Resources, Reports, Tools, Lists, and Full Text Documents
eBay–Lists & Rankings
Electronic Commerce
eBay Pulse
Interesting and fun!!! Top search terms, trends, hot picks, and cool stuff on eBay. Updated daily. The “Everything Else” category is always interesting. (-:
See Also: eBay Popular Product Rankings

Resources, Reports, Tools, Lists, and Full Text Documents
Torture
Source: U.S. Dept of Justice/Office of Legal Counsel (via Findlaw)
Dept. of Justice Memo Redefining Torture
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Intelligence–Legislation–United States
Source: askSam
New and Searchable, Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act from askSam
“The Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 is the most dramatic reform of U.S. intelligence capabilities since the National Security Act of 1947. You’ll find the complete text of this legislation in a searchable askSam database that you can easily search, browse, and analyze. This is a free download and can be searched and viewed with either askSam or with a copy of the free askSam Viewer.
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Television–United States–Lists & Rankings
Source: Harris Interactive
Survey: America’s Favorite TV Personality

Professional Reading Shelf
Health Research–PubMed
Controlled Vocabularies–MeSH
Source: NLM
+ New PubMed Spell Checking Feature
+ What’s New for 2005 MeSH ||| Introduction to MeSH — 2005
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Public Libraries–Audio Books
Source: San Jose Mercury News
Library upgrades digital services
“The San Jose Public Library is the first in the nation to offer digital audio books in Microsoft Windows Media Audio format.”

Web Search–Google
Google Scholar’s New Advanced Search Interface
The Google Scholar team has released an advanced search interface. You can limit your search by:
+ Publication (No syntax available)
+ Date Range (No syntax available)
+ Words in the Title
+ Author
+ View up to 100 results per search
Complete documentation and a few caveats here.
We haven’t had much time to use the new interface but quickly spotted a problem or two (yes, it’s a beta) with the date restriction. For example, we limited our searches to only documents published in 2004 and got several non-2004 items.
+ #1
The first item, a book, was published in 1987.
+ #2
The first item, a journal article, was published in 1995.
+ This search is limited to documents published between 2003 and 2004. The first item was published in 2001. To Google’s credit, they mention date limiting issues in the documentation. Bottom Line: Be careful!

Resources, Reports, Tools, Lists, and Full Text Documents
Tsunamis
Source: DigitalGlobe (via NASA)
Satellite Images of Tsunami Devastation
From the caption, “DigitalGlobe’s Quickbird satellite captured an image of the devastation around Kalutara, Sri Lanka (top) on December 26, 2004 at 10:20 AM, local time–about an hour after the first in the series of waves hit.”
See also: Asia Tsunami Dec 2004: Satellite imagery regional map of Affected Areas (ReliefWeb)
See also: Indian Ocean: Earthquake/Tsunami Impact and Assistance (U.S. Department of State)
See also: Asia’s Deadly Waves–Interactive Map

Search Briefs
Fast Search and Transfer Will Work With Factiva
“Fast Search & Transfer ASA today announced that Factiva, a Dow Jones & Reuters Company, has signed an agreement to deploy FAST Data Search 360 across multiple applications throughout its organization.”

Professional Reading Shelf
National Libraries–Europe
The December Issues of The European Library Newsletter is Now Online (Word Document)

Also online is a PowerPoint presentation:
The European Library: More than virtual reference
Presented at Online Information 2004 by Jill Cousins.
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RSS
An Introduction to RSS
ResourceShelf friend and RSS zealot, Jessica Baumgart, has written an award winning tutorial/intro about RSS, web feeds, and syndication. Perfect for your training folder! Jessica also won an award for her comprehensive Feedster search tutorial

Motion Pictures–Preservation
Source: Library of Congress
Librarian of Congress Adds 25 Films to National Film Registry
Duck and Cover, Eraserhead, and Jailhouse Rock are three of the films on this year’s list.

Professional Reading Shelf
Research Libraries–Statistics
Source: ARL
Monograph and Serial Costs in ARL Libraries, 1986-2003:
All ARL Libraries
ARL Public University Libraries
ARL Private University Libraries
ARL Canadian University Libraries
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Digital Preservation
Source:
New Issue: DPC/PADI What’s new in digital preservation
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Open Access
Source: Biomed Central
New Issue: Open Access Now
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Public Libraries–Financial Misconduct
Source: Savannah Morning News
Feds, state probe alleged financial misconduct in middle Georgia libraries
“Federal officials in Savannah are leading a probe of alleged financial abuses at middle Georgia libraries…. The investigation has sent shudders through the ranks of librarians around the state, already widely seen as vulnerable targets in the ongoing scramble to trim budgets.”
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Internet Hoaxes
Web Hoaxes: Christmas Lights
For your, “it’s easy to create a hoax” on the Internet file…It turns out that a web site that was supposed to allow vistors to control Christmas lights over the web was a hoax. The story was picked up by the AP, mentioned on Slashdot, The New York Times, and by MANY other news outlets. The site got more that 4 million visitors this month. You can learn more about the hoax in this Wall Street Journal story and from the AP.

