Citation
(2007), "New & Noteworthy", Library Hi Tech News, Vol. 24 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/lhtn.2007.23924dab.001
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2007, Emerald Group Publishing Limited
New & Noteworthy
Around the World in 2 Billion Pages: Internet Archive Web Crawler Project
In December 2006, Internet Archive received a grant from the Mellon Foundation for their ongoing development of the Heritrix web crawler, their open-source, extensible, web-scale, archival-quality web crawler project. Using this grant, they will be embarking on a 2 billion page web crawl beginning in July 2007. This will be the largest web crawl they have ever attempted.
They are currently seeking URL submissions for this historic crawl from libraries and archives as well as other cultural and memory institutions. They especially want international web content from a large variety of countries, geographic regions and language bases. They are issuing an invitation for organizations to participate. Participants will need a log in name and password to contribute URLs. Contact aroundtheworld@archive.org for invitations.
More information on Around the World in 2 Billion Pages: http://wa.archive.org/aroundtheworld/index.html
Heritrix Web Crawler: http://crawler.archive.org/
Internet Archive: www.archive.org/index.php
Eduserv Launches OpenAthens
Eduserv, the not-for-profit IT services group, has unveiled OpenAthens, a new access and identity management platform using established international standards. The launch builds on the successful and widely adopted Athens service, and enables Institutions to gain secure access to Shibboleth-protected, UK Access Management Federation resources and maintain access to Athens-protected resources at low cost, within hours.
OpenAthens offers Further and Higher Education Institutions all the benefits of federation membership without the cost of developing, managing and maintaining their own in-house identity provider service. It will also enable institutions to act as both identity providers and service providers, facilitating the sharing of resources across institutions, and enable those institutions to join multiple federations around the world as and when they emerge.
The Joint Information Systems Committee's procurement of the Athens service makes it possible for institutions to gain access to Athens and Shibboleth-protected resources in the Federation at no cost until July 2008. From July 2008, OpenAthens will be available to institutions for as little as £1000 for the smallest institutions to a maximum of £10,000 for the largest. The OpenAthens shared service approach to participation in the Federation compares very favorably with the cost of developing, implementing, managing and supporting in-house identity provider services.
Eduserv is a unique, self-funding registered charity with the mission to realize the benefits of IT for learners, researchers and the institutions that serve them. Eduserv have an in-depth understanding of Education and is driven by the needs of the community to deliver real benefits and save significant sums of money each year.
More about OpenAthens: www.athensams.net/upload/resources/pdf/athens/openathens_flyer.pdf
Eduserv: www.eduserv.org.uk
Digital Library Source Code from the Ockham Project
The Ockham Initiative, a joint project of Oregon State University, University of Notre Dame, Emory University, and Virginia Tech, seeks to promote the development of digital libraries via collaboration between librarians and digital library researchers. By promoting simple, open approaches and standards for digital library tools, services, and content, the gap between digital library development and the adoption of digital library systems by the traditional library community will be bridged.
Three services have been created at Notre Dame: MyLibrary@Ockham – an index of OAI accessible content from NDSL whose interface is enhanced with things like Find More Like This and Did You Mean services all accessible through a Search/Retrieve via URL interface. Ockham Alert – a current awareness service against OAI-accessible content using RSS as the primary distribution method, again accessible through SRU. Spell – given a string as input, this rudimentary Web Service returns a list of alternative spellings for the input.
Digital library source code for these services has been packaged and made available:
MyLibrary@Ockham source: http://code.google.com/p/ockham-mylibrary/ example: http://mylibrary.ockham.org/
Ockham Alert source: http://code.google.com/p/ockham-alert/ example: http://alert.ockham.org/
Spell source: http://code.google.com/p/ockham-spell/ example: http://spell.ockham.org/
Digital Repository Audit Method Toolkit Released
The Digital Curation Centre (DCC) and DigitalPreservationEurope (DPE) have announced the release of the Digital Repository Audit Method Based on Risk Assessment (DRAMBORA) toolkit and supporting tutorials. This toolkit facilitates internal audit by providing repository administrators with a means to assess their capabilities, identify their weaknesses, and recognize their strengths. It complements other emerging work on attributes and criteria for Trustworthy Digital Repositories. DRAMBORA can be utilized by a broad range of digital repositories, including the majority of current instances whose mandates do not yet include responsibility for long-term digital preservation. The development of this toolkit follows a concentrated period of repository pilot audits undertaken by the DCC, conducted at a diverse range of organizations including national libraries, scientific data centers, and cultural and heritage data archives. It is intended that this model will respond to meet the changing needs caused by the rapidly developing landscape.
