Add another candle to the cake! On Firmer Ground, the little law librarian blog that could, has turned two years old. Wow, has it grown!

Started in June 2011 by members of the Legal Division of the Special Libraries Association and the Private Law Libraries Special Interest Section of the American Association of Law Libraries, On Firmer Ground (OFG) quickly turned into a bit of a global juggernaut. Within weeks of its debut, the site had signed on editors from law library groups in Europe, Africa, and the Pacific. Currently, there are seven participating organizations churning out content designed to demonstrate that real value of law firm librarians. The full list is below.

When OFG launched at the end of June 2011, it did so with one post and 90 views. In the two years since, the blog has published almost 60 entries and racked up almost 81,000 visits! A mere two followers has turned into over 1000. That is no small feat for a team of seven very busy editors. OFG is run entirely by volunteers on a shoe-string budget. Their only compensation is te satisfaction of knowing that they are making a strong case for the future vitality and value of their profession.

So happy second birthday, On Firmer Ground! Keep those blog posts rolling!

OFG Participating organizations: the Legal Division of the Special Libraries Association, the Private Law Libraries Special Interest Section of the American Association of Law Libraries, the Canadian Association of Law Libraries (l’Association Canadienne des Bibliothèques de Droit), the British and Irish Association of Law Librarians, the Australian Law Librarians’ Association, the New Zealand Law Librarians’ Association, and the Organisation of South African Law Libraries.

Site: On Firmer Ground http://www.firmerground.com

Apparently Google Reader was not the only tech tool to meet its demise this week. Others, like AltaVista (Remember them?) and Yahoo! Matrix (What?) also bit the dust. This great slideshow from CNN today walks us through those “services that were”. A trip down memory lane? Not quite, for some of these. 😉

To our readers in the USA, have a safe and happy 4th of July!

And so this is it… Doomsday. The day Google Reader died. RSS fans, though often touted as a dying breed, had come to know and love this simple, straightforward newsreader. Word of its demise set the blogosphere abuzz earlier this year. Some users were broken-hearted. Others resigned to find a suitable replacement. And still some once again jumped on the “RSS is dead” bandwagon and pointed to the sunset of the search behemoth’s reader as further evidence, if not the final nail in the coffin. Suffice it to say that once iconic Google Reader will be missed.

Sure it lacked elegance. It didn’t pop. There were no bells and whistles. But Google Reader did what it did very well. It was intuitive and uncluttered. It got the job of aggregating those unuly newsfeeds done. Since its unveiling in 2005, Google Reader has been a favorite of millions of users. It was popular, for sure. So why did Google do it in? Well, there is a lot of speclulation right now. Some say it was a money drain on the company. Others say it failed to produce any kind of revenue. Some point to the rise of social media as its nemesis. We could share theories all day. The company itself claims that usage is down and that they are focusing on fewer products. Ok. But the real question today is more properly one of “what now?”.

As we said at our recent “60 Sites in 60 Minutes” presentation at the SLA annual conference in San Diego, reports of the death of RSS are both greatly exaggerated and woefully premature. In a world so rife with information overshare and overload, savvy users still see and harness tha value of RSS feeds and feed readers. We at iBraryGuy could not possibly keep up on the latest news without a carefully crafted and filtered aggregation of our sources and interests. Sure, we loved Google Reader and we are sad to say goodbye. But this is how the industry works folks…we are ready to move on.

To that end, we have chosen Feedly as our new RSS reader of choice. After looking at several great possibilities, we decided that Feedly was our best option for ease of use, dexterity, and mobility. From it’s cloud-based web home to its full-featured and visually stunning apps for iOS (iPhone, iPad) and Android, Feedly is where you want it, when you want it. The interface is clean and minimal, yet Feedly is fully and powerfully customizable. We recommend that new users check out the help materials to get started, as there is a lot that you can control. The sharing options are robust in this age of social media.

If you have not seen Feedly, check it out and let us know what you think. If there is a different solution that you prefer, please do feel free to share it in the comments. There are some great articles on alternatives to Google Reader on USA Today and the Washington Post, just to name a few.

Google Reader may be going away, but RSS is here to stay (OK, at least for now). So regardless of which alternative you choose, today is your last chance to get in there and downloard you feed data from the site. Most of the alternatives make the transition easy with the information. What is left to say really? So long old friend, it was good knowing and using ya!

From On Firmer Ground:

Recently while speaking at the Ark Group’s Best Practices & Management Strategies for Law Firm Library & Information Service Centers conference in New York, I said something that seemed to really resonate with the audience. I was talking about methods for driving resource utilization and optimization, when I shared my opinion that there is little room in the law firm information industry for passive librarians. What we need to survive and thrive as a profession, I postulated, are true activist librarians. Judging by the discussion after my presentation and the tweets I saw online, my point hit home. Continue Reading iBraryGuy Talks about Activist Librarians!

Lexis Advance has been named the winner of the 2013 SIIA CODie Award for Best Legal Information Solution. Rising above some stiff competition, the company’s new single search platform was chosen for its “intuitive, visual interface, sophisticated browse-functionality and pre- and post-search filters so that users of all experience levels can easily personalize, analyze and manage their research.”

