New report on Twitter and Status Updating from the Pew Internet & American Life Project: http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2009/17-Twitter-and-Status-Updating-Fall-2009.aspx
From the site: "Some 19% of internet users now say they use Twitter or another service to share updates about themselves, or to see updates about others."

I thought this information might be of use to all of our library service planning.

Pew Internet & American Life Project's Director Lee Rainie is continuing to present on ways that libraries can serve 'new' library users' information service and access expectations, based on the Project's recent report. Link to the page listing the upcoming and past presentations to library groups:

http://www.pewinternet.org/Presentations/2009/45--Surviving-in-the-new-information-ecology.aspx

Link to the January 2009 report: Adults and Social Media Websites http://www.pewinternet.org/topics/Social-Networking.aspx

Another article on Nevada County's (California) mulling over privatizing their library:

Privatizing libraries just the tip of the iceberg?

http://www.theunion.com/article/20091014/NEWS/910139973/1001/NONE&parentprofile=1053

Links to other stories about privatizing libraries are located in this blog post:

http://libeducation.blogspot.com/2009/10/as-operating-budgets-dry-up-more-places.html

I thought these two articles would be of interest:

Librarians still have vital role in the Web 2.0 era

http://www.researchinformation.info/features/feature.php?feature_id=237

Web 2.0 fails to excite today's researchers

http://www.researchinformation.info/features/feature.php?feature_id=236

As operating budgets dry up, more places are considering outsourcing or privatizing their library services. Here is an article from a California news site, The Union:
To Survive, Public Libraries Going Private
http://www.theunion.com/article/20091012/NEWS/910119996/1001/NONE&parentprofile=1053

Other posts on this blog regarding privatization/outsourcing library services:

Aug 16, 2007: http://libeducation.blogspot.com/2007/08/there-is-county-in-oregon-that-closed.html

Feb 29, 2008: http://libeducation.blogspot.com/2008/02/alaska-library-associations-newsletter.html

May 28, 2008 http://libeducation.blogspot.com/2008/05/i-have-written-before-about-jackson.html

March 2, 2009 http://libeducation.blogspot.com/2009/03/dartmouth-public-library-board-is.html

United Kingdom librarians advocate value of libraries:

What Makes a Good Library Service?

http://www.cilip.org.uk/policyadvocacy/publiclibraries/goodlibraries.htm

I found it through this news article that came out yesterday:

Librarians fight back against cuts with "good library guidelines"

http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2009/oct/07/librarians-guidelines-good-libraries

Man, I hope Keas has a librarian or two

Man, I hope Keas has a librarian or two

I just saw this story on the New York Times site: Adding Health Advice to Online Medical Records http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/06/technology/06bosworth.html?_r=1 .

The reporter, Steve Lohr, says in the article:

"The long-term answer to improving the health of the nation’s population and curbing costs, experts agree, is to help people make smarter decisions day in and day out about their own health. And the most powerful potential tool in the march toward intelligent consumerism in health care may be the Web."

I completely agree. Speaking as a librarian that has delivered consumer health information (and used consumer health information to make my own decisions) now since 1992, my recommendation to Mr. Adam Bosworth, owner of Keas, Inc. (http://www.keas.com), is to hire a team of librarians to join up with the computer experts, and the result will be successful and life-changing to those that sign up for the service.

Libraries can help you find ANYTHING:

Library patron finds long lost father, thought dead for 25 years

http://www.polkcountydemocrat.com/articles/2009/10/01/news/local/doc4ac299be9a9fd604038915.txt

In Missouri, school librarians need not apply for Teacher of the Year:
http://www.websterkirkwoodtimes.com/Articles-i-2009-10-02-166940.113118_School_Librarians_Need_Not_Apply.html

I am lucky to work in an academic setting where librarians are treated as professors - yes, we teach, and conduct research. I know it is not that way for everyone, unfortunately.