E-Lert #212 / Cyberavis numéro 212
Friday, January 19, 2007 / le vendredi 19 janvier 2007
NEWS / ACTUALITÉS
UK PubMed Central launched
The British Library
January 9, 2007
UK PubMed Central (UKPMC) is now live and freely available at http://ukpmc.ac.uk.
Based on PubMed Central (PMC) <http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/>
, the U.S. National Institutes of Health free digital archive of biomedical
and life sciences journal literature, UKPMC provides a stable, permanent,
and free-to-access online digital archive of full-text, peer-reviewed research
publications.
http://www.bl.uk/news/2007/pressrelease20070105.html
Canadian libraries thrive in a digital age
Toronto Globe and Mail
January 10, 2007
It’s a weekday afternoon and the main floor of the Toronto Reference
Library is hopping. Indeed, many Canadian libraries are reporting increased
patrons and higher lending figures. While there are no national statistics,
the Canadian Urban Libraries Council, which represents public libraries
in cities with more than 100,000 people, says circulation increased more
than 25% between 1996 and 2005.
http://link.ixs1.net/s/lt?id=i225214&si=r98443406&pc=p2037&ei=8110661
eIFL Handbook on Copyright and Related Issues for Libraries
Petition to European Commission to guarantee open access to publicly funded
research
In January 2006 the European Commission published the Study on the Economic
and Technical Evolution of the Scientific Publication Markets of Europe.
It made a number of recommendations to improve the visibility and usefulness
of European research outputs.
Now a group of organizations is sponsoring a petition to the European Commission
to demonstrate support for Open Access and for the recommendations in the
report. Signatures may be added on behalf of individuals or institutions.
To sign the petition, go to <http://www.ec-petition.eu/>
http://www.eifl.net/services/handbook.htm
ARTICLES
Patterns and Inconsistencies in Collaborative Tagging Systems : An Examination
of Tagging Practices
Margaret E. I. Kipp and D. Grant Campbell
E-prints in Library and Information Science
(Proceedings of the ASIST Annual General Meeting (2006), Austin, Texas)
The authors (University of Western Ontario) examine the tagging patterns
exhibited by users of del.icio.us to assess how collaborative tagging supports
and enhances traditional ways of classifying and indexing documents.
http://eprints.rclis.org/archive/00008315/01/KippCampbellASIST.pdf
(PDF document)
Mass Digitization of Books
Karen Coyle
The Journal of Academic Librarianship, November 2006, Volume 32, Issue 6
Mass digitization of the bound volumes that we generally call “books”
has begun, and, thanks to the interest in Google and all that it does, it
is getting widespread media attention. The Open Content Alliance (OCA),
a library initiative formed after Google announced its library book digitization
project, has brought library digitization projects into the public eye,
even though libraries were experimenting with digitization for at least
a decade. What is different today from some earlier digitization of books
is not just the scale of these new initiatives, but the quality of “mass.”
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/B6W50-4M877GM-1/2/91673967ebebaf384a277c5579164041
Simplicity Is Highly Overrated
Don Norman
Don Norman’s jnd Web site (2007)
The author writes “Why can’t products be simpler?” cries
the reviewer in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the local newspaper.
“We want simplicity” cry the people befuddled by all the features
of their latest whatever. Do they really mean it? No.
But when it came time for the journalists to review the simple products
they had gathered together, they complained that they lacked what they considered
to be “critical” features. So, what do people mean when they
ask for simplicity? One-button operation, of course, but with all of their
favorite features.”
http://www.jnd.org/dn.mss/simplicity_is_highly.html
RESOURCES / RESSOURCES
Suggested guidelines for library blogs
Karen Schneider
Free Range Librarian blog, December 30, 2006
The author offers some tips on what to put in library blog policies concerning
purpose, managers, hosting, assignments, acceptable use, and best practices,
among other things.
http://freerangelibrarian.com/2006/12/draft_blog_guidelines.php
Untangle the Web with RSS
Robert MacMillan
Reuters, December 29, 2006
The author summarizes RSS feeds for the uninitiated and explains why websites
need to have them.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061229/wr_nm/column_pluggedin_dc
What every librarian should know about search engines
Scott Hawksworth
DegreeTutor, December 8, 2006
The author writes: “Online research and the power of the Web have
made accessing information only fingertips away from all of us, but the
taxonomies and standards used for search will impact how people learn online
and off for years to come. Here are some of the things librarians understand
about search—and things that anyone doing online research can benefit
from.”
http://www.degreetutor.com/library/research-tools/librarian-searchguide
College libraries: The annex
College libraries: the condensed version
Larry Gordon
Los Angeles Times, December 25, 2006
Even as the Internet revolution raises the promise of widespread digital
publishing, librarians are grappling with deciding which books to keep and
figuring out how to efficiently store them—even if no one touches
them in a generation. That dilemma is heightened because room and funding
for traditional open stacks are scarce, and library space increasingly is
being converted to computer labs and study rooms.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-library25dec25,0,6869771.story?coll=la-home-local
Battelle’s predictions for 2007
John Battelle
John Battelle’s Searchblog, January 1, 2007
The author of The Search (Portfolio, 2005), has made 14 predictions about
developments in search-engine technology next year.
http://battellemedia.com/archives/003233.php
70 acronyms parents (and maybe librarians) should recognize
NetLingo
From POS to WYRN, these chat and IM acronyms could turn up in your e-mail
messages or your 24/7 reference logs.
http://www.netlingo.com/top20teens.cfm
Monty Python’s gorilla librarian skit
YouTube
From Series 1, Episode 10 (December 21, 1969), of Monty Python’s
Flying Circus, in which a gorilla applies for a librarian position. It contains
the classic line: “You see, I don’t believe that libraries should
be drab places where people sit in silence, and that’s been the main
reason for our policy of employing wild animals as librarians.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukJmF6f0JdQ
CARL COMMUNIQUE / COMMUNIQUÉ DE L’ABRC
CARL Board meeting (November 7) minutes (CARL Members Only Web site)
http://www.carl-abrc.ca/members/board/pdf/06-11-07_minutes-e.pdf
/ Procès-verbal de la réunion du 7 novembre du Conseil de
l’ABRC (site Web de l’ABRC, section réservée aux
membres)
http://www.carl-abrc.ca/members/board/pdf/06-11-07_minutes-f.pdf
