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.

Digitisation Projects/Preservation

Caldwell, Tracey; Scan and Deliver Information World Review, 248 July/August 2008: 14-16 – Three-page article looks at the British Library's digitisation programme which includes 19 th -century newspapers, archive sound recording and UK theses. The overriding issues in relation to copyright clearance are discussed in some depth. The arrangements with partners present and past including JISC and Microsoft are covered as well as specific project such as ongoing work on the Mary Le Bow sound archive which is included as a case study. [RH]

The Library of Congress National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program, et. al. International Study on the Impact of Copyright Law on Digital Preservation Library of Congress, Digital Preservation (July 2008) (http://www.digitalpreservation.gov/partners/resources/pubs/wipo_digital_
preservation _fina l_report2008.pdf) – In a world of ephemeral digital objects, libraries need to be aware of the issues surrounding digital preservation. The Library of Congress National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program (NDIIPP) created a report with its counterparts from other countries to review the current state of copyright laws and make recommendations for legislative reform. The section that covers US copyright law is very complete, covering all appropriate laws for digitization and digital preservation activities. Joint recommendations include establishing laws that would apply equally to all categories of copyrighted materials in all media and formats. Without more even laws and policies, we risk losing print and digital materials every day. - KC *

The British Library. Digitisation strategy 2008-2011 British Library (August 2008) (http://www.bl.uk/aboutus/stratpolprog/digi/digitisation/digistrategy/) – When a major library institution like the British Library sets out its vision for digitisation over the next ten years (as well as drivers and priorities for the next three years), it's worth paying close attention to. Especially when the strategy says that the library will "open up access to content", "create a critical mass of digitised content" and "facilitate the interpretation of our content by others for new audiences". Very few other libraries in the world match the British Library's collection; however libraries of all shapes and sizes can take some pointers when developing their own strategic digitisation plans. Guiding Principles in the plan cover user needs, business models, intellectual property rights, storage and preservation, resource discovery and technical aspects of digitisation. Also worth noting is brief section titled "How we will measure success". It is framed in generalised terms, but perhaps more defined targets will be forthcoming. The library estimates that less than 1% of their collection has been digitised, so it will interesting to see how this new strategy goes about uncovering and sharing treasures from their collection. - WC*

Education

Kelton, AJ. Virtual Worlds?: Outlook Good EDUCAUSE Review 43(5) (September/October 2008): 15-22. ( http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ERM0850.pdf ) – The Sept/Oct issue of EDUCAUSE Review focuses on the theme of virtual worlds in higher education. Each of the authors, who are also identified by their avatar names, is a student, faculty or instructional technologist with substantial academic experiences in virtual worlds to share. AJ Kelton's (aka AJ Brooks) piece focuses on what is currently the most popular virtual world, Second Life. With more than 14 million users, of which 59% fall within the age brackets of 18-44 years, hundreds of educational institutions are building a presence in Second Life. Kelton, however, does not ignore the very real challenges ahead for virtual world use in education. For example, the wide perceptual that virtual worlds are nothing more than sophisticated games will need to be overcome if virtual world pedagogy is to gain acceptance. This entire issue is an excellent introduction, without the hype, to the potential application of virtual worlds by higher education institutions. - SG*

Maness, Jack M., Tomasz Miaskiewicz, and Tamara Sumner. Using personas to understand the needs and goals of institutional repository users D-Lib Magazine 14(9/10) (September/October 2008)
(http://www.dlib.org/dlib/september08/maness/09maness.html) – This article attempts to answer questions related to the underuse of institutional repositories (IRs) in higher education. Interviews were conducted by the authors at the University of Colorado at Boulder (UCB) with eight graduate students and twelve faculty members from several disciplines. The results were then compiled using the Latent Semantic Analysis (LSA) approach used in the human-computer interaction (HCI) field. The clustering of the results into four unique user groups, or personas, provide interesting results that can help to guide IR creators and managers in the design and marketing of IRs. The authors provide a brief background on IRs, a detailed description of personas and their use in the HCI discipline, their methodology for the interviews, and their results. A discussion of the four personas identified through the interview process reveals some of the challenges and concerns that potential depositors have with IRs, especially related to design, tools, and the use of intermediaries to facilitate IR deposit and description. An appendix gives an extended look at the four personas that emerged from the interview process, and their specific wants and needs in relation to an IR at UCB. The LSA technique applied to this study revealed some fascinating evidence and user groupings that should assist anyone thinking about establishing an IR or currently working with the challenges of users submitting content to an IR. - BE *