This self-assessment toolkit was developed collaboratively by the DCC (funded by the Joint Information Systems Committee and the Core eScience Programme run by EPSRC on behalf of all the Research Councils in the UK) and DPE (co-funded by the European Commission). These two initiatives will continue to work together to test and refine the toolkit, to manage the online tool, which is available at www.repositoryaudit.eu, and to foster its widest possible take-up within the UK, Europe, and broader international contexts.
Three tutorials to introduce the DRAMBORA toolkit will be held in April and May. Details on these workshops can be found on the DCC website at www.dcc.ac.uk/events/ These practical tutorials open with a contextual overview of the need for an evidence-based audit of digital repositories and describe the results of the DCC pilot audits to date as well as lessons. The tutorials will then move on to demonstrate how institutions can make use of the DRAMBORA toolkit to design, develop, evaluate, and/or refine new or existing trusted digital repository systems and workflows. This will involve a walkthrough of the audit process with practical examples based on the pilot audits. Participants will receive a hard copy of the DRAMBORA toolkit and related documentation to take away with them so they can begin to assess their own repositories and workflows or start developing a repository system.
For more information on the toolkit and the tutorials, see:
www.digitalpreservationeurope.eu/
Trustworthy Repositories Audit and Certification Checklist
In March 2007, the Center for Research Libraries (CRL) and RLG Programs (a unit of the OCLC Programs and Research division) announced the publication of "Trustworthy Repositories Audit & Certification: Criteria and Checklist."
In 2003, RLG and the US National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) created a joint task force to address digital repository certification. The goal of the RLG–NARA Task Force on Digital Repository Certification was to develop criteria to identify digital repositories capable of reliably storing, migrating, and providing access to digital collections. With partial funding from the NARA Electronic Records Archives Program, the international task force produced a set of certification criteria applicable to a range of digital repositories and archives, from academic institutional preservation repositories to large data archives and from national libraries to third-party digital archiving services.
In 2005, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation awarded funding to the Center for Research Libraries to further establish the documentation requirements, delineate a process for certification, and establish appropriate methodologies for determining the soundness and sustainability of digital repositories. Under this effort, Robin Dale (RLG Programs) and Bernard F. Reilly (President, Center for Research Libraries) created an audit methodology based largely on the checklist, tested it on several major digital repositories, including the E-Depot at the Koninklijke Bibliotheek in the Netherlands, the Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research, and Portico.
Findings and methodologies were shared with those of related working groups in Europe who applied the draft checklist in their own domains: the Digital Curation Center (UK), DigitalPreservationEurope (Continental Europe), and NESTOR (Germany). The report incorporates the sum of knowledge and experience, new ideas, techniques, and tools that resulted from cross-fertilization between the US and European efforts. It also includes a discussion of audit and certification criteria and how they can be considered from an organizational perspective.
With the publication of this report, all related digital repository audit and certification work is moving to CRL. According to Bernard Reilly, "At a time when universities and research libraries are being called upon to bear the substantial costs of preserving digital data and electronic content, the TRAC checklist will help make possible the kind of due diligence that the community exercises in their other investments of comparable scale."
The 93-page report is available in pdf from the Center for Research Libraries: http://bibpurl.oclc.org/web/16712
Background on the CRL project: www.crl.edu/content.asp1=13&l2=58&l3=142.
Background on the RLG-NARA Task Force and its work can be found at: www.rlg.org/en/page.phpPage_ID=580 and related OCLC Programs & Research work can be found at www.oclc.org/research/
ALA Draft Principles for Digitized Content
In January of 2007, the Task Force on Digitization Policy of American Library Association's (ALA's) Office for Information Technology Policy introduced the draft "Principles for Digitized Content." The goal of the principles is to succinctly voice the primary policy areas that can guide libraries as they make decisions regarding digitization. The nine principles are now available on the ALA blog site at http://blogs.ala.org/digitizationprinciples.php. The blog is an online area for your comments on the Principles, and they invite you to read them and comment. The blog will be accepting comments until May 1, 2007. Comments from individuals are welcome, but comments from organizations should indicate who is being represented in the text.
