Now that Google Ventures has been officially announced, I can go public with my own news:

Libology is one of the first group of startup companies which will be receiving Google Ventures funding.  I have been in talks with someone from their Cambridge office over the past few weeks, just sent in the signed contract yesterday, and today the terms of the contract take effect.

The biggest change you will notice is that they requested some design changes to this blog, mainly to make it easier to integrate with other Google services.  (See below for screenshots)  If you are viewing this through a feed reader, check out the main page of this blog, or view this post.

Another change you may notice is that I will stop being critical in any way, shape or form when referring to Google or any of their partners, including OCLC.

And, of course, one must always remember what today is!

Google Style Main Page

Post Googlized

This is just one of my passing thoughts, which I suspect is understood by many, but not necessarily expressed this way:

Google’s PageRank is, for all practical purposes, a form of social networking applied to the concept of a particular html tag.  The ranking system is built upon the idea that someone, somewhere, decided that something on their web page was so associated with another web page that it needed to be wrapped in <a> </a> tags with the web page’s address referenced.  Thousands (millions!) of people finding it imperative to add these tags around their text, and thereby making it possible to judge the importance of specific web sites by aggregating these millions (billions!) of tags.  Will we look back at this and call it the beginning of social networking on the web?

the thought passed through my head while reading Stefano’s Linotype…

Understanding the Bar Code Structure is a description of the structure of the standardized bar code used by many libraries for both their patrons and their materials.  It resides on the website of JerseyCat, New Jersey’s nicely named “statewide virtual catalog and interlibrary loan system.”

Of added interest is the inclusion of the formula for calculating the check digit.

Even if you never need this type of information for your job, it is good to know the basic philosophy behind the bar code structure.

The Internet Resources Newsletter is a British online publication listing items of interest for “academics, students, engineers, scientists and social scientists.”

They should add librarian to that list, because there are quite a few excellent resources in this month’s issue on the current issue, a couple that I recognize from this blog.  There are a variety of ways to subscribe, including e-mail and rss.

Disclaimer:  I am listed in their Blogorama section for April 2009; checking my traffic logs is how I found the newsletter for this post.

The Centre for Learning and Performance Technologies is a British site “established by Jane Hart as a place to keep track of learning trends, technologies and tools.”

Most impressive, at first glance, are the lists of free tools and resources:

• 25 Tools every learning professional should have in their toolbox – and all for free!
• 100+ Free Website to find out about anything and everything.
• 100+ Language Learning Websites.
• Top Tools for Learning 2009.

Although the focus of the site is education, most of what is featured can benefit both library staff and patrons.

found via MLxperience

YouTube EDU is a collection of videos from dozens, if not hundreds, of educational sources, including Stanford, MIT, Purdue University, UNC Chapel Hill, and Harvard Business School.

This looks to be the start of a very useful collection of lectures and informational videos.

found via The MLxperience

Karen Coyle writes about the Library of Congress and their follow-up to the lcsh.info shuttering last fall.  In LC discovers infinity, she points out that at ALA Midwinter they not only stated that they recognized the value of the service, but that they were planning on re-releasing it as “Library of Congress Subject Headings” within 6-8 weeks.

Then she points out that 9 weeks have passed, with no changes on the website, nor updates as to the progress being made.

Any project, including re-implementing a service that was fully functional, can run into complications.  We have all experienced this.  The key is keeping people informed, and being realistic about solving problems.

LC should not have shut down lcsh.info in the manner they did; they should have implemented their version first, then allowed for an overlap (6 months, for instance) to give those who had integrated the service into their systems time to switch over.  What we have is a mess, and the pressure is on the Library of Congress to clean it up.

A library district in suburban Chicago (Schaumberg, Illinois) is implementing rules governing library user’s odor and library sleeping habits, but is stressing that the rules are not aimed at homeless users of the library.

This is a little hard to believe, as they also stress that they aren’t planning to invoke the rule against patrons who fall asleep while reading, but those who go into the library with the intention of sleeping.

A little background:  I started my library career in the Brookfield (IL) Public Library, and during the winter months, we had several homeless patrons who spent many hours each day in the library.  Odors?  Definitely.  One person in particular was so strong that I had to hold my breath whenever I was within 5 feet of him.  Just writing this is evoking the exact memory of the smell.

Initially, I didn’t understand why they were allowed.  I am sure that many of our patrons left the library sooner, and perhaps didn’t return as often during the winter months.  We definitely received complaints.  But the director, someone who I have grown to respect more and more over the years, insisted on allowing them a safe haven during the freezing temperatures.

