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November 2005 Volume 11 Number 11
In Brief |
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RCDL'2005: Seventh Russian Conference on Digital LibrariesYaroslavl, Russia, October 4 - 6, 2005
Contributed by: RCDL'2005 (http://www.rcdl2005.uniyar.ac.ru) was held at the Yaroslavl State University located in the city of Yaroslavl founded almost one thousands years ago around 300 kilometers from Moscow. Yaroslavl proudly bears the nickname of "a pearl" in the Golden Ring of ancient Russian cities. The purpose of the RCDL annual conference series (previous six conferences were held in Saint-Petersburg (1999), Protvino (2000), Petrozavodsk (2001), Dubna (2002), Saint-Petersburg (2003), Pushchino (2004)) is to stimulate consolidation of the Russian digital libraries community and encourage research in this field. This year 27 submissions were accepted as full papers and 13 as short reports. More than 100 researchers and practitioners participated at the conference from academia, libraries and industry. The following sessions formed the conference program:
Due to the activity of Andreas Rauber, a liaison between ECDL and RCDL has been established, including exchange of PC members of the respective conferences in 2005. In frame of the conference for the third time the collocated Russian Information Retrieval Evaluation Seminar (ROMIP) took place: this annual event summarizes the independent evaluation of text retrieval systems during a year (this initiative is similar to TREC, SUMMAC or CLEF). In 2004 - 2005 the Yandex company (the provider of the well-known Russian Web information retrieval system) has established a stipend to support a scientific researches in the area of information retrieval in the Web. The results of these researches were reported at the seminar organized in connection with RCDL'2005. Proceedings of the ROMIP seminar and of the Yandex research supported seminar were published in separate volumes. colLib.info: OAI-PMH meets Wiki
Contributed by: As part of my ongoing masters-degree project at the Department Of Documentation Studies, University of Tromsø, Norway, I have created colLib.info [1] – a prototype system for finding and organizing LIS-related documents that are available in Open Access repositories. colLib.info is a marriage between the PKP OAI Harvester [2] and MediaWiki [3], the software that powers Wikipedia [4]. Inspiration has also been drawn from tagging/folksonomies applications. The harvester at present collects metadata records from 5 OAI-PMH compliant repositories in the LIS field [5]. The unique feature of colLib.info is that for each record, a page can be created in the Wiki. This page can contain "tags" (these are in fact just ordinary Wiki-links) that describe attributes of documents, such as subject, form or author(s). When pages are created for these tags, they form a browsing interface to the collected records. The Wiki form allows the pages of tags to be annotated with other information, such as explanations of what they represent, relationships with other tags and links to relevant information outside of colLib.info. Tagging of records is just one of the things that are possible within this OAI-PMH/Wiki framework. Records can also be enriched with annotations of any kind, pointers to new and revised versions, other related documents, critiques, discussions and reviews. Any pre-existing classification system can be integrated into colLib.info. As with any Wiki implementation, it is only the imagination of the users that limit what can be done with it. At present, what little activity there has been on colLib.info has been geared towards tagging as described above, but any and all users are welcome to use the site, and contribute to exploring and creating new ways to organize Open Access documentation in LIS.
[1] <http://collib.info/> In the NewsExcerpts from Recent Press Releases and AnnouncementsWill users use library portals?Novmeber 11, 2005 (Excerpt from announcement from Sally Chambers on behalf of The European Library Office). "During May/June of 2005, The European Library commissioned IRN Research to undertake a web-based survey of some users of The European Library portal. The survey was designed to analyse how they used the site and their satisfaction with the site's search facilities, processes, and content. Responses were received from 193 users in Europe, North America, and the rest of the world. The European Library gave 400 euros to Book Aid International, against the promised 2 euros donated for every completed survey. The research was undertaken on the newly launched Beta site, to determine, before further development, what works for the user and where their priorities lie." "General results suggest overall satisfaction with and enthusiasm for the portal. There were some variations in use between users from different countries and between the academic versus the occasional user. While most respondents found the search results either very useful or useful, many users were critical of the search facilities and ease of searching. This finding bears out the publisher's concerns over the site, where portals are not 'understood' by the majority of users...." "...The research showed that it was the academic users (researchers and lecturers) who used the portal correctly by selecting which collections to search in before entering their query. Other user groups – students, librarians, private individuals and users in government and private industry – were more likely to only use the simple search and not try harder to get the information contained in the site. " "Portals, such as The European Library, provide a service by offering the user the opportunity to search across a selection of remote databases, simultaneously. However all portals are limited in the number of databases they can search in at once to return results in a reasonable time. Whereas, if the data contained in these databases is crawled and harvested into a central