Here are the new URLs for our RSS feeds. We offer feeds for both ResourceShelf and DocuTicker. Make sure to check your aggregator to see if these are the URLs you’re using to receive the latest from both sites. Thanks!

• ResourceShelf: http://www.resourceshelf.com/feed/
• DocuTicker: http://www.docuticker.com/?feed=rss2

Searching the Sky

Image-recognition software for astronomy pictures brings professional and amateur astronomers together.

Every night, thousands of amateur astronomers in their backyards point digital cameras and telescopes at the same bits of starry sky that professional scientists scan from mountaintop domes. Although both groups collect thousands of images, they rarely use one ­another’s results. While amateurs are more interested in aesthetics, professionals need hard numbers.

In a first step toward ­bridging this divide, a team of ­astronomers and computer scientists has ­created pattern-­recognition software that may provide an easy way for the two groups to ­collaborate by making their astronomical images equally ­searchable

Source: IEEE Spectrum

See Also: More About Content-Based and Facial Image Retrieval

Tag cloud of 2008 State of the Union address

Some of you may remember that we’ve been interested in visualization tools like tag cloud generating services (i.e., Tag Crowd). We haven’t done one of these for a while, but watching tonight’s State of the Union address, I thought it’d be interesting to visualize that text (courtesy of the NY Times). Let us know what you think.

Source: Free Government Information

“Hey, Buddy! Want to Read A Good Book?” Cengage Gale’s Books & Authors
by Barbara Quint
A great read about the service.

Despite the rise of recommendation engines on every online bookstore site, readers’ advisory services still persist as a basic function of public library reference operations. Since 1991, Gale (http://gale.cengage.com) has published its What Do I Read Next? series in print; since 1997, it has offered a web-based subscription service of the same name. Now, under the management of a new owner, Cengage Learning (www.cengage.com), Gale has replaced the former online service with the launch of a major revision called Books & Authors. The service distinguishes itself from competitors primarily with its integration of author information from other Gale reference publications. An open web version of the service (http://booksandauthors.wiseto.com) offers curtailed content to anyone and links to libraries that offer the full service.

Source: Infotoday NewsBreaks

Professional Reading: The January Issue of the Internet Resources Newsletter is Now Online
News and several large helpings of high quality web resources from Roddy MacLeod and crew at the Heriot-Watt University Library in the UK.
Source: Heriot-Watt University Library

The GovernmentAttic team continues adding new documents obtained using FOIA requests. Here are a few of the latest additions. Much more on the site.

Most recently, GA has added complaints filed with the FCC about specific tv programs.

+ Complaints to FCC about The Daily Show with Jon Stewart television show, 2004-2007

+ Complaints to FCC about Desperate Housewives television show, 2004-2007

+ Complaints to FCC about The Oprah Winfrey Show television show, 2003 – 2007

+ Complaints to FCC about Family Guy television show, 2005 - 2007

+ Complaints to FCC about Sex and the City television show, 2004-2007

+ Complaints to FCC about The Simpsons television show, 2003 – 2007

+ Complaints to FCC about Saturday Night Live television show, 2004-2007

+ Complaints to FCC about South Park television show, 2004-2007

+ Complaints to FCC about The Jerry Springer television show, 2004-2007

Plus many more additions since the beginning of the month.

Source: GovernmentAttic.org

+ 50 Social Sites That Every Business Needs a Presence on (InsideCRM)
Wow, a large number of services. You would likely have to hire a full timer just to manage some of them. It will also be interesting to see how many of then are around a year from now.

+ Leading Women’s Health Organization and Wiley-Blackwell to Launch New Consumer Magazine, Health For Women

+ USGS Earthquake Information Available in Google Earth
Both NASA’s World Wind and Ask.com have offered real time earthquake mapping information for some time.
NASA’s World Wind |||| Ask Earthquake (NO download required)
Gary is Director of Online Resources at Ask.com.

