I've been happily buried in three different projects, one of which involves considerable historical research about the Civil War. The Facebook advertising engine picked up on that research – they're watching our every move! – and suggested I "like" the daily updates from this site.
Damned if the advertising engine isn't right. I do like the updates. In fact, I think whoever came up with the idea of sending around a daily Facebook post on something of interest related to the Civil War that happened on the same day 150 years ago is freakin' brilliant. Way to go, unknown fellow historian!
Showing posts with label internet. Show all posts
Showing posts with label internet. Show all posts
10/22/10
2/20/10
The library elves head up the Amazon with lots of paddles
I'm a big fan of the Los Angeles Public Library online catalog. I order books and the library elves race around this enormous city picking them up. The whole passel gets delivered to my local library and all I have to do is stroll in and check them out. It's so civilized!
I noticed this week that the catalog has a new addition. Each book's listing now includes a link to that book's Amazon reader reviews. Interesting...
I know there are those who consider Internet phenomena like Amazon reader reviews, Wikipedia and the dreaded news blogs bad things, dismissing them as "group think" that stifles "real" creativity. They claim the reviews and blogs offer dangerously unsanctioned opinions and should be avoided. I am not one of those people. I was a history major in college, with a special focus on the seventeenth-century -- the Golden Age of the Pamphlet. Every loon with a few pence got a printing press and went nuts on a street corner, passing around copies of whatever crackpot idea struck his, and occasionally her, fancy. As with today's blogs, some of those loons really were loons, and some of those crackpot ideas really were crackpot. But other crackpot ideas seem less cracked today: democracy, religious freedom, stuff like that. Dangerously unsanctioned ideas can be a very good thing. You never know who's doing the sanctioning.
Anyway... I asked the LAPL Webmaster when they made the addition and what kind of discussion they had on the subject. Here's the reply.
"We added this feature in October of last year. We did have discussions about it, and while some possible concerns were raised, in the end we felt the benefit to our patrons was the most important thing."
That's a politic reply, and I don't blame him. But wouldn't you love to hear some of those discussions and concerns in dirty detail? The next paragraph was more interesting...
"The system uses the ISBN number to make a request to an Amazon server for reviews. If there are none, the patron is invited to make one when they click the link. If there are, the last 5 are brought back from the server when the patron clicks the link, and another link is created to link back to all the reviews. It is using an API Amazon makes available to other web sites."
The entity driving this rather remarkable change is Amazon itself. One might think Amazon and libraries are natural enemies in the world of book delivery, but of course, they aren't. I often buy a book on Amazon after reading the library copy. And if the library system now takes me directly to Amazon, and shows me a bunch of reader reviews, it's even more likely I'll simply buy the book in the first place. The library elves are fast, but Amazon Prime's free two-day delivery is even faster! Plus, I can sell the book -- again on Amazon -- when I no longer need it.
Dang, that's one smart company.
I noticed this week that the catalog has a new addition. Each book's listing now includes a link to that book's Amazon reader reviews. Interesting...
I know there are those who consider Internet phenomena like Amazon reader reviews, Wikipedia and the dreaded news blogs bad things, dismissing them as "group think" that stifles "real" creativity. They claim the reviews and blogs offer dangerously unsanctioned opinions and should be avoided. I am not one of those people. I was a history major in college, with a special focus on the seventeenth-century -- the Golden Age of the Pamphlet. Every loon with a few pence got a printing press and went nuts on a street corner, passing around copies of whatever crackpot idea struck his, and occasionally her, fancy. As with today's blogs, some of those loons really were loons, and some of those crackpot ideas really were crackpot. But other crackpot ideas seem less cracked today: democracy, religious freedom, stuff like that. Dangerously unsanctioned ideas can be a very good thing. You never know who's doing the sanctioning.
Anyway... I asked the LAPL Webmaster when they made the addition and what kind of discussion they had on the subject. Here's the reply.
"We added this feature in October of last year. We did have discussions about it, and while some possible concerns were raised, in the end we felt the benefit to our patrons was the most important thing."
That's a politic reply, and I don't blame him. But wouldn't you love to hear some of those discussions and concerns in dirty detail? The next paragraph was more interesting...
