The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) E-Science Working Group surveyed ARL member libraries in the fall of 2009 to gather data on the state of engagement with e-science issues. An overview of initial survey findings was presented by E-Science Working Group Chair Wendy Lougee, University Librarian, McKnight Presidential Professor, University of Minnesota Libraries, at the October ARL Membership Meeting. Lougee’s briefing explored contrasting approaches among research institutions, particularly in regard to data management. The briefing also summarized survey findings on topics such as library services, organizational structures, staffing patterns and staff development, and involvement in research grants, along with perspectives on pressure points for service development. To better explicate the findings, Lougee reviewed specific cases of activities at six research institutions.

Audio of the briefing along with slides and a handout are available as part of the Proceedings of the 155th ARL Membership Meeting (see http://www.arl.org/resources/pubs/mmproceedings/155mm-proceedings/index.shtml#esci).

ARL has also compiled a set of resources provided by survey respondents. Examples of a range of campus and library documents, tools advancing e-science support, needs assessments, and position descriptions, among other items, are listed on ARL’s Web site at http://www.arl.org/rtl/eresearch/escien/esciensurvey/index.shtml.

Source: Association of Research Libraries

This Article offers a new way of thinking and talking about government secrecy. In the vast literature on the topic, little attention has been paid to the structure of government secrets, as distinct from their substance or function. Yet these secrets differ systematically depending on how many people know of their existence, what sorts of people know, how much they know, and how soon they know. When a small group of similarly situated officials conceals from outsiders the fact that it is concealing something, the result is a deep secret. When members of the general public understand they are being denied particular items of information, the result is a shallow secret. Every act of state secrecy can be located on a continuum ranging between these two poles.

Attending to the depth of state secrets, the Article shows, can make a variety of conceptual and practical contributions to the debate on their usage. The deep/shallow distinction provides a vocabulary and an analytic framework with which to describe, assess, and compare secrets, without having to judge what they conceal. It sheds light on how secrecy is employed and experienced, which types are likely to do the most damage, and where to focus reform efforts. And it gives more rigorous content to criticisms of Bush administration practices. Elaborating these claims, the Article also mines new constitutional territory – providing an original account of the role of state secrecy generally, as well as deep secrecy specifically, in our constitutional order.

Several options available for retrieval of full text.

Source: Stanford Law Review, Forthcoming (David Pozen)

Hat tip: Secrecy News

Welcome to the latest edition of Five Technology Trends to Watch. This annual Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) publication looks at the new technologies that will shape our future. I remain optimistic despite the challenges to the economy. The consumer technology industry continues to show promise with sales expected to reach $172 billion for 2009.

This year we look at the evolution of content, connected devices in the home, TV beyond HD, connected cars and the smart grid. The publication also takes a peek at the future of CE. For example, IBM is working to develop artificial DNA nanostructures as a framework to build the tiny microchips used in electronics devices. Although still many years out, this work could one day impact how we build, operate and interact with electronics. Learn also about advances in a holographic storage material capable of storing 500GB of data on a DVD-sized optical disc – ten times the amount that can be stored on a dual-layer Blu-ray disc. It’s not here yet but discs of this size could one day store 3D video.

Source: Consumer Electronics Association

Hat tip: AT

The Advanced Communications Law & Policy Institute (ACLP) at New York Law School has released a report identifying major barriers to broadband adoption among senior citizens and people with disabilities, and across the telemedicine, energy, education, and government sectors. This report was prepared in coordination with staff of the Omnibus Broadband Initiative (OBI) for use in the development of the FCC’s National Broadband Plan.
…
ACLP Director Charles M. Davidson said “The report provides the FCC with a comprehensive analysis of major barriers to broadband adoption among under-adopting demographic groups and sectors of the economy. Our hope is that this report will be used as a starting point for further discussions regarding ways to maximize the adoption rate across every demographic group and sector.”

+ Full Report (PDF; 1.7 MB)

Alas, the vast majority of us were not fortunate enough to attend Gary’s presentation on Mobile Access to Information at Web Search University last month in Washington, D.C. But since this is a topic of intense, growing interest — 56% of adult Americans have accessed the internet by wireless means, according to the Pew Internet & American Life Project — we thought we’d link to Gary’s presentation as our Resource of the Week.

In his presentation, Gary covers mobile terms and jargon, how scholarly publishers are joining the mobile revolution, mobile search, podcasts/phonecasts, television on mobile devices, location-based services, “m-commerce,” fast/free directory assistance, traffic reports and other real-time information…and much more. You’ll also find links to information about such cutting-edge services as Google Voice.

