Alan Kay Leaving HP.
The Merc reports that Hewlett Packard's pink slip avalanche includes about a tenth of its researchers at the well-regarded HP Labs, and that three of four discontinued projects are here in Silicon Valley at the Palo Alto lab. Then we learn that Alan Kay, a true legend in technology, is is leaving because he was heading one of those projects.
This sends a message HP cannot afford to be transmitting to the world. Unfortunately, the company is more interested in sending a message to the Wall Street crowd, which can see only as far as the next financial quarter.
HP hasn't been a visionary leader in research for some time. But letting Alan Kay go is a penny-wise move, at best.
[Dan Gillmor's blog]
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Interesting new NASA study. NASA - Methane’s Impacts on Climate Change May Be Twice Previous Estimates“According to new calculations, the impacts of methane on climate warming may be double the standard amount attributed to the gas. The new interpretations reveal methane emissions may account for a third of the climate warming from well-mixed greenhouse gases between the 1750s and [...] [Common Sense Technology]
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20 Technology Skills Every Librarian Should Have. Last month, T.H.E. Journal posted an interesting article titled 20 Technology Skills Every Educator Should Have and briefly defined each.
- Word Processing Skills
- Spreadsheets Skills
- Database Skills
- Electronic Presentation Skills
- Web Navigation Skills
- Web Site Design Skills
- E-Mail Management Skills
- Digital Cameras
- Computer Network Knowledge Applicable to your School System
- File Management & Windows Explorer Skills
- Downloading Software From the Web (Knowledge including eBooks)
- Installing Computer Software onto a Computer System
- WebCT or Blackboard Teaching Skills
- Videoconferencing skills
- Computer-Related Storage Devices (Knowledge: disks, CDs, USB drives, zip disks, DVDs, etc.)
- Scanner Knowledge
- Knowledge of PDAs
- Deep Web Knowledge
- Educational Copyright Knowledge
- Computer Security Knowledge
It's a pretty good list, and it becomes useful for us if we substitute the word "librarian" for "educator" throughout, even for items like #13 about WebCT and Blackboard because you have to understand the distance learning you'll be supporting more and more in the future (speaking from a public librarian perspective).
Of course, for librarians I would make it a top 25 list and add blogs, RSS, IM, wikis, and audio ebooks right from the beginning.
I'd like to see MLS do a series of workshops, either online or f2f, that would help librarians learn all 25 skills. We could even do annual updates.
[The Shifted Librarian]
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