Chief Thingamabrarian

Chief Thingamabrarian is Tim Spalding, creator of LibraryThing. An article in the current issue of Library Journal features an interview with Spalding in which he talks about integrating LibraryThing into library catalogs, providing an inexpensive way for libraries to offer tagging, reviews, ratings, etc. I'll be interested to see how the new features work. With any luck, he'll give the traditional (and expensive) vendors a run for their money.

Infomania

A story from the Seattle PI reports on a 2-day workshop at Microsoft last week devoted to "infomania" -- "the loss of concentration caused by the constant electronic interruptions that plague many office workers." The article notes some possible technological solutions to the problem (my favorite: a snooze button for email) and also notes that many people overuse Reply to All and copy people who really don't need to receive the message. The article ends with a few tips for managing email and information overload. Worth a read if only to reassure us that we aren't alone in dealing with this problem.