Google May Harm Your Computer?…01.31.09

According to Google Search, searching on Google “may harm your computer”

Library Staff Training in Tough Times…01.31.09

Here is good information from BlogJunction When times get tough, trainers share ideas:

“…The January Staff Training in Tough Times Town Hall generated a veritable flood of creative ideas and solutions. You can partake of the energy in a number of ways:

• View the archive for the full experience–combined audio and chat conversations.
• Read the entire chat log–14 pages (after deleting the logistics and weather chat) of rapid-fire interaction from a dynamic audience
• Continue the conversation on any of these sub-topics that were covered in the Town Hall session:
  • Time and money
  • Motivating learners
  • Getting management buy-in and support
  • Cross-training staff
  • Staff Development Days
  • Libraries as learning organizations“

Generation Y’s Top 10 Social Networks…01.30.09

This is an excerpt from a Mashable! post today titled The Top 10 Social Networks for Generation-Y  by Dan Schawbel although I’m sure some Gen Y’s will disagree:

“With thousands of social networks globally, only a handful of them cater specifically to a special group of individuals, known as Generation-Y. Also known as Gen-Y or millennials, Generation-Y are individuals born between 1980 and 1995, at a volume of 80 million strong.

Gen-Y was raised on technology, so much so that our cell phones are extensions of our hands and text messaging, instant messaging and Facebooking are how we interact with others, even different generations. While Facebook is our home sweet home, there are various other social networks out there that cater to this demographic and are worth looking at…

1. BrazenCareerist.com…

2. 20somethings.ning.com…

3. My.BarackObama.com…

4. myYearbook.com…

5. The Quad…

6. CoolPeopleCare…

7. Unigo…

8. Make Me Sustainable…

9. iMantri…

10. FDCareer.com…”

“Professionals, Information and Web 2.0 applications”…01.30.09

Newly released and relevant survery results by CCH INCORPORATED in Australia entitled Professionals and Web 2.0  conclusions: 

“…Over 90% of professionals believe that Web 2.0 has relevance in the workplace whilst 59% of Professionals use Web 2.0 at least once a week; these figures are set to increase over the next three years. 

Other key findings include:

• Legal professionals have higher adoption of Web 2.0 applications compared to Accounting professionals.
• The primary professional use for Web 2.0 is research, current awareness and communication with peers.
• Trust in Web 2.0 applications discourages many from using the applications in a professional setting however, this will change over the next 3-5 years.
• Peer reviewed information will become increasingly more valuable over other traditional sources.”

“A Rationale for Integrating Christian Faith and Librarianship”…01.30.09

Ideally, our libraries and our profession should be inclusive as is true Christianity. Below is the “conclusion” to an essay entitled “A Rationale for Integrating Christian Faith and Librarianship” [http://books.google.com/books?id=etLtVstE5AsC&pg=PA11&dq=Faith+in+Librarianship] by Gregory A. Smith that I found quite interesting on a subject rarely discussed in the general library community though it will likely generate negative feedback. It was published in “Christian Librarianship Essays On The Integration of Faith and Profession by Gregory A. Smith and Donald G. Davis.

“Contrary to the opinion of some, the relationship between the Christian faith and librarianship need not be adversarial. Three factors suggest the two can be integrated with mutual benefit. First, for two thousand years Christians have developed libraries in order to further their religious mission. In the process, they have preserved secular resources and stimulated the development of libraries at large.

Second, Christian interest in libraries is not merely pragmatic. Rather, Christian theism provides a rationale for many of the philisophical assumptions that underlie contemporary librarianship. The Christian faith justifies the librarians’ committment to service, intellectual freedom, preservation, literacy and other professional ideals.

Third, Christians have energetically explored the relationship between their fatih and disciplines such as philosophy, psychology, history, and biology. Though little has been done to interpret library science from a Christian perspective, insights from other fields suggests that this process would be fruitful.

In this essay, I have referred to Christianity primarily as a philosophical system. It’s central concern is, of course, spiritual–drawing us into a proper relationship with the creator of the universe: “And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent” (John 17:3).  No librarian should identify with the Christian faith simply because of its historical and philosophical ties to libraries. Nevertheless, librarians who identify themselves as Christians (and those who might consider doing so) should be encouraged to find that they may pursue their religious committments without sacrificing their professional pursuits. In short, Christian librarianship is not an oxymoron.”

A relevant video is here discussing the C.S. Lewis Foundation:

“Amazon: Kindle Demand Ahead Of Expectations”…01.30.09

From Barron’s Tech Trader Daily – Barron’s Online : Amazon: Kindle Demand Ahead … blog today by Eric Savitz:

“CEO Jeff Bezos this afternoon told investors on the company’s post-earnings conference call that demand for its Kindle e-book reader is outpacing expectations. He says the company is ‘scrambling’ for more manufacturing capacity so it can reach its goal of shipping the device immediately upon orders being received. ‘We’re working hard to get there,’he says. ‘We’re super excited by the very strong demand.’”

Copyright © 2009 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

Google’s Infamous GDrive May Be Closer to Reality…01.30.09

Sam Schroeder reports GDrive One Step Closer to Reality today on Mashable! post  :

“Ah, GDrive, the mythical, all-encompassing online storage solution that will practically render most of your hardware obsolete. At least that’s what the legend says; my bet is that it will be another free online storage service, just with more storage and less crap: just like Gmail was (compared to the competition) when it first came to be.

