While librarians and users have been inundated with advice on how to produce content for MySpace, blogs, and other Web 2.0 services, there's been much less discussion about using newer technologies to consume all this new content efficiently. These technologies are new to everyone, and the flood is hitting all people at the same time. People must…

Metadata is often created in a time-consuming process by catalogers, digital library technicians, and others. It is then underused in the systems. But recent experiments by some library organizations indicate that only the surface is being scratched on what data can do. The American West Project at the California Digital Library (CDL) is…

Describes three stages of the automation of information processing systems by combining the concept of the exponential growth of operational capabilities with three characteristics: computational capability, ability to store data, and ability to communicate data. The growth of fiberoptic technology is described as beginning the third stage. (EM)