Gary has been touting the virtues of mobile internet access for *years* now — keeping track of new services that come online, experimenting with new mobile technologies, etc. This presentation gives you the opportunity to take advantage of his expertise. (sdk)

Should an investigator or attorney “friend” a prosecution witness in order to find impeachment evidence? Are there legal or ethical bars to surreptitiously gathering data from social network profiles? Should the intent of the user have any bearing on the formulation of law related to access? These and more questions were stirred up in the mix of case studies presented at the (first, annual?) symposium, Social Networks: Friends or Foes? Confronting Online Legal and Ethical Issues in the Age of Social Networking, sponsored by UC Berkeley School of Law. Yeah, a long title but, hey, these folks are academics. And the case studies constituted just the first panel (”Problems Unique to Social Networking and the Law”) of an extraordinary assemblage of academic, government, activist, policy and practicing lawyers rounding out the 5-panel day.

Much of the discussion concerned access to profile content, – the difference between civil and criminal (where there’s the familiar prosecution/defense imbalance) cases – whether certain information should be private even if it can be viewed by unintended parties. For example, should employers be able to view deleted personal information? No one mentioned the issue of whether schools have a legal right to compel students to turn over their user names/passwords (See: “Area School Wants Access To Students’ Social Networking”). There may be instances when a legal requirement for disclosure would apply. Lauren Gelman, Executive Director, Stanford Law, Center for Internet and Society, raised the question of whether evidence in the online sites could be used, say, in divorce cases, to support evidence gathered by other means. The Deputy General Counsel for Facebook took the position that user’s profile content is private, begging the audience to sue the company to settle issues of access.

See: Social Networks: Friends or Foes

Source: PI Buzz

Just as bread and milk are often found at far-away ends of the supermarket, Web sites that match consumers with certain products have an incentive to steer users to products that yield the highest margins. The result: a compromise between what users want and what produces the most revenues, say HBS professor Andrei Hagiu and Toulouse School of Economics researcher Bruno Jullien. A look inside the world of search.

+ Why Do Intermediaries Divert Search? (PDF; 490 KB)

Source: Harvard Business School Working Knowledge

This report focuses on the information people actually need, and works back from there, suggesting ways that the flow of information and its uses may be enhanced. That is a fundamentally different approach from traditional media policy that sought to promote or regulate existing media. Since the current pace of information technology change is rapid to the point of defying regularization or regulation, the Commission’s approach is to steer to the true north of what is constant, the need for the free flow of information in a democracy.

Nothing in this report is meant to be prescriptive. Everything in this report is meant to propose and encourage debate.

Nevertheless, vision emanates from core values and it seems to us axiomatic that access to information is essential, while definition of what is valuable information is open to debate. Therefore, if there is no access to information, there is a denial to citizens of an element required for participation in the life of the community. That is as real politically (in denying voters information about candidates and issues) as it is socially (consider digital social networks) and economically (in a world where entry level job applications at MacDonald’s or Wal-Mart must be made online, denial of digital access equals denial of opportunity).

Source: Knight Commission on the Information Needs of Communities

Never before have so many tools been available to analyze and clarify digital influence. The 2009 Digital Influence in News and Politics Report leverages these tools to measure the influence of those best-in-class media companies in the digital sphere.

Sparxoo evaluated over 100 news and politics media outlets (from the New York Times to the Daily Beast to NPR) in a comprehensive study of content, social and multimedia influence.

The Report crowns CNN as the #1 digital influencer, followed by The New York Times (a pleasant surprise for “The Gray Lady”). The Digital Influencer in News and Politics Report confirms and debunks many of the long-held media myths perpetuated by marketers, brand managers and other business leaders. It is through these findings that we can re-align the media compass to find tomorrow’s true north.

Source: Sparxoo

Hat tip: AB

During the past 15 years, the development of new electronic technologies have altered the traditional patterns of communication between Members of Congress and constituents. Many Members now use e-mail, official websites, blogs, Youtube channels, and Facebook pages to communicate with their constituents—technologies that were either non-existent or not widely available 15 years ago.

These technologies have arguably served to potentially enhance the ability of Members of Congress to fulfill their representational duties by providing greater opportunities for communication between the Member and individual constituents, supporting the fundamental democratic role of spreading information about public policy and government operations. In addition, electronic technology has reduced the marginal cost of constituent communications; unlike postal letters, Members can reach large numbers of constituents for a fixed cost. Despite these advantages, electronic communications have raised some concerns. Existing law and chamber regulations on the use of communication media such as the franking privilege have proven difficult to adapt to the new electronic technologies.
Much More After the Jump

This report examines Member use of one specific new electronic communication medium: Twitter. After providing an overview and background of Twitter, the report analyzes patterns of Member use of Twitter during two one-week periods in July and August 2009. This report is inherently a snapshot in time of a dynamic process. As with any new technology, the number of Members using Twitter and the patterns of use may change rapidly in short periods of time. Thus, the conclusions drawn from this data can not be easily generalized nor can these results be used to predict future behavior.

