Articles & Nifty Links

I know, I’m a day late (again). I came back from vacation yesterday to dive right into integrating our new electronic journal list from our new serials vendor into our catalog, which process includes verifying the back files of each title and making sure that the overlapping databases (our general link resolver, whatever we get through other electronic resource vendors, etc.) It’s a lot of work and not one of these major companies has any way of doing batch updates (other than the typical batch activations that we use to upload changes and updates to the link resolver). Blah. And we just purchased a huge bundle of new material which also has electronic formats that needs to be integrated the same way, so . . . Double Blah.

Anyway, my boss forwarded this to us yesterday: "Do Libraries Matter: On Library & Librarian 2.0" by Michael Stephens on the ALA TechSource blog. I’m not sure that there’s much material here that hasn’t been written on or imagined by at least someone in Libraryland, but it’s good reading just the same and the links are active.

Enjoy!

Found this on Slashdot.org today: " Metadata in Vista Could Be Too Helpful."

In part:

"Windows Vista will improve search functionality on a PC by letting
users tag files with metadata, but those tags could cause unwanted and
embarrassing information disclosure, Gartner analysts have warned. Search and organization capabilities
are among the primary features of Windows Vista, the successor to
Windows XP due out late in 2006. While building those features,
Microsoft is not paying enough attention to managing the descriptive
information, or metadata, that users can add to files to make it easier
to find and organize data on a PC, according to Gartner. ‘This opens up
the possibility of the inadvertent disclosure of this metadata
to other users inside and outside of your organization,’ Gartner
analysts Michael Silver and Neil MacDonald wrote in a research note
published on Thursday."

Well, okay, that’s ‘in whole’, but the idea doesn’t change with that (the links are live and very much worth checking out.) The question remains for at least some of us with a touch of paranoia like myself (can I have a show of hands? Oh, come on, I know there are more of you  out there than that . . . come on . . . you three in the back, let’s see those hands  . . . I thought so . . . yeah, that’s more like it), which is more desirable, secure data or hyper-sensitive search capability?

I know most people who come into the Academy library are not metadata whizzes. Some of them are: the professional researchers know the differences between searching for authors, title, subject, call number, and keyword, and they tend to devise very carefully scripted search strategies to make use of this knowledge. I’m willing to bet, though, that most people (more than 75% I’d roughly guess) use the title or the author (title is more common in my experience) and the keyword searches are by far the most common from what I’ve seen. This is not a problem per se, as long as one is willing to acknowledge that they keyword searches are the least likely to return useful results: you will get results, several tens of thousands of them (up to millions if you use Google or Yahoo! or another major search engine.)

So with this in mind, has anyone thought to do a study on how people utilize search patterns on their desktops at work and/or home? I’m not sure how one would design such a study–I know there have been a number of studies that track how people search at library computers, but those may not help us here because there’s no way of knowing if those same people are searching for data different at the library, where the systems are set up by librarians and their IT departments, than they are on their home PCs, where they are either customizing their desktops or, more often, and therefore more likely, using whatever searching software was given to them by Microsoft or Apple.

My point is that most people are not all that computer savvy, and so they probably don’t put much thought into how to search for data, or even what data they should be searching for on a given project.  Which I think makes this question of trading off security for descriptive power even more important. (Deep down, I’d like this to not be a question of trading off one for the other but I haven’t been able to imagine how other than to think that technology companies should probably be thinking about security issues before they think about features. Yet.) What does worry me is the fact that Microsoft (with Vista) and Apple (through Sherlock), and Google (through Google Desktop) and other companies I can’t think of right now are developing these search strategies for us by creating search interfaces that are becoming more powerful (or rather potentially powerful, considering that most people won’t use them to fullest advantage.) Is that wise? Considering that people will generally buy convenience and cool features before security, is there anything to be done for it? And if so, then what?

Does this make any sense? Or am I just being paranoid?

