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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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Wednesday, April 30, 2003
Digitization--United Kingdom Source: Managing Information The British Library Launches Large Image Digitization Project From the article, "The British Library have launched their biggest ever digitisation programme for a new website called 'In Place'. The site will go online on May 21st and by 2004 you'll be able to see and hear 100,000 images and sounds from BL's world-renowned collections - without ever coming to London." See Also: The BL Just Opened a Fee-Based Service For Image Content "A new service offers easy access to thousands of unique and unusual images from the illuminated manuscripts, archive photographs, maps and engravings held by the British Library. Images Online (www.bl.uk/imagesonline) enables users to search thousands of items from Library collections and currently contains around 8,000 images, ranging from medieval depictions of witchcraft to Lewis Carroll's original drawings for Alice's Adventures in Wonderland."
Online Databases "Drowning not Waving? Promoting Online Resources" In a new issue of the xrefer newsletter, Peter Bolger, a Reference and Information Manager in the U.K., offers a few suggestions for promoting online databases and services. Btw, I love what the New York Public Library says on their electronic resources page, "Search the Branch Libraries' e-resources for great information you won't find on Google." How's that for short and to the point. It goes on to list many types of material including full-text magazine and journal articles, biographies, and reliable encyclopedias. Actually, another large challenge reamins, getting potential users to go to library web site and click on the e-resources page.
Public Libraries Domain Names Source: Bloomington Herald Times "Monroe County [Indiana] Library's Name Used in Anti-Abortion Web Address" Here's another one for your "domain names aren't always as easy as typing in the name" folder. From the article, When surfing the Web, don't enter www.monroecountylibrary.com. Not unless you want to access an anti-abortion Web site, featuring a purported photograph depicting an aborted fetus. Anybody can purchase rights to Internet domain addresses, and an organization called abortionismurder.org apparently owns www.monroecountylibrary.com. The Monroe County Public Library's real Web address is www.monroe.lib.in.us. Note: A WHOIS search (not always reliable) shows that it's registered to a company in the Bronx, NY called Pro-Life Domains inc. See Also: We've Learned that WinnipegPublicLibrary.Com also Returns the Same Page as Discussed in the Article (Thanks G.T. ) See Also: The Associated Press Has A Short Article
Internet Filtering--Canada Source: Ottawa Citizen "Trustees defy library chief's order to keep quiet on Net porn issue" From the article, Ottawa Public Library trustees are being told to remain silent on the controversial issue of Internet access on library computers until a final decision is made this week. The order was issued by chief librarian Barbara Clubb in an e-mail sent yesterday to the library's 15 board members -- including six Ottawa city councillors...The directive effectively shuts down public debate on an issue that has divided the board between those who believe in limiting children's access to pornography on library computers and those who oppose the move on the basis of intellectual freedom and access to information.
Web Search--AllTheWeb Source: Search Engine Showdown AllTheWeb as a Simple Calculator Greg points out that you can use ATW as a calculator. He also mentions that this might not be new. Regardless, thanks to GN for publishing the info. Make sure to use the proper syntax. Example: (2 * 100) / 50 +4-3
Professional Reading Shelf New, A Full Issue of The Journal of Digital Information is Online (Vol.4) Articles include: "Towards a Core Ontology for Information Integration" "Macro Approaches to Digital Searching and Secondary Research" "Scholarly Associations and the Economic Viability of Open Access Publishing"
Resources, Reports, Tools, and Full-Text Documents (5 Items) Information Industry--Associations Source: el.Pub List: Information Industry Trade and Professional Associations A long list with direct links. Global in scope. --- Terrorism Source: U.S. State Department New, Full-Text, Patterns of Global Terrorism (2002) Available in html and pdf. -- Information Sharing Source: GAO New, Full-Text Report, Information Technology: Terrorist Watch Lists Should Be Consolidated to Promote Better Integration and Sharing Summary ||| Direct to Full-Text The 84 page report includes several charts and tables. -- Documents in the News--Middle East Peace Process Source: U.S. State Department Full-Text: A Performance-Based Roadmap to a Permanent Two-State Solution to the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict -- Wiretaps Source: U.S. Courts Wiretap Report 2002 Summary ||| Direct to Full-Text
ERIC Source: Education Week (Registration Required, Free) Another Article About the Possible Cut in Funding to ERIC From the article, Supporters of the existing structure acknowledge the need for improvement and say they have been working to smooth the system. But the department's plan, they say, does not recognize the contributions of the clearinghouses in expanding customer services and bringing subject-area expertise to those collections. See Also: "Two information centers at IU in jeopardy" (via The Herald Times, Bloomington, IN) See Also: Additional ResourceShelf Coverage Tuesday, April 29, 2003
Multimedia Search--Singingfish Source: EContent More About Singingfish Learn more about this search tool that allows you to find and access streaming audio and video content. Singingfish is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Thomson. See Also: Direct to Singingfish ||| Direct to Singingfish Advanced Search Interface See Also: "Singingfish Grows As Multimedia Search Provider" (via Search Engine Watch) See Also: A ResourceShelf 8/02 Posting About Singingfish
American Library Association ALA and the Annual Conference in Toronto: Still No Decision A new message from ALA is online this afternoon about the Annual Conference in Toronto. It includes the following passage: "The Executive Board has determined that it needs more time to review information and conclude its deliberations. Further discussion has been scheduled for Friday morning. Information on the 2003 Annual Conference will be posted on the ALA home page and disseminated widely as soon as a decision is reached. You can read the full-text of the statement here.
Alternative Literature Source: Seattle Times "ZAPPed: Collecting 'zines' as a document of our times" From the article, Most people are a little overwhelmed when they first come in," says Alissa Nielsen, curator and librarian of the Zine Archives and Publishing Project (ZAPP) at Seattle's Richard Hugo House literary center. She's right...For those unfamiliar with zines, Nielsen points to Factsheet Five, a zine reference and review magazine, which offers the following definition: "a small, handmade, amateur publication done purely out of passion, rarely making a profit or breaking even. Sounds like 'zeen.'..The more than 7,000 zines housed at ZAPP exhibit tremendous variety in format and topic. Some are professionally printed, glossy affairs; others are handwritten and guerrilla-photocopied at work. Some have the look and feel of your average alternative weekly, others arrive scrolled up in a prescription pill bottle.
Specialized Search Tools--Scirus Scirus Introduces Toolbar Something new from Elsevier's science only search tool. It offers access to open web and proprietary "science" related content. See Also: From February 2003: White Paper, "How Scirus Works"
E-Books Libraries--U.K. Source: IT-Director.Com E-books arrive in UK public libraries From the article, "E-books have moved beyond the confines of academic and specialist libraries and have now arrived in public libraries in the UK, though they have already been introduced in the USA, Canadian and Australian public libraries." The article does not cite any specific examples.