We’ll see who was right soon enough, because GDrive is now moving from ‘rumor’ stage to ‘somewhat founded rumor’ stage. A blogger found out references to something called GDrive in a piece ofGoogle’s code.

The code snippet in question looks like this (important parts highlighted by me):

// Localized product category of GDrive
_CI_messages.CI_GDRIVE_CATEGORY = ‘Online file backup and storage‘;
// Localized short description of GDrive (1st
// of 2 description lines)
_CI_messages.CI_GDRIVE_DESCRIPTION_1 = ‘GDrive provides reliable storage for all of your files, including photos, music and documents’;
// Localized short description of GDrive (2nd
// of 2 description lines)
_CI_messages.CI_GDRIVE_DESCRIPTION_2 = ‘GDrive allows you to access your files from anywhere, anytime, and from any device – be it from your desktop, web browser or cellular phone‘;

Furthermore, there’s some evidence on GDrive in a PDF tutorial titled “GDrive on Cosmo Getting Started Guide,” found by Google Blogoscoped. It seems to be an internal how-to on GDrive usage; it might be fake, but together with the code snippet found above, it makes for solid rumor material.”

Insight for Librarians and Others on Marketing Yourself…01.30.09

I thought this was good from Seth’s Blog today which he labels as What are you good at? . It is good advice for librarians and others either marketing themselves now or in the future:

“As you consider marketing yourself for your next gig, consider the difference between process and content.

Content is domain knowledge. People you know or skills you’ve developed. Playing the piano or writing copy about furniture sales. A rolodex of movers in a given industry, or your ability to compute stress ratios in your head.

Domain knowledge is important, but it’s (often) easily learnable.

Process, on the other hand, refers to the emotional intelligence skills you have about managing projects, visualizing success, persuading other people of your point of view, dealing with multiple priorities, etc. This stuff is insanely valuable and hard to learn. Unfortunately, it’s usually overlooked by headhunters and HR folks, partly because it’s hard to accredit or check off in a database…

As the world changes ever faster, as industries shrink and others grow, process ability is priceless. Figure out which sort of process you’re world-class at and get even better at it. Then, learn the domain… that’s what the internet is for.

One of the reasons that super-talented people become entrepreneurs is that they can put their process expertise to work in a world that often undervalues it.”

New Pew Report “Generations Online in 2009″…01.29.09

This new Pew Internet: Generations Online in 2009  report is worth reviewing:

Generations Online in 2009

1/28/2009 | Report  | Sydney Jones Susannah Fox

Over half of the adult internet population is between 18 and 44 years old. But larger percentages of older generations are online now than in the past, and they are doing more activities online, according to surveys taken from 2006-2008.

Contrary to the image of Generation Y as the “Net Generation,” internet users in their 20s do not dominate every aspect of online life. Generation X is the most likely group to bank, shop, and look for health information online. Boomers are just as likely as Generation Y to make travel reservations online. And even Silent Generation internet users are competitive when it comes to email (although teens might point out that this is proof that email is for old people).

View PDF of Report

 

Other Demographics Resources

Memo  | A Portrait of Early Adopters

Memo  | China’s Online Population Explosion

Report  | Latinos Online

Memo  | Are “Wired Seniors” Sitting Ducks?

Memo  | Generations Online

 Related Topic Areas

Online Activities & Pursuits

© 2000 – 2009 Pew Internet & American Life Project

Google Ends Up With 90 Percent Of All U.S. Search Growth…01.29.09

Interesting results about Google search from Google Gobbled Up 90 Percent Of All U.S. Search Growth In 2008 on TechCrunch today:

“…The chart above tells a clearer story. It comes out of the comScore 2008 Digital Year In Review, and shows the share of raw number of search queries in the U.S captured by the five major search engines. All the lines are pretty flat, except Google’s (the purple one). Of the 137 billion estimated total searches performed in the U.S. last year, 85 billion were done on Google.

What’s even more impressive is that nearly 90 percent of all the growth in search volume was also captured by Google. Most of that growth came from increasing the number of searches per person, rather than bringing more people to Google.”

New Kindle Speculation from CrunchGear…01.28.09

CrunchGear poster John Biggs today Kindle could have color screen, contain the hair of the rare zebracorn :

“Let the speculation begin! Our sources tell us what you already know: that the new Kindle is thinner and has a nicer design and probably has a touchscreen. Sadly, now everyone is chiming in with a little more value added rumor…I could have told you that ‘Amazon probably intends to weaponize the Kindle for use in military situations’ and that ‘Jeff Bezos will probably team up with Apple to produce the iKindle.’ Both are plausible scenarios based on my experience in the industry and powers of perception.

It will be thin, handsome, and probably cheaper. But it won’t be in color and yes, they improved it.”

“How to Survive a Social Media Revolt”…01.28.09

There was a very interesting post today on Mashable! entitled HOW TO: Survive a Social Media Revolt by Muhammad Saleem which I have excerpted here for the “lessons” relevant not only to entrepreneurs:

“…The Hulu team’s initial mistake and Jason Kilar’s subsequent response memo present many lessons for all social media entrepreneurs (and their executives).

