Archive for the ‘Databases, Directories, and Guides’ Category
Tuesday, February 9th, 2010
Some news from Palo Alto, CA today:
ebrary has announced the availability of its new subscription database in Medical Technology. With titles from leading publishers including Elsevier’s Academic Press and Taylor & Francis’ CRC Press, the growing collection covers all aspects of medical technology including biomedical engineering and materials, imaging systems, medical instruments, nanotechnology, and tissue engineering.
Previews
+ Biomedical Engineering Desk Reference by Buddy D. Ratner, Joseph Dyro, and Sverre J. Grimnes (Elsevier, 2009). Preview it at http://tinyurl.com/yb6f5ko.
+ Handbook of Materials for Medical Devices edited by J.R. Davis (ASM International, 2003). Preview it at http://tinyurl.com/yh8algw.
+ Preview All Titles in this Collection
Business & Engineering
Hundreds of new e-books worth over $14,000 have recently been added to ebrary’s subscription databases in Finance, Leadership, and Sales & Marketing.
With titles from leading publishers including AMACOM, Berrett-Koehler Publishers, IGI Global, and Kogan Page, the new selection covers a wide range of business topics including Accounting, Branding, Business Communication, Corporate Finance, Ecommerce, Market Research, Negotiation, Personnel, and Risk Management.
Additionally, the company has extended its Engineering product line with databases in Chemical, Civil, Electronic, Environmental, Materials, Mechanical, and Power Engineering.
Access the Complete Announcement (PDF)
Source: ebrary
Posted in Business and Economics, Databases, Directories, and Guides, E-books, Information Industry | No Comments »
Tuesday, February 9th, 2010
From the NY Times Post:
When eBay makes changes big or small, a very vocal group of buyers and sellers react. Now, eBay is trying to involve its users earlier in the process by getting their input before new features are introduced.
The first change to be crowd sourced this way is a set of new tools to search eBay’s Web site. EBay has about 200 million items for sale at any given time, and sifting through that list can be burdensome.
Instead of rolling out the search features to all users, eBay will put them in a new place on the site Garden by eBay [sounds like a hotel site, not a "labs" area (-:]. People can choose to use the new tools, rate them and send critiques to the product team, which will continually tweak them. Some will fail and others will be incorporated into the main site.
[Snip]
For example, categories to narrow a search — such as choosing a style, color or brand of a handbag — used to be buried, but will now show up higher on the page. Right now, to narrow a search to, say, a never-opened Nikon point-and-shoot 10-megapixel digital camera, a shopper has to click on five separate pages. The new tools will let people hover over the categories, narrowing the search with a single click.
Direct to Garden by eBay Site
Access the Complete Article
Source: Bits Blog
Posted in Databases, Directories, and Guides, Info Management and Retrieval, Search News | No Comments »
Monday, February 8th, 2010
A column by Christopher Knight in today’s Los Angeles Times about Van Gogh’s letters (the exhibition is now in London) reminded us to remind you that the searchable web portion of the exhibit has been online since October, 2009.
Here’s our post from October 8, 2009 where we provide a bit of an overview and links to a few of the features. This is one impressive resource.
Direct to the Database
The database and related resources come from the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam.
Sources: LA Times; ResourceShelf
Posted in Archives and Special Collections, Arts and Humanities, Databases, Directories, and Guides, History | No Comments »
Monday, February 8th, 2010
Access the Database
Search using up to three criteria:
+ Sport
+ Country
+ Keyword
Entries include:
+ Name (Clickable)
+ Sport
+ Height
+ Weight
+ Nationality
+ Date of Birth
+ Age
With a Java download, users can visualize total medal counts for all Winter Olympics.
Access the Database
Source: Vancouver 2010 (via Twitter)
Posted in Databases, Directories, and Guides | No Comments »
Saturday, February 6th, 2010
From the Announcement:
The first comprehensive online database of land conservation in America was re-launched today by The Trust for Public Land (TPL), a national conservation organization.
The website, ConservationAlmanac.org, which has been the definitive source of information about land conservation policy at local, state, and federal levels, now offers new parcel-level data and mapping features to give users greater access to explore the results of land conservation. This week the new features launch for five states: Florida, Massachusetts, Missouri, Montana, and Oregon. In February data from five more states will be added: Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, and Wyoming.
