This Book Is Overdue! or The Future of Libraries (On Our Bookshelf)

Ever wonder about libraries and whether they will be around 10, 20 years from now? How about librarians? What do they really do? How do they manage to survive in the current economic climate of cutbacks, cutbacks, cutbacks? And of course there is the problem of low pay. In fact libraries have been closing or due to fiscal cutbacks in cities and states, their hours may have been slashed and book budgets reduced and yet librarians have a strong will to serve to provide access to all regardless of background.

Then there are the trends in libraryland towards online libraries, shifting from books and magazine to electronic access to information. There is the challenge of new and multiple technologies, which libraries must adjust to and master, and master they do. Libraries are often in the advance guard techologically and, after all, indexing and subject analysis are what libraries have been good at and these skills are fundamental to online databases, even Google in its massive search indexes.

But it is a fact, libraries are changing with the rest of the society. So, now, along comes one of best books of 2010, This Book Is Overdue! How Librarians and Cybrarians Can Save Us All, by Marilyn Johnson, author of Dead Beat. She wanted to know where libraries are now and where are they going. While Ms Johnson is a journalist, her report represents several years of research, interviewing and doing participant observation work much as a sociologist or anthropologist. What she has produced is a definitive work on libraries and where they are going and she provides a very readable experience that allows behind the scenes appreciation of the struggles librarians undergo to provide continuous service and access now and into the future. She puts a human face to libraryland, cuts through stereotypes, and shows the marvelous diversity of libraries, librarians and displays it warts and all.

Reading Johnson's book you will learn about problems associated with computerization, the migration from library automated system to another, life in public libraries, specialized libraries, large Public Research libraries such as the New York Public, reductions in space forcing collections out, the discarding of previously sacred Reference materials, the struggle to maintain and archive for future readers and researchers critical primary sources, the effect of forces attempting to invade privacy of library card holders, the effect of the Patriot Act and libraries at the Connecticut State Library who fought to maintain First Amendment Right even under threat of possible jail time. She tells the story of Radical librariians, tattooed librarians and Second Life librarians.

Libraries have always fought to preserve access. Your library card and what you read is protected by libraries. Marilyn Johnson writes about the history of libraries and their struggles.
Second Life is an online community, where people develop their characters and avatars. Johnson focuses on a group of real life librarians who decide that it would be found to stake out a part of the Second Life community and created avatars and characters along with a Reference Desk in Second Life. Who were these real life librarians playing their roles in the virtual world as well as the physical world? Johnson created her own character and avatar and started playing a role and investigated Libraryland in Second Life. Finally she was able to meet in the physical world some of these role players. It is a fascinating story.

Whatever Johnson tackles in This Book Is Overdue, she provides indepth, accurate coverage and there is never a dull moment! This is an extremely fine work and hugely entertaining. If you are curious about librarians and libraries; if you love libraries and want to see them preserved; if you are interested in what makes libraries tick, then READ THIS BOOK! It provides loads of insight and represents where we are now in the physical, online, and virtual road.

Marilyn Johnson will be at the Forbes Library in Northampton, Wednesday, September 15, starting at 7pm. She'll do readings from her book, answer questions and sigh your book. For librarians and non librarians. Find out where libraries are going.

And now I have to go because This Book Is Overdue! You'll find it at the Berkshire Athenauem and other libraries.

BP and Gas Prices

News about BP ( the former British Petroleum ) is everywhere since the disastrous Gulf of Mexico oil well explosion and resultant millions of barrels of oil spilled into the Gulf since June affecting the livelihoods of Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida residents, businesses, and workers. The recently capped well has slowed the spilling but the impact and clean up will likely go on for years.

BP ( www.bp.com ) issued a press release today noting they have already paid out $256 million in claims and have set aside 30 plus billion dollars for clean up, restoration of the Gulf, and further claims. The BP website has much information on it soliciting ideas, help, and providing round the clock access to video feeds on the oil well site. There you will find news of former CEO Tony Hayward stepping down in October 2010 and being replaced by American born and former Louisiana resident Robert Dudley, who is currently in charge of BP's cleanup operations. And there is extensive coverage on the site of BP efforts and responses to the ongoing disaster.

In light of the ongoing Gulf crisis many are wondering about the larger oil situation, namely the effect of the Gulf disaster on gas prices. What has been the effect? What will be the effect in the future? This disaster is not a natural one, such as a hurricane or tornado, but a result of human error, mistakes and lack of foresight to say the least. It is not the result of oil futures speculation that was rampant 2 years ago this month, when gas prices at the pump rose to over $4 a gallon of regular and a barrel of oil rose to $150 and brought about the collapse of the American auto industry.

So what is the effect? The answer is not what one would expect with the loss of so much oil. There has been almost no effect on gas prices. Summer is the season when gas prices generally increase. Not so thus far this year. Gas prices since Memorial Day have changed little, hovering between $2.60 and $2.80 per gallon of regular. See gasbuddy.com's Massachusetts Gas Prices for up to the minute prices in your area. This link provides current Pittsfield area's lowest prices, which are between $2.65 and $2.69 per gallon. Average Massachusetts price is $2.68. And the national average on this day is $2.74. Gasbuddy also displays a barometer measuring the direction of gas prices; currently they are going up.

Why has there been no effect on the market for oil? Future traders who traded up the price per barrel dramatically 2 years ago are laying in wait. So far prices per barrel of oil are less than $80. While prices are increasing, it's very slow, and there has been a surplus of oil. The demand has not been there. That's the lesson of the past 2 years. Consumers have conserved and cut back on their appetite for large gas guzzling cars, are investing in more economy minded cars, and taking shorter vacations. And there has been government pressure on the auto industry to supply cars with higher gas use efficiency. The recession has produced high unemployment, housing foreclosures, and stabilized gas prices.

The continuing Gulf oil crisis demonstrates forcefully the impact of spills on the environment, wildlife, tourism, local businesses, and the overall quality of life. Still oil touches every sphere of life in the global economy. Oil byproducts produce clothing, plastics, electricity. It is a foundation commodity for modern life and is why wars are fought, to control who has access the these resources. Of course, there is the current thrust from government to wean ourselves from dependence on oil, but it is likely that it is economic development and competition between governments such as China, the United States, Japan, and Europe for this resource that will determine our future. And that competition is over oil resources. Ultimately this competition will determine prices and quality of life far more the Gulf oil spill.

Oil companies have seen that the future will depend on more diversified resources such as Natural Gas. Still Exxon Mobil, which has been investing in natural gas, recently announced its 2nd quarter net profit as $7.56 billion, a 91% increase over same quarter in 2009.

So it appears that the Gulf of Mexico crisis has had little effect on oil company profits beyond that of BP, which is still profitable, though weakened.

Gas prices this summer have been remarkably stable.

Business Magazines on Twitter and Facebook

In our last About Business posting "Top 5 Social Networks for June 2010", we noted Facebook had more than 400 million members and Twitter more than 80 million. This represents a stunning potential and opportunity for Businesses and business marketing. Business magazines are employing Twitter and Facebook to reach, keep, and expand their audiences.

There currently is no directory listing access to Business Magazines' Twitter and Facebook accounts. In the interest of providing access to these accounts, we have researched and compiled the following listing:

1) Business Week, now called Bloomberg Business Week as of January 2010:
http://twitter.com/bw; www.facebook.com/BloombergBusinessweek

2) Entrepreneur Magazine:
http://twitter.com/entmagazine; www.facebook.com/EntMagazine

3) Financial Times (daily newspaper):
http://twitter.com/financialtimes (At the time of this post could not locate a
Financial Times Facebook page.