Resources, Reports, Tools, Lists, and Full Text Documents
Population–United States–Statistics
Source: U.S. Census
Just Released, U.S. Population (Estimate), New Year’s Day 2005
“…the U.S. Census Bureau today projected the Jan. 1, 2005, population of the United States will be 295,160,302 — up 2,835,602 or 1.0 percent from New Year’s Day 2004.”
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2004–Lists–Language
Source: yourDictionary.com
‘Incivility’ Bests ‘Red States/Blue States,’ ‘Blogosphere,’ and ‘Flip Flopping’ as Word of the Year for 2004
“YDC released eight different Words of the Year lists featuring the Top Words, Names, Phrases, Numbers, California YouthSpeak, Internet, Sports-related, and Color-related Words, as well as the Top Words in Pop Music and the Most Frequently Spoken Word On The Planet.”
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Labor–Statistics
Source: International Labour Organization
ILO World Employment Report 2004-05: Employment, Productivity And Poverty Reduction
Summary ||| Full Text
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Internet Access–United States
Source: GovTech and FCC
New, FCC Releases Statistics on High-Speed Internet Access Services
“The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) recently released new data on high-speed connections to the Internet in the United States. Twice a year, facilities-based broadband providers must report the number of high-speed connections in service pursuant to the FCC’s local competition and broadband data gathering program.”
Summary Article (via GovTech) ||| Direct to Complete FCC Report
“FCC report also includes state-by-state, population density, and household income information, ranked by zip codes.”

Professional Reading Shelf
Academia–Information Technology
Source: Educause Review
The Academic Culture and the IT Culture: Their Effect on Teaching and Scholarship
“Librarians have been the real heroes of the digital revolution in higher education. They are the ones 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 professional training. It is testimony to their success that we take their achievement — and their information-management systems — for granted.”
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Web–United States Government
Source: GCN
OMB creates single policy document for Web requirements
“The Office of Management and Budget late last week issued 10 online marching orders that agencies must meet by the end of next year. But of the 10, only one — the requirement for a search function on every public Web site or main entry point — is truly new to agencies.”
See Also: Direct to OMB Memo

Resources, Reports, Tools, Lists, and Full Text Documents
Aging–Children’s Booklist
Source: Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) and George Washington University’s Center on Aging, Health & Humanities
Books With Positive Portrayals of Aging and Older Characters for Younger Readers, Middle Readers, & Older Readers from PreK to Grade 6 (PDF; 137 KB)
From ALA press release: “ALSC, a division of the American Library Association (ALA), compiled the new list, which was then evaluated by more than 200 librarians, specialists and consumers of various ages…. The 91 titles, published as recently as 2002 and as far back as 1976, are geared for children pre-K through Grade 6.”
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Internet–United States–Statistics
Source: Pew Internet & American Life Project
New data on internet use and demographics
+ There are currently 120 million adult users of the internet.
+ 51% of the 106 million American adults with home internet connections have broadband connections.

Professional Reading Shelf
Parliamentary Library–Canada
Source: The Globe and Mail
Parliamentary library emerges from renovations
“The crown jewel of Parliament Hill is slowly emerging from wrappings that have cocooned it for almost three years of renovations.”

Resources, Reports, Tools, Lists, and Full Text Documents
Spam–Lists & Rankings
Tsunamis
source: USGS and NOAA
+ International Tsunami Information Center FAQ
+ The Basics: Life of a Tsunami
+ Largest Earthquakes in the World Since 1900
+ Most Destructive Earthquakes in the World
+ Earthquakes in the World with 1,000 or More Deaths
+ South Asia: Earthquake and Tsunami (via ReliefWeb)
+ South Asia: Earthquake and Tsunami (via Reuters AlertNet)
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Spam–Lists and Rankings
Source: Sophos
The “Dirty Dozen” 2004: Sophos reveals the top spamming countries
“Researchers at Sophos scanned all spam messages received at its global network of honeypots throughout 2004 month and at the top of the list was the United States, which is responsible for exporting 42.11% of all spam.”
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Military Records–Vietnam
Source: The Eureka Reporter
Vietnam Files Provide Marines Access To Their Records
“Thanks to Vietnam veteran David Prendergast, U.S. Marines who served in the Vietnam War can now access their records online. For years, Prendergast, a local attorney, has volunteered his spare time helping Vietnam veterans access their records so that they can establish their disability eligibility.”
See: The Vietnam Files

Resources, Reports, Tools, Lists, and Full Text Documents
Albert Einstein
Science
Inside Einstein’s Universe
“Joining the worldwide celebration of the centennial of Einstein’s “miracle year,” the NASA-Smithsonian UniverseForum is creating a portfolio of highly visual, dramatic interactive learning resources especially for use by museums, science centers, planetariums and other science education organizations.” Thanks to S.F. for the source tip.

