LibWorm.com provides a librarian RSS filtering service. Over 1500 RSS librarian sources are combined and output via different filters. This feed contains the latest headlines from journals and sites in the Cataloging interest group. http://www.libworm.com/rss/librarianqueries.php Fri, 03 Sep 2010 02:51:31 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.2 http://web.resourceshelf.com/go/resourceblog/60308 + Baidu, Most Used Site in China Begins Selling e-Books (via Bloomberg News) Baidu also provides a popular search engine. Baidu info page in English. + China: The E-Reader Boom (by Yu Shujyun, Beijing Review) + OPDS [Open Publishing Distribution System Catalog] Primer on Feedbooks (by Paul Biba, TeleRead) + Video Notre Dame ereader study (by Paul Biba, [...] (Source: ResourceShelf) Fri, 03 Sep 2010 01:18:23 +0100 868683 http://mblc.state.ma.us/jobs/find_jobs/rss.php?job_id=6366 Assist students and faculty in locating, using and evaluating information. Instruct students in the use of the online catalog (C/W MARS), databases and the internet. Teach classes in the use of library resources. Promote information literacy. Design library handouts and displays. Contribute to web pages and the library blog. Assist in reference department projects. (Source: MBLC Job Listings) Thu, 02 Sep 2010 23:25:02 +0100 868585 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/iRcS/~3/9Nc24FfWEZU/new-library-search-at-cambridge.html Library Search is a new search engine that allows you to look for printed books and journals and electronic material held in all the libraries in the University of Cambridge. You can easily search all records from the Newton library catalogues and material from the DSpace@cambridge repository. You can also expand your search into article databases, such as JSTOR. LibrarySearch is designed to be quick and easy. Simply enter your keywords into the search box near the top of the screen. If you would prefer to specify which fields you want to search, click on 'Advanced' in the top right-hand corner of the screen. Click on a result for a full record view with holdings information. This will soon replace the Universal Catalogue functionality of Newton. For those preferring a traditional Library catalogue interface, the individual Newton catalogues will still be available (Source: Peter Scott's Library Blog) Thu, 02 Sep 2010 17:06:54 +0100 868621 http://web.resourceshelf.com/go/resourceblog/60281 From an OCLC Announcement: The Bibliotheque nationale de France added the 200 millionth bibliographic record to the WorldCat database on August 27, 39 years after the OCLC online union catalog and shared cataloging system was launched. The record describes “Je reviendrai a Montreal” (“I will return to Montreal”), a sound recording by Robert Charlebois made in 1993. [...] (Source: ResourceShelf) Thu, 02 Sep 2010 14:27:48 +0100 868695 http://ksulib.typepad.com/talking/2010/09/not-your-average-search-box.html So, by now you're completely used to seeing a search box on pretty much every page you visit.  Put in your words, hit go, get some stuff back.  No big deal.  So why on earth would we bother writing an article about our search box? Because it's better than the other ones. Why? Two reasons.  Reason #1 - Librarians mess with the search results, and we understand more about finding information quickly than anyone you'll ever meet. Reason #2 - It's powered by this: That swiss-cheesey looking thing is a Google Search Appliance.  It’s a way of taking all the power and functions of the Google you know and love, and smashing it into the basement of Hale Library to serve our very specific needs. Because it sits with us, and not at some Google farm in California, we’re allowed to do stuff to it.  And because we’re librarians, we do. We tell it things, like “people who search for art usually want this page" and “when people use the word where, it’s a good idea to show them the stacks guide”.  That way, you don’t have to wade through pages of results to find what you need – it’s probably in a nice, tidy, highlighted box at the top of the first page. Give it a try next time you need something from the libraries’ website.  We’re pretty sure you’ll agree – it’s not your average search box.Also, we're happy to take your suggestions about pages that need highlighting. Just hit the "Contact us" link at the bottom of any libraries web page. Just a note, though - the search box only searches our website, not our databases or catalog. To do that, we'd need a box that hasn't quite been invented yet. P.S. By the way, you (or your predecessors) bought the Google Search Appliance for us.  We're still grateful, every single day. ... Thu, 02 Sep 2010 04:00:00 +0100 868721 http://drakelibrary.blogspot.com/2010/09/meet-library-staff.html Your blogger thought it might be of interest to run an occasional post featuring one of our library staff as a way of helping you to get to know us, and feel more comfortable in asking us for help. Library staff fill a myriad of roles. This wide ranging focus calls for a variety of roles and postions. Many library staff are what we here call "library assistants" and are civil service staff. They carry out any number of vital tasks, from running our circulation desk to handling the ordering of books and much more. Some library staff are "librarians," meaning that, in addition to a bachelor's degree, they have a Masters in Library or Information Science. These folks work with you at the reference desk, teach classes about library resources, catalog, organize and administer the library. Nowadays we have several staff who are "professionals," and they do things like run our interlibrary loan service or engage in the IT side of library operations. Think of it as a diverse staff to serve our diverse public :-)Some of our staff are relatively new to the profession, some have been here for many years. All of us are committed in our various capacities to organizing and making accessible our information resources in the way most useful and contemporary to you, our patrons. This emphasis on service and committment to continually improving and upgrading our resources goes back many years. In the photo here are several Drake staff of the 1950s looking at a new microfilm machine, a high tech device in its day! Soon we will have an occasional post featuring one of our dedicated staff members. (Source: Drake Memorial Library) Thu, 02 Sep 2010 04:00:00 +0100 868536 http://web.resourceshelf.com/go/resourceblog/60270 Last week we mentioned that SAGE had completed migrating all 560+ journals to their next generation platform for SAGE Journals Online (SJO). The new platform is supported by HighWire Press’ “2.0” technology (H2O). In the post we pointed out that at the beginning of September, SAGE would offer free access to their entire catalog of [...] (Source: ResourceShelf) Thu, 02 Sep 2010 03:46:33 +0100 868475 http://joblist.ala.org/modules/jobseeker/controller.cfm?rssjobid=15579 Electronic Resources Librarian (St. Olaf College, Nortthfield, Minnesota) St. Olaf is seeking a library professional who recognizes St. Olaf's unique place in higher education as a college of the church, an exemplary national liberal arts college, and a leader in global education. The Electronic Resources Librarian provides leadership to the Libraries in the rapidly developing realm of electronic collections and manages the Libraries' electronic resources including e-journals, research and reference databases, e-books, online sound and multimedia databases, and archival electronic document collections. The Electronic Resources Librarian also provides reference services to students and faculty. ... Wed, 01 Sep 2010 21:20:01 +0100 868211 http://www.madisonpubliclibrary.org/madreads/index.php/2010/09/01/television-to-books/ I seem to be thinking of books every time I watch TV lately - probably not a bad thing.  True Blood made me yearn for more urban fantasy and when I watch The Closer I’m reminded of a couple of mystery series with strong female leads.  One of which could be a template for the character of Deputy Brenda Lee Johnson - so much so that I was convinced at least one of the writers must have read the series by J. D. Robb before coming up with the Brenda character.  Robb introduced her female cop, NYPD Lieutenant Eve Dallas, in her 1995.  At the time I was working at a mystery bookstore and can remember seeing the book announced in the Berkley catalog.** What caught my eye was the setting  of New York in 2058, the idea of a tough but battle-scarred protagonist, and that J. D. Robb was a pseudonym for Nora Roberts.  Though I’m not a fanatic follower of Nora Roberts I usually like her books and in some cases love them (especially her longer, standalone suspense titles).  My curiosity was piqued.  And more then satisfied when I read the book and the rest of the series since then. Eve Dallas is a loner who puts the law above all else.  She is prickly and has stepped on toes within the police ranks.  She lives alone, loves junk food and in the beginning of the series meets the multi-billionaire Roarke (who no surprise, will eventually become much more to her).  He finds her stubborn and single-minded about her job and is unreasonably attracted to her.  Once they do become a pair he accepts her for who she is but stands up to her when necessary.  Oh, and somewhere along the way she gets a cat.  Sound familiar?  In Naked in Death Eve is investigating the death of a licensed prostitute and Roarke is a possible person of interest.  What Robb/Roberts does so nicely is balance the romance with the mystery. ... Wed, 01 Sep 2010 20:20:33 +0100 868307 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/kraftylibrarian/OLay/~3/1Ncy1KeD3dc/ Last week I sat in on the Springer LibraryZone Virtual eBook webinar and it was a very interesting discussion.   Many libraries (especially academic) are investigating and collecting e-books in lieu of some printed text.  How much they are collecting and the nature by which they to the selection process seems to vary according each library, their type, size, consortia involvement, usage data, etc.  The reasons why and how much they bought all varied but the frustrations, questions, and concerns the faced were very similar and seemed on the minds of every librarian regardless of their library, type, size, consortia involvement, etc.  So what were these concerns? DRM- Digital rights restrictions.  It seems that every publisher has different rules and while some things can be put on electronic reserve others cannot.  While some things can be shared through ILL or on Blackboard others cannot.  This is not only a particular frustration among librarians but also patrons who aren’t as savvy with copyright issues.  The patrons get frustrated with DRM restrictions for library materials and they are even more frustrated with the restrictions for e-books they buy themselves.  Their view is, “I bought, don’t tell me how I am allowed to use it.”  I am not saying this is always the right or wrong thought process, but it is their thoughts and to a certain extent librarians. Access – How do people find your e-books was a common question among the librarians.  The e-books publishers don’t always have decent MARC records (if they have any) that can be easily added to the catalog.  So the cataloger must work to add them into the catalog, yet more and more patrons really don’t use the catalog these days.  They would rather randomly search the library’s website or Google. ... Wed, 01 Sep 2010 20:10:53 +0100 868390 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/BabyBoomerLibrarian/~3/wm4Aw0ZbXe8/jobs-systems-librarian-university-of-la.html #3041 – Systems Librarian, University of La Verne  -- Wilson Library The University of La Verne invites applicants for a Systems Librarian (Assistant Professor), a non-tenure track 12-month faculty appointment. Reporting directly to the University Librarian, the Systems Librarian will use a high level of technical, instructional, and interpersonal skills. The responsibilities of this position include administering and providing technical support for all aspects of library technology including the Innovative Interfaces Millennium integrated library system, hardware and software installations and maintenance, library wireless, opac, proxy server, online resources and services such as LINK+, ILLIAD, ERM, OCLC, link resolver, research databases, e-journals, e-books, etc.; assisting the University Librarian with technology planning and project implementation; serving as primary liaison with the university’s Office of Information Technology to coordinate all library systems’ installation, upgrade and maintenance; supervise one full-time staff member (Electronic Services Technician); serving as liaison to database and online service providers; providing technology training to library staff; providing research consultation services to library users in a multi-disciplinary environment using multiple formats (in-person, e-mail, phone, and chat); developing, promoting, and delivering effective library research skills/information literacy instructional sessions, seminars and workshops for both on-campus and off-campus programs; developing the library collection by selecting materials for acquisition in all formats; serving as liaison with selected academic departments; maintaining a program of professional development. ... Wed, 01 Sep 2010 17:44:00 +0100 868359 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/booksquare/~3/hTOxRIC86D0/ I’ve been thinking about the topic of the value of books a lot. Not for days. Not for months. Years. However, recently I’ve been angered by the implication that readers are cheap, that they won’t pay a proper price for books, that they don’t get it. Whatever it is. These assertions are not untrue. They are also not entirely accurate. Perspective is everything, nuance matters, and I have thoughts. Of course. What is a book worth? Well, there’s list price created by the publisher. That seems to be the value referenced by publishers. Then there’s the price consumers actually pay. That gets more complicated, of course. You have to break it down to various levels including the price for the first sale and the price for the second sale. Library patrons pay a different price; we call that “property tax”. Oh, and then there are the books acquired for free. This is what I think about when I hear publishers talking about this, that, or the other devaluing the price of content. And by devaluing content, they really mean consumers paying far less than publishers would like. This is absolutely a valid concern. Once consumers get lower price points in their minds, they might expect to pay less all the time. As noted above, the way consumers acquire books means they pay varying amounts for the same product; I’d wager the number of full retail list price sales is greatly outnumbered by all other types of sales. Resolution: the price I pay for a book has absolutely nothing to do with how I value the book. This leads me to an inescapable contention. When publishers talk about the value of books, what they really mean is the value they have assigned. Conclusion: publishers are as responsible for devaluing the content of books as anyone else in the food chain. Recently, some friends and I discussed an author we love. Or loved. ... Wed, 01 Sep 2010 05:10:00 +0100 868021 http://ksulib.typepad.com/talking/2010/09/blogging-the-loc-an-introduction.html The start of the semester always brings at least a couple people to the Library Help Desk expressing frustration with the way our books are organized. Why isn’t all the fiction together? Why couldn’t you just put History in the “H” section? What happened to the number system I used in high school and at the public library? This year, I’d like to explain it to you. I’ll probably get my official librarian card revoked for revealing these arcane secrets, but I think it’s worth the risk. K-State Libraries, along with most other academic libraries, uses the Library of Congress classification system. It’s a method of grouping resources by topic, just like the Dewey Decimal numbers you’ve probably used before. It’s useful, but highly quirky. It’s a product of a particular time (the early 1900s) and a particular collection of books (those in the Library of Congress), but it’s also the best way most academic libraries have for organizing the vast numbers of resources they contain. The Library of Congress.  Image retrieved from Print and Photograph Online Catalog. The system consists of twenty-one basic classes, each with an associated letter of the alphabet. Five letters were left out: I, O, W, X, Y. I’m going to make a librarianly guess that I and O were too easily confused with 1 and 0. W, X and Y were likely left out for normal end-of-the-alphabet discriminatory practices (or maybe to leave room for eventual additions).  