Palmer, Carole L., Lauren C. Teffeau, and Mark P. Newton. Identifying Factors of Success in CIC Institutional Repository Development - Final Report New York: Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, August 2008. ( http://hdl.handle.net/2142/8981 ) – There are now many institutional repository case studies available, but what sets this report apart is its comparative method, and especially its focus on IR development as an emerging area of professional librarianship--albeit one without established criteria for successful IR implementation. In addition to outlining the approaches of three research university IR programs, the report looks at the human and organizational infrastructure of IRs with a focus on development teams, the role of liaison librarians, core competencies, content acquisition issues, and suggested areas for future investigation. It calls on repository programs to think more strategically and specifically about the role of the repository by asking questions such as: "What specific problems can IRs solve for faculty?" Based on in-depth, extensively quoted interviews with librarians, developers and faculty members, this report will reaffirm the experiences of many repository managers while providing them a number of new ideas for program development, and it provides a good overview of repository development issues for those librarians not as familiar with the field. - BR *

Housewright, Ross, and Roger Schonfeld. Ithaka's 2006 Studies of Key Stakeholders in the Digital Transformation of Higher Education Error! Hyperlink reference not valid. New York: Ithaka, 18 August 2008. (http://ithaka.org/publications/facultyandlibrariansurveys) – In 2006, Ithaka administered two surveys of university faculty and librarians (targeted at collection development directors). The survey generated 4,100 faculty responses and 350 from librarians, and resulted in thousands of pages of data. This report distills some of the more interesting findings and key implications from that data. Ithaka has also posted the data at ICPSR , where member institutions can access it. It is always difficult to distill the findings of such a report into a one-paragraph citation, so don't expect any miracles this time. Rather, here are a few quotes to pique your interest: "An important lesson is that the library is in many ways falling off the radar screens of faculty." "Faculty, across disciplines and institutional sizes, expect the importance of e-books to grow only slightly in the future...Somewhat oddly given this low level of faculty interest in e-books, many librarians consider the provisioning of e-books an important role..." "It is clear that [institutional] repositories have not become embedded in faculty workflows; in fact, many faculty are not even aware of their existence." Much more in the full report. - RT*

General

Laplante, Philip A. Open Source: The Dark Horse of Software? Computing Reviews (15 July 2008) (http://www.reviews.com/hottopic/hottopic_essay_09.cfm) – Frequently we have the need to explain open source software (OSS) to people who may not have a high level of familiarity with, and perhaps actually skepticism towards, the concept. Unfortunately, all too frequently articles or other informational pieces that could be useful take on a decidedly "rah-rah" tone in support of OSS, which casts serious doubts on the validity and objectivity of the piece. Thankfully, this is not the case with this article. In a well laid-out and neutral fashion based on evidence culled from research into open-source projects, the author describes the major issues one faces related to evaluation and implementation of open-source software and gives some practical tips related to both topics. Written from the perspective of a researcher, this article could be useful as an "intro piece" for your library's administrative team if you are in the midst of evaluating open source software. - FC*

