Current Awareness

Column editor: Jane Grogan (Jane.Grogan@gchq.gsi.gov.uk)

This column contains summaries of articles (print and electronic) about information access and retrieval, electronic publishing, preservation and virtual libraries etc. including, with permission, abstracts identified with an * next to the author initials, drawn from Current Cites, the monthly publication distributed electronically by a team of librarians and library staff and edited by Roy Tennant (http://lists.webjunction.org/currentcites/).

If you are interested in providing reviews for the Column, please contact Jane Grogan for further details.

Education

Frade, Patricia A., and Allyson Washburn. "The University Library: The Center of a University Education?" portal: Libraries in the Academy 6(3)(2006): 327-346. (). – Apparently the death of (academic) libraries is premature if the results of usage patterns at http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/
portal_libraries_and_the_academy/v006/6.3frade.html BYU can be extended to libraries in general. The authors discuss a survey of library usage from 2001-2002 plus follow-up work they've conducted since. The verdict: Stats are up! Not only are the library and its resources heavily used but the trend is up as well, thanks to extending hours and implementing such popular new services as an "Information Commons". The popularity of these new services are helpful in giving us a glimpse into the library environment of the future. – [*LRK]

Tempelman-Kluit, Nadaleen. Multimedia Learning Theories and Online Instruction. College & Research Libraries Vol 67 (4) July 2006: 364-369 – For the majority of readers this article will provide an interesting, and brief, overview of multimedia learning theories. After outlining these theories, the author makes an evaluation and comparison of two versions of the online tutorial How to Find an Article, which are available from New York University Libraries. One version of the tutorial is traditional and available in HTML (http://library.nyu.edu/research/tutorials/article/) and the other version is available in streaming audio and video (http://library.nyu.edu/research/tutorials/movie/article/). The comparison between the two tutorials suggest that the streaming audio and video tutorial is more effective as a teaching tool. – [AS]

General

Buchanan, A., Robert. Accuracy of Cited References: The Role of Citation Databases. College & Research Libraries Vol 67 (4) July 2006: 292-303 – This article describes a study into the number of errors in the citation databases Science Citation Index Expanded (SCIE) and SciFinder Scholar (SFS) in three core journals within the subject area of chemistry. The study examines how frequently data entry errors occur and how often the databases correct errors by authors. The results of this study cannot be generalized to all of the chemical literature, but the results and comparisons between the databases are interesting and the discussion of the types of errors which can and do occur is revealing. The methodology includes examining 5,640 articles in SCIE and 5,648 articles in SFS that were identified from 204 reference lists in the journals Inorganic Chemistry, Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics and Tetrahedron Letters. The breakdown and discussion of the results is detailed and indicate that the average percent of all data entry errors was 3.5 percent in SCIE, and 1.7 percent in SFS. SCIE corrected 46 percent of author errors and SFS corrected 16 percent of author errors. – [AS]

Buderi, Robert. “Searching for the next big hit” New Scientist, 2 September 2006, p24-25 – Interview with Usama Fayyad, Yahoo’s senior V.P. of Research, on the establishment of three research labs to develop ‘the new sciences of the Internet’. Ideas under investigation include greater interaction via gadgets such as mobile phones, television and even cars, as well as the phenomena of online communities. With so much user-generated data at their disposal the boffins at Yahoo have plenty to keep them busy. – [LF]

Farkas, Meredith. "Continuous Learning: Making it a Priority Without Breaking the Bank" TechEssence (23 July 2006) (http://techessence.info/node/65) – I had not intended to cite blog postings or summaries of library technologies being posted at TechEssence.info given my deep involvement with that site. So be as wary of this review as you wish, but I urge you to do yourself a favor and check out this piece. Meredith Farkas of Information Wants to be Free fame does her usual insightful, spot-on job with this topic and given that "continuous learning" is also what Current Cites is all about, I couldn't pass it up. Neither should you. – [*RT]

Marks, Paul. “Cities race to reap the rewards of wireless net for all” New Scientist, 25 March 2006, p28 – City-wide Wi-Fi hotspots are planned for many US cities, funded by City councils determined to bridge the digital divide. Here in the UK the City of London is also investing in Wi-Fi access within its streets and open spaces for all workers, residents and business visitors. As expected, the major telecoms are non-too pleased at this threat to their wired broadband services, while independent analysts identify the lack of interoperability standards as a major technological hurdle, which could, in some cases, impact long-term support. However, with coverage expected to increase massively in the next five years, the social benefits could be immense. – [LF]

