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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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Monday, March 31, 2003
Government Printing Office--United States "GPO Announces Major Reorganization Plan" From the announcement, The U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO) has announced a major reorganization plan to streamline management and bring the agency into line with current business practices. "Our goal has been to create an organizational structure that makes sense for the work we're doing today and that will prepare us to fulfill our customers' requirements in the years to come," said Public Printer of the United States Bruce R. James. See Also: "Appropriations Request of the U.S. Government Printing Office for Fiscal Year 2004"
Information Industry--FAST Search and Transfer FAST to Power Multimedia Search on Leading Japanese Site "... NTT-X, Inc., one of Japan’s leading Internet service providers, has selected FAST to power the multimedia searching capabilities on its search engine portal site, goo (http://www.goo.ne.jp/)".
War In Iraq The Washington Post Offers a Searchable Database of All Iraq Related Articles Since 11/2002 The Washington Post is making available a searchable database of most of it's coverage about Iraq since November, 2002. The database can be limited by date/date range and also allows searching of the three fields (headline, words in the article, and author). All material is available at no charge.
Resources, Reports, Tools, and Full-Text Documents (3 Items) Human Rights Source: U.S. State Department Full-Text, 2002 Annual Report on Human Rights Also known as, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices. -- Scholarships--United States New Web Site, e-Scholar From a Chronicle of Higher Education article, "In an effort to increase the number of minority students who take advantage of federally funded scholarship and job opportunities, a government agency has created a Web site consolidating information on such programs." -- Internet--Patents Source: NSF Full-Text, International Patenting of Internet-Related Business Methods Sunday, March 30, 2003
Libraries--United States Another Set of Library Funding Stories 1) PA "Library officials riled over budget cuts" (via Pittsburgh Post Gazette) "Robert Lightcap, a past president of the federation, said the cuts would reduce state aid to libraries to pre-1999 levels when "Pennsylvania had one of the poorest-funded library systems in the country." - 2) PA "Library faces 50 percent state funding cut" (via Hershey Chronicle) - 3) MN "Views split on independent St. Paul library" (Minneapolis Star-Tribune) - 4) MI "Library jobs cut; more to come as U-M trims staff" (via Ann Arbor News) - 5) CA "Draft library cuts presented" (via North County Times) - 6) IL "Naperville library board told to cut more" (via Daily Herald) - 7) NY "Libraries fight against budget cuts" (via The Observer-Dispatch) -- 8) NY "NYC PLs Fear Effect of More Cuts" (via Library Journal) -- 9) MA "Cuts affect library services" (via The Daily News Transcript) Saturday, March 29, 2003
Internet Domains Source: GCN All About .Gov Web Sites From the article, "The General Services Administration today made it easier for state and local governments to use the .gov domain name. In a final rule published in the Federal Register, GSA outlined how government entities can identify themselves with the domain." See Also: Full-Text of Rule Published in Federal Register Friday, March 28, 2003
Resources, Reports, Tools, and Full-Text Documents (3 Items) Business--United States--Lists & Rankings Source: Forbes Just Released, Forbes 500 (2003) America's biggest companies -- Population--United States--Statistics Source: U.S. Census Full-Text Report, Women and Men in the United States Summary ||| Full-Text -- Political Action Committees--United States--Statistics Source: Federal Election Commission Now Available, Political Action Committees 2002 Statistics Includes numerous rankings.
Professional Reading Shelf Archives--Canada Just Released, National Archives of Canada, 2003-2004 Estimates - Report on Plans and Priorities Thursday, March 27, 2003
Web Resources of the Week Web Directories Resource Discovery Network 1) ATLIS, A New Subject Gateway Officially Launches Today A new subject gateway, ATLIS, focusing on hospitality, leisure, sport and tourism officially launches on the web today. The gateway joins several other top-notch subject oriented tools from the U.K.'s Resource Discovery Network. You can find ATLIS at: http://www.altis.ac.uk. Make sure to check out RDN's other subject gateways. The organization provides a great selection of web research training tools . -- Information Industry--Vivisimo 2) USEFUL and Interesting Demos from Vivisimo Many of you probably already know about Vivisimo being one of the most useful meta search tool available. Its clustering algorithm, efficient advanced interface, and a strong list of general web databases make it my choice when I want to conduct a meta search. Also, it's page "preview" option makes moving from result to result without having to leave the results page a breeze. What goes unnoticed by many searchers is that Vivisimo's clustering technology is also when doing basic searcher of several other databases. Here's a list of a few of them. In most cases the clustering is based on the first 200 results. * PUBMED * FirstGov * Scirus * EBay Vivisimo also offers a BioMed Cluster search that brings together results from PubMed, Harrison's Online, MerckManual, TRIPDatabase, and Google. See Also: More Vivisimo Demos
News Searching Yahoo News Adds English Language Content From AFP (Agence France-Presse) You can now find content from this well known wire service. Feeds in most Yahoo News categories including Top Story, Business, World, Politics, and Technology. You can find additional AFP content on Yahoo Asia and Yahoo Singapore. See Also: Yahoo News Also Provides Some Limited Content From Dow Jones Business News. See Also: Don't Forget: Yahoo Asia Provides Some Full-Text (free) from the Wall Street Journal
Professional Reading Shelf Digital Reference Updated, Digital Reference Services Bibliography Bernie Sloan from the University has announced an update to this excellent resource. According to Sloan, "It now has more than 500 entries related to the provision of reference services involving collaboration between library user and librarian in a computer-based medium. These services can utilize various media, including e-mail, Web forms, chat, video, Web customer call center software, Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), etc."
