Google OpEd

contributed by Kaura G. at 06:21 PM on February 27, 2004.

An interesting OpEd about google from today's NYT (free account needed) here

Sometimes the best metaphor for the Internet seems to be the population of earth itself, in which every human is a Web page related by kinship and conversation to all the other Web pages on earth. Sometimes the metaphor is a globe papered over with hyperlinked Web pages from which, more and more, tiny beacons arise, beaming updates to our computers like the old RKO tower. Whatever the metaphor, the only certainty is that we're going to need help finding anything for a long time yet to come.

Preservation Tutorial

contributed by Thomas L. at 10:52 AM on February 25, 2004.

Cornell University Library's digital preservation tutorial is a great way to get caught up on issues libraries are facing in attempts to safegaurd digital cultural history.

The tutorial is built as an introduction to those people attending Cornell's preservation workshops but it easily stands on its own as an instructional resource.

Comments (1) | Categorized in: Process: Preservation

Bound

contributed by Michael G. at 05:35 PM on February 24, 2004.

The National Library of Scotland has recently announced the winners of it's 2003 Bookbinding Competition. The books themselves look beautiful, but the presentation of the site itself could use a little work (can't quite make out all the details on some of the winning entries). Still, it is worth a look if you are interested in book binding (or even if you aren't, really). (link via Peter Scott)

General Site News

contributed by Michael G. at 05:10 PM on February 24, 2004.

Since I've announced the existence of the site a couple weeks ago, it has averaged about 100 visits each day (according to server logs, which are not always completely accurate, but good for basic statistics). I've also had a number of people come up to me in the hall and let me know they are reading the site, how good it looks, and thanking me for starting it up.

Despite all that, besides Thomas (thanks T.L.) and I, you'd get the impression know one was stopping by at all. So, call this a little begging for attention. If you are here and reading this now, please leave a comment, not just on this entry, but any other you find even remotely interesting. If you'd rather not expose yourself to the world, at least send me an email. If you'd like to help contribute (brain power, I'm not asking for money, this isn't public radio), also please drop me an email (michael AT iforani DOT com).

Though the discussion has been at a minimum, other parts of the site are really coming together. Over the weekend I added a calendar, which currently contains 20+ LIS events, mostly in the NYC area. There have also been over 50+ job postings in the past month, more than ANY other LIS job source out there.

Comments (2) | Categorized in:

Can Libraries Offer an Appetizing Alternative to Google?

contributed by Michael G. at 12:50 PM on February 20, 2004.

From what I've read many librarians completly misses the point in discussions about between librarians, Google, and commercially produced databases. Many people seem to say that because Google is easy to use, it can't return quality results. Google may be easy to use, which draws people to it, but who would continue to use the service if it also didn't prove useful to them?

The quality of results is obviously relative to the quality of material available. So really the only benefit of the commerical databases is the quality of material in the database. If the same type of peer-revieved academic materials were available freely on the web Google would be able to find them better than any of the existing commerical databases.

An article in the latest issue of the Chromicle for Higher Education, The Infodiet: How Libraries Can Offer an Appetizing Alternative to Google, makes the logical (and completly correct) conclusion that librarians shouldn't be forcing patrons to learn to use these inefficient and clumsy (Dialog Classic?) commercial database interfases, and start designing systems that combine the ease of use of Google, with the quality pool of content from these database.

Comments (1) | Categorized in: Topic: Search Engines

Digital Divide Continues to Close

contributed by Thomas L. at 06:07 PM on February 19, 2004.

The findings of a new Pew Internet & American Life Report, Rural Areas and the Internet were released on 2.17.04

Of course, numbers and polls never account for the actual lives of people and citizens, but I find these numbers interesting:
67% of urban residents use the Internet.
66% of suburban residents use the Internet.
52% of rural residents use the Internet.

An important discussion in the early 21st Century.

Comments (1) | Categorized in: Topic: Digital Divide

Primed on Standards

contributed by Thomas L. at 05:43 PM on February 19, 2004.

