the famous author. He states that the letters "humanize this great American writer and display aspect of his personality previously underappreciated."
For those who already appreciate Hemingway's work, this new perspective on his personal life will be an enlightening new addition to their studies. It may also be helpful to those studying American history. The article states that the correspondence was posted from several different locations including, Michigan, Kansas City, Montana, Key West and several others. I believe this indicates that there may be first-hand information to be learned about different American locations up to nearly a century ago.
Sandra Spainer, who is a Penn State English professor has been directing a "massive international Hemingway Letters Project" consisting of 12 volumes, and plans to publish volume I in 2009. This collection will eventually appear in later editions of the project.
Thankfully, the public will not have to wait until 2009 or even later to get their eyes on this priceless addition to the Penn State Library's collection. The documents are scheduled to be available to the public later this year.
I reference my perspective as an English major frequently, and here I will again. The personal collections of authors can offer fresh perspectives about those authors and the real lives they lived. Although it is not always acceptable to interpret an author's work in correlation with his personal life, it is often very interesting. In this case, those who choose to delve deeper into the life and works of Ernest Hemingway will be able to do so not only from biographies, but from his own autobiography in the form of letters to his closest family members. How exciting!
By: Michael Rogers -- Library Journal, 3/11/2008
http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6540020.html
Penn State University Libraries have recently purchased an enormous collection of personal letters of the famous author, Ernest Hemingway. According to the article the collection contains "more than 100 letters, telegrams, and notes from 1917 to 1957." The author's nephew, Ernest, inherited the collection from his mother, Hemingway's sister.
William L. Joyce, the head of Penn State's Special Collections Library, notes that the documents will reveal a more personal side of Hemingway that has rarely been known to the public, showing greater dimensions of the famous author. He states that the letters "humanize this great American writer and display aspect of his personality previously underappreciated."
For those who already appreciate Hemingway's work, this new perspective on his personal life will be an enlightening new addition to their studies. It may also be helpful to those studying American history. The article states that the correspondence was posted from several different locations including, Michigan, Kansas City, Montana, Key West and several others. I believe this indicates that there may be first-hand information to be learned about different American locations up to nearly a century ago.
Sandra Spainer, who is a Penn State English professor has been directing a "massive international Hemingway Letters Project" consisting of 12 volumes, and plans to publish volume I in 2009. This collection will eventually appear in later editions of the project.
Thankfully, the public will not have to wait until 2009 or even later to get their eyes on this priceless addition to the Penn State Library's collection. The documents are scheduled to be available to the public later this year.
I reference my perspective as an English major frequently, and here I will again. The personal collections of authors can offer fresh perspectives about those authors and the real lives they lived. Although it is not always acceptable to interpret an author's work in correlation with his personal life, it is often very interesting. In this case, those who choose to delve deeper into the life and works of Ernest Hemingway will be able to do so not only from biographies, but from his own autobiography in the form of letters to his closest family members. How exciting!
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Infodiet: How Libraries Can Offer an Appetizing Alternative to Google
As an English major at UNCW, I find it very difficult to believe that there are college students who actually believe that they do not need the library or any of its resources. In the four years that I have been a student, it seems that I have spent at least half of that time in Randall Library or on the library's website reading, researching, printing, copying, re-reading, re-researching...
In the article, "Infodiet: How Libraries Can Offer an Appetizing Alternative to Google," the author uses bad dieting as an analogy for the bad researching college students are resorting to. He refers to James Morris, dean of the School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University, who "coined the term 'infobesity,' which nicely describes the outcome of Google-izing [allusion to Supersizing] research: a junk-information diet, consisting of overwhelming amounts of low-quality material that is hard to digest and leads to research papers of equally low quality." Naturally, the cure for "infobesity" is "infodieting."
In the article, the author discusses whether or not libraries and databases should modify their search engines to imitate Google's format. He claims that while at first he was in disagreement with this idea, he is now an advocate for it. I feel conflicted about the issue. It would be far more convenient to work with library catalogs and other databases that were consistent with one another instead of learning and re-learning how to use each database; however, should it really be made so easy? Isn't college supposed to be a challenge? Aren't we supposed to be LEARNING HOW TO LEARN?
I am disappointed that my generation of college students portrayed in this article is not being up to the task of learning how to use the materials that can help them get the information they need; information that is truly useful and applicable. While this may be true of many students, I know few who have discarded the library's resources. Perhaps it is because I am in the English department and am therefore around many other people who feel the same way I do about books, research and reading. The professors in the English department, I believe, instilled that in their students. Since declaring my major, I have not written a single research paper without a required number of "scholarly sources," and a limited number of "other sources." I think the professors in the English department have set an admirable example and standard for all professors. At the end of my senior seminar last semester, I wrote a twenty-some page research paper which did not include a single non-scholarly source, which was not a requirement, just a result of my own appreciation for "digestable, high nutrition information."
Don't get me wrong, though. I love Google just as much as anyone. As a matter a fact, I use it on a daily basis -- literally. But I think its important to know when to use it and when its just not quite up to par.
In the article, "Infodiet: How Libraries Can Offer an Appetizing Alternative to Google," the author uses bad dieting as an analogy for the bad researching college students are resorting to. He refers to James Morris, dean of the School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University, who "coined the term 'infobesity,' which nicely describes the outcome of Google-izing [allusion to Supersizing] research: a junk-information diet, consisting of overwhelming amounts of low-quality material that is hard to digest and leads to research papers of equally low quality." Naturally, the cure for "infobesity" is "infodieting."
In the article, the author discusses whether or not libraries and databases should modify their search engines to imitate Google's format. He claims that while at first he was in disagreement with this idea, he is now an advocate for it. I feel conflicted about the issue. It would be far more convenient to work with library catalogs and other databases that were consistent with one another instead of learning and re-learning how to use each database; however, should it really be made so easy? Isn't college supposed to be a challenge? Aren't we supposed to be LEARNING HOW TO LEARN?
I am disappointed that my generation of college students portrayed in this article is not being up to the task of learning how to use the materials that can help them get the information they need; information that is truly useful and applicable. While this may be true of many students, I know few who have discarded the library's resources. Perhaps it is because I am in the English department and am therefore around many other people who feel the same way I do about books, research and reading. The professors in the English department, I believe, instilled that in their students. Since declaring my major, I have not written a single research paper without a required number of "scholarly sources," and a limited number of "other sources." I think the professors in the English department have set an admirable example and standard for all professors. At the end of my senior seminar last semester, I wrote a twenty-some page research paper which did not include a single non-scholarly source, which was not a requirement, just a result of my own appreciation for "digestable, high nutrition information."
Don't get me wrong, though. I love Google just as much as anyone. As a matter a fact, I use it on a daily basis -- literally. But I think its important to know when to use it and when its just not quite up to par.
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