Each of the classes can have multiple subclasses, designated by more letters. Then there are numbers and more letters and more numbers, maybe with some punctuation sprinkled in. We’re not going to delve that deep, though, so no worries. We’ll start next week with “A” and see where it takes us. It will be super geeky, and therefore completely awesome. ... Wed, 01 Sep 2010 04:00:00 +0100 868722 http://northmetrotechlibraryatacworth.blogspot.com/2010/09/what-to-read.html Good news students – In a couple of weeks, the quarter will be over. Wondering what to do with all your free time? Read a book! Check out NoveList, an online readers' advisory tool that helps readers find new books based on books they've read or on topics in which they are interested. Located in GALILEO, it is the source for bookworms. Remember, you may stop by any CTC library to pick up the GALILEO password for off-campus access. NoveList recently revamped their web site to a more user-friendly design. Located on the home page, patrons are shown current “Best Selling Books” with similar recommended titles listed below. By clicking on a book, patrons will be directed to a page listing the books descriptive and thematic qualities, reviews, and much, much more. Also located on the home page, a section on “How to use NoveList” is provided for patrons unsure on navigating the site. You may always check the CTC library catalog to see if we carry any titles you may be interested in reading. Check out periods for the break are for currently preregistered and paid students, and must be returned (or renewed) by the first day of the new quarter.Happy reading!lbmView from the Library maintained by The Librarian at Chattahoochee Technical College, North Metro Campus c2010 (Source: View from the library) Wed, 01 Sep 2010 04:00:00 +0100 868225 http://146.74.224.231/archives/2010/08/californias_dig.html California's Free Digital Textbook Initiative provides students, teachers and parents access to free digital high school textbooks that meet California's academic content standards. Textbooks are free to view or download. Search SCCL's catalog, browse the full list of eBooks or go direct to Digital Textbook Initiative's website to access any of the 30 textbooks available. (Source: Santa Clara County Library - The Latest SCCoop) Tue, 31 Aug 2010 22:54:28 +0100 868145 http://www.echosdoc.net/index.php#info1171 Revues.org inaugure son 'Bookserver'. Il permet d'accéder à l’intégralité du contenu de son catalogue (livres, revues, cahiers et bulletins) sur les téléphones mobiles avec les applications Stanza pour Iphone et Aldiko pour Android. (Source: EchosDoc : actualité de l' I. & D.) Tue, 31 Aug 2010 22:00:00 +0100 868146 http://www.lisnews.org/order_library_online_game Via RT@shannonmmiller (Shannon Miller of the Van Meter, IA Library), check out Order in the Library...an online game using the Dewey Decimal system. There are three games you can play; the sorting game, the shelving game and the reordering game. There's even a Spanish version. Go to it! (Source: LISNews - Librarian And Information Science News) Tue, 31 Aug 2010 19:46:31 +0100 868599 http://lisnews.org/order_library_online_game Via RT@shannonmmiller (Shannon Miller of the Van Meter, IA Library), check out Order in the Library...an online game using the Dewey Decimal system. There are three games you can play; the sorting game, the shelving game and the reordering game. There's even a Spanish version. Go to it! (Source: LISNews.org) Tue, 31 Aug 2010 19:46:31 +0100 867875 http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/aug/31/heart-of-darkness-graphic-novel Artist Catherine Anyango tells how her richly-detailed drawings reflect the dense style of Joseph Conrad's savage colonial storyIn the 108 years since it was published, Joseph Conrad's colonial fable Heart of Darkness has infected TS Eliot, been excoriated for racism by Nigerian writer Chinua Achebe and transplanted to Vietnam by Francis Ford Coppola.Now the book has been reinterpreted as a graphic novel in whose monochrome pages Conrad's exploration of power, greed and madness plays out as disturbingly as ever.Catherine Anyango, whose drawings are peppered with David Zane Mairowitz's adaptation of the text, had her doubts about tackling the Polish-born novelist's most famous work.Those reservations had more to do with the original medium than the enduring controversy over Conrad's views or the familiarity of Heart of Darkness."I wasn't sure initially if it was a good subject for a graphic novel as the writing is so dense and the style of it is partly what attracts me to the book," she said."As I knew we couldn't keep most of the text in, I tried to make the drawings very rich in detail and texture so that immersive feeling you get, especially when he describes the river and the jungle, was carried across."Anyango was determined not to allow the horror of the book's subject matter to overwhelm her drawings. "I wanted to draw the reader in with seductive imagery, and then show them that even in the most beautiful of settings, terrible things can happen."There was also Coppola's 1979 epic to contend with."I was too terrified to watch Apocalypse Now," the Kenyan-Swedish artist said. "Partly because I didn't want to end up with any similar visuals and also I had been warned that something nasty happens to a cow … [but] Apocalypse Now is huge and well, apocalyptic, but Heart of Darkness is a much quieter story. ... Tue, 31 Aug 2010 14:54:57 +0100 867829 http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/aug/31/michel-houellebecq-novel-critical-fire New book comes under attack from Goncourt prize judge for 'affected writing style' and 'lack of imagination'La carte et le territoire is being described as the novel that could finally win French novelist Michel Houellebecq France's top literary prize, the Goncourt – but not if one of the award's judges has anything to do with it.Out later this week, the novel is Houellebecq's first since 2005's La possibilité d'une île (The Possibility of an Island). Telling the story of the artist Jed Martin, son of a famous architect, it sees him asking the writer Michel Houellebecq, "a celebrated author", to write the preface for his exhibition catalogue. It was described in Le Parisien as "ferociously funny" and has already been tipped as a frontrunner for the Prix Goncourt, an award that Houellebecq, for all his international renown, has yet to win.But the French Moroccan author Tahar Ben Jelloun, himself a former winner of the Goncourt and a member of the Académie Goncourt judging this year's prize, is unimpressed. In an article that stretches to almost 1,200 words in Italian newspaper La Repubblica, he lays into Houellebecq, criticising everything from the author's decision to include himself in the novel, to his mention of various consumer brands."What newness does this novel offer us?" writes Ben Jelloun, admitting that he would not have bothered reading the book if his duties as a Goncourt judge had not required it. "Some chat on the human condition, an affected writing style that pretends towards the clean and technically proficient, a pretence that summons up real characters and mixes them with others he has invented himself, a bit of publicity for a few consumer products."Ben Jelloun later told French website Rue89 that "all the name-dropping, all the mystery around him [Houellebecq] stems from a lack of imagination". (Source: Guardian Unlimited Books) Tue, 31 Aug 2010 14:43:36 +0100 867831 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/BabyBoomerLibrarian/~3/zLzf84zCvQk/jobs-metadatacatalog-librarian-suny.html Metadata/Catalog Librarian Position Description Cataloging Services supports library patrons by providing bibliographic access and control through both metadata and traditional cataloging. Cataloging Services is closely integrated with the other departments within Technical Services and utilizes a flexible workflow approach. The Metadata/Catalog Librarian serves as a member of the team responsible for providing original,  adjusted and copy cataloging and bibliographic control for a wide range of print and non-print materials in various formats A strong commitment to service and patron access to information is essential.  The position reports to the Acting Assistant Director of Technical Services, with the Dean of University Libraries as second-line supervisor. Duties and Responsibilities: 1.         Creates or adjusts catalog records for materials in all formats so they conform to national and local standards and practices.  Performs associated authority control work as appropriate. 2.         Participates in the planning, implementation and monitoring of digital projects.  Creates templates for digitized collections in our repositories using standardized metadata schemas. Works with subject experts, cataloging staff and /or students to create records for digitized materials.  Compiles statistics as needed. 3.         Resolves bibliographic problems associated with, but not limited to, books, serials and non-print materials in all formats. 4.         Collaborates with staff and department heads across the Libraries to implement cross-functional initiatives.  5. ... Tue, 31 Aug 2010 13:27:00 +0100 868010 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/teleread/ezFR/~3/4_MbXWInI7g/ According to Feedbooks: This is an introduction to the Open Publishing Distribution System Catalog 1.0 specification. This document is informative rather than normative. When this document disagrees, if ever, with the OPDS Catalog specification, please refer to the spec. Via a tweet from @liza Digg us. Slashdot us. Facebook us. Twitter us. Share the news. (Source: TeleRead: Bring the E-Books Home) Tue, 31 Aug 2010 13:17:02 +0100 867898 http://joblist.ala.org/modules/jobseeker/controller.cfm?rssjobid=15570 Music Subject Specialist/Music Catalog Librarian (Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York) The Syracuse University Library is searching for a Music Subject Specialist/Music Catalog Librarian. Within the rapidly evolving framework of scholarly communication, this person will work in close collaboration within the Unit for Research, Collections, and Scholarly Communication and other Library units to advance the collection, organization, distribution, and long-term preservation of the scholarly record as it serves the Syracuse University community of faculty, staff, and students. Syracuse University offers an excellent benefit package that includes tuition, retirement, comprehensive health care plan, paid vacation, and the opportunity for continued professional development. ... Tue, 31 Aug 2010 06:20:02 +0100 867649 http://drakelibrary.blogspot.com/2010/08/fourth-dimension-metrocenter.html As you may know, we have a downtown campus in Rochester, our MetroCenter. Did you know however that it is rather close to the fourth dimension? Heh heh, well, at least the architect of the building was. The building MetroCenter is in was designed by Claude Bragdon, a Rochester architect active in the early part of the 20th century.As well as being an architect, Bragdon was quite interested in mystical and spiritual things, and like some others in that era became intrigued not only by the mathematics of a fourth dimension, but by the possibilities some imagined it might represent for reincarnation and life after death.City Newspaper just ran a well done article on Bragdon, and the Rochester Public Library web site has information about him as well.We have some books about the fourth dimension in our catalog, including the famous 19th century book, Flatland, a romance in many dimensions by Abbot. Or, if you want to get into the math of all this, try MathSciNet :-) (Source: Drake Memorial Library) Tue, 31 Aug 2010 04:00:00 +0100 868537 http://catalogablog.blogspot.com/2010/08/cataloging-matters.html I should have already mentioned this, but better late than never. Cataloging Matters is a podcast by Jim Weinheimer (who is already well known and respected from his participation in AUTOCAT and his weblog First Thus. He has already released the third episode. (Source: Catalogablog) Tue, 31 Aug 2010 04:00:00 +0100 867991 http://digital-scholarship.com/digitalkoans/2010/08/30/opds-catalog-1-0-specification/ The OPDS Catalog 1.0 specification has been released. Here's an excerpt from the announcement: The open ebook community and the Internet Archive are pleased to announce the release of the first production version of the Open Publication Distribution System (OPDS) Catalog format for digital content. OPDS Catalogs are an open standard designed to enable the discovery of digital content from any location, on any device, and for any application. . . . Based on the widely implemented Atom Syndication Format, OPDS Catalogs have been developed since 2009 by a group of ebook developers, publishers, librarians, and booksellers interested in providing a lightweight, simple, and easy to use format for developing catalogs of digital books, magazines, and other content. (Source: DigitalKoans) Tue, 31 Aug 2010 04:00:00 +0100 867650 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/griffey/~3/ea30jATGxPY/ Today is the scheduled Go Live date for the first implementation of the OCLC Web Scale Management services, and we are so close that we can almost touch it. We spent the day doing massive testing of the various pieces of WMS: Circulation, Acquisitions, Cataloging, and our WMS-driven Worldcat Local, with the OCLC team working with us to tackle anything that popped up. As you might expect, being the first to implement this radically new a system brings things to light that neither we nor OCLC entirely knew about or understood…the infrastructure for this is only now really being tested with live data from a working library. I know that a lot of eyes are on this to see how it works (or doesn’t work), so here’s a quick rundown of where we are today. Circulation could, as far as the system is concerned, go live now…it’s a functional system at this point, with all of our policies in place and working for all of our patron types. However, we now have a backlog of circ data to catch up on (the delta between the last massive data load and now), and we’re proceeding with it, and with further data-verification testing at the same time. Acquisitions/Cataloging is so, so close. We successfully received and cataloged books today from scratch for the very first time, and walked them all the way through the process of preparing them to circulate. As a part of this process we discovered that we are going to have to re-evaluate our workflows even more…even we, who have been preparing for this for 6 weeks now, didn’t really grok the degree to which this alters our traditional workflow. So over the next few days, we’re going to be taking a closer look at those, and see how we take advantage of the massively streamlined workflows that are possible with WMS. ... Tue, 31 Aug 2010 02:57:19 +0100 867680 http://www.resourceshelf.com/2010/08/30/mobile-web-two-ways-to-access-the-multnomah-county-public-library-on-mobile-devices/ Both use AirPac technology from Innovative Interfaces. The Multnomah County Public Library (MCPL) mobile version for smartphones launched in June, 2010. 1) For Smartphones Like the iPhone, Droid, Blackberry, and Palm Pre https://m.multcolib.org/ Point your browser to m.multcolib.org to search for books, CDs, DVDs and more; view your library account; and renew and place holds from your smart phone. When on a smart phone, clicking on the catalog link on the library’s website will redirect you to the mobile-optimized site. You can also limit your search to a specific branch library. 