If you are seeing such terms as RSS, DOI, OpenURL, and RDF pop up more and more in the lexcion of library science, but you aren't too sure about their meaning or why they are there;

InfoToday's Computers In Libraries' 'A Dozen Primers on Standards' is a great starting point.

Hacking the Library

contributed by Thomas L. at 05:25 PM on February 19, 2004.

XML.com started a new column on 2.18.04 entitled, "Hacking the Library." Its author, Kendall Grant Clark, claims "I want to share some of the library science tricks I've picked up in my own efforts to manage my dijalog lifestyle"

Future features to include such topics as:
How to implement the Library of Congress at home;
How to use weblogs as a way to catalogue and categorize personal information;
How to use big-time metadata standards and techniques, like Dublin Core and faceted metadata, to manage dijalog artifacts;

Anyone interested in archiving digital objects, and looking to get practice around the home should be on the lookout for new editions of "Hacking the Library" - perhaps this is an indication of XML becoming more popular, and easier to use and helpful to everyday life, also, it coincides nicely with NYTimes Circuits Navigating Digital Home Networks piece from 2.19.04

Be a Librarian for a Day!

contributed by Michael G. at 11:31 AM on February 19, 2004.

On one of the list-servs I read someone brought up this Women's Day Magazine Be a Librarian for a Day Contest. The response from the librarians on the list, to paraphrase our Attorney General, is more than a little hysterical.

These "Be a Whatever for a Day" contests are fairly common. When you win a contest to be, say, an airline pilot for a day, no resonable person should expect a) that you'll actually be flying a plane, or b) that single day will be enough training to be able to replace a real pilot.

It's just a stupid contest!

The thing I'm more bothered about is that the Grand Prize, the day in the library and a Women's Day T-shirt is lsited as having a retail value of just $25. I'm spending quite a bit more than that on schooling to eventually put me in a library, and if I knew all I would have had to do to get my foot in the door would be to write a winning 700-word essay, I'd certainly have rethought the path the last several years of my life have taken.

HP to create digital archive for Time Magazine

contributed by Michael G. at 12:03 PM on February 18, 2004.

Hewlett-Packard is getting further involved in digital archives, as it announced yesterday it would be working with Time Magazine to create their archives. Last month, HP announced a collaboration with Getty to digitize their film archive.

The Time archive project is to digitize the more than 4000 issues published in the magazine's 70+ year history. HP will scan each page of each issue. I wonder if the archive will be simply the scanned surogates of the magazine, or will also include some OCR to provide a searchable, full-text database. I suppose I'll find out in May, when the project is scheduled to launch.

Restoring Reader's Privacy

contributed by Michael G. at 12:23 PM on February 17, 2004.

Whatever your take on John Ashcroft, you can certainly get behind any movement to ammend Section 215 of the PATRIOT Act, the part of the legislation that allows the federal government to collect information from booksellers and libraries on the habits of readers.

A group of these librarians, booksellers, and authors have gotten together to begin, among other things, a national petition to encourage repealing section 215. For more information, check out their website, the Campaign for Reader Privacy.

JURIST adds new weblogs to their service

contributed by Michael G. at 06:12 PM on February 16, 2004.

JURIST, the free legal information portal and database maintained by the University of Pittsburgh's Law School, has launched two weblogs of its very own. The two blogs, Paper Chase, which contains general legal news and is maintained by a team of 30+ of the school's law students, and Law Reporting, which contains news on law and the media and is maintained by law professors and reports from the NY Times, Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, and others.

JURSIT is already a phenomenal free resource for legal information, and their two blogs have tremendous potential.

Call for papers - Dublin Core/Metadata

contributed by Michael G. at 05:40 PM on February 16, 2004.

The International Conference on Dublin Core and Metadata Applications, will be held on October 11-14, 2004 in Shanhai, China.

DC-2004 is the fourth in a series of conferences previously held in Tokyo, Florence, and Seattle -- and will examine a broad range of metadata applications, especially with a view towards improving interoperability across boundaries of language, culture, and communities of practice. The confernece had posted an open call for papers.

I can't envision of a situation in which I'll be able to attent, but here's hoping by October the economy has picked up enough that I can convince my heretofore unkown future employer to send me.

