Current Awareness

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://sunsite.berkeley.edu/CurrentCites ).

If you are interested in providing reviews for the column, please contact UKeiG administration for further details.

Catalogues/cataloguing

Denton, William; FRBR and the History of Cataloging in Understanding FRBR: What It Is and How It Will Affect Our Retrieval Tools edited by Arlene G. Taylor, Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited, 30 November 2007 (http://pi.library.yorku.ca/dspace/handle/10315/1250) This 23-page book chapter on the conceptual model Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records , by William Denton, who writes The FRBR Blog, is several things at once: a swashbuckling, intellectually exciting narrative of cataloging history; a roadmap to FRBR; and a cautionary tale that all things must pass. Denton traces FRBR through brief studies of the work of cataloging theorists Panizzi, Cutter, Ranganathan, and Lubetzky, arguing, for example, that "FRBR's user tasks are descended from Cutter's Objects." Denton is a highly accessible, entertaining writer, but this chapter will be best appreciated by readers who have at least a cursory knowledge of FRBR theory (which can be pleasantly acquired from Robert L. Maxwell's "FRBR: A Guide for the Perplexed," also reviewed in this issue of Current Cites). "FRBR and the History of Cataloging" is excerpted from the book, "Understanding FRBR" (Arlene G. Taylor, ed.), published by Libraries Unlimited, which graciously gave permission to place Denton's excellent contribution on the open Web. Oh, and don't miss Denton's endnotes – they are rich with good citations and his fluid, informed commentary. [* KGS ]

Maxwell, Robert L. FRBR: A Guide for the Perplexed Chicago: American Library Association, 2008.( http://worldcat.org/oclc/154309204 ). Halfway through this book, I had a pleasant sensation: I realized I understood what Maxwell was talking about. FRBR: A Guide for the Perplexed is a little slow getting out the gate; he begins with a music-cataloging example, was not the best choice for introducing newbies to this conceptual model. But stick with it, because Maxwell soon hits his stride in a book that is clear, intelligent, well-informed, and a sheer delight to read. (By the end of the book, he is using Harry Potter examples.) Maxwell has both praise and blame for FRBR (Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records), but more significantly, he clarifies that the real function of FRBR is to restore and build on a cataloging concept that was beginning to blossom before the icy fingers of AACR2 nipped it in the bud: the notion of relationships – the idea that a bibliographic "thing" might relate to other bibliographic "things" in intelligent ways – parallel, subsidiary, sequential, etc. – a topic explored much earlier by Barbara Tillett. Those of us trying to enable FRBR in our catalogs might pause to ask ourselves how an OPAC can display a relationship that hasn't even been established in our own mental models, let alone in our data. Maxwell's underlying message is that we have been focusing on the eggs (that is, manifestations and items) at the expense of the egg cartons (that is, expressions and works). Maxwell is at his most provocative – and dead-on correct – when he says that a move to FRBR would require that we abandon the flat-file, record-focused structure and move to an entity-relationship database. He has done a superb job of describing not just FRBR but the state of cataloging data, and whether or not you are "perplexed," I heartily recommend you read this book as soon as possible. [* KGS ]

Digitisation Projects/Preservation

Flood, Gary. Backfile to the future Information World Review 246 May 2008: 10-12 – Three page feature looks at the issues facing those who are digitising back copies of journals and other print materials pre-dating the Internet. Includes comment from Elsevier and the Association for Computing Machinery, and topics covered include decisions regarding coverage, legal rights, plus the opportunities for cross-database searching. The article includes a short step-by-step description of the implementation of a digitisation project. [RH]

Bullen, Andrew.  Bringing Sheet Music to Life: My Experiences with OMR Code4Lib Journal (3)(23 June 2008)( http://journal.code4lib.org/articles/84 ) – Bullen describes a fascinating project to digitize sheet music, clean up the scan, put it through a special program to recognize the notes, and then pipe it through midi software to recreate the music. Fascinating historical tidbits make what normally would be a dry technical exposition come alive, and provide more than adequate reason for going through these complicated procedures. This article can be further enhanced by viewing Bullen's lightning talk at the Code4Lib 2008 Conference in February, which used one of his recovered tunes as background (he also provided the intro music for all the 2008 Code4Lib videos). Highly recommended, not just as a description of a technical digital library process, but as an excellent example of using digital library technologies to bring history alive. [* RT ]

