An Online Hoax Becomes a Source About a Suspect

It was not hard, in the end, to figure out that the Web site was a hoax, however tantalizing the site was for reporters eager to fill out details on the fugitive life of Radovan Karadzic, the Bosnian Serb leader reincarnated as a hippie guru of alternative healing.

Any public search of the site, dragandabic.com, which was named for the identity Mr. Karadzic assumed, could have revealed that the Web address was registered after Mr. Karadzic was arrested last week on charges of war crimes. And, oddly enough, a returning visitor would notice that it was being updated while he was in jail.

Still, the site — with a brief biography, conveniently in English and Serbian, along with some favorite Chinese proverbs — became, in the days after the arrest, a prime source of information for newspapers and Web sites around the world, including news agencies like Agence France-Presse and Reuters and publications like Le Monde.

On Wednesday, in a first and pretty much virtual interview, a person who claimed responsibility for the site said that was exactly his intent.

Source: New York Times

Hat tip: Caryn Baird

From the article:
The British Library’s annual report for 2007/08 has just gone live and it’s a very different kind of experience from previous years, at www.bl.uk/knowledge.

It features a best-selling novelist, a nanotechnology expert, a nit and head lice ‘assassin’ and a South African sound archivist, all talking about how the Library’s resources have supported their work in the past year.

The site uses video and animation to engage people, but then offers lots more in the way of linked resources – including audio of wolves howling and Zulu street guitar music. The idea has been to give people a chance to actually interact with our collectionsrather than simply reeling off a list of ‘what we’ve done this year’ – although that kind of information is also available.

Source: PublicTechnology.net

From the article:

Libraries have supported games since houses of literature in Britain installed tables for cards, chess, dominos and billiards in the 1800s to lure the public away from houses of ill repute.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl for the Nintendo Wii is just the newest addition.

This fall, the Columbus Metropolitan Library plans to connect its branches to a national video-game tournament system for libraries. Eventually, Web cameras might even allow teens to trash-talk and cheer from branch to branch.

Source: The Columbus Dispatch

An update of Selected Internet Resources for Japanese Science, Technology and Medicine.

Direct to Selected Resources

Source: Library of Congress

From the article:

Of the library services responding to a recent survey from the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP), 75% confirmed that they had received enquiries from the police or a security agency during the past 18 months.

The survey showed that enquiries have included a number of “fishing” queries, some aimed at flushing out a terrorist threat.

But CILIP senior policy advisor Barbara Stratton played down concerns about an orchestrated policy of library scrutiny: “We’re pleased that there doesn’t seem to be a widespread problem. There are some local issues from time to time, and mistakes made by personnel on the ground, but not a campaign of surveillance. But it is clear that police are much more aware of what services libraries will offer and want to make enquiries. This is legitimate if the law is followed, and in most cases it is.”

Source: theBookseller.com

From the article:

After years of expanding education, Miami [OH] University’s Children’s Picture Book Database has expanded as well, receiving more than 1 million hits.

Valerie Ubbes, director of the project, said she created the database in 1995 to expand education for children in preschool through third grade.

“The picture books equal life,” Ubbes said. “It’s all about expanding health into wellness.”

The database, which holds more than 5,000 children’s picture book abstracts, has partnered with Miami University Libraries, making it more accessible to all 50 states and foreign countries, Ubbes said.

Direct to Database

Source: The Oxford Press

From the news release:

The IT History Society (www.IThistory.org) announces a new database attached to its website. The database is taking into account pioneers of the industry who have passed on and who made significant contributions to the creation and growth of the IT industry. The Society felt there should be a place to have a permanent remembrance of individuals who have made a difference to the growth and foundation of the industry. The database is located at http://ithistory.org/resources/memoriam.php

Source: News Release

From the abstract:

Biomedical text-mining have great promise to improve the usefulness of genomic researchers. The goal of text-mining is analyzed large collections of unstructured documents for the purposes of extracting interesting and non-trivial patterns of knowledge. The analysis of biomedical texts and available databases, such as Medline and PubMed, can help to interpret a phenomenon, to detect gene relations, or to establish comparisons among similar genes in different specific databases.