Information Industry Briefs (2 Items) netLibrary...Company Introduces Redesigned Book Reader -- ebrary..Institutional Repository Pilot Program Announced
Professional Reading Shelf Dictionaries The Spring 2003 Issue of Oxford English Dictionary News is Online -- Library Associations The American Library Association Annual Report, 2001-2002, is Online
Resources, Reports, Tools, and Full-Text Documents (5 Items) Mothers--United States Source: U.S. Census Fast Facts, New, Fact and Stat Sheet About U.S. Moms -- Executive Compensation--United States Source: Forbes Now Available, The Forbes 2003 CEO Compensation Report (America's Biggest Companies) is Online The primary list can be sorted using 8 criteria (total compensation, name, age, etc.) The main list is also searchable. -- Economy--United States Economy--India Source: Congressional Research Service Full-Text, New CRS Report: India-U.S. Economic Relations -- Space Shuttle Accident Source: GPO New, Selected Congressional Hearings and Reports from the Challenger Space Shuttle A selection of publications that were assembled for Congress as background materials for the February, 2003 hearings regarding the Columbia accident are now available on the web. Content includes the full-text of Apollo 13 and Space Shuttle Challenger accident hearings. -- Government Services--Canada--Directories New, Full-Text, Services for You (2003 Edition) Includes a list of government toll-free telephone numbers. Monday, April 28, 2003
Reference Resources NYPL Lists "Best of Reference 2003" A direct link to the complete list that includes both electronic and print materials. Of special note: Congrats to Karen Schneider and her team at the Librarians' Index to the Internet for making the list. Well-deserved! Also, a tip o' the cap to the LII's founder Carole Leita for creating such a important resource. Other notable electronic resources making the list include The Scout Report and Statistical Resources on the Web from the Univ of Michigan Documents Center.
Libraries Source: The New York Times "Of Libraries, Superstores and Lattes" From the article, "Given the options - free library or capitalist bookstore - and the latte at Barnes & Noble notwithstanding, the superior choice seems obvious. But maybe not. Barnes & Noble appears to be thriving, while the library hobbles along. Besotted by consumerism, it seems that we don't feel that our objects of desire, even our objects of intellectual desire, are truly valuable unless we pay for them, and dearly...But blaming the customer alone would be unfair. When it comes to marketing, Barnes & Noble is way ahead of public libraries, which our city fathers and mothers have all but written off as services to the poor and downtrodden and researchers, rather than seeing them as temples of knowledge for the masses." -- In 1996, as I was completing my MLIS degree at Wayne St. University, I started to do research on the super bookstore/library situation. Numerous articles had been written on the topic at that time. More articles have been written in the past seven years. Yet, nothing has really changed. What's disappointing? Once again public libraries (and other types as well) have been reduced in importance a few more notches in the mind of the public AND THOSE WHO budget money for libraries (aka politicians). How many notches are left before they become totally irrelevant? Why is this a problem? Many reasons but it boils down to the fact that, as a whole, libraries and librarians have done a poor job in marketing/selling and DEMONSTRATING our strengths, skills, resources, and tools Put another way, libraries, like it or not, have competition. I'm not talking competition not in a monetary (although libraries need to 'compete' for money at budget time) sense but in terms of importance, usefulness, vitality, etc. in the minds of the user and non-user alike. Info professionals understand the differences between a super bookstore and a library. We also realize the differences between a web engine like Google and the library and librarian. But, have we disseminated and 'sold' these concepts in the age of the super bookstore and Google? As of today, probably not.
Public Libraries Source: The Metro West Daily News Franklin Public Library Will Remain Open Last week we ran an item about the possible closing of the Franklin Public Library in Franklin, MA. It was first opened in 1790 after a donation by Benjamin Frankin. Good news, the money to keep the library open is in place. From the article, Library Director Felicia Oti said she is relieved the historical library is going to be available for residents. Oti said she has been swamped with calls from local and nationwide media, a focus she said was premature and unnecessary. The silver lining was the amount of support she received from community members after the news of the closing broke. "I was surprised by all the media attention, but it was heartwarming to see the amount of support we received," Oti said. "People offered to raise money, to donate money...it just felt really nice to know that the community appreciates us."
Quote of the Day "It takes time to crawl the Web -- some sites can't take the load if we spider them more frequently. We want the whole Web. We need a way to only d/l the pages that have changed. robots.txt and proprietary databases frustrate this." -Craig Silverstein, Google's VP of Technology, when asked why Google "only" indexes 3 Billion Pages. (Source: Cory Doctrow's Notes from the Emerging Technology Conference) Thanks to T.C. for the tip. See Also: From Google: Why Some Material is Not in the Database See Also: Greg Notess's Explanation of Google's Page Count and Unindexed Pages Reminder: It's Not 'All' in One Place, Use More Than One Web Engine, Use Specialized Databases
Enterprise Search Source: News.Com "Corporations seek better search results" A look at the enterprise search market.
Professional Events OpenURL May 13, 2003 is OpenURL Day in New York City From the site, "This one-day meeting is organized by Center for Scholarly Communication at the Palmer School of Library and Information Science of Long Island University and NISO. Its aim is to introduce the library and publishing communities to the path-breaking concepts at the heart of the OpenURL and show you the tools that are facilitating a host of new library services and will undoubtedly lead to new business opportunities."
Resources, Reports, Tools, and Full-Text Documents Patents--United States--Statistics Source: Technology Review New, The 2002 TR Patent Scorecard The scorecard is an .xls file. Those of you who work with patents should find this a very useful resource.
Professional Reading Shelf Libraries and Librarians The May, 2003 Issue of Walt Crawford's Cites and Insights Newsletter is Now Available Sunday, April 27, 2003
Internet Source: MIT Technology Review "Net Scan Finds Like-Minded Users" From the article, "When you search for information on the Web, chances are you aren't alone, there are like-minded groups of users across the Web searching for the same sorts of things. Researchers from the University of Chicago have shown that is possible to identify these groups by analyzing browsing patterns, even in networks as far-flung as the Web." See Also: An Interview with the VP of R&D at Teoma. He explains how Teoma identifies 'communities' of similar web pages.
