What Was Worse In 2013 – Yahoo Mail Or YouTube Comments?

By Zach Walton  webpronews.com 
Bottomline:

With both tales of woe out of the way, which was worse – Yahoo Mail or YouTube comments? If we’re going strictly by the amount of negative comments, Yahoo Mail easily takes the cake. Granted, Yahoo Mail has had more time to anger users with its rollout beginning in June while the new YouTube comments only launched in November.
Without any good metric, we’re forced to let the readers decide. Were you angered more by Yahoo Mail or YouTube comments this year? Do you see any way that Yahoo and Google could improve their services going into 2014?

How Librarians Are Helping People Navigate the New Healthcare System Alissa Walker, Gawker Media

Alissa Walker, Gawker Media

 

Extract:

Dec 21, 2013, 01.30 AM IST

Lupie Leyva has answered questions about immigration issues, taught people how to use email, and once even helped a person make an appointment to see a family member who was incarcerated. "I've worked in public libraries for 10 years," she says. "Nothing surprises me anymore."

None of those things are technically in her job description as senior librarian at the Robert Louis Stevenson Library in Boyle Heights, a neighborhood in East L.A. But Leyva feels that these tasks are part of her role as a community provider of trust-or what she calls confianza. "That is the thing that we as a system provide," she says. "People trust us to try to find the best information we can." continue reading

Semantic search with a new brand name: Sentient code

Sentient code: An inside look at Stephen Wolfram’s utterly new, insanely ambitious computational paradigm, http://venturebeat.com

Highlights:

• ‘Insanely more ambitious’ than Google knowledge graph
• Making the computer do the work 
• Automation through information 
• Natural language input — kids can code?
• Where to Wolfram: Raspberry Pi, smartphones, devices
• Sentient code and intelligent objects

On the same shelf:

• Stephen Wolfram wants to leave Google, Wikipedia in the dust  washingtonpost.com   
• Digital Marketers: 'Insanely Ambitious' Wolfram Language Tools ... Search Engine Watch-by Miranda Miller
• New Wolfram Language Brings The Power Of Mathematica To Any Device Fast Company Magazine 
• How Online Retailers Can Leverage Unique Identifiers & Structured .. Search Engine Land-by Barbara Starr
• Semantic video search engine launched, E&T magazine

Addressing The Demographic Challenge Of Knowledge Management

Addressing The Demographic Challenge Of Knowledge Management  
Manufacturing.net   Nov 18

Extract:
When a large manufacturer calculated how much they could save by consolidating operations, they didn’t count the true cost of closing a location a few states away that had a 90-year history and hundreds of skilled employees. The oldest, most expert employees took early retirement. The mid-level employees, the company’s intellectual backbone, took their expertise to a competitor, rather than ...

These new systems are being built around these key ideas:

• Active and agile knowledge. The old knowledge library paradigm is too static. Knowledge is active, alive and has greatest value when used. It must be accessible, useful and relevant. Engineers don’t have time to stop what they are doing to dig for a manual — assuming they know where to look in the first place. Knowledge must push to workers in context.
• Accessible, complete and current knowledge. Knowledge is stored in a variety of disconnected documents that quickly fall out of date. An engineer may not have time to search for specification documents, best practices presentations and various spreadsheets of data. And if he grabs old parameters without realizing they are outdate, he may invest hours in a solution that is totally out of specification. Systems must make it easy for users to access a complete and current knowledge.
• Make knowledge capture part of the process. If people don’t have time to go search through documents, they surely don’t have time to create them. Efforts can vary in quality, depending on who creates them. Capturing knowledge, evaluating it, refining it and updating it has to be an organic part of the workflow — or it simply will not happen.
• Structured flexibility. Knowledge takes many forms and is used in many ways. An engineer might need materials specifications, dimension measurements, picture maps, work instructions and interdependency schedules to design a part. The system must be flexible and able to completely capture and structure that content for access and reuse.
• Reward knowledge contributions. Some people fear sharing their knowledge will make it easier to ship their job to China. Others take genuine pride in being the go-to person when someone has a question. A well-managed knowledge system uses such cultural issues to motivate, recognize and reward people for contributing. They create a virtuous circle of engagement, trust and use, with practical rewards that encourage more engagement and more use.