My suggested solution?  Find a way to get people the services they need.  Resources for the homeless have improved, and everyone in need should avail themselves of those resources.  If those resources aren’t available, or even if the people who need them won’t use them, do not deny to them what may be their one safe shelter.  I occasionally wonder about the people I encountered as a page, and hope that their lives improved; but even if they didn’t, I feel happy that the library I remember so fondly also served as a safe place for them.

article found via LISNews

Today is the second annual celebration of Document Freedom Day!

So why are open document formats important?  What happens when someone sends you a document created with Microsoft Word 2007, and saved with the default file format?  You get a file with a .docx extension, and you have to find some way to convert it or obtain it in another format.

What happens when you encounter a file from a program you used 10 years ago, when the company is out of business, and you don’t know anyone who still uses it?  This can be more challenging.

The purpose of open document formats is to ensure that the information about how the document was saved is available for any person/company to utilize.  Importers for different programs and standalone converters can be created; the files themselves can sometimes be opened using simpler means.

The most forward-thinking and useful set of open document formats are those from the OASIS project.  They are in use in several programs, but the highest profile of these is OpenOffice.org.  The Open Document Format has proven to be very robust, and stores information in a manner that generally makes them much smaller in size than the Microsoft Office pre-2007 formats (I average about 10% on reports that I generate on a regular basis… that means 10% of the file size, not merely a 10% reduction!).

I like to do this demonstration:  make a copy of a .odt (Open Document Text) file, then change the extension to .zip.  Open the zipped file and start looking around.  Any graphics embedded within the file are saved in a separate folder.  You will find the raw text of the file in files.  All in all, this is a very open way to store and retrieve information from files that you may not be able to open otherwise (plus it is a great way to extract the graphic files).

What can you do to improve things?  Get OpenOffice (or try Go-oo, which bundles some great plugins and configuration settings) and try it out.  It is different from Microsoft Office, but once you are familiar with the menu placements, you can do some wonderful things.

What else?  If you are a Microsoft Office user, you can download and install the converters for ODF files.

Anything else?  Yes… think about what your needs may be for 5, 10, 20 years down the road, and strive to use document formats that will fill those needs effectively.  My recommendation lies with open formats rather than closed.

Added later:  Thanks to Rose Guerrieri, Director of the Kent State University Trumbull Campus Library, for her reminder via the Ohiolink list!

The Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) has issued a new report titled Strategic Thinking Guide for Academic Librarians in the New Economy (pdf).

It joins the growing chorus of reports that indicate that we are in for a financially tight stretch in the near future.  As I mentioned earlier, everyone in libraries needs to think about what we do and how we do it, and find ways to be more efficient.

The greatest opportunities for most of us lies in the area of Open Source and Web 2.0.  By taking the time now to move from proprietary services and software to low- or no-cost self-hosted solutions, libraries can not only save money, but add functionality and features.

The critical aspect is to think incrementally… tackling a too-large project all at once invites stress and failure; adding or changing some specific functionality each month can mean that in one year you may have ten solid new applications which were implemented in a very cost-effective manner.

Read the report, and add their suggestions to your pool of ideas.

found via ResourceShelf

With tongue firmly planted in cheek, the Annoyed Librarian addresses the topic of library support staff, library workers, paraprofessionals, library assistants, or whatever it is we’re called these days.  How about paraprofesupportstantstaff?

As with all humor, especially the pointed variety, there is a grain of truth in this that stings a bit.

Time for a coffee break, I guess….

(I am not the annoyed librarian… not that anyone thought I was, mind you….)

It is nearly time for Marshall Breeding’s annual Automation Systems Marketplace report, published in the April 1st edition of Library Journal.  This is as comprehensive and informative a report on the software we use to organize and present our collections as exists, and it portrays trends within the library community.

Paired with his announcement, however, was a request for library staff to review their listing on lib-web-cats, an online database of libraries, their basic directory information, and the software packages they use.  Find your library, review the information, and add / update / remove any information needed to make your listing current.

encountered on GuidePosts

Here are two art resources which can be the starting point for many art-related questions:

• smARThistory was designed as “a free multi-media web-book designed as a dynamic enhancement (or even substitute) for the traditional and static art history textbook.“  Find information by time period, artistic style, artist, and even by media.  The focus is on providing information in a range of media (images, text, discussions, podcasts) in order to better fit the dynamic style of art as a whole.
• The Art Browser focuses solely on providing images, but it does it so very, very well.  Search for an artist, or browse by movement.