Another fast update from the other day: Charles H. Featherstone writes this in response to the fact that all reading is apparently now suspect by the lovely folks in the U.S. government. Or, at least all the material that’s worth reading. (Yes, I think Mao’s "Little Red Book" is worth reading. If you  care about understanding modern Chinese history, anyway.  I don’t understand how someone can figure out modern American history without understanding what was happening in China over the same period of time and why. But, perhaps I’m just strange that way.)

Anyway, I thought this article from Michael Masterson was appropriate, seeing as how readers really do keep us in business, at least to some extent.  As I went over this one, it occurred to me that very few of the people I know in general really like to read as a recreational activity, other than my immediate family (including my in-laws).  So I wonder just how common recreational reading is these days.  Reasons that I bother to wonder are phrases I come across from average, every-day folk. Things like:

"Looks like we got a reader here. Hey, fella, what’cha reading for?"

"The boy’s a real bookworm, huh? Better than drugs, I guess."

"Your son’s a writer? Ah, well, I guess they can’t all be brain surgeons, can they?"

(Yes, these are all real quotes, and thanks to the late Bill Hicks, Chris Borecky from the Academy’s Access department, and my late, though not as late as Bill Hicks father respectively for providing them.)

The ugliest part of these sorts of left-handed compliments is that the people who say them are almost never being sarcastic or obnoxious when they do. They’re perfectly honest, well-meaning people who can’t imagine reading being anything but hard, unpleasant work. They can’t imagine that reading for fun can be, well, fun. That’s not necessarily bad . . . lots of people enjoy things that I can’t imagine volunteering for–skydiving comes to mind. Bungee jumping is another. But IME, people don’t generally mock you for skydiving or bungee jumping, they just stare and say "Wow!" or "Why would you do that?" or such like. Even if they don’t understand, they’re likely to respect you for it.

These same people view reading, especially reading for enjoyment, more like a waste of time, or at least time spent doing something less important than, say making money. Now, if you’re all about making a buck (possibly making serious big bucks, which I don’t) and you’re really good at it, that’s great. You’ve got a right to scoff if you’re really talented, and making money is a highly valued skill in this current place and time, so laugh away. If not, well, it’s your preference vs. mine, isn’t it? And maybe my particular preference is to learn a bit more about the world or some subject in it by reading instead of watching the tube or whatever. There’s nothing wrong with the tube (although Neil Postman would say otherwise), but how the average American watches 8 hours of it each day, I’ll never know.

As to MM’s view of the literary crowd, I admit I’ve drifted farther and farther away from that segment of society since I left college. I admit I’ve forgotten most of what I learned in various English classes, but I kept up my writing, which is what I concentrated on at QC.  I like to think that it keeps me sharp, even if I have been relying more and more on spell checkers.

Enough rambling.  Read, damn you! READ!

 

[Read more…] about The End of Literature?

All four of my dedicated readers know that I like to keep track of Google links. Well, this one is from William Anderson writing from the Mises Institute (two words for those who’ve never heard of it: "libertarian economics") on the potential for Google’s despoiling at the hands of anti-trust bearing politicians. His point seems to be that such things are more driven by politics than anything else, and that Google has few political friends in a position to help them out if need be. I don’t agree with all his points but I agree that politics drives a lot of silly legislation.

And as I keep saying, I have no doubt the folks at Google can do everything they say they’re going to do.  I merely doubt that they’ve correctly estimated how expensive it will turn out to be for them.

Anyway, here’s the link. Enjoy!

I picked this up from Andy, who picked it up from Alan . . . I get som many things from Andy’s site by way of his readers that had I not already listed him on the Economics typelist, I’d be tempted to sneak his wite onto the typelist for Library resources. Good stuff. Like this.

Anyway, from Andy:

NEWSPAPERS FROM AROUND THE WORLD
"The way they really look (and zoomable for tired eyeballs). Thanks, Alan! Click here and take the rest of the day off to peruse 225 papers."

From JF: Enjoy!

