50 Search Engines

Students, teachers and the public turn to their librarians for help researching everything from technology to genealogy to homework help and lesson plans. Even if your library is equipped with subscriptions and memberships to top of the line databases and online journals, you’ve probably had to get creative during a patron’s requested search for something unfamiliar. Next time, though, you can turn to one of these 50 search engines, designed to pull from the Web only the information you really need.

Meta Search and Multi Search Engines

These meta search and multi search engines can search numerous engines and sites at once, maximizing the number of results you get each time you conduct a search.

1. Ms. Freckles: Adorable Ms. Freckles can search online for different file types, definitions, translations, film, finance sites, and a lot more all at once.
2. Kart00: This cartoon-inspired search engine lets you hover over results to get a preview of the site before you open it. Results are also organized by topic so that you can narrow down your search and organize hits.
3. Fazzle: Search the web’s best, the entire web, downloads, images, videos, audio or headline news. You can also select an advanced search to find incredibly specific results.
4. Trexy: This site saves your search memory so that you don’t have search multiple times on different engines.
5. Mamma: Here at "the mother of all search engines," librarians search the web or video. Next to your results is an option to refine your search by choosing a suggested category.
6. 1-Page Multi Search: Type your search into one or several of the following search engines at once: Alta Vista, AOL, EntireWeb, Gigablast, Hot Bot, Lycos, Scrub, Yahoo!, Google, YouTube, Dogpile, Ask Jeeves, and a lot more.
7. iZito: Busy librarians who are constantly finding new reference sites and search engines will like iZito because of its ability to save your history in an easy drop down tab.

Multimedia and Interactive

For help finding pictures, podcasts, music and shareware, use these search engines.

8. Metacafe: Find videos on this site if you want a change from YouTube.
9. Songza: Patrons looking for music can use this search engine, which "lets you listen to any song or band." You can also search the featured list or top played list.
10. Picsearch: This large photo search engine has more than 2 billion images in its directory.
11. Get a Podcast: Search for podcasts all around the web in this directory.
12. Shareware: If you need to install new software programs on your library computers, turn to Shareware first, which pulls up tons of free programs and downloads.
13. Public Radio Fan: Find information for thousands of public radio stations on this site. You can find the times of different broadcasts, station names, podcasts and more.

Google Search Engines

A Google search doesn’t just mean typing in a keyword on the homepage and seeing what pops up. Try out these niche search engines sponsored by Google to find books, images and more information that librarians will find useful.

14. Google Image Search: Ask Google to bring up the most popular images on the web with this engine.
15. Google Scholar: Get connected to scholarly journals and publications here.
16. Google Books: Search online copies of books on this search engine, which features categories like literature and science fiction to biology and linguistics to highly cited to categories organized by subject and keyword.
17. Alerts: Set up Google Alerts for any subject so that you’ll get results sent to your inbox every time there’s a new site, blog or keyword mention on the web.

Great Niche Sites for Librarians

From family friendly and kid-safe searches to science and medical search engines, these niche sites can help you with very specific research projects.

18. Scirus: Pull up science-related results on this research-oriented search engine. You can find "not only journal content but also scientists’ homepages, courseware, pre-print server material, patents and institutional repository and website information."
19. Librarians’ Internet Index: Here you’ll be connected to quality, authoritative sites. Search by keyword or narrow down your search by browsing categories like business, government, media, health, computers, or the arts and humanities.
20. Family Friendly Search: Librarians at elementary and middle schools, as well as public librarians, may be interested in directing patrons to this site, which is safe for kids.
21. Intute: This British search engine lets you pick search options in the following categories for a specialized search: science and technology, arts and humanities, social sciences, and the health and life sciences.
22. PubMed: PubMed is one of the premier search engines for medical students and researchers. You can find journal articles, citations, clinical information and more.
23. Meta-Index for U.S. Legal Research: On the GSU College of Law site, librarians and patrons can take advantage of this meta-index which brings up judicial opinions, legislation and more.
24. Internship Programs: College librarians may want to direct students to this search engine, which connects searchers to internship opportunities.
25. Congoo: For current events and news searches, use Congoo to connect you to the latest in technology, industry, business, world news, finance, politics, Internet trends and more.
26. CataLaw: CataLaw is another law search engine that organizes "all indexes of law and government into a uniform, universal and unique metaindex."
27. USGenWeb Archives: Help your patrons with genealogy searches with this engine.