Council on Library and Information Resources. No Brief Candle: Reconceiving Research Libraries for the 21st Century Error! Hyperlink reference not valid. . Washington, DC: Council on Library and Information Resources, 2008. (http://www.clir.org/pubs/reports/pub142/pub142.pdf) – This report deals with the challenging question of how research libraries should reinvent themselves to deal with rapidly developing digital technologies and other thorny 21st century issues. The first part of the report presents proceedings from a February 2008 symposium held by the Council on Library and Information Resources to explore this topic. It also contains recommendations derived from that symposium and from the second part of the report, which contains essays by Paul N. Courant, Andrew Dillon, Richard E. Luce, Stephen G. Nichols, Daphnee Rentfrow, Abby Smith, Kate Wittenberg, and Lee L. Zia. CLIR President Charles Henry sums it up this way: "This report demands change. Common themes include collaboration between librarians, faculty, and information technology experts to articulate strategies and tactical approaches to a rapidly changing environment. This represents a broad research agenda that cannot be executed by a single profession. We are asked collectively to rethink current hiring practices, to provide for new career paths and opportunities for professional development, and to consider redefining libraries as multi-institutional entities. The latter entails a mandate to eliminate redundancy by calibrating resources, staff, and infrastructure functions to the collective enterprise of the federated institutions. This transcends the traditional concept of a library (and by extension a university or college) while preserving the programmatic strengths and mission of the individual schools, and in fact should enhance intellectual productivity in a far more cost-effective fashion." – CB*

Guy, Marieke. A Desk Too Far?: The Case for Remote Working Ariadne (56) (June 2008) (http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue56/guy/) – Remote working (or telecommuting) has been around almost as long as computers, but has not been actively encouraged or taken advantage of within libraries. The author (whose focus is on recent legislation on this topic in the UK) provides information on the pros and cons of remote working for both individuals and companies. Some of the benefits include: work-life balance, higher productivity, flexibility, environmental concerns, and reduction of overhead costs for utilities and space. Some of the challenges include: loss of face-to-face contact with colleagues, perceptions in-house towards those who work remotely, morale issues, organizational and technical issues, and support from the education and public sector. The author describes some solutions to meet the challenges, and closes with a look at the 21st century office of the future. The article revisits many of the challenges and opportunities inherent with remote working, but the focus of the article is on UK-related legislation and law, and thus may not have applicability to efforts in this area outside of the UK. - BE *

Miller, Rebecca. Future-Proof Your Library Library Journal (15 August 2008) (http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6585850.html) – For this piece LJ emailed formerly named library "Movers and Shakers" for "their ideas on how to ensure a vital library for the future." As you might imagine, they got back a wide range of thoughts and ideas that are well worth pondering. Here's a few to pique your interest. "Future-proof librarians must be not just comfortable with change but able to lead it." - David Lee King; "Flexibility is the key to future-proofing -- in staffing, in budgeting, in planning. We can't continue to do what we've always done -- we need latitude from administrations and funding sources to take risks and be proactive and responsive." - Jennifer Nelson; "In order for libraries to be sustainable, we need to abandon the idea of sustainability. I believe relevancy is the key, not sustainability. And although these two ideas can (and do, in a way) support each other, it can be detrimental to libraries to become too focused on trying to achieve long-term sustainability that we miss out on remaining relevant to our communities' current, vital (and, yes, even sometimes short-term) needs." - Helene Blowers; "The future-proof library will encourage my heart -- to grow, explore, learn, and experience. It will know me and provide information I didn't even know I needed. I will experience information in new ways, inside the library or wherever the library happens to be: on my 'digital lifestream' device, via my home information/entertainment devices, and via the cloud of data that will be available to me wherever I go." - Michael Stephens – RT*

Pratt, Mary K. Five Ways To Drive Your Best Workers Out the Door Computerworld (August 25, 2008) (http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=
printArticleBasic&articleId=323248) – While this article is written with the corporate IT crowd in mind, it's also applicable for library info tech managers. In fact, it's applicable to ANY manager. The advice here is not anything groundbreaking, but it does provide a good reminder for us of what we should try to avoid while managing. Particularly helpful are the "Better Way" suggestions related to each "mistake" that could potentially be made by a manager. Since it is so hard to find good employees with the requisite library and IT skills in the first place, it makes sense that we be mindful of not doing things that make people want to leave. - FC*

