Information Architecture
New Study, “Impatient web searchers measure web sites’ appeal in seconds”
From the story, Web users are picky and impatient, typically visiting only the first three results from a query, with one in five searchers spending 60 seconds or less on a linked Web document, according to Penn State researchers. �People make instantaneous judgments about whether to stay on a site, and if a site doesn’t the give the right impression, users will bypass it,” said Dr. Jim Jansen, assistant professor in Penn State�s Information Sciences and Technology (IST). “A page has to be well-designed, easy to load and relevant to a searcher’s needs.” Otherwise, by the time three minutes have elapsed, 40 percent of searchers will have moved on. While some may have found what they wanted, others may simply have given up and moved to a different site, said the faculty member in Penn State�s School of Information Sciences and Technology (IST). Jansen’s conclusions are based on research that he and co-author Amanda Spink, Penn State associate professor of IST, conducted in February 2001. The two researchers analyzed more than 450,000 Web queries submitted to AlltheWeb.com in a 24-hour period, reviewing users’ actions in chronological order. The length of sessions, number of pages visited and relevance of results were studied. Thanks to P.W. for the news tip.

Relocation–United States–Specialized Databases
NeighborhoodScout.Com
This is a fee-based service but a free trial is available. From a Christian Science Monitor article, NeighborhoodScout.com, an online database created by geographer and demographics specialist Andrew Schiller, helps relocating retirees and others find the neighborhood that best fits their needs. Using data from the Census Bureau, the Federal Housing Authority, the Department of Education, the US Geological Survey, and the FBI, the database locates prime neighborhoods with a simple ZIP Code search or by housing costs, education, language, and other criteria selected by the user. The site is helpful for retirees looking for warm locales as well as those who wish to stay close to their long-time homes.
See Also: Direct to the Neighborhood Scout Home Page

Language Resources–Canada
Source: Canadian Heritage
New Resource, Word Wizards: The Canadian Online Language Toolkit
From the announcement. “Word Wizards will give Canadians access to a new Web site where they can quickly consult many language tools that can provide help in writing and editing in either of Canada’s two official languages,” said Minister Copps. “It’s a vital tool for Canadians; it will stimulate the development and production of Canadian cultural content on the Internet.”…Word Wizards will offer Canadian techno-linguistic tools, some for a fee, and many free of charge.
See Also: Direct to the Word Wizards Web Site

Web Search–Vivisimo
Vivisimo Gets Attention in Pittsburgh Newspaper
A lengthy article about one of our favorite tools. Those of you who have read ResourceShelf for awhile, know that Vivisimo gets mentioned here on a regular basis. Thanks to S.P. for the news tip.
See Also: Use Vivisimo’s Clustering Technology with PubMed and FirstGov

Access to Information–European Union
Source: StateWatch
Full-Text Reports: Access to EU Documents
From the Statewatch site, First Annual reports of the Council of the European Union (the 15 EU governments) and the European Commission on access to documents (under Regulation 1049/2001) have been produced: 1) Report from Commission (pdf) and 2) Report from the Council (pdf). The web page contains direct links to the reports as well as analysis.

Resources, Reports, Tools, Lists, and Full-Text Documents (4 Items)
North Korea
Source: Department of the Parliamentary Library, House of Commons, Australia
Full-Text Research Brief, Resolving the North Korea Nuclear Crisis
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Education–United States–Statistics
Source: NCES
Just Published, Full-Text: Digest of Education Statistics, 2002
See Also: 1999-2000 District Fiscal Data Released in Web Tools
The 1999-2000 school district finance data was released in NCES web tools. The Education Finance Statistics Center’s Finance Peer Search Tool has been updated with the new data. The District Locator allow the user to retrieve information on public districts from CCD’s databases. Data include address information and basic information on students, staff, finance and 2000 Census data. Additionally, the Build a Table Tool enables users to create customized tables of CCD public school data for states, counties, MSA’s, districts and schools using data from multiple years.
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Higher Education–United States–Statistics
Source: NSF
New Report Released, Characteristics of Recent Science and Engineering Graduates: 1999
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Firearms–United States–Statistics
Source: BJS
New, Full-Text, Survey of State Procedures Related to Firearm Sales, Midyear 2002

Web Search–Microsoft
Source: News.Com
“Microsoft, Google may go head-to-head”
More speculation as to what MS might be up to. As I noted last week, ResourceShelfPLUS has direct links to recent
MS search related patents and technical papers.

