Professional Reading Shelf (5 Items)
Electronic Resources
Source: CLIR
Full-Text Report, Use and Users of Electronic Library Resources: An Overview and Analysis of Recent Research Studies
Abstract ||| Direct to Full-Text
By Carol Tenopir with the assistance of Brenda Hitchcock and Ashley Pillow. 72 pages.
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University Repositories
Source: OCLC
University repositories: An extension of the library cooperative
A brief article about how OCLC is working to support several university based repository projects. Direct links to homepages for these projects are also provided.
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Digital Libraries
Source: OCLC
Interview, Herbert Van de Sompel: Developing new protocols to support and connect digital libraries
From the interview intro, Herbert Van de Sompel is a digital library research pioneer known for his cutting-edge work in linking technologies and metadata harvesting.
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Digital Libraries
Source: NSF
Papers from the NSF Post Digital Libraries Futures Workshop
The workshop took place in Chatham, MA in June, 2003. Here are the titles of a few of the papers.
* “The Digital Library Frontier of Knowledge Generation” by Reagan W. Moore
* “Towards Building Digital Library as an Institution of Knowledge” by Hsinchun Chen
* “The Future Ain’t What It Used To Be” by Jerry Goldman
* “Transforming Access to the Spoken Word” by Douglas W. Oard
* “Navigating the Distributed World of Community Knowledge” by Bruce R. Schatz
* “Personal digital libraries: Creating individual spaces for innovation” by Christine L. Borgman
* “Roadblocks” by Herbert Van de Sompel
* “End-User Issues Should Have a First Class Status” by Terence R. Smith
* “Enabling the Semantic Web for Scientific Research And Collaboration” by Eric Miller
* “Creating More Natural Access to Information – New Ways to Interact with Knowledge” by Judith L. Klavans
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Libraries–Internet Filtering
ALA President Issues Statement About Best Serving Patrons in Light of CIPA Decision
Blake Carver comments on LISNEWS.Com, “Does the ALA need to do More for budgets and worry about Filters Less?”
I’ll add that ALA needs to do more, much more, in making libraries, librarians, and the services available relevant and needed during a time where so many people think it’s all in one place. Doing this will help budgets more than just asking for more money.

Information Industry–LexisNexis
FAST Search and Transfer Technology Now Powering LexisNexis TotalSearch
From the announcement, LexisNexis and Fast Search & Transfer today announced that LexisNexis has integrated FAST Data Search with its recently launched LexisNexis Total Search.
See Also: Last Week ResourceShelf included a post with links to a recent conference presentation about third generation search by FAST CEO, John Lervik.
See Also: “LexisNexis Nearing Completion on a New Platform” (7/2003)
See Also: FAST Signs Deal with LexisNexis

Citation Analysis
Source: ISI
Education: High-Impact U.S. Universities, 1998-2002

Web Search–Ask Jeeves
Jeeves Announces More Smart Search Options
SmartSearch allows you to type certain keywords into the search box and instead of just getting links to possible answers, delivers an answer directly to the search results page. About a month ago, ResourceShelf featured a post with a complete list and examples of the Smart Search keywords. Today, the company announced two new SmartSearch options.
1) Weather (Previously in Beta)
2) Direct answers for more than 100 numerical conversions. (e.g. 5 miles in kilometers, speed of light, teaspoons in cup
See Also: A Complete List of Smart Search Options from Ask Jeeves

Archives — BBC Creative Archive
Source: BBC News
Dyke to open up BBC archive
Greg Dyke, BBC’s director general, has announced plans to make the corporation’s program archives freely available to the public via the Internet. This service will be known as the BBC Creative Archive. No details yet on how far back it will go or when it will be launched.
See Also: BBC To Open Its Full Archives Online (via PaidContent.Org)

Digitized Documents
Source: The British Library
Pages from a Leonardo da Vinci Notebook Can Now Be “Virtually Turned” On the Web
From the announcement, “One of the rare notebooks belonging to Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), which show many of his scientific discoveries and designs, has been digitised using the British Library’s remarkable new 3D Turning the Pages technology. Internet users can now experience Leonardo’s notebook close up from the comfort of their own homes. Twenty-eight pages have been digitised and can now be ‘virtually’ turned and viewed online on the British Library’s website.