TPL launched the Conservation Almanac in 2006 in response to numerous requests from policymakers, members of the media, and conservation practitioners about the growing funding sources for land conservation across America. TPL will continue updating the Almanac as new information becomes available and will add new state data each month.
Access The Conservation Almanac
Source: The Trust for Public Land
Posted in Databases, Directories, and Guides, Geographic, New Websites and Resources, Science | No Comments »
Friday, February 5th, 2010
From the Announcement:
The National Library of Medicine (NLM), the world’s largest medical library and an arm of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), announces the release of the Haiti Earthquake People Locator (HEPL), a new system that can assist in the reunification of family members and loved ones during the ongoing relief efforts in Haiti. HEPL consists of an interactive Web site that provides information about people who have been found in Haiti or who are still missing after the devastating earthquake of January 12, 2010. The site allows members of the public to search for people who have been located by medical staff and other relief workers in Haiti as well as to voluntarily post information about people who are still missing. Medical and relief personnel in the region can submit photographs and descriptive information about located people via computer, cell phone, or a specialized “Found in Haiti” iPhone application that was developed by the NLM. Using data from this app, the site can even show the GPS coordinates of the spot where he was found.
The HEPL system also has a meta-search engine, allowing it to simultaneously search multiple sites set up by CNN, Google and the International Red Cross.
Access Haiti Earthquake People Locator
Source: NLM
Posted in Databases, Directories, and Guides, Meta & Federated Search, Resources, Search Tools | No Comments »
Friday, February 5th, 2010
A couple of weeks ago we mentioned that all of the subscription databases used in most Pennsylvania public and school libraries were going to disappear over the next year. Budget issues (surprised).
Today, we came across this document (PDF) from the San Diego Public Library listing over 25 databases that are being cut as of January 27, 2010. You’ll see databases from all of the major info industry players. This page (left column) is a drop-down menu lists all of SDPL’s databases.
Source: SDPL
Posted in Databases, Directories, and Guides, Information Industry, Libraries and Librarianship | No Comments »
Thursday, February 4th, 2010
From an E-Mail and Blog Post:
Today Footnote.com
announced a major addition to its Vietnam War Collection: Army Photos and Unit Service Awards. Now totaling over 100,000 photos and documents, this collection helps visitors gain a better perspective and appreciation for this often misunderstood event in U.S. History.
“Our partnership with the National Archives has proven to be invaluable as we work to make these records more accessible,” explains Russell Wilding, CEO of Footnote.com. “Previously you were required to travel to Washington, D.C. to see these records. Now anyone can access the original records through the internet.”
Army Unit Service Awards include documents relating to Presidential Unit Citations, Valorous Unit Awards and Meritorious Unit Commendations. These were usually awarded to units going above and beyond the call of duty, and in most cases, showing exceptional valor.
* Army Photos – feature various activities of the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War
* The Interactive Vietnam Veterans Memorial – featuring service records for each name on the wall
* Photos of the Marine Corps in Vietnam in color
* Photos of the Marine Corps in Vietnam in black and white
Footnote.com will continue to work with the National Archives to add more Vietnam War content online.
Source: Footnote.com
Posted in Archives and Special Collections, Arts and Humanities, Databases, Directories, and Guides, Digitization Projects, History | No Comments »
Thursday, February 4th, 2010
From the Announcement:
SAE International recently converted more than 20,000 technical papers written between 1906 and 1979 to downloadable, PDF documents. That means that SAE International’s entire library of 88,000 documents is now available electronically.
“While much of SAE International is rooted in the rich history that more than a century brings, the future is just as important – making this vast repository of technical papers available in electronic format means that professionals can search relevant information more easily and efficiently,” Michael Thompson, Manager of Electronic Publishing, SAE International, said.
SAE International technical papers are available in download PDF, hardcopy, and via fax at www.sae.org/technical/papers .
SAE International is a global association of more than 121,000 engineers and related technical experts in the aerospace, automotive and commercial-vehicle industries.
