Monday, February 28, 2005

Michael Gorman Slams "The Blog People"

Michael Gorman Slams "The Blog People"

Update on this from STLQ.

Michael Gorman is put forward as a guru of library "values".

Expressed in the reworking of Ranganathan's timeless laws into the pious corporate library speak of Gorman'sFive New Laws of Librarianship For me where these go wrong is where they switch the focus from the user and information, to the librarian and his/her role as a defender of values independent of the user. Perhaps Gorman's discomfort with blogs represents a wider discomfort by some in the profession with the user's relationship with knowledge, reading, and text?

Thursday, February 24, 2005

New Product Announcement-->Safari Tech

Safari Tech Books Online

A library of books on information technology, digitized and made available by Safari Tech Books Online in conjunction with the original publishers. This is a great collection of computer manuals on almost any topic and at any level.
Publishers include Cisco, O'Reilly, Microsoft Press, Sun, etc.

You can search by code fragments as well as regular text terms.

Also allows RSS feeds so users can be notifed on new books.

We have 15 simultaneous users on this one, so I hope it will provide better access than Books 24x7. But do let me know if this does get to be difficult.
Serials Solutions has announced plans to provide marc records for these titles. So we will wait for this for catalogue records.

New Product Announcement--->Academic Complete, Byron Hoyt, SME

A new collection of Ebooks and Musical Scores but we are keeping low key for now. Shhh.

All three products are from ebrary, and are a great resource for demonstrating the potential of e-books and full text for undergraduate education. However, ebrary requires a plug-in that is not yet loaded in the Information Commons. This will probably happen over the summer and until then we aren't providing much technical support. So, a full scale launch is NOT appropriate at this time.

Still, distance education students, music folks, and the rest of us, will want access asap so we can start exploring these tools and learning how they will integrate with instruction. Paul Pival has agreed to look the product over and provide some introduction for staff later in the term.

For now, if you want to explore, go to the site and download the client following the instructions--remember to use Internet Explorer. If the phrase "download a client" gives you the shivers, then give this one a miss for now.

Here are the three portions of ebrary we now subscribe to.

Academic Complete

With more than 20,300 titles, Academic complete includes all aggregated, academic Ebrary fixed collections in the areas of Business and economics; career and general education; computers, engineering and applied sciences; humanities; science, medicine and applied health; social and behavioral sciences. Also includes thousands of premier titles not available in any other Ebrary collection.

It isn't just the 20,000 titles, its the incredibly sophisticated and useful searching. you can go directly to the text where your term occurs, you can highlight text and right click to go to definitions, biographies, and britannica, you can highlight new text and run a search directly from the viewing page. Printing is easy and generous. This product truly opens up the potential of ebooks for research. Far superior to netLibrary in my opinion.

Byron Hoyt

Includes more than 8,300 sheet music titles for bands, orchestras, instrumentalists, and vocalists of all levels. Features classical titles from composers including Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Chopin, Haydn, Mozart, Scarlatti, Schubert, and Tchaikovsky as well as a rich collection of early American sheet music titles published between 1850 and 1920.

Music scores are the bugbear of a music library. All those students, all that multiple copying and hand ons use in performance. The e-version of scores seems an ideal solution.

SME Source (Society of Manufacturing Engineers)

Features 3,800 books, journals, and technical papers in manufacturing engineering. Why you ask, because literature in this area is notoriously hard to find, and because this collection will be of broad use in any area of applied manufacturing from medicine to electrical engineering.

New Product Announcement--->Polling the Nations

Polling the Nations

A database of polls taken on a variety of subjects all over the world from 1986 to the present. Each record in the database consists of one poll question and the participants' responses. Records are indexed in one of more than 5,000 topics and six search fields: subject matter, question text, universe, date, polling organization and response categories. Other information provided includes: source name and contact information, sample size, and notes on the sample population.

New Product Announcement--->Oxford Dictionary of National Biography

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography

An illustrated collection of more than 50,000 specially written biographies of the men and women who shaped all aspects of Britain's past, from the fourth century BC to the year 2001.

This is one people have been waiting for, more or less patiently, mostly less, so I'm really pleased its finally here.

I tried looking up Camilla Parker Bowles, that's how I found out it only includes dead people! And they have to have kicked the bucket before December 31, 2001. It includes only people who were "noteworthy in the history of the British Isles, and their overseas connections".

Then I looked up James Barrie, but no picture of Johnny Depp, sigh.