Earlier this year, iBraryGuy editor John DiGilio was invited by the good folks at FreePint to write a mini-review of the product. Accoding to the FreePint site,

Our reviewer, John DiGilio, calls it, “arguably the most inspired product the company has released since the launch of its original flagship system”. He’s a particular fan of the simplified yet powerful search, topic summaries and straightforward pricing. This new platform for serving up Lexis’ deep and wide legal content deserves a closer look (and FreePint intends to commission a more detailed report later in 2013).

FreePint subscribers can read the full mini-review here. If you are not reading FreePint, check them out today!

I was surprised to read an article on CNN today regarding the move by Yahoo!’s new CEO to end work at home opportunities for the company’s employees.  Marissa Mayer, herself a known work-a-holic, is pulling the plug on this privilege in the interest of fostering greater collaboration among Yahoo! employees.  This in the interest of better serving the company’s customers.  So far, employee reaction has been mixed.  No doubt, Yahoo!’s remote employees are going to feel the pinch most.  If you are not near the company’s offices, do you move or move on?

As a manager, I often hear from my staff that work from home opportunities would not only be desirable but the ultimate step towards helping them develop a better work-life balance.  There is merit to this, of course.  Some days, the chance to stay in your pajamas and work from the plush comforts of your sofa seems like a real mental relief.  But I also know that there are numerous drawbacks.  Working from home opens us to more distractions, the potential of actually working harder than we need to or than is healthy (It is easier to work through lunch and well into the evening if we can do so with a cup of tea and the TV on in the background) and it does indeed have a definite effect on collaboration.

Today’s technology is great in that it can connect us to anyone, anywhere, at any time.  But what is the quality of that connection versus being physically and mentally present?  Just how much of a meeting of the minds is there when we become simply voices and/or images on a network?  I think this especially become problematic when you are working with others to deliver a vital service to customers or users.  In the library and information industry, visibility is key.  My gut feeling and my experience is that this visibility is a tangible, real physical presence.  It is as much about people skills and literally pressing the flesh as it is about tech skills and pressing the right buttons.

Am I being shortsighted?  There are certainly days when I wish I had simply stayed at home.  But I know how important my presence really is.  Maybe I am overvaluing it or simply being (gasp) “old fashioned” in my not so old age.

What do you think?  I would love to hear your thoughts and experiences!

John AKA The iBraryGuy

CNN Money is reporting that fresh off its vindication for antitrust violations, Google is already looking ahead to how it can leverage its newfound clout.  “Search 2.0” is what they are calling it and the goal is to bring users even more precision.  The “direct answer” remains as elusive and an almost as mythological as the Holy Grail itself.  Is it possible?  The folks at Google seem to think so.   And, it so,  what does it mean for those of us who make a career out of sifting haystacks to find needles?

We have been talking a lot lately in my workplace about the ability of computerized searches to deliver exactly what the enduser wants.  There always seems to be this notion that a search engine can be somehow configured to meet the minds and intentions of its users.  Yet for all of our Boolean logic, terms and connections, filters, and word wheels, we seem to always fall short.  It is frustrating to some and frightening to others.  If computers could simpy, efficiently, and precisely answer a user’s questions, what need would there be for librarians and information professionals?

My experience has taught me two things.  First and foremost, there will never be a true meeting of the minds between man and machine.  Even the best engines and algorithms will only be as good as the people who program them.  Centuries of research experience should make it quite clear that even people have a hard time knowing exactly what other people want.  How will our cyber-creations do this if we cannot prepare them for it?  And second, serendipty cannot be recreated in a database, search string, or cloud.  It is when two minds meet and there is a back and forth of expectations, possibilities, and processes that most thorough answers are found.  Let’s face it, most of the time even the asker is not sure of exactly for what she or he is looking!  We can’t explain our needs to one another, let alone expect to be able to explain them to computers.  The intellectual wrestling match that follows a request is as vital to the success of the research process as the answer itself.

Google is pushing for the day when we can converse with a search engine.  I think that is exciting and that it will have its utility.  But it will also have its drawbacks.  For most, it will be a difficult and seemingly one-sided conversation.  We are going to need smart people who know how to speak the right language to make the discussion meaningful.  That is where we, my friends, come in,

Bring it on, Google.  We are ready to talk.

Join the Illinois Chapter of SLA and @iBraryGuy for …

In the Balance: Tools to Increase Your Personal & Professional Productivity

Work, work, work… Most of us do it to live. Sadly, an increasing number of us also feel like it is all we live to do. But is it a sign of the times or more indicative of our own inability to effectively balance our work and our lives? Work is certainly a big part of our lives and we should enjoy and be good at what we do. But there is so much more to life than shifts, time clocks, bosses and pay checks. Separating our lives from our jobs is a form of art and one of the keys to real well-being.

Join iBraryGuy and librarian John DiGilio for an exploration of hot new tools that can make you more productive both personally and professionally. These are tools that can help you find your balance and increase your overall well-being and happiness. The same technology that makes you a superstar at the office can be used to make you shine at home. Come check out some cool sites and fun apps and strike your own balance for the better.

SLA Members: $15
Non Members: $25
Students and Unemployed Members: Compliments of SLA Illinois

Register here: August 28 Webinar Registration

We are humbled and honored that our own iBraryGuy founder and editor, John DiGilio, has been featured and interviewed as this month’s “Profile in Law Librarianship” by the Legal Division of the Special Libraries Association.  Working with the Legal Division has been a passion of ours for quite some time now and is a relationship we look forward to developing for years to come.  Thank you, Legal Division, for the feature and for giving law librarianship a voice!