Library of Congress lectures series

contributed by Michael G. at 11:14 AM on February 13, 2004.

Luminary Lectures @ Your Library is an initiative between the American Library Association and the Library of Congress. The goal of the program is to present a series of lectures by strong voices in the fields of information sciences, technology management, and librarianship. While the lectures occur at the LoC in Washington, DC, through the wonders of the internet they are webcast live and also available in an archive for viewing at your leisure.

The next lecture is in less than two weeks, and is entitled Stewardship in the Digital Age: Roles and Issues for Libraries for Preserving Our Cultural Heritage. Other future topics include Serving the Needs of the Profession and the Academy, a panel discussion featuring, among others, Dr. Nicholas Belkin from neighboring Rutgers University.

Previous lecture topics have included
The Anarchist in the Library: The Moral Panics over Copyright and Free Speech, Transforming the Urban Public Library, and Digital Rights Management.

Link Rot, Link Fresh

contributed by Michael G. at 04:32 PM on February 12, 2004.

I was just reading a list-serv thread and someone is looking for software to validate web links in their library catalog. Link validation is obviously an important necessity for web developers, but is a completly underdeveloped aspect of traditional library catalogs, especially considering the ever-increasing volume of authoratative information available on the web.

The person looking for info got one response, and a quick internet search found no software containing such functionality. The response was actually from someone who manually takes URLs from their catalog database and runs them through a link validation software made for websites, and then manually goes back to the catalog to repair any broken links.

I can't imagine a more arduous or unnessecarily time-consuming process. Seems like there is a definite market, if anyone is looking for a development project.

The software the one responder uses is Web Link Validator from REL Software. It is reasonably priced and well reviewed.

If anyone is aware of other software, please let me know and I'll pass it along.

Comments (2) | Categorized in: Form: Application , Process: Cataloging

Job announced in wrong section

contributed by Kaura G. at 10:57 AM on February 12, 2004.

I will get the hang of moveable type, but until then check out this position

The Greenblatt Library of the Medical College of Georgia seeks candidates for the position of Head, Education and Information Services. The person in this position is responsible for managing public services and personnel. Other responsibilities include maintaining and marketing excellent library customer services and ongoing development and training of staff. Works closely with Heads of Collection and Technology Services and Assistant Director for Library Operations to assess, plan and implement educational and informational services for users. Participates in strategic planning for the Library as a member of the Library Management Council.

More Online Ed.

contributed by Thomas L. at 10:18 AM on February 12, 2004.

Speaking of online learning and education: I came across the Workshops available at Infopeople.org and immediately wished I had the $$ to sign up for the Getting Started With Open Source Software.....from the description Perl/MySQL/MARC/CGI/Hypermail it sounds like an ideal course.

If anyone takes, or has taken an online course, it would be nice to hear more about it!

Web-based learning opportunities

contributed by Michael G. at 05:49 PM on February 11, 2004.

I've never paritipated in fully online distance-learning coursework. Knowing my personality, I don't think I'd get as much out of it as I should. However, if you are the person who could make online learning work for you, perhaps you should look into taking classes the through the Association of Research Libraries Office of Leadership and Management Services (OLMS) Online Lyceum (there's a mouthful).

They offer a number of courses, including Professional Writing, Measuring Library Service Quality, Fund Development, and more. Check out their calendar for a full list of courses available.

Managing the Complexity of Content Management

contributed by Michael G. at 01:52 PM on February 11, 2004.

An excellent "How To" for planning content management solutions. I used to work with the article's author, and can honestly say he is one of the most thoughtful and talented information professionals I've ever met. He also maintains a weblog of his own: Noise Between Stations.

Stand up and take notice

contributed by Michael G. at 01:35 PM on February 11, 2004.

Seems our little site is already making waves. Small waves, but waves nonetheless. Greg at the LIS Blogsource (a weblog about library weblogs!) noticed the site and had these nice words to say about us:

This one has not officially launched yet, but since they're live, I can't help but point it out. You can just feel the potential oozing from it.

Hopefully we can live up to that oozie potential.

Ask and ye shall find

contributed by Michael G. at 05:05 PM on February 10, 2004.

