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- Asilomar Institute for Information Architecture (AIFIA) recently surveyed its members regarding their goals, priorities, and concerns for the coming year. The 112 respondents place the highest value on activities that fall under the heading of "Building the Practice" -- sharing tools, research, and best practices. Complete survey results are posted on the AIFIA site. |
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- solidstate writes "A journalist for The Economist with decades of service, Barbara Smith, recently retired, relates her memories writing for the publication. The piece centers on other journalists, her foreign assignments, working in the field as a woman and mother, and politics at the publication. In paragraph five, however, she speaks of research and librarians: "We had a wire service, and a handful of British newspapers, but in those economical, pre-web days we foreigners really couldn't do much research, relying instead on instinct and the fabulous memories of our librarians (dear reader, fear not, that was then, and now is now)." Alas, she does not mention how research is conducted at present, leaving her readers to wonder if the librarians of today possess the same memory retention skills as those from 1956. |
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- And The Winners Are... NewSceintist readers were invited to invent a new scientific word that we need and define it in an appropriately pompous way. Winners include, Coyotus Interruptus, Demiverse, and Encyclopediatrician: " A person dealing with the knowledge of all branches of children's stuff. |
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- Someone spotted This Information World Review Article on Elsevier. They have hit out at reports that its journals are being severely cut back by major US universities in this year's round of subscription renewal negotiations. At the University of California, feelings over Elsevier's subscription levels have run so high that some senior staff have been calling for a boycott of the company. San Francisco-based UC researchers Peter Walker and Keith Yamamoto are urging a boycott of six titles published by Elsevier's Cell Press subsidiary. A recent report by the Wellcome Trust, An Economic Analysis of Scientific Research Publishing, said: |
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- Don Saklad shares with us This bostonphoenix.com Piece on Harvard Square’s Grolier Poetry Book Shop, one of only two stores in the US devoted to poetry. The Grolier has been in business since 1927, and, in the intervening years, its shelves have been browsed by the likes of T.S. Eliot, Robert Lowell, e. |
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- The Cleveland Plain Dealer on Graphic novels: "What these books have in com mon, aside from enjoying brisk sales and critical raves, is a sophistication of artwork, text and emotional content that may even appeal to adults who think they don't like comics. Put another way, you don't have to know the first thing about "Spider-Man" to find something to enjoy in this realm. " |
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- chicagotribune.com Reports [Reg. Req.] only 29.3 percent of public and 16 percent of academic libraries said they have adopted formal guidelines for dealing with a search warrant or subpoena from law enforcement, according to the University of Illinois survey, the third in a series since the Patriot Act was adopted in late 2001. |
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- search-engines-web.com writes "Ideas for refining your search, and expanding the possible search terms can be had by using the free tools listed below.Collectively - they account for about 99% of all searches on the web.The various search engines and directories keep track of all searches perfomed on their sites and offer the option of using these free tools to get and idea of the popularity of various search terms.They are also valuable for producing more exact or alternative worded queries |
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- Anonymous Patron writes A strange sixteenth-century book may be cunningly crafted nonsense, says a computer scientist. Gordon Rugg has used the techniques of Elizabethan espionage to recreate the Voynich manuscript, which has stumped code-breakers and linguists for nearly a century." "The Voynich manuscript is often described as the world's most mysterious book. It is hand-written in a unique alphabet, about 250 pages long, and contains pictures of unrecognizable flowers, naked nymphs and astrological symbols." Full Article online from Nature " |
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- Seth Finkelstein writes "Of course I'm biased here, but I'd like to recommend the Seth Finkelstein Interview at Greplaw. "Seth Finkelstein is Mr Anti-Censorware. The MIT graduate and EFF Pioneer has devoted his talents into unpaid anti-censorware research. For good and bad, as it turns out. Finkelstein has not only spent a great amount of hours fighting censorware, he has also done his best to fight the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. |
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- He Made It, Rodney Horan walked from 4500km from Perth to Wollongong, Australia, to raise funds for liver cancer research. However, less than a month after the pair's expedition began, Mr Horan had developed tendonitis. Despite the romantic notion of a long trek across the sunburnt country, the University of Wollongong librarian is adamant the effort was no walk in the park. |
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- A Quotable Philly.com Article on the design inspiration for the renovation and expansion of the Central Branch of the city's Free Library at 19th and Vine Streets. architect Moshe Safdie: "I have a passion for libraries," Safdie told a group of about 75 people who had gathered in the center hall of the library's ground floor. "They are potentially real community centers. |
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- Daniel writes "The Center for Media and Democracy (The authors of "Toxic Sludge is good for you!" and "Trust us, we're experts" is offering teachers and students free classroom copies of Weapons of Mass Deception: The Uses of Propaganda in Bush's War on Iraq. This book may be useful for classes in current events, political science and communications classes.If you are a high school or college instructor who would like free classroom copies to use with your students, please email them the following information: |
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- Robin Rose Yuran writes "JESUS EYE ON THE GENEALOGIST GUY(Another Stuff Barb Don’t Want Moment)By Robin Rose YuranThey like to travel in packs; I can usually spot them coming up the path to the library; they are the genealogists, the ones with the Jesus-freak eye-glazed look accompanied by way too much smiling. It’s a “Stand away from the car”/”Houston we’ve got a problem moment.” |
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- Michelle spotted News That the Modesto school board weighed in 4-3 in favor of keeping Luis J. Rodriguez's "Always Running: La Vida Loca: Gang Days in LA." Earlier this school year, a teacher at Beyer High was using the memoir until homeschooling parent Pamela LaChapell asked for its removal. |
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- Washington Post Reports, The Federal Communications Commission voted yesterday to tighten financial guidelines on the E-Rate. The new rules are designed to discourage needy schools and libraries from using discounts under the program to buy equipment for wealthier schools and libraries. Under the new rules, equipment must be held for at least three years before it can be transferred to another facility. In addition, the FCC voted to prohibit institutions from using discounts under the program to upgrade equipment more than twice in five years. |
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- search-engines-web.com/ writes "Now Google is including excerpts from Books in it's Natural Relevancy SERPs... This is slightly different from Amazon's full-page results... Incidentally, Amazon with it's "server-side-scripting" has been having it's listings in virtally all competative Google Results This is the latest in a number of esoteric additions to Google search, now the option of tracking Federal Express and United Parcel Service packages is being offered on it's Web site, more at print.google. |
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vacation (Dec 20 2003 11:57 GMT) - Well Mrs. Businesspundit and I are leaving warm and sunny Florida for KY today. Blogging will be sporadic for the next two weeks because I'll... |
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- 'South Park' Nabs SaddamIn the end, when the boys got to the prime minister's office, they faced a giant floating... |
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- Beginning late Christmas Eve, a small armada of exploratory spacecraft will reach Mars, some attempting to enter orbit, others to make risky landings on the Red Planet's surface. Together, they represent one of the most ambitious efforts yet to resolve the contradictions that persist in alternately intriguing and beguiling scientists. |
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EMMS (Dec 20 2003 11:55 GMT) - temporary CVS down |
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- Here's a beautiful example of where the war on drugs has taken our society today. Which is worse? Drugs, or... |
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- implementation of the X Window System... |
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- Search Guild Dec 20 2003 6:09AM ET... |
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- San Francisco Chronicle Dec 20 2003 5:39AM ET... |
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- "Other consultants, hardware manufacturers and customers have expressed frustration to me regarding how to interface with Open Source Software projects..."... |
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- San Francisco Chronicle Dec 20 2003 5:39AM ET... |
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- SiliconValley.Internet.com Dec 20 2003 6:26AM ET... |
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- [Meerkat: An Open Wire Service] - "Other consultants, hardware manufacturers and customers have expressed frustration to me regarding how to interface with Open Source Software projects..."... |
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Sehr süß.. (Dec 20 2003 11:54 GMT) - Jason Kottke schreibt einen Liebesbrief - in Excel. |
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- It has been a while since KDE was mentioned here, but if you can still get your hands on yesterday's (Friday December 19) copy of Trouw, you might be thrilled to find half of page 16 dedicated to an interview with KDE contributors Fabrice Mous, Charles Samuels and yours truly, Rob Kaper. The three of us met in The Hague with Vincent Dekker and the result is a long article in the Dutch newspaper. A scan and/or translation should be up soon when I feel like it. |
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