Weekly Reader

I've "cheated" a bit with this weekly reader, it's scheduled to publish at the regular Friday time while I enjoy the Easter holiday weekend.  Among other things, there has been a lot of interesting discussion this week regarding rumors of a Blackboard buy-out and Amazon's Kindle policy for library users.

Amazon to Allow Library Lending of Kindles (Updated)
"Library patrons across the United States will soon be able to borrow ebooks from over 11,000 libraries using Amazon's Kindle reading device. Long a missing link in the library lending chain, Amazon's announcement today that it will offer, sometime later this year, Kindle library lending is likely to create a flood of demand, since many patrons have long been puzzled and librarians irritated by the inability to use the market-leading device to access library books." -- Michael Kelly, Library Journal, 4/20/11

Amazon to Introduce Library Lending for Kindle
"Amazon.com announced today that it will make Kindle books available for library lending later this year. Its partner in the Kindle Library Lending program is OverDrive, a widely used distributor of e-books and audiobooks. Customers will be able to check out a Kindle book from their local library and start reading on any Kindle device or free Kindle app for Android, iPad, iPod touch, iPhone, PC, Mac, BlackBerry, or Windows Phone,” the company said in its announcement. “If a Kindle book is checked out again or that book is purchased from Amazon, all of a customer’s annotations and bookmarks will be preserved.”" - Jennifer Howard, Wired Campus, 4/20/11

Which Streaming Video Site is Right For Your Video Content
"There are a lot of options out there for distributing your brand’s custom video content. Obviously, YouTube is the biggest player in the market and one you can’t ignore. But depending on your content and the audiences you are trying to reach, it’s worth considering some others. I took some time and explored some of the other sites out there. I focus below on what the channel’s unique value appears to be and what the audience seems like. It’s important when distributing video that your content fit the channel and resonate with the audience. Otherwise it will just be stranded out there." -- Josh Cole, TippingPoint Lab Blogs, 4/21/11

Fake Web Site Pretends to Be Youngstown State U.’s
"Youngstown State University has been plagued by a Web mimic. Officials alerted the campus community last week to a Web site that appeared to be masquerading as the official university Web site, according to the Youngstown State student newspaper The Jambar." -- Ben Wieder, Wired Campus, 4/21/11


Quickwire: Blackboard is Considering Takover Proposals
"Blackboard Inc., the course-management software company, announced on Tuesday that it was considering proposals to acquire the company. It did not disclose the source of the proposals. Blackboard’s stock jumped by nearly 30 percent early on Tuesday afternoon to its highest point since 2007." -- Josh Keller, QuickWire, The Chronicle Wired Campus, 4/20/11

Blackboard Considers Purchase Offer
"Blackboard, the e-learning giant, announced on Tuesday that it has received "unsolicited, non-binding proposals" to be bought out. The company, which is publicly traded, appears to be taking the offers seriously; it has retained the investment firm Barclays Capital to help it figure out whether it wants to sell. Blackboard's stock leaped by nearly 30 percent with the news." -- Quick Takes, Inside Higher Ed, 4/20/11

Blogger Redesigned
"Today, we're thrilled to announce the public launch of our redesign! But please wait a second before you go check out your Blogger dashboard, because we’re planning a gradual rollout that will start with a limited set of users who visit our new feature testing ground, Blogger in Draft. At the start, only some of you (lucky draws!) can see the new design on Blogger in Draft. Over the course of the next few days and weeks we’ll be ramping up to support all Draft users. " -- Jinwoo Lee, Blogger in Draft, 4/19/11

5 Myths About the Information Age
"Confusion about the nature of the so-called information age has led to a state of collective false consciousness. It's no one's fault but everyone's problem, because in trying to get our bearings in cyberspace, we often get things wrong, and the misconceptions spread so rapidly that they go unchallenged. Taken together, they constitute a font of proverbial nonwisdom. " -- Robert Darnton, The Chronicle Review, 4/17/11