Worth a Look: Oxford Digital Library Beta Site
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Archive for October, 2006
Worth a Look: Oxford Digital Library Beta Site
Saturday, October 28th, 2006Nautical maps in Virtual Earth via MapCruncher
Saturday, October 28th, 2006Nautical maps in Virtual Earth via MapCruncher
Zoomatron has added some nautical maps to their site via MapCruncher. Pretty nifty even if you’re not a sailor. Speaking of MapCruncher, I heard a new rev is being readied for release with some nice additions like Transparency, more zoom levels and improved memory handling for complex maps.
Source: MSN Virtual Earth Blog
The Memory Hole Makes Declassified Full Text Reports Available
Saturday, October 28th, 2006The Memory Hole Makes More Declassified Full Text Reports Available
+ Chemical Weapons Report: Toxicity by Race and Gender (1999)
Sponsored by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency. Available via TMH.
+ Reports From the Future of Iraq Project
exclusive: Over 1,200 pages of previously unavailable reports from State Dept planning for post-Saddam Iraq. Warnings and recommendations by experts and Iraqi exiles ignored by administration
Source: The Memory Hole
Lists & Rankings: Philanthropy 400: Largest U.S. Charities
Saturday, October 28th, 2006The Philanthropy 400: Biggest U.S. Charities
This article presents highlights from the list. The article is free along with a few general statistics but access to the complete list is fee-based.
Donations to America’s largest charities grew by 13 percent last year, to $62.7- billion, according to The Chronicle’s annual Philanthropy 400 survey.
That increase matches the highest percentage gain in the 16 years that The Chronicle has been ranking the 400 most-successful charities. At the height of the technology boom, in 1999, charities in the Philanthropy 400 achieved a 13.4-percent increase.
Source: Chronicle of Philanthropy
Briefs: New: The Canadian Personal Giving Directory; ProQuest Will Digitize New York Tribune (1900-1910)
Saturday, October 28th, 2006New: The Canadian Personal Giving Directory (Fee-Based)
The Personal Giving Directory of Canada (PGD Canada) is the first and only searchable, online database solely focused on individual giving in Canada. PGD Canada provides subscribers access to a comprehensive listing of over 200,000 personal contributions, from 2003 and growing annually. This online subscription service will allow its subscribers to save time and gain better insight by allowing them to easily search one database for individual giving information. PGD Canada allows subscribers to customize their searching experience and save time spent on research by having one convenient location…While there are numerous prospect research tools in the United States, Canadian researchers have had to primarily rely on American-focused databases or few Canadian resources for philanthropic giving information.
Source: PGD Canada
Newspaper Digitization: ProQuest Will Digitize New York Tribune (1900-1910)
The Best of DocuTicker (10/27/06)
Saturday, October 28th, 2006The Best of DocuTicker (10/27/06)
Three more interesting reports posted yesterday on our sister site:
+ Misinformed Consent: The Medical Accuracy of State-Developed Abortion Counseling Materials (Guttmacher Policy Review)
+ Emergency Evacuation Report Card 2006; 25 Urban Areas Could Face Greater Challenges than New Orleans Experienced after Hurricane Katrina (American Highway Users Alliance)
+ 2006 Baby Boomer Hearing Loss Study (The EAR Foundation and Clarity®)
Implementation Plan for the National Geological and Geophysical Data Preservation Program, Data Preservation Report
Friday, October 27th, 2006Implementation Plan for the National Geological and Geophysical Data Preservation Program, Data Preservation Report
28 pages; PDF.
With the passage of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 and potential future funding for activities in the act there exists an unprecedented opportunity to inventory, archive, and preserve geologic and geophysical data collected by numerous organizations for the past 150 years. Section 351 of the Energy Policy Act directs the Secretary of the Interior, through the Director of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), “to carry out a National Geological and Geophysical Data Preservation Program†which is comprised of “State agencies that elect to be part of the system and agencies within the Department of the Interior that maintain geological and geophysical data and samples.†Section 351 also states that “the Secretary may not designate a State agency as a component of the data archive system unless that agency is the agency that acts as the geological survey in the State.â€
The Vision
The USGS envisions a national network of cooperating geoscience materials and data repositories that are operated independently yet guided by common standards, procedures, and protocols for metadata. The holdings of all collections will be widely accessible through a common and mirrored Internet-based catalog, the National Digital Catalog. The holdings of the individual repositories will complement each other to preserve the geoscience assets of the Nation and serve as a comprehensive source of geoscience data and materials to serve national needs today and in the future.