Web Search--Daypop A Comparison of Daypop and Google News A new posting on Daypop founder Dan Chan's blog is are a few interesting comments that Simon Waldman posted about how Daypop and Google handle listing (not searching) news stories. The comments come from a post on the Words of Waldman weblog a couple of months ago. "But the contrast between it [Google News] and Daypop couldn't be sharper. Google News homoegenises news. It removes the local and the quirky (the very thing that many media outlets are most proud of) and promotes the uniform and standard. Daypop tends to do exactly the opposite: it elevates the quirky (today's top story: Japanese Scientists develop invisible cloak), the contrary, the geeky, sexy and shocking." See Also: Daypop Top News Stories See Also: Daypop Top News Bursts Saturday, April 26, 2003
Library Portals Source: LITA New Web Portals Interest Group Opens "A website http://litaipig.ucr.edu/ has been created by the LITA Internet Portals Interest Group (LITA IPIG) to reflect its interests on the subject of library related portals of all types. Major sections of the site include: Mission Statement and Philosophy; Discussion; Calendar; Themes and Threads; Minutes; Governance and Procedural Matters; Officers and Members. Please check out our site and feel free to join the dialogue." See: Direct to LITA Internet Portals Interest Group
Libraries Source: Denver Post African-American Research Library Opens Today in Denver From the article, "Daddy Bruce Randolph, Rosa Parks, Malcolm X and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. are just some of the faces visitors will see when they walk into Denver's new African-American library on Saturday." See Also: Direct to the African American Research Library Web Site Friday, April 25, 2003
Internet Public Library Source: Detroit News Funding Problems for the Internet Public Library Some not so good news about one of the most well-known and respected library built directories, the Internet Public Library. In an article about funding problems at universities in Michigan you'll learn about serious funding problems that could cause the closure of the IPL. From the article, [The IPL] was funded with $150,000 in grants for the initial five years, but that money has run out, says Maurita Holland, director of academic outreach at the School of Information. The library gets 12 million hits a month and 1,000 e-mail reference questions a month, half of them from school children, she said. Since the grant money ran out, the library has been funded with general fund money, a source they will not be able to continue tapping. Other funding alternatives have fallen through. The library can't tax users or solicit revenue through advertising. "We have to be careful because we're an academic unit," Holland said. "We can't use Nike swooshes on our Web site. We have to be impartial." "We want to remain operational, but if we can't find the funding, our lights will go out." See Also: Direct to the Internet Public Library
Government Printing Office GPO Names Director of the Office of Electronic Information Dissemination Services (EIDS) From the announcement, "Public Printer of the United States Bruce R. James has announced that Richard G. (Ric) Davis, an 11-year veteran of the Government Printing Office (GPO) has been named director of the Office of Electronic Information Dissemination Services (EIDS) at GPO. As the director of EIDS, Davis is responsible for GPO Access."
Professional Reading Shelf (2 Items) Libraries Source: CLIR Full-Text Report, Library Buildings and the Building of a Collaborative Research Collection at the Tri-College Library Consortium Abstract ||| Direct to Full-Text -- Scholarly Publishing Conference Program, Society for Scholarly Publishing 25th Annual Meeting The meeting is scheduled for the end of May in Baltimore.
Resources, Reports, Tools, and Full-Text Documents (3 Items) African-Americans Source: U.S. Census Full-Text Report, The Black Population in the United States: March 2002 Summary ||| Direct to Full-Text -- Older Americans Source: U.S. Census Fast Facts, New, A New Fact and Stat Sheet About Older Americans -- Oceanography Source: NOAA New Web Site, NOAA's National Ocean Service Thursday, April 24, 2003
The Library of Congress Happy Birthday to The Library of Congress "On April 24, 1800, President John Adams approved the appropriation of $5,000 for the purchase of "such books as may be necessary for the use of congress." See Also: The State of the Library (2003)" (Recent Testimony By the Librarian of Congress Before Congress) See Also: Frequently Asked Questions About The Library of Congress See Also: Jefferson's Legacy: A Brief History of the Library of Congress See Also: A Selection of Images
Web Resources of the Week Three choices this week. 1) National Geographic Society Publications Database This is a bibliographic database. It contains indexing (title, author, subject, date) for major National Geographic Society publications including National Geographic magazine back to 1888. -- 2) Ready for Printing, Country and Region Maps From National Geographic Black and white maps are delivered in either gif or pdf formats. You can select the level of details. The price is right, free! One more thing. NG also provides a page where you're able to download (free) updates to the National Geographic Atlas of the World (seventh edition). ---- and now for something completely different... 3) Using the Internet Movie Database for DVD Information Not only has the IMDB become a respected source for movie and tv info but it's also a great resource for DVD info. Of course you could first search for the movie and then find the link for DVD info. However, a "DVD only" interface is available for searching and browsing. Browse categories include, picture formats, subtitles, disc formats. Keyword searching and limiting (several options) is also available. Each entry contains complete technical info along with listing any additional features that the DVD offers. Of course, you can also use the IMDB's wonderful "Power Search" interface to find DVD's and all other material in the database.
Government Information--Ohio Source: The Plain-Dealer "Bill would limit information on state Web sites" I wonder if this is the start of a new trend? From the article, Looking for a state park to take the kids camping? Need information about an Ohio corporation? Want to know the sales tax rate applied in the state next door? Under a provision added to the House version of the state budget bill, such information would no longer exist on state Web sites - unless a legislative committee gives the go-ahead. Supporters see it as a way to keep government from unfairly competing with private businesses that profit by selling the same information. Opponents view it as the latest effort to curb access to government records." Note: "[The] proposal exempts the Ohio Supreme Court and the legislature. Court administrators said the provision could have prevented them from posting opinions on the court Web pages because the information is also available for a fee through services such as Lexis and WestLaw." Point of Information: Two large database vendors, LexisNexis and CAS, are based in Ohio. See Also: Full-Text of the Legislation - See Also: AALL (American Association of Law Libraries) Has Sent An E-Mail Message About This Legislation I've Posted the Full-Text To ResourceShelfPLUS -- See Also: The Cleveland Plain-Dealer Weighs In With an Editorial The editorial is titled, "Don't take public data private". It asks the question, "What anti-public measure is next? Going after libraries for lending books that currently sell in bookstores?"
Public Libraries Source: Tallahassee Democrat House OKs library filter bill Nancy Cook Laurer writes, "Libraries in Leon and other counties that don't have pornography filters would be required to install them under a bill that passed the House on Wednesday"..."I think we're in the right place. We've taken care of the constitutional issues," [Bill sponsor Bill] Baxley said. "And meanwhile, the technology to do this has only improved. It's gotten better and cheaper."..."The Department of State estimates it will cost $250,000 to install the filters. But Baxley says some vendors will work out deals with individual libraries where the first three years would be free." AND in OTHER NEWS...CANADA... "Library board told to reconsider Internet filtering" Ottawa's City Council doesn't like last week's decision.
Resources, Reports, Tools, and Full-Text Documents (3 Items) Consumer Web Resources--Travel Source: Consumer WebWatch (Consumers Union) Full-Text Report, Booking Hotels Online: An In-Depth Examination of Leading Hotel Web Sites Summary ||| Full-Text Report A pdf version is also available. -- Health Information Source: European Union Full-Text Report, Europeans and the sources of information about health A report based on a recent EU survey. Summary ||| Direct to Full-Text -- Horticulture--Webliography Source: ACRL News Full-Text, Horticulture: Sources for gardeners This webliography appears in the May, 2003 issue of ACRL News. It was written by Kathy Fescemyer, a life sciences librarian at Pennsylvania State University.