Custom Searches

Tailor your search to your daily needs with these search engines, which can be modified by remembering search history, customizing templates and more.

29. mozbot: Pick a language and customize your search with this engine. Mozbot can also add results to your favorites, send results by e-mail, display thumbnails of different sites, and provide suggestions for similar sites.
30. Curriculum Search: Help teachers find reference materials, lesson plans and tools by searching this Google custom search engine.
31. Computer Science Research: Use this search engine or adapt it to make your own to find computer science materials and references.
32. Rollyo: Choose to search categories like health, travel, tech, reference and others using Rollyo, a system that "create[s] search engines using the sources you trust."
33. Ujiko: This sleekly designed search engine lets you choose how you want your results displayed and organized.

Reference Searches

The following list of search engines prove useful to all kinds of librarians in search of dictionaries and other reference materials.

34. JustCite: JustCite is a legal search engine and can help you find citations.
35. Online Journals Search Engine: Search scientific databases and journals here.
36. Powerset: For a basic Q&A session, use Powerset to quickly search Wikipedia entries.
37. Infoplease: Get information on any subject, from history and government to arts and entertainment to world news to biographical information to homework help.
38. Guide Star: This search tool is great for librarians who work with teachers wanting information on grants and nonprofits. Type in the name of an organization or keyword to find nonprofit group information.
39. JoeAnt: You can get answers to research queries on any subject at JoeAnt, from computers to science to politics to the humanities to business law.
40. Find Tutorials: Find tutorials for practically everything on this search site, from education to culture to spirituality, to finance to the Internet.
41. RefDesk: RefDesk is known as the "fact checker for the Internet." You can search MSN, Google, Yahoo! or Wikipedia, as well as various dictionaries and periodicals.
42. OneLook Dictionary Search: Get detailed definitions, translations and more on this search engine, which pulls from over 1,000 different dictionaries.
43. The Dictionary of Free Online Books and Shopping: Look up and access books online for free using this search engine, which includes educational books, history books, children’s books, biographies, political books and a lot more.
44. Thinkers: Wisdom: This site features a literary search engine called Wisdom that can search the web, images, audio, video, a dictionary and more.
45. Information.com: Use the web search or search encyclopedias, blogs, articles and online groups to get creative with your reference search.

Library Search Engines

Check out these search engines that are designed to emulate or are sponsored by libraries and librarians.

46. Internet Public Library: Find references, search the collections by subject, check out the reading room or KidSpace when you visit this online public library.
47. The Open Library: Here, librarians discover "one web page for every book." This open source project also features an advanced search, connecting you to the exact book and full-text publication you’re looking for.
48. Awesome Library: Find full-text books, journals, kid-safe sites, business information and more on this online library search engine.
49. LibDex: Search the indexes and other information for 18,000 different libraries here.
50. WorldCat: WorldCat helps patrons and librarians "find items in libraries near you." Search for books, DVDs, CDs and articles.

As posted in NMLIS on 1.1.11 by Srinivasa Rao G, Sr.Librarian
Bharat Institute of Engineering and Technology,
Hyderabad

Electronic Publishing at Calicut Medical College, Kerala

My latest Research Paper

Electronic Publishing at Calicut Medical College, Kerala: A Case

Study of Three Open Access Journals*

Mohamed Musthafa. K

and 

Dr. Naushad Ali. PM

Dept. of Library and Information Science, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, India

naushadali.amu@gmail.com

Abstract

Recent developments suggest that open access has gained new momentum in the field of bio-medical research communication. Although various studies have traced the general origins of the medical sciences’ reticence to
embrace open access, few have actually considered the scholarly practices and disciplinary priorities that shape a discipline’s adoption of its principles. This article examines the emergence, potential and features of three open access medical journals published form Calicut Medical College, Kerala. The paper discusses subject coverage, periodicity, authenticity, publication charge system, indexing and abstracting, archiving and sustainability, text format, copyright policy, affiliation of contributors and content analysis. The result shows that all three journals are fully dedicated to medical sciences with research contributions from eminent scholars around the globe. Two journals do not charges for publication of article but one charge a nominal fee for submission, publication
and correction in articles. The articles are indexed and abstracted in internationally reputed secondary sources and follow reliable archival policies. 