These are very complementary sites which, together, provide an amazing breadth and depth of information for those interested in art history.

found on MetaFilter

MathTV is a collection of video tutorials, ranging from basic mathematical concepts to complex calculus applications, meant to assist students by providing a demonstration of how to work a type of problem.

This is a great resource for anyone needing a refresher on a particular mathematical concept.

A video from the main page of the site:

found via MetaFilter

File this as a future wish-list item for your online catalog:

There is a new and interesting way to connect an OPAC search result for a journal to the full-text journal articles, and it is called ticTOC.  The application of this shows just how effective a well thought out mashup can be.

Last December, I ran across a blog post on RSS4Lib about the TicToc project, which has been in existence for a couple of years, but had just officially launched. I never got around to posting it, but I made a point to watch for further information.

TicTOC provides, via an RSS feed, the table of contents for the current issue of whatever journal you search for.  There are currently over 12,000 journals included in their service.  Read the RSS4Lib post (above) for a more detailed description.

There is now at least one library, Wageningen UR Digital Library in the Netherlands,  that has created a mashup in their OPAC that shows just how powerfully this can enhance an OPAC search.

Locate a journal using their e-journal search, or go straight to the result screen for the Journal of zoology : proceedings of the zoological society of London.

1. Click on “Show recent articles” on the right side of the screen.
2. To display an article’s abstract in the OPAC, click on “Show abstract”.
3. To get to the full text of an article, click on the title of the article, then click the full text link on the publisher’s site.

Two clicks from the journal result in the opac to the full text of an article in the current issue.  I am not sure what would need to be done to deal with proxys and journal databases, but for articles retrieved through the publisher’s web site, this is very straightforward and useful.

This appears to be a great service, and the Wageningen UR Library has done a fantastic job in creating the mashup.  I look forward to seeing how this is integrated into other collections.

found via RSS4Lib

Remember those 16mm films from your school days?  Well, at least some of them have been saved from dumpsters and archived on the A/V Geeks website for online viewing.  As a former high school A/V Geek myself, this warms my heart.

They even have the perfect film to show people what things were like before personal computers and OPACs and such: Library Science Triggers.

There is no description, so I can only assume that this was created to let library staff know what not to do when working a public desk (“You know where the card catalog is!!” and “I’m sorry sir, but I don’t make the rules!”).

found via MetaFilter

Update: A brief description has been added, letting the viewer know that these videos are meant to “trigger” discussions amongst the viewers.

NASA’s Inclusion and Innovations Council has released a follow-up to Barriers to Innovation and Inclusion (link goes to my post containing the embedded video) which shows ways to encourage innovation and inclusion:

Again, I think that the lessons from this group are applicable to any organization in need of innovation.  As you watch the video, think about how you respond to others, and what you can change to encourage ideas from people.

One of the examples is of what they call “servant leadership”, the idea that supervisors should put their efforts into making it easier for those within their areas to innovate.  I see what I have called a “flat” hierarchy, which is the idea that we all should do what we can to make an idea fly, regardless of what our job description says.

found via Wayne Hale’s blog – read his entry for a prime example of the cost of discouraging someone on the brink of innovation.

The Map of Knowledge is a visualization of the interconnectedness of various scientfic disciplines.  From the PloS ONE article:

Over the course of 2007 and 2008, we collected nearly 1 billion user interactions recorded by the scholarly web portals of some of the most significant publishers, aggregators and institutional consortia.

High-quality images of the map.

found via posts by William (Bill) Drew and Robert L. Balliot on the Web4Lib list

Notes from last month’s OLE (Open Library Environment) Regional Workshop are on LibShare, and they are interesting to scan through, especially the comments.

I found this through the Disruptive Library Technology Jester blog, and looked into it because of two quotes he included with his post:

• With print items, we’re trying to give people access; with electronic trying to keep them out.
• Isn’t it interesting that users from other libraries have borrowed print books delivered to them, but must travel to another library to get access to their electronic items.

In addition, I will add this interesting tidbit from the same set of responses:

• It used to be about selecting high quality materials, but now have to teach evaluation of available materials.

I think that sums up much of the transition we face in the library world – how to filter useful and usable information in a way that makes it useful and usable for our patrons (aren’t you glad I didn’t say “users”).  We are drinking from the fire hydrant, and the pressure is increasing!

Marian Dworaczek has moved her Library Related Conferences website, so make a note of it.

If you haven’t seen her listing, check it out.  If you know of any conferences that aren’t on her list, let her know!

found via her posting to SERIALST (Serials in Libraries Discussion Forum)