AN ACADEMIC IN AMERICA
On Stupidity
By Thomas H. Benton
A cartload of recent books suggests that it's time to reverse the customer-service mentality plaguing academe.
"No one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public," said H.L. Mencken in the era of Babbitt and the Scopes "monkey" trial. Several generations later, one might speculate that no publisher has ever lost money with a book accusing Americans — particularly young ones — of being stupid.
The link to the article is :
http://chronicle.com/jobs/news/2008/08/2008080101c.htm
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Friday, August 15, 2008
New online learning community for librarians
From the Chronicle of Higher Education
WebJunction, an online learning community for librarians and library staff, has launched new social and learning applications for the site. The site, first started with money and backing from the Online Computer Library Center and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, had 30,000 individual members even before the revamp.
There are three new items of note:
A “friending” utility allowing librarians to connect with friends, peers, and colleagues from across the library community. There are also public profiles, the ability to tag useful bits of information, and recommendations.
Librarians can now create their own content with tools provided by the site.
There are more flexible online courses covering business, technical, and library skills.
A report on Blogjunction, the site’s blog, says that since the new tools launched last week, the library site had had 15,000 unique visitors, a pace that, if it keeps up, will give them more traffic than in any other month of their 5-year existence. —Josh Fischman
WebJunction, an online learning community for librarians and library staff, has launched new social and learning applications for the site. The site, first started with money and backing from the Online Computer Library Center and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, had 30,000 individual members even before the revamp.
There are three new items of note:
A “friending” utility allowing librarians to connect with friends, peers, and colleagues from across the library community. There are also public profiles, the ability to tag useful bits of information, and recommendations.
Librarians can now create their own content with tools provided by the site.
There are more flexible online courses covering business, technical, and library skills.
A report on Blogjunction, the site’s blog, says that since the new tools launched last week, the library site had had 15,000 unique visitors, a pace that, if it keeps up, will give them more traffic than in any other month of their 5-year existence. —Josh Fischman
Libraries step into the age of iPod
NEW YORK (Reuters) - It may be about time to dig out that old library card. Hoping to draw back readers, libraries have vastly expanded their lists of digital books, music, and movies that can be downloaded by their patrons to a computer or MP3 player -- and it doesn't cost a cent, unlike, say, media from Apple Inc'siTunes or Amazon.com Inc.
In Phoenix, for instance, branches have banded together to create a digital library that currently has about 50,000 titles of e-books, audiobooks, music and videos that can be "checked out" from anywhere.
Once discovered, says Tom Gemberling, the electronic resources librarian for the Phoenix Public Library, the program often proves wildly popular.
IFLA medal for work in developing countries awarded
eIFL Director receives IFLA Medal for groundbreaking work with libraries in transition and developing countries
Rima Kupryte, Director of Electronic Information for Libraries (eIFL.net) was honoured by the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) at the 74th World Library and Information Congress in Quebec, Canada. The IFLA Medal is one of the highest professional accolades and
Rima Kupryte, Director of Electronic Information for Libraries (eIFL.net) was honoured by the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) at the 74th World Library and Information Congress in Quebec, Canada. The IFLA Medal is one of the highest professional accolades and
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Publishing jargon
A Publishing Primer
Don't know your French flaps from your headbands? Here's a guide to the arcane terminology of the book world
Bibliometric indices
Interesting papers on the use and misuse of bibliometric indices in evaluating scholarly performance available at:
http://www.int-res.com/abstracts/esep/v8/n1/
"Quantifying the relative performance of individual scholars, groups of scholars, departments, institutions, provinces/states/regions and countries has become an integral part of decision-making over research policy, funding allocations, awarding of grants, faculty hirings, and claims for promotion and tenure. Bibliometric indices (based mainly upon citation counts), such as the h-index and the journal impact factor, are heavily relied upon in such assessments. There is a growing consensus, and a deep concern, that these indices — more-and-more often used as a replacement for the informed judgement of peers — are misunderstood and are, therefore, often misinterpreted and misused. The articles in this ESEP Theme Section present a range of perspectives on these issues. Alternative approaches, tools and metrics that will hopefully lead to a more balanced role for these instruments are presented."
http://www.int-res.com/abstracts/esep/v8/n1/
"Quantifying the relative performance of individual scholars, groups of scholars, departments, institutions, provinces/states/regions and countries has become an integral part of decision-making over research policy, funding allocations, awarding of grants, faculty hirings, and claims for promotion and tenure. Bibliometric indices (based mainly upon citation counts), such as the h-index and the journal impact factor, are heavily relied upon in such assessments. There is a growing consensus, and a deep concern, that these indices — more-and-more often used as a replacement for the informed judgement of peers — are misunderstood and are, therefore, often misinterpreted and misused. The articles in this ESEP Theme Section present a range of perspectives on these issues. Alternative approaches, tools and metrics that will hopefully lead to a more balanced role for these instruments are presented."
