INTERNET RESOURCES NEWSLETTER The free, monthly, newsletter for academics, students, engineers, scientists and social scientists.
Latest issue: http://www.hw.ac.uk/libwww/irn/irn124/irn124.html Edited by: Roddy MacLeod ([EMAIL PROTECTED] ), Catherine Ure and Marion Kennedy Heriot-Watt University Library ISSN: 1361-9381 Web: http://www.hw.ac.uk/libwww/irn/irn.html ------------------------------- The Internet Resources Newsletter is only distributed to readers who have subscribed to the service. To subscribe or unsubscribe please visit the homepage at http://www.hw.ac.uk/libwww/irn/irn.html or to unsubscribe by email please reply to this email with unsubscribe in the subject field. -------------------------------- ISSUE 124- CONTENTS 1. COMMENT Random Quotes Internet Resources Newsletter by email and RSS News items of interest If you only read one thing this month, read... And, if you only read one thing this month and you are interested in metadata, read... 2. A-Z NEW AND NOTABLE WEB SITES Information and reviews of new and recent Web sites 3. NICE WEB SITE(S) This month: Common Information Environment 4. PRESS RELEASES BioMed Central announces publishing partnership with The Scientist magazine 5. NETWORK NEWS Athens, EEVL, SOSIG, EDINA, Eduserv Chest, MIMAS, PSIgate, BIOME, Netskills, ELDIS, BIZ/ed, AHDS, JISCmail, UK Data Archive, Chemical Database Service, Academic Info, RDN, Humbul 6. RECENT INTERNET BOOKS IN THE LIBRARY Recent arrivals 7. BLOGORAMA News of Weblogs, RSS etc. 8. BOOK REVIEWS Review of: Weblogs and libraries by Laurel A. Clyde 9. INTERNET IN PRINT New Review of Information Networking Vol 10 No 1 10. GET A LIFE! LEISURE TIME After hours ------------------- 1. COMMENT ------------------- A Merry Christmas to all Internet Resources Newsletter readers! Random Quotes "Worldwide, access to the Net has grown more than 125 percent since 2000, with European users (28.4 percent) now slightly surpassing North American users (27.3 percent), according to InternetWorldStats.com." InformationToday, Dec 2004. ----- Internet Resources Newsletter by email and RSS Over 28,000 people now subscribe to the free email version of this Newsletter. Very many thanks go to Willco who distribute the email version. To subscribe, at no cost, go to http://www.hw.ac.uk/libwww/irn/irn.html The Internet Resources Newsletter has an RSS feed. This means that you can read its 'headlines' (essentially the Table of Contents) through a feedreader or service such as Bloglines' My Blogs, and then link through to the sections of interest. The RSS feed is available at: http://www.hw.ac.uk/libwww/irn/irn.rss This is a .rss file and may not display in some browsers because it must be processed (or 'parsed') before it can be displayed. The easiest way to do this is via Bloglines' My Blogs, or via a feedreader, such as those listed in the RSS Primer. ----- Text version A text only version of the Internet Resources Newsletter is available at: http://www.hw.ac.uk/cgi-bin/parser.pl/0304/www.hw.ac.uk/libwww/irn/irn.html ----- Here is this month's selection of news items of interest Open access publishing on the decline? By Bobby Pickering http://www.iwr.co.uk/IWR/1159363 [EMAIL PROTECTED] is released Ovid has launched [EMAIL PROTECTED], enabling society and publishing partners to develop specialised portals, which supports communities of practitioners and researchers in medicine and science. http://www.biblio-tech.com/uksg/SI_PD.cfm?PID=10&ArticleID=1592&issueno=81&XSection=Business >From UKSG Serials e-News New Google Groups Beta Launches Google has launched a new version of its Google Groups. It lets users create, manage, search, and browse Web-based groups as well as subscribe to and track favorite groups. Building on the foundation of the original service that currently includes more than 1 billion searchable posts from the Usenet archive, Google Groups now offers users the ability to join and follow discussions among different groups and share information more easily. http://www.infotoday.com/newsbreaks/wnd041206.shtml >From NewsBreaks Google to scan famous libraries The libraries of five of the world's most important academic institutions are to be digitised by Google. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4094271.stm >From BBC News ----- If you only read one thing this month (and you are a librarian), read... Google Scholar focuses on research-quality content by Barbara Quint http://www.infotoday.com/newsbreaks/nb041122-1.shtml And, if you only read one thing this month and you are interested in metadata, read... Is it time for a moratorium on metadata? Dick C.A. Bulterman. IEEE Multimedia, October-December 2004, pp. 10-17 Details at: http://csdl.computer.org/comp/mags/mu/2004/04/u4toc.htm Also available through IEEE Xplore. ---------------------------------------------------- 2. A-Z NEW & NOTABLE WEB SITES ---------------------------------------------------- �Wood Review� http://www.ogc.gov.uk/embedded_object.asp?docid=1002412 Investigating UK business experiences of competing for public contracts in other EU countries. ------------------------------- 4 International Careers & Jobs http://www.4icj.com/ 4 International Careers & Jobs is an international employment directory selecting and reviewing worldwide top job sites. 