LCR Collections

Single Search: The Quest for the Holy Grail

2011-07-27T15:03:00.000-06:00

Single Search: The Quest for the Holy Grail

Discussion from OCLC on the future of single search in blended LAM organization. Paul Pival is acknowledged.
- organizational culture
- funding
- metadata flows

Challenges of Search in Collection Management Systems

2011-07-27T14:53:00.000-06:00

Putting the Wagon before the Horse? Implementing CCO in a museum collection management system.

Reviews issues of using the cataloging cultural objects data content standard (CCO). A very cogent and well written essay that provides a great introduction to the differences in approach between object cataloging and "library" cataloging.

Article on use of museum digital collections

2011-05-27T08:20:00.001-06:00

My lost museum: User expectations and motivations for creating personal digital collections on museum websites

Abstract

The recent development of personal digital collections systems on museum websites has prompted researchers to examine the motivations and expectations of museum visitors as they interact with those systems. Results from an online survey completed by visitors to six different museum websites show that users of personal digital collections systems are primarily motivated by a desire to create simple collections of objects and images, and are less influenced by the more complicated features museums have implemented to encourage user participation. The significance of these findings is explored through a discussion of user expectations and
motivations with respect to creating personal digital collections, and an attempt is made to reconcile some of the disparities between the perceptions of survey respondents and the experiences of museum professionals developing and implementing personal digital collections
systems.

- reposted from journal website

Notes from the Discovery Strategic Planning Group's most recent meeting

2011-05-26T08:08:00.000-06:00

Yesterday the group had a lively discussion after viewing the video

This is How we Dream Part 2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6KsEQnOkTZ0&feature=BFp&list=WL395BCE72423BC2B8&index=2

Some of what we talked about afterwards

We should design our interfaces to be “good metaphors” that help users feel oriented to where they are in the information space—e.g., via visualization?
Need to address the role of the great big box vs the many little specialized boxes
Need to address scales of discover….the individual’s personal exploration and long term stability that allows re-finding of information
Establish priorities for non-standard work, at the same time where can we have savings in effort that will free resources
In looking to push metadata out to other discovery arenas, we should look for communities of discovery where users with specialized interests will gather
Do we need to be the first place people come, or should we position ourselves to be the second/third place they come, once they want to dig more deeply?

User Search Limiting Behavior in Online Catalogs

2011-05-24T14:55:00.001-06:00

User search-limiting behavior in online catalogs: Comparing classic catalog use to search behavior in next-generation catalogs

Gives a brief overview of characteristics of the next-generation catalogue, and looks at differences in user searching behavior between classic and next gen.

"Next generation catalogs have been developed as a reaction to the perception that web catalogs were not user friendly enough to be effective in the Age of Google. Their design reflects the theory that users will take advantage of search limiting if the options are laid out before them rather than forcing them to go to a further screen to accomplish this. Usage data reported here overwhelmingly supports the notion that the new catalogs are accomplishing their mission quite well."

University of Houston uses Wikipedia to drive traffic to library

2011-05-19T15:57:00.001-06:00

The Discovery Strategic Planning Team at the University of Calgary will be looking at how to increase discovery of hidden collections....here is an interesting example from the University of Houston.

Wielding Wikipedia

As ever with Inside Higher Ed posts, be sure to read the comments.

Academic Users' Information Searching on Research Topics: Characteristics of Research Tasks and Search Strategies

2011-05-18T08:39:00.000-06:00

Academic Users' Information Searching on Research Topics: Characteristics of Research Tasks and Search Strategies: "Publication year: 2011
Source: The Journal of Academic Librarianship, In Press, Corrected Proof, Available online 17 May 2011
Jia Tina, Du , Nina, Evans
This project investigated how academic users search for information on their real-life research tasks. This article presents the findings of the first of two studies. The study data were collected in the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) in Brisbane, Australia. Eleven PhD students' searching behaviors on personal research topics were observed as they interacted with information retrieval (IR) systems. The analysis of search logs uncovered the characteristics of research tasks and the corresponding search strategies."

- reposted from journal feed

The Crisis in Research Librarianship

2011-05-13T11:11:00.000-06:00

The Crisis in Research Librarianship: "Publication year: 2011
Source: The Journal of Academic Librarianship, In Press, Corrected Proof, Available online 12 May 2011
Rick, Anderson"

reposted from journal web site

Yale's open access policy for images

2011-05-12T07:55:00.000-06:00

Local Weather: Yale's "Open Access" policy: "Yesterday, Yale announced its new 'open access' policy for online images of millions of objects housed in Yale's museums, archives, and libraries, and more than 250,000 images are available through a newly developed collective catalog.

The goal of the new policy is to make high quality digital images of Yale's vast cultural heritage collections in the public domain openly and freely available. Yale is using a Creative Commons license, Attribution 3.0 Unported (CC BY 3.0) for the open access material. 'This license lets others distribute, remix, tweak, and build upon your work, even commercially, as long as they credit you for the original creation. This is the most accommodating of licenses offered. Recommended for maximum dissemination and use of licensed materials.'

This policy is a big big success for Yale and its Office of Digital Assets and Infrastructure (ODAI) and the libraries, archives, and museums at Yale. Without a centralizing, coordinating agency on campus, I can't imagine that Yale University would have been able to make this decision and connect it to a tool for discovery across Yale's many cultural and scientific units such as the libraries at Yale, the Yale University Art Gallery, the Peabody Museum of Natural History, and the Yale Center for British Art. ODAI is proving its value to Yale.

- reposted from Moby Lives

User Behaviour Article: Image needs in the context of image use: An exploratory study

2011-05-12T07:54:00.000-06:00

Image needs in the context of image use: An exploratory study: "Author(s): Chung, E. , Yoon, J.
Publication year: 2011
Journal / Book title: Journal of Information Science

- from Scopus site

Announcing the Discovery Strategic Planning Group (DSPG)

2011-05-09T12:03:00.001-06:00

Here is some basic information on the DSPG

Objectives
A Collections sponsored exercise modeled on work done by the University of Minnesota,with the following objectives:

1.Develop a high-level vision of the LCR Discovery environment, synthesizing current research on user needs and collection imperatives/opportunities.

2.Codify best practices for exposing metadata to external systems.

3.Identify relevant characteristics in our user communities in regards to Discovery and Delivery, conducting additional research as needed.

4.Investigate and summarize how selected peer institutions have redefined and redesigned their discovery layers.

5.Identify LCR’s primary data sources and determine which of our resources can and should be accessible to external systems and emerging interfaces.

6.Identify LCR collections that cannot be made adequately discoverable through external systems.

Membership and Timeline

A core group will be charged with fulfilling the objective and creating a final document that outlines findings and makes recommendations. Core group membership will include key LCR staff who will be responsible for planning and carrying out any recommendations and representatives of the Discovery User Experience Team.