The goal, after a review and comment period, is a concise document that would be officially adopted by ALA as a statement of where libraries stand on the policy issues raised by widespread digitization of library materials. The Task Force would like to present this document for approval by ALA Council at the 2007 annual conference in Washington, DC.
Printable copies of the principles document, a list of Task Force members, and other background documents are available at: www.ala.org/ala/washoff/contactwo/oitp/digtask.htm
Taking Responsibility for Shaping the Global Digital Library
Seven core library interests in evaluating digitization partnerships are identified in the February 2007 Bimonthly Report on Research Library Issues and Actions from ARL, CNI, and SPARC. The special issue written by Richard K. Johnson, Senior Advisor for the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) is entitled "In Google's Broad Wake: Taking Responsibility for Shaping the Global Digital Library." The author urges libraries to reject the notion that recent mass digitization contracts have established the norms for future agreements and to "make full use of whatever leverage they have to ensure the global digital library is open and dynamic." As stewards of their collections, libraries should consider carefully issues of exclusivity, uses of the digital files, respect for the public domain and copyright, preservation, use of standards, the quid pro quo, and transparency. Developed at the request of ARL's Scholarly Communication Steering Committee, a checklist accompanying the article suggests some of the questions negotiators should ask themselves as they define their objectives in entering an agreement. The article is openly available at: www.arl.org/resources/pubs/br/br250.shtml
BCR Expanding Service into Digitization
The Collaborative Digitization Program (CDP) and the Bibliographical Center for Research (BCR) announced in March 2007 their intention for the CDP to merge into BCR, effective April 1. Both organizations provide services to libraries and other cultural heritage organizations throughout a multistate area focused in the West. The digital services programmatic offerings of the merged organizations will be known as CDP@BCR.
The merger of the CDP – with its nationally recognized digitization expertise – into BCR – a multistate library cooperative serving more than 1,100 member libraries – will enable BCR to build new service programs in the area of digitization and reach out to cultural heritage organizations in addition to bringing CDP-based training, best practices and guidelines, and consulting services to member libraries.
"BCR has an excellent reputation for providing quality training to library staff throughout our 11-state region," commented Brenda Bailey-Hainer, Executive Director of BCR. "The merger of CDP into BCR will allow us to expand our offerings into the area of digital collections using the tested curriculum of CDP and to build on the strengths of both organizations and their staffs. In addition, CDP's past success in securing federal grant funding for cutting edge digital projects will assist BCR with moving into this arena."
The CDP, established in 1999 as the Colorado Digitization Project, enables access to cultural, historical, and scientific heritage collections of the West by building collaboration between archives, historical societies, libraries, and museums. The CDP provides assistance to the cultural heritage community through best practice guidelines, workshops, and digitization grant funding. The CDP also delivers access to thousands of digital photographs, text, and sound files documenting the history, culture, and science of the west through Heritage West.
The current cdpheritage.org Web site material will be merged with the BCR Web site over time. A Digital Services Advisory Group will be formed to advise CDP@BCR on current and new digital services and initiatives. CDP Working Groups will continue to meet to create and update best practices and standards and to assist with future planning for digital initiatives and grant proposals.
Collaborative Digitization Program website: www.cdpheritage.org
BCR website: www.bcr.org/
OCLC Acquires TechAtlas Technology Planning Software
Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) has acquired TechAtlas technology planning software with a $1.9 million grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. WebJunction, OCLC's online community where library staff share ideas and use online resources to help them in their work, will further develop this Web-based technology management and planning tool with particular attention to helping public libraries create E-Rate compliant technology plans.
With support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, OCLC will now take over ownership of the TechAtlas product, and WebJunction will begin an intensive round of design and development work to extend TechAtlas features, such as expanding the ability to allow consortia to review and approve technology plans for their member libraries.
TechAtlas is a Web-based technology management and planning tool, and provides an environment for small to medium libraries to inventory their technology assets and use that information as a starting point for building a comprehensive technology plan. For those libraries pursuing E-Rate funding, the technology plan approval process can be automated through TechAtlas. State library coordinators have the ability to review and approve individual library technology plans without the need to send e-mail or paper copies back-and-forth. TechAtlas can also be used by libraries that are not interested in obtaining E-Rate reimbursements, but simply want to take control of their use of technology and build a plan that can serve as a roadmap for future investments and upgrades.
