Monday, August 19, 2002

Blogs as PR tool?  The Public Relations Society of America has an article on their web site that explains the value of a blog as a new media PR tool.  The article is entitled, "Pitching Blogs: Latest Type Of Online Media Vehicle May Provide Valuable PR Opportunities" by Lloyd Trufelman and Laura Goldberg.  It's all about outreach. 2:38:49 PM

KartOO: Try this cool new meta search engine, built with Flash.  Instead of displaying data as a bunch of text links with a relevancy percentage.  It acts more like Antarcti.ca Systems Inc.'s Visual Net software.  InfoVis has an article about KartOO. 2:27:51 PM

Recession's impact on libraries and librarians: - "When Seattle public libraries go dark for a week .... -[The Seattle Times] "LS Thoughts - Every librarian must read this article. The author makes many pro-library points and explains why libraries need to survive in order to keep the free exchange of ideas intact. Thanks Mr. Andrews for a wonderful piece on libraries." [Library Stuff - Updated daily by Steven M. Cohen] This is a problem being faced nationwide.  The Chicago Public Library has made staffing adjustments recently in an attempt to deal with their budget shortfall.  Some of the city's special libraries have also suffered from downsizing and restructuring.  As a result, CLS has partnered with local chapters of various library associations for career visioning workshops.  The next career visioning workshop is scheduled for this fall.  Check out CLS' CE calendar for more information. 12:26:49 PM

A few more places to look for grants: Helping.org is the AOL Time Warner foundation that makes grants to charities.  It is part of the Network for Good, a coalition of technology companies that make grants to non-profits and encourage volunteering in one's local community. Newman's Own supports nonprofits focused on children and youth, health, education, the elderly, the environment, the arts, the handicapped, literacy, substance abuse education, and programs for the needy.  The deadline to apply for a grant is  Sept 1.  Grants range from $500 to $15,000 and you must be a non-profit 501(c)(3)  or a public institution (shools & hospitals) to apply.  See web site for grant application.  11:35:04 AM

MSNBC is running a story about the blog-o-sphere. I get a mention, but no links to anyone. If you don't link, you're still ink! [Adam Curry: Adam Curry's Weblog] This is a rather long and thorugh article on the blog-o-sphere.  I wish though it would have spent more time covering the k-logs and corporate blogging.  I think that is where the biggest changes and contributions blogging will make in the next couple of years will happen. 11:23:13 AM

Hush-Hush Hooray, Says NYC. The cell-phone industry is laughing at a bill by a New York City councilman that would prohibit the use of cell phones in most public places. But it's gaining momentum. By Elisa Batista. [Wired News] This is an interesting bill to watch as it would mean that libraries, who are supporting or plan on supporting cell--phones with text messaging and other handhelds that ring, would have to change their plans.  Libraries are one of the public places covered by this proposed prohibition. 10:55:41 AM

CLS will be hosting a memorial on 9/11 for the librarians and others who were lost during the September 11th attacks.  Here's more information on the event. 10:45:05 AM

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