Library Research

This blog, Library Research, will be deleted on 31 July 2012

2011-07-19T23:58:00.000-07:00

Dear Readers

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Este Retief
Library Research blog owner

Has the Internet become an external hard drive for the brain?

2011-07-14T22:23:00.000-07:00

Source: Research Digest, 14 July 2011

Last year's annual question posed by Edge was "How is the Internet changing the way you think?" Several psychologists answered that it was becoming an extension of their minds. "The Internet is a kind of collective memory,’ wrote Stephen Kosslyn (Harvard University). "When I write with a browser open in the background, it feels like the browser is an extension of myself."

A research team led by Betsy Sparrow has now tested the idea that the Internet really has become a kind of memory prosthesis.

Full article

Belarus: silent crackdown on silent protests (social networking)

2011-07-14T22:15:00.000-07:00

Source: RT, 14 July 2011

Belarus reportedly blocked access to a popular social networking service as several dozen anti-government protesters were detained yet again during another round of flash-mob style “silent rallies” which were held in Minsk and other cities.

According to media reports, on Wednesday afternoon, several hours before a rally took place which had been organized through a group registered on VKontakte (INContact), Belarus blocked access to the Russian social network. The site, which essentially has an interface modeled on Facebook, is popular in Russia as well as in a number of former Soviet republics, including Belarus, Ukraine and Kazakhstan.

Full article

Indonesians flee volcano eruption on Sulawesi

2011-07-14T21:52:00.000-07:00

Source: BBC News, 15 July 2011

Mount Lokon spewed ash, sand and rocks thousands of metres into the air

Thousands of people on an Indonesian island have been forced to flee a fierce volcanic eruption.

Mount Lokon, on Sulawesi, started erupting at around 2230 local time (1530 GMT) on Thursday, according to reports.

There were no immediate reports of casualties.

Full article

Scientists to use robotics for research

2011-07-14T21:47:00.000-07:00

Source: News24, 14 July 2011

Singapore - Climate scientists have turned to the US and Australian navies to deploy robotic measuring devices in the Indian Ocean where pirates have made the area too dangerous for researchers.

About a quarter of the Indian Ocean is now off limits to climate scientists trying to complete a network of deep ocean devices that gather data crucial to climate change studies and weather forecasts.

Full article

BOOK - Futurecast: how superpowers, populations, and globalization will change the way you live and work - published 2008

2011-07-14T21:42:00.000-07:00

Author: Robert J. Shapiro
Published: St. Martin's Press, 2008

Amazon
What will life be like in America, Europe, Japan or China in the year 2020?

As everyone’s lives across the world are become increasingly interconnected by globalization and new technologies quicken the pace of everything, the answer to that question depends on the fate and paths of the world’s major nations. In Futurecast, Robert Shapiro, former U.S. Under Secretary of Commerce and Chairman/Co-founder of Sonecon, looks into the future to tell us what our world will over the next dozen years. Though that time span seems brief, Shapiro foresees monumental changes caused by three historic new forces — globalization, the aging of societies, and the rise of America as a sole superpower with no near peer — will determine the paths of nations and the lives of countless millions. What jobs will there be for you and your children? What will happen to your health care? How safe will you be at home or abroad? Answers to these questions will depend, even more than today, on where you live in the world:

Even as China expands its military and its economy, America will be the world’s sole superpower for at least the next generation, and continue to lead efforts to preserve global security and stability.
The U.S. and China will be the world’s two indispensable economies, dominating the course of globalization.
Globalization will continue to shift most heavy manufacturing and millions of high-end service jobs from advanced countries like the US, to China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Romania, Turkey and other developing nations.
Europe’s major nations and Japan will face the prospect of genuine economic decline and critical problems in their retirement pension systems, moving further towards the periphery of global economic and geopolitical power.
Every major country — the U.S., Europe, Japan, China — will face critical problems with their health care systems, and the entire world will face a crisis over energy and climate change.

If one adds the wildcard of possible, catastrophic terrorist attacks to this mix, the period between now and 2020 will be as challenging as any in modern times. Taking these deep global developments into account when planning for the future is a necessity. Robert Shapiro’s clear-eyed Futurecast is the knowledge portfolio you need to prepare for the years to come.

Video (2:37) - The Joe and Rika Mansueto Library: How It Works

2011-07-14T21:33:00.000-07:00

Click here to watch the video uploaded on YouTube by The University of Chicago on 10 May 2011

http://www.archdaily.com/143532/joe-and-rika-mansueto-library-murphy-jahn/1-521/
Courtesy by Murphy Jahn

The new Joe and Rika Mansueto Library at the University of Chicago houses cutting-edge facilities for preservation and digitization of physical books, as well as a high-density underground storage system with the capacity to hold 3.5 million volume equivalents.

From an article in Inside Higher Ed (18 May 2011):
Chicago's new library opens at a time when several universities are moving volumes to off-campus, high-density storage facilities -- a contentious issue on some campuses. Chicago's decision represents a different and perhaps more costly solution to the problem those campuses are facing. While the new design eliminates stacks in favor of high-density storage and makes room for other uses of campus and library space, it maintains the convenience, as well as the psychological comfort, of keeping those volumes close and on campus.

"Reality shows that you cannot do your research well having materials off-site," said Judith Nadler, university librarian. "The cost of what you would give up in terms of research, studying, and teaching outweighs the cost of the building."

Full article

Video (2:11) - Crowley offers Zeutschel's Perfect Book For Perfect Scans

2011-07-14T21:13:00.000-07:00

Uploaded on YouTube by CrowleyScans on 13 July 2011

The industry leader in high-end archival preservation and digitization for books and bound materials, Zeutschel leads the industry with its Perfect Book 3D scan technology that eliminates book curvature.

BOOK - The Immortalization Commission: Science and the Strange Quest to Cheat Death - published 2011

2011-07-14T20:55:00.000-07:00

Author: John Gray
Published: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2011

Amazon
At the heart of human experience lies an obsession with the nature of death. Religion, for most of history, has provided an explanation for human life and a vision of what comes after it. But in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, such beliefs came under relentless pressure as new ideas — from psychiatry to evolution to communism — seemed to suggest that our fate was now in our own hands: humans could cease to be animals, defeat death, and become immortal.

In The Immortalization Commission, the acclaimed political philosopher and critic John Gray takes a brilliant and frightening look at humankind’s dangerous striving toward a scientific version of immortality. Probing the parallel faiths of Bolshevik “God-builders,” who sought to reshape the planet and psychical researchers, who believed they had evidence of a nonreligious form of life after death, Gray raises fascinating questions about how such beliefs threaten the very nature of what it means to be human. He looks to philosophers, journalists, politicians, charlatans, and mass murderers who all felt driven by a specifically scientific and modern worldview and whose revolt against death resulted in a series of experiments that ravaged whole countries.

An urgent examination of Darwin’s post-religious legacy, The Immortalization Commission is an important work from “one of Britain’s leading public intellectuals” (The Wall Street Journal).

Video (5:11) - Interview with the robot Bina48

2011-07-14T20:30:00.000-07:00

Uploaded on YouTube by The New York Times on 9 July 2010
National correspondent Amy Harmon sits down to talk with the Bina48 about what it's like to be a robot.

Zomobo - The Real Time Encyclopedia

2011-07-14T20:20:00.000-07:00

http://zomobo.com/

In short:
It's a Real-time Encyclopedia, where you can enter a topic title and instantly get related digital contents from multiple sources (e.g. Wikipedia, Youtube, Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, Books, Newspapers, Magazines) all at once.

A bit more explained:
Zomobo is a web application structured thematically around topics, like in an encyclopedia, enhanced with a set of features and interactive functions. It integrates contents loaded from different online sources under one single interface, providing a wide spectrum of digital contents and up-to-the-minute data. For every valid topic, Zomobo presents a list of modules with content loaded in real-time from multiple web services, categorized by media type or data source. By jumping modules, you'll find fresh data and digital media from Newspapers, Magazines, Blogs, Books, Wikipedia, Youtube, Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, Social Answers and additional online resources.

Video (10:54) - Daniel Tammet: Different ways of knowing

2011-07-14T20:09:00.000-07:00

Daniel Tammet has linguistic, numerical and visual synesthesia -- meaning that his perception of words, numbers and colors are woven together into a new way of perceiving and understanding the world. The author of "Born on a Blue Day," Tammet shares his art and his passion for languages in this glimpse into his beautiful mind.

What Skills Does a Digital Archivist or Librarian Need?

2011-07-14T19:40:00.000-07:00

Source: Libray of Congress, 13 July 2011, by Bill LeFurgy

From this article:
Let me say that expertise with programming, formats and standards is, of course, very important. It’s just that I happen to think several other talents have a greater bearing on success in today’s workplace. Such as an ability to understand and adapt to new ways of using technology, for example. It’s music to my ears when job-seeker shows awareness of how quickly the way we work can change. Archives and libraries depend ever more on technology-driven systems to accomplish their mission, and those systems are ever evolving. Staff with an eagerness to help refine how things are done are especially prized. Deep technical expertise is optional here. The most important thing is a basic understanding of how the different system parts—both automated and manual—contribute to doing the job at hand.