Can, Should, and Will... Because What Libraries Need Is One More

Can, Should, and Will, Part 1: Because What Libraries Need Is One More Venn Diagram | Peer to Peer Review, By Rick Anderson  Library Journal

User Experience Librarian is more about outside of the library walls

The position (with many variants, including: emerging technology librarian' embedded librarian; Electronic Access and User Experience Librarian, Public Services-User Experience Librarian III / Instructor in the Library; Assessment and User Experience Librarian, USER EXPERIENCE REFERENCE LIBRARIAN AND WEBMASTER; Digital User Experience Librarian);  is more about analytics (metrics) and user experiences, than librarianship in any traditional sense of the term.

Examples of the job descriptions are here:

• Knowledge and understanding of best practices, current issues and trends in assessment and usability [job ad at University of Manitoba Libraries]
• Knowledge of metadata coding standards. Experience with library catalogue end users and/or end users of electronic resources... Website design and maintenance experience. [job ad at Nova Scotia Provincial Library]
• basic knowledge ofMARC; experience with one or more Library enterprise systems suchas library management systems (Symphony, Aleph, Endeavor),discovery interfaces (Ebsco Discovery Services, Summon, Primo),search technologies (Solr, Elasticsearch), course managementsoftware (Sakai, Canvas, BlackBoard) [job ad for Discovery User Experience Librarian at Indiana University ]
• will coordinate usability assessment fo

Thought for the day: Don't worry about your competition

Chapter Six:  Don't Worry about Your Competition (Let Them Worry about You)
 in  Professional Services Marketing: How the Best Firms Build Premier Brands, Thriving Lead Generation Engines, and Cultures of Business Development Success by Mike Schultz

Topics from Chapter 6 (pp. 69-77) "...  These mistakes are understandable, but they're still mistakes...."

• Mistake 1: Over-the-Top Competitive Research
• Mistake 2: Market and Service Offering Reluctance
• Mistake 3: Clichéd Competitive Differentiation
• Mistake 4: Unique Methodology
• Forget General Marketing Advice
• Don't Worry about Crowded Markets
• Change the Question from Competition to Clients
• When Competition Is the Order of the Day

 

Resources for Canadian Stock Investors -- Websites

Info courtesy:  Stock Investing For Canadians For Dummies  Andrew Dagys  and  Paul Mladjenovic (4th edition, 2013)

Book Description

Master the basics of stock investing? Easy.If you want to learn how to profitably invest in stocks, this is the book for you. This updated new edition of Stock Investing For Canadians For Dummies offers straight answers and simple advice for any Canadian who wants to take control of his or her portfolio. With practical guidance on making wise investments in any market—even today's uncertain one—this plain-English guide covers unique investment segments, how to invest in different market situations, and real and recent examples on what to invest in and when. With fully updated references and resources, this is the perfect stock investing guide for beginners.

• Updated to include the latest information on the current stock market, as well as fresh case studies
• Written by expert authors—one an accountant and the other a certified financial planner and investing consultant
• Ideal for novice investors and those planning for retirement

 Websites (pp. 329-330):

• Advocis - Official Site  "Commit to your profession. Find out what Advocis's proposed Professions Model would mean for both financial advisors and consumers in Canada."
• Financial Advisor Pages   "If you are looking for a financial advisor, investment advisor or financial planner, you will find F/A Pages a valuable resource"
• Investment Management Consultants Association | IMCA  "Investment Management Consultants Association delivers the premier investment consulting and wealth management designations and world-class educational offerings"
• Rrsp.org   "Offers Canadians information in the areas of retirement, estate, tax and investment planning."
• Investing for Beginners

On the same shelf:

• Top Ten Web Sites for Canadian Stock Investors - For Dummies
• Canadian stocks - Media Wave Communication
• FAIR Canada » Other Links

8 classic search engines: Where are they now? TORONTOSUN.COM

BY KERRI BREEN ,QMI AGENCY

NOVEMBER 14, 2013  torontosun.com

On the same Shelf:

• Old School Search Engines: Where Are They Now?