Pennock, Maureen. Supporting institutional digital preservation & asset management: a summary of the JISC DPAM programme synthesis New Review of Information Networking 13(2) (2007): 119–132 – A useful summary of the results of a synthesis study of the JISC-funded Digital Preservation and Asset Management (DPAM) programme. The programme ran from 2004 to 2006, with the aim of establishing a basis for the creation of institutional strategies and policies in the area. By summarizing the synthesis study, the author provides an overview of the eleven projects funded by the programme across three main themes: institutional management support & collaboration; digital asset assessment tools (DAATs); and institutional repository infrastructure development. The synthesis study began using a questionnaire completed by each project manager or representative. One-on-one interviews were carried out, and e-mail, telephone contact and desk-based research supplemented this work. By drawing out a number of recurring themes, the author explores the outputs of the project. The author reports that the study found the programme to be a success, and assures us that it has provided knowledge that equips us to safeguard the future of our digital assets. Let's hope that this knowledge is applied by those who are responsible for these valuable cultural treasures. [ATB]

Nadella, Satya.  Book Search Winding Down Live Search (23 May 2008) (http://blogs.msdn.com/livesearch/archive/2008/05/23/book-search-winding-
down.aspx) Microsoft has announced that it will end its Live Book Search and Live Search Academic projects, and focus instead on indexing library and publisher book content in those organizations' digital repositories. Since Microsoft has been a significant funding source for the digitization efforts of the Open Content Alliance , this was bad news for the Internet Archive and the research libraries participating in that group; however, Microsoft said that it was "removing our contractual restrictions placed on the digitized library content and making the scanning equipment available to our digitization partners and libraries to continue digitization programs." About 750,000 books were digitized as a result of Microsoft's projects. Read more about it at " Microsoft Abandons Book Scan Plan ," " Microsoft Abandons Digitization ," and " Why Killing Live Book Search Is Good for the Future of Books ." [* CB ]

E-Publishing

Luther, Judy.  A New Era in Publishing netConnect (15 April 2008) ( http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6548356.html ) – This overview article headlines this issue of netConnect on the future of publishing and provides an easy introduction to the new opportunities and challenges of digital publication. Luther describes new opportunities such as linkages with other sources of information, data mining, and printing on demand. She touches on the changed economics, where people such as Paul Krugman and others (John Perry Barlow, for example) have described the different economics of intellectual property. "In the industrial world," Luther paraphrases Krugman, "scarcity increases the value of a product, since two people can't both have the same physical item. The opposite applies to the value of information, which increases as it is used and shared. Abundance, not scarcity, determines value – and that is reshaping business models." User-created content is also cited, with the examples of Wikipedia, GoingOn, and Sermo specifically mentioned. Luther provides no easy answers for publishers in this new world, but ends with some good advice: "Successful approaches will depend on understanding the needs of readers and involving them in the development and use of tools that can advance their thinking and draw upon their collective wisdom." [* RT ]

Education

Jelinkova, Klara, Terezsa Carvalho, and Dorette Kerian, et. al. Creating a Five-Minute Conversation about Cyberinfrastructure EDUCAUSE Quarterly 31(2) (2008): 78-82. (http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/EQM08211.pdf) – This article provides a very concise summary of why cyberinfrastructure is important in higher education. It also offers a strategy for promoting cyberinfrastructure on campus. While it's intended to "to help you compose a five-minute conversation on cyberinfrastructure appropriate for various audiences," it also serves as a useful primer for readers who may be a little fuzzy on the potentials of cyberinfrastructure. A helpful list of EDUCAUSE cyberinfrastructure resources is included in the article. [* CB ]

General

Griffin, Daniel; Unknown Worlds , Information World Review 247 June 2008: 10-12 – Three-page article looking in depth at business information issues in the Emerging Markets sector. Issues discussed include the importance of local knowledge, the availability and verification of information sources. Suppliers interviewed include representatives from ISI Emerging Markets, Esmerk and Bureau Van Dijk. [RH]

