Internet Archive
Internet Archive Gets DMCA Exemption To Help Archive Vintage Software
From the announcement, In 2003 the Internet Archive, as part of research into vintage software archiving, discovered possible archiving issues involving the Digital Millenium Copyright Act. This could make it impossible to legally archive early computer software and games, even for accredited institutions wishing to store limited amounts of non-distributable, archival images…Following deliberation, the Copyright Office ruled in late October 2003 that four exemptions should be added to the anti-circumvention clause of the DMCA, to be valid until the next Copyright Office rulemaking in 2006, including two that are related to the Internet Archive’s original comments:
# Computer programs protected by dongles that prevent access due to malfunction or damage and which are obsolete.
# Computer programs and video games distributed in formats that have become obsolete and which require the original media or hardware as a condition of access.

Library Robots
Source: Kyodo News (via Japan Today)
“Robot can browse for books in library via Internet”
From the article, A Japanese team of researchers has developed a robot that could help browse for books in a library by receiving instructions via the Internet, a team member said Friday. The robot, a wheeled vehicle measuring 50 by 45 centimeters with a digital camera, mechanical hand and arm, follows orders received through the Internet. Still in the experimental stage, it was developed as a way to help people who cannot go to a library, said Akihisa Oya, an assistant professor at the University of Tsukuba.
See Also: The Evelyn Wood of Digitized Book Scanners (via NY Times)

Libraries–India
“Libraries should be more proactive”
A good suggestion for libraries all over the world! From the article, Governor T N Chaturvedi on Thursday called for a national library movement to reach out to millions of people in the country…�Libraries have to become more proactive� since they are not just storehouses of knowledge but also propagators of knowledge,” he said.

Professional Reading Shelf
Scholarly Communication
Source: Jekyll.comm: International Journal of Science Communication no. 6
Full Text, “Invisible Hand(s) Quality Assurance in the Age of Author Self-Archiving”
A new paper by Gerry McKiernan a librarian and bibliographer at Iowa State University.
See Also: Full Text, Peer review: is it crisis?
by Mauro Scanu, Innovations in Science Communication, ISAS, Trieste, Italy

Education Resources
Source: Education Week (Registration Required, Free)
“Some AskERIC Services Shift To Syracuse University”
A brief article about some of AskERIC’s services moving to a new home at EduRef.Org on December 19th. From the article, To keep the service going, the Information Institute of Syracuse is moving the information collection to a new electronic home. Known as the Educators Reference Desk, the new site will give educators free access to most of the information they get now through AskERIC. One missing element, though, will be the customized question-and- answer service that has been ERIC’s most-used feature. With the loss of federal support, the institute no longer has enough staff members to field individual queries. “We know we still have a lot of users who depend on resources such as the lesson plans,” said R. David Lankes, the executive director of the institute, which helped develop AskERIC and has run it for 11 years.
See Also: An Important Statement About the ERIC Database was Released this Week
Beginning in January and until the new ERIC model for acquiring education literature is developed later in 2004, no new materials will be received and accepted for the database. However, the ERIC database will continue to grow, as thousands of documents selected by the ERIC clearinghouses throughout 2003 will be added. When the new model is ready later in 2004, the new ERIC contractor will communicate with publishers, education organizations, and other database contributors to add publications and materials released from January 2004 forward.

Professional Reading Shelf
The December, 2003 Issue of the Internet Resources Newsletter is Online
Always interesting and useful material from Roddy M., Catherine U., and Catherine F., from the Heriot-Watt University Library.
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Conferences
Just Made Available, Presentations from the EDUCAUSE 2003 Conference
Numerous presentations from the conference might be of interest. Here’s a sample:
+ Copyright Policies: Past, Present, and Future (Video Presentation)
+ MIT OpenCourseWare: A New Model for Open Sharing (Video Presentation)
+ Looking for LTAs? Discover Low-Threshold Applications at the Campus Library
Panelists include Steven Bell, Philadelphia University
+ Institutional Repositories: What Does Your Institution Need to Know?
+ Virtual Communities of Practice
+ Expansion of Web-Based Library Services in Large Research Libraries: A Penn State Case Study
+ Instant Messaging Interactive Agents: Responding to Student Queries “Naturally”
+ Comparison of the Cost and Use of University Electronic and Print Journal Collections
Presentation not yet online.
+ Digital Library Collections: Creating More Than Pretty Pictures
+ The DSpace Federation: Reports from the New Frontier in Scholarly Communication
Presentation not yet online.
+ Emerging Best Practices for Integrating Library Content and Services with Educational Technology
Presentation not yet online.
+++ See Also: Complete List of Presenters and Presentations
Plenty o’ good stuff.

