F.W.I.W. (Part II)

FOR WHAT IT'S WORTH - PART II

Archives*Open, open or closed?: Russell D. James has been asking me if the Archives*Open blog is still open since I have not posted anything new in quite some time. Sometimes the best ideas run into unplanned obstacles.

The Archives*Open idea is still one with potential. Writing about what other archivists are doing with Web 2.0 tools and technologies to enhance and improve access to their archival materials and in turn inspiring other archivists to follow suit is encouraging and energizing. As I mentioned in the previous post, I'm really excited with what archivists are doing with these new tools and technologies. It has the power to change things, to change attitudes.

But still what I will do with the Archives*Open blog remains unknown. For lack of a better explanation, the Archives*Open blog is resting for a while.

The Archives*Open Twitter feed remains open and active, however, sending out tweets of interests to archivists. Additionally, the Archives*Open LinkedIn network, which has almost 40 members from around the world, is ripe for further growth. Feel free to join one or both of these networks.

Transit Nightmares: In mid-January, the local commuter rail service, Agence Metropolitaine de Montreal (AMT), which provides rail service between Montreal and the surrounding area, launched its "new and improved" service to encourage people to use public transit. With extra trains and better scheduling, the new and improved service was something most if not all commuters embraced. But the plan fell off the tracks no sooner had the so-called "new and improved" service began. Trains were late, trains never showed up, and trains stalled in the middle of no where, while commuters were either stranded on station platforms or packed like sardines in trains. Commuters were pissed. It got so bad that even the laid-back Quebec government cried foul.

From a Web 2.0 perspective, the AMT website is sorely lacking. It provides very little useful information to commuters, and offers little or no means to communicate with the transit agency. Where's the two-way communication, where's the always available information when we need it, heck, where are the GPS-enabled locomotives? Meanwhile, the local bus and metro transit agency, Society de Transport de Montreal (STM) does not fare much better. The STM website holds promise, but its valuable content is static, its stuck on web pages that deserve a bottom-up re-design.

Quebercers pay notoriously high taxes, which partly funds transit services. Let's build a transit service that works, more importantly, that responds to the public's needs. A good website is part of the solution. Take a look at the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) and Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) websites with their real-time schedules and email alerts and SMS services pushing out transit alerts to riders.

Photo credit: kevincrumbs

Saturday / Sunday Slide: What's Next on the Web?

Web Technology Trends for 2008 and Beyond, May 2008 Update

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: wellington 2008)

The Friday Abstract: Taking a Sabbatical

In the past couple of weeks, I have thoroughly enjoyed reading and contributing to the wonderful discussion and debate on Archives 2.0. To all those who participated, whether you agreed enthusiastically, disagreed vehemently, or simply silently considered the ideas, I tip my virtual hat to you all.

Why?

Because two years ago, when there were only a few voices out in the digital wilderness talking about archives, technology and future trends, none of this kind of vigorous discussion would have taken place.

I think we should all--yes, all of us--tap ourselves on the shoulder.

That said, while I remain enthusiastic about Web 2.0's impact on archives and hopeful that something truly positive and transformational can occur, I realize, personally, that I have been 'out of the game' (okay, out of work, really, but 'out of the game' sounds more, well, more sportive) and I must get back into the game, hunker down, and move forward, if not only for sanity's sake but also for adding meaningful words and thoughts to the discourse with a calm and discerning mind.

Between finding employment and blogging, I have to honestly side with finding employment, especially in these econo-lyptic days.

I will take a break from blogging, but will continue micro-blogging over at Twitter.

I am also working on a new blog. A few of you, by accident perhaps, may have already come across it. My intentions are not to keep it a secret for much longer; but once it is securely settled, I will provide more details.

In the meantime, I am posting a Top 5 list of popular posts and a Top 5 list of not so popular posts from The DIGITAL Archive's archives based on Google's metrics.

