LibWorm: Federated / Meta Search

"science.gov debuts image search"

Mon, 20 Dec 2010 15:23:00 +0100

Direct to Science.gov Image Search An Information Today NewsBreak reports on three image databases now accessible as part of the Science.gov where users can run a federated (meta search) of multiple science related databases. From the NewsBreak: Initially, three databases are being searched from one search box. More image databases [...] (Source: ResourceShelf)

A day for design

Mon, 20 Dec 2010 05:00:00 +0100

Last week I attended the ACRL/NY Symposium here in New York City. It was the first time I’d been to my local chapter’s annual program and a fun day: great speakers and posters and a nice opportunity to catch up with colleagues from libraries in the NYC metro area. The theme of this year’s program was Innovation by Design: Re-Visioning the Library which, as the day’s first speaker reminded us, could not be more timely. Bill Mayer, University Librarian at American University in DC, started us off with his talk “Redesigning Relevance: Creating New Traditions in Library Design.” He noted that in this economic climate renovation is often the new new construction: many of our institutions won’t have the budget for new buildings, so it’s important to make the most of what we have. Mayer reminded us that the recent Ithaka report reveals that faculty use of our physical spaces is declining. He encouraged us to think about how we can make the library best for students, our primary users. He sees library-as-warehouse as an outdated model, and recommends reducing the collections and materials kept onsite as well as increasing reliance on consortial collections to free up more space for students to use. Mayer shared some of the ways that this kind of redesign has been implemented at American University. After moving many volumes to offsite storage, they discovered that the additional space available for the books that remained made it easier for students to find books. Students wanted more computer workstations and access to wireless, so they added more space for student work too. Mayer cautioned that of course local conditions matter — there’s no one size fits all approach. He suggests making our process inclusive and asking faculty, students, and administrators for input during the process. ...

Dramatic growth of open access: december 11, 2010 early year-end edition

Sat, 11 Dec 2010 05:00:00 +0100

In brief: the Directory of Open Access Journals now lists 5,864 titles, having added more than 1,300 over the past year, or close to 4 titles per day (a growing growth rate!). OA is growing fast in the medical area; more than half the research funded by NIH indexed in PubMed is now freely available, regardless of publication. The number of journals actively participating in PubMedCentral is growing - now over 1,000 titles; over half provide OA to all articles, and nearly 60% provide immediate free access. Percentage-wise, OA mandates continue to lead in growth, with a total of 24 mandates added to ROARMAP this quarter, with the eprints OA Week Mandate Challenge a likely contributing factor. This fall's OA Week was the biggest ever. A unique OA milestone this quarter was Jan Szczepanski's personal OA title collection exceeding 10,000 titles. Looking forward to 2011 and beyond, clearly this is just the beginning! Suggested OA New Years' Resolutions: adopt and implement an open access mandate policy, join the Compact on Open Access Publishing Equity (COPE) or the Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association (OASPA) or both - or just keep up the good work and know that the small efforts the many thousands of us are making are adding up to all the difference in the world.Downloadable data is available at the DGOA Dataverse, or go to Google Docs to view the full data edition, or the show growth edition which highlights quarterly and annual growth. Previous editions of Dramatic Growth can be found here. ...

Is google scholar a database killer?

Tue, 30 Nov 2010 23:45:19 +0100

It is interesting to read an article in the library literature that I feel is well-researched and well-written, but then to disagree completely with its conclusion. That’s how I felt when I read Xiaotian Chen’s article “Google Scholar’s Dramatic Coverage Improvement Five Years after Debut,” which appears in the December Serials Review. (It is not freely available online but can be found at DOI 10.1016/j.serrev.2010.08.002 for those with Science Direct subscriptions.) The article demonstrates that Google Scholar is providing 98 to 100 percent coverage of the databases it is allowed to crawl, either because those databases are freely available, or because Google has an agreement with that database publisher. I first learned of Chen’s article through Peter Murray’s post to the Library Society of the World. Early in that discussion, John Dupuis called attention to the last line of the article: “The conclusion cannot be clearer: libraries can seriously consider cancelling a large number of subscription-based abstracts and indexes since their unique contents and value are rapidly evaporating.” It’s possible that I’m missing an important piece of information that would change my mind, but I really don’t think that conclusion is clear at all. Google Scholar doesn’t provide the full text of anything. So if libraries want readers to be able to get past the citation at JSTOR or other subscription-based databases, we can’t drop those subscriptions. So the logical databases to drop would be the ones that provide indexing and abstracting, but not full text. But there are two problems I can see with that. One, I doubt that those databases would let Google crawl them, so they wouldn’t be duplicated in the Google Scholar database. ...

Ebooks: the library catalog and federated searching part 2

Wed, 17 Nov 2010 21:38:24 +0100

Today I am going to talk about the need for federated book searching in medical libraries. Full disclosure we do not have a federated search product and most of the ones I have played with on other library sites have left me frustrated. My library does not have a federated search product. Probably the biggest reason why is while our users say they want the Google experience, we have observed that this isn’t quite the case. I think they think they want a federated search type product for article searching and a separate type of federated search product for books. From what I can tell when they are looking for information they usually know if they want journal articles or books on a topic. They usually don’t want both. This is probably because we are a hospital library and the patrons tend to want the most recent research which is usually in a journal article. They usually consult books when they are looking for more in-depth or background information on a topic. The people who want information on a topic from both books and journals usually are doing research for school. There is nothing wrong with that but they just aren’t the majority of our clientele. I will leave the idea of a federated search product for searching journal articles for another time for two reasons. First, this post is primarily about ebooks not journal articles. Second, I have some big reservations about federated searching the journal literature and quite frankly I need to sort them out before I put them in print. So, on to federated book searching. From what I can tell EBSCO and Serials Solutions offers federated searching and they will search for ebooks. I know Mark said on the webcast that there were no medical libraries currently using either of those two products for ebooks. However, there were a few who tweeted that their library indeed was using one of those products. I would love to hear their thoughts. ...

Web services librarian

Tue, 16 Nov 2010 03:10:02 +0100

State: International Memorial University of Newfoundland invites applications for a permanent tenure‐track position in the University Library System. Web Services Librarian Memorial University Libraries, Queen Elizabeth II Library Memorial University of Newfoundland Libraries seeks an enterprising, innovative, and self‐ directed Web Services Librarian. The Web Services Librarian will join a dynamic, collegial team and will work in a collaborative and supportive environment to enhance the Library’s web site and web‐based tools. The successful candidate is expected to combine a thorough understanding of the ways in which library patrons access and use information in the present day, along with well‐developed practical experience in web design and web 2.0 technologies. Duties: This position reports to the Associate University Librarian for Information Technologies. As part of the Systems team for Memorial Libraries, the Web Services Librarian works in a highly collaborative environment to develop, support and manage the Library's web site (http://www.library.mun.ca), applying principles of usability and accessibility to develop functionality and features across the entire web site. Duties include configuring and implementing a Drupal content management system; integrating the main library site with the larger library web presence; designing and carrying out interface usability studies; selecting and implementing appropriate site structure and navigation tools; search engine optimization; collaborating on the establishment and enforcement of web standards and styles; ensuring conformance to accessibility guidelines; analysis of usage statistics; actively exploring current web technologies and making recommendations for best practices; and providing instruction and skill development sessions for librarians and staff. The successful candidate is expected to consult broadly across Memorial Libraries’ branches and divisions. ...

Libraries' using readers' choices in acquistion models

Fri, 12 Nov 2010 05:00:00 +0100

The Chronicle of Higher Education has a nice report at page A11 in print of Nov. 12 issue, "Reader Choice, Not Vendor Influence, Reshapes Library Collections," by Jennifer Howard. The article discusses two models being explored by libraries, one old and one new. In the older model, libraries simply set up a system of purchasing items requested one or more times on inter-library loan. They may set up parameters, such as no more than X dollars, non-fiction, and include a live person to monitor the types of titles being purchased this way, so that they remain firmly within the mission of the school and library. This is a wide-spread practice and springs from the well-known fact that the inter-library loan process costs money. This article quotes the average sum of $27.83 per book borrowed. That very quickly begins to save money if the same university press title is requested more than once on inter-library loan. It would be cheaper to buy the book, rather than borrow it. The more innovative model makes use of the newer availability of e-books in library catalogs. Whenever a patron accesses, uses, or prints pages from an e-book in the catalog, it counts as a "trigger event." X number of "trigger events" result in a purchase of the title from the vendor. The article reports a growing number of research libraries are using this model to stretch their budgets, and be certain they are purchasing monographs of interest to their user populations. There is also a mention of the use of the Expresso print on demand system. This also allows the library to use patron demand to build the collection. There was not, however, any discussion of the quality of the book produced with the instant printing system. I wonder about the binding, quality of paper and ink, and types of font, and layout. ...

Update on cushing academy - the private school library that "dumped its books"

Sat, 06 Nov 2010 04:00:00 +0100

The Boston Globe ran another story updating its readers on Cushing Academy. In September, 2009, the Globe reported (and we blogged) about this story (here is a follow-up story from that time, when a big part of the story seemed to focus on the expensive coffee machine that was going into the library space). The headmaster (or principal), James Tracy, decided to get rid of nearly all of the books, and spend more money on databases. The space that had been taken up with shelving became more open space, for group seating, for computer use and for a coffee bar. The databases are linked with a federated search engine. E-books are included. The students are instructed in searches and introduced to the databases they will need for a class, but then left to explore on their own.The library is now more heavily used than ever. The school has hired another librarian since the re-organization. I like this, and think most librarians will not be surprised. The focus we have is increasingly on service, and less on the materials. People need more help sorting and choosing from the huge amounts of information that is too easily found now. Before, it was the other extreme, where gathering the data was the difficulty, and the skill and value of the library and librarians was in sorting, choosing and housing the best information for the patrons. And yet, if you follow the link to the newer Globe article, you will find that the Cushing Academy has not quite abandoned books, and even the students still like books, and speak a bit wistfully about them. You also will read that none of the other private prep schools in the area have followed Cushing's lead in re-furbishing their libraries. Phillips Academy and Phillips Exeter are keeping their library books, thank you. Headmaster Tracy has had interested inquiries from Harvard Law School, University of Virginia libraries, Syracuse, a rural public school in West Virginia, and UNESCO. ...

Gpo federates federal government catalogs—gpo metalib

Thu, 04 Nov 2010 21:52:00 +0100

GPO Federates Federal Government Catalogs—GPO MetaLib Source: newsbreaks.infotoday.com Sometimes a product has been coming down the road for so long that we are caught by surprise when it finally arrives. This is the case with GPO MetaLib, a new federated search service from the U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO). Announced in October 2010, GPO MetaLib has been in the agency’s plans since it began transition to a new Integrated Library System (ILS) more than 5 years ago. GPO MetaLib uses the federated search solution fromEx Libris Group that goes by the brand name MetaLib. Why MetaLib? In 2004, GPO selected the Ex Libris product ALEPH for its ILS, and MetaLib is part of GPO’s ILS package. GPO MetaLib simultaneously searches more than 50 federal government publication catalogs, federal library catalogs, and specialized indexes. It is billed as a service of GPO’s Catalog of U.S. Government Publications and is linked from the CGP home page. CGP includes records for government publications cataloged by GPO since July 1976. It is a large database, but it does not include all government material and is not intended to do so. The federated databases in GPO MetaLib supplement CGP with records for such items as articles within government periodicals and technical reports resulting from government contracts. They also pull in non-government publications, such as the medical literature indexed in the National Library of Medicine’s PubMed and the millions of items described in the Library of Congress Catalog. The varied list of resources includes the Defense Technical Information Center’s Public Technical Reports, Data.gov, Geodata.gov, ERIC, Energy Citations Database, the National Archives’ Archival Research Catalog, USA.gov, and Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center Publications from the U.S. Geological Survey. GPO MetaLib: http://metalib.gpo. ...

Push library search into google : licenced database results in major search engines for "discovery"

Tue, 02 Nov 2010 04:00:00 +0100

Is Google the elephant in the room? It is not hard to stimulate people to use Google search. In medical education and practice we encounter a very large group using Google for many tasks: quick reference, known item search, citation checking, discovery, translation, spelling checks, address look-up, images, maps etc Their motivation: "We believe everything we need right now is in there and its easy to find it". Google Scholar even tops this up with the focus on "scientific" literature and a sort of citation scores. It is hard to get people to use various licenced databases acquired by the library. In Google Scholar we push our linkresolver (sfx). This will appears automatically on any computer with our ip-ranges. For off-campus users can set our library link resolver manually via Preferences. But for search resuls in major search engines like Google, Bing and Yahoo there are no serious options to do this ... as far as I know of now. But this maybe a lack in my knowledge. I hope somebody will point me to any relevant info if it's out there somewhere. I also would like to know any info on the projects that focus on showing link resolvers inside the normal Google. I know Google Enterprise Search and Google Search Applicance GSA can offer federated search also for licensed e-content, but -again- I have no current knowledge of major academic institutions have adopted this technology. If they are out there, please tell me! This short introduction showed that Google (or any major search engine) perhaps could become a preferred target to present your library e-content, via your link resolver or otherwise ... This "otherwise" could mean showing direct live results from selected licensed databases NEXT to search results in Google, Bing or Yahoo. This is exactly what WebMynd can do, a browser plugin/add-on for Firefox, Chrome and Internet Explorer. I bumped into WebMynd via Aaron Tay (and his blog Musing about librarianship). ...