Wednesday, February 23, 2005

Reduction in Embargo for Canadian Newstand

Embargo reduced to 48 hours.

Canadian Newsstand which offers unparalleled access to the full text of over 190 Canadian news sources from Canada's leading newspaper publishers is now even more current! The previous seven-day embargo on content is now reduced to 48 hours. Over 90 titles including titles from CanWest, Osprey Media, Hollinger, Groupe Transcontinental and Whitehorse Star will be covered under the new embargo.

Tuesday, February 22, 2005

Project Muse Journal--->Future of Children

The Future of Children

The Future of Children is a biannual publication of The Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University and The Brookings Institution. It seeks to promote effective policies and programs for children by providing policymakers, service providers, and the media with timely, objective information based on the best available research.

The mentality of Homo Interneticus

The mentality of Homo Interneticus

This article from First Monday is a readable overview of some of the changes we see in the approach to information as people move from the print to the internet world.

Statistics from World Bank on Gender

GenderStats

GenderStats is an electronic database of gender statistics and indicators designed with user-friendly, menu-driven features. It offers statistical and other data in modules on several subjects. The data in each module is presented in ready-to-use format. Users have the option of saving the country views in Excel (or another spreadsheet software) to customize them for their own reports.

-from ResourceShelf

Wikipedia's Growth Comes with Concerns

NPR : Wikipedia's Growth Comes with Concerns

Audio file from National Public Radio, gives both pros and cons. Good to read in combo with article on Homo Interneticus.

-from ResourceShelf

The RSS Challenge--Compendex enables RSS on every search

The RSS Challenge

Interesting comment from STLQ on integrating RSS into his Engineering sessions.

Friday, February 18, 2005

University of Alberta Libraries Adds 285 RSS Feeds

University of Alberta Libraries Adds 285 RSS Feeds

Sigh, someday my RSS will come....

-from STLQ

Bangor University proposal to eliminate subject specialists

Lorcan Dempsey's weblog: The value of libraries

Finally found some more information on this topic.

Science.gov now has an alerting service

New Science.gov Service Delivers Science Information to Desktops

"From the Science.gov homepage (www.science.gov), individuals can set up an account and let Science.gov do the searching for them. Each week, up to 25 relevant results from selected information sources will be sent to the subscriber's email account. Results are displayed in the Alert email and in a personalized Alert Archive, which stores six weeks of alerts results. In the Archive, past activity can be reviewed and Alert profiles edited."

Now if this was combined with an RSS....

from ResourceShelf

RedLightGreen--changes

RedLightGreen -- Information for Librarians

Includes a FireFox plugin.

Note we are testing a link through to RLG on the catalogue, along with Google Scholar and some other tools. This link will give you a bit more information on RLG and its purpose.

Google Scholar test on limiting searches to specific institutionss

Page for limiting searches

Many of us are already using the Google Scholar tool that puts UofC SFX links into the searches. Here is an example of how this can be made much simpler for the user.

-from STLQ

How to subcribe to a listserv using bloglines

Subscribing to an Email List (Listserv) Using Bloglines

May be a bit technical for some, but good info for others I hope.

-from STLQ

Report on reduced load work impact on professional careers

Crafting Lives that Work: A Six-Year Retrospective on Reduced-Load Work in the Careers and Lives of Professionals and Managers

-from ResourceShelf

University of Alberta buys SCOPUS--Should UofC?

Library News: Scopus

If this is something we are going to want, we should decide early in the next fiscal cycle.

Thursday, February 17, 2005

Changes to Wilson Web Interface

WilsonWeb Maintenance Release and Other Improvements

l New Database Selection Area
l New Basic Search Screen
l Save Records for Later Retrieval, at a Click
l Convenient New Window for WilsonLink
l Find Your Search Term in Abstracts or Articles at a Glance
l New Combined Help and InfoCenter
l New Journal Directory Button
l Wider Choice of "Default" Settings, and more!

Hottest (Science) Journals of the Millennium

Hottest Journals of the Millennium (so far)

Citation ranking of journals in 11 different science subject areas.

-from resource shelf

Wednesday, February 16, 2005

New Website--->Digital versions of historical maps

David Rumsey Historical Map Collection

"The David Rumsey Historical Map Collection has over 11,000 maps online.

The collection focuses on rare 18th and 19th century North and South America maps and other cartographic materials. Historic maps of the World, Europe, Asia and Africa are also represented. Collection categories include antique atlas, globe, school geography, maritime chart, state, county, city, pocket, wall, childrens and manuscript maps. T

he collection can be used to study history, genealogy and family history."