Tim Au Yeung
Susan Beatty
David Brown
Helen Clarke (chair)
Geraldine Chimirri- Russell
Leeanne Morrow
Heather D’Amour
Andrew Pasterfield
Kathy Drewes
Paul Pival
Laura Koltutsky
Shawna Sadler
Saundra Lipton
John Wright

The group will develop a final report by Fall 2011.

AFAQ (Anticipated Frequently Asked Questions) about the Discovery Strategic Planning Group

2011-05-09T12:03:00.000-06:00

Some questions we think you'll be asking about this recently announced Collections project
(You can add your own questions using the comments function, and we'll do our best to answer. )

What is DSPG going to do?

The purpose of the group is to develop a plan that LCR can use in making decisions about discovery systems and features.

The plan should articulate a clear direction in key areas

what do users need and expect from the discovery environment
what are the purposes of unified discovery tools,i.e., Summon
what is the role of specialized systems in discovery, i.e., Shared Shelf, ContentDM
how our collections are made discoverable by external systems
what collections are currently "left out" of discovery, what is the priority for addressing these gaps?
how do we assess the success our discovery systems; what should our ongoing processes be for evaluation and revision

What isn't DSPG going to do?

We aren't a design committee, our goal isn't to develop a particular look or feel for discovery tools. Design is ongoing work that will be guided by the strategic plan developed by the DSPG.

How was DSPG membership chosen?

Membership was approved by the Vice Provost and the AVP's. As well branch heads were consulted.

Membership is designed to bring together people with direct responsibility for design and implementation, people who have a demonstrated interest in usability and user needs, and people who can represent different types of collections. We also needed to keep the group to a workable size.

Will DSPG consult with people in LCR or on campus?

Absolutely. One of our subgroups is specifically tasked with communication and will be developing a range of options to encourage everyone's input . As well, we will identify specific areas of LCR where we need to meet to ask about specific collections and types of users.

As a first step in enhancing communication I'm reinstating an old blog I used to run on collection development. This blog will now host information on collection deve

Will DSPG make sudden changes to systems or processes?

No. DSPG is to articulate a strategic direction. Implementation of specific changes will require coordination and consultation.

What is the scope of Discovery the DSPG will address?

Discovery is a holistic issue, covering all types of physical and digital collections. The group will need to address physical collections held by LCR, digital collections held by or subscribed to by LCR, as well as investigate the issue of external collections that are discoverable but not under the control of LCR.

What is DSPG's timeline?

We hope to produce a final report in the Fall 2011.

Will DSPG recommend keeping or eliminating specific systems?

No. The group will provide a strategic direction and articulate outcomes that may lead to questions about specific systems, but individual product assessment is not on our agenda.

Is DSPG looking at electronic resources for potential cancellation?

No. This process has nothing to do with electronic content such as indexes, aggregators, or journal packages.

What do you mean by Discovery?

In this context Discovery means the systems and processes people use to

find materials (e.g., books, journals, archives, images)
assess items before retrieval
understand how to retrieve items of interest
refind items at a later date

A related question people often ask concerns the definition of metadata. Metadata is the information recorded about an item. Often this information is crucial to discovery. Catalogue records, fonds descriptions, HDL barcodes, all of these are examples of metadata.

LCR Collections Blog

2011-05-09T11:58:00.000-06:00

I'm relaunching this old blog I used to manage. The old blog contained posts dealing with collection development issues. This new version will address collection development, metadata and discovery issues as they relate to LCR.

Using a blog for this allows is an easy way to keep people updated on

Collections projects and activities
What we're reading
Questions we're looking into

As well, blogs make it easy for people to leave comments for general discussion.

I've enabled both an RSS and Twitter feed for folks who would like regular updates when new postings come out.

Let me know if you'd like to be able to post to this blog, I'd be happy to add you.

Article to Read-->Catching Leopards in the Library; or,Of Panthers and Posterity

2011-05-09T11:56:00.000-06:00

Catching Leopards in the Library; or, Of Panthers and Posterity

Purpose - This study addresses the problem of estimating usage of cultural heritage material that has been retained for posterity. In the whole collection of books, how many are ‘alive’, that is, in use?
Findings - By using this method an effective model of use over long periods can be created, whichhas demonstrated that ultimately only 27.5% of the collections will ever be consulted, the rest is being kept, essentially, ‘for posterity’.
Practical implications - The method has been put to use in the University of Oxford as an element in the apportionment of costs in what is known as the ‘123-model’, a system more equitable to the academic divisions. The University now adopts a more nuanced approach which ensures that the cost of maintaining the proportion of the collections which is being kept ‘for posterity’ is borne centrally by the University.Originality/value - Most studies of collection usage concentrate on the very real problems and issues surrounding the active circulation of current stock.There are no direct studies of rare and old material, whose value lies precisely in the fact that it has survived the centuries which this study now addresses."

(reposted from journal site)

Article to Read:-->Usability Testing of VuFind at an Academic Library :

2011-05-09T11:51:00.002-06:00

Usability Testing of VuFind at an Academic Library
Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to present the findings of an academic library's implementation of a discovery layer (VuFind 1.0 RC1) as a next-generation catalogue, based on usability testing and an online survey.

Findings - Both the usability testing and survey demonstrated that users preferred VuFind's interface over the classic catalogue. They particularly liked facets and the richness of the search results listings. Users intuitively understood how to use the deconcatenated Library of Congress Subject Headings. Despite the discovery layer's new functionality, known journal title searching still presents a challenge to users and certain terms used in the interface were problematic.

(repost from journal site)

Articles to Read--> Users and technology: are we doing research now?

2011-05-09T11:41:00.000-06:00

Users and technology: are we doing research now?
"Abstract:
Purpose - The paper examines changes in the quality of user research in Library and Information Science.
Findings - The paper concludes that the diversity of methods to study users is growing and a confidence about labeling and using methods is becoming manifest. The number of research questions that a single study answers is both diminishing and at the same time growing more diverse

Lost Library Technology-->Paul Otlet

2008-06-19T20:21:00.004-06:00

The Mundaneum Museum in Belgium documents the dreams and work of Paul Otlet who in 1934 developed plans for "electric telescopes". This librarian/archivist anticipated hypertext, social networks, and maybe even the semantic web.

I totally disagree with the resident archivist who states People are not necessarily excited to go see an archive. It’s like, would you rather go see the latest ‘Star Wars’ movie, or would you rather go see a giant card catalog?” After reading this I feel like a pilgrimage is required.

Mundaneum Museum Site

New Internet Publishing Model

2008-05-29T20:24:00.002-06:00

Smashwords allows authors to post books online with complete control over sampling and pricing. Smashwords retains 15% of the sale price.

