Glasgow Colleges - Next Generation Libraries Group

Links and Updates

2010-01-22T14:49:00.008Z

It's been a while since the last update, primarily due to the demands of the new service. These have been bookmarked over the last few months...

Library Journal - Skyriver: New Bibliographic Services Provider

Read Write Web - Review of 2009

Panlibus -How college students seek information in the digital age

JISC - Employment Law PC Desktop Edition

Library 2.0 Gang - ebooks and ereaders , Social Software in Libraries

Search Technologies: Summon

2009-09-10T15:25:00.002+01:00

Described as 'the Google search for Libraries', Summon has been snapped up by none other than Library 2.0 Guru, Dave Pattern, for Huddersfield University.

The university library will use the service to enable single-search access to its collections, by integrating searches of online databases, along with the local catalogue, Repository and archival collections. Users will be able to refine the results of their search by date, subject area and format.

weblink: Summon

OCLC announce online LMS

2009-04-27T09:32:00.003+01:00

From Marshall Breeding's Library Technology Guides portal:

OCLC is connecting the content, technology and expert capabilities of its member libraries worldwide to create the first Web-scale, cooperative library management service. Member libraries can take the first step to realizing this cooperative service model with a new, “quick start” version of the OCLC WorldCat Local service.

Richard Wallis, from Talis, has already Blogged on the merits of this 'free' system.

OCLC Report: Online Catalogs: What Users and Librarians Want

2009-04-27T09:18:00.002+01:00

The actual report may be downloaded, in full from the OCLC site. A brief summary:

In 2008, OCLC conducted focus groups, administered a pop-up survey on WorldCat.org—OCLC’s freely available end user interface on the Web—and conducted a Web-based survey of librarians worldwide.

The Online Catalogs report presents findings from these research efforts in order to understand:

The metadata elements that are most important to end users in determining if an item will meet his or her needs
The enhancements end users would like to see made in online library catalogs to assist them in consistently identifying appropriate materials
The enhancements librarians would recommend for online library catalogs to better assist them in their work

The findings indicate, among other things, that although library catalogs are often thought of as discovery tools, the catalog’s delivery-related information is just as important to end users.

UKeiG Conference: Innovation in e-Information

2009-04-23T18:40:00.006+01:00

UKeiG Conference: Innovation in e-Information - encouraging creative thinking and discussion amongst information professionals Dates: 16th-17th June Venue: Manchester Conference Centre

Speakers and topics include:
Jan Wilkinson, Rylands University Library: Customer needs
Richard Wallis, Talis: A new web of information
Nic Price, Independent Adviser: User-centred web design
Roger Mills, Oxford University Library: Digital images
Laurence Bebbington, University of Nottingham: E-law
Martin White, Intranet Focus Ltd: Risk management
Ross Scrivener, Royal College of Nursing: Web 2 in action
Hazel Hall, Napier University: Social computing tools

Breakout sessions will be topical, so may change, but are currently:

Innovative search techniques
Avoiding legal problems
Increasing the value of your intranet
Practical solutions for managing digital images
The future of online publishing
Information security

The Juice Project

2009-04-23T18:35:00.003+01:00

From Richard Wallis at Talis..

The Juice Project, like many such endeavours, has grown out of programmer laziness.

One facet of the Talis, Technology Evangelist, role is to demonstrate how easy it is to extend the web interface of our products with embedded functionally. With a few years experience in Ajax programming techniques and a moderate understanding of JavaScript, html, and CSS, none of this is exactly rocket science. Over recent months and years this has been made even easier with the aid of JavaScript Frameworks such as Prototype, Dojo, and JQuery. These take much of the hard work out of writing code that will work in several browsers, and easy repeatable ways of identifying components in an html page.

Despite all of that, adding ad-hoc mashup style integration of external services from sources such as Google Book Search, Amazon, and WorldCat, over several months becomes an inefficient task. Taking previously developed code, analysing it to refresh your memory on how you did what you did, re-factoring it to fit it to your new service, and finally debugging the inevitable conflicts with what you did before, is not the most enjoyable task. Adding to this the possibly of applying the result to more than one application brought me to the conclusion that I need a framework to take care of all this!

The OLE Project [Online Library Environment ]

2009-04-23T18:28:00.002+01:00

With support from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, a multinational group of libraries is developing the design for an Open Library Environment (OLE), an alternative to the current model of an Integrated Library System. The goal is to produce a design document to inform open source library system development efforts, to guide future library system implementations, and to influence current Integrated Library System vendor products.

Overview

The goal of the Open Library Environment Project is to define a next-generation technology environment based on a thoroughly re-examined model of library operations and connected to other enterprise technology systems. Our project activities include training workshops on Service Oriented Architecture and Business Process Modeling, in-person and virtual meetings, webcasts and online discussions to get input and feedback from the broad library community, and development of a design document. The workshops are being led by representatives from the library community and by consultants with expertise in Service Oriented Architecture and Business Process Modeling. By the end of our project, we will have a design for a next-generation library system using Service Oriented Architecture. We also will have built a community of interest that can be tapped to help build the OLE framework.

Library 2.0 Toolkit

2009-04-23T17:53:00.003+01:00

Zoho Writer 2.0 - Zoho just released version 2.0 of its Zoho Writer word processing application. While the company has added quite a few new and useful features in this release, the most obvious change is a new user interface which looks a lot like the 'Ribbon' in Microsoft Office.

Using Firefox Effectiely in Libraries - Paul Doty from the Owen D Young Library created a presentation about using Firefox effectively in libraries.

Roving Librarian's Using Wikis ForLibrary Web Sites - "Would you think that a library web site could be designed using wiki software? How strange is that? In CMS the Wiki Way, Meredith Farkas in the December 2008 issue of American Libraries, writes about how wikis can be used as content management systems (CMS) for library web sites. She contends that using a wiki might be appropriate for a library that wants to allow multiple individuals to maintain a web site that does not contain information that changes constantly...."

PDF Editor PDF Vue - Free and fairly full-featured editor PDFVue isn't the only webapp that can fill out PDF forms online, but it lets anyone add images, sticky notes, links, shapes, and more to forms and documents

You can head to PDFVue and upload your files for editing online, or install a Firefox extension to have the webapp be your automatic PDF handler—not necessarily a speed move, because the webapp has to download and customize anything you were taking a glance at.

Calibre e-book Manager -Whether or not you have a portable e-book reader, Calibre is packed with features to help you organize your e-books. To start, you simply tell Calibre where you store your book files. It does a pretty good job pulling the necessary information and self-populating, although you'll still find yourself making occasional edits, like swapping the author and title fields. If you're a LibraryThing user, you can also hook into that account to populate the fields.

Sony Reader / Google Partnership - Sony and Google are partnering to make half a million books that Google has digitized for its eBook project available for free to Sony Reader customers through the Sony digital book store. That brings the total number of books in the Sony store to 600,000, or more than twice the number of eBooks found in Amazon's Kindle store.

VisuWords Graphic Dictionary [Phil Bradley's WebLog] - Look up words to find their meanings and associations with other words and concepts. Produce diagrams reminiscent of a neural net. Learn how words associate.

Library 2.0 Toolkit

2009-02-27T11:07:00.004Z

Webjam homepage. Social networks made easy. Create personal or group sites, add your own widgets, activity feeds and so on. They're suggesting it as an alternative to Pageflakes.

100 Powerful Web Tools to Organize Your Thoughts and Ideas. Nice collection of tools, broken down into note taking, bookmarking, mind mapping, wikis, highlighters, to do lists, collaboration, calendars and time trackers.

Dimdim is a free web conferencing service where you can share your desktop, show slides, collaborate, chat, talk and broadcast via webcam with absolutely no download required to host or attend meetings.

The Future of Academic Libraries - 29 reports collated by John Dupuis in the Confessions of a Science Librarian blog has created an excellent list of recent major reports on the future of academic libraries .

The European Library Updates Site.
"The European Library announced a new site release of www.theeuropeanlibrary.org, a free resource to discover learning and research materials, covering all subjects, from 38 national libraries across Europe. Originally developed as a central point of access to Europe’s library material, the website now combines multilingual search functionalities with several online exhibitions (www.theeuropeanlibrary.org/exhibition) and Web 2.0 tools.”

100 resources for getting things done. Cameron Chapman at Mashable puts together a giant list of productivity applications in GTD Toolbox: 100+ Resources for Getting Things Done. I would add the Remember the Milk to-do list application because it has great mobile capabilities which really come in handy. This helpful list is organized into the following categories:

Complete Solutions
Collect and Process
Organize, Review and Do
Mobile Apps

Webdesigner Depot presents a list of 14 Applications for Project Management and Collaboration. Each annotated entry includes a screenshot of the application, description of its functionality, and price.

University of St.Andrews Photo Archive

2009-02-17T16:02:00.001Z

This website offers you access to the amazing wealth of photography held within the Special Collections Department of the University of St Andrews Library. Here you will find masterpieces of very early photography from one of the world’s outstanding collections, as well as thousands of images taken by masters of the art, both professional and amateur, over the last century and a half.

Click to review the collection

Kindle 2

2009-02-17T15:56:00.004Z

New product specs include:

Slim: Just over 1/3 of an inch, as thin as most magazines

Lightweight: At 10.2 ounces, lighter than a typical paperback

Wireless: 3G wireless lets you download books right from your Kindle, anytime, anywhere; no monthly fees, service plans, or hunting for Wi-Fi hotspots

Books in Under 60 Seconds: Get books delivered in less than 60 seconds; no PC required

Improved Display: Reads like real paper; now boasts 16 shades of gray for clear text and even crisper images

Longer Battery Life: 25% longer battery life; read for days without recharging

More Storage: Take your library with you; holds over 1,500 books

Faster Page Turns: 20% faster page turns

Read-to-Me: With the new Text-to-Speech feature, Kindle can read every book, blog, magazine, and newspaper out loud to you

Large Selection: Over 230,000 books plus U.S. and international newspapers, magazines, and blogs available

Low Book Prices: New York Times Best Sellers and New Releases $9.99, unless marked otherwise

Google Books and mobile phones

2009-02-17T15:51:00.001Z

The new Book Search mobile portal is optimized for touchscreen devices like the iPhone or Google Android devices. But you can use it to find and read books on any internet connected device. I grabbed this screenshot using a desktop web browser.