Someone arrived at the site looking for information about DSpace. Here some is.

DSpace is two very interesting and useful things - first, it is a way for faculty, staff, and students at MIT to leverage the intellectual property produced by the school to best serve the needs of the school. Secondly, it is an open-source software tool developed by MIT that will allow other universities to do the same.

You'll probably want to read more about DSpace yourself.

Protect public information

contributed by Thomas L. at 03:48 PM on February 10, 2004.

Keeping up with intellectual property law pointed me to this:

The Database and Collections of Information Misappropriation Act. This is a seemingly harmless bit of legislation aimed at protecting people's hard work - but it could be used to eventually close to the public a large amount of information that is now freely accessible online. I won't go into a total information is the right of man to his own self tirade... but I will point to the direction of Public Knowledge.org's Public Action to send a fax to your Representative and Committee Leadership, telling them why they should oppose H.R. 3261.

Link awareness through Copyfight.org
Other must reads through Electronic Frontier Federation

Comments (3) | Categorized in: Library: Government , Topic: Gov Docs , Topic: Intellectual Property

New facilities for GPO

contributed by Michael G. at 01:58 PM on February 10, 2004.

I like the currentPublic Printer of the United States, Bruce James. He seems a very forward thinking sort of fellow, and in his year and a half as Public Printer, has run the Governmenr Printing Office (GPO) like the business it is suposed to be. James will announce plans later today for a new, modern facility for the GPO.

Mission to Baghdad: Toward Rebuilding a National Library

contributed by Michael G. at 02:58 PM on February 09, 2004.

In November of last year the U.S. Library of Congress sent two librarians two Iraq. Their mission was to assist the staff of the Iraqi National Library to assess damage the to it's building and collections after fires, water damage, and explosions.

Watch this video presentation of the two librarians discussing their experience in Iraq - Mission to Baghdad: Toward Rebuilding a National Library.

Digital Preservation Resource

contributed by Michael G. at 02:49 PM on February 09, 2004.

PRONOM is a resource for anyone requiring impartial and definitive technical information about the file formats used to store electronic records, and the software products that are required to create, render, or migrate these formats.

PRONOM is developed and maintained by the UK's National Archives' Digital Preservation Department. It seems to be a very good resource for, among other things, those interested in electronic records management, archives, and digitial preservation.

The system currently holds details of c. 550 file formats, 250 software products, and 100 vendors, and records are being added on a regular basis (link via Peter Scott).

Digitization Symposium at Baruch College

contributed by Michael G. at 02:21 PM on February 09, 2004.

METRO is sponsoring a Digitzation Symposium on Thursday, March 11, 2004 from 9:00 to 4:00 at Baruch College Conference Center.

The keynote speakers will be David Seaman of the Digital Library Federation and Liz Bishoff of OCLC (and formerly director of the Colorado Digitization Project). David Seaman will address emerging developments in the field of digitization and Liz Bishoff will address the issue of collaborative strategies in digitization.

There will also be an afternoon panel on the topics of digitization equipment, outsourcing digitization processes, and evolving standards in metadata. This panel will include Barbara Taranto (New York Public Library, Research Division) Janet Gertz (Columbia University), and Jerry McDonough (New York University). The symposium will provide members with two breakout sessions to share their insights and experiences based on the panel presentations.

Registration fee is $20 for members, $30 for non-members. Visit METRO to register online.

Napster; an academic database?

contributed by Thomas L. at 10:19 AM on February 08, 2004.

Here is an interesting development; Univ. of Rochester has purchased access to the Napster (now owned by Roxio) Network and is offering use of it to students for free. I am not sure if this is a forward thinking act by an insightful university, or a desparate marketing ploy by an irrelevant company, but it certainly changes the meaning of an 'academic database.' I wonder when Harvard is going to buy the Apple Itunes Music Store?

Frightening CI?

contributed by Kaura G. at 06:13 PM on February 06, 2004.

IBM's new WebFountain knows about your wife's best friend... go to article

WebFountain sifts through the online data to discover patterns that even the most dedicated librarian can't find.

The article states that they are using the information in a constructive manner, but I find the implications frightening.