Resources, Reports, Tools, Lists, and Full-Text Documents (3 Items)
Terrorism–Canada
Source: Canadian Security Intelligence Service:
Recently Updated, List of Entities as Determined by the Government of Canada Pursuant to the Anti-Terrorism Act, 2001
Brief annotations about many of the groups are included on this list.
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Wages–United States–Statistics
Source: BLS
Just Released, 2002 Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates
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Astronomy
SpaceWeather.com
“Science news and information about the Sun-Earth environment.”

Librarians
Source: The New Zealand Herald
Be Gone Librarian Stereotypes: “The secret life of tattooed and bellydancing librarians”
In a wonderful column, Shelley Howell, a writer for The New Zealand Herald, helps inform the public that we’re not all “stereotypical librarians.” From the column, Librarians rock. That reputation they have involving buns, sensible shoes and shushing people is merely a cunning ruse, developed over centuries, to conceal their real lives as radicals, subversives and providers of extreme helpfulness. Combine librarians and the net, and in no time they will rule the world.

Consumer Products–United States
Feds Launch New Product Recall Site, Tracks Announcements From Six Agencies
From a GCN article, The site, www.recalls.gov, provides not only the recalled household items listed by the Consumer Product Safety Commission but also data on recalled motor vehicles, recreational boats, food, medicines, cosmetics and pesticides…The home page features a series of tabs organized by product type. The pages linked to each tab contain links to lists of product recalls and to the home page of the agency responsible for regulating those products. The subpages also feature a link, marked with a red arrow, that tells consumers how to report problems to agencies. The regulatory agencies that are CPSC�s partners on the portal�the Coast Guard, Environmental Protection Agency, Food and Drug Administration, Food Safety Inspection Service and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration�are responsible for updating their own recall lists, Fleming said.

Resources, Reports, Tools, Lists, and Full-Text Documents (2 Items)
United Kingdom–Statistics
Source: National Statistics Office
Released Yesterday, Full Text, UK 2004 – The Official Yearbook of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
The definitive overview of the United Kingdom in text, tables, maps, charts and (in the hardcopy version) colour photographs. The latest edition includes chapters on government, international relations, defence; education and training, the labour market, social protection, health, crime and justice, religion, culture, communications and the media, sport, environment, housing, planning and regeneration, transport, sustainable development, the economy, public finance, international trade and investment, science, engineering and technology, agriculture, fishing and forestry, manufacturing and construction, energy and natural resources, and financial services. Information on England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland is included throughout, and in separate introductory chapters.
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Wine–United States
Source: The Wine Institute
U.S. Wine Laws and Info
Includes federal wine laws, the Federal Register sections that pertain to wine, ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms) regulations and forms, tax information for all states, California laws and laws from other states, including information on which states permit direct shipment of wine. Also includes contact information and links to the websites of all state Alcoholic Beverage Control Authorities.
See Also: Who Ships Where
See Also: American Vitacultural Areas

Briefly
ProQuest…Cambridge Scientific Abstracts and Proquest Make Linking Deal
BvD…New UK Company Data Added to DASH Database

Legal Research–United States
Public Records–United States
Coming Very Soon: Instant Registration to PACER Database
From the announcement, Beginning January 5, 2004, free instant registration will be offered for Public Access to Court
Electronic Records (PACER). Joining the nearly 300,000 registered users of PACER will be easier than ever. PACER allows users to obtain case and docket information from federal Appellate, District and Bankruptcy courts, and from the U.S. Party/Case Index. It offers an inexpensive, fast and comprehensive case information system to any individual with a personal computer (PC) and Internet access. But until now, the process of registering and receiving a password has taken up to two weeks.
See Also: Direct to the PACER Service Center
See Also: What is PACER?