Mawson, Maria. iPod tours: a new approach to induction. New Review of Information Networking 13(2) (2007): 113-118 – An article based on a conference paper that details the planning, production and evaluation of iPod delivered induction tours at the Western Bank Library, the University of Sheffield. Faced with the familiar problems of a difficult building to navigate and increasing student numbers, Sheffield sought an alternative approach to the traditional guided tour of library facilities. Because of the widespread use of iPods/mp3 players amongst students, it was decided to create library induction material in a downloadable audio format. A project team consisting of staff and students devised an initial series of conversational style recordings designed to impart key messages about library services at predetermined listening points. The mp3 files were available for download from a set of specifically designed Web pages, and various methods of promoting the new service were employed. Detailed usage statistics were recorded and feedback was obtained from service users. New developments continue in this area, with Sheffield producing a series of screencasts and audio files to help answer typical student enquiries and the creation of an audiovisual tour of the new Information Commons learning facility. [NW]

Libraries Unleashed: Colleges, universities and the digital challenge The Guardian (22 April 2008) (http://education.guardian.co.uk/librariesunleashed/0,,2274706,00.html) This special supplement in the Guardian newspaper (published in conjunction with JISC 's "Libraries of the Future" initiative) contains 18 articles highlighting a number of contemporary library-related topics, including information literacy, learning spaces, open access, library 2.0, digitization, and the evolving roles and skills of users and librarians. Regular readers of Current Cites will find the coverage anecdotal and introductory. Still, it is rare to see librarianship getting such attention from a major newspaper, and the issues are clearly, if not deeply, laid out for a general audience (and useful, perhaps, for those friends and relatives who still can't quite grasp that your library job involves more than checking out and reshelving books). The focus is academic libraries and the opening paragraph sets the optimistic tone: "Academic libraries are changing faster than at any time in their history. Information technology, online databases, and catalogues and digitised archives have put the library back at the heart of teaching, learning and academic research on campus." [*BR]

Hahn, Karla L. Research Library Publishing Services: New Options for University Publishing (2 April 2008)( http://www.arl.org/bm~doc/research-library-publishing-services.pdf ) – With the publication of the Ithaka Report and the recent ARL Bimonthly Report on scholarly publishing, discussions of library-based publishing are becoming increasingly prominent. Now comes the first broad survey of library-based publishing activity, and it confirms that library-based publishing is becoming an increasingly common service, at least among ARL libraries. Of 80 ARL libraries surveyed, 44% are involved in publishing (usually with a focus on electronic journals) and another 21% are planning to get involved. Author Karla Hahn concludes: "The question is no longer whether libraries should offer publishing services, but what kinds of services libraries will offer." Based on survey responses and in-depth interviews with ten publishing program managers, Hahn discusses the scope of services, various business models, and other administrative, technical and conceptual issues that are emerging across these programs. She also places these activities in the larger university publishing context where these programs have a small but valuable niche to fill. Because many of these programs are moving from an experimental or pilot stage to a more programmatic service, Hahn suggests that the time is ripe for more consideration of these activities by campus-wide leadership. The time is also ripe, she notes, for more information exchange between library publishing programs, which have been developing "in something of a vacuum of community discussion." This report should prove to be a useful step in that direction. [*BR ]

Darnton, Robert.  The Library in the New Age The New York Review of Books 55(10)(12 June 2008)( http://www.nybooks.com/articles/21514 ) – Robert Darnton, Director of Harvard University Library, is no stranger to electronic scholarly communication, having been instrumental in creation of the Gutenberg-e Project . His essay balances praise of the scholarship opportunities made possible by mass digitization projects, such as Google Book Search, with the need for physical libraries and books far into the future. Projects like Google Book Search will not make libraries obsolete. On the contrary, he uses eight points to argue why libraries will be more important than ever. Darnton ends his essay with: "long live Google, but don't count on it living long enough to replace that venerable building with the Corinthian columns ... the research library still deserves to stand at the center of campus, preserving the past and accumulating energy for the future." The essay provides some well articulated arguments you can use the next time a faculty member or administrator questions the need of your library in the age of Google. [* SG ]

Harley, Diane, Sarah Earl-Novell, and Sophia Krzys Acord, et. al. Assessing the Future Landscape of Scholarly Communication: An In-depth Study of Faculty Needs and Ways of Meeting Them (Draft Interim Report) Berkeley, CA: Center for Studies in Higher Education, University of California, Berkeley, Spring 2008.(http://cshe.berkeley.edu/publications/publications.php?id=300) – This report is an early draft of findings from a number of in-depth interviews and focus groups with faculty, librarians, and information technology professionals, as well as other related studies and surveys. It is highly readable and quite interesting, with a number of surprising as well as expected findings revealed. "It is clear from our interviews so far that many scholars, young and old, can be innovative in their fields without the need or desire to use cutting edge technologies," the report states. "It is reasonable to presume that there may be no one vision for technology-enabled scholarship in a field. Ultimately, the personality of individuals combined with disciplinary tradition, the needs of the field, and affiliation with type of higher education institution will determine how widespread public sharing of non-peer-reviewed incipient ideas and data will be and what forms final archival publications take." There is much here to ponder for anyone interested in the future of scholarly communication, new publication models, and how we can better serve both information and publication needs of college and university faculty. [* RT ]

