Professional Reading Shelf
Online Information
The November/December Issue of Information Highways is Now Online
Articles Include:
“Public Libraries Lead, Follow and Get Out of Their Users’ Way” by Paula MacKinnon
“Getting Around And” by Gwen Harris
“Blogging for Business” by Rod Chapman

National Libraries–The British Library
The British Library Appoints New Head of British Collections
From the announcement, “John Tuck joins the British Library as Head of British Collections this month. In this new post John is responsible for the Library’s collections of British material, the largest in the world, which include printed items from the fifteenth century to the present day, Manuscripts covering more than a thousand years, recorded sound and newspapers.”

Resources, Tools and Full-Text Documents (6 Items)
Atlases–Canada
Redesigned Site, The Atlas of Canada
“Completely redesigned by Natural Resources Canada and now easier than ever to use, The Atlas of Canada lets you discover our country from your computer�all you need is Internet access. Visit the See Our Maps section and you�ll find hundreds of well-organized colour maps on Canada�s climate, economy, history, people, environment, fresh water, and health, all one click away.” You’ll also find a gazetteer and many other tools.
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Topics in the News–Bali Bombings
Source: Department of the Parliamentary Library, Australia
New, Issue Brief/Full-Text, The Bali Bombing: What It Means for Indonesia
New, E-Brief, Terrorism in Southeast Asia
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Parliament–United Kingdom–Webcasts
Redesigned Site, ParliamentLive.TV
Live coverage of the House of Commons, House of Lords and other events.
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Education–United States
Source: U.S. Department of Education
New/Full-Text, No Child Left Behind: A Desktop Reference
From the site, “This Desktop Reference outlines what is new under the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 for each program supported under the Elementary and Secondary Act of 1965 and other statues.”
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Criminal Investigation
Source: National Institute of Justice
Full-Text Report, Using DNA to Solve Cold Cases
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Energy–Iraq
Source: Energy Information Administration
Updated, Iraq Country Analysis Brief

Art Libraries
Source: The Chicago Tribune (Free Registration Required)
Learn About the Ryerson and Burnham Libraries at the Art Institute of Chicago
From the article, “Just how extensive is the Ryerson and Burnham collection? According to Jack Brown, director of the libraries for almost 20 years, there are a quarter-million books, which take up 220,000 inches of shelf space. (Brown knows this for sure because he measured them to prepare a report on the library’s need for more storage room.) That doesn’t include 70,000 art auction catalogs, 1,500 current periodical subscriptions, 440,000 slides and 35,000 pamphlet files.” One of the priceless things about the Ryerson is its ephemera,” said Wendy Greenhouse, an independent art historian and former curator at the Chicago Historical Society. “It has these tiny catalog pamphlets and one-of-a-kind manuscripts relating to individual artists. And the Ryerson Index is an incredible resource for articles from periodicals.”
See Also: Direct to the Ryerson and Burnham Libraries Web Site
See Also: Search the Ryerson and Burnham Libraries Catalog

Scholarly Publishing
Source: inCite
“E-prints: The Future of Scholarly Communication?”
This article was written by Colin Steele, Director of Scholarly Information Strategies at the Australian National University.

Resources, Tools and Full-Text Documents (4 Items)
MBA’s
Source: Economist Intelligence Unit
New Web Site, Which MBA Online
“The Economist Intelligence Unit has launched Which MBA online, a new free website that provides prospective MBA students with vital information to help them choose which business school is right for them. The launch of this website at http://mba.eiu.com coincides with publication of the 14th edition of the highly regarded annual guidebook, Which MBA?”
See Also: Direct to EIU 2002 MBA Rankings
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American Indian/Alaska Native–Fast Facts
Source: U.S. Census
New, Fact Sheet: American Indian/Alaska Native Heritage Month
Facts about both the American Indian and Alaska Native populations.
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Housing–United States–Statistics
Source: U.S. Census
Full-Text Report: American Housing Survey for the United States, 2001
Note, this is a very large coverage. Thanks to Paul S. for the alert.
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Philanthropy
Special Issue, Philanthropy News Digest (PND)
A special issue Philanthropy News Digest (PND) focusing on Funding for Children and Youth. In this issue you will find a collection of annotated links to some of the best youth-related resources on the Web.

