OCLC Report on Social Networking

Created by Matt Pasiewicz (EDUCAUSE) on October 31, 2007

OCLC has issued a new report that sounds like a must read for those interested in navigating the waters of the social web and I look forward to delving into it. I, personally, have mixed feelings about what I've skimmed of the report. I'm particularly vexed about a call from OCLC to "relax the rules of privacy" ... I haven't read the report yet, but that's an interesting call to action. Personally, I'd love to see a call for a more research and experimentation into alternative approaches to the social web that might find a way to protect privacy and raise awareness of why it might be important.

I'm also interested in the so called attention economy and the work of groups like AttentionTrust.org, but they haven't gained much traction as far as I can tell. As I learn more about these new social spaces, I've begun to worry more and more about privacy. In an era of mash-ups, widgets and outsourcing services to third parties, it almost seems to easy to skim over issues like privacy. I also worry that for many, the topic of privacy is limited in scope to compliance with FERPA related issues. Am I alone in my perception there?

I often wonder whether or not we're sometimes are too quick to embrace some of these areas without pausing to consider the potential for unintended consequences and other side effects. Furthermore, I often wonder about who'll take up the banner of privacy and trust in an era where the library is being disintermediated and where the values that librarians often hold are brushed aside as organizations look to embrace some of these emerging technologies. The library was once a key locus for managing the relationships between content and consumers, but now access to information is much more diffuse and the breadcrumbs of consumption are scattered about and managed by many different players ... and many of them are private sector participants whose values may be very different from those often embedded in our library colleagues. Is this a good thing? I'm not so certain, but I'd love to hear your thoughts.

http://www.oclc.org/reports/sharing/default.htm

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		OCLC Report on Social Networking Created by Matt Pasiewicz (EDUCAUSE) on October 31, 2007 OCLC has issued a new report that sounds like a must read for those interested in navigating the waters of the social web and I look forward to delving into it. I, personally, have mixed feelings about what I've skimmed of the report. I'm particularly vexed about a call from OCLC to "relax the rules of privacy" ... I haven't read the report yet, but that's an interesting call to action. Personally, I'd love to see a call for a more research and experimentation into alternative approaches to the social web that might find a way to protect privacy and raise awareness of why it might be important. I'm also interested in the so called attention economy and the work of groups like AttentionTrust.org, but they haven't gained much traction as far as I can tell. As I learn more about these new social spaces, I've begun to worry more and more about privacy. In an era of mash-ups, widgets and outsourcing services to third parties, it almost seems to easy to skim over issues like privacy. I also worry that for many, the topic of privacy is limited in scope to compliance with FERPA related issues. Am I alone in my perception there? I often wonder whether or not we're sometimes are too quick to embrace some of these areas without pausing to consider the potential for unintended consequences and other side effects. Furthermore, I often wonder about who'll take up the banner of privacy and trust in an era where the library is being disintermediated and where the values that librarians often hold are brushed aside as organizations look to embrace some of these emerging technologies. The library was once a key locus for managing the relationships between content and consumers, but now access to information is much more diffuse and the breadcrumbs of consumption are scattered about and managed by many different players ... and many of them are private sector participants whose values may be very different from those often embedded in our library colleagues. Is this a good thing? I'm not so certain, but I'd love to hear your thoughts. http://www.oclc.org/reports/sharing/default.htm FERPA \| Libraries and Technology \| OCLC \| Privacy \| Social Computing \| society and technology Matt's blog Login or register to post comments 855 reads
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