Library Catalogs Debut: New Melvyl Catalog from the California Digital Library Now Available From the announcement, "The catalog is based on the union catalog module of the ALEPH500 library automation system developed by Ex Libris and holds over 23 million records from 10 campuses of the UC system." Among the important new features in Melvyl-T: + More flexible search options, including phrase and proximity searching. + Browsing by major indexes including author, title, subject, and call number. + Expanded limiting and sorting of search results. + Display of foreign language materials using their native language characters, including Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Hebrew, and Arabic. + Ability to return to previous searches and combine, review, or save them into a personal workspace See Also: Direct to the Melvyl-T Catalog
Web Directories and Search--FirstGov Source: FCN FirstGov to Begin Pilot Project With Local Government Info From the article, "Officials soon will start a pilot test to include local governments in the FirstGov portal."..."Earlier this year, GSA sent a call out to all local governments, working through GSA's Intergovernmental Solutions Office, outlining the possibilities and benefits of becoming part of FirstGov. The pilot will include about 50 local governments that volunteered for the test..." Wednesday, April 23, 2003
Web Search--Yahoo Yahoo, the Exclamation Point, and Shortcuts What am I talking about? I didn't mention this a few weeks ago when I wrote The ResourceShelf overview of the Yahoo relaunch. The exclamation point (!) can help make navigating around Yahoo's complex of resources much faster (and easier). As many of you know, Yahoo numerous specialty sites and services (e.g. mail) are accessible at many different urls. Also, several localized versions of Yahoo exist. Here's a complete list. Let's say you're using Yahoo and you want to move directly to one of these specialty sites. Simply type in the name, add an ! at the end, click search, and you'll be taken directly to the site. No results page to navigate, no extra clicking, nothing. So you want to quickly move from Yahoo.Com to the U.K. Yahoo? Enter Yahoo UK! into any Yahoo search box and away you go. Need to jump to the Yahoo map site. Simply enter maps! into any Yahoo search box. For those of you who have Yahoo E-Mail accounts, try mail!. One caveat. It appears that these using the ! to jump around the Yahoo site will only work at Yahoo.Com. See Also: A List of Yahoo Products and Services You Can Append Any Of These Sites With the !
Web Search--Google Google Makes Another Acquisition: Applied Semantics They acquired the company for its software in delivering advertising based on a web sites "aboutness". Interesting stuff. In their words: "Applied Semantics' products are based on its patented CIRCA technology, which understands, organizes, and extracts knowledge from websites and information repositories in a way that mimics human thought and enables more effective information retrieval. A key application of the CIRCA technology is Applied Semantics' AdSense product that enables web publishers to understand the key themes on web pages to deliver highly relevant and targeted advertisements." Some of you might remember the Oingo search engine. Oingo changed its name to Applied Semantics about two years ago. See Also: Learn More About Applied's AdSense Product See Also: Read an Interview with Jason Liebman, an Applied Semantics VP See Also: "Meaning-based information organization and retrieval" (Applied Semantics Patent, U.S. 6,453,315)
Controlled Vocabularies--MeSH Fast Fact: SARS and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Added As Descriptors in MeSH You can check out the scope notes and learn more about MeSH (Medical subject headings) and the MeSH browser. What is MeSH? "MeSH is the National Library of Medicine's controlled vocabulary thesaurus. It consists of sets of terms naming descriptors in a hierarchical structure that permits searching at various levels of specificity." MeSH has over 29,000 descriptors.
Library Crisis Time for another selection of library budget crisis stories. Massachusetts..."Historic library could be shut down" (via Cape Cod Times) " One of the nation's oldest public libraries faces shutting its doors more than two centuries after it opened with a gift of 116 books from Benjamin Franklin." See Also: "Oldest Public Library In Country Faces Closure" (via WCVB) UPDATED 4/29 Good News! The Franklin Library Will Remain Open -- Quebec..."Quebec Library Funding in Doubt" (via School Library Journal) "A new government in Quebec may threaten $90.4 million in school library funds promised by Education Minister Sylvain Simard"..."School libraries here are a disaster," says Regine Horinstein, director of the Professional Librarian Association of Quebec. "Most schools don't have school libraries and they rarely have professional staff. They mostly rely on volunteers and parents." -- Pennsylvania..."Bookworms burning over library funding" (via The Philadelphia Inquirer) "After several years of steadily increasing appropriations, the proposed cuts in [Gov.] Rendell's budget would knock the state's library funding back to the mid-1990s. At that time, Pennsylvania dwelled in the national cellar for funding libraries."..."It's ironic that the librarians are the loudest voice in the entire debate," Glenn Miller, director of the Pennsylvania Library Association." I don't see what's ironic about it. You mean librarians (like any other group) can't be heard and heard at a loud volume? The important and valuable work Mr. Miller is doing shouldn't help reinforce stereotypes. -- Pennsylvania..."Local libraries caught in state financial pinch" (via The Evening Times) -- Texas (Houston)..."City gets budget cut proposals" (via Houston Chronicle) "Barbara Gubbin, the city's library director, said she also may have to close facilities to meet her target budget. She said the department could either close up to eight of the city's 36 branch libraries or would have to scale all branch libraries back by six hours to 40 hours a week, buy fewer books, CDs and videos and eliminate management positions." -- Ohio..."Libraries turn to taxpayers for help" (via The Plain Dealer) "Five library districts, the largest of them Cleveland Public, say they need more money to meet rising costs and growing demands of their information-hungry patrons." -- Ohio..."Hamilton County Library Now Considering Endowment" (via WCPO.Com) "The Tri-state's biggest public library is considering the same concept that colleges use to give them steady funding over time. They are considering creating endowments and foundations to provide funding." --- California..."Facing Tough Times, A Rural Public Library Looks To Online Commerce" (Auction Bytes) "We have a clear choice in this economy - cut back or fight back," says library director Marie Bryan. "We're fighting. We got a grant to cover the costs of setting up Shop for the Library, and now all proceeds we raise will go to support services to the public." See Also: It's Not Just a Rural Issue In California (via LJ)
Quote of the Day Mary Ellen Davis, Executive Director of ACRL, said at the ACRL Annual Conference: "Our communities do not always see us [information professionals] as educated professionals who play an active role in the academic community," she said. "We must be proactive in telling users about this value." (Source: Library Journal). This comment is also on target for all information professionals. However, the challenge is much more difficult than simply telling people what we can do. We need to demonstrate our skills and the resources we have access to and explain how they can be valuable to the end user.
