The latest issue of the Project Gutenberg Monthly Newsletter (dated 1/21/2010) is now available.

Here Are Some 2009 Year-End Totals for the PG:

25866 English en
1531 French fr
625 German de
517 Finnish fi
455 Dutch nl
405 Chinese zh
384 Portuguese pt
270 Spanish es
225 Italian it
etc.

30,761 Up 3,145 From 27,616 PG General Automated Count
1,830 Up 104 From 1,726 Project Gutenberg of Australia
675 Up 121 From 554 Project Gutenberg of Europe
468 Up 243 From 225 Project Gutenberg of Canada [Estimated]
2,008 DN 423 From 2,431 PrePrints [Subtracted 307 Chinese eBooks]
====== ======
35,742 Up 3,190 From 32,552 Grand Total [Counting subtractions]

9.825 eBooks Per Day
68.773 eBooks Per Week
297.850 eBooks Per Month

The newsletter also notes a cool site at: www.bookdownloadlibrary.com
This site offers a tag cloud allowing you to search the Gutenberg database. It’s updated from the complete Gutenberg catalog weekly.

Source: Project Gutenberg Monthly Newsletter

From the Web Site:

The Forbes Fab 40 values the most powerful names in sports. The package consists of several lists (in slideshow form).

Tiger Woods, Nike and Manchester United and the Super Bowl are the most valuable names in their respective categories.

+ World’s Most Valuable Sports Brands

+ World’s Most Valuable Sports Brands: Businesses

+ World’s Most Valuable Sports Brands: Events

+ World’s Most Valuable Sports Brands: Athletes

+ World’s Most Valuable Sports Brands: Teams

Source: Forbes

A new web site for maps and mapping from the New York Public Library.

From the Announcement (the Complete News Release Includes Several Screenshots):

Drawing on the Past: Enlivening the Study of Historical Geography at maps.nypl.org
by Matt Knutzen, Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, Map Division

This new website is a parallel snapshot of all maps currently available on the Digital Gallery as well as a powerful set of tools designed to significantly enhance the way we access and use maps and the cartographic information they contain.

The first such enhancement is in how historic maps are viewed. The user interface of maps.nypl.org allows zooming and panning in a way that has come to be expected by users of web maps (Google Maps, Bing Maps etc…)

The next is georectification, which we are calling here “warping”, a familiar term to GIS professionals and few others. Map “warping” is the process where digital images of maps are stretched, placing the maps themselves into their geographic context, rendered either on the website or with tools such as Google Earth.

[Snip]

One of the most exciting aspects of this project is its participatory nature, meaning that anybody with a computer can create an account, log in, and begin warping and tracing maps, whether for a school or personal project or otherwise. And when the project is complete, the contribution remains in place (à la Wikipedia and openstreetmap.org), adding one more piece to this new historical geographic data model.

[Snip]

For now, however, feel free to create an account, watch the how to video, and enjoy.

Source: NY Public Library

From the Google Chrome Blog:

New stable version of Chrome.

Includes extensions (over 1500 available) and bookmark sync.

Extensions are little programs, created by developers, which add useful functionality to the browser and to the websites you visit. Some provide you with alerts and notifications, others let you easily access your favorite web services from icons next to your address bar, and there are lots more.

The post includes a video and a link to the extension gallery.

In addition to extensions, another feature that’s moving from our beta to the stable channel on the Windows version of Google Chrome is bookmark sync. For those of you who use several computers — for example, a laptop at work and a desktop at home — you can now keep your Google Chrome bookmarks synchronized and up-to-date across computers, without needing to manually recreate your bookmarks every time you switch computers.

Finally, the blog post asks for Mac users to “hang tight” because they’re working to bring extensions, bookmark sync, and other features to the beta version for the Mac “soon.”

Source: Google Chrome Blog

Jennifer Valentino writes:

A third of adults online are now using the Web for “quick conversations,” posting updates on sites like Facebook and Twitter at least once a week.

The ranks of these networkers, dubbed “conversationalists” in a report released today by Forrester Research, have grown in the past couple of years. They’re mostly women, and they aren’t only young people — 70% of the adults in this category are 30 and older. (The report looked only at people 18 and over, so the youngest users aren’t included.)

Although Twitter might seem to be the most likely outlet for these conversationalists, Forrester’s surveys “indicate that there are actually even more people conversing this way through Facebook.

Source: Digits Blog (WSJ)

See Also: Social Technographics, a Way to Analyze your Market’s Social Technology Behavior (Chart)
Very interesting. The chart may be useful to some of you.

There is a growing amount of publicly available satellite imagery of Haiti available online. As expected, Google Maps and Google Earth are updating their collections. Links in this post from other day.

