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ResourceShelf |
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Resources and News for Information Professionals
ResourceShelf is Compiled & Edited By Gary Price, MLIS Librarian Director of Online Information Resources, Ask.com Editor and Compiler, The ResourceShelf Editor and Compiler, DocuTicker
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Archives 06/01/1990 - 06/30/1990 03/01/2001 - 03/31/2001 04/01/2001 - 04/30/2001 05/01/2001 - 05/31/2001 06/01/2001 - 06/30/2001 07/01/2001 - 07/31/2001 08/01/2001 - 08/31/2001 09/01/2001 - 09/30/2001 10/01/2001 - 10/31/2001 11/01/2001 - 11/30/2001 12/01/2001 - 12/31/2001 01/01/2002 - 01/31/2002 02/01/2002 - 02/28/2002 03/01/2002 - 03/31/2002 04/01/2002 - 04/30/2002 05/01/2002 - 05/31/2002 06/01/2002 - 06/30/2002 07/01/2002 - 07/31/2002 08/01/2002 - 08/31/2002 09/01/2002 - 09/30/2002 10/01/2002 - 10/31/2002 11/01/2002 - 11/30/2002 12/01/2002 - 12/31/2002 01/01/2003 - 01/31/2003 02/01/2003 - 02/28/2003 03/01/2003 - 03/31/2003 04/01/2003 - 04/30/2003 05/01/2003 - 05/31/2003 06/01/2003 - 06/30/2003 07/01/2003 - 07/31/2003 08/01/2003 - 08/31/2003 09/01/2003 - 09/30/2003 10/01/2003 - 10/31/2003 11/01/2003 - 11/30/2003 12/01/2003 - 12/31/2003 01/01/2004 - 01/31/2004 02/01/2004 - 02/29/2004 03/01/2004 - 03/31/2004 04/01/2004 - 04/30/2004 05/01/2004 - 05/31/2004 06/01/2004 - 06/30/2004 07/01/2004 - 07/31/2004 08/01/2004 - 08/31/2004 09/01/2004 - 09/30/2004 10/01/2004 - 10/31/2004 11/01/2004 - 11/30/2004 12/01/2004 - 12/31/2004 01/01/2005 - 01/31/2005 02/01/2005 - 02/28/2005 03/01/2005 - 03/31/2005 04/01/2005 - 04/30/2005 05/01/2005 - 05/31/2005 06/01/2005 - 06/30/2005 07/01/2005 - 07/31/2005 08/01/2005 - 08/31/2005 09/01/2005 - 09/30/2005 10/01/2005 - 10/31/2005 11/01/2005 - 11/30/2005 12/01/2005 - 12/31/2005 01/01/2006 - 01/31/2006 02/01/2006 - 02/28/2006 03/01/2006 - 03/31/2006 04/01/2006 - 04/30/2006 05/01/2006 - 05/31/2006 06/01/2006 - 06/30/2006 Now Available Additional Web Reference Compilations direct search (Invisible Web Resources) Audio/Video Current Awareness Tools WWW Accessible Congressional Research Service Reports
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Saturday, March 31, 2001
Info Industry--Hoover's Hoover's Adds Dun & Bradstreet Lookup Service From the press release, "The addition of this information makes it possible for Hoover's Online users to easily look up information on more than 12 million U.S. companies supplied by D&B. Each of the D&B records on Hoover's Online consists of a select set of information, including company name, address, phone number, line of business, employee and revenue estimates, and primary contact name and title. Hoover's will also have news and mapping functions available for each company and will continue to provide its users with the option of buying more in-depth, value-added D&B business information and credit reports on a pay-per-view basis." Info Industry--CorporateAffiliations.Com A Reference Classic, The Directory of Corporate Affiliations Now on the Web via CorporateAffiliations.Com From the News Release, "DCA allows users to easily determine "who owns whom," and to establish a hierarchy of corporate ownership all the way down to the eighth level of reporting relationships. The database covers public and private companies worldwide and provides subscribers the convenience and timeliness of online access to the data. DCA is also published in printed format on an annual basis and in CD-ROM format on a quarterly basis. The Web version of the database will be updated weekly."
Canadian Content Roundup Government--Online--Canada Government On-Line: Serving Canadians in the Digital Age A 25 slide presentation from the CIO of the Treasury Board of Canada Full-Text Document Shelf--Canada Air Travel--Canada The Report of the Air Travel Complaints Commissioner Heritage Canada Canadian Heritage: 2001-2002 Estimates A Report on Plans and Priorities Finance Canada Finance Canada 2001-2002 Estimates: A Report on Plans and Priorities Tourism--Canada "National Tourism Indicators: Fourth quarter 2000 and year 2000" Aboriginal--Canada Aboriginal Canada Portal Launched From the press release:"Indian and Northern Affairs Canada has launched Aboriginal Canada Portal, an Internet site that provides Aboriginal people with access to on-line resources, information, programs and services." Friday, March 30, 2001
Census 2000--Update State Numbers Online State redistricting numbers are now online for all 50 states (California was made available yesterday), D.C., and Puerto Rico.
Energy--Outlook Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration International Energy Outlook 2001 International energy projections through the year 2020.
Newspapers--Online The New York Times The New York Times Launches Site For College Students and Faculty "College Times" offers several features including a "Yahoo like" directory of news content and an e-mail alerting service. You will need to be a registered NYT user to access the full content.
Web Searching--The Invisible Web A True Tale of the Invisible Web Super Searcher and writer Marylaine Block with an article in her ExLibris e-zine about the IW. I am honored to be mentioned in the article. Thanks MB!
Full-Text Document Shelf Census--United States Population--United States Population Profile of the United States: America at the Close of the 20th Century Thanks P.S. Libraries--United States National Commission on Libraries and Information Science Comprehensive Assessment of Public Information Dissemination Volume 2 of the Final Report is now available online. Also, Two Appendices from Vol. 2: Appendix 11. The Public Information Resources Reform Act of 2001 Appendix 12. Suggested Revisions to the Paperwork Reduction Act and OMB, Circular A-130 Much more material is available (including Vol. 1) Highway Safety--Statistics Source: NHTSA Early Assessment - Motor Vehicle Traffic Crash Fatality and Injury Estimates for 2000 Research & Design--United States R&D Spending is Highly Concentrated in a Small Number of States "This Data Brief presents statistics on the geographic distribution of research and development (R&D) expenditures in the United States." Wednesday, March 28, 2001
Campaign Finance--Databases--United States FECInfo Changes Name, Redesigns Sites, and Adds Content A big welcome to PoliticalMoneyLine.Com! From an e-mail message, "Entrepreneurship brings about all sorts of things. The next time you go to the FECINFO or TRAY web sites you will notice newly redesigned pages. We think you will find them interesting and exciting. All the data is there and we have added several new items, such as section 527 data. Also, we will be highlighting several current items on the home page. This week we show how indexing would change the individual contribution limit, and a new report from CRS that includes internal figures from the FEC not previously released. We are also using a new URL name that more accurately describes what we have. www.PoliticalMoneyLine.com is the best web page to bookmark. All our other URLs will point to the new site."