Libfest: telling your story with usage statistics — making data work

Mon, 01 Nov 2010 16:45:31 +0100

presenter: Jamene Brooks-Kieffer She won’t be talking about complex tools or telling you to hire more staff. Rather, she’ll be looking at ways we can use what we have to do it better. Right now, we have too much data from too many sources, and we don’t have enough time or staff to deal with it. And, nobody cares about it anyway. Instead of feeling blue about this, change your attitude. Start by looking at smaller chunks. Look at all of the data types and sources, then choose one to focus on. Don’t stress about the rest. How to pick which one? Select data that has been consistently collected over time. If it’s focused on a specific activity, it’ll be easier to create a story about it. And finally, the data should be both interesting and accessible to you. By selecting only one source of data, you have reduced the stress on time. You also need to acknowledge your limits in order to move forward. You can’t work miracles, but you can show enough impact to get others on board. Tie the data to your organizational goals. Analyze the data using the tools you already have (i.e. Excel), and then publicize the results of your work. Why use Excel? It’s pretty universal, and there are free alternatives for spreadsheets if you need them. Three useful Excel tools: import & manipulate files of various formats (CSV files), consolidate similar information (total annual data from monthly worksheets), and conditional formatting (identify cost/use over thresholds). The spreadsheets are for you, not the stakeholders. Stop relying on them to communicate your data. The trouble with spreadsheets is that although they contain a lot of data, it’s challenging for those unfamiliar with the sources to understand the meaning of the data. Sending a summary/story will get your message across faster and more clearly. Data has context, settings, complexities, and conflicts. ...

Exploring metalib

Fri, 29 Oct 2010 23:04:30 +0100

For Dr. Rabina’s Government Information Sources term paper that Johanna mentioned in her last post, I’ll be researching the Navy’s establishment on Vieques, an island part of Puerto Rico, for naval training and munitions testing, from 1941 until 2003. The purpose of the assignment is to use government information to thoroughly research a topic, so when I saw in the DLC Fall Meeting Conference Proceedings that Marianne Ryan from Northwestern University and Catherine Jervey Johnson from LexisNexis Academic presented “1960 at Fifty: An Historic Year in Hindsight - Using Government Information to Discover the Past”, it caught my eye. Through some whimsical and some serious comparisons, the slideshow demonstrates how some issues are ongoing throughout the lifecycle of government, and how drastically some change. (Of course, a lot of the resources in the slide show were understandably taken from LexisNexis collections, which makes it easy to view and use historical government documents!) Since we’ll be doing all our research in materials freely available to the public, and since I know a lot of online material currently available from FDsys will only take me back so far in time, I thought I’d start with the Catalog of Government Publications, and use my term paper as a chance to critically review MetaLib, their new federated search tool. My training thus far at SILS has taught me to always click the “Advanced Search” screen, and I quickly found one small complaint. The interface gave me options to choose a “quick set”, resources bundled by subject area, but how great would it be to select two areas in the “quick sets”? For my search, I knew there would be material on Vieques in both Environment and Defense & Military, at least, but I had to search one at a time. ...

Internet librarian 2010 - onde eu gostaria de estar agora...

Tue, 26 Oct 2010 04:00:00 +0100

Não podendo... vou guardando twittes de eleição e partilhando também aqui no rato! Transmitem-se ideias muito fortes em 140 caracteres - ficam aqui nove twittes que não me escaparam no 1º dia do IntLib10.@librarythinking: When I teach students I tell them to pull out their phones and ask them to text librarian #intlib10@infogdss29: #intlib10 requirements for digital managers: inspiration, perseverance, communication #dbranch@infogdss29: #intlib10 great reminder that there are different types of and skill levels for technology #dbranch@GMLGeek: #intlib10 The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read & write, but those who cannot unlearn & relearn@cougarlibrarian: Trusting the staff to write appropriate content goes a long way in boosting morale, says @TheLiB. #dbranch #intlib10@secretfanofu: Libraries are too reactionary - reacting to the needs of their patrons, rather than looking forward #intlib10@Hurstej: Web scale searching can get your user closer than they could get before with federated search #intlib10@Hurstej: why you have a search that says "search for articles" how do users know its not searching everything (if it's not) - #intlib10@acarriaga: "infiltration of mobile in society means that people become the access points." - Joe Murphy #intlib10 (Source: :: rato de biblioteca ::)

Kohacon10: koha in prison

Tue, 26 Oct 2010 01:50:06 +0100

Irma Birchall and Sue Lavery are up next to talk about Koha when it’s not the code that’s locked up (because the library is in a prison). The prison in question was built to focus on both incarceration and rehabilitation – so that the prisons can go back to normal life when released. Why Koha in the prison library? Because a modern ILS is essential. The librarian needs something simple to use that is efficient. The tool has to facilitate participation in ongoing educations and has to be attractive and easy to use or it won’t hold the prisoner’s attention. Koha is viewed as state of the art software in the prison and has gotten the prison some good attention! For Sue, this experience has taught her a lot about Koha. My favorite of which is that it has raised her technology skills generally and empowered her to work things out herself. When Irma came in to provide support to Sue she was hit with all kinds of new challenges like transparent desktops, locked down internet connections (making Z39.50 searching difficult). Everything has to go through the security department’s eyes which means there is nothing easy – especially upgrading to new releases. This also means that library users can’t contribute to the Koha project or communicate with the outside Koha community due to the locked down Internet access. Another restriction Sue has to deal with is the fact that she can’t have a laptop to do remote circulation or inventory. And finally she too is locked down on what she can access outside of the library meaning she is also cut off sometimes from the rest of us who are working on Koha. Some things that they hope to have in the future for Koha include turning on features that they aren’t using at this time such as a multi-language OPAC, lists, purchase suggestions and moderated tags and reviews. ...

Nela2010: trends in tech services

Tue, 19 Oct 2010 02:49:36 +0100

I’m at the NELA 2010 annual conference Monday and Tuesday this week, albeit without wifi or open power outlets in the rooms. As a result, my postings will be few and far between, but this session was a good one: Trends, Trends, Trends: Innovations in Technical Services, Collections and More What is going on that is leading us to change the way we work “behind the scenes” in our libraries? The Academic Librarians Section (ALS) and the Association of College and Research Libraries/New England chapter (ACRL/NEC) sponsor Consultants Margaret Lourie and Stephen Spohn to examine issues and trends in technical services, cataloging, and the acquisition and maintenance of physical and virtual collections, e-resources and e-books. Explore the larger issues at work that bring new opportunities to provide more resources to users, make it easier for them to find information they need and do all this more effectively and efficiently. ...

Resource of the week — metalib: a new federated search tool from the gpo (government printing office) + a

Mon, 18 Oct 2010 16:20:54 +0100

Resource of the Week -- MetaLib: A New Federated Search Tool from the GPO (Government Printing Office) By Gary Price, Founding and Senior Editor From the MetaLib Help Page: MetaLib is a library portal providing end users with an easy and personalized interface which can search simultaneously for information in a variety of electronic resources, such as catalogs, [...] (Source: ResourceShelf)

Metalib federated search tool for u.s. federal government information

Mon, 18 Oct 2010 04:00:00 +0100

The Government Printing Office, the official publisher of the American government, has launched MetaLib, a search engine that allows users to search simultaneously in as many as 53 government collections covering government, legislative, technical and scientific information.In addition to the ability to search all databases at once, the new tool allows for:Searching individual databases using the A-Z Resource ListCreating personalized sets of searchable database collections using the A-Z Resource List(i.e picking and choosing combinations of databases to search)Saving configurations and resources to a personalized E-shelfEmailing and/or saving records in various formats (e.g., MARC21, Standard, ProCite) (Source: Library Boy)

Gpo metalib - federated search engine for government databases

Fri, 15 Oct 2010 17:37:55 +0100

The Government Printing Office has recently released a federated (combined) search engine for multiple databases compiled by the federal government. The new search engine called MetaLib includes reference databases, digital repositories and subject-based Web gateways. View a complete list of all current resources that can be accessed in MetaLib. For more info, see the FDLP Desktop. (Source: WisBlawg - From the UW Law Library)

Re: enhanced e-book service

Fri, 15 Oct 2010 04:00:00 +0100

Most of our ebook packages have been providing fulltext searching for many years. And some libraries have created versions of their federated search that search all the ebook packages together. But yes, it would be nice to be able to toss Google Books into the mix too. --Steve ____________________________________________ Steve Cramer Business & CARS Librarian University of North Carolina at Greensboro smcramer-MzpWU9P86mU< at >public.gmane.org , 336-256-0346 http://uncg.libguides.com/cramer On Thu, Oct 14, 2010 at 8:57 AM, Cindy Harper <charper-hdBzQonjMseVc3sceRu5cw< at >public.gmane.org> wrote: (Source: gmane.education.web4lib)

Metalib: a new federated search tool from the gpo (government printing office)

Thu, 14 Oct 2010 20:47:22 +0100

From the MetaLib Help Page: MetaLib is a library portal providing end users with an easy and personalized interface which can search simultaneously for information in a variety of electronic resources, such as catalogs, reference databases, digital repositories or subject-based Web gateways. These information resources are collectively referred to as databases. Once you have found the [...] (Source: ResourceShelf)

Metalib: introducing gpo's federated search tool

Thu, 14 Oct 2010 04:00:00 +0100

The U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO) released MetaLib (http://metalib.gpo.gov), a federated search tool for retrieving U.S. Government Publications (reports, articles, and citations) by simultaneously searching across approximately 53 Federal Government databases. Basic, Advanced, and Expert searching is available including the... (Source: Law Librarian Blog)

Journal call for papers from library hi tech news

Tue, 12 Oct 2010 04:00:00 +0100

Journal call for papers from Library Hi Tech NewsLibrary Hi Tech News (LHTN), is actively seeking submissions.URL: http://info.emeraldinsight.com/products/journals/journals.htm?id=lhtnLHTN is an established (1984+) print and online monthly journal that quickly publishes articles of interest to our international readership. The journal’s major focus is on developments in library technology. Although not formally peer reviewed, LHTN is indexed in Library and Information Science Abstracts (LISA), Library, Information Science and Technology Abstracts (LISTA), Scopus, INSPEC, Current Index to Journals in Education and others.Published by Emerald Publishing Group, LHTN is interested in articles of varying lengths, reports from relevant conferences, and case studies of library use of technology. The editors will work with authors that are new to LIS publishing, and those who are seeking outlets for reporting on practical uses of IT in libraries. Publishing your article in LHTN can be “a place to start,” analogous to a “poster session in print” and does not preclude publishing a more fulsome piece in a peer-reviewed journal at a later date. Readers consider LHTN the source to hear what’s coming next in terms of technology development for academic and public libraries. ...

Re: enhanced ebook service?

Tue, 12 Oct 2010 04:00:00 +0100

I too doubt Google would allow it. I know of one Federated Search tool that stopped providing a connection file for Google Scholar for fear of legal repercussions. Linking to preview on the other hand I'm sure they'd encourage. Alan Cockerill Library Technologies Coordinator James Cook University PO Box 6811 CAIRNS QLD 4870 Phone:+61 7 4042 1737 Fax: +61 7 4042 1845 Email: Alan.Cockerill-udJn5k7D6hgQrrorzV6ljw< at >public.gmane.org Skype: alan.cockerill.jcu Web: http://cms.jcu.edu.au/libcomp/assist/contacts/JCUPRD_017401 Blog: http://jculibrarytechnology.blogspot.com/ Tweet: http://twitter.com/cockerilla CRICOS Provider Code: 00117J (QLD) (Source: gmane.education.web4lib)

A multi-collection latent topic model for federated search

Thu, 07 Oct 2010 05:45:47 +0100

Abstract Collection selection is a crucial function, central to the effectiveness and efficiency of a federated information retrieval system. A variety of solutions have been proposed for collection selection adapting proven techniques used in centralised retrieval. This paper defines a new approach to collection selection that models the topical distribution in each collection. We describe an extended version of latent Dirichlet allocation that uses a hierarchical hyperprior to enable the different topical distributions found in each collection to be modelled. Under the model, resources are ranked based on the topical relationship between query and collection. By modelling collections in a low dimensional topic space, we can implicitly smooth their term-based characterisation with appropriate terms from topically related samples, thereby dealing with the problem of missing vocabulary within the samples. An important advantage of adopting this hierarchical model over current approaches is that the model generalises well to unseen documents given small samples of each collection. The latent structure of each collection can therefore be estimated well despite imperfect information for each collection such as sampled documents obtained through query-based sampling. Experiments demonstrate that this new, fully integrated topical model is more robust than current state of the art collection selection algorithms. Content Type Journal ArticleDOI 10.1007/s10791-010-9147-3Authors Mark Baillie, Department of Computer and Information Sciences, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, Scotland, UKMark Carman, Faculty of Informatics, University of Lugano, Lugano, SwitzerlandFabio Crestani, Faculty of Informatics, University of Lugano, Lugano, Switzerland Journal Information RetrievalOnline ISSN 1573-7659Print ISSN 1386-4564 (Source: SpringerLink - Journal)

Graph structure of an open science notebook – “linked science” ftw…

Sun, 03 Oct 2010 22:42:36 +0100

Early days on this, but what, if anything, can we look from looking at the link structure of an open science lab-book, based on the use of hyperlinks between pages in the lab-book? A couple of days ago, I started informally bouncing ideas around with @cameronneylon about quick wins/low hanging fruit visualisations around his open science notebook (a full description of our conversation – and indeed the whole history of this ad hoc “mini-project” – can be found on Cameron’s blog: A little bit of federated Open Notebook Science). So here are a couple of Gephi takes on the lab-book (original data/scripts can be found from the github links in Cameron’s post.) The lab notebook identifies different types of post, which can be used to colour the graph: The network graph also shows the presence of highly linked “procedure” type nodes relating to a particular experimental procedure. If we apply the ego filter to the graph we can get a close look at which posts are connected to a procedure: If we run the modularity statistic, we can automatically partition the posts into groupings of posts that are linked together – here they are grouped by modularity class: We can expand different class nodes to see the posts associated with them: Here’s one close up: If we apply the ego network, we see the modularity cluster does seem to have acted in a meaningful way: Notice though that we lose sight of the internal link structure within that modularity class that was evident in the previous image. Was that connect node important in some way? With his intimate knowledge of the experiments recorded in the lab book, Cameron also observed that Gephi has (largely) successfully clustered the correct posts together [according to protein classification] and thus separate the purifications from each other based only on connectivity. ...

