Google+ [1] was launched on the 28th June 2011 and is Google’s latest foray into the world of social networking following the disastrous Google Buzz and Google Wave products. With a similar look and feel to Facebook Google+ is actually a collection of different social products which include the following. Stream (a newsfeed) – Your stream appears on your Google plus homepage and displays your activity and your friends activity, you can filter this activity based on the circles you’ve created This is very similar to the Facebook dashboard or activity stream although Googleplus gives you a bit more control over what you can see Sparks (a recommendation engine) although it actually seems to be more of a current awareness feed which stories that match a search term you enter. There is a US bias to the stories Hangouts (a video chat service) which has been lauded as one of the killer apps of Googleplus Photos, which you can manage using Picasa or if you’ve been blogging using blogger are automatically published to your Googleplus profile and finally Circles which is the friend management service Essentially the platform is built around “circles” so understanding Circles is essential to mastering Google+ Google+ has opted not to let you simply “friend” your friends, like you do on Facebook, or “follow” different people as you would on Twitter. Instead, Google+ gives you more control over who sees your content using “circles”. These circles are similar to groups on Facebook However what differentiates circles from groups, is the ease with which users can manage their contacts, making Google+ very powerful and a potential game changer. So lets have a look at a short video which explains Google+ circles in a bit more detail so you can see why Google+ could potentially be a very powerful tool My best advice if you’re thinking about using GooglePlus is that you should definitely have a look at it It certainly has a lot of potential and scope for development and is very much a work in progress If you’re a keen user of social networking sites, you might yourself using it a lot However a small part of me especially after watching that video thinks resistance is futile when it comes to Google and that makes me a bit uncomfortable
Right I’m going to talk briefly about Cloud Computing, because Cloud Computing is an area that could be the subject of an entire talk And because when you actually start looking into Cloud Computing it can get real complicated really quickly Anyway Cloud computing has been talked about as the new “it” thing in the IT community for some time now You might remember Microsoft recently released a series of advertisements in which people went “to the cloud” Don’t remember those – here’s a reminder… So everyone from Microsoft to Google to Amazon have some sort of cloud offering and they all sound very exciting, but what does the cloud actually mean? Well there are many different definitions and because cloud computing is evolving those definitions tend to change and evolve as well For the purposes of this part of the talk I want you to think of the cloud as a place where applications are made available online and where data can be stored This definition of cloud computing is usually referred to as software as a service Software as a service is actually one of three models by which cloud computing services are “sold” and the that is usually used to sell web based software to law firms The other service models are Platform as a service and Infrastructure as Service SaaS applications currently used by law firms include things like practice management tools, document management, payroll, HR resources, tax systems, and perhaps the most well know email spam filtering and website filtering Law firms and other organisations will use SaaS for many of the some reasons that individuals use cloud computing Firms can save money because SaaS applications are hosted on the providers servers and accessed using a web browser. So the firm does not have to purchase and maintain its own servers or license and install software on every individuals PC And since SaaS is typically based on a monthly fee, firms can avoid large up front costs of new hardware and software Firms also save time because the SaaS provider will maintain and upgrade the hardware and software The SaaS provider may also be in a better position to ensure business continuity SaaS also give firms more flexibility as fee-earners can access their date and applications from any web-connected computer and can collaborate regardless of their location For Law Librarians cloud computing provides a lot of opportunities but which tools we can use at work will depend on decisions made by the larger organisation So an organisation considering moving to cloud computing will need to consider things like usability, reliability, security and of course cost If you’re in the lucky position of being able to recommend SaaS applications then there are a number of questions you’ll need to consider In relation to Law Librarians use of Cloud computing. We’ve actually been using cloud computing tools for a while. Law Librarians have been using the cloud to provide access to information for as long as I’ve been working in law libraries and probably even longer even though we didn’t call it cloud computing In the mid to late 90’s for example libraries were cutting back on subscriptions to print set and instead providing access to Westlaw and LexisNexis terminals Nowadays Westlaw and LexisNexis services are available within web-based interfaces – elmiminating the need for software to be installed and updated on every computer used for research These days as I’m sure were all aware Law Libraries provide access to many online resources and 99% of those are accessed via a web browser in t he cloud So what we’ve seen over time is that the Law Library has become more then just a physical space or physical collection it is also in the clouds