Not very many books posted, but it always good to see new models.

Canadian Collections Interest Listserv

2008-05-01T20:26:00.003-06:00

My colleague Andrew Waller reminds folks with an interest to sign up for this list.

Collection Development and Management Interest Group
http://mailman.ucalgary.ca/mailman/listinfo/cdmig-l

Book Culture Scoundrels-->Bookstore Scam Artists

2008-05-01T20:02:00.002-06:00

Gawker wonders if someone is teaching a class. Taking advantage of a bookstore is particularly low. I suspect Dante would have consigned these scoundrels to the eighth circle?

200,000 books--one author

2008-04-17T19:37:00.002-06:00

I've posted about this gentleman before. Philip Parker has "written" over 200,000 books and he's planning to move into romance novels and video games.

My immediate reaction to this is mostly shock and suspicion. As a collections librarian I feel that this must be some type of scam, calculated to part me from my hard earned collections bucks.

However, Metacool, provided a link to a video by Mr. Parker. Viewing this I start to think that something much more interesting is going on. The books are written using a combination of text mining and algorithms, in the case of his market analyses, the algorithm is an econometric model.

Hmmm, collections implications...
- are we buying full text collections with rights that will support the use of customized text mining tools? What kind of rights are needed?
- critical review of Mr. Parker's books requires an ability to understand and review his text mining heuristics and algorithms
- are the books a "red herring"...if text mining can pull and analyze data, then why can't this be used to create a database that can be queried on the fly? Computers should be able to read the data as well as mine...a book isn't really needed.
-

Book Mutilation of the Week-->Books as Art

2008-04-17T19:30:00.002-06:00

Only one, the future of the book, is a true mutilation, but some nice book art in this fellow's portfolio.

Original link from if:book.

Amazon bullying with BookSurge?

2008-04-03T19:00:00.002-06:00

Lots of postings on indications that Booksurge (a print on demand service recently purchased by Amazon) that print on demand titles who don't use the Booksurge service will lose their "buy" buttons on Amazon's site. Check out Google if you want to find the postings.

However, Amazon has written to Publisher's weekly to explain they are only taking this stand for the benefit of their customers. Using the inhouse POD will allow speedy delivery. Publishers who want to use a different POD service must provide Amazon with 5 copies ahead of time.

Who doesn't love a juggernaut?

Yes expensive data access rates do matter to Canadian Libraries

2008-04-03T18:46:00.002-06:00

I spent quite a few years in a comfy bubble, knowing that people in other countries seemed to have strange customs that involved using their cell phones for all sorts of neat data access tricks that require wireless broadband, but that in Canada these were unexplored mysteries.

My colleague Paul Pival eventually burst my bubble by explaining that the relative expense of data access in Canada was the reason we seemed to lag behind.

Now of course I'm peeved. Why can't my users access the cool information services mobile users in other countries have. Read this post from Alec Saunders to get the background, and start thinking about how we can change this situation. Where is the government when you need one?

No Wireless, but you can have the Patriot Act

2008-03-27T18:42:00.003-06:00

You probably all read Boing Boing so this is a bit of a repeat. But those folks at Lakehead seem to be under a bit of cloud. First no wireless. Now by accepting Gmail and other services they possibly open the door to the Patriot Act.

They may laugh last when they don't get brain damage.

Curious to know more about the potential impact of the Patriot Act in Canadian Libraries, take a peek at this article by my colleague Andrew Waller.

Oops, Andrew points out this article refers to the Office of Foreign Asset Control Legislation, not the Patriot Act. He has kindly provided this summary of Patriot Act issues.

The USA PATRIOT Act

The USA PATRIOT Act (more formally known as the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act (USA PATRIOT Act) of 2001 (Public Law 107-56, 115 STAT.272, H.R. 3162)) has been in place in the United States for over 5 years, since October 24, 2001, and has recently been renewed by Congress and signed by the President, with minor changes. A wide-ranging piece of legislation that amends other laws, its most reported features is Section 215, which allows authorities such as the FBI and prosecutors to more easily get a court order or use national security letters to access personal records of any sort without disclosure. Those from whom records have been seized are not permitted to inform anyone but their legal counsel that this has occurred.

The PATRIOT Act has immediate implications in any situation where information of Canadian origin is stored in the United States, as result of service contracts, outsourcing, data storage, and data processing, makes it susceptible to seizure by U.S. authorities. Information that is stored in Canada by Canadian subsidiaries of American companies is also susceptible. This can affect almost any organization: companies, governments, associations, and universities.

This fact has led to some action by provincial governments. In October 2004, the Information and Privacy Commissioner for British Columbia investigated the effects of the PATRIOT Act on the outsourcing activities of the B.C. provincial government, particularly those dealing with medical services. He determined that the personal information of British Columbians could be threatened if it was being held on servers in the United States. Recommendations were issued to amend the B.C. Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act to deal with personal information under the control of a public body that is being stored outside Canada. Included among these recommendations was a fine of up to $1,000,000 for any disclosure of personal information or if personal information is sent outside Canada.

In Alberta, Alberta Government Services and the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner surveyed public bodies in the province as to what sort of health or personal information they are sending outside of Canada for processing or storage. The University of Calgary was included in this survey. This work resulted in the tabling of a bill (Bill 20), the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Amendment Act, 2006 in the Alberta legislature on March 7, 2006. This bill was passed and came into force on May 24, 2006. The act responds to Patriot Act concerns in that it includes new penalties (including fines up to $500,000) for disclosing personal information in response to an order from a court with no jurisdiction in Alberta, among other steps, though it does not prevent the storage of Canadian data in the United States.

At the federal level, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner recently passed a ruling involving the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) and, indirectly, the PATRIOT Act. In fall 2004, CIBC informed their VISA customers that the bank was using a service provider in the United States and that American authorities may be able to access cardholders’ personal information under U.S. law. Some customers filed complaints against CIBC to the Privacy Commissioner but the Assistant Privacy Commissioner ruled that CIBC had acted correctly in informing their customers under the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA). In addition, the Assistant Commissioner also ruled “that the Act cannot prevent U.S. authorities from lawfully accessing the personal information of Canadians held by organizations in Canada or in the United States, nor can it force Canadian companies to stop outsourcing to foreign-based service providers”.

A major problem of the PATRIOT Act for Canadian libraries is that the majority of the electronic information that libraries now provides for their patrons is hosted on servers located in the United States. For example, an academic user could conduct a search on the Elsevier e-journal platform ScienceDirect or could set up a Table of Contents profile on the same database; the search strategy, the results of the search, and the preferences given for Table of Contents profile would all be retained on Elsevier’s servers located in Dayton, Ohio. Accordingly, this personal information about a Canadian library user could be accessed by American authorities under the PATRIOT Act, regardless of its origin in another country.

