Two former computer-science professors from New York University say education in their field is failing to teach basic skills.

In an essay from The Journal of Defense Software Engineering, Robert B.K. Dewar and Edmond Schonberg, who are now in private industry, point to shrinking math requirements and “cookbook” approaches to programming that lead to a future of insufficiently trained professionals.

In particular, they mention the introduction of Java as students’ first programming language:

“What we observed at New York University is that the Java programming courses did not prepare our students for the first course in systems, much less for more advanced ones,” they write. The Java courses, they explain, teach the use of libraries and frameworks instead of important underlying processes.

They call for computer-science programs to teach a broader range of languages, giving...

InformationWeek reports that Google filed a patent in June 2007 for a technology that could make text in images searchable.

The yet-to-be-developed technology detailed in the patent application carries serious implications for the future of search technology, particularly in regard to the Google Book Search project.

What could that mean for the future of academic research and the role of libraries? In an interview, Wendy P. Lougee, University of Minnesota librarian, frames the would-be technology in the context of “discoverability” — the ease with which an item can be found through a search.

“With respect to images, the challenges have been in the metadata,” or the data that contextualizes items in a database, she says, and the potential technology “could significantly enhance” librarians’ ability to catalogue and retrieve information. —Hurley Goodall

A federal judge dismissed a long-standing lawsuit against Capella University that had claimed the online university’s course-management software discriminated against people with disabilities. The judge decided that a former student was not disabled under the Americans With Disabilities Act. Even if he was, the judge said, the institution had provided reasonable accommodations.

Details of this decision came from a U.S. District Court memorandum last month. In the lawsuit, Jeffry La Marca, who argued he had cognitive and memory disorders, said problems arising from the university’s switch to WebCT, an online course-management program, prevented him from fully accessing course material. He also said the university did not sufficiently accommodate him despite his disability.

However, Judge Marc L. Goldman of the Central District in California wrote in his decision that La Marca’s...

Students may not be abandoning libraries for the Internet, as some people have worried. The Pew Internet & American Life Project released a report Sunday that says Generation Y—18-to-30-year-olds, in particular—is more likely to turn to libraries to ferret out information than their older counterparts are.

Adults do use the Internet to gain information more than any other source, including government agencies and experts, according to the report. However, 18-to-30-year-olds said they used library resources—mostly computers—more than older groups.

Steve Bell, associate university librarian for research and instructional services at Temple University writes on ACRLog:

“Now although the report mostly deals with public-library use, I would bet that a good number of respondents in this age category have regular access to an academic library.”

Bell admits that it might be too soon...

Many folks have noted that “w00t” won Merriam-Webster’s word of the year. But it’s worth noting that the word “facebook” placed second — a sign that the social-networking phenomenon that started on college campuses has reached the mainstream.

Merriam-Webster’s Open Dictionary defines facebooking as just about any activity on the service, from the act of logging on to the site, to uploading photos to a profile. The choice is much in line with last year’s second-place winner “google.” (Thanks to library services blog Friends: Networking Sites for Engaged Library Services for bringing this to our attention.

This year’s winner, “w00t,” is a decidedly geeky way to express joy, often used by online gamers when they win a match. It is an acronym for “we owned the other team,” using zeros rather than ‘o’s (according to Merriam-Webster’s Open...

Google, on the heels of a report released this week that says most users—many of them college students—don’t worry about their personal information showing up through search engines, announced a new series of videos meant to educate users on Google’s privacy settings.

The series, appearing on YouTube’s Google Privacy Channel, is part of the corporation’s effort to raise awareness about how users can control their personal information when using Google’s products, according to the Official Google Blog.

The videos cover different topics, like how users can manage their search histories and adjust cookie preferences, enhancing users’ control over how their personal information is displayed.

Apparently, though, making videos about privacy on the Web can be as troublesome as, well, privacy on the web. Google shows this, too, lightening things up with a blooper reel:

—Hurley...

Beginning in the spring semester, seniors and some graduate students at Purdue will learn how to build their own supercomputer.

This comes as part of a new specialization from Purdue’s Department of Computer and Information Technology, which aims to prepare students to meet the demand for hyper-advanced computers in business and industry.

“The knowledge is difficult to obtain on their own,” Thomas Hacker, assistant professor in the department, says. He says that the necessary parts can be too expensive for students to afford. The course, geared toward seniors, will provide an entry point for students to learn and excel in the field.

Students enrolled in the spring course will piece together a high-performance machine using four standard desktop computers linked together. Hacker says they will benchmark the final product against an IBM Bladecenter system to test which machine...

Most adults, including college students, are unconcerned with the amount of personal information available about them on the Web, and don’t take steps to limit its availability.

According to a report from the Pew Internet & American Life Project released yesterday, 60 percent of surveyed adult Internet users aren’t worried about their “digital footprints,” like their home address or phone number, being easily traced through search engines.

Of those indifferent adults, 17 percent (most of them college age, 18 to 29) are still cautious, after a fashion. Even though they report being unworried about the amount of personal information that will turn up in Google, they actively limit it.—Hurley Goodall