Resources, Reports, Tools, and Full-Text Documents (2 Items) Health Information New Compilation of Resources from MEDLINEplus: Evaluating Health Information -- Women in Business--United States--Statistics Source: Small Business Administration Full-Text, Dynamics of Women-Operated Sole Proprietorships, 1990-1998 Summary ||| Full-Text
News Briefs (New Fee-Based Services) The Economist Intelligence Unit Unveils New "Industry Forecast" Product -- Thomson Launches Litigation Stock Report -- Canadian Company Monitors and Offers Searchable Database of TV Commercials (via Globe and Mail) Wednesday, March 26, 2003
Professional Reading Shelf Information Visualization Source: Information Highways "A map is worth a thousand search results" Includes mentions of Antarctica, Grokker, and Databeacon. See Also: A January, 2003 ResourceShelf post About Antarctica With Links to Several Demos
Digital Libraries Source: Library Journal "Digital Libraries Degree Launched at Johns Hopkins" From the article, "Digital Libraries is a new concentration within Johns Hopkins University's (JHU) Masters of Arts in Communications in Contemporary Society. Classes will begin in the fall of 2003 at the university's Washington Center in the District of Columbia. The communication in contemporary society program was begun in 2001 to address the transformation of the information professions in the digital ages, "and no profession has seen greater change than librarianship," said Peter Decherney, the program's associate chair. Jim Neal, then dean and director of JHU's Sheridan Libraries, taught a course on libraries in the digital age in 2001. It is now the core course in the program, and is being developed and taught by his successor, Winston Tabb. Other courses include communication law and policy, digital objects, digital rights management, and electronic publishing." See Also: Direct to Digital Libraries Concentration Info Page @ JHU
Digital Archives--United Kingdom Source: The Register "Public Records Office to preserve digital documents" From the article, "The Public Records Office (PRO) is to reveal at a conference next month how it intends to preserve electronic documents for the future. As the PRO makes clear, it is necessary to maintain the software and hardware needed to read those documents. This is easier said than done when software viewing applications can become obsolete very quickly, and storage media, such as disks and tapes, are, all too often, unstable." See Also: Learn More About Digital Preservation at the PRO
Legal Research LexisNexis/Matthew Bender Signs Publishing Agreement With IndexMaster From the announcement, "IndexMaster, a 6-year-old Ohio firm, (www.indexmaster.com) is a compilation of the indices and/or tables of content of more than 8,000 legal titles from at least 65 legal publishers at one location. Users can search and view the index and table of contents of the titles to retrieve the content necessary to determine if the book meets their needs." Tuesday, March 25, 2003
Government Printing Office--United States GPO Introduces a New Logo From the introduction, "The U.S. Government Printing Office has adopted a new logo to symbolize its transformation from an ink-on-paper provider to a digital data delivery organization. The new logo reflects GPO’s determination to meet the evolving information needs of its client agencies and to serve an increasingly digital-aware American public."
Librarians Source: Minneapolis Star Tribune "Minneapolis librarians sue over Internet porn" From the article, "A dozen Minneapolis librarians who say they were exposed to a barrage of sexually explicit Internet material in the downtown library are seeking their day in court. The 12 sued the library system Monday in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis, alleging they endured an intimidating, hostile and offensive workplace that violated state and federal law. The suit seeks damages of at least $400,000 each, plus workplace changes." See Also: Internet Filtering Bill Passes Washington State Senate (via The Sun)
Web Search--Google Source: News.Com Brin Comments on Google IPO From the article, Brin discussed the reasons for not rushing an IPO during an on-stage interview with technology guru Esther Dyson at the PC Forum technology conference..."That's a lot of work, and I'm lazy," Brin joked. "It requires filling out a lot of forms. The S1, in particular, seems like a really long one," he said, referring to the form required by the government to start the IPO process. "Thus far, laziness has won out," he added. "There are so many other things for us to do." More seriously, Brin explained that competitors would gain insight on Google's finances. He added that going public could cause the company to focus too closely on short-term financial concerns and distract employees who watch the day-to-day movements of the stock...The financial reward to employees is one of the compelling reasons for an eventual IPO, Brin said. "So, we can't avoid it forever."
Resources, Reports, Tools, and Full-Text Documents ( 5 Items) Media Coverage--Iraq Source: Department of the Parliamentary Library, Parliament of Australia Full-Text Report, Media Under Fire: Reporting Conflict in Iraq Also available as html file. -- War in Iraq--Economics Source: Department of the Parliamentary Library, Parliament of Australia Full-Text Report, Economics of War with Iraq Also available as html file. -- War In Iraq Source: Department of the Parliamentary Library, Parliament of Australia Full-Text Report, Turkish Intervention in Northern Iraq Also available as html file -- Congressional Research Service Source: Law Librarians' Society of Washington New Web Accessible Collection, "Selected Congressional Research Service Reports on Congress and Its Procedures" "The site includes some 36 alphabetically arranged CRS reports, most of which have never before been made available on the Web." -- Energy--Statistics Source: EIA New Edition, Full-Text: International Energy Annual 2001
Virtual Reference The Wondir Project Announces Beta Test Matt Koll, co-founder of the Wondir project has let us know that a "concentrated" beta test is scheduled for this Wednesday night from 9-10pm EST. From Matt, "Please come to www.wondir.org during that hour and help us test the system. Feel free to ask questions. And even more important, please jump in and answer a question or two if you see anything on the ticker that you think you can be helpful with. If you register, and answer a question, you will be eligible to win prizes in the weekly Wondir drawing. wondir.org is a place where you can get instant answers to your questions. The Wondir Question Ticker can put your question in front of thousands of eyeballs instantly. And you can see what other people are asking right now. Ask or answer any question by instant messaging (or by posting or by email). Get help with homework, life problems, or anything else on your mind. Help others with their questions. Share your knowledge, experience and interests. Or just watch the stream of questions! Wondir is a free site run by a nonprofit organization. Our goal is to have a big open place where people can ask and answer questions easily. You don't even have to register to use it. Although, if you decide to register, you can receive tips ($$$) from people you help, and win prizes." Monday, March 24, 2003
Web Directories Source: News.Com Search engines find new results In a nutshell, directories are out in the commercial search engine world. This is why (you've heard it here many times) resources like RDN, LII, InfoMine, and others (did you see the review of AcademicInfo ten days ago?), are so important and useful.
Enterprise Search--FAST Search & Transfer FAST Launches New Version of Enterprise Search Tool Two new features: Live Analytics and the Business Manager’s Control Panel — "The Business Manager’s Control Panel merges the needs of searchers with the business goals of the organization. Utilizing an easy-to-use interface, business managers can tune the search attributes of the data source to ensure specific user search queries return the best combination of results that optimize both the relevance for the end-user and reflect business objectives, while freeing IT resources to concentrate on other tasks."
Professional Reading Shelf Institutional Repositories Full-Text Article, "Institutional Repositories: Essential Infrastructure for Scholarship in the Digital Age" An article by Clifford Lynch. -- Academic Libraries Source: ARL News Release: Annual Salary Survey for 2002-03 Published From the release, "The 2002-03 data show that ARL librarians' salaries are barely keeping up with inflation. The combined median salary for U.S. and Canadian ARL universities was $51,636, an increase of only 1.8% over last year. The Consumer Price Index in the U.S. increased by 1.5% last year and in Canada by 2.1%." Sunday, March 23, 2003
Resources, Reports, Tools, and Full-Text Documents Chemical Weapons Source: NLM New MEDLINEplus Compilation: Chemical Weapons Saturday, March 22, 2003
Information Visualization--Groxis Source: Forbes More About Groxis ResourceShelf linked to a NY Times article about this product in November. The October post also has links to some other info visualization tools. Friday, March 21, 2003
Two Current Awareness Tools Return to the Web Speech and Transcript Center Compilation Returns After being dormant for over a year, the Speech and Transcript Center is back online focusing on the Iraq situation. This compilation features the full-text transcripts of speeches, news conferences, etc. from government and other World leaders. I'm also adding useful full-text reports and reference resources to the page. -- Streaming Audio/Compilation Compilation is Back Online Another compilation that was full of broken and removed links is in the process of being updated. The page focuses on sources to monitor news from numerous global broadcasters.