---

Lesson #1: Communicate Even If You Have Nothing to Say

---

It baffles me to see that most of the people running popular social media sites (and new media sites in general) hardly communicate with their communities. When they do, it’s usually for one of two reasons, either an announcement of new features (which is useful for PR purposes), or to apologize for their mistakes (these apologies usually come after massive uproar, not in the absence of). Write to your community and participate in your community even if you don’t have something ground breaking to say, and definitely communicate with your community if you’re going to be making changes that will effect thousands of loyal users.

---

Lesson #2: Be Forthright

---

When you’re making a change to your service or making an important decision (examples would be Digg taking down the encryption key, Twitter limiting API use or text messages per month, Facebook embarking on a major redesign orbanning lactavists) talk to your community first. And when you do talk to them, don’t be evasive, don’t mince words or try to weasel out of the truth. Be forthright, tell them everything you know, what you have to do, and why you have to do it.

The most loyal in your community will either understand your decisions, and if they don’t, it will at least start a conversation that can result in the optimal solution for everyone. Kilar is very straightforward in stating that though his team is clearly responsible for mishandling the situation, the removed and temporarily reinstated episodes will ultimately have to go – even though Hulu doesn’t want them to – because it was the content owner that requested the removal of the episodes.

---

Lesson #3: Make It Clear That You’re Listening

---

As important as it is to communicate to your community, it is equally important to listen to what they have to say. And if you’re listening to them, make it clear that you’re listening, absorbing, and acting based on the feedback. Though it took a disastrous situation like this, Kilar makes it clear that the community has his ear and that his team is reading every email, every blog post, and every twitter message posted.

---

Lesson #4: Acknowledge Your Mistakes

---

When you make a mistake, rather than hiding in a bunker and waiting for the backlash to go away, or worse, trying to fight the backlash, it’s always best to come out and admit that you made a mistake. After all, the customer is always right (especially if there are millions of customers, all in agreement, they must be right), and Kilar knows that and agrees that the feedback from the Hulu community was ‘very reasonable’.

The best thing Kilar did, was to issue a rare (for the industry) and incredibly refreshing apology where he admits to screwing up royally in how the Hulu team handled the situation. Not just that, he goes on to acknowledge that he understands completely, exactly what the mistake was, what a better course of action would have been, and makes a point to state that the company knows its users deserve better.

---

Lesson #5: Promise to Learn and Improve – Then Deliver

---

The only thing worse than making a mistake is repeating it. And yet, we see companies apologizing for the same mistake again and again, promising each time that they will learn, improve, and grow with their community…”

“Google/AAP Settlement: What’s in it for libraries?”…01.28.09

Here is an excerpt from today’s post Google: What’s in it for libraries? by Karen Cole [Coyle's InFormation] who “gave on the Google panel at ALA in Denver”:

“…Google/AAP Settlement: What’s in it for libraries? What I can say with certainty is that we don’t really know. And I don’t really know. What I have to work with is the settlement document, all 140+ pages and 15 appendices, which is the same information that is available to you. But in spite of its size, that is just the tip of the iceberg. It doesn’t reveal the discussions that took place nor the reasons behind the decisions that were made. Some people know much more because they were involved in the negotiations. However, everyone who was involved is sworn to secrecy and can’t speak about it. This greatly limits what we can and cannot know about the potential effect on libraries…

You and I know that Google is not a library, but we also know that our users don’t understand that difference. And I’m pretty sure that some city managers with budget problems will not understand that difference, but they do know what it costs them to maintain a public library. I hope that Google understands that its own ambitions can have far-reaching effects on public institutions, but I don’t know if there is any way to mitigate the danger that Google can pose to those institutions.

To my library colleagues, I have some advice. We have to be willing to throw off the past and learn to innovate. This is a new information world, and we must be full participants in it. To be visible we must embrace the Web as our data platform, and to do that we must reject any attempts to prevent us from participating openly on the Net.”

“Positioning SLA for the Future: Alignment Initiative Results and Recommendations”…01.28.09

Judith A. Siess points out today on her blog OPL Plus (not just for OPLs anymore) a worthwhile read which is “…a report on the Special Libraries Association’s plans for positioning itself and the profession for the future. It was presented 13 January 2009, SLA Winter Meeting in Savannah, Georgia.”

There are some interesting things in the report entitled Positioning SLA for the Future: Alignment Initiative Results and Recommendations which you can read or download here: [http://www.sla.org/pdfs/FH_PositioningSLA0113090-Notes.pdf ]

HathiTrust Partners with OCLC…01.28.09

OCLC press release today announced:

“HathiTrust, a group of some of the largest research libraries in the United States collaborating to create a repository of their vast digital collections, and OCLC will work together to increase visibility of and access to items in the HathiTrust’s shared digital repository.

Launched jointly by the 12-university consortium known as the Committee on Institutional Cooperation and the 11 university libraries of the University of California system, HathiTrust leverages the time-honored commitment to preservation and access to information that university libraries have valued for centuries. The group’s digital collections, including millions of books, will be archived and preserved in a single repository hosted by HathiTrust. Materials in the public domain and those where rightsholders have given permission will be available for reading online.