Today, two new images have become available via the European Space Agency.

1) Background
Link to image at bottom of page. You should also find a link to view the full size image. Credits also available.

2) Background
Link to image at bottom of page. You should also find a link to view the full size image. Credits also available.

Source: European Space Agency (via Alpha Galileo)

From the Article:

Three universities testing Amazon’s Kindle in the classroom have agreed to shelve the electronic book readers until they are fully functional for blind students, under a deal struck Wednesday with the Justice Department.

The legal settlements were made with Pace University in New York, Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, and Reed College in Portland, Ore.

Two organizations representing the blind had sued after universities announced a pilot program to use the Kindle in classrooms.

[Snip]

The agreement covers other similar electronic book readers, including those made by Sony and bookseller Barnes & Noble.

Source: AP (via LA Times)

See Also: Official Dept. of Justice News Release

See Also: Lawsuit Over Arizona State University’s Use of Kindle DX Settled (1/11/2010)

by Vimal Kumar and Thomas Abraham

From the Abstract:

Open source library management systems are free alternative to costly commercial library systems. It helps to automate library functions and give a tremendous savings on library automation expenses. User ’s participation in all stages of software project ensures the development of the features that the library really wants. Lack of awareness and knowledge in open source technology among library professionals restrict wide adoption of open source library management system. This article gives an insight into the use and maintenance of open source library management systems.

Access the Full Text Paper (4 pages; PDF)

Source: In UGC Sponsered National Conference on Open Source Software in Libraries, Cochnin University of Science and Technology, 24-25 November 2009. (Unpublished) [Conference Paper]

This morning, a Google Blog post announced that over the next few weeks users will be able to store their files to the Google “cloud” and then be able to access them/share them from any web connected computer.

Because Google Docs now supports files up to 250 MB in size, which is larger than the attachment limit on most email applications, you’ll be able to backup large graphics files, RAW photos, ZIP archives and much more to the cloud. More importantly, instead of carrying a USB drive, you can now use Google Docs as a more convenient option for accessing your files on different computers.

Here are some more fast facts via a Google Docs Blog Post:

1. You have 1GB of storage for files you don’t convert into a Google Docs file.
2. Need more storage? No problem You’ll pay $.25 per gigabyte.
3. You’ll be able to search all of the material you’ve saved to the cloud.
4. File size max=250MB

Lots of coverage of the announcement including: The New York Times; Venture Beat; and PC World.

Finally, some of you might want to take a look at a service named Dropbox.
They offer both fee and free plans. The free plan offers 2GB of storage. You’ll also find no limit on file size; sync files across computers; web access to your material; file sharing; auto backup of your hard drive, iPhone app, etc.

The long rumored G-Drive might be here.

On Friday we mentioned that the new National Archivist would be appearing on NPR on Sunday and listed a few ways to listen over-the-air or online. We also said that a recording of the segment would be available once it aired.

Well, here it is. The segment with host Liane Hansen runs 6:41.

Here’s the blurb from the NPR Web Site:

Some 10 billion things are housed in the National Archives, from the monumental to the miniscule, and David Ferriero is now in charge of them all. He’ll be sworn in Wednesday [*] as the new Archivist of the United States, the 10th person to hold the position, and the first librarian. Host Liane Hansen visits the National Archives in Washington, D.C., and tours the “treasures vault” with Ferriero.

* We were confused when we saw that David Ferriero would be sworn in on Wednesday since this NARA news release makes it quite clear that the ceremony took place last November. After a quick call to the National Archives we learned that Wednesdays swearing-in ceremony will be a ceremonial one. He officially became archivist of the U.S. in November.

Source: National Public Radio

From the Article:

Google took a step toward entering the energy business with the creation of a subsidiary called Google Energy and a request with a federal agency to buy and sell electricity on the wholesale market.

The search giant formed a Delaware-based company called Google Energy on December 16 of last year, according to Delaware state records. The Federal Register on Tuesday referenced Google Energy’s request to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), the agency with oversight over the power grid.

Rather than represent a shift beyond Google’s core search business, though, the moves are meant to give Google flexibility in pursuing its corporate goal of carbon neutrality, according to a Google representative.

Source: CNET

Statement on the Notification Letters relating to the PII Information from the Clinton Hard Drive

The National Archives authorized Experian to send more than 150,000 additional letters in December, notifying individuals of a possible breach of their personal information.

The notification letters are the second large batch to be sent in response to the discovery in March 2009 of a missing hard drive. The hard drive (a copy of another drive) contained personally identifiable information of thousands of people who interacted with the Clinton administration.

Previously, Experian mailed 26,449 letters on behalf of NARA. The new letters are the result of an ongoing effort to search the original drive for personally identifiable information.

