NewsLink Issue 24/October 2001 =========================================================================== NewsLink is a free weekly e-mail newsletter featuring news and resources for the information industry. If you are receiving this issue as a forward and would like to become a subscriber, please visit our Web site at https://www.infotoday.com or send a blank e-mail to join-infotoday@lists.infotoday.com. =========================================================================== SPONSOR - ACM =========================================================================== The ACM DIGITAL LIBRARY is the Ultimate Information Technology Resource! The ACM DL gives you around-the-clock online access to over 25 high-tech publications with up to 15 years of publication archives plus conference proceedings! The ACM DL also offers EXCEPTIONAL VALUE for Libraries, Corporations, and Consortia. For more information, please visit our Library Web site at http://www.acm.org/membership/library. =========================================================================== IN THIS ISSUE =========================================================================== 1) WELCOME 2) NEWSLINK MONTHLY SPOTLIGHT 3) NEWSBREAKS 4) FEATURED ARTICLES 5) CONFERENCE CONNECTION 6) BOOKSHELF =========================================================================== 1) WELCOME =========================================================================== Welcome to the October 2001 issue of NewsLink, Information Today, Inc.'s FREE e-mail newsletter for library and information professionals. A lot has happened since last month's issue of NewsLink. The events of September 11th have forever changed our nation, and we at Information Today continue to mourn for the losses suffered on that terrible day. At Information Today we have heeded our leaders' requests and tried to stay the course. As conference organizers, we will open our two fall events on schedule. KM World 2001 will take place from October 30-November 1 at the Santa Clara Convention Center, and Internet Librarian 2001 will open it's doors from November 6-8 at the Pasadena Conference Center. We, like most other private and association event sponsors, feel that conferences and exhibitions must go on, and that the face-to-face interaction will hopefully help both our national economy and our psyche. Besides all of the monthly information normally provided in this newsletter and on our Web site, we have added a special NewsBreak each week. Paula Hane has taken up the task of providing ongoing coverage of information resources related to the terrorist attacks. The September 11 edition is available at https://www.infotoday.com/newsbreaks/nb011001-2.htm If you have any comments or suggestions on any special content you would like to see covered or on how to improve this newsletter and the information held in it, please reply to newslink@infotoday.com. Best wishes, Tom Hogan, Jr. =========================================================================== 2) NEWSLINK MONTHLY SPOTLIGHT =========================================================================== Blogs Are a Natural for Librarians By Paula J. Hane I've been a fan for some time of Gary Price's compilations-first his List of Lists, then his Direct Search, and most recently his Virtual Acquisition Shelf and News Desk (http://resourceshelf.blogspot.com), which is his daily Weblog of interesting resources, or "blog," as this increasingly popular form of Web communication has come to be called. I had seen some fairly eclectic examples of other people's blogs, including personal rants and total hodgepodges, but Price's stays very focused and useful. Another favorite resource has been Tara Calishain's ResearchBuzz e-mail newsletter, but she also has a Weblog, a miscellaneous section of her Web site that she calls The KnickKnack Drawer. Her current knickknacks include everything from map resources to a new worm alert to a new joint venture by a metasearch engine. Of course, she also provides goodies like fall foliage in Pennsylvania and a site with a searchable subject index of Chinese recipes-but then you never know what might be useful to a librarian, or anyone else. Luckily, the search feature on her site encompasses content in the Weblog, so if you're looking for all mentions of the metasearch engine Vivisimo, for example, you can find a number of interesting pieces of news and commentary. Some proclaim blogging to be a new form of publishing. Some predict that blogs are the next great information resource. Chris Sherman, associate editor of SearchEngineWatch, has called blogs "the Web's equivalent of a sophisticated early warning system." There are even indexes to blogs and sites that report what topics or sites are most mentioned on popular blogs. One of the most interesting is Blogdex, a project from the MIT Media Lab (http://blogdex.media.mit.edu). The site says: "blogdex is a system built to harness the power of personal news, amalgamating and organizing personal news content into one navigable source, moving democratic media to the masses." Besides showing the most popular sites, Blogdex now offers a URL search capability that I find quite interesting. Recently I stumbled on a list of blogs just for the library community (actually, thanks to Jill O'Neill of NFAIS) and decided to check into some of them. I was pleased, but not too surprised, by the usefulness of what I found-what else do we expect from librarians but top quality! LibDex (http://www.libdex.com), The Library Index, is a handy Web resource compiled by Peter Scott that provides a worldwide directory of library home pages, Web-based OPACs, and other useful information. He has also now compiled a list of library-related Weblogs (http://www.libdex.com/weblogs.html). Of course, these too run the gamut-everything from "Guide to Problematical Library Use" by Don Saklad to individual libraries' blogs to Charles Bailey's "Scholarly Electronic Publishing Weblog." It's great to have them gathered together and listed. Thanks, Peter. The following are comments about