From the Oxford English Dictionary, via Ron Murray at the Library of Congress, through the Disruptive Library Technology Jester, comes the news that the term “Mash-Up”, with roughly the same meaning as today, is over 150 years old!

The modern re-birth of the term appears to begin around 1994.

My favorite example of “proper” library terminology that doesn’t relate to the language in use by the general public (or most library employees for that matter) is Cookery.

The Library of Congress is in the process of retiring the subject heading for “Cookery” and replacing it in most cases with “Cooking” (Pdf).

found via Catalogablog

I wrote a post about the BookChaser Editions service last year, but encountered a reference to another service they offer, and this led me to others:

• BookChaser Covers : compares cover images available from Amazon, Google Books, LibraryThing, and Open Library.
• BookChaser BookInfo : compares information about a book obtained from Amazon, Google Books, ISBNDB, Library of Congress, LibraryThing, Open Library, and WorldCat.
• ISBN Analysis Tool : compares x-ISBN-like service availability for a given ISBN obtained from Amazon, Google Books, LibraryThing and WorldCat.

All lookup services are by ISBN.

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 little over two months ago, I decided to apply for an ISSN for this blog.  The notification letter arrived from the Library of Congress yesterday:  Libology blog has an ISSN of 1946-1852.  The link on the ISSN number doesn’t return a result (yet) but I recommend WorldCat’s xISSN History Visualization Tool.

There has been a debate over the use of ISSNs for blogs; my perspective is that I attempt to make this a responsible and professional ongoing commentary on library technology, sociology, etc., and as such it fits the definition of a serial.  And the LOC agrees.

LCCN Permalink is a service provided by the Library of Congress that allows one to generate links to items in the LC collection by the Library of Congress Control Number (LCCN). The format is:

http://lccn.loc.gov/99011685

This is similar to the following examples of direct links used in other online catalogs such as ISBN Linking in WorldCat and ISSN linking in my own workplace’s catalog. These can be used to create stable, static links to items in catalogs, and are therefore very helpful for citing items online.

found via Web4lib

The following links were posted to the Web4Lib listserv by S.Sripriya, a librarian for a dental college in Bangalore.  There are quite a few good links, many of them Indian-related, and I thought it was worth it to just post the whole shebang: 

Ohio Public Library Web Sites Information on this table has been supplied to the State Library of Ohio by Ohio public libraries.  http://winslo.state.oh.us/publib/libtable.html

Library of Congress : State Library Web Listing  http://www.publiclibraries.com/state_library.htm

Browse Lists of Canadian Library Web Sites and Catalogues  http://www.collectionscanada.ca/gateway/s22-200-e.html

Great Web  Sites for Kids (ALA)  http://www.ala.org/gwstemplate.cfm?section=greatwebsites&template=/cfapps/gws/displaysection.cfm&sec=22

Libweb currently lists over 7700 pages from libraries in 145 countries.  A global directory of library home pages.  http://lists.webjunction.org/libweb/

Libdex – Index to 18,000 Libraries.  World index of library sites with over 18000 database entries. Includes a list of libraries by catalog vendor.  http://www.libdex.com/

Leeds University Library  Sites  http://www.leeds.ac.uk/library/sites/

State Library Web Sites  http://dpi.state.wi.us/pld/statelib.html

Wisconsin Public  Library Websites  http://dpi.state.wi.us/pld/wis_lib.html

LibrarySpot.com, a free virtual library resource center for educators and students, librarians and their patrons, families, businesses and just about anyone exploring the Web for valuable research information.  http://www.libraryspot.com/

Virginia Public Library Web Sites  http://www.lva.lib.va.us/whoweare/directories/valib/libweb.asp

A to Z List of Useful Reference Sources  http://www.lib.utexas.edu/refsites/

Indian library websites  http://www.india-newsbehindnews.com/b-library.html , http://www.indiaedu.com/libraries/

NATIONAL LIBRARY WEBSITES  http://www.library.uq.edu.au/natlibs/websites.html , http://www.nlindia.org/collection.html

World Wide Web Virtual Library Sites  http://www.cwis.org/wwwvl/indig-vl.html

The best online library of references & facts  http://www.sandarbha.com/

Important Reference Sites  http://library.puchd.ac.in/ors.html

Library of Congress Office, New Delhi,  India … Other South Asian Materials Web Sites.  http://www.loc.gov/acq/ovop/delhi/

Links to the latest news in the library and information science world  http://in.dir.yahoo.com/Reference/Libraries/Library_and_Information_Science/

Some Useful Resources for Library and Information Professionals in India  http://www.ncsi.iisc.ernet.in/raja/lib-info-sources.htm

National Library of France  http://www.france-in-india.org/en/article.php3?id_article=929

American Centre Libraries in India – website of the USIS library network in India  http://www.india-newsbehindnews.com/b-library.html , http://americanlibrary.in.library.net , http://www.search4i.com/14806/Directory/American+Centre+Libraries+in+India.aspx

Important Reference Sites  http://library.puchd.ac.in/ors.html 

Indian Libraries  Websites Directory  http://www.dinesh.com/India/Arts%10Entertainment/Libraries/

The Library of Congress Office, New Delhi  http://www.loc.gov/acq/ovop/delhi/

Worldwide Web Links  http://muscat.bl.uk/collections/orientalwww.html

Library Networks - India  http://www.information-professional.netfirms.com/directory/lanind.htm

Libraries in India  http://www.findouter.com/Asia/India/Reference/Libraries , http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Libraries_in_India

American Information  Resource Centers in India  http://www.searchindia.com/search/Education/Libraries/index.shtml

A couple things of note are happening in the realm of bibliographic information:

1. The Library of Congress will be holding their second regional meeting of the Working Group on the Future of Bibliographic Control on Wednesday, May 9th.  This one will be held in Chicago.  Pay attention to the discussions at these meetings, and watch for the final report from the group later this year.  This group is touching upon the right issues, and the consensus for positive change is gaining momentum.  I posted about the group’s first meeting here.
2. The folks working on RDA and Dublin Core will be working together to make RDA more, well, friendly towards people who want to use library bibliographic information for various things.  This could be important, as we are falling further and further behind when it comes to being able to use the wealth of information contained in our electronic bibliographic records.  If we fall much further behind, we could become irrelevant; we are already fairly analogous to the Deep Web because our information can barely be used outside of our OPACs.  And most of our OPACs are not user-friendly.