Posted in Databases, Directories, and Guides, Digitization Projects, Information Industry | No Comments »
Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010
The Ottawa Citizen digitized collection dates back to 1890 and contains more than 2.5 million articles.
From the Article:
Brian Silcoff is the librarian of the Ottawa Room at the Ottawa Public Library’s main branch, one of the city’s best repositories for local history.
From the Article:>
He knows better than most the burdensome labour that can go into searching newspaper microfilm.
Researchers often only have a vague notion of a date, like the mid-1950s, for something as simple as a death notice. So you look, and look, and look, mechanically loading one roll after another, always worried that, in a bleary-eyed state, you might skip right over the piece. Hours, even days, can be consumed.
“If you’re doing this manually, does ‘needle in a haystack’ mean anything to you? It’s an arduous process.”
Silcoff has not only been using the online Citizen archives every day for about three weeks, but he’s been training the regular Ottawa Room researchers — and other librarians — on how to use the new tool.
Access the Database (Using Google.ca)
The only caveat the author provides:
A word of caution. The digital archive has unexplained time gaps and the optical search results are patchy. Often obvious stories are completely missed. Still, it is a huge advance.
The article goes on to mention that other major Canwest daily newspapers are also being digitized by Google and should be completed later this year.
Source: Ottawa Citizen
Posted in Databases, Directories, and Guides, Digitization Projects, Genealogy, History, Resources | No Comments »
Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010
From the Article:
One of the world’s most trusted references was busy double-checking its facts on Ireland tonight after giving a grossly inaccurate account of the country’s civil war.
A concise version of Encyclopaedia Britannica which was first published seven years ago wrongly described the 1922 conflict over partition as a war between Catholics in the south and Protestants in the north.
Editors worked through the night to ensure the extraordinary mistake has not been repeated in online versions used by 4,000 schools in a special e-learning programme.
Ian Grant, Encyclopaedia Britannica managing director, said the offending article may have been wrongly compiled by an editor attempting to condense complex history.
“This is very rare,” he said.
[Snip]
He could not explain for definite how the error had been made.
But he suggested an inexperienced editor may have attempted to explain the civil war in a very small article and confused history with a current mistaken perception about sectarianism and the Troubles.
Source: IOL News
See Also: British encyclopedia sorry for Irish history goofs (via AP)
Posted in Databases, Directories, and Guides, History, Reference Tools | No Comments »
Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010
Back in October, 2009 (we believe it was during Internet Librarian), you might remember a ResourceShelf post where we first mentioned the relaunch (of a new, improved, and limited version) of Microsoft Academic Search. It was titled, “Here they Come Again? Microsoft Research Launches Academic Search Database (Beta),” and provide a quick overview of what the service offered along with a bunch of hyperlinks to illustrate a few points.
Now, it’s February 2010, and reference review legend, Péter Jacso, has written a review of Microsoft Academic Search for his Digital Reference Shelf monthly column.
Like all of Péter’s reviews they are nothing short of complete, loaded with examples. This review is now different.
Here is how it begins (let’s consider this the summary):
This second coming of a free academic database is much smaller than the earlier (very poor and withdrawn) version was, but it is far better in terms of both content and software, focusing on computer science and – to a limited extent on information science. It is a promising start by the Microsoft Research Asia group for extending it to many other disciplines.
Access the Entire Review
Source: Gale.com
Posted in Databases, Directories, and Guides, Information Industry, Reviews | No Comments »
Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010
The fascinating world of forgotten information
There’s a fascinating world of all but hidden information out there waiting to be tapped. A growing number of news organizations are beginning to mine and manipulate that information, which in many instances rests in government records files that while public are, for practical purposes, obscure. The conversion by government units to electronic record keeping has not, in many instances, made it easier for the average reporter, let alone the average citizen, to get access to that information. And even when agencies post records online, the data is frequently difficult to find.
Media Web sites that have found ways to cull or link to this data are helping regular readers get information they want and need, and bringing new readers to their Web sites It’s a fresh way to deliver “news” that holds enormous potential to increase site visits and time spent, and to build a new allegiance as a source of essential information about neighborhood and community.
