UK: The National Archives wins award for digital preservation
From the announcement:

The National Archives is celebrating its victory at the Conservation Awards 2007, winning the award for digital preservation. The award, presented on 27 September, recognises leadership and practical advancement in the new and challenging field of digital preservation. The prize was given to The National Archives for its work on active preservation through the development of two tools: the PRONOM Technical Registry and Digital Record Object Identification (DROID) file format identification.

Source: National Archives, UK

New and Transferred Domains From Google and Microsoft

No slowdown this week in recently registered and transfered domains from Google and Microsoft. Here’s our weekly roundup.

New Domains–Google
Googleappsapis.com
Google-apps-apis.com
apis-app-google.com
apis-apps-google.com
app-api-google.com
app-apis-google.com
apps-apis-google.com
appsapisgoogle.com

Transferred Domains–Google
GooglePhotos.com (transferred)
Until this week the domain was registered to a person in China. It’s a domain with a long history and several owners. Nothing is visible when we tried to reach this page during the past day or so.

New Domains–Microsoft
+ 3DMaptour.com., net
+ 3Dmaptour.net
+ 3Dmaptours.com, .net
+ 3Daptours.net
+ 3Dsb.com
+ Hazmasvivemas.com, .net, .org
+ Imaginezlasuite.com
+ Cycle-on.org
+ Idbyphone.com. .net
+ Innovateonmobile.com, .net, .org
+ Innovateonwindowsmobile.com, .net, .org
+ Mssharepointcareers.com, .net, .org
+ Microsoftstudentconnect.com, .net, .org
+ Microsoftsharepointacademy.com. net, .org
+ Microsoftsharepointjobs.com, .net
+ Miolopppod.net
+ Mioluatpod.net
+ Mssharepointjobs.org
+ Mssharepointcareers.com, .net
+ Mssharepointjobs.com, .net

Transferred Domains–Microsoft
+ Access2007help.com, .net, .org, biz, .us
+ Excel2007help.com, .net, .org, biz, .us
+ Antispymobile.com
+ Bestantispymobile.com
+ Excelfordummies.com
+ Excelreader.com
+ Fullcoms.com
+ Gatesproperty.com
+ IDbyphone.org
+ Latest-soft.com
+ Microsoftoffice2007.com, net, .org, biz, .us
+ Microsoftoutlook2007.com, net, .org, biz, .us
+ Microsoftpowerpoint2007.biz, .net, .org, .us
+ Microsoft-service.com
+ Msnbilling.us
Previously registered to someone in Virginia
+ MomAgents.com
+ Mscionetwork.com, net, org
+ Msexcel2007.info
+ Msoutlook2007.info
+ Mspowerpoint2007.info
+ Msword2007.info
+ Msndownloads.net
+ Mspublishing.com
+ Mssites.com
+ Mstrainer.com
+ Office2005.com
+ Office2007pro.info
+ Officepro2007.info
+ Officems.com
+ Search-msn.com, .net
+ Secure-msn.info
Previously registered to someone in Utah.
+ Skydrive.biz
+ Visualbasicsucks.com
+ Visualc.net
+ Widowsxp.com
+ Win2kmanual.com
+ 2007pro.com, .net, .org, biz, .us, .info
+ Wwwxboxcheats.com

See Also: A Busy Time With New and Transferred Domains. Here are Links to the Last 3 Reports.
1 ||| 2 ||| 3

The University of Padua and Max Planck Institute for Informatics have been analysing The European Library log files throughout the year 2007. A report in the latest issue of The European Library Newsletter.

Source: EL

Mark of Zotero
Zotero is a tool for storing, retrieving, organizing, and annotating digital documents. It has been available for not quite a year. I started using it about six weeks ago, and am still learning some of the fine points, but feel sufficient enthusiasm about Zotero to recommend it to anyone doing research online. If very much of your work involves material from JSTOR, for example – or if you find it necessary to collect bibliographical references, or to locate Web-based publications that you expect to cite in your own work — then Zotero is worth knowing how to use. (You can install it on your computer for free; more on that in due course.)
…
Still, it seems as if institutions that do not currently do so might want to offer tutorials on Zotero for faculty and students who may lack whatever gene makes for an intuitive grasp of software. Academic librarians are probably the best people to offer instruction. Aside from being digitally savvy, they may be the people at a university in the best position to appreciate the range of uses to which Zotero can be put.

