Welcome to ResourceShelf, where dedicated librarians and researchers share the results of their directed (and occasionally quirky) web searches for resources and information.
ResourceShelf is updated daily by an editorial team headed by Gary Price and Shirl Kennedy. Browse our postings, subscribe to our weekly newsletter, and capture RSS feeds to add ResourceShelf to your own reference collection.
Also check out DocuTicker, a compendium of 'grey literature' (reports published by government agencies, think tanks, research institutes and other public interest groups) available for free on the web.
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From the Article:
Librarians tend to be creative people, and what other profession that librarianship could be encouraging for writers? We are surrounded by books, technology, and people providing the opportunity to not only write for the profession but also to produce poetry, novels, short stories, and creative nonfiction for children and adults.
Source: American Libraries, June/July, 2009
It is the largest rare book collection in North America, housed in the largest library in the world, a “huge theme park of materials,” as he describes it. The division contains some 850,000 items—including Charles Dickens’ walking stick, the contents of Abraham Lincoln’s pockets on the night he was assassinated, and The Bay Psalm Book, published in 1640, the first book printed in what became the United States.
Source: Finebooks & Collections
Hat Tip: LC Blog
From the Web Site
Do you want a quick and easy way to see the location of a street address?
Without having to leave the webpage you are on?
Bookmaplet is a free resource. Simply drag the “bookmarklet” to your bookmarks toolbar in your browser. Bookmaplet utilizes Google Maps.
Source: Bookmaplet.com
The American Library Association’s (ALA) Public Information Office (PIO) continues to obtain coverage about the surge in library usage during tough economic times.
More than 900 placements on this topic have appeared on TV, radio, Web sites and in print. More than 800 million people have seen, heard or read stories about the surge since fall of 2008, when PIO began its media outreach efforts.
Source: ALA
Here at ResourceShelf we’re big fans and users of Zotero. If you’ve never used this great tool we suggest taking a look. It’s free to download and use with your Firefox browser.
With Zotero, you can build up a collection of digital documents, cataloging and sorting it as you go. You can gloss the material so harvested, attaching your notes as you go. Zotero is particularly useful for gathering bibliographical data, and allows you to export it in a wide range of standard scholarly citation formats.
Source: Inside HigherEd
From a Summary:
As far back as the mid-1600s, philanthropy was in play in Western society. Nancy K. Herther examines the growth of foundations and granting organizations and looks at the problems institutes of higher learning, powerhouses of research production within the U.S., are encountering using the evolving funding process.
Source: Searcher
A Chesapeake Project Legal Information Archive report illustrates the severity of link rot: the tendency of web hyperlinks to become invalid over time.
The report notes that nearly 14 percent of 4,300 online publications archived between 2007 and 2009 have already disappeared from their original locations on the web. Due to the project’s efforts, however, these publications remain available.
Access the Full Report (49 pages; PDF)
Link rot is addressed on page six.
Source: National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program / LC
Twitter’s Biz Stone posts about a few changes to Twitter “Follow” and “Following” pages. These changes will be seen by those who use the actual Twitter web site to review and read tweets.
When you click on the Following and Followers links from your Twitter home page, you’ll notice that we’ve upgraded the design of these pages and added features. Instead of a basic list, there are now actions you can perform that provide a better overall experience. For example, you can turn on SMS, unfollow, mention, block, direct message, and more. Tip: You can also view the accounts that someone else is following and follow them yourself.
Source: Twitter Blog
See Also: Average Twitter user has 126 followers, and only 20% of users go via website (via The Guardian)
Hat Tip: Danny S.
Word from Michael Hart, the Founder of Project Gutenberg, that once again this year the World e-Book Fair will take place from July 4th-August 4th. This is the 4th year of the annual book fair. It starts on July 4th to celebrate the 38th anniversary of Project Gutenberg which began on July 4th, 1971.
Once the event begins you’ll find FREE access to over 2.5 million full text eBooks that you can download to your computer. Some titles can also be downloaded and read on certain types mobile phones.
Book Sources include:
The most influential journals: Impact Factor and Eigenfactor
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
The Office of Management and Budget launched a Web site today that uses colorful pie charts, bar charts and raw data to share information with the public about how federal agencies are spending money on information technology, White House officials announced.
[Snip]
The dashboard’s homepage displays the federal government’s entire IT portfolio organized by agency in a bar chart. Users can click on the individual agencies on the chart to get more detailed financial and performance information.Web links are associated with elements on the new Web site so the public can embed charts and other information onto their own Web sites, according to OMB. Agencies will update cost, schedule and performance figures monthly on the dashboard, according to OMB.
Direct to Federal IT Dashboard
Source: FCW
+ Google Book Search Now With Cloud Tag (via Search Engine Land)
+ Serials Solutions 360 Core Enhancements Offer Increased Functionality and Better User Experience
+ CQ Press Releases Washington Information Directory, 2009 – 2010
+ Now Live on the SAGE Reference Online Platform: SAGE Reference Online Handbook Collection
+ Scopus works with European Science Foundation to expand Arts & Humanities coverage
Big corporations are scratching their heads trying to figure out how to harness the benefits of increased employee participation while mitigating the risks. Clearly there is no one-size-fits-all: If you are in financial services you have unique concerns for privacy, if you are part of the YMCA, you must be aware that having counselors “friend” teenagers is not appropriate, etc.
That said, here is a set of guidelines for corporations considering how to integrate social media in the workplace.
If you are an executive, keep in mind two points as you gear up your social media strategy: First, social technologies including blogs, social networks and Twitter are communication tools. That means a company’s social media approach must integrate with its existing communications channels and goals. Second, if you think these guidelines don’t apply to you, you are probably already on the endangered species list.
Source: Forbes (O’Reilly Insights)
From a Summary:
The 2009 edition includes 60 articles and other submissions provided by more than 50 contributors from librarians in government agencies, courts, and the military, as well as from professional association leaders, LexisNexis Consultants, and more.
The document was compiled by Marie Kaddell from LN.
Direct to Full Text (181 pages; PDF)
Source: LexisNexis
Mozilla Firefox 3.5 has been released. Available for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux in more than 70 different languages, Firefox 3.5 is the most recent major Mozilla browser release since the launch of Firefox 3 in June 2008.
The Firefox Features page at mozilla.com lists the new and improved features in Firefox 3.5
Source: mozillaZine
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Also check out DocuTicker, a compendium of 'grey literature' (reports published by government agencies, think tanks, research institutes and other public interest groups) available for free on the web.