Lib recommends – 2010-10-01

Sat, 02 Oct 2010 00:38:50 +0100

Free user-contributed repair manuals from iFixIt: http://www.ifixit.com. Site is still building content but hey…it has the Roomba! Great article for library webmasters from the adaptive path blog: “Six habits for visual designers new to UX design” – http://bit.ly/b4az7P ALA’s Statement about FCC modernizing ERATE to benefit libraries (from @ALA_TechSource). http://bit.ly/9NGxHL I’ll believe it when I see it. 37 Productivity Tips for Working From Anywhere – http://mash.to/2KsPd Blog Post: Practical Open Source Software for Libraries from @nengard: http://bit.ly/bcM8TM Namechk – Instantly check your username’s availability on dozens of social sites. Grab your identity everywhere now. http://namechk.com/ “8 Villains of Social Media” from @sejournal. Good lessons on what to avoid when you’re posting yourself! http://bit.ly/auIPLV Warning signs of information overload http://su.pr/2Rd2qA Kurzweil’s company’s eBook product, Blio, looks interesting. http://www.blio.com/ Check out a FREE Project Gutenberg collection on North Carolina Digital Library website (from @DigiLibraryBlog) http://ow.ly/2LNT0 Veezle stock photo meta search engine: a great review from Tasha Saecker: http://bit.ly/assMF8 The Future Of The Library Is Not The Apple Store (from @ALA_TechSource): http://bit.ly/c3jLnp The Internet Archive has scanned its one millionth book! Congrats! http://bit.ly/dt8OzV Open Office splits from Oracle, becomes LibreOffice. Same great software! http://www.documentfoundation.org/ Review of The Social Network movie from @jeffjarvis: http://bit.ly/aZd2cI In short, if you know the real story it’s gonna annoy you. From @wired: Scribd added Facebook “Instant Personalization” this week. It’s a privacy nightmare, says @pgcat http://bit. ...

Take aways from the cdn forum on court technology

Wed, 29 Sep 2010 14:09:33 +0100

♬ Listen, let’s make, it national I want the whole world to know…♬ Lyrics and music by: Tim Mosley, Missy Elliott, Craig Brockman; recorded by Missy Elliott. CCCT CCTJ logo There is a saying that you only see the tip of an iceberg. Last week, the 2010 Canadian Forum on Court Technology hosted by the Canadian Centre for Court Technology wrapped up in Ottawa. This Forum provided several glimpses of icebergs floating in the Canadian Judicial System. All this was to be expected; after all this was a very insightful forum on the implementation of court technology and clearly showed the challenges that lie ahead. However, underlying all of this was the sometimes quietly spoken statement that the courts are losing market share to private settlement regimes. The parties who attended – particularly the judges – are to be commended. They demonstrated a real concern on how the system can be advanced by the adoption of technology to ensure its relevance in an increasingly online world. Ultimately, whether this was a conference that results in all players embracing the future and realizing that the only way any real change can occur is if all the players collaborate and work together on reshaping the judicial and legal system, or whether it was just another signpost along the highway that the keynote speaker Richard Susskind calls: “The End of Lawyers” remains to be seen. The fact that eBay already settles the vast majority of its 60 million disputes in 14 languages annually using Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) and mediation techniques may provide the clearest picture yet of the future. The opening plenary Session: “Courting Technology: A Return to Foundational Principles was delivered by The Honourable Madam Justice Louise Charron, Supreme Court of Canada. ...

Please contribute library tech data to lib-web-cats #fb #in

Fri, 17 Sep 2010 19:29:00 +0100

Library Technology Guides (www.librarytechnology.org) aims to provide the best resources to general public relating to technology used in libraries. The site includes the lib-web-cats directory of libraries. lib-web-cats, in addition to its role as a general directory of libraries throughout the world, serves as a repository for the technology products used in each library. Once recorded in lib-web-cats, this information becomes available to anyone interested. I observe that libraries make frequent use of this resource especially when making their own decisions in selecting technology products. The data in lib-web-cats supports the ability to discern patterns regarding what products are gaining or losing ground and trends such as the adoption of proprietary versus open source alternatives. lib-web-cats: http://www.librarytechnology.org/libwebcats Collecting data for lib-web-cats is far more than I can handle unilaterally. Please take a few moments and help me out. I need individuals involved with libraries to review the record for their institution and report any updates needed. Some of the fields of particular interest include: -- the current and previous integrated library systems used and the dates of selection. -- The current and previous discovery products used and dates of selection. -- Link resolvers, federated search products, and any RFID-oriented technologies. -- Current name and e-mail address of the best person to contact regarding technology questions for your library. (This information will not display publicly.) If your library made a procurement decision in the 2010 calendar year for a major technology product, please let me know. I will be writing the Library Journal Automation Marketplace article again this year and this data in lib-web-cats helps support and validate the sales figures provided by the vendors used for that report. Of course you will want to be sure that all the basic contact information is accurate. ...

Please contribute library tech data to lib-web-cats #fb #in

Fri, 17 Sep 2010 19:23:00 +0100

Improving the search experience: federated search and the library gateway : table of contents

Mon, 13 Sep 2010 01:05:02 +0100

Abstract: Purpose The aim of this paper is to review the evolving nature of the library web site with a focus on improving the usability of the access points to licensed and unlicensed research databases. Design/methodology/approach The paper describes the milestones in the development of a library gateway and the incorporation of federated search into a prominent place in the gateway. Findings Technological developments present new opportunities to extend the functionality of library systems. Achieving simplicity among the complex array of bibliographic and full text resources is critical. Originality/value The efforts made by the library in the development of a gateway and incorporating metasearching and other tools into it have resulted in greater control over the way resources are presented to the user community. (Source: Library Hi Tech : Table of Contents)

Links for 2010-08-30 [del.icio.us]

Sat, 04 Sep 2010 10:20:03 +0100

New York Law School :: DRAGNET A new federated search tool for legal information is available on DRAGNET http://bit.ly/aqOHh3 RT @ALLAQ: (Source: DigiCMB)

Dragnet - new federated search engine from new york law school

Fri, 27 Aug 2010 04:00:00 +0100

New York Law School’s Mendik Library has developed DRAGNET, a search engine that simultaneously searches in more than 80 legal web sites and databases.DRAGNET stands for "Database retrieval access using Google’s new electronic technology" and uses Google’s free custom search option.Being from New York, the search tool includes many US-based resources but it also includes many non-US sources such as the British and Irish Legal Information Institute, CanLII, the International Labour Organization, the OECD, etc. (Source: Library Boy)

Head, electronic serials librarian (duke university, durham, north carolina)

Thu, 26 Aug 2010 22:15:01 +0100

Head, Electronic Serials Librarian (Duke University, Durham, North Carolina) Under the supervision of the Head of Electronic Resources and Serials Management, the Electronic Serials Librarian plans, coordinates, and supervises the workflow for serials data in the electronic resources knowledgebase, link resolver and federated search engine. S/he takes the lead in resolving access problems for e-serials and trains assistants in resolving problems as appropriate. S/he supervises the Electronic Serials Section which is composed of three support staff. Salary and rank dependent on qualifications and experience. Comprehensive benefits package. Required qualifications: ALA-accredited MLS or equivalent combination of education and experience. ...

Head, electronic serials section

Mon, 23 Aug 2010 19:08:16 +0100

Under the supervision of the Head of Electronic Resources and Serials Management, the Electronic Serials Librarian plans, coordinates, and supervises the workflow for serials data in the electronic resources knowledgebase, link resolver and federated search engine. S/he takes the lead in resolving access problems for e-serials and trains assistants in resolving problems as appropriate. S/he supervises the Electronic Serials Section which is composed of three support staff. (Source: Duke University Libraries: Jobs)

Stanford university opens new bookless engineering library

Tue, 03 Aug 2010 14:46:26 +0100

The new bookless/electronic engineering library opened yesterday in Palo Alto, CA. Here’s the announcement from yesterday and a look at their web site. Much More in an Article (Published Last Week) in Stanford News: The Engineering Library’s move from the Terman Engineering Center to the new Jen-Hsun Huang Engineering Center was an opportunity to do more than just haul books from one building to another – and the librarians jumped at the chance to create a state-of-the-art library. “It’s going to be gorgeous,” said Helen Josephine, head librarian for the Engineering Library. “There’s a lot of new technology going into this. “We’ve been working on this for the last three years – we’re anxious to get in and get going. I’m really excited about it. I can’t wait to show it off to the students,” she said. She’ll get that chance when the library opens on Aug. 2, with a campus-wide invitation to tour the new engineering center and library on Sept. 8. The new library at the Huang Center will be less than half the size of its predecessor at Terman – about 6,000 square feet compared with the earlier 16,000 (and that’s not counting footage from the physics and computer science libraries that have merged into the new library as well). The revamped library will have a completely electronic reference desk with four Kindle 2 wireless reading devices. It will be the first on campus to have a self-checkout and book security system; by this fall, it also will have 15 ebook readers that library patrons may take home like regular books. Librarians will not be staffing a desk to help students and faculty, said Josephine, “but we’ll be more available when they need us.” Available, that is, through email, online chatting and Facebook. An online journal search tool called xSearch will scan 28 online databases, a grant directory and more than 12,000 scientific journals. ...

Article/video: stanford u. opens new “bookless” engineering library; blacklight & deep web part of the tech mix

Tue, 03 Aug 2010 14:36:14 +0100

The new bookless/electronic engineering library opened yesterday in Palo Alto, CA. Here’s a blog post from yesterday about the new Terman Engineering Library and a look at their web site. Much More (including a video) in an Article (Published Last Week) in Stanford News: The Engineering Library’s move from the Terman Engineering Center to the new Jen-Hsun Huang Engineering Center was an opportunity to do more than just haul books from one building to another – and the librarians jumped at the chance to create a state-of-the-art library. “It’s going to be gorgeous,” said Helen Josephine, head librarian for the Engineering Library. “There’s a lot of new technology going into this. “We’ve been working on this for the last three years – we’re anxious to get in and get going. I’m really excited about it. I can’t wait to show it off to the students,” she said. She’ll get that chance when the library opens on Aug. 2, with a campus-wide invitation to tour the new engineering center and library on Sept. 8. The new library at the Huang Center will be less than half the size of its predecessor at Terman – about 6,000 square feet compared with the earlier 16,000 (and that’s not counting footage from the physics and computer science libraries that have merged into the new library as well). The revamped library will have a completely electronic reference desk with four Kindle 2 wireless reading devices. It will be the first on campus to have a self-checkout and book security system; by this fall, it also will have 15 ebook readers that library patrons may take home like regular books. Librarians will not be staffing a desk to help students and faculty, said Josephine, “but we’ll be more available when they need us.” Available, that is, through email, online chatting and Facebook. ...

Unlocking the full power of your library with encore synergy

Mon, 02 Aug 2010 09:57:37 +0100

I en tid av web scale discovery och aggregerade index är Encore Synergy en lite udda fågel. Innovative Interfaces har valt att möta konkurrenterna genom att fokusera på att utveckla Encore gränssnittet mot Millennium med en modul för samsökning. Genom att erbjuda användaren en vy för lokalt katalogdata och en vy för artiklar och externa databaser menar Innovative att de har ett verktyg som uppfyller Discoveryplattformarnas krav på enkelhet och ”goes beyond the limitations of both federated search and aggregated index models”. Inlåst på Innovatives kundwebb finns det en webinar som förklarar produkten och upplägget. Efter att ha kikat på den och på de installationer som finns tillgängliga på Deakin University Library, Saginaw Valley State University, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, University of San Diego och HELIN konsortiet är jag tveksam till om Encore lever upp till sina ambitioner. Ja, det är praktiskt att kunna rulla vidare med Encore om man haft det som sitt gränssnitt för OPAC. Användarna är bekanta med hur den fungerar och genom att lägga till en vy/modul för artiklar så får man en gemensam ingång och det fungerar ungefär som tidigare. Men det stora problemet är och förblir parallellsökningen. Varje extern resurs som skall samsökas måste konfigureras. Innovative anger inte vilka databaser man har stöd för eller vilken teknik som används. Men man säger att det sker via ”webservices” och att de är snabba. Ändå får man vänta på resultat och jag tycker att gränssnittet har problem. Eftersom varje resurs hanteras individuellt redovisas de individuellt. Relevansrankning är samma som man får från källan. I bästa fall kan man erbjuda ett begränsat antal facetter (fulltext och peer reviewed). När man söker i det lokala indexet så spränger man in resultat från artikelsökningen i träfflistan i en egen ”tips-tier”. Det är sådär och ställer till träfflistan för mig. Intrycket blir rörigt. ...

Links for 2010-07-18 [del.icio.us]

Tue, 20 Jul 2010 17:40:02 +0100

healthmash - Conduit Search PolyMeta, "Universal Meta search & discovery" joined HealthMash, now also available as Chrome extension via Conduit http://bit.ly/91nGd4 (Source: DigiCMB)

Technology services head at mugar memorial library

Tue, 20 Jul 2010 04:00:00 +0100

Boston University's Mugar Memorial Library is recruiting a Technology Services Head. Here's an excerpt from the ad: Guide assessment of existing and emerging library and information technologies. Lead project and implementation planning for library technologies. Provide coordination and programmatic guidance for the library technology services group (LTS), a multi-unit team, comprised of members from the University Libraries and Information Services & Technology. The LTS plans, deploys and supports a wide range of digital systems and services, including an integrated library system, WorldCat Local, link resolver, federated search software, institutional repository, search and discovery services, library web development, interlibrary loan system, proxy server, and staff desktop support. Collaborate with administrators, department heads and managers throughout all the University libraries and Information Services and Technology to adapt library services to the changing needs of faculty, researchers, and graduate students of Boston University and work with senior managers on the Library's other two teams, the Graduate & Research Services and Undergraduate & Distance Services to implement initiatives consistent with the Libraries’ strategic plan. (Source: DigitalKoans)

Job posting: assistant director for information technology

Tue, 20 Jul 2010 04:00:00 +0100

The Ohio State University Libraries seeks a dynamic and creative leader for the administrative team. The Assistant Director for Information Technology provides leadership, vision, and strategic direction for a wide range of digital systems and services of the Ohio State University Libraries. This position has responsibility for the integrated library system; federated search software; deployment of search and discovery services, such as WorldCat Local and other research databases; library web development; a suite of digital publishing and repository tools; and desktop support. The Assistant Director coordinates support for staff and public computing services in the Libraries in conjunction with the Office of the Chief Information Officer. Reporting to the Director of University Libraries, the Assistant Director ensures robust library systems support for new and established technology services that meet the teaching, research and service needs of the university community. For more detailed information: (Source: gmane.education.web4lib)

Technology services head at mugar memorial library

Tue, 20 Jul 2010 03:04:47 +0100

Call for articles & ideas - journal call for papers from library hi tech news

Wed, 14 Jul 2010 04:00:00 +0100

Call for articles & ideas - Journal call for papers from Library Hi Tech NewsLibrary Hi Tech News (LHTN), is actively seeking submissions. LHTN is an established (1984+) print and online monthly journal that quickly publishes articles of interest to our international readership. The journal’s major focus is on developments in library technology. Although not formally peer reviewed, LHTN is indexed in Library and Information Science Abstracts (LISA), Library, Information Science and Technology Abstracts (LISTA), Scopus, INSPEC, Current Index to Journals in Education and others. Published by Emerald Publishing Group, LHTN is interested in articles of varying lengths, reports from relevant conferences, and case studies of library use of technology. The editors will work with authors that are new to LIS publishing, and those who are seeking outlets for reporting on practical uses of IT in libraries. Publishing your article in LHTN can be “a place to start,” analogous to a “poster session in print” and does not preclude publishing a more fulsome piece in a peer-reviewed journal at a later date. Readers consider LHTN the source to hear what’s coming next in terms of technology development for academic and public libraries. ...

New jersey library funding cuts "only" 43 percent

Mon, 12 Jul 2010 04:00:00 +0100

http://www.libraryjournal.com Most databases preserved, but per capita state aid cut in half, regional networks consolidated. | By Norman Oder Jul 9, 2010 After the proposed 74% cut in state support for libraries in New Jersey generated a groundswell of protest, and the result has been a 43% cut, a reduction of $6.1 million. This decidedly mixed result includes a halving of per capita state aid to libraries and the consolidation of four regional networks into one. "We've lived to fight another day," Pat Tumulty, executive director of the New Jersey Library Association, told LJ. "This is a way of keeping our programs going." "To All The Library Supporters Who Made Your Voices Heard, Thank you, you did it!" NJLA said on its advocacy site, Save MY NJ Library. "$4.299 Million was restored in the New Jersey Budget for library programs!" The $4.3 million restored (out of the proposed $10.4 million cut) will support crucial services such as most databases, interlibrary loan, and the JerseyConnect Internet system. Nor will Thomas Edison State College, the distance learning institution that also houses the New Jersey State Library (NJSL), be merged with the New Jersey State Museum and governed by Rutgers University. New federal funds Crucially, sufficient money was restored—especially for JerseyConnect—for the State Library to get a $5.1 million federal broadband grant, supplemented by $1.5 million from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; add computers at 124 libraries; upgrade connectivity at 79 libraries; and provide job search assistance, employment skills, workforce development programs and other online resources at 365 libraries across New Jersey. While the broadband grant does not replace state funds lost, it allows local libraries to improve connectivity, and positions the state library to work with consortium of New Jersey's community colleges to train library staff and job seekers. ...

Content systems manager at james madison university

Fri, 09 Jul 2010 04:00:00 +0100

The James Madison University Libraries are recruiting a Content Systems Manager. Here's an excerpt from the ad (request/posting number: 0403574): This position will design, develop, administer, and enhance content management systems and related applications for the Libraries. The position will work with the Libraries Digital Services to promote resource discovery and improve access to the Libraries' online collections and lead the Libraries' staff in resolution of issues, improvement of work-flows, and optimal use of systems. . . . Develop, administer, and enhance the Libraries' content management systems, including the LEO/Millennium, Electronic Resource Management, Check for Full Text reference linking, LOCKSS, and federated search software. Promote resource discovery and improve access to the Libraries' collections. Collaborate with others to analyze collection access and management needs and investigate new technologies, recommending system modifications or additional products where appropriate. (Source: DigitalKoans)

Content systems manager at james madison university

Fri, 09 Jul 2010 03:04:23 +0100

"discovering new seas of knowledge" : eahil2010 must read advice!

Wed, 07 Jul 2010 04:00:00 +0100

How open are Medical Library Conferences? How easy is it to get the material discussed or presented there? And is it supposed to be available all the time and for free? In this age of Open Acess, web 2.0 and the expectancy of the "users" -being us librarians, spoiled with Google:-) one would assume that much(if not all) is freely available via Conferences websites and/or social media. Why then do I find it hard to find the extra info about those events, including papers and slides and possibly even webcasts? Are we still not into the share-mode and overprotective to one's own achievements, or is it a genetic defect just being too modest as a librarian, satisfied with a quiet role in the background? Please anyone, fill my gaps of knowledge in this. Is it ignorance by me, or is there a real issue? Hiding content behind a registration I cán understand, but it is missing the actual elementary necessity of trying to keep all medical librarians up to date in their struggle for basic "survival" and/or finding the new (digital) divides we need to tackle in this day and age of "medical information on the loose" on the web. We need to share more. For the EAHIL you can see or find much of the content at: the EAHIL website The EAHIL Public Page (Netvibes) The EAHIl Search Engine that connects all content spread over the various Conference and Workshop websites. The experience of the 12th EAHIL Conference in Lisbon and Estoril was impressive. It seems every year the EAHIL community gathered together for that one week gets more and more intense, socially and content-wise. The Continuing Education Courses of this year touched the actual needs of many librarians. I want to bring a few special ones under attention. ...

Mods and mads: current implementations and future directions

Fri, 02 Jul 2010 13:56:28 +0100

MODS and MADS: Current implementations and future directions ALA Annual Conference 2010 Sunday, June 28, 2010 10:30 to noon Intro, Jenn Riley: Metadata Librarian, Indiana U. Digital Library Program MODS 3.4 schema released June 2010. MODS/MADS editorial committee considering overall direction for MODS 4.0. mods 3.4 has support for RDA descriptions better handling of subject vocabularies (specify vocabulary at relevant subject subelements, specify vocabularies and terms by URI. Better support for multilingual cataloging expanded the use of the usage attribute expanded use of the displayLabel attribute. Ability to bind a specific name to a title to create a Uniform title. The ability to mark selected elements as containing cataloger-supplied data (rather than brackets, etc.). Various changes to make the schema itself for consistent, easier to manage and of greater utility to other applications importing elements from the MODS namespace. For mods 4.0 thinking of a more formal data model, maybe RDF. Want to encourage linked data and hope that the more formal model may help. Give feedback on the MODS listserv Speakers: Bill Leonard, Library and Archives Canada In 2004 national archives and national library of Canada merged. This meant that they had to merge all of their data and records. They have a federated search to both the archival and bibliographic descriptions: http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/lac-bac/search/all They are also building a trusted digital repository using these metadata standard: METS PREMIS MODS Government of Canada records management metadata standard (records are received this way and then stripped down to the archival core set, eventually mapped to MODS to be placed in the TDR) archival core set ARK MODS is the common schema for all the descriptions within the TDR. Another project is Canadiana Authorities: http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/databases/canadiana-authorities/index-e.html. ...

Job posting: senior software developer - northwesternuniversity library

Fri, 02 Jul 2010 04:00:00 +0100

Senior Software Developer This is an exciting opportunity to work with large-scale library server applications and participate in cutting-edge digital repository development at a major university. JOB SUMMARY: This position works in a highly collaborative environment with Library colleagues and external partners on the analysis, design, coding and testing of software in support of the Library's enterprise applications. The position also explores, adapts, and implements emerging digital repository technologies-particularly in the areas of digital preservation, metadata, collections, discovery, and repository services. KEY RESPONSIBILITIES: (See posting for additional info) 1. Designs, develops, implements, and maintains application code for use in support of the Library's enterprise systems, including the digital object repository, library catalog, and federated search systems. Development includes designing, writing, testing, and debugging code; 2. Collaborates with others, inside and outside of the U (Source: gmane.education.web4lib)

Development of a clinical information tool for the electronic medical record: a case study.

Thu, 01 Jul 2010 04:00:00 +0100

Development of a clinical information tool for the electronic medical record: a case study.

J Med Libr Assoc. 2010 Jul;98(3):223-7

Authors: Epstein BA, Tannery NH, Wessel CB, Yarger F, LaDue J, Fiorillo AB

QUESTION: What is the process of developing a clinical information tool to be embedded in the electronic health record of a very large and diverse academic medical center? SETTING: The development took place at the University of Pittsburgh Health Sciences Library System. METHOD: The clinical information tool developed is a search box with subject tabs to provide quick access to designated full-text information resources. Each subject tab offers a federated search of a different pool of resources. Search results are organized "on the fly" into meaningful categories using clustering technology and are directly accessible from the results page. RESULTS: After more than a year of discussion and planning, a clinical information tool was embedded in the academic medical center's electronic health record. CONCLUSION: The library successfully developed a clinical information tool, called Clinical-e, for use at the point of care. ...

Assistant director for information technology at ohio state university

Tue, 29 Jun 2010 03:02:59 +0100

The Ohio State University Libraries are recruiting an Assistant Director for Information Technology. Here's an excerpt from the ad: The Assistant Director for Information Technology provides leadership, vision, and strategic direction for a wide range of digital systems and services of the Ohio State University Libraries. This position has responsibility for the integrated library system; federated search software; deployment of search and discovery services, such as WorldCat Local and other research databases; library web development; a suite of digital publishing and repository tools; and desktop support. The Assistant Director coordinates support for staff and public computing services in the Libraries in conjunction with the Office of the Chief Information Officer. Reporting to the Director of University Libraries, the Assistant Director ensures robust library systems support for new and established technology services that meet the teaching, research and service needs of the university community. (Source: DigitalKoans)

Assistant director for information technology at ohio state university

Tue, 29 Jun 2010 03:02:09 +0100

On the european union search engine schizophrenia

Mon, 28 Jun 2010 11:48:59 +0100

The European Parliament has asked the European Commission to include search engines in the Data Retention Directive. This will force the search engines to store your searches and IP addresses, undermining the Commission’s attempts at protecting the privacy of European citizens. Privacy and search engine data storage It is not easy being a search engine. Giants like Google and Bing would really like to store your searches and link them to your IP address, cookie or logon information, as this coupling gives them data they can use to improve their search engine algorithms and tailor search results to your personal taste. On the other hand people like you and me feel uneasy about this invasion of privacy and would prefer Google and Bing to know as little as possible about our search habits. The Article 29 Working Party It is not easy being the European Union, either. The European Commission and its Article 29 Working Party (not to be confused with Written Declaration 29 — see below) considers itself a champion of the little people — that is people like you and me — and has therefore put a lot of pressure on Google and its siblings in an attempt to reduce the amount of personal data stored by search engines. The search engines have at least partly complied, by deleting IP adresses (the id number your computer or your ISP gives the search engine when you do a search) earlier than before. Bing is to cut the amount of time it stores the IP addresses associated with search queries from 18 months to six months. One of our favorite search engines, Duck Duck Go, does not store collect any information about its users. Some meta search engines too, like Ixquick and Yauba have made privacy part of their business model, promising not to store any personal information. Data Retention Directive Unfortunately, another part of the European Union wants desperately to use all this data for police work and surveillance. ...

