Professional Reading Shelf (2 Items)
Virtual Reference
Weblogs
Lyceum: A Blogsphere for Library Reference
This paper by Jeffrey Pomerantz and Frederic Stutzman from the University of North Carolina has been submitted to JCDL 2004. From the abstract, “In this paper we discuss the use of blogs in libraries, and specifically the potential of blogs for use in library reference services. We describe Lyceum, an open source software project designed by ibiblio.org, which is a facilitator of blogspheres and a tool for intelligent automatic information management within blogspheres. We discuss ways in which Lyceum and blogs in general may facilitate library reference services.”
See Also: Direct to the Lyceum Blog Project Home Page
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OCLC
Highlights from the Most Recent OCLC Members Council Meeting
From the site, “OCLC Members Council met Feb. 8-10, 2004, in Dublin, to discuss global issues and explore innovative solutions to challenges faced by libraries and librarians worldwide. It was the second of three 2003-2004 Members Council meetings with the theme, ‘Innovation, Risk-Taking, and New Models of Service.’ Delegates unanimously passed two resolutions: to add a fourth delegate-at-large to the Members Council Executive Committee, and to add a clause to the Guidelines to the OCLC WorldCat Principles of Cooperation to discourage unauthorized use of OCLC-derived records.”

Resources, Reports, Tools, Lists, and Full-Text Documents
Spam–Lists & Rankings
Source: Sophos PLC
Full Text Report, Sophos Outs ‘Dirty Dozen’ Spam Producing Countries
“Researchers scanned all spam messages received over two days last week and have revealed a ‘dirty dozen’ of offending countries with the United States topping the chart.” According to the report, 56.74% of all spam messages originated in the U.S. Sophos, a software company that produces anti- virus and mail-filtering products, found that “although a large amount of spam is being sent from USA computers, much is being sent without the computer owner’s knowledge.” Spammers in other countries, notably Russia, are hijacking unprotected computers via Trojan horses and worms.
See Also: Full text of report (PDF, 128 KB; free registration required)

Web Search–Vivisimo
Vivisimo Adds Open Directory to Mix of Databases
Access to Open Directory content has been added to the selection of databases available via Vivisimo, a search tool that dynamically clusters results into browsable categories. Vivisimo is hosting their own version of the ODP data. You can also use the advanced interface to limit your search to only OPD data.

Web Search–Google
Source: Reuters
Google’s Co-Founders Will Establish a Foundation
Word from California that Larry and Sergey will fund a foundation. From the article, “‘We want to make the world a better place and so we’re embarking on the Google Foundation and we’re in the process of setting it up,’ Page said on Saturday.” The announcement comes a few days after Forbes magazine announced that both Page and Brin made their list of billionaires for the first time. Once the charity is set up (assuming it’s in California), this database should have info.
See Also: Even More from Reuters
The news service loves to run Google stories and fuel the hype machine. This one talks about how the company keeps a “Top 100″ list of new ideas.

The Library of Congress
Daniel Boorstin, Former Librarian of Congress, Dead at Age 89
From the article, “Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Daniel J. Boorstin, who wrote more than 20 history books over his long career, died Saturday. He was 89… Renowned for his books, Boorstin was appointed librarian of Congress in 1974 by President Ford and spent 12 years as director of the world’s largest library.”
See Also: “Boorstin & Beyond”
A bit more about Daniel Boorstin via The Library of Congress
See Also: Librarian of Congress Biographies
See Also: The Center for the Book
Established by Boorstin in 1977, “to use the resources and prestige of the Library of Congress to stimulate public interest in books and reading and to encourage the historical study of books and their influence.”

Professional Reading Shelf
Knowledge Management–Webliography
Source: C&RL News
Knowledge management: A guide to resources on the Internet
The author of this resource is Michael M. Smith, assistant professor and business reference librarian, Texas A&M University Libraries.

Information Seeking Behavior
Source: Technology Review
How People “Refind” Information
From the article, “Half the battle of finding information on the Web is getting back to a page you’ve already seen. The Web has long spurred researchers to study how people initially find information, but the tactics people use to get back to previously discovered information remain less understood. Researchers at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University are examining how people relocate information rather than how they find it the first time. The researchers’ study showed that people tend to use a two-stage process to find information they have seen before, that they use domain information and context to move closer to a goal, and that annotations make things easier.”

Libraries
Source: LITA
Expert Panel Names Top Technology Trends In Today’s Libraries
The Trends:
ISSUE 1: XML and Interoperability
ISSUE 2: RFID
ISSUE 3: Copyright
ISSUE 4: Metasearching
ISSUE 5: OPACs and User Behavior
ISSUE 6: Policies and Technology
ISSUE 7: User Interface Design
ISSUE 8: Security, Digitial Rights Management
The Experts:
The seven experts in attendance were: Marshall Breeding, Library Technology Officer, Vanderbilt University; Walt Crawford, Senior Analyst, Research Libraries Group; Thomas Dowling, Assistant Director of Library Systems, OhioLINK; Clifford Lynch, Executive Director, Coalition for Networked Information; Roy Tennant, Web Design and Services Manager, California Digital Library; Joan Frye Williams, Library and Information Technology Consultant; and Tom Wilson, Director of Information Technology, University of Maryland Libraries.

