Intute: Virtual Training Suite

Posted on 7 December 2006 by Rick Mason

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

Posted in Education, Libraries, Online Databases, Online Services, Open Access, Search, Tutorials, WebSearch | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Intute: Virtual Training Suite

Iraq Study Group Report

Posted on 7 December 2006 by Rick Mason

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

Posted in News, Politics | Comments Off on Iraq Study Group Report

The Bibliognost’s Handbook

Posted on 7 December 2006 by Rick Mason

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!

Posted in Books, Definitions, Humor, Libraries, News | Comments Off on The Bibliognost’s Handbook

12 Essays on Books

Posted on 4 December 2006 by Rick Mason

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

from Open Access News

Posted in Books, Libraries, Open Access | Tagged | Comments Off on 12 Essays on Books

Internet Archive exempt from DMCA

Posted on 2 December 2006 by Rick Mason

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

Posted in Archival, Copyright, Libraries, Online Databases, Open Access, Search, WebSearch | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Internet Archive exempt from DMCA

WikiMatrix

Posted on 2 December 2006 by Rick Mason

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

Posted in Online Services, Open Source, Software, Web Design | Tagged , | Comments Off on WikiMatrix

World Almanac blog

Posted on 2 December 2006 by Rick Mason

Yes, the World Almanac has a blog, and it is a neat read for information junkies!

from ResourceShelf

Posted in Libraries, Online Services, Web Design | Comments Off on World Almanac blog

The Cluetrain Manifesto

Posted on 2 December 2006 by Rick Mason

Actually, it is Chapter Five:  The Hyperlinked Organization that I am pointing out, as I haven’t read any other part of the book… yet!

This is so much like an explanation of Dilbert’s world, as well of all those things in my world that remind me of Dilbert, that it must contain some truth.

from ALA TechSource

Posted in Humor, Web Design | Tagged | Comments Off on The Cluetrain Manifesto

Library Student Journal

Posted on 2 December 2006 by Rick Mason

There is a new publication out there in libraryland, and it is peer-reviewed and open-access (two of my favorite hyphens)!

Library Student Journal is being published by the School of Informatics at the University of Buffalo in New York, and they describe their scope as:

Library Student Journal (LSJ) seeks to publish the best student papers from Library and Information Science (LIS) students worldwide and to serve as a forum for discussion of LIS education and training, career paths and future trends. Submissions may cover a wide range of topics, but should always relate to and advance the discussion of LIS topics. This is a rapidly evolving field. As such, LSJ especially encourages submissions relating to new technologies and future trends. Papers submitted to the peer-reviewed section of the journal should advance the existing literature with original ideas or original research.

Their first issue is online, so check them out!

from Web4Lib posting (Thanks Bill Drew!)

Posted in Copyright, Education, Libraries, Open Access | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Library Student Journal

Dewey the Cat has died

Posted on 2 December 2006 by Rick Mason

Dewey Readmore Books, the mascot cat for the Spencer Public Library in Iowa, died on November 29th.

Dewey was many things to many people, and I like the idea of library mascots.  We had a Jack Dempsey Fish in the children’s section of the public library where I first learned to love libraries, and you always counted your fingers after feeding him.

from AP Top Headlines

Posted in Libraries, News | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Dewey the Cat has died

Print on Demand coming to the NYPL

Posted on 28 November 2006 by Rick Mason

The New York Public Library will be obtaining a print-on-demand press called the Espresso Book Machine, which can create a paperback from a PDF file in about 5 minutes.

The machine, which costs about $100,000, has the potential to change how libraries could provide materials.  Imagine a WorldCat-like opac that lets you choose an item, which is printed while you wait (and 5 minutes spent finding a book is not unusual for a larger library), and is able then to be checked out.

I wonder what percentage of a library’s collection could be held digitally?  This could solve much of the space crunch facing many libraries, in the long term.

from NewsForge

Posted in ILS, Libraries, Online Services, Software | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Print on Demand coming to the NYPL

Johns Hopkins Open Courseware translated to Chinese

Posted on 28 November 2006 by Rick Mason

The open coursework offered by Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health has been translated into Chinese and made available for study in China.

The effort was headed by Lucifer Chu (perhaps best known for translating The Lord of the Rings into Chinese) using a program called Opensource Opencourseware Prototype System (OOPS).  This signals an internationalization of open access, with many potential benefits for teaching and learning.