Related to this is an ability to bridge two distinct social camps: the highly technical and the highly not-technical. There are now many kinds of digital tools and services available to archives and libraries. These range from free to download software to big commercial vendors. A good staff person needs to know how choose among these options to meet the needs of users, many of whom could care less about how the information they want is delivered.

Full article

Serials: The Journal for the Serials Community - Issue: Volume 24, Number 2 / July 2011

2011-07-14T19:32:00.000-07:00

Some articles worth reading in this issue:

Digital research/analog publishing – one scientist's view Philip E Bourne, PhD, Professor, Associate Director, RCSB Protein Data Bank Co-founder and Editor-in-Chief, PLoS Computational Biology
Improving access Ian Rowlands, Mark Ware, Mark Ware Consulting, Laura Cox
Agent 3.0 – a shared service provider David Main, Chief Executive Officer
E-pricing models: are publishers and librarians on the same page? Melinda Kenneway, Director
Supporting effective communication and workflows in social science research: findings and summary of a group discussion Bernie Folan, Head of Journals Marketing

Third International Conference on Science in Society, The Catholic University of America Washington D.C., USA (5-7 Aug 2011)

2011-07-14T05:23:00.000-07:00

This conference addresses the social impacts, values, pedagogies, politics and economics of science. It is an inclusive forum that welcomes a breadth of perspectives on science from practitioners, teachers and researchers representing a wide range of academic disciplines.

The Science in Society Conference is held annually in different locations around the world. The Conference was inaugurated in 2009 at Cambridge University, Cambridge, UK, and was held at Universidad Carlos III de Madrid in 2010. We are pleased to hold this year's conference at The Catholic University of America in Washington D.C.

The deadline for the next round in the call for papers (a title and short abstract) is 21 June 2011. Future deadlines will be announced on the conference website after this date. Proposals are reviewed within two weeks of submission. Full details of the conference, including an online proposal submission form, may be found at the conference website: http://science-society.com/conference-2011/.

In 2012 the conference will be held at the University of California, Berkeley from 15-17 November 2012.

Information provided by: Prof. Karim Gherab Martin, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

‘Legend’ Al Debbo dies - legendary South African actor, singer and comedian

2011-07-14T05:05:00.000-07:00

Source: The Citizen, 13 July 2011, by Lani Fouche

BLOEMFONTEIN - Legendary South African actor, singer and comedian Al Debbo died of heart failure in a Bloemfontein hospital yesterday.

Debbo was admitted to Bloemfontein Medi-Clinic due to heart failure on June 23, the day after his 87th birthday.

Full article

14th International Symposium on Electronic Theses and Dissertations, Cape Town, South Africa (13-17 Sep 2011)

2011-07-14T03:41:00.000-07:00

ETD2011 is an international symposium and gathering of current and future researchers and practitioners in the area of Electronic Theses and Dissertations.

ETD2011 will provide delegates with the unique opportunity to network, share experiences and discuss current good practices from around the world, enabling researchers and practitioners to chart a future course.

More information: http://dl.cs.uct.ac.za/conferences/etd2011

Do you know about the Australian Poetry Library?

2011-07-13T04:41:00.000-07:00

The Australian Poetry Library (APL) aims to promote a greater appreciation and understanding of Australian poetry by providing access to a wide range of poetic texts as well as to critical and contextual material relating to them, including interviews, photographs and audio/visual recordings.

This website currently contains over 42,000 poems, representing the work of more than 170 Australian poets. All the poems are fully searchable, and may be accessed and read freely on the World Wide Web. Readers wishing to download and print poems may do so for a small fee, part of which is returned to the poets via CAL, the Copyright Agency Limited. Teachers, students and readers of Australian poetry can also create personalised anthologies, which can be purchased and downloaded. Print on demand versions will be availabe from Sydney University Press in the near future.

http://www.poetrylibrary.edu.au/

Video (2:00) - University of Sheffield iSchool launch day in Second Life

2011-07-13T04:27:00.000-07:00

This machinima highlights the launch event for the University of Sheffield iSchool, which took place in the virtual world, Second Life, on the iSchool's island, infolit iSchool on 13 June 2011. The machinima was created by Sheila Webber (Sheila Yoshikawa in Second Life) and the music "Forest Dance" is released under a Creative Commons License by Butterfly Tea: http://www.jamendo.com/en/album/70768

The speakers at the iSchool launch event were: Dr Lorri Mon (Lorri Momiji in Secoind Life); Dr Joe Sanchez (North Lamar in SL); Lyn Parker (Maggie Kohime in SL); Professor Nigel Ford (Nigl Forder in SL) and Sheila Webber.

"Second Life" is a trademark of Linden Lab. The iSchool website is at http://www.shef.ac.uk/is/

Video (2:40) - Examples of how research results can be presented and explored in the virtual world

2011-07-13T04:17:00.000-07:00

Examples of how research results can be presented and explored in the virtual world, second Life (TM Linden Lab). Filmed (except for initial pictures of PhD viva) on Infolit iSchool, Sheffield University, by Sheila webber (Sheila Yoshikawa in SL) in June/July 2011.

New issue available: Evidence Based Library and Information Practice

2011-07-13T04:09:00.000-07:00

Volume 6 number 2 (2011) of Evidence Based Library and Information Practice has been published.

To view content page:
http://ejournals.library.ualberta.ca/index.php/EBLIP/issue/view/648

Conference paper (Public Libraries): "What and Why Libraries?’ Looking At What Libraries Might Look Like and Why We Still Need Them Now and Into the Future"

2011-07-13T04:00:00.000-07:00

This paper will be presented at the World Library and Information Congress: 77th IFLA General Conference and Assembly in San Juan on August 16, 2011.

Presenter:
Maija Berndtson, Library Director, Helsinki City Library, Helsinki, Finland

Abstract:
Public libraries are threatened. At least we can feel so when we look at the changing surrounding in which more and more information is available on the net and people can download music, films and even books. In this paper I do not concentrate on the threats, however. With some new library models which I see as progressive I try to find out some more general conclusions for the future of libraries. My conclusions are among other things: look at people´s lives not at your services, be customer-oriented instead of being system-oriented, realize that the focus of library service is moving from transactions to relations, emphasize that libraries are social places and living organisms. Realize that we are facing a paradigm shift which confuses both our staff and our users. But if we as librarians are able to rethink, remodel and renew the libraries, so believe it or not I would even say that libraries can head for The Golden Age in their history.

Click here to read

Consider yourself ethical? New research says think again

2011-07-13T03:48:00.000-07:00

Source: Physorg, 12 July 2011, by Shannon Chapla

When confronted with an ethical dilemma, most of us like to think we would stand up for our principles. But we are not as ethical as we think we are, according to Ann Tenbrunsel, the Rex and Alice A. Martin Professor of Business Ethics at the University of Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business and co-author of “Blind Spots: Why We Fail to do What’s Right and What to do About it.”

“A blind spot is an unknown obstacle that prevents us from seeing our unethical behavior,” Tenbrunsel explains. “It doesn’t allow us to see the gap between who we think we are, who we’d like to be, and who we truly are.”

Blind spots can originate with individuals and accumulate to an organizational-level, from the collapse of Enron and corruption in the tobacco industry, to sales of the defective Ford Pinto and the downfall of Bernard Madoff.

Full article and a video

Zimbabwe's NoViolet Bulawayo wins Caine writing prize

2011-07-13T03:36:00.000-07:00

Source: BBC News, 12 July 2011

NoViolet Bulawayo was born and raised in Zimbabwe and studied in the US

Zimbabwean writer NoViolet Bulawayo has won this year's Caine Prize for African Writing, regarded as Africa's leading literary award.

The £10,000 ($16,000) prize was given for her story Hitting Budapest about hungry children from a shantytown who steal guavas from an upmarket suburb.

Full article

Equal Education: Protest at Parliament in Cape Town against the lack of school infrastructure

2011-07-12T21:34:00.000-07:00

ADAMANT: A member of the Equal Education group lights a candle during a protest at Parliament in Cape Town against the lack of school infrastructure.
(Schalk van Zuydam, AP)

For more information:
http://unisalibraryresearch.blogspot.com/2011/07/equal-education-tonight-we-sleep.html

Archbishop Desmond Tutu unveils Mandela artwork

2011-07-12T07:01:00.000-07:00

Source: News24, 12 July 2011

This artwork, made up of the handprints of 67 famous people, is to be auctioned for charity ahead of Nelson Mandela's 93rd birthday. (Duane Petrus, News24)

Cape Town - Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu on Tuesday unveiled an artwork, made up of the handprints of 67 famous people, to auction for charity in former president Nelson Mandela's honour ahead of his 93rd birthday on Monday.

Full article

BOOK - Moving people: sustainable transport and development - published 2010

2011-07-12T06:53:00.000-07:00

Author: Peter Cox
Published: UCT PRess, 1st edition, 2010

ISBN: 9781919895413

The impacts of transport on local and global environments are more apparent than ever before. This book provides an attention-grabbing introduction to sustainable transport development in practice via a series of case studies. Re-assessing the value and importance of non-motorised transport, it raises questions about the whole nature of development as a process. It advocates low-impact technologies and sustainable transport and shows how they make a practical contribution to post-development discourses.

