Quality Resources, Found for You
Welcome to ResourceShelf, where dedicated librarians and researchers share the results of their directed (and occasionally quirky) web searches for resources and information.
ResourceShelf is updated daily by an editorial team headed by Gary Price and Shirl Kennedy. Browse our postings, subscribe to our weekly newsletter, and capture RSS feeds to add ResourceShelf to your own reference collection.
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Australia: Internet Filtering in Public Libraries 2007 Survey Report
DCITA has been working with the Australian Library and Information Association with the aim of ensuring the filtering needs of libraries are adequately addressed. The survey, conducted in May of this year, is the third to have been conducted by the Association since 2002. The report’s findings are based on the responses received from this survey.
Full Text Report ||| Case Studies ||| News Release
Source: Australian Library and Information Association
New Full Text Report: Glut: Mastering Information Through The Ages
by Alex Wright.
From the description:
What do primordial bacteria, medieval alchemists, and the World Wide Web have to do with each other? This fascinating exploration of how information systems emerge takes readers on a provocative journey through the history of the information age.
Today’s “information explosion” may seem like an acutely modern phenomenon, but we are not the first generation nor even the first species to wrestle with the problem of information overload. Long before the advent of computers, human beings were collecting, storing, and organizing information: from Ice Age taxonomies to Sumerian archives, Greek libraries to Dark Age monasteries.
Today, we stand at a precipice, as our old systems struggle to cope with what designer Richard Saul Wurman called a “tsunami of data.” With some historical perspective, however, we can begin to understand our predicament not just as the result of technological change, but as the latest chapter in an ancient story that we are only beginning to understand.
Source: National Academies Press
The Top 25 Search Phrases on the CIA Web Site (April and May 2007)
Bay of Pigs was #1 in April while ufo was #1 in May.
Source: Central Intelligence Agency
Who Needs a Computer? Getting Home Values Via Cell Phone
Lauren Baier Kim from REJ focuses on how to access home price and other real estate info using HouseFront.com’s SMS (text messaging service).
Simply send a text message containing the address to: 46873.
…get information on the property’s potential sales price, size and number of bedrooms and bathrooms, etc. (The site doesn’t charge fees for its text-message service; your mobile-phone carrier’s normal rates apply.)
+++Learn More About HouseFront Mobile
Data available via SMS:
+ Estimated Value
+ Number of Bedrooms
+ Number of Baths
+ Total Square Footage
+ Year Built
+ Property Owner
+ And more depending on what public records provide
The article also points out an SMS version of Zillow that offers estimated value (Zestimates) but no other info.
Finally, Kim does a nice job explaining where the data comes from along with positives and negatives about the site.
Source: Real Estate Journal
Nature Publishing Group (NPG) announces the launch of two new websites-Nature Reports Climate Change and Nature Reports Stem Cells. The Nature Reports sites highlight topical science issues by providing thorough investigative reporting based on peer-reviewed, primary research. The sites will report “the science behind the news, the news behind the science” and explore the social, political and economic implications of the highlighted topic. Content is accessible for users of all levels of expertise, from scientists, journalists and students, to members of the general public interested in getting the facts behind the headlines, with a vast majority of it freely accessible. Over the coming months, Nature Reports: Stem Cells and Nature Reports Climate Change will develop further with increased community interactions, resources and media.
Source: Nature Publishing Group
Let the Music Play: Oodle Launches BandTracker
The well-known online classified site has launched (beta) a new specialty database (beta) that offers concert information for over 213,000 bands. Tools to track where a band will be playing live are also available. Each entry also contains a link to search for tickets on Oodle.
See Also: The Pollstar Database has info for more than 10,000 artists.