4icj.com includes more than 1000 reviewed career resources in 190 countries and is a free starting point to find overseas jobs and work abroad. ------------------------------- 58th Canadian Geotechnical Conference http://www.geosask2005.ca/en/ Saskatoon, Canada, September 18 - 21 / 2005 ------------------------------- Academic and Scholar Search Engines and Sources http://zillman.blogspot.com/2004/12/academic-and-scholar-search-engines.html Internet MiniGuide Annotated Link Compilation white paper titled "Academic and Scholar Search Engines and Sources" is a 32 page research paper listing selected resources both new and existing that will help anyone who is attempting to find academic and scholarly information and knowledge available on the Internet. Each source is described along with the URL address than can be accessed. It is freely available as a .pdf file (966KB) at the above link from the Virtual Private Library� and authored by Marcus P. Zillman, M.S., A.M.H.A. [Released 12-03-04]. ------------------------------- Accoona http://www.accoona.com/ A search engine for business. ------------------------------- Advanced Search Techniques using Natural Language Processing http://www.freepint.com/issues/251104.htm#tips A recent tips article in Free Pint written by Tony Rose. ------------------------------- Alliance for Digital Inclusion http://www.citizensonline.org.uk/adi The Alliance for Digital Inclusion (ADI) is a collaboration of businesses, working together to promote digital inclusion. Current members are AOL UK, BT, Cisco Systems UK, IBM UK, Intel UK & Ireland, Microsoft UK and T-Mobile. ------------------------------- Analytical Sciences Digital Library http://www.asdlib.org/ ASDL is an electronic library that collects, catalogs, and links web-based information and discovery material pertinent to innovations in curricular developments and supporting resources about chemical measurements and instrumentation. ------------------------------- Arboricultural ASssociation http://www.trees.org.uk/ Fosters interest in trees, etc. ------------------------------- ArchNet http://archnet.asu.edu/ ArchNet has found a new home with the Archaeological Research Institute at Arizona State University ------------------------------- [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://services.inist.fr/public/eng/conslt.htm [EMAIL PROTECTED] allows you to search for documents (Journal articles, Journal issues, Books, Reports or Conferences, doctoral dissertations) in our catalog at the Institut de l'Information Scientifique et Technique. ------------------------------- Australian Journals OnLine http://www.nla.gov.au/ajol/ AJOL is the National Library of Australia's database of Australian electronic journals, newspapers, magazines, webzines, newsletters and e-mail fanzines. The database provides details and links to over 2000 titles that include local and overseas works with Australian content, authorship and/or emphasis as well as entries for sites which advertise or promote Australian journals. ------------------------------- Awareness Watch� Newsletter. http://virtualprivatelibrary.blogspot.com/Awareness%20Watch%20V2N12.pdf The December 2004 V2N12 issue is available. ------------------------------- Basement Information Centre http://www.basements.org.uk/ Essentially a national centre for information about the development and use of basements in new or existing dwellings. ------------------------------- BizTech Library http://cma.zdnet.com/texis/techinfobase/techinfobase BizTech Library is an important resource for professionals searching for the latest research on business and technology trends in their industry. With ZDNet BizTech Library you gain access to thousands of specialized articles and abstracts for $1 during the first month trial. After the one month period, if you would like to continue with the service, it's only $6.95 per month. ------------------------------- BRE Library of Packages Project http://projects.bre.co.uk/library/ The purpose of the project was to develop a library of measured process and resource data (the Library of Packages) related to construction packages and tasks for a range of construction forms. ------------------------------- British Polling Council: BPC http://www.britishpollingcouncil.org/ The British Polling Council (BPC) is an association of polling organisations that publish polls. The objectives of the Council ensure standards of disclosure designed to provide consumers of survey results that enter the public domain have an adequate basis for judging the reliability and validity of the results. ------------------------------- Common Information Environment Group http://www.common-info.org.uk/ The aim of the group is to help cement a collaborative, cross-sectoral partnership to build a common on-line information environment. ------------------------------- Conference Board http://www.conference-board.org/ The Conference Board creates and disseminates knowledge about management and the marketplace to help businesses strengthen their performance and better serve society. The Conference Board is a not-for-profit organization and holds 501 (c) (3) tax-exempt status in the United States. ------------------------------- Constructing Excellence http://www.constructingexcellence.org/ Constructing Excellence aims to achieve a step change in construction productivity by tackling the market failures in the sector and selling the business case for continuous improvement. ------------------------------- CyberTh�ses http://www.cybertheses.org/ �Vous trouverez sur ce site, les r�f�rences aux th�ses soutenues dans les diff�rents �tablissements participant � Cyberth�ses et les liens hypertextes menant au texte int�gral de chacune d'elles.