I heart librarians and pretty much anyone else who's willing to help me and others improve our media literacy or our understanding of the latest developments in information technology. Here's my quick-n-dirty rundown of recent literacy chatter in the research and academic blogosphere:

My latest blog discovery is media literacy maven Liz Losh of virtualpolitik. Last week, she wrote about how she uses hoax or parody websites in her classroom. This week she considers the rhetoric surrounding Google's ethics regarding the release of data to the government and Google Books.

Librarian Jessamyn West and zephoria consider some implications of digital rights management technology.

ScienceWoman explains how she blends bibliographic software with her paper-based files to keep her journal articles organized.

Joe at BlogJunction asks readers if their library web sites more resemble Google or Yahoo, and explains the difference:

Put another way, does your library, and your library's web site, create the impression that there are people there (like Yahoo)? Or does it give you the impression that there are vast resources available to you (like Google)?

Cheryl Morris considers what makes online learning compelling in her review of the book Learning by Doing. (Hint: it involves simulations.)

Finally, Badger takes a famous feminist to task for failing to realize the potential of new media to contribute to children's literacy.