Libology Blog

Take the large number of people who work on Wikipedia and have them evaluate web pages, and what do you get? Wikisauri, a search engine from Jimmy Wales, the founder of Wikipedia.

The concept will be that the searches that Google et al. don’t do very well (a large number of sites that cannot be easily differentiated by a computer algorithm) will be evaluated by people, allowing for more accurate and relevant results.

Time will tell, as this is not the first time Wales has attempted to create a search engine.

from Open Access News

(12/24/06: TechCrunch has a screenshot)

PLoS ONE, created by the Public Library of Science, has launched.  Open Access takes a terrific step forward!

from Open Access News

There’s a great article about the Georgia Public Library Service’s Evergreen project on Linux.com.  Well worth reading.

from NewsForge

Three interesting resources for information on deities and myths:

Ye Largishe List ov Gods & Spirits (”…currently serving 4862 gods, godesses, deities, avatars, incarnations, angels, demons and various spirits….”)

Encyclopedia Mythica (”…everything from A-gskw to Zveda Vechanyaya….”)

Godchecker.com (”…more Gods than you can shake a stick at”)

from MetaFilter

Library Web is a “rolling” news site that features articles of interest to the library profession.

from ResourceShelf

Although we still have two weeks left to generate a top ten news story, LISNews has their Ten Stories that Shaped 2006 list compiled.

from Web4Lib listserv

Yes, you are a library geek if you understand that the title does not refer to a quick workout plan, but to one of the best statistics resource for the U.S.

The Statistical Abstracts of the United States:  2007 is available online.

from ResourceShelf (other great links in this post, so check it out)

Yes, another Google beta: Google Patents lets you conduct full-text searches of the United States Patent and Trademark Office. What you get is not only the text of the patent, but the patent filing itself.

The Advanced Patent Search page lets you search by Patent Number, Inventor, Assignee, and more.

Well done!

from Official Google Blog

There are other online directories of libraries available, but lib-web-cats is indispensable if you need to find libraries using a particular integrated library system (ILS). Their advanced search page is very powerful, letting you narrow your search by geography, library type, ILS, and more.

This tool is maintained by Marshall Breeding, who is hoping to expand it even further, as his post on Web4Lib states:

As part of the work that I do in following trends in library automation, I maintain the lib-web-cats database of libraries. I’m currently interested in gathering more data about what link resolvers, federated search/metasearch applications, electronic resource management modules, and alternative catalogs are currently being used in libraries, in addition to the current and previous ILS’s.

I’ve recently extended lib-web-cats to add fields for these other automation components and would very much appreciate it if Web4Lib members would visit the database and update it for their libraries. I’m especially interested in recording open source options being used by libraries in addition to the commercially provided ones.

Once you find your library in the database, there will be a “details” link that displays the information that I have so far. You can use the “Update this Entry” button to enter additional information. Drop me a note off-list if you have any difficulties.

The information you provide will help me in the research that I do for the articles that I write on library automation, but is also freely available for anyone else that’s interested.

I appreciate your help.

-marshall

Noesis is one of the first Google Co-Op creations I have seen that is more than a “let’s try this out” website. What it does is lets you search for authoritative philosophical resources.

If you don’t quite understand why Google Co-Op is a big deal for libraries, educational institutions, and research in general, you really should look into it. Find out what people are doing with it, because these adaptations of Google may very well become more common than the generic keyword search of everything on the web that our patrons use today.

from Web4Lib listserv

This potential earthshaking announcement is buried in the awarding of a Mellon Grant to Maison Bisson for work on an innovative merging of blogging software and library catalogs (I’ll just say that it is detailed, and interesting, and could change the OPAC in ways we have only dreamed about).

I was only able to find the Creative Commons MARC records information in this blog post, so I will leave this as unconfirmed at this point.  If it is accurate, however, it could be a great step towards making electronic records available to libraries with little or no budget for automation.

from Librarian.net (and read Jessamyn’s take on this… it spells out the potential of this announcement)

Do you have a favorite word?  A favorite words list?  Wordie is for you!

Wordie is, according to their page, “Like Flickr, but without the photos.”  You can look up words, create your own list of words you like, and see people’s lists of words.

from TechCrunch

As an update to this post, it seems that the situation with the EPA library is getting worse.

Presumably in response to a congressional request to halt the closure of its libraries, the EPA is removing thousands of documents from its web servers, and has sold $40,000 worth of library furniture in their Chicago library for a total of $350. The woman who bought the furniture is estimating that she will re-sell it for $80,000 (perhaps when the EPA changes course again and buys its own furniture back).

(Darn! I could use a few good bookshelves right about now at a bargain price!)

from ResourceShelf

Software for Starving Students is simply that:  a collection of freeware and open-source software that is able to be distributed to whomever could benefit.

I have been creating distribution CDs like this for my presentations on Open Source Software, and TheOpenCD has been around for a few years.  These are great ways to discover what works and doesn’t work for you when it comes to no-cost software.

If you haven’t tried this stuff out, and don’t have the bandwidth to download TheOpenCD or SSS, send me an e-mail… I should be able to send you a CD loaded with the good stuff.

SSS from Gregarius

It is British, it is online, and it is free.  It is Intute: Virtual Training Suite.

What Intute is is a collection of web tutorials on a wide, wide range of subjects.  Their aim is to give you an overview of web-based resources available by topic.

Check out their main site as well… they have a collection of over 114,000 searchable records on an even wider range of topics as their tutorials.

Is it me, or is Britain way ahead of the U.S. in their online educational offerings?  This resource, combined with The Open University, makes me wonder….

from ResourceShelf

The report from the Iraq Study Group is available as a pdf download here.

The Bibliognost’s Handbook (pdf) is listed as an essay on the New York Time’s website, but it is a page of brief lists, definitions, and information that are fascinating to review.

thanks Jean!

The current issue of Forbes magazine has 12 essays on the subject of books.

from Open Access News

According to a press release, the Internet Archive has been granted an exemption from the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), allowing it to continue archiving web sites, software and such.

Hopefully this is the movement towards more reasonable copyright applications when it comes to libraries and archival organizations!

from Open Access News

Looking to create a wiki for your organization (or yourself)?  Not sure which one will be best?  WikiMatrix throws you a few questions about what you want to do, and recommends the wiki software that best suits your needs.

Also, don’t forget the terrific resource located at OpenSourceCMS, which lets you try out live versions of many types of server software to see what works for you and what doesn’t.

from TechCrunch