Briefly
Reminder: Information/Registration For the Dublin Core 2003 Conference is Available
A metadata primer and a workshop on corporate metadata are included as pre-con workshops.
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The History Channel Donates Historical Footage of The World Trade Center Back to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to Help Rebuild the PA’s Library

Privacy
Information Industry–LexisNexis
LexisNexis, ChoicePoint Sued Over Reselling Personal Data
From the article, Two class action lawsuits filed in U.S. District Court in West Palm Beach, Fla., allege that two of the nation’s largest information brokers have invaded the privacy of millions of Florida motorists by obtaining sensitive personal data from the state and reselling it. The suits also accuse the state of Florida of failing to protect its residents from criminal invasions of privacy. They seek billions of dollars in damages. According to the complaints, filed late last month, ChoicePoint Inc., which has its data mining operations headquartered in Boca Raton, and Reed Elsevier, the parent of LexisNexis, have violated the federal Driver’s Privacy Protection Act. They have done so, according to the complaints, by obtaining for resale personal information from Florida state records without the “express consent” of licensed drivers and registered car owners.
UPDATE (6/25): The Virtual Chase Has Details of Additional Law Suits Filed Against Accurint, Experian, R.L. Polk, and Reed Elsevier.
See Also: More Info in this AP Story

Web Search–Hotbot
Hotbot Now Offers A Search “Deskbar”
This new tool has been adapted from “Dave’s Quick Search Deskbar” and offers a number of shortcuts. For example, from the search window access the Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary, get a weather forecast, or find a synonym using Thesaurus.Com. You can find a list of other shortcuts here. Back in December, Hotbot was relaunched and currently offers the ability to simultaneously search 4 web databases (AllTheWeb, Google, Inktomi, and Teoma) simultaneously and then have results from each delivered in their native format. Unlike meta engines, result sets ARE NOT merged together. Take a look at our December 15, 2002 intro to the new Hotbot. Chris has more about the new Deskbar in Search Day.

Internet Filtering
Source: AP
Library Group Targets Secrecy of Filters
From the article, Judith Krug, director of the American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom, considers the moment “an opportunity for these companies to shed a little sunshine on what’s going on.” Filtering vendors have historically given few details about their criteria for blocking sites, saying the information is proprietary.
See Also: “Many libraries will skip grants to avoid using Net filters”) via San Jose Mercury News)
See Also: Seth Finkelstein’s Anticensorware Investigations

OCLC
Something New (Fun?) from OCLC: Monitor the Latest Entries into WorldCat
WorldCat is the largest bibliographic database in the World. This new “ticker” automatically refreshes itself every 8 seconds with a recent entry.
See Also: Learn More About WorldCat

School Libraries–Canada
Source: The Globe and Mail
“The missing link”
From the article, “Studies show that an old-fashioned educational tool — the school library — affects students’ marks more than we think…”

Citation Analysis–Lists & Rankings
Source: Institute for Scientific Information
1) Performing Arts: Most Prolific U.S. Universities, 1998-2002
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2) Science in Spain, 1998-2002
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3) Journals Ranked by Impact: Political Science
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4) Science in Italy, 1998-2002
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5) Communication: Most Prolific U.S. Universities, 1998-2002

Industry Briefs
Micromedia/Proquest…Agreements with Torstar Media Group and CanWest Newspapers

Resources, Reports, Tools, Lists, and Full-Text Documents
Information Technology–Lists & Rankings
Source: Business Week
The Info Tech 100, 2003
Also available as a pdf document.