My thoughts and ideas about these issues are becoming clearer.  I will write more on these topics later (hopefully soon).

It seems odd that it hasn’t happened before now, but the Library of Congress has just started a blog.

from One Big Library

On Coyle’s InFormation, a blog written by the ever-interesting Karen Coyle, there is a discussion about the transcripts of a Section 108 Study Group meeting hosted by the Library of Congress on the topic of copyright, libraries and digitization.  These meetings are happening because Section 108 was written to create guidelines for photocopying, and digitization/internet issues aren’t covered in any clear way. 

Sounds a bit dry?  Actually, it isn’t.  Karen does an excellent job of selecting key passages that reflect the lines being drawn in the debate over what should, and should not, be allowed in the realm of library research and inter-library loan(ILL).  If you care about ILL services, database access, and access to information, you really should read her blog entry.

This article from Linux.com is a great overview of what it takes to run a digitization project with fragile material and across great distance, as the Library of Congress and Archive.org work together on a project to preserve some of the rare materials in the library’s collection that are at risk of decaying.

from NewsForge

The official summary of the Users and Uses of Bibliographic Data meeting held by the Library of Congress at Google’s headquarters last week has been posted.

Karen Coyle’s blog has her notes from the meetings.

from Coyle’s InFormation and Catalogablog

The Library of Congress has formed the Working Group on the Future of Bibliographic Control, and will be having their first public meeting tomorrow, March 8th, at Google’s headquarters in Mountain View, California.

The truly interesting thing is that anyone can attend, no prior registration needed. I would love to be able to drop in at Google tomorrow and delve into the topic of Users and Uses of Bibliographic Data, but it isn’t going to happen for me without a tornado, puppy and ruby slippers. Andrew Pace and Karen Markey are among the speakers; it ought to be an excellent day.

Karen Schneider was inspired to dash off an open letter to the Library of Congress on ALA TechSource. Karen Coyle is planning to attend (as per a post to the NGC4Lib listserv) and will likely post info on her blog about the meeting.

I am entertaining the idea of wandering over to Chicago for their May 9th meeting on “Structures and Standards for Bibliographic Data”, which I think I would find almost as fascinating as the user focus of this meeting. Several things would need to fall into place to allow that to happen, including the LOC keeping the meetings open to all without invitation, and I think I shall see what the feedback from tomorrow is before pursuing it.

Here is a distance calculator that takes the concept a step further than Google Maps or Mapquest… it recognizes location names other than address information.

Think in terms of buildings, statues, monuments, etc. Want to see how long of a walk it is between the Library of Congress and the Lincoln Memorial? This is where you can easily find the answer!

from ResourceShelf

The New York Public Library is changing classification systems for their reference collection.  Over the years they have used a unique system developed by their first library director, Dr. John Shaw Billings, appropriately named the Billings System.  It hasn’t been updated since the 1950’s, however, and many books have been shelved according to size.

They are switching to the Library of Congress system, which ought to be quite a task, depending on the size of the collection.

This has me thinking about classification systems again, which I seem to delve into every few years.  I have this not-so-secret desire to create a new classification system, but haven’t been able to come up with one that is a clear improvement over existing systems without creating new problems.

In one sense, classification systems are becoming less critical.  With Integrated Library Systems and Online Public Access Catalogs becoming nearly ubiquitous, all one truly needs is a shelving order that allows one to locate a book quickly once you have the locator information.

This opens the possibility for organizing a library based on size, or color (as the Adobe Bookshop did a couple of years ago), which is an ongoing thought among library staff when patrons recall a book only for its size and color.  Color wouldn’t be a very efficient (or accessible) system, however.

Size could work very well, though.  If you created a system based on a library’s shelving units, and had the largest books on the lower shelves, and mass-market paperbacks on the top shelves, you could assign shelving locations based solely on the height and thickness of the item.  You could very efficiently use all of your shelf space, replacing discarded items with items of a like size.  All one would need was software that would track the available space and place books accordingly (sort of like defragmenting a hard drive).  It would impede shelf browsing; and a mis-shelved item is lost until the next inventory (unless it is is visually out of place).  Perhaps this would work well for closed stacks libraries.

Currently, the two dominant systems, at least in the U.S., are the Library of Congress System (LC), and the Dewey Decimal System (DDC).  Each has, in my opinion, significant shortcomings, but have been continually updated.

There are many other library classification systems in existence; I wonder if we are approaching the time when an open source, collaborative classification system will make sense?  There are a lot of pie-in-the-sky issues surrounding this, the largest being the fact that is is a massive undertaking for even a smaller library to completely change their classification.  This would involve updating each electronic record, as well as re-labeling and re-locating every item covered by the classification change.  I would have to be strongly convinced of the long-term benefits before starting down that road.

As a theoretical project, however, it is an interesting idea.  The system could be created and worked on without involving any physical libraries, perhaps as simply as creating a Wiki and recruiting volunteers.  Now all I need is the basic idea of what the classification will be built upon….

thought process started by BiblioTech Web