Adamson, Veronica, Paul Bacsich, and Ken Chad, et. al. JISC & SCONUL Library Management Systems Study (March 2008) (http://www.sconul.ac.uk/news/lms_report/lmsstudy/lmsstudy.pdf) – Although published earlier this year, this report is just beginning to get attention outside the United Kingdom. While some would say that there is little new in this report, the value of this report is that it provides an additional perspective; one that confirmations what we see happening in North America is, in fact, a global phenomenon. In the report, we find that like the US and Canadian LMS markets, the UK market is dominated by four vendors with relatively little product differentiation among the various systems. Libraries are slow to adapt ERMS (Electronic Resource Management Systems) and remain unconvinced of the value of federated search products. Additionally, libraries are not using the information they gather about user preferences in ways that help enhance the position of the library as their patron's first choice for resource discovery. Finally, local OPACs are losing ground as preferred information discovery systems with the end result being the potential for the traditional LMS to become just a back-end system to other, more global and encompassing, resource discovery systems. - FC*

Metropolitan Library System. Best Practices For the Customer-Focused Library WebJunction (27 August 2008) (http://www.webjunction.org/c/document_library/get_file?folderId=
8052623&name=DLFE-1830002.pdf) – Considering the recent discussion on library email lists and blogs about calling library users 'members' rather than 'customers', this analysis of library patrons by a retail consultant, phrased in retail terms, may irk some, but it is a very useful document for librarians wanting to understand their users. Commissioned by the Metropolitan Library System, the study looked at customer behaviour in four Chicago area libraries (public and academic). Use of the library was measured by tracking customers' movements within a library, by questionnaires and by video tracking of traffic flow, wait times and transactions times. Some results are surprising - 56% of people spent less than 10 minutes in the library and two-thirds did not know what they wanted before they arrived. The first half of the report outlines these and other key findings in brief paragraphs, and the second half contains best practice solutions, including suggestions for libraries with no budget, low budget or high budgets. Whether they use the terms members, patrons, users or customers, there is no doubt that libraries can learn a lot from the hard-nosed data collection and analysis that the retail industry has spent years refining. Supporting data from the consultants, and implementation plans from the library directors of the target libraries can also be found on the WebJunction site. – WC*

Information Access

Buckley-Owen, Tim. Athens still in ID fight , Information World Review 249 September 2008: 14-16 – Three page analysis of Athens and Shibboleth, the gateway services to content for students and the education sector. The development of OpenAthens as a means to respond to the Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML) standard, the role of the UK Access Management Federation and its own open standards-based software Shibboleth are discussed in detail. Following the failure of Eduserv, who operate Athens, to agree a price with JISC to keep that service within the UK Access Management Federation, customer and supplier response is detailed. [RH]

Kroski, Ellyssa. On the Move with the Mobile Web: Libraries and Mobile Technologies Library Technology Reports 44(5)(July 2008) http://www.techsource.ala.org/ltr/
on-the-move-with-the-mobile-web-libraries-and-mobile-technologies.html ) – More and more library users are using their cellphones or other mobile devices (e.g., PDAs, smartphones, etc.) for much more than talking and texting. Many are searching and browsing the web, reading magazines and books, and generally doing things that until recently required a computer to do. In this issue of Library Technology Reports , Kroski does an excellent job of surveying the present usage of mobile devices, providing an overview of devices, providers, and features, describing the various activities these devices support, highlighting how libraries are responding with services tailored for these devices, and providing good advice and assistance for any libraries wanting to go further. It is well-researched, nicely illustrated, and chock-full of good advice and assistance with getting started. Highly recommended for any library wanting to better understand mobile users and/or tailoring services for them. – RT*

