Tag Archives: Google

An Overhaul of YouTube?

Sources “in the know” report that Google is planning a major overhaul of YouTube. Apparently to compete with companies like Hulu and Netflix, as well as cable and network television, Google hopes that an offering of “channels” and live streaming of original “professionally produced programming” will entice viewers to stay on the site for longer periods of time. They hope that people will “watch YouTube” just like they “watch TV”. These changes are expected to occur over an extended period of time, with the first steps starting before the end of the year. Read more here.

Google +1

Yesterday, Google took one more step into the social network world. On March 30th, Google launched their new Google +1 service. Google explains “The +1 button is shorthand for “this is pretty cool” or “you should check this out.” Click +1 to publicly give something your stamp of approval. Your +1’s can help friends, contacts, and others on the web find the best stuff when they search.” Industry experts indicate that Google +1 acts much like the “like” button on Facebook. Click the +1 button, to indicate you recommend or like something, and your friends who have also activated this service will see your recommendations in their Google search results  – and vice versa (assuming your +1’s aren’t private!).

Visit http://www.google.com/+1/button/ to learn more about the service direct from Google, or get InformationWeek’s take on the new Google feature here.

Image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/striatic/2135057566/ by striatic

U of M Libraries Send Books to Google for Digitization Project

This month the U of M Libraries will be sending resources to Google as part of a larger digitization project that was agreed upon in 2007 by Google and several Big 10 universities. The U of M will be working with Google to digitize resources on the topics of Scandinavian literature, bee-keeping, forestry, and area studies collections. In all, the U of M Libraries will be sending more than 1 million books and bound journals to Google for digitization.  

Once the materials are digitized and verified that they are public domain, Google will provide copies of the digital files to libraries. For more information, consider viewing the following links: http://tinyurl.com/2cqlxkf, http://tinyurl.com/2cr2kyw, http://tinyurl.com/2e6glx5.