Author: Paul R. Pival
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Federated or Broadcast or what do we call this stuff?
There's an interesting discussion happening right now on the Web4Lib Code4Lib mailing list – you can access it via the April archives; scroll down and look for the first post entitled Serials Solutions Summon. Basically it started as a discussion about whether Summon is a revolutionary or evolutionary product, and quickly turned into a discussion…
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More on New Discovery Tools for Online Resources From OCLC and EBSCO
Info Today NewsBreaks has a comprehensive look at the announcement I mentioned earlier this week about OCLC and EBSCO teaming up on a new Discovery tool. In it, Paula Hane does a good job explaining, comparing and contrasting the two front-runners in this "Holy Grail" as she puts it. (Actually I used to describe it…
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WASSAIL InfoLit assessment tool released as open source
The Augustana Campus Library of the University of Alberta has released its Information Literacy assessment and survey software called WASSAIL as an open source application. WASSAIL enables users to: Track assessment data by course, by instructor and by academic year Collect and manage institution-specific questions (including Likert-style, open-ended, subjective or qualitative questions, or pre-defined multiple-choice-style…
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EBSCOhost Debuting Discovery Service, Aims at One-Stop Search Interface
EBSCOhost appears to be chasing Serials Solutions into the Discovery Service arena. According to the press release at LJ, the EBSCOhost Discovery Service will be available by the end of 2009. When asked what would set the EBSCOhost Discovery Service apart from other similar products, Gorrell cited EBSCOhost's access to its own 330 database offerings,…
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Intellectual Property laws are faith-based initiatives
Finished listening to a great interview of James Boyle on episode 73 of the Spark podcast. The episode examines copyright, the public domain and remix culture, and was one of their best, IMHO. The title of the post is a paraphrase of something James Boyle says right at the 15-minute mark where he's lamenting how…
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New Mobile Libraries blog
Gerry McKiernan has started another blog, this one called Mobile Libraries. "Mobile Libraries Is Devoted To Documenting Any and All Topics Relating To Services Provided By Libraries To Patrons Within Mobile Environments. Library Mobile Services Are Defined As Any And All Library Services That Are Provided Via Mobile Technologies." Subscribed.
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Worldcat Local now an iPhone app
Previously available as a website optimized for mobile devices, Worldcat Local is now also available as an iPhone app. I played with it a bit last night and really liked the mapping features. It knew where I was and where the 10 closest libraries to me were. Well, those libraries that participate in Worldcat; it…
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Trillian Astra update
Wow, it's been almost two years since I was excited about Trillian's IM/social network-concatenator, Astra. While I've been registered for their beta since July 2007, it wasn't until yesterday, when Lifehacker pointed out that beta applications were being filled quickly that I gave them my address again, and got myself a copy of the client…
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Analysis of web-based tutorials created by academic libraries
Have only skimmed it myself, but you might be interested in Analysis of web-based tutorials created by academic libraries, The Journal of Academic Librarianship, Volume 35, Issue 2, March 2009, Pages 126-131 (doi:10.1016/j.acalib.2009.01.010). Abstract: This paper aims to analyse the characteristics of tutorials created by academic libraries. It evaluates a sample of 180 tutorials by…
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NRC Research Press soon no longer free for Canadians
The National Research Council of Canada has decided to privatize their journals and services. "Specifically for our Canadian clients and subscribers, since 2001 our journals have been provided electronically, free to all Canadians. This has been available due to the generous support of the Federal Depository Services Program. This availability will continue to be in…