2) Other Mobile Devices http://catalog.multcolib.org/airpac/ See Also: Depending on the Time of the Day and the Info Need, MCPL offers four ways to get help and answers from a librarian. Source: MCPL, Twitter (Source: ResourceShelf) Mon, 30 Aug 2010 23:38:06 +0100 867698 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/BabyBoomerLibrarian/~3/UE6WdyGvjbM/jobs-technical-services-librarian-full.html Technical Services Librarian (Full Time) http://www.albrightknox.org/employment/Technical_Services_Librarian.html Technical Services Librarian (Full Time) The Technical Services Librarian will report directly to the Head of Research Resources. DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES Responsible for the development and implementation of the Gallery Librarys technical services program to include cataloging, classification, authority file maintenance, serials management, library systems and database administration, interlibrary loan and document delivery services, and basic preservation activities. Provides leadership in ensuring integrated access to scholarly resources in all formats according to professional standards and in a service-oriented manner in support of the research needs of the museum community. * Establishes and assesses technical services goals, priorities, policies, and procedures. ... Mon, 30 Aug 2010 20:00:00 +0100 867725 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/teleread/ezFR/~3/N-KWcwQY8tU/ From Catalogablog: Version 1.0 of the Open Publication Distribution System (OPDS) Catalog format for digital content has been released. The open ebook community and the Internet Archive are pleased to announce the release of the first production version of the Open Publication Distribution System (OPDS) Catalog format for digital content. OPDS Catalogs are an open standard designed to enable the discovery of digital content from any location, on any device, and for any application. The specification is available at: http://opds-spec.org/specs/opds-catalog-1-0. Based on the widely implemented Atom Syndication Format, OPDS Catalogs have been developed since 2009 by a group of ebook developers, publishers, librarians, and booksellers interested in providing a lightweight, simple, and easy to use format for developing catalogs of digital books, magazines, and other content. OPDS Catalogs are the first component of the Internet Archive’s BookServer Project, a framework supporting open standards for discovering, lending, and vending books and other digital content on the web. Digg us. Slashdot us. Facebook us. Twitter us. Share the news. (Source: TeleRead: Bring the E-Books Home) Mon, 30 Aug 2010 18:29:00 +0100 867540 http://mblc.state.ma.us/jobs/find_jobs/rss.php?job_id=6362 Immediate Supervisors: Assistant Patron Services Librarians A Patron Services Assistant performs a variety of tasks associated with stack maintenance, document delivery, circulation and event management. Job Duties and Responsibilities (Includes approximate percentage of time spent on each): 1. Perform Collection Maintenance tasks (30%) including, but not limited to: a. Shelving Library materials. i. Scanning collection barcodes to document usage. ii. Sorting materials on book trucks by location and call number. iii. Shelving materials in assigned locations. iv. Identifying and communicating book repair and collection shift needs to the Collection Maintenance Supervisor. b. Shelf reading: Maintain assigned location(s) in call number order. c. Assisting with collection shifts as needed. d. Assisting with collection and stack labeling and installation of book supports. 2. Fill copy orders. (30%) a. Receiving copy orders by telephone, in person, by fax and e-mail; recording and tracking orders online. b. Retrieving materials to be copied; using photocopier and/or microfiche reader/printer. c. Preparing orders for pick-up or delivery; communicating with customer. d. Counting materials used for photocopying by scanning barcodes. 3. Staff circulation desk. (30%) a. Retrieve materials to fill patron requests received via phone and email. b. Check in, check out, renew and place holds for patrons. c. Utilize the Librarys online catalog, circulation module and membership database in the performance of circulation-related tasks. d. Answer general questions about the collection and Library services and membership guidelines. e. Direct inquiries to reference staff or others as appropriate. f. Assist Library patrons with use of photocopiers. g. Help patrons locate, view and print from microforms. h. Perform tasks related to opening and closing the Library. Patron Services Assistant Job Description (continued) 4. ... Mon, 30 Aug 2010 17:25:02 +0100 867440 http://www.slis.indiana.edu/careers/view_job_specific.php?job_id=7684 State: New Jersey library.princeton.edu/hr/positions/JobRefLibrnSpColl2008.html Position Summary: The Special Collections Reference Librarian is responsible for reference services in the Rare Books and Manuscripts Department in Firestone Library and works closely with the Assistant University Archivist for Public Services at the Mudd Manuscript Library to coordinate public services for all of Special Collections. This person supervises the work of three support staff and coordinates the delivery of public services with many professionals and support staff who play part-time public service roles in the Department. The position reports to the Associate University Librarian for Rare Books and Special Collections. We seek a generalist with the ability and talent to provide reference services for the myriad subject areas the Department covers. The main reading room in Firestone serves more than 2,500 patrons annually from within and without the University community. Our patrons consult more than 12,000 books, manuscripts, graphic materials, maps, and other items that span many languages and five millennia of recorded history. The Department's public services staff at Firestone also handle approximately 2,500 reference inquiries annually from around the world, provide paper, microfilm, digital, and photographic copies for approximately 16,000 items annually, and gather materials for and host more than 100 classes for approximately 1,500 students during the academic year. The successful candidate must be committed to and be an advocate for public services in the Department, as well as in the wider library system. The ideal candidate will enjoy working with researchers, take up the challenge of problem solving, have a welcoming personality and qualities that will help patrons researching primary sources. The position may work occasional evening or weekend hours. ... Mon, 30 Aug 2010 09:20:04 +0100 867353 http://www.slis.indiana.edu/careers/view_job_specific.php?job_id=7686 State: Illinois Job Title: Librarian Job Announcement Number: DE-10-CHI-OTI-0143 Department: U.S. Department of Labor Agency: Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) SALARY RANGE: $51,995.00 - $67,589.00 /year OPEN PERIOD: Thursday, August 05, 2010 to Wednesday, August 18, 2010 SERIES & GRADE: GS-1410-09/09 POSITION INFORMATION: This is a full time position. This is a permanent position. DUTY LOCATIONS: 1 vacancy - Chicago Metro Area, IL JOB SUMMARY: Begin a challenging career with the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), and you will help shape the workforce of tomorrow. DOL offers rewarding opportunities to contribute to a noble mission; to serve and protect American workers, prepare them for new and better jobs, and to ensure the safety and fairness of American workplaces. This position is located: U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety & Health Administration Directorate of Training and Education Office of Training & Educational Programs The incumbent serves as a Librarian for the Office of Training and Educational Programs (OETP) within the OSHA Directorate Training and Education (DTE). OETP manages external training programs and includes the H. Lee Saltsgaver Technical Library and the Resources Center Loan Program. The incumbent is responsible for coordinating and administering all activities related to the Resources Center Loan Program and the H. Lee Saltsgaver Technical Library. This includes monitoring and analyzing the effectiveness of the services, and making recommendations for improvement as appropriate to support the changing emphasis of the Agency and the Directorate. ... Mon, 30 Aug 2010 09:20:04 +0100 867351 http://www.slis.indiana.edu/careers/view_job_specific.php?job_id=7729 State: New Jersey Library Web Developer/Designer Princeton University Library Princeton, New Jersey Requisition #1000633 The Princeton University Library comprises a large central library and nine specialized libraries that are heavily used by an academic community of 6,400 students, 1,100 faculty members, and many visiting scholars. To support the diverse needs of its users, the Library holds some six million printed volumes, ranging from incunabula to current imprints, and provides access to many other records of human knowledge, such as ancient papyri and cylinder seals, modern literary manuscripts, and recently produced electronic databases and journals. The Library employs more than 300 professional and support personnel, complemented by a large student and hourly workforce. Please consult the Library Web site at http://library.princeton.edu/ for more information. Available: Immediately Description and Responsibilities: The Web Developer position will help the Library Web Development Manager on specific projects to deliver more library content and services to our users from our web sites. Specific projects may include designing new sites, or using new web services technologies to improve the user experience in discovering, searching, finding, or acquiring library materials and content. Additionally, the position will assist in implementing the Drupal CMS, customizing the interface for the latest version of the OPAC, and creating mobile ready versions of the library web site and catalog. Customization tasks for the new NextGen Discovery system will be a large component of the work. Projects will also likely include implementation of open source code created in other libraries, using various API's made available by Google, OCLC, or Code4Lib members, as well as various library vendors. This position will also be assigned other digital library projects as the need arises. ... Mon, 30 Aug 2010 09:20:04 +0100 867342 http://www.slis.indiana.edu/careers/view_job_specific.php?job_id=7732 State: Indiana Responsible for original and enhanced cataloging of rare books and special collections materials in specialized areas, e.g. early or fine printing, major rarities, and general books, mostly of hand press period; advising and consulting with other catalogers on bibliographical terminology and description, collations, and other cataloging problems specific to rare book cataloging and remaining current with the changing body of cataloging rules for rare materials including DCRM, AACR2, RDA, MARC21, LCSH, and Library of Congress classification. Qualifications: Required: ALA-accredited MLS; demonstrated experience with DCRM, AACR2, MARC21, cataloging components of OCLC, and local integrated online library systems; competence in techniques and terminology of descriptive bibliography; working knowledge of Latin and at least two other foreign languages (Greek, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese and other modern European languages preferred); strong oral and written communication skills; 3-5 years post-MLS rare book cataloging experience; able to meet requirements of tenure-track librarian position. Preferred: Second degree in discipline related to strengths of Lilly Library collections; knowledge of NACO procedures strongly preferred; experience with Sirsi/Unicorn products. This is a tenure-track academic appointment that includes eligibility for sabbatical leaves. Position to be filled by January 1, 2011 - review of applications begins September 27, 2010. To apply send letter of application; professional vita; names/addresses/telephone numbers of four references to Jennifer Chaffin, Director of Human Resources, Libraries Human Resources, Herman B Wells Library 201B, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405 or send via e-mail to libpers@indiana.edu. Phone: 812-855-8196 - fax: 812-855-2576. For complete copy of the posting go to: http://www.libraries.iub.edu/index.php?pageId=1410. ... Mon, 30 Aug 2010 09:20:04 +0100 867340 http://www.slis.indiana.edu/careers/view_job_specific.php?job_id=7733 State: Illinois The Librarian, Career Resource Centers (CRC) responds to thousands of requests for information from students and alumni. This position is responsible for research, development, and delivery of career research materials and instruction for 3,200 students enrolled in the University of Chicago Booth School of Business (Chicago Booth) full-time and part-time MBA programs in Chicago, London, and Singapore and more than 40,000 alumni worldwide. The Librarian plays a key role in the transfer of knowledge and ideas by providing students and alumni with access to a wide range of information to facilitate their career advancement efforts including frequent instructional programs on the relevant research tools. This individual manages all aspects of both the Harper and Fisher CRC’s, supervises CRC staff, and works with departmental colleagues to develop complementary and collaborative programming to enhance the overall success of Career Services. The Librarian determines the overall vision and strategy for the CRC’s, including physical space, staff, new resources, and new programs. This person develops and continually monitors best practices. In addition, the Librarian is expected to acquire, maintain, and apply expert knowledge of resources and disseminate that knowledge to relevent constituencies via one-on-one consultations, presentations, and the web (or other forms of media). Lastly, this individual coordinates resources and relationships amongst the Harper CRC, Fisher CRC, Regenstein Library, Computing Services, Faculty, other Booth departments/centers, and Career Services team. PRINCIPAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES: 1. As the librarian, determine overall vision and strategy for the CRC’s including physical space, staff, new resources and new programs. Develop and continually monitor best practices. ... Mon, 30 Aug 2010 09:20:04 +0100 867339 http://www.slis.indiana.edu/careers/view_job_specific.php?job_id=7762 State: New Jersey Library Web Developer/Designer Princeton University Library Princeton, New Jersey Requisition #1000633 The Princeton University Library comprises a large central library and nine specialized libraries that are heavily used by an academic community of 6,400 students, 1,100 faculty members, and many visiting scholars. To support the diverse needs of its users, the Library holds some six million printed volumes, ranging from incunabula to current imprints, and provides access to many other records of human knowledge, such as ancient papyri and cylinder seals, modern literary manuscripts, and recently produced electronic databases and journals. The Library employs more than 300 professional and support personnel, complemented by a large student and hourly workforce. Please consult the Library Web site at http://library.princeton.edu/ for more information. Available: Immediately Search Committee: (Princeton access only) Description and Responsibilities: The Web Developer position will help the Library Web Development Manager on specific projects to deliver more library content and services to our users from our web sites. Specific projects may include designing new sites, or using new web services technologies to improve the user experience in discovering, searching, finding, or acquiring library materials and content. Additionally, the position will assist in implementing the Drupal CMS, customizing the interface for the latest version of the OPAC, and creating mobile ready versions of the library web site and catalog. Customization tasks for the new NextGen Discovery system will be a large component of the work. Projects will also likely include implementation of open source code created in other libraries, using various API’s made available by Google, OCLC, or Code4Lib members, as well as various library vendors. This position will also be assigned other digital library projects as the need arises. ... Mon, 30 Aug 2010 09:20:04 +0100 867336 http://catalogablog.blogspot.com/2010/08/additions-to-source-codes-for.html News from LC.The source codes listed below have been recently approved. The codes will be added to applicable Source Codes for Vocabularies, Rules, and Schemes lists. See the specific source code list for current usage in MARC fields and MODS/MADS elements.The codes should not be used in exchange records until 60 days after the date of this notice to provide implementers time to include newly-defined codes in any validation tables.Description Convention Source CodesThe following source code has been added to the Description Convention Source Codes list for usage in appropriate fields and elements.Addition:ncrNippon cataloging rules (Tokyo: National Diet Library)Cartographic Data Source CodesThe following source code has been added to the Cartographic Data Source Codes list for usage in appropriate fields and elements.Addition:erpnScott, Andrew. The encyclopedia of raincoast place names: a complete reference to coastal British Columbia (Madeira Park, BC: Harbour Publishing) (Source: Catalogablog) Mon, 30 Aug 2010 04:00:00 +0100 867724 http://catalogablog.blogspot.com/2010/08/open-publication-distribution-system.html Version 1.0 of the Open Publication Distribution System (OPDS) Catalog format for digital content has been released.The open ebook community and the Internet Archive are pleased to announce the release of the first production version of the Open Publication Distribution System (OPDS) Catalog format for digital content. OPDS Catalogs are an open standard designed to enable the discovery of digital content from any location, on any device, and for any application.The specification is available at: http://opds-spec.org/specs/opds-catalog-1-0.Based on the widely implemented Atom Syndication Format, OPDS Catalogs have been developed since 2009 by a group of ebook developers, publishers, librarians, and booksellers interested in providing a lightweight, simple, and easy to use format for developing catalogs of digital books, magazines, and other content.OPDS Catalogs are the first component of the Internet Archive’s