Cool Tools Need to Create a Simple Graph? Here is an Interactive Online Tool Although this tool is aimed at the student crowd it may also be of use to others. This tool now allows you to create following graphs: site: line, area, bar, horizontal bar and pie chart.
Copyright--Tasini vs. The New York Times Special Libraries Association David Bender Appears on NPR's Morning Edition (Real Audio) Bender (Executive Director of SLA) was interviewed as part of a story on the Tasini copyright case.
Internet Statistics Sad News, NUA Goes Into Receivership However, NUA Internet Surveys will CONTINUE during the receivership period! Information Architecture--Business More Sad News Information architecture firm Argus Associates is going out of business.
Info Industry News--Hoover's The Wireless Librarian The Birth of Hoover's Wireless A few weeks ago Westlaw added limited wireless access. Today, a similar story from Hoover's. From the news release, "...Hoover's Wireless service, which allows people to tap into key content and service offerings away from their desks...As part of an agreement between Hoover's and 2Roam, Inc. (www.2roam.com), an innovative wireless Web infrastructure provider, wireless device users can now search for and retrieve information on approximately 17,000 public and private enterprises worldwide via Hoover's Wireless. Users can search by company name or ticker symbol to find company descriptions, locations, financials, top officers, competitors, stock quotes and news from Hoover's Online." More Hoover's News Hoover's To Add Content from Mergenet From the news release, "...Hoover's is integrating into its Web sites Mergent's company information on nearly 9,000 non-U.S. publicly traded companies. Hoover's users can now access Mergent content, including company descriptions, contact information and officer and subsidiary lists, as well as three years of financials. Mergent [formerly part of Moody's Investors Service] information is being added to both the free and subscription areas of Hoover's Web sites." Info Industry--Infonautics Infonautics (Electric Library, Company Sleuth) and Tucows Announce Merger From the story, "Web publisher Infonautics Inc. [NASDAQ:INFO] announced today that it would be merging with privately held Tucows Inc., a Canada-based company best known for its massive distributed library of shareware software. Infonautics, the Pennsylvania company behind such research-oriented Web sites as Encyclopedia.com, Company Sleuth and the online news clipping service Electric Library, said it will issue some 50 million shares of common stock to Tucows' owners, who would then hold approximately 80 percent of the combined company.The merged outfit would adopt the Tucows name."
Canada--Parliament--Lists Two historical lists from the Canadian Library of Parliament in Ottawa. Senators--1867 to Date--Prime Ministerial and Premiership Experience Members of the House of Commons--1867 to Present--Prime Ministerial and Premiership Experience
Another Day, Another Tool: Something to Look At Searching--Semantics The Botspot newsletter, with a mention of Jarg Key sentence from newsletter, "What Jarg is doing is creating industry-specific search engines that use that industry's jargon and lexicon to form the basis of contextual relationships in the words it finds in stored documents." In February of 2000 Jarg did some prototype work for the National Institute of Health. Tuesday, March 27, 2001
Libraries--Technology A Library and a Robotic Arm From the article, "Browsing through the shelves is one of the great joys of visiting the library. But when the shelves get too tall and threaten to take away precious study space, books are relegated to warehouses, sold, given away, or worse -- retired to the circular file...When Sonoma State University opened its new library -- the Jean & Charles Schulz Information Center -- last fall, it solved that problem with a system of metal storage boxes and a fast-moving computerized crane that make up the Automated Retrieval System." Thanks GT
Dissertations--Electronic Dissemination UNESCO Symposium on Electronic Dissemination of Dissertations Concludes Lead, "ETD 2001: The Fourth International Symposium on Electronic Theses and Dissertations" ended last week at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena (USA). The UNESCO sponsored event brought together ca 160 experts, mainly librarians and other information specialists, to look at the development of projects for the electronic creation and dissemination of theses and doctoral dissertations. This genre is being considered as an important element of scientific and scholarly information."
Full-Text Document Shelf Health--Women--United States Smoking--Women--United States Women and Smoking: A Report of the Surgeon General-2001 Education--Statistics--United States The 2000 ed. of the Digest of Education Statistics is now online. From the Dept. of Ed. Site, "Topics in the Digest include: the number of schools and colleges; teachers; enrollments; graduates; educational attainment; finances; federal funds for education; employment and income of graduates; libraries; technology; and international comparisons. The approximately 430 tables are available on the web, or as Excel or pdf files." Higher Education--Financial Aid--United States Funding Your Education 2001-2002 Source: U.S. Department of Education From the Dept. of Ed. site, ...an introductory publication for students not yet enrolled in a postsecondary school, is now available online. The publication provides general information about the U.S. Department of Education's federal student financial aid programs and how to apply for them. A version in Spanish is also available.
Info Industry--OCLC Report Available: Future Directions and Roles for OCLC From the site, "In January 2000, the OCLC Board of Trustees retained the consulting firm of Arthur D. Little to conduct a study of OCLC’s strategic directions and governance structure...Throughout the course of the study, the Arthur D. Little consultants are tasked with: Holding meetings and interviews with the OCLC Board of Trustees, OCLC Users Council, Strategic Directions and Governance Advisory Council, OCLC-affiliated U.S. regional networks, international distributors, OCLC participating libraries, and libraries that do not currently use OCLC services. Examining environmental factors likely to have an impact on OCLC in the future, including the economic environment for libraries; the rapid development of the World Wide Web, telecommunications and computers; and initiatives by commercial entities to provide information services directly to end users. Identifying possible roles for OCLC in the evolving global library and information infrastructure and recommend a governance structure appropriate to OCLC’s public purpose." Direct to Final Report.
Search Engines--Natural Language "Making Search Engines Speak Naturally" Story Lead, "Making Internet search engines respond to the way people actually talk is key to improving the usefulness of results." Key Quote: "Many searchers can get by on keywords, said David Harris, vice president of marketing at EasyAsk, but business users want to submit long queries and get back relevant results." Companies Mentioned: EasyAsk LingoMotors Information Technology "Making Sense of the Deluge of Data: CIA Technologies Refine Mass of Information Into Analysis" An interesting read from the Washington Post.