Top 5 posts:

• What Library 2.0 Can Teach Archives 2.0
• The Friday Abstract: Those New Archivist Ads
• The Friday Abstract: Love is a Time Machine
• Archivist Jobs That Sizzle (i.e. do not suck)
• From Canada to London: How Twitter Opens (Conference) Doors

Top 5 not so popular posts (but still good reads, I think):

• The Web and History
• Weaving the Archivist Web
• uStream.tv and the rise of the new "ME" dia
• Dawn of Location-Based Information
• Web Trends 2008

Thanks for reading! Stay tuned!

Get a Life, Google!

Google is digitizing LIFE magazine's photo collection.

Take a look!

Google News Archive Search: History Becomes Content (with ads)

Google has launched Google News Archive Search, a new search tool that searches through historical archives from sources such as newspapers that Google and its partners have digitized or through existing online archival material that Google has crawled. For some, access is free, others fee-based.

But perhaps the most impressive aspect is how Google has taken historical archives and transformed it into accessible content.

I remember the days (and nights) sitting in the library in front of a big, bulky microfilm machine, squinting at the screen, and cursing under my breath as the film got tangled in the spool or when I simply could not find what I was looking for.

Ah yes, the good old days.

But in spite of those drawbacks, there was something wonderful, perhaps even magical, in turning the spool and watching all those images from newspapers dating back to the early 1900s (or even earlier) pass by, reading headlines that still have as much impact as they did on the day when the paper was printed.

Now, Google News Archive Search provides a similar experience via the Web.



Without a doubt, I am impressed. I am impressed by the digitization workmanship and the delivery mechanism. In the past, I performed large-scale scanning (historical photographs) and coordinated imaging projects (documents) and I know how difficult these projects can be, particularly in achieving high scan quality (readability) and searching (optical character recognition). It is difficult to achieve respectable results in both of these critical areas, but Google has managed to create very good quality output.

The delivery mechanism is equally impressive. After selecting an item from the results page, the new webpage divides into three windows: A large primary window to display the section of the newspaper with the searched keywords or article headline; a smaller window displaying a macro view of the newspaper; and below another small window displaying related links and (by God, no) Google Ads.

The large, primary screen is equipped with several useful page navigation tools, including Zoom In/Zoom Out, Full Screen, and Fit to Height. Meanwhile the small screen reminds me of another Google service, Google Maps. Imagine the newspaper is a map. The smaller screen has a little blue highlight box that can be moved around the page, magnifying the location in the large, main screen. The related window pane offers some helpful related links and a few ads.

Seeing Google's ads leaves me with mixed feelings, I must admit. Is historical content but another platform upon which Google can append its ads?

As a proponent for making content (historical or otherwise) more accessible (Lord knows, I've done my fair share of work in this area), I definitely support Google's initiative and urge people to test and evaluate the service for themselves.

But I want Google News Archive Search users to experience the magic in viewing the past, the stories that defined and continue to define our world, without seeing the sight of crass consumerism (i.e. Google Ads) on the screen. My only consolation is that the ads are not intrusive.

Google Chrome: Polished Web Browsing

I think I must be psychic.

Exactly two years ago on this date, September 3, I wrote a blog post called "When will web browsing get interesting again" in which I talked about the new web called Browzar (which turned out to be a pseudo-browser), the state of web browsers in the general (that is, the release of Firefox and the on again, off again release of Internet Explorer 7) and wondered when would web browsing become interesting again. Back then I asked two questions, one of which I re-publish here:

When will we see a browser that gives users a solid and secure framework in which we can create, design, and interact with the web in ways that we define and tailor to our needs?

In the end, I concluded that it was not a matter of when a new browser with such features would appear, but rather who. Who would deliver the next generation web browser.

Fast-forward to September 2, 2008, Google releases its web browser called Chrome, a browser open source browser built on a new JavaScript engine called V8 that is fast and light-weight...and surprisingly lacking in bells and whistles one would normally expect. There is even no HOME button by default!

I downloaded Google Chrome and installed it, which was a seamless, trouble-free process. I installed Chrome on both my XP and Vista computers. No problems (so far) on either one of them. You are also given the option to import your bookmarks. Nice feature. I did. I launched Chrome and marvelled at its speed. The default start page is not blank but rather filled with clickable thumbnail images of websites, recently visited or recent searches. Start by clicking one of these thumbnails or by searching. The search bar is combined with the address bar with search suggestions. There are more features available in Chrome that are not readily visible. You will have to dig around a fair bit and play with settings and options. Better still. Visit Google's Chrome page and watch the instructional videos.

