Managing nicely running web sites is sort of like having really neat cats that are just fascinating to watch all day long, playing with a string or stalking a fly. Probably others (like friends invited over to dinner) will not necessarily be enraptured in quite the same way...but, still. It is sort of fun. The Institute for Research on Labor and Employment web site is getting bigger all the time, and will soon included a digital library of working papers that were published by the federally funded National Center for the Workplace. The IRLE Library's web page includes a nice guide to labor resources on the Internet. But my current favorite is the Special Libraries Association/San Francisco Bay Region Chapter's web site. This site has really nice graphics that are based on a beautiful photograph by Ansel Adams, with the permission of the California Museum of Photography, which has a really stunning web site.

Maui

I grew up on the island of Hawaii but have lots of friends on Maui. One of my favorite links on maui.net is the Gandhi home page, put together by lleslie. But then, I really like the Engaged Buddhist Dharma Page too, until my karma was run over by my dharma.

I also like to scuba dive (warm water, thank you) and if you're a diver, you might want to look at Extended Horizons guide to diving around Maui and Lanai. Rick's metaphysical musings also provide a useful guide to why so many academics flee Berkeley for Maui for a welcome dose of non-refereed, non-linear, and non-rigorous intellectual inquiry that nonetheless can be renewing.

Digital Libraries

Digital Libraries are quite the topic for librarians, and I believe that the future success or failure of this new stream of research will depend to very large degree on how much influence librarians can gain over design. Current research is led by computer scientists and increasingly, social sciencists; but how much do these folks really know about user patterns and reference dynamics? I wonder how they'd manage if they were plopped down on at a research library's main reference desk...

At any rate, there's lot of neat stuff to see. Digital Libraries Magazine offers a really nice balance of viewpoints, but my favorite of late is First Monday, a peer reviewed Internet journal. I also pay attentin to what the folks at the American Society for Information Science are saying about our digital futures. But as "digital covergence" moves on apace, there is increasing cross-fertilization between various disciplines. One of my favorite "think" rags that is online is Phil Agre's Network Observer. Agre is a communcations prof at UC San Diego, and he's awfully good at cutting to the key issues that arise from all types of converging digital technologies. I particularly like his two part article titled "From Librarians to Communitarians".

The H.W. Wilson Company has made Rettig on Reference available via the web, which is most helpful for librarians who would like to buy lots of great reference books. Alas, for funds...

This site will be under continual construction, so come on back sometime soon.




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