"Nature Peer Review Trial and Debate" Nature (2006) (http://www.nature.com/nature/peerreview/index.html) – Nature is offering another of its stimulating Web debates, this time dealing with the important issue of peer review. Like other Web debates Nature has offered, this one is a series of short position papers that express a wide range of views. However, this time, Nature is trying something new as well: an optional open peer-review process for its authors on a trial basis. Of particular note in the debate section are: "Certification in a Digital Era"; "Evolving Peer Review for the Internet"; "An Open, Two-Stage Peer-Review Journal"; "Opening Up the Process"; "Reviving a Culture of Scientific Debate"; and "Wisdom of the Crowds." – [*CB]

Taiga Forum Presentations Chicago, IL: Taiga Forum, June 2006.(http://www.taigaforum.org/program.html) – The Taiga Forum was a two-day invitation-only event in March 2006 for AULs and library Assistant Directors to consider the many changes and challenges affecting libraries today. Among the program presentations you will find such gems as Dale Flecker's admonishment that "What hits you from left-field is likely as important as what you have been staring at." Speakers included library leaders such as Jim Neal, Karen Calhoun, Lorcan Dempsey and others, as well as library "outsiders" like Paul Duguid and Rick Lugg. Although PowerPoint presentation "mining" can be challenging, at least one includes notes to help flesh out the slides, and you can likely get at least the thrust of the remarks from the slides themselves. – [*RT]

Information Access

DiPerna, Paul. "K-12 Encounters the Internet" First Monday 11(5) (1 May 2006)(http://www.firstmonday.org/issues/
issue11_5/diperna/index.html) – DiPerna takes a fresh look at the unintended consequences of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, or NCLB). Much has been written about the pressure the law places on school districts that can't afford to comply with it, but DiPerna's article takes another angle, exploring the potential of the Internet as a positive influence. "The convergence of NCLB realities with the Internet's ever-expanding capabilities offers a window of opportunity to build a social network website service that is suited for K-12," he says. He explores three questions: how K-12 information is presented on the Internet; what in fact are the needs of K-12 teaching environments for Internet-based information; and whether a Social Networking Web (SNW) site could help meet these needs. He makes an important overall point: it's not enough to just throw technology dollars at the schools and expect them to make good use of them. It's critical that an effective culture for learning about how to use technology also takes root, and that it involves everyone: students, teachers and parents. SNWs (think of them as www.myspace.com for school) could save time and energy by reducing overall e-mail load. They could also generate more meaningful statistics on Web usage, and they could foster new and creative zones for informal learning. If SNW platforms are embraced by youth for fun, it follows that their potential may carry benefit for K-12 teaching as well. This article provides a good overview of the challenges of bringing technology to bear in the K-12 arena, and also provides some creative thinking about the teaching process. – [*TH]

Hane, Paula J. "OCLC to Open WorldCat Searching to the World" NewsBreaks (17 July 2006)(http://www.infotoday.com/newsbreaks/
nb060717-1.shtml) – Big news at the American Library Association Annual Conference was that OCLC was going to open up WorldCat for free searching by anyone. This formerly licensed-only resource has the combined holdings information thousands of libraries worldwide and is the premier source for information on library held materials. Set to be unveiled in "beta" form sometime in August 2006 at WorldCat.org, the service will include all 70-plus million records in the database with an easy-to-use interface and the ability to add a search box to your own website. In this article Hane provides an overview of the offering based on information from Chip Nilges, Vice President, OCLC New Services. – [*RT]

Jacobs, Neil, ed. Open Access: Key Strategic, Technical and Economic Aspects Oxford: Chandos, 2006. (http://www.chandospublishing.com/catalogue/
record_detail.php?recordID=103) – If you want to know about open access, look no further. Editor Neil Jacobs has assembled a stellar group of OA experts to write chapters on pertinent OA topics that are organized into five major sections: "Open Access – History, Definitions and Rationale"; "Open Access and Researchers"; "Open Access and Other Participants"; "The Position Around the World"; and "The Future." The book itself isn't OA, but Peter Suber has identified links to self-archived chapters in his "Self-Archived Chapters in the Neil Jacobs Anthology on OA" Open Access News posting. – [*CB]