At the end of the day, is this the next generation web browser we've been waiting for? Is this the first shot in a new browser war?

Let me answer those questions this way.

I suspect what really counts with Google Chrome--and what will become more apparent down the road, 5-6 months from now--is what lurks under the hood. I will not attempt to explain Chrome's open source code base or JavaScript engine; that stuff is beyond me. But I will say that behind every technology decision, there is a business decision, which I feel suggests Google is pushing the web into the clouds, away from and no longer tied down to a specific operating system (i.e. Windows).

Google is part search company, part advertising company, but mostly a software engineering company that uses impressive engineering to deliver the tools and apps many of us use daily (e.g. Search, Gmail, Reader, Blogger, etc). And all of these tools live out there in the webosphere, not in here on our hard drives.

I believe Chrome is no different. It is the engineering in Chrome--that is, the open source engine--in addition to Google's own gutsiness to remake the Web untethered from any OS that will demonstrate in time whether this is indeed the browser that will change the game.

UPDATE #1: In re-reading this blog post, I wanted to make clear that, while Google Chrome performs smoothly, the browser is still beta, so bugs are inevitable as well as user interface peculiarities (a clumsy user interface, in some case, or clumsy user, you decide).

UPDATE #2: For a history of Chrome's development, read Wired's Steven Levy's article.

Twitter Goodness For Information Professionals

It's no secret, the world's favourite microblogging tool, Twitter, has been experiencing some technical problems as of late.

But have no fear, with today's Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), Twitter plans on strengthening its infrastructure and boosting system performance. (Fingers crossed, fingers crossed.)

In the meantime, enjoy some Twitter goodness:

1) Twitter for Librarians: The Ultimate Guide

2) Summize - Search Twitter in realtime, searching conversations. Yeah!!

More Web Trends 2008 Goodness

From Read Write Web (yet again - RWW is starting to become my new thought-provoking blog of choice), a presentation called "Web Technology Trends for 2008 and Beyond."

View Upload your own

Web Trends 2008

I came across a really good blog called Trendsspotting, which I discovered serendipitously via Read Write Web, that posted an online presentation showcasing the technology and Web trends to look out for in 2008.

View Upload your own

While we are almost halfway through the year, the ideas presented are clearly worth considering...and dreaming about how they could be used in our respective professional environments.

Personal favourites:

• Social Networks, Unstructured Data
• Web Gadgets
• Peoples Web
• Mobile and Mobile Web
• Virtual Worlds
• Video: Video blogs, video search, indexing videos

Montreal Tourism Board Launches New Website

According to today's (May 15, 2008) Montreal Gazette, the Montreal Tourism Board has launched a new $1.5 million website that highlights and showcases the city's many charms in an effort to boost a sluggish tourist season and, more importantly, to reach out to far away travellers (i.e. Americans living on the West Coast and Europeans) interested in visiting the city.

Technically sophisticated and visually appealing, the new Tourisme Montreal website, offered in both official languages (English and French) and customizable to the needs of select groups who have made Montreal a popular destination, aims to bring Montreal to the world with a very slick user-friendly navigation system and plenty of multimedia content.



The website also boasts a few cool features such as personalization, RSS feeds, Google Maps integration, among other features. I was surprised I did not see any user-generated content or solicitation for such.

Tourisme Montreal prepared a video explaining how it created this online project.

Visit the site. It's so full of information, you may not want to leave your computer.

Broadcasting with Y! Live and uStream.tv

User generated content, and more specifically, user-generated live streaming content continues to evolve (and hog bandwidth, but that's another story).

I first came across uStream.tv a few months ago and now Yahoo! has started a service it calls Y! Live, still in beta.

Armed with a desktop PC or laptop, high-speed Internet connection, and a Webcam, one can broadcast live across the Web as though one's bedroom or basement were a TV studio. So the video and audio quality are not high-definition, but start-ups, like uStream.tv, and established companies, such as Yahoo!, are entering the live streaming, broadcasting arena, hoping to attract users and would-be Web show hosts.