OCLC and HathiTrust will work together to increase online visibility and accessibility of the digital collections by creating WorldCat records describing the content and linking to the collections via WorldCat.org and WorldCat Local. The organizations will launch a project in the coming months to develop specifications and determine next steps...”

© 2008 OCLC

Plastic Logic Competition for Kindle?…01.28.09

From a FastCompany [FastCompany.com - Where ideas and people meet | Fast Company] post [Amazon's Kindle 2 E-Reader to Debut on February 9 | Technomix ... ] today  :  “…First, Amazon’s own Kindle page is reporting that the Kindle is sold out. Buyers are told they’ll have to wait a few months for delivery–a suspicious slip in supply for such a successful device from a company that knows how to handle a supply chain.

Second, the Kindle hasn’t been updated at all since it came out in November 2007. That’s a long time in the gadget world, giving Amazon R&D time to devise a successor.

Third, a storm of internet excitement built up last year when the previously unheard-of Plastic Logic [Plastic Logic Home] announced its e-reader Kindle competitor. The device seemed to be thinner–at just 7mm–and more high-tech than the Kindle, having a larger touchscreen and the ability to annotate all sorts of documents and texts. A few leaked bits of info have recently confirmed that while the device was originally due soon, it’s since been delayed until late 2009 or 2010.

And now there’s been a confirmation that Amazon boss Jeff Bezos will be at the February 9 event. The fact that he’s attending underlines that it really is something “important,” particularly since he was also present at the Kindle’s launch event…”

Copyright © 2009 Mansueto Ventures LLC. All rights reserved

See video demo of Plastic Logic at InfoWorld here: http://www.infoworld.com/video/index.html?bcpid=1388789577&bclid=1443717127&bctid=7052715001

Restoring Morale and Productivity After Layoffs in the Library…01.28.09

This following is some potentially useful information for both sides of an organization’s “downsizing” from a post on LibGig [Library Jobs, careers, placement, recruiting | LibGig | Your ...] entitled Restoring Morale After Layoffs which is excerpted here: 

“How do you restore morale and productivity after layoffs occur? The Hayes Group International suggests a five-pronged approach to keeping survivors afloat:

Plan: Figure out how the layoff will be communicated and how to assist survivors. Work out reassigned tasks and responsibilities ahead of time. Communicate why the changes were necessary and how roles will change…

Listen empathetically: Most survivors will likely go through a period of grieving and guilt. A manager who’s able to console his team can help improve morale…

Maintain trust: Many survivors will feel at least disappointed; some will feel betrayed. To try to maintain trust, observe three important elements — demonstrate concern, act with integrity, and achieve results.

Develop survivors’ skills: With reassigned responsibilities, some employees may need additional training…

Don’t overpromise; be honest. If you swear the layoffs are over and more occur, it’ll be almost impossible to regain trust.”

ALA Releases “Core Competencies” for All Librarians…01.28.09

Library Journal reports today [After More Than a Decade of Debate, ALA Approves Core Competencies ...] that “…the American Library Assocation (ALA) Council, after minor editing, Tuesday approved the Core Competencies (CCs) developed over the past two years by the ALA Presidential Task Force on Library Education…”

Well, here they are for posterity:

“1.       Foundations of the Profession  

1A. The ethics, values, and foundational principles of the library and information profession. 

1B. The role of library and information professionals in the promotion of democratic principles and intellectual freedom (including freedom of expression, thought, and conscience). 

1C. The history of libraries and librarianship. 

1D. The history of human communication and its impact on libraries.   

1E. Current types of library (school, public, academic, special, etc.) and closely related information agencies. 

1F. National and international social, public, information, economic, and cultural policies and trends of significance to the library and information profession. 

1G.  The legal framework within which libraries and information agencies operate.  That framework includes laws relating to copyright, privacy, equal rights (e.g., the Americans with Disabilities Act), and intellectual property. 

1H. The importance of effective advocacy for libraries, librarians, other library workers, and library services. 

1I.    .   The techniques used to analyze complex problems and create appropriate solutions. 

1J.   Effective communication techniques (verbal and written)..

1K. Certification and/or licensure requirements of specialized areas of the profession. 

2.     Information Resources 

2A. Concepts and issues related to the lifecycle of recorded knowledge and information, from creation through various stages of use to disposition. 

2B. Concepts, issues, and methods related to the acquisition and disposition of resources, including evaluation, selection, purchasing, processing, storing, and de-selection. 

2C. Concepts, issues, and methods related to the management of various collections.

2D. Concepts, issues, and methods related to the maintenance of collections, including preservation and conservation. 

3.     Organization of Recorded Knowledge and Information 

3A. The principles involved in the organization and representation of recorded knowledge and information. 

3B. The developmental, descriptive, and evaluative skills needed to organize recorded knowledge and information resources. 

3C. The systems of cataloging, metadata, indexing, and classification standards and methods used to organize recorded knowledge and information. 

4.     Technological Knowledge and Skills 

4A. Information, communication, assistive, and related technologies as they affect the resources, service delivery, and uses of libraries and other information agencies. 

4B. The application of information, communication, assistive, and related technology and tools consistent with professional ethics and prevailing service norms and applications. 