Andrew Waller
Serials Librarian
Collections Services
University of Calgary Library

Why don't libraries buy self published books?

2008-03-27T18:31:00.003-06:00

Take a look at this posting from Library Thing. The author points out that Libraries are ignoring self published books, with even very popular works of this kind failing to find their way into academic collections, at least if WorldCat is anything to go by.

Taking up the challenge, I took a look at Lulu a publisher mentioned in the post. Looking under Arts & Photography I see the Ultimate Tattoo Bible, The Concordia University Undergraduate Journal of Art History, LAUNCH (another student publication), Sketching Iran, and Grain Elevators of Canada. Seems to me Library Thing may have a point.

Blog of the Week-->Bookshelf

2008-03-22T16:47:00.002-06:00

Lot's of fun at the Bookshelf blog. Love the parralax system that eliminates the need for bookends. Check out its sister site Shedworking "a lifestyle guide for shedworkers".

Canadian Book Exchange--who knew?

2008-03-13T19:13:00.004-06:00

Two stories about the close of the Canadian Book Exchange Centre.
* Federal budget claims National Book Exchange
* Feds axe book centre

This surprised me....because I confess I never even knew there was a Canadian Book Exchange. Now I'm famously ill informed on national issues, still I think part of the problem might have been publicity.

If like me your problem is finding a home for unwanted books, rather than seeking out other folk's surplus, then I'll point you to Better World Books our gifts coordinator has just started working with them, I'll send out a review later to tell you how its going.

Library Scoundrels--Book thieves

2008-03-13T18:54:00.002-06:00

Okay, this story is more about people who steal from bookstores, but the sentiment is the same. The author's interpretation that some of folks are motivated by a sense of entitlement is interesting, especially if you know how hard the book trade is. Still the guy with the list was probably motivated by more fundamental concerns.

Link from Reading Copy

Blog of the Week-->Reanimation Library

2008-02-28T20:17:00.002-07:00

Reanimation Library

What fun. The Reanimation Library collects discarded and used books, creating a storehouse of material for by artists and writers.

A primary goal is preserving the graphic elements of the work. The site points out that graphics rarely play a role in library collection decisions.

"The Reanimation Library is committed to building a collection of materials that are rich in visual information, regardless of the currency of their textual information. The Library serves as a repository and, more pertinently, an access point for such materials."

Collection Assessment Symposium :: Edmonton February 21/2008

2008-02-19T07:49:00.002-07:00

The Alberta Library is sponsoring a Collection Assessment Symposium in Edmonton this week.

In preparation for a short presentation I'll be doing explaining how we use Ulrich's Serials Analysis System I'm posting an overview prepared by Heather D'Amour and myself for the 2006 Art Libraries Association meeting in Banff Alberta.

Introduction to Collection Assessment

The guide includes a chapter outlining the methodology we used for USAS.

Library Lending Right Payouts

2008-02-14T20:04:00.002-07:00

Short story announcing the $9 million that will be given out this year as part of the library lending right program.

To find out more about this program you can visit the site. Its an important issue in Canada as it establishes an understanding regarding single purchase multiple use.

Globe and Mail reports on study of Canada's book retail market

2008-02-07T20:48:00.000-07:00

The entire report is available here. But the Globe and Mail has a good summary.

Highlights
- Domination of Chapters/Indigo
- Increased number of titles published
- Media saturation
- Rising Canadian dollar (did you know that if the Canadian price for a book is more than 10% above the cost difference assignable to currency conversion, than Canadian booksellers can import from the foreign supplier...which would have a lot more impact in a more varied sales environment....sigh.

World's most prolific author

2008-02-07T20:21:00.000-07:00

This post from If:book is worth a read, Ben Vershbow reports on Philip M. Parker and two stories (here and here)stories about him published in the Guardian by Marc Abrahams.

Mr. Parker has patented a machine that generates the 200,000 books he has authored.

So well, of course, I had to check out our catalogue. It appears we have 17 books by this author. They seem to be of a type, solid sounding titles that may lack substance on further examination...but which the average librarian won't be able to judge and may likely purchase based on the title alone.

I tried Amazon reviews, the one for The World Market for Machinery Used in the Grain Milling Industry or for the Working of Cereals or Dried Leguminous Vegetables Excluding Farm-Type Machinery: A 2007 Global Trade Perspective appeared to lack the necessary gravity.

The review for The Official Patient's Sourcebook on Acne Rosacea: A Revised and Updated Directory for the Internet Age is a bit more critical.

Finally, a positive review for The Official Patient's Sourcebook on Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy Syndrome

Alberta Publisher Closes

2008-02-07T20:16:00.000-07:00

After 30 years, Canmore's Altitude Press closes its doors.
John King, of the University of Calgary Press, is quoted.

Amazon's underbelly?

2008-01-30T19:21:00.001-07:00

Its always nice to read a story about some non-library aspect of the book biz. This articles discusses how Amazon gets its reviews. Maybe not a 2.0ish as we all thought, but still not really 1.0?

A Library Scoundrel revisited

2008-01-30T19:18:00.000-07:00

This is why those pesky acquisitions folks have all those rules.

Blog of the Week--> Not in WorldCat

2008-01-30T19:15:00.001-07:00

What a great blog, once a day I get to see the kind of "rare, interesting, unusual books, and book like things" that are for sale online but which are NOT found in WorldCat...comforting news for us who like to think some books still roam free.

This blog will feature books, and book-like items, for sale online that are not in OCLC/WorldCat. To start with, I will find interesting items on sites like abebooks.com. In the future, I may allow submissions. Since sellers on sites like abebooks want to sell books, I’m assuming that they’re are OK with me using their content, with proper attribution. If not, just let me know, and I’ll take any entry off. Use the comment box below- your message will not be published. I have no relationship with any of these sellers, cannot comment further on their books, cannot provide additional scans, and take no commission or other consideration from anyone.

Library Scoundrel (okay its actually a sticky fingered archivist)

2008-01-30T19:08:00.000-07:00

We haven't had a scoundrel in some time, this week we'll have one new one and get to revisit an old acquaintance.

The new Scoundrel stole documents from the New York State Library (where he worked!) to pay of his daughter's credit card debts. Quoting from the the story...
"I took things on an as-needed basis to pay family bills, such as house renovations, car bills, tuition and my daughter's credit card problem," Lorello wrote.

He said he took many items last year because his daughter "unexpectedly ran up a $10,000 credit card bill."

So I guess it was like his own little nest egg.

However he was caught, as are so many would be fences, when it turned out that Ebay is a terrible choice for selling stolen goods.

Canadian Library Heritage Minute

2008-01-30T18:57:00.000-07:00

Check out this warm and fuzzy story about the Canadian Book Centre and the distribution of books overseas after the war.