The case studies come from across the globe, both North and South (Bogota, Delhi, Jakarta, China and South Africa). The book demonstrates that achieving equity and sustainability will require profound transformation in the industrialised nations as much as in developing economies.

BOOK - Virolution (by Frank Ryan) - published 2011

2011-07-12T06:45:00.000-07:00

Author: Frank Ryan
Published: HarperCollins UK, 2011

Amazon
From an acclaimed scientific thinker and writer comes the most exciting advance in evolution since Dawkins’ The Selfish Gene — how the extraordinary role of viruses in evolution is revolutionizing biology and medicine.

Combining Darwin, the double helix, the genome project, and viruses to explain the last great mystery of evolution, this book is the product of Frank Ryan’s decade of research at the frontiers of a new science called viral symbiosis, and the amazing revolution that it has had in these few years. Still the greatest breakthrough in biological science, Darwin’s theory of evolution depended on steady variation of living things over time — but he was unable to explain how this variation occurred. Since publication of the Origin of Species, we have discovered three main sources for this variation — mutation, hybridization, and epigenetics. Then on February 12, 2001, the evidence for perhaps the most extraordinary cause of variation was simultaneously released by two organizations — the code for the entire human genome.

Not only was the human genome unbelievably simple (only 10 times more complicated than a bacteria), but embedded in the code were large fragments that were derived from viruses — fragments that were vital to evolution of all organisms, and the evidence for a fourth and vital source of variation — viruses. As scientists begin to look for evidence of viral involvement in more and more processes, they have discovered that they are vital in nearly every case — and with this understanding comes the possibility of manipulating the role of the viruses to help fight a huge range of diseases.

25% of car accidents in the USA are because of gadgets

2011-07-12T06:38:00.000-07:00

Source: WinBeta, 10 July 2011, by Ron

In a recent study by the Governors Highway Safety Association, driving distractions such as cell phones and other electronic devices, cause as much as 25% of all US car accidents. It is common knowledge that driving while distracted is not a safe thing to do, but now we have some scientific data that goes in-depth on the topic.

The Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) is a nonprofit research group that works to improve traffic safety. Research was calculated via 350 scientific papers published since 2000.

The study (pdf) talks about how distractions affect our driving performance and how drivers are typically distracted most of time. One thing that stood out of the report was the claim that being distracted was the cause of 15 to 25% of all accidents ranging from minor property damage to death.

Full article

Equal Education: Tonight we sleep outside Parliament (Cape Town, South Africa)

2011-07-12T05:30:00.000-07:00

Come and support Equal Education at 7pm

On Tuesday, 12 July at 7pm, one hundred Equal Education members will begin a sleep-in outside Parliament until at least Thursday 14 July to reiterate our call for the adoption of Norms and Standards for School Infrastructure.

If you’re in Cape Town, come to the entrance of Parliament, corner of Roeland and Hatfield streets tonight at 7pm for a candlelight vigil that will begin the sleep-in.

It has been three months since the deadline set out by the Minister of Basic Education, Angie Motshekga, in the National Policy on an Equitable Provision of an Enabling School Physical Teaching and Learning Environment (NPEP), for the adoption of regulations providing for National Minimum Norms and Standards for School Infrastructure was missed. That deadline was the end of the 2011/2012 financial year on 31 March 2011.

These Norms and Standards for School Infrastructure are called for in Section 5A of the SA Schools Act. They would provide the first ever legally binding standard for school infrastructure. They would provide the strongest tool for communities to ensure that their school infrastructure is improved. Equalisers have therefore decided to take this new step.

This follows years of patient letters, meetings, arguments, pickets, marches and respectful engagement. On 21 March 2011, more than 20 000 learners from the Western Cape marched with Equal Education demanding Norms and Standards for School Infrastructure. We were disappointed when the Minister of Basic Education did not adopt these Norms and Standards as promised in terms of the NPEP.

School infrastructure is only one of many systemic issues that underpin poor quality and unequal education, but in many instances it is one of the most urgent. According to the National Education Infrastructure Management System (NEIMS) 2009, produced by the government, of the 24 460 public ordinary schools:

3600 have no electricity supply;
2444 have no water supply, while a further 2563 have unreliable supply;
Only 7 847 have municipal flush toilets, while 970 still do not have any ablution facilities; and 11 231 still use pit-latrine toilets;
Only 10% of public ordinary schools have stocked computer centres;
Only 5% of public ordinary schools have stocked laboratories;
Only 8% (1 837 schools) of public ordinary schools have functioning libraries; 13% (3 384 schools) have an un-stocked library space, but the vast majority, 79% (19 239 schools), have no physical library space, nor a book collection. Most of the 8% of schools with libraries are schools which charge fees and pay for the libraries themselves.

The Minister of Basic Education has stated that she needs the approval of the provincial MECs of Education in order to adopt these Norms and Standards as regulations. Howerver, to the best of our understanding, the law is clear. Section 5A of the South African Schools Act provides that the Minister of Basic Education simply needs to consult with the MECs, something that has already taken place; their permission or agreement is not necessary.

We believe that the Minister should set the highest standards for public ordinary schools, and MECs should implement the policies and laws and be held accountable when the need arises. Communities, learners, parents and activists will be partners for the Minister in ensuring that provinces deliver on the Norms and Standards. The passing of these regulations will be a small step towards providing every child in this country with quality education, and addressing school infrastructure and imbalances in education as part of this obligation.

For more information, please contact:
Brad Brockman 072 267 8489 brad@equaleducation.org.za

For comment please contact:
Yoliswa Dwane (Head of Policy at EE) 072 342 7747 or 082 444 6674
Kathryn@equaleducation.org.za

BOOK - Becoming a Master Manager: A Competing Values Approach - published 2010

2011-07-12T03:49:00.000-07:00

Authors: RE Quinn, ST Faerman, MP Thompson, M McGrath, LS St Clair
Published: Wiley; 5 edition (October 12, 2010)
ISBN: 978-0470284667

Amazon
This fifth edition emphasizes the importance of developing management skills or admitted that learning about management concepts was not the same as learning how to apply those concepts in practice. It is built on a solid foundation of theory and empirical evidence that provides a compelling case for why specific competencies are important. The framework offers managers an enduring foundation for analysing what types of behaviors are most appropriate to achieve organisational goals in light of the existing environment. This edition overall gives a strong background in management skills and concepts needed on the job.

BOOK - The post-American world: and the rise of the rest - published 2011 (paperback)

2011-07-12T01:51:00.000-07:00

Author: Fareed Zakaria
Published: Penguin Books, 7 July 2011 (Paperback)

ISBN: 9780241958759

From Publishers Weekly as posted on Amazon
Starred Review. When a book proclaims that it is not about the decline of America but the rise of everyone else, readers might expect another diatribe about our dismal post-9/11 world. They are in for a pleasant surprise as Newsweek editor and popular pundit Zakaria (The Future of Freedom) delivers a stimulating, largely optimistic forecast of where the 21st century is heading. We are living in a peaceful era, he maintains; world violence peaked around 1990 and has plummeted to a record low. Burgeoning prosperity has spread to the developing world, raising standards of living in Brazil, India, China and Indonesia. Twenty years ago China discarded Soviet economics but not its politics, leading to a wildly effective, top-down, scorched-earth boom. Its political antithesis, India, also prospers while remaining a chaotic, inefficient democracy, as Indian elected officials are (generally) loathe to use the brutally efficient tactics that are the staple of Chinese governance. Paradoxically, India's greatest asset is its relative stability in the region; its officials take an unruly population for granted, while dissent produces paranoia in Chinese leaders. Zakaria predicts that despite its record of recent blunders at home and abroad, America will stay strong, buoyed by a stellar educational system and the influx of young immigrants, who give the U.S. a more youthful demographic than Europe and much of Asia whose workers support an increasing population of unproductive elderly. A lucid, thought-provoking appraisal of world affairs, this book will engage readers on both sides of the political spectrum. (May)

Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

BOOK - The Seven Spiritual Laws of Superheroes: Harnessing Our Power to Change the World - publlished 2011

2011-07-12T01:41:00.000-07:00

Author: Deepak Chopra
Published: HarperOne, 2011

Amazon
Given the volatile state of the world, it is no coincidence that superheroes have captured our imagination like never before. Everywhere you look, superheroes have broken free from their comic book pages and become a dynamic aspect of the culture at large. Superheroes are imbued with magical powers that challenge the laws of space and time, offering us a vision of a world that can change. By exploring the boundaries of energy and awareness, allowing us to better understand ourselves and our potential, superheroes can help us save the planet in a very real way.

From Buddha’s search for truth to Batman’s struggle with his dark side, from Wolverine exposing his greatest fears to Hanuman’s divine gifts of inspiration, New York Times bestselling author Deepak Chopra with his son Gotham, author and cofounder of Liquid Comics, decode the seven essential laws that govern the realm of superheroes both ancient and modern, cosmic and commercial, and explain their relevance, importance, and perhaps most critically, how to apply them to our daily lives. These seven new transformative laws will help us all uncover greater happiness, courage, balance, creativity, compassion, and purpose in our lives. Each law has the potential to awaken us to our own superpowers and together these laws offer the potential to change our lives and the world around us.