Before I discuss the impact of Mobile technologies within Law Libraries I’ve got some interesting statistics from a recent Metro article, so they must be true, which talked about why we’re turning into a “Smartphone planet” China and India will have 1 billion mobile subscriptions by next year There are more mobile phones than toothbrushes So people are great at sending Tweets but not so good at maintaining their dental health There are 62.5 millions mobile phones in Britain 11.5 billion mobiles have been sold worldwide since 1994 More than 1 trillion pounds has been spent Some impressive statistics there but how are mobile technologies being used in the legal sector There are certainly some fantastic mobile apps out there for legal practitioners Apps like the Fastcase iPhone app which won the AALL new product of the year in 2010 enable individuals to undertake legal research wherever they are Fastcase is an especially attractive product as it’s free to download and use LexisNexis also offers a number of iPhone apps which users can download from iTunes However to use the apps and individual has to have an account with the product the app is designed to support Finally Westlaw or rather WestlawNext recently released an app for the iPad to support individuals use of Westlaw So what does this all mean for Law Librarians Are we expected to support all these apps without necessarily having used them ourselves The most I can say is maybe as we’re yet to really see the take-up of these mobile apps by practitioners in the UK Having said that we should definitely be aware of the availability of these apps and the content that is available on them in case we’re asked to support them in future There are two other issues that I believe we need to think about. The first is that increasingly law firms are looking at creating and providing mobile applications to their clients It might well be that these include content from Library services, so that might be as simple as a list of contacts to the latest current awareness offerings or bulletins We need to be both aware of these apps and where possible involved in their development. The other issue is that historically Libraries have been geared to be in a fixed location – but now we need to be wherever an individual is, be that at a clients office, their home, or on a train. So should we be providing our services in a more mobile format? That brings me nicely on to the subject of Mobile Intranets
First of all taking your laptop outside isn’t what I mean by mobile Intranets. I’m talking about making an Intranet accessible on a Smartphone or other device UK Parliament: Decided to develop a mobile intranet because most MPs don’t spend much time at their desk Optimised for 3 Smartphone's iPhone (Labour) Blackberry (Conservative) HTC Touch (Liberal Democrats) 8 key things including Library opening hours and how to contact the Librarian as well information on the Annuciatior a Calendar of meetings Also information on all restaurants available within the UK Parliament campus Who knew there were 20 restaurants in Parliament – because of course it’s really important to know where you’re going to get your foie gras from at lunchtime And all subsidised by the UK taxpayers The thing is the site work wells and according to the web team at UK Parliament Intranet usage has increased substantially Queensland University of Technology (QUT) is the first university in the sunshine state, and one of the first in Australia, to have launched a free mobile app. The new app, QUT Mobile, provides quick and easy access to a host of features that make campus life simple. The app includes: Campus maps: easily navigate around any of QUT's campuses. Staff directory: quickly find lecturers and staff members by searching the directory. QUT news: keep up to date with what's happening at QUT. My library profile: track your borrowed items and their due dates as well as how much credit you have on your photocopying card Room bookings: view available rooms on campus and book space to meet with friends or colleagues. Bus timetable If you do decide to make your Intranet available on a mobile device then the most important thing to think about is what are the key things that your users need to do! And keep it simple – focusing on specific features that are important to employees on the go instead of trying to squeeze the entire intranet onto a tiny screen. Is mobile going to be the primary way we’re going to deliver content to users? Does delivering content via a mobile solution add value?