4) Forbes Magazine: http://twitter.com/FORBES; www.facebook.com/forbes

5) Fortune Magazine:
http://twitter.com/Fortunemagazine; www.facebook.com/FortuneMagazine

6) Inc Magazine: http://twitter.com/incmagazine; www.facebook.com/Inc

7) Kiplingers Personal Finance: http://twitter.com/Kiplingermedia;

8) New York Times: http://twitter.com/nytimes/business-news
http;//twitter.com/nytimesbusiness; (No Facebook page found at time of this post.)

9) SmartMoney Magazine : http://twitter.com/smartmoney;
www.facebook.com/SmartMoney

10) Wall Street Journal (Daily newspaper; no Sunday): http://twitter.com/wsj;
www.facebook.com/wsjonline

It's worth noting that these are the main twitter and facebook accounts for these publications. Editors and writers of these publications have their own twitter and facebook accounts and some are quite prolific. But these are the official twitter and facebook accounts. They are both promotional, newsy, and afford direct interactions in all the ways of social media. It shows commitment to the social media world and is transforming business media and the way we interact. With facebook a real face is put to these formerly anonymous and distant enterprises. And comments are invited as is participation in development of business ideas and articles.

You may freely subscribe to, follow and befriend these business magazine twitter and facebook accounts. You will be able to keep up to date with business news using these sites. You may easily start your own twitter and facebook accounts as well and have your customers, family and friends follow your business enterprise as part of your overall business plan.

Publications named above are also part of the Berkshire Athenaeum subscription holdings, where we invite you to read them at your leisure.

Top 5 Social Networks For June 2010

The continuing and expanding influence of social networks is undeniable. EbizMba continues to track social network statistics and they are very impressive. Click here for their most recent report on 20 top social networking sites. Here for About Business we're going to focus on the top 5.

The top 5 sites for June 2010 are:

1) Facebook (www.facebook.com). Facebook claims more than 400 million members. That's more than the entire population of the United States. According to EbizMba, Facebook receives 250 million unique visitors a month. That's alot of friends and family keeping in touch with each other. Tracking site Alexa places Facebook as the #2 most visited site in the world. Google is #1. People are probably using google to get to Facebook. At 250 milion visitors per month Facebook provides a very large opportunity for any business enterprise.

2) MySpace (www,myspace.com). While not given the media attention that Facebook and Twitter receive, MySpace is holding its own with 122 million unique visitors per month and ranks #17 on Alexa's most visited sites per month. So it seems Rupert Murdock's investment in MySpace is paying off at least in terms of popularity.

3) Twitter (www.twitter.com). Twitter can claim 80.5 million unique visitors per month. That's more tweets than Tweety Bird could imagine. In June 2010 it's the 11th most visited site on the Internet. Twitter is a micro blog (limited to 140 characters) and would seem to go hand in hand with Facebook or MySpace for that matter.

4) LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com). LinkedIn, as the 4th most popular social networking site, will be a surprise to many. However, LinkedIn is receiving 50 million unique visitors per month. This site is for networking professionals or anyone looking for or offering a job or contract. Major and minor, large and small businesses are all represented on LinkedIn, including every Fortune 500 company. According to Alexa it is the 29th most visited site on the internet.

5) Ning (www.ning.com). Ning is new to me. It characterizes itself as a network for organizers and "influencers" and is quick and easy to use in the same way as Facebook and Twitter. While new to me, it is attracting 42 million unique visitors per month. That's a lot of people interested in social change. More on Ning in a future post. It is the 128th most visited site on the Internet.

The continuing expansion and popularity of social networking sites means that your business neighborhood is now global and that it would be in your business interest to be represented on these sites to get the word out about your enterprises. There is enormous opportunity in this marketplace.

In my next post I'll show how Business Magazines are using these social networking sites.

As an aside, I'll add that Libraries, such as the Berkshire Athenaeum. now have blogs, Facebook and Twitter accounts and feature workshops enabling others to become active participants!

The Dow and Marketplace Happy Music!

In our March 20 post about The Dow, we mentioned the evening reports from National Public Radio's Marketplace program where every time The Dow is down for the day, that they play the song, Stormy Weather. And during the past week there has been lots of Stormy Weather from The Dow.

A correspondent, who had read our post, asked what song does Marketplace play when The Dow is up at the end of the day? We're happy to bring you the answer to that question. When The Dow is up at the end of the day, Marketplace plays I'm In the Money, apropos for the daily winners! They will be playing I'm In The Money tonight about 6:45 p.m. That's because The Dow today closed at 4 p.m. on the New York Stock Exchange at 10,259, 284.54 point over yesterday's closing of 9974.

For what these numbers mean see our previous post here. When The Dow is up as today's results indicate, it means all 30 stocks showed increases in the number of sales. When The Dow is down as it was yesterday, it meant those 30 stocks were by their owners, meaning momentary losses to these bulwark companies, of which locally, General Electric was affected. When looked at over the past year all 30 Dow stock companies increased their value 20 to 30 per cent.

Day to day trading means little in the long term unless downs continue or ups continue for long periods. Otherwise in following The Dow daily you will be subject to the yo-yo effect or daily ups and downs that day traders feed on. Winning investors are those quite often in for the long term and who see long term benefits and value.

For short term investors and day traders, you have 'know when to hold'em and know when to fold'em!' to avoid the Stormy Weather music.

For those interested in learning more about investing, its risks and rewards, the Berkshire Athenaeum has several books available for loan, including Investing 101 by Kathy Kristoff, Wall Street's Buried Treasure: the low priced value investing approach to finding great stocks by Harry Houtkin, The Bogleheads' guide to Investing by Taylor Larimore, Mel Lindauer, Michael LeBoeuf with Introduction by John Bogle, and many others. And you will want to consult the Investopedia link on our sidebar or go directly there.

Always consider your local public library as a possible source for your financial information.

Do You Follow the DOW?

If you are in business, have a pension or retirement plan, or are an investor, then DOW or the Dow Jones Industrial Index is part of your everyday vocabulary.

If you watch the News on Television, listen to the Radio, or view News Online, then you know the daily DOW numbers are reported all the time, often many times during the day.

A change in the DOW results in a great adrenaline rush. When the DOW goes down, the National Public Radio program, Marketplace, plays the song Stormy Weather. Lately there's been a lot of Stormy Weather and DOW has been falling from its recent 11,000 highs down to 10,100s.

In Feb 24, 2009 we wrote Dow Up, Dow Down! What Does It All Mean? At that time the DOW was at 7100 and a crash was apparent. So 11,000 or even 10,000 is better than February 2009. The DOW has increased by more than 50% since those lows. For what's behind these numbers click on the article.

The DOW is made up 30 carefully selected companies, selected by the Wall Street Journal editorial boards. These stocks are highly valued and fairly stable, but when General Motors and Citigroup dipped below $10 a share they were removed from the DOW and replaced by Travelers Companies and Cisco Systems.

When we want to know what's happening on the DOW, we check out 2 websites that are particularly good. The first site is Bloomberg.com where there are updates every 15 minutes and it lists ongoing activity for the 30 DOW stocks that make up the Index. (It also answers the reference question, What companies make up the DOW Jones Industrial Index?) The second site we like is MarketWatch.com, where it gives you minute by minute trading results and fluctuations on the DOW (not for those with heart conditions if volatility causes you great concern) like a ticker.

All kinds of people try to figure out what these ups and downs mean and commentators make regular prognostications. But there are no fixed answers and all the activity feeds into those fascinated with numbers games, statistics, and real life gambling.

