google newsletter returns

After many posts on many lists about whether or not librarians had been used and dissed (
http://tinyurl.com/59cklf) the Google Newsletter is back. Coincidence or not, it's nice to have it back again. Here's a
link to the newsletter.

The Centered Librarian Returns

We are back and with a full tank and at least four people riding shotgun. After several months hiatus we are more postalicious than ever! So refresh your feeds, clean out your caches and prepare to be illuminated!

(or at least mildly amused)

I Feel Pretty: Amazing SFX Menu Do-overs

A couple years back, David Walker of Cal State created a small video-tutorial about rethinking the SFX menu, ugly toad that it is out of the box.

It's amazing how a small video could inspire so much. Walker, interviewed a couple weeks ago by one of Centered Librarian's cub reporters, updated CL on progress:

"About half of our Cal State campuses now have it in production, and some other universities have implemented it as well. Ex Libris even inquired about making it the default SFX interface, but not sure what will become of that."

Here are some examples. Food for thought!

<http://sfx.calstate.edu:9003/sonoma?sid=Entrez:PubMed&id=pmid:16920847>
http://sfx.calstate.edu:9003/sanmarcos?sid=Entrez:PubMed&id=pmid:16920847http://sfx.calstate.edu:9003/sanmarcos?sid=Entrez:PubMed&id=pmid:16920847>
http://sfx.calstate.edu:9003/cpslo?sid=Entrez:PubMed&id=pmid:16920847http://sfx.calstate.edu:9003/cpslo?sid=Entrez:PubMed&id=pmid:16920847>

http://sfx5.exlibrisgroup.com:3210/uconn?sid=Entrez:PubMed&id=pmid:16920847http://sfx.calstate.edu:9003/maritime?sid=Entrez:PubMed&id=pmid:16920847>
http://healthwa.exlibris.com.au:3210/fhhs?sid=Entrez:PubMed&id=pmid:16920847 < < <

Another Catalog Interface Entry, This One Open Source

A field now crowded with Endeca, Primo, Aquabrowser, Scriblio, Open Library (the last two open source), etc. just got a little busier. Index Data, an open source consulting firm, just got an IMLS grant to build a "Universal Search Solution" for NELLCO, the New England Law Library Consortium.

According to the press release, "The Universal Search Solution will combine multiple technologies (consolidated indexing and data storage; metadata harvesting; and metasearching) to put together a single window to disparate resources. This fusion of technologies could serve as a model for future library search services, and indeed, the technologies used will be made available as open source software." Indeed, indeed.

Facebook Library Interaction Preferences

The folks over at University of Michigan Libraries recently purchased a facebook survey to determine how facebook users preferred to interact with librarians. The results may surprise you. Check out this interesting little study on the user's lib blog.

Competition for Google Books?

From the press release:

BookSurge, an Amazon group (NASDAQ: AMZN) and leader in Print on Demand services, and Kirtas Technologies, a world leader in high-quality nondestructive book digitization, today announced a collaboration with universities and public libraries to preserve thousands of rare and inaccessible books from their collections and distribute them via BookSurge's Print-on-Demand service. This collaboration, which will greatly enhance the selection of rare and historic books for sale on Amazon.com and other retail channels, represents a breakthrough approach to digitization and preservation that will ensure the public will have access to these works indefinitely via Print on Demand.

Syndetic Solutions Introduces Syndetics ICE

From the press release:

Syndetic Solutions, a subsidiary of R.R. Bowker and the premier provider of enriched content for a library's online catalog, today announced the introduction of Syndetics Indexed Content Enrichment (ICE), an enhancement that allows library patrons to search all Syndetics content directly from the library's Online Public Access Catalog (OPAC).

Google does Primo

Well not really, but hey have announced Universal Search

Google Universal Search is a metasearch of web, video, news, images, local and books, etc.

Here is more in the official Google Blog post.

They have begun to incorporate this as you see today is Google's new format but it does not look like they have rolled it all together yet.

BibMe

BibMe bills itself as "The fully automatic bibliography maker that auto-fills. It's the quickest way to build a works cited page."

And it's free.

BibMe

Tumblr

This is fun! Quicker and easier than a blog entry. Good way to keep track of sites and pix of interest.

From Tumblr.com

"What's a tumblelog?
To make a simple analogy: If blogs are journals, tumblelogs are scrapbooks.
You can also look at tumblelogs as slightly more structured blogs that make it easier, faster, and more fun to post and share stuff you find or create."

LibSite

This new Library-related website that looks appealing and well-done.

It is described as "A Recommendation Service for Library-related Websites. The goal is to show-case and otherwise promote what librarians and libraries are doing online. The goal also is to offer an environment where this information can be engaged, arranged and rearranged in any number of ways. For that reason, we offer ratings and favorites and listings whether by tag, title or feed."

Take a look...

LibSite

Yahoo Widgets 4 Trumps Vista, OS X

...."There's a new Widget Dock, which is exactly what you'd expect: a simple "launch bar" that can be placed along any edge or in any corner on your display. Widgets are managed there -- you can hide, delete or set preferences on any widget by right-clicking the dock. Yahoo Widgets 4 installs with a Flickr widget and a widget search widget. If you have a Flickr account, the Flickr widget can be set up to display your own photos through a simple authentication process."

..."The discovery widget is a nice touch. You can search for new widgets and add them to your stack right there in the dock."

To find out how, click here

A delightful Billy Collins Animated Poem

Entitled "forgetfulness", this is quite thoughtful.

HIP-HOP COURSE Rap puts cool spin on library research

A class in rap research is helping Ohio State University freshmen learn, in a palatable way, how to do college-level research. A hip-hop scholar herself, instructor and OSU Fine Arts Librarian Leta Hendricks worried that nobody would sign up, but the two-hour, once-a-week seminar filled quickly with 17 rap fans....Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch, Mar. 3

Last 3 sentences in the article: "Before this class, I would just Google everything," said Hall. "But I’ve learned anyone can put anything up there. Now, I know different ways to utilize research."

http://www.dispatch.com/news-story.php?story=dispatch/2007/03/03/20070303-D1-04.html

Shift Happens

A very thought provoking and informative presentation.

Found via The Shifted Librarian

Second Life and the future of Libraries

The College Center for Library Automation's LINCCWeb Strategic Planning Team and members of the CCLA Website Team are looking into new, novel and advanced ways to deliver LINCCWeb products and services. One of the vehicles we are exploring is Second Life (www.secondlife.com). Several of us have already established a presence on that service and we are amazed at the number of libraries and library services that are already there. For example, the Kansas State Library has a completely functional virtual library staffed by real librarians – all hosted in a virtual world. There are dozens more.

To get you excited about these possibilities, I offer this video presentation by the New Media Consortium (www.nmc.org). The New Media Consortium (NMC) is an international 501(c)3 not-for-profit consortium of more than 200 colleges, universities, museums, corporations, and other learning-focused organizations dedicated to the exploration and use of new media and new technologies.

This is amazing.

Too many VENDORS are like bad marriages

Creating Passionate Users has an interesting post comparing customer/ company relationships to bad marriages. Check it out here.

Google launches major broadside against MS Office

From the site:

Google Apps for Your Domain lets you offer private-labeled email, instant messaging and calendar accounts to all of your users, so they can share ideas and work more effectively. These services are all unified by the start page, a unique, dynamic page where your users can preview their inboxes and calendars, browse content and links that you choose, search the web, and further customize the page to their liking. You can also design and publish web pages for your domain.

StudyBuddy - A New Homework Tool from AOL

AOL launched the new Study Buddy search engine for kids in grades K through 12. Choose from Math, Social Studies, Language Arts, Health, Science and Electives subject areas. Narrow down your search by topic and you are left with the most relevant results. You can set up a Backpack to save your recent searches and remember your favorite games. StudyBuddy will also proof your paper before you turn it in - copy and paste the words into the Writing Wizard and it will highlight areas that might need work.

Found via: Librarian in Black

Open Letter to ILS Vendors

Open Letter to ILS Vendors In Integrated Library Systems "On September 5, 2006, over 250 libraries in the Georgia consortium, PINES, began using a next-generation integrated library system (ILS) they wrote from scratch. Within two months they racked up two million checkouts and half-a-million renewals for a collection of eight million items and 1.5 million borrowers." — "Dawn of a New Era," Library Journal, February 15, 2007.