The data show that 158 Representatives and Senators are registered with Twitter (as of August 2009) and issued a total of approximately 1,187 “tweets” during the data collection periods in July and August 2009. With approximately 29% of House Members and 31% of Senators registered with Twitter, Members sent an average of 85 tweets per day collectively. House Republicans sent the most tweets (54%), followed by House Democrats (27%), Senate Republicans (10%), and Senate Democrats (9%). The data also suggest that more tweets were sent on Thursday than any other day of the week.

Members’ use of Twitter can be divided into six categories: position taking, press or web links, district or state activities, official congressional action, personal, and replies. The data suggest that the most frequent type of tweets were press and web link tweets, which comprised 43% of insession and 46% of recess tweets. This is followed by official congressional action tweets during session (33%) and position-taking tweets during recess (14%).

Source: Congressional Research Service

The U.S. Constitution makes no specific allowance for any one of the three branches of the federal government to have access to information held by the others. No provision in the U.S. Constitution expressly establishes a procedure for public access to government information.

Congress has legislated various public access laws. Among these laws are two records access statutes,

• the Freedom of Information Act (FOI Act or FOIA; 5 U.S.C. S 552), and
• the Privacy Act (5 U.S.C. S 552a),

and two meetings access statutes:

• the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA; 5 U.S.C. App.), and
• the Government in the Sunshine Act (5 U.S.C. S 552b).

The American separation of powers model of government may inherently prompt interbranch conflicts over the accessibility of information. These conflicts are neither unexpected nor necessarily destructive. Although there is considerable interbranch cooperation in the sharing of information and records, such conflicts over access may continue on occasion.

This report offers an overview of the four information access laws noted above, and provides citations to additional resources related to these tools.

Source: Congressional Research Service (via OpenCRS)

If you are an editor, author, reviewer, or reader of medical journals, or if you depend on your doctor or health care provider getting unbiased information from medical journals, then the 1,500 documents now hosted on the PLoS Medicine Web site should make you very concerned and angry. Because, quite simply, the story told in these documents amounts to one of the most compelling expositions ever seen of the systematic manipulation and abuse of scholarly publishing by the pharmaceutical industry and its commercial partners in their attempt to influence the health care decisions of physicians and the general public.

Source: PLoS Medicine

It might be said that little of great moment has changed in academic law libraries in the past five years. Although there has been no major upheaval there have still been important developments. The trend towards online access over print which was still developing in 2001 is now unquestionable and the amount of law-related material on the Web has expanded exponentially. In itself this is a major development even though it has happened incrementally and is now taken for granted. Because of the continued growth of law material on the Web and its widespread general acceptance, we are arguably now in a position to take some radical steps which would allow us to reap the ‘digital dividend’.

The ability to find, assess and retrieve relevant information is only one aspect that augurs well for the continued need for libraries and librarians. Another is the continued need which humans have to come together in a pleasant environment, to work, study and socialize. Law students are social creatures and use the law library not just because it has books. They use law libraries because they like to encounter each other, observe each other (yes, check out the talent), and work in a space that is comfortable and convenient for their other activities. Many of them live in situations which make it difficult to study. They may be parents, or live in shared accommodation. The library is a haven and refuge, and often the only place available; it must be a place to linger in, not rush through on the way to somewhere more comfortable.

+ Full Paper (PDF; 177 KB)

Source: International Journal of Legal Information (Winter 2006)

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) should ensure that its proposed top-level domain application process guards against “front running” by speculators, states Michael Palage in “New gTLDs: Let the Gaming Begin, Part I: TLD Front Running,” released today by The Progress & Freedom Foundation. The paper is the first in a series of commentaries identifying unresolved issues surrounding ICANN’s proposed implementation of new top-level domains (TLDs).

In the paper, PFF Adjunct Fellow Palage raises concerns over the actions of certain prospective TLD applicants filing national trademark applications associated with generic TLD strings such as .MUSIC, .MOVIE, .BLOG, etc. This type of “front running” by prospective applicants trying to game the process potentially interferes with other legitimate applications. The failure of ICANN to address this problem “may jeopardize ICANN’s core function: maintaining the global interoperability of a unique root,” he explains. Specifically, trademark owners who are unable to secure a particular TLD string may seek to have the courts direct the root server’s operator to remove the disputed string.

