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Current Cites, February 2001 12(2)
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Current Cites
Volume 12, no. 2, February 2001
Edited by Roy Tennant
ISSN: 1060-2356
http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/CurrentCites/2001/cc01.12.2.html
Contributors: Terry Huwe, Michael Levy, Jim Ronningen, Roy Tennant
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Bicentennial Conference on Bibliographic Control for the New Millennium:
Confronting the Challenges of Networked Resoures and the Web Washington,
DC: The Library of Congress (November 15-17, 2000)
(http://lcweb.loc.gov/catdir/ bibcontrol/conference.html). - Anyone
interested in library bibliographic control may find this set of
discussion papers, presentations, and responses interesting. Participants
included such cataloging and metadata luminaries as Michael Gorman,
Clifford Lynch, Priscilla Caplan, William Moen, Martin Dillon, and
Caroline Arms, among others. The complete proceedings are online,
including the reactions of assigned commentators to certain presentations.
Recommendations from "topical discussion groups" are also available, but
are somewhat disappointing in depth and scope -- no doubt because of the
limited time allowed to address the topics. Although overall I found it to
be more complacent ("search engines/dot coms need us" was one plaint -- no
matter that they couldn't care less) than is warranted in these times of
bibliographic upheaval, there are useful papers, presentations, and
comments here. - RT
Grnlund, ke, guest ed. "Democracy in an IT-Framed Society." Lance J.
Hoffman and Lorrie Cranor, guest eds. "Internet Voting for Public
Officials." Communications of the ACM 44(1) (January 2001). - First
things first: you won't find a remedy for the Florida electoral mess in
either of these two special sections of the January CACM, but the second
of them presents well-defended pro and con arguments about online voting,
which has received increasing attention as a way of avoiding chad-chasing,
selective counting and the whole sorry story. The pro side acknowledges
implementation problems yet to be solved but promises increased
participation and accountability; the con side raises serious questions
about security and equity. The 'IT-Framed Society' section targets policy
makers who may consider the broadest applications of information
technology to social planning, governance and political organization.
There are nine articles on such topics as the European Union's newness
being a logical incubator for new public information systems, methods for
rating IT's effects on democratic participation, and roles computer
professionals can play (using the Seattle Community Network [www.scn.org]
as an example). Readers who are unfamiliar with the CACM and assume that
the content is always technical in nature would have their heads turned by
issues like this one. - JR
Guernsey, Lisa. "Mining the 'Deep Web' With Sharper Shovels?" The New York
Times (January 25, 2001): Section D; Page 1; Column 2. - The 'deep' or
'invisible' web is becoming more of on an issue as the web grows and the
ability of search engines to index pages fails to keep pace. Information
is often hidden deep within pages not indexed or missed because it is a
multimedia or Adobe Acrobat (PDF) file or contained within a database.
According to some analysts as little as a fraction of 1% of the web can be
accessed by search engines. In response, there is a new type of speciality
or "boutique" search engine that narrows the information universe to more
manageable proportions. An example, is MySimon that allows user to
comparison shop across sites, moreover.com that culls headlines from
nearly 2000 news sites and Google's "Uncle Sam" area that limits searching
to governmental information. These specialized search tools use
sophisticated bots to filter and hone in on information. Interestingly, it
is probably users who may hinder their own ability to become more
efficient searchers as most people, as librarians know, seem to prefer to
do a broad search in the biggest database possible. - ML
Kenney, Anne R. and Oya Y. Rieger, editors. "The National Library of
Australia's Digital Preservation Agenda, an Interview with Colin Webb" RLG
DigiNews 5(1) (February 15, 2001) (http://www.rlg.org/preserv/diginews/
diginews5-1.html#feature1). - As the Director of Preservation of the
National Library of Australia, there are few persons as well-placed and as
experienced as Colin Webb when it comes to dealing with digital
preservation issues on a grand scale. Australia has established itself at
the forefront of a number of digital library initiatives, and digital
preservation is clearly one. This interview touches on a number of reasons
why, but admittedly at the 30,000 foot level. Anyone intrigued with the
NLA digital preservation efforts discussed in this interview would do well
to investigate the provided URLs. - RT
Lake, David. ""Engines Idling Roughly" The Standard (February 9, 2001)
(http://www.thestandard.com/research/metrics/display/0,2799,22065,00.html).
- A brief article, with good graphs and charts, that summarizes some
recent studies of search engine use. Only 7% of web pages are accessed via
a search engine but 60% of web surfers using a search engine for at least
one hour a week. Despite a majority of users indicating they are
frustrated with search engines within 15 minutes, 60% still rate their own
searches as "often" successful. Of course, if Google indexes only 42% of
all searchable pages -- and they are ranked number one in this category -
who knows what users are missing. - ML
Mickey, Bill. "Open Source and Libraries: An Interview with Dan Chudnov"
Online 25(1) (January 2001). - Current Cites readers and others will
remember Dan Chudnov from his Docster article in Library Journal, in which
he had the audacity to suggest a Napster-like model for interlibrary loan.
His piece on open source software in Library Journal did not escape our
notice either. In fact, the library community had better keep a close
watch on this guy, since he is out to change not just what we do, but how
we do it. How? By getting together and writing the software we need in an
open, cooperative environment. By using our imaginations instead of our
checkbooks. And by not accepting "we've never done it that way" as an
adequate excuse. Yes, I would keep my eye on him if I were you. And this
interview is as good a place to start as any, although at the time this
piece was written he was still at Yale (he has since quit to start his own
venture). In this interview Chudnov makes a case for open source software
in libraries, in a way that makes it clear he is excited by this. We
should be too. - RT
Ockerbloom, John Mark. "Archiving and Preserving PDF Files" RLG DigiNews
5(1) (February 15, 2001)
(http://www.rlg.org/preserv/diginews/diginews5-1.html# feature2). - The
Adobe Acrobat (Portable Document Format, PDF) format is not generally
considered to be the format of choice for long-term preservation of
digital documents. But, as Ockerbloom points out, neither should it be
considered to be a format completely unsuitable for preservation. Although
Adobe Systems, Inc. controls the format, the specification is freely
published and widely implemented. Third-party software (including open
source applications) are available that can manipulate the format in
various ways, including migrating it to a different format. This article
is the best explication I've seen of the format, the ways in which
document in this format can be "rescued" or migrated into another format,
and pitfalls and opportunities along the way. He includes specific steps
institutions can take to reduce their exposure to document disaster down
the road. As Ockerbloom says, "in summary, it is reasonable, given careful
techniques..., for institutions to collect documents in PDF format with
the expectation that they can be archived and preserved indefinitely, even
as computer technology and standards advance." Is this a defensible
statement? Time will certainly tell, but meanwhile, I'm much more
convinced of it than I was before reading this piece. - RT
Odlyzko, Andrew. "Content is Not King" First Monday 6(2) (February 5,
2001) (http://www.firstmonday.org/issues/issue6_2/odlyzko/). - The author
studies recent advances in "connectivity" and evaluates whether Bill Gates
was right when he famously stated that "content is king". He builds a
strong case around the argument that the Internet is really "about
connectivity", and that vast investments in content are misguided. The
central point he makes is that newer technologies (such as Wireless
Application Protocol and Short Message System) emphasize voice calls. This
article is most interesting as an exercise in the technology-based
deconstruction of Internet myth making, with the content myth as its
subject. Essentially, the hazards of coining epithets at net-speed are
many, because the development stream may shift pathways in a matter of
months. - TH
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Current Cites 12(2) (February 2001) ISSN: 1060-2356
Copyright 2001 by the Regents of the University of California All
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