Some months ago, ASNE’s Freedom of Information Committee began a survey of newspaper Web sites, exploring their use of public records data. The initial goal was to establish a baseline of available records and make that report available so news organizations could use the information to push for greater online transparency in their communities and states.
…
The survey found enormous variations among media Web sites. On some sites, we were unable to locate a single database feature utilizing a public record or any other database presence. But many are doing highly innovative and exciting work, putting up database pages that offer scores of information searches that could be enormously helpful, intellectually satisfying, and sometimes just plain fun.
The databases permit both critical and trivial pursuit of information, and a lot of simply useful searching in between.
+ Full Report (PDF; 6.6 MB)
Source: American Society of Newspaper Editors
Posted in Access to Information, Databases, Directories, and Guides, Government Documents and Political Information, Media, Reference Tools, Source File | No Comments »
Monday, February 1st, 2010
Mike Mintz writes:
The partner at a law firm gets an email about a pending litigation involving a major corporate client in a case about defective tires. He has a few choices at this point: (1) drop everything and start looking into the case, (2) delegate the task to an associate, or (3) click “Background” in Lexis for Microsoft Office. Choosing option “3? will highlight terms in the email that relate to the case and opens up a side panel with research results including documents from the Lexis system, firm articles, and web results, all in context.
Without ever leaving Outlook a lawyer can have hours of research presented to them with the click of a button. If the lawyer wants to suggest a term that wasn’t bubbled up by the tool, they can do that too and get even more results, which can then be filtered in context for what needs to happen next. The result is that the partner can hand over a focused stack of results to an associate. The associate is saved the tasks of figuring out where to start, researching, and culling results allowing them to do some real analytical work on what has been presented before handing it back to the partner for sign off.
Source: Martindale.com Blog
See Also: Official News Release
Lexis for Microsoft Office will launch for Microsoft Office 2007 in spring 2010, and will be available with Microsoft Office 2010. To access and use these capabilities, users will require a current LexisNexis subscription.
Posted in Databases, Directories, and Guides, Information Industry, Legal | No Comments »
Monday, February 1st, 2010
From the Announcement:
WestlawNext offers a clean, modern interface and powerful new search functionality that makes legal professionals significantly more efficient and gives them the confidence that they’ve explored every relevant document. The cornerstone of this significant advancement in legal research is WestSearch, a proprietary search engine that automates the best practices of expert legal researchers, delivering more inclusive, better ranked results. WestlawNext also includes powerful new tools to help legal professionals analyze and organize legal information more efficiently than ever before.
[Snip]
After watching hundreds of legal professionals perform research and thousands of hours of Westlaw log analysis, it was clear to the project team that researchers typically start by finding relevant documents, then turn to powerful finding aids that link documents together, such as the West Key Number System, KeyCite and Westlaw’s vast collection of authoritative treatises and practice guides, to complete their research. Observing this iterative process, the team wondered if these steps could be replicated by sophisticated search algorithms: could a new search engine find relevant documents and then automate the process of applying Key Numbers, KeyCite, and secondary sources to find additional critical documents, then rank them with the most important documents at the top of the result list?
[Snip]
WestlawNext is available for U.S. practitioners now; Warwick said the ground-breaking capabilities of WestlawNext will be progressively added to Westlaw platforms across the globe.
Access the Complete Announcement
Source: Thomson Reuters
Posted in Databases, Directories, and Guides, Information Industry, Legal | No Comments »
Sunday, January 31st, 2010
A little over a year ago, OCLC and the University of Michigan formed a partnership the would “ensure continued public access to open-archive collections through the OAIster database, and will expand the visibility of these collections to millions of information seekers through OCLC services”
Then transition was completed by the end of October, 2009 and OAIster records could be searched only using the primary WorldCat interface.
OCLC said that a OAIster only interface would be available sometime in January, 2010.
Now the news.
As of today, an OAIster only interface to more than 23 million bibliographic records is online and ready to use. You’ll find the OAIster Only interface at: http://oaister.worldcat.org/. An advanced interface is also available. You’ll also see many of the options WorldCat offers to narrow and focus a search. In essence, this is a version of WorldCat that only searches a single database of content.