Professional Reading Shelf
Public Libraries–Financial Misconduct
Source: Savannah Morning News
Feds, state probe alleged financial misconduct in middle Georgia libraries
“Federal officials in Savannah are leading a probe of alleged financial abuses at middle Georgia libraries…. The investigation has sent shudders through the ranks of librarians around the state, already widely seen as vulnerable targets in the ongoing scramble to trim budgets. ‘Obviously, this is not the kind of publicity we need,’ said Steve Schaefer, director of the Uncle Remus Regional Library in Madison County. ‘But we need to get to the bottom of it. And if there’s been misconduct, we need to get rid of some people.’”
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Academia–Information Technology
Source: Educause Review
The Academic Culture and the IT Culture: Their Effect on Teaching and Scholarship
“Librarians have been the real heroes of the digital revolution in higher education. They are the ones 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 professional training. It is testimony to their success that we take their achievement — and their information-management systems — for granted.”

Resources, Reports, Tools, Lists, and Full Text Documents
Medicare–United States
Source: Kaiser Family Foundation
New, Interactive Online Tool Provides Key Data On Medicare Advantage Plans
“Medicare Health Plan Tracker provides basic information about Medicare HMOs and other private plans, including plan participation and beneficiary enrollment, at the national, state and county level.”

Professional Reading Shelf
Preservation–Audio
National Libraries–United Kingdom
Source: Channel NewsAsia
British library preserving voice recordings of famous people on CDs
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National Libraries–Iraq
Source: Guardian Unlimited
Iraq’s library struggles to rise from the ashes
“The daylight burning of the library, which the invading US military did not protect, was one of the first costly failures in the post-war chaos of occupation last year. Now it is slowly being restored. But in a country where recent history remains bitterly disputed, resurrecting the library and national archive has turned into a remarkably sensitive and political operation.”
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Freedom of Information Act–United Kingdom
Source: The Times of London
The right to know: a guide to digging out the truth
“In theory, the Freedom of Information Act, which comes into force on January 1, gives every British citizen sweeping new powers to obtain information held by any public body. From schools to prisons, police authorities to government departments, railway bodies to local councils, any public body must be prepared to release information on its files.”

Resources, Reports, Tools, Lists, and Full Text Documents
Dance–Special Collections–Organization
Dance Heritage Coalition
“The DHC is a national alliance of institutions holding significant collections of materials documenting the history of dance. Its mission is to preserve, make accessible, enhance and augment the materials that document the artistic accomplishments in dance of the past, present, and future. The DHC pursues its mission by encouraging, initiating, and developing collaborative projects among the dance communities, library and archival fields, scholarly institutions, and individuals in four essential areas: access to materials, the continuing documentation of dance employing both traditional methods and developing technologies, preservation of existing documentation, and education within and beyond the field of dance.” What’s here:
+ Dance Research Resources: Finding Aids for Archival Collections
+ Choreographing Your Search (”tutorial for in-depth dance research”)
+ Cataloging guidelines and procedures
+ Publications (”information on access to dance and dance-related materials, the continued documentation of dance, preservation of existing dance documentation, and education regarding methods, standards, and best practices”)
+ Technical Sources (MARC, XML, EAD)
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Science and Engineering–United States–Statistics
Source: NSF
Just Released, Science and Engineering State Profiles: 2001-2003
“This report, 2001-03 Science and Engineering State Profiles, provides statistics on finances and personnel for the 50 States, D.C., and Puerto Rico with special emphasis on R&D performance in FY 2002.”
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Obituaries
Source: AP
+ Roll Call of Notables Who Died in 2004
+ Notables Who Died in 2004 in the Arts

Web Browsers
New Beta Release of Opera Browser Available, Browse With Your Voice
Many new and improved features. Most notable? From the news release, “The new version of Opera also features voice technology. Opera is the first browser to prepare for a future of Web sites offering interactive, voice-enabled shopping and booking systems. You can also browse the Web using spoken commands, such as “Opera next link,” “Opera back,” or “Opera speak.” The latter command will make Opera read Web page content and e-mail messages to you aloud, adding usability as either a screen reader or advanced dictionary. Fit-to-Window-Width will adapt Web page content to fit the width of your window, which means you can have multiple windows open with no horizontal scrolling. In combination with Opera’s Zoom feature, you can dramatically magnify Web pages and still view them without having to scroll sideways — a compelling accessibility tool for visually impaired users. This technology may also be applied to printing Web pages with Fit-to-Page-Width.”
Download Changelog More On Voice Browsing