This blog will be the primary source for news and updates for the course. In addition, I will be posting links to relevant news and sites that relate to topics discussed in class.
The syllabus is available through Blackboard and I will be posting assignments and other class materials on Blackboard as well. I will usually note this with an entry on the blog.
Posted: February 1, 2009 1:52 pm | 0 comments
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Ken George will be our first guest speaker. He'll be speaking in class on Feb. 5.
Ken is developing new/social media initiatives at WBUR.
To prepare for his in-class appearance this week:
*start looking at the WBUR website
*look at his blog The Converstation.
*look at his Twitter feed (By the way I encourage you all to sign up for a free Twitter account if you don't have one already and get familiar with it; a number of speakers from class use this tool.
If you are interested in talking with more social media people: Ken may also be hosting another Social Media Meetup on the evening of class. Could be a good opportunity to be a part of some interesting discussions but participation is not a class requirement :)
Posted: February 1, 2009 2:21 pm | 0 comments
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Some general trends that might be useful when thinking about the assignments. Feel free to add more in the comments.
The most obvious one is the economy and peoples' attitudes to money. Luxury brands are facing difficulties and there is a stronger interest in doing things more cheaply or doing things for yourself. While people might want to do things themselves no one is a master of all skills so they might need help with different projects.
The economy is clearly affecting industries based on nonluxury but expensive purchases like real estate and cars as people put off buying things that might tie up a lot of money and be hard to sell.
People may be seeking cheaper if imperfect substitutes for purchases they might once have made. So, if someone was planning a trekking vacation to New Zealand, they might go to Washington state or Vermont to hike instead with opportunities for local travel or guide companies.
Also having an effect on jobs so people might be interested in ways to e ... more »
Posted: February 8, 2009 3:18 pm | 0 comments
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I've posted the developing speaker list on the course page. Please take a look at the linked articles in preparation for each week's speaker beginning with Meredith Garniss.
Also remember to take a look at the Craigslist case study in the back of the book.
Posted: February 16, 2009 1:44 pm | 0 comments
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Very interesting article by EthanZuckerman on the problems of advertising-supported journalism and whether newspaper advertising has historically been over-priced because of difficulties in measuring it with the same precision as is possible online.
Posted: February 16, 2009 1:53 pm | 0 comments
Tags: advertising, LIS 478, media
I've posted an updated syllabus with our latest confirmed guest speaker Wade Roush from technology site xconomy.com.
Posted: February 17, 2009 12:59 pm | 0 comments
Tags: LIS 478, syllabus, xconomy
And from our new guest speaker Wade Roush: an article on an iPhone app for public radio stations.
Posted: February 17, 2009 1:07 pm | 0 comments
Tags: LIS 478, media, public radio, xconomy
Here's a short (about 12 minutes) interview with Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist.
Posted: February 18, 2009 2:40 pm | 1 comment
Tags: Craig Newmark, craigslist, LIS 478, podcast
Companies trying to search the "Deep Web"
"One day last summer, Google’s search engine trundled quietly past a milestone. It added the one trillionth address to the list of Web pages it knows about. But as impossibly big as that number may seem, it represents only a fraction of the entire Web.
Beyond those trillion pages lies an even vaster Web of hidden data: financial information, shopping catalogs, flight schedules, medical research and all kinds of other material stored in databases that remain largely invisible to search engines.
The challenges that the major search engines face in penetrating this so-called Deep Web go a long way toward explaining why they still can’t provide satisfying answers to questions like “What’s the best fare from New York to London next Thursday?” The answers are readily available — if only the search engines knew how to find them."
Posted: February 23, 2009 2:47 pm | 0 comments
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Just a reminder that Wade Roush is coming into class tomorrow and there are some background links in the Speaker page on the class site on eLearning.
And in order to update more frequently with article links I've started a Twitter feed for the class. You can find it at http://twitter.com/lis478. You will have to sign up for the free service.
Posted: February 25, 2009 3:51 pm | 0 comments
Tags: LIS 478, twitter, wade roush
