[16107] in Public-Access_Computer_Systems_Forum
[CurrentCites] Current Cites, September 2005
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Roy Tennant)
Thu Sep 29 20:37:21 2005
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Date: Thu, 29 Sep 2005 10:13:13 -0700
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From: Roy Tennant <roy.tennant@UCOP.EDU>
To: PACS-L@LISTSERV.UH.EDU
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Current Cites, September 2005
Edited by Roy Tennant
Contributors: Charles W. Bailey, Jr., Shirl Kennedy, Leo Robert =20
Klein, Jim Ronningen, Roy Tennant
"In Depth: Libraries" Chronicle of Higher Education (30 September =20
2005)(http://chronicle.com/indepth/libraries/). - This is a special =20
Chronicle supplement on libraries containing a package of stories, =20
most of which are available to subscribers only: Thoughtful Designs: =20
"As they renovate old libraries and plan new ones, colleges consider =20
the purpose of the buildings -- and how to make them =20
popular."Evolving Roles: "Today's reference librarians need IT and =20
pedagogical skills. Institutions are adapting in various ways, says =20
W. Lee Hisle." The Beauty of Browsing: "Fred D. White doesn't want =20
stacks closed and mechanized. He wants to hold books in his hand and =20
see where they take him." Should Librarians Get Tenure? Yes, It's =20
Crucial to Their Jobs: "College librarians are crucial partners in =20
teaching and research, and they should be eligible for tenure like =20
their faculty colleagues, says Catherine Murray-Rust." (This one is =20
available free to non-subscribers.) Should Librarians Get Tenure? No, =20=
It Can Hamper Their Roles: "Librarians should be involved in college =20
governance, but, writes Deborah A. Carver, they don't face the =20
academic-freedom issues that professors do, and don't need =20
tenure." (This one is available free to non-subscribers.) - SK
Band, Jonathan. "The Google Print Library Project: A Copyright =20
Analysis" E-Commerce Law & Policy 7(8)(2005)(http://=20
www.policybandwidth.com/doc/googleprint.pdf). - This analysis by a =20
noted copyright lawyer examines how the Google Print program works =20
and dissects its copyright implications. It concludes: "By limiting =20
the search results to a few sentences before and after the search =20
term, the program will not conflict with the normal exploitation of =20
works nor unreasonably prejudice the legitimate interests of =20
rightsholders. To the contrary, it often will often increase demand =20
for copyrighted works." (The article link is to a preprint.) - CB
Cole, Louise. "A Journey into E-Resource Administration Hell" =20
Serials Librarian 49(1/2)(2005): 141-154. - Hair-raising jaunt =20
through the "horrors" of managing e-resources, primarily subscription-=20=
based, that face an academic library in the 21st Century. The =20
author's tongue-in-cheek style makes palatable what otherwise must be =20=
a challenging situation. On display is a system so complicated that =20
vendors can't tell what they hold, whether you're subscribed to it =20
and, er, when it's expected to come back online. - LRK
Farkas, Meredith. "Survey of the Biblioblogosphere: Results" =20
Information Wants to Be Free (12 September 2005)(http://=20
meredith.wolfwater.com/wordpress/index.php/2005/09/12/survey-of-the-=20
biblioblogosphere-results/). - Who are the library bloggers? If you =20
think they are mainly under 30, the results of this survey may =20
surprise you. For example, 16.4% were 41 to 50, 8.5% were 51 to 60, =20
and 3% were over 60. OK, the research design may not pass JASIST =20
standards, but this is a fascinating glimpse into what is going on in =20=
the biblioblogosphere in terms of blogger demographics, attitudes, =20
behaviors, and motivations. - CB
Lavoie, Brian, Lynn Silipigni Connaway, and Lorcan Dempsey. =20
"Anatomy of Aggregate Collections: The Example of Google Print for =20
Libraries" D-Lib Magazine 11(9)(September 2005)(http://www.dlib.org/=20=
dlib/september05/lavoie/09lavoie.html). - Google's plan to digitize =20
parts of the collections of four large research libraries, and the =20
entire collection of one has certainly raised some important =20
questions. In this interesting piece, OCLC staff looks at five =20
aspects of the project based on what they know of the collections =20
from information in WorldCat: coverage, language, copyright, works, =20
and convergence. They found that the combined collections of the =20
'Google 5' libraries cover approximately one-third of the items in =20
the entire WorldCat database. Of that one-third, 61% of the items =20
were held by only only library of the Google 5; only 3% were held by =20
all five. There are other intriguing findings, not the least of which =20=
is that over 80% of the books to be digitized are still under =20