Wilbanks, John. Public Domain, Copyright Licenses and the Freedom to Integrate Science Journal of Science Communication 7(2) (2008) (http://jcom.sissa.it/archive/07/02/Jcom0702(2008)C04/) – In this article, John Wilbanks, Vice President of the Science Commons, makes a passionate plea for putting scientific databases in the public domain. He strongly argues against the use of Creative Commons licenses (or other "Free/Libre/Open" licenses) for this purpose. For example, he explains the problem with licenses that require attribution in the context of database integration and federation, which he calls the "cascading attribution" problem: "Would a scientist need to attribute 40,000 data depositors in the event of a query across 40,000 data sets? How does this relate to the evolved norms of citation within a discipline, and does the attribution requirement indeed conflict with accepted norms in some disciplines? Indeed, failing to give attribution to all 40,000 sources could be the basis for a copyright infringement suit at worst, and at best, imposes a significant transaction cost on the scientist using the data." As "open data" moves front and center, these are issues worth carefully thinking about. – CB*

Farmer, Lesley S.J. Girls and Technology: What Public Libraries Can Do Library Hi Tech News 25(5) (June 2008) ( http://www.emeraldinsight.com/10.1108/07419050810901915 ) – Public libraries that have computer labs, offer free internet access, IT training programs and console games that all enjoy high usage may make the mistake of not analysing the use and effectiveness of those programs. After all, if it ain't broke (people are using the library and facilities are booked out) then why fix it (why waste time analysing success)? Farmer's article is a call to public libraries to ensure that their programs are meeting the needs of an underserved cohort of library members -- teenage girls. Farmer's assertions that "even in the twenty-first century, a gendered digital divide exists” and "libraries offer a safe learning environment for girls to explore technology" should remind public library managers, children's' and youth services librarians and IT librarians to ensure that their IT programs and facilities include this important group of library members. An easy-to-read article backed up by statistics, an outline of principles to consider when planning IT programs, and some examples of successful public library programs. – WC*

Gatenby, Janifer. The Networked Library Service Layer: Sharing Data for More Effective Management and Co-operati on Ariadne (56) (30 July 2008) ( http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue56/gatenby/ ) – One could argue, as Gatenby does here, that despite the fact that most libraries have been networked for well over a decade, they have yet to take full advantage of the opportunities to work more efficiently and effectively. That is, some data and services that libraries need may be more profitably maintained not at the local level by individual libraries, but at a group or global level. In this piece Gatenby identifies various kinds of library data and suggests ways in which it could become more useful and valuable if we move it up into shared spaces. She states that doing so is a crucial first step to being able to completely re-engineer integrated library systems to function at the network level. "It is important for libraries to own and control their data resources; to be free to share them, provide access to them and to expose the data," she asserts, "It is less important that the libraries own or run the software that manipulates and manages the data." Full disclosure: I work with Janifer Gatenby at OCLC. – RT*

Tonkin, Emma. Persistent Identifiers: Considering the Options Ariadne (56) (30 July 2008) (http://www.ariadne.a.uk/issue56/tonkin/ ) – Experienced web users know that things change, and in so doing, links can break. So the idea of creating an identifier that can point to an object no matter where it moves has been with us for almost as long as the web itself. Perhaps that explains why there are so many ways it can be done, each of which is enumerated here by Tonkin. Briefly highlighted are URN, PURL, DOI, NBN, ARK, and OpenURL. Tonkin then discusses a number of issues relating to this problem space: opacity; authority and centrality; semantics, flexibility and complexity; availability and viability; and technical solutions versus social commitment. As a testimony to the difficulty of this problem, Tonkin concedes that "technology cannot create a persistent identifier, in the digital library community's sense of the term" and that this is an area "in which there are more questions than answers." I couldn't agree more, but perhaps after reading this paper you will have a few less questions than before. – RT*