Scholarship notice

contributed by Kaura G. at 11:25 PM on February 05, 2004.

Like serials? In school? Then this scholarship may be for you.

Comments (2) | Categorized in: Form: News , Library: School Media Center

Bookmark Organization

contributed by Thomas L. at 04:30 PM on February 05, 2004.

Reading the NYTimes little article about Google in Libraries, makes we wonder: How are people organizing their bookmarks? Google is great yes, but there is much more to be said for a well organized collection of useful links, especially when it comes to internet-ready reference.

So: How are we organizing our bookmarks?

Since the summer of 2003 I have been strictly using Mozilla as a browser, and am continually wowed by some of the powerful plugins it has. I use the NewsMonster plugins for RSS feeds. Recently, I am finding that Mozilla needs better bookmark organizing functions (All web browsers need better bookmarking functions!)

Does anyone have a experience with Power Marks???

Any other software useful for this task....Just wondering...

Comments (6) | Categorized in: Process: Reference

When a Search Engine Isn't Enough, Call a Librarian

contributed by Michael G. at 12:45 PM on February 05, 2004.

An article in today's NY Times champions the role of librarian in an age of instant access to information on the internet.

When Google doesn't work, most people don't have a plan B," said Joe Janes, an associate professor in the Information School at the University of Washington in Seattle, who is teaching a course on Google this quarter. "Librarians have lots of plan B's. We know when to go to a book, when to call someone, even when to go to Google."

On interesting side effect to the prominence of Google, says the article, is that librarians spend less time answering quick-reference questions, and are are then able to spend more time to spend with petrons on the difficult questions.

Personal Catalogs Made Easy

contributed by Michael G. at 12:31 PM on February 05, 2004.

Plans are in the works for an open source database/cataloging scheme to help organization of personal libraries. LibDB hopes to allow "smart and easy" cataloging of movies, books, magazines, etc for the home user. With the sheer volume of materials most people save (especially now digitally), management of those assests will become increasinly important. The project is still in it's initial stages, but is worth taking a look at (link via The Shifted Librarian.

Attributing ?

contributed by Kaura G. at 01:38 PM on February 04, 2004.

Micheal: Great start! I'll email you separately, but for my test entry, a question: When enter a link, do need to attribute it to the source I received it from? Thanks all.

Comments (2) | Categorized in: Form: Best Practice

Attempt at filling a category

contributed by Thomas L. at 04:46 PM on February 03, 2004.

Looks good michael - It will be fun to watch the categories get filled - perhaps - there surely are a lot of categories!

Here is a post on the 'Topic: Metadata/XML' category....

Marking Up a Text A nice online book/tutorial provided by the TEI (text encoding initiative)

keep up the good work, hope to see more people posting soon??

Comments (1) | Categorized in: Topic: Metadata/XML

to do list

contributed by Michael G. at 02:48 PM on February 03, 2004.

There are some things still to be accomplished.

1. Finish design elements, especially pop up windows and logo/nameplate.

2. Work on logo. This is what I've come up with so far. I wanted to make it a little "sexy" so this is based off of the design of sports logos (NBA, MLB). There is something not quite right about it though. If anyone has any design expertise and would like to take a shot, please do.

3. Author pages. Do we want to use full names? Does anyone want to include a short bio (I'd say we all should)? Would anyone like to host a resume/portfolio on the site?

4. Add links. I've got a wealth of lib/info sci links, but my list is in no way comprehensive. If anyone would like to send me any links they are aware of, that'd be helpful. If someone would volunteer to take all the links and put them together in a meaningul way, that be better yet.

5. Features. A lot of people mentioned wanting more extensive information available than is traditionally included on a weblog. It'll be a bit more work, but is a great idea. Some of the ideas along those lines are - employment information, learning about specific librarians/institutions, etc. Considering that all Pratt students do site visits asking some of them to contribute to a weekly (?) "A day at ..." feature seems pretty obvious. Another idea would be having 5-10 people from different backgrounds be a part of a panel that writes a short response to a question/issue each week/month. Any others?

6. Anything else I'm forgetting or overlooking?