The recording of my KCUR appearance

You can of course download it from the KCUR site, or you can listen to it (or download it) right here.

Download the MP3

Hear me on the radio: Update

Here's the promo from the KCUR site:

Many of us use it every day and have trouble remembering life without it.  The usefulness and ubiquity of the Internet has made looking for information as easy as pushing a button.  The personal computer created an Internet where anyone with a keyboard could be master and commander of the World Wide Web. Now,Internet-centered products — such as iPhones, Xboxes, and TiVos — can’t be easily modified by anyone except their vendors and are killing the innovation of the once-open Internet according Jonathan Zittrain, co-founder of the Harvard Law School’s Berkman Center for Internet & Society.

In a new book titled The Future of the Internet — And How to Stop It, Zittrain argues that the Internet’s current trajectory is one of lost opportunity. Zittrain reasons that the seemingly endless Internet is on a path to tighter security— such as car GPS systems reconfigured at the demand of law enforcement to eavesdrop on occupants.

Today Michael Sauers, the “Travelin’ Librarian” from the Nebraska Library Commission talks with guest host Stephen Steigman about how the salvation of the Internet lies in the hands of the users. Drawing on generative technologies like Wikipedia that have so far survived their own successes, we’ll discuss how to develop new technologies and social structures that allow users to work creatively and collaboratively, and participate in solutions.  We’ll look at the role technology is playing in library services (both good and bad) and we’ll examine search engines and how to use the latest Web 2.0 - from improving basic search skills and evaluating search results to making the best use of search engines. We'll also discuss digital rights management, creative commons, and other copyright issues.

Image: (cc) Danard Vincente
Michael Sauers speaks this evening at 6:00 at the Linda Hall Library of Science, Engineering & Technology, 5109 Cherry St.  This event is free and open to the public. Click here  or call 816.926.8716 for more information.

Additional Information:
Michael Sauers is currently the Technology Innovation Librarian for the Nebraska Library Commission in Lincoln, NE. For nine years prior to moving to Nebraska, Michael was the Internet Trainer for the Bibliographical Center for Research in Aurora, CO. He has been a public library trustee, a bookstore manager for a library friends group, a reference librarian, serials cataloger, consultant, bookseller, and has worked with the New York State Assembly. He is also the Webmaster for the Greece, NY Historical Society and for the fan site of the SF/Fantasy author L.E. Modesitt, Jr. As an amateur photographer, Michael has had his photographs published in both domestic and international publications. He earned his MLS from the University at Albany's School of Information Science and Policy in 1995, and has a BS in American Studies from SUNY Brockport. Michael's ninth book, Searching 2.0 will be out in the summer of 2008. He has also written dozens of articles for various journals and magazines. In his spare time he reads about 130 books per year.
Photo (cc) cindiann, http://www.flickr.com/photos/trucolorsfly/1817313361/

The guest host is the show's producer that I spoke with about the interview on Friday. He sounds like a pretty tech-say guy (he even asked me about Google Chrome) so it should be a pretty smooth hour.

As for the rest of the day, as it mentions I'll be at the Linda Hall Library for a librarian brainstorming session (a mini unconference that will include Mr. Joshua M. Neff) and then the public talk about the Zittrain book in the evening. Check out more details about the public event on the Linda Hall Library site.

Hear me on the Radio

For those interested I'll be making an appearance on Kansas City's NPR affiliate KCUR tomorrow morning from 11-Noon CDT. The show is up/to/date and we'll be discussing may issues possibly including Copyright, Creative Commons, DRM, Searching, Filtering, & Privacy. I don't know specifically what we'll get to until it happens.

RIP Pandora

Pandora is dead due the the recently new (retroactive no less) Internet radio royalty rates. As Doc Searls put it:

"In a move that recalls the Vogons' decision to destroy Earth to clear the way for a highway bypass through space (a thankfully fictional premise of Douglas Adams' Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy), the judges comprising the Copyright Royalty Board have decided to destroy the Internet radio industry so the Recording Industry won't be inconvenienced by something it doesn't know, like or understand."