� ------------------------------- DigitalLife http://www.digitallife.com/ DigitalLife is a first of its kind consumer technology and entertainment event showcasing the latest in all things digital. October 14-16, 2005, New York. ------------------------------- dramafortraining http://www.dramafortraining.com/ �dramafortraining skillfully uses drama based interactive training workshops to help companies deliver messages, motivate, or challenge their workforce.� ------------------------------- eBooks World http://www.ebooksworld.de/ �eBooks World has been founded to provide the opportunity for all educators to publish their materials either in an e-book or print-on-demand format.� ------------------------------- eco5.com http://www.eco5.com/ �On our website we provide you with the world's largest financial, economic, and political link collection.� ------------------------------- Edexcel http://www.edexcel.org.uk/ �Edexcel was formed in 1996 by the merger of two well-respected bodies, BTEC (the Business & Technology Education Council) and ULEAC (the University of London Examinations and Assessment Council). Both were leaders in their respective fields of academic and vocational qualifications. Now Edexcel provides a very wide range of qualifications to cater for all needs and learning styles.� ------------------------------- eDigitalResearch.com http://www.edigitalresearch.com/index.htm �eDigitalResearch.com was founded in October 1999. Since then we have been working with some of the top global organisations, universities and academics to provide business focused market research capitalising on the tremendous impact of digital technology. � ------------------------------- Edinburgh Airport Rail Link: EARL http://www.earlproject.com/ The Edinburgh Airport Rail Link (EARL) is a national project to create direct rail services to and from Edinburgh Airport. ------------------------------- EEVL's Ejournal Search Engines - Computing http://www.eevl.ac.uk/eese/eese-comp.html Search the content of over 60 freely available full-text computing ejournals, selected for relevance and quality. Academic journals, professional and trade publications, and society journals are covered. ------------------------------- EEVL's Ejournal Search Engines - Engineering http://www.eevl.ac.uk/eese/eese-eng.html Search the content of over 160 freely available full-text engineering ejournals, selected for relevance and quality. Academic journals, professional and trade publications, and society journals are covered. ------------------------------- EEVL's Ejournal Search Engines - Mathematics http://www.eevl.ac.uk/eese/eese-math.html Search the content of freely available full-text mathematics ejournals, selected for relevance and quality. Academic journals, professional and trade publications, and society journals are covered. ------------------------------- ENGAGE http://www.engageweb.org/ About socially responsible construction projects. ------------------------------- English Dictionary http://www.english-dictionary.us/ No further information available about this site. ------------------------------- FreshPatents.com http://www.freshpatents.com/ The latest published US patent applications each week BEFORE the USPTO decision to grant/deny. ------------------------------- GIgateway http://www.gigateway.org.uk/ GIgateway� is a free web service aimed at increasing awareness of and access to geospatial information in the UK. ------------------------------- Glasgow Digital Library Ebooks http://gdl.cdlr.strath.ac.uk/gdlebooks.html An open-access ebook collection. ------------------------------- Go-Geo! http://www.gogeo.ac.uk/ Go-Geo! is a tool designed to help you find details about geo-spatial datasets and related resources within Great Britain tertiary education and beyond. This is a trial service for the academic community. ------------------------------- Google Desktop http://www.desktop.google.com/ �Find your email, files, web history and chats instantly. View web pages you've seen, even when you're not online Search as easily as you do on Google� ------------------------------- Google Scholar Focuses on Research-Quality Content http://www.infotoday.com/newsbreaks/nb041122-1.shtml An article by Barbara Quint ------------------------------- Grainger Engineering Library at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign http://g118.grainger.uiuc.edu/engroai/ Search Open Archives Initiative Information in Engineering, Computer Science, and Physics. ------------------------------- HandySoft http://www.handysoft.com/ HandySoft is a global software company that delivers innovative productivity solutions for commercial and government marketplaces. ------------------------------- Harvard Design Magazine http://www.gsd.harvard.edu/research/publications/hdm/ A forum for architecture, urban design and planning, etc. ------------------------------- High Energy Physics Libraries Webzine http://library.cern.ch/HEPLW/10/index.html Issue 10/ December 2004 ------------------------------- Home Buyer�s Guide http://www.thehomebuyersguide.org/ >From CABE. �This site will help you identify a quality home and ask the right >questions of estate agents and house builders so that you can demand the best.