Keywords: E-publishing, open access journals, Calicut Medical College, Kerala





* This paper will be presented in the forthcoming National conference on “Managing Libraries in New Information Environment” will be held at Asia -Pacific Institute of Management, New Delhi ,o   7-8,  January, 2011

Application of ICT in Islamic Libraries in Kerala

My latest Research Paper

Application of Information and Communication Technology in Islamic Libraries in Kerala: Problems and Promises*

                                    Abstract

Information and Communication Technology is an integral part of modern libraries and library services. Islamic libraries are one of the special libraries in Kerala organized and maintained by Arabic / Islamic colleges or organizations. This paper discusses the need, scope, prerequisites and limitations of ICT application in Islamic libraries and peep into the present scenario of these libraries. It put forward some suggestions for the further development in information and communication technology application.

Key Words: Islamic Libraries, ICT, Kerala, Masjid Libraries, Wakf, Zakat Foundation

* This paper is accepted for presentation in the National Seminar on  Contemporary issues for the information professionals in a Digital Era (NASCIP 2011) will be held at INTEGRATED ACADEMY OF MANAGEMENT AND TECHNOLOGY (INMANTEC), Ghaziabad on 22 January, 2011

States enacted Public Library Act.

1) Tamil Nadu – 1948
2) Andhra Pradesh - 1960
3) Karnataka - 1965
4) Maharashtra - 1967
5) West Bengal - 1979
6) Manipur - 1988
7) Kerala - 1989
8) Haryana - 1989
9) Mizoram - 1993
10)Goa - 1993
11)Gujarat - 2001
12)Orissa - 2001
13)Uttarakhand (Uttaranchal)- 2005
14)Rajasthan - 2006
15)Uttar Pradesh - 2006
16)Chattisgarh - 2007
17)Bihar - 2008
18)Arunachal Pradesh - 2009

Masjid Libraries: An Indian Initiatives

Library initiative to cover all mosques


New Delhi, Dec. 1: Every mosque in the country that has space to spare may soon have a library and a reading room.

Initiated by the Zakat Foundation of India, a Delhi based NGO, the library initiative has the support of all leading Muslim organisations, including the Jamiat Ulema, Jamaat Islami and the Milli Council.

The project has already been inaugurated in Kashmir and is scheduled to be launched in all states shortly. There are around 2 lakh mosques in the country.

Zakat foundation president Syed Zafar Mahmood said the plan was to sponsor a reading room, with a computer and books, in every mosque ready to provide space.

He said the idea of having a library in mosques was not new but simply a revival of tradition. “Mosques are supposed to be places of learning, as they were in the past. Of late, they have become synonymous with closed thinking. We want to change that perception,” he said.

The foundation has written to the heads of all mosques and to community leaders about the project. “All that the mosques will have to do is provide us some space. We will provide everything, right from providing books to Internet connection,” Mahmood said.

The library will have books for general reading as well those that are specifically religious, apart from Urdu, Hindi and English newspapers. “We want to inculcate the habit of reading among youngsters, which is lacking now,’’ he said.

Mahmood said the libraries could also double as information centres that provide data on welfare schemes for the Muslim community. If anybody was interested in having a library-cum-reading room in a mosque in his/her vicinity, all they needed to do was persuade its management and contact the foundation, he said.

The response to the library proposal had been quite encouraging, he said. “I am getting calls from as far away as Tripura and Tamil Nadu asking for details. Surely the community is changing for the better.”

The Imam Sangh, a national body of imams, sounded enthusiastic about the idea. “Mosques are usually open during the day and it would be great if the time and space can used for betterment of the community,’’ said Moulana Ilyasi of the Imam Sangh.

Source: http://www.telegraphindia.com/1101202/jsp/nation/story_13248182.jsp#

Information Quality

ACCURATE - The information must be true, verifiable, and not deceptive. Accurate career information is based on empirical data and can be validated by comparing sources or checking for internal consistency.


CURRENT - The information must be applicable to the present time. Keeping information current requires a process of eliminating the old and adding the new. While some types of information are more perishable than others, it is generally accepted that occupation and education information should be reviewed and updated at least annually to be current.

RELEVANT - Relevant information applies to the interests of the individuals who use it for the decisions they are facing. It should reduce a person's uncertainties about work and education while facilitating choice and planning. Since we live and work in local labor markets rather than in national ones, the better the description of local conditions, the more relevant it is to us. State and local information is usually more valuable than national.

SPECIFIC - For information to be specific, it must contain concrete facts. General observations are often interesting and can provide a background for further analysis, but specific facts are essential to realistic planning and decision making.