Resources, Reports, Tools, and Full-Text Documents (4 Items) Watergate Full-Text Report, Who Was Deep Throat? The research included in the final report made a bit of news last year while the investigation was underway at the University of Illinois. Today, the final report and the naming of the person who the journalism students and professor believe to be Deep Throat was released. The complete investigation took four years. Plenty of background material. -- Space Program Source: Congressional Research Service Full-Text, Just Updated, U.S. Space Programs: Civilian, Military, and Commercial 18 pages .pdf -- Highways--United States Source: NHTSA 1) New, Full-Text Report: Pedestrian Roadway Fatalities Summary ||| Direct to Full-Text Summary also includes a few rankings of results by state and city. 2) New, Preliminary Estimates Of 2002 Highway Fatalities Summary ||| Direct to Full-Text
Industry News Briefs Bowker...Launch of Web-Based Spanish Books in Print "Locate Spanish language materials published in the U.S., Spain and Mexico that are carried by U.S.-based suppliers." Tuesday, April 22, 2003
Digital Object Identifiers National Libraries "National Libraries Join International DOI Foundation" From the article, "The International DOI Foundation (IDF) announces that an informal consortium of three major national libraries -- The British Library (UK), Die Deutsche Bibliothek (Germany) and the Koninklijke Bibliotheek (The Netherlands) -- has joined the International DOI Foundation." Thanks to Noteworthy for the news tip.
Professional Reading Shelf (2 Items) Two items from OCLC. Internet2 Internet2 and the Library Community An OCLC Distinguished Seminar by Jane Ryland. From the abstract, "Jane Ryland is a member of the OCLC Board of Trustees and Membership Consultant for the Internet2 consortium. Her presentation will discuss the power and potential of Internet2, focusing on new activities currently underway. Jane will address the aspects of Internet2 of greatest interest to both OCLC and the library community. The Internet2 consortium is comprised of more than 200 universities. Direct to Audio ||| Powerpoint Slides See Also: Learn More About Internet2 -- Digitization Projects New Directory, Digitization & Preservation Online Resource Center Materials includes a copyright guide, digitization pathfinders, an excel spreadsheet with a list of 200 potential sources of funding, and more.
Online Dictionaries More Online Dictionary News Thanks to R.A. for sharing some info about the AllTheWeb and Google dictionary feature. Although both engines offer similar tools results may vary. As many of you know most search terms at Google and now at AllTheWeb are hyperlinked to a dictionary definition (American Heritage Dictionary, 4th ed.) via Dictionary.Com. For those of you who haven't used this feature take a look at your search terms at the top of the page, in the blue bar. Here are examples from AllTheWeb and Google. -- R.A. points out that some of the words added to the 4th ed. of the AHD are not hyperlinked via Google. Two examples. The word "shoah" and the word "e-tailer". Compare to AllTheWeb (shoah, e-tailer). A Google spokesperson told us that they're aware of the problem and working to update the database. An issue for search geeks. Sure. But it's also an example of how access to what appears to be the same database could yield different results. -- Finally, the new Yahoo and Ask Jeeves also have dictionary features. Your search should be structured define -- See Also: A Recent Post About Using Online Dictionaries to Listening to Word Pronunciations
Web Search--AllTheWeb It's Official, AllTheWeb is Now Part of Overture The deal closed today. I remain both positive about ATW and optimistic about Overture's acquisition of the engine as a good thing for the web searcher. As of today, ATW is a top-level web search resource. We can only hope that the refinements and improvements continue. In the next few week's I plan on posting an interview with Overture's VP of Technology, Gary Flake. Stay tuned. One more thing. FAST Search and Transfer remains as a major player in the enterprise search world. You'll continue to see coverage of FS&T on ResourceShelf. Today, they launched a new home page. See Also: AllTheWeb Adds New Features (3/16/03) See Also: AllTheWeb Online With New Look and Layout (3/3/03) See Also: The ResourceShelf from 2/25/03 Announcing the Acquisition
Professional Organizations--SCIP (Society of Competitive Intelligence Professionals) A Redesigned SCIP Web Site is Now Online If you don't belong to this group but have an interest in CI (competitive intelligence), you might want to learn more about SCIP. A great deal of material on the site is restricted to member access. However, some content is accessible to non-members. For example, you can read sample articles from SCIP's fortnightly newsletter, and read the abstracts of popular articles from Competitive Intelligence magazine. You can also acccess a 14 page overview article, CI statistics, a searchable database of CI services and products, and more.
Enterprise Search Source: Computerworld "Enterprises Widen the Search Net" A look at what a few companies are doing for enterprise search. Several of the major players are mentioned.
Industry News Briefs Dynix...Groxis Info Visualization Tool Being Made Available with Horizon Information Portal (This 10/2002 ResourceShelf Post has more info about Groxis.) -- ProQuest...New Senior Management Appointed Monday, April 21, 2003
ERIC Source: Information Today "ERIC Continues But Without Clearinghouses" Barbara Quint has written an article about the possible elimination/reduction? in funding for ERIC's non-database services. These services include ERIC Clearinghouses and ERIC Digests. From the article, "Specifications for the new contract omit requirements to support most of the customer services conducted by the clearinghouses, including the production of the popular digests, toll-free phone assistance, and the 6-million-hits-a-week AskERIC service. The clearinghouses and their supporters have started a campaign to revise the draft SOW, but the date set for receiving public comments ends on May 9. (Comments go to Jeff Halsted, 202/708-8283, 202/708-9817 fax, Jeff.C.Halsted@ed.gov.)" See Also: ResourceShelf's 4/14/03 Post
Quote of the Day “Finding something on the Web right now is a skill, kind of an art form. I'd like the computer equivalent of reference librarians.” --Eric Bina, An Originial Programmer of Mosaic. (Source: News-Gazette, Champaign, IL, 4/20/03)
First Posted 12:00am 4/20/03 Web Search--Ask Jeeves A New Look, Features at Ask Jeeves + A new, sleeker look to the home page. No more tabs, one search box. + A NEW image database. Note: The Image Database is Provided by Picsearch. + A Seach using the Expression "Pictures Of" + Browse by Subject, no longer available + News database remains, no improvement )-: + Product Search, still available + A direct link to the most popular searches page (JeevesIQ) --- Results Pages + Bolding of Search Terms + Some results have "useful direct links" at the top of the page. For example, a search for "Chicago Cubs" provides direct links to team resources (stats, schedules, etc.). A search for science projects provides several options at the top of the page labeled as "science fair resources". + Some queries still offer the "traditional" Jeeves preformatted questions. For example, a search for airlines asks, "Where can I find an airline's 800 number?" Ask.Com calls this "Clarification Tools". + Smart Answers: For example, type in Zip 02134 and Receive a Direct Link to a Zip Code Database. Driving Directions + Result pages continue to provide "related searches". These terms can be selected an run as a new search. This is unlike Teoma's refine feature that appends terms to the previous search. The "Related Pages" feature uses DirectHit technology. + Spell Check (When Needed) --- Remember The Ask.Com database of web page results uses the same database as Teoma. -- It's nice to see Jeeves continuing to improve. Nevertheless, I still prefer the layout and the very useful and improving "refine" and "resources" sections at Teoma. However, for simple searches and novice searchers, the improvements at Jeeves are more than welcomed. -- See Also: You'll find a few comments from Ask Jeeves execs in the Washington Post. See Also: Official Overview from Jeeves
Web Search--OpenFind "Reconstruction" at OpenFind This engine from Taiwan that received a bit of attention about 8 months ago remains online but searches can no longer be run on it. A message on the home page reads, "Under Reconstruction". We will continue to monitor. Here's Greg Notess's review of what OpenFind offered when it was first released. Sunday, April 20, 2003
Public Libraries Source: USA Today "Public libraries need the public's support" A freelance writer shares her thoughts in this op-ed piece. No arguments here on her conclusions. However, in this day and age librarians, independent of type, and library supporters need to work together and not only tell people that public libraries are important, useful, and necessary but demonstrate WHAT the library and librarian can do for them in terms of resources, opportunities, and education not only at the physical building but also remotely. Perhaps the most important thing we should be identifying and illustrating are the skills and talents that the info professional can offer the patron, student, businessperson, anyone. These days, a billboard or poster saying, "visit your library" doesn't mean a great deal to most people especially those who haven't visited or thought about a library in many years. Can't all information be accessed by entering 2.1 words into ones favorite web engine? The type of and marketing ALL libraries need is "word of mouth". Yes, it's the most difficult type to get but the most rewarding type to achieve. This can only come about by getting "in the faces" (politely of course) of both current patrons and the masses of people who have NO CLUE of what's available to them. We then need to demonstrate our knowledge, skills, abilities, and tools in a way that's meaningful and useful to them.