"The system uses the ISBN number to make a request to an Amazon server for reviews. If there are none, the patron is invited to make one when they click the link. If there are, the last 5 are brought back from the server when the patron clicks the link, and another link is created to link back to all the reviews. It is using an API Amazon makes available to other web sites."
The entity driving this rather remarkable change is Amazon itself. One might think Amazon and libraries are natural enemies in the world of book delivery, but of course, they aren't. I often buy a book on Amazon after reading the library copy. And if the library system now takes me directly to Amazon, and shows me a bunch of reader reviews, it's even more likely I'll simply buy the book in the first place. The library elves are fast, but Amazon Prime's free two-day delivery is even faster! Plus, I can sell the book -- again on Amazon -- when I no longer need it.
Dang, that's one smart company.
5/27/08
A comment
About the way we do business today. At least the way some enterprising women in Georgia, Wisconsin and Colorado are doing business. And it's a way that has some interest to those of us currently wondering what to do about our SAG and AFTRA memberships in the next few months. Not that I'm wondering much -- I walked the line for the WGA and I'm not even a real member yet and I've been in SAG since college.
Anyway, long story long, I recently girl-ed out as detailed below and bought a book about perfumes. I'm a slightly insanely organized person, and went from reading the book and considering testing a few scents to building a color-coded spreadsheet detailing the perfumes I'm interested in, the ones I've tested, the dates tested, my thoughts, and recommendations for future action. 'Cause that's what I do. You should see my pattern spreadsheet. Or my exercise and diet versions.
After visiting department stores, some lovely-smelling shops and even CVS, I had winnowed the list of 60-80 interesting-sounding perfumes to about 20 actually interesting ones. Ones that I wanted to give a second and maybe third sniff. But, obviously, I can't buy 20 perfumes at $80-$200 a pop. Not unless one of you lovely readers wants to buy a pilot or two. (Or three. I got priorities.) And they were getting kind of tired of me at the Nordstrom counter.
No fear. There are sites on the Internet that decant and sell itty-bitty inexpensive sample sizes of perfumes. ALL OF THEM, apparently, as every single one of the very varied lucky 20 were in stock at this site. What were the odds of that? Every one I wanted, in stock? And actually in the mail within 24 hours? What kind of weird-ass perfume collecting company is this?
All was made clear when I started receiving the packages: not from one central business location, but from ordinary home addresses of a number of women -- in Georgia, Wisconsin and Colorado. Apparently these ladies collected and sold perfume on eBay, became aware of each other and joined forces to offer big-company style inventory in a basement-company kind of way.
I think that's fabulous. I love the Intenet. Hey, maybe McCain's right about something...
Anyway, long story long, I recently girl-ed out as detailed below and bought a book about perfumes. I'm a slightly insanely organized person, and went from reading the book and considering testing a few scents to building a color-coded spreadsheet detailing the perfumes I'm interested in, the ones I've tested, the dates tested, my thoughts, and recommendations for future action. 'Cause that's what I do. You should see my pattern spreadsheet. Or my exercise and diet versions.
After visiting department stores, some lovely-smelling shops and even CVS, I had winnowed the list of 60-80 interesting-sounding perfumes to about 20 actually interesting ones. Ones that I wanted to give a second and maybe third sniff. But, obviously, I can't buy 20 perfumes at $80-$200 a pop. Not unless one of you lovely readers wants to buy a pilot or two. (Or three. I got priorities.) And they were getting kind of tired of me at the Nordstrom counter.
No fear. There are sites on the Internet that decant and sell itty-bitty inexpensive sample sizes of perfumes. ALL OF THEM, apparently, as every single one of the very varied lucky 20 were in stock at this site. What were the odds of that? Every one I wanted, in stock? And actually in the mail within 24 hours? What kind of weird-ass perfume collecting company is this?
All was made clear when I started receiving the packages: not from one central business location, but from ordinary home addresses of a number of women -- in Georgia, Wisconsin and Colorado. Apparently these ladies collected and sold perfume on eBay, became aware of each other and joined forces to offer big-company style inventory in a basement-company kind of way.
I think that's fabulous. I love the Intenet. Hey, maybe McCain's right about something...
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