Climate--Database--Invisible Web--World From the National Climate Data Center Global Climate Observing System (GCOS) / GCOS Surface Network (GSN) Databases Now Online Data is currently available for 225 stations is 25 countries and may be viewed in either textual or graphical form. Material can be download (via copy/paste) for additional use and analysis. Learn more about the Global Climate Observing System (GCOS). More News From NCDC Climate--Database--Fee Based--United States U.S. Climate Database Adds Content, Display/Print Options From the What's New Page, "The NNDC Climate Data Online System now includes a new option for Daily Climate Data. Users can generate a printable web form as well as ASCII text files. In addition, the period of record has been extended back to 1948 (or earlier for some stations). The daily climate data includes maximum and minumum temperature, precipitation, snowfall, and snow depth. The web form presentation makes it much easier to read the data from NCDC's daily climatological database. The cost is $3 per station-month, but discounted for larger orders." Monday, March 26, 2001
Full Text Document Shelf Labor--United States Poverty--United States Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics A Profile of the Working Poor, 1999 BLS Report 947 A .pdf version is also available.
Libraries--Web Site--Canada A redesigned version of the Canadian Agriculture Library site is now available online.
U.S. Government Resource--Updates Research and Development (R&D)--United States National Patterns of R&D Resources: 2000 The tables in this report cover the period 1953-2000. They were revised March 2001 to incorporate recent data. Presidents of the U.S.--William J. Clinton Last week, the GPO added Vol. 1 (Jan-Jun, 1999) to The Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States searchable database.
The Search Engine Business Google: Eric Schmidt Named Chairman of the Google Board of Directors Coverage from News.Com Press release lead, "Google Inc. today announced that Dr. Eric E. Schmidt, 45, currently chairman and CEO of Novell, Inc., has joined Google's board of directors as chairman. Schmidt succeeds Sergey Brin, 27, Google's founding chairman and current president. Schmidt's appointment is effective immediately. Google also announced that Schmidt has made a significant financial investment in the company."
Good Morning From London. I am in the U.K. attending and presenting at Internet Librarian International.
Saturday, March 24, 2001
Cool Resource Alert Historic Events--World--Streaming Media Newsplayer This fee-based service from the U.K. allows users to view historic World events from the past 100 years on the web (keyword search and browse) using streaming video (Microsoft Media Player). A FREE preview is available. How the site describes itself, "Now you can re-live the events of the past hundred years, witness them at first hand as they happened. Newsplayer brings you video footage of music, fashion, art, lifestyle, sport, crime, royalty, weather, showbiz, wildlife, transport, science and war. All live and uncut. At the click of the mouse you can summon up Stalin to Stallone, Hitler to Hitchcock, Eden to Elvis, Churchill to Chaplin." Btw, if you're interested in viewing and listening to current news and public affairs, please stop by the Current Awareness Resources via Streaming Audio & Video compilation.
Web Navigation "Antarcti.ca aims to map the Web" Web Mapping Gets Tech Press Notice Source: InfoWorld Key Paragraphs: "PLAYING THE ROLE of Internet cartographer, a young company will bring to market next month software that enables visitors to navigate through Web sites with a process based on visual maps...It's complementary to traditional search engines; we're not going to replace them," he said. "The goal is to give users both options through a button on a site's home page." Companies Mentioned: Antarcti.ca |||Demo at Map.Net (Uses Open Directory Data) |||Visual.Net for Libraries ViOS Urban Pixel WebMap (Demo Available) See Also: WebBrain (Open Directory Visualization Tool) Friday, March 23, 2001
Full-Text Report Shelf Students--Social Characteristics--United States Students--Economic Characteristics--United States Source: U.S. Census School Enrollment-Social and Economic Characteristics of Students: October 1999 P20-533 Information Technology--Statistics Source: National Science Foundation The Application and Implications of Information Technologies in the Home: Where are the Data and What Do They Say? Food--United States--Statistics Source: USDA FoodReview: The 1990's: A Dynamic Decade for the U.S. Food System
Info Industry News Next Week: Major Copyright Case To Be Heard @ USSC "Showdown at the Lexis-Nexis Corral" From the TheStandard.Com: "The case pits the venerable Gray Lady, along with publications such as Sports Illustrated and the Lexis-Nexis database firm, against six freelance writers, led by Jonathan Tasini, president of the National Writers Union. The central issue: Whether the Times and other publications are obligated to pay freelance authors for electronically redistributing, via a computerized database, such as Nexis.com, or on CD-ROM, work that was originally published in newspapers and magazines." Famous Reference Book For Sale Enjoy compiling records? How about buying the Guinness Book of World Records? The entire company is for sale.
Cataloging--MARC--U.K. U.K. Libraries to Use MARC21 From the release, "For the first time since 1969 the UK library community is set to change the format for all its cataloguing and bibliographic data exchange. The clear message that UK libraries wish to adopt MARC21 as the standard for encoding new library catalogue records was given in response to a consultation exercise carried out by the British Library. MARC21 is the standard format for the exchange of catalogue information used in the US, Canada and several other parts of the world, and its adoption in the UK will make possible the downloading of bibliographic records from a wider range of Internet sources than ever before." Thursday, March 22, 2001
Online Museums--Virtual Collections--Canada The Virtual Museum of Canada is Now Online From the news release: TORONTO, March 22, 2001 – Minister of Canadian Heritage Sheila Copps today inaugurated the Virtual Museum of Canada (VMC), a unique gateway featuring innumerable stories and treasures entrusted to Canadian museums.
Search Engines--AltaVista Problems with AltaVista Phrase Searching Super Searcher, writer, and proprietor of Search Engine Showdown, Greg Notess lets us know that AltaVista phrase searching using the simple search form is not working properly. Greg writes, "According to an AltaVista rep., this is a short term problem which is to be fixed in the next release that is due out shortly. In the meantime, if you use the quotes to designate a phrase on AltaVista's simple search form, it will not just search for exact phrase matches. It may also OR some of the individual terms. Fortunately, phrase searching does still work accurately on AltaVista's advanced search." Btw, if you have never seen Greg's Search Engine Chart, take a look at it. A must have tool!
Electronic Commerce--Fast Facts--Canada If you are looking for stats and info about e-commerce in .ca take a look at this recently updated page from Industry Canada.
Info Industry Briefs Dialog Nothing beats having a Dialog trainer to teach you the finer points of Dialog searching. You can find this help at a Dialog Training Seminar. However, if you cannot or do not want to attend scheduled sessions or just want a quick review you can download the training manuals for free (.pdf). Recently, Dialog placed Developing Dialog Searching Expertise, Part 3: Advanced (Classic Dialog) and Developing Dialog Searching Expertise, Part 4: Power Searching Techniques (Classic Dialog) on the web. Factiva Factiva Inks Deal With IBM Release Lead, "Factiva, a Dow Jones & Reuters Company, announced today an agreement through the Factiva Partner Network to connect Factiva Search Module and Factiva Track Module to IBM's WebSphere Portal Server, which enables companies to build next generation Web sites that offer a secure, easy, single point of access to information, applications and people." Hoover's Hoover's Does Deal with IBM and Lotus From Release, "...announced agreements with both International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) [NYSE: IBM] and its subsidiary Lotus Development Corp. to develop a series of Hoover's Portal Windows, also known as portlets, for inclusion within the IBM WebSphere Portal Server and Lotus K-Station software."