some of the blogs on his list. The library at Vanderbilt University (and specifically, Anna Belle Leiserson) offers AcqWeblog (http://acqweb.library.vanderbilt.edu/acqweb/ms_acqs.html) for news of interest to acquisitions and collection-development librarians. Recent blog entries mentioned Bibliopoly (http://www.bibliopoly.com), a multilingual Web search agent that specializes in early and rare books from international dealers, and Bublos.com (http://www.bublos.com), an international book price comparison site. The blog also lists and links to press releases with major announcements from library vendors and very large publishers. The AcqWeblog is part of the larger AcqWeb site, which provides many useful resource lists and directories. For those techies among us, Matthew Eberle, a librarian at The Forsyth Institute in Boston, has a Library TechLog (http://www.meberle.com/weblog.html). Recent postings discussed library RSS news feeds, virtual reference desks, recommended articles and technology conferences, and behind-the-scenes coding and scripts. Library Stuff (http://librarystuff.net) is an interesting and wide-ranging blog produced by Steven M. Cohen, a law librarian in New York. Another blog that deals with "the quirky to the mundane" isby T. J. Sondermann (http://free.freespeech.org/librarygeek). The LibDex list also reminded me of the Internet Scout Weblog (http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/weblog), a separate service that complements the popular Internet Scout Reports with additional interesting resources. Folks who are fans of information architecture and of Louis Rosenfeld, co-author of the best-selling text on the topic, will appreciate his comments and insights on his blog, or bloug, as he calls it (http://www.louisrosenfeld.com). (Rosenfeld is also a librarian, founder of the former consulting firm Argus Associates, and now an independent consultant.) One of his recent bloug entries had an interesting discussion on the presentation of search results and his thoughts on Google; Northern Light; and the newcomer, Teoma. Peter Scott also does a Library News Daily report (http://www.lights.com/scott), which offers "the latest news on databases, conferences, services, software, vendors, and more." He also has a collaborative Weblog in progress called Peter Scott's Personal Onclave (http://www.onclave.org/people/children/Peter_Scott). Scott, who is the Internet projects manager at the University of Saskatchewan, will be speaking about blogging in a pre-conference workshop at the Internet Librarian conference in November. In his workshop, he will provide examples of outstanding library-related blogs and discuss the process of setting up a blog. Finally, I understand that Walt Crawford is beginning a three-part series on Library Weblogs in the October 2001 issue of American Libraries. Knowing Walt, I'm sure it will be quality stuff. And, thanks to all the dedicated bloggers out there who are sharing their knowledge with others. Keep up the good work. Paula J. Hane is contributing editor of Information Today, editor of NewsBreaks, a former reference librarian, and a longtime online searcher. She is the author of Super Searchers in the News: The Online Secrets of Journalists & News Researchers. Her e-mail address is phane@infotoday.com. =========================================================================== 3) NEWSBREAKS =========================================================================== For a complete listing of previous NewsBreaks visit the Information Today, Inc. Web site at https://www.infotoday.com/newsbreaks/breaks.htm. NewsBreaks from Monday, October 1, 2001. ------------------------ Hoover's Announces Plans to Streamline Products, Focus on Subscriptions, Trim Staff By Paula J. Hane Hoover's, Inc., the well-known Austin, Texas-based provider of online business information, announced some big changes to its business in a conference call and Webcast held on Wednesday, September 26. The operator of Hoover's Online is obviously feeling the pressures of the current economic climate and has decided to implement some streamlining and cost-cutting measures that it hopes will increase profitability, help its lagging stock, and position the company for growth once the economy recovers. Specifically, the company announced that it would now focus on growing its core subscription business, discontinue unprofitable products, and reduce staffing by 20 percent. --> https://www.infotoday.com/newsbreaks/nb011001-1.htm ------------------------ More September 11 Resources Made Available By Paula J. Hane Continued ongoing weekly coverage of important information resources related to the September 11 terrorist attack and recovery efforts. --> https://www.infotoday.com/newsbreaks/nb011001-2.htm =========================================================================== NewsBreaks Weekly News Digest =========================================================================== Ask Jeeves Unveils Packaged Question-Answering Product Jeeves Solutions, a division of Ask Jeeves, Inc., has announced the general availability of JeevesOne, its first packaged question-answering software product. --> https://www.infotoday.com/newsbreaks/wnd011001.htm XanEdu Partners with Pearson Education on CoursePacks XanEdu, a division of ProQuest Information and Learning, has announced a partnership with Pearson Education to create fully integrated print and digital CoursePack solutions with Pearson's Custom Publishing Division. --> https://www.infotoday.com/newsbreaks/wnd011001.htm Tribune Media Services to Launch FluentMedia Tribune Media Services (TMS) has announced the formation of a new Web-based information service for the corporate market. --> https://www.infotoday.com/newsbreaks/wnd011001.htm =========================================================================== 4) FEATURED ARTICLES =========================================================================== For full-text coverage of the following articles please use the hotlinks provided. ------------------------ Information