+ Thomson Scientific Makes File Histories Available Through Dialog

+ Vivísimo Soars on Enterprise Search Growth

Database: Women and men in decision-making

The Commission Database on Women and Men in decision-making covers information on progress in the goal towards gender balance in the political, public, juridical, social and economical domains. Figures are updated quarterly in the political domain, once a year in the other domains. The database covers all Member States, the acceding countries Bulgaria and Romania and the EFTA countries Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein. From 2006 also Turkey will be included. The goal of the Database is to support the Commissions work on gender equality and will assist in strengthening women’s position in decision-making at the European and national level.

Source: European Commission

IOM Report on Quality Improvement Database Garners Mixed Reaction

Last week, the Institute of Medicine released a report advocating for a public database to evaluate health care services and review clinical studies, but some stakeholders worry that the database would fall victim to political influence and a lack of transparency.

Source: iHealthBeat

Statistics: More Education Pays Off; As Does Certain Fields of Training

From the news release:

The field of training can sometimes have as dramatic an effect on earnings as the level of education, according to a series of data tables the U.S. Census Bureau released today.

Workers who held vocational certificates in engineering averaged about $3,880 a month, which is nearly the same as those with bachelor’s degrees in natural science. Likewise, those with associate’s degrees in computers averaged about $3,760 a month,
which is close to those with bachelor’s degrees in education or social science.

See: What It’s Worth: Field of Training and Economic Status in 2004
Full Text

See Also: Data Tables and Data Sets

Source: U.S. Census

The January 2008 Issue of the Journal of Medical Library Association is Now Online
Content includes:

+ Leading into the future: Library Operations at the National Library of Medicine

+ Constants, context, and change: the pursuit of purpose

+ Addressing underutilization of consumer health information resource centers: a formative study

+ Characteristics and content of medical library tutorials: a review

+ Analyzing the impact of an author’s publications

+ Sources of evidence to support systematic reviews in librarianship

+ Book Review: The Virtual Reference Handbook: Interview and Information Delivery Techniques for the Chat and E-mail Environments

+ Review: BioWizard

and much more

Source: MLA

As part of its Digitisation Programme, the JISC appointed consultant Hervé L’Hours to assist the 16 projects in defining their metadata requirements. In particular, Hervé looked at issues relating to technical / preservation metadata and how these were being built into project workflows.

The bulk of this work took place between June and November 2007.

Hervé’s work involved a number of strands, from which various materials are being made publicly available:

A workshop for the projects on various issues related to metadata, in particular on the METS model for content repackaging. Presentations from this workshop can be downloaded.
Content packaging for complex objects. The METS model (PPT, 653kb)
Metadata tools, Ed Fay (PPT, 913kb)

An overview of the metadata ‘position’ of each of the 16 projects in the Digitisation Programme, with reference to standards chosen, staff skill sets and planned workflows. A general summary of this document is being produced.

A metadata template for digitisation projects, providing any digitisation workflow with a comprehensive framework to work through and ensure the appropriate aspects of metadata are being addressed. Again, this template can be downloaded.
JISC Metadata Template for Digitisation Projects (RTF file, 253kb)

Hervé was also asked to provide assistance to each of the projects, reviewing their metadata policies and offering guidance where required. For some projects with more experience or reasonably straightforward workflows this was a ‘light touch’; for others, especially those importing complex legacy metadata, more involved help was given.

Source: JISC

+ MuseGlobal Introduces News Hound and Blog Hound to Deliver Instant, Integrated Access to News and Information Services

+ FOIA POST, US Department of Justice (December, 2007)

…we are now posting up-to-date summaries of new court decisions.

+ Quintara Site Search (Free, Beta)

+ New from Google: Gmail Stories

Catch the Buzz with Booklist Online’s New Blog

Why do we need to talk about books? According to Book Group Buzz blogger Nick DiMartino, “Unfortunately we’re far from divine readers. We have short attention spans. We have limited knowledge. We’re easily distracted. We miss details. And sometimes we miss the whole point. Occasionally half a dozen smart, committed readers banding together into a book group can correct that.”

Addressing the growing interest expressed by librarians, book group participants, publishers, authors and general readers in what’s going on in (and around) book groups for adults and youth, Booklist Online has launched a one-stop resource, Book Group Buzz at http://bookgroupbuzz.booklistonline.com. This blog is the newest online gathering place for anyone involved with, or interested in, book groups.

Source: ALA