BookServer Project, a framework supporting open standards for discovering, lending, and vending books and other digital content on the web. (Source: Catalogablog) Mon, 30 Aug 2010 04:00:00 +0100 867723 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/FrequentlyAnsweredQuestions/~3/VX1BNWD_-8s/passwords.html Welcome back everyone, and welcome to the annual password post!Passwords have gotten simpler, but with a few twists. Last year, MySCSU (with Banner), Vista, and the general computer logon were synchronized to a "Network ID". You can also download software (like MS Office with Windows and Mac), from the SCSU Software Share site, and log onto the wireless campus network. For those off campus, this will also get you into https://remote.southernct.edu/ (network file access and services--some access and services are only available off campus), and your southernct.edu webspace (you can also access your web files via the remote site from off campus).Twist #1: The new student email, Owls Mail, is on the Microsoft Live system. That password is currently separate, but will be synchronized in a few weeks. In the meanwhile, be sure to 1) use a separate, non-identical password, and 2) add a separate (non-SCSU) email to your account so that you can get your password changes if needed. Until the synchronization happens, SCSU IT won't be able to help you with your Owls password.If you need to change your Network password, you can visit an IT Service Desk, or use the online form. More help is available by phone (203-392-5123) or email (helpdesk@southernct.edu). Don't forget to identify yourself as an online student if you can't come to campus.Library access (online databases and resources, library record viewing, online renewal, intra-campus requests, & online reserves) is still via your ID number (70xxxxxx), and a separate library PIN/password. If you don't know your ID number, log into MySCSU and look for Account Information and View SCSU ID Number under Settings on the main MySCSU page. You can set or check your library access via the CONSULS login page. The 'Forgot your PIN?' link on this page will send a link to the email address we have on file, which is whatever is in Banner. ... Mon, 30 Aug 2010 04:00:00 +0100 867667 http://digital-scholarship.com/digitalkoans/2010/08/29/neh-awards-new-digital-humanities-start-up-grants/ The NEH Digital Humanities Start-Up Grants program has made 28 new awards. Here's an excerpt from the press release: American University — Washington, DC The Map of Jazz Musicians: an online interactive tool for navigating jazz history's interpersonal network Fernando Benadon, Project Director Outright: $49,777 To support: The development of an online tool to map connections and collaborations among American jazz musicians. Bank Street College of Education — New York, NY Civil Rights Movement Remix (CRM-Remix) Bernadette Anand, Project Director Outright: $25,000 To support: A series of workshops to plan the development of location-based smartphone applications about the African-American Civil Rights Movement based around sites in Harlem, NY. Boston University — Boston, MA Evolutionary Subject Tagging in the Humanities Jack Ammerman, Project Director Outright: $13,767 To support: A two-day meeting of humanities scholars, librarians, and computational analysis experts to consider how to improve existing cataloging software that attempts to better classify interdisciplinary humanities research. Brown University — Providence, RI A Journal-Driven Bibliography of Digital Humanities Julia Flanders, Project Director Outright: $49,659 To support: Development of a project led by the staff of Digital Humanities Quarterly (DHQ) to create, manage, export, and publish high quality bibliographical data across the digital humanities research domain. ... Mon, 30 Aug 2010 04:00:00 +0100 867658 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/DigitalKoans/~3/BDfVISosX2s/ The NEH Digital Humanities Start-Up Grants program has made 28 new awards. Here's an excerpt from the press release: American University — Washington, DC The Map of Jazz Musicians: an online interactive tool for navigating jazz history's interpersonal network Fernando Benadon, Project Director Outright: $49,777 To support: The development of an online tool to map connections and collaborations among American jazz musicians. Bank Street College of Education — New York, NY Civil Rights Movement Remix (CRM-Remix) Bernadette Anand, Project Director Outright: $25,000 To support: A series of workshops to plan the development of location-based smartphone applications about the African-American Civil Rights Movement based around sites in Harlem, NY. Boston University — Boston, MA Evolutionary Subject Tagging in the Humanities Jack Ammerman, Project Director Outright: $13,767 To support: A two-day meeting of humanities scholars, librarians, and computational analysis experts to consider how to improve existing cataloging software that attempts to better classify interdisciplinary humanities research. Brown University — Providence, RI A Journal-Driven Bibliography of Digital Humanities Julia Flanders, Project Director Outright: $49,659 To support: Development of a project led by the staff of Digital Humanities Quarterly (DHQ) to create, manage, export, and publish high quality bibliographical data across the digital humanities research domain. ... Mon, 30 Aug 2010 03:01:59 +0100 867320 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/web2learning/YOVk/~3/sE8Zc91L8n0/4060 FishMemory Create multi-level ToDo lists. Set email reminders. Share, print or export your lists. Add tags and notes. tags: lists todo productivity Open Access Journals Bibliography This bibliography presents selected English-language scholarly works that are useful in understanding open access journals. tags: journals bibliography open_access library Archon: The Simple Archival Information System Archon is award-winning software for archivists and manuscript curators. It automatically publishes archival descriptive information and digital archival objects in a user-friendly website. With Archon, there is no need to encode a finding aid, input a catalog record, or program a stylesheet. Archon’s powerful scripts will automatically make everything in the system searchable and browsable on your repository’s website! tags: opensource archives library The Ultimate jQuery List A really big 1-page list of plugins & examples for jQuery tags: jquery javascript tutorials programming ajax plugins Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here. (Source: What I Learned Today...) Mon, 30 Aug 2010 00:35:17 +0100 867925 http://www.resourceshelf.com/2010/08/29/sacramento-public-library-another-new-mobile-app-from-boopsie/ Yes, another California public library has gone mobile with the help of Boopsie. This it’s the Sacramento Public Library. Visiting Saclib.Boopsie.com (in a non-mobile browser) will take you to an info page. Entering the same URL into your mobile browser will direct you to the proper site or page to access the native app or web app. iPhone users can also go to this page in the iTunes Store where the app is available for download. Free. Note: We tried accessing the iPhone app by using the boopsie.com URL listed above but instead of redirecting us to the iTunes store to download the app, we were redirected to a “mobile app” version. We will look into this ASAP. Some of the Features the Sacramento Public Library App includes: + A Library Locator (Uses GPS if Available) + New Books, New DVD’s, New Audiobooks, New Downloadables (e-Books) and Other Categories + Contact Info (Including Text a Librarian) + Access to the Library Catalog (Note the “Smart Prefix” Feature, Results Change as You Type) You can also use Smart Prefix to type with fewer letters. For example, Lib o cong will return Library of Congress material. + Access to Social Media from the SPL Including: YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook This has sure been a busy time for Boopsie. In the past week or so along with the Sacramento launch, we’ve also see new services for the: + San Jose Public Library (iPhone App) + Los Angeles Public Library + Central Rappahannock Regional Library (Virginia) (Source: ResourceShelf) Sun, 29 Aug 2010 17:49:24 +0100 867198 http://freegovinfo.info/node/3082 As many of you know, the Government Printing Office is transcribing their historic paper shelflist into the Catalog of Government Publications (CGP). The paper shelflist was operated from 1880 to 1992. There are over 6,000 records transcribed so far. While listening to the GPO Q&A from the Six State Virtual Conference, I learned that you can view records from the Historic Shelflist by searching the phrase "historic shelflist" in the CGP. Try it. It can be fun to specify a specific year, say 1930 or 1942. Learn more about this project by viewing a webinar titled "The GPO Historic Shelflist Project" presented in May 2010 by Laurie Hall, that is available at the GPO OPAL Archive at http://www.opal-online.org/archivegpo.htm. (Source: Free Government Information (FGI) blogs) Sun, 29 Aug 2010 17:13:10 +0100 867283 http://outofthejungle.blogspot.com/2010/08/developing-technology-how-print-shaped.html The Boston Globe Ideas section today had a wonderful interview with author Andrew Pettegree, about his book The Book in the Renaissance. Written by Tom Scocca, the Q&A style article discusses with Professor Pettegree his research about the birth of publishing, and what it reveals about our misperceptions of the earliest days of printing. When we think of early print, we always think of the Gutenberg Bible. This is the iconic representation of the early movable print product. But it is a huge misperception. Most printers were pouring out disposable little tracts, announcements from the town council, schoolbooks, sermons and, if they were lucky, reams of indulgences. The church at that time sold indulgences, and what they handed over to the layperson was a sheet of paper, printed, that stated what sins were forgiven. The lucky printer who got an order, could print multiple copies of the same single sheet, composed once, and get paid for it multiple times by an official institution. According to Pettegree, the problem that printers faced was that the public was not used to being offered items to buy that they had not ordered. They had never had bookstores or catalogs. Up to that time, if a person wanted a book, they ordered it made. So when books became easier to make, printers struggled over how and what to offer to the public. They consulted with the leading scholars of the day, and offered the suggested classics. And had a resounding dud. They tried offering the leading medical texts. And again, had very little interest. They did better with sermons. These were smaller books, and did not cost so much. The items that were widely produced and that kept the successful printers in business turned out to be ephemeral, small print jobs like the announcements from town councils, school books that children did not want to keep, and indulgences. ... Sun, 29 Aug 2010 04:00:00 +0100 867538 http://www.librarian.net/stax/3316/secret-rooms-in-libraries/ One of the librarians showed me the secret room in the library if I’d write something about it. There is a secret room in the ceiling of VTC’s Hartness Library. You turn a key in a keyhole in a brick wall and a staircase descends from the ceiling with a great rumbling. Climing the stairs gets you into a disused room that used to be the bindery area but is now just used for storing shelves and old Eames chairs. It’s an odd and noisy room since it’s right next to the room where all the HVAC equipment is. They don’t use the room anymore because of ADA requirements and because it’s darned complicated to get into and out of when the library is open. I’ll add this freaky little room to my list of library attics and basements that I’ve been compiling. Places that don’t have elevators, places that are inaccessible or otherwise tough to get into. Thanks, Ben, for showing me another one. Here’s the list I can put together off the top of my head so far. Entering the sub-basement at Colorado College. Rubber stamps in the University of Alabama library basement (there was also a printing press) The stairs to the room upstairs from the Bradford (VT) library The Calef Library basement in Washington Vermont Old card catalogs at the Library of Congress Not quite on topic but the secret door [art piece, not functional to go someplace secret] at the San Jose State library is pretty nifty. (Source: librarian.net) Sat, 28 Aug 2010 17:09:11 +0100 867446 http://www.swissarmylibrarian.net/2010/08/28/reference-question-of-the-week-82210 This was sort of a frustrating question, but in the end was fun - mainly because I get to tag this post “gonzo reference.” A patron came rushing up to the desk (literally) and said he quickly needed to know John Philip Sousa’s religion. Since time was important, I gave the patron Encyclopedia Britannica and showed him how to find the John Philip Sousa article, while I searched Wikipedia. Neither identified his religion, so the next step was to grab the one Sousa biography we had on the shelf, and the patron looked through the index under “faith,” “religion,” etc., while I kept searching our databases and the internet. Again, neither of us located anything quickly, except for a quote online attributed to Sousa: My religion lies in my composition. That didn’t exactly answer the patron’s question, but he felt Sousa must have meant that, regardless of what religion he was officially, he wasn’t himself a very religious person, and that was good enough for the patron. He thanked me and rushed out. But I was still surprised that such an simple fact wouldn’t have been more readily available. I decided to keep searching until I found it, and then add the fact to Wikipedia - mainly because I can. I was already in the library’s catalog, so I requested a Sousa biography from another library (John Philip Sousa: American Phenomenon) that seemed likely to have the information. When it arrived, I started flipping through it, then wondered if this had been scanned into Google Books - turns out, it had. I searched the content of the book for “religion” and found the answer I was looking for at the bottom of page 102. I then composed a little paragraph and added it to Wikipedia: Although Freemasonry is an organization influenced by religious beliefs, John Philip Sousa himself was not. ... Sat, 28 Aug 2010 14:39:57 +0100 866694 http://catalogablog.blogspot.com/2010/08/library-of-congress-changed-subject.html Sept. 1 there will be a new edition of the Library of Congress Changed Subject Heading Subdivisions.Each August I review the previous years' changes from Library of Congress's "Weekly List" of new headings and cross-check them with their annual "Free-Floating Subdivisions". Questionable entries are referred to the Library of Congress Cataloging Distribution Service for resolution. Changes are then added to my master file, which is then totally cumulated. Official publication date of each year's new edition is September 1.Joyce T. Ogden, the author, sent me a very nice note asking that I announce the newest version of her work. (Source: Catalogablog) Sat, 28 Aug 2010 04:00:00 +0100 867201 http://joblist.ala.org/modules/jobseeker/controller.cfm?rssjobid=15561 Archivist (American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Cambridge, Massachusetts) The Archivist will be responsible for all aspects of department work, including processing, cataloging, digitization, and conservation of collections; records management; exhibitions; fund-raising; and supervision of staff. Qualifications: Masters or Doctorate in library/information science with a concentration in archives management, or MA/MS/PhD in research oriented, historically related field (American History, American Studies), with training or equivalent experience in archive management. Experience with MARC, DACS, XML, EAD, and other current metadata format standards, content standards, and element sets. Knowledge of and experience with digitizing methods. ... Sat, 28 Aug 2010 00:15:01 +0100 866308 http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/aug/28/philip-de-laszlo-life-art Jan Marsh on the many reinventions of a hugely successful society artistPhilip de Who? Sadly for someone who saw himself in an illustrious line of foreign-born artists including Holbein, Van Dyck, Lely and Kneller, and who specialised in portraying British royals and nobles, De László's name has slipped well below the horizon since his death in 1937. Style recognition, however, remains high in his society portraits, with their bravura brushwork: sweetly glamorised, chiffon-draped images of Princess Marina and the late Queen Mother when Duchess of York; European kings, dukes and generals in full regalia, vestiges of vanished hierarchies. And thousands of them, for De László perfected the art of instant painting alla prima on to canvas, to capture the likeness in a single sitting, like a flattering