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Current Cites, October 2002
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (CITES Moderator)
Wed Oct 30 10:07:23 2002
Date: Tue, 29 Oct 2002 19:17:32 -0800
From: CITES Moderator <citeschk@LIBRARY.BERKELEY.EDU>
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Current Cites
Volume 13, no. 10, October 2002
Edited by [2]Roy Tennant
The Library, University of California, Berkeley, 94720
ISSN: 1060-2356 -
http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/CurrentCites/2002/cc02.13.10.html
Contributors: [3]Charles W. Bailey, Jr., [4]Margaret Gross, [5]Terry
Huwe, [6]Shirl Kennedy, [7]Leo Robert Klein, Jim Ronningen, [8]Roy
Tennant
"[9]Managing Your Web Files: Containing Information Sprawl" (17
October 2002) (http://users.erols.com/technique/notes.html). - If
you have responsibility for a website or part of one, you know how
quickly things can get out of control. Well, here's something worth
at least a quick browse. These are notes from a Washington, D.C.
"Web women" luncheon on managing website content. Some of what
you'll find here is common sense: "A well-designed, user-friendly
site starts with good structure." But you are also challenged to
consider the issue of "Site Structure versus File Structure versus
Document Structure," and the role of such things as templates,
style sheets, archives, document length/size, policies and audience
targets. There are links to resources on usability, broken link
checkers and free PDF tools. - [10]SK
Barrett, Robertson. "[11]Spyware Everywhere" [12]Consumer
WebWatch (21 October 2002)
(http://www.consumerwebwatch.org/news/articles/spyware.htm). -
"Adware" is a category of freeware/shareware that allows people to
use it gratis in exchange for viewing advertising incorporated into
the interface. Fine, many folks say. I don't mind looking at ads.
Alas, that may only be the tip of the proverbial iceberg. In
reality, many of these programs "phone home" to some marketing
entity that tracks your online activities. Ostensibly, this is just
so you can receive ads that are "target to your interest." But the
worst part of this is that lots of people just don't realize what
they are getting into. And a secondary concern is that this type of
software is up and running whenever you are online, leaving a
potential "back door" for hackers. P2P file-sharing applications
such as KaZAa are highlighted in the article. There are links to
spyware detection and removal tools, and a sidebar article on "the
five major categories of spyware" and how they work. [13]Consumer
WebWatch, whose mission is "to investigate; inform; and improve the
credibility of information published on the World Wide Web," is a
grant-funded project of the venerable [14]Consumer Reports
organization. You can sign up for online for a free monthly
newsletter. - [15]CB
Bowrey, Kathy, and Matthew Rimmer. "[16]Rip, Mix, Burn: The
Politics of Peer To Peer and Copyright Law" [17]First Monday
7(8) (05 August 2002)
(http://www.firstmonday.dk/issues/issue7_8/bowrey/). - When writers
engage in analysis of the musically driven revolution in peer to
peer file sharing, Napster, and its successors, it's tempting to
focus on the legal and economic consequences. Indeed, legal minds
are trained to assess risk and evaluate how stakeholders fare when
new social movements conflict with established markets and legal
protections. The authors turn that approach on its head, tackling
the creative urges that lurk behind the legal moves that drove a
new market paradigm underground. The authors see the legal defense
of music publishers in terms of its emphasis on first amendment
rights and ownership. They assess the file sharing communities in
light of the new social, legal and economic relations these
communities produce. "The law," they argue, "has mismanaged
cultural diversity." It would be better for all if the legal
establishment avoids the temptation to "rip, mix and burn the legal
jurisprudence," and focuses on the broader forces that motivate
digital music users. - [18]TH
Clark, Kendall Grant. "[19]TAG Rejects HLink" [20]XML.com (02
October 2002) (http://www.xml.com/pub/a/2002/10/02/deviant.html). -
Following the release of the XHTML 2.0 draft reported in last
month's Current Cites, a dispute has erupted between two different
W3C groups over the future nature of links. Will it be XLink or
HLink? If this is the kind of nitty-gritty that you can sink your
teeth into, this article's for you. For yet more information, see
the www-tag discussion list at
