This week’s 4cast:
1. The WorldCat’s Meow
In their ongoing effort to make library materials easier for the general public to find, OCLC recently unveiled a new WorldCat website that allows users to easily find items in over 18,000 OCLC-member library catalogs.
- Open WorldCat program (OCLC)
- OCLC to Open WorldCat Searching to the World (Information Today)
- WorldCat.org lauches: a coupla thoughts (Librarian in Black)
- WorldCat is Open for Searching (ACRLog)
2. Amazon, Netflix & You
Amazon‘s new Library Processing service is designed to streamline the prepwork involved in purchasing items from Amazon and getting them onto library shelves. One librarian sees this as a possible way for libraries to develop a Netflix-like delivery model for their patrons.
- Helene’s Netflix/Amazon Mashup (LibraryCrunch)
- Why libraries need something like Netflix for books (Superpatron)
- Netflix Niagara and Libraries (Libraryman)
3. Wikipedia Pedals Onward
As the debate over Wikipedia continues to rage, the ever-expanding website reveals new efforts to improve itself.
- Toward a Better Wikipedia (Wired News)
- Jimmy Wales Announces $100 Laptop Partnership, Wikiversity, Wikiwyg (Andy Carvin’s Waste of Bandwidth)
- wikipedia: economies of community scale, cherish individuals first (librarian.net)
- How and Why Wikipedia Works: An Interview (Dirk Riehle)
- Can History be Open Source? Wikipedia and the Future of the Past (Center for History and New Media)
4. One Line, Two Services?
Various places around the country are becoming more interested in Broadband over Power Lines (BPL), a technology which uses the existing power infrastructure to also deliver high-speed Internet service. Rural areas could especially benefit.
- Net Over Power Lines Gets FCC Nod (Wired News)
- Broadband Over Power Lines for 21st Century Communities (Government Technology)
- Texas to get broadband over its power lines (CNET News)
- Broadband Over Power Lines (BPL) Comes of Age? (Web Optimization Blog)