Today The Open Source Movement By Richard Poynder This software offers an alternative to proprietary versions and is being adopted by a growing number of librarians and information professionals. --> https://www.infotoday.com/it/oct01/poynder.htm ------------------------ Computers in Libraries How We Work to Make the Web Speak By Susie Christensen There's a group in Denmark that focuses specifically on teaching electronic content providers how to make their Web sites accessible to people who have impairments of their sight, hearing, or motor skills. This author gives specific tips about what to do to your Web site, along with examples of the success she's had so far. --> https://www.infotoday.com/cilmag/oct01/christensen.htm ------------------------ Searcher Magazine Web Search Engine FAQs: Questions, Answers, and Issues By Gary Price Price offers ways to stay up to speed on search engine developments while saving all-too-precious time. His "top 10 things to know" about popular engines is also provided, as well as a handy comparison chart. --> https://www.infotoday.com/searcher/oct01/price.htm ------------------------ MultiMedia Schools CyberBee: Copyright and Digital Content By Linda C. Joseph In the digital age where massive amounts of information are distributed, it is essential that students know and understand copyright. --> https://www.infotoday.com/MMSchools/oct01/cybe0110.htm ------------------------ Link-Up E-Mail Appliances By Scott Nesbitt Niche tools for retrieving e-mail. --> https://www.infotoday.com/lu/sep01/nesbitt.htm =========================================================================== 5) CONFERENCE CONNECTION =========================================================================== Get the latest event information available for the library and information fields in the Conference Connection. The Conference Report/Update gives you an inside look at the most recent information industry events, while the Conference Calendar is updated monthly to provide you with important contact information for up-and-coming industry events. CONFERENCE REPORT/UPDATE ------------------------ CONFERENCE UPDATE: Internet Librarian November 6-8, 2001 Pasadena Conference & Exhibition Center This year the Internet Librarian- conference and exhibition features four fabulous keynote sessions, over 100 dynamic speakers in five simultaneous tracks, plus 20 in-depth learning events and workshops, an unbelievable evening session, cybertours, an extensive exhibit hall and much more! Visit https://www.infotoday.com/il2001 NOW for details. ------------------------ CONFERENCE UPDATE: Online Information December 4-6, 2001 Olympia Grand Hall, London, U.K. To find out more visit http://www.online-information.co.uk/online/. CONFERENCE CALENDAR ------------------- October 10-14 INTERNET RESEARCH 2.0-The Second International Conference of the Association on Internet Researchers (Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN) Contact: http://aoir.org October 14-17 PENNSYLVANIA LIBRARY ASSOCIATION (Philadelphia) Contact: http://www2.sis.pitt.edu October 17-21 ORAL HISTORY ASSOCIATION (St. Louis, MO) Contact: http://www.dickinson.edu October 18-20 SCHOOLTECH EXPO & CONFERENCE (Chicago, IL) Contact: http://www.schooltechexpo.com October 2124 NORTH AMERICAN BUSINESS INFORMATION CONFERENCE (Toronto, Ontario) Contact: http://www.tfpl.com October 29-November 1 KMWORLD 2001 (Santa Clara, CA) Contact: https://www.infotoday.com For the complete Conference Calendar visit https://www.infotoday.com/calendar.htm. =========================================================================== 6) BOOKSHELF =========================================================================== The Quintessential Searcher: The Wit and Wisdom of Barbara Quint Edited by Marylaine Block Many, many moons ago, pinned down by a lynch mob of vendor representatives all shouting "Troublemaker! Troublemaker!," I squealed out my standard excuse, "I don't look for trouble. Trouble looks for me!" But what still amazes me is how diligently it finds me. --Barbara Quint Searcher magazine editor Barbara Quint (bq) is not only one of the world's most famous online searchers, but the most creative and controversial writer, editor, and speaker to emerge from the information industry in the last two decades. bq is a guru of librarians and database professionals the world over, and, as her readers, publishers, and "quarry" know, when it comes to barbed wit she is in a class by herself. Whether she's chastising database providers about unacceptable fees, interfaces, and updates; recounting the ills visited on the world by computer makers; or inspiring her readers to achieve greatness; her voice is consistently original and compelling. In this book, for the first time anywhere, hundreds of bq's most memorable, insightful, and politically incorrect quotations have been gathered for the enjoyment of her many fans. For more information or to get your copy visit the Information Today, Inc. Online Store at http://st4.yahoo.com/cgi-bin/clink?infotoday+3jXzab+/quinsear.html. ------------ 2001/220 pp/softbound ISBN: 1-57387-114-1 $19.95 =========================================================================== SPONSOR - ACM =========================================================================== The ACM DIGITAL LIBRARY is the Ultimate Information Technology Resource! The ACM DL gives you around-the-clock online access to over 25 high-tech publications with up to 15 years of publication archives plus conference proceedings! The ACM DL also offers EXCEPTIONAL VALUE for Libraries, Corporations, and Consortia. For more information, please visit our Library Web site at http://www.acm.org/membership/library. ============================================================================ ©2001 Information Today, Inc. all rights reserved. This newsletter is published by Information Today, Inc. Editor in Chief: Tom Hogan, Jr. Managing Editor: Stacey Sochacki Phone: 609-654-6266 Fax: 609-654-4309 Web site: https://www.infotoday.com E-mail: newslink@infotoday.com