Source: Gálvez, Carmen and Moya-Anegón, Félix (2008) Text-mining research in genomics. In Guimaraes, Nuno and Isaías, Pedro, Eds. Proceedings IADIS International Conference Applied Computing 2008, pp. 277-283, Algarve (Portugal).

From the news release:

LexisNexis, a leading provider of information and services solutions, today announced that it has acquired the assets of Florida Legal Periodicals, a wholly owned subsidiary of Law Bulletin Publishing Company of Chicago. Florida Legal Periodicals is a market leader in the collection and distribution of Florida and Alabama verdict and settlement information. Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

+ Britain Clears The Way For Google Street Views (via SEL)

+ Amazon unveils new online-payment services (via News.com)

+ Steamship Historical Society of America Launches Interactive Project to Identify 40,000+ Ship Images (via News Release)

Published 30 July 2008 on DocuTicker:
+ Lodging, Rental Car and Meal Taxes on Travelers in the Top 50 U.S. Cities (National Business Travel Association)
+ Beach Closing Days Reach Second Highest Level in 18 Years, Says New Report (Natural Resources Defense Council)
+ The Economic Impacts of Climate Change and the Costs of Inaction (Center for Integrative Environmental Research, University of Maryland)

From the announcement:

Carnegie Corporation of New York President Vartan Gregorian and Thomas H. Kean, Chairman of the Corporation’s Board of Trustees joined South African leaders to dedicate new Carnegie Corporation-funded model libraries in Pretoria and Cape Town. Leaders from prominent South African universities also teamed with the U.S. foundation leaders to inaugurate the opening of a multi-campus electronic research consortium. The foundation has invested more than $10 million since 2004 - including a new grant of $2.5 million - to revitalize the country’s public library system. The Corporation’s grants have helped to leverage more than $60 million in government and other private funding.

Source: AScribe

From the news release:

Nature Publishing Group (NPG) today launches the first phase of its Manuscript Deposition Service. The free service will help authors fulfill funder and institutional mandates for public access.

From today, the NPG Manuscript Deposition Service will be available to authors publishing original research articles in Nature and the Nature research journals. NPG expects to be able to announce the availability of the service for many of its society and academic journals, and for the clinical research section of Nature Clinical Practice Cardiovascular Medicine, shortly.

Source: NPG

From the announcement:

Biological sciences educators are feeling a strain. As biology content rapidly changes, courses surge with diverse students, and teaching methods lean more toward inquiry-based, less lecture-style instruction, educators need more than a textbook. In an initiative coordinated by AAAS, professional societies and coalitions are providing digital libraries with peer-reviewed teaching materials and professional development activities for biological sciences professors to meet the growing need for additional biology education content and resources.

The BioSciEdNet (BEN) portal contains links to more than 11,000 peer-reviewed resources in digital libraries of 24 collaborators, including figures for PowerPoint slides and overheads, scientific articles, lesson plans and strategies and animations. The BEN portal and digital libraries funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation can be searched by keywords, age group of the students and resource type. The portal spans at least 77 biology topics, such as microbiology, genetics, ecology, physiology, and botany.

DIRECT to BEN

Source: AAAS

Free Internet proves popular with troops

A pair of Internet cafes serving 15,000 U.S. troops in Iraq saw their typical usage double when the service provider waived fees for the July 4 holiday, increasing to about 4,100 log-ins on Independence Day.

The two CamoCafes were established about a year ago by Arkel International of Baton Rouge, La., a logistics, construction and support contractor operating in Iraq. They have 80 desktop PC kiosks and also support wireless access for laptops. Arkel has the contract with the bases to provide the service and Single Digits Inc. of Manchester, N.H., provides the infrastructure and technical support.

The connections can be used for videoconferencing, e-mail, Web access or any other Internet service.

Source: Government Computer News