-from ResourceShelf

More opinion on Wikkipedia

The Harvard Crimson Online :: Opinion

Comment on the reliability of this source.

-from resourceshelf

Tuesday, February 15, 2005

New Product Announcement--->World Bank Collection, World Development Indicators, and Global Development Finance

Three new products from the World Bank.

World Bank e-Library

An online, fully cross-searchable portal of over 3,000 World Bank documents. The collection consists of over 1,400 World Bank publications and over 2,000 Policy Research Working Papers.
This is a publisher that we purchase heavily, so this blanket subscription is welcome.
Note that the World Bank does not offer marc records, so we will likely not have individual records in the catalogue for the publications. sigh.

WDI Online (World Development Indicators)


WDI Online is the premiere data source on the global economy. It contains statistical data for over 575 development indicators and time series data for over 200 countries and 18 country groups. Data includes social, economic, financial, natural resources, and environmental indicators. The database is updated periodically with annual data loaded in May.
This is a handy little tool we use quite a bit on the MADGIC desk.

GDF Online (Global Development Finance)


GDF Online contains statistical data for 147 countries and country groups. The database covers external debt stocks and flows, major economic aggregates, and key debt ratios as well as average terms of new commitments, currency composition of long-term debt, debt restructuring, and scheduled debt service projections. The database is updated periodically with annual data loaded in January.

New Titles on Library, Museums, Archives

From the January February new titles list

First have something to say : writing for the library profession ~ Walt Crawford Z665 .C776 2003 MACK-TOWER

Evidence-based practice for information professionals : a handbook ~ edited by Andrew Booth and Anne Brice
Z665 .E95 2004 MACK-TOWER

Information ethics in the electronic age : current issues in Africa and the world
~ edited by Tom Mendina and Johannes J. Britz
Z665 .I497 2004 MACK-TOWER

Information literacy : essential skills for the information age ~ Michael B. Eisenberg, Carrie A. Lowe, Kathleen L. Spitzer ; foreword by Patricia Senn Breivik Z674.5 .U5 S65 2004 MACK-TOWER

Downsizing in academic libraries : the Canadian experience
~ Ethel Auster, Shauna Taylor
Z675 .U5 A865 2004 MACK-TOWER

Beyond the basics : the management guide for library and information professionals
~ G. Edward Evans and Patricia Layzell Ward
Z678 .E89 2003 MACK-TOWER

Innovative redesign and reorganization of library technical services : paths for the future and case studies ~ edited by Bradford Lee Eden
Z688.5 .I56 2004 MACK-TOWER

Libraries without walls 5 : the distributed delivery of library and information services ~ edited by Peter Brophy, Shelagh Fisher and Jenny Craven
Z699 .L49 5TH 2003 MACK-TOWER

Seeking meaning : a process approach to library and information services ~ Carol Collier Kuhlthau
Z711 .K84 2004 MACK-TOWER

Dictionary for library and information science ~ Joan M. Reitz
Z1006 .R45 2004 MACK-TOWER

Information skills survey for assessment of information literacy in higher education : administration manual ~ Ralph Catts
ZA3075 .C37 2003 MACK-TOWER

Using open source systems for digital libraries ~ Art Rhyno
A4080 .R49 2004 MACK-TOWER

Managing the digital library ~ Roy Tennant
ZA4080 .T46 2004 MACK-TOWER

Digitizing collections : strategic issues for the information manager ~ Lorna M. Hughes
ZA4080.5 .H84 2004 MACK-TOWER

Internet data collection ~ Samuel J. Best and Brian S. Krueger
ZA4228 .B47 2004 MACK-TOWER

Staying legal : a guide to issues and practice affecting the library, information, and publishing sectors ~ edited by Chris Armstrong and Laurence W. Bebbington
KF3030.1 .S73 2004 LAW-1STFLR

Developing and maintaining practical archives : a how-to-do-it manual ~ Gregory S. Hunter
CD950 .H86 2003 MACK-TOWER

New forums : art museums & communities ~ Bonnie Pitman and Ellen Hirzy
N510 .P58 2004 MACK-TOWER

Vastly more than brick & mortar : reinventing the Fogg Art Museum in the 1920s ~ Kathryn Brush
N527 .B78 2003 MACK-TOWER