Bothma, Theo J. D. Access to libraries and information: Towards a fairer world (IFLA/FAIFE World Report V. 7) . The Hague, Netherlands: International Federation of Library Associations and Agencies, May 2008. ( http://www.ifla.org.sg/faife/report/ifla-faife_world_report_series_VII.pdf ) – This is the 4th in a series of reports from IFLA/FAIFE on the state of intellectual freedom around the world. In this report, representatives from 116 countries provide information about intellectual freedom issues in their country. An encouraging sign is that this report contains reports from a number of countries that were not represented in prior reports. In addition to providing basic statistical information related to libraries, including details about Internet access, the report provides information at the country level about antiterrorism legislation, freedom of information laws, violations of freedom of access to information as well as violations of freedom of expression. In addition to the country reports, several commissioned articles are part of the report as well. These provide extended background information on topics related to intellectual freedom, such as censorship in Arab countries, the USA Patriot Act and its impact on libraries, and the role of libraries in fighting corruption in Russia. – FC*

Information Retrieval

Buckley-Owen, Tim; Bloggers, Blowers and Leakers , Information World Review 248 July/August 2008: 10-12 – This article, based on the Jason Arundale memorial lecture - delivered by the author, looks at the information professional's role in helping to ‘unmask the secret state'. Drawing on examples taken from blogging and whistleblowing, this feature piece also looks at current attitudes towards freedom of information, including Government attitudes, in this context. The article also looks at the activities of Wikileaks ( http://wikileaks.org/ ) described as the ‘whistleblowers equivalent of Wikipedia. [RH]

Hagedorn, Kat, and Joshua Santelli. Google Still Not Indexing Hidden Web URLs D-Lib Magazine 14(7/8) (July/August 2008) (http://www.dlib.org/dlib/july08/hagedorn/07hagedorn.html ) – This article highlights a long-standing challenge for digital libraries: the digital collections that libraries, museums and archives create with great effort and expense are not always well-indexed by Web search engines, thus decreasing the potential use and impact of those digital resources. OAIster , a "union catalog of digital resources" developed at the University of Michigan, provides access to over 16 million digital resources by harvesting OAI metadata from over 1000 repositories worldwide. About 45% of this material, the authors determine, is also indexed by Google, leaving the remaining 55% "hidden" in the deep web, unindexed by Web search engines. Two recent blog posts (and related comments) provide important follow-up discussions to this article. Roy Tennant cites further anecdotal figures from other repositories that support the findings of this article, and suggests that libraries, museums and archives need many different strategies to get their content to users. Similarly, John Wilkin argues explicitly that it is cultural heritage institutions, rather than companies like Google, that bear the responsibility for making this content more visible: "we must also learn...that a simplified rendering of the content, so that it can be easily found by the search engines, is not an unfortunate compromise, but rather a necessary part of our work." - BR *

Linoski, Alexis, and Tine Walczyk. Federated Search 101 netConnect (15 July 2008) ( http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6571320.html ) – This is a credible, if somewhat superficial, review of the recent state of the library metasearch tool market and how to approach tool selection. Since this is a fast-moving market you may find it useful to take the pulse of the market closer to when you need to select an option, since this piece is based on information already a year old, but the general information probably still applies (e.g., most desired features, etc.). – RT*

Oder, Norman. BiblioCommons Emerges: "Revolutionary" Social Discovery System for Libraries Library Journal (19 July 2008)
(http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6579748.html) – Those of us on the speaking circuit have seen Beth Jefferson speak about BiblioCommons , a new "social" discovery system for libraries, but few until now have actually seen it in action. And as of this writing, the BiblioCommons website still consists of one splash page with testimonials. Now this brief piece by LJ editor Oder provides a quick introduction to it as it has been released "in the wild" at Oakville Public Library in Ontario. Apparently BiblioCommons is an add-on to your existing library system, it doesn't replace it, but they claim interoperability with some key vendors. The most interesting part (for me, at least) is that it appears they will be setting up ways that user-contributed content can be shared among libraries, thereby helping to create a critical mass of content faster. – RT*