UNDERSTANDABLE - People using information must be able to comprehend it before they can use it. Data must be analyzed and converted into words. The content of the message should avoid ambiguities and be informative to the intended audiences.

COMPREHENSIVE - The information should include all the important categories within its scope of coverage. In CIS that includes the full range of occupational opportunities, their related educational programs of study and training, and the schools that offer them as the core. Related to that is information about money for school, looking for work, employers and industries, working for yourself, and so on.

UNBIASED - This characteristic is about the motivation or purpose for which the information is being produced and delivered. It is unbiased when the individual or organization delivering the information has no vested interest in the decisions or plans of the people who are receiving the information.

COMPARABLE - The information presented should be of uniform collection, analysis, content, and format so that you can compare and contrast the various occupations, programs of study, and schools.

Virtual classroom on your mobile

 
Service providers to stream content through 3G platform. 

Soon IIT aspirants will be able to access IIT JEE (Joint Entrance Examination) coaching material on their mobile phones. Six months hence, education service providers like Everonn Education and NIIT will be able to stream educational content through the third generation (3G) mobile telephony using the satellite-based Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) Technology and Broadband. 

“3G is ahead of all the present services we use. Everonn, through its several studios, will deliver classes using presentations, video, audio and digital content just like it does with VSAT where a single instructor can teach students across the country without compromising on the quality of learning,” said Kishore, managing director, Everonn Education. 

Similar to a VSAT arrangement, 3G will have an instructor and students, in a virtual classroom environment using audio-video transmission. Interactions would be instant, as in a regular classroom not only enabling students to have interactive sessions with instructors but also peers across the country. 

A 3G-enabled learning platform would mean anywhere, anytime learning accessible on mobile phones. The 3G spectrum will not only allow stronger bandwidth in remote locations but also better video quality. 

“We are working on the per minute cost that would be charged to the users. We have already tied up with Airtel and may look at more tie-ups in the future,” said Kishore. Everonn would also use 3G for language training for students. 

Everonn, through Toppers Tutorial – which it acquired in February 2008 – imparts IIT-JEE and other engineering entrance examinations tutorials to students through VSAT technology. 

NIIT on the other hand said the organisation is looking at a similar arrangement in the future. “Definitely there is a thought on providing training to students on the 3G platform as the world moves to a point where one can access any information on one’s mobile phone. We would take to it in future,” a senior NIIT official told Business Standard. 

Last year, Delhi-based Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), an open university which offers distance learning courses signed an agreement with Swedish telecom giant Ericsson to provide educational content using 3G mobile telephony. The university with over 2.5 million students on its rolls, had launched the programme for 1,000 students pursuing the certificate course in information technology. 

According to a report by CLSA Asia Pacific Markets, the size of e-learning market in India is expected to grow to Rs 1,092 crore by 2012 from the present Rs 105 crore. 

Source | Business Standard | 1 November 2010 

Twelve Steps to Library Fitness

Twelve Steps to Library Fitness


Listen/observe: Library users are always sending us ideas through their demonstrated uses of our resources and services, as well as their casual observations and outright complaints. For example, a user stops by the reference desk and asks the librarian why it’s not possible to text some catalog information to his or her smartphone. That’s an opportunity to create positive change. But if we fail to have our antennae up so we can pick up these signals or if we assume we know more about a great library experience than the users do, some great possibilities will be missed.

Ask the water-line question: Even the best fitness routines require occasional change and some innovation. But innovation often involves risk taking. Excessive risk taking can be dangerous to your personal fitness but catastrophic for organizational fitness. One way to think about mitigating risk is to ask the water-line question. Think of a ship on the open water. The captain wants to take a risk, but is it an above- or below-the-water-line risk? If the risk blows a hole above the water line, the ship can make the repair, survive, and continue. But if it’s below the water line, well, it may be the end of the ship. Whether it involves money, personnel, or other resources, think about where a failure may hit your organization—above or below the line.

Go local: Libraries of all types are in tune with their local community. Academic librarians and school media specialists know their faculty and students and the work they do. Public librarians know what’s happening in their communities. Rather than worrying quite so much about competing with search engines and whatever technologies follow them, we may be better off concentrating our energies on knowing and serving our local communities. By focusing on them we can meet their needs far more powerfully than with services that try to be everything to everyone.

