Well a friend recently gave me a link to this short ebook that I really enjoyed – practical tips as well as strategies for finding focus in your life again, focus: a simplicity manifesto in the age of distraction.

I teach this lesson in my research classes as a way to convince students that they shouldn’t limit themselves to browser searches (I try not to say Google, because seriously I love Google, and I don’t want to point fingers at any one browser). I want my students to be better consumers of information, to know when they’re a student and when they’re a customer, and to know there’s a lot of gray area in that space today. Every peer-reviewed article I show them isn’t actually a gold standard for education – but at least having the conversation about sources and intention gets them thinking – who wrote this? Why did they write it? Is it accurate information? Is it useful information? Why are there so many ads on this page? Does it matter?

So why am I thinking about this today? First I saw this post on Stephen’s Lighthouse, a library blog I enjoy reading. He links to a graphic that demonstrates the complexity of web advertising, and a reminds me that “[e]nd users are just eyeballs and hits and profiles.”

Next I read a post from Fast Company. Apparently J.C. Penney has opened a store on Facebook. Not an ad on the side that I ignore. Not a page I can “like”, “join”, “share” or be a “fan” of. A real store where I’m supposed to buy stuff. I mean, I knew it was coming (it’s been coming). With so many corporations on Facebook, Facebook in the news everyday. Facebook. Facebook. Facebook. But now that place where I reconnected with high school friends and college buddies, where I fanatically adjust my privacy settings, that place is now just another online shop.

““Retailers want their channels to be where their customers are,” said Jason Taylor, vice president of global product strategy for Usablenet, which built the Facebook operation for J.C. Penney. “They’ve recognized that Facebook is another place they need to be in front of their customers.””

Yep, that’s us. Customers. And Facebook is a “channel”, not a community. So as I say to my students in class, and students reading this blog, it’s okay to be a customer (I mean, hell, half of you are trying to start online companies yourself), I just want you to be able to tell when you are a customer – to know it when you see it. And maybe seek out some other sources of information via our library subscriptions – research in your field, unbiased data sources, investigative journalism. Because I can tell you one thing for sure – you are not MY customer, you are my student. And I’m not selling you a single thing today.

Each semester, our students start developing their capstone business plans and begin the hunt for data on hot topics – like new media, internet use, mobile apps (to name just a very few). Often we subscribe to useful vendor products that aggregate in-depth market research reports that students find very helpful in supporting their plans. But sometimes, it just seems like the data isn’t out there. It must not have been published, because I can’t find it, right?! Maybe. Or maybe you just haven’t discovered the right source yet.

In performing these sorts of searches, I counsel students to think about “Who Cares?” – as in, who cares about that data… maybe an industry association tracking data for their members’ benefit, maybe a government agency with programs for individuals in particular demographics, or maybe a non-profit or watchdog group (someone who might see educating the public – that’s you – as part of their mission and would send you that report for free.)

The point is, finding information isn’t always easy.  Especially if the potential interest in that information is small or the topic is esoteric. But if you can figure out who cares, you have a much better shot.

And now I’ll tell you who cares about a lot of really interesting stuff – The Pew Center, and their special projects - like the Internet & American Life Project (swoon), Social & Demographic Trends (sigh) and the Center for People & the Press (wow). Pew describes itself as a “fact tank” rather than a think tank. And I think that’s wise, because they really are focused on the facts and not persuasion on any given issue. I wish more students and faculty knew about Pew as a quality information source, so here’s my latest attempt at spreading the word (I also bookmark them on my delicious account, jenna1870, RSS their press releases to my feed reader, which I then publish to my Business Information Guide with other market research sources).

So – get in the Pew already.

I just subscribed to a new blog that had me remembering the fear and excitement I felt over not knowing how I was going to earn a paycheck after graduating. See, I had pursued the highly lucrative field of Environmental Policy, so I was certain I would have offer letters lined up upon graduation. Well, no – I’m just lying now. But what this degree did do was force me to think creatively, not just about the industry I wanted to work in, but the job I wanted to have, and what I wanted my work day to look like.

If you’re lacking the creative daydreaming skills required to visualize these possibilities, then hurry on over to shatterbox:

Shatterbox wants you to wake up in the morning and love what you do. So we’re going to introduce you to lots of people who do and help you find how to get there yourself.

We are a video-based social community for students and young professionals to find inspiration and share ideas about innovative careers.

eBook restrictions vex users (subscription required for whole article), quote regarding a Kindle pilot at Oregon State University begun last summer, according to the article:

A key challenge to using eReaders in education is that some publishers are hesitant to make their textbooks available on a digital platform because of DRM, Deitering said.

“One reason for the pilot project was to figure out ways to manage this content, given the significant limitations Amazon’s DRM policies pose,” she said, adding that OSU does not plan to adopt only a single eReading device, Kindle or otherwise. Still, to accommodate other eReading devices that students might own, or that it might purchase in the future, the library would have to buy content in multiple electronic formats—which could prove costly.

“As our user community increasingly comes to us with their own devices, we believe that our focus will need to shift to how we can provide the content our users want in the format they want, instead of focusing on the devices,” she said. “Not that the devices are irrelevant—we need to have the devices available for our users to access our content—but we expect that we will be considering this in the context of providing content, not providing devices.”

So yes, not only is my blog (possibly) sustainable, but the links I am sharing are all about green branding, green marketing, and sustainability trends. The whole series here is written by Landor Associates’ Chief Strategy Officer, Russ Meyers. Enjoy. And seriously, I promise I’ll start thinking for myself soon…

…or at least diversifying my sources.

http://www.fastcompany.com/tag/50-years-of-green

Nook - from Barnes & Noble

I’m on the fence. After all, I like printed books. I’m not going to go all book geek and say how I like to hold them and smell them and feel them. Ew. But I do like giving books I liked to friends and family, thumbing through chapters of books I’ve read before, tossing an easy read in my bag on the way to the airport/dentist/beach. You don’t toss an e-reader. You carefully protect it, buy apps and plug-ins and whatever else, special cases and accessories. So for me, it’s not like I have to have one, I just kind of want one. And the tech geek inside me  – the one that still has her 1st generation iPod? She wants to know what the fuss is about. Firsthand.

But I’ll probably still be on the fence until next year’s tax return or an unforeseen Lotto win. On the other hand, if you already robbed a bank budgeted and decided it’s time to check out one of those new-fangled electronic boxes where they put the books these days… this guide from Wiley & Sons should be a big help (with a shout out to my colleague across the Quad at Carnegie who sent me the link).

I had no idea there were so many options, so it’s some comfort to know that when the time comes for me, Wiley has created their ereader resource “for the love of readers”, http://ereaderresource.com/. Descriptions, photos, specs, prices, and features – all in one place.

Shop on people. Shop on. And maybe stop by Bird and let me look at your pretty little toy until I can get my own…

You should. Our first Entrepreneur in Residence will be listening to ideas and handing out checks on Tuesday, April 6, noon-2:30 pm, on the Quad.

For more info, check out the official Inside SU announcement (yes, there is a catch to the check), and start figuring out how to articulate your great idea.

• Lexis Nexis Academic – this beta has been accessible for awhile, but just in case you ignored the fine red print in our databases main menu now is your chance to get up to speed. For now, the beta “enhanced interface” is for on-campus use only.
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  Mergent Online database screenshot

  Mergent Online – if you research financial information on public companies, check out Mergent’s new look now before if becomes permanent. Once you access the database, click on the bold red hyperlinked text “Click here to view new Mergent Online“. I haven’t formed an opinion myself whether it’s a big improvement, but hey, that’s why I’m using it now – to get used to it before it changes for everyone for good. You should do the same.

Happy searching!