� ------------------------------- Interactions.org http://www.interactions.org/cms/ Interactions.org is designed to serve as a central resource for communicators of particle physics. The site is updated daily with news, information, images and links from the world of particle physics. ------------------------------- Internet2 http://www.internet2.edu/ Internet2 is a consortium being led by 207 universities working in partnership with industry and government to develop and deploy advanced network applications and technologies, accelerating the creation of tomorrow's Internet. Internet2 is recreating the partnership among academia, industry and government that fostered today�s Internet in its infancy. ------------------------------- ISDD� http://www.isdduk.com/ �ISDD� is a UK based software innovation company with research and development in London and a regional office in Hong Kong. Developed over a period of three years and originally as a bespoke solution for Rail Safety, ISDD�'s proprietary technology enables computers to form a 'conceptual understanding' of textual documents. This enables organisations to automate many information intensive processes.� ------------------------------- Jux2 http://www.jux2.com/ Combines the search results of Google, Yahoo and Ask Jeeves, highlighting the overlap and differences ------------------------------- Lawrence Webster Forrest http://www.fire-engineeringuk.co.uk/ A fire engineering and fire risk management consultancy. Available at this site are full text technical bulletins, on fire-related issues. ------------------------------- Learn Network Subject Springboards http://www.tafe.sa.edu.au/lsrsc/learn/springboards/main.htm >From TAFE, South Australia ------------------------------- Library and Information Science Abstracts: LISA http://www.cilip.org.uk/publications/lisa/ If you are interested in access to LISA and a CILIP member (Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals), CILIP now provides direct access to the database as a membership benefit. You have to register and authenticate your details on the CILIP web site under the "My Profile" option, but once completed you're away. Many thanks to Tales from the Terminal Room for this information. ------------------------------- Link-Up Digital http://www.infotoday.com/linkup/ Link-Up Digital is a biweekly updated, Web-only section of InformationToday featuring articles, reviews, and more for for savvy users and producers of electronic information products and services. ------------------------------- Meet-O-Matic http://www.meetomatic.com/ Meet-O-Matic is a meeting scheduler with a difference - you can experience for yourself in two minutes, with no registration ever required. ------------------------------- Mobot http://www.mobot.com/ A way to use your phone to shop. ------------------------------- MoMA http://www.moma.org/ The Museum of Modern Art is now open in midtown Manhattan ------------------------------- Mooter http://www.mooter.com/ A clustering search engine. Nice! ------------------------------- MSN Search http://beta.search.msn.com/ A new search engine. ------------------------------- mybusinessrates.gov.uk http://www.mybusinessrates.gov.uk/ mybusinessrates.gov.uk is a Government-funded site, designed to provide businesses with a single source of clear and concise information on business rates. ------------------------------- Nervana http://www.nervana.com/ �Nervana is a COMPLETE SOLUTION for enterprise customers, providing fast and intuitive single-point access to relevant and timely job-critical information from across fragmented sources.� ------------------------------- Newspaper Pictorials http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/rotogravures/ A new digital collection from the Library of Congress's Serial and Government Publications Division. ------------------------------- Online Etymology Dictionary http://www.etymonline.com/ The basic sources of this work are Weekley's "An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English," Klein's "A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language," "Oxford English Dictionary" (second edition), "Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology," Kluge's "Etymologisches W�rterbuch der Englischen Sprache," Ayto's "20th Century Words," and Chapman's "Dictionary of American Slang." ------------------------------- Open access journals in the ISI Citation Databases: Analysis of impact factors and citation patterns http://www.isinet.com/media/presentrep/essayspdf/openaccesscitations2.pdf By Marie E McVeigh, October 2004. ------------------------------- PixelPerfectDigital http://www.pixelperfectdigital.com/ Image site. ------------------------------- Portals Magazine http://www.portalsmag.com/ Portals Magazine provides essential