Web Search--Google "Google’s Human Touch" Where should I start? The article begins by doing a great job of reinforcing the librarian stereotype. "In the good old days, if you had a question, you'd head to the library to do your research. And if you were still stumped, the nice librarian with the horn-rimmed glasses would gladly help." It continues with the sentence, "Search engines such as Yahoo!, AltaVista, and Google have largely replaced those library trips." All of that in the first two paragraphs! The author continues on with a the virtues of Google Answers making no mention of the free virtual reference services available from libraries. Also, no mention of remotely accessible databases. The article does contain a mention of Jessamyn West's experience as a Google Researcher. Nevertheless, this article once again shows that while we may be building some great services and more importantly have the skills to help others find answers/use these tools, many of the people we are trying to offer these services to think the "open web" and Google Answers is it! Sad. UPDATE: I telephoned the writer of this article and at about 10pm Friday she got back to me. I briefly explained that libraries and library services (databases, virtual reference, non-commercial directories) are available. After hearing my explanation, she told me that she had "no idea" that all of these services and content is available from today's public and academic library. Good news, It looks like these ideas will become stories that she'll write in the next few months. Let's keep our fingers crossed. -- Now, Take a Look at the Next Post
Information Quality Source: Cleveland Plain Dealer "Students and teachers cope with Web misinformation" From the article, "Students say they often simply "Google" homework assignments. They visit the search tool google.com, type in their research subject and pick out the first few Web sites that appear on the list. That hit-and-miss approach often produces bad information, experts say. Teachers and librarians, who see more at stake than bad homework assignments, are revamping coursework and giving younger students a new, tough assignment: to think critically about whether the information they are getting is real, valid and accurate...Students tend to go to the Web and graze and don't make any distinctions of what they are popping into their brains," said Earnestine Adeyemon, librarian at Case Western Reserve University.of the Web, because they are Internet savvy, they don't want to read anymore," said Adeyemon, who also works with high school students. "They've lost a critical step in [research]." Why do libraries (school, public) offer remotely accessible databases if these students and educators don't use them and just run to Google or Dogpile (give me a break). Do the students know "library databases" are available from home 24x7x365? Do the teachers know? Is it another marketing issue? Do they know reference books still exist and can be found in the library? Does the educator understand the many differences in types of resources? At the same time do they know (so it can be taught) how to judge web site authority? Can students and teachers exploit any part of a search engines technology to help focus searches/increase precision. Doing this could help improve the likelihood of accessing quality material.
Resources, Reports, Tools, and Full-Text Documents (6 Items) Satellite Imagery Source: Space Imaging The Top 10 Ikonos Satellite Images of 2002 Includes a cool image gallery. Space Imaging sells these and other products to various markets. You can also look at the 2001 list. -- Intelligence--Reading List Source: CIA Updated: Intelligence Literature -- Political Parties--United States--Statistics Source: FEC New, Politcal Party Fundraising 2001-2002 -- Education--Statistics--United States Source: U.S. Census Full-Text Report, Educational Attainment in the United States: March 2001 and March 2002 Summary and Direct Link to Tables -- Children--Canada--Guide Books Source: Government of Canada 2003 Update, Services for Children: Guide to Government of Canada Services for Children and their Families -- Privacy--United States Source: President’s Council on Integrity and Efficiency Full-Text Report, Disclosure of Social Security Numbers See Also: "IGs: Watch those Social Security numbers" (via GCN)
News Search--Google Something New from Google News A small tweak at Google News makes searching for material from a specific source easier. Let's say you want to find material from the Chicago Tribune with the containing the keyword, Pentagon. Enter the terms, source first and the query will automatically rewrite itself with the syntax source:Chicago Tribune. This automatically limits your search to a single source. You are also given an option run a search on those specific terms. Note: In some cases the query will not auto rewrite itself but an option to limit to source is offered. For example: a search for the keyword train in The Guardian.
Library Filtering Source: The Daily News (Longview, WA) "Library Filtering Bill Passes Washington Senate" From the article, ""Filters are far from perfect," said the librarian, Karl Marcuson. "I'm not completely opposed to filters, but my position is that they should be voluntary. For example, a parent could come in and say, 'I want a filter for the computer my child is using.' That is what larger systems, like Multnomah County and Fort Vancouver, are doing...Marcuson said the library already asks patrons to use discretion when viewing Internet sites. The computers are near the reference desk, in full view of passers-by. But library policy doesn't bar visits to certain Internet sites, he said." Thursday, March 20, 2003
Professional Reading Shelf The April/May Issue of the ASIST Bulletin is Now Online This 30 page issue (pdf) includes 5 articles about the Semantic Web. "More than a Vision" "An Overview of W3C Semantic Web Activity" "Semantic Web Services" "Metadata: A Fundamental Component of the Semantic Web" "Ontologies and the Semantic Web" -- Library Networks--Columbia Source: CLIR Full-Text, Biblored, Colombia's Innovative Library Network "This report describes Biblored, the library network in Bogotá, Colombia, that received the 2002 Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Access to Learning Award."
Libraries--United States Source: WAMU Radio ALA President Mitch Freedman Interviewed on Public Radio (Real Audio) "Mitch Freedman, president of the American Library Association, talks about the possible consequences of state budget cuts for libraries in more than 30 states, plus other issues affecting libraries and librarians." Thanks to Library Juice for the news tip.
Information Industry--Yahoo Yahoo Completes Acquisition of Inktomi Inktomi is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of Yahoo.
Resources, Reports, Tools, and Full-Text Documents Elections Source: Pew Internet & American Life Project New, Full-Text Report: Online campaigners, citizens, and portals in the 2002 elections A summary is also available. Wednesday, March 19, 2003
Digital Archives Source: The Guardian "Digital Dark Age" ResourceShelf had ran an item on this story about six weeks. Today, more on the digital archiving bill currently working its way through Parliament. The bills sponsor Chris Mole says, "We need legislation now to ensure a substantial and vital part of the nation's heritage is not lost," he says. "We must ensure the 21st century is not written about in future centuries as a new Dark Age where significant data and records are missing because certain formats were not collected and saved for posterity." From the article, "The dangers of delay are laid out in a report compiled last year by Electronic Publishing Services Ltd for the JCVD. Within the next three years the number of publications that exist purely as pdf, html or word files is expected to grow from 52,483 to 192,672 and the potential for loss is huge. The types of material at risk include national and local websites covering general elections and other historical data; resource discovery tools, such as the Applied Social Sciences Index and Abstract; major directories, such as Europe Info; bulletins, such as Oxford Economic Forecasting's Weekly Brief; news sources, such as web-published opinion polls, web-published local and national government documents; and e-journals, such as Sociological Research Online."