Quote of the Week
Higher Education
Source: Educause Review, vol. 38. no. 6
From the article, “Why IT Has Not Paid Off As We Hoped (Yet)”
The real heroes of the digital revolution in higher education are librarians; they are the people who have seen the farthest, done the most, accepted the hardest challenges, and demonstrated most clearly the benefits of digital information. In the process, they have turned their own field upside down and have revolutionized their own professional training. It is a testimony to their success that we take their achievement for granted.

Professional Reading Shelf
Conference Announcements
CFP: ECDL 2004 (European Digital Library Conference)
ECDL 2004 (September 12-17 2004 at the University of Bath, UK) is the 8th in the series of European Digital Library Conferences. ECDL has become the major European Forum focusing on digital libraries and associated technical, organisational and social issues.

Resources, Reports, Tools, Lists, and Full-Text Documents (2 Items)
Canada
Digital Library Projects
Source: Library and Archives Canada
Direction des archives de France
Archives nationales du Qu�bec
Centre d��tudes acadiennes
Just Released, New France, New Horizons: On French Soil in America
From the announcement, The world�s most comprehensive research portal on source material from the French colonial period in America. Canada and France are the first two countries to possess this type of joint database on their common history, and the first to make it available in its entirety on the Web…New France, New Horizons: On French Soil in America is a vast documentary corpus, which consists of a virtual exhibition and an impressive database with 22,000 documents reproduced in more than 400,000 digitized images. It offers maps and plans, letters and reports, and other archival documents related to New France�fundamental period in Canada�s history. In addition, many documents that were previously inaccessible to the public may now be consulted online.
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Internet Access
Documents in the News
Source: Renesys
Full Text, Impact of the 2003 Blackouts on Internet Communications (Preliminary Report, November 2003)
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See Also: Full Text, Interim Report: Causes of the August 14th Blackout in the United States and Canada (Source: U.S.-Canada Power System Outage Task Force)