Source: Inside Higher Ed

See Also: Zotero (Video Presentation at the Library of Congress), Recorded June 11, 2007.

See Also: We First Posted a Zotero Overview 11 Months Ago on November 13, 2006.

+ CrossRef Grants The Smithsonian/Nasa Astrophysics Data System Free Access To CrossRef Metadata

+ Google Buys Mobile Social Network Zingku (via PC World)
Btw, Google acquired and and owns another mobile social network named dodgeball.com in acquired dodgeball.com in May, 2005. In April, 2007 the dodgeball.com co-founders left the company.
See Also: Google buying mobile social network service Zingku (via FireceWireless)

+ STN focuses on patent search and management (via IWR)

+ Open Directory Launches The Official DMOZ Blog (via SEL)

Advertising/Media: Career Guide: TalentWorks
15 pages; PDF.
Page 15 is loaded with stats about the job market for the ad and media industries.
Source: AdAge

See Also: List & Rankings: Media Mavens 2007

Highlighting the Execs Who Get Their Messages Heard.

The world’s top retirement havens in 2007
Source: International Living

Moving up four places to take our top spot as the world’s top retirement haven this year is Mexico. Mexico offers the perfect mix of centuries-old traditions and contemporary lifestyles. Moving to Mexico means you can still have all of the amenities you grew accustomed to north of the border: cable TV, high-speed Internet, and modern home appliances. And if you prefer, when you move to Mexico you can even bring all of your favorite things with you without paying import taxes.

Goods and services cost less, so you can afford the kinds of luxuries only the very wealthy enjoy up north: a maid, a cook, and a gardener for example. In your retirement here, you’ll have time to volunteer at the local school, time to golf in the mornings, time to relax on the beach…time to savor life.

Whether your vision of the ideal retirement involves shopping, fishing, sunbathing, diving, biking, mountain climbing, parasailing, collecting crafts, visiting archeological sites, partying, going to concerts, attending the theater, or fine dining, in Mexico you can engage in all of these activities, and many more.
How our Global Retirement Index is scored

* Real estate. Countries where real estate prices are low and the purchase of real estate is relatively easy receive the highest scores. We use our own experiences plus reports from our contributing editors and real estate contacts around the world to rate each country. Weight: 15%
* Entertainment, Recreation, and Culture. This category considers the number of newspapers per 1,000 citizens, the number of museums and cinemas per capita, the number of university students, the literacy rate, and the variety of cultural and recreational offerings. Weight: 10%
* Cost of living. This score is based on statistics from the Indexes of Living Costs Abroad, Quarter Allowances, and Hardship Differentials, published by the United States Department of State, and on data published by Business International. We also use our firsthand experiences living and traveling in these countries. The lower the score, the higher the cost of living. Weight: 20%
* Safety and stability. This measure of unrest in each country is based primarily on Interpol data and State Department statistics. It also takes into account the civil liberties and political rights granted by each government. Our own experiences and reports from expatriates living in these countries also influence the safety scores. Weight: 5%
* Health care. Considered in this category are the cost of a typical visit to a general practitioner and the cost and coverage particulars of health insurance. Weight: 20%
* Climate. Countries with temperate weather throughout the year, moderate rain fall, and little risk of natural disaster come out on top in this category. We use data representing each country as a whole instead of favoring one region over another. Weight: 5%
* Special benefits. This category considers government provisions that make moving to and living in each country easier and more affordable for foreigners. Taken into account are property rights for foreign residents, property tax rates, duty-free imports on personal belongings, currency controls, employment restrictions, voting rights, and transportation discounts for seniors. Weight: 20%
* Infrastructure. This section considers the number of cars and telephones per 1,000 residents, the length of railroad track in usable condition, the number of airports, the quality of the country’s road and highway network, and the availability of telecommunications. Weight: 5%

New Paper: AskNow Instant Messaging: innovation in virtual reference
19 pages; PDF.
by Kate Davis, National Library of Australia

National and State Libraries Australasia’s (NSLA) AskNow virtual reference service has been in operation for over four years. It has proved to be a successful service and continues to receive an average of 2000 enquiries each month. In implementing AskNow, the NSLA cooperative was on the cutting edge of innovation in virtual reference service provision. For the past four years, the service has operated using the 24/7 Ref proprietary chat reference software, and more recently, OCLC’s QuestionPoint.

Source: National Library of Australia

Updated Site. We first posted about this service in early 2007.