Lately we've been looking into using Better World Book Center as a way of letting surplus gifts and duplicates find a better home. Is anyone else in Canada using them directly?

I am aware of the Used Books New Start Programbut you folks out there with active book programs know what it means to need a longer term approach.

Blog of the Week-->Quillblog

2008-01-21T19:55:00.001-07:00

Boy, I'm so out of it, who knew Quill and Quire had a blog?

Better sign up for you feed.

Discarded books part of homeless economy

2008-01-21T19:49:00.000-07:00

Read the article through this link from Reading Copy. Homeless people in New York scavenge books and sell them to used book stores.

Book Art of the Week

2008-01-21T19:45:00.000-07:00

I liked the idea of letting the students express themselves with book art. Lots of fun and a good way to get people talking about how books affect them.

Call for Toronto Archives to have a Flickr presence

2008-01-21T19:40:00.000-07:00

Should the Toronto Archives be on Flickr Commons?

If I were the Toronto city archives I'd be tickled pink at this kind of attention.

However this line from the comments is a little poignant, mostly because I'm not shy of retirement....

"as for the toronto archives, digitizing a collection and cataloging it properly requires a bit of funding and a lot of initiative. from my experience, libraries and archives are still predominantly filled with people just shy of retirement so it might take a bit of time before any major digitization happens"

Library of Congress has a Flickr page

2008-01-17T17:29:00.000-07:00

Wow, the old LofC doesn't show up in Gawker that often.

You can visit it here.

The colour images from the 1930's and 1940's are particularly charming, its great to see the old cars and fashions in colour.

Making the break...pruning the library in your office

2007-07-25T08:41:00.000-06:00

A professor reflects on the process of letting go of books from the personal collection.

Librarians may not give as much thought to the information ecology of users, one that bypasses or uses the library in surprising ways. Personal collections are important and here we can read about
* the use of Google and Amazon
* scanning text to create a digital surrogate
* the personal library as bibliography

Take some time to read the comments as well.

Those guys at Science change horses again

2007-07-24T20:11:00.000-06:00

I'm reminded of what Grant Fuhr said when he was traded from the Oilers. He referred to the Gretzky trade and noted that this was when he knew it was a business not a sport.

I guess for Science its a business not a scholarly endeavour.

Sigh....

We just received an email from JSTOR noting that Science would no longer provide backfiles to JSTOR, although the existing content will remain.

As JSTOR notes "The AAAS and JSTOR began working together in 1998 to include Science and Scientific Monthly, a related title that has ceased publication, in the JSTOR archive. During this time, access to the backfiles of Science and Scientific Monthly has been greatly expanded through the availability of the JSTOR Health & General Sciences collection at over 1,000 institutions as well as at 600 other organizations through our special programs providing the full JSTOR archive to secondary schools, public libraries, museums and institutions in developing nations."

Call me cynical but somehow I don't believe the Science model for backfiles will provide the same broad based reasonably priced service.

Shelf Ready--too good a deal?

2007-07-23T19:12:00.000-06:00

Bob Nardini of Coutts reflects on the cost of original cataloguing and the burden the Library of Congress bears in supporting an international library economy. I note his understanding of the marc record as a marketing and acquisition tool in addition to its role as a public finding aid.

Killing Kittens?

2007-07-23T19:08:00.001-06:00

Library users love their books, and in this story of yet another library caught in the act a patron may be reaching new levels of hyperbole.

Free Images of Medical Stuff--not just for the docs

2007-07-17T20:22:00.000-06:00

Wellcome Trust has launched a site documenting 2000 years of medicine.

"Launched on 15 June 2007, 'Wellcome Images' is the world's leading source of images on the history of medicine, modern biomedical science and clinical medicine. All content has been made available under a Creative Commons Licence, which allows users to copy, distribute and display the image, provided the source is fully attributed and it is used for non-commercial purposes."

e-brary survey results

2007-06-27T18:24:00.000-06:00

You can get a copy on request.

Includes a good analysis by Allen McKiel, Director of Libraries at Northeastern State University.

Highlight for me was continued emphasis on the catalogue as the gateway to ebooks.

Living in an ISBN Bubble--so that's why they all have 978 in front

2007-06-26T19:11:00.000-06:00

979-prefixed ISBNs will appear early next year

And check out the source, Research Information

Book Mutilation of the Week-->Books as Art

2007-06-26T19:06:00.000-06:00

Start looking for the beauty in your next disaster....and check out the source of this link, the ABE blog Reading Copy.

Source for reusable free images

2007-06-12T20:35:00.000-06:00

I'm always looking for pics to jazz up presentations, facebook, blog posts etc. The challenge is finding a good selection of images that can be reused.

Thanks to one of the blogs on my feed, which I've lost the reference to, sorry...I've discovered Morguefile.com

"The morguefile contains photographs freely contributed by many artists to be used in creative projects by visitors to the site. To acknowledge the artist's accomplishments, we ask that you credit the photographer when possible. Any questions regarding liabilities should be directed to the specific photographer."

Two Fine Ladies of Collections Retire

2007-06-11T18:35:00.000-06:00

There's hope for us all, light at the end of the tunnel.

But we'll miss them both. sniff, sniff

Barbara Marshalsay from the University of Lethbridge is retiring in June, Leona Jacobs will be the interim contact.

Janice Krieder from the University of British Columbia is retiring as well, check out her biography in the Library newsletter.

Tim O'Reilly reviews the impact of OA on print sales

2007-06-03T20:41:00.000-06:00

This story has received quite a bit of press, but in case you missed it...

the original post

Tim O'Reilly reviews his experience in how open access affected the print sales of the book
Asterisk: the future of telephony by
Lief Madsen, Jared Smith, and Jim Meggelen

Basically he found that print sales remained very strong even if the text was openly available.

As a collections librarian I think this reinforces the view that print books and e-books serve different purposes, and we may not see the same reduction in demand for print that we have seen with e-journals.

Also note the overwhelming stats for e-use versus print sales, then consider that at least 19,000 buyers still wanted to spend money to get the print. This suggests that we have to be careful in weighting different uses of formats, understanding that while print use is lower, the value of those uses to the reader may be higher?

Lots to ponder....

Blog of the Week-->Planet Cataloguing

2007-06-03T20:35:00.000-06:00

Cataloguing is where its at in Library 2.0. Finally, a metablog that can help us bleacher sitters follow the state of play.

"Planet Cataloging is an automatically-generated aggregation of blogs related to cataloging and metadata designed and maintained by Jennifer Lang and Kevin S. Clarke."

Some librarians use very bad language

2007-05-23T19:28:00.000-06:00

....and I disapprove, honest!

lolbrarians

Outstanding Book Mutilation of the Week

2007-05-22T20:01:00.000-06:00

A new category for the blog

This is for stuff I better not catch anyone doing with our books, but which are frightfully cool.