Full-Text Report Shelf New From the U.S. Census African American Owned Businesses in the U.S.-1997 Highlights ||| Full-Text of Report Hispanic Owned Businesses in the U.S.-1997 Highlights ||| Full-Text of Report Wednesday, March 21, 2001
Searching for Sounds--Sound Effects--Fee-Based Sound-effects-library.com Not only useful but also a lot of fun! This service offers a fee-based searchable database of thousands of sound effects. FREE to keyword search and preview. Purchase and download only the sounds you need. Recently, over four million sounds were added to the collection from the Elstree Film Studios in the U.K. These sounds were used in numerous films including Midnight Express, Platoon, and most of the James Bond movies. Thanks to AF for the news.
Future Watch--Streaming Media Database from the USGS U.S. Geological Survey To Make Video Archives Web Accessible They will use the Convera Screening Room software.
Documents in the News Public Health--Environment--Chemicals From the CDC: National Report on Human Exposure to Environmental Chemicals From the site, "The National Report on Human Exposure to Environmental Chemicals is a new publication that will provide an ongoing assessment of the U.S. population’s exposure to environmental chemicals using biomonitoring." New Resource Briefs Current Events--Streaming Media The Economist now offers news analysis via E-Vision, a streaming media service (free). Travel--Major Cities More from The Economist New "Cities Guide" for Ten Destinations Berlin, Brussels, Hong Kong, London, Moscow, New York, Paris, San Francisco, Tokyo and Washington, DC.
Engineering--Journals--Databases A Great Engineering Resource Gets Even Greater The Edinburgh Engineering Virtual Library (EEVL) is an important and highly useful UK based collection of engineering resources on the web. This site provides numerous services including the Engineering E-journal Search Engine (EESE). Earlier this month 38 new titles were added to the database. More info about the EESE, "...searches the web pages of approximately 200 e-journal sites which are available freely, do not require registration, and offer all or most of the journal content as full text. Titles indexed include scholarly journals, trade, and house journals. Searches may retrieve product information, reviews, and news items as well as in-depth articles."
Electronic Journals--Databases--Australia National Library of Australia Launches Australian Journals OnLine (AJOL) From the site, "AJOL is the National Library of Australia's database of Australian electronic journals, magazines, webzines, newsletters and e-mail fanzines. The database provides full details and access to over 1700 titles that include local and overseas works with Australian content, authorship and/or emphasis as well as entries for sites which advertise or promote Australian journals."
New/Updated Resources Health--National Library of Medicine--Database URL CHANGE The National Library of Medicine Announces OPAC Upgrade From the Release, "The new version of LOCATORplus provides many new search and retrieval features which include the ability for the user to select the sort of the retrieval, the ability to jump to specific page of the retrieval; the ability to quickly set common limits, and many more." NOTE THE NEW URL: http://locatorplus.gov The Old url will redirect at the present time. U.S. Congress--Directory Congressional Picture Directory for the 107th Congress Now Available Canada--Archives The National Archives of Canada Launches Redesigned Site. Tuesday, March 20, 2001
New Service--CEOExpress CEOExpress Launches Premium Content Service Say hello to a "premium" subscription service, CEOExpress Select.
Something New? Say Hello to Relevare Relevare wants to save people time, something that those of us in the library/information profession have been doing for quite awhile. (: In fact, the passage posted here sounds quite similar to what many of us do on a daily basis. From the article, "London-based Relevare - formerly Searchworks - is aiming to intelligently suck relevant information off the Internet for companies and organisations to present to their staff and customers in a simple way. Relevare creates portals along specific subject lines, pooling information from the client's own organisation and adding frequent filtered updates from the many sources of the Internet." Companies Mentioned: Relevare Autonomy
Full-Text Report Shelf Plugged In, Tuning Up: An Assessment of State Legislative Websites Source: OMB Watch From the Report: "This report represents a collective independent assessment of central online "entry points" for the 50 U.S. state legislatures, and is not intended as a scientific critical review of every website for each state legislature or associated entity. Findings are based on visits to websites between July and December 2000, when legislatures were out of session."
Medicine--Pharmaceuticals--Reference--Database Pharma-Lexicon This "dictionary of pharmaceuticals" provides searchable access to about 22,000 abbreviations and acronyms. Compiled by health professionals.
Libraries--Law Suits--Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA) ALA, Others Set To File Suit Today See Also: ALA's CIPA Web Site
American Memory Project--Additions & Updates More wonderful content from the Library of Congress New--Capital and the Bay: Narratives of Washington and the Chesapeake Bay Region, 1600-1900 "...provides access to first-person accounts, early histories, historical biographies, and other works reflecting the history and growth of the Chesapeake Bay region and the capital city of the United States that lies within it...The Capital and the Bay contains 141 books selected from the Library of Congress's General Collections and the Rare Books Division." A Century of Lawmaking, 1774-1873 Just added: "Over 130,000 pages of proposed bills and resolutions from the 13th Congress to the 42nd Congress."
Image Search--Diggit Looking for an image search tool? Take a look at: Diggit! Image Search. Make sure to note the advanced search interface and several alternative user interfaces. Monday, March 19, 2001
The Information Industry--Questia Questia: The Story Key Paragraph:"[Troy] Williams [Founder, President & CEO of Questia] wanted to do for college kids studying the humanities what Westlaw.com does for lawyers: put whole libraries of research material online, accessible at any hour and searchable by titles, subjects, keywords and hyperlinks. You could research a term paper on literature or economics or philosophy and, as you write it, use software to generate footnotes and a bibliography." You will need to register to read the article via the Forbes site. More from the Questia site.
Health--Databases--MEDLINEplus Patient Education Interactive Tutorials Added to MEDLINEplus Over 30 tutorials are available. From the news release: "Each module, which takes about 10 minutes to review, uses animated graphics and explains a condition or procedure in easy-to read language. The user can also listen to the tutorial or print the text of each from a PDF file. The modules require a Flash plug-in, version 4 or above, which may be downloaded free of charge."
Fast Facts Federal Reserve Board--Federal Funds Rate--List "Intended Federal Funds Rate" (change, 1990-Present) Documents in the News U.S. Congress--Communications Source: Congressional Management Foundation E-Mail Overload in Congress: Managing a Communications Crisis Additional Resources are also available via the CMF home page. Full Story via Federal Computer Week
Patent & Trademarks--Search US Patent & Trademark Office Offers New Database, Searchable Patent Apps News Release Highlight: "Publication of patent applications before a patent is granted is one of the most fundamentally significant changes to the U.S. patent system in over 100 years, said Nicholas Godici, acting Under Secretary of Commerce and acting Director of the USPTO. "Published applications will become an important reservoir of reference materials for patent examiners and a valuable resource to the public as the volume of published applications increases. "Forty-seven applications were published in a variety of technical fields including surgical devices, chemical processes, and business methods...New applications are published every Thursday. The number of patent applications published by USPTO is anticipated to increase over the next eighteen months until roughly 3500 applications are published weekly." Direct to Search Interface.
