Eli Pariser talks about filter bubbles in this terrific TED Talk. As human beings were prone to bubbles, we gravitate to people like us, people with the same views, the same socio-economic class, the same habits etc. All sorts of studies show that if you’re likely to have similar habits and life-styles as the people you associate with. The web has been applauded as a way to escape that echo-chamber you live in. Except, as Pariser points out, there are companies like Google and Facebook and Yahoo looking to personalize your web experience, and that personalization makes your bubble even smaller. Making it even easier to forget that your world view is not the world view. So I do think this is a problem. And I think, if you take all of these filters together, you take all these algorithms, you get what I call a filter bubble. And your filter bubble is your own personal unique universe of information that you live in online. And what’s in your filter bubble depends on who you are, and it depends on what you do. But the thing is that you don’t decide what gets in. And more importantly, you don’t actually see what
Echo Chamber
Challenge! Escape from the Echo Chamber
Its been more than a year since Ned Potter got me thinking about the echo chamber in libraryland and more importantly the need to escape it. I’ll admit that while I’ve thought about it and wrote about I haven’t made any extreme efforts. Oh sure I have had some successes (some through no effort on my part like the Library Day in the Life Project mention in the Guardian) the only real action I’ve taken is to make an effort to follow more non-library people on Twitter and read more non-library blogs. Shame on me. Luckily Ned and others working to break out and encouraging others to do so to. Enter Patrick Sweeney’s Great Librarian Write-Out. The premise is simple, write (and get published) an article about libraries in a non-library publication and you could win $250 (full rules and regulations) Let me applaud Patrick for offering up cold-hard cash out of his out pocket as an incentive for this project. We need to make a concerted effort to escape the echo chamber, to make our worth known. Not with the “save libraries” rally cry but with value demonstration and engagement and we need to stop talking to each other and start
TechSoup Global Contributors Summit Notes
Last week I had the honor of attending the TechSoup Global Contributors Summit. When I received the invitation from Sarah at TechSoup for Libraries I knew I had to go for several reason including escaping the echo chamber and it was at the Microsoft campus in Silicon Valley. Some background about TechSoup: TechSoup is a nonprofit with a clear focus: providing other nonprofits and libraries with technology that empowers them to fulfill their missions and serve their communities. As part of that goal, we provide technology products and information geared specifically to the unique challenges faced by nonprofits and libraries. Learning resources, including articles, blogs, free webinars, and forums led by expert hosts are available to all users. Once qualified with TechSoup, nonprofits and libraries can access 400+ technology products from more than 40 donor partners — including Microsoft, Adobe, Cisco, Intuit, and Symantec. All donated and discounted products are available for a small admin fee that supports our work in the United States and around the world. For those of you not familiar with TechSoup for Libraries is a: nonprofit devoted to making technology and technology education available and affordable to nonprofits and libraries all over the world. As of June 2009,
Library Day in the Life Project In The Guardian #libday6 #echolib
I was thrilled to discover the Library Day in the Life Project was mentioned in a recent article in The Guardian for a couple of reason. First it awesome to see it mentioned in The Guardian! Second, Emma Cragg and Katie Birkwood have written a great article highlighting what it takes to be a librarian today. Beyond books: What It Takes to be a 21st century Librarian: From Connecting With People to Keeping Up With the Latest Technologies, There is a Whole Lot More to the Job Than Stamping Due Dates: As well as being good communicators with people and active adopters and exploiters of technological developments, librarians need to have detailed specialist subject knowledge to pass on to library users. Librarians provide training to show people how to search for information and evaluate what they find. These information skills sessions are now expanding to include digital literacies such as how to stay safe online, the use of social media sites and online collaboration tools. Third, The article also includes mention of Ned Potter’s Library Routes Project which accepting participants, so if you haven’t blogged your library route or roots do it today! The idea is to document either or both of your library roots
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