EDITOR'S NOTES
What Do You Know Worth Saving?
by Dick Kaser
I stole the title of this column from a postcard Northern Micrographics sent me a year ago, which has been hanging above my desk ever since, along with my thumb-tacked collection of inspirational clippings. It’s an excellent choice of words. It’s saying, “It’s not about what you have, but what you know that’s worth saving.” We live in an environment that’s more and more about sharing—virtually everything—on social networks, but the question remains: What’s worth keeping? And librarians might add—in what form?
Data are increasingly being shared in the form of infographics. In this issue, Rachel Evans shares tips on making infographics using free web apps, and Ayyoub Ajmi takes a bold step forward by suggesting that the classic research paper can be condensed into this format.
Our resident data scientist and librarian, Dan Chudnov, argues that for today’s IT professional, publishing a digital lab notebook capable of running snippets of code can encapsulate a researcher’s knowledge like never before.
Jan Zastrow counts up the top 10 blogs in which archivists—who need to answer the question every day about what’s worth keeping—share their thoughts on a continuous basis. And Don Hawkins updates information from his book on personal archiving with notes on services that can support your patrons in building their own digital heritage collections.
Marshall Breeding talks about collection strategies for public and academic libraries. And Terence Huwe rounds out the issue by exploring three strategies for separating the wheat from the chaff when monitoring tech trends.
If you’re like me, you may be cleaning out your house this summer. In that context, I’m humbled by the reminder that it’s not what you have, but what you know that’s worth keeping. This issue drives the point home. Hopefully, for you, it’s a keeper.
Dick Kaser, Executive Editor
kaser@infotoday.com
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