[21]http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/www-tag/. - [22]LRK
Duguid, Paul. "[23]The Social life of Legal Information: First
Impressions" [24]First Monday 7(9) (2 September 2002)
(http://www.firstmonday.dk/issues/issue7_9/duguid/). - Duguid turns
his attention to the legal world to further explore the meaning of
community, information, libraries and "practice". This sprawling
article touches all the bases and invokes both the young turks and
gray eminences on all sides of the digital revolution. At the
center of his analysis lies an interesting paradox: while law
schools remain virtually unchanged in how they deliver education to
law students, the law library has changed dramatically. The
curriculum at law school remains firmly grounded in the Socratic
Method and "community building": learning to solve problems with a
cohort of peers, and taking that "practice" into the profession of
law. Duguid points out that historically, law libraries
participated in community building in a central way, and the
digital revolution has relieved them of this duty to a degree. Yet
he cautions that the reduction of the paradigm of the library to a
"warehouse" or supply site, that offers whatever vendors don't care
to digitize, is an oversimplification. The highlight in this
article is the cogent analysis of the full value-chain of knowledge
creation in the legal world, and what it has to say to society at
large. It's easy to sense the book that is sure to follow this
article, and that too promises to be a good read. - [25]TH
Eden, Brad. "Metadata and Its Application" [26]Library Technology
Reports (September-October 2002) - Few topics are as important to
libraries today as metadata, and how it can be applied to provide
more robust services. Therefore, this report should be required
reading for all catalogers, reference librarians, and
administrators. Eden does an amazing job of both surveying the
broad spectrum of the field and distilling the essential
information down to about 80 pages -- and most of that can be
skimmed or referred to as needed. Eden starts with definitions and
descriptions of the term, why it is important, and the various
types of metadata. Metadata principles are followed by a section on
resources for learning more, which is chock-full of free web-based
articles and sites. Another section describes a few dozen important
metadata standards and emerging standards in summary form. The
ending sections go into linking and various ways in which metadata
is being used. A glossary, bibliography, and directory of metadata
management products round out the report. All in all, this is an
immediate classic that belongs in the hands of all librarians who
take their jobs seriously. - [27]RT
Hurst, Mark. "[28]Interview: Marissa Mayer, Product Manager,
Google" [29]goodexperience.com (15 October 2002)
(http://www.goodexperience.com/columns/02/1015google.html). - Is
Google the most successful database in history? It's hard to talk
in such terms without being accused of hyperbole but surely some of
the search engine's indisputable success is due to its 'less is
more' approach to interface design. Marissa Mayer is an interface
designer at Google and she explains to Mark Hurst (of
[30]creativegood.com) the principles behind Google's interface
development. "I like to say," she tells Hurst at one point, "that
Google should be 'what you want, when you want it.' As opposed to
'everything you could ever want, even when you don't.'" - [31]LRK
Jantz, Ronald, and Rudolph Bell. "English Advice Manuals Online
at Rutgers: A Partnership in a New Course Using Digital Books and
Web Technology" [32]Library Hi Tech 20(3) p. 318-324 (2002) -
Account of a wonderful research course at Rutgers where undergrads
have to pluck out various texts from UMI's Early English Books
Online. Topics for research include such "popular-advice" themes as
"midwifery, child-rearing, suicide, do-it-yourself exorcism", etc.
The authors express disappointment with various methods at
disseminating the texts (all images files and hence rather large)
using various 'e-book' solutions. It seems that simply writing the
things to a CD and handing those out is probably the best solution.
As things stood, the students preferred print-outs. Whatever the
quirks, however, it's hard not being jealous at what these students
have available. - [33]LRK
Lee, Jennifer S. "[34]A Palmtop for the Prosecution" [35]The New
York Times (24 October 2002)
(http://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/24/technology/circuits/24palm.html?