Source: National Archives

Previously: National Archives Offers Reward of Up to $50,000 for Return of a Missing Clinton Administration Hard Drive

From an E-Mail:

State of the State Speeches 2010 — Early in the year, most state governors unveil their priorities in state of the state addresses. Check to see when your governor plans to give this speech.

Stateline.org also has archived State of the State speeches going back to 2000 and has put together a special page linking to daily news items about the governors’ speeches.

Source: Stateline.org

From All of Us To All of You, Happy New Year!

Thank You for Your Continuing Support of ResourceShelf and DocuTicker in 2009.

We Sincerely Appreciate It.

From Artdaily.com

Juilliard’s recently acquired, priceless new manuscripts – Beethoven’s “Kreutzer” Sonata and Mendelssohn’s “Elijah” – have been photographed in extremely high resolution and posted with 138 previously-posted acquisitions to the Juilliard Manuscript Collection Web site , where they may be viewed by anyone, just in time for Beethoven’s Birthday!! The clarity of these extremely-high resolution digitizations reveal the pen, pencil, and even crayon strokes (Mendelssohn’s edits after the first performance of Elijah are in red crayon.) of a composer’s original corrections, handwritten notes and instructions, in a collection acquired specifically because those corrections and notations reveal the composer’s mind.

The Juilliard Manuscript Collection now may be viewed by an unlimited number of performers, scholars, and music-lovers worldwide. Forty-two composers are represented in the online presentation of the Juilliard Manuscript Collection, ranging from Arensky to Zemlinsky; as old as Purcell, and as recent as Maxwell Davies, including multiple works by Beethoven, Brahms, Liszt, Mozart, Schubert, Schumann, Scriabin, Wagner, and many others. A printable list with brief descriptions is available on the Web site.

Access the Juilliard Manuscript Collection

Select Manuscripts by Composer. You Will Then See A Link to the Manuscript Image Along with Background Info About the Work. Zoom-in or out. The scans are amazing.

Complete List of Works in the Collection (with Brief Descriptions)

Source: Juilliard Library

From the Article:

A Canadian Press review looks at some of the e-book services public libraries provide at libraries in Toronto, Edmonton, and Vancouver.

“Unfortunately the message that people get when they buy those ebook readers is about where to buy ebooks, but a lot of them don’t realize there’s a lot of free ebooks available,” said Anne O’Shea, assistant manager for electronic resources with the Vancouver Public Library.

With very little fanfare, libraries across the country have been offering access to ebooks for years, well before the Amazon Kindle and Sony’s Readers became hot, trendy tech gadgets.

[Snip]

O’Shea said librarians are reluctant to buy content from Amazon that can only be viewed on Kindles. The various players in the ebook industry need to work together to solve the format issue because if they don’t, users will simply turn to the easiest solution, which may be online piracy, she said.

“What I’d really like to see from all of those vendors is for them to do their digital rights management in a way that isn’t such a barrier for patrons, because patrons know they can download some of this stuff for free online illegally and if you put too much of a barrier in place they’re not going to want to do it through the library.”

In case you missed them, here’s a look at a few ResourceShelf posts from the past several days.

+ Keyword Search TV Programs with Hulu Labs (Beta) Caption Search; New Visualization Tool Also Released

+ Cool! Very Cool! Scan a Book and Find Out Local Libraries that Have the Title Using WorldCat.org

+ Just Released: Service Trends in U.S. Public Libraries, 1997-2007

+ Statistics: Who Reads e-books in the U.S.?

+ JSTOR Archive (4.5 Million Records) Added to WorldCat.org Results

+ Chronicling America Newspaper Project Adds Nearly 300,000 Digitized Pages

In case you missed them, here’s a look at a few ResourceShelf posts from the past several days.

+ Peace Corps Launches Digital Library

+ New Academic Library Stats (U.S.) Published by National Center for Education Statistics

+ Digitization and Preservation: New Online from Harvard University: Islamic Heritage Project

+ President Approves $470 Million Budget for National Archives (U.S.); 2.31% Increase Over Last Year

+ The ipl2 Beta is Now Online, It’s the New Directory Resulting from Merger of the IPL and LII

From the Article:

The Naperville Public Library Board on Wednesday decided to offer an “Internet Only” card to the public.

The card would allow members of the general public to use computers in the computer labs at the three Library buildings. Prior to this decision, only Naperville Public Library card holders could have extended use of these machines.

The Internet Only card will cost $50 for 12 months of service. This fee allows purchasers to use all the library’s computer resources — broadband speed on the actual computers as well as access to the subscription databases — for up to three hours a day.

Source: Naperville (IL) Sun