Professional Reading Shelf Information Retrieval Full-Text Papers: Best Practices and Future Visions for Search UIs: A Workshop These papers were presented about 2 weeks ago at a workshop during the Conference on Human Factors in Computing in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Titles: Search Log Analysis as a Usability Engineering Tool Finding the Right Stuff Interface Techniques for Making Searching for Information More Effective Using Categories to Improve Search A Search User Interface in a Digital Library Application Utilizing a users context to improve search results Best Practices and Future Visions for Search User Interfaces Changing the Pace of Search: Supporting "Background" Information Seeking "I'm Feeling Lucky": the Role of Emotions in Seeking Information on the Web Search Histories for User Support In User Interfaces Search Without Keywords Search in the Web Shopping Environment Search Query Spellchecking Reconciling Information-Seeking Behavior with Search User Interfaces for the Web Dynamic taxonomies and guided searches Evidence-Based Practice in Search Interface Design Predicting Where a Web User Wants to Go Thanks to C.L. for letting us know about these interesting papers.
Web Search--Daypop New Search Limits Coming to Daypop Dan Chan informs the world, via his weblog, about some new limits that will soon be available via the Daypop search engine. You'll soon be able to limit your search direct from the search box to: * News & Weblogs * News * Weblogs * RSS News & Weblogs * RSS News * RSS Weblogs Saturday, April 19, 2003
State Libraries Source: Governing "Friends of the Library" A look at the Florida situation in a non-library publication. From the article, "Librarians and budget writers have learned two important lessons during the current period of state fiscal austerity. One is that state library services are increasingly endangered. The other is that these low-profile public institutions have more passionate defenders than almost anyone realized."
Professional Reading Shelf (2 Items) Scholarly Publishing Source: SPARC/European Science Foundation Full-Text, Open Access: Restoring Scientific Communication to Its Rightful Owners, Policy Briefing Emerging from two OAI workshops, co-sponsored by SPARC, held in Geneva, Switzerland October 2002. -- Digital Archives--Denmark Full-Text, Final Report for The Pilot Project “netarkivet.dk From the site, "The present report by the group behind the ”netarkivet.dk” project describes the experience gained from a pilot study, in which existing software was used to harvest and subsequently test out materials relating to the County and District elections of 2001. The pilot study showed that a great deal of material could be harvested in this way, but also that much of the interactive use of the net cannot be caught by ordinary methods. The pilot project also offers an indication of the financing needed if Denmark is to safeguard an important part of its cultural heritage. Estimates are given both for the archiving of this heritage under present conditions, where the work is carried out on the basis of voluntary agreements, and on the assumption that the law on legal deposit of material may be changed, making it legal for institutions receiving statutory deliveries to acquire online materials." Thanks to Library Link for the news tip. Friday, April 18, 2003
Web Search--Microsoft "Search is on for a better search" A discussion of a few of the search related projects underway at Microsoft. From the article, Scientists in the Redmond, Wash.-based software giant’s labs are experimenting with new types of search and user interface technology that will let individuals and businesses tap into the vast amounts of data on the Internet, or inside their own computers, that increasingly will be impractical or impossible to find." See Also: 3 Weeks Ago I Compiled a Selection of Papers About Search From Microsoft Research (Posted on ResourceShelfPLUS) Also Includes Microsoft "Search" Patents See Also: Even More via this 3/2/03 ResourceShelf Post
Taxonomies Gale's Taxonomy Now Available for License or Sale From the announcement, "Gale has partnered with Synapse, the Knowledge Link Corporation, to offer an extensive range of Gale's professional taxonomies for license or sale through Synapse's Taxonomy Warehouse (www.taxonomywarehouse.com)...Gale's 70,000-node subject taxonomy may be licensed or purchased in its entirety or in smaller, more specific domains such as accounting, anatomy, banking, law, computing, electronics and nearly 50 others. Updated continuously, Gale taxonomies are available independently or delivered pre-packaged in the Synaptica thesaurus management software application. Access to the directory is free. Thanks to Noteworthy for the news tip.
Libraries Source: The Moscow Times "New U.S.-Russian Bilingual Library Goes Online" From th article, "[Librarian of Congress James] Billington also signed an agreement Monday with the library of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Kunstkamera museum to launch a bilingual, online Russian-American library..."The web site will include more than 100,000 maps and documents taken from 12 different libraries and museums in Russian and the United States."