New domains from Microsoft in the past couple of days:
+ LiveSearchCadeaux.com, .net
+ Livesearch-cadeaux.com, .net
+ Codenamestirling.com, .net
+ Codenamestirling.net
+ Forefrontstirling.com, .net
+ ReleverTouslesDefis.com, .net
+ homeofficeentry.com., .net
+ hotmails-msn.com
+ msn-hotmails.com
+ MicrosoftStrategyDay.com
+ MSN-department.com, .net, .org
+ Msn-department.org
+ mswep.com
Everything old is new again: Finding a place for knowledge structures in a satisficing world
by D. Grant Campbell, and Michael Brundin, and Graham MacLean and Catherine Baird (2007)
The authors use an exploratory project involving Web resources related to Alzheimer’s Disease to explore ways in RDF metadata can more effectively translate the virtues of the traditional vertical file to a Web environment form using Semantic Web descriptive standards. In so doing, they argue against the separation of “bibliographic control” from the socially-embedded institutional practices of reference work, collection development, and the management of information ephemera. Libraries of the future will use specific Web technologies that lend themselves to sophisticated and rigorous knowledge structures, and link them with librarians’ skills in information harvesting and evaluation.
Source: Proceedings North American Symposium on Knowledge Organization 2007 (via dLIST)
+ Hijacking of Air France flight 139 at Entebbe Airport in June 1976
These two files relate to the hijacking by representatives of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine of Air France flight 139, en route from Tel Aviv to Paris. The plane landed at Benghazi in Libya and then travelled on to Entebbe in Uganda, where a squad of Israeli troops ultimately stormed the hostage-takers’ encampment. The files contain communications about the hijacking, and debate over whether the British Prime Minister should congratulate Israel following the final assault.
Access to documents is available at no charge.
More recently released documents listed here.
Also, new online:
Southwell Union Workhouse (1834 - 1871)
You can now search and download documents from Southwell Union Workhouse, the best-preserved workhouse in England. These records are a fantastic resource for researchers. We are fortunate to be able to provide free access to the images because this is a joint project by The National Archives in partnership with the National Trust, with the aid of volunteers in Nottinghamshire.
Resources, Facts, and Tracking for STS-117: Space Shuttle Atlantis
Real Time Tracking
+ Shuttle and ISS Tracker #1 (Java)
+ Real Time Shuttle, ISS and Satellite Tracking (Java)
+ JTrack 3D (Java)
+ Space Shuttle and ISS Real Time Ground Spotting Opportunities
+++++ Skywatch 2.0 App (Java)
+ Landing Tracks
+ Interactive STS-117 Timeline
+ STS-117 Press Kit
102 pages; PDF.
+ STS-117 Fact Sheet
2 pages; PDF
Additional Shuttle Fact Sheets
+ Shuttle Night Launches
+ Extended Missions
+ Extended Duration Missions
+ Shortened Missions
Source: NASA
In the middle of the world-famous Olympic Park in the Bavarian capital of Munich, 220 meters (720 feet) above ground level, you can find two webcams and the world’s highest controllable Internet video camera, the t-info TowerCam. Take control of the video cam or take a look at one of our live webcams updated every 60 seconds.
Source: t-info.com
New Research Paper: Tagging for health information organisation and retrieval Tagging for health information organisation and retrieval
by Margaret E. I. Kipp (2007)
This paper examines the tagging practices evident on CiteULike, a research oriented social bookmarking site for journal articles. Articles selected for this study were health information and medicine related. Tagging practices were examined using standard informetric measures for analysis of bibliographic information and analysis of term use. Additionally, tags were compared to descriptors assigned to the same article.
Source: Proceedings North American Symposium on Knowledge Organization 2007 (via dLIST)
We Have Liftoff: The European Digital Library
Museums, Archives, Audio-visual Archives and Libraries start their cross domain collaboration to create the European Digital Library this month with the start of EDLnet. EDLnet will deliver cross-domain collaboration and prototypes for stakeholder and user comment.
EDLnet is a Thematic Network under the eContentPlus Progamme, run by The European Library together with the National Library of the Netherlands. The network will work on the human and political as well as the technical and semantic issues to create an interoperable system able to access fully digitized content from these cultural repositories. This work will be shown through a mock up and prototypes over the next 12 months to give users their say in the process.
