Creative Commons

(a) The Get With It!! …More Web 2.0 Technologies program has been licensed under a Creative Commons Atrribution-Noncommercial 3.0 New Zealand Licence. This allows others to remix, tweak and build upon the work non-commercially but their new works must acknowledge North Shore Libraries as the author and they must be non-commercial. Derivative works do not need to be licensed on the same terms.

(b) I found this photo of a sparrow by Nick Chill on Flickr. It has an Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.0 Generic Creative Commons licence which means it can be shared (copied) on condition that it is attributed to the licensor and is not used for commercial purposes. It may not be altered or transformed in any way. http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3434/3395546202_e3a488980d_t_d.jpg

Creative Commons enables writers and photographers to publish their work online on clearly stated terms. This encourages more people to share their work and allows greater flexibility of use while still maintaining copyright.

Open ID

Although I hadn’t heard the term Open ID, I had already figured out that there were links from Google and Yahoo to other sites, such as Blogger and Flickr, and that I could access these without needing to sign in again. A bit of a trap for the unwary … glad I created non-de-plume accounts, particularly after realising how much internet activity is being tracked by ‘someone out there’ … although activity is probably still being traced back to my home pc. Still, I think there is a use for Open ID, provided care is taken regarding use and passwords.

Online Privacy and Security

It is frightening to realise how vulnerable we are to personal and other information being collected by unknown organisations and it is difficult to know how to educate people about taking care of their personal details as so many simply buy a computer and go online without realising the dangers. However, displaying online security procedures in public places, such as libraries and internet cafes, where computers are being accessed by many people, could be a good place to start.

Another way of informing the general public about privacy and security would be to place a link to either Microsoft’s strong passwords or Google’s choosing a smart password on the library website Personal Account Login page. A public organisation has an obligation to protect its users and, while there will always be some who don’t wish to know about security, provision of a link does at least give everyone a fair opportunity of finding out.

I found the information regarding passwords particularly useful and in future will change mine more frequently, at the same time taking steps to make them more secure. This photo by spodzone is a reminder not to lock the gate after the horse has bolted!