cartoonist with gestural panache.His male portraits put an acceptable face on plutocracy. Where Sargent, his real role model, lamented that each work cost him a friend, De László gained friends on all sides. "The portrait of my wife has a ray of heaven illuminating in her face the charming qualities of her soul," the Duke of Portland wrote. He made his sitters "look exactly as they would like themselves to look", observed the magazine Apollo. No wonder he was popular.Who was he? A man of several incarnations, born Fülöp Laub in Budapest in 1869, the son of a poor tailor. He claimed to have left school at nine to work successively for theatrical scene-painters, an architectural sculptor and a porcelain-painter before colouring up prints in a society photographer's studio – a portent of the future, perhaps. Evening study led to fine art training, then Munich and Paris. His scenes of peasant life were comparable to those being produced in Brittany and Newlyn and, following the national trend, he hungarianised his name to László at about the same time as he swapped his Jewish faith for Catholicism. ... Fri, 27 Aug 2010 23:05:27 +0100 866298 http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/aug/28/being-wrong-kathryn-schulz-review Stuart Jeffries is cheered by a writer who sees a social value in our habit of mucking things upOne day in 1972, Village Voice journalist Ross Gelbspan attended a press conference. It was being held to promote a book called The Limits to Growth, which postulated that, because of increasing population and pollution and diminishing resources, our future world would be a place where no one would want to live. During the conference, Gelbspan was struck by the happy sight of one of the book's co-authors, Donella Meadows. How heartening, he thought, that despite her book's grim prognostications, she was pregnant. He went back to the office and typed up a story about how there was some hope amid the gloom, symbolised by Meadows's swollen belly. His editors liked the story so much they put it on the front page.There was only one problem: Meadows wasn't pregnant. As I write this, I can feel blood rushing to my face in empathetic embarrassment. Even today, nearly 40 years after the error and almost a decade after Meadows's death, Gelbspan is still mortified. At the time, he wanted to die. However, let's snatch optimism from Gelbspan's understandable anguish. As Aristotle wrote in the Ethics, it is not good to feel shame – since it is bad to have done something one should feel ashamed of – but to do something wrong and not feel shame is a sign of wickedness. In an increasingly shameless world, Gelbspan's authentic distress is a sweet sign that not everything about us is going wrong.In this lovely book about human mistakes the sickeningly young, forbiddingly clever and vexingly wise American journalist Kathryn Schulz doesn't cite Aristotle, but he is a kindred spirit. Where Aristotle saw the value in a painful, ostensibly demeaning emotion, Schulz argues passionately for the value of error. The experience of being wrong, she argues, helps to make us better people, with richer lives.We have all sensed the shame of being publicly wrong. ... Fri, 27 Aug 2010 23:05:24 +0100 866301 http://feeds.lexblog.com/~r/ediscoverylaw/klgates/~3/7v2AcIMg0gk/ Harkabi v. Sandisk Corp., 08 Civ. 8203 (WHP) (S.D.N.Y. Aug, 23, 2010) For failing to preserve the laptops issued to plaintiffs while working for defendant, the court found defendant was “at a minimum” negligent and indicated that an adverse inference would be crafted after all the evidence had been received.  For “prolonged delay” in producing relevant emails the court denied terminating sanctions but ordered monetary sanctions in the amount of $150,000.This opinion begins:  “Electronic discovery requires litigants to scour disparate data storage mediums and formats for potentially relevant documents.  That undertaking involves dueling considerations:  thoroughness and cost.  This motion illustrated the perils of failing to strike the proper balance.” Plaintiffs were fired by defendant and thereafter brought suit for breach of contract, among other things.  With the dispute “brewing”, plaintiffs’ counsel sent defendant a preservation letter.  Accordingly, a “Do-Not-Destroy” memorandum was distributed by defendant and the laptops issued to plaintiffs while employed with defendant were secured in storage.  Later, however, following installation of a new email archive service, the laptops were imaged and the data was saved on a file server. Upon plaintiffs’ request for electronic discovery, defendant discovered it could not locate the laptops’ data.  Rather than revealing the loss, however, defense counsel informed plaintiffs that laptops were typically recycled after employees left the company.  A statement from defendant’s in-house counsel indicated “no reason to believe” that the “Do-Not-Destroy” instructions were not “fully complied with”. ... Fri, 27 Aug 2010 22:03:49 +0100 866996 http://gypsylibrarian.blogspot.com/2010/08/article-note-on-when-eric-is-useful.html Citation for the article:Corby, Kate, "When is ERIC Useful? A Background and Current Overview of the Education Resources Information Center." The Reference Librarian 50.2 (2009): 137-149.   Read via Interlibrary Loan. This article updates and supplements the previous article I read on the topic, which discussed alternatives to ERIC. I still teach EBSCO's Education Research Complete as the primary database for education research, but I do mention ERIC mostly as a supplement and for its thesaurus. Let me mention another small update note after I wrote the note for the other article: We finally acquired Web of Science for the library. It's amazing what the threat of losing or not getting accreditation (or reaffirmation, which is the new term) does for money to suddenly appear for library development and enhancement. I am being perfectly honest and blunt in this case: were it not for that, we would not have been able to purchase WoS. Now my job is promoting more use of WoS for the education faculty as well and discovering all it can do for us in terms of education research. I like having options, but I digress. In the other article, I do discuss some tips for teaching research in education that are very applicable and relevant, so those of you who do instruction may want to go and look at the other link.Getting back to Corby's article, we get an overview of ERIC and its current condition. The article starts by providing an overview of ERIC's development history and design. ERIC was created to bring education research, which was being done all over the nation, under one roof. This is where the clearinghouses structure came in at first. ERIC also developed the Document Reproduction Service (EDRS), which served to provide those microfiche sets that some libraries still have (we still have our set, but I am not sure for how long since there is some pressure to weed it out. ... Fri, 27 Aug 2010 21:11:00 +0100 866510 http://www.figoblog.org/node/1992 Comme je parcourais le RDA Toolkit, profitant de sa temporaire gratuité (jusqu'au 31 août, je le rappelle), je me suis sentie dériver librement au fil de pensées inattendues. S'appuyant sur les FRBR et sur les principes internationaux de catalogage, les RDA rappellent une chose qu'on parfois trop tendance à négliger quand on parle de catalogage : le but du catalogage, c'est de répondre aux besoins des utilisateurs, tout en rationalisant les moyens qu'on déploie pour y arriver : The data should meet functional requirements for the support of user tasks in a cost-efficient manner. Non, le catalogage n'a pas été inventé par les bibliothécaires pour se faire plaisir (ou pas uniquement). Les lecteurs de ce blog, quand on leur parle FRBR, se souviendront peut-être des fameux 3 groupes d'entités et de l'articulation entre Œuvre, Expression, Manifestation et Item. Je suis à peu près sûre que parmi les gens qui ont des notions quelconques de FRBR, peu d'entre eux se souviennent que les FRBR, c'est aussi une description détaillée des opérations effectuées par les utilisateurs, réparties en 4 grands groupes : trouver, sélectionner, identifier et obtenir. S'y ajoute le niveau de pertinence des différentes métadonnées pour accomplir ces tâches. Les RDA reprennent ces tâches pour rappeler à quoi sert chaque partie de la description, ce qui n'est pas du luxe. Cela leur permet de définir les "core elements", dont on a toujours besoin quoi qu'il arrive, et les autres qui ne sont à renseigner qu'en tant qu'ils sont indispensables pour accomplir les tâches utilisateurs. En cela, ma compréhension de RDA (je n'ai pas fini de les lire, c'est donc plutôt une impression globale) c'est qu'une grande liberté est laissée au catalogueur (ou à l'agence pour qui il travaille) pour décider plus précisément des éléments nécessaires à la description de telle ou telle ressource. Derrière cette liberté se cache l'économie du catalogage. ... Fri, 27 Aug 2010 09:19:08 +0100 867973 http://figoblog.org/node/1992 Comme je parcourais le RDA Toolkit, profitant de sa temporaire gratuité (jusqu'au 31 août, je le rappelle), je me suis sentie dériver librement au fil de pensées inattendues. S'appuyant sur les FRBR et sur les principes internationaux de catalogage, les RDA rappellent une chose qu'on parfois trop tendance à négliger quand on parle de catalogage : le but du catalogage, c'est de répondre aux besoins des utilisateurs, tout en rationalisant les moyens qu'on déploie pour y arriver : The data should meet functional requirements for the support of user tasks in a cost-efficient manner. Non, le catalogage n'a pas été inventé par les bibliothécaires pour se faire plaisir (ou pas uniquement). Les lecteurs de ce blog, quand on leur parle FRBR, se souviendront peut-être des fameux 3 groupes d'entités et de l'articulation entre Œuvre, Expression, Manifestation et Item. Je suis à peu près sûre que parmi les gens qui ont des notions quelconques de FRBR, peu d'entre eux se souviennent que les FRBR, c'est aussi une description détaillée des opérations effectuées par les utilisateurs, réparties en 4 grands groupes : trouver, sélectionner, identifier et obtenir. S'y ajoute le niveau de pertinence des différentes métadonnées pour accomplir ces tâches. Les RDA reprennent ces tâches pour rappeler à quoi sert chaque partie de la description, ce qui n'est pas du luxe. Cela leur permet de définir les "core elements", dont on a toujours besoin quoi qu'il arrive, et les autres qui ne sont à renseigner qu'en tant qu'ils sont indispensables pour accomplir les tâches utilisateurs. En cela, ma compréhension de RDA (je n'ai pas fini de les lire, c'est donc plutôt une impression globale) c'est qu'une grande liberté est laissée au catalogueur (ou à l'agence pour qui il travaille) pour décider plus précisément des éléments nécessaires à la description de telle ou telle ressource. Derrière cette liberté se cache l'économie du catalogage. ... Fri, 27 Aug 2010 09:19:08 +0100 867119 http://www.lisjobs.com/jobs/item.asp?ID=43255 Head of Copy Cataloging (Source: Combined Library Job Postings - Lisjobs.com and Library Job Postings on the Internet) Fri, 27 Aug 2010 06:01:00 +0100 866806 http://lovetheliberry.blogspot.com/2010/08/todays-highlights.html Girl-- Do you have Dead Man at Sea? Me-- I don't see that in our catalog. Do you think it could possibly be Old Man and the Sea?Girl-- No, I'm pretty sure it's Dead Man at Sea. Let me show you my syllabus-- which said-- Old Man and the Sea!Guy-- Do you have music from Royal Pain?He was really looking for music by House of Pain.Mr. Purple Book-- I need to ask you something that's a secret. Oh, never mind. I'll ask you tomorrow. What time are you open?Woman walks by desk just after the "we're closing in 10 minutes" announcement and says-- I can't believe no one moves after that announcement. That's hilarious! (Source: Love the Liberry) Fri, 27 Aug 2010 04:00:00 +0100 867573 http://permalink.gmane.org/gmane.education.web4lib/16747 Amigos has scheduled web-based technology training in our live online classroom. Available courses include the following titles. All times below are Central Time. Creating Mobile Websites September 28 & 30, 1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. CDT Early Bird Registration Deadline: 9/6 http://bit.ly/cP5prd Know & Go: What is Google Up To? October 11, 1:30 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. CDT http://bit.ly/9Dinqo Tech Topics: QR Codes October 22, 1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. CDT Early Bird Registration Deadline: 9/30 http://bit.ly/ct7ibI Tech Topics: Privacy and Social Networks November 5, 1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. CDT Early Bird Registration Deadline: 10/14 http://bit.ly/9z1Re5 Creating Mobile Websites December 7 & 9, 10:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. CST Early Bird Registration Deadline: 11/15 http://bit.ly/cP5prd ___________________________________________________ OCLC-related courses: Serials (& other) Local Holdings: Creation and Care with OCLC Connexion September 8, 10 10:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. CDT http://bit.ly/5oqJIn Copy Cataloging: A (Source: gmane.education.web4lib) Fri, 27 Aug 2010 04:00:00 +0100 866246 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/DigitalKoans/~3/DK4YiPam5Mo/ The San Diego History Center is recruiting a Project Manager/Cataloger. Here's an excerpt from the ad: This is a professional position requiring a high level of skill and competency and the ability to work with limited supervision and make duty-related decisions. The Project Manager/Cataloger will perform a variety of duties in order to achieve the goals stated in an IMLS-funded project, namely, to digitize, catalog and make available over 7,000 images from the E.H. Davis Collection of American Indian images. The project Manager/Cataloger will be responsible for planning the project, ensuring that milestones are met, writing reports, doing research, and cataloging photographs and drawings from the E.H. Davis Collection in collaboration with members of the local American Indian Community as well as scholars. SDHC also plans to invite social tagging of the newly-created collection records via the web. The Project Manger/Cataloger will work on the social tagging dimension in coordination with the Balboa Park Online Collaborative. This will be a full-time position for a period of 18 months. (Source: DigitalKoans) Fri, 27 Aug 2010 03:08:06 +0100 867324 http://digital-scholarship.com/digitalkoans/2010/08/26/project-managercataloger-at-san-diego-history-center/ The San Diego History Center is recruiting a Project Manager/Cataloger. Here's an excerpt from the ad: This is a professional position requiring a high level of skill and competency and the ability to work with limited supervision and make duty-related decisions. The Project Manager/Cataloger will perform a variety of duties in order to achieve the goals stated in an IMLS-funded project, namely, to digitize, catalog and make available over 7,000 images from the E.H. Davis Collection of American Indian images. The project Manager/Cataloger will be responsible for planning the project, ensuring that milestones are met, writing reports, doing research, and cataloging photographs and drawings from the E.H. Davis Collection in collaboration with members of the local American Indian Community as well as scholars. SDHC also plans to invite social tagging of the newly-created collection records via the web. The Project Manger/Cataloger will work on the social tagging dimension in coordination with the Balboa Park Online Collaborative. This will be a full-time position for a period of 18 months. (Source: DigitalKoans) Fri, 27 Aug 2010 03:06:43 +0100 866043 http://joblist.ala.org/modules/jobseeker/controller.cfm?rssjobid=15554 Web Developer (Computer Systems Analyst) (Great River Regional Library, St. Cloud, Minnesota) Great River Regional Library (GRRL) is one library in 32 locations across 6 central Minnesota counties serving nearly 450,000 residents. To meet our patrons’ needs, GRRL provides nearly 1 million books, CDs, DVDs, downloadable audiobooks and e-books as well as subscription databases, 268 public computers and free wireless internet. For more information, please visit griver.org. Description: The Web Developer (Computer Systems Analyst) exists to assist in the provision of information technology services to staff and public users at all locations and across the region through the use of web technologies. ... Thu, 26 Aug 2010 22:15:01 +0100 865555 http://joblist.ala.org/modules/jobseeker/controller.cfm?rssjobid=15557 Library Assistant (Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, Cleveland, Ohio) The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, the world’s first museum dedicated to the living heritage of rock and roll music, is currently seeking candidates for the position of Library Assistant.  