Digital Libraries--Projects A Couple of New or Just Discovered Digitization Projects Everglades Information Network Provided by: Florida International University Wright Air Development Center (WADC) Digital Collection From an e-mail message: "This resource includes scanned government technical reports created by WADC throughout the 1950's and 1960's as part of the space race. They are an excellent resource for historians, as well as researchers in Aerospace and Materials Science." Provided by: Illinois Institute of Technology Foreign Relations of the United States (1900-1918) Provided by: University of Wisconsin/University of Illinois-Chicago Full-Text Report Shelf Freedom of Information Act--Reports Progress in Implementing the 1996 Electronic Freedom of Information Act Amendments GAO-01-378 Sunday, March 18, 2001
Librarian Resources Reference Services--Surveys--Bibliography "Library Surveys with Emphasis on Reference Services: A Selective Bibliography" Source: National Library of Canada Saturday, March 17, 2001
Health--Cancer--Database--Maps Environment--Toxic Releases--Maps New Cancer Deaths and Toxic Releases Mapping Resource From Health-Track.Org From the Press Release: "...easy access to combined data on mortality rates for cancers known or suspected to have environmental causes and on toxic chemical releases of known or probable carcinogens." Additional Resources are available via the Health-Track home page. See Also: Atlas of Cancer Mortality in the United States, 1950-1994 See Also: Cancer Mortality Databank-WHO (World Health Organization)
Intelligence/National Security--Congressional Research Service--Reports The Congressional Research Service provides authoritative research on many subjects. A large percentage of the material that CRS produces is NOT available to the public. However, some material is available via various organizations and members of Congress. In addition to this weblog, I compile a collection of sites where you can locate some of the material that IS publicly accessible. In the last few weeks, the Federation of American Scientists has updated several reports. "Intelligence Issues for Congress," updated 4/2/2001 "North Korea's Nuclear Weapons Program," Issue Brief, updated 2/27/2001 "V-22 Osprey Tilt-Rotor Aircraft," Issue Brief, updated 4/7/2001 Additional Resources: FAS CRS Collection Friday, March 16, 2001
Technology--Richest--List Source: Forbes ASAP "Techs 100 Highest Rollers" Full-Text Document Shelf (2 Items) Documents in the News Info Technology--Security GAO Report: IRS Electronic Filing Systems See: "Electronic Tax Data Found Vulnerable at IRS" Source: (Computerworld) Disabilities--United States Source: U.S. Census Americans With Disabilities: 1997 Highlights & Info ||| Full-Text
Resource Briefs U.S. Congress--Publications--Directory GPO Congressional Publication Releases This wonderful current awareness tool will guide you to recently released GPO publications from the U.S. Congress. Some publications are not available online but information about accessing them is provided. Thanks to the Law Librarians' Society of Washington, D.C. for providing this useful service. Software--Reviews Looking for Software Reviews? A newly expanded review resource from CNET. From the announcement: "You may not notice anything different, but just below the surface--supporting our daily stream of features, columns, and reviews of applications, operating systems, and services--lies a robust directory of 4,000-plus software titles. Not only does the directory offer specs, company and licensing information, and regularly updated prices, it also allows you to compare multiple products side by side." Campaign Finance--Reference Brookings Expands Campaign Finance Resource The site provides full-text access to Campaign Finance Reform: A Sourcebook. Direct Link to Site Future Event Watch--MIR Reentry You Can Watch it on the Web More resources and direct link to Webcast
The Web Search Business "Google Searches For Dollars" Source: Forbes Key Graph:"But to make a profit, some industry watchers think Google will have to toss its prized integrity and tailor some of its search results to favor companies willing to pay for better placement--like most of Google's rival search engines. Google says it has no plans to go that route, but [Danny] Sullivan says it's inevitable." Search Engines--U.S. Government Source: Federal Computer Week "FirstGov ready for next page" The database is growing in size, wonderful. However, a better search interface, better help/documentation, improving precision/relevance, etc. are becoming increasingly essential as the total database size increases. Libraries--The Future Source: Wall Street Journal 3/12/2001 "Writing a New Chapter" Mentions: Alexa Internet San Francisco Public Library Digital Library Initiative Net Library Ebrary Questia Thursday, March 15, 2001
Search—Tools Something New From AltaVista? Check out the MySearch feature that allows users to track and store search strategies on their computer. No registration is need but cookies must be active. I haven't seen this tool on the Alta Vista U.S. or U.K. sites. It's available on the: New Zealand Australia India Ireland Remember, each AltaVista site (except U.S.) not only offers a "local" search button but also provides a worldwide search option. Remember, results may vary.
Full-Text Document Shelf (6 Items) Women--United States Census Releases Profile of U.S. Women Full-Text Report ||| Report Highlights ||| Fast Facts About U.S. Women Drug Use--United States--Statistics Source: ONDCP What America's Users Spend on Illegal Drugs, 1988-1998 Campaign Finance--Tobacco Public Health--Tobacco Buying Influence: Selling Death A just released statistical report from Common Cause, The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, The American Heart Association And The American Lung Association. Energy--Maps--U.S. Source: EIA New England Energy Market Map "The New England Energy Market Map shows the geographic location of key energy sites in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont as of the year 2000." Law Enforcement--Technology Source: National Institute of Justice Guide to the Technologies of Concealed Weapon and Contraband Imaging and Detection(NIJ Guide 602–00) Fires--U.S.--Northwest Wildfires 2000 Source: NOAA Service Assessment: Northern Ohio and Western Montana Summer Wildfires 2000
Searching--Statistics "Searching Highs and Lows" This article from the Industry Standard Europe is a compilation of search and search engine related statistics from many sources. If for no other reason, these statistics can be good discussion starters. Coverage includes: -Questions Asked Per Day -Information sources (Where do people get answers?) -Ages of Pages Searched -Time Taken To Be Frustrated By Net Searches -Rate of Success for Net Searches More stats? See this Industry Standard article from 2/9/01. Future Search--Sound Whistling and Searching? New Scientist story lead: "THERE'S a great tune lodged in your head. It's maddeningly familiar but you can't name the song. How are you going to find it? Short of humming it to a friend who's a music guru, you're stuck. But don't fret. Soon you'll be able to retrieve it from the Web simply by whistling it to your computer." Online Exhibit--U.S. History--Presidents Madison's Treasures A Library of Congress online exhibit celebrating the 250th anniversary of James Madison's birth. Also, live cybercast of a symposium about Madison (3/16/01). Search--Commentary "Search Models Are Skewed" Lead: "The limitations of keyword searches reflect the inherent problems of language representation that have bugged computer scientists for over a century." Thanks to GT for the link. Company Mentioned: Mohomine Science--Astronomy--Reference Here Comes The Sun! NOAA Updates Online Solar Calculator From the Article:"The calculator can provide the time of solar noon, sunrise and sunset for a variety of locations around the world for any date from 1000 B.C. to 3000 A.D." Link direct to resource. Wednesday, March 14, 2001
Search Engine News Inktomi Releases New Web Search Software Of course only time and application will tell us if this new and improved technology proves to be of value to the researcher. Highlights of New Technologies (from news release) Relevance Modeling Technology: "...enhanced relevance modeling also measures statistically significant samples of search results and compares them with human judgement." Content Blending Technology: "Inktomi is the first search technology provider to offer new content blending capabilities that combine query results from disparate databases, serving the most relevant results up front." Content Discovery Technology: "Inktomi's new distributed crawling architecture scans the Web more frequently, revisiting missed content and refreshing updated pages more often." Inktomi's search customers include: MSN, Anzwers, iWon, and Canada.Com. Additional Info via PC World Canadian Content Two new full-text reports and some news. Status of Women--Canada Economic Gender Equality Indicators 2000 (Full-Text) ||| News Release Reference--Canada 2001 Canada Year Book Now Available This is a fee-based resource not available online. Children--Canada The Canadian Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect (CIS) Report Highlights ||| (Final Report Full-Text) ||| Selected Results
Search Engine News Northern Light Adds Content From Over 100 Newspapers NL adds content from the New York Times (most recent 365 day archive) and business/finance material from over 100 newspapers (Knight-Ridder Business News).