Professional Reading Shelf (5 Items)
RSS
Source: EEVL/RDN
Released Today, A Primer on RSS for Publishers and Content Providers
From the announcement, EEVL’s Primer is aimed at publishers and content providers, with the intention of introducing and explaining the concepts behind RSS and addressing some commonly expressed concerns. It is primarily intended for a non-technical audience who require an overview of RSS to make decisions regarding the possible use of the technology. However, the guidelines also provide recommendations for good practice, case studies on RSS production and links to tools and specifications which provide useful starting points for those tasked with actually producing RSS feeds. The document is also available in Word format.
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Library Consortia
Library Consortia Documents Online
“…a collection of about 100 Web-accessible primary source documents dealing with the governance and administration of library consortia and cooperatives.” Includes bylaws, memoranda of understanding, resource sharing agreements and strategic plans. Thanks to Bernie S., Graduate School of Library and Information Science, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, for the news tip.
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The British Library
Now Available, The British Library 2002-2003 Annual Report
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Digital Libraries
Source: Ubiquity
Full-Text Article, “Check out the New Library”
An interview with Clifford Lynch of the Coalition for Networked Information
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Scholarly Publishing
Source: The Scientist
“Economics of open access”

Information Industry–EBSCO
EBSCOHost Adds Information Science Database
From the announcement, Recently released by EBSCO Publishing, the InfoSci-Online database, produced by Idea Group, Inc…InfoSci-Online includes, in PDF format, book chapters, journal articles, case studies and conference proceedings about research, trends, technologies and challenges in the fields of information science, technology and management published by Idea Group, Inc. imprints (Idea Group Publishing, Information Science Publishing, IRM Press and CyberTech Publishing). Updated monthly, the database grows by approximately 1,500 new book chapters, more than 250 journal articles and case studies, and more than 300 conference proceedings papers per year.

Resources, Reports, Tools, Lists, and Full-Text Documents (4 Items)
Department of Homeland Security–Statistics
Source: TRAC (Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse)
New, Full-Text Report, Department of Homeland Security – The First Months
Overview ||| Direct to Full-Text
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September 11th–Environment
Source: EPA, Office of Inspector General
Full-Text Report, EPA�s Response to the World Trade Center Collapse: Challenges, Successes, and Areas for Improvement
Summary ||| Direct to Full-Text ||| Appendices
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Intelligence
Source: CIA
Updated, CIA Factbook on Intelligence
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Grandparents–Fast Facts–United States
Source: U.S. Census
New, Fast Facts About Grandparents in the U.S.

Resources, Reports, Tools, Lists, and Full-Text Documents
Election 2004
Source: AScribe
Comprehensive Calendar of 2004 Campaign Events
Currently a 16 page .pdf. Make sure to check back for updates to the calendar.
See Also: ResourceShelf Has Compiled a Page of Direct Links to Calendars from Several Presidential Candidates

World Events–Searchable Database
What’sOnWhen.Com
I was taking a look at the ResourceShelf archives and was unable to find a complete post about resource called WhatsOnWhen.Com. I did write a brief overview article for SearchDay back in January. Briefly, WhatsOnWhen allows you to search and/or browse information about thousand of “events” from around the world. You can browse by location (featured destinations), or by theme. Themes include adventure, kids and family, and a category called bizarre. A basic search interface is available on the main page along with a link to an advanced interface. WhatsOnWhen also offers business and leisure event guides. I think many of you will find this database not only useful but also fun. Btw, did you know that this coming Wednesday is La Tomatina in Bunyol, Italy?

Resources, Reports, Tools, Lists, and Full-Text Documents (3 Items)
Health Information
3 New Topic Pages/Resource Compilations From MEDLINEplus
* Benign Tumors
* Dentures
* Male Breast Cancer
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Bankruptcy–United States–Statistics
Source: Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts
Annual Bankruptcy Statistics
A 6 page .pdf report.
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Higher Education–United States–Lists & Rankings
Source: U.S. News & World Report
America’s Best Colleges 2004 Is Now Online

Web Search–Vivisimo
Enhancements and Upgrades at Vivisimo
Word today from the Pittsburgh based “clustering” software company about a few tweaks and enhancements to the very useful “metasearch like” Vivisimo. Saman Haqqi from Vivisimo has shared with ResourceShelf a list of what’s new. I’m looking forward to trying these new options out.
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Result Clusters (Located on the Left Side of Results Page)
* Show in Clusters
* Show in Clusters – This feature lets end users click on a search result and see its context within the hierarchical folders. Showing the context lets users understand how a search result fits within the larger scheme of knowledge relating to the query, and
* Easily find similar search results that are placed within the same folders. This
enables the user to quickly focus on relevant folders only.
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Viewing Pages (Options located next to each page title)
* Full Window – Results now open in full browser window by
default.
* Frames – This option has many choices now i.e. users
can access Google cache, bookmark the page, as well as comfortably browse through the results.
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ResourceShelf has also learned that more announcements from the company are coming very soon. They should include word about updates to Vivisimo�s news, shopping and advanced search pages. On the enterprise side a new release of Vivisimo’s clustering software is nearing completion. Thanks to C.A. for the news tip.

Web Search–Yahoo
Source: News.Com
Yahoo puts Inktomi to the test
From the article, Yahoo is expanding tests of search technology from its recent Inktomi acquisition in preparation for a global launch, company representatives said Thursday. Inktomi trials are under way in Australia, Brazil and the United States. Yahoo is only testing Inktomi for its News Search in the United States. The tests make up roughly 2 percent of the search volume in those areas, spokeswoman Diana Lee said.
See Also: “Will Yahoo Hold On To AltaVista?”