Henty, Margaret.  Developing the Capability and Skills to Support eResearch Ariadne (55)(April 2008)( http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue55/henty/ ) Whether you call it eResearch (Australia), eScience (UK), or Cyberinfrastructure (USA), the need to support it poses challenges for libraries and research institutions, both at an individual and organizational level. Based on surveys and interviews with Australian researchers, this article looks at what is needed to "bridge the gap between the potential on offer and the realities with which we are living," with a specific focus on the need for improved levels of data stewardship. One theme that emerged from the survey was the need to develop specialists with specific skills. This includes technical skills, which may vary according to discipline, along with equally important non-technical skills such as data analysis, knowledge of copyright issues, communication skills, team building, project management, and something one of the survey respondents called "researcher management." Another theme identified in the survey was the need to overcome organizational and cultural barriers, which need to evolve in order to improve internal communication, support external advocacy and education, enable collaborative opportunities, and develop appropriate policies and workflows. The article ends with a section on solutions and suggestions for achieving this, but this is very brief and not fleshed out. The main focus in on the gaps mentioned above. [*BR]

Information Access

Caldwell, Tracey; OA in the humanities badlands , Information World Review 247 June 2008: 14-16 – Major article investigates the barriers to open access (OA) in the social sciences and humanities (SSH). Traditional problems with funding for SSH are contrasted with a growing understanding of the benefits that OA can bring to the sector; over and above speed and ease of access to research. The diversity of SHH is discussed, with Economics and Linguistics identified as areas interested in the OA debate. The role of the author-pays and other funding models are discussed alongside European-Union programmes to develop this area such as Action 32. Comment is drawn from various groups including the Research Information Network, Open Knowledge Foundation and the Open Humanities Press. [RH]

Thomas Kim; Don't let the grey fade away , Information World Review 246 May 2008: 14-16 – This report looks at online efforts to open the door to grey literature and make it available for libraries via web-based tools. One of the areas reported as having achieved success in this respect being electronic theses and dissertations, with Virginia Tech University cited as a pioneer in this field. The article includes an account of specialist search engines such as Scirus ( http:// www.scirus.com ), Google Scholar ( http://scholar.google.co.uk ) and OpenDoar ( http:// www.opendoar.org ), which help users find technical and research report hidden on websites or in institutional repositories. [RH]

Nguyen, Thinh.  Open Doors and Open Minds: What Faculty Authors Can Do to Ensure Open Access to Their Work through Their Institution Cambridge, MA and Washington, DC: SPARC and Science Commons, 2008.( http://www.arl.org/sparc/bm~doc/opendoors_v1.pdf ) – Building on the momentum created by Harvard University's Faculty of Arts and Sciences open access mandate , this white paper outlines how faculty at other institutions can effectively enact similar mandates and establish appropriate university licenses to give their institutions the necessary rights to archive their scholarly works in institutional repositories. [* CB ]

Harnad, Stevan.  The Two Forms of OA Have Been Defined: They Now Need Value-Neutral Names Open Access Archivangelism (3 May 2008)( http://openaccess.eprints.org/index.php?/archives/400-The-Two-Forms-of-OA-Have-Been-Defined-They-Now-Need-Value-Neutral-Names.html ) – One of the key problems of the open-access movement has been to define what "open access" really means. Various manifestos have put forward varying definitions (e.g., the Budapest , Bethesda , and Berlin declarations) and Stevan Harnad has put forth his own definition at various times (e.g., see " Re: Free Access vs. Open Access "). Now, Stevan Harnad and Peter Suber are working together to disambiguate the term. In short, they identify two types of open access: (1) free of "price barriers" (i.e., available at no charge), and (2) free of both "price" and "permission barriers" (i.e., no unnecessary copyright and licensing restrictions that inhibit re-use). Initially, the terms "weak OA" and "strong OA" seemed suitable, but, on further reflection, the term "weak" seemed to have "pejorative connotations." New terminology is being considered, such as "basic OA" and "full OA." While this may seem like an abstract exercise, their work will have important real-world impacts, and it will help diminish confusion about the goals of the movement among its advocates, its opponents, and the scholarly community. [* CB ]