From Ask Jeeves to WebCrawlerBy Chris Crum · November 16, 2011 webpronews.comExtract:

Ask Jeeves was founded in 1996, and eventually becameAsk.com, although ... Last year, Yahoo indicated that it would be shuttingAltaVista down, but so ... owns Ask. Here's what it looks like today: Excite. The results: Excite. Lycos ... DogPile is similar to WebCrawler, and is also now owned by Infospace.

• Google Yahoo! Excite dogpile Jeeves - Dogpile Web Search
• Popular Search Engines in the 90's: Then and Now - Six Revisions
• 10 Websites We Miss From 1996

1. AltaVista
2. Suck.com
3. Mr. Showbiz
4. GeoCities
5. HotWired
6. Lycos
7. Angelfire
8. N64
9. GamePro
10. Pathfinder

Competitive Intelligence is an art of science or none-of-the-above?

• Competitive Intelligence The Art and Science of Being
• The Art and Science of Elicitation - Competitive Intelligence
• The soft science of CI - Competitive Intelligence Magazine ...
• The science, not art, of business intelligence -Michael C. O'Guin ...
• Competitive intelligence the new information science fun(c)tion
• The Art and Science of Business Intelligence Analysis (Advances in Applied Business Strategy)  Benjamin Gilad
• Information Management For The Intelligent Organization: The Art Of Scanning The Environment (Asis Monograph Series)  Chun Wei Choo 
• The Manager's Guide to Competitive Intelligence  John J. McGonagle  
• The Complete Guide to Competitive Intelligence (Fifth Edition)  Kirk Tyson 
• Competitive Intelligence: A Guide for Your Journey to Best-practice Processes  Paige Leavitt

Should Google Be Forced To Filter Search Results? Semantic Search techniques revisited

By Chris Crum · November 7, 2013 webpronews.com
Extract:

"One man is currently trying to get his damaging content out of Google, and not just removed, but filtered as it’s created. A French court has sided with him, and ordered Google to comply. 

... Interestingly enough, this comes after Google adjusted its algorithm on its own to prevent mug shot sites’ content from ranking in search results, which could help protect the reputations of some people.
In another case in June, a European court said Google didn’t have to remove search results when a Spanish man sought for it to remove reputation-damaging materials." continue reading

 On the same shelf:

•  The Filter Bubble: How the New Personalized Web Is Changing What We Read and How We Think Eli Pariser
•   Google Script: Enterprise Application Essentials: Adding Functionality to Your Google Apps James Ferreira
• How to Find Out Anything: From Extreme Google Searches to Scouring Government Documents, a Guide to Uncovering Anything About Everyone and Everything Don MacLeod
• Programming Collective Intelligence: Building Smart Web 2.0 Applications Toby Segaran  
• Nexus 5: A True Google Experience [Review]
• 5 Ways To Unlock The Benefits Of Semantic Search, Search Engine Land-by Barbara Starr-

• Harnessing Collective Intelligence

• MIT Center for Collective Intelligence

• "collective intelligence" and collaborative filtering? - O'Reilly

'Determining competitors’ capabilities' in Business Plans For Canadians For Dummies

Here are some of my comments about the book and extracts from the book, Business Plans For Canadians For Dummies 

by 

Nada Wagner, 

Paul Tiffany,  

Steven D. Peterson.

 

Overview of the book:Build a winning business plan with expert tips and strategies

• Creating a great business plan is the first and most vital step to business success. Packed with Canadian resources and anecdotes, this friendly guide takes you through the planning process. From scoping out the competition to planning for growth, this book is your ultimate reference for determining and meeting your business goals.
• Business essentials — from creating your company's mission statement to setting goals and objectives
• Competitive analysis — from analyzing your industry to tracking your competitors' actions
• Market research — from identifying your market to meeting your customers' needs
• Financial information — from reading income statements to understanding balance sheets

You must read the full book to get a real feel of the do's and do it now type of 

competitive intelligence, esp., Chapter 8: Checking Out Your Competition.