WebJunction will also be providing TechAtlas to libraries participating in the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation's US Libraries initiative's grant-making efforts. Special TechAtlas features will help these eligible libraries to deliver information to the foundation about their technology infrastructure, will assist in grant evaluation, and will provide valuable data to state library agencies on the public access computing "landscape" in their communities.
TechAtlas at WebJunction: www.webjunction.org/do/DisplayContentid=15201
TechAtlas for Libraries blog: https://wjtechatlas.wordpress.com/
SirsiDynix Announces Rome
SirsiDynix announced in March 2007 a new technology platform that will blend the best features from its two flagship solution suites to serve the demanding needs of public, academic, K-12 and special libraries, as well as consortia. Code-named "Rome," this platform will integrate solutions for library/consortia management, the user experience and content management. The platform will be built on SirsiDynix's Unicorn Library Management System and will include a set of new solutions created as part of SirsiDynix Horizon 8.0/Corinthian development.
Rome is intended to go beyond a traditional integrated library system. It will offer integrated technology building blocks for today's libraries and consortia, including cost-saving software-as-a-service (SaaS) hosted options, state-of-the-art portal and search solutions, new and easy-to-manage Web-based library staff software, electronic content management and presentation solutions, the broadest suite of library management and productivity solutions – and more. The first version of Rome, with many of these important features included, will be released later this year. A subsequent version will be released in late 2008.
Talin Bingham, SirsiDynix chief technology officer, said: "Neither Unicorn nor Horizon systems are being eliminated. Instead, SirsiDynix is blending features, capabilities, user interfaces, modules and more as the foundation of a single, new platform featuring best-of-breed solutions from both product families. The result will be a technology platform that can grow and evolve along with libraries and consortia." Bingham said there are numerous major features and benefits of Rome, including: SaaS delivery options – hosted software, SirsiDynix-managed upgrades, built-in disaster recovery and dedicated, secure server capacity and more – to ensure lower cost of ownership in a time of constrained budgets and limited technical staff. New, Web-based library staff software, to allow easy, affordable distribution of software throughout library facilities via standard browsers – plus a full suite of Java-based staff software. Advanced user experience solutions – including enterprise search and discovery portals, faceted and visual search, federated search and digital asset management – to help libraries meet the demands of information consumers. Comprehensive, integrated functions for all public and technical services, including electronic resources management, to better assist libraries in effectively and efficiently managing their operations and resources. Add-on solutions from SirsiDynix and strategic partners – such as business intelligence and reporting tools, PC/print management, RFID/self-check/automated materials and more – to provide the broadest suite of productivity solutions available today.
Bingham added that SirsiDynix will continue to maintain and support Horizon 7.3/7.4 and Unicorn GL3.1, and will work with customers to plan optimal upgrade paths to Rome.
SirsiDynix website: www.sirsidynix.com
LuraTech Releases New Imaging Software Product
LuraTech has announced a new imaging software product: The LuraWave JP2 Image Content Server (ICS), v1.04. ICS allows organizations to deliver JPEG2000 images, document collections and their respective metadata through customizable, browser-based viewing applications without any plug-ins, ActiveX components or additional viewing software. After two years of development and six months of beta-testing at several large, well-known organizations such as the Library and Archives of Canada and Missouri Botanical Gardens, it is now officially released.
ICS is a software tool kit that allows an organization to develop advanced customizable, browser-based viewing applications on top of their JPEG2000 image stores without requiring end users to download and install any additional ActiveX components or viewing software. ICS converts JPEG2000 images to JPEG and delivers them "on-the-fly" to the browser-based viewing application. Since ICS uses JPEG as its primary delivery format and standard JavaScript components, organizations can create advanced image viewing features, such as panning, zooming and page turning within their own browser-based viewing application without forcing end users to install additional software.
Moreover, since the JPEG's are created "on-the-fly" from one source JPEG2000 image, ICS eliminates the need to create multiple derivative files, thus reducing overall administration costs. This is done by taking advantage of the multi-layer compression capability of JPEG2000. ICS takes only the resolution layers that are needed to render a specific image request. For example, if the end user's client requests a thumbnail, then only a small portion of the JPEG2000 image is converted to JPEG and delivered. However, if the end user wishes to see a high-resolution version of the image to zoom in on, then the ICS converts more high-resolution layers of the image for delivery.