Specialty Search–Scirus
Enter the Scirus Test Zone
Scirus, a well-known specialty search (science content) tool from Elsevier and powered by FAST, is offering a demo of what they call an “approximate” search tool. Scirus offers access to science related material from the open web, Elsevier’s Science Direct, and other specialized databases.
What does “Approximate Search” Do?
It allows you to run a search to see if a specific author names, journal titles, or author affiliation are listed in the Scirus database. After you review a list of choices you can then select what’s of interest and Scirus will run a focused query on what you’ve selected.
Notes
1) “Approximate Search” is only accessing content from some of the stuctured databases available via Scirus. This means you’re not seeing any open web content reflected in the lists of author, journal titles, and affiliations.
2) Remember, “As these tools are at the early stages of development, they may not perform as expected. If you are experiencing problems, please try again later.”
3) Professional searchers will see nothing all that new here. “Approximate Search” is simply an interface allowing the searcher to restrict a search to specific indexes from various databases. Presently, most web general web engines (Google, AllTheWeb, etc.) allow you the option to restrict and search using attributes such as title and characters/terms in the url. These attributes are determined by the page author and/or webmaster. The next step (already possible) is allowing technology to determine other attributes and then provide the option to search them. This extra info can also be used to help determine relevancy. Attributes could include author (if it’s a news article or scholarly paper), bibliographic information, location, etc. Since metatagging of open web content is a problem (misuse, spam, agreement) perhaps automated attribute detection will help.

Search Results–Filtering
Google’s SafeSearch Blocks Some Content from the White House
The following post is far from shocking. Nevertheless, it’s another example of how filters, even from much beloved Google, have problems…
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The other day, I was having an email chat with Marylaine Block and mentioned a neat web ‘gadget’ from Harvard Law School that allows you to quickly compare Google results with and without Google’s SafeSearch filter activated. This ‘gadget’ was embedded in a report that Harvard Law released several months ago about SafeSearch.
Yesterday, I wanted to see how Google’s SafeSearch would handle a couple of basic queries for names of U.S. Presidents. I searched for Bill Clinton and learned that Google�s SafeSearch was blocking the number one and two results. What�s more interesting is that these filtered sites come from Whitehouse.Gov. Hmm.
I then ran a search for George W. Bush. SafeSearch blocked the first two results, also from the whitehouse.gov domain. I didn’t search for each U.S. President but did give it a go with two additional names. President Zachary Taylor and George Washington also have bio pages from Whitehouse.Gov blocked. Finally, a search for White House with SafeSearch active removes the official White House Homepage (#1 result) and replaces it with a parody site. We’ve also noticed that SafeSearch blocks the THOMAS site from the Library of Congress and the Student.Gov website. Those of you who give web search presentations might find this resource from Harvard useful to find examples illustrating the weaknesses of a web search filter.
See Also: “Empirical Analysis of Google SafeSearch”
See Also: The Work of Seth Finkelstein, An Internet Filter Expert
Learn About: Marylaine Block’s New Book, Net Effects: How Librarians Can Manage the Unintended Consequences of the Internet

Citation Analysis
Source: ISI
Russian Science, 1998-2002

Dictionaries
Source: USA Today
Oxford English Dictionary Adds Internet Terms
From the article, In recent years, many newly included words have been drawn from the nexus of technology and human behavior. Thus, the new edition officially blesses “blog” (short for Web log) and “egosurfing” (searching the Internet for references to oneself). But just as human achievement influences language, so does human suffering. Wars in Iraq and Kosovo contributed “human shield” to the online edition of the 20-volume set. The term, mentioned as early as 1893, has become common since Iraqis and Serbs used humans as shields against enemy forces.
See Also: “The latest word” (via Sacramento Bee, 8/29/03)

Professional Reading Shelf (2 Items)
National Archives and Records Administration
Source: GAO
New Report, Records Management: National Archives and Records Administration’s Acquisition of Major System Faces Risks
See Also: “GAO sees electronic archive problems” (via FCW)
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Digital Government
Source: National Science Foundation-Digital Government Program
Conference Proceedings from the 2003 dg.o Conference Now Online
Numerous papers available. Here is a list of a few that caught my eye.
* “Building a Persistent Archive”
* “Biodiversity Information Organization using Taxonomy” (BIOT)
* “DGRC AskCal: Natural Language Question Answering for Energy Time Series”
* “Digital Government and the Internet” by Vin Cerf
* “Using Controlled Vocabularies as a Knowledge Base for Natural Resource Managers”

Resources, Reports, Tools, Lists, and Full-Text Documents (2 Items)
Migration–United States
Source: U.S. Census
New, Full-Text Report, Migration of Natives and the Foreign Born: 1995 to 2000
Summary ||| Direct to Full-Text
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Health Insurance–United States–Statistics
Source: U.S. Census
New, Full-Text Report, Dynamics of Economic Well-Being: Health Insurance 1996-1999
16 pages pdf.
Also Released Today, Children With Health Insurance: 2001