This book is very good for the Canadian business planners. Its content is excellent reading and refreshing, with many ideas / resources that are so really informing and Canadian, eh!!! This is the strength. And, hence reading the following extracts (although generic and good for a business anywhere), gives an opportunity to feel the depth and breadth of the book.

Sample from the book from the section 'Determining competitors’ capabilities' in Chapter Eight (pp. 134-135):

"You need to ask the same kinds of questions about your competitors that you ask yourself when you complete a company checkup... ""The capabilities that you're most interested in tell you something about your competitors' ability to react when your industry changes.""To determine your competitors' capabilities, start with this list of important business functions and areas..." 

"The following questions should get you going...:

• Management: What do you know about the background and experience of the company's chief bigwigs...
• Organization: How structured and centralized is the company's organization?...
• Customer base: What's the company's share of the market?...
• Research and development: Is the company known for innovation technology and its intellectual property?...
• Operations: How modern are the company's facilities and business processes?...
• Marketing and sales: How strong are the company's  products?
• Distribution and delivery: How many distribution channels does the company sell through?
• Financial condition: Is the company's revenue growing?... " (pp. 134-135)

The last question, about finances (read also as: revenues) of the competitors, is one major area that is difficult to dig. So also the portion on essential/required research about customer (pp. 90-94) and market (pp. 104-105) are very insufficient for gathering the competitive intelligence. Whereas a value added book, at least for the information professionals is: Bates, Mary Ellen. Building & running a successful research business: a guide for the independent information professional:

From my desk:

•  Mary Ellen Bates. Building & running a successful research business: a guide for the independent information professional.Edited by Reva Basch. CyberAge Books, 2003 -- (new edition:Building & running a successful research business: a guide for the independent information professional, 2010) Information Resources Management Journal 
• Market Research Resources via Libraries 

Knowledge management sources - How to find @ McGill Library

 McGill Library, Liaison Librarian: Maya Kucij

• Sources for Background Information
• Dictionaries, Encyclopedias
• Core Databases 
• Selected Internet Sites 
• Other Resources, Related subject guides: Library and Information Studies
• Searching the Library Catalogue:

Use the basic word(s) anywhere or advanced keyword search in the library catalogue. You can search using words like - information, reference, librar?, etc.

Search tips

Truncation symbol:	?	e.g. librar? will retrieve catalogue records containing the words library, libraries, librarian, etc.
Phrase searching:	"___"	e.g. "knowledge management" will retrieve catalogue records containing the phrase (both words side by side in the order entered) knowledge management
Boolean operators:	(), AND, OR, NOT default: AND	e.g. management AND (Canada OR "United States") will retrieve catalogue records containing the word management AND either Canada OR the phraseUnited States

Top Seven SharePoint document scanning best practices

By Nalaka Withanage, http://idm.net.au
Extract:

1. Define a metadata extraction Strategy
2. Define content search criteria first and work backwards.
3. Get your SharePoint content type design right
4. Centralise the routing and business rules
5. Configure the SharePoint Site collection as DRM site
6. Do your capacity planning and container design right
7.  Select a OCR scanning software solution that has seamless integration with SharePoint

Privacy Commissioner of Canada to investigate Bell's data collecting - Media reports

• Bell's move to track customers' web history, TV viewing sparks probe by privacy  regulator Financial Post
• Privacy commissioner to investigate Bell's data collecting, CBC via Yahoo! Canada News
• Bell goes Big Brother, will track customers' web history, viewing, calls, mobile  usage. Hamilton Spectator
• Bell to collect customer personal information for marketing, targeted ads,  Toronto Star 
• Further updates: Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada
• See also All News releases: BCE Bell Canada Enterprises: Canada's Top Communication ...