Information Industry--Nexcerpt Nexcerpt Forms Strategic Alliance with EMM Group Nexcerpt is one of the many tools I use to stay current with news and other events. I've been using it since it launched last month and so far I've been alerted to materials that I would have missed.
Information Industry--Kluwer Scholarly Publishing New Product, Kluwer Wireless "...a new online service devoted to wireless research and development. This digital library offers over 40,000 pages of peer-reviewed research authored by the leading international researchers and scientists in the field of wireless. Information is categorized and sorted by independent wireless consultants according to the needs of research professionals."
Information Industry--Reuters Reuters Will Provide Raw Video via Reuters.Com From the announcement, "Reuters Raw Video: Conflict in Iraq, a streaming video service that offers consumers direct access to front-line footage of the war in Iraq via the Reuters website, www.reuters.com. The service includes natural-sound war-related footage ranging from battlefield images to news conferences available around the clock."
Resources, Reports, Tools, and Full-Text Documents Electronic Commerce--United States--Statistics Source: U.S. Census Full-Text, Electronic Commerce Stats for 2001 Published by U.S. Census Today The report is formally titled, 2001 E-commerce Multi-sector Report Summary ||| Direct to Full-Text and Charts -- WHOIS--Databases Source: EPIC New Web Compilation, WHOIS and Privacy See Also: Full-Text Report, WHOIS Privacy Issues Report Tuesday, March 18, 2003
Information Industry--ProQuest "ProQuest's ABI/INFORM Expands to Include The Wall Street Journal" From the announcement, "ProQuest Information and Learning announced the addition of the full text of The Wall Street Journal to its family of ABI/INFORM full-text business databases. The content will be available immediately through the Web-based ProQuest online information service. The addition of the Wall Street Journal content provides ABI/INFORM users with access to the current full-text file of The Wall Street Journal, covering the years 1986 to present (with daily updates). The Wall Street Journal full text will be part of full-text subscriptions to ABI/INFORM CompleteTM, ABI/INFORM GlobalTM, ABI/INFORM ResearchTM.
Libraries--United Kingdom Source: BBC The Library as the "Idea Store" About a month ago ResourceShelf linked to an article from The Guardian about a new library in London that's calling itself an Idea Store. Today, BBC Online with another story and a few photos. From the article, "The word library is set to fade from our vocabulary - but not because we've fallen out of love with books. Today's libraries are being made over as "idea stores", complete with cafés, crèches and multi-media offerings." See Also: Direct to The Idea Store Home Page
Resources, Reports, Tools, and Full-Text Documents (5 Items) Topics in the News--Iraq Source: Department of the Parliamentary Library, Parliament of Australia Full-Text, Iraq: Issues on the Eve of War From the abstract, "This paper [21 pages] examines the objectives and plan of the US in post-Saddam Iraq and the Middle East. These include the humanitarian and security problems and the regional and wider impact of a war on Iraq." -- Topics in the News--Iraq Source: House of Commons Library, United Kingdom Full-Text, Iraq: developments since UN Security Council Resolution 1441 -- Topics in the News--North Korea Source: Department of the Parliamentary Library, Parliament of Australia Full-Text, North Korea Nuclear Crisis-Issues and Implications -- Aviation Safety--United States--Statistics Source: NTSB NTSB Posts Preliminary 2002 Aviation Statistics See Also: Summary/News Release -- Internet Censorship The Internet Censorship Explorer From the site, "The Internet Censorship Explorer (ICE) is "real time" censorship enumeration software. ICE demonstrates state-sponsored content filtering and blocking by delivering the content of blocked URLs to end users. After completing a query form, ICE will attempt to access the user-specified URL or domain using proxy servers located in the designated country. ICE will then display the results returned by the proxy server." ICE is based at The University of Toronto. See Also: Article from Wired Monday, March 17, 2003
Library Resources Source: The Chronicle of Higher Education "New Allies in the Fight Against Research by Googling" Those of you who have been able to join me for a training session or presentation know that I'm always emphasizing the need to distinguish the various types of resources available "On" and "Via" the web. This distinction came about several years ago while I was working at George Washington University. Students would say that a faculty member said to simply "go on the net" to find an answer or a full-text article. The students assumed that meant AltaVista or Lycos and paid no attention to the hundreds of resources licensed by the GWU. It's good to see (as discussed in the article) others making this IMPORTANT distinction. Thanks to Jill O. for the news tip. See Also: On ResourceShelfPLUS I've Posted A Chart That I Use in Training Sessions to Explain the "On the Web" vs. "Via the Web" Concept
Web Search More Sources for Cached Web Pages We're all aware of the fact that Google "caches" pages each time Googlebot comes through and crawls a web page. Caches are not permanent. The Wayback Machine an archive project does keep pages permanently) . Each page is "recached" each time the crawler visits the page. What gets by many people is that other web engines also cache web pages and could be useful in attempting to find a specific page that's either been removed from the web or its content has changed. Is any one source perfect? No. However, having multiple sources can be very useful. A few weeks ago I mentioned Fagan Finder's Page Information Viewer. It's a great tool to check various page info sources. It's also useful to check and see if the page has been cached by any/all of the following sources: * Google News * Daypop * Incy Wincy (A small web engine, many pages cached in November, 2002) * Yuntis (An experimental engine from State University of New York, Stonybrook) * The Internet Archive (A PERMANENT source to over 30 billion captured web pages) --You'll find direct links to these various sources in the left column of the page. --One More Point: Gigablast, another general web engine also caches web pages. Simply run your search and press the cache link or enter a url and see if the page is available. Gigablast also does a good job of listing the date the page was cached. See Also: Fagan Finder Also Makes a Useful Tool "Site Info" Page. Look for the Link Labeled "Bookmarklet" See Also: Feedster is Another Source for Cached Content
Information Industry Source: Information Today "Microsoft Office 2003 Opens New Marke to Fee-Based Information Services" Last Monday ResourceShelf had a lenghty post and a few comments about MS Office 2003 providing space for fee-based services. Today, Barbara Quint offers more details in an ITI NewsBreak.