Professional Reading Shelf
Hypertext Links
Source: First Monday
“Hypertext Links: Whither Thou Goest, and Why”
From the abstract, “The link is the basic element of hypertext, and researchers have long recognized that links provide semantic relationships for users. Yet little work has been done to understand the nature of these relationships, particularly in conjunction with the purposes of organizational/informational Web sites. This paper explores the semantic and rhetorical principles underlying link development and proposes a systematic, comprehensive classification of link types that would be of use to researchers and Web production teams.”

News Search–Google
Source: Rediff.Com
A Conversation With Krishna Bharat, Creator of Google News
From the article, “At the heart of his programme is a clustering algorithm, which functions like a librarian or clipping service, by searching out, matching and collecting articles based on one’s reading interest.”
and on a related note, See Also: Is the End in Sight for ‘Free’ News on the Web? (via Reuters)

Research Libraries
Source: The Miami Herald
“Library Chief’s Dream Comes to Fruition”
From the article, “The African-American Research Library and Cultural Center is the third public facility in the country to focus on African-American books and culture. The two-story brick, steel and glass structure is a testament to one man’s dogged determination: 60,000 square feet, 75,000 books and other materials, 5,000 feet of exhibit space, a 300-seat auditorium, a computer lab and an interactive youth center, among other amenities.”

Specialized Search Databases
Source: Searcher
“Specialized Search Engine FAQs: More Questions, Answers and Issues”
I’ve written a new article for Searcher that looks at specialized resources from AlltheWeb, AltaVista, and Google.

Resources, Tools and Full-Text Documents
Health Information
Source: MEDLINEplus
New Health Topic Compilation, Sleep Apnea
New Health Topic Compilation, Tay-Sachs Disease

Government Documents–United States
Source: AP
“Researchers Stymied by Block on Government Documents”
From the article, “The government has cut Internet links, stripped information from agency Web sites and even required federal librarians to destroy a CD-ROM on public water supplies. Researchers worry that the rush to protect national security will hurt their efforts and the public.”

Information Industry–LexisNexis
LN Adds New Sources of Business Content
From the announcement, “LexisNexis has added nearly a dozen financial and investor news and analysis providers including CBS MarketWatch and seven Kiplinger Washington Editors newsletters; a dozen sources of corporate information and statistics on key executives, financials, brands, products and consumer trends; and nearly 50 leading industry trade publications and directories.”
See Also: Complete List of New Content

Professional Reading Shelf (2 Items)
Web-Based Preservation
Source: CLIR
“Council on Library and Information Resources and Cornell Launch Web-Based Preservation Tutorial”
From the news release, “”Preservation is vital to the intellectual heritage of every culture,” said Deanna Marcum, president of the Council on Library and Information Resources. “This tutorial provides basic and reliable preservation information, and allows users to develop strategies and responses to preservation challenges that are distinctive to the Southeast Asian culture and climate…The tutorial will be adapted for use in other regions of the world.”
News Release ||| Direct to Preservation Tutorials
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Cataloging
Source: Library Journal
“MARC Must Die”
Roy Tennant’s latest column. “The very nature of the MARC (machine-readable cataloging) record is, to some degree, an anachronism. It was developed in an age when memory, storage, and processing power were all rare and expensive commodities. Now they are ubiquitous and cheap.”
See Also: “Agreement Signed on MARC21 Development and Maintenance”

Libraries
Source: San Jose Mercury News
“Anti-Terror Law Worries Librarians”
From the article, In California, more than a dozen librarians say they are worried that the FBI’s expanded surveillance powers will have a chilling effect on how people perceive and use the library, where anonymity is rigorously defended. `”We’ve discussed the Patriot Act in detail,” said Karen Rollin Duffy, the city librarian in Santa Clara. “Our stance has always been that we want to protect patron privacy. But we are reviewing our practices. What records do we keep, and are we keeping them for too long?”