Beyond JPEG2000, LuraTech has also expanded its role in providing and promoting PDF/A, the new ISO compliant file format for long-term archival of electronic documents. Early last summer, LuraTech announced the release of the LuraDocument PDF Compressor with PDF/A output, the first software on the market to convert scanned documents into the PDF/A format. Then LuraTech initiated the establishment the PDF/A Competence Center (www.pdfa.org/en), an educational consortium of several key technology vendors. Since then, many European organizations have quickly adopted the PDF/A standard. And even now, several North American organizations such as the National Archives and Records Administration, the Secretary of the State in California, and Ministry of Health of Canada are now looking into the format. In early November, the City of Toronto adopted the new standard with their purchase of the PDF Compressor Server.
More ICS product information: www.luratech.com/products/lurawave/jp2/ics/
LuraTech website: www.luratech.com
New Report from CRITO on Strategic Use of IT and Google
The Center for Research on Information Technology and Organizations (CRITO) at UC Irvine announced in February 2007 the availability of a new report by Rex Chen, Oisze Lam and Kenneth L. Kraemer entitled "Strategic Use of Information Technology – Google." The report looks at how Google's specific use of information technology has been critical to its success and rapid growth into arguably the industry's dominant player in search technology and beyond.
From the report's introduction: "Arguably the most popular search engine available today, Google is widely known for its unparalleled search engine technology, embodied in the web page ranking algorithm, PageRank and running on an efficient distributed computer system. In fact, the verb "to Google" has ingrained itself in the vernacular as a synonym of "[performing] a web search." The key to Google's success has been its strategic use of both software and hardware information technologies. The IT infrastructure behind the search engine includes huge storage databases and numerous server farms to produce significant computational processing power. These critical IT components are distributed across multiple independent computers that provide parallel computing resources. This architecture has allowed Google's business to reach a market capital over $100 billion and become one of the most respected and admirable companies in the world."
The report (pdf): www.crito.uci.edu/papers/2007/Google.pdf
For more information on CRITO: www.crito.uci.edu/
blinkx Issues Video Search Engine Optimization Whitepaper
blinkx, the largest video search engine on the Web, has unveiled a set of guidelines and a community site to help advertisers, marketers and content owners maximize traffic to online video.
The proliferation of broadband has driven unprecedented consumer demand for rich media on the Internet, and as a result, advertisers and content producers are strategically diverting their focus from text to audio and video content. "Because blinkx was built from the ground up for the video web, we have observed many things and created a number of internal best practices. Today, we feel ideally positioned to offer useful insight into the art and science of optimizing video content on the Web," said Suranga Chandratillake, founder and CTO of blinkx.
In introducing its Video Search Engine Optimization (SEO) wiki and guidelines, blinkx's goal is to provide a forum for discussions around best practices, as well as clear and thorough recommendations on how to maximize search results for video content. The whitepaper covers contains practical and technical tips including: Cleaning and conversion of metadata; Optimizing titles, description and filenames; Leveraging sitemaps; Utilizing Media RSS; Content Management; Where to submit; What to Avoid.
"With the explosion in online video, we've received an enormous number of questions from content producers who want to maximize the exposure of the video they've put into our system, and I wanted to build a more structured assistance program for them," said Chandratillake. "This effort isn't intended to make money, we simply wanted to be open and transparent about how blinkx and other search engines rank rich media content. Over time, we're hoping the wiki will become a useful tool and forum for the entire community."
Denuo, the media futures unit of marketing/communications agency holding company Publicis Groupe, S.A., is collaborating with blink on the Video SEO Initiative. The agency will be conducting independent research in the area and contributing to the forum. "The exploding supernova of digital video content creation and distribution continues unabated, and the need has never been greater for tools and approaches that bring some semblance of order to today's relatively rudimentary processes of programming and sponsorship," said Timothy Hanlon, senior vice president, Denuo. "blinkx's open-source approach to video search optimization is a huge step forward in advancing our collective best practices in video navigation."
As the pioneer in video search technology, blinkx has built a reputation as the smartest way to search new forms of online content, such as video and podcasts. blinkx uses advanced speech recognition technology that delivers results that are more accurate and reliable than standard metadata-based keyword searches. blinkx's patented search technologies listen to – and even see – the Web, helping users enjoy a breadth and accuracy of search results not available elsewhere. In addition, blinkx powers the video search for many of the world's most frequented sites. blinkx is a privately held company based in San Francisco and London.