Virtual Reference Source: Washington Times Maryland Launches Virtual Reference Service Statewide From the article, "Libraries across the state are starting a free service today called Maryland AskUsNow, which will make librarians available 24 hours a day, seven days a week for online chat sessions."What we're really doing is we're breaking down those barriers of time and space that have existed for hundreds of years," said Joe Thompson, project coordinator for the service. AskUsNow utilizes technology and librarians from the 24x7 Reference service. See Also: More from the Baltimore Sun
Professional Reading Shelf New Web Compilation: Quick and Dirty Guide to Microfilm Digitization Companies Compiled and maintained by Linda S. Chapman from The Patriot Ledger in Quincy, Mass. Posted by the News Division of the Special Libraries Association. -- Digital Libraries The March, 2003 Issue of D-Lib Magazine is Now Online Selected Contents: * "The SCIELO Brazilian Scientific Journal Gateway and Open Archives" * "Building upon the MyLibrary Concept to Better Meet the Information Needs of College Students" * "Open Archives and UK Institutions: An Overview" * "The Utah Digital Newspapers Project" * "Examples of Practical Digital Libraries: Collections Built Internationally Using Greenstone" "In Brief" Reports: + "The CARL Institutional Repositories Pilot Project" + "The Australian e-Humanities Gateway + "University of Minnesota Electronic Portfolio is Open Source" + "Nerdi Web on Science and the Internet" + "The Health Education Assets Library (HEAL)" + "Public Comment Period for OpenURL Standard" -- Libraries and Librarians Full-Text, The April, 2003 Edition of Walt Crawford's Cites and Insights is Now Available Sunday, March 16, 2003
Academic Libraries Source: Iowa State Daily Clever Library Marketing: Datapalooza Rocks Iowa State University What a great name for a library orientation program. Saturday, March 15, 2003
Health Research New Subsets Available For National Library of Medicine Gateway Searches From the announcement, "...search subsets will be available in the NLM Gateway. Implementation of search subsets will enable users to limit their searches of PubMed Journal Citations, Books/Serials/AVs, and Meeting Abstracts...Each search subset employs customized search strategies to assist in the retrieval of relevant items in the three collections (PubMed, Books/Serials/AVs, Meeting Abstracts). The subsets will limit searches to items on one of four specialized topics: AIDS, Bioethics, History of Medicine, and Space Life Sciences. The search subsets will be accessed in the Gateway's Limits." See Also: NLM Gateway Search Examples
Digitization Projects--U.K. Source: Kablenet.Com Liverpool Library and Info Service to Digitize Millions of Documents From the article, "Liverpool’s Library and Information Service is planning to digitise millions of archives, including birth certificates, school registers and details of people who emigrated from the city. It will make the documents available on the internet by 2007, the city council announced on 13 March 2003. The £10m digitisation project will also see the downloading of the Central Library's collection of rare artifacts, such as the city's historic charters, into one of the world's biggest virtual archives. To complement the project, the city council is also planning a £30m redevelopment of the library to house a 21st century Heritage Centre." Friday, March 14, 2003
Professional Reading Shelf Newspaper Preservation--Canada Full-Text Report, Canadian Newspapers Online: A National Consultation HTML Version ||| PDF Version (10 Pages) -- Newspaper Preservation--Australia Article, "THE N-Plan: Ten Years of Preserving Australia's Newspaper Heritage"
Web Search--Google Source: Chilling Effects "Microsoft Complains of Product Key in Google Cache" A DMCA complaint. It appears the cached page has been removed.
Resources, Reports, Tools, and Full-Text Documents (3 Items) Freedom of Information Act--United States New, Full-Text: The National Security Archive Freedom of Information Act Audit From the announcement, "The National Security Archive at George Washington University today released results from the first-ever government-wide audit of federal responses to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests. The audit shows dramatic variations in agency reactions to the restrictive FOIA guidance issued by Attorney General John Ashcroft in October 2001." See Also: "Fretting About the State of FOIA" (via Wired) -- Higher Education--United States--Statistics Higher Education--United States--Lists & Rankings Source: Council for Aid to Education New: Contributions to Colleges and Universities in the United States, 2002 The complete report is fee-based but a four page overview is available (free). The free reports contains the "Top 20 Higher Education Institutions in Total Amount Raised, 2002" list. -- Assistive Technology Source: MEDLINEplus New Compilation: Assistive Devices Thursday, March 13, 2003
Web Resources of the Week 1) Academic Info I've done my best to point out some of the great general interest web directories available for researchers in the past two years. I've mentioned on numerous occasions the LII, InfoMine, and the Resource Discovery Network. All of these general knowledge directories strive for quality over quantity. They're also well organized, current, and offer many advanced searching options. Today, it's Academic Info's turn to get the Resource of the Week designation. Academic Info is not a new resource. It's been around since April, 1998 and is compiled and organized by Mike Madin in Seattle. That's right, the entire directory is the work of Mike, one paid part-time employee and a couple of volunteers. Before working full-time on AI, Madin worked in the tech services dept of the University of Washington Law Library. For about a year the project has been registered as a IRS 501(c)(3) charitable organization. -- Material is organized into 13 top-level subject gateways. AI also offers a ready reference desk and a great collection of resources of special interest to students (financial aid, job placement, scholarships, etc.). I do my very best to feature new and updated resources on ResourceShelf. However, no one place can even attempt to have it all. Academic Info is also a superb tool to find new documents, resources in the news, etc. On the home page you'll find a link to subscribe to a monthly e-mail update along with a link to review the latest postings online. Like the directories mentioned at the beginning of this post, Academic Info is not only a great tool with high quality to browse but it's also a great collection development resource. Use it, the other directories, and ResourceShelf as tools to help build your bookmark file or local collection. See Also: The Value of Non-Commercial Web Directories This is an article I wrote about two months ago while guest editing of Search Day. -- 2) Pronunciations--Database The Voice of America Pronunciation Guide Search or browse this database of names of people in the news. Then, read a phonetic pronunciation and/or listen (online) to the name pronounced by someone at the VOA. Caveat: Some of these names can be pronounced several ways. This dbase is how they are spoken at this one organization.
Resources, Reports, Tools, and Full-Text Documents United Kingdom New, U.K. Gateway Goes Live, Enrich.UK From the announcement, "The www.EnrichUK.net gateway gives one-stop access to a panorama of culture, history and community resources of museums, archives, libraries and galleries in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. It aims to help meet the public appetite for online learning across the UK. The EnrichUK portal draws together 150 websites funded through the initiative into a unique online collection ranging from national centres of excellence to regional 'sense of place', voluntary and community organisations and small local museums." See Also: Full-Text of News Announcement -- Marriage--United States--Statistics Source: U.S. Census Full-Text Report, Married-Couple and Unmarried-Partner Households: 2000 Summary ||| Full-Text -- R&D--United States--Statistics Source: NSF Updated: National Patterns of R&D Resources: 2002 Data Update (current to October 2002) "These update tables provide data on U.S. R&D expenditures by source of funds, type of R&D performer, character of work (basic research, applied research, or development), and type of monetary unit (current dollars or constant 1996 dollars), for the years 1953-2002. In addition, data are provided on the geographic location of U.S. R&D, R&D scientists and engineers in the U.S., federally funded research and development centers, and international R&D expenditures."