information that will enable executives to successfully implement and maintain portal solutions, creating a competitive advantage for their companies and organizations. ------------------------------- Pragmatism Cybrary http://www.pragmatism.org/ Pragmatism is a major intellectual movement which started in America in the 1870s with the Metaphysical Club. Pragmatists have impacted politics, law, education, religion, and every academic discipline. ------------------------------- PressReleaseWORLD http://www.pressreleaseworld.com/ For information pertaining to Press Release Services, Public Retations Firms, Corporate Communications, Media Monitoring, and more. ------------------------------- Public STINET (Scientific & Technical Information Network) http://stinet.dtic.mil/ �The Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC)'s Scientific and Technical Information Network (STINET) Service helps the DoD community access pertinent scientific and technical information to meet mission needs effectively.� ------------------------------- Quality Information Checklist http://www.quick.org.uk/ This site helps children to check the quality of online information. ------------------------------- Research Magazine http://www.research-live.com/ Market research, etc. ------------------------------- Road Users� Alliance: RUA http://www.rua.org.uk/ The Road Users� Alliance (RUA) was formed to provide a voice for those organisations with an interest in ensuring the future of our road system. ------------------------------- Slips Assessment Tool http://146.101.202.138/ Welcome to the Slips Assessment Tool (SAT). The SAT is a freely downloadable computer software package that allows an operator to assess the slip potential of pedestrian walkway surfaces. ------------------------------- SpiderNevi http://www.spidernevi.com/ �SpiderNevi medical tutorial search engine project is a non commercial volunteer project started by a group of doctors from UK and India. Its main purpose is to provide a free human edited relevant tutorials directory to medical fraternity. All included links are reviewed by a volunteer team of doctors and medical students before inclusion in the SpiderNevi database.� ------------------------------- Stock.XCHNG http://www.sxc.hu/ A free stock photo site ------------------------------- Tap into Bath http://www.bath.ac.uk/library/tapintobath/ A source of knowledge about museums, art galleries, archives and libraries in Bath. ------------------------------- The Guide for Electronic Theses and Dissertations http://etdguide.org/ �We offer this site as a resource for graduate students who are writing theses or dissertations, for graduate faculty who want to mentor ETD authors, for graduate deans who want to initiate ETD programs, and for IT administrators at universities. The Guide is designed specifically for academic researchers and their mentors, yet anyone interested in research and e-publishing will enjoy this resource. Published by UNESCO, The Guide is an international, "living" document, written by ETD (electronic thesis and dissertation) scholars throughout the world (see About the Authors). The Guide will be updated regularly based on submissions by ETD authors and NDLTD members.� ------------------------------- The Innovate Gateway http://www.innovateonline.info/ The December 2004/January 2005 Volume 1, Issue 2 is now available. ------------------------------- The Open Archive Initiative (OAI) and Google Scholar http://www.freepint.com/issues/161204.htm#feature An article in Free Pint, by Nick Luft. ------------------------------- UJIKO http://www.ujiko.com/ On UJIKO, you simply decide whether a site is relevant or not with 2 buttons. ------------------------------- Valuation Office Agency: VOA http://www.voa.gov.uk/ The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) is an executive agency of the Inland Revenue (IR) with 85 offices spread throughout England, Wales and Scotland employing around 4000 people. ------------------------------- Vector http://vector.iop.org/ Vector is an exciting new books database from Institute of Physics Publishing, offering online access to all books published since 2000 together with earlier bestselling titles. ------------------------------- Voltimum http://www.voltimum.co.uk/ �Voltimum is the most comprehensive product data source for the electrical industry.� ------------------------------- Waste Aware Scotland http://www.wascot.org.uk/ Waste Aware Scotland is a national campaigning programme. Through Waste Aware Scotland we hope to change public attitudes and behaviour towards waste. ------------------------------- Zoo Logic http://www.zoologic.info/ A site on animals and zoo listings. --------------------------- 3. NICE WEB SITE --------------------------- In the course of finding sites of interest for this Newsletter, we sometimes come across Web sites which we feel deserve slightly more than a passing mention. Each month we will pick out one or more such sites, and give them a short review. The sites will normally be UK based, may be small or large, and be of interest or potential interest to academics. After lengthy discussions we have decided, with incredible creativity :-), to call these: Nice Web Sites. Details of previous Nice Web Sites