Employees engaging in "social learning vs "asocial learning"

2011-07-12T01:34:00.000-07:00

Source: Physorg, 11 July 2011 - Don't (always) talk to your neigbor

Conventional wisdom among managers holds that employees helping each other can only be good for a company. Accordingly, firms spend money, time and effort to promote what’s known as "knowledge transfer." Policies range from the popular (lavish company retreats) to the maligned (switching desks every six months so that everyone has a chance to sit near everyone else). Recently, firms have even begun creating their own in-house social networks.

But according to new research from the MIT Sloan School of Management, sharing is not necessarily good for the bottom line. Sometimes, encouraging employees to engage in “asocial learning” — using resources such as on-site libraries, training materials or archives of past work — is just as good, if not better, for a company’s overall performance.

Full article

Wikipedia Aims Higher

2011-07-12T01:23:00.000-07:00

Source: Inside Higher Ed, 11 July 2011

Five years ago, many professors had pegged Wikipedia as a pariah. Now, four years into its first coordinated effort to recruit professors and students to its cause, Wikipedia’s overseers believe they have successfully recast the free, publicly edited encyclopedia as an ally of respectable scholarship.

Two dozen universities now have courses where students are working on Wikipedia as part of their formal coursework. Many of those campuses have “Wikipedia ambassadors” tasked with helping professors weave writing and editing Wikipedia entries into the syllabus. Even Ferriero’s office at the National Archives and Records Administration now employs a “Wikipedian in residence” in charge of fostering relationships with galleries, libraries, archives and museums.

Late last week, the Wikimedia Foundation, which runs the encyclopedia, took another step toward assuming the mantle of an accessory of higher education: it held an academic conference. The first-ever Wikipedia in Higher Education Summit convened professors who had incorporated Wikipedia into their teaching, as well as others who were considering doing so, to talk about pros and cons of assigning students to improve the publicly edited online encyclopedia.

Full article

Eight International Conference on Technology, Knowledge and Society, Los Angeles, USA (16-18 January 2012)

2011-07-12T01:17:00.000-07:00

Dear Colleague,
On behalf of the International Advisory Board, I would like to inform you of the:

EIGHTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON TECHNOLOGY, KNOWLEDGE AND SOCIETY
University of California, Los Angeles, USA
16-18 January 2012
http://www.Technology-Conference.com

We are pleased to host the Technology Conference this year at the University of California, Los Angeles, USA. Los Angeles is a world economic center of business, science and technology as well as entertainment, art, media and culture. With its diverse mix of industry and innovation Los Angeles is the ideal place to discuss Technology and Society.

This conference will focus upon a range of critically important themes in the various fields that address the complex and subtle relationships between technology, knowledge and society. The conference is cross-disciplinary in scope, a meeting point for technologists with a concern for the social and social scientists with a concern for the technological. The focus is primarily, but not exclusively, on information and communications technologies.

The conference includes plenary presentations by accomplished researchers, scholars and practitioners, as well as numerous paper, workshop and colloquium presentations. Presenters may choose to submit written papers for publication in the fully refereed International Journal of Technology, Knowledge and Society. If you are unable to attend the conference in person, virtual registrations are also available which allow you to submit a paper for refereeing and possible publication in this fully refereed academic Journal.

We look forward to receiving your proposal and hope you will be able to join us in Los Angeles in 2012.

Yours Sincerely,
Karim Gherab Martin
Visiting Research Scholar
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, USA
Bibliotecas Digitales, Madrid, Spain

3M working on its own ereader device for libraries

2011-07-12T00:03:00.000-07:00

Source: Tele Read, 10 July 2011

Next month, 3M’s recent investment in German ebook device company txtr will bear fruit in a pilot program in Minneapolis. The library system there will test 3M’s new cloud-based ebook library lending service using cloud-connected kiosks and custom ereader devices that users who don’t own any hardware will be able to check out.

Read more: http://www.teleread.com/library/3m-working-on-its-own-ereader-device-for-libraries/

Italy within an inch of economic crisis

2011-07-11T21:48:00.000-07:00

Source: RT (previously Russia Today), 11 July 2011

Trouble is brewing for Italy, as it edges closer to becoming the fourth European country to need a bailout. The country’s debt totals 1.88 trillion euros and is continuing to rise.

Italy’s debt is surging past earnings, raising fears over whether Italian banks can pass EU stress tests, and that is forcing up borrowing costs.

Senior EU officials gathered on Monday in Brussels to discuss a new anti-crisis program and debate how to prevent the debt crisis spreading to Italy. But since Italy is one of the bigger players, saving it will not come cheap.

Full article

Google expands SA street view

2011-07-11T21:41:00.000-07:00

Source: News24, 11 July 2011

Pretoria - Google has expanded its South African street view image bank, allowing users to explore even more of the country from the comfort of their PCs, the company announced on Monday.

Substantial additions to Street View have been made for Limpopo, Western Cape, Northern Cape, Free State, North West, and Mpumalanga provinces, the company said in a statement.

Full article

Google to open research institute

2011-07-11T21:31:00.000-07:00

Source: Physorg, 11 July 2011

(AP) -- Berlin's oldest university says it is partnering with Google and three German institutions to start a research institute.

Humboldt University announced Monday that the institute would open in the fall and examine the evolution of the Internet and its impact on society, science, politics and the economy.

The institute will focus on innovation, Internet and media policy, philosophy and constitutional rights.

Full article

Fujitsu Next Generation Color e-Paper Module - video (1:54)

2011-07-11T21:25:00.000-07:00

Reportstack - Online Library of Market Research and Business Intelligence

2011-07-11T21:17:00.000-07:00

http://www.reportstack.com/

One of the largest online library of market research and business intelligence including access to expert opinions, briefs, articles, industry news, request bespoke research/market surveys and more.

Vatican Secret Archives unveiled

2011-07-11T21:09:00.000-07:00

Source: Independent Catholic News, 5 July 2011

A forthcoming exhibition in Rome, entitled 'Lux in Arcana' - the Vatican Secret Archives unveiled' was announced today. The show will open in Rome's Capitoline Museums in February 2012.

Read more: http://www.indcatholicnews.com/news.php?viewStory=18560

National Library of Nigeria, Omani Digital Library & Abu Dhabi National Library are on World Digital Library

2011-07-11T21:01:00.000-07:00

A World Digital Library (WDL) tweet informs readers about the joining of The National Library of Nigeria as the 129th organization on the World Digital Library (WDL).

Also via Twitter in June 2011:
The Omani Digital Library (http://www.al-kawkab.net/) is now a World Digital Library partner. Welcome! That brings the total to 128 partners in 68 countries.

An article in The National of Abu Dhabi describes the agreement between the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage (Adach) and the World Digital Library (WDL): National Library to post historical content online

BOOK - Communication with Extraterrestrial Intelligence - published 2011

2011-07-11T20:43:00.000-07:00

Author: Douglas A. Vakoch
Published: State University of New York Press, 2011

SUNY Press Highlights the most recent developments in the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI), and advocates a diverse range of approaches to make SETI increasingly more powerful and effective in the years to come.

In April 2010, fifty years to the month after the first experiment in the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI), scholars from a range of disciplines — including astronomy, mathematics, anthropology, history, and cognitive science — gathered at NASA’s biennial Astrobiology Science Conference (AbSciCon) for a series of sessions on the search for intelligent life. This book highlights the most recent developments in SETI discussed at that conference, emphasizing the ways that SETI has grown since its inception. The volume covers three broad themes: First, leading researchers examine the latest developments in observational SETI programs, as well as innovative proposals for new search strategies and novel approaches to signal processing. Second, both proponents and opponents of “Active SETI” debate whether humankind should be transmitting intentional signals to other possible civilizations, rather than only listening. Third, constructive proposals for interstellar messages are juxtaposed with critiques that ask whether any meaningful exchange is possible with an independently evolved civilization, given the constraints of contact at interstellar distances, where a round-trip exchange could take centuries or millennia.

As we reflect on a half-century of SETI research, we are reminded of the expansion of search programs made possible by technological and conceptual advances. In this spirit of ongoing exploration, the contributors to this book advocate a diverse range of approaches to make SETI increasingly more powerful and effective, as we embark on the next half-century of searching for intelligence beyond Earth.

Is a Bookless Library Still a Library?

2011-07-11T20:34:00.000-07:00

Source: Times US, 11 July 2011, by Tim Newcomb

The bookless library at Drexel University in Philadelphia
Drexel University

The trend began, naturally, with engineers, when Kansas State University's engineering library went primarily bookless in 2000. Last year, Stanford University pruned all but 10,000 printed volumes from its new engineering library, making more room for large tables and study areas. And the University of Texas at San Antonio ditched print in lieu of electronic material when it opened its engineering library in 2010.