Engage the user: It’s important to understand our users, be aware of their expectations, and keep their needs in mind when designing services. But we can do more by connecting with our users in places and spaces we may have ignored in the past. More librarians are roaming the stacks to help confused patrons. Staff are going out to offices and public and private places where community members gather. We learn more about our users when we engage them, and that helps us better understand their expectations, what they want that we have yet to offer, and how we can keep them coming back for more.
Fix what’s broken: A favorite video presentation is Seth Godin’s “Seven Reasons Why Things Are Broken.” He explains why we tolerate broken services and processes in our organizations. If we can’t identify and remedy what’s broken in our libraries we may not deserve to have a future. The challenge is finding out what’s broken. Day-to-day we may be unable to spot the things that fail our patrons. To future-proof, we need to make finding and fixing what’s broken part of our routine operations. That involves efforts to see things from the outsider’s perspective. Would you patronize a retail operation where many things failed on a regular basis? Why should we expect library users to act any differently?

Master adaptability: Leslie Crutchfield, coauthor of Forces for Good: The Six Practices of High-Impact Nonprofits, encouraged librarians at an OCLC Forum held in 2008 to master the art of adaptation. Crutchfield emphasized the importance of knowing the library’s mission and doing whatever it takes to accomplish it, but mostly she encouraged librarians to commit to change and try new things, even those not considered mainstream. Libraries that can achieve flexibility will be better adapted for the future.

Keep up: Whether you call it environmental scanning, trend watching, or simply staying up-to-date, library fitness depends on knowing what’s happening in the library community and beyond its borders. Just like personal fitness, keeping up requires discipline and the development of a regimen of activity. It works best when you commit to devoting a specific amount of time each day to covering a specific number of resources. There are multiple technologies that help support keeping up, be it RSS feeds or web-page change-detection services, and it doesn’t matter much what you use to keep up—as long as you’re committed. The best regimen will include resources from outside of librarianship, but the most important thing is establishing a keeping-up habit and sticking to it.
Create passionate users: A few years back, a blog called Creating Passionate Users preached the benefits of stimulating a customer’s passion for products or services. Passionate users are loyal users. Passionate users try to convert their friends. Library resources sometimes involve complexity. Making things simpler would help, but library users are capable of not only learning to use, appreciate, and even thrive on a complex research database, but can actually develop a passion for it. To create passionate users we must first gain their trust so they are willing to invest their time in learning how to use the resources. That means establishing relationships and taking time to educate users. The reward is a network of users who will stand by and support the library in good times and bad, no matter what the future brings.

Be a problem-finder: It’s all too easy to ignore problems or to come up with uncertain, inadequate solutions to them. Future-proofed library organizations have the capacity to solve their problems the way that designers solve them. That means first understanding how a problem affects the users and then applying that knowledge to improve services. It also means asking questions and not accepting that everything is all right. Everyone wants to be a problem-solver, but the key to a future-proofed library is having a team of good problem-finders.

Build relationships: In the short term, giving people stuff—whether it’s some type of consumer good or boatloads of digital content—may work in quickly building a following. But eventually, a library user will likely find a more convenient source for the same stuff. To build a truly loyal following takes something more substantial, something that delivers intrinsic meaning to people. That’s what building relationships is all about. It is through relationships with librarians that community members establish a lasting connection with the library. One piece of advice we hear again and again is that good relationships are essential for our mental and physical well-being. Fit libraries need to build good relationships too.

Internalize core values: Physical fitness trainers will readily tell you that the most essential part of being in shape is having a strong core; everything else is attached to it. Without a strong core, other body parts—the back, chest, or neck—are more susceptible to injury or weakness. Organizations are no different. Each library benefits when all staff members internalize an agreed-upon set of core values. These values establish what we believe in and how we will behave. Our core values define us as an organization and guide how we conduct ourselves and respond in challenging situations. Some might even say that it is with the core values that all library fitness begins.