Technology Can Expose Government Sins, But You Need Humans to Fix Them

Written by Lorelei Kelly, 

01 Oct 2013 CityWatch 

This article appeared first in the New America Foundation’s Weekly Wonk and ZocaloPublicSquare.org … connecting people and ideas.) 

EXTRACT:ZOCALO PUBLIC SQUARE-The National Security Agency, in its surveillance, is unaccountable. But we don’t know what to do about it. Why?
At a recent meeting on Capitol Hill, a young Congressional staffer offered the answer. He said:
People think that tweeting or commenting online about the surveillance is actually doing something to hold the surveillance accountable. In other words, we’re confused about the connection between transparency and accountability. We haven’t defined the difference between using this era’s technological tools to shine a light on how government works and using this era’s technological tools to hold the government accountable. 
... According to calculations by the Sunlight Foundation, today’s Congress is operating with about 40 percent less staff than in 1979. According to the Congressional Management Foundation, it’s also contending with at least 800 percent more incoming communications. Yet, instead of helping Congress gain insight in new ways, instead of helping it sort and filter, curate and authenticate, technology has mostly created disorganized information overload. And the information Congress receives is often sentiment, not substance. Elected leaders should pay attention to both, but need the latter for policymaking.
Continue reading CityWatch

Frequently Asked Questions in Libraries - Role of Knowledge Managers

Reading now: Unshelved Volume 6: Frequently Asked Questions by Bill Barnes

On the same shelf:

• Frequently Asked Questions - Ohio State University Libraries 

Extract:"The Ohio State University Knowledge Bank proposes to create a knowledge management system for the university that will encourage and support the creation, organization, storage, dissemination and preservation of the institution’s digital information assets. It is intended to be both a “repository” that captures the intellectual output of the university produced in a digital format, as well as a “referatory” providing links to digital objects."

Organization of Islamic Knowledge by Haroon Idrees

Found two intensive research articles  on  the subject, both by by Haroon Idrees @ Academia.edu:

• Library Classification Systems and Organization of Islamic Knowledge: Current Global Scenario and Optimal Solution
• Classification of library materials on Islam: a literature survey

About Haroon Idrees: IRI, International Islamic University, Islamabad, Pakistan, and  Berlin School of Library & Information Science, Humboldt University of Berlin, Berlin, Germany.

On the same shelf:

Google's Gmail and Personal Knowledge Management: Whatz Up in 2013

Is The New Gmail Better For Users Or Marketers? By Chris Crum WebProNews

Extract:
"You can go to the gear icon, and click “Configure inbox” to set up the new style if Google hasn’t pushed it to you.
The main difference is that the new interface separates your emails into different tabs. There are tabs for: Primary, Social, Promotions, Updates and Forums. You’ll probably get the first four by default, but you can adjust the settings to have whatever combination of these you want, including only Primary, which would make your inbox more like the classic Gmail.
Primary, according to Google, is reserved for messages from friends and family, and other messages that don’t appear in other tabs. Promotions is where deals, offers and other promotional emails reside (like email marketing messages from lists you’re subscribed to). Social is where you will see messages from social networks, media-sharing sites, online dating services, gaming platforms and other social sites. Updates is where you will find notifications like confirmations, receipts, bills and statements. Forums will include messages from online groups, discussion boards and mailing lists." continue reading Web Pro News.

   See also:

Google's Gmail Promises Personal Knowledge Management Online (2004) http://contentblogger.shore.com/

  How Nonprofits Can Navigate Gmail Tabs, Beaconfire Consulting 

What Do Users Think Of Google’s New Look? webpronews.com 

Paid news -- Media monitoring

Here is a quick look at whats up on the sujbect of a personalized &/or customized news service, generally aggregated by a newspaper (for its audience) or a third party (with an agenda or a business motive). See also: syndication

What is paid news? By Ashutosh Nandi, Cuttack, THE TIMES OF INDIA
Paid news or paid content are those articles in newspapers, magazines and the electronic media, which indicate favourable conditions for the institution that has paid for it. The news is much like an advertisement but without the ad tag. This kind of news has been considered a serious malpractice since it deceives the citizens, not letting them know that the news is, in fact, an advertisement. Secondly , the payment modes usually violate tax laws and election spending laws. More seriously, it has raised electoral concerns because the media has a direct influence on voters.