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2079800,00.html#ixzz1RrHe58P0

Newad reveals results of pan-Canadian survey on the habits of 18-to-34 year-old adults

2011-07-11T04:39:00.000-07:00

Source: Newad, press release, 6 July 2011

A survey conducted by Newad in collaboration with TNS Canada reveals that 18-to-34 year-old Canadians definitely surpass the total Canadian adult population in their use of the web, mobiles and social networks.

The popularity of social networks is constantly growing. The most recent results indicate that 88% of 18-to-34 year-old Internet users have a Facebook account (19% higher that the total Canadian adult population) and 27% have a Twitter account (80% more than the total Canadian adult population). Even LinkedIn is slightly more popular with this age group (13%) than with all adults (11%). While many predicted the rapid expansion of Foursquare, only 3% of 18-to-34 year-olds have adopted the two-year-old platform.

Full article

Research/Conference Paper: “Key Skills and Competencies of a New Generation of LIS Professionals”

2011-07-11T04:28:00.000-07:00

Title: Key Skills and Competencies of a New Generation of LIS Professionals
Presenter: Pussadee Nonthacumjane, Lecturer, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand
Presented at: IFLA 2011, Puerto Rico, Submitted 1 June 2011

Abstract
This paper presents the key skills and competencies of a new generation of LIS professionals. Firstly, it gives an introductory background of the digital era which impacts on the changes occurring in libraries. Secondly, it presents a review of the literatures on skills and knowledge of LIS professionals working in a digital era and related researches. Thirdly, it describes methodology of this study and key skills and competencies of a new generation of LIS professionals which can be classified as personal skills, generic skills, and discipline specific knowledge. Finally, it presents the image of the new generation of LIS professionals.

Going Global 2011 - Ahead of the game? Major trends and issues in the global HE competition - Panel discussion video (1:00:49)

2011-07-11T00:19:00.000-07:00

Ingrid Parent -- Fast forward: 21st century libraries in a global context - video (33:04)

2011-07-10T23:28:00.000-07:00

New technology :-) :Bio-Optically Organized Knowledge centre, or BOOK

2011-07-10T23:10:00.000-07:00

Rakuten Inc (online shopping mall) to begin e-book service

2011-07-09T23:52:00.000-07:00

Source: The Japan Times Online, 9 July 2011

Leading online shopping mall operator Rakuten Inc. said Thursday it will begin an electronic book distribution service in early August, initially offering more than 10,000 titles for an e-book reader handset due to be simultaneously released by Panasonic Corp.

Rakuten, which plans to start providing e-books for Sony Corp.'s Reader handset by year's end, hopes to see around ¥30 billion in annual sales from the new service within a few years, the company said.

Full article

LinkedIn passes Myspace in US traffic: comScore

2011-07-09T23:32:00.000-07:00

Source: Physorg, 9 July 2011

A sign is posted in front of the LinkedIn headquarters in February. LinkedIn leapfrogged Myspace in June to become the second-largest social network in the United States in terms of traffic behind Facebook, tracking firm comScore reported Friday.

LinkedIn had 33.9 million unique US visitors in June compared with 33.5 million for Myspace, which was sold last week by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp.

Twitter was next with 30.6 million unique US visitors in June, comScore said.

Facebook was the runaway leader with 160.9 million unique US visitors during the month, according to comScore. Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg announced this week that the social networking site now has 750 million users worldwide.

Full article

BOOK - Rule 34 (by Charles Stross, published 2011) - sequel to 2007′s Halting State

2011-07-09T23:19:00.000-07:00

Author: Charles Stross
Published: Ace Hardcover, 2011

Publisher’s Weekly
Hugo winner Stross blends plausible near-future SF and crime in this brisk sequel to 2007′s Halting State. In the mid-2020s, the police monitor the Internet full-time to prevent crime. In Edinburgh, this job falls to DI Liz Kavanaugh’s Rule 34 Squad (whose name refers to the Internet truism that “if it exists, there’s porn about it”).

Kavanaugh views the position as a demotion, but she has a chance to get her once-promising career back on track when she is called to supervise the inquiry into the death of drug dealer Michael Blair, who was found dead on his bathroom floor, decked out in s and m garb. Her investigations are interwoven with the stories of an unlikely diplomat and a criminal known as the Toymaker.

Each section builds on the others, making the whole more than the sum of its parts. (July)

Apple rushes to block iPhone from hackers

2011-07-09T23:07:00.000-07:00

Source: The New Zealand Herald, 9 July 2011

Apple is working to block a security hole in its iPhones and iPads after a vulnerability was uncovered. Photo / AP

Engineers at the California firm are fixing a weakness pointed out by the German Federal Office for Information Security (BSI).

"Apple takes security very seriously," Apple spokeswoman Trudy Muller said.

"We are aware of this reported issue and developing a fix that will be available in an upcoming software update," she said.

BSI warned this week of a flaw that would let hackers infiltrate Apple mobile devices by duping users into opening PDF document files booby-trapped with malicious computer code.

Although no attacks have been observed, hackers are likely to try to exploit the weakness, according to a posting on the agency's website.

Full article

China throws out 'flashmob' Swedish blogger

2011-07-09T22:58:00.000-07:00

Source: The Local, 9 July 2011

The Swedish Radio news programme Ekot reports that the 24-year-old man chose to make his protest on July 1st, the day that the Chinese Communist Party celebrates its 90 year anniversary.

He wrote on his Swedish language blog "I have long had in mind to try to organize something small, a small marker, which also could attract some of the paranoid authorities' attention."

In the blog, the 24-year-old called on party chairman Hu Jintao to join a flash mob to mark the occasion, although it is unknown whether the public event actually took place, because its organiser was already being held for questioning when it was due to happen.

In his blog he called on people to write the word “Freedom” in Chinese characters anywhere on their body, then congregate at a specific location in downtown Shanghai at an allotted time and stand there for five minutes.

Full article

Phone hacking can extend beyond voice mail

2011-07-09T22:45:00.000-07:00

Source: CNN, 8 July 2011, by Mark Millian

News Corp.'s James Murdoch announced the closing of the tabloid News of the World
after a phone-hacking scandal

While the phone hacking by British tabloid News of the World was unexceptional by technical standards, security experts say the scandal portends how the growth of smartphones will lead to more sophisticated breaches.

The tactics that tabloid reporters used to eavesdrop on high-profile British targets -- and eventually led News Corp. to announce Thursday it is killing the 167-year-old publication -- were remarkably low tech.

Full article

High wages threaten SA inflation outlook

2011-07-09T22:36:00.000-07:00

Source: News24, 8 July 2011

Johannesburg - Increasingly violent labour protests sweeping South Africa during its mid-year “strike season” are stoking worries about inflation and dealing blows to the long-term prospects of Africa’s largest economy.

Unions representing hundreds of thousands of workers in the mining, steel, chemical and petroleum sectors have walked off the job or are threatening to do so, demanding wage increases about triple the 4.6% inflation rate.

The strikes and threats, punctuated by sporadic assaults on non-union members and management, are an annual event typically settled before September with generous wage deals that drive up costs for employers.

Average increases over the last few years have been about double inflation.

Full article

Community Development Project by Iqra University Islamabad Campus (IUIC) students: a new library

2011-07-09T22:28:00.000-07:00

Smithsonian and George Mason Break Ground on New Academic Center

2011-07-09T22:13:00.000-07:00

Uploaded by SmithsonianNZP on Jul 7, 2011

Scientists and educators from the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute and George Mason University are donning their hard hats and dusting off their shovels to break ground June 29 on a green-design conservation complex that embodies the concept of the living classroom. Since October 2008, the Smithsonian--Mason Global Conservation Studies Program has trained future conservationists with an interdisciplinary and interactive program at SCBI headquarters, the Smithsonian National Zoological Park's 3,200-acre facility in Front Royal, Va. There, undergraduate, graduate and professional students from the U.S. and abroad participate in courses taught by prominent scientists and educators from the Zoo, Mason, and other institutions.

The Smithsonian--Mason Program began with 15 undergraduate students in the fall of 2008. When the expansion is complete in fall 2012, SCBI Front Royal will be able to accept 60 undergraduate students and 60 graduate students and professionals.

Bionic glasses for poor vision

2011-07-09T22:04:00.000-07:00

Source: University of Oxford, 5 July 2011, by Jonathan Wood

A set of glasses packed with technology normally seen in smartphones and games consoles is the main draw at one of the featured stands at this year’s Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition.

But the exhibit isn’t about the latest gadget must-have, it’s all about aiding those with poor vision and giving them greater independence.

‘We want to be able to enhance vision in those who’ve lost it or who have little left or almost none,’ explains Dr Stephen Hicks of the Department of Clinical Neurology at Oxford University. ‘The glasses should allow people to be more independent – finding their own directions and signposts, and spotting warning signals,’ he says.

Full article

KENYA - Parliamentary proceedings go online

2011-07-09T21:57:00.000-07:00

Source: The Standard, 10 July 2011, by Fredrick Obura

Kenyans can now access records of parliamentary proceedings dating back from 1959 online.

This follows digitisation of parliamentary Hansard by the Kenya Law Report, Google Kenya, Kenya ICT Board, and the National Assembly.