Lombardi, Candace. "U.C. System Signs on to Microsoft Book-Scan Project" CNET News.com (9 June 2006) (http://news.com.com/U.C.+system+signs
+on+to+Microsoft+book-scan+project/2100-1025_3-6082258.html) – Microsoft's Windows Live Book Search got a big boost this month when the University of California System and the University of Toronto Libraries agreed to allow it to digitize out-of-copyright books and other material from their collections. UC has over 34 million volumes in its libraries, while Toronto has more than 15 million volumes. In contrast to Google Book Search, Windows Live Book Search takes an "opt-in" approach to digitizing works still under copyright through its Windows Live Books Publisher Program. Because it scans in-copyright books without permission, Google has been sued for copyright infringement by both authors and publishers, including a French publisher. However, Google asserts that its program is justified under fair use provisions since it shows only brief excerpts from books. Moreover, Google will remove books at the request of publishers. More details on the Windows Live Book Search deal can be found in Microsoft's press release. – [*CB]

Roberts, Micheal M. "Lessons for the Future Internet: Learning from the Past" EDUCAUSE Review 41(4)(July/August 2006): 16-25. (http://www.educause.edu/apps/er/erm06/erm0640.asp) – Short but sweet review of what it took to get the Internet to its current stage of development by someone who's been involved with it since the Eighties. This is a healthy reminder that the openness and flexibility of the system didn't happen by accident, and yet it's precisely these qualities that have made it a rip-roaring success. On the recent attempt by the Telcos to create what essentially are vertically integrated systems, the author has this to say: "Silos may be fine for grain, but as a business strategy on the Internet, they are headed for the trash heap." I wish I could be as confident. – [*LRK]

Information Retrieval

Bailey, Annette. "LibX – A Firefox Extension for Enhanced Library Access" Library Hi Tech 24(2)(2006): 290-304 – Part of outreach in the digital world is adapting software and resources that our patrons already use in order to highlight library material. Some software is easier to customize for this purpose than others. In this article, we have an excellent example of the library at Virginia Tech creating an extremely innovative "extention" or add-on software for the open source Firefox Browser. This extention, which they call "LibX", allows the user to search for library books and articles through a customized box at the top of the browser window. It allows for contextual searches depending on whether there's an ISBN/ISSN number on a given webpage. It also adds a tiny graphic, which they call 'cues', to pages on Google, Yahoo, Amazon and B&N that link to catalog records. The article briefly goes over alternative approaches and privacy concerns as part of its thorough discussion of this utility. If you don't know your 'zippi' from your 'zool', this is a good place to start for some great ideas. – [*LRK]

Bakkalbasi, Nisa, Kathleen Bauer, and Janis Glover, et. al. "Three Options for Citation Tracking: Google Scholar, Scopus and Web of Science" Biomedical Digital Libraries 3(7)(2006) (http://www.bio-diglib.com/content/3/1/7) – You want a citation database that gives you the highest number of citations possible for articles. Should you use Google Scholar, Scopus, or Web of Science? This article is "an observational study examining these three databases; comparing citation counts for articles from two disciplines (oncology and condensed matter physics) and two years (1993 and 2003)." Its findings: which database is best depends upon the discipline and the year of publication. – [*CB]

Highsmith, Anne L., and Bennett Claire Ponsford. "Notes on MetaLib Implementation at Texas A&M University" Serials Review (28 July 2006) – Interesting look at the implementation of a federated search system, in this case MetaLib (ExLibris) at Texas A&M University. The library quite wisely set up an "implementation committee" and after several weeks of configuration, tested it on various user groups. The authors discuss the reception the final product received among library staff, and they end with a number of suggestions to improve the system. (Note: Article in Press, Corrected Proof) – [*LRK]

Teets, Michael, and Peter Murray. "Metasearch Authentication and Access Management" D-Lib Magazine 12(6) (June 2006) (http://www.dlib.org/dlib/june06/teets/06teets.html) – Those laboring in the metasearch (aka federated search, cross-database search, etc.) world know how difficult authentication issues can be – especially if when working in a consortial environment. This paper reports on the work of the NISO Metasearch Initiative's Access Management Task Group (one of three groups) to make this easier and more effective. The group surveyed the authentication and authorization methods currently being used, developed use cases, considered environmental factors, ranked the various methods against the use cases and environmental factors, aggregated and modeled the rankings, and made recommendations based on their findings. Their key findings were that in the present environment, IP-authentication with a proxy server and good old username and password are the two most effective methods for authentication. – [*RT]

Michael Reilly Internet search engines go on trial New Scientist, 19 August 2006, p24-25 – How search engines work and whether they are biasing their results are the subject of recent lawsuits in the US, which, if successful, would do us all a disservice, argue some. Under intense, and renewed discussion, is whether the page-ranking method results in popular pages becoming more popular, while less popular sites stay low in the rankings. Google and co dispute the accusation, claiming search engines mitigate any bias rather than amplify it. – [LF]