Database: OECD Statistics - beta release

Our objective is to provide a single online platform where you can discover and use our statistical databases. For the first time, you will be able to build tables and extract data from across databases as well as access individual databases. Use Browse Themes or Search to find the
statistical datasets you need. Each database includes detailed metadata to help you understand the numbers.

Source: OECD (via Basefsky’s IWS Documented News Service)

Librarian Interview: Adam Horváth – National Széchényi Library (Hungary)
The National Széchényi Library (OSZK) joined The European Library as Full Participant* under the TEL-ME-MOR project* in July 2006. Adam Horváth, Director of Informatics of the OSZK and their representative in the Technical Working Group in The European Library, describes his activities within his organisation and the OSZK participation to TELplus.

Source: European Library Newslettter

British Library books go digital

More than 100,000 old books previously unavailable to the public will go online thanks to a mass digitisation programme at the British Library.

Source: BBC

See Also: UK: National e-book project calls for community involvement

In our post yesterday about phonecasting and a link to Marshall Kirkpatrick’s review of the new NPR mobile site, we briefly mentioned that more and more local NPR affiliates have mobile sites and now allow users to listen to selected programming by simply dialing a phone number. Again, much more here.

Today, what follows are the URL’s for mobile sites from several NPR stations around the country. Most offer links to local news and local audio as well as the national NPR mobile content. Here’s an example.

+ Austin, TX
Listen by dialing: 512-782-9366

+ Chapel Hill, NC
Listen by dialing: 919-636-5014

+ Charlotte, NC
Listen by dialing: 704-837-4321

+ Los Angeles
Listen by dialing: 310-889-0928

+ Portland/Oregon Public Radio
Listen by dialing: 971-285-4355

+ Sacramento
Listen by dialing: 916-273-3519

+ San Diego
Listen by dialing: 619-618-2635

+ San Francisco
Listen by dialing: 415-373-6633

+ Seattle/Tacoma
Listen by dialing: 206-438-3990

+ Washington, DC
Listen by dialing: 202-741-9977

We will update this post as new stations become available.

Source: NPR

See Also: If you want to listen to a continuous stream from an NPR station on your phone (assuming you have the needed tools and bandwidth, Tuned.Mobi can likely offer you a direct link to the stream.

See Also: Directory With over 1100 Podcasts from Public Radio Stations Around World

Popular Photographic Print Processes Represented in the Prints and Photographs Division (Library of Congress)
From the document:

Included in this guide are descriptions and examples of photographic processes represented in the collections of the Prints and Photographs Division. The information is meant to help people understand the history, function, and production techniques of original photographs viewed either at Reading Room tables or in our online catalog as digital reproductions.

Some processes are direct-image positives, while others are printed from various types of negatives. We have provided a Chronological Listing to indicate which processes were in use at the same time and to assist with dating images.

Source: Library of Congress

R&D and Productivity Growth: A Review of the Literature
56 pages; PDF.
by Leo Sveikauskas

This paper reviews the literature on R&D to provide guidelines for recent efforts to include R&D in the national income accounts. The main conclusions are:

1. Measures of R&D as an asset held by a particular owner must be complemented by estimates of the spillover effect of R&D in order to obtain a reliable measure of the overall effect of R&D on productivity growth.

2. If research financed by the government and research financed by business are both counted as investment, some double counting occurs and growth accounting analysis overstates the role of research relative to other factors.

3. The overall rate of return to R&D is very large, perhaps 25 percent as a private return and a total of 65 percent for social returns. However, these returns apply only to privately financed R&D in industry. Returns to many forms of publicly financed R&D are near zero.

4. Firm R&D should be allocated to the different industries in which a firm produces, rather than all credited to the firm’s main industry. An allocation procedure is proposed.

5. Much further work needs to be carried out to understand how R&D conducted in the richest countries is transmitted to developing countries. Detailed microeconomic data on firms or establishments in developing nations

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics

New Weblog from U.S. Department of State: DIPNOTE

Intro via FCW artice:

The State Department’s Bureau of Public Affairs launched into the blogosphere Sept. 28 with Dipnote, the agency’s new official blog that aims to shed light on the typically secretive nature of diplomacy…Dipnote is open to the public in addition to agency employees and thus different from the agency’s Office of eDiplomacy’s Communities @ State blog initiative, which is meant to be used in the agency. The program is also different from Office of Public Diplomacy efforts that focus on engaging foreign audiences through using blogs and other online tools.

Source: U.S. DOS