database the search is launched using only this central database. This is effectively the case for Google and Yahoo. The European Library was born from a need to access non-harvestable databases in the National Libraries of Europe and search across them. For The European Library the option of pulling all the information accessible at these libraries into one central database is not currently feasible for both technical and political reasons...." "...The European Library is therefore looking to step up the access to content held in the National Libraries of Europe and is fully behind the need to digitise more which is the fundament of the European Digital Library." For more details on the survey or a copy of the full press release, please contact: Sally Chambers, <Sally.Chambers@TheEuropeanLibrary.org> Tel. +31 (0)70 314 0134. IMLS Calls for National Leadership Grant ApplicationsNovember 10, 2005 - "The guidelines for National Leadership Grants for Libraries and for Museums are now available on the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) Web site as a PDF file at: http://www.imls.gov/grants/l-m/pdf/2006_NLG.pdf" "National Leadership Grants build skills for the 21st century, sustain and provide access to cultural heritage, support learning for all ages and in many types of communities, and encourage civic participation. These awards help libraries and museums develop models and produce results that help to foster individual achievement, community responsibility, and lifelong learning." "This year, IMLS plans to support a wide range of projects under its three grant categories: Advancing Learning Communities, Building Digital Resources, and Research and Demonstration. Among the priorities for each category is a focus on youth development. Read more about the agency's Museums and Libraries Engaging America's Youth initiative at http://www.imls.gov/youth." For more information, please see the full press release at <http://www.imls.gov/whatsnew/current/111005.htm>. IMLS makes award to OCLC, Getty Trust to plan and co-host Web-Wise conferencesNovember 9, 2005 - "The Institute of Museum and Library Services has made a $399,197 award to OCLC Online Computer Library Center, in conjunction with the J. Paul Getty Trust, to plan and co-host the 2006 and 2007 Web-Wise Conferences on Libraries and Museums in the Digital World." "Web-Wise is a signature initiative of the Institute of Museum and Library Services. Each year it brings together representatives and thought leaders from museums, libraries, archives, systems science, and other fields interested in the future of high-quality online content for inquiry and education. The focus of each annual conference is on sharing the latest research and newest innovations in digital technology, exploring their potential impacts on library and museum services, and on promoting effective museum and library collaborations in the digital environment. The conference also provides IMLS grant recipients the opportunity to showcase exemplary projects." "The 2006 Web-Wise Conference will be held February 16-17 in Los Angeles, California. The conference theme is "Inspiring Discovery: Unlocking Collections." Sessions will explore current and emerging practices for information discovery as well as promising innovations that could revolutionize the ways in which information seekers find digital content. Projects featuring museum and library resources, and the paths to their discovery, will be featured in plenary sessions and demonstrations." For more information, please see the full press release at <http://www.imls.gov/whatsnew/current/110705.htm>. Oxford Open first quarter results releasedNovember 3, 2005 - "Oxford Journals today released the first results from its optional open access model, Oxford Open, maintaining its commitment to sharing first hand open access evidence with the scholarly community. It has also confirmed a further 19 journals to join the initiative from January 2006." "The initiative, launched on July 1, 2005, gives authors the option of paying for their research to be made freely available online immediately on publication. Results from the first quarter of operation show an average of 9% open access take-up by authors across the 21 participating journals, with take-up limited to the Life Sciences and Medicine. There has been no take-up by authors publishing in participating Humanities and Social Sciences titles." "Martin Richardson, Managing Director, Oxford Journals, commented, 'Nine of the 21 journals involved in the first phase of Oxford Open have published open access papers since July. There has been a noticeable variation in the take-up of open access amongst these journals; some life science journals have published up to 5% of papers under the open access model, while others have seen take-up of approximately 17%.'" For more information, please see the full press release at <http://www.oxfordjournals.org/news/2005/11/03/ U.S. Consumer Spending for Online Content Totals $987 Million in First Half of 2005, According to Online Publishers Association ReportOctober 31, 2005 - "The Online Publishers Association (OPA) today released its Paid Content U.S. Market Spending Report covering Q1 and Q2 of 2005. The study, conducted by comScore Networks, determined that consumer spending for online content in the U.S. grew to $987 million in the first half of 2005, an increase of 15.7 percent over the same period last year. For the first time ever, in Q2 of 2005, quarterly sales of content topped half a billion dollars." "Spurred by growth in online music sales, Entertainment/Lifestyles overtook Personals/Dating to become the leading paid content category, with consumers spending $264.8 million on the category in the first half of 2005. Personals/Dating grew to $245.2 million in the first half of 2005, while Business/Investment content remained in third place with spending at $159.1 million." For more information, please see the full press release at <http://www.online-publishers.org/?pg=press&dt=103105>. Sandra Ashworth, Jan Cellucci, and Diane Rivers Confirmed as NCLIS Commissioners - October 31, 2005October 31, 2005 - "The U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science (NCLIS) today announced that on October 20, 2005 the U.S. Senate confirmed Commissioner Sandra Ashworth of Idaho to a second term expiring July 19, 2009 and confirmed Jan Cellucci of Massachusetts and Diane Rivers of Alabama to be members for terms expiring July 19, 2009. All three had been nominated by the White House on July 27, 2005." For more information, please see the full press release at <http://www.nclis.gov/news/pressrelease/pr2005/2005-09AshworthCellucciRivers.pdf>. The University of Illinois and CARLI announce the hiring of AVP/EDOctober 28, 2005"The University of Illinois and the Board of Directors of the Consortium of Academic and Research Libraries in Illinois (CARLI) – http://www.carli.illinois.edu) are pleased to announce the selection of Susan Singleton as Assistant Vice President and Executive Director of CARLI. CARLI is a newly formed academic and research library consortium that provides services to more than 180 member institutions throughout the state of Illinois. Singleton will oversee an annual budget of over $5.27 million and a staff of 25 employees. The University of Illinois serves as host institution for the new consortium and acts as fiscal, legal, and contractual agent on behalf of CARLI. Pending final approval by the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois, Ms. Singleton's appointment will become effective January 1, 2006. " For more information, please see the full press release at <http://www.carli.illinois.edu/temp/051101welcome.html>. Call for Book Chapter - Social Information Retrieval SystemsOctober 28, 2005 announcement from Schubert Foo, Professor & Vice Dean Nanyang Technological University - "This is a call for book chapters for an upcoming book titled "Social information retrieval systems". The book is edited by Dion Goh and Schubert Foo and published by Idea Group (see http://www.idea-group.com) in early 2008. We cordially invite you to submit a chapter proposal and would also appreciate very much if you could forward this call to your colleagues/relevant contacts that might be interested. The deadline for submission of chapter proposals is December 31, 2005. For more information, please contact Dion Goh at <ashlgoh@ntu.edu.sg>." Ching-chih Chen joins OCLC as consultantOctober 26, 2005 - "Ching-chih Chen, Professor, Graduate School of Library and Information Science, Simmons College, Boston, has joined OCLC Online Computer Library Center as Consultant to the President for global digital initiatives among libraries, museums and archival institutions." "Dr. Chen will consult for OCLC on special assignments and projects led by Phyllis Spies, Vice President, OCLC Collection Management Services." For more information, please see the full press release at <http://www.oclc.org/news/releases/200520.htm>. Microsoft to offer book searchOctober 25, 2005 (Excerpt from article by Elinor Mills, CNET News.com) - " In the wake of lawsuits filed against Google, Microsoft said on Tuesday that it would join a competing and less controversial library book digitization project sponsored by Yahoo and Internet Archive." "Google faces two lawsuits alleging that the search giant is violating copyright law by scanning and digitizing all or parts of the collections at the libraries at universities such as Harvard, Stanford, Oxford and Michigan, plus The New York Public Library. Last month, the Authors Guild filed suit against Google, and last week, the Association of American Publishers also sued.... " "...To avoid such problems, the Yahoo-Internet Archive project, to be run by the Open Content Alliance, will digitize only texts in the public domain, except where the copyright holder has expressly given permission. The project also will make the index of digitized works searchable by any Web search engine, unlike Google, which will be the only search engine for the books it digitizes." For more information, please see the full article at <http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9588_22-5913711.html>. German publishers to build own online book networkOctober 23, 2005 (Excerpt from article by Georgina Prodhan, Reuters) - "German publishers, keen to defend their copyrights as Internet search engines seek to put the world's literature online, aim to set up their own web-based database allowing readers to browse, borrow or buy books." "Search engine Google has angered publishers with proposals to scan copyrighted works without permission to make them searchable online. Critics fear the digital repository of books it would build up would give it a monopoly on culture." "The German association of book publishers is planning to build a network by next year that will allow the full texts of their books to be searched online by search engines but will not hand the texts over to these companies." For more information, please see the full article at <http://in.today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=technology Pitt Unveils Web Site That Includes More Than 3,000 Images of Chartres CathedralOctober 20, 2005 - "Detailed images of soaring aisles, delicate carvings, and stained-glass windows from the 12th and 13th centuries are captured on a new University of Pittsburgh Web site, <http://images.library.pitt.edu/c/chartres>, documenting the famous French Cathedral of Chartres (11th-16th centuries), located approximately 50 miles southwest of Paris." "A joint project of the University's Digital Research Library (DRL) and Pitt Professor of Art History Alison Stones, the new Web site provides access to more than 3,000 high-resolution images of Chartres Cathedral, each accompanied by descriptive information. Users can zoom in to examine intricate details of the cathedral's High Gothic style of architecture, the sculpture of its three major portals, the stained-glass windows