News Briefs Libraries--Australia National Library of Australia Publishes Annual Report Copyright--Distance Learning--U.S. Senate Hearings Reuters Report ||| Opening Statements ||| RealAudio Tuesday, March 13, 2001
Information Industry Briefs Britannica.com Announces Layoffs They will focus on subscription-based services. Also: More Problems at CMGI CMGI's vast holdings include AltaVista. What's Up at Bloomberg? The latest goings on.
Education--Databases--ERIC New "In-Process" Abstracts Database from ERIC Clearinghouse Cool! If you search ERIC for material about adult education, vocational education, and related topics this new service from the ERIC Clearinghouse on Adult, Career, and Vocational Education will be of interest. From the site: "Each week, ERIC/ACVE personnel send abstracts of new journal articles and documents for inclusion in the ERIC Database. Unfortunately, it may take four (or more) months for these citations to appear. Here you can search or browse (by week) these "in-process" materials." Related Note: 28 New ERIC Digests are now online.
Public Records-Assessment/Home Sale Data Database of the Day--Invisible Web Home Price Reports Database from the Washington Post Hundreds of databases are available, both fee-based and free, to access assessment and home sale info. This wonderful one-stop search tool from the Post offers many search criteria to locate this type of data for the DC Metro area. Btw, a comprehensive list of assessment databases is available from the University of Virginia.
Computers--Security Computer Security Institute Releases "Computer Crime and Security Survey" Full-text of the document (free) will be sent after completing a registration form. The report is issued annually. Details available in this Federal Computer Week article.
Aviation (Airlines)--Forecast FAA Aerospace Forecasts Fiscal Years 2001-2012 This report is not yet available online but information about obtaining a copy is provided. From the news brief: "According to FAA predictions, the total number of domestic passengers on U.S. air carriers is expected to increase from 604.1 million in 2000, and grow 3.6 percent per year to 927.4 million passengers in 2012. In addition, U.S. air carrier international enplanements are projected to increase from 54.6 million in 2000 to 108.4 million in 2012, a growth of 5.9 percent each year for continued total annual enplanement levels well over the one billion mark."
Census 2000 Census News Brief Series Debuts The first report in the Census 2000 Brief series is now online. According to the site, "The Census 2000 Brief series will provide the first analysis of Census 2000 population and housing topics to the public." The first report is titled, "Overview of Race and Hispanic Origin". Housing Data More Census News: P.S. informs us that several new reports (1999 data) from the American Housing Survey of Metropolitan Areas are now available online. New reports for: Los Angeles and Long Beach Northern New Jersey Chicago NY Metro and Nassau and Suffolk and Orange Detroit Philadelphia
News Briefs New Database--Invisible Web Emergency Management Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC) Database Source: EPA, Chemical Emergency Preparedness and Prevention Office Search by Zip code, name/address, or browse entire database. Newly Discovered from EPA--Invisible Web Vulnerable Zone Indicator System From the site: "The Vulnerable Zone Indicator System (VZIS) allows you to quickly find out if an address of interest to you - your home, place of work, or child's school - could be affected by a chemical accident." Info Industry Hoover's and Financial Times Info. Form Alliance From the release:"...agreement to integrate key elements of each company's powerful content within FT.com (www.ft.com) and Hoover's destination sites, Hoover's Online (www.hoovers.com) and Hoover's Online U.K. (www.hoovers.co.uk)." Search News--New Zealand Thursday Update: NZ AV is Live! Premiering Thursday: New Zealand AltaVista Search Site Monday, March 12, 2001
Full-Text Report Shelf (New Full-Text Documents Online) Law--Police Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics "Contacts between Police and the Public Findings from the 1999 National Survey" Summary info included in this press release. Health--Children Latest Results from National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey Source: National Center for Health Statistics "Prevalence of Overweight Among Children and Adolescents: United States, 1999" Summary info included in this press release.
Virtual Page Turning?--Digital Libraries "Turning the Pages", Technology Created at British Library Coming to NLM The technology will be available to demo at the National Library of Medicine. From the news release: "Turning the Pages" uses computer animation, high-quality digitized images, and touch screen technology to simulate the action of turning the pages of a book. "The sensation of actually leafing through a rare volume is uncannily real," said NLM Director Donald A.B. Lindberg, M.D. "It reveals the significance and beauty of rare volumes in a way never before possible, and we are grateful to the British Library for creating the system and letting us be the first to use it in this country," he added. The first book available for "digital browsing" will be Elizabeth Blackwell's Curious Herbal, published between 1737 and 1739. A bit more info about "Turning the Pages" from the British Library.
Search--Streaming Media Keyword Search U.K. Parliament Video Coverage Many of you are aware of my interest in streaming media as another current awareness tool for information professionals. News programs like The NewsHour With Jim Lehrer can be keyword searched. "Hits" can then be viewed online (RealVideo) precisely at the point where your search topic was discussed. Today, news that this video search capability is now available for coverage of the UK Houses of Parliament. Complete details via this press release. Direct link to U.K. resource and search tool (click on the "Search Video Archive" link).