Reporting to the Catalog and Metadata Librarian, the Library Assistant is responsible for processing incoming library materials, performing basic copy cataloging of library materials, assisting with acquisitions duties, and providing basic reference service to Library and Archives users. A bachelor’s degree in a related field is preferred. ... Thu, 26 Aug 2010 22:15:01 +0100 865549 http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/jonathanjonesblog/2010/aug/26/christopher-hitchens-hitch-22 Christopher Hitchens's conversion to the Bush administration's cause is still mystifying, but anyone who checks out his autobiography won't deny his lifelong bravery as a journalistChristopher Hitchens opens his memoir Hitch-22 with a story about a false rumour of his own mortality. A catalogue for an exhibition of photographs at the National Portrait Gallery mistakenly described the legendary journalist as "the late" Christopher Hitchens: making his amused protests, he then went on to write this book about his life. But as he toured to promote it – weathering some unsympathetic media coverage, inevitably given his controversial politics – he was diagnosed with cancer. Now, to judge by reports, he really is in mortal peril.Hitchens's support for the wars of the Bush administration – indeed, as he reveals in detail in this book, his active part in encouraging them, at the highest levels of Washington insiderdom – has ensured him an army of enemies. But what do critics of the book feel now? Do they wish they had tried harder to understand where he's coming from?The interpretation of his political shift rightward that some readers of his memoir have proposed is that he has been haunted all his life by the manly dignity of his father, a navy officer with serious wartime experience. When 9/11 changed the world, Hitchens saw his moment to join the Few, to refight the Battle of Britain and live up to their heroic fathers' generation.Yet the most affecting incident in Hitch-22 is actually the death of his mother in a suicide pact in a hotel in Athens, when he was just starting out on his writing life. Perhaps I am soppy, but isn't the suicide of a parent quite a significant event?It would seem arguable that his lifelong courage as a journalist derives at least in part from a desire to do justice to his mother, to live with a daring denied her. ... Thu, 26 Aug 2010 16:54:47 +0100 865461 http://bibliotheque20.wordpress.com/2010/08/26/apple-store-iv-les-bibliotheques/ Que peut-on trouver dans l’apple store, dans des champs bibliothéconomiques ? 4è partie : nous / nos homologues J’ai été sur l’iphone pour rechercher les appli qui sortent quand j’appelle : « bibliothèque » ou « mediathèque » Aucune bibliothèque La Bibliothèque Nationale de Tunisie : quelques livres du domaine public accessibles Des titres de la maison d’édition « bibliothèque digitale » Bdessinée : plateforme type babelio pour les BDs Books App : plateforme type babelio ILoveBooks : plateforme type babelio Libfly : plateforme bien connue, avec webservices à destination des bibliothèques (proprio = Archimède) En anglais : les « library » Beaucoup de choses diverses et variées Bibliothèque du congrès : 2 appli Une appli « Virtual Tour » : visite des locaux avec archives de qq expo marquantes Une appli « NewsReader » : aggrégation de flux rss dont ils sont la source Wattpad : 100.000 livres électroniques en lecture (Gratuit) Université Illinois : Nouveaux titres en français du catalogue Université de Cornell accès a l’opac horaires compte usager askal (tel, mel, IM) Wahsington Public Lib OPAC critiques sur les notices horaires&co réservations Southern Maryland idem Orange County OPAC Interface de recherche travaillée spécifiquement Auckland University OPAC dont nouveautés Brown University OPAC Avec un mode de recherche simplifié San Francisco Public Lib Mon compte L’accès à l’opac est payant Denver « creating communities » consortium culturel pour créer une plateforme communautaire. ... Thu, 26 Aug 2010 14:41:22 +0100 867004 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ReadingGirlSpeaks/~3/BubrLjlXhfg/obis-is-on-blink.html We're experiencing some technical difficulties with the hardware that OBIS runs on.Fingers crossed that we'll be up and running again tomorrow.Meanwhile, you can get some information about our holdings by searching the OhioLINK Library Catalog. (Source: reading girl speaks) Thu, 26 Aug 2010 04:00:00 +0100 867603 http://marklindner.info/blog/2010/08/25/a-grand-unified-theory-of-librarianship-seriously/ McGrath, William E. 2002. Explanation and Prediction: Building a Unified Theory of Librarianship, Concept and Review. Library Trends 50, no. 3 (Winter): 350-370. http://hdl.handle.net/2142/8420.   McGrath advocates that we need a Unified Theory of Librarianship and outlines what he considers to be “some of the traditional areas of concern to librarianship” which will have to be subsumed into such a theory.  He provides some ideas on what kinds of studies we would need to allow us to generate an overarching theory of LIS and lists some (then) recent studies that fit or demonstrate this mode. According to McGrath, the traditional areas to be considered are: publishing, acquisitions, storage and preservation, classification and organization of knowledge, collections, and circulation.  As he admits on page 356, he completely ignores “the digital revolution” as he believes “while the production of electronic databases, the World Wide Web, and the Internet is technology, their use can be described in terms of traditional library functions.”  While this is, in fact, true it is also an extremely limiting view.  The “digital revolution” has progressed to the point where simply trying to describe it in the terms and categories of traditional librarianship is not a healthy way to move the profession forward. It is, in my opinion, the opposite. One of my largest areas of complaint with the article is in his treatment of classification and organization of knowledge.  I find it lacking in several ways. His initial sentences in the section CLASSIFICATION just bother me: “The classification scheme used by the library is a major property of the collection.  The scheme reflects the librarians’ perceptions of how knowledge is organized or structured” (354). One can certainly make both of these claims and, in a sense, they are true. ... Wed, 25 Aug 2010 17:19:17 +0100 866004 http://liszen.com/trends/story.php?title=Do_You_Believe_in_Magic Skip to main content. Brooklyn Public Library · My Account · Get a Library Card · Library Catalog ... Library Catalog, BPL Website, Articles & Databa (Source: pligg - all) Wed, 25 Aug 2010 07:00:22 +0100 865017 http://permalink.gmane.org/gmane.education.web4lib/16731 Dawn, I've been using to different sources of mobile-detection code. For our library website, where I have access to PHP, I use the code downloadable from: http://detectmobilebrowsers.mobi/ (Free for non-commercial use, commercial license fees apply otherwise) The PHP is truly elegant, and I like it quite a bit. For our library catalog, where we can't execute PHP code, I use an excerpt of the JavaScript code available at: http://detectmobilebrowser.com/ This is a less elegant approach, but it works. You can also do some non-script-based detection using the media attributes of a CSS <link> tag, but that path is fraught with peril. An intro to this approach can be found in Jonathan Stark's excellent book _Building iPhone Apps with HTML, CSS, and Javascript_ from O'Reilly. (see p16). I strongly recommend that book (and probably its forthcoming Android-app companion book) to anyone interested in learning to build mobile-friendly websites. Despite the "iPhone app" orientation of the title, it is an excelle (Source: gmane.education.web4lib) Wed, 25 Aug 2010 04:00:00 +0100 865181 http://permalink.gmane.org/gmane.education.web4lib/16737 What about a QR code that automatically links the user to the web site or cell phone app? Is anybody doing that? Tom -----Original Message----- From: web4lib-bounces-Lfqs8nn97uZKgiwHgTXaBw< at >public.gmane.org [mailto:web4lib-bounces-Lfqs8nn97uZKgiwHgTXaBw< at >public.gmane.org] On Behalf Of Ken Irwin Sent: Wednesday, August 25, 2010 9:34 AM To: 'web4lib-Lfqs8nn97uZKgiwHgTXaBw< at >public.gmane.org' Subject: Re: [Web4lib] Mobile identification code Dawn, I've been using to different sources of mobile-detection code. For our library website, where I have access to PHP, I use the code downloadable from: http://detectmobilebrowsers.mobi/ (Free for non-commercial use, commercial license fees apply otherwise) The PHP is truly elegant, and I like it quite a bit. For our library catalog, where we can't execute PHP code, I use an excerpt of the JavaScript code available at: http://detectmobilebrowser.com/ This is a less elegant approach, but it works. You can also do some non-script-based detection using the media attrib (Source: gmane.education.web4lib) Wed, 25 Aug 2010 04:00:00 +0100 865175 http://catalogablog.blogspot.com/2010/08/british-library-catalog.html Image via WikipediaThe British Library has made their catalog freely available for research.As part of its work to open its metadata to wider use beyond the traditional library community, the British Library is making copies of its main catalogue and British National Bibliography datasets available for research purposes. Files are initially being made available in XML and structured in an RDF/DC format (see sample). Files are distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.The British Library is currently investigating options for structuring its catalogue information as linked data and is collaborating with a number of organisations in examining the issues associated with making bibliographic metadata available in this way.Related articleBritish Library to share millions of catalogue records (bl.uk) (Source: Catalogablog) Wed, 25 Aug 2010 04:00:00 +0100 864790 http://blog.library.temple.edu/liblog/archives/2010/08/new-survey-will.html In an effort to gather information about the usage of the Temple University Libraries' electronic resources, an occasional web-based survey will be launched on Tuesday, August 31. The survey form will appear when connecting to any electronic resource. That includes the library catalog, the journal databases, music libraries, electronic books, etc. The online web survey must be completed in order to gain access to the desired electronic resource. This four question survey, while creating a momentary disruption, will only be conducted for two consecutive hours per month through the next academic year. The survey is anonymous and will coincide with short on-site surveys of a similar nature being offered at Paley Library. The University administration has requested that we conduct this survey in order to gain more information about how the institutional investment in electronic information resources contributes to our scholars' and researchers' capacity to perform research that leads to new discoveries. While this survey will create some minimal disruption in the short run, the data gathered will be of great benefit to our instituition in the long run. Therefore we will greatly appreciate your understanding and cooperation if and when you are asked to complete the survey form. Should you have further questions, an FAQ is appended to the online survey instrument or you can contact the Controller’s Office which is sponsoring the survey. (Source: Temple University Library Blog) Tue, 24 Aug 2010 21:06:38 +0100 865851 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ohiou/dxIf/~3/W_0gnAJTQAE/sports-business-resource-guide-fact-book A great tool for researching sports business facts The Sports Business Resource Guide & Fact Book is a great tool for finding company and team directory information, attendance and media statistics, demographic information of fans, and much more. Format:  Print Book Location:  Alden Library 2nd Floor Reference Collection  GV 716.S57 Link to: Sports Business Resource Guide & Fact Book in the ALICE Online Catalog Updated every January, the book contains more than 1,500 pages covering 10 categories of the business of sport. There are more than 8,500 company and team listings, and more than 75,000 individual industry contacts in the book.  Sections of the book include: Professional Leagues and Teams Corporate Sponsors Marketing, Advertising, and Public Relations Agencies Sports Media Facilities and Venue Service Providers Professional Service Providers Collegiate Sports Governing Bodies and Amateur Athletic Unions Manufacturers, Retailers, and Licensees International Each section includes extensive directory information, but also has loads of marketing, industry, and company statistics. Note: The directory information is also available online in Excel Spreadsheet format. Click here to access it (requires authentication with OHIO OAK ID and password. Chad’s Pitch on Using the Book Sample pages The images below are samples of the kinds of information that can be found in this book.  The images are not meant to disclose any proprietary information for free, but simply to highlight the resource. (Source: Business Blog) Tue, 24 Aug 2010 17:49:23 +0100 867249 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/arlisnap/~3/pXFndC4Psds/ ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME AND MUSEUM Library Assistant The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, the world’s first museum dedicated to the living heritage of rock and roll music, is currently seeking candidates for the position of Library Assistant.  Reporting to the Catalog and Metadata Librarian, the Library Assistant is responsible [...] (Source: [ArLiSNAP]) Tue, 24 Aug 2010 14:51:20 +0100 866174 http://www.swissarmylibrarian.net/2010/08/24/alikewise-is-for-book-lovers It looks like Alikewise.com has been around all year, but I only heard about it this weekend - it’s a dating website that matches people based on the books they like. This is a great idea for a dating website - it seems a much better way to get at someone’s true nature than filling out a profile by guessing what will make you attractive. I checked around the site a bit (without creating a profile), and wonder if there’s a way to tie-in with sites like LibraryThing and Good Reads to capitalize on peoples’ full libraries. LibraryThing sort of already does this, with their You and None Other meme. But here’s something funny: at my first library, we toyed with the idea of a “singles night” book group. We thought it’d be a perfect program for Friday nights, after work, to come and meet other single people interested in books. It never happened, but I always liked the idea. Maybe that’ll eventually manifest in Alikewise meetups. And wouldn’t this be a heck of a social networking widget to add to a library catalog? “Like this book? Click here to meet other patrons that do, too.” via Burlington Free Press (thanks, Carney) and more at NPR (Source: herzogbr.net blog) Tue, 24 Aug 2010 12:33:41 +0100 865045 http://northmetrotechlibraryatacworth.blogspot.com/2010/08/and-they-keep-on-coming.html We subscribe to Credo Reference. They have passed the 500 titles mark in their Reference collection. It is a broad collection of Reference materials available 24/7. What I like about Credo Reference is its ease of use. A simple search box pulls up a wealth of information. Yet the Advanced search can limit my search to a specific title.These are the latest additions:• The A to Z of Corporate Social Responsibility, Wiley • An African Biographical Dictionary, Grey House Publishing • BCS Glossary of Computing and ICT, British Computer Society • Encyclopedia of the Antebellum South, ABC-CLIO • Encyclopedia of Consciousness, Elsevier Science & Technology • The Encyclopedia of Tourism and Recreation in Marine Environments, CABI • The Essentials of Philosophy and Ethics, Hodder Education • A Financial History of Modern U.S. Corporate Scandals from Enron to Reform, M.E. Sharpe • Historical Encyclopedia of American Labor, ABC-CLIO • Learning in Adulthood: A Comprehensive Guide, Wiley • Myths and Legends of the Celts, Penguin You can access Credo Reference through the CTC GALILEO and through our catalog with a patron login! Stop by any campus library to get the GALILEO password or to apply for your library account.