Both the documentation notes and from what we’ve seen it after trying a few searches, you can still find OAIster content using the primary WorldCat interface.
Another New Feature from WorldCat That We Posted About Yesterday:
Find a Library” Database from WorldCat Adds Tools To Assist Finding by “Type” of Library
Source: OCLC
?Hat Tip: Peter S., OATP
Posted in Databases, Directories, and Guides, Info Management and Retrieval, Information Industry, New Websites and Resources, Scholarly Publishing | No Comments »
Sunday, January 31st, 2010
From an Article:
The FDA has launched a new,searchable database that includes 971 recalls since January 1, 2006. (The database only goes back four years. If you have pet food from before then, I urge you to throw it away now for reasons completely unrelated to recalls!)
The number 971 sounds quite scary indeed. If you’re thinking of circumventing this problem by making your pet’s food, remember that recalls of human food are stunningly common as well…
Access the New Pet Food Recall Database
Access the Human Food Recall Database
Source: Dr. Eric Barchas, DVM (Dogster/Catster)
Other Human Food Recalls Can be Found Here
Also, More RecallsHere No Food But Many Other Products, Some Data Back to 1973.
Posted in Consumer Issues, Databases, Directories, and Guides, Government Documents and Political Information, Reference Tools, Resources | No Comments »
Saturday, January 30th, 2010
This feature has been needed for some time but more work has to be done if it’s for end users and info pros.
So, what’s the deal?
It’s rather simple. Facets appear on results pages of the “Find a Library Near You” database. That database can be accessed here: http://www.worldcat.org/libraries.
Once you enter a location, look for the library type facets in the left column. Click, and you can see all of the libraries in the area/Zip Code you’ve selected. In some cases, you can go directly from this page to that libraries, online catalog, ask a librarian service, etc.
Library Type Facets Include:
+ Academic Research Libraries (ARLs)
+ Academic libraries
+ Archives
+ Governmental libraries
+ Library Networks
+ Public libraries
+ Schools
+ Corporate or Special libraries
If this is a service intended for end users (maybe it’s not and that’s o.k.) then more work needs to be done defining what each library type means and more importantly, which ones a user has access or potential access to. For example, I may live two blocks from an academic library and it shows up in my search results but I can’t use it. Other questions an end user might ask:
+ What’s the Difference Between a Research Library and the university library two blocks away? Can I use them? Can I get books from them?
+ I pay my taxes can I use a government library like the Library of Congress?
+ What’s a special library?
Regardless of who this database is intended for, this new feature is a welcome addition to the WorldCat toolbelt. Hopefully, it will get better over time.
Here’s the WorldCat Blog entry.
Source: WorldCat Blog
Posted in Databases, Directories, and Guides, Libraries and Librarianship | No Comments »
Saturday, January 30th, 2010
From the Web Site:
The National Museum of American History collects artifacts of all kinds—from gowns to locomotives—to preserve for the American people an enduring record of their past.
The Museum has more than 3 million artifacts in its collection. Information and photos of selected objects are available in the online collections database. The database is a work-in-progress and new items will be added regularly. A separate database covers archival collections.
The database is keyword searchable or browsable by “collection subject.”
You’ll also find:
+ Media Fact Sheets on Selected Objects
+ Featured Object Stories Written by Curators
+ and much more
Source: National Museum of American History (Smithsonian Institution)
Posted in Arts and Humanities, Databases, Directories, and Guides, History, Museums & Online Exhibits | No Comments »
Thursday, January 28th, 2010
From the Web Site:
Every day President Obama meets with key members of his administration, Congress, foreign dignitaries, interest groups and regular citizens. Use our interactive database to track how Obama is spending his time, what issues are getting the most attention and who is influencing the debate.
Features Include
+ Keyword Search
+ View Events List by Issue, Type, Attendees, Location
+ Interactive Calendar
+ Colored Boxes Give You an Idea of How Much Time is Being Spent in that Area
+ Subscribe to Schedule RSS Feed
+ More
See Also (New): Obama’s Key Promises: Track the Status of Campaign Promises
Source: Washington Post
Posted in Calendars and Special Events, Databases, Directories, and Guides, Resources | No Comments »