Internet Filtering–United States
U.S. Supreme Court Upholds Children’s Internet Protection Act
From the article, By a 6-3 vote, the justices reversed a ruling by a special three-judge federal court panel in Philadelphia that the filtering requirement caused libraries to violate the First Amendment constitutional rights of their patrons.
See Also: READ the Full-Text of the Supreme Court Majority and Dissenting Opinions
See Also: The American Library Association Denounces the Decision
See Also: Numerous Background Resources and Links (via CIPA)
(Update) More From The New York Times and the AP

Web Search–Google
NPR (National Public Radio) Airs Report About Google
The segment aired on Weekend Edition with Scott Simon and discusses Google’s popularity. It also focuses on how others like MSN and Yahoo are gunning for them (so what else is new). Sergey Brin and other “Google folk” are interviewed.
Synopsis:
1) Brin on the Logo
2) Research in Determining the Language of Web Pages
3) Google Perks (Pool Tables, Food (yes, it is VERY good)
4) How a businessman in San Fran is Using Google to Find Technical Info For a Startup. (I wonder if he realizes that the San Fran Public Library offers free electronic remotely accessible databases (often with full-text articles) or has he contacted the business librarians at the SFPL who can also assist? What about browsing a directory like Infomine or LII for sites about starting a business?)
5) Privacy Issues: How Someone Found Something that They Did Want to Have Known via Google
(Note: Don’t Blame Google)
6) Brin: Google is how the world gets its Information (Note: Sergey, Other Material Exists beyond Google, How About Books? I Wonder how many at the Googleplex would rely on it for their next paper?)
7) Brin: “We value the user experience above all else.” Google’s Text Ads are “Revolutionizing” Web Advertising. (No Mention of Overture and their purchase of two very powerful search engines AllTheWeb and AltaVista. Plus the folks building search tools at Overture Gary Flake, Jan Pedersen, and others are more that worthy of the challenge.)
9) Yahoo and MSN gunning for Google
10) Star Trek is What Web Searching Should Be, Lots of Problems Exist
11) Google will Continue to do what it does best, “improving peoples access to knowledge”.
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Along with its technology (others also have good technology) a constant flow of this type of flattering media exposure is what made Google what it is today. Kudos to the marketing a public relations team! The report does mention MSN and Yahoo (at the moment Yahoo results come from the Google database) but nothing about what ATW, Teoma, and others have done either in the report or an “additional resources” web page. O.K., fine, we’re used to this. I fully realize that time is a major issue when producing a radio report but the piece could have noted that useful information is available from other resources (both free and fee) and Google is not going to have all of it anytime soon. Additionally, even if Google has the material in its database, other resources can often get it in your hands more quickly and efficiently. Finally, what about the authority, currency, etc. challenges of “open web” content. Since Googling someone is “the thing to do” are people learning how to judge the credibility of what they find? Let’s hope NPR will air another story on some of these issues.
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See Also: Direct to Audio (RealAudio)

OpenURL
Source: NISO
OpenURL Standard Trial Implementation Launched
From the announcement, The National Information Standards Organization (NISO) has released The OpenURL Framework for Context-Sensitive Services standard (version 1.0) for a trial use period ending November 1, 2003. The OpenURL standard allows a user who has retrieved an information resource citation to obtain immediate access to the most “appropriate” copy of the full resource through the implementation of extended linking services. The selection of the best source for the full resource is based on the user’s and the organization’s preferences related to location, cost, contractual or license agreements in place with information suppliers, etc. – all done transparently to the user. The transparency is accomplished by storing context sensitive metadata with the “OpenURL” link from the source citation, and linking it to a “resolver” server where the preference information and links to the source material are stored.

Information Access–United States
Source: FCW
DOD IG [Department of Defense, Inspector General] Pulls Report off Web Site
From the article, At the request of the National Imagery and Mapping Agency, the Defense Department inspector general’s office recently pulled a report off its Web site to determine whether some information should be re-classified and not in the public domain. The page contains links to all 2003 DOD IG Audit Reports is not in the Google database (and other databases that cache pages) so a cached version of the page is not available.