Think like Collins: In his latest book, How the Mighty Fall, Jim Collins explores how corporations go from fit to flabby. In doing so they fall through the five stages of decline toward obsolescence. Collins offers quite a bit of advice, but three points seem most relevant to organizations that want to future-proof: 1) be paranoid, 2) look at the metrics, and 3) steady as she goes. He claims a bit of healthy paranoia keeps organizations on their toes and less likely to rest on their achievements; an occasional look over the shoulder may prevent being run over by the latest disruptive technology. Just as we keep fit by regularly monitoring our weight, blood pressure, cholesterol, and other vital signs, fit libraries need to collect and analyze operational data as well as assess services and programs such as the information literacy initiative, to make sure progress is being made and strategic objectives are accomplished. And while change is good, too much constant, spontaneous, and radical change all have the potential to drive an organization into the ground. At the height of its success, Rubbermaid committed to creating a new product every day of the year, and efforts to constantly introduce something new ultimately weakened the entire company. Motorola, a successful cell phone provider, thought the next big thing was satellite communications and started its own network called Iridium. This change cost billions, distracted Motorola from its core business, and eventually cost the company its industry dominance. We need to change when appropriate, and for the right reasons at the right time.

Fitness makes the difference

Collins’s book is full of similar stories of firms that, for one reason or another, squandered their fitness. They went from being much admired to barely desired. So it’s easy to see that no organization, not even a library—especially in our challenging mobile, electronic world—can afford to stop paying attention to its fitness regimen. None of us can predict the future, just as none of us has any sense of whether our good health will hold up. But as Collins also says, barring any unexpected and unusual catastrophic event, establishing a fitness program is about as close as any of us can come to future-proofing ourselves and our organizations—and it can work. The hardest part is taking the first step. But now you have 12 different actions to start with, and any one of them will move you closer to library fitness. The rest is up to you.

By STEVEN BELL,  associate university librarian at Temple University
Source: http://www.americanlibrariesmagazine.org/features/

ALA Guidelines for Preservation, Conservation, and Restoration of Local History and Local Genealogical Materials

Prepared by the Genealogy and Local History Committee of the History Section of the Reference and Adult Services Division of the American Library Association.

Reviewed by the ALA Standards Committee and adopted by the Reference and Adult Services Division Board of Directors, June 1992.

1.0 Introduction

Libraries have a responsibility to preserve, conserve, and, if possible, restore their local history and local genealogical materials. These guidelines address the preservation, conservation, and restoration of heavily used, fragile, and rare local history and local genealogical materials.

These guidelines are intended to assist libraries with preservation, conservation, and, when possible, restoration of their heavily used, fragile, and rare local history and local genealogical materials in printed, microform, machine-readable, audio, or video formats. Local history and local genealogical materials should include, but should not be limited to, city, county, and regional histories; biographical directories; cemetery and sextons' records; church records; family histories and genealogies; naturalization records; newspapers; census schedules; probate records; wills; tax lists; city and county directories; telephone directories; vital records; civil and criminal court records; land records; county atlases; county land ownership maps; fire insurance maps; and photographic prints and negatives.

The terms preservation, conservation, and restoration as used in these guidelines are the simple definitions used by Wesley L. Boomgaarden:

Preservation: ". . . action taken to anticipate, prevent, stop or retard deterioration. "

Conservation: the maintenance of each item in the collection in a usable condition. "

Restoration: ". . . the act of returning the deteriorated item to its original or near-original condition."1

Generally accepted methods of preservation, conservation, and restoration are described in the works cited in the references and bibliography of these guidelines.

2.0 Preservation

2.1 Assess Collection Preservation Needs
2.1.1 Evaluation of heavily used, fragile, and rare local history and local genealogical materials should be made to determine what materials need to be preserved.
2.1.2 Fragile materials are most often works printed on acidic paper and usually include most newspapers, city directories, telephone directories, and some books.2 Damaged bindings with inside margins too narrow to rebind may also be considered fragile materials.
2.1.3 Rare local genealogy or local history materials are usually works of which a limited number of copies were printed and/or the monetary value has escalated since their publication. Most land ownership maps and manuscript copies of fire insurance maps fall into this category.3
2.1.4 Photographic prints and negatives require special attention as they may be damaged by their emulsions, bases, mountings, display, or storage.4
2.1.5 Materials in machine-readable, audio, or video formats require occasional use and need special care.5

2.2 Develop a Preservation Plan
2.2.1 A priority list of heavily used, fragile, and rare local history and local genealogical materials should be prepared for materials in need of preservation.6
2.2.2 In locales where more than one library may be collecting the same materials it is advisable to develop cooperative preservation programs.7
2.2.3 Bibliographical searches should be made of sources and databases that include microforms: Guide to Microforms in Print, Register of Microform Masters, Out-of-Print Books: Author Guide (University Microfilms International), CICLC, WLN, RLIN, and other databases that include microforms. (Included in these sources are many opaque microforms such as microcard, microprint, and the ultra-microfiche collections that require special reading machines not available in all libraries.)

