RSS Digest: February 1, 2007
Happy Groundhog eve! Here’s some of the links that ticked my fancy this week, with my brief thoughts!
Also, thanks to my favorite new toy—erm, tool, google analytics, I know I apparently have readers in my old home-away-from home: Scotland, my dream home-away-from home: China (Ni Hao!), and a prospective home-away-from home addition as soon as I can visit the place and really fall in love with it: New Zealand! Oh yes, and hello to Saudi Arabia, Switzerland, Australia, and Brazil!
LIS Links of Interest (serious)
33 Reasons Librarians are Still Extremely Important - DegreeTutor.com
I don't know about you, but this list of reasons made me feel good--and even better is the conversation this article sparked on digg!
The Well Dressed Librarian: of course its cashmere--Change-o, Presto
What he said. This one went up on my office wall. And when this guy is not dropping insights like this, he's posting witty, hysterical posts that I always look forward to--think Queer Eye for the Librarian. :-)
Information Wants To Be Free » Blog Archive » Odeo, I hardly knew you!
Another classic rant from Meredith--this one on the less pleasant aspects of that web 2.0 concept known as "perpetual beta"...
The Top 100 Alternative Search Engines
Need I say more? stuff you've probably heard of, like Clusty and exalead, and stuff you're NEVER heard of unless you're Gary Price(ujiko.com???). Some silliness, some very BETA sites, but also a few gems for the searcher looking for something new...
The Kept-Up Academic Librarian: Two-Year Program Helps Hispanic Students Earn Degree
At first, I wasn't sure what I thought about the concept of a bilingual degree program, but it's growing on me. regardless, if it gets good enrollment and graduation numbers, expect something like it at your campus before long...
Library 2.0: An Academic's Perspective: The Customer is Always Right, Part 2
Highlighting reason #863 on why you can't trust the web to do your homework...
Tame The Web: Libraries and Technology: London Calls Again! Announcing ILI2007
Ok, I SO want to go to this. No chance the travel fund at work could swing it, but maybe...write a proposal to speak? raid the savings account? throw a bake sale? Gimme some ideas to get there, guys!
ResourceShelf » Research Paper: The rise and rise of citation analysis
Next fall I'm planning on doing a citation analysis project on undergrad papers (anyone interested in co-writing? email me), and it's nifty to see that I'm not the only wierdo into this little nook of info studies.
The Well Dressed Librarian: of course its cashmere: Just-in-case collections
Of course I'm sure NONE of us have shelves fit to burst with dusty books, old conference proceedings, and particularly useful items "borrowed" from the reference area (2 years ago), but if we did...
Thoughts from a Library Administrator: ALA Council and transcripts
A post on the push to have ALA Council transcripts posted online--the saga continues...
Cites & Insights: Crawford at Large
As always, most of the articles in here are worth a read, but the piece on finding balance (p. 16) is definitely noteworthy..
Read Write Connect - ReadWriteConnect
The new ALA wiki. Need I say more? Go read, and contribute something too! :-)
http://acrlblog.org/2007/01/26/truthiness-in-publishing/
Ok, Per Elsevier & friends, Open access to published research is a form of government censorship??? Check the comments for their hasty "correction" (made after this hit the fan thanks to Nature magazine) complete with Dorthea Salo's handy translation...
Resource Description and Access (RDA): Cataloging Rules for the 20th Century
Cataloging as we know it has to change and is changing already. How best to manage the change? read this interesting article from D-lib.
The Distant Librarian: Google Scholar's as good as the library
Whether this title has your hackles rising or your head nodding, take a look. Like Paul, I can't wait for the full article to be published.
ALA TechSource | My Phoner with Pogue
Check out Tom Peters' interesting chat with David Pogue, Technology columnist/blogger for the New York Times...
LIS Links of interest (fun)
blyberg.net » Too funny!
You must watch this....NOW! In fact, this librarian has already posted a sequel. This is getting played at the first staff meeting where I can find an excuse to play it...
Library Stories: Libraries & Librarians in the News: Poster of everything he's ever read...
umm...WOW. Ya know, I used to think I was getting organized, but to even KNOW everything I've read in my life, plus finding cover shots and turning them into a poster? That takes OCD to a new level (and I mean that in a good way...)
The Library Predict-o-matic 3000
Updated and Better than ever! Go get your 2007 prediction today! I got..."In 2007...SirsiDynix will be acquired by Activision and become ActirsiDynix. They will announce a new lending desk robot named Inthimo."
LibrarianInBlack: Teenagers happily checking out books
Another week, another cool library-themed YouTube--and this one patron-generated!
Productivity links of interest
26 Tips to Keep Your Computer Up and Functioning - lifehack.org
Good process for regular computer maintenance. I'm adding a stripped down version of this to my @home routines.
Let's Talk About LinkedIn
I drank the LinkedIn cool-aid about 6 months ago...and I'm not sure I've gotten much out of it. Apparently I'm not the only one.
Young Go Getter -- The business playground for entrepreneurs young at heart
An interesting site and blog--it says it's geared specifically to entrepreneurs, but I think any change-agent type is going to find some things to enjoy here. I'm still exploring this one, but I like what I see.
To boost your potential, try saying “Yes” more often - lifehack.org
I haven't always been glad I've said yes to a particular project or task, but I've always learned something.
Are You Just Getting Warmed Up? - lifehack.org
According to this, it's okay that I need to get a coffee, oatmeal, and say hi to a few coworkers before I'm even ready to think about my first chore of the day...yay! one less source of guilt!
Cool Reference site of the week (today’s special: 4 for 1!)
Constitution Finder
Looking for Austria’s constitution? The Magna Carta? Want to check to make sure Japan is still constitutionally pacifist? Browse away, my friend…
Literature Post :: Classic Books Online
Another site with public domain classic e-books, while there doesn't seem to be much here that isn't elsewhere, it seems to be a more focused collection than other similar sites (i.e. the Gutenberg Project)
Google Book Search: now with maps - Lifehacker
Now you can see maps with locations in Joyce's Dublin...cool toy. :-)
ResourceShelf » Updated Database: RxNav (A Semantic Navigation Tool for Clinical Drugs)
Title's pretty self-explanatory. A good pharmacology resource for your pharmacy, medical, and nursing students.
And that sums it up. See you soon!