An excellent article about the work done by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), including how they worked with their libraries on the project, can be found here.

from Open Access News

Posted in Copyright, Education, Lecture, Libraries, Medical, Online Services, Open Access, Open Source, Software | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Johns Hopkins Open Courseware translated to Chinese

Internet Archive times 3

Posted on 27 November 2006 by Rick Mason

All right then, begin the list:

1) An article spotted in this morning’s paper that offers a great summary for those not familiar with the archive: Content of Dead Sites Lives in Archive .

2) They earned a 2006 Education Award Laureate from the Tech Museum Awards (also contains additional information about what they do). (from Open Access News)

3) And they started a blog earlier this month which showcases interesting content and their activities: What’s New at the Internet Archive. (from ResourceShelf)

Posted in Archival, Education, Libraries, Online Databases, Open Access, Search, Video, WebSearch | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Internet Archive times 3

Crime in Libraries

Posted on 24 November 2006 by Rick Mason

This article, dated a few weeks ago, on a Chicago news radio station’s website makes it sound as though libraries are more dangerous than they are.

I suspect that many of the “thousands of files” depicting the crimes were either a question of interpretation (“I know pornography when I see it”) or relatively minor issues that, perhaps like my former place of employment, the staff wouldn’t initiate calling police unless we actually witnessed it ourselves.

If you are not familiar with it, though, check out Illinois’ Library Records Confidentiality Act for yourself. I think it benefits more than harms, and that in a criminal investigation, obtaining a subpoena for things such as telephone and library records would be part of an established process. Why should it have taken 2 days to obtain one in this case?

By the way, the act does not cover a library hiding criminal activity, as the article suggests, just circulation and usage records.

Posted in Libraries, News, Politics | Tagged , | Comments Off on Crime in Libraries

New features in Google Book Search

Posted on 23 November 2006 by Rick Mason

Google has updated their interface for reading the books found using Google Book Search.

Here is a sample. And another.

from Official Google Blog

Posted in Google, Libraries, Search, Web Design, WebSearch | Tagged , | Comments Off on New features in Google Book Search

Searching while writing

Posted on 23 November 2006 by Rick Mason

An intriguing idea:  As you write a paper/essay/whatever software would scan your text for search terms and run those searches, giving you additional sources and ideas as you write.

Write While You Search: Ambient Searching of a Digital Library in the Context of Writing.

(pdf)

from ResourceShelf

Posted in Online Services, Search, Software, WebSearch | Tagged , | Comments Off on Searching while writing

College class writing their own textbook

Posted on 21 November 2006 by Rick Mason

Social and Cultural Foundations of Education will be an interesting course at Old Dominion University, as the coursework will not be taken from the textbook, it will be the textbook.

In what may be a first for an undergraduate class, the project for the semester is the creation and editing of an open access textbook that will be used and further edited by future students of the course.

I, for one, suspect that the students will learn a great deal more this way than by the traditional methods of learning. It is definitely tougher when you are creating that which will be used by others, than by simply using it.

from Open Access News

Posted in Copyright, Education, Open Access, Training | Tagged | Comments Off on College class writing their own textbook

EPA dumping part of its library…

Posted on 21 November 2006 by Rick Mason

According to Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, the EPA is trashing a significant portion of its library collection. If the article is accurate, then we risk losing a significant amount of environmental information and research.

from ResourceShelf

Posted in Libraries, News, Politics | Tagged | Comments Off on EPA dumping part of its library…

Cucumis

Posted on 21 November 2006 by Rick Mason

Cucumis is an interesting exchange project.  It involves people willing to translate text from one language to another.  A person earns points by providing translations, then “spends” those points by having others translate documents for them.

No money, no profit, just an exchange of services.  Interesting and neat (unless you only speak one language and need a translation).

from TechCrunch

Posted in Online Services | Comments Off on Cucumis

Endeavor – Ex Libris merger

Posted on 21 November 2006 by Rick Mason

Kind of an interesting merger in the library ILS world:  Endeavor and Ex Libris are merging.  Until recently, I worked in a library that used Endeavor’s Voyager ILS, and was impressed with many things that it could do, but also frustrated with many of the things it should have been able to do.

This could be good, depending on what is retained from each of the companies.  It seems that, from an Endeavor viewpoint, this will give much more of an international reach to Voyager customers, given Ex Libris’ worldwide base.

The big picture, however, is going to be how the big players respond to the rising influence and quality of Open Source ILS, such as Evergreen and Koha (LibLime, too).

Posted in ILS, Libraries, Open Source, Software | Comments Off on Endeavor – Ex Libris merger