The project site www.EuropeanDigitalLibrary.eu will be live in Septembe r– giving access to digital items, testing access from new domains, news on progress in EDLnet, home of the prototypes and user feedback and to the EDLnet Thematic Partner Network site.
See Also: http://libraries.theeuropeanlibrary.org/treasures_en.xml
See Also: The European Digital Library Treasures
The Journal of Electronic Publishing (volume 10 | issue 2)
Articles include:
+ Hilary Wilder + Sharmila Pixy Ferris
Using a Wiki to Write About Wikis
+ Maria Fillippi
Implementing a Digital Library through National Cooperation
+ Diane Harley et al.
The Influence of Academic Values on Scholarly Publication and Communication Practices
+ Charles Henry
Rice University Press: Fons et origo
+ Michael Jensen
The Deep Niche
+ Frank Lester
Backlinks: Alternatives to the Citation Index for Determining Impact
+ Bhaskar Mukherjee
Evaluating E-Contents Beyond Impact Factor
+ Andreas Veglis
Cross-media Publishing by U.S. Newspapers
Source: JEP / University of Michigan
UK: JISC Launches the “Depot”: Supporting scholarship in the digital age
From the announcement:
A major JISC conference being held in Manchester this week will mark an important milestone in establishing institutional repositories across UK education and research.
The conference, which begins today at Manchester University, sees the launch of the Depot, a national JISC-funded repository based at EDINA in the University of Edinburgh. This will enable all UK researchers to deposit their academic papers and other outputs under terms of Open Access, including those whose institution does not yet have a repository. The new service, with its simple message and advice to “put it in the Depot”, represents an important step in the development of a scholarly communications environment for UK education and research.
The Depot has two main services on offer:
1. a re-direct service, with the Depot acting as a gateway, especially to repositories at UK universities (institutional repositories)
2. a deposit service for e-prints, with the Depot acting as a national repository for researchers not yet having an institutional repository in which to deposit their papers, articles, and book chapters (e-prints)
Source: JISC
Prelimary Program for Dublin Core Conference Now Online
The conference will take place in Singapore from from 27 through 31 August 2007.
Keynotes will be given by Johannes Keizer, team leader for Semantic Standards in the Knowledge Exchange and Capacity Building Division of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in Rome and Zhang Xiaoxing, Deputy Director of the National Cultural Information Resource Center of China. Online registration is now open.
Source: DCMI
From the announcement:
Scirus today announced the launch of its Scirus Library Partners program. The new program enables the easy integration of the Scirus search engine with library link resolvers. As
a result, librarians can optimize the usage of their holdings and provide researchers with faster access to full text articles.The new program utilizes the OpenURL protocol, which standardizes the transfer of journal metadata. This enables search results in Scirus.com to be automatically cross-referenced with the library holdings of the institution at which researchers are working, resulting in the automatic display of links where the full-text is accessible.
Read the rest of this entry »
Two new capabilities added to Live Search web results pages. Useful and also cool.
1) Enter a search like:
+ traffic New York City
or
+ commute San Diego
and at the top of the web results page you’ll find a draggable map with real time traffic info. Of course, this feature is only available for selected metro area.
Nice work!
2) While a couple of the major engines have offered links to maps at the top of the results page for some time (examples 1 ||| 2), Microsoft Live will do its best to automatically determine your location and present a local map without having to enter a specific locale. Looks like a bit of packet sniffing going on here.
Note #1: If you have entered a specific location in the “location box” on the preferences page, Live.com appears to default to this location. When we cleared a set location, the IP sniffing worked well.
Note #2: On our computer where Microsoft’s Location Finder is loaded and working, our search for map did not offer an even more specific location. We will continue to check on this.
Like possible that Google wanted to simply make sure these domains were to added to their inventory.
+ Google911.net
First registered in March, now on a Google Name Service
Note: Google911.com registered to a company in Houstn. A domain holding company?