are available in the Nice Web Site Archive. Common Information Environment http://www.common-info.org.uk/ The Common Information Environment (CIE) is a group of significant public sector stakeholders working together to deliver information, services, and empowerment across a range of sectors in order to meet the cross-domain real world needs of the citizens of the UK, both now and in the future. Lots of inteersting information at this site, as you would expect, including two blogs which those involved in teh information world will want to add to their aggregators. RM -------------------------------- 4. PRESS RELEASES -------------------------------- **** BioMed Central announces publishing partnership with The Scientist magazine **** BioMed Central is pleased to announce that the new website for The Scientist, the premier source for life science news, will from today be available on the BioMed Central platform. BioMed Central will now offer its library customers The Scientist print and online subscriptions, providing access to eighteen years of outstanding content, with the added benefits of online usage statistics, customer support and 24/7 service reliability. The Scientist website, www.the-scientist.com , has one million registrants, and receives over 2.5 million page impressions a month. This highly acclaimed magazine features content essential for all working life scientists. Sections include Breaking news, Highlights from the research literature, Research features, Technology Overviews, Business coverage and Opinion and Vision articles. Press Contacts: Grace Baynes or Natasha Robshaw at [EMAIL PROTECTED] or +44 (0) 20 7323 0323 ------------------------------ 5. NETWORK NEWS ------------------------------- Athens News Athens is an Access Management System for controlling access to web-based subscription services. The latest Athens news is available at: http://www.athensams.net/news/ EEVL News The latest news from EEVL, plus the latest additions to EEVL, The Hub for Engineering, Mathematics and Computing, is available at: http://www.eevl.ac.uk/news.htm SOSIG News The latest additions to SOSIG (Social Science Information Gateway) are available at: http://sosig.esrc.bris.ac.uk/roads/whats-new.html EDINA Newsline The latest issue of Edina (Edinburgh Data & INformation Access) Newsline can be found at: http://edina.ed.ac.uk/newsline/ Eduserv Chest News Eduserv Chest negotiates for all forms of commercially available electronic resource (abstracts, full text, journals, software, courseware, etc) for the education and research communities in the UK and Republic of Ireland, and it manages the resultant agreements. The latest news from Eduserv Chest is available at: http://www.eduserv.org.uk/chest/news/ MIMAS News MIMAS is a JISC-supported national data centre run by Manchester Computing, at the University of Manchester, to provide the following range of services to the academic community: Flexible on-line access to strategic research and teaching datasets. Access to key bibliographic information. Access to specialist support and training. Access to software packages and large-scale computing resources. The latest news from MIMAS can be found at: http://www.mimas.ac.uk/news.html New additions to PSIgate PSIgate (Physical Science Information Gateway) is the physical sciences hub of the Resource Discovery Network (RDN). http://www.psigate.ac.uk/newsite/whatsnew.html BIOME News BIOME is a collection of gateways which provide access to evaluated, quality Internet resources in the health and life sciences, aimed at students, researchers, academics and practitioners. The latest news from BIOME can be found at: http://biome.ac.uk/whatsnew/ Netskills: News Netskills aims to help the UK HE community make effective use of the Internet for teaching, research and administration. The latest news from Netskills can be found at: http://www.netskills.ac.uk/news/ What's new on Eldis Electronic Development and Environment Information System. A gateway to information sources on development or the environment. What's new on Eldis can be found at: http://nt1.ids.ac.uk/eldis/wnew.htm What's New on Biz/ed Biz/ed is a dedicated business and economics information gateway for students, teachers and lecturers. http://www.bized.ac.uk/homeinfo/whatsnew.htm AHDS Newsletter The latest issue of the AHDS (Arts and Humanities Data Service) Newsletter can be found at: http://ahds.ac.uk/newsletters.htm JISCmail News JSICmail provides electronic discussion lists for the UK higher education community. http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/news/index.htm UK Data Archive news The UK Data Archive at the University of Essex houses the largest collection of accessible computer-readable data in the social sciences and humanities in the United Kingdom. It is a national resource centre, disseminating data throughout the United Kingdom and, by arrangement with other national archives, internationally. http://www.data-archive.ac.uk/home/archiveNews.asp Chemical Data Service (CDS) CDS provides on-line access to a variety of quality databases in the field of Chemistry, plus support, training and advice. This is available (free of charge) to academics at UK Universities. http://cds.dl.ac.uk/cds/ Academic Info Your gateway to