-klsView from the Library maintained by The Librarian at Chattahoochee Technical College, North Metro Campus c2010 (Source: View from the library) Tue, 24 Aug 2010 04:00:00 +0100 865898 http://santafelibrary.blogspot.com/2010/08/back-to-school.html We can help!In addition to books, magazines, DVDs, CDs, and awesomely knowledgable reference librarians, the Santa Fe Public Library has the following resources to help you out in school this year. Whether you're in kindergarten or college, you can access any of these in all library branches or on your home computer with a SFPL library card. If you ever have any questions, we encourage you to call your local reference desk!Research ProWhat it is: Don't know where to start? Go to Research Pro to search across our databases and catalog to get newspaper and magazine articles and book titles.LearningExpress LibraryWhat it is: Over 800 online courses, tests and e-books. Includes GED, AP, SAT, ACT test prep, as well as modules for different jobs and careers.Literature Resource CenterWhat it is: Do you need to do a report on an author? Do you need to find criticism or articles for your English class? Start here!Mango LanguagesWhat it is: An easy-to-use, self-paced, online language system. If you need extra practice for your Spanish, German, French, or ESL class, spend some time on Mango and track your progress.Opposing ViewpointsWhat it is: If you have to do a report for Social Studies, History, or Current Events class about an issue, such as Gangs, Medical Marijuana, or Gay Marriage, you can access pro/con essays and magazine or newspaper articles to back up your argument.Grzimek's Animal LifeWhat it is: If your doing a project for Science class on any type of animal, check this out. You'll find useful facts, photos, videos, and even sound clips to hear what types of calls your animal makes.A library card is the most important card in your wallet! You can get one if you live, work, or go to school in Santa Fe City or County. Just bring photo ID and proof of mailing address to any branch! Check this page for applications and more information. (Source: ICARUS... the Santa Fe Public Library Blog) Tue, 24 Aug 2010 04:00:00 +0100 864777 http://orweblog.oclc.org/archives/002129.html While writing about subject pages and library websites the other day, it occurred to me that we might think of library websites in three stages - which emerged successively and continue to exist together. Always mindful of the rule of three ;-) We might clumsily call these stages: [1] fragmentary, [2] integrated supply, and [3] demand-influenced. Fragmentary. Libraries have to manage a variety of resources which are outside their control and present them to their users as best they can. This has meant that the library website has often been a thin wrapper around two sets of heterogeneous resources.One is the set of legacy and emerging systems, developed independently rather than as part of an overall library experience, with different fulfillment options, different metadata models, and so on (integrated library system, resolver, knowledge base, repositories, ...). Another is the set of legacy database and repository boundaries that map more to historically evolved publisher configurations and business decisions than to user needs or behaviors (for example, metadata, e-Journals, eBooks, books, A&I databases, and other types of content, which may be difficult to slice and dice in useful ways). [Lorcan Dempsey's Weblog - Stitching costs] Integrated supply. Recently, libraries have been focusing on the website in a more holistic way, as a unified service. There are several developments which have supported this. One is the move to the single, or tabbed, search box as a focal point of the website. This may sit over a metasearch product, or, more recently, over a discovery layer product. Another is the adoption of a consistent content management framework which gives a similar look and feel across the website, extending to linked services (the catalog for example) where possible (I was interested to note that SOPAC and Ting both advertise the integration between the catalog and the rest of the website). ... Mon, 23 Aug 2010 02:25:23 +0100 866750 http://blog.case.edu/orgs/ksl/news/2010/08/21/movies_ksl When you'd like to watch something that's not on your syllabus, KSL comes to the rescue with nearly 4000 DVD & 10,000 VHS media items. Entice your mind with foreign films, documentaries, television adaptations, and entertainment! Supplement what you're watching in the theater or from rental stores by searching your favorite artists and/or directors. Faculty will enjoy teaching with media that are classics, or that explore new information: • Search any artist or title on the Case Catalog, or, use the KSL QuickList for Videos & DVDs. • Write down the DVD or VHS number • Take the DVD/VHS number to the Main Service Desk—library staff will retrieve it for you. • Enjoy your film...free, for 7 days! KSL's DVDs & VHS tapes are free for 7-day loans...avoid daily fines by returning on time. See you at the movies! Samples: Baghban DVD 939 Good Night and Good Luck DVD 1839 A Question of Fairness: affirmative action debate DVD 3124 Balanchine: the Father of American Ballet DVD 3221 The Fog of War: 11 lessons from the life of Robert S. McNamara DVD 3014 Bottle Rocket DVD 3214 Le Plaisir DVD 3162 The Life and Times of Rosie the Riveter DVD 3108 The Power of Good (Czech television documentary) DVD 3237 Diary of Anne Frank DVD 3101 The Brothers Karamazov DVD 3023 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire DVD 1837 Avatar DVD 3257 KSL QuickList for Videos & DVDs is on the KSL homepage (left-side column, "Collections" fly-out menu.) (Source: KSL News Blog) Sat, 21 Aug 2010 18:36:51 +0100 865838 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ohiou/dxIf/~3/fLETVz9IAqA/college-athletics-clips Click to connect to College Athletics Clips College Athletics Clips contains executive summaries of college athletics news and issues. Connect to College Athletics Clips Note:  The link above will take you to the ALICE Online Catalog.  From there you will use the link to access the subscription with the provided username and password. Format:  Subscription website Designed for Athletic Directors, Associate/Assistant Athletic Directors, Presidents, VPs and Conference Commissioners, readers also include other college athletics administrators, sports management faculty / students and alumni / boosters. Topics include: Academics Arms Race Alcohol/Drugs/Gambling Coaching Compliance Conferences D2/D3/NAIA Facilities/Operations Fundraising/Boosters Gender Equity/Title IX Haves/Have-Nots Leadership Marketing/Licensing Minority Hiring/Race Motivation/Inspiration NCAA Nicknames/Mascots Recruiting Reform Revenues Salaries Sports Law Sports Media (Source: Business Blog) Sat, 21 Aug 2010 10:35:33 +0100 867251 http://www.cla-net.org/weblog/2010/08/nell_taylor_on.php A typical Chicago Underground Library (CUL) volunteer meeting starts something like this: New volunteers arrive for orientation at 6:30pm, some a little late because they got lost in the 100-year old parish house where we occupy the lobby of a fringe theater company on the second floor. When we have a critical mass of new people, anywhere from 3-7 a month, I try to explain the project as briefly as possible. A Community-Based Approach to Collecting and Cataloging CUL is a replicable model for community archives that accepts every piece of print media from a certain area without making quality or importance judgments, going back as far in history as possible. That means we collect university press, handmade artist books, zines made by sixth graders, poetry chapbooks from big names published in tiny local presses, and self-published poetry chapbooks sold for a dollar on the street. We have neighborhood newspapers, internationally-renowned magazines of political commentary, and three View-Master reels of Chicago hot dog stands, neon signs, and motor inns, respectively. We catalog items by everyone who contributed--writers, editors, typesetters, photographers, interns--and link those people together in our catalog so that users can trace the connections between contributors as they move from one publication to the next. We're building new cataloging software that we eventually hope to provide free of charge to jumpstart other collections. When other cities replicate the model, we'll be able to track the origin and migration of these ideas from city to city through individuals. Our new catalog and website will be up within the next two months. We've been doing this for close to five years and have accumulated over 2,000 publications. We consider anything intended for public consumption to be "published," so while our collection is very broad, we draw the line at correspondence or personal journals. Geography is fluid, though. ... Fri, 20 Aug 2010 18:51:19 +0100 867939 http://www.cla-net.org/weblog/2010/08/nell_taylor_on_1.php A typical Chicago Underground Library (CUL) volunteer meeting starts something like this: New volunteers arrive for orientation at 6:30pm, some a little late because they got lost in the 100-year old parish house where we occupy the lobby of a fringe theater company on the second floor. When we have a critical mass of new people, anywhere from 3-7 a month, I try to explain the project as briefly as possible. A Community-Based Approach to Collecting and Cataloging CUL is a replicable model for community archives that accepts every piece of print media from a certain area without making quality or importance judgments, going back as far in history as possible. That means we collect university press, handmade artist books, zines made by sixth graders, poetry chapbooks from big names published in tiny local presses, and self-published poetry chapbooks sold for a dollar on the street. We have neighborhood newspapers, internationally-renowned magazines of political commentary, and three View-Master reels of Chicago hot dog stands, neon signs, and motor inns, respectively. We catalog items by everyone who contributed--writers, editors, typesetters, photographers, interns--and link those people together in our catalog so that users can trace the connections between contributors as they move from one publication to the next. We're building new cataloging software that we eventually hope to provide free of charge to jumpstart other collections. When other cities replicate the model, we'll be able to track the origin and migration of these ideas from city to city through individuals. Our new catalog and website will be up within the next two months. We've been doing this for close to five years and have accumulated over 2,000 publications. We consider anything intended for public consumption to be "published," so while our collection is very broad, we draw the line at correspondence or personal journals. Geography is fluid, though. ... Fri, 20 Aug 2010 18:51:19 +0100 867938 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ohiou/dxIf/~3/YZVv5ICm1HA/street-smiths-sportsbusiness-journal Click to connect to Street & Smith's SportsBusiness Journal Street & Smith’s SportsBusiness Journal offers regularly updated coverage of the sports business management, industry statistics, executive profiles, and more. Connect to Street & Smith’s SportsBusiness Journal Note:  The link above will take you to the ALICE Online Catalog.  From there you will use the link to access the subscription with a username and password. Format:  Online Magazine Subscription Street & Smith’s SportsBusiness Journal  “features coverage of the latest and most important stories, in-depth reports on important trends, original research and up-to-date industry statistics and profiles of key executives, plus regular columns on the critical areas of sports business management including marketing, finance, media and facilities” . (Source: Business Blog) Fri, 20 Aug 2010 18:47:21 +0100 867252 http://www.comarmsblog.com/2010/08/friday-fun-need-some-free-fun-this.html Looking for some free fun? Check out our new DVDs and audio books! Stop in, or look at our catalog HERE. (Source: CARL Book Beacon) Fri, 20 Aug 2010 17:01:00 +0100 865262 http://www.libraries.wvu.edu/news/2010/08/20/library-resources-now-available-on-phone/ Most people probably already use their smartphones to watch videos, listen to music, surf the Web, and keep in touch with friends. Students can now use it to enhance their academic experience and earn better grades. The WVU Libraries’ new Mobile Web brings several of the Libraries’ electronic resources to Web-enabled phones. The application enables users to perform library research, find a book, locate an available computer at the Downtown Campus or Evansdale library, and ask a librarian a question. Access the site at m.lib.wvu.edu or through the link on the WVU Mobile Web page. The site provides access to the Libraries’ online catalog, MountainLynx, and mobile versions of EBSCOhost and RefWorks. Looking for a computer at the either the Downtown or Evansdale library? Detailed maps of each floor, updated continuously, show available computers. Have a question? Ask a Librarian connects users with a librarian via Instant Message, email, phone, or texting. The services are staffed 9 a.m.-midnight Monday-Thursday; 9 a.m.-8 p.m. Friday; 1-5 p.m. Saturday; and 2-11 p.m. Sunday. Texting, the newest addition to library services, is available on all phones with texting capabilities and is free to students who have unlimited text plans on their phones. Simply text a message to 304-220-0919. “If you can get a cell signal, you can get help from a librarian,” said Penny Pugh, Head of Reference for the Downtown Campus Library. (Source: WVU Libraries News) Fri, 20 Aug 2010 16:03:38 +0100 866661 http://hangingtogether.org/?p=808 In 2007-2008, the Digital Library Federation (DLF) convened a Task Group to recommend standard interfaces for integrating the data and services of the Integrated Library System (ILS) with new applications supporting user discovery. The group produced a report with recommendations in December 2008. After that not much happened. In February 2010, at the Code4Lib Conference, Karen Coombs (the OCLC Developer Network manager) and I brought together some of the people who had been on that task group as well as other interested parties who were at the conference to take this work to the next stage. At this ad hoc meeting we agreed that we were ready to take this work to the next stage. The next stage, we felt, was to actually create a middleware layer that we could collaboratively maintain. This middleware layer would allow discovery interface systems like VUFind, Blacklight, WorldCat Local and others to write standard code for interacting with an ILS. The middleware would translate that standard request into what a particular ILS would understand, send off the request, parse the result and pass it back through to the requesting application. As you might imagine, this is very much more difficult than it sounds. While some ILSs support a standard interface such as NCIP, others do not. In some cases, “screen scraping” (extracting meaning from an HTML page) may be required. Also, whenever a vendor changes their ILS it may break the connector that interacts with that ILS. Therefore, the work of creating (and more importantly maintaining) these connectors is best spread around a large community of developers. Thus, the collaboration. The present collaborators (anyone can join us) include: OCLC (WorldCat Local), Proquest (Summon), the eXtensible Catalog (XC) Project, Talis, VUFind, Blacklight, and several university libraries. ... Fri, 20 Aug 2010 15:25:42 +0100 867378 http://yourlibrarycsu.blogspot.com/2010/08/stress-less-with-abs.html Ever looked at the ABS site? It is packed with statistical reports, tables, spreadsheets, data cubes and information papers. Statistics are collected on most aspects of Australian life and they capture information about our economic performance, the well-being of our population and the condition of our environment. One way to search the site is to select Statistics (like in the picture above) and then select a catalogue number:1. General2. Census of Population and Housing3. Demography4. Social Statistics5. National Accounts, International Trade6. Labour Statistics and Prices7. Agriculture8. Secondary Industry and Distribution9. TransportAfter selecting one of these you can select from several sub-categories. Have a go and contact Library staff if you need a hand ! (Source: Your Library@CSU) Fri, 20 Aug 2010 04:00:00 +0100 866444 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/griffey/~3/sPc9XRutxkE/ In our original timeline, we were supposed to have a soft-launch of our OCLC Web Scale Management system tomorrow, August 20, where we went live with Check in/Check out functionality. We are very, very, very close…but it’s unlikely that we will actually launch tomorrow. Here’s the short list of issues we are still working through: Currently, the locations in our Worldcat Local instance aren’t accurate. This should, literally, be fixed tonight. But we’ll need some time to spot check to make sure they came through accurately. Ditto with the Local Holdings on our Serials…they are starting to show up today, but we will need a bit of time to check some of them. The loan rules for circulation went live today as well, but moving into circulating, even dual with our old catalog, without the chance to really run them through their paces makes my Access department want to strangle me. There is one issue on the backend having to do with reporting that we have to have a solution for in order to satisfy our state auditors. Said solution is, we think, there…but not demonstrated. The state will hunt us down if we don’t demonstrate before going live. Our data (bib, holding, patron, circulation) has been successfully pulled and imported into WMS. We’re