In keeping with the Web 2.0 ideals of collaboration and community-building, these websites offer the opportunity for users to create and share their online content and build communities of viewers, who can participate and transform the production from a one-way street (I produce, You watch) to a two-way street (We produce, We watch).

Even if you do not consider yourself ready for Web Prime Time, visit these websites and think about what could they offer your projects, your professional field, your company, your institution.

Potomac Primary Fever

I have Potomac Primary Fever. Never heard of it? Let me explain the symptoms:

• Strong urges to vote in U.S. primary;
• Increase in viewing 24hr cable news networks;
• Uncharacteristic shouting and pumping of fist when viewing candidate rallies and speeches;
• Enhanced ability to remember campaign slogans;
• Uncontrollable blurting out of "I'm John McCain and I approve this message; I'm Hillary Clinton and I approve this message; I'm Barack Obama and I approve this message"

The illness, thankfully, is non-life threatening but it does interfere with small talk at parties or conversations with other sufferers.

The treatment, it seems, is the opportunity and ability to vote. But, alas, as a foreign national living and working in the Washington, DC area, I am not allowed by law to vote. Therefore, I must suffer, and sit and watch the evening news broadcasts, follow the daily and sometimes hourly polls, and wait and wait until delegates of both parties, Democrat and Republican, figure out who they will send into the jungle and bloodsport known as the the Presidential Campaign.

If you are suffering with this fever, do what I do and check out The Washington Post's very comprehensive Campaign 2008 website, with RSS feeds for each candidate, among other Web 2.0 thingys!

Do you Yahoo! / Microsoft?

When the news surfaced last week about Microsoft's massive $42 billion bid for Yahoo!, I was not completely taken by surprise. Call me psychic, but the night before the takeover bid was announced, I was thinking: "Whatever happened to that Microsoft/Yahoo! merger?"

I am serious. I did think that.

Well, overall, I have mixed feelings about the whole thing. Being both a long time Microsoft user and Yahoo! user (heck, I can recall sitting in the Concordia University's then rudimentary computer lab, plugging away at a Lynx browser, finding something called Yahoo!), I believe the 'joining of forces' would benefit both companies.

1. Yahoo! is a very popular website. Very popular. Its brand conjures up very little public negativity. But as of late, the company has floundered. It is innovative but lack s direction, spreading itself to thin in all areas (hence that infamous Peanut Butter memo to Yahoo! employees). Worse, it cannot seem to monetize on its massive traffic and content.

2. Enter Microsoft. The company is cunning and possess the killer instincts that could revitalize Yahoo's sense of direction. Moreover, Microsoft has admitted, mainly indirectly, that it has failed to capture the online world--search, advertising--like its rival Google. Acquiring Yahoo! would certainly position Microsoft in a better place than it is now.

Will this merger really challenge Google's dominance?

The other night I wanted to embed a Google Map on a website. I read about fancy APIs and other third-party services, but all I wanted was something simple and straightforward. I visited the Google Maps website and clicked a few links until I found an embed script, which I had not seen before. A new service, I thought. Wow!! It's as though Google read my mind, knew what I wanted.

Maybe Google is psychic. Maybe that is why Google is number one.

Circular Entertainment

The consumer co-creates with the creator in creating a more perfect entertainment experience.

This story on CNET Blogs sure warms me up.

So Far Away From Blogsville

Where were you?

For those wondering where I have been, why the silence on the blog front, the reason is simple: I was and continue to be very, very busy at work. It is hard to believe, but I am almost 8 months into my projects, and I am simply attempting to wrap up one of them. This is the nature of archival work; things take a long, long time to complete. I am not particularly fond of this because I find my attention wanes roughly six months into any given project.

What were those two Jott blog posts all about?

I had a meeting last week (or was it two weeks ago?) with a colleague who works with advanced technologies; he determines their business value, analyzes their potential, and dispenses recommendations and cautions as to how the institution should proceed with them. Lately, his focus has been on Web-based technologies such as blogs, wikis, RSS feeds, mashups, collaboration, social networking, etc.