Digital Libraries Source: Raleigh News and Observer "The Wide, Wild World of Ibiblio" From the article, "Welcome to the Internet's oldest online archive and one of the largest. Housed at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's campus, ibiblio (www.ibiblio.org) fashions itself as the Internet's public library. It is free to visitors and users of its hosting services -- thanks to backing from the university, technology companies and private grants -- and exists solely for the purpose of putting information into the public domain."...""It's really pushing the edge of where the libraries are going to be," says JoAnn G. Marshall, dean of UNC's school of information and library science. "It's a contributor-run library. Instead of one kind of library, we're going to have many different kinds of libraries, and they're going to be created by the creators." See Also: Direct to the ibiblio Archive
Info Industry--Gale Gale Gets Link In Office 2003 On Monday ResourceShelf featured news of Factiva getting a direct click link in MS Office 2003. Gale will also make a business database available. Wednesday, March 12, 2003
Professional Reading Shelf The Winter 2003 Issue of E-JASL: The Electronic Journal of Academic and Special Librarianship Is Online Articles: * "An Education in Copyright Law: A Primer for Cyberspace" * "Usability Testing at Florida International University Libraries: What We Learned" * "Digitization in an Archival Environment"
ResearchShelf Web Search--Research New Research Paper: "Query-Free News Search" I've posted a new research paper by Sergey Brin, Monika Henzinger, et al. (Google) to Resourceshelf Extra.
The British Library The British Library to Use Digimarc Watermarking Products From the article, "The British Library will use ImageBridge to incorporate digital watermarks in online images and other digital assets created for a new web-based project, providing an easy and economical means to communicate rights ownership and promote e-commerce."..."Our vision is to bring key British Library collections to everyone -- at work, school, college or home," said Richard Boulderstone, director of eStrategy at the British Library. "With Digimarc's technology, we will have the ability to share our unique treasures while ensuring future identification and appropriate use."
Resources, Reports, Tools, and Full-Text Documents Labor--Searchable Database O*NET OnLine Receives Upgrade From an GCN article, "The Labor Department yesterday released the Occupational Information Network Online 4.0, an improved version of its database of worker attributes and job characteristics. O*Net, available at online.onetcenter.org, replaces the department’s Dictionary of Occupational Titles...The O*Net upgrade includes a streamlined home page, a more powerful search engine, flexible report options and direct links from listed occupations to information on related apprenticeship opportunities. Labor contracted with the O*Net Consortium and the National Center for O*Net Development at the North Carolina Employment Security Commission to implement the upgrade. The consortium last upgraded the system in 1998.
News Briefs Public Libraries Kansas--Internet Filters Being Considered for Use in Kansas Public Libraries (via Lawrence Journal World) -- Ottawa, Canada--"Library porn hearing delayed for ruling" (via The Ottawa Citizen) Tuesday, March 11, 2003
News Searching Business Research New Content at Yahoo News, Wall Street Journal Content From Yahoo Asia, New Limits at Rocket News 1) Yahoo's Asia Portal Offers Several Stories Each Day from the Wall Street Journal (Free!) 2) New, Yahoo Offers Full-Text Content From Investors' Business Daily 3) New, Rocket News, A Full-Text News Search Engine, Now Offers Seven News Category Limits (General, Business, Science...) On Its Advanced Search Page
Instant Messaging Source: The NY Times "Clique of Instant Messagers Expands Into the Workplace" Instant messaging in the workplace is booming. Have you tried Smarter Child? It's an instant messaging "chat bot" you can query with a few types of ready reference questions. We featured a lengthy post about it in January. The technology can be purchased and be used in various ways by information organizations.
Language Analysis Source: Computerworld Learn About: Basis Technology, A Language Analysis Software Company This is the same type of software web engines and others use to determine what language a document is written in. From the article, "To help in that effort [tracking terrorists], a Cambridge, Mass.-based globalization software company, Basis Technology Inc., has created the Rosette Arabic Language Analyzer. The tool can plug into data mining applications used by U.S. defense and security agencies that are involved in scouring the Internet for Web sites written in Arabic...The analyzer is one of 37 Rosette foreign language analyzers offered by Basic Technology. The analyzers identify the language of the content and then convert the text into standardized Unicode, the international character set that provides a unique number for every character in any language." According to the article and the company web site, Basis technology is being used by FAST Search and Transfer and Google.
Education--Specialized Databases New ERIC Search Engine Coming Online in Spring Via Department of Ed Web Site From the ERIC site, "The ERIC Processing and Reference Facility is progressing on schedule with developing custom features for a new ERIC database search engine, which will be introduced along with a redesigned ERIC systemwide site. The ERIC Program Office anticipates that all the testing and development work will be completed in the Spring to launch the new system at http://www.eric.ed.gov/ on May 1st."
Enterprise Search--Verity U.S. Army Chooses Verity for Its Knowledge Portal The Army's Knowledge Online portal (AKO) has one of the largest user bases of any enterprise portal in the world.
Professional Organizations--Special Libraries Association SLA Announces Election Winners The Special Libraries Association has just announced its 2003-2004 Board of Directors.