On westlawnext, state of the art & steve jobs: a conversation with peter jackson, chief scientist for thomson reuters

Thu, 24 Jun 2010 13:15:20 +0100

For about a year I’ve wanted to talk to Peter Jackson*, the Chief Scientist and Vice President of Technology at Thomson Reuters. It started around this time last year when I stumbled across a brief video interview of him discussing Reuters Insider. Although Jackson’s comments (advancements in turning video into text) had little to do with legal publishing, I was intrigued by any possible extensions into the legal space, and I also wanted to know more about what exactly a chief scientist for one of the world’s largest publishing companies actually does. So I connected with him on LinkedIn, subscribed to his personal blog, and kept tabs on whatever work his group was doing that might pop up on the Interwebs. When Project Cobalt broke, and I was lucky enough to receive an invitation to preview WestlawNext this past January, I thought I might have an opportunity to visit with Jackson about the project. After all, it represented a significant advancement in legal search, and who better to talk to about the brains behind the system? Unfortunately, that didn’t happen, and, like so many things, those questions were deferred. Until last week. When you talk to an architect about a project, that conversation is going to be very different from the one you have with a person selling it. And so it was with Jackson. While most of the questions regarding WestlawNext and the search engine behind it, WestSearch, have been addressed by the online media, listening to Jackson talk about the project and some of the history behind it left me with a very different impression of the project’s importance to both Thomson Reuters and the profession as a whole. In the end, I look at it in two ways. First, WestSearch is to terms and connectors, what terms and connectors is to whole word searching in Acrobat. It’s that much more sophisticated. ...

Science and health sciences librarian (southern illinois university edwardsville)

Wed, 23 Jun 2010 00:30:02 +0100

Science and Health Sciences Librarian (Southern Illinois University Edwardsville) Library and Information Services DESCRIPTION OF DUTIES: The Science and Health Sciences Librarian works in a collaborative environment and reports to the Director of User Services, who reports to the Dean of Library and Information Services. ...

Library journal webcasts: summon, primo central & web scale discovery

Mon, 21 Jun 2010 18:40:38 +0100

Den 2 juni kunde man via Library Technology Guides läsa Serials Solutions pressmeddelande om effekterna av Summon vid Michigan’s Grand Valley State University: Summon is enabling students to go directly to full-text, boosting the use of a variety of databases. For example, Academic Search Premier saw a usage increase of 92% and ABI/INFORM rose 354%. Journal usage is up significantly. Before Summon, the use of individual journals in which the library had invested was generally going down. However, after Summon’s implementation at the close of August 2009, GVSU’s top 100 journals showed an average increase in usage of 48% and the top 1000 had increased usage of 82%. Increased usage occurs even for databases from content providers that are not participating in the Summon service, a result of the service’s indexing of the same content from alternate sources. Summon is having an impact on the type of content students are choosing. For example, the library has seen a significant increase in the use of newspaper content. Discoveryplattformar och stora aggregerade index är onekligen i ropet. Jag har under dagen ägnat en timme åt att kika på Ex Libris webcast av Primo Central via Library Journal med titeln Primo Central: The Ultimate in Next-Gen Discovery: Raising Research to a New Level. Webcasten gick av stapeln lite tidigare men gjordes åtkomlig för de som registrerat sig idag. Jag antar att den kommer bli öppet tillgänglig i arkivet som de andra inom kort. Spana in på Library Journals Webcasts sida om en stund så finns den säkert där. Primo casten var mycket givande och om man tittar på den bör man även spana in två andra webcasts via Library Journal. Dels The Success of Web-Scale Discovery in Returning Net-Gen Users to the Library: The Summon Service in Academic Libraries och dels Understanding the New Discovery Landscape: Federated Search, Web-scale Discovery, Next-Generation Catalog and the rest. ...

Oclc cooperative enews - membership news, views, events, support and training - vol. 1, no. 8

Thu, 17 Jun 2010 20:39:00 +0100

From: OCLC Americas Regional Council Member Update [mailto:oclc@oclc.org] Sent: Thursday, June 17, 2010 4:36 PM Subject: OCLC Cooperative eNews - Membership news, views, events, support and training - Vol. 1, No. 8 June 2010 | Vol. 1, No. 8 | ISSN: 2152-8993 James LaRue Director, Douglas County Libraries, Castle Rock, Colorado Libraries throughout a lifetime As director of Douglas County Libraries, I have witnessed firsthand the tremendous growth and development of many individuals in the communities we serve. I’ve come to recognize that the true significance of our profession is simply this: we’re there. We’re there throughout all of the various phases of life, from birth to childhood, adolescence, adulthood, parenthood and beyond. We provide a host of customized offerings, for everybody, at every phase. We help individuals through every possible transition of life. The library as an institution assembles the public around activities that promote the public good—literacy, lifelong learning, civic engagement and culture. Together, libraries encourage our communities to be both more civilized and more interesting. The odds are good that at least one of these big life transitions—or the many smaller transitions that occur within one’s lifetime (such as a job change or health crisis) will catch people off guard. ...

Links for 2010-06-09 [del.icio.us]

Tue, 15 Jun 2010 06:20:02 +0100

Musings about librarianship: Why libraries should proactively scan Twitter & the web for feedback - some examples Why libraries should proactively scan Twitter & the web for feedback - some examples http://j.mp/9Engn8 RT @aarontay: [Blogged] Exhibitors presentations/Training sessions Going to demonstrate HealthMash medical federated search @EAHIL2010, 16th Wednesday 14:00-14:30PM http://bit.ly/9etdqA RT @healthmash Tweetup :: International Tweet-up EAHIL2010 (via @digicmb, @bibliovirtual) #twtvite Join event for june 11 please! International Tweet-up EAHIL2010 on Jun 13-14, 2010 RSVP here: http://bit.ly/dCq0Vs #eahil2010 #twtvite (Source: DigiCMB)

Links for 2010-06-04 [del.icio.us]

Wed, 09 Jun 2010 08:40:02 +0100

foursquare :: Bitter & Zoet I'm at Bitter & Zoet. http://4sq.com/awdBiH foursquare :: Gevangenismuseum :: veenhuizen I'm at Gevangenismuseum (veenhuizen). http://4sq.com/dvFkGB No Alternative to Federated Search | Deep Web Technologies Blog RT @DeepWebTech: New blog post: : No Alternative to Federated Search http://deepwebtechblog.com/no-alternative-to-federated-search/ Twitpic - Share photos on Twitter Radbraken , that was punishment 1.0 http://twitpic.com/1trs69 Twitpic - Share photos on Twitter Veenhuizen Tour http://twitpic.com/1tt676 "Wijs beleid" (Source: DigiCMB)

Nylink annual meeting

Thu, 03 Jun 2010 23:05:00 +0100

Today I spoke at the NyLink Annual meeting, but first Marshall Breeding started the morning with is talk entitled “Technology trends in library automation and resource discovery.” Marshall pointed us to his ILS turnover report on his website which shows what ILS people had and what they have switched to. He also showed us what ILSes were being used in NY public libraries right now – and interestingly there are no Koha libraries on the list, however there are several academics in NY already on Koha. I had to giggle when Marshall then told us that automation systems are complex because I was remembering a talk given by Chris Cormack where he said that originally he thought the ILS was just a big database and would be easy to write. Marshall also went through his perceptions report and mentioned that interest in open source was surprisingly low overall – which just means I have to up my game and get the word out there about what open source is – because as you know I always feel that lack of education on a topic is the number one reason people fear something. He went on to explain that people aren’t judging systems on features so much anymore, but on service offerings – this I feel is where the strength of open source can be found – since you’re not buying the software itself you’re buying the services on the system. Marshall also reminded us that the most important part of our ILS is the OPAC (or discovery layer) since this is what our users see – and the marketplace is showing this as well – people are putting their resources into improving their discovery layers. As well all know we’re also dealing with libraries that are spending more on electronic subscriptions than print materials – so we need tools that will allow us to index and search that information. ...

Links for 2010-05-29 [del.icio.us]

Thu, 03 Jun 2010 11:00:02 +0100

WorldWideScience WorldWideScience http://worldwidescience.org/ provides federated search on free-to-access resources from 60 countries RT @ScienceBL Blip.fm | digicmb | Listen to The Police – Does Everyone Stare Long ago I heard the pice ♫ http://blip.fm/~r7lgk tedxmaastricht's Bookmarks on Delicious Bookmarks & urls from TEDx Maastricht http://delicious.com/tedxmaastricht Spectrum > Mobile Learning, Libraries, And Technologies: Merck Manuals > Apple iPhone / iPod Touch Apps Merck Manuals > Apple iPhone / iPod Touch Apps http://tinyurl.com/29vx2ft via Gerry McKiernan (Source: DigiCMB)

An overview of 45 published database resources for complementary and alternative medicine.

Tue, 01 Jun 2010 04:00:00 +0100

An overview of 45 published database resources for complementary and alternative medicine.

Health Info Libr J. 2010 Jun;27(2):93-105

Authors: Boehm K, Raak C, Vollmar HC, Ostermann T

BACKGROUND: Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) has succeeded to implement itself in the academic context of universities. In order to get information on CAM, clinicians, researchers and healthcare professionals as well as the lay public are increasingly turning to online portals and databases, which disseminate relevant resources. One specific type of online information retrieval systems, namely the database, is being reviewed in this article. QUESTION: This overview aims at systematically retrieving and describing all databases covering the field of CAM. One of the requirements for inclusion was that the database would also have to be published in a medical journal. DATA SOURCES: The databases AMED, CAMbase, EMBASE, and MEDLINE/PubMed were searched between December 2008 and December 2009 for publications relevant to CAM databases. ...

Links for 2010-05-26 [del.icio.us]

Fri, 28 May 2010 13:20:03 +0100

PurpleSearch & ICT Strategisch Plan 2010-2014 Rijksuniversiteit Groningen & de Bibliotheek - Bibliotheek 2.0 PurpleSearch & ICT Strategisch Plan 2010-2014 Rijksuniversiteit Groningen & de Bibliotheek http://bit.ly/bsKacP Shortcomings of full-text searching » Federated Search Blog 14 problems one encounters with search engines, (full-text or federated) Federated Search Blog: http://bit.ly/dkBGyd #li #purplesearch Why and how to use in-text links in your posts? | Zemanta Ltd. Why and how to use in-text links in your posts? http://bit.ly/ajO69g RT @zemanta: New blog post Horizon Report K-12 Edition | emerging technologies that will likely have a significant impact on K-12 education http://bit.ly/dpnVte (Source: DigiCMB)

Search engine wars: let battle commence

Wed, 26 May 2010 04:00:00 +0100

Karen Blakeman, a UK information expert, talked about the warring search engines and developments in search at the INFORUM conference in Prague, from which I am selectively reporting. In the early days of the web I used to do regular seminars on business information sources and search engines, with detailed handouts. Karen's concentrated burst of updated information reminded me that I've got lazy, since I've stopped noticing all the changes on search engine screens, and thus probably haven't been using all the features.Karen concentrated first on the "big 3" of Yahoo, Bing and Google. She started with focus on Yahoo, highlighting to the way it gave options for refining your search on he left hand side. It now uses Bing as its underlying search engine (a change). She liked the fact that it gave you a simply-presented search results page. However some people feel that it may not be developed much in future.Bing, Microsoft's engine, by contrast, has had a lot of development. However, a lot of special features are only available on the US version. Special features include "recent tweets" "top shared links" and "related searches". Results tend to be more consumer-oriented. For Karen, who does business-related searches it was "information hell", since apart from the consumer-orientation, the search commands worked unpredictably.Google adjusts results according to what you searched for in the past and searches also vary depending on the country you are searching from (I certainly noticed that searching here in Prague!). Features include "latest news" and if you are logged in to your "social circle" (social media) then results for that will be filtered in too. Various search options are shown down the left hand side after you have searched. Karen also talked about the wonder wheel function. ...

Metasearch engine clusty becomes yippy

Tue, 25 May 2010 17:13:54 +0100

The metasearch engines – search engines that combine data from several search engines – are not as popular as they used to be in the 1990’s. But they can still add something new to your search experience, especially as regards user interface and the way they present results. One of our favorite metasearch engines have been Clusty, owned and developed by Vivisimo. As the name implies, Clusty has been especially good at clustering search results in meaningful groups or topics of result listings. Vivisimo has now sold Clusty to a Florida based company named Yippy for US$5.6 million. The name change has already taken place. Clusty is no more. Yippy has taken its place. Clusty.com attracts approximately 100,000 unique visitors and supports millions of search queries per month. To what extent Yippy will change the Clusty metaseach engine beyond the logo, is unknown. Press release. See also: Vivisimo Says So Long To Clusty as Florida’s Yippy Acquires the Technology To Power Their Search (Resourceshelf) A World of Friends! SMX East: NYC Oct 5-7 Click Here for Agenda! (Source: Pandia Search Engine News)

Links for 2010-05-17 [del.icio.us]

Sat, 22 May 2010 15:00:02 +0100

Medical Library "Lab" : your toolbox < Bibliotheek < Rijksuniversiteit Groningen Launch of "Medical Library Lab" (beta) at CMB UMCG website: http://bit.ly/aWO8iC Introducing the Webicina Advisory Board « ScienceRoll RT @DrVes: Webicina goal: make quality medical social media resources accessible for everyone for free http://bit.ly/9VXFga - Sounds lik ... Keeping research data safe (Phase 2) : JISC RT @lorcanD: Pleased that OCLC Research was involved in JISC 'Keeping Research Data Safe' report. http://bit.ly/b2pFsO #oclcr Feature: Project Lefty: More Bang for the Search Query Wonderful federated search tool concept from @varnum http://www.infotoday.com/cilmag/apr10/Varnum.shtml RT @aarontay: RT @pfanderson The PurpleSearch Blog @lukask Yes, need to investigate more! Meanwhile we started a "new" blog: http://purplesearch.wordpress.com/ #purplesearch Deep Web Technologies' Federated Search Deep Web Technologies' Federated Search: Deep Web Technologies redefines the federated search ma... http://bit.ly/dq162W RT @uniknotions Old habits & good coffee... on Pikchur - Photo & Video Sharing! Old habits & good coffee... http://pk.gd/Rsi (@ ipuur UMCG) http://4sq.com/bI2RVx (Source: DigiCMB)

Links for 2010-05-21 [del.icio.us]

Sat, 22 May 2010 15:00:02 +0100

Blip.fm | digicmb | Listen to Persephone – Cocteau Twins Persephone – Cocteau Twins ♫ http://blip.fm/~qr55u foursquare :: centrale medische bibliotheek, umcg :: Groningen I'm at centrale medische bibliotheek, umcg (Hanzeplein 1, Oostersingel, Groningen). http://4sq.com/8XOIOz biomedical journals Directory of biomedical journals with free access to articles in full text: http://bit.ly/b0zyqD RT @novoseek: useful / RT @ArgosBiotech Directory of open access journals @digicmb You know this source: http://www.doaj.org/ Unfortunately, the search options are not optimal. #openaccessjournals #informatiefreak – Jo-Ann van Geest (jnnvngst) http://twitter.com/jnnvngst/statuses/14416810403 There is still so much to learn in reference management - Gobbledygook Blog | Nature Publishing Group There is still so much to learn in reference management . Nice Overview: http://bit.ly/cazm4r #li Continuing Education Courses There are still places available on the continuing education courses #EAHIL2010 14-15th June See: http://bit.ly/c6OV5S #li Windows 7 Federated Search Providers - Windows 7 Forums Windows 7 Search federation Providors: http://bit.ly/citZGl Turn you Windows Explorer Search into "Federated" Search and control your search YouTube - zw09video's Channel I subscribed to zw09video's channel on YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/user/zw09video?feature=autoshare DigiCMB: ICT Strategic Plan 2010-2014 University of Groningen & the Library ICT Strategic Plan 2010-2014 University of Groningen & the Library: The ICT -term Plan 2010-2014 of the Universi... http://bit.ly/dmxrzn 7 Things You Should Know About Next Generation Presentation Tools http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7056.pdf via @Educause: 7 Things You Should Know About Next Generation Presentation Tools http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7056.pdf via @Educause: (Source: DigiCMB)

Materials from nfais conference: improving the user experience – part i

Tue, 18 May 2010 19:13:24 +0100

Last Friday (May 14th) in Philadelphia the National Federation of Advanced Information Services (NFAIS) held a conference titled, “Improving the User Experience: Part 1.” All of the of the presentations from the event are now available online. Here are direct links and summaries to each presentation. We think no matter what area you might work in there will be at least two or three presentations of interest. Opening Keynote: The User Search Experience: What Users Want (PDF) Cody Hanson, Technology Librarian, University of Minnesota This session will focus on the results of a study done to determine how relevant library resources could be made more visible, particularly within the user workflow. It will discuss five key trends related to information discovery and how those trends are reflected in user information seeking behavior. The Search Interface: Making a Good First Impression with Users This session will provide an overview of the ideal user interface and the challenges involved in “getting it right.” It will look the methods and procedures of design and how to turn data into accessible information via technology that clearly communicates with the people that use it. It will take a look at the unique requirements of interfaces for mobile devices and the interface challenges that are unique to the academic library environment. In closing it will highlight how one publisher is developing a journal article interface for researchers who need to interact with article datasets. ...

Webcast report: understanding the new discovery landscape

Mon, 17 May 2010 18:54:14 +0100

Federated search, web-scale discovery (via Summon), next-generation catalog and the rest. (Source: Library Journal News)

Federated search: users might actually like it « bibliographic ...

Fri, 14 May 2010 07:00:21 +0100

It probably doesn't cover as much content as if you were to search every single licensed vendor platform (I have not seen any academic federated sear (Source: pligg - all)

Nfais workshop on may 14th: improving the user experience – part 1

Tue, 11 May 2010 18:44:39 +0100

NFAIS (National Federation of Advanced Information Services) has organized, Improving The User Experience – Part I., an all-day workshop, that will discuss improving the user experience online. It’s scheduled to take place in Philadelphia, PA. on May 14, 2010. If you can’t make it to Philly, no problem. The workshop will be available live, virtually. From the Workshop Website: “While content itself continues to form the foundation of modern information solutions, the real differentiator is becoming the broader “user experience.” The Web, combined with sophisticated search engines and autonomous agents, has become the dominant worldwide search and retrieval system. It not only meets the information needs of its users, but also provides them with a highly satisfactory “experience” – from start to finish. The new generation of information seekers now expects a seamless, multi-sensory, interactive – and enjoyable – search experience that is their benchmark for an acceptable information retrieval service. Indeed, their product loyalty and satisfaction are “driven by a different set of values that goes beyond content and extends to the experience of using that content.” They day will include four panels: “What Users Want”; The Search Interface; Current Search Technologies; and New and Emerging Technologies The list of speakers is excellent. They include: + Harold Hambrose, CEO/Founder, Electronic Ink + Loren Frant, Head of Health Information Products, National Library of Medicine + Academic Library Needs: Joseph Lucia, University Librarian, Villanova University + Jennifer Mayfield, Electronic Journals Manager, Optical Society of America + Chris Pooley, CEO, Intellidimension, Inc. + Federated Search: Peter Noerr, CTO, MuseGlobal, Inc. ...

Canadian association of law libraries conference meetings

Sun, 09 May 2010 04:00:00 +0100

The 2010 annual conference of the Canadian Association of Law Libraries (CALL) is underway in Windsor, Ontario.Some highlights from this morning:1) the Courthouse and Law Society Libraries Special Interest Group (SIG) held its annual business meeting. You can find the SIG's annual report on the CALL website.At the meeting, a number of members briefly described some of their projects of the past year.The Hamilton Law Association library has created a Facebook page to disseminate information about continuing legal education materials, training seminars and new titles.The Nova Scotia Barristers' Society library has created an annotated version of the rules of civil procedure of the province which is fully indexed and searchable.The Carleton Country Law Association library launched a new website, a library blog and Twitter feed and created a database of Association conference papers.The Law Society of Upper Canada Great Library launched a webinars series, created a reference procedures wiki and is testing (beta version) a new discovery tool that will offer one-stop searching of the catalogue, CLE materials and federated search.The Supreme Court of Canada library completed a move of a large part of its treatise collection from the sub-basement to the floor where researchers actually work. As well, a wiki is being tested where reference questions and answers are gathered.2) this spring, the Committee to Promote Research did not receive any applications that met the criteria for the CALL research grant. Thus, as in the past, the committee will conduct another competition with applications due October 15, 2010.The Committee is interested in sponsoring a session at next year's CALL conference, which will be held in Calgary. ...

Thu, 06 May 2010 04:00:00 +0100

Design Patterns: Faceted Navigation by Peter Morville, Jeffery Callender an excerpt from Chapter 4 of Search Patterns (O’Reilly, 2010) is available on A List Apart (the other ALA).Faceted navigation is a master pattern. Its deployment impacts all other search patterns and the information architecture as a whole. To oversimplify, there’s the Google model and the faceted navigation model. Choosing between these two is a major strategic decision. Determining whether or not faceted navigation is sensible and feasible is among the earliest steps in design. The infrastructure for faceted navigation can enable a tighter relationship between search and browse. It can shape the structure and navigation of the entire site or application. It also changes how we think about autocomplete and best first. It offers a familiar framework for managing the sources of federated search. Plus, its discriminatory power to clarify intent and refine results may offset the need for personalization and advanced search. That said, faceted navigation won’t work everywhere. For starters, it’s an expensive proposition. The demands on search software and servers are substantial. Also, the metadata infrastructure involves both initial investment and ongoing expense. For these reasons and more, a simpler search model is sometimes better, but it must often be supplemented by advanced search.Related articles by ZemantaSearch Patterns: User Experience Explained (arnoldit.com) (Source: Catalogablog)

Improving the user experience to be discussed at upcoming nfais workshop

Thu, 29 Apr 2010 06:01:57 +0100

NFAIS (National Federation of Advanced Information Services) has organized, Improving The User Experience – Part I., an all-day workshop, that will discuss improving the user experience online. It’s scheduled to take place in Philadelphia, PA. on May 14, 2010. If you can’t make it to Philly, no worries. The workshop will be available live, virtually. From the Workshop Website: “While content itself continues to form the foundation of modern information solutions, the real differentiator is becoming the broader “user experience.” The Web, combined with sophisticated search engines and autonomous agents, has become the dominant worldwide search and retrieval system. It not only meets the information needs of its users, but also provides them with a highly satisfactory “experience” – from start to finish. The new generation of information seekers now expects a seamless, multi-sensory, interactive – and enjoyable – search experience that is their benchmark for an acceptable information retrieval service. Indeed, their product loyalty and satisfaction are “driven by a different set of values that goes beyond content and extends to the experience of using that content.” They day will include four panels: “What Users Want”; The Search Interface; Current Search Technologies; and New and Emerging Technologies The list of speakers is excellent. They include: + Harold Hambrose, CEO/Founder, Electronic Ink + Loren Frant, Head of Health Information Products, National Library of Medicine + Academic Library Needs: Joseph Lucia, University Librarian, Villanova University + Jennifer Mayfield, Electronic Journals Manager, Optical Society of America + Chris Pooley, CEO, Intellidimension, Inc. + Federated Search: Peter Noerr, CTO, MuseGlobal, Inc. ...

Improving the user experience to be discussed at upcoming nfais workshop

Thu, 22 Apr 2010 20:47:09 +0100

NFAIS (National Federation of Advanced Information Services) has organized, Improving The User Experience – Part I., an all-day workshop, that will discuss improving the user experience online. It’s scheduled to take place in Philadelphia, PA. on May 14, 2010. If you can’t make it to Philly, no worries. The workshop will be available live, virtually. From the Workshop Website: “While content itself continues to form the foundation of modern information solutions, the real differentiator is becoming the broader “user experience.” The Web, combined with sophisticated search engines and autonomous agents, has become the dominant worldwide search and retrieval system. It not only meets the information needs of its users, but also provides them with a highly satisfactory “experience” – from start to finish. The new generation of information seekers now expects a seamless, multi-sensory, interactive – and enjoyable – search experience that is their benchmark for an acceptable information retrieval service. Indeed, their product loyalty and satisfaction are “driven by a different set of values that goes beyond content and extends to the experience of using that content.” They day will include four panels: “What Users Want”; The Search Interface; Current Search Technologies; and New and Emerging Technologies The list of speakers is excellent. They include: + Harold Hambrose, CEO/Founder, Electronic Ink + Loren Frant, Head of Health Information Products, National Library of Medicine + Academic Library Needs: Joseph Lucia, University Librarian, Villanova University + Jennifer Mayfield, Electronic Journals Manager, Optical Society of America + Chris Pooley, CEO, Intellidimension, Inc. + Federated Search: Peter Noerr, CTO, MuseGlobal, Inc. ...

Web of knowledge: the semantic web

Wed, 14 Apr 2010 03:41:31 +0100

Last week many Australian teachers & tech educators travelled to Melbourne to participate in the ACEC 2010 Conference Digital Diversity, an Australian biennial national ICT education conference. Much has been written since then about the challenges we encountered, the message of the keynote presentations, and the interesting experiences and conversations we all enjoyed. What struck me was the continued conversation about the same things – even the Keynote sessions offered no new insights into the future directions of learning, though there were some challenging messages thrown out to the participants as ‘take-aways’. For me the absolute highlight was the Keynote by Oscar award-winning Australian Adam Elliot. So refreshing to hear something beyond the usual Gary Stager message of gloom and doom which offered little in constructive strategies for the listeners. Thanks to Chris Betcher for his Keynote and reflections on Gary’s presentation too. I liked Chris’ presentation much more than I liked Gary’s – despite Gary’s apparent claim to fame. BUT where were the discussions about the future directions of the web? No keynotes that explored the synergy between virtual worlds, augmented reality, or the Semantic Web. Nothing that offered hands -on grass-roots understanding about information fluency and knowledge work in a globally connected semantic web. We have to stop working/thinking in silos!! It was the same at the Apple ITSC2010 conference, held over the last two days in Sydney. Nice stuff covered for sure, and fun hands-on workshops. But nothing that points the way forward. Nothing that deals with reading and literacy (our inescapable way of cognitive engagement with multimodal texts) on a variety of devices from paper to e-devices. Nothing that acknowledges the virtual, augmented, semantic mashup of connection with the world. ...

Library hi tech news -- call for papers

Sun, 11 Apr 2010 04:00:00 +0100

LIBRARY HI TECH NEWS -- Call for PapersLibrary Hi Tech News (LHTN, published by Emerald, is an established (1984+) print and online monthly journal that quickly publishes articles of interest on developments in library technology to our international readership. Although not formally peer reviewed, LHTN is indexed inLibrary and Information Science Abstracts (LISA), Library, Information Science and Technology Abstracts (LISTA), Scopus, INSPEC, Current Index to Journals in Education and others.For more information and sample articles, please see:http://info.emeraldinsight.com/products/journals/journals.htm?id=lhtnLHTN is interested in articles of varying lengths, reports from relevant conferences, and case studies. The editors will work with authors that are new to LIS publishing, and those who are seeking outlets for reporting on practical uses of IT in libraries. Publishing your article in LHTN can be a place to start, analogous to a poster session in print and does not preclude publishing a more fulsome piece in a peer-reviewed journal at a later date. Readers consider LHTN the source to hear whats coming next in terms of technology development for academic and public libraries. ...