8cir). - For awhile, we were witness to a rash of stories about
"the authorities" bursting in and seizing computers to examine hard
drives for digital forensic evidence. So I guess it shouldn't be
too surprising that handhelds/PDAs are the newest "smoking guns" on
the high tech law enforcement frontier. After all, "it's not just
law-abiding citizens who appreciate their usefulness in managing
appointments, contacts and schedules. Criminals, too, are using
them to coordinate their activities." Thus, the new breed of
forensic expert: "the Palm reader." What sorts of evil-doers use
handhelds? Drug dealers, pimps, money launderers, smugglers,
stalkers and even spies. In many ways, the data on a handheld is
even more of "an alter ego" than what investigators find on a
computer hard drive. Says one forensic consultant, who also teaches
at the University of Texas, "It represents their aspirations, who
their contacts are, where they spend their time, their tasks and
objectives, and how they completed those." Handheld devices are
also beginning to figure prominently in civil cases, such as
intellectual property disputes. Investigators have found that
people are "remarkably truthful" on their PDAs. Additionally, it's
not unusual for someone to store all their passwords for other
devices and systems on his or her handheld. - [36]SK
Meyer, Eric A. "[37]An Interview With Douglas Bowman of Wired
News" [38]Netscape DevEdge (11 October 2002)
(http://devedge.netscape.com/viewsource/2002/wired-interview/). -
Somewhat geeky this one. Douglas Bowman led the re-design effort at
[39]Wired.com. The re-design has gotten a lot of attention due to
its use of standards' based mark-up including XHTML and CSS. Bowman
goes into the benefits of doing this plus enlarges on a number of
considerations that the Wired team had to make. Although in
interview format (with noted CSS maven Eric A. Meyer as
interviewer), the article rates almost as a case study in the use
of front-end mark-up technologies. - [40]LRK
Relyea, Harold C., ed.. "Issues in Homeland Security and
Information " [41]Government Information Quarterly 19(3) (July
2002) - The description of war against terrorism as lengthy,
shadowy and sometimes without clear victories can also characterize
the current conflicts around government information, where rights
of public access are balanced against national security, resulting
in many grey areas. Government Information Quarterly presents five
articles which analyze the changes in government information policy
and technology since 9/11. The expected watchdogging of challenges
to freedom and privacy is there in articles like Robert Gellman's
"Perspectives on Privacy and Terrorism: All Is Not Lost--Yet."
Also, for systems planners there is J.W. Seifert's piece, "The
Effects of September 11, 2001, Terrorist Attacks on Public and
Private Information Infrastructures: a Preliminary Assessment of
Lessons Learned," which emphasizes the importance of system
redundancies, decentralization and recovery plans. Other articles
give historical perspective on information and national security,
track the deletion of government Web pages, and assess what
"homeland security" actions may mean for policy. Highly recommended
as a single comprehensive source for informed opinions on these
issues. - JR
Soo, Christine, Timothy Devinney, and David Midgley, et. al.
"Knowledge Management: Philosophy, Processes, and Pitfalls"
[42]California Management Review 44(4) p. 129-150 (Summer 2002) -
Executives are now confronted with an 'unmanageable' imperative -
the management of a completely invisible asset. So the authors
introduce Knowledge Management in this comprehensive academic
article funded by grants from several Australian research agencies.
Further confusion arises from IT companies promoting so call
Knowledge Management systems. In reality these are only data or
document management software. These solutions may aid in harnessing
information, but per se don't create knowledge. "Knowledge or
know-how, has to do with the process of learning, understanding,
and applying information." The authors contend that a firm's
knowledge management systems comprises four subsystems: 1. database
subsystem, 2. organizational language subsystem, 3. networking
subsystem, and 4. transfer subsystem. Further to the preceding four
components, the authors offer a section called Knowledge Traps:
Lessons from the Management of Knowledge. Eight 'lessons' or
caveats are included with subtitles such as "Formal databases must
be treated as strategic tools..,." "Informal networking is an
important source of knowledge...," etc. In conclusion the authors
state that knowledge management can be measured, and offer a case
study. Referred to by a pseudonym, the example given is that of a
medium-sized media design company. Extensive notes and references
round out this study. - [43]MG
Stewart, Thomas A. "How to Think With Your Gut" [44]Business 2.0
3(11) p. 98-104 (November 2002) - Although this piece is squarely
aimed at the core readership of this business monthly, that doesn't
mean that the rest of us can't get something useful out of it. The
examples may all hail from the private sector, but who in the
public sector hasn't ever had a hunch about a new service or a
better way to get the job done? For those of you who have, this