Source: USGS
Milestones: MEDLINE Celebrates Its 35th Birthday
Friday, October 27th, 2006MEDLINE went live for the first time on October 27, 1971.
From the article:
* In 1971, according to the September-October National Library of Medicine NEWS of that year, MEDLINE featured 239 indexed journals. In 2006, that number has grown to 4,928.
* In 1971, MEDLINE served 25 users. (As that same issue of the NLM NEWS reported, “By January 1972, it is planned that the network will be extended so that the computer can be reached by a local call in at least twenty major cities.”) In 2006, MEDLINE/PubMed will average 77 million unique visits in 2006 and about 800 million searches.
* In 1971, MEDLINE was available via dial-up telecommunications. “Each user of the service will pay for his own terminal and telephone costs.” In 2006, the site is available to anyone on earth via the World Wide Web.
* In 1971, MEDLINE operated on an IBM 360/50 mainframe computer. In 2006, MEDLINE/PubMed runs on 20 Dell PowerEdge 1850 Servers, 2 CPU 8Gb RAM, with the Linux operating system in 64-bit mode.
* View photographs of NLM’s various computers from the 1960s to the present at http://www.nlm.nih.gov/news/history_nlm_computerroom.pdf (PDF, 5.6MB)
View a PDF version (2 pages; PDF) of the complete article, “NLM to Introduce MEDLINE Service,” from the September-October 1971 NLM NEWS at http://www.nlm.nih.gov/news/medline_news_article.pdf
Source: NLM
Thanks to PW for the news tip.
Mobile Web: Live.com for Mobile Beta Now Online
Friday, October 27th, 2006Mobile Web: Live.com Beta from MS Goes Live
The gadgets (weather, stock and horoscope) and RSS feeds you set up on your first personalized Live.com page will travel with you, which means you can get the same news and blogs that you read on Live.com wherever you are. Simply point the browser on your mobile device to http://mobile.live.com/ and follow the links to the “Live.com Beta.â€
+ Includes web search and Spaces search
+ Mail
+ Local Search
+ MSN Messenger
See Also: MSN Mobile Search
Research: Multiple Ranking Strategies for Opinion Retrieval in Blogs
Friday, October 27th, 2006Research: Multiple Ranking Strategies for Opinion Retrieval in Blogs
by Gilad Mishne, University of Amsterdam
Published in Trec 2006
From the abstract:
We describe our participation in the Opinion Retrieval task at TREC 2006. Our approach to identifying opinions in blog post consisted of scoring the posts separately on various aspects associated with an expression of opinion about a topic, including shallow sentiment analysis, spam detection,and link-based authority estimation. The separate approaches were combined into a single ranking, yielding significant improvement over a content-only baseline.
UPDATE: New, Poster Highlighting Results includes “3 Blog Retrieval Myths”
Briefs: Thomson Wants to Get Rid of Gale
Friday, October 27th, 2006+ Report: Thomson Wants to Get Rid of Gale (via IWR Blog)
See Also: News release from Thomson
+ Briefs: New Chinese Language Databases Become Available via NetLibrary in Partnership with Airiti
NetLibrary is now offering subscription service to three Chinese-language databases from Airiti, Inc., a leading aggregator and distributor of Chinese language content. The new databases will provide libraries and their patrons with direct access to 338,000 full-text articles from leading Taiwanese and Chinese journals and a fully-searchable database of 12,000 images from the National Palace Museum in Taipei. “We are very pleased to make Airiti’s high-quality online databases available through NetLibrary,” said Chris Chang, President and CEO, Airiti, Inc. “NPM Online is the world’s most complete and feature-rich eContent offering for ancient Chinese art treasures, and our periodical services will provide hundreds of thousands of high quality journal articles to academic and public library users worldwide.”
Available databases include the Taiwan Electronic Periodical Services (TEPS), the Chinese Electronic Periodical Services (CEPS) and the
National Palace Museum (NPM) Online Database. Users will be able to link directly to the image database and periodical services from the
NetLibrary user interface, and will be able to search, browse and access content online.
Search Briefs: Google Goes Looking for a TV Engineering Project Manager
Friday, October 27th, 2006+ Google Goes Looking for a TV Engineering Project Manager We’ve noticed a new? job posting from Google for a TV Engineering Project Manager based in Mountain View.