Video SEO whitepaper: www.blinkx.com/seo.pdf
More information: www.blinkx.com.
Two New Reports on Digital Audio Books and Libraries
A free white paper (PDF file) comparing the downloadable digital audio book services offered by OverDrive and NetLibrary/Recorded Books has been released. The report, commissioned by OverDrive and written by Tom Peters of TAP Information Services, compares the two services along several key parameters, including collections, systems, support, usability, and usage. This report, which also briefly examines the newer downloadable video services from OverDrive and Recorded Books, complements another recent report by Tom Peters of TAP Information Services about digital audio book services for libraries. That report, entitled "Digital Audiobook Services through Libraries" was published as volume 43, number 1 of Library Technology Reports, a publication of the TechSource unit of the American Library Association.
The report that OverDrive commissioned is freely available online in PDF format at the following URL: www.overdrive.com/Resources/EvaluatingDownloadSvcsWhitepaper.pdf
Information about the Library Technology Report from American Library Association TechSource, including purchase and subscription options, can be found at the following URL: www.techsource.ala.org/
What is Web 2.0 Report from JISC TechWatch
Within 15 years the Web has grown from a group work tool for scientists at CERN into a global information space with more than a billion users. Currently, it is both returning to its roots as a read/write tool and also entering a new, more social and participatory phase. These trends have led to a feeling that the Web is entering a "second phase" – a new, "improved" Web version 2.0. But how justified is this perception
This report from Technology and Standards Watch (TechWatch), part of the JISC Development Groups' programme, was commissioned to investigate the substance behind the hyperbole surrounding "Web 2.0." It reports on the implications this may have for the UK Higher and Further Education sector, with a special focus on collection and preservation activities within libraries.
The report establishes that Web 2.0 is more than a set of "cool" and new technologies and services, important though some of these are. It has, at its heart, a set of at least six powerful ideas that are changing the way some people interact. Secondly, it is also important to acknowledge that these ideas are not necessarily the preserve of "Web 2.0," but are, in fact, direct or indirect reflections of the power of the network: the strange effects and topologies at the micro and macro level that a billion Internet users produce.
The report argues that by separating out the discussion of Web technologies (ongoing Web development overseen by the W3C), from the more recent applications and services (social software), and attempts to understand the manifestations and adoption of these services (the "big ideas"), decision makers will find it easier to understand and act on the strategic implications of "Web 2.0." Indeed, analyzing the composition and interplay of these strands provides a useful framework for understanding its significance.
The report is available at: www.jisc.ac.uk/media/documents/techwatch/tsw0701b.pdf
American Library Association in Second Life
The American Library Association (ALA) has announced that it now has a space in Second Life, the online community of more than 1 million users and home to a growing number of library organizations.
According to Jenny Levine, ALA Internet Development Specialist and Strategy Guide, ALA will have one-half of ALA/Arts Island, which will be utilized as a new method for disseminating ALA news and information. It will also be used for reaching out to new audiences, holding events, interacting with members and the public, and exploring the future of library services. The half-island was given to ALA by an anonymous donor.
"Virtually anything is possible in this online world, so we look forward to investigating how we can support our members and our profession as a whole in this unique online setting," Levine said. "Needless to say, we are very excited to join the library community on Second Life, and we hope we as an association can utilize this technology to work with other library and education professionals who are pioneering efforts in immersive environments such as this one. We also hope to use these opportunities to further advance solutions to the digital divide and participation gap issues that surround Second Life and other virtual worlds".
Currently, Second Life is home to many online library operations, including those on Info Island and Cybrary City, just two of the islands in Alliance Library System's "Info Archipelago." Lori Bell, Director of Innovation for Alliance Library System, says these islands are places where many different types of libraries both assist with collaboration and have a local library for their own community.
For those familiar with the terrain, ALA/Arts Island will be located directly next to Cybrary City I. If you have ideas on what you would like to see there, please send them to Jenny Levine at jlevine@ala.org.
The ALA Washington Office has also opened a virtual office in Second Life. The Washington Office is located in Cybrary City next to several other libraries. Cybrary City is one of several islands that librarians are using on Second Life to provide services to the users of this community. Traditional library services – such as collection building, reference, and community gathering – have all been incorporated into this virtual world. More information on activities can be found at www.infoisland.org. In addition, the librarians of Second Life help new users acclimate themselves to Second Life and have begun hosting events for all to attend.