missing a small handful of records that we’re still hunting down OCLC Numbers for…but we’re talking about 2000 or so records out of 600K+. We have pushed more data into the system than anyone else, and it is still responding very well…the performance is impressive, given that it’s operating over the web. All in all…we are very, very close. So close that it pains me deeply to think about NOT going live on schedule. But schedules are flexible, and if we slip by a week, I’m not going to cry failure. ... Fri, 20 Aug 2010 02:43:18 +0100 867683 http://orweblog.oclc.org/archives/002128.html I have mentioned Libguides a couple of times, which seem to be quite widely used. I have been interested recently to come across some other initiatives which aim to organize subject- or course-based library resources within a consistent content management environment which reduces custom effort. I enjoyed listening to Allie Flanary present about students and search strategies at the Orbis Cascade Alliance Worldcat Discovery Day. Allie works at the Portland Community College, where the event was held. The course guides she was using caught my eye and I went back later to see how they were put together. Here is the one for Fashion design, for example. I discovered that they use Library à la Carte, developed at Oregon State University: The Library à la Carte Content Management System (CMS) enables librarians to easily and quickly create dynamic web pages that integrate Web 2.0 features, such as chat and RSS feeds, with traditional library content, such as catalogs and article databases. Library à la Carte is a free open-source solution for libraries by libraries. A redesign of the NCSU Library website highlights course-related services. Among these are course pages (see one below) which include some general resources, some course-specific resources, and a link to a librarian. I was interested to discover that these were based on a home-grown framework, Course Views, which is described in an article in the Code4Lib Journal: The NCSU Libraries' Course Views project, along with a locally developed widget web service, improves course-based access to library collections and services by dynamically generating library course pages for all 6000+ courses at NCSU. By automatically generating custom content when possible and showcasing authored content when available, Course Views is able to achieve full course coverage without significantly increasing staff time to create and manage content. ... Thu, 19 Aug 2010 17:33:53 +0100 866752 http://marincountyfreelibrary.blogspot.com/2010_08_01_archive.html#5352628398243601926 The server upgrade scheduled for Tuesday, August 24 has been postponed until a later date.We're speeding up your library catalog with a server upgrade.The upgrade is scheduled to take all day on Tuesday, August 24th.Access to the catalog and your library account will be unavailable during the upgrade.Items checked out with a due date of Tuesday, August 24th will now be due on Wednesday, August 25th. (Source: Marin County Free Library Blog) Thu, 19 Aug 2010 04:00:00 +0100 868012 http://www.librarian.net/stax/3312/skyriver-vs-oclc-antitrust-lawsuit/ “In a move that could have far-reaching implications for competition in the library software and technology services industry, SkyRiver Technology Solutions, LLC has filed suit in federal court in San Francisco against OCLC Online Computer Library Center, Inc. The suit alleges that OCLC, a purported non-profit with a membership of 72,000 libraries worldwide, is unlawfully monopolizing the markets for cataloging services, interlibrary lending, and bibliographic data, and attempting to monopolize the market for integrated library systems, by anticompetitive and exclusionary practices. ” Karen Coyle has a great series of posts explaining what is really going on Sky River sues OCLC the lawsuit explained, part 1, part 2 She also points to Marshall Breeding’s article on the suit, written for Library Journal. The article quotes Karen Coyle as saying As the representative of a major ILS company explained to me a few years ago, the library market is a zero-sum game: every time one vendor wins, others must lose, because the number of customers is not growing. The library market is a pie that can be divided into any number of slices, but the pie remains the same. This makes the rise of any one company a threat to all. In the commercial marketplace, the vendors compete over functionality and price. With its non-profit status OCLC has a distinct advantage: it doesn’t pay federal income tax on the revenues it brings in. That said, given its size and depth of its involvement in day-to-day library operations, it is plausible that even without its non-profit status OCLC would be a formidable competitor for ILS vendors. Interesting times indeed. Follow the conversation on Twitter by looking for the skyoclc tag or read posts to the autocat mailing list that mention SkyRiver and OCLC. [via openlibrary] (Source: librarian.net) Wed, 18 Aug 2010 17:27:44 +0100 867448 http://blog.njla.org/archives/2010/08/#000940 Wednesday, August 18, 2010 http://www.c-n.com By Hank Kalet, Managing Editor South Brunswick Post Library shelves should be open to all books. It’s a simple statement, but it offers us our best chance of safeguarding intellectual freedom. I bring this up because of the recent controversy surrounding a rare, out-of-print queer-themed anthology. The book, “Revolutionary Voices: A Multicultural Queer Youth Anthology,” was pulled from library shelves in the Rancocas Valley Regional High School in Burlington County at the Burlington County library system after complaints from a conservative activist that the book was “vulgar.” Vulgar, in this case, is code for homosexuality. The book, edited by Amy Sonnie, was called the “first creative resource by and for queer and questioning youth of every color, class, religion, gender and ability,” by the national Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network. The book, the organization says on its website, “presents a collection of experiences, ideas, dreams and fantasies expressed through prose, poetry, artwork, letters, diaries and performance pieces.” Randy Meyer, writing for Book World, said the writers “all embrace a queer youth culture that is about gender, race and class as much as it is about sexuality.” ”The voices are raw and sometimes unpolished, and the language is passionate, powerful and only occasionally graphic. What holds these selections together is the writers’ urgent need to define themselves in their own terms.” That rawness and passion apparently was too much for the book’s critics in Burlington County (the book is not in the catalogue of libraries in Middlesex and Mercer counties). ”It’s pervasively vulgar,” Beverly Marinelli told Packet Group reporter Geoffrey Wertime, who covered the story for the Register-News. She told Mr. Wertime she was upset by an image of two men who appeared to be having sex and other vulgar themes. ... Wed, 18 Aug 2010 04:00:00 +0100 868159 http://memphisreads.blogspot.com/2010/08/news-and-notes-womens-suffrage.html Today is the 90th Anniversary of the passing of the 19th Amendment. The amendment was ratified on August 18, 1920.From history.com:"The 19th Amendment to the Constitution, guaranteeing women the right to vote, is ratified by Tennessee, giving it the two-thirds majority of state ratification necessary to make it the law of the land. The amendment was the culmination of more than 70 years of struggle by woman suffragists." Read the rest of the article here.For further reading we suggest:The Perfect 36 : Tennessee Delivers Woman Suffrage by Carol Lynn Yellin Search the library catalog for more books about the women's suffrage movement. (Source: Memphis Reads) Wed, 18 Aug 2010 04:00:00 +0100 867970 http://bhplnjbookgroup.blogspot.com/2010/08/giant-zucchini-visits-library.html This little zucchini went to the library,This little zucchini stayed home,This little zucchini ate shredded paper,This little zucchini had none,And this little zucchini hid in the garden until he wasn't a little zucchini anymore...It's easy to overlook a squash that lurks way back in the tangled mass of vines and leaves in the vegetable patch. One day, there's a beautiful orange squash blossom, a few days pass without checking the harvest, and voila: The Zucchini That Ate Berkeley Heights is revealed. Earlier this summer, I had the bright idea of using shredded library paper as mulch, so into the vegetable patch went old publisher catalogs, book promotions, maybe a book review or two. I imagined that my vegetables would soak up all that knowledge through some kind of mulch-osmosis. Think what this zucchini knows; it could take a shift on the Reference Desk, lead a book group, explain the Dewey Decimal System clearly... the possibilities are as endless as a warped imagination can ponder. Oh, about that Masters of Library Science, would it be a para-professional zucchibrarian, or a pro? Hard to say what goes on in the zucchini patch.Related books: Backyard Giants, the passionate, heartbreaking, and glorious quest to grow the biggest pumpkin ever by Susan Warren.Watch the video of the Giant Zucchini's visit to the library (Source: Berkeley Heights Public Library Book Blog and Buzz) Mon, 16 Aug 2010 04:00:00 +0100 868233 http://www.hiddenpeanuts.com/archives/2010/08/15/androids-app-inventor-drag-and-drop-programming/ It took a while, but Friday afternoon I finally got an invite to use Google’s App Inventor program. What is App Inventor? It’s Google’s attempt to simplify building apps for Android devices. Apps are built using a drag and drop interface, and reflected instantly on a connected Android device. I was skeptical about the system’s ability to produce apps of any real functionality, but I was happy to be proven mostly wrong. Building a well-structured UI is admittedly almost impossible, with only basic layout and design tools available. But the app inventor does provide easy access to surprisingly complex elements of the Android functionality. The GPS, barcode scanner, camera, speech recognition, and accelerometer are among the tools easily usable via drag and drop. After placing buttons and labels to design the UI, a separate drag and drop interface is used to establish how those elements interact with each other. A series of blocks click into each other, with a bit of typing to provide some details. It’s a nice system, and my skepticism about App Inventor’s potential beyond the toy level was quickly overcome. I ran through the first tutorial app (touch the picture of a cat and it meows! This didn’t help my skepticism…) in a few minutes. Less than an hour later I’d built an app to search the UNC catalog via an ISBN barcode scan. It relies heavily on our existing catalog webapp to do the actual search, but still! I mastered using the barcode scanner for apps in less than an hour. My previous attempt at Android programming (in Java, before App Inventor existed) took me four hours to build an app that simply displays an image. And that simple task drew on every single bit of programming know-how I could dredge up from my undergrad days. The barrier to entry for using App Inventor is almost absurdly low. ... Mon, 16 Aug 2010 00:03:55 +0100 866039 http://lovetheliberry.blogspot.com/2010/08/refgrunt-sunday-sunday-sunday.html Guy calls wanting a car manual we don’t haveDo we have a landline for public use? No.They want to download audiobooks to their ZuneGuy with purple hat, plaid shirt and giant beard wants books on yogaDo we have a trade journal for lawyers? He wants to hire an expert witness.Lady brings her shiny new red laptop up to the desk—can I help her connect to the wireless? Yep. [Why don’t they make shiny red MacBooks??]Guy says: When I requested those books from another branch, the status changed and now they’re showing as belonging to your branch! That must be the floating process you were talking about! (Yes!) Wow, you guys really were right about that after all! (Yep)Do you have any of the old-fashioned machines where you put money in and you can Xerox?Sharp-dressed man wants a library card“I got a question for ya. Where do you keep the books on investing? Like, investing money.”Sharp-dressed man wants to know where the DVDs areHow do you use the microfilm machine?Man with very long hair and very long beard points to catalog: “is this where I go to look up books?”Nice older gentleman wants a book about Gordon of Khartoum. He tells me the battle he was in was the last charge by mounted horsemen against regulars with repeating rifles. Not one horseman made it across.Sequel to Wicked by Gregory MaguireWants the Lucy & Desi book, but doesn’t want to request it. Will check back, even though I tell her it probably won’t be here unless she requests it.Money origami: everything is checked out and she needs it by Wednesday for her mom’s b-day present so we print out something from this site. ... Sun, 15 Aug 2010 04:00:00 +0100 867583 http://lovealibrarian.blogspot.com/2010/08/filipino-librarian-romy-sebastian.html Romy Sebastian of the Miriam College library looks like your typical librarian: soft spoken, unassuming and low profile. But hold the stereotype. The man is a genius.I met Romy a few years back when LIBRO was in its fledgling stage. Now, it's undergone several revisions with a web scripting program to boot. It carries all the library functions from acquisition to cataloging; indexing to inventory (Source: School Librarian in Action) Sun, 15 Aug 2010 04:00:00 +0100 866324 http://www.libology.com/blog/2010/08/14/new-hybrid-ils-front-end.html A regional group of public libraries in Antwerp, Belgium have announced a new hybrid OPAC for their library software. They have merged WordPress with AquaBrowser to create a web presence with the capabilities they felt were most important for their libraries, notably local searching, faceted browsing, local news and announcements, and a fast, consistent design across all elements of the site and catalog. This isn’t the first time WordPress has been used as an OPAC front end.  The Scriblio project has been around for several years.  Other projects that provide catalogs similar to AquaBrowser are The Social OPAC (SOPAC) and VuFind. There is no mention of what ILS software is running in the background, but the hybridization of these two capable and solid OPAC enhancers is a positive step.   I suspect that we will be seeing an increasing number of front-end designs in the future, especially if developers increase the usability for both the patron and the libraries by combining the strengths from multiple projects. found on Open Source Living, via Nicole Engard (Source: LibrarySupportStaff.Org) Sun, 15 Aug 2010 00:56:18 +0100 867179 http://www.madisonpubliclibrary.org/madreads/index.php/2010/08/14/with-baited-breath/ …we wait.  We wait for those books by our favorite authors and in our favorite series.  Suzanne Collins final book in her Hunger Games trilogy Mockingjay, which will be released on August 24th, already has 767 holds on it.  Kathy Reichs’ Spider Bones due out the same week has 176 people on the waiting list while Lee Child’s Worth Dying For is at 123.  The book that starts a new series by Janet Evanovich, Wicked Appetite has almost 300 people waiting and the sixth and final book! in Jean Auel’s Earth’s Children series has been announced for April 2011 (you’ll really have to wait for this one, it’s so new that it’s not even in the catalog yet).  How do you keep up?  How can you know what’s coming out? The library has a few options for you.  You can read and/or receive email lists that update you on forthcoming books in a wide variety of subjects - from Books for 4-year-olds to Science and Nature and a whole bunch in between.  You can take a look at the Don’t Miss Lists that are updated monthly from our library catalog and follow us on Twitter and Facebook for book and other news about the library. Some places to go when you’ve combed through the library lists: For extensive mystery lists, take a look at the Bloodstained Bookshelf.  BB is updated monthly and has lists of forthcoming titles up to April of 2011. If you like romance the All About Romance gang has new reviews, reviews in the works and the books they’re looking forward to for the next month. SF Site covers the science fiction and fantasy genres in depth and includes listings for New Arrivals each month. When it comes to big book buzz about new and forthcoming lit fic, kid’s fic, and nonfiction check out EarlyWord.  They keep track of all the books that are being mentioned on tv, made into movies, getting lots of positive reviews, etc. ... Sat, 14 Aug 2010 15:35:02 +0100 864818 http://careercenter.sla.org/jobs/3511088/american-craft-council-librarian US - MN - Minneapolis, 1. MLS or MLIS from ALA-accredited program. 2. Supervisory experience in specialized library setting. Experience in art/craft library collection is very desirable. 3. Cataloging experience with OCLC (Source: SLA Career Center Search Results []) Fri, 13 Aug 2010 23:00:00 +0100 865571