Knowledge Management/Social Networking

De Saulles, Martin; Never too small to join the party Information World Review 249 September 2008: 10-12 – Drawing on recent research conducted at the University of Brighton, the ways in which SMEs are using Web 2.0 services compare by SME type is investigated. Problems facing suppliers and the diverse nature of the sector are investigated in this feature. Usage of technology type (Skype, intranet, wikis) and web services used for marketing (LinkedIn, My Space, Facebook) are considered with reasons suggested for differentiation in usage. The article concludes with an overview of how commercial ‘Enterprise Services' and ‘Consumer Web' services might meet the needs of SMEs and, in particular, how those services offered by Google and Microsoft Office Live might face that challenge. [RH]

Bejune, Matthew, and Jana Ronan. Social Software in Libraries: SPEC Kit 304 Error! Hyperlink reference not valid. . Washington, DC. Association of Research Libraries, July 2008. ( http://www.arl.org/bm~doc/spec304web.pdf ) – Looking specifically at ten types of applications (social networking, media sharing, social bookmarking, wikis, blogs, RSS, chat and IM, VoIP, virtual worlds, and widgets), and with a response rate of 52% (64 out of 123 libraries), this survey makes clear that use of social software by ARL member libraries has rapidly increased in the last decade. Over 95% of responding libraries report that they use some kind of social software application, and most libraries are implementing multiple types of applications, often integrated into larger tools. IM and chat are the most popular type of application (59 libraries, or 94%) while VoIP is the least used (18 libraries, 28%). Although implementation is widespread, support models vary widely. Almost half the libraries report that social software activities remain uncoordinated, reliant upon the efforts of individual librarians. Most activities started as grassroots efforts by such librarians, with only five libraries (8%) reporting that library users requested such services. The survey does not explore assessment in detail, but finds that perceived benefits include enhanced visibility and communication, while challenges include finding time to learn the tools, and developing the staff expertise (self-study being the most common method). The executive summary of this SPEC Kit is available free online. The full version contains over 60 examples of social software usage at responding libraries. - BR *

Zorich, Diane M., Gunter Waibel, and Ricky Erway. Beyond the Silos of the LAMs: Collaboration among Libraries, Archives and Museums Dublin, OH: OCLC Programs and Research, 2008. (http://www.oclc.org/programs/publications/reports/2008-05.pdf) – Collaboration between libraries, archives, and museums. It sounds like a good idea, but how to make it work? To find out, RLG Programs held one-day workshops at the University of Edinburgh, Princeton University, the Smithsonian Institution, the Victoria and Albert Museum, and Yale University. It also had phone conversations and meetings with thought leaders and representatives of other RLG Programs partners. This report summarizes its findings, and offers guidance about how to effectively collaborate – CB*

Anon. What do virtual worlds mean for business? KM Review , 11(3), July/August 2008, 30-33 – This article is an extract from Melcrum's recent report “How to use social media to engage employees”. Organisations use virtual world technology, such as Second Life, to collaborate with customers and members of staff with little or no cost. Examples of how companies such as Toyota and General Motors, Dell and IBM, have developed their customer relationships through Second Life are briefly discussed. [GC]

Akhavan, P. CKM: Where knowledge and the customer meet . KM Review , 11(3), July/August 2008, 24-29 – This article compares and contrasts knowledge management (KM) and customer relationship management (CRM) and joins key concepts from both disciplines to create customer knowledge management (CKM). The results of combining these approaches will enable a better understanding of customers' true needs and expectations. This will enable organisations or departments to improve customer services. This is a strategic process and tables are provided detailing the first and second levels within this conceptual framework. [GC]

van Winkelen, C., McDermott, R. Facilitating the handover of knowledge KM Review , 11(2), May/June 2008, 24-27 – Losing professional knowledge through staff leaving (transferring jobs or retirement) has pushed organisations to develop knowledge harvesting tools. This article describes a series of these tools that are actually being used within organisations. A list of 10 key questions that knowledge managers need to consider in knowledge transfer exercises is detailed. [GC]