depicting stories of the Old and New Testaments and the Lives of the Saints, the fragmentary wall paintings, and the illuminations from two historic manuscripts used at the cathedral. (The library at Chartres was bombed by friendly fire in World War II, reducing most of its holdings to charred remains.)" "Although the image collection was originally designed and partially funded by a University grant from the Office of the Provost to directly support Stones' teaching in her medieval art and architectural classes, the Web site is available to anyone interested in studying this magnificent monument...." For more information, please contact <edwardg+@pitt.edu>. Publishers Sue Google Over Plans To Digitize BooksOctober 19, 2005 - "The Association of American Publishers (AAP) today announced the filing of a lawsuit against Google over its plans to digitally copy and distribute copyrighted works without permission of the copyright owners. The lawsuit was filed only after lengthy discussions broke down between AAP and Google's top management regarding the copyright infringement implications of the Google Print Library Project." "The suit, which seeks a declaration by the court that Google commits infringement when it scans entire books covered by copyright and a court order preventing it from doing so without permission of the copyright owner, was filed on behalf of five major publisher members of AAP: The McGraw-Hill Companies, Pearson Education, Penguin Group (USA), Simon & Schuster and John Wiley & Sons." "The suit, which is being coordinated and funded by AAP, has the strong backing of the publishing industry and was filed following an overwhelming vote of support by the 20-member AAP Board which is elected by, and represents, the Association's more than 300 member publishing houses." For more information, please see <http://www.publishers.org/press/>. PLoS Announces Open Access Journal for All Clinical Trials, Positive or NegativeOctober 18, 2005 - "he Public Library of Science (PLoS) today announces PLoS Clinical Trials, an innovative new journal devoted to peer-reviewing and publishing reports of randomized clinical trials in all areas of healthcare (www.plosclinicaltrials.org)." "The journal differs from other medical journals in one crucial respect. It will publish all trials that are ethically and scientifically sound and entered into an internationally accepted registry, regardless of the trial's size or whether the results are positive or negative. PLoS Clinical Trials is now accepting manuscripts in advance of its spring 2006 launch." "...Traditional medical journals publish only the highest profile clinical trials (typically positive trials), partly because the journals must attract revenues from subscriptions and selling reprints. PLoS Clinical Trials avoids this problem – it doesn't have to sell subscriptions or reprints to be viable, so it can publish the broadest range of trials." For more information, please see the full press release at <http://www.plos.org/news/announce_clinicaltrials.html>. ACRL announces the debut of its new weblog, ACRLogOctober 17, 2005 - "The Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) is pleased to announce the debut of its new weblog, ACRLog." "The ACRLog aims to discuss the issues of the day in the field of academic and research librarianship. It will strive to get you thinking about what you do, why you do it, and how it fits into this enterprise we call higher education. The team of bloggers will stimulate thinking about the professional issues that impact you, your library, your user community, and academic librarianship. The blog also will offer conference reports and news items." "...The new blog can be found at <http://www.acrlblog.org>. Unlike many blogs, ACRLog invites contributions from those interested in academic and research librarianship. Guest commentaries, contributed conference reports, perspectives from ACRL chapters, and opinions about the latest trends and issues can all be shared within this blogspace." For more information, please see the full press release at <http://www.ala.org/ala/pressreleases2005/october2005/acrlogdebuts.htm>. Library of Congress Announces Award of $3 Million to Portico, a Nonprofit Electronic Archiving ServiceOctober 4, 2005 - "The Library of Congress' National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program (NDIIPP) announced today that it is making a $3 million grant award for the development of Portico, a nonprofit electronic archiving service being developed by Ithaka. Ithaka is a nonprofit organization with offices in New York City and Princeton, N.J., that provides a range of services to assist in the creation and development of promising new projects that benefit higher education." "This award from the Library of Congress will be used to support Portico's development of the archives' technical infrastructure and an economically sustainable business model for a continuing archiving service for scholarly resources published in electronic form, beginning with electronic scholarly journals. The Library award will be matched dollar-for-dollar by Ithaka, which has also received funding for Portico from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and JSTOR, whose broad mission is to help the scholarly community take advantage of advances in information technology and whose activities include responsibility for digitizing, preserving and providing access to an extensive archives of research literature." "The award advances two fundamental goals of the Library's massive digital preservation program, which was mandated by Congress: to develop a technical infrastructure to support long-term preservation of digital content and to foster the development of new business models for digital preservation services." For more information, please see the full press release at <http://www.loc.gov/today/pr/2005/05-217.html>. Copyright 2005 © Corporation for National Research InitiativesTop |
Contents doi:10.1045/november2005-inbrief |