Nrc-cisti transformation update

Sat, 10 Apr 2010 04:00:00 +0100

(This message was posted to the Federal Libraries list.)NRC-CISTI Transformation UpdateThe following is an update on the progress of NRC-CISTI’s transformation.We are now well into the implementation phase of the following key elements:Providing access to NRC-CISTI’s global scientific, technical and medical contentAs mentioned in my November update, one of the key elements of the new organization is our partnership with Infotrieve Canada, Inc to provide access to NRC-CISTI’s global scientific, technical and medical (STM) content. Infotrieve is now handling all aspects of registration, delivery, billing and customer service for our Australia and New Zealand clients, as well as registration, delivery and billing for our NRC clients. Starting April 1, they will be responsible for our M-55 on site services and all new client registration. Infotrieve is also working to transfer our US clients over by April 16, 2010, while our Canadian clients will be gradually moved over with all clients transitioned by the end of June 2010. During this transition period, Canadian clients can continue to order from CISTI and will be billed by CISTI until they have been advised that their implementation with Infotrieve is completed. In late April, Infotrieve will be in touch with migration details for all of NRC-CISTI’s Canadian customers.It is important to note that Infotrieve Canada, Inc provides its document delivery services from NRC-CISTI’s national library collection on our behalf, and as such, will be able to maintain CISTI’s copyright regime, including copyright exemptions for Canadians, as permitted by Canadian Copyright legislation, and reduced Access Copyright rates for commercial users.For more information about the NRC-CISTI and Infotrieve collaboration, see the question and answer guide at http://cisti-icist.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/eng/ibp/cisti/faq/document-delivery/cisti-infotrieve-collaboration.html. ...

Top 5 search widgets: netvibes

Thu, 08 Apr 2010 04:00:00 +0100

Although I create my widgets with Widgetbox these days, the Netvibes widgets are still well used. In short my reasons for creating these: This way I can embed taylor-made search boxes in webpages ánd the hospital´s Intranet. This to compensate the fact that not all staff is allowed to install our Library Toolbar Users can choose WHERE to install them, take it away, share etc I can offer them in our Library Toolbox, a Public Netvibes Page Starting a direct search in one of these boxes, takes users direct into the native interface, to refine their search. The MultiSearch boxes show users there are more resources to use than just the one they are used to. Search via these boxes, is made possible via the Conduit Toolbars, and offer a top frame list of all other resources available to search HERE IS MY TOP 5 Top Search widget out of my list is BY FAR: MEDLINEPLUS, with 1581 installs GET IT HERE From the Largest Medical Library in the World! The PiCarta Widget (with RUG proxy) has been installed 133 times: http://bit.ly/b8oA1uGET IT HERE From the Libraries of the University of Groningen The PubMed & RuGLinks (our SFX linkresolver) Search widget has been installed 450 times according to Netvibes: From the Libraries of the University of Groningen Add to Netvibes Also available for: iGoogle Apple Dashboard Opera Windows Vista beta Windows Live beta The PubMed Search Widget for Netvibes, iGoogle, Apple dashboard, Vista & Live: 672 installs! http://bit.ly/aWQs0a #in #pubmed #widget GET IT HERE See more medical search widgets Add to Netvibes Also available for: iGoogle Apple Dashboard Opera Windows Vista beta Windows Live beta At least 120 people did install my NLM Search Widget in NEtvibes, iGoogle and beyond .. ...

Libx toolbar for curtin university library

Tue, 06 Apr 2010 07:53:17 +0100

Frustration is the mother of motivation for me today. I’m in the final stretches of my thesis and am doing a further literature review. I wanted a LibX toolbar to make my research quicker and easier, but the library at Curtin University where I am studying hadn’t built one. LibX is so magically, wonderfully useful to me as a researcher, that I took a couple of hours and used the LibX Edition Builder to create a LibX Toolbar that works for Curtin University Library. It is here, LibX Unendorsed Curtin University, Western Australia I needed to look carefully at the way the URLs were built for their SFX link resolver, their Ex Libris catalogue, and their authentication server, but once I had that figured out it was just a matter of plugging info into a few blanks and testing, testing, testing. THE “SO WHAT?” OF LIBX FOR ME With the LibX toolbar installed in Firefox, if I get to an article from the web on JSTOR or any other publication to which my uni library subscribes, I can just right click on the page, enter my student number and password and get to the full text. I can even click straight through to full text articles from the references in Wikipedia. LibX also: lets me search the library catalogue or federated search straight from the toolbar of my browser, without having to go to the library catalogue page. hotlinks ISBNs anywhere on any web page so that when I click on them, it will show the work in my library catalogue. inserts an icon when I browse Amazon.com that lets me click to see whether the item is in the library. For journal articles mentioned anywhere on a web page, it highlights the identifier, and I can click through to the link resolver (SFX) and go straight through to full text of the article if it is in the library. I can also drag and drop any text from any page that I am on into the catalogue search box or on to a Google Scholar search box and have it search for that text. ...

Re: question: use of tabbed search boxes on home page?

Fri, 02 Apr 2010 04:00:00 +0100

We have a 3-tab search box on all our web pages (see, for example, http://www.lib.umich.edu/ ). A single-search (labeled "MLibrary", which includes the catalog, our LibGuides, database metadata, online journals, etc.) is the default tab; separate tabs are for "Articles" (our federated search tool) and Catalog. The first, default, tab gets almost an order of magnitude more usage. For the past two weeks, on one of the 3 webservers running the site: 11,648 Tab 1 (default -- MLibrary searches) 1,620 Tab 2 (Articles searches) 352 Tab 3 (Catalog searches) Searching from the first tab displays results from many sources, including the catalog, so these number don't represent total catalog searches, just starting points. -- Ken Varnum Web Systems Manager E: varnum-63aXycvo3TyHXe+LvDLADg< at >public.gmane.org University of Michigan Library T: 734-615-3287 309 Hatcher Graduate Library F: 734-647-6897 Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1190 http://www.lib.umich.edu/ On 3/31/10 (Source: gmane.education.web4lib)

Futures dreaming at ark libraries 2.0 masterclass

Tue, 30 Mar 2010 11:02:01 +0100

The last exercise for the day today was a “Futures Dreaming” , where the group came up with some ideas about the library of 2020. We used the same questions as we used at Library Camp Perth 2009 in September – and it is interesting to compare the ideas from both groups. It is very clear that librarians need to be able to market, self-promote and get better with IT. As in September, the conversation leading up to each point going on the board was more interesting than the points that ended up there… The questions were: What would you do in your library if you had all the time, money and skills you needed? What will the library of 2020 look like? What skills will librarians need for the library of 2020? What will we need to drop as we move to 2020? Here are the answers. Feel free to click through to the images to leave a note on Flickr about points you agree or disagree with. What would you do in your library if you had all the time, money and skills you needed? ANSWERS: *Storytime every day *More social space/seating space * Electronic resources with remote access – all of them, no need to make a choice. * All archives digitised and mashable * Time/resources to build projects * Avatar to do things for us * Be embedded in users’ space, but not in their face * Be proactive not reactive * A federated search that intelligently refined the search before retrieving results * Maps and guides to the collection automatically downloaded to users’ mobile devices when they walked in * More personalisation for users – the automated system knows about them and serves them better using this * One library card for all libraries * More 24/7 services * Better translation and translation tools for searching * Staff to do marketing and budgeting and an IT developer *More IT people who live in the real world. ...

Google leaving china and other search engine news (march 28)

Sun, 28 Mar 2010 15:18:22 +0100

Here are this week’s headlines from the search engine scene. The main focus has been on Google leaving China. Google had said that it would leave China if the government did not allow it to publish uncensored search results. As we have argued repeatedly, the Chinese government cannot agree to this, as it desperately tries to keep its own citizens in the dark regarding its own political repression. When Google did announce the threat, they probably already understood that they would have to go. Google has now redirected its google.cn search traffic to google.com.hk, i’ts Hong Kong search engine. Yes, Hong Kong is formally a part of China, but has a different set of laws due to its British colonial past. The Chinese government is now filtering search results from google.com and google.com.hk. Microsoft and Bing has decided to stay in China. Baidu remains the main search engine in China, however. Articles on Google leaving China Google China: Congressional Praise; Microsoft Supports Tyranny & Google Eats Poo Cartoon But if the company wants to be a poster child for the world, why doesn’t it fully leave? (Danny Sullivan March 25 2010) Google’s Drummond on China Strategy Shift It wasn’t just the hacking incident, but also increasing pressure to censor more (Google Blogoscoped March 25 2010) Google to Send Warnings on Compromised Gmail Accounts This is in response to the increasing problem on Gmail abuse through various suspicious login activity (SE Journal March 24 2010) Google v. China? No, It’s Bigger Than That John Battelle March 24: Thanks to Google’s move, thousands, if not millions, of Chinese now understand the extend to which their own government has been duping them. Who’s Got Google’s Back? Google’s made its position on the Chinese government’s censorship policies clear, but most other major U.S. Web companies appear hesitant to follow suit. ...

Re: does anyone need a federated opac search?

Wed, 24 Mar 2010 04:00:00 +0100

Hi Peter, On Tue, Mar 23, 2010 at 9:09 PM, Peter Noerr <pnoerr-Hn4ao3hIyEiRq8AjE7tl8g< at >public.gmane.org> wrote: Those are actually two different thoughts: failings of federated search systems are inherent in the environment they exist in. No amount of imagination can create a reality where all fed. search targets return relevant, easily merge-able, timely results consistently both in service and metadata. That said, I think fed. search services have value -- they serve a space that needs to be addressed (it is the only way to search many of these resources at the same time) and need to be flexible enough to deal with the inconsistencies between providers. Where the failure of imagination lies, in my mind, is that we're talking about controlled and known sources -- sources that we can harvest and manipulate the data in any way we wish for very specific services: services much more personal than discovery. It is not a failure of any piece of technology: these are solutions that require humans thinking (Source: gmane.education.web4lib)

Uk: search engine collects historical resources

Tue, 23 Mar 2010 17:23:44 +0100

Sounds like some type of federated search tool is being developed for historians. Plus, it appears after reading a couple of sentences that databases developed/managed with some human intervention (perhaps a structured vocabulary as seems to be the case here) might also make for a more accurate and timely retrieval process. From the Article: A search engine is being created to help historians find useful sources. The Connected History project will link up currently separate databases of source materials. Once complete, it will give academics or members of the public a single site that lets them search all the collections. Once completed the search engine will index digitised books, newspapers, manuscripts, genealogical records, maps and images that date from 1500-1900. “There are a number of electronic resources that have been created by universities and by commercial providers,” said Professor Robert Shoemaker from the University of Sheffield which is heading the project. “They are all available, and all separate and some require subscriptions.” “We are creating a kind of sophisticated Google for those selected range of resources that we know are of high quality,” he said. Much of the work involved in the Connected Histories project will be tagging and annotating entries so classification systems are standardised. Source: BBC (Source: ResourceShelf)

Does anyone need a federated opac search?

Tue, 23 Mar 2010 04:00:00 +0100

Are there any libraries out there who could benefit from a search that combined two or more OPACs onto one page of results? I'm looking for people who want it, but aren't actually in the market for a gazillion-dollar "federated search" solution. I'm thinking there must be some libraries with reciprocal lending agreements with other libraries, but no easy unified catalog. I'd particularly like to find someone with a bunch of different catalogs from different vendors. This would be free for the life of the test and, if we make a sellable product, for at least a year after. Tim (Source: gmane.education.web4lib)

Re: does anyone need a federated opac search?

Tue, 23 Mar 2010 04:00:00 +0100

The thing that came to mind first was, just because you might be able to do a federated search of several systems at one doesn't mean you can place requests on items. If the library card barcodes are not in the system, you can't do anything except search. As a public librarian, I've searched neighboring library systems' opacs since pretty much everyone has an online catalog now. In a couple of places I worked we did have reciprocal agreements, meaning residents of one county could register to use the library in the next county, but items had to be checked out and back in at the location where they were borrowed from. There was no delivery system between counties. Also, there is worldcat.org, that searches libraries closest to you and then radiates out across the country. Not every library system is included, however, so results may be misleading if the user doesn't know that. ILL librarians generally have access to OCLC and can do more detailed searches and actually place requests for their patrons. T (Source: gmane.education.web4lib)

Re: does anyone need a federated opac search?