Resource and News Briefs Education--Science and Engineering--Statistics From the NSF: Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering: Fall 1999 (NSF 01-315) "This report newly released data from the Fall 1999 NSF-NIH Survey of Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering. It presents information on trends in enrollment of science and engineering graduate students through 1999. Data are presented on trends in number of graduate students by sex, race/ethnicity, citizenship, field, and primary source and mechanism of support." Transportation--Statistics A new edition of the Pocket Guide to Transportation is available from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. Energy--Renewable--Statistics Renewable Energy Annual 2000 (with data from 1999) is now online. Cataloging--Classification LC Registers Over 3500 for Classification Web Pilot Project From the news release: "The Library's Cataloging Distribution Service pilot project, which provides instant access to up-to-date Library classification data online, registered more than 3,500 users in an eight-week period." The Classification Web resource is available for a free trial until the end of March. Additional details via CDS. Web Search News Northern Light Develops First Non-English Version of Its Software It will be used with Vizsla, a Hungarian search engine that was re-launched today. Previously, AltaVista search technology was used. Info Business Forbes with a Story about UMI From the article: "Bell & Howell is looking to turn this albatross into a moneymaker. The 93-year-old company has been in the microfilm business for five decades. But one day microfilm could get wiped out entirely by the World Wide Web. Digitizing the Vault's images is Bell & Howell's do-or-die future. An aging supplier of antiquated technology for the nation's libraries, the company aims to transform itself into a slick, Webby marketer of digital data to students, academics and businesses. It is even shedding its old name in favor of a suitably techie new tag: ProQuest."
Roy Tennant on XML Posted on the LJDigital site is an excellent overview article on Extensible Markup Language written by Digital Libraries expert Roy Tennant. The article is titled, "XML: The Digital Library Hammer". From the article: "Once you understand XML and the opportunities it offers for creating and managing digital library services and collections, you will begin seeing nails everywhere. It is not the only tool you have, but it is by far the most useful." Sunday, March 11, 2001
Public Libraries--Children's Internet Protection Act The Industry Standard with word of two important law suits to be filed next Tuesday (3/20). TIS Story Lead: "Two broad coalitions of civil liberties groups, library associations, Web sites and individual library patrons are planning to challenge a new federal law that mandates the use of filtering software in schools and libraries receiving federal grants for computers or Internet access." NOTE: LJ Digital reports ALA suit will not include school libraries. Fair Use Note From Wired News. Congressman Rick Boucher (D-VA) at a recent conference said, "The time, in my opinion, has come, for the Congress to reaffirm the fair use doctrine, and to bolster specific fair use rights, which are now at risk," said Boucher in his speech."
Lists--Most Wired Regions, U.S. The Yahoo Internet Life 2001 list is out and San Jose is #1. Here are the Top 5 Regions: 1) San Jose, 33.3 points (out of 40) 2) San Francisco, 32.5 3) Austin-San Marcos, Texas, 29.1 4) Washington, D.C., 28.1 5) Orange County, 26.6 This AP story contains the Top 20. We will post a link to the full YIL as soon as it becomes available.
Web Resource News: Dow Jones/@Home Work.Com Portal Will Say "So Long" at the End of March And another one bites the dust. From DJ: "Dow Jones & Co. and Excite@Home Corp., citing the decline in online advertising spending and the challenges of securing further funding, said Friday they will close their Work.com Internet joint venture March 3."
U.S. Justice--Statistics--Searchable 1999 Federal Justice Statistics have been posted and are searchable at the Federal Justice Statistics Resource Center. The "What's New" message reads, "On Qeury/Search the Database page, 1999 AOUSC, EOUSA, and BOP data are available for query now. USSC data is coming soon." Saturday, March 10, 2001
Full-Text Report Shelf Freedom of Speech--Internet The Enemies of the Internet (direct link to report) "This report by Reporters Sans Frontieres and transfert.net provides an inventory of the restrictions implemented to block the free circulation of information in 59 countries." A pull-down menu provides quick access to a report for each country. Reporters Sans Frontieres (Home Page)
Archives--U.S. Government--Web-Based Content Creating Archives of Web-Based Content from Clinton Administration Agencies From the article: "A barrage of questions and complaints from agencies has forced the National Archives and Records Administration to clarify its requirements for saving snapshots of Clinton administration Web sites. Although the March 20 deadline for sending the Web snapshots to NARA hasn’t changed, the records agency will heed agency worries that the disclosures could lead to security breaches." " Also from the article: "A barrage of questions and complaints from agencies has forced the National Archives and Records Administration to clarify its requirements for saving snapshots of Clinton administration Web sites." Friday, March 09, 2001
Search Engines Excite Adds "Zoom In" Search Term Refinement Tool Those of us who give web searching demos spend time discussing the importance of being as precise as possible with search terms. On Friday, Excite added a refinement tool to help the searcher identify more precise terms. This type of "expansion" tool was available several years ago from Alta Vista. Example of new Excite "Zoom In" tool from PC World article: "...if you type in the word "rosacea" and click Zoom In, you get helpful additional words such as "acne rosacea," "ocular rosacea," and "National Rosacea Society." Click the Apply and Search button, and the Precision search uses the combination of words for more refined results." Additional info and examples on the Excite "Zoom In" help page. Related:Oingo, a "meaning based" engine can also assist the searcher with search term selection by providing possible terms from a ontology of over 1,000,000 words. Simpli, also offers search term assistance.
Health--Clinical Trials--Database New Clinical Trials Results Database Available from Centerwatch.Com From the press annoucement: "CenterWatch announces that it has launched a new online database of clinical trial results, a reference resource for patients, healthcare professionals, the research community and financial analysts. The Trial Results database provides easy access to information about the results of recently completed and ongoing clinical trials...This is the first database of its kind readily available for patients and health consumers." The full-text of the release is available here. NOTE: As of 5:00 PM I have not been able to find a link for this resource. Stay tuned!
International Relations New CIA Declassified Documents--Soviet Union From the CIA site:"...newly declassified documents representing a cross section of the Directorate of Intelligence's analyses of the Soviet Union's political, military, scientific, and economic structures during the period of the Cold War, 1947-1991. Currently about one percent of the links are inoperable and we are working to correct them, but we didn't wish to hold up the release of these documents." Also New From the CIA: CIA's Analysis of the Soviet Union, 1947-1991, a retrospective on CIA's analytical role during the Cold War. (PDF file; requires Adobe Acrobat® Reader to view; file size is 23.83 MB)
Search Engines Red Herring: "Racing Toward A Better Search Engine" Another overview of the many problems with searching on the Internet. Key Quote: "The Internet radically altered the search equation (and the stress level). And the once provincial boundaries of the PC now extend beyond spinning hard drives to millions of Web sites and an enormous trove of data. The trouble is trying to find the proverbial needle in the haystack with search technology that isn't up to the task." The article focuses on natural language, modal based*, and XML tools to improve the current situation. *Learns/gains precision as you search using info from your prior searches. Companies mentioned include: EasyAsk (Natural Language Search) Outride (Modal Based*) Purple Yogi (Modal Based*) XYZFind (XML Search)
Quick Update US History American Memory Project The American Memory homepage has been given a new look. Also take note of the new "Search Example of the Day."