To visit the virtual ALA Washington Office, simply visit the Second Life URL (SLURL):
Information on Second Life libraries: www.infoisland.org
To learn more about Second Life: www.secondlife.com.
New Pew Report on Wireless Internet Use
In February 2007, the Pew Internet and American Life Project released a report that 34 per cent of internet users have logged onto the internet using a wireless connection either around the house, at their workplace, or some place else. The report profiles these wireless users and describes their intensive use of the internet, especially in exchanging emails and getting news online.
The report indicates that users of wireless show deeper engagement with cyberspace – at least when focusing on two basic online activities, email and news. Also of statistical significance, most wireless users (80 per cent) have broadband access at home. "The findings suggest that the "relentless connectivity" afforded by wireless access represents a different quality in online behavior."
The Pew Internet Project is a non-profit, non-partisan initiative of the Pew Research Center that produces reports exploring the impact of the internet on children, families, communities, the work place, schools, health care, and civic/political life.
The full report is available for downloading at: www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/203/report_display.asp
Scientific Publishing in the European Research Area in the Digital Age
On 15 and 16 February 2007, the European Commission (EC) hosted a conference in Brussels on scientific publication issues. The goal of the conference was to bring together stakeholders concerned with access, dissemination, and preservation issues in connection with scientific publication and data in an effort to provide policy options for scientific publishing in the European Research Area. The communication from the EC issued at the conference summarizes the key arguments used by stakeholders, as follows:
Main arguments of researchers, research organizations, funding bodies, and libraries: Open access can increase the impact of scientific research and innovation through improved access to and rapid dissemination of research results. The Internet should bring the costs of scientific publications down, but journal prices have increased. This affects access to scientific information. The public purse pays for research, peer review (through reviewers' salaries), and journals (e.g. through library budgets). It is natural that public actors should request a better return on their investment.
Main arguments of publishers: There is no access problem. Access to scientific information has never been better. Publishing has a cost. Publishers add considerable value to the research process by guaranteeing the quality of journal articles in the most efficient way possible. The publishing market is highly competitive and does not require public intervention. An ill-conceived intervention may lead to "implosion" of the current system without offering a clear and viable alternative.
Two key documents issued at the conference:
BRUSSELS DECLARATION ON STM PUBLISHING by the international scientific, technical and medical (STM) publishing community: www.stm-assoc.org/brussels-declaration/
COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION on scientific information in the digital age: access, dissemination, and preservation: http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/activities/digital_libraries/doc/scientific_nformation/communication_en.pdf
NISO Shared E-Resource Understanding (SERU) Releases Draft Recommended Practices
NISO's Shared E-Resource Understanding (SERU) Working Group has posted its first public draft best practices document on its website. This document, "The SERU Approach to E-Resource Subscriptions: Framework for Development and Use of SERU," presents a shared set of understandings to which publishers and libraries can point when negotiating the sale of electronic content. The framework offers publishers and libraries a solution to the often-burdensome process of bilateral negotiation of a formal license agreement by allowing the sale of e-resources without licenses if both parties feel their perception of risk has been adequately addressed by current law and developing norms of behavior.
The SERU Working Group welcomes comments on its draft document (available from: www.niso.org/committees/SERU/ - working). Please direct comments and suggestions to Judy Luther (judy.luther@informedstrategies.com) or Karla Hahn (karla@arl.org), the working group co-chairs, or any other member of the working group. The SERU project also maintains an informational listserv where comments can be shared along with announcements of future developments with the project. Information on joining the list is available on the project's website.
Following the initial comment period, a revised draft version will be made available in late May for trial use during 2007. During this pilot phase, publishers wishing to sell their products using a SERU approach will be able to join a NISO registry to indicate their willingness to forego a license agreement and rely on the shared expectations expressed in the Common Understanding statement. Publishers can also indicate to serials vendors and to customers their desire to do business in this way. The registry is under development; however, publishers and libraries that are interested in using this approach during the review period are encouraged to contact one of the working group chairs now.
SERU was launched in late 2006 in partnership with the Association of Research Libraries, the Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers, the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition, and the Society for Scholarly Publishing. More information about the SERU Working Group, including FAQs and an electronic mailing list, can be found at www.niso.org/committees/SERU/.