4C. The methods of assessing and evaluating the specifications, efficacy, and cost efficiency of technology-based products and services. 

4D. The principles and techniques necessary to identify and analyze emerging technologies and innovations in order to recognize and implement relevant technological improvements. 

5. Reference and User Services 

5A. The concepts, principles, and techniques of reference and user services that provide access to relevant and accurate recorded knowledge and information to individuals of all ages and groups. 

5B. Techniques used to retrieve, evaluate, and synthesize information from diverse sources for use by individuals of all ages and groups. 

5C. The methods used to interact successfully with individuals of all ages and groups to provide consultation, mediation, and guidance in their use of recorded knowledge and information. 

5D. Information literacy/information competence techniques and methods. 

5E. The principles and methods of advocacy used to reach specific audiences to promote and explain concepts and services. 

5F. The principles of assessment and response to diversity in user needs, user communities, and user preferences. 

5G. The principles and methods used to assess current and emerging situations or circumstances to the design and implementation of appropriate services or resource development. 

6. Research 

6A. The fundamentals of quantitative and qualitative research methods. 

6B. The central research findings and research literature of the field. 

6C. The principles and methods used to assess the actual and potential value of new research. 

7.  Continuing Education and Lifelong Learning 

7A. The necessity of continuing professional development of practitioners in libraries and other information agencies. 

7B. The role of the library in the lifelong learning of patrons, including an understanding of lifelong learning in the provision of quality service and the use of lifelong learning in the promotion of library services. 

7C. Learning theories, instructional methods, and achievement measures; and their application in libraries and other information agencies. 

7D. The principles related to the teaching and learning of concepts, processes and skills used in seeking, evaluating, and using recorded knowledge and information. 

8.     Administration and Management 

8A. The  principles of planning and budgeting in libraries and other information agencies. 

8B. The principles of effective personnel practices and human resource development. 

8C. The concepts behind, and methods for, assessment and evaluation of library services and their outcomes. 

8D.  The concepts behind, and methods for, developing partnerships, collaborations, networks, and other structures with all stakeholders and within communities served.”

2009 © American Library Association

OCLC Yet Again Unsuccessfully Tries to Defend Controversial Major Policy Shift…01.28.09

Library Journal reported from the ALA mid-winter conference on OCLC’s defensive spiel to explain their temporarily suspended new policy which has caused a big stink in the library community in OCLC Defends Records Policy, Faces Questions, Suggestions, and … excerpted here:

“…On one level OCLC’s recently revised—and suspended—policy regarding record-sharing, aiming to ’modernize record use and transfer practices for application on the Web, foster new uses of WorldCat data that benefit members and clarify data sharing rights and restrictions,’ was simply a matter of bad communication, a cooperative behaving in top-down rather than consultative fashion.

That, OCLC VP Karen Calhoun could easily acknowledge. However, in much of her presentation Monday at the American Library Association (ALA) Midwinter Meeting in Denver, she firmly defended the intent of the policy, suggesting that critics in the blogosphere had an unrealistic view of the library ecosystem. In response, some panelists suggested that OCLC itself was failing to modernize.

She apologized, on behalf of the study group and OCLC, for not taking the ‘value of participatory decision-making nearly seriously enough’ and said the review process will address not just the policy and process behind it but also what community norms should be in place.

A revision is expected by the third quarter of 2009. Calhoun acknowledged that ‘OCLC is caught, along with many other organizations, in this painful transition,’ one in which new business models emerge and potential competitors like the upstart ‡biblios.net provide similar services…”

©2009 Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved

My perception on the subject is reflected in this T-shirt–a long-term, greedy power grab from the dark side undermining years of cooperative data-sharing:

Top 300 World Repositories…01.27.09

The new and interesting January 2009 Ranking Web of World Repositories from Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), “the largest public research body in Spain,” has been released.

Here are the top 50 of the top 300 list [CCHS-CSIC©2002-2009]:

		POSITION
WORLD RANK	REPOSITORY	COUNTRY	SIZE	VISIBILITY	RICH FILES	SCHOLAR
1	Arxiv.org e-Print Archive		8	1	3	4
2	Social Science Research Network		6	4	1	7
3	Hal CNRS		12	15	2	31
4	Research Papers in Economics RePEc		2	7	107	5
5	MIT Dspace		13	42	4	10
6	Institut National de Recherche en Informatique et en Automatique Archive Ouverte		22	9	119	15
7	École Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne Infoscience		11	23	38	75
8	University of Saint Gallen Forschungsplattform Alexandria		17	26	15	108
9	University of Oregon Scholars’ Bank		45	30	28	51
10	CERN Document Server		16	25	115	28
11	University of Michigan Deep Blue		20	59	7	19
12	Munich Personal RePEc Archive		69	29	27	42
13	University of Southampton ePrints		64	20	93	16
14	University of Queensland Espace		19	48	69	12
15	Scientific and Technical Information Network		30	12	194	6
16	Organic ePrints		18	49	32	84
17	Humboldt Universitat zu Berlin Publikationsserver		41	45	46	61
18	Citeseer		1	2	308	8
19	E LIS: Research in Computing and Library and Information Science		111	16	97	35
20	Universitat Politécnica de Catalunya Upcommons		21	19	53	192
21	National Library of Finland Dspace Services		23	68	60	22
22	Igitur Archive Universiteit Utrecht		61	72	5	21
23	Dissertations of the University of Groningen		52	67	6	55
24	Oregon State University Scholarsarchive		84	39	31	81
25	University of Southampton: Department of Electronics and Computer Science		58	34	49	129
26	Queensland University of Technology ePrints		54	80	19	30
27	King Fahd Universiy of Petroleum and Minerals ePrints		75	44	75	69
28	Goteborg University Open Archive		96	43	29	102
29	Ludwig Maximilians Universitat Munchen Dissertationen		115	35	68	67
30	Swiss Federal Institute of Technology e-Collection		72	88	20	18
31	Cogprints Cognitive Sciences ePrint Archive		77	28	95	143
32	Georg August Universität Gottingen Dokumentenserver		87	58	33	94
33	Universidad de los Andes Repositorio Institucional		71	54	144	20
34	PubMed Central		3	3	432	3
35	Georgia Tech’s Institutional Repository		33	89	39	76
36	Universidade do Minho Repositorium		34	92	66	39
37	Kyushu University Institutional Repository		82	63	25	113
38	Indian Institute of Science Bangalore ePrints		50	73	40	112
39	University of California eScholarship Repository		43	14	336	27
40	Hyper Article en Ligne Sciences de l’Homme et de la Société		92	27	34	226
41	Leiden University Digital Repository		28	100	65	57
42	Ohio State University Knowledge Bank		29	77	12	189
43	Kyoto University Research Information Repository		56	121	16	11
44	Reseau des Bibliotheques de Suisse Occidentale Bibliotheque Numerique		39	17	297	100
45	Smithsonian/NASA Astrophysics Data System		4	5	486	1
46	Universitat Stuttgartelektronische Hochschulschriften		121	22	84	193
47	University of Toronto T Space		47	124	11	26
48	Universitat Heidelberg Dokumentenserver		79	103	24	68
49	Jet Propulsion Laboratory Beacon Espace		27	144	10	17
50	Dialnet		5	10	510	2

7 Librarian Presentation Tips…01.27.09

Below is some pretty good advice on doing presentations from My top seven presentation tips by Jill Hurst-Wahl, a “…a digitization consultant and owner of Hurst Associates, Ltd. She also teaches digitization for Syracuse University’s School of Information Studies…

Use language that your entire audience will understand. Take out the jargon and the acronyms. If you need to use jargon, explain it.

Tell stories to illustrate your points. Stories are very powerful tools.

If you are using PowerPoint, try to limit the number of slides as well as the number of words per slide. (See the 10-20-30 Rule of PowerPoint below). Larry Lessig, for example, uses PowerPoint masterfully because he understands the minimalist approach to his slides.

Realize that you cannot cover the entire world in 30 or 60 minutes. Craig Valentine suggests that you can thoroughly cover one major point in 10 minutes. If you try to cover too much in too short a period of time, you will lose your audience.

Don’t memorize everything you are going to say. Yes, do practice your presentation several times (and out loud) and make notes to remind you of what you intend to say, but a memorized speech can sound memorized rather than natural. By the way, Aaron Schmidt suggests that you spend time learning additional information about your topic, rather than excessively practicing your presentation. That will help you feel confident about the topic and give you additional information for the Q&A.

Make a connection with the audience. Look at them. Smile. Talk to them. Engage them. When you do this, they will give you feedback (visual and oral) that will help you know that you are reaching them and getting your point across.

Be comfortable. If you aren’t comfortable, you may not be in the right mood to get your point across. For me, this means double-checking what I have on and make sure I look fine (no food on my jacket!), as well as putting on lotion and lip balm. You may laugh, but it works for me!…”

Library Day in the Life…01.27.09

I’m not thrilled to participate in/join with the Library Day in the Life project because it makes me feel a little narcissistic and will highlight the mundane aspects of the job.  However, if I find the time (disclaimer in case it doesn’t happen), I think at least minimally following the plan will provide supplemental information relative to the stated purpose of the “The Proverbial Lone Wolf Librarian’s Weblog“ which is all about chronicling my professional growth and experience while working as a solo, special librarian.

I had not even considered participation until today so I guess I’ll write at least a minimal post every day next week instead of starting in the middle of this week.  

For posterity and those who may be unaware of it, the description of the project is as follows:

“Whether you are a librarian or library worker of any kind, help us share and learn about the joys and challenges of working in a library. Join us by sharing details of your day for a week on your blog. Not only is this a great way for us to see what our colleagues are doing and how they spend their days but it’s a great way for students who are interested in the library profession to see what we really do.”

Current Cloud Computing Risks & Guidelines…01.27.09

Here is some sensible advice on “cloud computing” today from Is Your Head in the Clouds? [http://www.thegeekweekly.com/feature/head_in_clouds/index.html] by Marc Saltzman: 

“…Know The Risks
After all, you’ve been reading email in the ‘cloud’ for many years now, with web-based services like Windows Live Hotmail and Gmail, so why not work on your business apps remotely, too? You can, but cloud computing carries a few risks, warns Ted Schadler, vice president and principal analyst at Forrester Research, a Cambridge, Mass.-based independent research company covering business and technology. “Cloud computing is a new concept for most companies, and as with anything new, it raises questions.”