1.5 million books are available to US readers, and over half a million of those books are available internationally. Many of the books are classics that were written long ago and which are no longer covered by copyright. But there are also some newer texts that have entered the public domain for one reason or another.

Librray 2.0 Gang - Google Books and Libraries

2009-02-17T15:47:00.001Z

A new Talis podcast, featuring Richard Wallis and co.

‡biblios.net - Talis / Liblime Update

2009-02-02T14:15:00.000Z

Talis, the UK market leader in providing academic and public library solutions, and LibLime, the leader in open solutions for libraries, are pleased to announce a partnership to make available over five million bibliographic records to the library community on the ‡biblios.net platform.

‡biblios.net is LibLime's free browser-based cataloguing service with a data store containing over thirty-million records. The database is maintained by ‡biblios.net and uses a similar model to Wikipedia. Cataloguers can use and contribute to the database without restrictions because records in ‡biblios.net are freely-licensed under the Open Data Commons Public Domain Dedication and License (http://biblios.net/pddl).

Talis is providing data from the Talis Union Catalogue; the open shared core of records from the Talis Base service, to ‡biblios.net, including over 5 million bibliographic records, catalogued by public and academic libraries in the UK over the last 30 years. The Talis Union Catalogue is a treasure trove of rare, old and out-of-print items which will complement the existing ‡biblios.net database. The sharing principles of Talis Base, established over the years, are now being supplemented by reciprocal sharing with other open sources such as ‡biblios.net.

The Talis contribution to ‡biblios.net goes beyond the data being made available to the project. The Open Data Commons license itself was originally created by Talis in collaboration with Creative Commons. It represents a milestone for sharing data on the Internet, supporting innovative projects such as ‡biblios.net.

"Talis has made two important contributions to pave the way for freely-licensed, community-maintained sources of library metadata" explains Joshua Ferraro, CEO of LibLime. "We're excited about the value that the Open Data Commons license, as well as the Talis data set bring to ‡biblios.net. We're looking forward to future partnership opportunities with Talis."

Richard Wallis, Technology Evangelist at Talis adds "The open sharing of data, the default motivation for most librarians, has often been stifled by confusion and fear about ownership and licensing. Open Data Commons helps clarify and dispel those fears, opening up data that can confidently be shared. ‡biblios.net is a great example of the innovation that results when data is really open.”

biblios

2009-01-26T13:42:00.002Z

‡biblios.net - Is a free service for librarians to create, edit, and share bibliographic records backed by an equally free and open store of over 30 million library records available for all to access, search and download.

Enterprise 2.0 and ChiliFresh - How It Works

2009-01-26T10:04:00.001Z

The ChiliFresh Review Engine consists of a database of reviews that reside on a remote server. When your library subscribes to ChiliFresh, your online catalog becomes a place where your patrons can interact with your library like never before. It is no secret that all the major online book sellers allow their customers to read and write reviews for the books they find there. At ChiliFresh, we believe that your web site should be the same interactive forum.

Here’s an interesting question: Have you ever found yourself browsing your own library’s catalog for something interesting to read, and at the same time had another web site’s reviews open in another window so you can see what other people thought about the read? We already know the answer to that question. That is why we felt that every library should have its own Review Engine....

www.chilifresh.com

SirsiDynix Release Enterprise 2.0

2009-01-16T08:47:00.003Z

SirsiDynix Press Release, via Library Technology Guides:

SirsiDynix, the world leader in library automation technology, is pleased to announce the release of Enterprise 2.0, a high-quality search solution with leading-edge capabilities that help people discover what they’re looking for. High-tech logic and reasoning functionality ("fuzzy logic") allow for successful results regardless of patrons’ misspellings, diacritics, suffixes, prefixes and other tricky issues.

The most recent enhancements to SirsiDynix Enterprise allow libraries to:

Include search capabilities for any size library or consortium
Display selected website search results within the catalog, with the built-in, no extra charge, Library Favorites feature
Let patrons save searches as an RSS web feed
Integrate easily and directly with SirsiDynix OPACs
Offer patrons dynamic search suggestions as they type
Use "Did you mean..." suggestions based on actual terms in the catalog, not a generic dictionary
Email and print search results quickly and easily
Offer interactive user ratings and reviews with ChiliFresh

SirsiDynix CTO, Talin Bingham, said, "SirsiDynix Enterprise 2.0 is the best way to get successful search results regardless of errors in typing, misspellings, prefixes, suffixes and diacritics. No other library solution offers this functionality and we are excited to bring these quality search results to libraries. In addition, ‘did you mean…’ functionality and user ratings and reviews make this solution a beautiful OPAC add-on for libraries and their patrons."

SirsiDynix Enterprise 2.0 is available for e-Library, HIP, iBistro, eCole, and iLink OPACs.

GCL Blog Watch

2009-01-12T08:26:00.003Z

How to do almost anything with Social Media...from 'Mashable'

OCLC - Woldcat Debate...librarianinblack.net

Yet more OCLC debate from LisNews.

2009..Year of the ebook?..Stephen Abram

New W3C web accessibility guidelines highlighted, by IWR.

Library 2.0 Toolkit

2009-01-07T09:53:00.003Z

LucidChart
is a free web-based collaborative flow-chart application.

Paint.COM
Can display images using any zoom factor and always shows 100% accurate preview of the drawn shape. It offers all the basic features like blur, drop shadow, bevel, color adjustments and Perspective projection but what makes it different from Paint.NET is

Layers with assigned effects
Gamma-aware blending
Sub-pixel accuracy
Smooth zoom-in
Compatibility with Photoshop plug-ins

JotForm (Online Form Builder).
This WYSIWYG editor allows you to add/delete fields in your form without writing a single line of code. You can also set restrictions and change the label and size of any of the fields with just one click. Once you are done creating the form, just copy the code and paste it on your website or blog. If you really want to play with the code, it also allows to edit the actual CSS behind your design and make changes to it.

Free Websites to convert Text to Speech.
Many people prefer to listen to articles instead of reading them. There are some of them who may have a weak eye sight vision or probably it gets really boring when you have to read all those long essays and stuff.Fortunately, there are tons of websites out there which can convert text into voice within a matter of seconds. Here’s a list of some of the best you can use right away.

Which Book?
WhichBook is a web-based book suggestion engine. Unlike the site What Should I Read Next?, WhichBook doesn't ask for a list of books you have already read. At WhichBook you use a series of sliders to indicate how much of a given element you want in your reading.

SirsiDynix Adds Community Review Features

2008-12-15T10:43:00.000Z

SirsiDynix announced a partnership with ChiliFresh, offering libraries and patrons an easy way to create and read reader reviews, with complete customization abilities for libraries. The partnership gives libraries seamless integration between SirsiDynix OPACs, SirsiDynix Enterprise, and the review engine.

At present, library patrons from around the world view ChiliFresh review content from library catalogs in excess of 60 million times each month. ChiliFresh currently has patrons reading and writing reviews through library OPACs in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Australia, New Zealand, and Hong Kong. The ChiliFresh Review Engine enhances the value of a library’s website by giving patrons a way to interact with the online catalog by reading and writing book reviews and providing ratings right in the catalog interface.

With SirsiDynix OPACs and ChiliFresh, libraries enjoy immense flexibility:

Customize the look and feel to match your local site and/or catalog
Choose how reviews from patrons are presented
Determine what reviews are displayed
Moderate reviews

JISC Study of Shared Services in UK HE/FE

2008-12-03T13:51:00.000Z

JISC’s new briefing paper on Shared Services in UK Further and Higher Education surveys the current landscape, discussing the benefits of and barriers to such administrative partnerships for the sector. Shared administrative services are defined as ‘institutions cooperating in the development and delivery of services, so sharing skills and knowledge, perhaps with commercial participation......

Library 2.0 Toolkit

2008-12-02T10:36:00.004Z

Online Collaboration
Textflow is an Adobe AIR-based collaboration app that allows you to incorporate changes from several different people into one Word document.

ebooks - Nintendo e-book reader has been confirmed.
From Gizmondo's Paul Lester...

It turns the DS into an eBook viewer, which is handily already designed to open up like a book, allowing you to use the stylus to turn pages. You'll also be able to zoom, search for key words or phrases, add bookmarks and change the amount of text displayed on screen.

As the title suggests there are a bunch of classics in the box, including Shakespeare, Sherlock Holmes, Alexandre Dumas and Oscar Wild, but what's really interesting is that it'll allow you to use the built-in WiFi connection to download more.

There's no word on exactly how extensive Nintendo's catalogue will be yet but based on how easy it should be to reformat the massive range of titles already out there for the DS's screen and controls, we'd expect quite a lot.

100 Classic Book Collection will be available for £19.99 from the 26th of December, or you can pre-order it on Amazon now for £17.99.

Page Feeds - Newzie.
Free application Newzie is a feature-rich desktop newsreader designed to keep you up to date with the latest web content, whether that content is coming from a traditional RSS feed or not.

Circulation
Another method of pursuing those much lamented, 'overdues' may be possible in the shape of Dial My Calls. Although early days yet, the technology may well feature sooner, rather than later in the world of Next Generation Libraries.