Resources, Reports, Tools, and Full-Text Documents (4 Items) Internet Usage--United States Source: Pew Internet & American Life Project Full-Text Report, The Ever-Shifting Internet Population: A new look at Internet access and the digital divide See Also: Article About the Report from The New York Times -- Handguns--United States Source: BJS Survey of State Procedures Related to Firearm Sales, Midyear 2002 -- Demographics--United States--List & Rankings Source: U.S. Census New, Fastest Growing Counties in the U.S./Largest Counties in the U.S. -- Asian Pacific Americans--Fast Facts Source: U.S. Census New, Fast Fact Report About the Asian Pacific American Population Thursday, April 17, 2003
Web Resource of the Week SearchTools I could spend a sizable chunk of time writing about how wonderful this resource is and only scratch the surface. So, I’ll keep my words to a minimum so you’ll have plenty of time to discover this interesting, useful, and educational resource. This is one resource that many of you will be reading and using on a regular basis -- SearchTools was created and is still maintained by well-known search consultant and information professional Avi Rappoport. This site is one of the most educational resources about search technology that I know of. Access is free. -- Who will find the site useful? Everyone interested in search. I’m often asked where can one learn about search software. This is it! So, you might think that this site will be of interest to only people in the market to purchase search software for their enterprise/intranet/etc. Wrong! SearchTools is very useful and highly educational resource for any person interested in learning how search software works, what’s popular, the future, etc. -- The list and links to search software vendors is amazing. Each entry contains a quick list of features, links to articles about the product, links to installations (if publicly available). -- A Few Favorite Pages and Sections * Glossary of Search Related Terms * Special Reports on a Variety of Search Topics (see list at bottom of page) * A Guide to Selecting the Right Tool * An Informative Page About Indexing and Web Spiders -- Even if you’re not in the market to by search software and hardware SearchTools.Com will provide you with large amounts of valuable knowledge that you can apply in a variety of areas. In many cases, this type of knowledge can also make you a better searcher. This is a site you'll want to share with others. Thanks to Avi for providing such a great site.
American Library Association Jacsó on the New ALA Site: "AW, Look What They’ve Done to Our Links, Ma" Reference guru, writer, and library school professor Dr. Péter Jacsó offers numerous comments and insights about the ALA web site mess in this comprehensive review. He writes, "I presume someone will write a very scholarly article about AW (which may get published as early as 2004), but as a die-hard educator, I would like to show you a little broader and deeper panorama with many illustrative screenshots about the new AW right now as you experience it, and also to tell you what was I thinking about AW and the overall digital attitude of ALA. Maybe, it can be used as a backgrounder for creating those boilerplate petitions for members, to lobby ALA to reconsider AW and its digital strategy."
Libraries Source: The Harvard Crimson "Retired Librarian Mourns Decline of Libraries" From the article, To speak of the decline of libraries today seems odd,” said Kenneth E. Carpenter, former Assistant Director for Research Resources in the Harvard Library. “More information is available more readily than ever before. But ask scholars or librarians, and the response has generally been lament...One of the greatest signs of recent decline in the library, according to Carpenter, is the popularity of “access by ownership,” which has allowed libraries short on funding to justify small or static permanent collections by claiming access to a larger collection through sharing with other libraries. “Libraries are retreating back into a sameness of acquisition, justified by the ideal of “sharing” which sounds like commonality, but limits access,” said Carpenter. See Also: Ken Carpenter's Bio
Web Search Source: Wired "Building a Bigger Search Engine" Interesting idea but for a web-wide engine I agree 100% with Danny Sullivan when he says, "Most worrying, he said, would be the ability to hack the system in order to promote certain sites. "I have more faith in companies that control their own crawl and index, than I do in approaches that ask people to submit their own data." Also, this article states, "One of the reasons Google is popular is because it analyzes links between pages, a strategy that maximizes the relevancy of the results returned to any given search." True, BUT just about every other major engine uses this technique to assist in determining relevancy. Actually, Google and the others use what is commonly referred to as "link analysis" (Google calls it PageRank). Additionally, link analysis is just one of many measures that the web engines use to determine how pages are listed on a results page. Other measures include words in the page title, keyword density, bolding of terms, proximity of terms, etc. As we've mentioned many times this Scientific American article from 1999 does a good job of explaining this topic. One More thing: Google is often credited with "inventing" link analysis. Yes, they were the first major engine to utilize it but Jon Kleinberg and IBM's CLEVER project developed the concept.
Homeland Security--United States Source: FCW "Digital Homeland Library Readied" From the article, "The Naval Postgraduate School plans to launch a digital library by June, offering up research on homeland security issues. The library will be open to students at the school, employees of the departments of Justice and Homeland Security, and likely other federal agencies as well, said Lillian Gassie, head of technical services and systems at the Naval Postgraduate School Dudley Knox Library." The article also includes a lis of "some of the tools that the school used to build the library under a tight budget." * MAIstro from Data Harmony Inc., to create and manage the taxonomy and perform automated indexing; * Sirsi Rooms from Sirsi Corp., to build and organize the portal; and * Scout Portal Toolkit open-source software from the University of Wisconsin, to build a digital library.
Resources, Reports, Tools, and Full-Text Documents (3 Items) Online Dictionaries Fast Fact: Access to Online Audio Pronunciation Services From Online Dictionary Sites LII founder Carole Leita alerted us to the following fact about Dictionary.Com. If you access the direct links to search term definitions from Dictionary.Com (they license content from the American Heritage Dictionary) via AllTheWeb or Google you'll need to have a subscription (fee-based) to use Dictionary.Com's audio pronunciation feature. However, if you use Bartleby's dictionary (American Heritage) or visit Merriam-Webster, the audio pronunciations are free. -- Nutrition--Database USDA Now Offering Nutrition Database For Download to PC's It's also available for PDA's and directly searchable on the web. "The information lists up to 117 nutrients for more than 6,000 food items. Each item can be found in any one of 22 food-group categories. The PC-download capability is available on the USDA web site today. After an initial download and installation, the database can be accessed from the computer's hard drive. The PC application expands the accessibility of the database to more users and includes an option to search the entire database at once, or more narrowly by specified food groups. A portion modifier option is also included. For example, after clicking on carrots, raw, the user can choose from a variety of standard portion sizes. But if the user would prefer to increase or decrease the amounts, portions can be customized to suit individual needs. The search term “not” is also featured, which allows users to screen out unwanted foods by designating, for example, “carrots not raw.” See Also: Direct to Download Page See Also: Search Database on the Web See Also: Additional Info and Background -- Government of Canada--History--Database Source: National Archives of Canada New: Cabinet Conclusions Database "This research tool provides access to the Cabinet Conclusions which summarize the discussions that took place at the meetings of the Federal Cabinet." Wednesday, April 16, 2003
Web Search--AllTheWeb AllTheWeb Adds New Features More new cool and interesting stuff from the ATW folks. 1) AlltheWeb now has a dictionary definitions associated with your search term(s). Content comes from Dictionary.Com. They license material from American Heritage. You'll find a hyperlink for each term next to the page total estimate. -- 2) For those of you who prefer keyboard shortcuts to move around the site. ATW now makes them available. You can learn what they are on this page. -- 3) For those of you who like to see what other people are searching for, ATW now offers you a chance to take a peek at the last 10 queries. You can easily refresh the page to see the latest.
Web Search--Google Source: Montreal Gazette The ResourceShelf is Noted in The Montreal Gazette Thanks to Andy Riga from the paper for including a couple of quotes from this weblog/e-letter.
Public Libraries--Canada Source: The Ottawa Citizen "Library to keep computers free of porn filters" From the article, "The board of the Ottawa Public Library voted last night against heightened anti-pornography filtration on library computers. By a seven-to-four margin, the board voted to maintain the library's current policy of using filters on most of the child-dedicated machines, but to leave the great majority of the library's 280 Internet-access machines filter-free." UPDATED: An Editorial in The Ottawa Citizen about the Decision
The Internet Archive A New Project from The Internet Archive A bit of news from Brewster Kahle and the rest of the IA team in San Francisco. The following is reposted with the permission of the IA. Working with WorldlinkTV, the Internet Archive is archiving and providing non-commercial access to a TV program that is of timely interest. Mosaic selects, translates, and repackages news programs from the Middle East for a western audience. It is fascinating. Tthey don't have al Jazeera, unfortunately. Brewster adds, "I find this interesting because it can show a role for Internet libraries helping people understand the world based on current information (rather than solely older background material). You could always go to the library to get the world's daily newspapers, now our challenge is to do that for the world's tv news reports." See Also: Direct to the Internet Archive Home Page See Also: Direct to The Wayback Machine (Another IA Project)
Professional Reading Shelf The April 2003 Issue of D-LIB is Online Articles include: + "Trends in the Evolution of the Public Web: 1998 - 2002" by Edward T. O'Neill, Brian F. Lavoie, and Rick Bennett, OCLC Office of Research + "State of the Dublin Core Metadata Initiative, April 2003" by Makx Dekkers, DCMI, and Stuart Weibel, OCLC Office of Research + "How Many People Search the ERIC Database Each Day?" by Lawrence M. Rudner, University of Maryland, College Park -- National Libraries--Canada Full-Text, Report on Plans and Priorities (2003-2004)
Resources, Reports, Tools, and Full-Text Documents Imperial War Museum--United Kingdom--Databases Imprerial War Museum Launches Collection of Online Databases From the site, "For the first time you can access our catalogues on our website. If you want to browse there are short essays on major historical themes which lead you to selected highlights from all the collections. We hold objects and works of art, a library, plus archives of documents, film, photographs and sound. The online catalogue offers a great deal of information but is not complete." See Also: Additional Background (via Web User) Tuesday, April 15, 2003
Information Industry--ProQuest ProQuest Complete Digitization of Christian Science Monitor Archive An image (in pdf form) of every page from every issue from 1908-1990. Full-text searchable. From the announcement, "More than 800,000 pages of articles comprise the newly digitized archive and ProQuest will add a year of coverage every year...The Monitor is the latest famous masthead to be added to the ProQuest Historical Newspapers program. It joins The New York Times (1851-1999), The Wall Street Journal (1889-1985), and The Washington Post (1877-1987) in the exclusive database for educational institutions and libraries around the world. Other titles in the ProQuest Historical Newspapers collection will soon include The Chicago Tribune and the Los Angeles Times." This is a fee-based database.
Libraries White House Launches A Virtual Library Laura Bush says, "But books, information and computers alone do not make libraries great - librarians do. Your job is an important one. Many offices within the White House rely on the research and information that you provide. By collecting, cataloging and sharing this information, you bring the library to life for White House employees...Today, using technology to deliver the services you provide is critical. Libraries continue to lead the way in information gathering and sharing services. The Internet is a valuable research tool that provides access to limitless information. But the Internet's greatness is dependent upon everyone being able to use it effectively. The new EOP [Executive Office of the President] virtual library will enable patrons to access information on the Internet readily and easily. Websites and articles will be organized by subject and will save patrons time searching for information."
Professional Reading Shelf Digital Preservation Source: OCLC Full-Text, The Incentives to Preserve Digital Materials: Roles, Scenarios, and Economic Decision-Making A new paper from Brian Lavoie at OCLC. 51 pages .pdf
Enterprise Search Source: Datamation "Enterprise Search Engine Technology Strikes Gold" From the article, "Enterprise Search Engines perform much the same function as Internet search engines, but targeted to the needs of a particular group of people rather than the broad public. While the exact feature set and methodology varies among different vendors, they perform three main functions: discovery, categorization and search." See Also: Learn Much More About Enterprise Search and Related Issues via SearchTools.Com (a GREAT Site)
Resources, Reports, Tools, and Full-Text Documents (4 Items) War in Iraq Source: Congressional Research Service 1) Iraq: U.S. Regime Change Efforts and Post-War Iraq 24 pages .pdf 2) Iraq: Recent Developments in Humanitarian and Reconstruction Assistance -- Exports--United States--Database Source: Export.Gov Export Statistics Express Make sure read the introduction including this page of technical notes with several caveats. -- Small Business--United States Source: SBA Updated, Full-Text, Small Business By the Numbers: Answers to Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) Plenty of fast facts about small business in the U.S.
bInformation Industry--EBSCO Source: LJ "EBSCO Pays $7 Million for Rowecom" From the article, "The purchase of RoweCom, the subscription business of the failed divine, inc., by EBSCO Industries, went through last week for $7.05 million--but it will end up a lesser figure, depending on how many publishers and library customers agree to participate in the deal." See Also: Here's the Official Announcement from EBSCO
Industry Briefs Dialog...Content from Wire Service EFE Added to NewsRoom Database EFE is based in Spain. The content will be a Spanish language feed. Monday, April 14, 2003
ERIC Spread the Word, A Large Chunk ERIC's Funding May Disappear "I've been given permission from the author of the following message to repost it on ResourceShelf. The message was first sent to a school library media specialist listserv. I think it's time for all of us who use some/all of ERIC's services to make sure our comments make it to the right people." -- ++Posted With Permission++ ERIC and AskERIC need your support more now than at any other time. On April 11, the Statement of Work for the next ERIC contract was posted. There is NO mention anywhere of AskERIC, user services, publications, or even the 16 different subject specific clearinghouses. This contract would consolidate ERIC into one facility that would maintain the database only. All comments on this Draft Statement of Work are due to Jeff Halsted via e-mail: Jeff.C.Halsted@ed.gov by May 9, 2003, 4:00 PM EST. PLEASE take time in the next week to send an email with your comments. You may want to browse around the AskERIC site to get an idea of what will be missing, including hosting listservs such as LM_NET [a listserv for library media professionals]. The various subject specific clearinghouses are listed here. The Clearinghouse on Information & Technology
Professional Reading Shelf Source: Emerald This Week Only: FREE Full-Text Access to the Records Management Journal Emerald is providing full-text access beginning with Vol. 8 (1998). Titles of a Few Articles: "Metadata, controlled vocabulary and directories: electronic document management and standards for records management" (Vol. 13.1, 2003) "Future proof: ensuring the long-term accessibility of technology-dependent records" (Vol. 12.3, 2002) "Managing e-mail and e-commerce records" (Vol. 12.3, 2002) "Much ado about metadata" (Vol. 12.1, 2002)
Resources, Reports, Tools, and Full-Text Documents (6 Items) Arts--United States New, Cultural Policy & the Arts National Data Archive From an announcement, "The Princeton University Library and Princeton University’s Center for Arts and Cultural Policy Studies today announced the official launch of |
