February 2010

Public Libraries Take Information Literacy to the Next Stage

People love playing games at libraries. National Gaming Day, only in its second year, is an annual event sponsored by the American Library Association which has more than doubled its numbers from 2008. More than 1,360 libraries registered to participate, including libraries in Canada and Japan. But this is more than just a once-a-year phenomenon. In the past decade, technology has taken the age-old library model to the next level. By adopting interactive, gaming trends, modern-day libraries help open doors to the world of virtual, hands-on learning in ways never seen before. National Gaming Day, organizers say, offers a glimpse into that world. "The event was designed to promote awareness that you can actually play at the library and that it's OK," said Jenny Levine, strategy guide for the American Library Association. "There's this stereotype that you have to be quiet, people will shush you and you have to sit by yourself at a table. That's not true anymore."

Lessons From the Right: Obama Tries to Regain the Message

[Commentary] Last Friday, many Americans witnessed a rare bit of political theater when President Obama addressed the GOP Retreat in Baltimore. By insisting that live TV cameras be allowed into the exchange, the President took a rare opportunity to take control of his message in full view of the public, calling out the GOP on their lies and dirty tricks, and challenging them to tone down their rhetoric so Washington could focus on issues rather than the next election.

Headlines burst from news pages: "Extraordinary!" "Remarkable!" "Historic!" The GOP instantly regretted their decision to allow cameras. It was a big moment for Obama to get his message out; but how many more will he get? There is new evidence that the Obama administration does understand that talk radio is the road to the message.

On his Organizing for America Web site, the President is asking people across the nation to research talk radio: to focus on three pre-identified radio shows, determine whether they are political, what language they are in, and whether they take callers. What exactly will Obama do with that information? Restore aspects of the Fairness Doctrine? Rewrite the 1996 Telecommunications Act? This much is certain: he has broken through the right wing messaging juggernaut once; it is a safe bet he's on the road to do it again.

Broadband Internet Keeps The American Dream Alive & Accessible

[Commentary] Millions of college students are returning to classes and millions of Americans who already have a good education are looking for jobs in this challenging economy. Both groups face similar challenges in making limited budgets work while striving to build future careers in an increasingly competitive marketplace. However, they also share one potentially game-changing ally through the power of high-speed Internet.

At Broadband for America our goals are clear: Make broadband access available to every home and business in the nation, encourage continued private sector investment and competition and, finally, get all Americans online so that content creators, providers and government agencies can use the Internet to promote societal improvements and economic growth. So, why in this challenging economic climate should making high-speed Internet access and adoption universal be such a priority? Turning our economy around and staying ahead of the global marketplace for years to come requires the hard work and commitment of all Americans. We know that commitment is already in place. What those millions of Americans need now is a national broadband plan that opens the doors of opportunity for every American to take full advantage of. Getting every home and business connected to broadband is the key to keeping the American Dream alive and accessible for us all.

News Right Now Drives Newspaper Readers to Web

The Outsell third annual News Users' research predicts continued steep drops in US newspapers' print circulation as consumers continue to gravitate toward the Internet for news.

The firm forecasts 3.5% annual declines in both daily and Sunday circulation, leading to a low of 43 million Sunday newspaper readers by 2012, compared to more than 62 million in the early 1990s. The research underscores the dramatic effect that aggregators such as Google and Yahoo have had on both print and online readership. For "news right now," 57% of news users now go to digital sources, up from 33% a few years ago. 31% are likelier to turn to an aggregator than a newspaper site (8%) or other site (18%).

People Continue To Object To Facebook Beacon Settlement

In February of 2008 Facebook member Ginger McCall added Season 5 of the TV show "X-Files" to the roster of discs she wanted to rent from Blockbuster. The Maryland resident knew of Facebook's Beacon program, which told Facebook members about their friends' activity at retail sites, but says she thought she had disabled the feature. Nonetheless, by the afternoon of Feb. 5, a friend had noted the activity on McCall's wall: "I see that you have added the X-Files, Season 5, to your Blockbuster queue," the friend wrote, according to new court papers. Now McCall is objecting to the proposed settlement of a privacy lawsuit stemming from the Beacon program. McCall works as an attorney with the Electronic Privacy Information Center, which filed separate criticisms of the settlement, but she is opposing the deal as an individual consumer.