Social Communication - Tarpipe
Tarpipe streamlines your updates to various social web sites, creating simple or complex workflows to update several buckets in one fell swoop.

Next Gen Barcodes

2008-12-01T15:22:00.007Z

Granted, this may take a while to comprehend let alone recognise any potential benefits, but with many mobile phones (Nokia N95 etc) now integrating barcode scanners, the possibility of entire packets of information stored via barcode may well become a possibility.

A test sample...[click on the barcode to access the message which scans when using a phone].

Resource Sharing & URSA

2008-11-17T10:45:00.001Z

Irish libraries are starting a pilot program for resource sharing. The C.O.I.L. consortium aims to boost their resources through additional library members and URSA functionality. See their 3-minute overview of what they're doing, including a few seconds of URSA screen shots.

weblink: C.O.I.L. Presentation

GCL Blog Watch

2008-11-10T09:19:00.008Z

Presentations and general musings from the recent Internet Librarian Conference, held on the 16th and 17th of October, may be found at "Librarian In Black"

Elsewhere, SirsiDynix's new OPAC interface for Symphony, 'e-Library', has been reviewed by Daniel Griffin in Information World Review.

[Presentation] Libraries To Go - Mobile Technology in Libraries - While devices like PDAs, portable phones, and digital music players have been on the scene for almost a decade, mobile devices have now reached an unprecedented level of popularity. Devices like the iPhone, iPod touch, Blackberry, and Kindle, are no longer simply tools for communication--they are now a primary channel through which everyday people interact with news, music, blogs, wikis, television, video, books, academic content, the world wide web, and more. Platforms like Windows Mobile, iPhone, Blackberry, Symbian and the new Google Android will continue to challenge information service organizations to deliver content in new ways, and embed services within these virtual environments.

Library 2.0 Toolkit

2008-11-10T09:11:00.006Z

skrbl is simple and easy, you can start your whiteboard with just one click . Simply click anywhere and type on your skrbl whiteboard. There are no new tools to learn, nothing to download, nothing to install and you don't even have to sign up.

Turn RSS into a PDF brochure with "RSS 2 PDF"

Viewzi is a search engine that utilises the Google database to produce results in a visual format with a thumbshot of the page that you'll be going to, with a flip tiles option to see the summary of the page in a text format. You can hide results, add them to your Favorites list and so on.

Network Notepad is a small, free app that lets me lay out network devices, servers, printers, and workstations quickly and easily.

CILIP Events

2008-10-31T15:01:00.002Z

17 February 2009
Roving With Purpose in FE/HE Libraries

"Roving [or floor walking] has recently been adopted by a number of library and information services. The process helps library services to become more proactive and provides point of use assistance to users wherever they are. Libraries who have adopted roving have found that it increases user and staff satisfaction, helps to reduce problems with negative behaviour and assists the ‘hidden customer’, i.e. those who may be reluctant to leave their work space or hesitant to ask for help. ...."

Further information may be found here.

22nd January 2009
Library Management Systems - Procurement and Implementation

"The role of the library management system in information provision is increasingly under question. Many organisations are currently “stuck” with systems that no longer meet the business requirements. The costs and risks of change are high and have left many organisations “making do” with poor systems. This course evaluates the current library systems landscape and assesses some of the risks involved. The course also looks in detail at Open Source Technology and whether this is an option for librarians. ..."

Further information may be found here.

Library 2.0 Toolkit

2008-10-30T10:03:00.006Z

Some additions to the Library 2.0 toolkit:

Podcasts: Open source, cross-platform audio editing application Audacity 1.3.6 beta

Image Editing: online editor, Pixlr

Online Presentations with SlideRocket

Open Source, web conferencing system, Dimdim

Talis Engage

2008-10-30T09:57:00.004Z

"Talis is delighted to announce the launch of a new, dramatically different community information application called Talis Engage. Driven by government and customer initiatives to strengthen communities through joined-up services and community engagement, Talis Engage is available to all libraries and local authorities, regardless of your library management system.

Talis Engage is a web based community information application that allows citizens to publish details of their organisations, groups and events and then allow that to be easily browsed and searched. The solution enables other systems to be enriched as the data can be reused in otherweb sites or portals to deliver a connected, joined-up experience. "

Further information, including a free, 30 day trial, may be found here.

Open Source LMS in the UK

2008-10-21T10:40:00.006+01:00

PTFS have taken what appears to be the first tentative steps to bring the two main Open Source LMS platforms to the UK.

PTFS, a leader in developing digital library and content management solutions, and the provider of the industry-leading ArchivalWare digital archiving software, has announced that the company plans to release a turnkey open Source Integrated Library System (ILS) and integrated Digital Library content management solution. Systems will be available for installation at customers’ sites or as a hosted solution (SaaS) beginning in Q4 of 2008.
The turn-key offering will include a choice of the Koha or Evergreen Open Source ILS applications integrated with PTFS’ ArchivalWare digital archiving software as a seamless content management solution. Combined with an integrated user interface, patrons will be able to search and manage bibliographic catalog records as well as digital object metadata for electronic files. All features of ArchivalWare will be provided to include full text search of PDF files and over 200 other file types. The seamless capability will allow users to locate books on shelves as well as electronic resources available with one search. Tight integration will include a relevancy ranked hit list as well as integrated administrative tools.
PTFS will install or host and support the “free” open source ILS solution when clients purchase ArchivalWare and ILS user interface applications. Support will include the open source ILS, ArchivalWare and the total integrated solution. The solution will benefit special, academic and public libraries that want to utilize capital funds for building a Digital Library Content Management solution while obtaining an ILS functionality at no additional cost. The investment will provide libraries with an integrated ILS/Digital Library solution at a cost that is significantly less than the cost of commercial ILS software alone.
PTFS services include full digital library development and installation, integration services as well as open source ILS support. PTFS will also offer optional ILS software development services. Software specifically developed for the open source ILS will be added to the Open Source code base which will benefit future libraries with additional functionality at no additional cost.

New JISC Library Report

2008-10-20T14:42:00.004+01:00

JISC’s Attitudinal Survey, conducted by the JISC Monitoring Unit at the University of Kent, covered content, licensing, digitisation and communication issues, with comments submitted from 300 key library and Learning Resource Centre (LRC) staff across 284 HE and FE institutions.

Key findings include:

Keeping abreast of and incorporating new technologies, pressure on space, information skills and literacy and access management are key challenges facing academic libraries
The digitisation of in-house resources is going on, but few institutions have an overall digitisation strategy
25% of HE libraries were involved in the inter-institution procurement of collections during the last year, with 12% digitising collections collaboratively
Around one third agreed that academic libraries/LRCs could use social networking opportunities to engage students with their services but most were unsure especially in HE

Text A Librarian

2008-10-20T14:36:00.003+01:00

Given the populairty of text messaging services, this will probably feature at some point in the not too distant future here in the UK.

Now, with Text a Librarian, any library or school can create their own secure, live mobile Q&A SMS reference service in just minutes, with packages starting at just $99/month + set up fees per library/branch. Text a Librarian works across all major carriers, mobile phones and devices, and works seamlessly with existing email and IM systems. Students and users simply text (or email) their question and it shows up live on the library or school’s own private and secure Web dashboard for them to answer back instantly.

For more information and a free online demo, visit: http://www.textalibrarian.com

VuFind - OS OPAC

2008-10-10T15:15:00.002+01:00

"VuFind is a library resource portal designed and developed for libraries by libraries. The goal of VuFind is to enable your users to search and browse through all of your library's resources by replacing the traditional OPAC to include:

Catalog Records
Digital Library Items
Institutional Repository
Institutional Bibliography
Other Library Collections and Resources

VuFind is completely modular so you can implement just the basic system, or all of the components. And since it's open source, you can modify the modules to best fit your needs or you can add new modules to extend your resource......."

E-books for FE Colleges – new two-year licensing initiative announced

2008-10-09T09:06:00.000+01:00

JISC Collections would like to thank the 250 colleges that responded to the recent consultation to assess the demand for e-books in the FE sector.

Following the excellent response, the Learning and Skills Council provided JISC Collections with funding to procure a core collection of e-books, and to host the collection on an e-books platform, specially selected to support the needs of the FE community.

In addition, JISC has provided extra funding to ensure that colleges in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are included and benefit from the initiative.

An Invitation to Tender for titles to be included in the core collection and for the platform will be made available to publishers and aggregators in early October.

A Project Board comprising of representatives from the FE community will mark the bids received in response to the Invitation to Tender.

In January 2009, the FE community will be invited to assess shortlisted titles, and to submit their preferences in order of priority.

SLAINTE 2.0

2008-10-06T15:24:00.002+01:00

SLAINTE's '2.0' portal houses many developments; including a Slideshare section featuring the presentations from the recent RFID Conference in Glasgow.

Books on Demand

2008-09-24T13:24:00.003+01:00

The Shapiro Library at the University of Michigan has become the first university library to install an Espresso Book Machine, also known as “the ATM of books”, which prints public domain books in a matter of 5-7 minutes. The service is available to researchers, students and the public at a cost of $10 per book.

SOPAC 2.0

2008-09-23T14:36:00.005+01:00

Much has been written over the last few months regarding this exciting development, the end result being launched just last week.

SOPAC 2.0 founder John Blyberg writes... "SOPAC 2.0 itself is a non-trivial project. It is an expansive Drupal module that completely integrates all online catalog and patron activity. It is written for Drupal 6 and takes exclusive advantage of Drupal 6’s hooks and APIs. The result is that it is 100% theme-able and template-able. You will be able to make your catalog look exactly the way you want it to look without exception. Virtually every element of the patron account integration is also configurable..."

RFID Event in Glasgow

2008-09-19T10:34:00.007+01:00

Richard Wallis, who spoke at this weeks RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) event, co -hosted by SLIC and JISC, in Glasgow, has posted some thoughts on his Blog.

Librarians Community of Practice Event - Procurement

2008-09-19T10:34:00.001+01:00

In June, librarians from Scotland's 43 colleges were invited to a consultation event, to share information on the changing public sector procurement landscape and to discuss the potential for greater collaboration. This event confirmed that there is an interest in participating in a collaborative procurement for print and e-books.

This half-day event will consider how this collaboration can be developed. It will examine college requirements and explore the possibility of participating in the existing universities' Scottish Consortium for Academic Book Supply (SCABS).

This is a free consultation event and once again we hope that all colleges will be represented. Video conferencing facilities will be available for any staff unable to attend in person.

The event has been organised by Advanced Procurement for Universities and Colleges (APUC) Limited. APUC is the procurement Centre of Expertise for Scotland's 62 universities and colleges. It is a private limited company, owned by institutions and established in response to the McClelland Report, Review of Public Procurement in Scotland

Friday 3 October 2008

Event Venue

Name: Scotland's Colleges
Venue file: Download the Scotland's Colleges details file

Times

Registration & coffee: 09:30
Start time: 10:00
Finish time: 12:45
Duration: Half day

Event Details

Conference code: C2635
Cost: This is a free event.
Event programme: View programme
Lead specialist: Gerry Dougan Phone: 01786 892107
Event Co-ordinator: Emilia Coverdale Phone: 01786 892054

The Changing Landscape of Contemporary Cataloging

2008-09-10T13:55:00.000+01:00

ABSTRACT:

Intended to contribute to the current dialogue about how the emerging information environment is impacting cataloging issues, this survey paper covers a broad range of topics, such as how search engines compare with integrated library systems, and includes some thoughts on how cataloging processes may evolve to continue to remain relevant. The author suggests that there is a need for significant changes in integrated library system interfaces and infrastructures as well as some changes in cataloging practice. The value of descriptive vs. nondescriptive elements in the catalog record and some pros and cons of the MARC format are covered.

The Library 2.0 Gang Podcast - Procurement

2008-09-09T14:19:00.002+01:00

"All are agreed that the purchasing of a library system is not an insignificant undertaking, but in these times of rapidly changing 2.0 technology and open source systems, are the current procurement processes still fit for purpose?...."

To help the discussion along Rob McGee provided a couple of his white papers on the subject:

Request for Proposals for Integrated Library Systems [pdf]
Information Technology Strategic Planning for Libraries [pdf]

20 Free ebooks About Social Media

2008-09-04T14:17:00.003+01:00

From Chris Brogan's Community and Social Media Blog.

SirsiDynix Release e-Library

2008-08-28T10:35:00.002+01:00

From Marshall Breeding's Library Technology Guides...

PROVO, UT, August 27, 2008 – SirsiDynix, the global leader in strategic technology solutions for libraries, today announced the release of SirsiDynix Symphony e-Library, an enhanced online library catalog solution that offers the speed, ease and flexibility librarians have requested. The product runs on SirsiDynix Symphony 3.2.1; its predecessor, iBistro, is currently in use at 900 libraries worldwide.

SirsiDynix Symphony e-Library makes life easier for libraries and patrons because this powerful yet simple solution is:

Smooth: With the same look and feel as SirsiDynix Enterprise, users enjoy seamless transition among products.
Flexible: Use of standard Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) gives libraries a fully featured default interface and ease of customer configuration.
Fast: The streamlined interface focuses on high speed search and retrieval
Easy: The updated "My Account" features a new intuitive interface to engage patrons as they view holds, renew materials, check for library alerts and complete other interactions with their Library.
Secure: New e-Commerce options provide users with additional secure ways to review and pay library fees.

"Our customers desire the flexibility of creating their own look and feel, providing state-of-the-art e-Commerce and account features, and streamlining interfaces for a better user experience," said Jared Oates, SirsiDynix Product Manager. "SirsiDynix is pleased to fill these needs with the new SirsiDynix Symphony e-Library product. We are especially pleased that SirsiDynix Symphony e-Library included the features we promised and released on-time, further underscoring our commitment to serve our customers."

According to Talin Bingham, SirsiDynix Chief Technology Officer, "Providing the features librarians need and delivering the best user experience worldwide are SirsiDynix’s highest priorities. The SirsiDynix Symphony e-Library product contains library-requested enhancements and features that will offer an engaging user experience. Future enhancements are in development and promise even greater innovation and flexibility."

CILIP Event @ Glasgow Met

2008-08-13T10:38:00.001+01:00

Organisation:	CILIP in Scotland

Start Date:	19 September 2008

End Date:	19 September 2008

Event venue:	Glasgow MET

Time:	10am - 4pm

Cost:	£95 members; £130 institutional members; £150 non members

Description:	One day workshop aimed at anyone wishing to improve effectiveness and motivation by better use of time.

Artsline:	W Venue with un-stepped access via main or side door, wheelchair spaces and adapted toilet

Details:	Catherine Kearney

Telephone:	01698458888

Fax No:	01698 283170

Email:	c.kearney@slainteorg.uk

Open Source LMS : NewGenLib

2008-08-12T13:36:00.002+01:00

NewGenLib, an Integrated Library Management System, is now freely available as open source under the most widely used free software license, GNU General Public License (GNU GPL) v3. Since becoming open source under GNU GPL, considerable interest has been shown in the software. Many libraries have reported downloading the software and are in the process of seeking help in data conversion, training, etc.

NewGenLib is the result of collaboration between specialists in library automation and software specialists. The software was developed over a 4-year joint effort between a professional charitable trust, Kesavan Institute of Information and Knowledge Management (KIIKM) and a fledgling software development company, Verus Solutions Pvt. Limited (VSPL), both in Hyderabad, India. Domain knowledge, functionality testing, initial promotion via presentations at professional meetings and assistance in preparing user documentation was provided by KIIKM. Software development was done by VSPL. The funding of the development and associated work was completely from individual/private sources and one venture capitalist.

Free Book Covers From LibraryThing

2008-08-11T09:55:00.002+01:00

The full terms and conditions are to be found on the LibraryThing website, however this is a significant development in the enrichment of HIP/OPACs'.

SirisiDynix Enterprise

2008-08-04T08:50:00.003+01:00

SirsiDynix Enterprise, (tm) is a new faceted search product that becomes the foundation for a range of "user experience" solutions, featuring industry-first fuzzy search technology, highly efficient search index updating, intuitive user interfaces, powerful finding aids, consortia support, deep integration with SirsiDynix integrated library systems, next-generation OPAC functionality.

Specific features of this initial release of SirsiDynix Enterprise include:

* Fuzzy search logic: Ensures relevant search results even in cases of simple misspellings or variations in suffixes, or prefixes.

* Faceted Finding aids: Enterprise allows narrowing of search results by categories, such as author, subject, publication date, and language, so users can easily find specific records within a result set. Facets can be stacked on top of each other, narrowing by subject, and then again by publication date, for example. Faceted finding aids take the guesswork out of refining search results and eliminate "dead-ends"

* Consortia support: Configuration options for specific library profiles (branches or different patron groups like kids, teens, Spanish speaking, for example). Each profile can support multiple languages, a unique look and feel, library or location-based search limits, and be
reached through a unique URL configured by the library

* Diacritic accommodation: Enterprise is able to correctly identify and match characters with or without diacritical markings.

* Easy-to-use interface: The new SirsiDynix Enterprise interface delivers correct results without requiring seekers to know which "field" or index to search in. Returns results for all or part of a query, with exact matches given highest ratings. Supports a range of languages, including both Roman and non-Roman character sets.

* Efficient search index updating: Search index updating is based on "deltas", or differences, rather than a complete catalog dump on a nightly basis, resulting in indexing updates that require less time and bandwidth to complete.

* Enriched content support: Incorporation of a full set of enriched content, cover art, reviews, author notes, chapters etc.

* Integration with SirsiDynix integrated library systems and OPACs: Direct interface to SirsiDynix Symphony, Horizon, and Unicorn for high-performance indexing of relevant SirsiDynix MARC data and item information.

* Easy add-on to SirsiDynix OPACs: Easy to add SirsiDynix Enterprise onto current SirsiDynix OPAC products, including SirsiDynix Symphony e-Library, Horizon Information Portal, iBistro, iLink and Web 2; cost-effective approach to building on existing user experience investments, without starting from scratch.

* Search widget: Provides a code snippet that can be easily cut and pasted in order to present an Enterprise search box within existing web pages.

* Stateful, URL-based searching: Supports use of Back button on Web browsers as part of search process and building "saved searches" that can be saved as browser "Favorites" or sent or saved as links in other documents

* Look and feel flexibility: Cascading style sheet (CSS) templates offer the look and feel of existing OPACs; features administrative interface for customized templates.

* Software-as-a-Service (SaaS)/ASP hosted solution: SaaS offers lower total cost of ownership, as SirsiDynix manages all hardware and software support, maintenance, and upgrades

Information on Enterprise v 1.0 compatibility:

Note: For version 1.0, all Enterprise installations will be hosted. The following are requirements for the ILS server; for additional information on client/server requirements, please visit the Client Care portal.

ILS/Version

OPACs

SirsiDynix Symphony 3.2.1 and higher

iBistro/iLink, e-Library, Web2

Unicorn GL3.1

iBistro/iLink, Web2

Horizon 7.3.2 and higher

HIP 3.x

Search Technologies - Cuil

2008-08-04T08:08:00.003+01:00

The much touted 'alternative' to Google, named Cuil, after the Gaelic word for "wisdom", is now a week and a bit old, and it would appear the reaction to the engine is somewhat indifferent; despite the claims to has a search index three times the size of Google.

Granted, it's perhaps not the catchiest of names; mind you, neither was Google, before it became the industry standard.

The people at Cuil (all ex Google employees) claim the new search engine uses fewer servers than the search leader, however indexes a significantly larger area of the Web. It also purports to produce more 'relevant' search results, as the information it returns in response to queries is based on organization of ideas, rather than the popularity of the links.

Perhaps the defining differentiator from Google is that Cuil, according to the company blurb, doesn't collect information on its user search histories, or IP addresses.

New OPAC Functionality - Searchcube

2008-07-22T14:16:00.005+01:00

Beyond wordclouds and some of the extended functionality AquaBrowser integrates, a new visual interface has been launched; Searchcube.

Early days yet as it's still in beta, however if it were possible to 'cube' Bibliographic details, book covers etc , this may enhance it's integration within many of the current Library 2.0 interfaces

The Future of The Library Catalogue

2008-07-22T14:05:00.002+01:00

This was originally posted by Christine Schwartz in her 'Cataloguing Futures' Blog...

....There’s No Catalog Like No Catalog: The Ultimate Debate on the future of the Library Catalog that tackles this issue head on. The panelists were: Karen Coyle, Karen Schneider, Steven Abram, and Joe Janes. The moderator was Roy Tennant. The complete program is available as a podcast. It's well worth listening to if your interested in the future of the library catalog (and cataloging).

The recording itself may be found here, from the LITA (Library and Technology Association) Blog.

100 Insanely Useful Web Tools You Never Knew You Needed

2008-07-22T14:01:00.002+01:00

An excellent portfolio of resources from Accredited Degrees.

SirsiDynix Enterprise unveiled as new faceted search product

2008-06-25T22:17:00.002+01:00

ANAHEIM. Calif., June 25, 2008 – SirsiDynix, the global leader in strategic technology solutions for libraries, today announced SirsiDynix Enterprise, a new faceted search product that becomes the foundation for a range of user experience solutions, featuring industry-first fuzzy search technology, highly efficient search index updating, intuitive user interfaces, powerful finding aids, consortia support, deep integration with SirsiDynix integrated library systems and next-generation OPAC functionality. SirsiDynix Enterprise also provides the groundwork that will support community/social networking capabilities such as user reviews, rankings and tagging and more in future releases. Because the new product is an easy add-on to current SirsiDynix OPACs, SirsiDynix Enterprise offers libraries an easy, cost-effective way to build on existing user experience investments to deliver next-generation user experience solutions. SirsiDynix Enterprise will be available to users of SirsiDynix OPACs, including SirsiDynix Symphony e-Library, Horizon Information Portal, iBistro, iLink, Ecole and Web2, in the third quarter of 2008.

Specific features of the upcoming summer release of SirsiDynix Enterprise include:

Fuzzy search logic: Ensures relevant search results even in cases of simple misspelling or variations in suffixes and prefixes.
Faceted finding aids: Enterprise allows narrowing of search results by categories, such as author, subject, publication date, and language, so users can easily find specific records within a result set. Facets can be stacked on top of each other, narrowing by subject, and then again by publication date, for example. Faceted finding aids take the guesswork out of refining search results and eliminate "dead-ends".
Consortia support: Configuration options for specific library profiles (branches, groups of libraries or different patron groups like kids, teens, Spanish speaking, for example). Each profile can support multiple languages, a unique look and feel, library or location-based search limits, and be reached through a unique URL configured by the library.
Diacritic accommodation: Enterprise is able to correctly identify and match characters with or without diacritical markings.
Easy-to-use interface: The new SirsiDynix Enterprise interface delivers correct results without requiring seekers to know which "field" or index to search in. Returns results for all or part of a query, with exact matches given highest ratings. Supports a range of languages, including both Roman and non-Roman character sets.
Efficient search index updating: Search index updating is based on "deltas", or differences, rather than a complete catalog dump on a nightly basis, resulting in indexing updates that require less time and bandwidth to complete.
Enriched content support: Incorporation of a full set of subscription-based enriched content, cover art, reviews, author notes, chapters etc.
Integration with SirsiDynix integrated library systems and OPACs: Direct interface to SirsiDynix Symphony, Horizon, and Unicorn for high-performance indexing of relevant SirsiDynix MARC data and item information.
Easy add-on to SirsiDynix OPACs: Easy to add SirsiDynix Enterprise onto current SirsiDynix OPAC products, including SirsiDynix Symphony e-Library, Horizon Information Portal, iBistro, iLink and Web 2; cost-effective approach to building on existing user experience investments, without starting from scratch.
Search widget: Provides a code snippet that can easily be cut and pasted in order to present an Enterprise search box within existing web pages.
Stateful, URL-based searching: Supports use of Back button on Web browsers as part of search process and building "saved searches" that can be saved as browser "Favorites" or sent or saved as links in other documents.
Look and feel flexibility: Cascading style sheet (CSS) templates offer the look and feel of existing OPACs; features administrative interface for customized templates.
Software-as-a-Service (SaaS)/ASP hosted solution: SaaS offers lower total cost of ownership, as SirsiDynix manages all hardware and software support, maintenance, and upgrades.

"In a world of information that is so deep and so broad, nothing is more challenging to information seekers than searching and retrieving the information they need," said Gary Rautenstrauch, SirsiDynix chief executive officer. "At the same time, one of libraries’ greatest challenges is making their resources discoverable to those information seekers. That’s why we are so excited about SirsiDynix Enterprise and the powerful new search capabilities the product brings to libraries seeking to serve demanding information consumers more effectively than ever before."

According to Talin Bingham, SirsiDynix chief technology offer, "What we are so pleased about with SirsiDynix Enterprise are the unique and industry-leading capabilities this new product brings to libraries: fuzzy search logic, deepest integration with ILS and OPAC systems, intuitive interfaces, multi-language support and much more."

"And all this is just in the first release of SirsiDynix Enterprise," adds Bingham. "Stay tuned for more great capabilities in coming months."

Reality 2.0 Presentation

2008-06-25T08:58:00.007+01:00

A recent PPT by SirsiDynix's Vice President of Innovation, Stephen Abram, is a good summary of how the multi faceted elements of Web 2.0 enhance the information community.

weblink: Stephen Abram

SirsiDynix - SQL Server Support

2008-06-16T09:29:00.002+01:00

PROVO, Utah, June 16, 2008 – SirsiDynix, the global leader in strategic technology solutions for libraries, today announced Microsoft SQL Server 2005 and SQL Server 2008 on the SirsiDynix Symphony Library Management System. Microsoft SQL Server is a comprehensive, integrated data management and analysis software platform that enables organizations to reliably manage mission-critical information, confidently run complex applications such as SirsiDynix Symphony and reduce the total cost of ownership (TCO) of data management. This new cost-effective, scalable database option will be available for SirsiDynix Symphony 3.3, which is slated for general release in second quarter 2009.

"SirsiDynix has long led the library community in forging industry partnerships that benefit our customers," said Gary Rautenstrauch, SirsiDynix CEO. "Thanks to our expanded Microsoft relationship, we’re not only deepening our technical relationship with one of the world’s preeminent technology providers, but we’re also providing SirsiDynix Symphony users a compelling new database option."

Talin Bingham, SirsiDynix chief technology officer, adds, "I am confident that Horizon and Dynix users and many others will be excited to have Microsoft SQL Server as a database option for SirsiDynix Symphony. Power. Scalability. Low TCO. These are the hallmarks of Microsoft SQL Server, which will be quite compelling to current and prospective users as they make plans for SirsiDynix Symphony."

"With SQL Server 2005 64-bit, we are delivering a robust data platform to our partners that enables them to create highly scalable IT solutions to fit the individual needs of their customers," said Vipul Shah, Senior Product Manager at Microsoft Corp. "We are very pleased that SirsiDynix has chosen to support the SQL Server 2005 data platform and plans future support for SQL Server 2008.

Citation & Referencing - Zotero

2008-06-09T09:02:00.003+01:00

This is most certainly worth a look; I've used it with LOC records linking the LCCN Permalink to the notes section of the utility.

"Zotero [zoh-TAIR-oh] is a free, easy-to-use Firefox extension to help you collect, manage, and cite your research sources. It lives right where you do your work — in the web browser itself..."

Zotero is an easy-to-use yet powerful research tool that helps you gather, organize, and analyze sources (citations, full texts, web pages, images, and other objects), and lets you share the results of your research in a variety of ways. An extension to the popular open-source web browser Firefox, Zotero includes the best parts of older reference manager software (like EndNote)—the ability to store author, title, and publication fields and to export that information as formatted references—and the best parts of modern software and web applications (like iTunes and del.icio.us), such as the ability to interact, tag, and search in advanced ways. Zotero integrates tightly with online resources; it can sense when users are viewing a book, article, or other object on the web, and—on many major research and library sites—find and automatically save the full reference information for the item in the correct fields. Since it lives in the web browser, it can effortlessly transmit information to, and receive information from, other web services and applications; since it runs on one’s personal computer, it can also communicate with software running there (such as Microsoft Word). And it can be used offline as well (e.g., on a plane, in an archive without WiFi).

100 Free Library 2.0 Webinars and Tutorials

2008-06-04T10:13:00.001+01:00

An excellent site outlining all you really need to know about Library 2.0.

SirsiDynix Release Symphony 3.2.1

2008-06-03T10:27:00.001+01:00

HUNTSVILLE, Ala., May 29, 2008 –– SirsiDynix, the global leader in strategic technology solutions for libraries, today announced the general availability of SirsiDynix Symphony 3.2.1, the library community’s most open, evolutionary and customizable integrated library system. Horizon and Dynix users, corporate and government libraries that use SirsiDynix Symphony’s Accountability module and consortia will discover a number of powerful new features. Tested at 10 beta sites, both on local test servers and via SirsiDynix software-as-a-service (SaaS) hosted systems, SirsiDynix Symphony 3.2.1 is already in production at one site. This new release is now available for upgrading SirsiDynix users.

Enhancements to SirsiDynix Symphony in this release include:

A general release of the SirsiDynix Symphony Accountability module in the WorkFlows Client for Java, which will be especially useful for many corporate, government and military sites
New options for capturing statistics for multi-piece items
The option to use default operator of "and" for searches entered in the iBistro, iLink and Ecole online public access catalogs
More flexibility in serving borrowers whose cards are on the verge of expiration
Support for entering only key digits of barcodes
New "hold wrapper" print options that can be used to support patron hold pickup self-service
Updates to circulation to accommodate 3M RFID-based checkout
Updates to Floating Collections capabilities for use by consortia
Z39.50 search capabilities updated to support search by library group along with the previously supported "search all" and "search by library" capabilities

"We’re excited by our on-time introduction of SirsiDynix Symphony 3.2.1, a rapid follow-up release to SirsiDynix Symphony 3.2, which we made available in December," said Gary Rautenstrauch, SirsiDynix CEO. "3.2.1 is an important release because of the many enhancements it offers to Dynix and Horizon users, government and military libraries and consortia. Furthermore, SirsiDynix Symphony 3.2.1 offers important platform support for SirsiDynix’s exciting new faceted search solution due out in summer 2008. Stay tuned."

SirsiDynix Symphony 3.2.1 incorporates open, industry-standard technologies, offering the library community the most impressive list of features and capabilities. These include an open n-tier architecture, SaaS options, powerful "user experience" portal and search solutions, comprehensive integrated library management and productivity solutions, Java-based staff clients for all modules, fully documented application programming interfaces (APIs) that provide users unparalleled capabilities to customize and integrate the system, Unicode support, advanced business intelligence and reporting tools, support for SIP2 and NCIP and embedded and full Oracle database support.

"As with the 3.2 release of SirsiDynix Symphony, we had another incredibly successful beta testing period with an impressive number of participants," said Berit Nelson, SirsiDynix vice president of product management. "This intensive testing period and the features we have incorporated into SirsiDynix Symphony 3.2.1 further highlight the dedication we at SirsiDynix have to remain the technology partner our clients can depend on to deliver on its promises."

More Talis Keystone Developments

2008-05-29T15:03:00.001+01:00

University of Salford implements a new Identity Management Solution

The University of Salford are the first to implement a new Identity Management module for Talis Keystone which integrates with their university-wide Sun based identity system. It enables any system in the institution that manages identity, both staff and student; to create, read, update and delete borrower records in real-time.

Metadata for digital libraries: state of the art and future directions

2008-05-28T15:45:00.000+01:00

By report author Richard Gartner....

The digital library as a stand-alone entity is becoming harder to define. Whilst the richness and variety of information resources and digital collections that are made available on the Web have contributed enormously to the higher and further education community, for the average user, accessing information that spans multiple sources is increasingly a messy process involving a plethora of different systems, catalogues and interfaces. For those increasingly used to the ease-of-use of search tools such as Google and Yahoo this new and highly fluid environment can be a considerable barrier to accessing information from digital libraries and online collections.

This JISC TechWatch report argues that rectifying this problem requires above all the acceptance of the importance of metadata and the need for standardization and integration within the library community. The complex metadata requirements of digital objects, which include descriptive, administrative and structural metadata, have so far mitigated against the emergence of a single standard. However, this report argues that a set of existing standards, all based on XML, can and should be combined to produce a coherent, integrated metadata strategy.

SirsiDynix Users Conference - Exhibitor's List

2008-05-20T21:43:00.005+01:00

A brief report will be made available at the next NGL Meeting. In the meantime, the exhibitors from the conference:

Item recovery services - Unique Management Services

Interactice voice message solutions - Talking Tech

E-resource access and management - Serial Solutions

Barcode Solutions - SB Electronic Systems

Inter Library loans and document delivery services - Relais International

Digital Archive Solutions - PTFS Digital Archiving Solutions

E-booking solutions - Lorenbergs Ltd

Specialists in barcode readers and scanners - Electronic Reading Systems

Mobile data and remote access solutions - Brand Communications

Bibliograhic information provider - Bowker UK

Book supplier - Dawson Books

SirsiDynix Webinars

2008-05-13T09:12:00.003+01:00

SirsiDynix have announced a series of 'webinars' over the summer:

"Trends in e-Learning: What Does It Mean for Libraries?" on May 21, with Frank Cervone, professor of education and director of the Library, Information and Media Studies program at Chicago State University. Cervone will focus on how availability and interoperability are changing the way e-learning is being delivered as well how developments in open access as well as social networking are changing the way e-learning occurs.
"Beyond Web 2.0: Taking the Social Read-Write Web to the Enterprise Level" on June 13, with Marshall Breeding, director for innovative technologies and research at the Jean and Alexander Heard Library at Vanderbilt University. Breeding will give his view of how libraries can take Web 2.0 technologies to the next level and integrate them into their core automation infrastructure to better support their strategic missions.
"Video on the Web: A Primer" in on July 15 with David Lee King, digital branch and services manager at Topeka and Shawnee Library in Kansas. King will teach attendees to explore how libraries are using video for outreach and learning through a variety of case studies, discover tips on what types of content work best for different types of libraries, and learn what to consider when planning for and implementing videocasting at your library.
"Tame the Web" in August, Michael Stephens, assistant professor at Dominican University’s Graduate School of Library and Information Sciences, and a leading library blogger. Stephens will share his insights on open libraries.

weblink: SirsiDynix Institute

Dublin City Libraries on Facebook

2008-04-30T09:34:00.002+01:00

Not content with being (most probably) the first Library to utilise Pageflakes, Dublin City Libraries have now enlisted perhaps the most frowned upon of social networking sites, Facebook, to their advantage.

The site incorporates RSS feeds, 'Mini Feeds' and 'Profile Boxes' for latest additions to stock. Interestingly, the site also shows how flickr may be used for visually representing latest additions etc.

JISC - Library Management Systems Briefing Paper

2008-04-29T14:15:00.002+01:00

JISC and SCONUL recently commissioned a study to survey the Library Management Systems (LMS) landscape in the UK with particular reference to higher education (HE).

This briefing paper is an abbreviated version of the decision-making guide for institutions at section 7 of the full LMS study, which suggests ways in which libraries, individually and together, can respond to a new landscape of Library System provision. It excludes the references and some of the evidence of the full report.

Libraries Unleashed

2008-04-22T13:58:00.002+01:00

The Guardian today featured several articles under the banner 'Libraries Unleashed' with the primary focus on the ever changing demands placed upon Libraries, and Library 2.0.

'Free' Encyclopaedia Britannica

2008-04-21T13:37:00.005+01:00

Bloggers, can take advantage of a new service from Encyclopaedia Britannica to enhance the experience of anyone that reads it. Web publishers can get free access to the Britannica Webshare service and insert 'widgets' - essentially applications that make it quick and easy for surfers to get more from the web - on their site.

However, visitors will only be able to see the entries for the specific subjects and are not given free access to the entire encyclopedia.

The people behind the site attempted to clear up the definition of the term 'web publisher' to explain who was entitled to sign up.

"If you manage a website, edit a website, or contribute regularly to a website or different website, you qualify for a subscription," said Tom Panelas of Encyclopaedia Britannica.

Koha Demos Online

2008-04-18T14:10:00.003+01:00

The opportunity to assess an open source LMS has been made available by Liblime, who's Koha product has recently been purchased by The Northeast Kansas Library System, a 116 libraries consortium.

"Koha ZOOM is the next-generation release of the award-winning Koha open-source integrated library system. Notably, it includes a powerful search engine based on Zebra, a high-performance indexing and retrieval engine. Koha ZOOM's search engine can read structured records in practically any input format (e.g., email, XML, MARC) and allows access to them through exact boolean search expressions and relevance-ranked free-text queries. It supports large databases (more than ten gigabytes of data, tens of millions of records) as well as incremental, safe database updates on live systems."

JISC and SCONUL Library Management Systems Study

2008-04-17T14:12:00.003+01:00

Just released, and weighing in at 157 pages, the much anticipated JISC report on current LMS amongst UK HE institutions.

Primary issues from the executive summary include:

* an evaluation of how consortia may achieve more economical models of service delivery via new partnerships.

* Libraries reviewing LMS contracts should seek increased value, looking at ways to improve services by implementing peripheral features around the core LMS.

* the increasing role of SSO via liberated metadata

Dewey Vs BISAC....Round 1?

2008-04-07T14:20:00.004+01:00

This argument has been gathering some pace of late; some reference points below which may prove useful should this particular sparring match develop beyond a war of words.

weblink: The Cataloguing Librarian

weblink: Wall Street Journal

Report: Can Social Bookmarking Improve Web Search ?

2008-04-06T21:37:00.003+01:00

Abstract....

Social bookmarking is a recent phenomenon which has the potential to give us a great deal of data about pages on the web. One major question is whether that data can be used to augment systems like web search. To answer this question, over the past year we have gathered what we believe to be the largest dataset from a social bookmarking site yet analyzed by academic researchers. Our dataset represents about forty million bookmarks from the social bookmarking site del.icio.us. We contribute a characterization of posts to del.icio.us: how many bookmarks exist (about 115 million), how fast is it growing, and how active are the URLs being posted about (quite active). We also contribute a characterization of tags used by bookmarkers. We found that certain tags tend to gravitate towards certain domains, and vice versa. We also found that tags occur in over 50 percent of the pages that they annotate, and in only 20 percent of cases do they not occur in the page text, backlink page text, or forward link page text of the pages they annotate. We conclude that social bookmarking can provide search data not currently provided by other sources, though it may currently lack the size and distribution of tags necessary to make a significant impact.

Google Book Search....HIP Integration?

2008-03-18T15:35:00.006Z

Google have made an API available which will integrate search results from an OPAC to Google Books. There is a multitude of information flying across the Internet, and further investigation is certainly required, however between WebCat and Google, these are somewhat precarious times for ILS vendors.

weblink: Google Books

Penguin to offer free DRM Audio Books

2008-03-11T13:04:00.002Z

Despite the high profile launch of the Kindle e-book reader, the e-book market seems to have again stagnated, however with several million ipod and mp3 players on the planet, Penguin have acted swiftly!

"Penguin is planning to offer audiobooks that are free of digital copyright protection technology, which will allow buyers to play them on any digital device, dismissing fears that they could become the latest target for online pirates..."

weblink: Penguin

Library £lf?

2008-03-11T10:59:00.003Z

There appear to be some changes looming as to how the much loved, and widely used Library Elf service will be made available to subscribers in the not too distant future.....

There are three different ways that a user can subscribe to Elf: trial, limited-free, and paid.

Trial subscription: Anyone signing up for the trial subscription will be able to receive 6 Elf notices for free. In addition, checking their library holds can be done through the Elf website during the duration of the trial. Users can upgrade to the yearly paid subscription at any time.

Limited-free subscription: Anyone signing up with Elf, whose library website has a link to the Elf website, will receive 18 notices for free. In addition, checking their library holds can be done through the Elf website during this free period. Upon the anniversary of the subscription, their Elf account will be refilled with 18 free notices. If they use up their notices before their anniversary date, they can either upgrade to the paid subscription or wait until the anniversary date.

Paid subscription: Anyone signing up for the yearly paid subscription will be able to receive an unlimited number of Elf notices. In addition, they can check their library holdings through the Elf website at any time. We are considering $10 USD/year for the first card and $5 USD/year for each subsequent card. There would be a 25% discount on cards whose libraries are still in beta testing.

Glasgow College Libraries on Pageflakes

2008-03-03T08:29:00.004Z

Following the recent launch of Dublin Public Libraries excellent Pageflake, some development work has resulted in the launch of the GCL's very own Pageflake.

The site is still very much 'work in progess', and it's hoped each College Library will have it's own unique 'flake' over the next few months.

Another notable Pageflake users include:

SLIC / Scottish Libraries

A UK School Librarian's Page

East Lothian Libraries

Cadwyn Y Canolbarth

SLIC Innovation and Development Fund 2008

2008-02-25T09:57:00.002Z

Funding will be considered for a range of activities including, research, impact analysis, service development, staff training, pilot creation of new resources and evaluation of new technology, case studies, preparation of good practice guides or promotion of standards. The objective of raising quality of provision should be clear in application submissions.

For 2008 SLIC is particularly interested in stimulating evidence based research projects on:

shared library services across the sectors with particular reference to attitudinal and cultural factors in their success or failure
the functioning of library trusts as a model for library service delivery
The Board are also particularly keen to encourage development and testing of training packages on widening access and use of Web 2.0 technology.

Timetable & documentation for applications:

Funding call opens 11 Feb 2008; Deadline for submission 7 March 2008; Awards announced and projects commence April 2008.

Social Networking...Funding Available

2008-02-13T08:37:00.003Z

Projects examining the benefits of social networking in learning and research environments are to benefits greatly as some £300,000 has been made available to UK Further and Higher Education institutions.

The funding, made available by Eduserv, ranges from £30,000 to £150,000 per project. Eduserv say the scheme aims to encourage proposals that focus on technical, social or political issues that surround these emerging technologies and trends.

Eduserv have asked for research applications which investigate at least one of three areas;
for example the examination of establishing an online identity in a particular community, research into the open social graph; a measured description of relationships between online personalities and communities.

Studies exploring the application of mobile computing technologies towards learning and research are also being considered.

The closing date for applications is the 14th March 2008.

weblink: Eduserve

Horizon 7.4.No Show......

2008-02-12T14:28:00.002Z

Apparently sent to all UK customers ( although, no one from GCL as far as I'm aware), the latest instalment of the Horizon upgrades saga. From Dave Patten's (esteemed HIP 'redesigner') Blog...

You may be aware that there has been a recent announcement about the general availability of Horizon 7.4.1 and HIP 3.09. SirsiDynix International has seriously considered the option of taking this release and including the various localizations into it. However, at this time we have decided that we cannot commit to the amount of work necessary on an International basis.

Overdues? Pinger Them!

2008-02-07T15:57:00.001Z

One can only assume that this wonderful idea will only have to endure such a silly moniker for a few more months before being snapped up by Skype or someone similar! The concept is so breathtakingly simply it defies logic, as does the technology. The full blurb may be found on the Pinger web site.

Basically the programme allows you to send group messages, free of charge. At this point the logistics of dealing with hundreds of overdues sounds slightly easier....

Just call the local Pinger number, say the names of the people you want to message and talk! You can message one or all your friends with one call. You can leave a message up to 5 minutes long! People you send a message to get a text instead of a ring. They just press a button or two to listen. Recipients can reply or forward by hitting a single button so it's fast and easy to message back and forth.

At this stage it's an open communications protocol, however there is certainly room for integration into Library and College operations in the not too distant future.

Metadata Matters

2008-02-05T15:09:00.000Z

On The Record: The Library of Congress Working Group on the Future of Bibliographic Control.

Report in pdf format

e-books....now m-books!

2008-01-22T14:48:00.000Z

Whilst publishing and copyright issues plague the e-book market, the mobile novel concept is alive and well in Japan.

Amongst last year’s 10 best-selling novels, five were originally mobile cellphone novels, the majority mostly love stories written in the short sentences, characteristic of text messaging, but containing little of the plotting or character development found in traditional novels.

Furthermore, the top three spots were occupied by first-time cellphone novelists, touching off debates in the news media and blogosphere.

With many phones now sporting fast paced High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA), the mobile learning experience may be upon us quicker than anticipated.

Open Source ILS - Koha Zoom

2008-01-22T14:24:00.000Z

Following the recent news that a one year, 'Horizon v Evergreen cage match' would be undertaken; with a view to determining the validity of Evergreen as a stable ILS platform, it has been announced that three academic WALDO libraries (Westchester Academic Library Directors Organization) - Clearwater Christian College, Florida Southern College, and Southeastern University --selected Koha ZOOM for their next integrated library system and union catalogue.

ILS Review - Talis Keystone

2008-01-11T14:22:00.000Z

Although not a dedicated ILS, Keystone is an intergrated service module , which operates between an ILS, and other applications across the organisation.

The platform was recently integrated at Queen's University, Belfast, thus enabling an e-pay system for some 25,000 students. Students are now able to pay their library charges online using either debit or credit cards, enabling further efficiency savings for library staff and improving student services.

ILS Review - Vubis Smart

2008-01-08T15:16:00.000Z

I saw this in use at Coatbridge Library recently. The product has a significant lead in the e-pay market, with the introduction of the iDEAL. iDEAL enables library patrons to use the interface of their own online banking solution when conducting transactions in Vubis Smart, presenting users with familiar screens and enabling the seamless processing of library-related payments.

The product profile, from www.vubis-smart.com...

Vubis Smart is an Integrated Library System that enables libraries and information centers to organize and present data from any source and in any format. The system incorporates convenient workflows and easy-to-use administrative tools. Staff can define multiple formats, databases, indexes, search methods and more. Distinctive rules and parameters may be defined to meet the requirements of individual branches and locations.

Through the Vubis Smart Web OPAC, libraries can offer their users a suite of customization and community-building tools that enhance the user experience and create a highly dynamic, personalized online environment. Users can simultaneously search multiple databases, link to subscription resources and customize the Web OPAC interface for appearance, language and search results. Through 'Rate & Review', users can share thoughts and ideas about any item with other library users. Additional Web OPAC features include 'Fuzzy Logic', 'Associative Searching', Selective Dissemination of Information (SDI) and customized news feeds (RSS).

Vubis Smart at a Glance

Integrated modules for cataloging, circulation, acquisitions and serials management
Format independent
Convenient workflows
User collaboration & participation in the Web OPAC
Data enrichment tools
Comprehensive reporting

Turning The Pages 2.0

2008-01-08T15:00:00.000Z

Turning the Pages 2.0™ allows the reader to 'virtually' turn the pages of some of the most precious books held at the British Library. Readers can magnify details, read or listen to expert commentary on each page, and store or share their own notes.

SirsiDynix Launch Symphony 3.2

2008-01-03T09:59:00.000Z

SirsiDynix Symphony 3.2 Now Available

Industry’s most open, evolutionary system rolled out on schedule

HUNTSVILLE, Ala., December 19, 2007 – SirsiDynix, the global leader in strategic technology solutions libraries, today announced the general availability of SirsiDynix Symphony 3.2, the library community’s open, evolutionary and customizable integrated library system. Delivered on schedule and already in successful production for two sites, SirsiDynix Symphony 3.2 is now available for both current and prospective customers, including SirsiDynix Horizon and Unicorn sites upgrading to the new system.

Some Library 2.0 in GCL!

2007-12-17T13:28:00.000Z

The staff at Anniesland College Library are in the process of developing an online book club, which facilitates collaboration and tagging.

Current investigation has shown that such a development can be integrated into catalogue searches, simply by including an 856 tag in the MARC record, thus directing the reader to the book club via the search returns.

Early days indeed, however it's perhaps worth noting what can be achieved via open source software, as many of the current Library Systems suppliers struggle to integrate the Library 2.0 concept, and in turn, what expectations there may be amongst the GC Librarians and staff, when a new system is required.

The Future of Bibliographic Control (Draft Report)

2007-12-17T13:09:00.000Z

The Working Group on the Future of Bibliographic Control recently released its draft report on the future of bibliographic description, following the near quantum advances in search engine technology, new and emerging Internet developments and the the much touted Web /Libray '2.0isms'.

The five core recommendations included:

Increased efficiency of bibliographic production for libraries through the cooperation and sharing of bibliographic records, and through use of data produced in the overall information chain.
Transferring effort into high-value activity, with particular emphasis on providing greater value for knowledge creation by increasing access for unique materials held by libraries that are currently underused.
Recognising that the World Wide Web is libraries' is not only a technology platform, but an appropriate platform for standards. Recognition that users are not only people but also applications that interact with library data. Much of the recent developments which centre around the concept of social tagging mirror such sentiments
Evaluation of resources, (i.e. qualitatively and quantitatively) with a view to encompassing the full membership of the library community. The cornerstone of this being an awareness of the Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records (FRBR) framework.
The strengthening of library and information science profession through education and through development of metrics.

weblink: The Future of Bibliographic Contol (pdf)

Library 2.0 - Portal Design Using Pageflakes

2007-12-10T09:18:00.000Z

An excellent insight as to what may be achieved using open source, Library 2.0 / Web 2.0 software, has been developed by Dublin City Public Libraries.

The portal delivers information streams in various formats via a single interface; not unlike what can be achieved with SirsiDynix's EPS/Rooms portal development package.

weblinks:

Pageflakes
Dublin City Public Libraries

Building The Academic Library 2.0

2007-11-28T09:01:00.000Z

About the video....

Academic Library 2.0 Keynote Speaker: Meredith Farkas, Distance Learning Librarian Norwich University, Northfield A Conference sponsored by the Librarians Association of the University of California, Berkeley Division.

Once a symbolic bastion of traditional accumulations of specialized knowledge, today's academic library operates in an information landscape grown increasingly variegated and difficult to traverse.

Paradoxically, at the same time, data, information, knowledge, cultural production, and scholarship are far more accessible, appropriable, and manipulable than ever before. New media attract widespread attention, more pliable technologies emerge with increasing frequency, and--most importantly--young generations of students and faculty with aptitudes, skills, and expectations borne of a world massively defined by the Internet and its progeny are populating the halls of academe.

The convergence of the once distinct technological and social meanings of the term "network" is evident in the rise of communities of remote collaborations among friends, acquaintances, students, and researchers. These developments compel academic libraries to consider how best to apply new technologies to suit users' demands and to satisfy their institutional and educational missions.

The Academic Library 2.0 conference will address the phenomenon of academic libraries taking affirmative steps to deploy technologies and services that facilitate users' virtually instant connection to diverse sources of knowledge and information, as well as to help users directly contribute form and substance to those sources.

RSS in Plain English

2007-11-27T09:47:00.001Z

Aptly titled. From the Common Craft portal.

Click To Play

e-books: Amazon Kindle

2007-11-19T21:19:00.000Z

Amazon has introduced a new $400 e-book reader, named the Kindle. Both Microsoft and Sony have launched similar products over the last few years, with interest waning quicker than the time it takes to read your average size paperback. The Kindle comes equipped with a 6-inch 800 x 600 display also known as 'e-ink', 256MB internal storage, a two-thumb keyboard cursor bar, scroll wheel, mini USB port, 3.5mm headphone jack, SD slot, and EV DO Data. Fear not, Google explains this as "telecommunications standard for the wireless transmission of data through radio signals, typically for broadband Internet access."

The Kindle is being touted as something radically by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos:

"....a feature that its predecessors never offered: wireless connectivity, via a system called Whispernet. (It's based on the EVDO broadband service offered by cell-phone carriers, allowing it to work anywhere, not just Wi-Fi hotspots.) As a result, says [Amazon CEO Jeff] Bezos, "This isn't a device, it's a service."

weblink: The Future of Reading

Library 2.0 - AquaBrowser 2.0

2007-11-19T14:01:00.000Z

AquaBrowser 2.0 offers a unique three-part search and retrieval strategy which exploits the records in your catalogue to provide users with enriched data through associations, and an immediate analysis of their results – a so-called faceted search – in the world cloud and the refine windows. The product can be integrated within any LMS.

weblink: AquaBrowser demo @ Queens Library

Horizon 7.4.1 Update

2007-11-19T08:33:00.000Z

7.4.?

What exactly the proposed 7.4.1 upgrade will contain, has been reported by Mick Reese, Systems Manager at SELCO. The upgrade will include:

Pre-overdue notices
Borrower record expiration handling
Items can go to LOST by number of days (not only number of notices)

Horizon 7.4.1. / 7.4.2 / Web Reporter 1.5

2007-11-13T08:59:00.000Z

A very interesting development has filtered across the water from the CODI Conference last week, concerning a Horizon upgrade.

Initial impressions are it's a bug resolving, consolidation exercise, rather than a fully fledged Horizon 8 / Corinthianesque upgrade.

Jolynn Halls, director for Technical Product Management, discussed the status of product development. Beta testing of Horizon 7.4.1 and HIP 3.09/4.13 began 10/22/2007 at five sites. General release is expected at the end of 2007. There are approximately 350 bug fixes in Horizon 7.4.1 and nearly 700 bug fixes in HIP. The Horizon 7.4.1 client has been certified for use with the Microsoft Vista operating system. Horizon 7.4.2, which will provide support for the Sybase 15 database management system, is scheduled for general release first quarter or early second quarter of 2008. Web Reporter 1.5 is targeted for general release at the end of 2007 and is tied to Horizon 7.4.1.

Open Source OPAC - VuFind

2007-11-09T14:04:00.000Z

VuFind is a library resource portal designed and developed for libraries by libraries. The goal of VuFind is to enable your users to search and browse through all library resources by replacing the traditional OPAC to include:

Catalog Records
Digital Library Items
Institutional Repository
Institutional Bibliography
Other Library Collections and Resources

VuFind adopts a integrated modular approach, so you can implement just the basic system, or all of the components. And since it's open source, you can modify the modules to best fit your needs or you can add new modules to extend your resource offerings.

ILS Review - Civica SPYDUS

2007-10-24T11:03:00.000+01:00

As one of the earliest established library systems suppliers, Civica has a strong track record of delivering library automation solutions over 27 years and provides library solutions to more than 1200 libraries all over the world.

Although primarily targeted within the Australasia & South East Asia market, the SPYDUS system, is currently gathering kudos; very much as 'the new kid on the block' in the European market sector.

Now in its third generation, SPYDUS is a functionally rich, web-centric application. As well as automating traditional library functions such as circulation, cataloguing, public access, acquisitions, and serials control, SPYDUS includes facilities for Inter-library loans, selection (requisitions), current awareness (SDI), stock control, stock rotation, community information, newspaper indexes, homebound borrowers, Z39.50, materials and facilities bookings, archives, self-service and data loading.

weblink: SPYDUS Technical Brochure

ILS Review: Millenium

2007-10-03T12:57:00.000+01:00

Millennium operates via Java based clients, as well as incorporaing HTML and XML in order to expand the platform's tool sets. It also has the ability to link the collection with web content. The Millennium server operates under UNIX, and the application code is written in C/C++ and Java.

Millennium is its own DBMS; no third-party software is required or utilized. In addition to Millennium's powerful editing and reporting tools, libraries using Oracle can utilize the services provided by an Oracle database manager, such as SQL Plus or ODBC/JDBC applications, to view and manipulate their database.

The catalogue interface, WebPAC Pro is the follow-up to the first commercial Web-based catalog, Web OPAC. Users can take advantage of self-service and personalization tools such as My Millennium, Ecommerce, Patron Self Registration, and Program Registration. Logged-in patrons can also use the Patron Ratings feature or share their opinion with the Community Reviews option.

WebPAC Pro also incorporates Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feeds from external resources. Libraries also have the option to send user-specific My Record Feeds messages or Feed Builder alerts reflecting new content or items of particular interest.

weblink: Millenium

Beyond The Mash Up: Visual Infotagging

2007-10-03T08:58:00.000+01:00

Beyond the concept of tagging information in order to aggregate information streams, the next generation of information aggregation takes the process one stage further, 'mashing' visual representation to augment the process.

See the news? Newsmap is a high definition interface which represents the ever changing infoscape of Google News. Think of the Million Dollar Web Page..only with content. weblink: Newsmap

Many Eyes, an IBM run portal, could quite easily be described as 'Mash Up In A Box'; utilising the concepts of social tagging and data analysis. weblink: Many Eyes

Gapminder is a non-profit venture for development and provision of free software that visualise human development. weblink: Gapminder

Diary - Talis Insight 2007

2007-10-03T08:42:00.000+01:00

Dates: 6th-7th November 2007
Venue: Hilton Birmingham Metropole, NEC, UK

weblink: Conference Programme

Diary - Online Information 2007

2007-09-19T09:34:00.001+01:00

Dates: 4th - 6th December 2007

Venue: Olympia Grand Hall, London

weblinks: Exhibitions List, Conference Schedule

Library 2.0 - Lulu.com

2007-09-13T13:07:00.000+01:00

The purist may argue the merits of a Library 2.0 tag, more so when Lulu recently won a Web 2.0 award, however in the absence of Publishing 1.0, it's very much a Library driven initiative.

Lulu is a remarkable self publication portal which allows the user to upload a manuscript, photos or music files, use formatting tools to get everything set up, size to binding to cover art, publish and distribute.

weblink: lulu.com