The Daily Reckoning has a great tidbit on the history of "Uncle Sam" today, including the fact that there is no copyright on the image used by Army recruiters in World War 1 (government documents generally are not copyrighted, so yeah, that makes sense even though I’ve never really thought much about it. More fool me.)

It’s been very, very busy around here the past couple of weeks, and I’ve got six projects running concurrently, which means that something has to give and unfortunately, that’s what I write here.  Luckily, the most time-intensive project which is a digitization grant I’m working on is due next week, and thing should slow down a bit from that point onwards. (Apologies to both my dedicated readers.)

At any rate, this article in the Nov. 1 issue of Library Journal came to me by way of Margaret Maurer, Assistant Professor and Head of Cataloging and Metadata at Kent State, and the SysAdmin of the university’s TSLibrarians listserv. It’s called "Amazing Magic Searches" and it’s an interesting (and funny) look at Library of Congress Subject heading subdivisions, written by Becky Kornegay, Heidi Buchanan, and Hiddy Morgan. And it’s not written just for catalogers,  either.

Enjoy!

A couple of things caught my eye today.  First, I found this article by David H. Holtzman in the Oct. 25 issue of BusinessWeek.  It’s called "Share the Knowledge, Expand the Wealth" and makes the case that copyright, while still an incredibly valuable legal protection against intellectual property theft has been badly abused by the giants of the publishing, entertainment and software industries to the detriment of you and me, or other folks who might want to make use of IP licenses for our own creative efforts. I’m not sure how effectively Holtzman makes his case, as he writes in broad strokes for the layman instead of making use of actual case law, but it’s worth reading because I think his main point is a good one.

My other find today was an article called "Our Librarians, Our Heroes" from the De Moines register, which I put behind the cut (it was forwarded in an e-mail so I don’t have a URL for it.)

Enjoy!

[Read more…] about Copyright and Heroic Librarians

The following article by David V. Forrest, M.D., appeared in the American Journal of Psychiatry’s ‘Introspections’ column: the most elegant title is " The Librarians."  In part:

"Bank robbers go where the money is, and we bookworms and journal raccoons are found in libraries. At the New York State Psychiatric Institute, arguably the premier interdisciplinary psychiatry institute, the library has the honored position of a top floor location in the new Oldham Building, and it is my habitat, so much so that my Columbia University mail is sent there. The multitiered library in our old building had a cachet that the new one in a new computer-age building, reminiscent of the corridors and staterooms of the starship Enterprise, cannot quite replace. Nevertheless, the company of our librarians is rewarding. These devoted keepers of the literature, who have taken an oath of near silence, are themselves an underconsulted resource."

One wishes that we keepers of the literature all had employers and co-workers who appreciated us this much.

The rest of the article is here.

Okay, new house rule: new stuff must appear here on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I’ll do more if I can but never less often. Deal? Deal.

And today’s Nifty Link comes courtesy of LRC (as so much does these days, at least to me): The Stephen’s Guide Index of Logical Fallacies, which is not the most complete list on the planet, but for yokels like me (and perhaps you, although I’m sure you’re smarter than I am which is why you are out there living a glamorous and exciting life and I’m here typing at this stupid keyboard when I should be clearing out the monthly serials claims folder) it’s very cool indeed, with a well-defined all-text structure  and complete explanations of all the most common logical fallacies I learned about when I took public speaking in college. And it’s a million times more accessible than any logic textbook I have ever encountered, which probably means that I need to read even more than I do already, which is sad enough, since reading is why I’m not living as exciting a life as you are, which brings us back to why I’m typing this here and you’re not (though you are reading it . . . hmmm . . . you may not be quite as glamorous as I’d originally thought . . . oh, heck, I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt here and say that you’re exceptionally, amazingly, agonizingly glamorous and popular and brilliant, which is why I hate you to pieces and often spend my nights curled up in a ball in my apartment sobbing under the covers.)

Be warned: this page took forever to load on my PC (it’s mostly text, so I’m not sure why that should be); your mileage may vary.

Enjoy!