quality educational resources. Academic Info is an annotated subject directory tailored toward a college and university audience and is used by students, librarians, and researchers. http://www.academicinfo.net/new.html RDN News The Resource Discovery Network (RDN) is a cooperative network of independent subject-based service providers called hubs, coordinated by the Resource Discovery Network Executive. It is a free Internet service dedicated to providing effective access to high quality Internet resources for the learning, teaching and research community. http://www.rdn.ac.uk/news/ Humbul The latest additions to Humbul, the humanities hub of the Resource Discovery Network (RDN). http://www.humbul.ac.uk/output/new.php?int=30 ---------------------------------------------------------------- 6. RECENT INTERNET BOOKS IN THE LIBRARY ---------------------------------------------------------------------- The Mantex Information Design web site has reviews of some of the books mentioned in previous issues of the Internet Resources Newsletter. Recent Arrivals 004.62 STA Computer networking with internet protocols and technology by William Stallings Pearson, 2004 005.276 HOM Alex Homer's professional ASP techniques by Alex Homer, Wrox, 2000 025.6 SEC Electronic resources in the virtual learning environment: a guide for librarians by Jane Secker Chandos, 2004 621.382 NIC Wireless networks by P Nicopolitidis et al Wiley, 2003 A complete list of new books added to Heriot-Watt University Library is available from the Library News page. http://www.hw.ac.uk/library/news.html ------------------------ 7. BLOGORAMA ------------------------- News about weblogs, RSS, etc: A weblog (Blog for short) is an online diary of sorts that usually features daily or regular postings providing commentary, plus links to other sites. For more information on blogs, the article: Search Engines: Weblog search engines http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue36/search-engines/ is a good place to start. Webopedia gives a definition of RSS http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/R/RSS.html Weblogs; what, why, where & when http://www.philb.com/weblogsppt/Weblogs_files/frame.htm Laurel A Clyde Weblogs - are you serious The Electronic Library, Vol 22, Issue 5 The Role of RSS in Science Publishing: Syndication and Annotation on the Web http://www.dlib.org/dlib/december04/hammond/12hammond.html by Tony Hammond, Timo Hannay and Ben Lund, Nature Publishing Group The Edublog Weblogs Awards http://incsub.org/awards/index.php Categories include best library/librarian blog, best researchers blog, best use of blogging in teaching and learning, amongst others. FindYourHope.com http://rss.findyourhope.com/ RSS feed directory Big Time Blogging http://www.portalsmag.com/articles/default.asp?ArticleID=6159 An article by Bill Ives, from Portals Magazine August 2004 BlogAfrica http://allafrica.com/afdb/blogs/ This is an open listing of Africa-related weblogs. RSS: Show Me the Money http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,65971,00.html >From Wired News End of the Personal Blogger http://www.gigaom.com/2004/12/end_of_the_perso.php An article about the marginalization of the individual blogger. What are those orange boxes anyway? An introduction to RSS http://www.sla.org/division/dche/Newsletters/Fall_2004.pdf see page 4 - an article about RSS by Teri Vogel 'Blog' picked as word of the year http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4059291.stm >From BBC News The RSS Enclosure Exposure http://www.internetnews.com/dev-news/article.php/3431901 By Sean Michael Kerner RSS Compendium - RSS Readers http://allrss.com/rssreaders.html Selected interesting blog's and RSS feeds CIE Thoughts http://www.common-info.org.uk/thoughts/ CIE Thoughts is a public weblog for discussion of issues surrounding the concept of a Common Information Environment. CIE News http://www.common-info.org.uk/news/ News items from the Common Information Environment group. Overdue Ideas http://www.meanboyfriend.com/overdue_ideas/ Ideas linking Libraries, Computing, E-learning, and anything else that springs to mind. On Google Scholar http://schoogle.blogspot.com/ Science Library Pad http://scilib.typepad.com/ FreshPatents.com http://rss.freshpatents.com/misc/rss_frontpage_picks.xml The latest published US patent applications each week BEFORE the USPTO decision to grant/deny. Stonyfield Farm Blogs http://www.stonyfield.com/weblog/ Five examples of blogs from an organic dairy farm Profetic - int�gration des TIC et nouvelle p�dagogie universitaire http://profetic.org/backend.php3?id_rubrique=7 Lorcan Dempsey's weblog http://orweblog.oclc.org/ On libraries, services and networks. Schaeffer's Investment Research http://www.schaeffersresearch.com/commentary/rss.aspx iPressroom http://ipressroom.com/PR/ipressroom.xml News and press releases The Daily Star http://dailystar.com.lb/rss.asp?edition_id=10 Mathematics - Topix.net http://rss.topix.net/rss/tech/mathematics.xml -------------------------- 8. BOOK REVIEW -------------------------- Weblogs and libraries by Laurel A. Clyde Chandos Publishing, 2004 Elsewhere in this issue of Internet Resources Newsletter is a link to a BBC News item about the word 'Blog' being picked as the