copyright. This piece is essential reading for anyone interested in =20
the Google Library project. - RT
Rosenthal, David S. H., Thomas Robertson, and Tom Lipkis, et. =20
al."Requirements for Digital Preservation Systems: A Bottom-Up =20
Approach" (September 2005)(http://www.arxiv.org/abs/cs.DL/=20
0509018). - This paper inspects threats to digital preservation =20
repositories from internal issues such as the failure of storage =20
media, hardware, software, operator error, natural disaster, external =20=
attack, economic failure, organizational failure, and others. The =20
authors then suggest strategies to address these issues, such as =20
replication, transparency, migration, diversity, audit, sloth (yes, =20
sloth), and others. The paper ends with some specific recommendations =20=
for repositories, many of them focused on open disclosure of internal =20=
policies and procedures. - RT
Seaman, Scott. "Another Great Dissolution? The Privatization of =20
Public Universities and the Academic Library" Journal of Academic =20
Librarianship 31(4)(July 2005): 305-309. - Grim tidings are =20
portrayed on the financial front as States gradually disengage from =20
supporting institutions of higher learning. The changing financial =20
environment, from public to private sources, begins then to change =20
the nature and priorities of the institutions themselves. Needless to =20=
say, libraries are left with the short end of the stick. - LRK
Smallwood, Robert. "DRM in ERM: Know Your Rights Providers" =20
EContent: Digital Content Strategies & Solutions 28(9)(September =20
2005): 34-41. (http://www.econtentmag.com/?ArticleID=3D13481). - =20
Digital rights management is a hot-button issue among information =20
providers, discussed in the same context as fair use, and the author =20
points out that it usually refers to "protections of digital =20
entertainment files in the business-to-consumer marketplace." Though =20
DRM and ERM, or enterprise rights management, aren't entirely =20
distinct from each other, ERM is the subject here so we're looking at =20=
the management and protection of confidential information both inside =20=
and outside an organization's firewall. IT managers, CIOs and others =20
with the responsibility for securing intellectual property will =20
benefit from Smallwood's overview of current security tools and the =20
companies which are developing them. He provides context, relating =20
the systems to platforms and commonly used office software, and =20
interesting sidelights such as the particular hoops to jump through =20
in China, where encryption may be illegal but business information =20
theft is on the rise. For those of us who have to be more concerned =20
with defending access to what the public has a right to, perhaps =20
"know your enemy" is a bit strong, but the article increases =20
awareness of what may need to be monitored for inappropriate use or =20
overuse. There are two sidebars, one describing recent developments =20
in standards for DRM/ERM software, and the other profiling the =20
holders of patents behind some of the products described in the main =20
body of the article. - JR
Sullivan, Danny. "End Of Size Wars? Google Says Most Comprehensive =20
But Drops Home Page Count" SearchEngineWatch (27 September 2005)=20
(http://searchenginewatch.com/searchday/article.php/3551586). - =20
Sullivan reports that Google has removed the "page count" figure from =20=
its home page, although it still claims to offer "the most =20
comprehensive collection of web documents available to searchers." =20
Since, as he points out, this move "divorces the notion of page =20
counting as a way to 'prove' comprehensiveness," it will help to =20
quell, somewhat, the ongoing "search engine wars." Search engines =20
have touted the size of their databases "as a quick, effective way to =20=
give the impression they were more relevant," which is simply not =20
true. As every information profession knows, bigger is not always =20
better; relevancy of search results is what really counts. Another =20
important factor is duplication of content. What good, really, is a =20
huge database that returns a large percentage of duplicate results. =20
Sullivan provides an overview of some of the more recent battles in =20
the ongoing search engine war, as well as reviewing some studies on =20
the accuracy (or lack thereof) of invididual search engine database =20
size claims. And there is considerable question how worthwhile these =20
sort of comparisons are, anyhow. "Quality includes comprehensiveness. =20=
So if someone devises a test of real queries, things that don't =20
involve rare words but instead rare information on the web, that's of =20=
interest." - SK
Current Cites - ISSN: 1060-2356 is hosted by the community at =20
WebJunction.org.
=A9 Copyright 2005 by Roy Tennant
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