With the drop in prices for e-readers (you can buy a kindle for £89.00), there has been a lot of discussion recently about what role e-books and other electronic media will play in law libraries and what an ebook actually is. Although e-readers have been around for a few years now, it has only been recently where the prices have dropped to a point where there is widespread appeal. There has even been movement by large legal publishers, notably WestLaw and LexisNexis, to integrate e-readers into their products. For example, users of WestLaw Next in the US can export all printable materials to their Kindle e-mail address. Which makes Ebooks very convenient for reading long law review articles or cases Ebooks also allow users to search for items within the text and to some degree allows users to annotate text LexisNexis have rather bizarrely made most of their Tax titles available in EBook form. Just what you need on a long train journey or flight to send you to sleep So the question is should we be providing more ebooks alongside traditional printed materials My feeling is that Law Libraries would be well advised to wait and see what happens with the technology before doing so Although legal publishers seem eager to integrate e-readers and Smartphone's into their services, they are notably less eager to actually produce e-book legal materials. WestLaw is experimenting with electronic casebooks but they are presently viewable only on computers and not mobile devices. Essentially these “e-books” produced by Westlaw are scanned copies of their print titles. They’re also protected by DRM technology, which means that they are not exportable to any other mobile device or e-reader Another consideration is whether individuals read “professional” books on their eBook readers Recent research from CCH seems to indicate that legal professionals don’t read professional titles on their eBook readers There does appear to be some value in using e-readers for legal research and librarians can help their patrons to improve the reading experience on these devices The other issue for Law Librarians is how ebooks should be managed. Ensuring that Library users are aware of the full range of Library resources has always be a concern and even more so when it comes to non-print materials such as ebooks. So one of the 1 st questions is how should Law Libraries make ebooks as accessible as possible? Should Ebooks be integrated within a Library catalogue The issue with Ebooks is even if they are included in the Library catalogue users may not be aware of their existence because they might prefer to search Google for legal materials rather then a Library catalogue From a practical point of view however it’s much easier to manage an EBook if it’s only going to be used by a single person An EBook will also weigh significantly less that its paper equivalent which is a good point if you’re in a situation where you need to reduce the amount of space your library takes up Going forward, it’s crucial that publishers work with Libraries to develop both a business model and a practical framework for Ebooks that meets the needs of all parties.
The physical and digital worlds will be more highly connected than ever before already we’re able to run in the park and track our progress online while sharing it with our friends by using Smartphone apps that connect to Facebook and twitter profiles and enable us to keep track of our progress as well as share the data with our friends.
Crowdsourcing or as a Partner in my firm likes to call it cowsourcing will become increasingly prevalent. Whether it’s the way that we get from point A to point B (Waze), the way that we find answers to our questions (Quora), the manner in which we test our Websites (uTest), the way that we get things done (Fiverr) or the way that we share information (Wikipedia).
As the Web becomes overloaded with even more information, the content that we are exposed should become more and more customised to our needs. This will happen because companies will invest large sums of money with companies like Facebook and Google, to ensure that the content we’re exposed to is targeted to our interests. So rather than experiencing information overload, we will actually experience the opposite effect.
There has been a lot of talk and I mean a lot of talk about the way the web has developed over the last decade. So we’ve had Web 1.0 – The World Wide Web 2.0 – The Social Web Web 3.0 – The Semantic Web Web 4.0 – The Intelligent Web So Web 2.0 gave users the ability to make changes to web pages, linked people to other users and enabled fast and efficient ways to share content Web 2.0 wasn’t a technology upgrade to Web 1.0. The same technology was still used but with added layers. Web 3.0 also known as the semantic web essentially means that everything is linked – it will be like everyone having their own PA. Whilst Web 2.0 uses the internet to make connections between people Web 3.0 will use the internet to make connections with information With Web 3.0 we’ll also start to see content created by computers rather then humans Search engines will also become smarter. A web 3.0 search engine will be able to find not only the keywords in your search but interpret the context of your request Web 4.0 or the intelligent web will use AI in order to make decisions This is commonly known as reasoning. Web 4.0 will be able to “think and make” decisions in relation to user searches and content. It will also give suggestions based on educated studies of how we live and what we want or need. Sounds scary doesn’t it…well it’s already happening with the development of tools like SIRI which is used in the iPhone 4S. Naturally there is another view of how the web has and is developing: Web 0.0 - people want to connect with somebody/something Web 1.0 - user receive text Web 2.0 - user creates text Web 3.0 - users/ community create text Web 4.0 - text thinks instead of user Web 5.0 - text communicates with text Web 6.0 - text deletes all users/ they are useless/ AI exists / Skynet becomes self aware
Next generation Library Management Systems Artificial Intelligence