When the DOW closed today at 4 pm Eastern Time, it had fallen to 10,068, 376 points from the previous day's closing of 10,444. Does this mean crash or correction or nothing at all? Such is the Market and only Time will tell its ultimate effects. But after 2008 the economy did go into a dramatic spin and now foreclosures, state bankruptcies, 9.9% unemployment rates, and dramatic 1st quarter 2010 profits were the effect. And financial reform after 2 years has still not happened.

Twitter Meets the Library of Congress

At first the pairing of the venerable old Library of Congress(founded by Thomas Jefferson) with the vastly up-to-date social network and micro blog Twitter seems most unlikely. Yet yesterday, April 14, each, in separate postings, announced their highly significant partnership.

The Library of Congress disclosed in its twitter feed and in its blog that the world's largest library would house the digital archive of all twitter tweets since its inception in March 2006 and continuing. Title of their twitter and blog posts: "How tweet it is!" A takeoff on Jackie Gleason's Honeymooners phrase from Ralph Kramden, "How sweet it is!"

If you have ever "tweeted" your tweets will be archived there and, eventually, searchable. The twitter blog post "Twitter Preservation announced on its site its partnering with the Library of Congress with a great deal of excitement. Twitter estimates over 50 million tweets per day and growing. Each tweet is only 140 characters in length. If only 1% of these tweets per day were business related (and it's probably considerably more), that would be over 500,000 tweets for business each day. This indicates to me that daily tweets from your business "must" now be a part of any business plan.

The significance of this announcement cannot be underestimated. It puts the full prestige of the Library of Congress behind the supporting and archiving of major social networks and puts libraries in the forefront both as tweeters and preservers of this cultural phenomenon. You can follow the Library of Congress tweets @librarycongress. You can follow twitter's twitter account @twitter.

Twitter is only 140 characters in length and that is the title of a new book that is bound to the bible of twitter style. 140 Characters,A Style Guide For The Short Form, by Dom Sagolla is a book well worth investigating. It is endorsed by Jack Dorsey, co-founder of Twitter and author of the first tweet. Sagolla provides an instructive history of twitter, how the name came about, its originators, how 140 characters was decided on, major players, and its rapid evolution of being one of the top 10 goto sites in the world. It really is a style manual with do's and don'ts. Like twitter it has hundreds of short takes and is often amusing.

If you want to know about twitter in all its ramifications, you will want to read and keep this book as a working reference and style guide. You'll learn how to write effective tweets and you'll have fun too.

Twitter and Library of Congress announcements this week come during National Library Week, April 12 through April 17. It is a time to celebrate all libraries.

140 Characters by Dom Sagolla can be found at Pittsfield's Public Library, the Berkshire Athenaeum and at your local library.

Kudos to Twitter and the Library of Congress!

Some Business Terms of Endearment

Was doing some searching on Investopedia today and came across some terms you might find interesting. Investopedia always yields results that are informative and often revealing. Investopedia is a subsidiary of Forbes We're calling this post "some business terms of endearment".

For example the term of the day is "sin tax".

"What Does Sin Tax Mean?
A state-sponsored tax that is added to products or services that are seen as vices, such as alcohol, tobacco and gambling. These type of taxes are levied by governments to discourage individuals from partaking in such activities without making the use of the products illegal. These taxes also provide a source of government revenue.

Investopedia explains Sin Tax
Sin taxes are typically added to liquor, cigarettes and other non-luxury items. State governments favor sin taxes because they generate an enormous amount of revenue and are usually easily accepted by the general public because they are indirect taxes that only affect those who use the products. When individual states run deficits, the sin tax is typically one of the first taxes recommended by lawmakers to help fill the budget gap."

Of course, in Massachusetts we hear almost daily the rewards that may come from building casinos. As in the various state lotteries, citizens voluntarily tax themselves for a chance to "hit it big" and then these "sin taxes" benefit the state coffers. Of course there are side effects and consequences, but also moments of hope and pleasure. Many institutions beside the state benefit. Many local businesses have seen revenue gains but also many paperwork demands and monitoring, such as in the area of selling cigarettes.

Back to Investopedia we came across the "buzzword" "affluenza". You've heard of influenza and your need for an annual flu shot. No such shots for affluenza. Here's what Investopedia says about this condition:

"What Does Affluenza Mean?
A social condition arising from the desire to be more wealthy, successful or to "keep up with the Joneses". Affluenza is symptomatic of a culture that holds up financial success as one of the highest achievements. People said to be affected by affluenza typically find that the very economic success they have been so vigorously chasing ends up leaving them feeling unfulfilled, and wishing for yet more wealth.

Investopedia explains Affluenza
Affluenza is arguably present in the United States, where the culture is one that prides itself on possessions and financial success. Mainstream media outlets, such as television broadcasts, tend to show how pervasive the idea has become.

While affluenza cannot be quantified easily, those wishing to avoid the condition should look to be the master of, not a slave to, the things they have or wish to obtain."

Now it could be argued that "sin taxes" and "affluenza" are related and that the recent stock market collapse was also related leading to near bankruptcy in many states, the bailout of major financial institutions such as CitiGroup, JP Morgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, and Fannie Mae, as well high gas prices, mortgage foreclosures and 10% national unemployment, 10.6% /in Pittsfield. Of course "playing the market" could viewed as a form of gambling. Individual losses have wreaked havoc on state revenues and pillaged state pension funds.

We encourage you to get a daily dose of Investopedia. We end today's post with the phrase "a ton of money" Do you know what a ton of money is? According to Investopedia:

"What Does A Ton Of Money Mean?
A slang term used to describe a significant amount of money. The amount implied typically depends on the person, company or situation.

Investopedia explains A Ton Of Money
We may all have a different idea of what constitutes a "ton of money", but according to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, a ton of $1 bills amounts to $908,000 - nearly $1 million!
If you're talking about a ton of coins, then it's a different story - a ton of quarters is worth $40,000, and one ton of pennies (363,000 pennies to be exact) is worth $3,630."

A weighty matter for the end of March or something to think about when April 15 comes.

April/May 2010 Berkshire Athenaeum Workshops Announced

Today is the "ides of March" - March 15. Caesar, rightfully, had a sense of foreboding this day. But you don't have to worry because you are not Caesar. And the announcement of new computer workshops to be held in April and May does not bring a sense of foreboding. Instead it's a sense of anticipation and looking forward to good things happening at the Berkshire Athenaeum even in the face of municipal cutbacks and reduction of hours.

This will be the 2nd set of workshops to be held in 2010. The first set was held during January and February. This time around there will be a wide variety of offerings. Each workshop is one hour and will be held in the evenings and on Saturdays. Starting Saturday, April 3 with 10 FreeWebsites You Will Want to Consult Regularly and ending Wednesday evening, May 26, with Word 2007 Tables, there will be over a dozen workshops.

Workshops offered will include many with a web 2.0 orientation, including ones on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Blogs and Blogging. Microsoft Office 2007 workshops will include Word Basics and Advanced, Excel 101 and 102. Other workshops are Job Search Resources in Learning Express, how to be a Smart Consumer, Gmail, and Going Mobile.

Workshops fill up quickly and preregistration is required. It's easy to register. Just call 413-499-4980, ext 202 and have your name added or drop in at the Reference Desk and sign up for the workshop(s) of your choice. Did I mention that all workshops are Free?! Well, they are! So while you are thinking about it, why don't you give us a call?

For the full list of workshops, descriptions and times click here.

See you in April and May. You won't have to 'beware of the ides of March!'