Museum buildings : a design manual ~ Paul von Naredi-Rainer ; contributions by Oliver Hilger ... [et al.]
NA6690 .N3713 2004 MACK-TOWER

Pasts beyond memory : evolution, museums, colonialism ~ Tony Bennett
AM7 .B465 2004 MACK-TOWER

Starting right : a basic guide to museum planning ~ Gerald George and Cindy Sherrell-Leo
AM11 .G46 2004 MACK-TOWER

Enlightening the British : knowledge, discovery, and the museum in the eighteenth century ~ edited by R.G.W. Anderson ... [et al.]
AM101 .L62 E55 2003 MACK-TOWER

Monday, February 14, 2005

New Product Announcement--->The guide to computing literature

The guide to computing literature

This ACM guide provides a bibliographic database from the key publishers in computing, including books, journals, proceedings and theses.

Linking to full text is done through the DOI bookmark in the record instead of an SFX button.

What's in the Guide?

More than 750,000 citations from 3,000+ publishers, including ACM, covering:

* books
* journal articles
* conference proceedings
* doctoral dissertations
* master's theses, and technical reports

What is a Citation?

Citations consist of title, author, publication data, and, when available:

* abstracts
* citings (where the paper has been referenced by other papers)
* references (by the paper to other papers)
* index terms from ACM's Computing Classification System (CCS)
* reviews from ACM's Computing Reviews
* ACM member DL subscribers also get access to the Online Computing Reviews Service
* DOIs: Digital Object Identifiers, URLs that provide permanent links to papers on the publisher's Web site

New Product Announcement-->Family and Society Studies Worldwide

Family and Society Studies Worldwide

A core resource for these professionals:

* Social Workers
* Marriage & Family Counselors
* Family Practitioners
* Social Scientists
* Sociologists
* Psychologists
* Organizations and Services dedicated to the Family

Family & Society Studies Worldwide (FSSW) is a core resource in NISC's series of databases on family and gender related topics. NISC has recently expanded the coverage of FSSW, which formerly was produced by the National Council on Family Relations (NCFR). FSSW contains all the citations of the discontinued print version, Inventory of Marriage & Family Literature, plus abstracts which were never available in print. Also includes the highly respected Australian Family & Society Abstracts, commonly known as FAMILY, produced by the Australian Institute of Family Studies. Coverage is 1970 to present.

Thursday, February 10, 2005

How To Conduct a Background Check

How To Conduct a Background Check

Interesting overview from the Virtual Chase on what background checks are, and how to do them.

-from ResourceShelf

Monday, February 07, 2005

New Muse Journal--->Jewish Quarterly Review

Jewish Quarterly Review

Established in 1889, The Jewish Quarterly Review is the oldest English-language journal in the field of Jewish studies. JQR preserves the attention to textual detail so characteristic of the journal in the past, while attempting now to reach a wider and more diverse audience.
In each quarterly issue of JQR the ancient stands alongside the modern, the historical alongside the literary, the textual alongside the contextual, the past alongside the present.

New Muse Journal-->Hispanic Review

Hispanic Review

The Hispanic Review is a quarterly journal devoted to research in Hispanic literary and cultural studies. Published since 1933 by the Department of Romance Languages at the University of Pennsylvania, the journal features essays and book reviews on the diverse cultural manifestations of Spain and Latin America, from the medieval period to the present.

Wednesday, February 02, 2005

Eldis - Gateway to Development Information Home page

Eldis - Gateway to Development Information Home page

A great site for development information, with links to over 14,000 documents and 4,500 organizations. Lot's of great statistics too.

Open Access challenger to Chronicle of Higher Education

Inside Higher Ed

This might become a regular read, and perhaps a successor to the late lamented Lingua Franca. Check out the gossip from MLA.

Tuesday, February 01, 2005

New Product Announcement-->Corporate Retriever

Nope, not the long awaited Library pet, rather a new name and look for the old CanCorp financials.

Corporate Retriever

Corporate Retriever provides access to corporate and financial information on over 13,000 Canadian companies and full text access to the regulatory filings for over 40,000 companies. An index to over 1.8 million public company filings is included. This product combines the content of the former CanCorp Financials and CanCorp Documents databases, creating an easy-to-use online business reference tool that delivers financial and corporate listings with full text searching of original corporate documents. Available via Canada's Information Resource Centre (CIRC) interface, Corporate Retriever focuses on a core set of financial and directory elements and the content of SEDAR documents .

Note, this is not an article index, so it won't make it to the Article Index List.