Digitization of Primary Documents--U.S. History Documents and Images Relating to the Native American Population of the Southeastern United States New Resource from the University of Georgia & University of Tennessee From the news release: "The site contains over 1,000 documents and images relating to the Native American population of the Southeastern United States from the collections of the University of Georgia Libraries, the University of Tennessee at Knoxville Library, the Frank H. McClung Museum, and the Tennessee State Library and Archives. The documents are comprised of letters, legal proceedings, military orders, financial papers, and archaeological images relating to Native Americans in the Southeast." Thursday, March 08, 2001
Census 2000 Data "Census 2000 Population Totals for Congressional Redistricting" Census 2000 Redistricting Data began to roll out from the U.S. Census Bureau today. The first material available: New Jersey Mississippi Virginia Wisconsin
A Great Review of a Great Site Congrats to the Librarians' Index to the Internet & Carole Leita Peter Jacso, one of the greats of reference, is out with his March set of reviews at Peter's Digital Reference Shelf. This month, Jacso reviews the Librarians' Index to the Internet. I wholeheartedly agree with Peter when he writes, "There are thousands of subject guides and directories of Web resources. Those who have not yet created one are likely to be working on one. LII stands out from the crowd thanks to its professionalism, objectivity, reasonable selection policy, informative annotations, excellent organization, awesome interface and search features. Unfortunately, far inferior directories divert traffic from LII, like the absolutely not Awesome Library and Encyberpedia that go laughing to the bank to cash in the advertisement fees of "sponsors." The LII was founded and is currently under the leadership of a forward thinking, patron friendly, web pioneering and great person, Carole Leita! A big tip o' the cap to CL and the entire LII staff!
The Full-Text Report Shelf E-Commerce--Statistics The U.S. Census released its first official report for several portions of the e-commerce economy. From the media release: "Business-to-business activity accounted for a significant share of overall e-commerce, with manufacturing ($485 billion in shipments ordered online) overshadowing business-to-consumer transactions such as retail trade ($15 billion in online sales) for 1999, according to the first official e-commerce statistics for several key sectors of the economy from the Commerce Department's Census Bureau." Report highlights are also available via the media release. Internet--Fraud From the press release: "The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the National White Collar Crime Center today issued its first report revealing the latest Internet fraud trends and statistics. With more than 37.5 million visits to its Web site and over 20,000 complaints filed with the Internet Fraud Complaint Center (IFCC), the report issued today puts a face on the state of Internet fraud in the United States. This report reveals current statistics and offers detailed trend information regarding the nation's top Internet frauds."
Automated Searching? Something New to Learn About Say Hello To WebQL Those of you who do competitive intelligence work or just like to keep up with the newest tools and trends should take a look at this article about WebQL from Caesius Software. The bottom line (from the article): "WebQL provides the facilities to track online information in real time. It is different from a database that passively accesses and collates existing information because it proactively seeks out information from the Internet without waiting for data to be included in a formal central store." Learn more about WebQL via this white paper. More "Future" Search News: Sun Acquires Infrasearch a p2p search start-up Wednesday, March 07, 2001
Web "Classic" Resource (1 in a Series) "The On-Line Books Page" Currently, this IMPORTANT resource has information and links to over 13,000 full-text (free) books and reports. Search and browse (various criteria). Also be aware of the New Listings page. How the site describes itself: "The On-Line Books Page is a website that facilitates access to books that are freely readable over the Internet. It also aims to encourage the development of such on-line books, for the benefit and edification of all." The resource was founded by John Mark Ockerbloom, a digital library planner and researcher at the University of Pennsylvania. Thank you John!!!
The Kudos File USPTO Library Named Federal Information Center of the Year! Congratulations to the Scientific and Technical Information Center (STIC) of the United States Patent and Trademark Office. From the news release: "USPTO's STIC was chosen from over 1,200 federal information facilities eligible to receive the award by the Federal Library and Information Center Committee of the Library of Congress, a national organization of federal libraries. In addition, Darcy Bates, a STIC employee, was selected as Federal Library Technician of the Year."
U.S. Government--Catalog The New Catalog is Out, The New Catalog Is Out! The Consumer Information Center (you know, the Pueblo, CO. folks) are out with the Spring, 2001 Consumer Information Catalog. Have Fun!
Labor--Outlook Spring Issue of Occupational Outlook Quarterly Hits Web Today Articles Include: "Wild jobs with wildlife: Jobs in zoos and aquariums" "Computer support specialists" "Instructional coordinators" "When the job's a game: Athletes, coaches, sports officials, and related workers" "Tax examiners, revenue agents, and collectors" Chart: Occupations with the greatest retiree replacement needs, projected 1998-2008
U.S. Government--Reference AOL Introduces Government Guide 2.0, New Zip Code Access to Resources An updated version of the AOL sponsored U.S. Government Guide was placed online today. From the news release: "Building on the success of GovernmentGuide 1.0 unveiled in 1999, AOL has expanded the service to include more than 60,000 federal, state and local sites in a clear, easily searchable directory."
Search Engine News Inktomi Introduces Index Connect, New Service for Large Content Publishers Time lag, the amount of time it takes for web content to be available via an Internet search tool, is a major issue. Today, Inktomi announced a new solution for publishers of large amounts of content. From the release: "As millions of Web pages are added to the Internet daily, content publishers face new challenges in ensuring their most current content can be found. Similarly, search engines must incorporate new methods to crawl and index the Internet while sifting through an increasingly cluttered Web in order to provide users with accurate results...Through Inktomi Index Connect, large content publishers have more control over how and when their Web pages are indexed. For example, an online news publisher can control how frequently its site is crawled to make breaking news stories available in real-time, or an online commerce site can publish updated inventory information and inform search engine users of timely special offers at its store." More details via this News.Com article.
Worthwhile Read--Life Online "Playing the Links: Interactivity and Stickiness in .Com and "Not.Com" Web Sites" From the March issue of First Monday. Abstract: "Creators of commercial (.com) and non-commercial (not.com) Web sites presumably have different goals, which may be revealed in the number and nature of links from the sites. This study examines links from the home pages of heavily used Web sites, finding that commercial sites have more links. Not.com sites vary considerably in linking behavior, with .gov and .org sites having the most links. Commercial sites have a lower percentage of links to outside sites, possibly an indication of design for stickiness to keep visitors on site while .net sites show the highest rate of external linking." |