The candidate should:
+ Have a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, MIS, or other Engineering discipline.
+ Direct experience deploying applications with pay TV, or telecommunications partners across the world would be an advantage.
+ Knowledge of the end-to-end television broadcast, cable, satellite, or IPTV infrastructure would be useful, as would experience in TV set-top box operating systems and middleware solutions.
and will have responsibilities that include:
+ Develop, document, and execute standardized launch procedures for Google.
+ Run cross-functional launch readiness meetings, identify launch gating items, and drive them to resolution.
+ Schedule and oversee both regularly scheduled and emergency software release.
Google Trademark Apps via the dMarc Acquisition
Friday, October 27th, 2006Here’s a series of US trademark APPLICATIONS that came to Google by way the acquisition of dMarc, a radio advertising company that Google acquired in early 2006.
+ Sarbanes Oxley
dMarc applied for a trademark/service mark for this term in September, 2005. It reads like dmarc/Google wanted to offer some sort of compliance software to make dealing the the S-O legislation easier. The application was abandoned on September 30, 2006 and is now “dead.” Perhaps a service that Google was not interested in offering.
Other apps that are still in process.
+ Smart Barter
This application was filed in September, 2005.
advertising resale service, namely buying advertising space from radio stations in return for monetary credit that radio stations can use to purchase various goods and services.
NOTE: Google MUST make use of these words and services as they are applied for. They will need to for the advert and resale of radio stations. They cannot, as applied, use smart barter for something like search engine ad bartering.
+ Diagnostics
Google applied for a trademark/service mark for this term in September, 2005.
Software which provides real-time monitoring and automated troubleshooting for digital broadcasting systems.
+ Data Services
Another app that originated from dMarc. Filed in September, 2005.
…namely, software which provides real-time monitoring and automated troubleshooting for digital broadcasting systems
Other dMarc/Google service mark apps include:
+ Content Exchange
+ Revenue Suite
Software which dynamically directs a radio station’s digital automation system to replace last-minute, remnant avails with paid commercial spots.
Other dmarc/Google service marks that have been registered:
+ SONGNOW
Brokerage services in the field of brokerage services between listeners and artists, broadcasters, advertisers, or marketers to facilitate the purchase of music via a radio data system-enabled radio receiver.
Thanks to RS contrib editor Carey Lening, Esq. for her help with this post.
Webcast: Meet the Team that Developed Internet Explorer 7
Friday, October 27th, 2006From the site:
We recently went over to building 2 to meet some of the folks responsible for IE7. Senior Program Manager and seasoned Niner Dave Massy introduces us to what’s new in IE7 (and outlines all the plans for IE8 – just kidding) before taking the new Channel 9 camera (which is tapeless) and Charles on a random walk of the hallways (emphasis on random) where we run into Pete LePage, Product Manager for developers who tags along as we meet various IE People who discuss their work on IE7.
Source: Channel 9
Search Briefs: Please NOT As a VERB, Google Explains How to Best Use Their Name
Friday, October 27th, 2006+ Search Briefs: Google Explains How to Best Use Their Name
According to Google’s lawyers, using Google as a verb is “Bad. Very, very bad.”
See Also: You Do and/or May, In Fact, “Ask” (or “ask”)
New Maps from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
Friday, October 27th, 2006New Maps from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
All maps are PDF docs.
+ Sudan: Flight distances between towns (nm and Km)
+ Regional partnerships – ASEAN, SAARC and SOPAC (as of 8 Sep 2006)
+ Administrative Regions of Ethiopia
Source: United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
Mapping Immigration: Legal Permanent Residents (LPRs)
Friday, October 27th, 2006Mapping Immigration: Legal Permanent Residents (LPRs)
Legal permanent residents (LPRs) are foreign nationals who have been granted the right to reside permanently in the United States. LPRs are often referred to as simply “immigrants,” but they are also known as “permanent resident aliens” and “green card holders.”
This site provides links to maps (in PDF format) showing LPR flow by state or metropolitan area of residence as a percent of the total LPR flow. Three sets of maps are presented:
1) total LPR flow by state and core based statistical area (CBSA) of residence,
2) class of admission, and
3) region and country of birth.
