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Posts Tagged Book

Stanford Engineering School Sheds It’s Library Books

Jul 8

Posted by Thom Allen in Business, Featured | View Comments

A couple of days ago I wrote how I thought Libraries should adopt the Netflix model, down size the number of facilities and make as many resources digital as possible. Today, Laura Sydell writes a story for NPR on how Stanford Universities Engineering school library has 85% less materials on it’s shelf than it did in 2005. While it’s not a large library, they are still seeing the value in making their materials digital. It’s not mass acceptance, but it is a start. And the fact it’s coming from a school, where the reliance on printed book dates back to the beginning of education, it makes the most sense for these libraries to be models for public facilities.

Thanks to @canyonsdave for sharing the link on Twitter.

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Book Review: CrushIt!

Jan 3

Posted by Thom Allen in Featured, Reviews | View Comments

Lot’s of people have written reviews of CrushIt! by Gary Vaynerchuk. Here is mine.

This is an easy read. What I mean by that is the book is somewhat short, and Gary does a great job of explaining himself and his ideas. this book could have easily been two or three times as big.

If the first chapter was the only one in this book, it would be worth it. Passion. You gotta have it. Without it, there’s little point.

If you’re a Vayniak, someone who is a a Garyvee fan, you’ve probably heard a lot of what’s in this book. But even so, now you have everything at your fingertips. I also recommend you get the Vook; a digital enhanced version of the book including videos.

I like how he talks about a few tools, but mostly, find what your passion is and talk about it, through audio, video or blogging.

Have you read it? Tell us what you thought.

*Disclaimer: I didn’t receive any compensation for this review.

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Book Review: TwittFaced

Nov 2

Posted by Thom Allen in Reviews | View Comments

TwittFaced by Jacob Mogan and Josh PetersTwitter is something I know pretty well. I’ve been a user for 2 years. While I don’t have tens of thousands of followers, I understand the power of Twitter. When I learned Josh Peters wrote a book out on Twitter, titled TwittFaced, I thought I would give it a read. I gave Josh my money and off I went.

It’s not a long read, 156 pages or so, but man, this book is packed to the rafters with information. Even if you think yo know Twitter, or several other social networking platforms, Josh and his co-author Jacob Morgan do a great job of outlining the hottest tools and applications you should be looking at. And the most important part of each chapter is explaining why and how to use the services successfully.

The cover reads “your toolkit for understanding & maximizing social media“. I would agree. I have marked several chapters for re-reading. Chapter nine is chalk full of statistics on social media. Chapter five talks about Facebook and the many applications which can make your experience better. And chapter 21, how to keep from being overwhelmed. I really like all of the chapters but one, the chapter on MySpace. Maybe I’m being a snob here, but I don’t see MySpace as having any relevance in social media. But Josh and Jacob give it some love in chapter six.

This is a great book. Easy to read, lot’s of statistics, and some great examples explaining how to get the most out of these social media platforms.

Buy the book here. It’s a link to Amazon, and if you buy the book, I get a few pennies.

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