Your Favorite 20 Most Popular eBusiness Websites - Part 2

This is Part 2 of our posts on Top Business Websites as tracked by ebizmba, the self-described Knowledge Database. What ebizmba does is combine tracking statistics provided by Google (inbound links), Compete, Quantcast and Alexa and comes up with a monthly list or rankings of Most Popular Business Websites and in today's case the 20 Most Popular and Influential eBusiness Websites. If Part 1 was Your Favorite Business websites, most of these cites were known to you and that's why they are so popular. They have your attention.

The most popular and therefore influential "eBusiness websites" are more oriented to the backbone of the internet and what makes it tick, the technology industry, search engine marketers, venture capital investors and those who need to know what's the next big thing in order to survive the fast paced changes in this ever dynamic environment. Google and Microsoft are betting on cloud computing, social networks, developing new business plans for media and industry overall, indeed the very survival of media companies. These eBusiness websites are on the cutting edge and are both suppliers of industry intelligence to mass media and are creators of new benchmarks in technology, producing new models, white papers, in depth research, product reviews, downloads, webcasts, podcasts and are constantly developing, charting, and marketing strategies. These websites carry great authority in that industry insiders and investors are the chief audience.

While Part 1 focused on websites with hundreds of millions of visitors on a monthly basis, here zdnet had the most @ 48 million inbound links and techcrunch had 10 million inbound links. In terms of individual visitors each of the top 20 ebusiness sites has between 450,000 and 2,000,000 visitors. That these sites' audiences are hardcore technology and trendsetters, they have become must reads for industry, media, government policy-makers and developers. Another way of putting it is that first discussions of significant trends happen on these sites. If you want to know what's going on in the internet, these sites are the most important starting points.

What each of these sites has in common is the commitment to the future, critical reviews, product analysis, downloads, having a strong sense of the significance of statistics, business models, new marketing models, and commitment to advancing the internet in all its various forms. Further there is commitment to competing models whether open source or proprietary, Microsoft versus Google versus Apple, MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. These sites are the advance guard.

That said I believe it's important to be aware of these websites, which are eBusinesses, media networks, and blogs. Some are supported by the Wall Street Journal, and CBS, and supply technology and business feeds to Business Week, New York Times, Reuters and the financial media. Here, then, are the 20 Most Popular and Influential eBusiness Websites as of February 2010 according to ebizmba:

1) Zdnet.com - This is a major technology news provider. Its coverage is wider in scope than some of the other sites. It includes white papers, blogs, up to date news coverage, product reviews, downloads of software and utilities, user ratings of software, webcasts, videos and podcasts. A CBS company.
2) Techcrunch.com keeps up with technology trends and has emphasis on impact of technology on business enterprise. Views itself as on the cutting edge.
3) ArsTechnica.com - also provides indepth articles on Windows 7, Facebook, video gaming business, and technology trends.
4) Cnetnews.com - Like ZDnet, covers whole scope of internet with articles, blogs, industry forecasts, videos, product downloads and reviews. Keeps its finger on the pulse.
5) Mashable.com - One of the most significant technology blogs, currently rumored to be in talks with AOL, which wants to buy it. Mashable is the major site keeping up on all aspects of web 2.o and social networks. It is the starting place to find out what's going on at Facebook, Linked In, MySpace, Blogger and others. It's also the place to obtain numerous templates, widgets, and gadgets, and the many ways web 2.0 is business oriented and profitable. Mashable is definitely worth following.
6) DigitalPoint.com - Tools for the techie and the technically inclined. Forums and discussions.
7) Webmasterworld.com - Keeping up on the technical infrastructure, business marketing, adsense, forums, and web news and developer tools.
8) Allthingsd.com - Covers all things digital but is not the company allthingsdigital. News and blogs. Up to the minute coverage. Owned by the Wall Street Journal.
9) Internet.com - Covers the internet industry, ecommerce, small business. Is the industry newsroom for the Internet. Network for technology professionals. Owner of Webopedia.
10) InformationWeek.com - First place for industry announcements. A newsweekly publication and online presence. Emphasis on business value of technology.
11) ReadWriteWeb.com - A blog and critical first stop known for insightful articles. You will find important web 2.0 articles as well following the development in Google and Microsoft.
12) VentureBeat.com - Another blog focusing on business start-ups and development deals. Respected.
13) PaidContent.org - A major tracker of the media industry as it attempts new business model to survive in the online universe, otherwise known as cloud computing now. Major media outlets follow paidcontent.org. New York Times, Financial Times new business models to gain pay for content.
14) GigaOm.com - a major blog, named after its founder Om Malik. Leading technology news provider to New York Times, Business Week and Reuters.
15) SearchEngineLand.com - tracks developments of search engine industry, business and advertising.
16) WebProNews.com - development on the web, search engines, business and marketing.
17) ClickZ.com - The business of the internet, tracking strategies, marketing techniques, major revenue sources affording much competition between Microsoft, Yahoo, and Google as well as Amazon and Ebay. Development of applications and tools.
18) Techmeme.com - Keeps up with technology trends. often cited.
19) TechDirt.com - Often insider views on development of government and business policy. A blog of long standing.
20) EMarketer.com - Known for its indepth critiques and "objective" analysis. Worth looking at.

There you have it -- the Top 20 most inluential eBusiness websites. Those reading it are those involved in creating the new internet, cloud computing, the new gadget, the next big thing for investors and businesses. No single one of these websites is the only authority. One must examine many according to your needs. However these sites, though not having the 400 million Facebook audience, are in fact the ones creating opportunity for the Facebooks of the world. They are also the information providers counted upon by those making critical policy and investment decisions.

Your Favorite Top 20 Business Websites 2010 Part 1

How do you find your Business information?

Marketers want to know; companies want to know; google and site trackers want to know. They all want to capture your attention.

EBizMba - The eBusiness Knowledgebase dedicates itself to the answers to this question. Through combining google page rank, alexa and compete and quantcast tracking statistics, it ranks websites. In fact they have just released figures for January 2010 for regular business websites and ebusiness websites. From these rankings you may get a profile for your own uses. Albeit these are popularity statistics and not necessary the "best" sites. These are the sites most visited on a regular basis. In the future we will profile many of these sites in more depth. The entire ebizmba most popular business websites article can viewed here.

Here then are your 20 most popular business websites in 2010 according to ebizmba:

1) Yahoo Finance
Yahoo Finance is content rich and aggregates all kinds of finance, investment, stock information in one place. Pick your interest and there will be information there. Also provides a host of daily rss feeds from business and investment news providers;

2) CNN Money
CNN Money is homebase for Fortune and Money Magazines and provides cross the board stock and investment information as well as covering daily business trends. Also features videos and podcasts.

3) Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal online is a pay subscription site though there is much free information available there.

4) Forbes
Forbes magazine online is like CNNMoney content rich. An important business, investment information source.

5) Business.com
An aggregator of all things business. Users often go to business.com as a starting point. Not mentioned in rankings is an equally important source of information -- business.gov

6) Bloomberg
Bloomberg.com is another exceptional business site, though graphically not as attractive as others. Content rich, thorough information. Well worth your visit.

7) Business Week
Until December Business Week was owned by McGraw-Hill, also owners of Standard and Poors. Bought in December by Bloomberg, which immediately attached its own name - Bloomberg Business Week. Business Week is rich in content, an important source of information and support for Small Businesses, company profiles, and indepth overall information. Includes videos, podcasts and editor blogs. What Bloomberg ownership means remains to be seen. Worth your visit.

8) FT.com
If you read the Wall Street Journal, you must also consult the Financial Times of London for its global perspective on investment and finance information. A critical business site. Much of it is however only available to paid subscribers.

9) BizJournals.com
Another content rich site tracking small and large business information and providing local trends as well from its multitude of sources.