Web Search–Google
Source: Fortune
“Can Google Grow Up?”
I think this quote from the article says it best, “Google is one of the best things to happen to the Net. So will its IPO, expected this spring, be a must-buy? A look inside reveals a talented company facing trouble.” Perhaps an article like this one will alert the info profession to what ResourceShelf has been saying since we started, Google is wonderful but it’s not the end all to be all. In other words, don’t get bogged down in all of the hype and remember that other web resources and fee-based resources remain important and useful. One service that Google has brought about is making its competition better. This article focuses on the business aspect of Google but is still a must read. The problems that this article points out might also be the reason that many of us have noticed that Google results aren’t as good as they once were. All sorts of odd things happen. This simple search for returns a number one result having nothing to do with the search. I’m noticing more and more of this type of thing happening.
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Some key quotes from the article.
+ Google has grown arrogant, making some of its executives as frustrating to deal with in negotiations as AOL’s cowboy salesmen during the bubble. It has grown so fast that employees and business partners are often confused about who does what. A rise of stock- and option-stoked greed is creating rifts within the company. Employees carp that Google is morphing in strange and nerve-racking ways. And talk swirls over the question of who’s really in charge: CEO Schmidt or co-founders Brin and Page?
+ Brin and Page figured that more important was the relevance of a site and how many other web pages linked to it.
While Brin and Page were the first ones to use link analysis in a publicly available web engine the concept was first developed by Jon Kleinberg and the team that worked on the CLEVER project for IBM. Link analysis has its
foundation in citation analysis and the work of Eugene Garfield. Btw, all of the other major web engines use link analysis as part of their relevancy algorithms. Don’t forget, it’s not only link analysis that determines what you see on a results page. Many other factors are part of the algorithm. One final thought, one of the biggest challenges in using link analysis arises because some people try to beat the system. In other words, with traditional citation analysis the only way to get a citation was by someone referencing your work in their paper. For the most part it’s closed system that includes peer review. However, because the “open web” is open and with many commercial interests (and others) having an all out desire to be at the top of results list link analysis can run into problems. A paper by Google’s technology director and research director shed light on some of these and other problems that ALL web engines face.
+ Those close to Google say that the company has begun to more closely resemble a madhouse than any kind of serene dot-com dream. It’s a tough place to work, and a tough place to do business with.
+ Brin and Page still keep a hand in all the hiring, from executives to administrative assistants. And to them, work experience counts far less than where you went to school, how you did on your SATs, and your grade-point average. “If you’ve been at Cisco for 20 years, they don’t want you,” says an employee.
+ He [Brin] points to Google News, where users can sign up to be e-mailed whenever a story appears that contains a word or phrase they’re interested in.
Yes, I know Google News Alerts are still in “beta” but to this point I’ve been less than impressed.
Let’s also not forget that while Google and other web engines have tremendous research and reference value (in the libary sense) they’re not in the business of meeting all of the specific wants, needs, and desires of the information and library communities. Google is now a premiere marketing and advertising vehicle. Maximizing revenue from these services is what keeps the company (and other web engines) moving forward. This does not mean bad things for the searcher. It’s just a reality to remember when using these tools. It’s also points out that for many queries specialized or niche tools can be worthwhile and big timesavers.
See Also: A quote from a May, 2003 Forbes article
“Google will need to quell the hubris that is much in abundance at the jubilant company these days.”
This article also contains the following sentence, “Even Google’s engineers admit Fast and Teoma deliver results comparable to theirs.”
See Also: Seth Finkelstein has published a new paper, “Google Bayesian Spam Filtering Problem?”
From the abstract, This report describes a possible explanation for recent changes in Google search results, where long-time high-ranking sites have disappeared. It is hypothesized that the changes are a result of the implementation of a “Bayesian spam filtering” algorithm, which is producing unintended consequences.

Lists & Rankings
The List of Lists Continues to Grow
I’m often asked whatever happened to Price’s List of Lists? For those of you who don’t know what I’m talking about, a brief introduction. The LOL is a resource compilation I started about five years ago that aggregates business and other types of lists and rankings from around the web. The site remains online and growing because of the work of Trip Wyckoff from SpecialIssues.Com. Trip began hosting the List of Lists in September, 2002. Yesterday, Trip told me that the LOL currently contains links to over 1000 lists from over 350 publications. Allow me to once again thank SpecialIssues.Com for maintaining and building the resource. Price’s List of List’s is available at no charge.
See Also: Direct to Special Issues
What is Special Issues? Trip Wyckoff’s online database of editorial calendars, special issues and content “mined” from trade and industrial magazine websites.

Education Resources–ERIC
New Message Posted on ERIC Web Site
Although the following message from the ERIC web site is for contributors, partners, and vendors, information professionals might also find it of interest.
From the web site:
In January 2004, the Department of Education will begin to implement a reengineering plan for ERIC. The new ERIC mission continues the core function of providing a centralized bibliographic database of journal articles and other published and unpublished education materials. It enhances the database by adding free full text and electronic links to commercial sources and by making it easy to use and up to date.

Beginning in January and until the new ERIC model for acquiring education literature is developed later in 2004, no new materials will be received and accepted for the database. However, the ERIC database will continue to grow, as thousands of documents selected by the ERIC clearinghouses throughout 2003 will be added. When the new model is ready later in 2004, the new ERIC contractor will communicate with publishers, education organizations, and other database contributors to add publications and materials released from January 2004 forward.
See Also: Changes Coming to ERIC on December 19, 2003/Good News for AskERIC

Citation Analysis
Scholarly Publishing
Source: ISI
+ Science in England, 1998-2002
+ Communication: High-Impact U.S. Universities, 1998-2002