Blog Day 2009: Five blogs/podcasts you should know about

Every year I celebrate Blog Day. This rules around this day are:

1. Find 5 new Blogs that you find interesting
2. Notify the 5 bloggers that you are recommending them as part of BlogDay 2009
3. Write a short description of the Blogs and place a link to the recommended Blogs
4. Post the BlogDay Post (on August 31st) and
5. Add the BlogDay tag using this link:
   http://technorati.com/tag/BlogDay2009 and a link to the BlogDay web site at http://www.blogday.org

Rather than text blogs, this year I'm focusing on podcasts. Here are five podcasts that I think you should know about:

1. Beyond the Book - The site says: "Copyright Clearance Center's Beyond the Book program explores issues facing the information content industry and helps creative professionals realize the full potential of their works, while encouraging respect for intellectual property and the principles of copyright." Christopher Kenneally has a nice interview style, which makes these very listenable and interesting. The programs are generally 30 minutes in length (weekly).
   
2. Future Tense - This is a program out of ABC News Radio in Australia that explores "the social, cultural, political and economic fault lines arising from rapid change." These are often about technology, but in a broad sense. Weekly, 30 minutes in length.
3. Six Pixels of Separation - This weekly podcast provide information on digital marketing, new media and personal branding. The web site provides very good show notes. The podcasts vary in length from 20 - 60 minutes.
4. Marketing Over Coffee -This weekly podcast is indeed about marketing and contains interesting insights. The show notes on the web site are excellent. Shows are 30 minutes in length.
   
5. T is for Training - This is a twice monthly podcast with Maurice Coleman as the host. The show features a fluid number of librarians and library trainers talking about a broad range of issues, concerns, ideas, techniques, etc. loosely related to technology training that is conducted in/by libraries. Information on how to actively participate in the show recording is on the web site and all are welcome. URLs mentioned during the shows are posted to del.icio.us under T is for Training. The shows are 60 minutes in length. {Full disclosure - I'm often a part of this podcast.}
   

I hope you'll give these a listen! If you have recommendations for interesting podcasts, please leave a comment on this blog post.

Previous Blog Day posts:

• Blog Day 2006
• Blog Day 2007: Blogs worth knowing about
• Blog Day 2008: Five blogs you should know about

---

Technorati Tag: blogday2009

My 5th Anniversary as a blogger!

My first blog post on August 30, 2004 wasn't very long or helpful, but it was a beginning. Since then, this blog has been visited by people from across six continents including islands in the middle of the oceans. From the statistics kept my SiteMeter and ClusterMaps, it looks like this blog gets around 6000 visits per month, which does not count those who read blog posts through their RSS readers or via email. Thank you for your visits!

In addition to your faith in reading Digitization 101, I have been heartened by the number of people who have quoted text from this blog. I've found quotes in English as well as in a number of other languages. Thank you!

Because of the faith you have put in this blog, Digitization 101 has gotten itself listed in places that have truly humbled me (and continues to do so).

In addition, this blog has become my "calling card" and allowed me to meet many wonderful people through blog post comments, email, telephone and face-to-face. Wow!

On August 30, 2004, I had not idea that this would happen. I am and will be forever grateful for what has occurred!

Photo above from http://www.flickr.com/photos/chrisirmo/ / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Video of 1000 frames-per-second book scanner

On Aug. 21, I mentioned the book scanner being developed by the Ishikawa Komuro Laboratory in Tokyo which can reportedly digitize at 1000 frames-per-second. A Japanese TV station did a story on this new technology and shows it in action. You can watch the video at http://www.tv-tokyo.co.jp/wbs/trend_tamago/tt_154.html. Even if you don't speak Japanese, the video is worth watching.

---

Technorati tags: Digitization, Book

Thomas Frey on electronic outposts (a version of digital libraries)

In Information Outlook (v.13, n.4, June 2009), Thomas Frey wrote:

Even before the widespread use of book readers, libraries will begin to experiment with a version of the digital library I've termed "the electronic outpost." An electronic outpost is a type of library designed to inspire the mind, to serve as a forum for intellectual spontaneity and a safe haven for creative ideas where visionary thinkers can find solitude and support.

The size, shape, and ultimate purpose of each outpost will vary. Many will be planned with a homey, living room-like feel to them, while others will go with a more eclectic atmosphere to inspire industry-specific thoughts. Electronic outposts will evolve over time around the core services most relevant to a particular user group.

Note that this definition is about a physical place that has an emphasis on the digital.

---

Technorati tags: Digital Library, Definition

Blog post: You Listening, Google? Rocket-fast Japanese Page-Flipper Could Revolutionize Scanning

The Ishikawa Komuro Laboratory in Tokyo "has developed a scanner that can turn pages and scan their contents - text and images - at 1000 frames-per-second with a minimum of distortion." (from E-Reads)

I cannot imagine how this works. If anyone has seen demos of this, please let me know!

If this really works, then the next question will be which hardware vendor will get their hands on this technology? (Or maybe the question is who has already gotten their hands on it?!)

---

Technorati tags: Digitization, Book