Fisher, Julian H.  Scholarly Publishing Re-invented: Real Costs and Real Freedoms Journal of Electronic Publishing 11(2)(2008)( http://hdl.handle.net/2027/spo.3336451.0011.204 ) – In discussions of the "gold road" to open access (open-access journals), the focus is often on major open access publishers (e.g., BioMed Central ) or "hybrid" publishers (e.g., Springer Open Choice ), which offer per-article open access for a fee. Since both types of publishers rely heavily on publication fees to support open access, the analysis of the gold road option inevitably focuses on those fees and how they can be paid. However, for about two decades there has been another open-access journal option that, while it has flourished, is often overlooked: what Tom Wilson calls the " Platinum Route ." This strategy offers low-cost open-access journal publishing without author fees, utilizing open source journal publishing systems and subsidized or low-cost technical infrastructure. Fisher's article makes the case for this type of open-access journal publishing, often using the Scholarly Exchange , an open-access journal publishing service, as an example (Fisher is one of its founders). How cheap can it be to publish such an e-journal? Fisher says: "My estimate is that a journal with 50 articles in a year could be published for under $4,000; double the number of articles, and the cost goes up to just over $7,000. At 250 articles a year, the cost is under $17,000. If the journal chose not to provide copy editing or XML conversion and tagging--two of the larger costs--the totals would be $1,200, $1,650, and $3,000 respectively." [* CB ]

Information Management

Shoniwa, Pride and Hall, Hazel; Library 2.0 and UK academic libraries: drivers and impacts, New Review of Information Networking 13(2) (2007): 69-79 – ‘Library 2.0' is now a widely used term in our profession, but what exactly do we mean when we use it? This exploratory study looking particularly at the UK academic library sector aims to answer just that question. A systematic navigation of UK higher education library websites, a web survey to heads of these library services and finally follow up interviews with a small sample of academic librarians, all provide evidence to tackle the issue. The authors reach the conclusion that ‘Library 2.0' in this sector is mainly about selectively applying ‘Web 2.0' technology and while ‘Library 2.0' is not clearly perceived as incorporating physical services, its development nevertheless impacts the way in which physical services are delivered. The authors also identify a ‘gap' between customers who prefer the new generation of technology-led ‘Library 2.0' services, and the users of more traditional library services. It would be interesting to see this study repeated over time to follow the evolution of the application of the ‘Library 2.0' concept. Dr Hall's main research interest is currently in information sharing in online environments, and she uses a range of ‘Web 2.0' tools in her teaching. [ATB]

Muncaster, Phil. The Kings of Content , Information World Review 247 June 2008: 17-18 – A two page overview of enterprise content management (ECM) and search investigates the implications of recent acquisition activity in the sector. The article looks at the wide range of definitions used for ECM by suppliers, from total content solutions to distinct products covering e-mail and records management. Major players such as EMC, Oracle, OpenText, IBM, HP and Microsoft are considered, noting where some suppliers have particular strengths. The key drivers of ECM, believed to be compliance and legal discoverability, are also reflected upon. The article concludes by anticipating coming trends in the market, including suppliers moving away from their core competencies in enterprise search. [RH]

Lankes, R. David. " Collecting Conversations in a Massive-Scale World " Library Resources & Technical Services 52(2) (April 2008): 12-18 – Libraries today are dealing with massive amounts of data and its storage. How can we as librarians and information professionals respond to the infinite growth of information waiting to be organized? In his article (which came out of a presentation at the ALCTS 50th Anniversary Conference in 2007), Lankes gives us four options for dealing with data: ignore it; limit the library; catalog it all; or embrace it. He asks us to adopt participatory librarianship and to open up the conversation for practice, policies, programs, and tools in our communities, and says: "Participatory librarianship is an opportunity not only to enhance the mission of the library, but proactively to position librarians at the forefront of the information field . . . where they belong!" [*KC]