During the course of the meeting he mentioned Jott, a free service that allows subscribers to call a toll-free number and send messages to yourself, to groups, teams, or even to Twitter or your blog. The magic is that Jott transforms your spoken word into text. My description is probably not doing justice, so go check out this page.

What do you want to do with your life?

I wanna rock. I WANT TO ROCK. No, wait, wrong answer. It's no secret that I am still looking for that elusive dream job. But while reading David Lee King's latest blog post, I think I am homing in on what I'd like to do. As a Librarian and Digital Branch Manager, David's list of work activities reads like a dream job:

• attended a meeting about progress with Second Life projects
• attended a meeting about the upcoming election year and content possibilities with the Digital Branch (ie., blogs, community sharing, partnerships, etc)
• created a draft document of digital branch content and staffing guidelines and emailed it out to our guidelines group for review
• drooled over the library’s new iPod Touch - the last of our Techie ToyBox goodies to arrive!

If I shared with you my daily work activities, I would probably lose my readership (yes, all two of you), so I will not.

If your daily work activities are similar to mine, or if you're lucky enough that they resemble David Lee King's, let me know either way.

This is my first blog...(er, not really)

This is my first blog post to Blogger using Jott. Let's see if it works.

Powered by Jott

The Web and History

Last week, I attended a meeting hosted by a local young adult / young professionals organization. The organization discusses news and events of concern to the neighborhood and often schedules movie nights that focus on a particular theme. It's great for socializing and learning a new thing or two about our world.

On this evening the movie scheduled was called "Beyond the Gates," a film about a teacher and a Catholic priest caught in the middle of the 1994 Rwandan genocide, where Hutu killers massacred Tutsis by the hundreds of thousands. Based on a true story, the movie was rough and gut-wrenching.

The movie--and the entire Rwandan genocide--reminded me of one courageous Canadian solider, Lt. Gen. Romeo Dallaire, a commander on a United Nations mission in the troubled African country.

The tragedy remains raw for anyone taking a casual glance at the story: Lt. Gen. Dallaire's losing battle with U.N. bureaucracy and subsequent inability to act against the chaos unfolding around him and his eventual struggle with post-traumatic stress disorder and depression are well chronicled in a book he penned.

Dallaire warns that if we fail to learn from history, we are doomed to repeat it.

History.

I believe Web technology offers a chance to keep history alive to everyone from a university professor to a student to everyone else in between.

National Public Radio (NPR), the U.S. equivalent of the CBC in Canada, had an interview with Dallaire when his book was published. NPR recorded the interview with Dallaire and now offers it over the Web. Streaming audio technology has been around for several years now, but this is still a remarkable use of the technology. It's live and alive.

Meanwhile, the United States Marine Corps University Archives is actively recording the stories of veteran marines. I recently contacted Dr. Jim Ginther, Archives Team Leader in the Library of the Marine Corps, and asked if he planned on making these recordings available over the Web.

"The long range plan is to make these available on-line," Dr. Ginther explained, adding that "no firm timeline has been set for specific interviews or groups of interviews." The real issue at the moment revolves less around content, but more around hardware and software. "We are in the process of upgrading our systems to allow us to do just what you suggest," he said.

With that, I wished him and his project the best of luck.

The Web remains undoubtedly an exciting place, and an excellent place to share with others stories from the past.

Web Design Book Reviews

Although I have not been actively involved with web design since November 2006, I am nonetheless determined to stay current on the evolution of web design.

Digital Web Magazine (a true favorite of mine) provides visitors with a list of book reviews on the latest and best web design books published. Bookmark this page.

Saturday in the Park

Weekend Update

It's Saturday, a much cooler and much more Fall-like day than any other day this past week. Much of the humidity that had heated the city is gone, perhaps vacationing some place much more south than here, like the Caribbean.

This past week at work was very busy and I anticipate an even busier one next week. It seems like I am juggling more and more work as the weeks--and as the projects--move forward. On the one hand, I am pleased that the projects are indeed moving forward; but, on the other hand, I am certainly not welcoming the increased work piling up on my desk or the levels of stress.