First entry is Pulp Fiction

Link courtesy of Boing Boing

University of Alberta announces Metis National Council Database

2007-05-22T19:52:00.000-06:00

Metis National Council Historical Online Database

Highlights include

Métis related archival information, previously only available at Library and Archives Canada (Ottawa) or on microfilm.

1901 Census, Section 31 Manitoba Act Affidavits, and North West “Half-breed” Scrip

Section 31 Manitoba Act Affidavits and 1901 Census document series are thoroughly represented (within a 5% margin) in the MNC Historical Online Database.

Small samples of the Northwest “Half-breed” Scrip Applications, 1881 Census, and 1891 Census document series are represented.

Code of Practice to Govern Journal Transfers

2007-05-19T12:24:00.000-06:00

Something to start asking vendors to include in licenses?

The UK Serials Group has developed the code of practice and is asking publishers to sign up.

Main Points:

1. Access to continue from original publisher for six months
2. Original publisher will provide subscribers list to new publisher
3. URL redirects for a minimum of 12 months
4. Digital archive will be transferred and/or rights to access will be transferred
5. Original publisher will inform subscribers
6. DOI's will be transferred
7. Information will be deposited in a transfer database

Scopus providing research performance analysis

2007-05-19T12:10:00.000-06:00

Keep an eye on this one as Scopus edges even more into ISI territory, offering citation analysis services to evaluate researcher performance.

Saskatchewan Researcher in Residence

2007-05-07T14:08:00.000-06:00

Those clever boots on the prairie have a novel idea

Researcher-in-Residence Program

"The Program provides dedicated office space, access to computing facilities and support and other support-in-kind for a visiting professional (educator or practitioner) to spend a period of time at the U of S Library."

I can personally vouch for the lovely environs of the campus and city.

Ex Libris announces an e-book focus group

2007-05-07T14:02:00.000-06:00

One to watch, this announcement comes via the SFX discussion group.

The focus group is made up of Ex Libris staff and customers. The charge is to...

explore all issues arising from the trend towards e-books in the academic and research library environment. The Group is asked to examine all aspects of e-books from a broad perspective: how they are acquired, managed, described,
discovered, and delivered.

The Group's first task is to study and understand all aspects of the e-book industry and its practices, including but not limited to publication and accompanying metadata, repositories, bibliographic control, collection models, and to investigate how these practices affect libraries.

Armed with a high level understanding of e-book issues, the e-book industry and its delivery models, the Focus Group shall identify workflows, tasks, and challenges arising from the introduction of e-books into the library. The Group will examine business processes related to the five major activities listed above in building e-book collections and integrating (and leveraging with) the library's existing
print collections.
....

The ultimate goal of this effort is to provide the academic and research
library market a set of solutions to the challenges presented by
e-books.

e-book loans via CISTI

2007-05-07T13:57:00.000-06:00

Knowledgespeak offers this blurb regarding an e-book loan service available via CISTI and supported by MyiLibrary.

Evidently each loan will cost $25 and will provide 30 days of access. Printing is restricted.

Interesting to see how this will be received.

Canadiana.org bulletin

2007-04-30T19:06:00.000-06:00

Check out the latest issue, and learn about good news for genealogists, the history of Canadian cookery, and funding for AlouetteCanada and Synergies.

RLG Records are migrating to OCLC

2007-04-30T18:59:00.000-06:00

First step in merging RLG Union Catalog with WorldCat complete
Phase 1 of the RLG Union Catalog integration into WorldCat is complete.

Phase 1 involved matching RLG Union Catalog primary cluster records against WorldCat and adding new WorldCat master records for titles in the RLG Union Catalog not already represented in WorldCat.

In this phase, OCLC processed 50.4 million records and added 7.8 million new master records. The “Status: RLG Union Catalog Integration into WorldCat” Web page has a complete set of statistics for Phase 1 as well as a tentative schedule for Phases 2 and 3.

making measurement of use: what Helen did on her leave

2007-04-25T13:59:00.000-06:00

Below find a set of documents regarding my .5 leave from July to December 2006

My leave project was to identify collection measures that are grounded in scholarly information seeking patterns and to test Ellis, Lokman and Tibbo's behavioural facets of information seeking behaviour as an expandable approach to user modelling.

In the course of this I was able to make use of information seeking models, personas, claims analysis and a host of other techniques not often found in collection assessment.

The work has left me with deep concerns regarding the functionality of current digital collections and the effort needed to get past accumulating stuff and move on to building a true digital library.

Read on, all comments, questions and challenges are welcome.

A short (4 page) summary/teaser

The final report "making measurement of use"

Comments and reactions from early readers

Edible Book Festival 2006 - Images

2007-04-19T11:17:00.000-06:00

Edible Book Festival 2006 - Images

A great idea for a local celebration, loved the edible puns.

Whatever happened to that Joyce copyright battle...

2007-04-03T20:04:00.000-06:00

Well go to the Canadian Archivist blog to find out...

Joyce Copyright Battled Settled

What ever happened to those editors at CMAJ

2007-04-03T20:03:00.001-06:00

Well go to the Scholarly Communication blog to find out....

Fired Editors Launch Online Open Medical Journal

SSHRC to support open access

2007-04-03T19:53:00.000-06:00

Not reading The Imaginary Journal of Poetic Economics blog, well you should or you'll miss good stories like this as SSHRC makes an important move.

Aid to Open-Access Research Journals

From the site:
The objectives of this program are to:

* assist journals offering barrier-free access to peer-reviewed scholarship in the social sciences and humanities;

* increase readership, both nationally and internationally, for research journals that publish original scholarship in the social sciences and humanities;

* allow SSHRC to test a new funding model and approach to adjudicating grant applications from research journals, in preparation for the revised research journals support program, which will be launched in 2008-09.

This new funding model uses the scholarly article as its base unit. SSHRC recognizes that it is primarily by way of scholarly articles that intellectual debate and inquiry are fostered. It also recognizes that an electronic journal’s total operating expenses are, in large part, directly related to the number of articles it publishes.

American Chemical Society moves to "Value Based Pricing"

2007-04-03T19:34:00.000-06:00

What is worrying? Well with comments like this

"The model will utilize value-based metrics such as number of articles published, ISI® impact factor, and total downloads to establish prices for the electronic versions of each ACS journal."

We face the potential drawbacks of coupling use with pricing

Looking at the pricing pages it appears ACS is combining institution size and generalized use patterns. A relief in that it doesn't seem that the tie between use and cost is direct or institution specific.

ACS is usually a good player in the publishing market, here's hoping this model accomplishes the stated goals of increasing access and use to a greater range of institutions.

Harlequin is looking for real men....

2007-04-03T19:31:00.001-06:00

...to serve as cover models.