Tue, 23 Mar 2010 04:00:00 +0100

Ahhh...reminds me of the good old days. My book "Linked Systems for Resource Sharing" was published 20 years ago this spring, in 1990. Bernie Sloan --- On Tue, 3/23/10, Tim Spalding <tim-6c8tSettBfPPIjl8wruziA< at >public.gmane.org> wrote: From: Tim Spalding <tim-6c8tSettBfPPIjl8wruziA< at >public.gmane.org> Subject: [Web4lib] Does anyone need a federated OPAC search? To: web4lib-Lfqs8nn97uZKgiwHgTXaBw< at >public.gmane.org Date: Tuesday, March 23, 2010, 11:25 AM Are there any libraries out there who could benefit from a search that combined two or more OPACs onto one page of results? I'm looking for people who want it, but aren't actually in the market for a gazillion-dollar "federated search" solution. I'm thinking there must be some libraries with reciprocal lending agreements with other libraries, but no easy unified catalog. I'd particularly like to find someone with a bunch of different catalogs from different vendors. This would be free for the life of the test and, if we make a sellable product, for at (Source: gmane.education.web4lib)

New from serial solutions: the debut of a database recommender

Mon, 22 Mar 2010 18:25:52 +0100

If it really works, this could be one amazingly useful tool for both info pros and end users. In some cases you not only get a list of databases to try but also actual answers. It would ultra useful if the database subscriber could add-in local databases that were not included in the main package. Perhaps a local database from a nearby state with campaign finance and lobbying data. After reading the announcement it sounds like Summon does offer something close to this. We’ll have to give them a call and get a yes or no answer. From the Announcement: The Summon service’s new Database Recommender points users to not only the indexed content in a library’s collection, but also to valuable, targeted research tools that are rarely captured by any discovery service – all within the context of a single search. Now, a user’s Summon search will return the specific books and articles that are relevant along with a list of recommended databases to consult for additional pertinent information. “Database Recommender addresses an issue that plagues all discovery solutions, whether it’s web-scale discovery or federated search or something in between: the inability to access all of the electronic content a library holds in a single search,” said Jane Burke, senior vice-president, Serials Solutions. “This database discovery function points users to specialized resources that can assist their research, whether they’re indexed by Summon or not. By highlighting these sources for researchers, Summon is able to provide the best search experience possible, inspiring users to return to the library for every research task.” This latest feature of the Summon service showcases sources that don’t lend themselves to be indexed by any service—such as dynamic or statistical databases – but make the library so well fitted to its academic community. ...

Google gadgets for igoogle

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 04:00:00 +0100

'Adding Google Gadgets to Your OPAC by John Wohlers.' The title really should have been about creating Google gadgets that bring your OPAC, Federated Search and other resources to iGoogle. It was a tech and jargon heavy session that could be very useful. Check out his webpages at:The Library: http://library.waubonsee.edu/The Google Gadgets he has made: http://library.waubonsee.edu/engine/102His techy blog: http://library.waubonsee.edu/technology/His presentation is available for download from the AKLA wiki at: http://aklaconference2010.pbworks.com/%E2%81%AFAdding-Google-Gadgets-to-Your-OPACProgram Abstract: John Wohlers will demonstrate how libraries can create Google Gadgets that make it possible to integrate the library catalog into patrons’ iGoogle pages. He will demonstrate other gadget possibilities, including the real time display of a patron’s account via SIP2. (Source: Library Banter)

Altsearchengines.com is no more

Sat, 13 Mar 2010 11:07:04 +0100

The AltSearchEngines site on alternative search engines will no longer be updated. The editor, Charles Knight, managed to cover some 4000 search engines in its three year long life. To Federated Search Blog he says that AltSearchEngines had reached a plateau: “There are only so many people interested in a daily dose of niche search engines. Not only that, but after 4,000 posts, I really felt that we had found most of them.” He is now blogging about search over at the Next Web, a new blog devoted to search and search engines. By the way: Charles Knight’s favorite alternative search engine is the very advanced German Tag Galaxy SMX West: March 2-4Go to California! (Source: Pandia Search Engine News)

Open access plus

Sun, 07 Mar 2010 05:00:00 +0100

The Fourth Rail of the Digital Revolution in Legal MaterialsMuch good work is being done to insure that as the internet develops and digital information becomes the norm, it remains freely accessible to all citizens. After all, how can citizens participate in their government if they can't have access to their own laws? Efforts by AALL, PublicResource.org and NCCUSL and others are focused primarily on making sure that all government and primary legal materials are free, reliable and that they are authentic. Again, how can citizens participate in their government if cost limits their access and they can't be assured that what they are accessing is the real thing? Law.gov, NCCUSL and AALL's Washington Affairs Office are working hard on all fronts, known collectively as "access, authentication and preservation."I want to discuss the all but overlooked aspect of the digital revolution in legal materials: meaningful access to the the law. If we think of access, authentication and preservation as three legs upon which the ideals of "open access" stand, meaningful access as described below would constitute the fourth leg of the equation, without which all the access in the world may not be enough to truly address the needs of American citizens.We librarians know good and well that the key to efficient, effective legal research is not finding cases and statutes. Rather, a skilled researcher knows which tools lead you to the right statutes and cases, and, preferably, especially if you're new to the subject, tools that also explain what is the 'law' of that subject. In this context, the 'law' is not merely a rule, but, a series of calculations and interpretations about what all the cases and statutes (and politicians and society in general?) say, and standards of practice or behavior that result, about the subject. The debate, therefore, about free, unfettered access to primary legal materials is, therefore, something of a red herring. ...

100 time-saving search engines for serious scholars

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 05:00:00 +0100

Online Universities has done a great job of bringing together a list of 100 search engines that can be of use to anyone doing reasearch, whether your an undergraduate, postgraduate or academic.These range from General resources such as BUBL Link , Meta search engines like Dogpile, archives from the British Library.The list includes a range of subject specific resources such as Chem BioFinder for Chemistry and ZMATH Online Database for Mathematics.Diarmuid (Source: Science @ UCD Library)

Nfais: emerging technologies for faster and more effective information access

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 20:14:59 +0100

Del Sattertwhaite was up next talking about “Emerging Technologies for Faster and More Effective Information Access.” The focus of the talk was how do you get faster results from a software perspective to our searches. All of the improvements in search speed has been in response to hardware upgrades up till now. Del gave us an example for how search engines work – how do you find the 6 smallest female salmon in a pond. Traditionally search engines grab all the fish. First they throw out the fish that are not salmon, then they throw out all of the male salmon, and finally they sort the females by size and pull the 6 smallest. The future model of search works like this: implant each fish with a chip with their vital stats and then radio the fish and have the smallest female salmon come to you. Next we looked at federated search problems. Right now the issues include the fact that you’re checking multiple sources with multiple indexing methodologies. In the next gen model you pull content from all the sources so the query is consistent, apply a simple ranking algorithm for all the data and provide structured and unstructured queries from the same interface. One real life example that Del gave us was the World Vital Records database. They had 12,000+ databases with 1.5 billion names. With the traditional approach a single query took 5 seconds but the index took 42 days to rebuild. With the new model it takes ~150 milliseconds to query and only 1.5 days to rebuild! Freeing up this processing power will allow us to have power left over to increase understanding of search results and lower costs. Technorati Tags: nfais (Source: What I Learned Today...)

Nfais: multi-lingual federated search

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 19:52:02 +0100

Abe Lederman from Deep Web Technologies was up next with his talk entitled: “Federated Search: Breaking Down the Language Barrier.” Abe talked to us about his new multi-lingual federated search tool. This will help non-English speakers to find content and it will also introduce English speakers to diverse perspectives from researchers in other countries. The translation tool they created is called Explorit. Basically to use this tool a user will enter their search term in their native language and Explorit will submit the query to translation services and that service will translate it into the language needed by the sources being searched. Results are returned in the databases native language. At this point Explorit translates the results into the user’s native language, ranks them and then displays them for the user. This sounds pretty darn cool – I’d like to see it in action to see how fast results can be retuned with all of this translation and ranking going on behind the scenes. For now we’ll all have to wait until June when WordWideScience.org will launch a multi-lingual search for the site. Abe’s slides can be found online at : deepwebtech.com/talks/NFAIS.pdf Technorati Tags: nfais (Source: What I Learned Today...)

Position opening: integrated library system (ils) projectmanager (2-year appointment)

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 05:00:00 +0100

Linda Hall Library is seeking qualified applicants for an Integrated Library System Project Manager. Position Title: Integrated Library System (ILS) Project Manager (2-year appointment) Scope and Role: The ILS Project manager is responsible for coordinating the on-site day-to-day operations associated with the migration of the Linda Hall Library's Integrated Library System from the SirsiDynix Horizon platform to the Ex Libris Voyager platform. Additional support and discovery services including open URL resolution, federated search, and digital asset management systems are included in this implementation. Position works with an off-site consultant retained by the Library on the implementation of discovery-based web services, and reports directly to the President of the Linda Hall Library. Responsibilities: 1. Provides leadership and coordination for the implementation of the Library's new ILS. 2. Leads the ILS Implementation Team through all aspects of the implementation from syst (Source: gmane.education.web4lib)

A new issue of ariadne (#62) is now available

Wed, 17 Feb 2010 17:30:08 +0100

Access Issue #62 of Ariadne (January, 2010) is Now Online Articles Include Editorial: The Wisdom of Communities Towards a Toolkit for Implementing Application Profiles Talat Chaudhri, Julian Cheal, Richard Jones, Mahendra Mahey and Emma Tonkin propose a user-driven methodology for the iterative development, testing and implementation of Dublin Core Application Profiles in diverse repository software environments. ‘An attack on professionalism and scholarship’?: Democratising Archives and the Production of Knowledge Andrew Flinn describes some recent developments in democratising the archive and asks whether these developments really deserve to be viewed as a threat to professional and academic standards. Get Tooled Up: Xerxes at Royal Holloway, University of London Anna Grigson, Peter Kiely, Graham Seaman and Tim Wales describe the implementation of an open source front end to the MetaLib federated search tool. Uncovering User Perceptions of Research Activity Data Cecilia Loureiro-Koechlin discusses the outcomes and lessons learned from user tests performed on the Oxford Blue Pages, a tool designed to display information about researchers and their activities at the University of Oxford. A Research Revolution: The Impact of Digital Technologies Dicky Maidment-Otlet and Judy Redfearn describe a new JISC activity to highlight how digital technologies are changing research. Abstract Modelling of Digital Identifiers Nick Nicholas, Nigel Ward and Kerry Blinco present an information model of digital identifiers, to help bring clarity to the vocabulary debates from which this field has suffered. eBooks: Tipping or Vanishing Point? Emma Tonkin investigates ebooks and takes a look at recent technological and business developments in this area. Intranet Management: Divine Comedy or Strategic Imperative? Martin White suggests that a failure to recognise the value of intranets is a symptom of a failure to recognise information as a strategic asset. ...

Integrated library system project manager at linda hall library

Wed, 10 Feb 2010 05:00:00 +0100

The Linda Hall Library is recruiting an Integrated Library System Project Manager (2-year appointment). Here's an excerpt from the ad: The ILS Project manager is responsible for coordinating the on-site day-to-day operations associated with the migration of the Linda Hall Library's Integrated Library System from the SirsiDynix Horizon platform to the Ex Libris Voyager platform. Additional support and discovery services including open URL resolution, federated search, and digital asset management systems are included in this implementation. The position reports directly to the President of the Linda Hall Library. Related Posts Library Application and Database Manager/Developer at Princeton Senior Program Developer, Library Technology at Lehigh University Library Systems Manager at the New School Systems Librarian/Library Technology Manager at Illinois Institute of Technology Director, Integrated Library Systems at University of Southern California (Source: DigitalKoans)

Integrated library system project manager at linda hall library

Wed, 10 Feb 2010 03:02:13 +0100

The Linda Hall Library is recruiting an Integrated Library System Project Manager (2-year appointment). Here's an excerpt from the ad: The ILS Project manager is responsible for coordinating the on-site day-to-day operations associated with the migration of the Linda Hall Library's Integrated Library System from the SirsiDynix Horizon platform to the Ex Libris Voyager platform. Additional support and discovery services including open URL resolution, federated search, and digital asset management systems are included in this implementation. The position reports directly to the President of the Linda Hall Library. Related Posts Library Systems Manager at the New School University Library Systems Manager at Tufts Head, Library Technology Services at University of Tennessee Library Systems Manager at University of Maine ILS and Discovery Systems Specialist at New York University (Source: DigitalKoans)

Integrated library system project manager (linda hall library)

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 01:20:02 +0100

Integrated Library System Project Manager (Linda Hall Library, Missouri) Position Title: Integrated Library System (ILS) Project Manager (2-year appointment) The Linda Hall Library for Science, Engineering, and Technology seeks an exceptional project manager to lead the Library’s implementation of its new Integrated Library System. This individual will join the Library’s Senior Management Team and assist in the creation of related policies and procedures. Scope and Role: The ILS Project manager coordinates the on-site day-to-day operations associated with the migration of the Linda Hall Library’s Integrated Library System from the SirsiDynix Horizon platform to the Ex Libris Voyager platform. ...

National library of medicine creates haiti earthquake people locator, also acts as a meta-search engine of other registries

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 22:47:01 +0100

From the Announcement: The National Library of Medicine (NLM), the world’s largest medical library and an arm of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), announces the release of the Haiti Earthquake People Locator (HEPL), a new system that can assist in the reunification of family members and loved ones during the ongoing relief efforts in Haiti. HEPL consists of an interactive Web site that provides information about people who have been found in Haiti or who are still missing after the devastating earthquake of January 12, 2010. The site allows members of the public to search for people who have been located by medical staff and other relief workers in Haiti as well as to voluntarily post information about people who are still missing. Medical and relief personnel in the region can submit photographs and descriptive information about located people via computer, cell phone, or a specialized “Found in Haiti” iPhone application that was developed by the NLM. Using data from this app, the site can even show the GPS coordinates of the spot where he was found. The HEPL system also has a meta-search engine, allowing it to simultaneously search multiple sites set up by CNN, Google and the International Red Cross. Access Haiti Earthquake People Locator Source: NLM (Source: ResourceShelf)