Plagiarism Goes Social

"Social and user-generated Web sites are the most popular sources for student copying, says a report by the creator of a plagiarism-detection service."

Facebook's $600 Million Virtual Economy

"With more than 500 million active users, the population of Facebook exceeds that of many countries. And like any empire, Facebook has its own currency -- one that got a big boost with this week's launch of Facebook Deals."

Study: Social Media Has Little Impact on Online Retail Purchases

"All those marketers who are rushing to increase their social media spend take note: A new study says social media has almost no influence on online purchasing behavior."

To Profs, YouTube Tops Twitter

"Think Twitter is a great professional and teaching tool for professors? You're not alone. But according to a new study, you're in a very slim minority."

No Room for Books

"U. of Denver's plan to remove 80 percent of volumes from its library upsets some professors and renews debate over how best to store and share information."

Yahoo Sells Delicious to YouTube Founders

"After months of limbo, the fate of Web bookmarking service Delicious has been decided: YouTube founders Chad Hurley and Steve Chen are buying it from Yahoo."

Video-Game Rooms Become the Newest Library Space Invaders

"As the study of video games becomes more widespread in academe, a handful of libraries have video-game collections and gaming facilities to support related scholarship."

7% of Americans Subscribe to Netflix

"Netflix knocked over a new milestone Monday: It now has more subscribers than the largest cable TV operator in the U.S. Netflix's global subscriber base grew almost 70% over the past year, to 23.6 million users."

More Media Sites Customizing News for You

"Tech and media companies are in a race to sap the serendipity from news consumption and distill readers' interests into an algorithm."

Nook Color Update Turns the e-Reader into a Tablet

"Barnes & Noble has released a major update to its e-reader, Nook Color, which pushes the device far into tablet territory."

Librarians Talk Google Books, Orphan Works, and What’s Next

"The discussion was led by Corey Williams, the associate director of the American Library Association’s Washington office."

Librarians in Texas Community College District Deemed Faculty No Longer

"Librarians at a Texas community college district chafe as new hires are deemed professional staff instead of faculty."

With Google Settlement in Limbo, Universities Press Ahead With Research on Digitized Books

"Indiana University and the University of Illinois plan to establish a center for computational research on millions of digitized texts, many of them scanned by Google."

Republicans Sharpening Online Tools for 2012

"Republicans are better prepared to compete on Facebook, Twitter and other online tools in this presidential contest than they were in 2008."

Survey: Frequent Twitter Users Have Shorter Relationships

"Is someone you know tweeting a great deal? According to a recent survey, he or she might be prone to having shorter relationships."

Amazon Announces e-Book Loans for the Kindle

"Want to check out e-books from the library and read them on your Kindle? That will be possible later this year as Amazon announced Wednesday that it would join a library loan program for electronic books. More than 11,000 libraries in the United States participate in this electronic-book-loaning program, managed by a company called OverDrive."

Librarians Talk Google Books, Orphan Works, and What’s Next

"Like a lot of other people, academic librarians are wondering what happens now that a federal judge has tossed out the proposed settlement in the lawsuit over Google’s book-scanning project. Some of them got together for an informal roundtable discussion of the ruling at the Association of College and Research Libraries’ conference, which runs here through Saturday."

Librarians Put Increasing Value on Their Role in Support of Student Learning

"Supporting undergraduate education and teaching information literacy to students are chief priorities for academic libraries, trumping their traditional emphasis on collection-building and the preservation and discovery of research materials."

AI Project Funded by Google Wants to Teach Computers Regret

"Computer researchers at Tel Aviv University are working on a project funded by Google that aims to teach computers how to minimize 'regret' or, in other words, to learn from their decisions and make better ones next time."

How Google is Teaching Computers to See

"Computers used to be blind, and now they can see. Thanks to increasingly sophisticated algorithms, computers today can recognize and identify the Eiffel Tower, the Mona Lisa or a can of Budweiser. Still, despite huge technological strides in the last decade or so, visual search has plenty more hurdles to clear."

PC Market Takes Beating From iPads

"Apple’s iPad and the tablet revolution are beating at the gates of the traditional PC sector, biting into the category and bringing uncertainty about the future of the industry."

US Internet Ad Revenue Hit Record in 2010

"U.S. Internet advertising revenue hit a record $26 billion in 2010, boosted by the popularity of online videos and social media."

US Lagging Other Nations in Using Technology, Study Shows

"The United States continues to lag other nations in its use of computing and communications technology, according to an annual study issued Tuesday by the World Economic Forum."

Amazon to Sell Cheaper Kindle with Built-in Ads

"Amazon.com Inc is now offering a version of its Kindle device for $25 less, but that electronic book reader will include advertising, the company said on Monday."

Report: Bing Comprised 30% of Web Searches in March

"Micrsoft's Bing powered 30% of Internet searches during the month of March, says a report from online research firm Experian Hitwise."

Librarians: Masters of the Info Universe

"Librarians, information specialists, knowledge managers or whatever title a librarian might have -- their skills are in high demand. And, though you might not know it, they are everywhere. And so in their honor during National Library Week, we enjoy the following tidbits of information."

Multitasking Gets Harder With Age

"A new study suggests that older brains behave differently when it comes to switching between two tasks."

Students Worldwide Addicted to Media

"It doesn't matter if a college student lives in the United States, Chile, China, Slovakia, Mexico or Lebanon -- many are addicted to media, researchers say."

Tajik Muslims to Ban Text Message Divorces

"Tajik religious authorities say divorce by text message will soon be banned, as they seek to stamp out the practice in the mainly Muslim Central Asian nation."

Lost in Translation? Comparing Smartphone Language Apps

"Thanks to advances in speech-recognition technology, several apps let you skip typing and instead dictate a sentence to have the translation spoken back to you immediately — or to the person you're talking to — in a natural human voice. And best of all, many are free."

Gartner: Apple to Top Tablet Market Through 2015

"Apple's iOS -- the operating system behind the iPad -- will remain the top platform in the tablet market through 2015, says tech analysts at Gartner."

More Pupils Are Learning Online, Fueling Debate on Quality

"Nationwide, an estimated 1.03 million students at the K-12 level took an online course in 2007-8, up 47 percent from two years earlier, according to the Sloan Consortium, an advocacy group for online education. About 200,000 students attend online schools full time, often charter schools that appeal to home-schooling families, according to another report."

Cameraphone Sales Seen Topping 1 Billion in 2011

"Sales of cameraphones will grow to more than 1 billion handsets this year, helped by fast growth at the high end of the market, research firm Strategy Analytics said on Thursday."

Study: Android Will Rule Half of Smartphone Market By Next Year

"Gartner predicts worldwide smartphone sales will reach 468 million units in 2011 and Android will command 38.5% of the smartphone market. By 2012, that rate will increase to 49.9%, but it will drop slightly to 48.8% by 2015."

Why Cloud Storage is the Future of Music

"Amazon this week became the first big internet company to offer something called 'cloud music.' To the unfamiliar, that term may seem off-putting, like a new soft-rock genre that leans heavily on harp solos. But it's possible many of us will be using cloud music systems in the not-far-off future."