2.3 Choose Appropriate Preservation Techniques

2.3.1 Micro duplication, either as microfilm or microfiche, generally is the least expensive method of preservation; however, the original may be damaged in micro duplication. Firms that provide micro duplication service are listed in the yellow pages of most telephone directories under "Microfilming Service, Equipment & Supplies." However, care should be taken to see that selected firms meet the quality control and standards of the industry.8
 2.3.2 Most photoduplication can be done by carefully trained library staff members and should be done on acid-free paper and bound in library Class A binding.9
2.3.3 Electronic media reproduction may be useful and preferred for service copies of some materials
2.3.4 Deacidification and/or encapsulation may be desirable for some materials.10
2.3.5 Restoration, see "Restoration" below.
2.3.6 Duplication in microform or photoduplication and restoration may be possible in some cases and should be done when possible.

2.4 Obtain Copyright Clearance

2.4.1 Under most circumstances it is necessary to obtain copyright clearance in order to duplicate local history and local genealogical materials in any form for library use or preservation. Some authors of local history and local genealogical materials may be willing to provide copyright clearance for the preservation of their work(s).
2.4.2 Suggested provisions under which out-of-print materials may be photoduplicated without permission are provided in Mary Hutchings Reed's The Copyright Primer for Librarians and Educators.11
2.4.3 Legal advice should be sought when questions arise.

2.5 Funding

2.5.1 Libraries should establish adequate funding for preservation, conservation, and restoration.
2.5.2 Federal, state, and private grants are available for preservation, conservation, and restoration, particularly to libraries with long-range preservation, conservation, and restoration plans. Additional consideration should also be given to requesting grants from local businesses and industries.

3.0 Conservation

3.1 Procedures, Facilities, and Conditions
3.1.1 Every attempt should be made to follow sound procedures of conservation and provide adequate facilities and conditions (temperature control, humidity, security, fire protection, and instruction for staff and patrons concerning proper use and handling) for the conservation of local history and local genealogical collections.12
3.2 Disaster Plan
3.2.1 Conservation of local history and genealogical materials should receive a high-priority rating in the library's disaster plan.

4.0 RESTORATION

4.1 Pros and Cons

4.1.1 Restoration is the most expensive and in many cases the most desirable alternative, but no additional copies are created, thereby losing one of the desirable aspects of preservation.

4.2 Conservators

4.2.1 Consult the AIC Directory (Washington, D.C.: American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works, 1977/78- ) or contact the American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works, 1400 16th St. NW, Suite 340, Washington, DC 20036, (202) 232-6636 for the names of professional conservators in your locale.
4.2.2 Consult, evaluate, and screen (including letters of reference) conservators selected from the AIC Directory.

References

1. Wesley L. Boomgaarden, "Preservation Planning for the Small Special Library," Special Libraries 76 (Summer 1985): 204–11.
2. David Thackery and Edward Meachen, Local History in the Library: A Manualfor Assessment and Preservation (Bloomington, Ill.: Bloomington Public Library, 1989), 6–12.
3. Ibid., 4–6.
4. Ibid., 13–14, 18–19; Mary Lynn Ritzenthaler, GeraldJ. Munoff, and Margery S. Long, Archives &Manuscripts: Administration of Photographic Collections (Chicago: Society of American Archivists, 1984); James M. Reilly, Care and Identification of 19th-Century Photographic Prints (Rochester, N.Y.: Eastman Kodak Co., 1986); Sigfried Rempel, The Care of Photographs (New York: Nick Lyons Bks., 1987); Conservation of Photographs (Rochester, N.Y.: Eastman Kodak Co., 1985).
5. Larry N. Osborne, "Those (In)destructible Disks; or, Another Myth Exploded," Library Hi Tech 7, no. 3 (1989): 7–10; Alan A. Ward, A Manual of Sound Archive Administration (Brookfield, Vt.: Gower Publishing Co., 1990); C. A. Paton "Whispers in the Stacks: The Problem of Sound Recordings in Archives," American Archivist 53 (Spring 1990): 274-80; James C. Scholtz, Developing and Maintaining Video Collections in Libraries (Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-Clio, 1989); J.G. Empsucha, "Film and Videotape Preservation Fact-Sheet," in Footage89: North American Film and Video Sources (New York: Prelinger Associates, 1989), A28–A30; T. Conrad, "Old Open-Reel Videotape Restoration," in Footage 89: North American Film and Video Sources (New York: Prelinger Associates, 1989), A31–A32.
6. Thackery and Meachen, 26–30.
7. Ibid., 3, 21–22, 25–42.
8. Preservation Microfilming: Planning &Production (Chicago: Association for Library Collections & Technical Services, ALA, 1989); Nancy E. Gwinn, ed. Preservation Microfilming: A Guide for Librarians and Archivists (Chicago: ALA, 1987); Steven L. Wood, "The Microfilm Service Bureau and Library Preservation," Microform Review 17 (Feb. 1988): 32–37; Sherry Byrne, "Guidelines for Contracting Microfilming Services," Microform Review 15 (Fall 1986): 253–64.
9. Jan Merrill-Oldham and Paul Parisi, Guide to the Library Binding Institute Standardfor Library Binding (Chicago: ALA, 1990).
10. Thackery and Meachen, 23.
11. Mary Hutchings Reed, The Copyright Primer for Librarians and Educators (Chicago: ALA and the National Education Association, 1987), 9–10, Q17, Q18, Q19.
12. Thackery and Meachen, 15–20.
13. John P. Barton and Johanna G. Wellheiser, eds. An Ounce of Prevention: A Handbook on Disaster Contingency Planningfor Archives, Libraries and Record Centers (Toronto: Toronto Area Archivists Group Education Foundation, 1985).