Source: via Office of Immigration Statistics, Department of Homeland Security
Thanks to IWS Documented News Service for the Tip
The Best of DocuTicker (10/26/06)
Friday, October 27th, 2006The Best of DocuTicker (10/26/06)
Three more interesting reports published yesterday on our sister site:
+ AAUP Faculty Gender Equity Indicators 2006 (American Association of University Professors)
+ Driven to extremes: Fear of crime and the rise of the sport utility vehicle in the United States (Crime Media Culture)
+ The Audience for Political Blogs: New Research on Blog Readership (Institute for Policy, Democracy & the Internet)
Resources of the Week: Election 2006
Thursday, October 26th, 2006Resources of the Week: Election 2006
By Shirl Kennedy, Senior Editor
Resources of the Week: Election 2006
By Shirl Kennedy, Senior EditorAn election is a moral horror, as bad as a battle except for the blood; a mud bath for every soul concerned in it.
— George Bernard ShawBe that as it may, the Tuesday after the first Monday in November is coming up fast, and election-related information is a hot commodity. Earlier this week, we highlighted one absolutely indispensable political site, Project Vote Smart.
This amazing resource offers so much information that browsing here can be like drinking from the proverbial firehose, but if you know what you’re looking for, it will save you a lot of time hopping around the Web from site to site. Databases available here include:
- Biographical Information — “Project Vote Smart compiles biographical details and contact information for over 40,000 candidates and elected officials. We make every effort to provide these details for everyone who runs for President, Congress, Governor, and State Legislature in every state.”
- Campaign Finances — “Project Vote Smart provides detailed breakdowns of campaign finance contributions for your elected officials at the state and federal levels.”
- Issue Positions (NPAT) — “The National Political Awareness Test (NPAT) is a key component of Project Vote Smart’s Voter Self-Defense system. Major leaders of the media, major parties and Project Vote Smart repetitiously ask candidates one central question: ”Are you willing to tell citizens your positions on the issues you will most likely face on their behalf?’ The NPAT is administered to all candidates for presidential, congressional, gubernatorial, and state legislative offices.”
- Interest Group Ratings — “Despite their bias, special interest group ratings can help indicate where an incumbent has stood on a particular set of issues in the past few years. They can be especially useful when ratings by groups on all sides of an issue are compared. Web site links, if available, and descriptions of the organizations offering ratings are accessible by clicking on the name of the group.”
- Voting Records — “Project Vote Smart provides easy access to Congressional and State voting records and maintains a collection of key votes grouped by issue. Key votes typically include the initial passage of legislation and final conference report vote versions (the compromised versions of bills passed in separate House and Senate version).”
- Public Statements — “Ratings. Our researchers collect public statements for the President, Vice President, Governors, all Members of Congress, and position papers for current candidates, who submit them along with their responses to the NPAT. Congressional floor statements, press releases, editorials, letters, columns, and television show and committee hearing transcripts are added daily.”
Project Vote Smart also offers voter registration information (including a database of county election offices nationwide), state=specific information such as ballot measures and legislative leadership, RSS feeds, and a large directory of political resources “that cover all aspects of Democracy.”
One slightly annoying thing I noticed is that after the first time I took a look at information specific to Florida, I was unable to get back to introductory pages that would allow me to look at information for other states. No matter what I clicked on after my initial choice, only Florida information was displayed. Not sure if this is by design or just a technical issue of some sort. (I use Firefox on Mac OS X Tiger.)
Project Vote Smart, an all-volunteer resource, offers a toll-free Voter’s Research Hotline (1-888-VOTE-SMART or 1-888-868-3762). If politics is your thing — or if you simply appreciate this high quality resource, you can help out by becoming a member, volunteering your time, or participating in the Project Vote Smart Ambassador Program, a citizen outreach effort that involves distributing publications and/or giving presentations in your community. (I’m thinking library programming here.)
–
+ One of our favorite fishing holes, the University of Michigan Library Documents Center, offers a rich collection of Election 2006 links that includes background material about elections, and information about candidates, campaign finance, policy issues, voting and election results, and academic research.
+ Real Clear Politics, another non-partisan site, culls “opinion, news, polls and analysis” from “millions of weblogs and hundreds of newspapers every day”.
+ We featured Congressional Quarterly’s 2006 Election Forecast Map as a Resource of the Week last May.
+ OpenSecrets.org, a project of the Center for Responsive Politics, focuses intently on “money in U.S. elections”.
+ DocuTicker, our sister site, continues posting a variety of full-text reports on the election and politics in general from from government agencies, NGOs, think tanks and other public interest organizations.