This is an important story because as you all know Harlequin is a leading Canadian publisher

I like this optimist's take...

"From what I understand, (Harlequin) readers are women who want to escape from the relationship that they're in," said auditioner Carlos Troccoli, 30, who was tall, sturdy and muscular. "I can bring that to them."

Fate of the BC Legislative Library

2007-04-03T19:11:00.000-06:00

Hard news for the Legislative Library, some quotes that reflect the place of libraries in the public mind

"But always, just beyond the tumult and the shouting, the legislative library offered the calm of a monastery's cloisters. Under its own domed ceiling, overlooked by gargoyles designed to ward off evil spirits, the keepers of British Columbia's political history and heritage ply their trade in close to silence."
Protecting our books, our history

"But what's underway is diminishment, not enhancement. The legislative chamber is the heart of democracy, the library its brain. These collections are B.C.'s memory. Making it less accessible invites political Alzheimer's disease."
Plans to close 144-year-old BC Legislature Library

"It could be that the library's reading room -- probably the most beautiful one in any Canadian library -- is also its undoing. Looking just at the architecture, it would be easy -- and wrong -- to declare that a room that striking deserves to be used for something higher than information. Like wine and cheese, for instance. That notion trivializes the value of knowledge."
Legislative Library Should Stay Open

Its easy to dismiss these statements as sentimental maunderings of fogeys who don't understand the modern world of information, but they reflect a cultural regard for heritage and knowledge that deserves to be part of our planning for library futures.

Update on TCP--full text searching of EEBO & ECCO

2007-04-03T18:54:00.000-06:00

I just wanted to let all of you know that you will soon be getting a packet
of information from me soon, giving you some more information about the
latest developments for the Text Creation Partnership (TCP) project at the
University of Michigan. Before you see that, I thought I might take this
opportunity to detail a few other things not in the letter. It has been a
busy few months for the project, and all of us have a lot to think about for
the future.

Most notably, you can now search all 3 collections (EEBO-TCP, Evans-TCP, and
ECCO-TCP) in one place
http://ets.umdl.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?xg=1;page=simple;g=tcp. This
offers unprecedented access and ability to cross-search the 3 projects,
regardless of commercial product, and allows researchers to ask new
questions about topics that go across the seventeenth and eighteenth
centuries, and British and American studies. I would encourage you to look
at this site, and please let me know if you have any questions.

Also, the TCP has been busy creating more texts. The totals so far:

Early English Books Online - TCP - 13,634
Evans Early American Imprints - TCP - 1,786
Eighteenth Century Collections Online - TCP - 426
TCP Total - 15,846

TCP hosted a successful conference at the end of last year with over 30
papers and nearly one hundred participants discussing the importance of
EEBO, Evans, ECCO, and the TCP in research and teaching. A special edition
of Early Modern Literary Studies (http://extra.shu.ac.uk/emls/emlshome.html)
will be coming out this autumn with papers from the conference.

Find of the Week-->Rare Bible

2007-04-03T18:45:00.000-06:00

What a great find, nice when good things happen to public libraries.

"...All the money raised will go toward an endowment fund in honour of the man who bequeathed the Bible to the Greater Victoria Public Library in 1944. T. Harry Wilson, a former city editor of the Victoria Daily Colonist, died in 1944 and left the Bible to the library.

How does word processing change thought?

2007-02-28T14:40:00.000-07:00

Short article, speculating on how word processing changes thought and communication.

Particularly interesting when read in conjunction with this article regarding the loss of notions of privacy, what with people blogging their life details and all.

The linking concept for me is the question of distance, that digital communication while it seems immediate and personal, is actually preserving a barrier, creating a comfort zone to express what wouldn't be said in face to face encounters.

For another article by J.C. Nyiri, this one on "collective thinking" go to the "End of Cyberspace blog". Here Nyiri addresses the contrast between written and oral knowledge and emerging qualities of digital communication.

Read this quote
"This situation has changed, at first gradually, with the invention of the printed image and later with the rise of photography, and then dramatically with the emergence of computer graphics. Computer graphics are at their best when turned into animations. Animations, however, cannot be conveyed via hardcopy; you need to watch a screen, and, ultimately, you also need to be online. We are back at the recognition that serious thinking, today, is inevitably thinking in the medium of ubiquitous networked communication."

and consider in the context of this popular video
"The machine is using us"

Used Books Flea Market Online

2007-02-21T14:48:00.000-07:00

Saundra Lipton, the UofC's humanities librarian extraordinary, sent me this link from one of her lists. The site allows simultaneous searching of many used books sites.

Thomas Altman, a retired librarian, recommends the site as a good way to review the value of items in the library collection that may be considered for close stacks due to rarity. He also cautions that in most cases ex libris copies are not considered collectible and have a greatly reduced value.

Cage Match: U of Toronto vs Google

2007-02-21T14:03:00.000-07:00

Okay, maybe not a cage match, but a good overview of how UofT is facing the monster.

Logic Goats

2007-02-02T14:15:00.000-07:00

What librarian could resist? Introduce arts and crafts into you instruction.

Dirty Underbelly Award--book blurbs for sale

2007-02-02T14:13:00.000-07:00

Business opportunities everywhere.

e-books coming out of my ears....how to keep the catalogue up to date?

2007-01-18T08:40:00.000-07:00

In Canada many of us have just finished signing up for the "Springer" deal. In addition to backfiles, many libraries also went for the e-books.

Adding these 8,000 books to our already burgeoning lists of ebooks and e-texts creates a situtation that's going to take some creative thinking if we want the records in the catalogue. We do want records in our catalogue as our experience shows use shoots up when these are available.

I sent a note around on one of consortia listservs to find out what other Canadian Libraries were doing to get around this problem.

Most were planning to use the marc supplied by Coutt's for the Springer books, who also provide the MyILibrary platform. A reasonable solution when the marc is of good quality.

But as we add more and more vendors we face the issue of wildly varying quality and the difficulty of keeping up with additions and changes.

So, while we can use the supplied marc in this case, in the long term what we think we really need is a single vendor who will supply a standard marc product and track changes and updates for us....something like the marc service we now get for ejournals from Serials Solutions. We are starting to ask our books vendors and others if they could provide such a service.

e-books seem to present marc record vendors with more of a problem then e-journals, both because of the number of unique titles and the difficulty of geting an authoratative record. So far, none of these ejournal marc suppliers seem to be dealing with ebooks.

Anyone else out there have any experience in this, or have any comments to add?
-

Can't read online, try phone books

2007-01-15T08:13:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure I ever want to hear someone tell me that you can't take your computer into the bath, as they whistle in the dark about the pre-eminence of printed books.

For one thing you shouldn't be reading library books in the bath!

Now we see how the ever anticipatory Japanese are writing and reading books on the phone.