Legal Issues

Hirtle, Peter B. Copyright Renewal, Copyright Restoration, and the Difficulty of Determining Copyright Status D-Lib Magazine 14(7/8)(July/August 2008) (http://www.dlib.org/dlib/july08/hirtle/07hirtle.html) – Peter Hirtle's chart on "Copyright Term and the Public Domain in the United States" has long been an essential quick reference guide to determining public domain status. In this article Hirtle untangles a particularly complicated strand of copyright law: how does one determine the copyright status of a work published in the United States from 1923 to 1964? The 1996 restoration of US copyrights in foreign works has not only prevented libraries from offering to the public the full text of most foreign works, but has also made it very difficult, if not impossible, to determine with certainty the copyright status of works published in the United States during that period. Using concrete examples, Hirtle outlines several questions that must be asked to determine copyright status. (Among others: was the work solely published in the United States? Is the American work a translation or other derivative work based on a foreign work? Was the work first published outside the United States?) There is no automated way to answer these questions, and in many cases comes it down to the almost impossible task of proving a negative, so libraries that wish to offer material from this period must settle on a strategy that identifies and manages risks. - BR *

Albanese, Andrew. Senate Passes Orphan Works Bill; 'PRO IP' Bill Headed to President's Desk Library Journal (30 September 2008) (http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6600674.html?nid=2673&rid
=reg_visitor_id&source=title ) – Two very important copyright bills have been acted on by Congress recently. The Shawn Bentley Orphan Works Act of 2008 has been passed by the House. Both the House and the Senate have passed the Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property Act (PRO-IP Act), which is being sent for the President's signature. ALA has issued a call to action about the Orphan Works Act. Albanese's article provides a quick summary of the bills, and then discusses the Orphan Works Act in more detail. – CB*

Security

Albrecht, Katherine. RFID Tag - You're It Scientific American 299(3) (September 2008): 72-77. ( http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=how-rfid-tags-could-be-used ) – RFID tags come in a number of shapes and sizes. Libraries are using them to track circulation, and governments are using them to track people traveling across borders. Albrecht, the director of consumer privacy group CASPIAN, looks at potential for abuse as RFID chips become more ubiquitous in our society. A good article to read to be informed of the "con" side of the privacy and security issues if you are in discussions with your community about the possibility of using RFID technology in your library. This article is available in the online version of SciAm with a different title, but it doesn't include some of the helpful explanatory graphics from the print version. - KC *

Web/Intranet Design

Wroblewski, Luke. The Information Architecture Behind Good Web Forms Bulletin of the American Society for Information Science and Technology 34(6) (August/September 2008) (http://www.asis.org/Bulletin/Aug-08/AugSep08_Wroblewski.html) – In a sense, the whole WWW is nothing but a bunch of forms. For that reason, speculation on what makes some forms work better than others is always a hot topic. In this article Luke Wroblewski, author of " Web Form Design: Filling in the Blanks " (Rosenfeld Media, 2008), gives his "top three tips for designing good forms". From the get-go, he states a truism that can't be repeated enough, "No one really wants to fill in a form". If people have to, they want to get it over as soon as possible. This means making the form as short and easy to navigate as possible. Indeed, Wroblewski argues for a cumulative approach to collecting information, something he calls 'gradual engagement', where you only ask for those bits of information you absolutely need to accomplish the specific task at hand and through later activities you build out a fuller picture. This is just one of several interesting articles in this edition of the ' Bulletin of the ASIST '. – LRK*

Anon. How IBM uses an intranet to connect a global audience KM Review , 11(2), May/June 2008, 8-33 – IBM's intranet serves 365,000 employees and is translated into 16 languages. In an interview with IBM's Intranet editor-in-chief, this article discusses the decisions and processes behind delivering such as far-reaching resource. Web 2.0 applications are used to facilitate collaboration and all in-house bloggers work to the self-developed blogging guidelines. The editor comments that this is a “place to go” and has helped staff transcend national cultures and boundaries. [GC]

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.