+ GoogleAdmin.com., .net
The site was once home to an online game named Awaken. More here. First registered in March by 2007 by Google, it is also on on a Google name server. It was once registered to a person in NYC.
Googlehowto.com
+ Registered by Google in March 2007. Previously same ownership as domain above.
Hardly a week goes by these days without something new coming from NASA’s (also many volunteers) 3D Digital Globe service, World Wind.
This time, a new add-on using data from Wild Sanctuary. Natural Sanctuary is home to the largest private archive of natural sound.
This Add-on is based on the kml from Wild Sanctuary, which plays audio clips from many locations around the world a network xml is used so that any new information can be added automatically each time you load World Wind.
Note: Most KML files can be read with World Wind so, this layer is available for Google Earth by visiting the Wild Sanctuary site.
Source: World Wind Central
See Also: New Add-On Layer for NASA’s 3D Digital Globe: UN Peacekeeping Missions
See Also: Updated Imagery of Saturn Added to NASA’s World Wind 3D Digital Globe
See Also: New Article: Do-gooders doing Google Earth (via News.com)
The June 2007 Issue of The World Almanac Newsletter is Now Available
A must for the reference desk and/or fact “geek.” Newsletter contains a chronology of May 2007 events, “This Day in History,” and much more.
See Also: Previous issues and subscription info (free)
See Also: Highlights from the New Edition of The World Almanac for Kids
Selected full text content. This print reference will be on sale beginning June 26, 2007. If you have a number found in the book, you’ll be able to access more content.
+ Department Of Energy Gray Literature Now Registered With CrossRef
+ A Brief Interview With Udi Manber, Google, On Universal Search (via Searchblog)
+ Sprint to offer mobile service for finding products in stores (via Dow Jones, MarketWatch)
Thanks to Barry at SEL for the news tip.
See Also: Learn More about GPSShopper
See Also: If you don’t have GPS on your phone, you can search the Slifter database via SMS using a Zip Code. Details here.
You can also search Slifter on the web or via your mobile web browser. The same URL works for both regular and mobile web.
+ Fast Facts: 2007 Hurricane Season Begins
Source: Infoplease.com
See Also: NOAA Predicts Above Normal 2007 Atlantic Hurricane Season
Source: NOAA
See Also: NOAA: 2007 Atlantic Hurricane Season Outlook
See Also: NOAA FAQ: Hurricanes, Typhoons, and Tropical Cyclones
Updated on June 1, 2007.
Reporting crime and bad drivers, having job interviews, calculating carbon emissions, and truancy alerts for parents are just some of the services that Britons long to have access to online, according to research released today. The national study commissioned by directgov questioned parents, teenagers, over 50s, motorists, and disabled people.When asked what one online service they want from the internet in future the top answers were:
* ‘No show’ truancy alert if child doesn’t arrive at school (wanted by parents)
* Taking a virtual tour of colleges or universities (14-18 year olds)
* Guide to local services for older people (over 50s)
* Renew car tax online (motorists)
* Personalised journey planners mapped by accessibility (disabled people)
Source: Directgov
The BBC is collaborating with Microsoft Live Labs Photosynth to create three- dimensional representations of some of the most dramatic buildings in Britain by combining hundreds of different photographs. This is an exciting ‘research and development’ project which gives users an insight into future photo sharing possibilities. Most of these locations are featured in the new BBC series ‘How We Built Britain’ which explores Britains past through its buildings and the lives lived in and around them.
Greg Sterling from Screenwerk and Search Engine Land provides a thorough overview (as he always does!) to Avvo.
Sterling writes:
More than a year in development, legal search and ratings site Avvo officially launched yesterday. The site allows users to search by geography and practice area or by lawyer name. It combines data from public records and (eventually) clients, community members and legal peers to offer a composite score for every attorney practicing in the U.S.. Like real estate site Zillow, which shares Benchmark Capital as a funder, Avvo builds lots of functionality (and eventually community) around a core set of data.