Resources, Reports, Tools, and Full-Text Documents Controlled Vocabularies--ERIC New Document, Additions and Modifications to the ERIC Vocabulary Since September, 2000 Note: These additions/changes are not included in the main body of the 14th (2001) edition of the Thesaurus of ERIC Descriptors -- Chief Executive Officers--Survey Source: Forbes Full-Text, “A Day in the Life of CEOs Online” Survey Summary ||| Direct to Full-Text -- Internet at Work Source: Monthly Labor Review (2/03) 1) Full-Text article, "Computer and Internet use at work in 2001" Abstract | Excerpt | Full text in PDF 2) Full-Text article, "Workplace e-mail and Internet use: employees and employers beware" Abstract | Excerpt | Full text in PDF -- Education--Canada Source: Statistics Canada New, Full-Text Report: Education in Canada: Raising the standard -- Income--Canada Source: Statistics Canada New, Full-Text Report: Earnings of Canadians: Making a living in the new economy -- Education Spending--United States Source: U.S. Census Just Released, "2001 Annual Survey of Local Government Finances — School Systems" Summary ||| Direct to Searchable Database -- Crime--United States--Statistics Source: BJS Full-Text Report, "Reporting Crime to the Police, 1992-2000" Summary ||| Direct to Full-Text Monday, March 10, 2003
Information Industry--Factiva Factiva Services to be Integrated Into Microsoft Office 2003 It sure would be great if Bill Gates, a VERY visible (words and $$$) supporter of libraries, would also with a place in Office 2003 where a user could search the databases via his or her public library. How about a space in Office 2003 where an academic would have direct access to his or her own academic library? What about a virtual reference service tab? Potentially important desktop "real estate" where library services should be visible. Of course, this is assuming that people will select resources other than Google. From the announcement, "Factiva's first solution for Office 2003, Factiva News Search, will allow information workers to conduct research on Factiva’s collection of nearly 8,000 sources directly from a report or presentation they’re creating. For example, while drafting a competitive brief in Word 2003, competitive intelligence professionals can use Factiva News Search to quickly look up important industry trends from the most influential newspapers, journals, and newswires from around the world and easily insert that research into their document."..."Factiva will be a valuable source of news and business information in Office 2003 when it becomes commercially available in the third quarter of this year. Factiva News Search will be integrated into the Research Task Pane of all Microsoft Office 2003 applications, including Word 2003, Excel 2003, Access 2003, Outlook 2003, and PowerPoint 2003. Factiva News Search is currently available as part of the Microsoft Office 2003 Beta 2 trial." See Also: eLibrary Will Also Have Space in Office 2003 More chances for the average searcher to pay for content he or she already has remote access to via their school or public library. It's also another place for the searcher to have his or her belief that library services and librarians are no longer needed.
Open Source Intelligence Information Industry--Dialog NTIS's World News Connection Database Will Now Be Maintained and Hosted by Dialog From the announcement, "[Dialog] will take over hosting and maintaining World News Connection (WNC), the U.S. Government's daily online global news monitoring service. WNC is published by the National Technical Information Service (NTIS), an agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce. It is a Web-accessible service that offers an extensive array of translated and English-language news and information compiled daily by the U.S. government's Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS)." "FBIS bureaus around the world monitor news sources in their regions, covering virtually all countries worldwide except the United States. Editorial content includes articles and reports originating in countries that are not normally included in publicly available news digests, such as Iraq, Iran and North Korea. WNC is currently offered directly by the NTIS. The service offers the full text and summaries of newspaper articles, conference proceedings, television and radio broadcasts, periodicals and non-classified technical reports. Content is added to the online service every government business day, and generally is available for electronic searching and retrieval within 24-72 hours of original publication or broadcast...Dialog and NTIS will make a more detailed announcement later in the year when WNC is re-launched by Dialog. Dialog expects to incorporate the WNC into its family of online services, and also to offer it as a separate, stand-alone service." See Also: Direct to the World News Connection Site (Free Trial Available)
Information Industry--EBSCO Source: Library Journal "EBSCO Says divine Deal is Done, With Contingencies" From the article, "EBSCO Industries March 6 announced that it has completed an agreement to acquire divine, Inc.'s collapsed U.S. subscription business RoweCom, Inc. which includes the operations of Dawson, Inc., Dawson Information Quest, Inc., The Faxon Company, Inc., Turner Subscription Agency, Inc., McGregor Subscription Service, Inc., and Corporate Subscription Services, Inc. No dollar figure was announced for the sale, as the sale is contingent on three factors. Those are: the approval of a U.S. bankruptcy court; EBSCO's acquisition of RoweCom's European operations, and the participation of at least 50 percent of publishers agreeing to participate in the proposed settlement. EBSCO officials said they expect approval from bankruptcy court, possibly as early as April, and also expect the approval of French regulators, the final step in the European deal, in two to three weeks." See Also: "EBSCO’s Takeover of RoweCom Continues"
Document Delivery Scholarly Publishing Infrotrieve Signs Contnet Signs Content Agreement with Six STM Publishers Primarily medical journals.
Maps--United States Rand McNally Donates Historical Road Map Archive to Chicago's Newberry Library From the annoucement, "Rand McNally donated the complete archival collection of more than 100,000 printed road maps produced between 1927 and 1996 by the H. M. Gousha Company, a company it had acquired in 1996. With this collection, the Chicago library is now the leading center for the conservation and study of the American road map. A set of duplicate maps has been provided to the Geography and Map Division of the Library of Congress... In a 50-year period, between the 1920s and the mid-1970s, millions of road maps were printed by the nation's oil companies as promotional items for gas stations to distribute free to motorists. Rand McNally, General Drafting, and Gousha were three map companies primarily responsible for much of this enormous cartographic output." See Also: Direct to the Newberry Library
Resources, Reports, Tools, and Full-Text Documents (3 Items) United Nations--Calendars New, United Nations Conferences and Observances A calendar of 2003 global meetings and other events. -- Demographics--United States Source: U.S. Census The Foreign Born Population in the United States Summary ||| Full-Text -- Health Information Source: MEDLINEplus New, MEDLINEplus Compilation: Migraines Sunday, March 09, 2003
Web Archives Source: Voice of America Report: "Preserving the Net" A short report about preserving web content. Laura Campbell from The Library of Congress and Brewster Kahle of The Internet Archive are interviewed. You can read the transcript and/or listen to a streaming audio version of the report. Saturday, March 08, 2003
Web Tools Hooray, GuruNet is Back! Well it really never went away. GuruNet, a web tool that started with this name, then changed it to Atomica Slingshot, is back to being called GuruNet. It's been mentioned on ResourceShelf many times. This is one great add-on research tool that can save you many clicks and a bunch of time Give it a try. It's costs about $35/US but you can use the complete product for 2 weeks before you need to make a decision to purchase it. If you choose not to license it, you can still use GuruNet as a dictionary and thesaurus for free. What does GuruNet Offer? Highlight Any Text on A Web Page or any other text document, or by Enter Words into GuruNet Topic Bar After the application opens you'll find content from many sources just one click away. For example: * MarketGuide Company Profiles * Definitions from Several Dictionaries * Unit Conversion Tables * Biographical Info From Many Sources (for example: U.S. Governor Profiles from National Governors Association) * Acronyms * Click Another Set of Tabs and Find Results from Google News and Other Web Engines One Easily Corrected Problem: The GuruNet Folks Should Have Done a Bit of Research and Selected Different Web Engines. First, Northern Light is Just About Gone. Second, Yahoo Uses the Same Database as Google. Third, Google Web Results DON'T Work. I'm betting that Google is not Allowing GuruNet to Tap Their Database Without Paying for It. See Also: From ResourceShelf 2/2003, Atomica (GuruNet's parent) Received a U.S. Patent See Also: ResourceShelf 1/2002 Posting About Atomica See Also: Walt Mossberg's Review in the WSJ (Thanks to beSpacific for the news tip).