Full article

July 2011 batch of Early Reviewer books now available at LibraryThing

2011-07-09T21:52:00.001-07:00

The July 2011 batch of Early Reviewer books is now available at LibraryThing.

There are 2918 copies of 100 books available this month.

BOOK - Designing culture: The technological imagination at work - published 2011

2011-07-09T21:46:00.000-07:00

Author: Anne Balsamo
Published: Duke University Press Books, 2011

Amazon
The renowned cultural theorist and media designer Anne Balsamo maintains that technology and culture are inseparable; those who engage in technological innovation are designing the cultures of the future. Designing Culture is a call for taking culture seriously in the design and development of innovative technologies.

Balsamo contends that the wellspring of technological innovation is the technological imagination, a quality of mind that enables people to think with technology, to transform what is known into what is possible. She describes the technological imagination at work in several multimedia collaborations in which she was involved as a designer or developer. One of these entailed the creation of an interactive documentary for the NGO Forum held in conjunction with the UN World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995. (That documentary is included as a DVD in Designing Culture).

Balsamo also recounts the development of the interactive museum exhibit XFR: Experiments in the Future of Reading, created by the group RED (Research in Experimental Documents) at Xerox PARC. She speculates on what it would mean to cultivate imaginations as ingenious in creating new democratic cultural possibilities as they are in creating new kinds of technologies and digital media. Designing Culture is a manifesto for transforming educational programs and developing learning strategies adequate to the task of inspiring culturally attuned technological imaginations.

BOOK - How Pleasure Works: The New Science of Why We Like What We Like - published 2011

2011-07-09T21:38:00.000-07:00

Author: Paul Bloom
Published: W. W. Norton and Company, 2011

Amazon
“Engaging, evocative. . . . [Bloom] is a supple, clear writer, and his parade of counterintuitive claims about pleasure is beguiling.”—NPR

Why is an artistic masterpiece worth millions more than a convincing forgery? Pleasure works in mysterious ways, as Paul Bloom reveals in this investigation of what we desire and why.

Drawing on a wealth of surprising studies, Bloom investigates pleasures noble and seamy, lofty and mundane, to reveal that our enjoyment of a given thing is determined not by what we can see and touch but by our beliefs about that thing’s history, origin, and deeper nature.

Is living forever in the future?

2011-07-09T21:31:00.000-07:00

Source: Medical Xpress, 6 July 2011

(Medical Xpress) -- Is it possible that your child could live to see 150 years of age? What about your grandchild living to see their 1000th birthday? According to a British biomedical gerontologist and chief scientist of the Strategies for Engineered Negligible Senescence (SENS) Foundation Aubrey De Grey, that is a definite possibility.

Full article

Now Available: July/August 2011 Issue of C&RL News

2011-07-09T21:21:00.000-07:00

Features Articles Include:

•Zombie attacks: How they can contribute to the success of your library by Matt Upson and C. Michael Hall Full Text

•Shopping carts and student employees: How student committees can bring innovative ideas to academic libraries by Sara D. Smith and Quinn Galbraith Full Text

•Increasing student satisfaction: Student innovation at Carnegie Mellon University by Kristin Heath and Gloriana St. Clair Full Text

•Is the library part of the picture?: Asking honors undergrads to describe their research processes by Emily Daly Full Text

•Where connections flourish: ACRL benefits you by Mary Jane Petrowski Full Text

Access the Complete Table of Contents

Toronto online book archive forced to fire 75% of staff

2011-07-09T21:02:00.000-07:00

Source: Toronto Star, 8 July 2011, by Liam Casey

Mark Turnbull, a scanner at Archive.org, is seen scanning pages for its website. A drop in donations has meant that 75 per cent of the staff will have to leave.
Photo: Carlos Osorio, Toronto Star

Internet Archive Canada, a small non-profit company, fired 35 of its 47 employees on Wednesday due to a massive drop in donations. Most will leave Aug. 12 unless a white knight appears soon.

“It was one of the worst days of my life,” said Gabe Juszel, director of the Canadian operation, one of 26 offices worldwide, who will stay on.

Internet Archive’s website Archive.org is the granddaddy of digitization. The San Francisco-based company has converted millions of books into bytes, and is now doing the same with audio, video and even microfiche.

Full article

VIDEO (11:23) - “ET life inevitably exists due to universal laws, and we’ll soon discover it”

2011-07-08T21:15:00.000-07:00

Source: Russia Today (RT), 7 July 2011

RT spoke with Andrey Finkelstein, Director of the Institute of Applied Astronomy about the scientific reasoning behind his controversial statement that in 20 years humanity will discover aliens and they are likely to look much like humans.

Harry Potter premiere: Stars and fans bid tearful goodbye

2011-07-08T21:07:00.000-07:00

Source: BBC News, 7 July 2011, by Tim Masters

An emotional JK Rowling thanked fans and the cast at the premiere

A tearful JK Rowling said thank you to thousands of Harry Potter fans who packed London's Trafalgar Square on Thursday at the world premiere of the final film.

Full article

Unisa (University of South Africa) probes racist lecturer claim

2011-07-08T21:01:00.000-07:00

Source: News24, 8 July 2011

The University of SA (Unisa) will investigate a complaint of racism against a lecturer lodged by civil rights body AfriForum, a spokesperson said on Friday.

"The alleged racist remarks are certainly not in line with Unisa policy. He [the lecturer] would have been speaking in his personal capacity... we will investigate the matter," said Unisa spokesperson Doreen Gough.

AfriForum head of community affairs Cornelius Jansen van Rensburg wrote a letter to Unisa on Friday complaining about a talk given by lecturer Boitumelo Senokoane during a philosophy seminar.

Van Rensburg alleges that Senokane's talk entitled "White Man, you are on your own" was attended by about 40 academics and members of the public.

He complained that Senokoane said white people, liberals in particular, should not be trusted by black people, that whites who fought against apartheid "should not be regarded as partners" by black people, that white people's economic and political concerns did not need to be dealt with, and that white people had "never committed any good deeds towards black people" and they did not have "moral authority in any area".

Senokoane had told the group that the "God of the white man" had "deserted him", that white people were "social outcasts and religious hypocrites", and that racism was a "white phenomenon", Van Rensburg said.

Full article

CONFERENCE - Computers in Libraries 2012, Washinton, DC (21 - 23 March 2012) - Call for speakers

2011-07-08T20:49:00.000-07:00

Creating Innovative Libraries is what librarians, systems and information professionals, and teams of other partners and experts do with computers, the internet and cutting edge technology. At Computers in Libraries 2012, the focus is on practices and techniques, technology, and the “secret sauce” or “extra” that creates innovative libraries.

More information

DRM-free eBook are now available to libraries

2011-07-08T20:43:00.000-07:00

Source: OverDrive Digital Library Blog, 6 July 2011, by Dan Stasiewski

For the past few months, OverDrive has been beta testing DRM-free eBook distribution in libraries. Today, we’re excited to announce that all OverDrive-powered libraries can now add DRM-free eBooks to their digital collections.

Read more

Take note researchers - Yellow fever vaccination recommendations: Africa

2011-07-08T03:27:00.000-07:00

Click on map to enlarge

Source: South African Society of Travel Medicine (SASTM)

Brian Sandrock - Master Planner for the Unisa (University of South Africa) Campus

2011-07-08T03:19:00.000-07:00

Photo: Izelle Jacobs, phtographer, Video, Sound and Photography, Unisa

Many admirers have gasped at the vastness of the Unisa campus which proclaims a dramatic approach to Pretoria from the South. These words were spoken during the unveiling of a bronze bust as a tribute to Brian Sandrock.

Photo: Unisa Archives
Brian Sandrock

His architectural association with Unisa spans more than two decades, when, as a young architect of a local firm, he designed the old Samuel Pauw building in Skinner Street.

Photo: Unisa Archives
Samuel Pauw building in Skinner Street

Sandrock’s first professional assignment for the main campus was to design the Theo van Wijk and Laboratory Buildings.

He believed in controlled expansion which must carefully follow a master plan.

Long before the first building saw the light of day he had already prepared a master-site development programme for a systematic progression of buildings to be constructed from west to east on the campus.

All the buildings had to blend in with the landscape.

The firm Brian Sandrock was responsible for the design of the following buildings on the Unisa Muckleneuk Campus:

Theo van Wijk Building (official opening 1973)
The Administration Building (Oliver Tambo Building) (official opening 1980) - His design of the Administration Building was to break away forever from the conventional cell offices concept and was to introduce to Unisa the advantages of open-landscaped offices. Brian Sandrock always considered the Administration Building to be the focal point of the campus. Therefore it is fitting that his bronze bust was placed on the second floor of this building.
Technical Building (RR Maluleke Building) (official opening 1983)
AJH van der Walt Building (official opening 1983)
Samuel Pauw Library (official opening 1988)

Perhaps the most intriguing and contradictory side of Brian Sandrock’s nature was displayed in his design for the regional offices in Durban. This, often controversial building, combines a modernistic approach with adventurous design, demonstrating the scope which he allowed the younger architects who were responsible for the design. Always in the background was the unique stamp of Brian Sandrock, forever guiding, assisting, negotiating and encouraging and always ready to take responsibility for keeping the project on schedule.

