Fri 1 Apr 2005
Walt Crawford finally has a blog! Walt at Random. I thought because it is April 1st, that this might be an April Fools’ joke, but it isn’t.
For newbie librarians to be, Walt Crawford writes and edits Cites & Insights: Crawford at Large. In the Spring 2005 issue (v. 5, no. 5, 24 pages), he compares creating a newsletter in PDF versus HTML and explains why he believes his newsletter is better in PDF—precise control over formatting and, in his opinion, it is too long to read on screen. I have to agree, as I print it to read it. He also covers his tests in using various packages to create HTML output. This issue also has a long article pertaining to copyright issues: “Broadcast Flag and Grokster”.
Actually, Walt Crawford is someone you, SLIS students too, should read. His C&I newsletter is cited by RLG Field of Knowledge in their The Infography about Library News as a source for any librarian who has to keep current. Though he does or did work for RLG, I assume this recommendation is unbiased, as C&I is a very good read.
He has written a number of books. In my to read stack is an autographed copy of is his First Have Something to Say, which is about “writing for the library profession”. However, he is probably best known for his dicussions about technology in the library world. He is a prolific writer and has penned many articles and columns.
April 2nd, 2005 at 10:26 am
Thanks for the kind words. I was wholly unware of the Infography item–and it wasn’t prepared by RLG. What you’re seeing is a contextual ad for RedLightGreen. A librarian (almost certainly not affiliated with RLG) prepared the Infography item. Yes, I still work for RLG.
April 2nd, 2005 at 2:26 pm
Walt,
Thank you for the correction. I skimmed instead of reading closely, and my eyes saw the two RLG references on the side, one a graphic. To set this straight, The Infography is produced by Fields of Knowledge. They state “reference tool enables a student, librarian, or teacher to identify superlative sources of information about a subject of inquiry, viewed through the lens of expert opinion.” In another statement they say that 89% of the subject experts are college faculty.
I used Infography to search for ‘intellectual property’(without quotes), as that is what I am researching for a paper. Though all the links are not current, it is another way to find links to information on a specific topic. Besides links to Web sites, there may be citations for relevant articles.
p.s.
I notice that Walt Crawford is using WordPress (http://wordpress.org/) blogging software. I am going to give that a try as soon as I can settle on a hosting service and move my Web site.