Some argue working in the cloud can be safer than carrying around sensitive corporate data that could be lost or stolen, but you should evaluate the potential risks involved.

Host company practices ”Some professionals worry about the service levels, the risks of sensitive data or contacts leaking out,” says Schadler. In other words, how do you know the company you’re paying to host your important work files online is properly protecting them?

When the company closes shop Another concern, says Schadler, is whether you can get your data back if the cloud provider goes belly up. And hey, in this economy, an online back-up and storage company could bite the bullet unexpectedly.

Consistent access What if you can’t get online because of ISP maintenance or you’re on an airplane that doesn’t offer Wi-Fi? As you can see, cloud computing has its shortcomings, too.

Sticking with a known company makes a difference. “Companies like AT&T Hosting & Application Services, that’s delivering hosted Microsoft Exchange, Salesforce with its CRM suite, or Microsoft itself, don’t have reputations for security breaches or other business failures,” says Schadler. “Instead, they invest more than your average Fortune 1,000 company in security technology and best practices — you see this reflected in their security certifications.”

Google Apps, for example, has the SAS 70 Type II certification to show its data centers and processes pass muster with a third-party auditor.

New Security Practices Needed
Cloud-style computing encompasses new security technologies and techniques, which will be available from new types of service providers, says John Pescatore, an analyst with Gartner, an IT research firm based in Stamford, Conn…

Securing Data In The Cloud
Pescatore recommends these steps to secure your cloud computing experience:

Check out security If you work for a company, your company should extend security controls between mobile users and cloud-based services. If you’re a sole entrepreneur, it’s up to you to make sure the cloud company you’re using takes proper security precautions.

Use strong passwords As cloud-based computing becomes more commonplace, companies should prioritize the implementation of technology that provides for the transition to longer encryption keys — which are harder to compromise by malicious types.

Limit the use of public PCs When using a public computer at a hotel’s business lounge or airport lounge, be sure to delete Internet history, cookies and clear cache before you’re done, and be cautious of “keylogging” programs that attempt to record your keyboard strokes.

Watch out for rogues Also be cautious which Wi-Fi network you’re joining as it could be a “rogue” connection set up by a malicious type determined to steal your data. While that free wireless connection your computer sniffed out in your hotel is tempting, pay the small fee for your hotel’s secure network.

Trend Map for 2009 and Beyond…01.27.09

I think this is a very interesting image and review of projected trends that I hadn’t seen before from Ross Dawson [http://rossdawsonblog.com/] which is worth a closer look: 

“Created by Future Exploration Network’s Chief Futurist Richard Watson, also of NowandNext.com, the 2009 trend map moves on from the subway map theme of the last years to show the multi-tentacled hydra that is the year ahead.”

Click on the map to download the pdf (810KB)

“Why Cloud Computing Still Doesn’t Work and How Google Will Fix it”…01.27.09

A post today on Wired Blog network Why Cloud Computing Still Doesn’t Work and How Google Will Fix it … from Charlie Sorrel is worth a read:

“The promise of cloud computing is a good one — all your gadgets can be used to access all your information, all the time. Your iPhone can call up just the same files and music as your desktop machine at home. You can go on the road with a laptop and just pull down your data from the internet. And that same data, your precious data, is secure, backed up in the ether and resistant to both disaster and your own negligence alike.

The reality is far from this… 

The main problem is ubiquity. By definition, your most important files are the ones you need with you at all times, or at least at any time. But what if the internet connection is down? How do you get the spreadsheet from Google docs, or refer to the map in that email when you are offline?

The standard scenario is that you have your connection chopped of when you’re on a plane, although I actually like the relaxing offline time of a plane ride. This is a problem, but in truth you are cut off whenever you are away from home or office.

What about 3G modems? Well, they work for small data, but the networks are still too slow for shifting big files like music, photos or movies and when you get outside the Big City and its 3G coverage, you may as well be on dial-up. And war-driving for Wi-Fi is no way for the professional to work.

So, say we solved the network problem. You have a netbook with a day-long battery life and a guaranteed, 24/7 connection that’s fast enough to stream HD video. We’ll dream a little here and pretend that it is also cheap and has no crazy bandwidth caps. Would this work?

Maybe, but I think most people still like to have their data with them, where they can ‘touch’ it. The cloud is nice as a backup, but if it’s the only copy of your data, it’s a little worrying not to have your own local one.

Enter Google’s GDrive, which is being rumored for launch soon. The idea seems to be that you upload all of your data to Google’s servers and then use that instead of a hard-drive. This seems stupid.

More likely is that you mirror your computer’s drive at Google and then changes are seamlessly copied across your various devices and the web as you make them. This keeps every gadget up to date but also means you can grab files while in an internet cafe without your own machine.

Sounds dumb? There are already services that do this. I have my MacBook Pro and my hackintosh partially synced via DropBox, and I can also get those files on my iPod Touch via the internet. the problem is that I only get 2GB free, and if I pay, I can still only get 50GB. Remember how, before Gmail, you counted webmail storage space in the megabytes?