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Unique library of the Villa of the Papyri in Herculaneum
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24096948-25132,00.html
The unique library of the Villa of the Papyri in Herculaneum, buried
beneath lava by Vesuvius's eruption in AD79, is slowly revealing its
long-held secrets
STORED in a sky-lit reading room on the top floor of the Biblioteca
Nazionale in Naples are the charred remains of the only library to survive
from classical antiquity. The ancient world's other great book collections
-- at Athens, Alexandria and Rome - - all perished in the chaos of the
centuries. But the library of the Villa of the Papyri was conserved,
paradoxically, by an act of destruction................
The unique library of the Villa of the Papyri in Herculaneum, buried
beneath lava by Vesuvius's eruption in AD79, is slowly revealing its
long-held secrets
STORED in a sky-lit reading room on the top floor of the Biblioteca
Nazionale in Naples are the charred remains of the only library to survive
from classical antiquity. The ancient world's other great book collections
-- at Athens, Alexandria and Rome - - all perished in the chaos of the
centuries. But the library of the Villa of the Papyri was conserved,
paradoxically, by an act of destruction................
User name and password for Chronicle of HE
Sorry - you will need this to view the article about Muhammad's Bride
user name: ru library
password: ru2007
user name: ru library
password: ru2007
CONTROVERSY OVER NOVEL ABOUT MUHAMMAD'S BRIDE
CONTROVERSY OVER NOVEL ABOUT MUHAMMAD'S BRIDE ENDURES:
A novel about a wife of Muhammad has been canceled by Random House,
sparking a controversy over freedom of speech and the role of
a University of Texas history professor.
http://chronicle.com/daily/2008/08/4190n.htm?utm_source=at&utm_medi
um=en
A novel about a wife of Muhammad has been canceled by Random House,
sparking a controversy over freedom of speech and the role of
a University of Texas history professor.
http://chronicle.com/daily/2008/08/4190n.htm?utm_source=at&utm_medi
um=en
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Website for researchers to share scientific papers
Share Scientific Articles ... and Network, Too
http://chronicle.com/wiredcampus/article/?id=3222&utm_source=at&utm
_medium=en
"Labmeeting, the document management and networking site, which is free for individual scientists and students, allows researchers to upload PDF files of research papers and other documents, mark them, organize them, search them, recommend them to colleagues, and see what their peers are collecting. Each scientist has a profile page and can create groups, inviting the members of their labs to add their documents to a shared collection accessible from anywhere."....
http://chronicle.com/wiredcampus/article/?id=3222&utm_source=at&utm
_medium=en
"Labmeeting, the document management and networking site, which is free for individual scientists and students, allows researchers to upload PDF files of research papers and other documents, mark them, organize them, search them, recommend them to colleagues, and see what their peers are collecting. Each scientist has a profile page and can create groups, inviting the members of their labs to add their documents to a shared collection accessible from anywhere."....
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Judy online
Hi Everyone
Quite exhausting all this blogging, definitely need some help in how to add articles of interest (in the unlikely event of coming across one!)
Judy
Quite exhausting all this blogging, definitely need some help in how to add articles of interest (in the unlikely event of coming across one!)
Judy
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
August newsletter
The August RUL newsletter is now available on the Library webpage - thanks to Irene for formatting and linking it
Cory Library blog
Hello Everyone
Please have a look at the Cory Library blog.
This is intended to be a noticeboard and for sharing Cory information. There is no provision for comments however as I have no time to moderate these!
The final design may change to come more into line with the look and feel of the new corporate website.
Sally
Please have a look at the Cory Library blog.
This is intended to be a noticeboard and for sharing Cory information. There is no provision for comments however as I have no time to moderate these!
The final design may change to come more into line with the look and feel of the new corporate website.