Sources: Screenwerk and Search Engine Land
See Also: Thomson Legal Record
Thomson Legal Record is a unique research tool, combining an attorney’s litigation history on Westlaw with the attorney’s profile on FindLaw. It provides a simple, efficient, fully documented resource for legal and corporate professionals seeking experienced litigators and a verifiable basis for decision-making.
Canadian attorney info is available here.
Webcast: Tim Berners-Lee Discusses Web Design and Web Use at Tufts University
From our better-late-than-never file (sorry, we missed this one). A webcast of TB-L’s lecture, “Web Design and Web Use: Hopes and Fears” is now available on the Tufts University site. It was recorded on March 28, 2006, and runs 99 minutes.
This is the third bot we’ve posted about in the past week or so. First, we offered a look at WeatherBugBuddy (real-time weather info). Next, TCKRBuddy, providing free, real-time stock quotes.
Today, BBCNewsFlash. This bot offers hourly news headlines (delivered at the top of every hour) from the BBC. This bot available for AIM, GTalk/Jabber, and MSN Instant Messenger. Each message contains the headline/link to the last five stories updated on the BBC News web site.
BBCNewsFlash is a free service.
To subscribe (free):
+ Google Talk and Jabber: “bbcnewsflash@menti.name”
+ MSN: bbcnewsflash@hotmail.co.uk”
+ AIM: “bbcnewsflash”
National Archives Opens Electronic Records Vault in Suitland, MD
The National Archives announces the opening of a new Electronic Records Vault at the Washington National Records Center (WNRC) facility in Suitland, Maryland. The 976 square-foot, state-of-the-art vault will allow Federal Records Centers, for the first time in their 57-year history, to store and service temporary electronic records for Federal agencies…A similar Electronic Records Vault will simultaneously come online at the National Archives new Federal Records Center in Fort Worth, Texas to service electronic records for agencies west of the Mississippi.
See Also: New facilities to house temporary e-records
Source: FCW
Preserving Library of Congress treasures is goal of FSU researcher
With more than 134 million items in its collection, the Library of Congress has no shortage of reading materials. This summer, a Florida State University chemist will use his knowledge of cellulose, a key component of paper, to help the world’s largest library find ways to preserve its vast treasure trove of books, manuscripts, maps, newspapers and pamphlets, many irreplaceable.
André Striegel, an assistant professor of chemistry and biochemistry at FSU, has been invited to serve as the first Preservation Research and Testing Professor in Residence at the Library of Congress’ Preservation Research & Testing Division. While in Washington, D.C., for two months this summer, he will investigate the degradation of cellulose-based materials over time—and work on ways to mitigate the problem.
Source: Florida State University
+ Google: Foreign workers are key to our success (via News.com)
+ FeedBurner Addresses Concerns Over Google Buyout (via Search Engine Land)
+ Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC) Joins Google’s Library Project
+ Google Purchases Panoramio (via Google Blog)
+ Google Releases Calendar Directory (via Google Blogoscoped)
+ Google Scholar Library Links Hits 1,200 Participating Libraries (via Google Library Blog)
ProQuest CSA Finalises Company Name; Unveils New Logo
From the announcement:
ProQuest CSA, the new company formed from the February 2007 merger of ProQuest Information and Learning and CSA, will now operate under the name ProQuest, a decision guided by customer research. CSA, also a valued brand, will continue to be used in product names, such as CSA Illumina, CSA Illustrata, and others…The name ProQuest was first used in 1995 as a name for an Information Industry Award-winning product and became a company name in 2001. Over the years, the brand has become equated with accurate, reliable, and accessible research among both librarians and their customers.
You’ll see the new logo in the upper-left corner of the announcement.
Source: ProQuest CSA
Faceted navigation and browsing features in new OPACs: A more robust solution to problems of information seekers? (extended abstract)
by Kathryn La Barre (2007)
1 page; PDF.
Source: dList & Proceedings North American Symposium on Knowledge Organization, 2007
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