+ Full Paper (PDF; 593 KB)

Source: Progress & Freedom Foundation

There is an old proverb, “If the mountain will not come to Mohammed, then Mohammed must go to the mountain.” It can be a challenge to reach out to incoming undergraduate students who are often overwhelmed by the high expectations of scholarship at the college level and the complexities of the modern information environment. Unconventional and creative approaches are needed to reach millennial learners where they are, both physically, in terms of where they reside on campus, and pedagogically, by employing innovative and engaging teaching methods that they can appreciate and understand. In the fall of 2007, two librarians with rather unique positions at Purdue University coordinated, developed, and implemented an instructional pilot program to reach out to and engage undergraduate students. Strategic partnerships among librarians, residence hall staff, faculty fellows, and the students themselves led to effective and well-attended educational sessions that were conducted in the study lounges of campus residence halls and addressed major concepts pertaining to research, information literacy, and critical thinking. This peer-reviewed article is based on the poster and report archived at http://docs.lib.purdue.edu/lib_research/88/.

+ Full Paper (PDF; 532 KB)

Source: Purdue e-Pubs (Catherine F. Riehle, Michael Witt)

The Pacific Research Institute (PRI) announced today the release of a new report on Internet privacy and security. Click Confidential: A Privacy Primer for the Social Web, authored by Daniel Ballon, Ph.D., PRI senior fellow in technology studies, outlines the detrimental affects of government regulated privacy policy on emerging online businesses. He also provides effective strategies for empowering consumers while promoting choice and competition.

+ Full Document (PDF; 8.2 MB)

Source: Pacific Research Institute

Bibliometricians have introduced various scales of ranking journals; some based on publications, some based on usage as well, including the internet, using social networking analysis. Bollen et al. (1) recently concluded that no single indicator adequately measures impact and the IF is at the periphery of 39 scales analyzed. But there is a new parameter, the Eigenfactor™, which attempts to rate the influence of journals (www.eigenfactor.org). The Eigenfactor™ ranks journals in a manner similar to that used by Google for ranking the importance of Web sites in a search.

Source: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Source: Special Libraries Association

Unless you work for or own an online business, chances are you’ve never heard the terms “search engine optimization” (SEO) and “search engine marketing” (SEM). Yet these two phrases—SEO (the effort by site owners to get their website ranked higher by search engines) and SEM (the use of paid advertising to gain prominent placement on search engines) are increasingly important vocabulary for businesses that seek to prosper on the web. Unfortunately, legitimate businesses are not the only ones gaining fluency with this new language.

The scammers—from solo operators to organized criminals—have quickly realized that the same search engines that enable legitimate businesses to reach more consumers can also be used by criminals to separate more victims from more of their money.

This paper examines a new phenomenon—the use of search engines as a conduit for profit-driven hackers—by analyzing the risk of searching for more than 2,000 of the most popular words and phrases (“keywords”) used in search engines in 2008. From “Jonas Brothers tickets” to “game cheats” to “Viva la Vida lyrics,” these keywords represent a broad slice of what search expert John Battelle calls our “database of intentions.”

Along with our “intentions,” this database also reveals how much risk we expose ourselves to each and every time we put our favorite search engines to use. How much risk? For some keywords like “popular screensavers” and “descargar google” and certain of their resulting pages, the risk can be pervasive— 75% or more results (three out of four) can lead to increased web security risk. This should not be surprising to observers of security trends. Since hacking for fame has given way to hacking for profit, malicious players have grown increasingly sophisticated in their ability to find large pools of potential victims. By measuring the relative risk of popular search terms, this study confirms that scammers continue to target the largest pools of victims.

But this study also found some interesting evidence to the contrary. Previous McAfee® studies of web safety have shown about 4% of sites to be risky. This is a broad measure of the overall risk we face when we use the web. By contrast, the average risk level of all results pages we studied was just 1.7%. This study is broad and directional. New tools and research methods need to be deployed to allow us to better understand the mechanics of how search is being misused. We hope this study helps pave the way for other studies that take on these important questions.

Source: McAfee

Hat tip: DG

What if everyone in the world were in your lab – a ‘hive mind’ of sorts, but composed of countless creative intellects rather than mindless worker ants, and one in which resources, reagents and effort could be shared, along with ideas, in a manner not dictated by institutional and geographical constraints?

Source: Disease Models & Mechanisms