Text Message Answering Services

Here is a link to a recent article in CNN about a text message answering service called ChaCha. I haven't heard much about these services, but I am eager to try out ChaCha to see how it works.

Have libraries been marketing reference services via text messaging? This seems like a trend worthy of monitoring.

Will all reading by online in 5 years???

According to this article Bill Gates seems to think it will be. I came across this article while monitoring my Research Buzz feed in Bloglines, which immediately made me wonder, "How much of my reading is done online already????".

It will be very interesting to see where this movement to online reading stands in a few years. Just imagine the possible changes that libraries may undergo in the future to accomodate this new favorite medium for the written word!

NY Times article concerning Google Search

Here is an interesting article about the perpetual evolution of the Google Search Engine (as well as an overview of how the SE functions) that I read in the NY Times. While this article was informative and thought provoking from a reference services standpoint, it also inspired me to reflect on the public awareness of information concepts - libraries.

The more prevalent articles concerned with information architecture become in mainstream media outlets the more opportunity seems to exist for us to create a connection between IA and libraries (in the eyes of the public, patrons, staff, etc..). I think that there is a general lack of understanding of the major role that libraries/librarians play in the efficient organization and dissemination of information. We need to bring more attention to how librarians create theories and concepts that are the building blocks of information architecture and how they (and we) affect popular search tools like google.

Does anyone have thoughts on how libraries/librarians are perceived in relation to information architecture, and how we can promote awareness of this relationship?