Real Multitasking, or Web Security Words Help Digitize Old Books (NPR)

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All Things Considered, August 14, 2008 · People who use the Internet to talk to friends, set up free e-mail accounts or buy concert tickets are often unknowingly helping to digitize vast libraries of old books and newspapers.

That's because more than 40,000 Web sites — including popular ones such as Ticketmaster, Facebook and Craigslist — are using a new kind of security program called reCAPTCHA. more>>

Getting the most out of your library

Here is a terrific article by William Hicks in Digital Web Magazine:

Think of the library system as something akin to the open-source movement before software. Subsidized institutions buy books, subscribe to journals and proprietary databases, and pay people to help you find “stuff”, all essentially at no cost to you... more>>

Mr. Hicks even plugs the highly useful LibX Toolbar plugin.

College & University Planners 2008 Conference

Terry Calhoun (University of Michigan) and friends from the Society of College & University Planners did some good blogging from the 2008 SCUP conference in Montreal. Here are a few entries that grabbed my attention:

- Learning Space Design (looking forward to the full report/proceedings on this one)
- IT and A/V Classroom Technology Trends. Very good notes from a roundtable discussion (posted by Michael Hites from UIUC)
- The student's experience with campus architecture and environment as a "shadow curriculum."
- How students choose colleges

more >>

Track Town USA featured on NPR

Steve Prefontaine winning the 10K, 1972 Olympic Trials, Hayward Field, University of Oregon (video still)



The Olympic Trials are generating national attention for the UO. Here's a story on NPR, with quotes from Allan Price (VP for Advancement) and Heather Briston (University Historian & Archivist):

Catching Up With Tracktown, USA

by Ethan Lindsey

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All Things Considered, July 5, 2008 · The U.S. Olympic Track and Field trials are finishing up in Eugene, Ore., this weekend, making the town worthy of its nickname: Track Town USA. Eclectic Eugene, population 150,000, has a long history in this sport: the first Nike running shoe was created in Eugene, former track super star Steve Prefontaine is from the town and a huge number of runners congregate here.

Ethan Lindsey reports for Oregon Public Broadcasting.

UO Libraries Search facebook app now available!

Many thanks to Joshua Kielas, UO Libraries Web Technical Coordinator, for the development effort on this one:

We now have a facebook application that searches the library catalog and selected databases (aka "OneSearch Quicksets"). You can add it to a Facebook profile by visiting this url after you are logged in:
http://apps.facebook.com/uolibcat/

Please be aware that access to licensed resources is limited to current UO students, faculty, and staff. For more information, see
http://libweb.uoregon.edu/systems/proxy/index.html

2008 Olympic Trials in Eugene; Library Exhibits

Steve Prefontaine winning the 10K, 1972 Olympic Trials, Hayward Field, University of Oregon (video still)


The Olympic Track and Field Trials are underway here at the University of Oregon from June 27 - July 6, 2008 . The UO Libraries are celebrating the event with an exhibit called Leadership and Legacy: Olympic Tradition in Track Town USA. Many of the images can also be explored in the online exhibit, Leadership and Legacy: Athletics and the University of Oregon.

Minority Report-style trends & technologies watch, item #3

Thanks to ProPublica for flagging this story from Popular Mechanics.

A siteless website

Here's the "in for a penny, in for a pound" approach to leveraging social networking tools. Modernista (advertising agency) manages its entire web presence with a blend of free user-driven sites -- Wikipedia, flickr, youtube, facebook, Google News, del.icio.us, etc..

Click the link within this post (http://modernista.com/7/index.php) and see what happens. Then try pasting the link into a new browser window.

Thanks to Kate at Innosight for passing this one along!