Online Searching More on John Kleinberg's Word Burst Research The mainstream press has picked up on the concept. Please check the 2/2003 ResourceShelf posting for much more info and a link to Daypop, where some of these concepts have been implemented. Also, The full-text of Dr. Kleinberg's paper is now available on the web along with a second document with examples. Friday, March 07, 2003
Topics in the News--Iraq Statements to the United Nations Security Council 1) Full-Text, Statement by Executive Chairman of UNMOVIC, Dr. Hans Blix 2) Full-Text, Statement by IAEA Director General, Dr. Mohamed ElBaradei 3) Full-Text, Statement by the Foreign Minister of France, Dominique de Villepin 4) Full-Text, Statement by the U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell 5) Edited Transcript, Statement by the Foreign Minister of the U.K., Jack Straw 6) Full-Text, Statement by the Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Federal Republic of Germany, Joschka Fischer 7) Full-Text, Statement by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China, H.E. Mr. Tang Jiaxuan 8) Full-Text, Statement by the Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Igor Ivanov 9) Full-Text, Statement by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Chile, Ms. Maria Soledad Alvear More Documents as They Become Available -- 10) United Nations Press Release (Summary of Entire Meeting) More Documents as They Become Available
Resources, Reports, Tools, and Full-Text Documents Business--Canada--Database Upgrade, Canadian Importers Database From the announcement, "The Strategis and Business Information Services Directorate has launched a new and improved version of the Canadian Importers Database. This product provides lists of the companies (with their geographical locations) importing goods into Canada. These data are compiled from customs documentation filled out by importers in the year 2001. The new version continues to provide you with the ability to find which companies are importing a given product into Canada and to identify the top importers from any given Canadian city. New features allow you to find the top importers from any country. You also now have the ability to identify the top importers for a given product by country of origin." -- Higher Education--United States--Databases Source: NCES Database Update, College Opportunities On-Line (COOL) Nearly 7,000 colleges and universities in the United States. COOL was just updated with academic year price information for 2002-03. -- Education--United States--Databases Source: NCES New Feature, Search for Schools, Colleges and Libraries Database "You can now get summary information on all colleges in your search before linking to the complete information contained in the IPEDS COOL postsecondary information data base."
Internet Filtering Soruce: News.Com Interview: Judith Krug From the ALA's Office of Intellectual Freedom Chats With News.Com
Web Search--MSN Search MSN Search: Changes On February 11th ResourceShelf noted that MSN Search was beta testing some changes. It appears that the changes are now available at Search.MSN.Com. In terms of content, MSN Search now offers PDF, Word, Powerpoint, and Excel content. The advanced search page allows you to limit a search to one or more of these formats. The material on the results page not only depends on your search terms but is also determined by which interface you choose to use. Entering a search on the basic interface page will return (depending on search terms), "topics" (options to narrow), featured sites (includes advertising), sponsored sites, search result previews (images), directory sites, web pages matches, and categories to broaden your search. Searching via the advanced interface returns ONLY web page results (aka a pure Inktomi search). MSN's Web Search results are powered by Inktomi. Thursday, March 06, 2003
Web Resources of the Week Specialized Databases--Science PolySearch Energy Dr. Péter Jacsó is a respected member of the library and info tech world. He's not only a columnist for several publications, including a series of monthly reviews on Gale.Com (free), but also a frequent conference speaker, and an Associate Professor in the Library and Information Science program at the University of Hawaii. Folks, that's just scratching the surface. You'll have to take a look at a list of his publications, conferences, and grants and awards to see it all. Although his personal web page is a treasure trove of material it's not one of this week's resources. So why the mention? Péter has created a new web search "tool" that might be of interest to some of you, especially if you're searching for material in the area of energy science, PolySearch Energy Here's how Péter described it to me in a recent e-mail, "...if one needs to search and retrieve effectively and for free a few million abstracts (and in some cases full text records) for scholarly articles about energy science and technology, it is already far superior than PubSCIENCE ever could have dreamt of." Searching is about as straightforward as it gets. Enter your search term(s) into the box, then select the databases you want to search (15 are available), and how you want the result windows displayed. That's it! A page of results will open for each database searched. -- Think Tanks--Worldwide--Directories Source: NIRA Finally, Updated and Online: The World Directory of Think Tanks (Web Version) After three years, an updated version is online from the National Institute for Research Advancement in Japan. From the directory, "NIRA's World Directory of Think Tanks provides a systematic introduction to the world's most prominent and innovative public policy research institutes, better known as think tanks. This completely revised edition contains up-to-date information available on 320 specially selected think tanks from 77 countries and regions. It also provides a convenient index of institutes by English names, acronyms and non-English names. This directory is an unusually detailed collection of carefully compiled information on public policy research institutes worldwide."
Information Industry--divine Source: Chicago Tribune (registration required, free) Where's the Money? divine Target of Federal Probe From the article, "A federal grand jury is investigating Divine Inc., Chicago's one-time technology darling, to determine what happened to $65 million in customer payments, documents obtained by the Tribune show. The criminal investigation threatens to complicate the difficult legal and financial problems facing Divine and its chief executive, Andrew "Flip" Filipowski." Wednesday, another Tribune article reported that divine is "fully complying" with the investigation. Thanks to Bernie S. for the news tip.
Internet Filtering Soruce: ZDNet CIPA Case Argued at U.S. Supreme Court From the article, "The US Supreme Court on Wednesday weighed whether a federal law aimed at installing Internet filters on public library systems adequately balances free expression with restricting sexually-explicit material." Also available, the transcipt of an online chat with Paul M. Smith, lead attorney representing the American Library Association (via WashingtonPost.Com)
News Resources NewsNow Hits The 7000 Sources Mark This is one of my favorite tools to browse (limited search functionality) for current headlines on hundreds of topics. The pull-down menus in the left column bring you to subject focused pages. If you keep any NewsNow window(s) open in your browser, the page(s) will refresh with "just published" content every five minutes. Headlines are kept for 30 days. Make sure to check out the live feed page. A virtual ticker of news from open web resources.
Resources, Reports, Tools, and Full-Text Documents (2 Items) Energy--Chronology Source: EIA Updated, World Oil Market and Oil Price Chronologies, 1970-2002 -- Holidays--Fast Facts Source: U.S. Census Fact Sheet: St. Patrick's Day Facts about Irish Americans and related topics. (eg. "9 places in the United States share the name of Ireland's capital - Dublin. Dublin, Ohio, was the most populous, at 31,392, followed closely by Dublin, Calif., at 29,973. |