I have a feeling GDrive will do the same for web storage. All your info, everywhere, all the time. Think of it as IMAP for everything. It’ll happen, and when it does, our portable gadgets will become truly useful.”

Amazon Press Conference on Kindle Slated for Feb. 9…01.27.09

This report about the status of the Kindle from The All Things Digital [AllThingsD] blog post Time to Crank Up The Kindle Rumor Mill: Amazon Press Conference Set For Feb. 9 :

“When will see a new version of the Kindle, Amazon’s much-talked about e-book reader? Maybe in two weeks: The company will be holding an ‘important’ press conference in New York on Monday February 9, it tells me.

Besides the where and when (10am at the Morgan Library in midtown), the company hasn’t provided any other details. But I’ll note that the last time Amazon (AMZN) held a New York press conference, in November 2007, it was to unveil Kindle 1.0. When CEO Jeff Bezos spoke to Walt Mossberg at All Things Digital in May 2008, he wouldn’t peg a time frame for a new Kindle iteration. But it seems reasonable to expect a new one more than a year after the launch of the initial version.”

AND…

CrunchGear also reported today in its post Amazon press conference on 2/9: I can haz kindle too?  :

“Last time Amazon had a press conference they released a little something I like to call the best ebook reader in the whole wide world. Well, we’ve got a seat at another conference on Monday, February 9 and unless they’re announcing a Bezos-themed amusement park in the Ukraine, I’m pretty sure we’re going to see the Kindle 2.

As Michael wrote before the holiday:

The images that surfaced of the new Kindle in October are real – it’s a longer device but not as thick as the original Kindle, and fixes some of the button issues that plague users (like accidental page turns). A larger-screen student version is still scheduled for the first half of 2009.

The event will be at the lush Morgan Library & Museum which seems to suggest something to do with books. If our sources are correct, the new Kindle will be quite a bit nicer than the original model. It was originally described as being what the iPod Touch was to the original 1st gen iPod – a quantum leap in gadget styling and technology.”

Photo credit: The Boy Genius

Amazon Annouces It Will Only Offer Kindle E-book Format…01.26.09

Publishers Weekly [Publishers Weekly - International Book & Bookselling News, Reviews ...] reported today [Amazon To Drop Microsoft, Adobe e-Book Formats - 1/26/2009 7:08:00 ...]:

“Amazon.com has notified its publisher and author clients that it plans to cease offering e-books in the Microsoft Reader and Adobe e-book formats. In the future, the online retailer says it plans to offer only e-books in the Kindle format (for wireless download to its Kindle reading device) and the Mobipocket format, both of which are owned by Amazon. The online retailer’s note asks publishers and authors to make sure that Amazon has written permission to offer their books for sale in the Mobipocket format.

Amazon did not specify how long the Adobe PDF and Microsoft formats will continue to be available…”

©2009 Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Google’s “GDrive” With Cloud Computing Coming in 2009…01.26.09

The London Observer [Observer | From the Observer | guardian.co.uk] yesterday [Google plans to make PCs history | Technology | The Observer] reported about Google’s coming 

“Google is to launch a service that would enable users to access their personal computer from any internet connection, according to industry reports. But campaigners warn that it would give the online behemoth unprecedented control over individuals’ personal data.

The Google Drive, or “GDrive”, could kill off the desktop computer, which relies on a powerful hard drive. Instead a user’s personal files and operating system could be stored on Google’s own servers and accessed via the internet.

The long-rumoured GDrive is expected to be launched this year, according to the technology news website TG Daily, which described it as ‘the most anticipated Google product so far’. It is seen as a paradigm shift away from Microsoft’s Windows operating system, which runs inside most of the world’s computers, in favour of  ’cloud computing’, where the processing and storage is done thousands of miles away in remote data centres…

Google refused to confirm the GDrive, but acknowledged the growing demand for cloud computing…”

guardian.co.uk © Guardian News and Media Limited 2009

Search Engine Market Share…01.26.09

These are some interesting search engine market share update reports from the Search Engine Land: Must Read News About Search Marketing & Search … post Search Market Share 2008: Google Grew, Yahoo & Microsoft Dropped & Stabilized :

“…Now for the charts. I’ll start with the share of all searches in the United States estimated to have been processed by Google in a given month. Why four lines? There are four major ratings services out there: comScore (CS), Nielsen (NR), Compete (CP) and Hitwise (HW). Each gathers data in different ways, and what each considers to be a ‘search’ varies as well.

I plot them against each other in order to see how they agree on overall trends. For example, it matters less to me that comScore thought Google started 2008 with a roughly 58% share while Hitwise estimated a 66% share. What’s important is that both services agreed that Google’s share overall grew:

“Share of Searches“

…”

Fahrenheit 451! and Censorship…01.26.09

The  theunquietlibrary today posted a Barnes & Nobel video trailer on BN Studio: Book Trailer Teaser for Fahrenheit 451! which I thought was good.  The video highlights the continuing misconception (even among some overly zealous librarians) that Ray Bradbury’s 1953 classic was about censorship.  The reality, according to the author [Los Angeles News - Ray Bradbury: Fahrenheit 451 Misinterpreted ...] in 2007, is that the subject was television and how such media will dumb down the populace by producing less reading.

Here is the Barnes & Nobel book trailer: