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From Overdue Media via Librarian in Black. More pictures here

OAIster reaches 10 Million Records

From Library Technology Guides

From the article:

We live in an information-driven world-- one in which access to good information defines success. OAIster's growth to 10 million records takes us one step closer to that goal.

Developed at the University of Michigan's Library, OAIster is a collection of digital scholarly resources. OAIster is also a service that continually gathers these digital resources to remain complete and fresh. As global digital repositories grow, so do OAIster's holdings.

Popular search engines don't have the holdings OAIster does. Theycrawl web pages and index the words on those pages. It's an outstanding technique for fast, broad information from public websites. But scholarly information, the kind researchers use to enrich their work, is generally hidden from these search engines.

OAIster retrieves these otherwise elusive resources by tapping directly into the collections of a variety of institutions using harvesting technology based on the Open Archives Initiative (OAI) Protocol for Metadata Harvesting. These can be images, academic papers, movies and audio files, technical reports, books, as well as preprints (unpublished works that have not yet been peer reviewed). By aggregating these resources, OAIster makes it possible to search across all of them and return the results of a thorough investigation of complete, up-to-date resources.

A Librarian's Lament: Books Are a Hard Sell

From The Washington Post"

I'm a librarian in an independent Washington area school. We're doing all the right things. Our class sizes are small. Most graduating seniors gain admission to their college of choice. The facilities are first-rate.

Yet from my vantage point at the reference desk, something is amiss. The books in the library stacks are gathering dust.

More at the link

Record Labels Contemplate Unrestricted Digital Music

The New York Times reports that executives of technology companies, in attendance at the annual Midem global trade show for the music industry, are apparently aware of “at least one of the four major record companies [that] could move toward the sale of unrestricted digital files in the MP3 format within months.” Even with solid sales on the iTunes Store and other online music services, it is reported, digital sales of restricted music has seen slow growth. Physical CD sales have likewise continued to take a hit.

From this week's AL Direct, "The Blonde in the Library Joke"

PS. Not trying to perpetuate stereotypes...

Ethics books most likely to be missing from philosophy shelves

http://schwitzsplinters.blogspot.com/2007/01/still-more-data-on-theft-of-ethics.html

Eric Schwitzgebel, associate professor of philosophy at the University of California at Riverside, writes: “Ethics books are more likely to be stolen than non-ethics books in philosophy (looking at a large sample of recent ethics and non-ethics books from leading academic libraries). Missing books as a percentage of those off shelf were 8.7% for ethics, 6.9% for non-ethics, for an odds ratio of 1.25 to 1.”...The Splintered Mind blog, Jan. 8

Free classical music podcasts from Boston's Gardner Museum

From the museum site:

Download free recordings of classical music performed live in the museum’s Tapestry Room. These exclusive recordings from our regular concert series feature performances by acclaimed master musicians and up-and-coming young artists. A new program is posted every two weeks, so check back often, or receive automatic updates delivered directly to your computer or portable mp3 player with a free subscription.

You are free to share and reproduce these podcasts, and pass this great classical music along to your friends and family. The same goes for the individual tracks you’ll find sorted by musician and composer in the Music Library. We only ask that you let people know where you found it, and don’t alter the recording or use it commercially.

Google and Book Downloads

From c/net News

Google is reportedly working on a plan that would allow consumers to download books to their computers to be read online or on mobile devices like BlackBerrys.

The Times of London reports that the program would be part of Google's Book Search project, which involves scanning and digitizing thousands of texts at libraries across the world. That project has had its share of controversy, as publishers and authors have charged it violates their copyrights.

The new program may be a sign that Google is willing to work with, instead of against publishers. According to the paper, after searching for and finding a snippet of text from a book online, consumers would be able to download the entire book.

"You may just want to rent a travel guide for the holiday or buy a chapter of a book. Ultimately, it will be the readers who decide how books are read," said Jens Redmer, director of Google Book Search in Europe.

E-books have yet to take off in any significant way so far. Will Google be the magic elixir?

Amazing new multi-touchscreen technology

Working all but alone from his hardware-strewn office, Jeff Han is about to change the face of computing. In this Googly age, it only takes a random genius or two to conceive of a technology so powerful that it can plow under the landscape and remake it in its own image. People are already betting that Jeff Han is one of them. One of the firstapplications of this new technology will be on the iPhone to be released in June.

From fastcompany.com. Click here to read the article.

Apple to Open up Fairplay DRM

In a move with great positive implications for audiobooks, Apple plans to open up protected music and movies content bought from the iTunes Store. The iPod maker is expected to make two announcements, possibly as early as this week - the first will be to allow streaming of protected AAC content via USB; the second will be to licence its Fairplay DRM to the company’s Made For iPod licencees. The news comes from one a long-term and reliable contact who just happens to be a Made For iPod licencee. This will have the effect of enabling you to play songs bought from the iTunes Store through third party devices like hi-fis using digital connections. It may also mean that devices like iPod docks will be able to display more information - artwork and other track info, for example - which is stored alongside the protected audio.

FairPlay is a digital rights management (DRM) technology created by Apple Inc., built in to the QuickTime multimedia technology and used by the iPod, iTunes, and the iTunes Store. Every file bought from the iTunes Store with iTunes is encoded with FairPlay. It digitally encrypts AAC audio files and prevents users from playing these files on unauthorized computers.

From:Medialooks

Google opens dialogue with book publishers

From c/net news

To anyone who thinks digital content is a threat to the book-publishing market, Google wants to tell you two things: first, you're wrong; second, its Google Book Search product is the solution, not the problem.

But in the 21st century's new-media culture, print publishing is going to have to evolve, according to those speaking at the Google-hosted "Unbound" event held Thursday at the New York Public Library.

More at the link

Library Director Resigns Because of WiFi

This was posted on LITA's listserv:

Council on Wireless Technology Impacts Citizens and professionals concerned about responsible use of electromagnetic radiation
936-B Seventh Street, #206,
Novato, California 94945http://www.energyfields.org/
For Immediate ReleaseJanuary 17, 2007
Contact: Rebekah Azen
505-424-9475
rebekah@cybermesa.com

LIBRARY DIRECTOR RESIGNS BECAUSE OF WIFIA
Library Director at a college in Santa Fe, NM left her position due to wireless internet (WiFi) in the library. Rebekah Zablud Azen, MLIS, resigned from her position at Quimby Memorial Library, Southwestern College, on December 16th, 2006 after administrators refused to discuss the issue. "I don't feel that I should have to jeopardize my health to secure or maintain employment, but allowing oneself to be irradiated is fast becoming a condition of employment for librarians. I just said no."B. Blake Levitt, a medical journalist who has been researching the biological affects of nonionizing radiation since the late '70's, and author of: Electromagnetic Fields: A Consumer's Guide to the Issues and How to Protect Ourselves, and Cell Towers: Wireless Convenience? or Environmental Hazard? wrote, "Once considered safe environments/professions, librarians and teachers are now in high risk professions."Azen is not the first librarian to express opposition or leave her position because of WiFi. In Santa Fe, four librarians recently signed a petition against WiFi in the public libraries, while several others objected to WiFi but were afraid to speak out. There is a librarian on the west coast that has been told not to discuss this issue by library administration and a report of two librarians who moved to rural towns and left the profession.The proliferation of wireless technologies is a growing and serious public health hazard, says Azen. "There is no evidence proving safety and an abundance of evidence demonstrating biological harm to living systems. Anyone who cares to look into the vast body of research that has been conducted over the past 80 years will find that the weight of evidence points to harm. The only sensible response is precaution."Current safety standards adopted by federal agencies like OSHA were developed by industry groups and are obsolete. EPA senior scientist and radiofrequency (RF) radiation expert, Norbert Hankin, wrote, "Both the NCRP (National Council on Radiation Protection) and ANSI/IEEE standards are thermally based and do not apply to chronic non-thermal exposure situations." In other words, if it doesn't "cook tissue," it is assumed to be safe. Research indicates however that low-power exposure (WiFi is "low power') has been shown to have numerous biological effects which can lead to serious health consequences, including neurological, cardiological and hormonal disorders, breakdown of the blood-brain barrier, DNA damage, cancers, diabetes and asthma. Children, to whom public libraries cater, have brains and nervous systems that are still developing; they are particularly vulnerable. Among the many scientists, organizations, government agencies and medical societies issuing bans or precautions, Lakehead University, in Canada, prohibits WiFi on its campus; the Public Health Department in Salzburg, Austria advises against WiFi in schools; the Schools Department in Frankfurt, Germany prohibits WiFi in schools; and the Austrian Medical Association warns against wireless technologies, including WiFi. The Benevento Resolution is the most recent and comprehensive pronouncement by 31 scientists internationally. The Benevento Resolution http://www.icems.eu/docs/Benevento_press_release.pdf states, "Based on our review of the science, biological effects can occur from exposures to both Extremely Low Frequency Electromagnetic Fields (ELF EMF) and Radiofrequency fields (RF EMF). More evidence has accumulated that there are adverse health effects from occupational and public exposure to electric, magnetic and electromagnetic fields, or EMF at current exposure levels." The resolution also specifically warns against exposure to WiFi systems.Azen is also opposed to WiFi in libraries because it creates barriers to access for people with disabilities. People with certain types of heart disease, epilepsy, and others with electromagnetic sensitivity react with pain, confusion, and neurological or cardiac symptoms and are effectively denied access to libraries with WiFi. In California alone, a 1998 survey by the California Dept. of Health Services found that 120,000 Californians were unable to work due to electromagnetic radiation. Today, this number is undoubtedly much higher due to the rapid growth of wireless technologies.Librarians have always upheld the principle that access to libraries and information is inviolate, says Azen. "Today, this important library principle is eroding due the unquestioned acceptance of WiFi. Libraries should retain their autonomy as "wireless-free" zones. Instead of rushing to join the herd to go wireless, libraries should be building collections on this topic and educating the populace about the hazards associated with this technology."Azen says there are other issues as well with WiFi in libraries: libraries are relinquishing their unique role by morphing into internet cafés, the provision of special services to those who have the money to afford laptops is re-igniting the digital divide, WiFi service imposes a financial and personnel drain on libraries already struggling to build collections and maintain traditional library services, and unsecured networks compromise a library's commitment to protect user privacy and confidentiality. "Social security numbers, financial records, and yes, library records, are all vulnerable in unsecured wireless networks." Azen says that librarians need to assess technological trends wisely and ensure that the adoption of new technologies does not adversely impact public health, restrict access, undermine the treasured principles upon which we stand, or erode libraries. She says there are simple solutions to providing more computer access, such as installing wired hubs for patrons. WiFi is the proverbial elephant in the room. We must, as a profession, begin to open up a dialog on this critical issue that is affecting libraries and librarians everywhere, says Azen.

Ex Libris announces Primo Charter Members Program

From Library Technology Guides

Newton, MA, January 17, 2007 - Ex Libris Group is pleased to announce the formation of the Primo Charter Members Program--providing a leading group of organizations with the opportunity to collaborate on the development of Primo.

Primo presents library users with a single unified solution for the discovery and delivery of all local and remote scholarly information resources - including books, journals, articles, images, sound, video and other digital content. Primo answers the library's need to provide users with up-to-date services and experiences in-line with their expectation for quick and efficient discovery and delivery of what they need, where and when they need it.

Primo Charter Members include Boston College, the College Center for Library Automation (CCLA - a consortium of 27 community colleges in Florida), the Cleveland Museum of Art, Iowa State University, the University of Iowa, and the University of East Anglia - institutions that share Ex Libris' vision and strategic direction and that have shown a strong and abiding interest in defining and influencing the future of library information systems.

These Charter Members are now part of a larger group forming the vanguard of Primo institutions that also includes Ex Libris' development partners, Vanderbilt University, the University of Minnesota, hbz (the University Library Center of North-Rhine Westphalia, Germany) and a Danish consortium of research libraries under the aegis of Danmarks Elektroniske Fag- og Forskningsbibliotek (Denmark's Electronic Research Library. that includes Det Kongelige Bibliotek (The Royal Library), Danmarks Tekniske Videncenter (The Technical Knowledge Centre of Denmark), Aalborg Universitet (Aalborg University), and Det Administrative Bibliotek (The Danish Administrative Library).

"The creation of a product like Primo constitutes a revolution in the discovery and delivery of scholarly information," commented Dan Trajman, President of Ex Libris, Inc. "Thus, Ex Libris found it important to have key institutions involved in the development, refinement, and testing—especially usability testing—of this world-class product."

Paul Soderdahl, Director, Library Information Technology at the University of Iowa, commented, "Primo is designed as the means for end-users to search, find, and get the information they need for their scholarly work wherever and whenever they need it. It is a pleasure to be a part of the team that has influenced, and will continue influencing, the development of this exciting new product."

"Exploring a range of social computing features, including tagging and reviews, will add value to the information seeking experience," commented Dr. J. Richard Madaus, Executive Director, College Center for Library Automation (CCLA). "CCLA is committed to providing our patrons with cutting edge products. We feel that Primo promises to provide added options in the discovery and delivery of information."

Bob Gerrity, Director of Library Systems at Boston College, added, "It is not every day that a product like Primo comes along - it is even rarer to be able to be a part of its development. As part of the Primo Charter Member Group, Boston College is able to help develop a product that we believe will become a standard offering - even a critical offering when libraries consider user-retention—in many libraries in the very near future."

The philosophical potential of PowerPoint

Clemens Kogler, an industrial art and design student at university in Linz has produced a fascinating film. From the site:

Le Grand Content examines the omnipresent PowerPoint-culture in search for its philosophical potential. Intersections and diagrams are assembled to form a grand 'association-chain-massacre'. which challenges itself to answer all questions of the universe and some more. Of course, it totally fails this assignment, but in its failure it still manages to produce some magical nuance and shades between the great topics death, cable tv, emotions and hamsters.
Thanks Presentation Zen

Art Garfunkel's Reading List

From Library Stuff
An avid reader since the 1960's, Art Garfunkel (Yeah, that Garfunkel) has cataloged every book he has read since 1968. It is a very impressive list and makes me wish I had done the same (though my list would pale in comparison).

Quintura Kids Search Engine

From Google Blogscoped

Quotes from Russian creator, Yakov Sadchikov,

"Kids often do not know how to make a search query. They would rather use an interactive tag cloud and navigate through the cloud to find information. Quintura teaches kids how to search through the cloud of related tags/words/phrases.

Using a keyboard and typing query words in a search box is a barrier for kids. They often make orthographical errors while typing. Then they cannot easily and quickly find what they look for and loose their interest to searching.

It returns too many irrelevant results that disorient children and make them lose attention to an initial search topic while looking [through] those results."

Recharging batteries wirelessly

From c/net News

A Pennsylvania start-up says it has the answer to one of the biggest problems in mobile phones: battery life.

After three years of keeping its technology under close guard, Powercast has come to CES 2007 to get consumer and manufacturer attention. Powercast is a radio frequency that is transmitted over a small area, and its energy is "harvested"--wirelessly--to give power to small devices like cell phones.

While it's presented as wireless power, Powercast isn't just a replacement for a universal charger. Instead, it's meant to either continuously charge a battery or replace the need for them altogether.

It works like this: a transmitter can be placed anywhere--in a lamp, for example, that is plugged into the wall and sits on a table. The transmitter in the lamp sends out a continuous, low RF signal. Anything with either AA or AAA batteries set within its range--and equipped with a Powercast receiver, which is the size of your fingernail--will be continuously charged.

Perodic Chart of Visualization Methods

From BoingBoing

Visual-Literacy.org is an online introductory tutorial about how data, abstract thoughts, and concepts can be graphically represented to more easily gain useful insights. One of their knowledge map examples is this excellent Periodic Table of Visualization Methods. Rolling your mouse over each form of visualization brings up an example of the technique. It looks like it would very useful if you think a visualization is in order but you're not sure which specific kind to try.

Get Human Contacts for many US businesses

Having just waited on hold at Olevia's (electronics) customer no-service 800 number for FORTY-FIVE MINUTES AND NEVER TALKING TO ANYONE! gethuman is a godsend: a list of several hundred 800 numbers and directions for bypassing the crap and getting directly to a human representative. Priceless.

From Cool Tools

IPhone

Apple Computer unveiled the iPhone -- its combo smartphone/music player/internet communications device -- at Macworld on Tuesday, culminating a shift in the company's center of gravity profound enough to prompt a name change. Now just plain Apple Inc. will focus on a wider range of products, such as its new Apple TV set-top box, also announced Tuesday. Check it out.

Older teens embrace online social sites

More than half of all American youth online are using social networking sites, according to a national survey.

The study found 55 per cent of youth between the ages of 12 and 17 who go online were using social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook, according to a survey of teenagers conducted by the Pew Internet & American Life Project.

Older teens, particularly girls, are more likely to use these sites. Seventy per cent of teen girls aged 15 to 17 had profiles on social networking sites, compared with 57 per cent of boys in that age bracket.

More at www.cbc.ca

Who's Killing MP3 and iTunes?

Article includes seven reasons why MP3 is the future of the music industry. Read more about it here

If It Doesn't Have an API, It's Not Worth Having

Really good article from Roy Tennant on API's. Includes definitions and why they are so important. Read more about it here,

More on digital paper - with 23 photos

From:GizMag

“Even in this age of pervasive digital content, our research shows that consumers are very reluctant to read on laptops, phones and PDAs,” said Simon Jones, Vice President of Product Development at Plastic Logic. “We still carry around enormous amounts of paper. However, people are making less room in their lives for the weight and bulk of paper and are becoming more sensitive to the environmental impact of printing to read. We believe there is a substantial unfulfilled need that Plastic Logic can meet by making digital reading a comfortable and pleasurable experience.”

Paper book vendor AMS in bankruptcy

From "Publishers Weekly":

Advanced Marketing Services announced…that it has filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware… In its bankruptcy petition, AMS reported liabilities of over $100 million and assets of more than $100 million. Its top unsecured creditor is Random House, which is owed $43.3 million. Simon & Schuster, Penguin and Hachette Book Group are all owed more than $20 million each, while HarperCollins is owed $18 million.

Study at M.I.T. for free!

MIT's OpenCourseware is a large-scale, Web-based electronic publishing initiative funded jointly by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation , MIT, and generous support of the Ab Initio software company. It offers courseware in an incredibly wide range of subjects from astronautics and architecture to literature and music and much, much more.

Targeted promotions via RFID

While currently limited to those with access to prototype RFID readers and capable cell phones, the technology should soon be available via most cell phones and PDAs. The implications for libraries are obvious.

From CNN

TOKYO, Japan (AP) -- Stores in central Tokyo are set to beam news of special offers, menus and coupons to passers-by in a trial run of a radio-tagging system.

The Tokyo Ubiquitous Network Project, which launches in the glitzy Ginza district next month, sends shoppers information from nearby shops via a network of radio-frequency identification tags, infrared and wireless transmitters, according to the project's Web site.

Shoppers can either rent a prototype reader or get messages on their cell phones. The tags and transmitters identify a reader or phone's location and match it to information provided by shops.

RFID uses a tiny computer chip to store data, which are transmitted wirelessly by a tiny antenna to a receiver -- in this case, the reader or the phone.

At Ginza, visitors can access maps and tourist information in five languages by bringing the reader close to radio tags on street lamps, according to project official Hiroaki Hajota.

"There has been a lot of interest from Ginza's stores," Hajota said. "In the future, we hope the system will be able to target specific types of users with tailored information."

The trial, supported by the city of Tokyo and the Transport Ministry, is scheduled to run from January 21 to March 10.

The Online Books Page

The University of Pennsylvania is maintaing a page that facilitates access to thousands of books that are freely available on the internet. The Online Books Page was founded, and is edited, by John Mark Ockerbloom, a digital library planner and researcher at the University of Pennsylvania. There is a handy RSS feed for notification of new additions.

Flexible display developer Plastic Logic lands $100M in VC

Flexible-display technology developer Plastic Logic won more than $100 million in new funding to build a manufacturing facility as investors pushed the company to shift its business model away from a licensing strategy to manufacturing its own products.

Plastic's funding is among the largest deals in European venture capital history and is a huge jump in the company's capitalization schedule, having raised a total of $42.3 million in previous funding.

The company expects to begin manufacturing display products midyear 2009, with products shipping by the end of the year.

The initial products will be standalone flexible active-matrix display units that will include connectivity hardware and that are designed to be thin, light and robust, capable of being used anywhere to provide a reading experience as close to paper as possible.

The implications for eBooks is enormous, but these devices not only allow reading, but writing, as well!

From cNet News

A mobile library on your phone

From The Times Online
LONDON Audio books are set to be revolutionised by a tiny card that can store up to five lengthy novels on a phone.

The card can be slotted into a mobile phone, dispensing with the need to carry up to six CDs for an audio version of a book. The technology, originally developed to store music, will be released this year by Nokia.

One title that will be available is the bestselling Looking Good Dead, by the British thriller writer Peter James. He said: “I think this will revolutionise storytelling . . . with this, you can wander off into the park, lie down and listen to a book.”

Nokia is introducing the technology initially with James’s German publisher, S Fischer Verlage. His publisher in Britain, Macmillan, is in talks for a British version. Annual sales of audio books have reached about £71 million in Britain and £435 million in America.

Chumby - personal wireless interactive companion

Chumby is a compact device that uses the wireless internet to fetch information from the web: music, the latest news, box scores, animations, etc. It can also exchange photos and messages and it’s always on. Chumby isn’t a product per se, it’s a feature enabler. It’s a blank canvas that you fill with whatever you want. It’s made to be hacked, modded, and what I find especially interesting - integrated into other objects. Object design is evolving at a rapid pace with new materials, rapid prototyping and rapid manufacturing. The next frontier is embedded intelligence (see how RFID is evolving here) and interactivity. Chumby is a very open platform for interactivity that in my opinion object designers should look at and start to play with. The best part - it’s free if you can convince them. Information and objects are converging.

From BoingBoing

NYT 100 Notable Books of the Year

The New York Times has posted what it feels are the 100 most notable books of 2006. If you need some holiday reading, you might peruse their list.

Found on Librarian in Black

Audiobooks in French, German, Chinese and other languages

Librivox has posted quite a few titles read in languages other than English. LibriVox volunteers record chapters of books in the public domain and release the audio files back onto the net. Their goal is to make all public domain books available as free audio books. They are a totally volunteer, open source, free content, public domain project.

Google launches patent search site

Google has added another piece of search software to its arsenal, with the launch of Google Patent Search.

The patent search site, launched as a beta on Wednesday night, is designed to sift through the approximately 7 million U.S. patents by a variety of parameters including filing date, issue date, patent number and inventor.

Thanks c/net News

Mozart Catalog Is Now Available Online

The database available at http://dme.mozarteum.at also contains more than 8,000 pages of critical commentary published since 1954, said Ulrich Leisinger, head of research at the International Mozart Foundation.

The launch of the Web site this week comes as a year commemorating the 250th anniversary of Mozart's birth complete with thousands of concerts, opera performances and exhibitions across Austria draws to a close.

WEB 2.0 and Its Technologies for Collaborative Library Communication

RedOrbit.com has posted a very informative article by Robert Lackie on the free web-based interactive communication tools that can help librarians and other educators seamlessly access, create, organize, and disseminate information for their library, themselves, colleagues, and friends. Discussed in depth are:
• Social Collaboration
• Blogging
• RSS and Bloglines
• Social Bookmarking with del.icio.us
• Wikis and pbwiki, and more. There is also an extensive bibliography.

Thanks Librarian in Black

State of Florida launches book drive for kids

State agencies are marking the holidays with a massive book drive for the kids.

Gov. Jeb Bush is touting “A Season of Reading,” a program that encourages the donation of new and “gently used” books to mentoring programs throughout the state.

Last year, 11 state agencies gleaned 80,000 books for Florida students and families, according to a written release issued by Bush.

Coordinated by Florida Mentoring Partnership and managed by the Volunteer Florida, the program encourages state agencies to serve as drop off points for the books, which are donated to mentoring programs in the communities where the donations are made.

"In this season of giving, I encourage all Floridians to open their hearts and give the most precious gift we can give our children -- the gift of reading,” Bush said.

The program coincides with National Mentoring Month in January. The deadline for book drop offs is Jan. 19.

For more information, and drop off locations, go to www.myflorida.com or www.volunteerfloridafoundation.org.

New chip type may replace flash memory, disk drives

A group of companies led by IBM have announced a new chip technology, dubbed phase-change memory, that could someday replace flash memory and tiny hard-disk drives in portable devices. InfoWorld reports: “The companies on Monday announced the results of their latest research into the technology, which they say will do a better job of storing songs, pictures, and other data on iPods and digital cameras than current flash memory, and could someday replace disk drives. Among the advances, the companies have built a prototype device that runs 500 times faster than today’s flash memory while using half as much power to write data to a memory cell, they said.”

From iPod Lounge

Swivel - a place where curious people explore data

Swivel lets you explore data and share your insights with others. Swivel has data about politics, economics, weather, sports, business and more.
You can:

• Explore popular data or obscure data. Search for it or have fun cruising all the colorful graphs, data sets and opinions.


• Compare gas prices to presidential approval ratings or UFO sightings to iPod sales. You might find a crazy coincidence or something more.


• Share your insights by posting a graph to your blog or emailing a link to your friends and coworkers.


• Upload the information you care about, describe it, pick a color scheme and even pick a cool photo to bring it to life.

Microsoft launches a book search service

Google Books got some competition (sort of) today as Microsoft launched Live Search Books (wtf!). Seems rather slow and only offers older, public domain stuff. Also looks remarkably like Google Books. How long has it been since Redmond had a really original idea?

BioMed Search - Biomedical Image Search Engine

Alex Ksikes just unveiled his latest project, BioMed Search, with the aim to “organize figures, images or schema found in biomedical articles.” Over 1 million illustrations have been indexed so far.

Ask.com launches AskCity local map search

Search engines are the #1 online most-used resource for local information, ahead of yellow pages and local newspaper sites, and local searches account for about 10% of all searches on major search engines. Yet local is the category with the lowest user satisfaction in search. There is this gaping need for better local search. AskCity thinks they have it.

Library Delivery 2.0: Delivering Library Materials in the Age of NetFlix

An article in TechEssence.info discusses how Netflix and similar services are shaping expectations about product delivery, which in turn are driving libraries to rethink how items are delivered to their customers. Library Delivery 2.0 refers to the idea of delivering library materials into the user’s hands in a way that is personalized, convenient and fast. Library Delivery 2.0 builds on the concept of Library 2.0, a concept of a very different library service that operates according to the expectations of today’s library users.

Taming the Digital Beast

Andy Patrizio of Campus Technology Magazine asks, "Is your digital institutional repository out of control? It’s time to step back and look at contribution, access, rights, storage, and functionality—issues you don’t want to monkey with."

Well worth a read! Link to the article. And thanks to The Orange Grove

Museopen - online repository of classical music

Musopen is a community driven, online music repository started by a music and economics college student named Aaron Dunn.

This site takes music that is in the public domain, meaning a work that belongs to the community, and has it recorded by individuals and college/community orchestras throughout the United States and stored online so it can be accessed for free through this website.

Google on iPods and the future of digital media

Speaking at the FT World Communications Conference, Nikesh Arora, Google's VP of European operations, told delegates that, in the coming years, the plummeting price of storage and its increasing volume-to-size ratio will give iPods almost unlimited potential to hold music and video. Arora said, by 2012, iPods could launch at similar prices to those on sale now and yet be capable of holding a whole year's worth of video releases. Around 10 years down the line that could be expanded, creating iPods that can hold all the music ever sold commercially." He also said that that there will be greater convergence between mobile and internet, as consumers expect to be able to access traditional web content and services on the mobile platform.

From Silicon.com

LIBWORM - over 1000 library-related RSS feeds

LibWorm is a search engine, a professional development tool, and a current awareness tool for people who work in libraries or care about libraries. LibWorm collects updates from about 1400 RSS feeds (and growing). The contents of these feeds are then available for searching, and search results can themselves be output as an RSS feed that the user can subscribe to either in his/her favourite aggregator or in LibWorm's built-in aggregator.

Amazon Launches "Askville"

Amazon has released a Question & Answers site of their own called Askville. Currently in invite-only Beta, the site looks cleaner than Yahoo Answers, and as opposed to Google Answers, you don’t have to pay to ask questions. Activity on the site – like asking a question, or answering one – is rewarded with “quest coins” which can later on be spent in Questville.

Topix

Monday, November 06, 2006
Go Topix! Go
TechCrunch has a piece on Topix, my favorite news engine. Here's a few things to keep in mind:"What does Topix offer that Yahoo! News and Google News don’t? A few things. When Topix relaunched in August, the company said its index had grown to include 50,000 news sources - 10 times more than the Google News and 7 times as large as Yahoo! News. Topix has topical pages, has strong search by zip code, integrates relatively active forums and visualization. The year long time line displayed with every search is a fast way to skip to a particular date in a news search and shows the context of the point in time you are skipping to. Try using the timeline on Topix and then try to accomplish the same result with Yahoo or Google news search. Topix also has the most extensive support for RSS."If you think you are doing a complete free news search by using Yahoo and/or Google news, think again.

Zamzar - Free online file conversion

From Library Stuff

Zamzar is a really handy site to which you upload files in most any format - whether a document, image, video or music file - convert them to most any format and have them emailed back to you. Really handy if you want go from, say, .avi to .ogg, or .m4a to .mp3. Lots of options!

Check out Zotero.

Zotero [zoh-TAIR-oh] is a free, easy-to-use Firefox extension to help you collect, manage, and cite your research sources. It lives right where you do your work — in the web browser itself.

Some cool features include automatic capture of citation information from web pages, note taking and tagging.

Zotero is open source.

Free Library Journal Subscription for Lib School Students

From Librarian in Black

Library Journal is offering a free one year subscription to library school students. All you need is a valid and current student ID. To download a subscription request, go here.

Google launches mobile version of G-Mail

From CNET News

Google is very smart about mobile devices. On a PDA or cell phone, the Google search experience has been, for quite a while, very different than it is on a full-size screen. Google even parses Web pages it links to and tries to repackage them in a mobile-friendly way. (To force the Google mobile version, go to www.google.com/m.)

Gmail, though, has not been a great experience on mobile devices. But on Thursday Google released a mobile Java Gmail application for cell phones that makes using your Gmail account much easier. The new app--which will be preloaded onto some new Sprint phones, or available for download for anyone else who has a Java-capable phone here--is a very good mobile version of the Gmail Web app. The app gives Gmail its own custom menu system, which is much easier to navigate than a Web-based app would be on a cell phone. Gmail's message threading also shows up clearly, and the site displays attachments (like photos, Word documents) in the app.

National Novel Writing Month

From the site:

National Novel Writing Month is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to novel writing. Participants begin writing November 1. The goal is to write a 175-page (50,000-word) novel by midnight, November 30.

Valuing enthusiasm and perseverance over painstaking craft, NaNoWriMo is a novel-writing program for everyone who has thought fleetingly about writing a novel but has been scared away by the time and effort involved.

Because of the limited writing window, the ONLY thing that matters in NaNoWriMo is output. It's all about quantity, not quality. The kamikaze approach forces you to lower your expectations, take risks, and write on the fly.

Make no mistake: You will be writing a lot of crap. And that's a good thing. By forcing yourself to write so intensely, you are giving yourself permission to make mistakes. To forgo the endless tweaking and editing and just create. To build without tearing down.

Pretty cool!

Free old-time radio horror shows

From the site:

Thought you had seen everything, all those old movies and television shows two or three times even? Well you probably haven't experienced old time radio! This media is so old, it is refreshingly "brand new" to many of us. Here, we present 100 of our favorite horror theme stories, from shows like Witch's Tale, Lights Out, Innersanctum, Quiet Please, The Haunted Hour and others. These are the very stories that inspired favorite Horror Comics and shows like Twilight Zone and Thriller! In fact, old time radio horror show, "Witch's Tale" is reported to have served as direct inspiration for EC Comics.

Scary Books from Google

Google Book Search launched another special event micro site... this time, it’s all about scary stories in time for Halloween. These are older books that already passed into the public domain, like Bram Stoker’s "Dracula", Shelly's "Frankenstein" and lots more obscure thrillers like Edith Wharton's "The Eyes" and Thomas Hardy's "The Withered Arm". Neat stuff!

Firefox 2.0 ready for download

Firefox 2.0 brings many improvements and new features from its predecessor. Some of which include reduced memory consumption, improved performance, strengthened security and much more. The following is the official list as stated by Mozilla’s press release:
• Tabbed Browsing - more custom options. close button added to tabs. session history.
• Spell Check - inline spell check for web forms. works with most online blogging tools.
• Search - real-time live results. search engine management options.
• Web Feeds - ability to add feed to live bookmarks, Thunderbird, Google reader, etc.
• ID Theft Protection - spyware/popup blocker. phishing protection. blacklists.
• Customization - more add-ons for specific features. (themes and plugins)

Animated "how to" for tying knots

Not really library related (unless you are asked by a patron for knot tying assistance), but very helpful site.

www.animatedknots.com

eBooks on your WAP-enabled phone!

tx2ph.com (text to phone!)turns your internet-enabled cell phone or PDA into a book-reading device. And you don't need a lot of memory in your mobile device -- because all the text is stored on the server and downloaded one page at a time. There's no need to download and install any software, all you need is an Internet-enabled cell phone or PDA. And the service is free! (Your mobile service provider may charge you for the data downloaded, refer to the "data usage" section of your plan.)

Google as your federated search interface

From: TechEssence.info

For a while now I've noticed that journal articles from some not-for-profit (but not free) content delivery projects--like JSTOR and Project MUSE--have populated my Google search results. But the implications of that never sunk in until I sat in on recent presentations by salespeople from both Gale Thomson and EBSCO, both of who say they are working with Google on a similar capability: results from their databases will appear in Google results.

Apparently, how this would work is still under development, with issues such as result placement algorithms and the point at which user verification occurs being among the major issues.

But still, the idea of Google being the interface for federating searching makes sense in a context where libraries are constantly resisting the user behavior of going to Google first and ending their information searches with what is found there. Making other federated search interfaces as simple as Google may not be enough--if users go to Google anyway. And I have to confess that I've been one to protest against the dumbing down of federated search interfaces; but Google is the elephant in the room, and can't be ignored.

Google Launches "Google Docs & Spreadsheets"

In a bold move toward Web 2.0, Google has formally bundled and launched their word processing and spreadsheet web applications under Google Docs & Spreadsheets.

From the site:

With Google Docs & Spreadsheets, you can:

* Use our online editor to format documents, spell-check and more.
* Upload Word documents, OpenOffice, RTF, HTML or text.
* Download documents to your desktop as Word, PDF and more.
* View your documents' revision history and roll back to any version.

Plus, since its online, you can:

* Invite others to share your documents by e-mail address.
* Edit documents online with whomever you choose.
* Publish documents online to the world, or to just who you choose.
* Post your documents to your blog.

The Yahoo! Time Capsule: One World. Many Voices.

Yahoo! Time capsule

For 30 days, from October 10 until November 8, Yahoo! users worldwide can contribute photos, writings, videos, audio – even drawings – to this electronic anthropology project. This is the first time that digital data will be gathered and preserved for historical purposes.

In addition to submitting your own content, you can view, read, or hear the images, words, and sounds contributed by users from around the world.

You can also comment on the content you and others have submitted – and engage in a digital conversation that is just as revealing and important as any of the content you’ll witness.

And by November 8, you will have helped create a digital legacy of our times, a mosaic of revealing snapshots that will be sealed and entrusted to Smithsonian Folkways Recordings and its Smithsonian Global Sound® based in Washington D.C., officially taking its place in history.

Interesting discussion of library obsolescence

Prompted by an article in the Lawrence, Kansas newspaper that called libraries "inefficient", "limited" and "obsolete", the discussion is hot over at teleread.org.

Google Books Top 10 Most Viewed

From Google Blogscoped

Google announced the most-viewed books of their Google Books search program:

1. Diversity and Evolutionary Biology of Tropical Flowers


2. Merriam Webster’s Dictionary of Synonyms


3. Measuring and Controlling Interest Rate and Credit Risk


4. Ultimate Healing: The Power of Compassion


5. The Holy Qur’an


6. Peterson’s Study Abroad 2006


7. Hegemony Or Survival: America’s Quest for Global Dominance


8. Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary of English Usage


9. Perrine’s Literature: Structure, Sound, and Sense


10. Build Your Own All-Terrain Robot

Flickr Set of Old Penguin Book Jackets

From Boing Boing

A really cool Filckr set of old Penguin book covers. A real stroll down memory lane for us long-time Penguin fans!

Add a del.icio.us link to Aleph OPAC

Bill Drew at Baby Boomer Librarian posts:

I have added javascript code to our ALEPH version 16 web OPAC to create a permanent link and a link to create a del.icio.us link. It works in the search results, full record display, and the holdings display. ALEPH allows the creation of permanent links. That was the basis for the javascript. It was modified by Nathan Fixler at the SUNY Office of Library and Information Services. I can read and sometimes even modifiy javascripts but this particlular code was beyond my skill level.

The catalog is at http://seneca.sunyconnect.suny.edu:4600/FM if you want to try it.

Here is one example of a tag created at del.icio.us:

http://del.icio.us/babyboomerlibrarian/Morrisville_Libraries_LIS

Let me know what you think about this.

FSU releases "Public Libraries and the Internet"

From the press release:

TALLAHASSEE, FL—A national report released today reveals that 99 percent of all U.S. public libraries provide free public access to computers wired to the Internet, compared to 25 percent 10 years ago. Librarians overwhelmingly (71 percent) report that the most important impact of this service is providing Internet access to those who otherwise would not have it. This is the first time that impact has been quantified on a national scale.

The report also reveals that despite increased demand for library computers, libraries typically have not seen a corresponding increase in budgets and many are challenged to provide enough computers or fast-enough connection speeds to meet demand.

From the site:

The national survey provides longitudinal data regarding public library Internet connectivity and public access computing services and resources, but also explores the impacts and benefits that communities derive from public library connectivity. The case sites focused primarily on successfully networked public libraries and the issues, solutions, and approaches that these libraries faced and resolved in order to develop sustainable and high quality public access computing and Internet services.

UC Berkeley Lectures on Google Video

Over 100 introductory lectures, campus seminars, courses and events from the University of Californis at Berkeley are now available on Google Video.

Chicago Manual of Style on-line

From TeleRead:

Effective tomorrow, American-English purists can get definitive answers from the Manual by way of subscriptions ($25 intro for individuals, permanent price $30, institutional price dependent on size of organization). Here’s the site’s home page.

NPR is hiring a blogger

A page has been posted on National Public Radio's corporate site advertising the position. From the description:

Hosts and writes for blog that serves as users’ daily guide to the events of the day and notable stories on the network and the Web; uses news judgment and a lively prose style to present a singular perspective, writing and reporting original items and drawing other NPR reporter/correspondents and listeners into analysis and discussion; may also host a podcast of the day’s top on-air stories; and may serve as a public representative of National Public Radio, Inc.

Mobile web shake-up gets started

The mobile web is about to receive the biggest shake-up in years with the start of open registration for mobile phone-specific website addresses.

The general public can now register websites ending with .mobi (dotmobi) as the backers of the mobile net hope to overturn consumer apathy.

Read more here

ZOTERO, the next-generation research tool

A replacement for EndNotes and a lot more, ZOTERO works with most library catalogs, some popular dot-coms such as Amazon, and many gated databases. Among its features, ZOTERO:

* captures citation information you want from a web page automatically, without typing or cutting and pasting on your part, and saves this information directly into the correct fields (e.g., author, title, etc.) of your Zotero library

* lets you store—beyond citations—PDFs, files, images, links, and whole web pages

* allows you to easily take notes on the research materials you capture

* makes it easy to organize your research materials in multiple ways, such as folders, saved searches (smart folders), and tags

* offers fast, as-you-type search through your materials so that you can quickly find that source that you only vaguely remember

* lets you export formatted citations to your paper, article, book, or website

* has an easy-to-use, modern interface that simplifies all of your research tasks, with "where has that been?" features such as autosaving your notes as you type

* runs right in your web browser and is a platform for new forms of digital research that can be extended with other web tools and services

* is free and open source

* has a name that is loosely based on the Albanian (yes, Albanian) word zotëroj, meaning "to acquire, to master," as in learning

Quicker Than A Ray of Light Staff Day Video

From: Tame the Web via The Shifted Librarian

Quoting Michael Stephens of SJPCL:

For your viewing enjoyment, in light of the recent Warner Brothers/You Tube alliance, is "Ray of Light" from SJCPL Staff Day 2003. It's taken three years, but now I feel much more comfortable posting this and I did get permission from SJCPL administration. This video was borne out of a time that we wanted to show the staff how important every single person is to the mission of the library. Ity's not books, or snazzy technology, or a beautiful building, folks, it's people that make the library go round in my book.

I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by Google

From:Boing Boing

Bruce Sterling's uproariously funny story "I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by Google" has just been published in the New Scientists -- it's a short short story about the life of a teenager when today's tools of ubiquitous computer control and surveillance are perfected. Like all great science fiction, this doesn't so much predict the future as it predicts the present:

I tried hard to buy us another spray can. I'm a street poet, so really, I tried. I walked up to the mall-store register, disguised in my Dad's business jacket, with cash in hand. They're cheap, aerosol spray cans. Beautiful colours of paint, just screaming to get sprayed someplace public where everybody has to see what's on our minds. The store wouldn't sell me the can. The e-commerce system simply would not allow that transaction. The screen just went gray and stayed gray.

That creepy "differential permissioning" sure saves a lot of trouble for grown-ups. Increasing chunks of the world are just... magically off limits. It's a weird new regime where every mall and every school and every bus and train and jet is tagged and tracked and ambient and pervasive and ubiquitous and geolocative... Jesus, I love those words... Where was I?

re-charge your batteries almost anywhere

Simple re-useable Energy

Yesterday, USBCELL launched the premier product for the company: the AA USB-rechargable battery.

This rechargeable battery can charge from any USB port without the need for any recharging devices, cradles or cables. Simply pop the lid to reveal a built in connector and charger, plug into any powered USB port on your desktop, laptop, keyboard or games console, to charge the battery.

USBCELL can be used exactly like a normal battery meaning there is now no need to purchase huge packs of alkaline batteries, or invest in or carry a clunky charger. Read more at their site...

Sadly, this UK-based company doesn't appear to be processing orders from outside areas. But, according to their site, they will be soon.

USBCELL is a product of Moixa Energy Ltd., which is a spin out of Moixa Energy Holdings founded, by Simon Daniel and Chris Wright. Their mission is to invent and deliver technologies that provide consumers with better solutions for their mobile or home power requirements that are more usable, economic and environmentally friendly.

Extensive Arab Stock Photo Library

JumpImages responds to the need for high-quality Arab-related imagery by unveiling jumpimages.com, the premier Arab imagery source. The website contains a massive collection of high-quality, rights-managed and royalty-free imagery focusing on the diversity of modern Arab life.

Featured in this collection is a mix of talent including UAE Emiratis, other GCC nationals, and international models. The site showcases the diversity of modern Arab life by depicting business, leisure, and family lifestyles and emphasizing the growing prosperity of the GCC region.

Not-so-local lunar library

From: New Scientist

There's one place you may not have thought to store your valuable computer information. Just look up.

Hollow lava tubes on the Moon could be used as a giant digital library. That's one commercial possibility for the Moon put forth in a white paper by a NASA scientist.

In addition to being able to relay information to Earth like geosynchronous satellites, a lunar-based system could also process and store information, says David McKay.

The lunar computers could be buried in lunar soil, put at the bottom of craters or set into lava tubes, which are subsurface caves in which lava used to flow. Previously, scientists have suggested using lava tubes for human habitation.

Commercial data stored on Earth can be destroyed by natural disasters, wars or fires. In 500 BC, the Royal Library of Alexandria in Egypt housed records of the ancient world, and the entire library or at least some collections were ruined in a fire. The benefits of lunar storage are that there is no oxygen to erode the material, constant sub-freezing temperature and the Moon is currently free of all of the havoc wreaked by humankind.

Astronauts on lunar missions could set up the data communication and storage system if they return to the Moon.

The Moon could be used like Noah's ark, hosting a collection of plant and animal material, proposes McKay, who made headlines a decade ago when he and others announced that Martian meteorite ALH 84001 had rod-like structures that appeared to be fossilised microbes.

Families could even pay a fee to preserve photographs in the lunar library for future civilizations. McKay calls it the "ultimate time capsule."

Kelly Young

33 ways RFID has infiltrated your life

From:RFID Lowdown

Imagine this... robbing a bank is no longer a lucrative option, because every dollar in the bank has an embedded RFID chip that can be tracked anywhere on the globe... or, the RFID chip embedded in your hand interacts with and leads you to the right smart shelves in the supermarket that have your size jeans and clothes (the chip in your hand records your weight and waist-size in real time)...

Sound like science fiction to you? Maybe not; RFID has already settled comfortably in our midst, and is creeping onward every day...

More at the link.

Google Books features Banned Books during "Banned Books Week"

Google Book Search and the American Library Association have teamed up to offer searchable indices and library links to banned books, in celebration of Banned Books Week (Sept 23-30). Included in the catalog are 1984, Lolita, Lord of the Flies, the Great Gatsby, The Color Purple, Brave New World, Naked Lunch, Invisible Man, Cats Cradle, and many other titles.

NY Times launches phone/pda friendly site.

“Providing a similar navigation to the Web site, the NYTimes.com mobile site provides a version of NYTimes.com that is easily read and navigated on mobile phones. The site is not dependent on carriers. Any consumer who has a Web-enabled phone and pays for a Web data plan will be able to access the mobile site.”

Amazon Movie Downloads to launched today.

From:Endgadget.com

After plenty of rumorings, it doesn't look like Amazon will be able to keep mum on the subject for long, since they're expected to launch "Unbox" today. The word on prices isn't exactly wonderful: rentals should go for about 4 bucks, while permanent downloads are hovering at $15. TV shows are matching the $2 iTunes pricepoint, and should be available the day after they air. As for studios, Amazon is purported to have Warner Bros., Fox, Paramount, MGM, Lionsgate, Sony and Universal all signed up, but Disney is said to be holding out for iTunes at this point. Picture quality is supposed to be DVD-ish, and videos will be playable in Amazon's Windows-only Unbox player (pictured), or on your TV or portable device. So far the amazon.com/unbox URL is redirecting to a plain-vanilla DVD page, but if all this word on the street proves true we should be seeing it up in the next few hours.

Google Launches News Archive Search

From: Techtree.com

Google has announced a new service, "Google News Archive Search", which enables users to scour through archives of more than 200 years old historical content from newspapers, magazines, and other publications.

According to Google, the service is aimed at allowing users to explore history 'as it unfolded.' With this service, users can see how viewpoints/ideas/events changed over time. The archive search presents stories on particular subjects in the order in which they happened, so that users can go back to particular dates and understand how things changed or evolved over time. There is also a facility for users to search archives of particular publications.

An addition to Google News, the archival search is available as a link on the News page - as an alternative to searching the wider Web. Initially, the service is available only in US English. However, the company plans to introduce other languages eventually.

The databases included in this service are part of what some might call the "dark Web" as they cannot be indexed by standard search engines. The archival service is geared to provide users with content from both free as well as subscription-based news services.

Reportedly, Google has partnered with a number of sources for its new service, and the list reads thus: Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Washington Post, Time, Guardian Unlimited, Factiva, Lexis-Nexis, HighBeam Research, Thomson Gale, and AccessMyLibrary.com.

Beginning Sept. 7, check out a Museum Adventure Pass at your local library for free admission at participating museums and other organizations

The Museum Adventure Pass gives library users free admission for up to 4 people at participating museums and other organizations. Click here for more information.

Free Wiki Textbook Project

From: TeleRead

The Wiki-based Global Textbook Project’s goal is 1,000 wiki-created textbooks on “topics typically encountered in the first two years of a university’s undergraduate programs.” May the drive-by concept kick in and work out!

The new project’s organizers promise “several innovations to improve the quality of the books” and already enjoys international participation. Rick Watson (photo), the Georgia professor initiating the effort, has already masterminded XML: Managing Data Exchange.

Search Google via SMS

Click the image to enlarge

Get driving directions, stock prices, movie times, weather, currency cinversion - anything you can do on Google you can now do on your SMS-enabled phone.


The steps (given by Google):
1. Start a new text message and type in your search query
2. Send the message to the number "46645" (GOOGL)
3. You'll receive text message(s) with results

Try it out here:
http://www.google.com/sms/

Google Book Search offers free book downloads

From: Boing Boing

Google Books has just started offering downloads of their public domain books as PDF files. You can search for 'free view' books to find downloads.

Video of Philips roll-up screen for e-reader

From: gizmodo

You've heard of e-ink devices, like the Sony Librie, or e-reader, or whatever. But you've never seen a real working prototype of an electronic reader based on a flexible e-paper, that rolls up like a scroll. And you've never seen a video of said device being explained by a Norwegian named Hans to an Austrailian guy named Max...Mad Max. Whatever, I don't care what his real name is. What we care about is the prototype's 5-inch screen that runs at 320 by 240 pixels. The screen, by E-Ink corporation, only uses power to change states, so battery life is measured in page turns. Video below demos the device.

Google Apps for Your Domain

From the site:

Now you can offer private-labeled email, IM and calendar tools to all of your users for free, so they can share ideas and get things done more effectively. You can design and publish your organization's website, too. It's all hosted by Google, so there's no hardware or software for you to install or maintain.

Google Inc. has launched Google Apps for Your Domain, a suite of hosted collaboration applications for small to medium-size businesses, universities, groups and affinity organizations, with plans to expand to larger companies by year’s end.

Organizations will be able to sign up for the beta version of the free browser-based, hosted-application service, which Google expects will be up and running Monday.

Google's foot in the office door

From c/net News

Google is launching another attack on the corporate world, offering up a suite of business applications on Monday.

The suite includes Gmail with 2GB of storage, Google Calendar, Google Talk and Page Creator. It's an extension of a service the company launched in February that lets organizations use Gmail with their own e-mail address.

Google still makes most of its money from search-related advertising. But with beta versions of spreadsheet and word-processing programs in the works, it's clear the company is aiming for bigger markets.

Stunning photos of world libraries

From c/net news

Prepare yourself, then, to view some incredible images of libraries from around the world. (Do not be deterred by the article title)

From the site:

Yesterday I came across a truly gorgeous book of photographs by Candida Höfer titled, Libraries, a title which pretty much says it all, because that is just exactly what it is, one rich, sumptuous, photo of a library interior after another. It’s like porn for book nerds. Seriously. They are gorgeous photos, nearly all without visitors and just begging to be entered.

Interactive Map of the Islamic World - can you name them?

Can you name and locate the countries of the Islamic world?

Google opens Writely word processor to public

From SkatterTech

Writely, an online word processor, was acquired by Google in January 2006. (more info here) Since then the service has been offered to the public, but on an invite-only basis. But last week Google finally finished moving servers and opened Writely up for the public. Unlike other Google Products, which require use or creation of a free Google Account, Writely is available for everyone. To register click here, enter your email address, pick a password, and done!

BritLit - free downloads of English Literature

From the site:

The aim of BritLit is to help teachers from around the world to exploit English literature in the ELT classroom. Here you can find a range of materials based around the works of various authors.

Each BritLit resource kit contains a range of materials to help students understand the context of the literature as well as the language and the works themselves.

Many of the packs contain complete texts, tasks for students , teachers' notes as well as audio recordings of interviews with the authors and readings of the text.

You'll find works by Arthur C. Clarke, Roald Dahl, Far Weldon and many, many more!

Videojug.com - Life explained. On film.

Videojug is on a mission to be the ultimate source of video instruction on just about anything imaginable, from identifying cancer to cooking pasta. "We are building a living encyclopedia of life, on video," the site proclaims. Meager content at the moment, but lots of potential!

Over 10,000 Old-time Radio Shows - FREE!

From the site:

The OTR.Network is a new online resource for Old Time Radio (OTR) enthusiasts. We have over 11,000 OTR shows available for instant listening, and we add at least 100 more every week. Oh yeah, did we mention it's free?

Five Killer Education Resources

52 Reviews identifies resources it thinks might doom traditional colleges. Here is a sampling. More at the link

MIT OpenCourseWare
Wikiversity
Toastmasters International
Stanford on iTunes

UC Libraries Join Google's Book Project

From ABC News

The University of California is joining Google Inc.'s book-scanning project, throwing the weight of another 100 academic libraries behind an ambitious venture that's under legal attack for alleged copyright infringement.

The deal to be announced Wednesday covers all the libraries in UC's 10-campus system, marking the biggest expansion of Google's effort to convert millions of library books into digital form since a group of authors and publishers sued last fall to derail a project launched 20 months ago.

"We think this is a pretty significant step forward," said Adam Smith, the group product manager overseeing Google's book-scanning initiative.

UC joins three other major U.S. universities Stanford, Michigan and Harvard that are contributing their vast library collections to Google's crusade to ensure reams of knowledge written on paper makes the transition to the digital age. The New York Public Library and Oxford University also are allowing portions of their libraries to be scanned.

More at the link.

1992 Volvo Bookmobile for sale

Offered on eBay (currently at $5100.00 and below reserve). You could live in it!
1992 Volvo Bookmobile with 1992 36' Moroney Library- self contained- 7.5 kw diesel generator, copeland a/c, converter, inverter, webasto heater. Truck and trailer are in outstanding condition with only 114k highway miles on each of them. Runs and drives like new. 215 hp 3116 catapillar turbo charged diesel. H/D Fuller 6 speed trans. 31000 gvw. 32000 gvw for trailer. Tires and brakes good. Removable 3 passenger bunk, intercom system throughout truck, trailer and bunk.

Bookmooch

Swap sites are becoming very popular. Check out Bookmooch, a community for exchanging used books.

The public version of WorledCat is live

WorldCat

Search for items in a library near you!