Information Retrieval

Perry, Michelle; Microsoft Casts its net again , Information World Review 247 June 2008: 8 – The withdrawal by Microsoft from its offer to buy Yahoo is analysed in the context of the overall search market. Alternative options for Yahoo and Microsoft are discussed; including possible link between Yahoo and Google. The article also looks at wider issues including the search skills of young people and options for providers to differentiate themselves in the market including offering more vertical search and the need for more quality accreditation of data. [RH]

Lorigo, Lori, Maya Haridasan, and Hronn Brynjarsdottir, et. al. Eye Tracking and Online Search: Lessons Learned and Challenges Ahead Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology 59(7) (14 March 2008) – Interesting look at using eye patterns to study search behavior using Google and Yahoo. The authors discuss some of the challenges using eye tracking methods and make suggestions as to how these methods can be integrated with other usability testing practices such as 'think aloud' and 'bio feedback'. [* LRK ]

Nicholas, David, Paul Huntington, and Hamid Jamali.  User diversity: as demonstrated by deep log analysis The Electronic Library 26(1): 21-38. (http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/02640470810851716) – User log analysis has been performed since the time of the first HTTP servers; however most log analysis is abstracted from the details for the user community. It therefore leaves us with "big generalizations" (to quote the authors), but surprisingly little in the way of detailed information about the behaviors of our various user communities. In this study, the authors have applied techniques and methodologies deveoped at the Centre for Information Behaviour and the Evaluation of Research (CIBER) at the University of London, to analyze the behavioral patterns of a group of 750 researchers. As a result of their research, the authors have found that people from different disciplinary backgrounds approach the use of online journal databases in varying ways. Some disciplines are more predisposed to exploratory searching whereas other disciplines tend to use more directed search strategies. Moreover, the end purpose of these searches differs among the disciplines. Researchers in certain disciplines are more likely to focus on keeping up-to-date on the latest research in progress while researchers in other fields are more likely to be focused on identifying recent articles of interest that have gone through the entire scholarly review process. In the interest of full disclosure, I am on the editorial board of The Electronic Library but I was not part of the review process for this article. [* FC ]

Knowledge Management/Social Networking

Tebbutt, David. Web 2.0 will bring Gin Lane oblivion to the telly nation , Information World Review 247 June 2008: 9 – Commentary piece reflects on the developments that Web 2.0 has brought in terms of interactivity in the context of social and technological changes. Drawing on comments from Clay Shirky at a recent Web 2.0 conference, the merits of the ‘two-way Internet' are contrasted with the more passive media of television. The writer also considers the role of the librarian in developing the route to more personalised information services. [RH]

7 Things You Should Know About Flickr Washington, DC: EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative, February 2008. (http://connect.educause.edu/Library/ELI/7ThingsYouShouldKnowAbout/
46186) – This two-page Adobe Acrobat (PDF) document provides essential information about Flickr for an academic audience, and how it might be used in an educational context. Following the format of the 7 Things You Should Know series , these basic questions are answered: 1) What is it? 2) Who's doing it?, 3) How does it work?, 4) Why is it significant?, 5) What are the downsides, 6) Where is it going?, and 7) What are the implications for teaching and learning? Also included is a brief scenario sketching out how Flickr could be pedagogically useful. The Library of Congress Flickr project is specifically mentioned as an example of engaging with users "where they live". [* RT ]

Legal Issues

Williams, Peter; High Court quashes bid by MPs to secure FoI get-out , Information World Review 247 June 2008: 1 – Main news item reports on High Court ruling in respect of MPs expenses disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act. The courts decision is reported as backing an earlier tribunal ruling that details of every receipt from MPs should be published for additional expenses including second homes. [RH]

Smith, Laura; Data fatally flawed by lax business practices , Information World Review 246 May 2008: 1 – Lead news item focuses on a warning from the Information Commissioner that private and public sector organisations are not doing enough to protect data. This follows a survey carried out by Pricewaterhouse Cooper for the Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform on more than 1000 UK businesses. [RH]

Georgia State University Sued over E-Reserves Library Journal Academic Newswire (17 April 2008) (http://www.libraryjournal.com/info/CA6552504.html?nid=2673#news1) – Backed by the Association of American Publishers, Cambridge University Press, Oxford University Press, and SAGE Publications have sued Georgia State University alleging "systematic, widespread and unauthorized copying and distribution of a vast amount of copyrighted works" via GSU's e-reserves, course management, and other systems. The defendants named in the suit are the GSU President, Provost, Dean of Libraries, and Associate Provost for Information Systems and Technology. The suit has sparked controversy about digital copyright issues, sovereign immunity protection for state employees from such suits, and the role of university presses in the scholarly communication system. Here are some postings and articles about the reaction to the suit: " Further Coverage about and Commentary on the Georgia State Digital Copyright Lawsuit ," " Georgia State Copyright Infringement Suit Coverage and Commentary ," " GSU E-Reserves Suit Moves E-Reserves Discussion into the Light ," and " Will the Average University Press Benefit from GSU E-Reserve Suit? ." [* CB ]