Knowledge Management

Rutkoff, Aaron. "Social Networking for Bookworms" The Wall Street Journal (27 June 2006)(http://online.wsj.com/public/article/
SB115109622468789252-i8U6LIHU7ChfgbxG1oZ_iunOIWE_20060727.html) – This article discusses LibraryThing, "a website where members can create library-quality catalogs of the books they own and display their collection to fellow online bookshelf browsers." Since its launch last August by creator Tim Spalding, "a computer programmer and bibliophile," the site has acquired close to 48,000 registered members "and a user-created catalog that includes more than 3.6 million volumes," which theoretically makes it "the 58th largest library in the U.S." The site is easy to use; registration is free and simple – just pick a username and password. No personal info required. Then enter the authors, titles or ISBNs from the books in your personal library. "The LibraryThing search engine, which is connected to Amazon.com, the Library of Congress and 45 other libraries around the world (via the Z39.50 protocol), returns likely matches." You can enter your first 200 titles for free; unlimited use costs $10 annually or $25 for a lifetime membership. The social networking aspect comes in via LibraryThing's "book-recommendation engine," which offers suggestions based on the collections of "likeminded readers." The article refers to LibraryThing as "a sort of MySpace for bookworms." – [*SK]

Reference Services

Lupien, Pascal. "Virtual Reference in the Age of Pop-Up Blockers, Firewalls, and Service Pack 2" ONLINE Magazine 30(4)(July/August 2006) (http://www.infotoday.com/online/jul06/Lupien.shtml) – In this cover story, Lupien identifies a "minefield of obstacles" to providing virtual reference services with full-featured commercial virtual reference software. Such applications can provide a sophisticated interaction with the library user, including such things as screen sharing and co-browsing, but this high level of interaction comes at a price. The full cost of this type of interaction is identified here, with such problems as pop-up blockers, users sequestered behind firewalls, and operating system upgrades getting in the way. All of this Lupien uses as an introduction to Instant Messaging (IM) as a possible substitute or replacement, while acknowledging that it provides many fewer features for both the user and the library. – [*RT]

Security

Potter, Bruce. "Wireless Hotspots: Petri Dish of Wireless Security" Communications of the ACM 49(6)(June 2006): 51-56 – In a nutshell, this article's message is don't use a public wireless hotspot at all if you don't want to run the risk of getting hacked. Potter drives home the point by comparing the effective security measures of enterprise systems with the porous security of open environments. A centrally controlled enterprise network can utilize authentication schemes like the Extensible Authentication Protocol, which presents system designers with choices such as simple username & password, or the tighter security of bidirectional certificate-based authentication. In contrast, the "any port in a storm" nature of hotspot access leaves the OSI layer 2 (data link) vulnerable; layer 3 solutions placed on top of that weakness, such as firewalls or virtual private networks, aren't solving the problem. Eavesdroppers within range can configure wireless-enabled PDAs to run interception programs automatically, and (among other things) harvest personal data. These attacks are rarely detectable by the victim. Of course there aren't hackers lurking at every cafe table, but it only takes one spill of your data to make your life a real mess. – [*JR]

Web Design

Buckley, Rob. “The best Firefox extensions for developers” .Net issue150, June 2006: 86-89 – These are geared to developers but Linkchecker, Clear Cache Button and Mozilla Accessibility Extension may be of interest to the general user of Firefox. The author rates the best 15 extensions that are developer friendly. – [JW]

Hall, Christian. “How to make your site accessible” .Net issue 151, July 2006: 84-89 – PAS 78 : Guide to Good Practice in Commissioning Accessible websites is a set of guidelines for planning the development of accessible sites. These guidelines give principles of good practice to obtain quality accessible sites from the commissioning to testing stages. They provide a framework to achieve accessible sites. PAS 78 is endorsed by the Disability Rights Commission (DRC) and available from the BSI (British Standards Institution). There are approximately 6.8 million disabled people/customers in the U.K. The vision for the Web was access for all; this somehow got lost in the speed of development of the Web and lack of enforceable guidelines and rules. PAS 78 puts the planning and the vision back. This article clarifies what is meant by accessibility. – [JW]

Contributors to Current Cites*
Charles W. Bailey, Jr., Terry Huwe, Shirl Kennedy, Leo Robert Klein, Jim Ronningen, Roy Tennant.

Contributors:
Peter Chapman, Ann Dixon, Catherine Ebenezer, Linda Fawcett, Ina Fourie, Linda Kerr, Ida Kwan, Shona McTavish, Ruth Ng, Shirley Parker-Munn, Liz Reiner, Ann Smith, Christine Urquhart, Jennifer Wilkinson.

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