10) MSN money
Like Yahoo Finace, MSN money pools information on personal finace and investment, more oriented to smaller investors rather than institutional investors. Worth your visit especially regarding personal finance issues.

11) MotleyFool
Clear eyed investment advice. A first stop for many despite its #11 ranking.

12) CNBC.com
Another major investment site. Up to the minute stock reports. Like msnmoney, yahoo finance and bloomberg and forbes.

13) BankRate.com
A major source for bank and credit card information.

14) TheStreet.com
Another investment site with much indepth information on the markets.

15) MarketWatch.com
MarketWatch is investment and personal finance for free. It's owned by Dow Jones, which also owns the Wall Street Journal and produces the Dow Jones Industrial Index otherwise known as the Dow. One of the better sites, thorough and content rich and free.

16) AllBusiness.com
In depth site soup to nuts on starting a business, buying a franchise and much more.

17) Hoover's.com
Used to be the source for company profiles. Still important though there is much competition now for its information. Basic information free; detailed information must pay subscription.

18) SeekingAlpha
Another investment oriented site seeking to find the scoop on the next big stock, ipo and so forth.

19) Entrepreneur
Our choice for #1 small business one stop shop, whether starting or maintaining or expanding a business. Excellent focus on women entrepreneurs, support forums, tax information. Truly a one stop shop for the gift of information that keeps on giving. Also a long standing business magazine.
Inc Magazine, not ranked, is a near #2 for small businesses. Check them both out.

20) GoogleFinance.com
Not as developed as YahooFinance and MSNmoney, but worth a visit and very competitive, up to the minute that you would expect from google.

There you have it -- "Your Favorite Top 20 Business Websites". What your real favorite will be will be based on your own needs and preferences. But if popularity and millions of links and hits are indicators, these sites may be worth your time and efforts and staying on top of things in critical in the business world.

Many of these sites are print magazines or newspapers as well and can be found at your public library such as Pittsfield's own Berkshire Athenaeum, Pittsfield Massachusetts Public Library. There we subscribe for you to Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Business Week, Forbes, Money, Fortune, Kiplinger's Personal Finance, Entrepreneur and Inc Magazines. As you can see they all have their own content rich online websites. Other business information and journals are available free at the Athenaeum on our online databases they can be viewed simply by the use of your library card. The library is also a one stop shop for your information needs!

2009 Year In Review -- What Recession? or What A Recession!!!

Been thinking about 2009 and what happened and what it means for 2010 now that we're in 2010.

Remember the Greatest Recession since the Great Depression comments? Remember the $700 Billion Dollar T.A.R.P bailout for companies and banks "too big to fail". TARP incidentallly means Troubled Asset Relief Program, begun by former Treasury Chair Henry Paulsen ( also former CEO of Goldman Sachs, a chief beneficiary of TARP ) during the waning months of President Bush's administration and supported by President-Elect Barack Obama. By Dec 31 2008 247 billion dollars had been sent to relieve failing Investment Banks and AIG. And at the very least Goldman Sachs was saved and is prospering quite well. It has even returned the $40 Billion dollar outlay. Quite a turnaround! So for Goldman and many other large banks, the Recession appears over. They're back to investing but not necessarily issuing credit.

On the smaller bank front for 2009 140 banks went into Bankruptcy and were saved by the FDIC -- Federal Deposit Insurance Corporations, whose own funds are nearly bankrupt. In 2010 bank failures have continued a pace -- 9 have failed since the beginning of 2010, taken over by FDIC. In 2009 over 1 million foreclosures occured jeopardizing individual families needs for shelter. Furthermore the national unemployment rate reached and has maintained the 10 % level, roughly 16 million individuals and their families. For those families the term Recession if not Depression is very real. Even Wal-Mart is closing many Sam's Club stores and laying off 11,000 workers. Jobs held by Wal-Mart former employees will be outsourced.

On the Investment and Finance front, the Dow has risen from a low of 7100 a year ago to over 10,000 on a continual basis (10,196 today) though there are still daily ups and downs but no dramatic downward shifts. Institutional investors are back playing the Market, confident that the US government and the Federal Reserve will prevent any dramatic decay. So the Investing community is moving forward even though wary of Financial Reform legislation. But there has been no real Financial Reform legislation no new FDIC or regulatory reform. Perhaps that is due to the hands off approach of former deregulators Larry Summers, Tim Geitner and Robert Rubin. Only recently has 82 year old former Treasury head Paul Volker been heard from in marked contrast to the hands off the "too big to fail" proponents.

Financial Reform like HealthCare Reform are both up in the air. Whereas TARP was okayed for 700 billion for 1 year HealthCare was for that same abount over 10 years and is stalled. Small Business have vested interests in seeing Health Care Reform though since it 's a large share of their own budgets, which operate on very small profit margins, unlike the "too big to fail" companies. The Outlook for any major Financial or HealthCare Reform in 2010 is very clouded, if not dim.

And remember that other indicator of onset of Recession that caught economists by surprise. Here I'm talking about Oil and Gas Prices. It was just July of 2008 when gas prices were a steady $4.11, a price that was a shock to individuals then and now. By the end of 2008 gas prices were back down to $1.87 nationally. By that time the US automotive market fell apart. General Motors and Chrysler filed for Bankruptcy protection, Fiat took over Chrysler and US taxpayers put a major financial stake in General Motors; Barack Obama initiated the Cash for Clunkers program to get Americans back into dealer showrooms. The automotive industry is still floundering. Only Ford did not take advantage of TARP. However, when banks do not issue credit, buyers don't buy; so government money went into GM's major financial lender, GMAC.

Now if you have been following gas prices over the last year, they have been inching back up, from aforementioned $1.86 to national prices this week of $2.78 up from $2.60 during the Christmas holiday season. In Pittsfield in December is was $2.63; a year ago it was $1.80. Economists were not even including gas prices in cost of living indexes so they missed the Depressive effects of these high gas prices. Wages simply do not go up to cover these changes. Nor do State budgets have the flexibility to meet these changes. With employment down, investment down, tax collections were down as well and States have initiated 3 to 4 rounds of dollar cutbacks, that in turn has affected municipalities, such as Pittsfield. For libraries, the entire Regional Library System is being cut in favor of one centralized system. Libraries are losing expected levels of state funding and local governments are unable to support library costs. This has resulted in cutbacks in service,days open and in some cases closing of libraries. In western Massachusetts there is no longer Bookmobile service to dozens of rural communities.

So here we are in 2010. Has anything changed? Or does the Recession continue full force. There has been no financial reform and no healthcare reform, no relief for small businesses or workers. There have been none of the great reforms that occurred during the Great Depression other than the hope given by those Great Depression agencies the FDIC and for the banks, the Federal Reserve.

So the question remains What Recession? and the answer remains What A Recession flowing full force to every sector and unit of United States citizenry with the possible exception of big banks and the wary Investment community!!

Best Business Books of 2009

2009 has been a year of extreme turbulence in business and the world at large! How have authors addressed this turbulence and its effects on business, individuals and families? In this post I have selected 3 books that might be worthy of your attention, 2 that are making many "best" lists and a surprise selection on maintaining sanity in the workaday world.

The Financial Times and Goldman Sachs (yes, of the bailed out Investment banks) every year make an award for Best Business Book. They announced their 2009 award of 30,000 pound sterling ($48,000 U.S) to Liaquat Ahamed for his Lords of Finance -- The Bankers Who Broke The World. Included here is a video from the Finacial Times of the award to Ahamed.




The New York Times, Time Magazine have acknowledged Lords of Finance as one of the Year's best. Ahamed's book represents an indepth look at the forces behind the Great Depression that swept the world in the 1930s and bankers and others responsible for market collapse. He looks at the role of central bankers, the Federal Reserve, and speculators in gold, the gold standard, the role of bankers in United Kingdom, Germany, France, and the United States, from bubble boom to economic and social collapse. Ahamed's is one view of the Great Depression 70 years after the fact. John Galbraith's The Great Crash, 1929 is closer in time and Galbraith became a significant actor in United States economics in the aftermath of the Great Depression. Ahamed and Galbraith's book are worth a look.

Barry Ritholtz' Bailout Nation -- How Greed and Easy Money Corrupted Wall Street and Shook the World Economy, names names, shows suitable outrage over outrageous extremes, and writes a well researched up-to-the minute book. He puts the current situation into an historical context giving a prior history of bailouts, the founding of the Federal Reserve, and generally makes a case for the emptiness of free markets ideology, noting that large corporate structures are not permitted to fail when perhaps they should fail. This has enboldened unhealthly risk taking and the "too big to fail" syndrome. Ritholz' provides a lively, intelligent account in his book where many books are deadly dull and unresponsive to diverse ideas outside scope of their thesis. Ritholtz gives you the information, lets you know what he thinks, but you can beg to differ. He is responsible for providing a real perspective on the guts of the economic crisis. You know where he stands. Rithotz also writes a very successful daily blog, The Big Picture, where follows up on themes in the book and his current thoughts on economic trends.

Both Ritholtz and Ahamed are finance professionals. Ahamed is a consultant to hedge funds, amongt other things and a former investment manager. Ritholtz heads his own firm as CEO and Director of Equity Research at Fusion IQ. Each of their books will provide "food for thought" and will do so 10 years from now. Interviews with Ahamed and Ritholtz may be found on YouTube.

The 3rd book I have selected might well be called Surviving the ongoing economic decline. And it is that, but what it's really about is presenting a clear eyed view of getting and maintaining a job and weathering all kinds of offenses along the way. It's a refreshing account about getting along in the working world. Title of the book is The Amazing Adventures of Working Girl -- Real Life Career Advice You Can Actually Use. It's by Karen Burns, who by her count had 59 jobs over 40 years in 22 cities and 4 countries. Only problem with the book is its title, The Amazing Adventures of Working Girl, which is a euphemism for a prostitute. That's not Burns' intent here though she is aware of the implications of the term. Burns has learned from her experiences and wants to share what she has found out. Turn to any page and you will find revelation, revealed in concise often funny descriptions. And she hits the mark every time in every chapter. Burns claims she was only fired once of all the 59 jobs. Today she has a very active blog, and has career counseling columns at US News & World Report. She even has her gift shop and tips on marketing yourself. Burns also has an active Twitter account and a presence of Facebook.

While Karen Burns' book is The Amazing Adventures of Working Girl, any gender will benefit from it. She covers the territory, job search, interview, pay checks that bounce, what to wear, developing confidence, negotiating for raises, job changing to job hopping. There are hundreds of jobs books published every year, giving the same advice over and over. They are replaceable parts. Burns book is a keeper and so too is her blog. Check it out.

In fact you can check all these books out at the Berkshire Athenaeum or at your library.

Webopedia -- Guide to Social Media, the Internet and All About Computers

You've heard about Wikipedia, the Online Free Encyclopedia and Investopedia, the Online Dictionary of Business and Financial terms. Today I want to introduce you to Webopedia, the Online Guide to Social Media, All Things Internet, and Dictionary and Encyclopedia of All Things About Computers and Computing Technology.

Here's how Webopedia defines itself: "Webopedia is a free online dictionary for words, phrases and abbreviations that are related to computer and Internet technology. Webopedia provides easy-to-understand definitions in plain language, avoiding the use of heavy jargon when possible so that the site is accessible to users with a wide range of computer knowledge."

Webopedia was founded April 4, 1998. Its parent company is WebMediaBrandsInc with offices in Darien, Connecticut and New York city. WebMediaBrands describes itself as "The leading global provider of events, education, jobs, and content for business, media, and creative professionals." It is a publicly traded company on NASDAQ ( WEBM ). Besides Webopedia, WebMedia provides the news service internet.com, an extensive guide to ECommerce and Small Business Computing.

When you go to the Webopedia, you can search any computer term. For example, what is phishing? (click on term for definition). Or What is an "operating system? URL or "social networking"? Webopedia gives you a basic definition and then provides more detail and related links. This allows the opportunity to get as much information as you want on a topic, to become conversant. It cuts through the jargon, abbreviations, to clearly represent the term and its significance.

Besides term definitions Webopedia provides a Quick Reference area where you may explore a Twitter Dictionary, Instant and Text Messenging and Chat abbreviations, acronyms; social networking tools, search engines and directories, google search tips, step-by-step methods to set up your own Personal or Business Facebook account, How EMail works, Selling on EBay, Small Business Computing essentials, even How to Clean Your Computer. There is a great deal of depth and knowledge, clearly presented on a wide variety of topics in the Quick Reference area. There is even a History of Blogging!

This useful site also includes an extensive "Did You Know...?" area. There you can learn how Affiliate Marketing works, how to protect against Identity Theft, Twitter tools, Windows 7, Firefox, Google Chrome, How to Format a Hard Drive, the difference between a virus, trojan horse and worm, all about Software, Open Source, Setting up a Facebook page for your business, VOIP and the Small Business, Internet Telephony, Internet Grammar, All about Cookies, Are deleted files really deleted?, Static Electricity and Computers, and Tech terms that are strange but true. Like any dictionary you may find the answer to your query but also to others you wondered about.

There is much practical, useful information to be found in Webopedia and there are hundreds of links to more information and detail. For quick reference and gratification Webopedia is hard to beat. It is up-to-date with current trends and news. It is a one stop shop for understanding internet, social networking, technical terminology. It's free and there are many tips for marketing your business, setting up links, creating blogs, and optimizing your business sense with the all the possibilities of the internet and web 2.0.

We have just scratched the surface of what is within Webopedia. I urge you to explore this site and to bookmark it for future uses. Your time will be well spent.

Scary Thoughts on Halloween 2009 -- Libraries Without Books

Here we are; it's already October 31! Halloween 2009! How about some scary thoughts to ponder.

In early September Cushing Academy a private preparatory school located in Ashburnham, Massachusetts distinquished itself with a controversial article which appeared in the Boston Globe. The article was not about its $43,000 per year tuition and board for students in grade 9 through 12. No the article was on Cushing's Library and headmaster, James Tracy's vision of an all Digital Library. The title of the article, "A library without books".

Tracy's view of the 21st Century Library is all digital. His library has a small collection of 20,000 books (hardbound). Those books, collected over time, representing many disciplines, have been discarded. Here's Tracy's rationale, “When I look at books, I see an outdated technology, like scrolls before books. This isn’t ‘Fahrenheit 451’ [the 1953 Ray Bradbury novel in which books are banned]. We’re not discouraging students from reading. We see this as a natural way to shape emerging trends and optimize technology.’’Instead of a library, the academy is spending nearly $500,000 to create a “learning center,’’ The Globe report continues, "In place of the stacks, they are spending $42,000 on three large flat-screen TVs that will project data from the Internet and $20,000 on special laptop-friendly study carrels. Where the reference desk was, they are building a $50,000 coffee shop that will include a $12,000 cappuccino machine. They have spent $10,000 to buy 18 electronic readers made by Amazon.com and Sony. Administrators plan to distribute the readers, which they’re stocking with digital material, to students looking to spend more time with literature. Those who don’t have access to the electronic readers will be expected to do their research and peruse many assigned texts on their computers. Tracy summarizes, “Instead of a traditional library with 20,000 books, we’re building a virtual library where students will have access to millions of books.’’

Whatever you may think, Tracy's vision represents one end of a continuum on the Future of Libraries. Tracy sees an all digital future with access to millions of books (and thoughts) in digital form. Beyond whatever reaction you may have there is the question of stability of digital formats. Will a digital format be able to be read 20 years from now; 100 years from now; 500 years from now? A book with all its flaws is archival. Something printed 500 years ago and preserved in bound paper can still be read. Digital formats decay and progress. Backward compatibility is critical.

The Internet, which is 40 years old this month has taken us on a continuing journey along the digital online, virtual path, to the extent that virtual communities such as Facebook, Twitter, Blogs, MySpace, Google, are all parts of our daily discourse. Do libraries need buildings? Can Public libraries be disconnected from their physical boundaries(and tax bases). Google wants Google Books to provide millions of books currently housed in libraries to all wherever they live. James Tracy's view may be voicing and recognizing trends and their eventual outcomes. Today one may attain degrees from Library Schools without ever setting foot in a physical classroom. Online classes are becoming available in multiple disciplines.

The dreamers of the Internet saw it as breaking boundaries and providing access to all regardless of class background. As a business model entities like EBay, Amazon, Facebook, LinkedIn are making money. Entire virtual economies are envisioned through video game simulations like SIMs virtual families and virtual cash becoming real cash in virtual existences such as "Second Life".

Utopian? Maybe, but newspapers and magazines are deep in the thrall of the digital movement and their "old" world has become topsy turvy and unpredictable. Where we are going remains to be seen. James Tracy's vision is just one of multiple visions and possible outcomes. This will inevitably influence the Future of Libraries. Every library, public and private, university and school is being influenced by the continuing technological revolution. Budgets, allocations between books and technology each competing for scarce dollars are all enjoined in this question of The Future of Libraries, with and without books.

Scary? A critical juncture? Simply a transition? Whatever it is libraries will be there to help us understand what is happening.... or will they?

Happy Halloween!

Web 2.0 Workshops Announced @ Berkshire Athenaeum

If you live in the Pittsfield, Massachusetts area, you may want to sign up for one of the Web 2.0 Workshops to be held October/November at the Berkshire Athenaeum, Pittsfield's Public Library. All workshops are 1 hour long, free, and being held at a variety of times, days, evenings and Saturdays.

There will be workshops on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Blogs and Blogging (Create Your Own Blog), Google (search strategies), These will be hands-on workshops geared to getting you started on your web journey.

While each of these workshops has a business connection, Business Websites You Should Know About will provide you with strategic websites and support networks useful in starting and maintaining your business. Your marketing efforts can be enhanced by using LinkedIn (the business social networking site), development of your Blog, and by Twitter and Facebook. Social media increasingly is the means of getting the word out about your business and all these sites are Free. For nonprofit business the workshop, the Berkshire Funding Resource Center with it Foundation Center databases will be critical in finding seed money and critical contacts in Foundation networks.

Other workshops will focus on DoItYourself databases, where you can learn about all things automotive and home repair. Workshops on Microsoft applications Word 2007 and Excel will also be held. Finally, there will be an Email workshop, getting you started and answering your email questions.

As you can see October and November will be a busy time. Sign-ups for workshops have already begun, but it's not too late for you. The full schedule with dates and times can be found here. (Just click on the word here.) All workshops are hosted by the Berkshire Athenaeum Reference Department. Register for workshops NOW by calling 413-499-9480 ext. 202 or by visiting the Department.

Labor Day 2009 - Record UnLabor Day

Happy Labor Day! Or is it Happy at all?

It's time to reassess the economy. Labor Day is a special day set aside to celebrate those who do not own the means of production, namely the laboring classes or more specifically anyone who needs to work for money to meet their short and long term needs. Those who labor are not in a position to let money work for them. Those who work for money are subject directly to the upturns and downturns in the economy. Here small businesses are in a similar position simply because they do not own enough money or assets that they can be free of the great economic shifts that have been going on in the last year.

According to the United States Department of Labor in its most recent report, over 15 million people are members of the rank and file of the Unemployed or nearly 10% of the "civilian" work force of 150 million plus as of August 31, 2009. For these 15 million Labor Day is not cause for celebration but another day in an extended forced time without work, an extended forced vacation.

To put these numbers in perspective 15 million represents the number of individuals that are unemployed and seeking full time work. The US workforce is about 154 million. Subtract 15 million who are unemployed and you get the employed workforce of 139 million. Now multiply 15 million by a factor of 3 or 4(dependents, spouses, others) and you get the real effect of these numbers. Anywhere from 45 to 60 million people are directly impacted by the 15 million unemployed. 45 to 60 million people are facing real hardship, not being able to think beyond the next week having to face foreclosure, bankruptcy, unable to meet rental and mortgage payments, forced to choose between paying bills and food, delays in going to college or increasingly reliant on college loans or to put it another way the credit markets, which only recently have started to loosen up. Another part of this working for money is the enormous difficulty individuals and small businesses have in getting out of debt.

So Labor Day represents a cautionary Holiday this year. The Labor Movement in the form of Labor Unions brought us this special day, as well as the 40 hour week and the weekend, itself. Today, organized labor represents only 12.5% of the civilian workforce. Those working in the civilian workforce are 98% employed in the private economy. Only 2% of the workforce is in the public sphere - government employees, public school teachers, police and firefighters. Organized labor represents 36.5% of the public economy and only 7.8% of the private economy. The recent bankruptcies of General Motors and Chrysler led to further weakening of labor contracts for these companies and to the breaking of longstanding agreements. It also led to breaking of business agreements with creditors. To work in a trade union in these companies is to do with less and this is true of the newspaper business, too.

Above we mentioned those who are unemployed are defined as looking for full time work. A trend in the last 15 years has been toward reliance of employers on part time workers and outsourcing jobs to contractors of jobs, whereby people work for short periods of time. Long term full time employment is not readily available.

Looking for more information on the economic and social impact of these trends, see The Future of Work in Massachusetts, edited by Tom Juravich and Pulitzer Prize winning author, David Shipley's The Working Poor: Invisible in America, (not so invisible anymore) both found at the Berkshire Athenaeum and other Public Libraries in Western Massachusetts.

So Labor Day 2009 is really UnLaboring day. It is the end of Summer. It's Back to School. It's time to buckle down and get back to work!

That's true, except for the 15 million out of work and the 45 to 60 million impacted!! For them it's a time of worry and concern!

Top 20 Most Popular Websites

Alexa -- The Web Information Company tracks globally web surfer activity and comes up with daily statistics on most popular websites. As you can imagine this means dollars and cents in the global marketplace. And this puts into perspective the competition between Google, Yahoo. and Microsoft for dominance. Also it allows us to see where social media sites such as MySpace, Facebook, Craigslist are going.

Alexa is an Amazon.com owned company and, yes, it tracks companies like Amazon, Ebay and their reach across the globe. Besides what sites are being surfed, Alexa also breaks down average number minutes on each site, and who is using the site by age group, education, gender, income and location. These demographic breakdowns are essential in the competitive marketplace.

So what are the top 20 sites for United States websurfers? They are Google, followed by Yahoo, Facebook, YouTube(a Google company), MySpace, Windows Live, Wikipedia, Craigslist, Ebay, Microsoft Network, Blogger (a Google company), AOL, Amazon, Twitter, GO, Bing (Microsoft's new search engine), CNN, Flickr (a Yahoo company), WordPress (like Blogger, a free Blog service), and ESPN Sportzone. LinkedIn appears as number 24, Weather.com 25, and New York Times 28.

Google gets 34% of marketshre globally, Yahoo 26 %, Facebook 25%, and YouTube 24% and MySpace 4.5% and Twitter gets nearly 4%. Individuals spend more time on Facebook, an average of 27.5 minutes compared to Google's 7 minutes and YouTube's 22.5 minutes. Twitter users spend average of 8 minutes a day twittering. Bing, the new Microsoft search engine, is already in the top 20 at number 16 but amount of time spent is only 2.1 minutes. Nevertheless Bing can be seen as up and coming and Microsoft and Yahoo will be using Bing as their search engines, thus providing real competition for Google.

Now statistics such as these are not great for reading, but they do provide the nuts and bolts backdrop to news about Google, Yahoo and Microsoft and web trends. Notably, social media sites are heavily represented in these statistics. People are spending much of their time on these social sites, making friends, sharing photos and information, and exchanging and sharing files. News sites are not represented among the top twenty but they are represented in the top 50 and include the New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times and the Wall Street Journal. Amazon and Ebay make strong showings in the top 20 at 13 and 9 respectively. Internationally Google China is number 4 in China and Google Japan is dominant there. So these companies have taken an international position and are heavily represented there. Baidu, a Chinese search engine is number 1 there and because of this carries 6% world share of surfers.

Are these fleeting trends? Hard to believe but the World Wide Web is only 15 years old. Skeptics then said that money could not be made on the Internet. Today the World Wide Web is a vast economic engine. Amazon is turning profits. Microsoft and Yahoo and have been around for more than 10 years; Google celebrated its 10 anniversary this year. Colleges, Universities, the United States Postal Service and all government agencies are on the web. Any business will need, if it does not already have one, a presence on the web. In a short 15 years the World Wide Web has become a part of our daily discourse and activity. Today there is still skepticism about profitabilty but no question that the world wide web is here to stay. Ignoring its possibilities would be ignoring vast opportunity.

Alexa is a useful marketing and analytical tool in gauging the reach and progress of these critical websites and their positions in the global marketplace.

Are You LinkedIn?

A few weeks ago a patron who had just been layed off from his job came to the Reference Desk at the Berkshire Athenaeum and was seeking resources on resumes and job searching. He'd worked in the same job for the past 10 years and job searching was new to him. It was like starting over. He was professional and used to lots of responsibility.

After showing him some of our resources I asked if he had considered LinkedIn as a possible avenue for his job search. I explained that LinkedIn was an online social network for business where future employers and employees could connect. He had heard of LinkedIn but knew nothing about it or how it worked? I suggested he go to LinkedIn, explore the site and join, that it was free, that he could set up a profile, include pertinent parts of his resume and what he was looking for in a job, Since he had developed web sites, he was web savvy. He thanked me for the information and said he would check it out.

Soon after we spoke I received an email from him (I had given him my business card,) The email was an invitation to join LinkedIn, to be part of his network. That's how LinkedIn works. You join, set up a profile, develop a network by inviting friends, colleagues, associates. It's by invitation only. The first tier is your network. The second tier is the network of your invitees. The third tier is the further associated members and so on. This is how LinkedIn grows and how a most powerful network has developed that includes thousands of companies, all Fortune 500 companies, company profiles as well as individual profiles, and LinkedIn claims over 40 million registered members using their site. This is all free, but there is a premium paid membership level as well.

LinkedIn is the most powerful business social networking web 2.0 website. Now when I was invited to join LinkedIn, I had to join because I was not yet a member. I knew about it. I was aware of it and its possibilities and I was considering joining but had held back. From the viewpoint of being a Business Reference Librarian it made sense to join if only to be able to demonstate first hand information to those inquiring. So I accepted the invitation, joined LinkedIn and developed a brief profile.

Then, shortly after joining LinkedIn and my friend's network, something happened, something that surprised and delighted me. A colleague of 10 years ago, who I had regrettably lost contact with, sent an invitation for me to contact him and to be part of his LinkedIn network. We reestablished contact and our friendship and this happened through his searching for me on LinkedIn and Google amongst other sites. I had searched for him as well. I had lost his email due to a computer crash a couple years ago. Subsequently I have reestablished contact with some other associates and friends, and working colleagues.

So these are a few of the things you can do on LinkedIn -- develop a profile, give basic information and resume about yourself, develop a job search or recruitment strategy, seek people through the search function, join community forums, ask questions, seek funding of your start up. The possibilities are endless. And your contacts have contacts as well. Skills you are looking for may be represented in these networks. Ideas abound. Because everyone is there by invitation, there is also the possibility for personal recommendations, job and business ideas.

One of the more valuable aspects of LinkedIn, attactive to company recruiters and job seekers alike, is the ability to scope each other out. Looking for a job; talk with people at that company or employers may contact people in your network. Major businesses have seen the utility of this approach and human resource professionals are using LinkedIn to scope out candidates. This is much more intimate and useful than a passive resume. Further, many jobs do become available in this manner.

LinkedIn has had 100s of features in Business Week, Forbes, Entrepreneur Magazine, Inc Magazine, and the New York Times. Business Week and the New York Times has partnered with LinkedIn. So too has CNN, IBM and LexisNexis. If you are starting up a business, looking for contacts and contracts, looking for venture capital, you will want to consider joining LinkedIn! The video LinkedIn For Dummies, below by Adriana Lordan from SiteReference.Com, will get you started on LinkedIn. You will want to make LinkedIn part of your Business Plan and Job Strategy.

With me you'll ask "Are You LinkedIn?"

Wal-Mart Effect Revisited

On July 2, 2008 we reviewed Charles Fishman's The Wal-Mart Effect for About Business. Fishman's book critically evaluated the impact of Wal-Mart on retailers and its suppliers. Wal-Mart's dominance led to many innovations in packaging and in production. Being such a large buyer of supplier's goods and services they were able to continue to reduce prices in products and pass those cheaper prices on to Wal-Mart customers.

In last year's post we also mentioned Wal-Mart's "green initiative" and commitment to sustainability. On July 16, 2009 Wal-Mart President and CEO Michael Duke committed the company to Sustainability for the long term, announcing its Sustainability Product Index and 15 question survey that is being submitted to its 100,000 product suppliers worldwide. Results of the survey will lead to a great transformation in the way Wal-Mart and by inference other retailers will be doing business. Executive Vice President and Chief Merchandiser John Fleming discusses this initiative in the video below. The survey asks what suppliers are doing to cut their carbon byproducts, what they are doing to create more efficient production. Wal-Mart expects answers from suppliers to this survey by October 1 and then will go to the next stage in planning.

It is expected that where unit pricing tags are part of the everyday shopping experience now, that environmental labeling will be added to these tags for each and every product Wal-Mart sells and each consumer buys. Duke calls this the need that every consumer has for transparency so they will know how the product was made, who made the product, its contents and so forth. This is a radical initiative and Wal-Mart invites other companies in join with them in this effort. Sustainability to Wal-Mart is now as important to them as low prices.

After Wal-Mart's announcement the New York Times published an extensive article by Stephanie Rosenbloom, At Wal-Mart Labels to Reflect Green Intent. Rosenbloom quotes Michael Duke, "We have to change how we make and sell products. We have to make consumption smarter and sustainable." Wal-Mart's ability to require suppliers submit to its standards will have a ripple effect throughout industry.

The Wal-Mart Effect by Charles Fishman is available at the Berkshire Athenaeum and other Public Libraries.