TV Providers Want More Info About Viewers -- But Will They Pay The Price?

[Commentary] There is a need for media to better identify who's calling -- and what they are actually selling.

This is especially true for how those new areas of social and digital media will relate to television. Media companies want to seed interest in TV shows, networks, and services, on Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, and other places -- but not everyone is interested in building a relationship with a brand. What's the payoff for me reading this tweet, or sampling that TV show? View a viral video. Did it come from ABC, a happy fan, a silent TV network freelance "tastemaker," or a dispassionate prankster? You might be a user/viewer who instantly clicks on this stuff. Then again, you might be skeptical and move on. The key for future marketing of TV content will be whether those bits and pieces supposedly produced from real professional TV providers are really legit - and, more important, are what the viewers really want.

Budget freeze could lead agencies to focus on IT projects that reduce costs

The Obama administration's proposed discretionary spending freeze for fiscal 2011 could end up increasing investments in information technology, according to a report released on Monday by a government research firm. In an analysis of priorities laid out in the president's Jan. 27 State of the Union address, IDC Government Insights, an independent research and advisory firm, concluded that agencies can reduce spending with strategic investment in IT solutions. The report also found that the budget freeze provides a need for agencies to build more standardized information systems.

Google Goes to Washington -- Again

The Defense Department last week announced the appointment of Sumit Agarwal as deputy assistant secretary of defense for outreach and social media in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense Public Affairs. Agarwal served as Google's head of mobile product management for North America. But Agarwal is just the latest in a slew of Googlers to move to Washington.

Grand Challenges of the 21st Century

In September, President Obama released his Strategy for American Innovation, designed to foster sustainable growth and help create high-quality jobs. One of the goals of the President's strategy is to harness science and technology to address the "grand challenges" of the 21st century in areas such as health, clean energy, national security, and education and life-long learning. Examples of specific goals that have been previously articulated by the President and others include early detection of dozens of diseases from a saliva sample, solar cells as cheap as paint, and educational software that is as compelling as the best video game and effective as a personal tutor. Today, the Office of Science and Technology Policy and the National Economic Council are releasing a "request for information" that is designed to collect input from the public regarding:

The grand challenges that were identified in the President's innovation strategy;
Other grand challenges that the Administration should consider, such as those identified by the National Academy of Engineering;
Partners (e.g. companies, investors, foundations, social enterprises, non-profit organizations, philanthropists, research universities, consortia, etc.) that are interested in collaborating with each other and the Administration to achieve one or more of these goals; and
Models for creating an "architecture of participation" that allows many individuals and organizations to contribute to the process of finding solutions to these grand challenges.

Responses to this RFI are due April 15th.

Digital Innovation Outpaces E-Rate Policies

In its role helping the nation's schools connect to the Internet and other telecommunications services, the E-rate has been among the most consistent of federal programs. But perhaps too consistent, educators and experts say.

Funding for the "education rate" program has held at about $2.25 billion a year since it was created under the Telecommunications Act of 1996, and it covers few of the technology services available to schools beyond simple Internet and phone connectivity. But now, with a critical mass of schools connected to the Web, experts say inadequate funding and the program's onerous and often confusing rules and procedures can complicate schools' efforts to pursue more innovative tech-based approaches to teaching and learning. Carol Mattey, a senior policy advisor to the FCC's task force for the National Broadband Plan, says, "As part of the broadband plan, we're using this as a moment to take stock of where we are and how can we modernize the program and go forward to better serve the community." The FCC has already proposed some changes to the E-rate program as part of that plan.

The Children's Internet Protection Act, which requires schools and libraries participating in the E-rate program to certify that they have Internet-safety policies in place and block pornography and other content that could be harmful to children, would be revised as well. The revised plan would also require that "a school's Internet-safety policy must include educating minors about appropriate online behavior, including interacting with other individuals on social-networking Web sites and in chat rooms and cyberbullying awareness and response," according to the FCC's notice of proposed rule-making. Schools would also be required to enforce the provisions, and to allow materials to be unblocked for adult use for research and other lawful purposes.

Benton

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