Seattle's Central Library

Here is a library that I is close to heart, literally and figuratively speaking. I heart Seattle, one of trendiest urban living spaces in the world. Its Central Seattle Library also ranks as one of the most beautiful architectural spaces in the world, with state of the art technology. A remarkably postmodern rendition perhaps, even the floors have a classically labeled Dewey Decimal system as markers of shelf sections.

Designed by Rem Koolhaas, the Library is award-winning in architectural style, modern on both the inside and the out. The library uses RFID that allows patrons to check out their own materials. Its former city librarian Nancy Pearl even had a few books under her name and a figurine, too. So grab a Starbucks and your MS Windows laptop, and take a plushy seat in one of the world's most interesting libraries.

Is it Google? Or Is it Information Imperialism?

Google's threat to withdraw from China over censorship and cyberspying is a sign of a growing willingness among foreign companies and governments to overturn the conventional wisdom that has defined decades of engagement by the West: that China is so big that it must be accommodated. Or is it simply Western hegemony? Or is it "information imperialism?"

In a recent posting from the Google Blog, Google has announced that it will be adopting a new strategy in China after facing cyber-attacks in which Gmail accounts were hacked into. In mid-December, it had detected a highly sophisticated and targeted attack on our corporate infrastructure originating from China that resulted in the theft of intellectual property from Google. Google would have an easier time quitting China than other companies. Although its business there has been growing, it is estimated to be only a few percentage points of its total revenues. That's a sharp contrast to companies like General Motors Corp., for which China is a crucial market.

What's interesting is that the US government has taken a stance in this growing situation, turning it instantly into a political issue, as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton recently pointed out China as among a number of countries where there has been “a spike in threats to the free flow of information” over the past year. She also named Tunisia, Uzbekistan, Egypt, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Vietnam. In response China called the US of practicing "information imperialism." Viewed from this angle, information is no different than economic and cultural imperialism. Looking at it in this light, Google's strategy might have both political and business implications.

Let's take a look at the the Global Search Report. The report indicates that even as far back as 2007, Google's reach into the web has not been as extensive as we think it might be. Not only did Google have only 21.7% of the market share compared to Baidu's 55% in China, it had only 24.7% compared to Seznam's 65.5% in the Czech Republic. Google didn't even rank top 3 in South Korea (Naver is number 1, with 72.7% of the market share). If we look at Google as a multinational corporation, perhaps its strategy isn't one of intellectual freedom, but one of consolidating market share. As it has no dominance in certain regions, why would it want to move into China in the first place? English isn't everything you know.

Libraries of the World - One Google Streetview At A Time

Launched in May 2007 to allow its users to explore the world through images, Google Maps' Street Views' coverage was limited to just five U.S. cities. When Street View first launched, the platform used to capture images was a van. Since 2007, Street View has expanded to include cities, streets, national parks and even some biking trails throughout the world. (And it's still capturing streets as we're talking). Currently, Street View is available for almost a dozen countries around the world in North America, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region.

Interestingly, scaling the project to this level required more lightweight and high-quality technology. Not only was the van replaced by a car, Google had to use different vehicles in different regions around the world to collect tens of millions of images. (Just think of those small alleys in London or Barcelona).

For the upcoming months, we will be travelling together throughout the world, starting in North America, to some of the most innovative and interesting libraries of the world. How are we going to do that? Google Maps. Our first stop? One of the largest libraries in the United States offering patrons access to millions of books, periodicals, and CDs, the New York Public Library also offers a large number of digitized collections that include images, prints and photographs. Interestingly, NYPL was one of the first to collaborate with Google to create a selection of online digital books as part of the Google Books Online Project. Not only is the library is also highly tech savvy with an active RSS feed as well as podcasts on iTunes U, patrons can download ebooks, video and audio directly from the website or video storybooks, video on demand as well as webcasts.

I like travelling.