Le Central in San Francisco has kept the same stew going for over 40 years. A perpetual stew or soup is something from the era before refrigeration, constantly kept warm, never completely emptied and with new ingredients added to fill the pot. So it is with the Linux kernel. It was released in 1991. Since then, there has always been something new. It mixes with the old […]
blockchain
24 posts
Most of what we have written about concerns new peer-to-peer paradigms, which are inspired by blockchain and BTC (Bitcoin). If financial networks can be peer-to-peer, what about other things? Now it’s time to look in the other direction. Is blockchain supporting old paradigms? It is. In terms of how things worked a couple of industrial revolutions ago, it’s a tool like a wrench. A wrench can […]
On July 16, 2018, Felipe Vera posted a short but important paper, in which he showed how Blockchain would make the leap from the financial world to the rest of the world. My translation of two key paragraphs follows: Value transfer is already a reality and has its intrinsic foundations in the first and most well-known cryptocurrency called Bitcoin. This technology was conceived in the year […]
So far, all libraries that we know of using Blockchain are in Chile, and their systems were put in place by Prodigio Consultores. Here is what’s listed on their website as of 9/11/19 Proyectos en ejecución- Projects in process Biblioteca Digital SUBDERE– Subsecretariat of Regional Development Digital Archive Repositorio Digital SERNAGEOMIN (Servicio Nacional de Geología y Minería)- National Geology and Mining Service Digital Archive Sistema de Biblioteca, Univ Católica de Temuco,- Catholic Univ of Temuco Library […]
Right now there are several Chilean libraries checking out materials to users with universal sovereign identities based in Blockchain technology. The authors below at Prodigio Consultores have working systems up and running. Their paper on the subject was just given at IFLA WLIC (International Federation of Library Associations World Library and Information Congress) this year and was submitted on May 27. Future posts will look at […]
Satoshi Nakamoto outlined the basis of Blockchain and subsequently bitcoin with the above quote in his 2008 paper. The paper also anticipated the 51% attack: “If a greedy attacker is able to assemble more CPU power than all the honest nodes, he would have to choose between using it to defraud people by stealing back his payments, or using it to generate new coins. He ought […]
March 22, 2018 Blockchainblockchain, CMU-Qatar, decentralization, qatargriffey This past month I traveled to a place I wasn’t sure I’d ever visit…Doha, Qatar. I was brought to Doha for an awesome reason, to deliver the Gloriana St. Clair Distinguished Lecture in 21st Century Librarianship. The topic that I was asked to prepare remarks on was Blockchain (which I chose to broadly construe as decentralized technologies) and how it (they) might […]
Law and the Blockchain By Debbie Ginsberg Educational Technology Librarian, Chicago-Kent College of Law The blockchain explosion is affecting many sectors, not least of which is the law. Already, this technology is affecting not only the practice of law, but the law itself. Practice of Law One of the major legal practices affected by blockchain is contracts. Programmable blockchains are capable of creating “smart contracts” – […]
I’ve worked in law libraries for the past twelve years, doing pretty much everything. I’ve been a corporate librarian, a map librarian, cataloger, an acquisitions librarian, a reference librarian, and now I’m Technology Services Librarian at Cornell Law Library. This week, along with Debbie Ginsberg of Chicago-Kent, I’m giving a webinar to the American Association of Law Libraries on Blockchain, and what it will mean for […]
There is a lot of hype about the possible applications of blockchain technology. The distributed ledger technology is being considered in a variety of situations for governments and proprietary and non-profit organizations that include cryptography, cryptocurrency, data and financial management, and as a platform for many other applications. Blockchain is little more than a current buzzword, and the information on this website is intended to provide […]
A national forum attended by select individuals to discuss the ways in which libraries/information centers can form partnerships with community organizations to utilize blockchain technology will be organized. National Forum comprised of 20-30 technical experts in libraries, blockchain technology, and urban planning to identify and discuss key opportunities for libraries to serve as community anchors using blockchain technology. Please add ideas for discussion and organizations that […]
Investigation of Possible Uses of Blockchain Technology by Libraries-Information Centers to Support City-Community Goals ( LG-98-17-0209-17) Abstract The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) National Leadership Grants program awarded funding for a project focusing on the potential uses of blockchain technology that can extend library services to meet the needs of communities. The San José State University (SJSU) School of Information (iSchool) is the lead […]