• 'Paid News': The Buried Report, The report they don't want you to read. Full text of the controversial report by the Press Council of India's subcommittee to probe the Paid News scandal, by Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, K. Sreenivas Reddy http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?266542
• Major papers launch online paid news service, Jennifer SaBa, NEW YORK — The Globe and Mail
• The Pointlessness of Paid News Applications --Extract: "Now, I have nothing against paid content, great content  and journalism costs money to create and if it’s above average in quality, then I’m willing to pay.
  
  However, The Telegraph believes that its iPad application is synonmous with a pre-internet era printed newspaper, and is charging accordingly $1.99 per day. Per day! Or $16.99 per month."
• Who Would Pay for Online News? - Centre d'études sur les médias

Who is in this business?

• CANOE -- Technology: Papers launch online paid news service
• Five Best News Aggregators 
• 5 Best News Aggregators for getting the most out of your phone
• Comparing The New Aggregators: Flipboard, Pulse, Zite, Float And More - paidContent.org, By Amanda Natividad

European Commission (EC) details Google's proposed search concessions

EC details Google's proposed search concessions

CNET, by Stephen Shankland, 25 April, 2013 Google offers to label its own services in search results and give some prominence to rivals. European competitiveness regulators now want feedback, and critics are lodging objections.

On the same shelf:

Do Google's Search Proposals Go Far Enough? Is the EU pushing Google too far?   WebProNews Chris Crum, 25 April, 2013

Extract: "The Commission views Google as dominant in search and search advertising, and says it is abusing its dominant position in four areas: specialized search, content usage, exclusivity agreements with publishers for the provision of online search advertising on their sites, and contractual restrictions on the portability and management of online search advertising campaigns across AdWords and competing platforms." continue reading

Google’s Search Proposal to EU, Networks, February 6th, 2013

Internet Security Research and Insight about Keywords and Phrases

Info courtesy: Stephen Abram's post (based on Phrases used by corporate fraudsters
Via Cory Doctorow):

Special Librarians and Information Forensics

Many special librarians and information science researchers are intimately involved in information forensics work.  This FBI/E&Y study is an interesting insight into how searching and metadata skills assist this kind of investigation. Hey, we can catch white collar crooks with our skills.

In total more than 3,000 terms are logged by the technology, which monitors for conversations within the “fraud triangle”, where pressure, rationalisation, and opportunity meet, said the FBI and Ernst & Young…
1.   Cover up
2.  Write off
3.   Illegal
4.   Failed investment
5.   Nobody will find out
6.  Grey area
7.   They owe it to me
8.  Do not volunteer information
9.  Not ethical
10.  Off the books   continue reading

 See also:

• Internet Security Research and Insight - Team Cymru,

  www.team-cymru.org/ -- It all begins with metadata ...

• FBI Software Pinpoints Top Phrases Used by corporate fraudsters ... by Bianca Dima

   

On the same shelf:

Leaked document angers Rockford Public Library fans

Reading this news story, competitive intelligence, best practices and what not comes to your mind.
Leaked document angers Rockford Public Library fans By Susan Stephens @ Northern Public Radio
Extract:

The Rockford Public Library’s board of trustees can expect to see something unusual at its meeting Monday night… a large crowd. That’s because two confidential reports by the library’s executive director have been leaked to the public.
The documents detail ways to offer the public more digital services by cutting staff, closing some branches, and heavily “weeding out” print materials.
The Public Library has been an important institution in Rockford since it opened its first reading room in 1872. And the 110 year old Carnegie library on the banks of the Rock River now anchors a six branch system. Continue reading Leaked document angers