Photo: Unisa Archives
Regional Office, Durban

On the planned model in the Unisa Alumnus (November 1987) the firm Brian Sandrock made a projection of buildings on the Muckleneuk campus up to 2020.

Model, Unisa Archives
Sandrock’s conception of the University’s space requirements on the basis of the planning model

To allow for the eventuality that the University may not grow to the full capacity of the main campus, planning had to be such that the buildings form an integral entity at any given stage. Thus, provision was made for the termination of physical development at the end of any particular phase of construction.

Information provided by Herma van Niekerk, Archivist, Unisa Archives vniekh@unisa.ac.za

E-phemeral E-Books

2011-07-08T00:32:00.000-07:00

Source: Inside Higher Ed, 7 July 2011

In a bid to stoke interest in e-books, some university presses let students and scholars rent electronic volumes for a fraction of the full price.

Full artice

New appointment - Executive Director: University Libraries of the University of Cape Town

2011-07-08T00:20:00.000-07:00

Source: Liasaonline, 7 July 2011

The University of Cape Town has announced the appointment of Ms Gwenda Thomas as Executive Director: University Libraries with effect 1 November 2011.

She will be taking over from Ms Joan Rapp, who retires in October 2011.

Congratulations Gwenda!

FAIFE Spotlight REPORT - Venezuela's National Library as the Nucleus of a National Library System (IABNSB) in the 20th century

2011-07-07T22:32:00.000-07:00

A new “Spotlight” report from IFLA’s FAIFE (Committee on Freedom of Access to Information and Freedom of Expression) is now available:

“Venezuela’s National Library as the Nucleus of a National Library System (IABNSB) in the 20th century and its gradual dismantling in the 21st century” by Anabel Torres, a poet, writer, translator and interpreter in development issues and Sub-Director of the National Library of Colombia 1983-198 [sic].

Links to Previous FAIFE Spotlight Reports

NISO Publishes Special E-book Issue of Information Standards Quarterly

2011-07-07T22:15:00.000-07:00

Information Standards Quarterly (ISQ) is NISO’s print and electronic magazine for communicating standards-based technology and best practices in library, publishing, and information technology, particularly where these three areas overlap. ISQ reports on the progress of active developments and also on implementations, case studies, and best practices that show potentially replicable efforts.

Beginning in 2011, ISQ is available in open access to the public. Both the full issue and individual articles can be downloaded in PDF. Visit the Contents page for the full list of available articles and links to their download pages.

The print version of ISQ is still available by subscription, to LSA members, and to Voting Members who opt-in for the print copy.

Table of Contents (Spring 2011, vol 23, no 2)

Views of the E-book Renaissance by October Ivins

FEATURES

EPUB 3: Not Your Father's EPUB by Bill Kasdorf
Ten Questions and Tentative Answers about the State of E-book Publishing for University Presses by Marlie Wasserman

IN PRACTICE

E-books and the Public Library: the Evansville Vanderburgh Public Library Experience by Mollie Pharo and Marcia Learned Au

OPINIONS

Drinking the E-book Kool-Aid in a Large Academic Library by Wendy Allen Shelburne

SPOTLIGHT

Standard Spotlight: The Challenge for Standards in the E-book Supply Chain by Mark Bide
Member Spotlight: E-books on EBSCOhost®: Combining NetLibrary™ E-books with the EBSCOhost Platform by Michael Gorrell

NISO REPORTS

The Evolution of Accessible Publishing: Revising the Z39.86 DAISY Standard by Matt Garrish and Markus Gylling
NISO E-books SIG by Todd Carpenter

NOTEWORTHY

NISO Issues Journal Article Tag Suite Standard for Trial Use
COUNTER Publishes Timetable and Objectives for Code of Practice Release 4
RFID in Libraries – New Three-Part ISO Standard and NISO Revised Recommended Practice
JSTOR Expands Scholarly E-book Offerings
ProQuest Acquires ebrary
Print Isn't Dead, says Bowker’s Annual Book Production Report
Project MUSE and UPeC Partner to Offer E-books through the University Press Content Consortium
Duke Releases Results of Library E-book Acquisition Survey
Cloud-Sourcing Research Collections Report Recommends Path Forward

State of the Standards: In Development or Revision

BOOK - Critical Library Instruction: Theories and Methods - published 2010

2011-07-07T01:34:00.000-07:00

Critical Library Instruction: Theories and Methods
Editors: Emily Drabinski, Alana Kumbier, and Maria Accardi
Published: Library Juice Press, March 2010
ISBN: 978-1-936117-01-7

Bringing together the voices of a range of practicing librarians, this collection illuminates theories and methods of critical pedagogy and library instruction. Chapters address critical approaches to standards and assessment practices, links between queer, anti-racist and feminist pedagogies and the library classroom, intersections of critical theories of power and knowledge and the library, and the promise and peril of reflective instruction practices.

Rooted in theoretical work both from within the profession (James Elmborg, Cushla Kapitzke) and without (Paolo Freire, Henry Giroux, Deborah Britzman), contributions are complemented by stories of critical approaches put into practice in institutional settings ranging from the community college classroom to large urban research universities to virtual worlds. The intention is to begin a conversation among librarians who teach, library instruction program coordinators, faculty and instructors interested in bringing librarians into the classroom, and librarians interested in developing liberatory and anti-oppressive professional practices.

REPORT: 2011 Best Practices for Government Libraries

2011-07-07T01:29:00.000-07:00

The 2011 Best Practices for Government Libraries: e-Initiatives and e-Efforts: Expanding Our Horizons is now available: 2011 Best Practices for Government Libraries in PDF

Rick Stoddart - Telling the Story of Your Library Services Using Storify at the 2011 Oregon Virtual Reference Summit

2011-07-07T01:22:00.000-07:00

Rick Stoddart talks about Storify, an online tool that can help tell a story by collecting different social media and web sources. This was a lightning talk at the 2011 Oregon Virtual Reference Summit.

Ismoon Maria Hunter-Morton discusses several public & community library projects at 2011 Oregon Virtual Reference Summit

2011-07-07T01:18:00.000-07:00

Ismoon Maria Hunter-Morton discusses several public and community library projects she works on, including the Cascasde AIDS Project (CAP) Archives, the Forest Grove Public Library History Room and the Q Center Library.

This was a lightning talk at the 2011 Oregon Virtual Reference Summit.

Are Productivity Gains in Higher Education Possible?

2011-07-07T01:02:00.000-07:00

Source: The American, 27 June 2011, by Andrew Kelly

Yes, but not until institutions are provided with incentive to pursue them.

Here’s a puzzle: leaders are calling on colleges and universities to produce more degrees, but cash-strapped states are cutting higher education spending. What’s the solution? Be careful how you answer—this question has become the most prominent fissure in contemporary debates about higher education reform.

On the one hand, many observers within higher education argue that colleges and universities are fundamentally handicapped when it comes to increasing productivity because of the nature of their core business. The argument (explored in the recent book Why Does College Cost So Much?) is that higher education is a service industry, where the “product” is heavy on human interaction, requires a fixed amount of time with the consumer, and is run by highly educated individuals with high reservation wages. These forces translate to increases in wages and costs without any increase in outputs, leading to declines in overall productivity. This dynamic is what economists call the “cost disease.”

Full article

The MacArthur Foundation and IMLS offer $4 Million in Grants for Learning Labs in Libraries and Museums (USA) - application guidelines

2011-07-07T00:55:00.000-07:00

The “Grants for Learning Labs in Libraries and Museums” project is funded jointly by the Institute of Museum and Library Services and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

This exciting funding initiative is part of President Obama’s “Educate to Innovate” campaign, a nationwide effort to bring American students to the forefront in science and math, to provide the workers of tomorrow with the skills they need today, and to re-envision learning in the 21st century.

Application guidelines are currently available:
Access FY 2011 Grant Program Guidelines Online

Download Printer-friendly PDF Version (489 KB)

FY 2011 Deadline: August 15, 2011
Grant Amount: Planning and Design Grants: up to $100,000
Grant Period: 18 months
Matching Requirement: Cost sharing of at least one third is encouraged, but not required
Project Start Date: January 1, 2012

ARTICLE - Measuring information behaviour performance inside a company: a case study

2011-07-07T00:40:00.000-07:00

Title: Measuring information behaviour performance inside a company: a case study
Author: Yujong Hwang
Published: Information Research, vol 16, no 2, June 2011
http://informationr.net/ir/16-2/paper480.html

Abstract
Introduction. Measuring information behaviour performance to provide practical guidance for knowledge workers is an important issue for the success of a company. Drawing upon the literature from psychology, marketing, management and information systems, this paper develops a practical model of information behaviour that provides fundamental determinants of knowledge workers' performance.

Method. This paper carried out a single company case study employing an online survey with a return of 352 employees from a large insurance company.

Analysis. Specific interpretations of the results at each level are provided with the quantitative analysis using average scores and gaps using Microsoft Excel statistical analysis functions.

Results. Results indicate that the capability to use information and information technology is moderately lower than the overall motivation to use information effectively in this company.