piece will reinforce your innate sense that your intuition has
something to say and you'd better listen. For those of you who
haven't, or haven't listened, this piece may be enough to make you
think twice. The article refers to a growing body of research that
appears to show intuition (instinct, hunch, etc.) is in fact
inseparable from effective decision making. In fact, the article
asserts, "in complex or chaotic situations...intuition usually
beats rational analysis." So how does this tie in with those of us
in the information business? I really don't think I need to tell
you, but if you insist, it's because our professional environment
is changing faster than we could possible cope should rational
analysis be our only tool. Does that mean we forget about cool,
calm consideration and simply follow our instincts? No, not
entirely, but as this article suggests, you should be paying as
much attention to what you feel is right as you do to what you know
to be true. P.S. - The journal has embargoed the web version until
after we are due to publish this issue of Current Cites, so
although we are unable to provide you with a URL, check out the web
site after November 5, 2002 and it will most likely be available. -
[45]RT
Tenopir, Carol, and Donald W. King. "[46]Reading Behaviour and
Electronic Journals" [47]Learned Publishing 15 (October 2002)
(http://fidelio.catchword.com/vl=16665795/cl=37/nw=1/fm=docpdf/rpsv
/catchword/alpsp/09531513/v15n4/s3/p259). - This article presents
the findings of several surveys about scholars' journal reading
habits that were conducted in 2000 and 2001. One interesting
finding is that natural and social science faculty at the
University of Tennessee at Knoxville had a limited awareness of
e-print services. For example, 8 of 99 subjects (8%) knew of
arXiv.org, which is probably the highest profile e-print service in
existence. By contrast, 29% of subjects at the Oak Ridge National
Laboratory knew of the service. While e-print services may loom
large in the minds of reformers, it appears that there is a
significant amount of work to do in educating scholars about the
existence and potentials of such services. Another interesting
finding is that, of UT subjects, only 8% read articles from
e-journals that the library subscribed to, 4% from free e-journals,
3% from e-journals that subjects subscribed to, and 2% from
authors' Web pages. On the other hand, 41% read articles from
personal print subscriptions and 24% from library print
subscriptions. Print isn't dead yet. Check out the article for many
more intriguing results. - [48]CB
Tischelle, George. "[49]Communication Gap" [50]Information Week
(911) p. 81-84 (21 October 2002)
(http://www.informationweek.com/story/IWK20021018S0004). - This
article contains critical advice for those who are interested in
hiring and keeping young people as part of the staff. "Recruiters
trolling campuses should keep their next class of staffers
productive and creative, and surround them with e-mail, instant
messaging, broadband Internet access, wireless communications, and
a way to play music." In particular, the instant messaging (IM)
genie is out of the bottle, and if it's not already being used on
an enterprise-wide basis, your shiny new employees are going to
download consumer-oriented IM applications and use them on their
own. Withhold judgement, however, because communications tools like
this can turn your business "from a standard 9-a.m.-to-5-p.m. shop
to a 24-by-7 shop...." The article cites one company's experience
with a summer intern who, now back on campus, routinely uses IM "to
keep tabs on IT projects he worked on during his internship."
Another issue covered in this article: the upcoming generation of
employees is naturally tech-savvy, which means they will be more
inclined to try and solve computing problems on their own rather
than immediately picking up the phone and calling the helpdesk. The
obvious benefit here, of course, is that this frees helpdesk
staffers to spend more time on complicated projects. - [51]SK
Wall-Smith, Matthew. "[52]The Network Society: A Shift in
Cognitive Ecologies?" [53]First Monday 7(9) (2 September 2002)
(http://www.firstmonday.dk/issues/issue7_9/wallsmith/). - The
author is interested in the intersections of cultural and critical
theory with new media, and he has delivered a dense analysis of the
ways in which media answer to the grand claims of "newness" that
have been attached to the Internet in particular. He reviews
cultural theories of communication thoroughly, tracing how
philosophers study cognition in both oral and written traditions.
This sets the stage for raising the question of just how new the
Internet is as a medium, and whether it will become an add-on to
market-driven and consumer-driven economies. He concludes that
capitalist systems tend to be disorganized, and this has left "open
space" for creativity with media, particularly with respect to
creative use of "nonlinear" narratives. - [54]TH
_________________________________________________________________
Current Cites - ISSN: 1060-2356
Copyright (c) 2002 by the Regents of the University of California All
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References
Visible links
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55. mailto:listserv@library.berkeley.edu