As usual, I would love to share with my readers more details. But of course that is not possible due to the sensitive nature of the work. Nevertheless, I really miss sharing this kind of information, for it makes blogging--and connecting with other bloggers--all the more interesting. Being an international civil servant may not be my cup of tea.

Blog Notes

One of the reasons I like reading blogs is because every so often a blogger or two out there writes something that really resonates with me...and in a odd way comforts me when the going gets tough over here in hectic Washington, DC.

There's the blogger who, like myself, misses the academic environment; there's the blogger who, like myself, reflects upon his life and career and realizes that to live authentically is to live without fear of taking risks; and there's the blogger who, like myself, is excited about the web and emerging web technologies and their impact on information services and communication and connecting people, that he writes about these things on an almost daily basis, evangelizing people of the power of the Web.

This is me - I work on the Web

I came across this meme (or web movement) on Michael Stephen's Tame the Web blog and, following a link within said blog post, discovered another blogger espousing the same affirmation: "This is me - I work on the Web."

According to Kathryn Greenhill, the meme started on Flickr and has spawned a Flickr Group called iworkontheweb. Cool.

Although both Michael and Kathryn are librarians, the web affirmation transcends the library and information field (and archives field, of course).

I like this affirmation because it reflects the changing nature and perception of the Web. The Web is no longer on the periphery, on the fringes of regular work and social activity. It is an extension, a natural integral component of work and life now. I am part of it--you are part of it as well--even though I currently find myself in a work environment that is less Web-centric that I had hoped.

To Do Lists

The to-do list is not very long today, but still it sits in front of me, grinning. Okay, it's time to get things done.

uStream.tv and the Rise of the New "ME"dia

Yesterday afternoon, during a break and momentary lull at work, I received a Twitter tweet or twit (or announcement, for those Twitter uninitiated among us) from Greg Willits, one half of the husband and wife team behind the podcast Rosary Army and videocast That Catholic Show.

Greg informed his subscribers (or followers in Twitter parlance) that he and his wife, Jennifer, were about to record an episode of their podcast live on ustream.tv, a new live video streaming website where anyone with a webcam and microphone can broadcast a show over the Web.

Clicking on the ustream.tv link provided, I soon saw Greg and Jennifer broadcasting live from their home studio, a renovated walk-in closet affectionately known as the Cloffice. Sure enough, they were recording an upcoming episode of their Rosary Army podcast.

I had to tune out several times to respond to work-related questions, so I could not listen and watch the entire recording. By the time I returned to the video, Greg and Jennifer had finished recording their show but remained on screen to chat with viewers, dishing out the latest news and updates on their upcoming projects. According to the ustream.tv screen, there were 34 people watching and a few chatting. A small interested community were glued to their ustream.tv screen watching two Web 2.0 broadcasters doing a fairly good job at broadcasting.

Just then, I had a "a-ha" moment. I have been fascinated with content creation and delivery mechanisms since 2003 when I saw how the entertainment world was divided into content creators (actors, directors, musicians, artists) and content deliverers (production studios, film distributors, music companies, cable companies).

Fast-forward to 2007 with the rise of YouTube and ustream.tv and other user-generated content websites and you see how the entertainment model is spreading across the social spectrum. No longer are content creators and content creation confined to some studio lot in Hollywood or record company in LA or New York. No longer is the usual content deliverers the only route. Content creators now have the Web to distribute their content.

Granted, the advent of blogging and the mainstreaming of the blogosphere have shown us the influence of the new content creators and the power of the Web to distribute content.

But now something new is emerging, I believe: It is the emergence of communities surrounding these blogs, podcasts, videocasts, etc. And by communities I do not necessarily mean fan groups or user groups. I mean--thanks in part to RSS, the iPod and other mp3 devices--there is intimacy between the content creator and the consumer and levels of participation and creativity unseen before between content creator and content consumer.

The user-generated content world is still in its infancy, still focused on the juvenile "Me" of new media (like Time Magazine's 2006 Person of the Year) and still bedeviled by content plagerism and outright content theft, and grilled by the quesiton, Who exactly is earning money off my content?

But look beyond these details for a moment and one will see taking root inside the new "me"dia a florishing community of "us"ers.