Conclusions. Employees are motivated to use information to make better decisions and share information to increase job productivity. A high analytic style of employees seems to be a clear advantage for the company. However, the capability to organize and maintain valuable information was found to be lower than the other scores and should be enhanced to improve overall job performance.

SKR researchers develop a 32-inch Android-based multi-touch display (incl video - 2:37)

2011-07-07T00:33:00.000-07:00

Source: Physorg, 6 July 2011, by Katie Gatto

Researchers at SKR have developed a prototype of a multi-touch 32" display screen that runs on the Android operating system. The screen, which runs off of a standard Android terminal, is connected to the touch sensors and an HDMI screen via a USB port. The end result of the screen is that the android interface works like smaller devices, but it can also display large format Full HD video. Full article

The 2011 M-Net Literary Awards Winners

2011-07-07T00:24:00.000-07:00

Source: Book Live, 20 June 2011, by Ben

English category: Double Negative by Ivan Vladislavic (Umuzi)
Afrikaans category: Die benederyk by Ingrid Winterbach (Human & Rousseau)
Nguni category: Inkululeko Isentabeni by Ncedile Saule (Hibbard Publishers)
Sotho category: Lehutso by KJ Sekele (Hibbard Publishers)
Film category: Happiness is a Four-letter Word by Cynthia Jele (Kwela)

The winners of the 2011 M-Net Literary Awards were announced in Cape Town at a gala function on Saturday evening [18 June 2011].

In their 20th year, the awards count as among South Africa’s most prestigious. Worth R50 000 to the winners, they were given in four language categories – English, Afrikaans, Nguni and Sotho – and a “film” category, for a novel showing the greatest promise for translation into a visual medium.

Full article

Pablo Picasso work stolen from gallery

2011-07-06T22:17:00.000-07:00

Source: BBC News, 6 July 2011

Police are uncertain whether it was a random robbery

A Pablo Picasso drawing, thought to be worth £100,000 has been stolen from an art gallery in San Francisco.

Police are looking for a man who walked into the Weinstein Gallery and took the valuable pencil drawing off the wall and then fled in a taxi.

A gallery spokeswoman told the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper that the work was an "original and unique" artwork.

It is thought Picasso created Tete de Femme in 1965.

Full article

Facebook unveils Skype video calling

2011-07-06T22:08:00.000-07:00

Source: News24, 7 July 2011

Palo Alto - Facebook added Skype video calling on Wednesday for the hundreds of millions of users of the social network.

Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg unveiled the new video calling feature during an event at Facebook headquarters in Palo Alto.

Full article

Canadian Journal of Applied Sciences (CJAS) - online open access journal

2011-07-06T22:01:00.000-07:00

http://canajas.com/

Canadian Journal of Applied Sciences (CJAS) publishes manuscripts describing the analytical characterization, discovery, methodologies and production of scientific moiety and their utilization with respective therapeutical outcomes. Articles dealing with agents or topics of natural products and semi-synthetic derivatives are also encouraged. Manuscripts will be published as original research papers, reviewed articles, case reports, peer reviews, and short communications.

Canadian Journal of Applied Sciences is available free of charge as an Open Access journal on the Internet. Content available in PDF format.

Encyclopedia of Science Fiction to be published online, with text available free

2011-07-06T21:55:00.000-07:00

Source: Orion Publishing Group

The third edition of the Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, the definitive reference work in the field, will be released online later this year by the newly-formed ESF, Ltd, in association with Victor Gollancz, the SF & Fantasy imprint of the Orion Publishing Group, whose support will enable the text to be available free to all users. This initial “beta” version, containing about three-quarters of the total projected content, will be unveiled in conjunction with Gollancz’s celebrations of its 50th anniversary as a science fiction publisher.

Read more: http://www.sf-encyclopedia.com/SFE%20Press%20Release%20Final.pdf

Axiell CALM Limited, specialising in collection management for archives, local studies libraries and museums

2011-07-06T21:35:00.000-07:00

Source: Ariel News, 5 July 2011

Axiell has launched a new company named Axiell CALM Limited, specialising in Collection management for Archives, Local studies libraries and Museums. The new company previously operated as a separate business unit within Axiell Limited, supplying the Calm collection management system used by over 400 Archives, Museums and Records Offices in the UK and in Europe.

Full article

ARTICLE - Uses and gratifications of social games: Blending social networking and game play

2011-07-06T21:30:00.000-07:00

Title: Uses and gratifications of social games: Blending social networking and game play
Author: Jinghui Hou
Published: First Monday, Volume 16, Number 7 - 4 July 2011

Abstract
This study applied a uses and gratifications approach to investigate social games — the game applications integrated in social networking platforms. Users’ expected social gratifications and game gratifications from playing social games were examined. The investigation focused on three dimensions of game play: frequency, duration, and engagement of game activities. A hierarchical regression analysis found that social interaction and diversion are positive predictors of game play. Results suggest that there is a distinctly social aspect to social games that reflects their social networking characteristics. Social games should be described as social media rather than as just one category of online computer games.

Some Teen Books Surprisingly X-Rated, Study Finds

2011-07-06T21:24:00.000-07:00

Source: Live Science, 30 June 2011, by Staphanie Pappas

Television, movies and video games aimed at kids and teens get lots of attention for their portrayals of violence and sex. But a new study finds that popular teen books, too, can be surprisingly sexual, meaning that reading may not always be the wholesome activity that parents expect.

In fact, researchers reported online June 8 in the Journal of Sex Research, books aimed at 12- and 13-year-olds were no less sexy than books aimed at readers ages 14 and up. In addition, sex was rarely presented in a healthy light: Contraceptives and practical consequences were almost never mentioned, said study researcher Sarah Coyne, a psychologist at Brigham Young University. (Brigham Young University is operated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and is the largest religious university in the United States.)

"I would never argue for censorship," Coyne told LiveScience. "But I do think we're missing something here."

Full article

BOOK - Being wrong (by Kathryn Schultz) - published July 2011

2011-07-05T10:33:00.000-07:00

Author: Kathryn Schultz
Published: Penguin Books, 1 July 2011

EAN: 9781846270741

Being wrong is an inescapable part of being alive. And yet, we go through life tacitly assuming (or loudly insisting) that we are right about nearly everything - from our political beliefs to our private memories, from our grasp of scientific fact to the merits of our favourite team.

Being Wrong looks at why this conviction has such a powerful grip on us, what happens when this conviction is shaken, and how we interpret the moral, political and psychological significance of being wrong.

Drawing on philosophies old and new and cutting-edge neuroscience, Kathryn Schulz offers an eloquent exploration of the allure of certainty and the necessity of fallibility in four main areas: in religion (when the end of the world fails to be nigh); in politics (where were those WMD?); in memory (where did I leave my keys?); and in love (when Mr or Miss Right becomes Mr or Miss Wrong).

Video (00:35) - Newborn "donkra" melts hearts in Chinese zoo

2011-07-05T10:16:00.000-07:00

Source: Russia Today, 5 July 2011

An offspring of a female zebra and male donkey – known as a "donkra" – has been born at Xiamen Haicang zoo. Visitors jam against the enclosure fence to see its striped stockings.

The donkra baby, who is still shy of so much attention, looks like both its parents: with its size and eyes similar to a donkey and its legs striped like a zebra. The birth of the lovely animal, which is now just a meter tall and weighs some 30 kilograms, was announced on Monday by Chinese state broadcaster CCTV.

Full article

Bollywood poster painters face extinction in digital age

2011-07-05T10:08:00.000-07:00

Source: CNN, 23 June 2011, by Laura Allsop and Lianne Turner

Image: http://in.reuters.com/resources/r/?m=02&d=20071129&t=2&i=2319254&w=460&fh=&fw=&ll=&pl=&r=img-2007-11-29T191420Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNC_0_India-307465-2

Mumbai, India (CNN) -- For decades, Bollywood film releases were accompanied by beautiful painted posters that decorated city streets all over India.

Heroic princesses, noble maharajahs and dastardly criminals, painted larger than life by artists and craftsmen in vivid colors, graced billboards towering often fifty feet high.

But where Mumbai, Bollywood's home town, used to have 300 such poster painters, now there remain only a handful.

Full article

UK to follow US on piracy policy

2011-07-05T09:58:00.000-07:00

Source: BBC News, 5 July 2011

The UK could soon be following the US by blocking websites that pirate movies and music.

The warning came from communications minister Ed Vaizey in a speech to a conference in London.

Full article

Project Gutenberg: Considering the 40th Anniversary of eBooks

2011-07-05T09:52:00.000-07:00

Source: Project Gutenberg News, 5 July 2011, by Michael Harton

40 years ago…one title available at Project Gutenberg.

Today…one hundred thousand titles available at PG, and 2.1 million available at The World Public Library, and 2.9 million at The Internet Archive, 1.6 million at Wattpad. That’s 6.7 million just off the top of my head and without adding in all of the Google eBooks, which is hard to do as Google doesn’t have an index for counting eBooks.

40 years ago just one language.

Today there are 60 languages at Project Gutenberg, over 100 languages at the PG Consortia Center and also over 100 languages at the World Public Library, and who knows how many at the Internet Archives and Google.

Full article