Pew Internet & American Life Project: Teens & Technology

The Pew Internet & American Life Project always has great reports in how people are using the Internet. Teens & Technology: Youth are leading the transition to a fully wired and mobile nation (PDF) is the latest report. Among the findings:

• Close to nine in ten teens are wired.


• Teens are technology rich and enveloped by a wired world.


• 45% of teens have cell phones and 33% are texting.


• Email is still a fixture in teens’ lives, but IM is preferred.


• Teens share more than words over IM.


• Half of families with teens have broadband.


• Face-to-face time still beats phone and screen time.


• Most teens use shared computers at home and growing numbers log on from libraries, school, and other locations.


• The size of the wired teen population surges at the seventh grade mark.


• Older girls are power communicators and information seekers.

The Project has an RSS feed available if you want to be alerted whenever a new report is published. The reports area a great indicator of what our patrons are looking for when they use our web sites and what kind of technologies they may be expecting to be available at the library. The feed is available at http://www.pewinternet.org/rss-reports.asp.

If you aren't using RSS yet, you can also be alerted to new reports through e-mail. More information is available at http://www.pewinternet.org/signup.asp.

ConsumerReports.org - Internet filtering software 6/05: Web site filters, children online

ConsumerReports.org - Internet filtering software 6/05: Web site filters, children online has a new review of Internet filters. From the article:

"Internet filtering software, which inserts itself between your computer’s browser and Internet connection to prevent objectionable sites from getting through, is better at blocking pornography than in recent years, our new tests show.

But our evaluation of 11 products, including the filters built into online services AOL and MSN, found that the software isn’t very effective at blocking sites promoting hatred, illegal drugs, or violence. As we found in our tests in 2001, the best blockers today tended to block many sites they shouldn’t."

Links for Emerging Technologies Roundtable

I'm posting a link to my del.icio.us bookmarks for keeping up with technology. The bookmarks were put together for today's Emerging Technologies Roundtables, but can be used by anyone who is interested in resources for keeping up with technology.

All of the bandwidth you'll ever need - The Boston Globe - Boston.com - Personal Tech - Business

Who says nothing is free? You can't host your library's web site here, but it may be something to pass on to any patrons interested in starting or moving a web site. All of the bandwidth you'll ever need - The Boston Globe - Boston.com - Personal Tech - Business

Fujitsu creates 'first' colour, non-volatile e-paper | The Register

Found via LISNews, Fujitsu creates 'first' colour, non-volatile e-paper | The Register gives new meaning to the word eBook.

Great Wireless Resources

WebJunction has updated its Wireless page. There are a lot of great articles for library's thinking about implementing wireless in their buildings, including Ten Steps to Wireless Internet Access in Your Library. If you have questions about Wireless, you can register for a Web Junction live event in which Marshall Breeding and Randy Nelson walk you through the 10 steps.

WebJunction's Focus on Wireless Internet Access in Public Libraries