I’d heard that the New Orleans Public Library was in deep trouble, more from the city’s intent to shutter it than anything that Hurricane Katrina did. I’d wanted details, though, so I went to Google news, put "New Orleans Public Library" into the search field, clicked on the patented (if not then soon, I’m sure) Ye Olde Magic SEARCH Buttonne and got four completely contradictory results. That is, the results were fine, the stories they pulled up were contradictory.

First I got this one, "Purchasing Guide Good Start in getting N.O. Library Back Up" from 2theadvocate.com, dated October 9.

October 10 edition of Library Journal carried this one: "New Orleans to Slash Jobs; Library Likely to Suffer".  Note that I’m not disputing the veracity of the headline (seeing as how libraries always suffer when tax revenue collapses), I’m just wondering how timely it is.

The reason I’m wondering is that way back (comparitively speaking) on October 7, American Libraries Online published this tidbit titled "New Orleans Public Library Services Terminated."
It’s an ugly, ugly headline but if it comes earlier than the other articles–if the place was officially terminated, why was the buying guide issued? ANd this particular article sort of makes the Library Journal story redundant, doesn’t it?

Or does it? That’s when I foud this gem, also from ALAO: "Retired New orleand Public Library StafferWins Big in Casino":

"A 30-year veteran of the New Orleans Public Library, who had moved to
Opelousas, Louisiana, to stay with family after Hurricane Katrina left
her homeless last month, won $1.6 million at a casino October 4 after
spending only $4.25 in a Wheel of Fortune game.

Jacquelyn Sherman, who had worked at the East New Orleans Regional and
Nora Navra branches before retiring about 10 years ago, stopped at the
Evangeline Downs Racetrack and Casino in Opelousas with her sister
Clarissa to try her luck at the casino games. “She told me that if I
needed her she would be at the Wheel of Fortune machine,” Clarissa said
in the October 6 Opelousas Daily World. “I received a
hysterical call from her telling me that she wanted me to meet her at
the machine. When I arrived, she was surrounded by security guards. The
first thing I asked her was, ’Did you break these people’s machine?’”"

Maybe Ms. Sherman can help the library out a bit?

I’m sure there’s a ton of librarians and library support folks out there who’ve known all about Library Thing for week, months, now. I admit I just found out about it by meand of this testimonial from Andy’s website:

‘Judy: “Have you already found Library Thing?  I think it’s pretty cool – a way to catalog
your library online. A while back I considered buying a cataloging program but
they seemed too expensive and/or too complex for my purposes but this is really
cool. It’s in BETA and you can list up
to 200 books free or pay a lifetime fee of ten bucks for unlimited listing. All sorts of neat features.’"

So I went, I signed in (anybody can sign in, all you need is a user name and a password and the app create a customizable profile for you), and I got permission to catalog  200 books (you’re given an empty work space to use as you like) according to title, author, date, XML tags, include comments or share records with others. (A paid account costs $10 for the priviledge of cataloging as many books as you want, and apparently never needs to be renewed.) All but the Comments fields are hyperlinkable to other records.

One tab link that stood out was "extras". That one leads to some pretty nifty stuff: there’s a javascript editor that lets you write and style "Widgets" which update in real time and you can paste into the HTML on your own blog. You can also export all your records to CSV files if you want to make Excel spreadsheets of your work, and design "Amazon bookmarklets" which lets you import records from Amazon.com once you’ve found a book to your liking.

Speaking of blogs, Library Thing has its own, also viewable on their website.

The Library Thing Zetgeist (another tab) has a collection of links leading to the 25 largest libraries, the most recent users and books added to the site, the top 25 books, and the top 25 tags that people have used (it look like they rank according to frequency of use), not to mention top 25 authors and books added in the last hour.

Searching is a little mimited for my taste but it works pretty well: search according to book title, tag, or user, and in each case you have the option of searching your little corner of Library Thing (your libraries or you tags) or the whole database.

From what little I’ve seen, it’s not a bad resource at all.