Resources, Reports, Tools, Lists, and Full-Text Documents (3 Items)
Freedom of Information Act
FBI
Source: T&L News Service
Secret No More
From the site, “…a subject guide to thousands of FBI files (and their file numbers) that are now publicly accessible. In many cases, these files have never been seen outside the FBI.” Information about filing FOIA requests is also provided. The guide is being compiled by Michael J. Ravnitzky.
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Labor–United States
Source: BLS
Two New Editions from the Bureau of Labor Statistics
+ Released Yesterday, Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2004-05 Edition
+ Released Yesterday, 2004-05 Career Guide to Industries
“The Career Guide to Industries provides information on available careers by industry, including the nature of the industry, working conditions, employment, occupations in the industry, training and advancement, earnings and benefits, employment outlook, and lists of organizations that can provide additional information. This edition of the Career Guide discusses 42 industries, accounting for over 3 out of every 4 wage and salary jobs in 2002. The Career Guide is a companion to the Occupational Outlook Handbook, which provides information on careers from an occupational perspective.” Thanks to S.B. and the IWS News Service for the tip.
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Congressional Research Service
Source: CRS (via FPC)
Several New CRS Reports Now Available on the Web
+ Ricin: Technical Background and Potential Role in Terrorism
+ Comparisons of U.S. and Foreign Military Spending: Data from Selected Public Sources
+ USA PATRIOT Act Sunset: A Sketch
+ Border Security and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
+ USA Patriot Act Sunset: Provisions That Expire on December 31, 2005

Library Briefs
Source: Ascribe
Columbia University to House Extensive Human Rights Watch Archive

Professional Reading Shelf
Libraries and Librarians
Source: Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (UK)
Selected Full Text Articles from the March Issue of CILIP’s Library + Information Update Are Now Online
+ Designing space for knowledge work: librarians can have a key role in designing a contemporary space
+ Why engage in e-science? Roles as metadata experts and digital curators are waiting to be claimed
+ Improving websites in the voluntary sector
+ Phil Bradley’s Internet Q&A Column
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Digital Reference
Source: Digital Reference Education Initiative
New Weblog: QuestionAuthority
“QuestionAuthority is a blog where various individuals in the reference community can post their thoughts on current issues in digital reference education and training. The blog is meant to disseminate information, pose questions, and provoke creative thinking about how we teach digital reference to practitioners and LIS students alike.”

Syndication
Source: AP
More Positive Press For RSS (and other Syndication Formats)
Wow, two mainstream news outlets in one week with coverage. For those of you unfamiliar with syndication, see this post from earlier in the week.

Web Search–Google
More Google News
Hardly a day goes by without plenty of Google press attention.
+ Editorial: Behind the Rise of Google Lies the Rise in Internet Credibility (via The New York Times)
Comment: Google has done a great deal of good things for web searching. However, many of the services that Google offers were available from other search companies before Google launched similar services.
++ Examples: AllTheWeb and others offered news search engines prior to Google News being launched.
++ Web shortcuts were introduced by AltaVista prior to a recent Google initiative. The same goes for Ask Jeeves.
++ Yahoo and other sites have offered news alerts for several years. Google’s is still in beta.
So why does Google get all of the attention? That’s an easy one. Because of their impressive and innovative marketing/pr team. Even more impressive is that the company has gotten to where it is today without spending money on traditional forms of advertising. Another smart pr move has been using many betas and early releases via Google Labs.

Favorite passage from editorial, “The Web has moved from the periphery of a good researcher’s awareness in 1998 to the very center of it in 2004. In doing so, it confirmed what has always been true, that a good researcher is also a skeptical researcher.”

Google co-founder bugged by IPO speculation (via Reuters)
Perhaps Google’s marketing team is too good at creating buzz. (-:

GoogleWhacking: Word of the Week at Macmillian English Dictionary
Btw, the person credited with coining the term, Gary Stock, is the developer of the excellent Nexcerpt alerting/publishing service.

Web Search–AOL
Source: Marketwatch.com
AOL: No Plans to Buy an Algorithmic Search Company
From the article:
+ “We’re putting significant resources in laying our great content into search,” said [Gerry| Campbell, [vice president and general manager of AOL’s search and navigation]. “Search is just one piece of a multifaceted value project. We’re different [in search] because of the amount of premium content and relationships that we can work with.”
+ “AOL’s Campbell said the company has no plans to buy an algorithmic search company because there is no ‘leakage’ problem whatsoever.”
+ “‘The truth is that AOL search gets three times more searches than the next search engine [within AOL],’ Campbell said. Offering Google’s search listings is an adjunct to the personalization and content AOL can provide to its members, Campbell suggested.”

Conferences
Source: O’Reilly & Associates
Presentation Files: O’Reilly Emerging Technologies Conference
View/download presentation materials from some of the sessions at O’Reilly’s Emerging Technology Conference, held Feb. 9-12. Here are a few of the presentations that might be of interest.
+ Carbot: Geoblogging With WiFi & GPS Enabled In-car Computers - For the Mass Market!
+ eBooks: neither e- nor books. Discuss.
+ Leveraging RSS at Disney: from Collaboration to Massive Content Delivery
+ Next Generation File Sharing With Social Software
Thanks to SDK for the post.