Sally
Friday, August 1, 2008
FREE ACCESS TO SCIENCE PAPERS FOUND NOT TO INCREASE CITATIONS
FREE ACCESS TO SCIENCE PAPERS FOUND NOT TO INCREASE CITATIONS:
Randomly selected papers that were made freely available
online were cited slightly less often than papers that were
not, a study described in "BMJ" found.
http://chronicle.com/daily/2008/08/4070n.htm?utm_source=at&utm_medi
um=en
user name: rulibrary
password: ru2007
Randomly selected papers that were made freely available
online were cited slightly less often than papers that were
not, a study described in "BMJ" found.
http://chronicle.com/daily/2008/08/4070n.htm?utm_source=at&utm_medi
um=en
user name: rulibrary
password: ru2007
MICROSOFT ROLLS OUT PUBLISHING AND RESEARCH TOOLS FOR ACADEMICS
MICROSOFT ROLLS OUT PUBLISHING AND RESEARCH TOOLS FOR
ACADEMICS: Microsoft makes a bid to become a big player in
academic publishing with new tools that help scholars
collaborate, determine fair use, and format papers for online
databases.
http://chronicle.com/free/2008/07/4049n.htm?utm_source=at&utm_mediu
m=en
ACADEMICS: Microsoft makes a bid to become a big player in
academic publishing with new tools that help scholars
collaborate, determine fair use, and format papers for online
databases.
http://chronicle.com/free/2008/07/4049n.htm?utm_source=at&utm_mediu
m=en
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Information about LibGuides
"LibGuides is a popular content management and knowledge sharing system for Libraries. Over 4,100 librarians at 250 libraries use LibGuides every day to share information and connect with patrons, wherever they are." [http://www.springshare.com/]
At the staff meeting this morning we talked about LibGuides, to which the Library has just started subscribing.
The idea is for information services/faculty librarians/departmental librarians to develop subject guides to replace our present static Subject Gateways which are at:[http://www.ru.ac.za/library/electronic_resources/dept/index.html].
The new LibGuides will be dynamic and interactive (e.g. users can make comments, contact their subject librarian, link to webpages/site/videos/feeds, etc.). We hope that this new service will prove useful in connecting users with information and information sources.
We are presently in the process of setting up the access to LibGuides (with the IT Divisoin). Once this happens LibGuides will be linked to the Library webpage and we can start develooping the Guides. This will obviously be a learning process as we become familiar with the functionality and possibilities. Please have a look at the examples of what other libraries are doing with LibGuides and give us your suggestions for RUL.
See a collection of examples and more information about LibGuides at:
http://del.icio.us/aloeferox/LibGuides
At the staff meeting this morning we talked about LibGuides, to which the Library has just started subscribing.
The idea is for information services/faculty librarians/departmental librarians to develop subject guides to replace our present static Subject Gateways which are at:[http://www.ru.ac.za/library/electronic_resources/dept/index.html].
The new LibGuides will be dynamic and interactive (e.g. users can make comments, contact their subject librarian, link to webpages/site/videos/feeds, etc.). We hope that this new service will prove useful in connecting users with information and information sources.
We are presently in the process of setting up the access to LibGuides (with the IT Divisoin). Once this happens LibGuides will be linked to the Library webpage and we can start develooping the Guides. This will obviously be a learning process as we become familiar with the functionality and possibilities. Please have a look at the examples of what other libraries are doing with LibGuides and give us your suggestions for RUL.
See a collection of examples and more information about LibGuides at:
http://del.icio.us/aloeferox/LibGuides
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
How deep does Google go?
From the Chronicle of HE:
Does Google's Web Search Go Deep Enough Into Scholarly
Archives?
http://chronicle.com/wiredcampus/article/?id=3205&utm_source=at&utm
_medium=en
"Many scholarly archives on college and public Web sites don’t show up in Google because the search engine doesn’t index them — they’re in what many call the “deep Web,” below the level that most search engines look. A new study found that fewer than half — just 44 percent — of a sample group of deep-Web pages from scholarly archives showed up in Google searches."
Comments on a study http://www.dlib.org/dlib/july08/hagedorn/07hagedorn.html done by digital librarians at the University of Michigan who are also involved in the Open Archives Initiative, an effort to help search engines find items deep in Web archives.
Does Google's Web Search Go Deep Enough Into Scholarly
Archives?
http://chronicle.com/wiredcampus/article/?id=3205&utm_source=at&utm
_medium=en
"Many scholarly archives on college and public Web sites don’t show up in Google because the search engine doesn’t index them — they’re in what many call the “deep Web,” below the level that most search engines look. A new study found that fewer than half — just 44 percent — of a sample group of deep-Web pages from scholarly archives showed up in Google searches."
Comments on a study http://www.dlib.org/dlib/july08/hagedorn/07hagedorn.html done by digital librarians at the University of Michigan who are also involved in the Open Archives Initiative, an effort to help search engines find items deep in Web archives.
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