Book Giveaway as Art

2007-01-15T08:09:00.000-07:00

Portrait of the Artist as a Vanishing Library

Lending books from your personal collection is like sharing bits of yourself, so this performance really strikes a chord.

Blog of the Week-->Ephemera

2007-01-15T07:55:00.000-07:00

I do have a weak spot for all things paper and all things historical, so who can resist.

ephemera. exploring the world of old paper

What does it have to do with collections? Well, I guess staying aware of the value of ephemera may help keep the collection weed whackers at bay, and reveal the value of gift items that might otherwise never make it into the building.

Archivaria backfiles available online

2007-01-15T07:50:00.000-07:00

Put a link in your catalogue.

"Archivaria, the journal of the Association of Canadian Archivists (ACA), is devoted to the scholarly investigation of archives in Canada and internationally. Articles and other submissions are welcomed which explore the history, nature, and theory of archives and the use of archives."

Library Scoundrel Three-->Lovesick Librarian

2007-01-05T09:09:00.000-07:00

What makes him a scoundrel? Not so much the stealing...which might have a psychological component, not even the cataloguing on index cards....which is just silly, hasn't he heard of LibraryThing?

Nope its the selling them on ebay, which kind of makes you wonder when lovesick turned to money hungry.

A LOVE-SICK librarian who stole ancient and rare books worth £175,000 walked free from court yesterday.

Mars gets first Library

2007-01-05T08:37:00.000-07:00

Mars gets first library.

Who wants to be the first librarian?

Ontario Provincial Archives moving to York University

2006-12-21T12:05:00.000-07:00

New facility and access for learners to archival material. Sounds like a good deal.

My Leave is over....back to work

2006-12-21T09:11:00.000-07:00

Today is the last day of my recent study leave....6 months of half time.

It was a great break, even though I will still have to grind away on the Christmas break to finish my final report. Why is the middle so much easier to write then the beginning and end?

My leave project reviewed the literature on the information seeking habits of scholars, investigating how this might inform the development of measures of collection effectiveness. I'll post the report here early in the new year.

Many thanks to my colleagues, Andrew and Heather, in Collections Services and to my manager Ada-Marie Atkins Nechka, I know this leave spread quite a bit of work around the unit at a time when folks were already very busy. I've had great support from all of you. Just remember its your turn next.

Also thanks to the Library for encouraging us to take these leaves and engage in research.

I know the blog has been fairly spotty in these months, I hope to be back to a more regular routine in the new year (resolution!).

Bringing pizza to the library

2006-12-20T14:58:00.000-07:00

Why is the first thing to spring to mind how to annoy the librarian?

Popgadget: Personal Tech for Women

McMaster gets archives of Canadian Hardy Boys author

2006-12-19T11:15:00.000-07:00

CMcMaster gets archives of Canadian Hardy Boys author

Did anyone else notice that Davis was reading a Hardy Boys mystery this week on Corner Gas? Must have been an homage.

Best Reason to Defile a Book Ever

2006-12-10T20:40:00.000-07:00

bookcut

Take a look, brilliant n'est pas?

National Survey shows Canadians Continue to read for Pleasure

2006-12-04T09:53:00.000-07:00

Executive Summary - Reading And Buying Books For Pleasure - 2005 National Survey

Some highlights from the Canadian Heritage Survey

"The overall findings on reading rates demonstrate that:

Canadians’ relationship with reading has not changed, or has changed very little, since 1991; the only impact that the explosive spread of the Internet may have had is a decrease in the number of books read, but this assumption is not well founded;
Canadians are much more interested in literary works than their American counterparts, which would explain a large part of the difference in reading rate between the two countries."

"Although Canadians spend a bit more time on the Internet at home (5.5 hours on average per week) than they do reading books for pleasure (4.6 hours), there is a positive correlation between Internet use and reading books."

Blog of the Week: Confessions of a Bookplate Junkie

2006-11-26T18:33:00.000-07:00

Confessions of a Bookplate Junkie

A new world opens as I find out that people can and do collect book plates. Looks like fun!

Wiley and Blackwells Merge

2006-11-23T20:38:00.000-07:00

Here's the letter

Dear Colleague,

We are writing to inform you of the planned merger of Blackwell Publishing (Holdings) Ltd. and the global Scientific, Technical, and Medical business of John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

The two companies have entered into a definitive agreement. Wiley will be acquiring the shareholdings of Blackwell Publishing. Blackwell Ltd., the book library service and retailing business, is a separate entity and is not part of the acquisition.

The publishing programs of Blackwell Publishing and Wiley, two of the world's most respected global publishers, are highly complementary. The new merged organization will publish approximately 1,250 scholarly peer-reviewed journals (over 1 million pages) and an extensive collection of books with global appeal across the entire range of sciences, technology, medicine and health, social sciences and humanities. We will be the world's pre-eminent society publisher, benefiting from close relationships with a broad range of academic and professional organizations.

There is great compatibility between our markets, missions and values. Blackwell has always emphasized the importance of integrity, stability and commitment to scholarship. The leadership of Wiley, including the Wiley family, share these values. Blackwell and Wiley have similar cultures, which is a primary reason for the merger. Both companies place high value on collaborative relationships based on a solid foundation of trust and integrity. Together, we will deliver even greater value than we could as separate entities to our customers, authors, society and other publishing partners.

Please do not hesitate to call your usual contact if you have any immediate questions. We will be in regular communication with you about any future changes. Enclosed is a copy of the press release announcing the planned transaction.

Sincerely,

William J. Pesce
President & Chief Executive Officer
John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Rene Olivieri
Chief Executive Officer
Blackwell Publishing, Ltd.

CSA and Sage Sales teams to part ways

2006-11-23T20:00:00.000-07:00

Just got this in the mail:

Dear CSA Customer,

After many years of a successful working arrangement between CSA and SAGE, SAGE Publications has hired their own sales team to represent the SAGE Full-Text Collections. CSA will continue to renew and sell new subscriptions until December 31, 2006. All sales and renewal related questions will be handled by SAGE personnel starting January 1, 2007.

CSA will remain a hosting partner for the Sage Full-Text Collections until January 1, 2009 at a minimum. The SAGE Full-Text Collections will remain available on the CSA Illumina platform which provides integrated searching and full-text retrieval amongst similar databases.

We stand ready to help our c

Librarian Tattoos

2006-11-23T19:57:00.000-07:00

Remember Christmas is coming.

Thanks to Nessa for the link.

The Neglected Books Page Blog

2006-11-23T12:11:00.000-07:00

The Neglected Books Page

It doesn't make blog of the week, because I'm not sure whether it really makes me want to read any of the neglected books.

I did like the Justly Neglected section because it has a no guilt feel...books you don't even have to think about reading.