Virtual Libraries

DeRidder, Jody L. Choosing Software for a Digital Library Library Hi Tech News 24(9/10) (2007): 19-21. (http://www.emeraldinsight.com/10.1108/07419050710874223) – DeRidder provides an excellent overview of selecting software for digital library collections. She correctly begins with user requirements, then moves on to the needs of those who will create and support digital library collections, as well as those who will be installing and maintaining the software itself. DeRidder makes note of such important considerations as whether your technical staff know the language the application is written in (assuming it is open source), and counsels that "software selection should be done in consultation with the personnel who will be supporting it". After an initial narrowing to one to three options has been accomplished, DeRidder suggests more in-depth testing before making the selection, which she outlines in a series of steps. Overall it is an excellent description of how to successfully select digital library software. [* RT ]

Web/Intranet Design

Austin, Andy, and Christopher Harris.  Drupal in Libraries Library Technology Reports 44(4) (May/June 2008) ( http://www.techsource.ala.org/ltr/drupal-in-libraries.html ) – As a Drupal user (at my TechEssence.info site), I admit to being interested to see this issue of LTR , which highlights a popular content management system and illustrates how libraries are using it. But in reviewing it, I find it a mixed bag. Certainly it is a credible high-level guide to Drupal, but the appropriate audience for this treatment may be difficult to find. To get the most out of this, I suggest you line up a system administrator to do the heavy lifting for you (for example, creating the MySQL database and Drupal user, editing the config file appropriately, etc.) or else consult other sources for the details lacking here (admittedly the installation info included in the download may be sufficient). Other information lacking that I detected as a seasoned Drupal administrator include the inevitable work to manage spam users (a "user" account awaiting deletion at this moment on my site is, I kid you not, "free porn zip files", I wonder what library they work at?), dumping the database for backup and recovery (an inevitable event, let me assure you), and the often uncritical acceptance of such oddities as using "node" and "content" to mean the same thing and specifying different content types of "story" and "page" differentiated only by a default setting for whether the content is listed on the front page or not. One final nitpick: my pal Mark Jordan has had a site, drupalib , going for quite some time and there is no mention of it in the "Resources" section. Go figure. However , did I learn something? Yes, I did, even after having a Drupal site for a while. So the bottom line is if you are in the market for a content management system, you should check this out. If you are running Drupal now, maybe you'll learn something new, or else you'll have something to point people to when they ask why you're using this CMS. [* RT ]

Reynolds, Erica. " The Secret to Patron-Centered Web Design: Cheap, Easy, and Powerful Usability Techniques " Computers in Libraries 28(6) (June 2008): 6-8, 44-47. (http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=32466509&site
=ehost-live) – This is an interesting look at the redesign effort of the Johnson County Library Website from the standpoint of usability testing. The author makes clear that usability testing is a lot of work. The stats speak for themselves: "78 card sorts, 22 paper prototypes, and 21 interface usability studies". Yet reading between the lines, you also get the impression that the process is a lot of fun. The development team is interacting with patrons and staff. It's a "fun activity". And this in turn builds enthusiasm and buy-in for the project. The process begins with identifying "20 core tasks". The team then figures out the right terms for navigation. They use prototypes to test out functionality. The ultimate benefit of all this careful testing is confidence in their design decisions and a new site that performs significantly better than the old one. [* LRK ]

Contributors to Current Cites *:

Charles W. Bailey, Jr. , Keri Cascio, Frank Cervone , Susan Gibbons , Leo Robert Klein , Jim Ronningen, Brian Rosenblum, Karen G. Schneider , Roy Tennant

Contributors:

Andrew Brown, Gina Cybulska, Martin de Saulles, Catherine Ebenezer, Linda Fawcett, Virginia Havergal, Rob Hughes, Ida Kwan, Shirley Parker-Munn, Claire Pillar, Ann Smith, Matt Treadwell, Ian Walker, Nina Whitcombe.