[Web4lib] What do you call your library's experimental web site?

[Richard Wiggins]

Wow!  Such vitriol over a single word.

I think the expression "from our labs" or "in the labs" is pretty common,
and it's a very apt, descriptive metaphor.  "Beta" isn't supposed to mean
"new"; it's supposed to be "still in test phase".  You can diss Google for
messing up the meaning of "beta" -- I'm typing this using Gmail, now in beta
for 3 years with millions of satisfied customers -- but I see no reason to
gainsay labs.google.com, where they really do experiment.

I suppose it might come off as a tad pretentious to use the term when you're
not really a research or development organization.  test.acme.org would
work.  We've used new.xxxx.msu.edu a time or two.

/rich


On 8/13/07, Lars Aronsson <lars at aronsson.se> wrote:
>
> Ken Varnum wrote:
>
> Eight years ago(*), the answer would have been your institution's
> name followed by "Labs", because all the dotcom startups thought
> that "Bell Labs" (where UNIX was created) sounded cool.  And "our
> little technology playground" is just an embarrassing synonym. The
> worst example is "Google Labs", http://labs.google.com/
>
> And that's older than calling every new thing a "beta" or "2.0".
>
> (*) And therefore, not anymore!!! Please! This has long since
> passed off of Wired Magazine's "wired, tired, expired" radar
> screen. Some pathetic examples of "not getting" this:
>
> http://labs.eventful.com/
>
> http://labs.oshlack.com/
>
> http://labs.metacarta.com/
>
> http://labs.adobe.com/
>
> http://labs.silverorange.com/
>
> http://labs.autodesk.com/
>
> http://labs.opera.com/
>
> Lund University libraries used to have a "Netlab", but has wisely
> stopped using that name a few years ago, as can be seen here,
> http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.lub.lu.se/netlab
>
> I'm not sure what's "wired" today, but perhaps a touch of
> steampunk? Launch things with brass ornaments and dark varnish,
> rather than shining new applications in beta. More like "we've
> taken this old application down from the attic", rather than
> "developed this new beta in our lab". Old is the new new.
>
> Instead of bragging about having replaced the card catalog with a
> computer, tell your patrons of when your library *introduced* the
> card catalog (in 1895 or 1915?) and what was used *before* that.
> Make a point of the fact that your library is *older* than Google.
> They can't really beat that.  (But they could close down the
> "Labs" name and they could rewarp Google Book Search in steampunk,
> so watch out!)
>
> If you think a video interview with Brewster Kahle is an everyday
> item, just look at how the German business magazine Handelsblatt
> has framed this in their "Elektrischer Reporter" weekly video.
> (That's 1940s electric, not 1980s electronic or 1990s digital.)
> The interview is in English with German subtitles, and starts one
> minute into the video, but it's the first (and last two) minutes
> (in German) that I want you to watch, made in 2007,
> http://www.elektrischer-reporter.de/index.php/site/film/13/
>
> The 2007 OpenLibrary website, http://demo.openlibrary.org/
> definitely looks more "old" than the still very "2.0"
> LibraryThing from 2005, http://www.librarything.com/
>
>
> --
> Lars Aronsson (lars at aronsson.se)
> Aronsson Datateknik - http://aronsson.se
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