top word of the year. Indeed, there is much current interest in blogs. But if a blog is simply "A Web page containing brief, chronologically arranged items of information" [Peter Scott], then what relevance might this medium have for libraries? A complete outsider to the library world, of the type regularly reported in Library + Information Update's Media Watching column, might conceivably think that a typical library blog might go something like: Mon 1st. 9.15am. Date stamped the first book of the day. Mon 1st. 10.30am. Collected fines of �2 for late return. Mon 1st. 11.00am. Told noisy readers to be quiet. A growing number of librarians and information professionals, however, know otherwise. Blogs which have nothing at all to do with the fictitious example above are having a considerable impact on the library world. To find out how, where and why this is the case, there is no better starting point than Laurel Clyde's book Weblogs and libraries. The first 60 pages of this easy to read book deal not with library blogs, but rather blogs as sources of current information. Blogs are becoming more and more important as sources of information on a growing number of topics, and as libraries are involved in the business of information provision, a knowledge of externally produced blogs is therefore important for librarians. After giving an overview of blogs and blogging, a brief history of their development and an introduction to different types of blogs, Clyde analyses a variety of ways in which blogs can provide useful information in a library context. Examples of potentially valuable blogs in different subject areas are given: social science blogs, blogs on books and reading, news and current events blogs, blogs on technology, and so on. This is followed by tips on finding blogs, given with the warning that "It's not easy", though since this book was written, the process has possibly become less of a chore. The rest of this book deals mostly with library blogs as tools, for example as a promotional medium, or as a potential means of communicating with library clients, and also blogs produced by people in the profession which are aimed at others in the profession. Information professionals have created a number of useful blogs which can keep colleagues up to date, or announce information news, or allow communication with library school students, and for other purposes as well. Clyde gives examples of some of the best, ranging from Library Stuff http://www.librarystuff.net/ Peter Scott's Library Blog http://blog.xrefer.com/ and ResourceShelf http://www.resourceshelf.com/ to Confessions of a Science Librarian http://jdupuis.blogspot.com/ and The Shifted Librarian http://www.theshiftedlibrarian.com/ Again, tips on finding relevant library blogs are given, with pointers to useful sites such as Clyde's own Weblogs http://www.libdex.com/weblogs.html This is followed by a chapter on blogs produced by libraries, and then a chapter offering advice on how to create a blog, available software and hosting services (such as Blog*Spot - now Blogger http://www.blogger.com/ ) and use of RSS. It was gratifying to see EEVL's RSS Primer http://www.eevl.! ac.uk/rss_primer/ noted as a source of information. Library blogs need to be managed, and this is covered in the penultimate chapter. Finally, a summary of sources of information about blogs is given, with, of course, a list of blogs about blogs and blogging. Weblogs and libraries is essential reading for those in the library and information world who seek or use online information. Bravo to Chandos for publishing this book, and to Laurel Clyde for writing such a helpful work. RM --------------------------------- 9. INTERNET IN PRINT --------------------------------- New Review of Information Networking Publisher: Routledge, part of the Taylor & Francis Group Issue: Volume 10, Number 1 / May 2004 The FAIR enough project Anne Atkins, James Clay and Erica Archer pp. 3-17 The development and promotion of electronic theses and dissertations (ETDS) within the UK Susan Copeland and Andrew Penman pp. 19-32 Developing NetRef: The evolution of a new reference model Donna Dinberg and Mark Needleman pp. 51-69 The management of hybrid libraries Lyndon Pugh pp. 71-83 Network resources and access tools Introduction Roderick A MacLeod pp. 85 OSS Watch: Open source software advisory service Randy Metcalfe pp. 87-89 The Researcher's Companion: Enhanced library support for postgraduates Sally Rumsey pp. 91-95 Persistent identification: A key compound of an e-government infrastructure CENDI Persistent Identification Task Group pp. 97-106 PERI- Enhancing access to research information in developinmg countries Peter Ballantyne pp. 107-114 Book reviews pp. 115-121 ---------------------------------------------- 10. GET A LIFE! - LEISURE TIME ---------------------------------------------- Haggis Hunt 2004-2005 http://haggishunt.scotsman.com/ World Sunlight Map http://www.die.net/earth/ ________________________________________ This page is: http://www.hw.ac.uk/libwww/irn/irn124/irn124.html � 2004 Heriot-Watt University You may pass this newsletter on to others, as long as it is sent in its entirety. Banner design by Colin Lees, CML Web Design � 2004 Heriot-Watt University End of issue124!
