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August 18, 2006
New Journal Alert!
Universal Access in the Information Society
Call Number: 010.820605Uni
Print Holdings: Vol. 3:3/4 (2004) to date in LIS Library
Online: Vol. 1 (2001) to date at Springer
Posted by kstover2 at 12:46 PM
August 16, 2006
A Verb "Google" is not.
from IT Week:
Stop Googling things, says Google
Name not synonymous with just searching, moans web giant
Google has issued letters to media organisations asking them to refrain from using its name as a verb.
In order to "protect its trademark", and prevent it becoming a generic term, the search firm has sent letters to publishers advising them on its proper use.
Google's letter includes helpful examples of appropriate and inappropriate use of the company's trademark.
For example: 'I used Google to check out that guy I met at the party' is fine, but 'I googled that hottie' is not.
Similarly, it's OK to say: 'He ego-surfs on Google to see if he's listed in the results' but not 'He googles himself.'
The key distinction is whether Google is used to describe searching in a general, non-specific sense.
"With constant generic use, trademarks can lose their special status and their proper name capitalisation," said Google in the letter.
"It has happened to once-trademarked products including yo-yo, trampoline and nylon. Trademark lawyers call it 'genericide'.
"Google is a trademark identifying Google Inc's search technology and services. We know Google is fun to say, and of course it is great fun to use.
"And though we are flattered that people like our name, it is also our company's chief commercial asset. We want to ensure that people use it in a way that preserves its meaning and integrity."
Google was added as a verb to the Merriam-Webster dictionary at the beginning of last month with the definition: 'To use the Google search engine to obtain information about [a person or thing] on the world wide web.'
Posted by kstover2 at 12:39 PM
Classification Problem
from The Onion:
Dewey Decimal System Helpless To Categorize New Jim Belushi Book
DUBLIN, OH—Members of the OCLC Online Computer Library Center’s Editorial Policy Committee, which oversees the Dewey Decimal System library classification system, were no closer Monday to assigning a definitive call number to the recently published Jim Belushi book Real Men Don’t Apologize. "With all due respect to the author, we remain unsure how to categorize this particular work," said committee chair Leslie Buncombe, who, despite repeated readings, still wasn’t sure if Real Men was "an actual book." "What is it? Autobiography? Self-help? We can’t even tell if it’s fiction or nonfiction," Added Buncombe: "Too bad it can’t be shelved by its ISBN number. Maybe it’s Fantasy Biography? I don’t even think there’s a code for that." If no decision is reached within the week, librarians may be forced to shelve it in the "phantom zone" between Jenny McCarthy’s book of marriage tips and novels in which a cat helps solve a mystery.
Posted by kstover2 at 12:30 PM