TechEssence.info

As a manager of information technology services, sometimes it's easy to lose sight of what these tools can really do. One of my non-work diversions is historical research on some obscure individuals in American history. Recently I revisited a few of these projects after having put them aside for several years, and used some tools that have been developed since that time: like Google Book Search, Proquest Historical Newspapers, and Newspaperarchive.com.

It has been vilified as spyware, but the Google Toolbar's Autolink feature is tantalizingly close to enabling a type of functionality I'm very anxious for: the ability to select book information (ISBN, mainly) on a page and link it to an ISBN search in the library catalog.

Beginnings are times of great peril and possibility. Whether you are starting down a real road or a virtual one, potholes lie in wait just as do happy surprises. Should we give in to our fears and avoid starting new projects, or journeys, or relationships? Of course not. So how do we best face our fears, and take that leap of faith?