Web Resources of the Week
Web Accessible Databases
The Invisible Web
1) The Virtual Chase’s Database Section
Many of you know about Genie Tyburski’s site as a place to find material about information quality, legal research and many other topics of interest to the information professional. This week I want to point out another “section” of the site that features an impressive selection of high quality specialty databases. These databases contain material that is sometimes not directly accessible from major web search tools. This is a useful resource to have nearby or to use to develop your own collection. New material is added several times a week.
Sections include:
Company Information
Government Information
Health and Medicine
Law
Science
Miscellaneous Databases
News
See Also: Direct to The Virtual Chase’s Search Engine Guide Section of Databases
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News Search–Google News
Cool Tools
Finding Related Articles With Google News
Shortly after Google News “officially launched” I noticed the term “cluster” appearing in the url of related results on the Google News “section” pages. I tried using the term in the search strategy but couldn’t get it to work properly and bring back related material. Luckily, Michael Fagan of FaganFinder fame did. O.K., so here’s what you can do. When you find a story via Google News take the url, remove the http:// from it, and type, cluster:. If any related material is available, it’s returned on the results page. This is very similar to using related: in the main Google database. You’re allowing Google’s algorithm assist you in finding content. Neat, but with all of the cutting and pasting and query formulation, this sure is a pain in the rear for all but the most devoted searcher. However, Michael has made it even easier. He’s created a bookmarklet/button that you can find on his weblog. After you arrive on the site, simply drag and drop onto your “Links” toolbar. Whenever you’re reading a news story, and want related material, simply click the “related news” button and IF related material is available, it’s ready to go.
Notes: First, this is not an officially sanctioned Google tool. Second, in some cases using the “Related News” button will return numerous versions of the identical story or no content at all.

Libraries
Web-Based Technology v. The Library: What The Faculty Thinks
According to an “independent survey sponsored by McGraw-Hill Ryerson”, “web-based technology is considered by higher education faculty to be the most effective institutional resource in encouraging student success, outweighing traditional resources such as the library and tutoring.” If this is accurate, perhaps part of the problem is that the faculty who were surveyed had little or no idea of what services/skills the library/librarians can provide.

Resources, Tools and Full-Text Documents (2 Items)
Online Content–Newspapers
New, The New York Times Makes All Travel Section Articles (1996-) Free via Web Site Archive
The New York Times now offers free access (full-text) to all articles from the newspaper’s Travel section starting in 1996. You can limit your search to only travel content by using the search box at the top of this page. Searching via the main archive page will also provide access to travel articles. Free material will not have the $ next to the headline. You can also find travel articles organized by location (over 250 now available) along with additional content from Fodor’s on the Destinations page. Bon Voyage!
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Libraries
Source: American Library Association, Office of Intellectual Freedom
Just Updated, Libraries & the Internet Toolkit
“Tips and Guidance for Managing and Communicating about the Internet”
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Halloween–Fast Facts
Source: U.S. Census
“Halloween 2002″
All sorts of facts about the candy industry, costume industry, and more.

National Federation of Abstracting and Information Services
New Brochure from NFAIS Aimed at End Users
Jill O’Neill from NFAIS has informed us of a two-page brochure aimed at library and database users. It promotes the fact that while Google, Yahoo etc. are very useful tools, electronic databases are, “engineered by subject experts to help you get maximum relevancy – not just thousands of hits.” The brochure also includes a mention about how librarians can assist in maximizing your research time. The NFAIS membership is made up of many of the largest producers of online content. Kudos to NFAIS for helping libraries and librarians market our services. Let’s hope more of this type of material is on the way.
See Also: Direct to the End User Brochure

Weblogs
Information Flow
Major Enhancements Coming To Blogdex
Blogdex is a tool from the MIT Media Lab that highlights and ranks popular postings from thousands of weblogs. Or, as the site points out, “blogdex focuses on the referential information provided by weblogs, or the links that people place on their sites. By amalgamating these pointers, we can get an instantaneous look at internet fashion from democratic means.” An announcement on the site alerts us to several new features that will debut very soon. These new features include:
*A New Page Design
*Integrated link statistics, with more emphasis on diffusion (i.e. where a link started, where it went next, and so on)
*A Social Weather Index
*Historical Index of blogdex (”a year ago today…”)