Bibliography

The following additional works concerning preservation, conservation, and restoration of materials are helpful:

Library Literature under the subject headings: "Floppy discs—Care and restoration, Local history and records—Care and restoration," "Preservation of library materials," "Recorded sound archives—Care and restoration," and "Video recordings—Care and restoration."

Preservation Guidelines in ARL Libraries. Washington, D.C.: Association of Research Libraries, Office of Management Studies, 1987.

Darling, Pamela W., and Duane E. Webster. Preservation Planning Program: An Assisted Self-Study Manualfor Libraries. Washington, D.C.: Association of Research Libraries, Office of Management Studies, 1987.

Darling, Pamela W., and Wesley L. Boomgaarden. Preservation Planning Program Resource Notebook. Washington, D.C.: Association of Research Libraries, Office of Management Studies, 1987.

RLG Preservation Manual. 2d ed. Stanford, Calif.: Research Libraries Group, 1986- .

Morrow, Carolyn Clark, and Carole Dyal. Conservation Treatment Procedures: A Manual of Step-by-Step Procedures for the Maintenance and Repair of Library Materials. 2d ed. Littleton, Colo.: Libraries Unlimited, 1986.

Gunner, Jean. Simple Repair and Preservation Techniques for Collection Curators, Librarians, andArchivists. 3d ed. Pittsburgh, Penn.: Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation, Carnegie-Mellon University, 1984.



Source

http://www.ala.org

Comments of LIS Blogs

(Article Review)

            Blogging has gained great popularity among all sorts of professionals and non-professionals around the world. Blogs and blogosphere have given ‘freedom to write’ to all those who know to use computer keyboard and a little bit internet. As of septmeber 2008, more than 133 million blogs appeared in the blogosphere (Technorati, 2008). According to NDTV there are an estimated 40,000 regular bloggers in India (The Hindu 25 June, 2008) and 3,00,000 words are blogged per minutes on the largest search engine site, Google (Times of India 28, July 2010). As any other professionals, librarians also have found their own space in the blogosphere. By the end of 1990s, some librarians launched professional blogs which focused on LIS news, emerging technologies and methods of improving library services (Stephens 2008).

            Facility to comment on the blog posts is one of the main attractions of blogging. A study about the comments on LIS blogs, conducted by Noa Aharony, LIS lecturer in Bar-Ilan university of Israel, has been published in the Libri Jounal (V. 60, March 2010)*. The study contains analysis of comments which appeared in 30 LIS blogs in August-October 2008. The researcher has conducted two phase analysis such as 1) statistical descriptive analysis and 2) content analysis. The study reveals that 18 blogs had 0-50 comments per blog, 7 blogs had the highest percentage of posts with comments 91-100%. In case of average comments per post, 26 blogs had 0-10 comments per post while 1 blog had more than 40 comments per post, further, in 23 blogs the comments were written by anonymous comment- writers.

            In case of languages, 90.29% of comment-writers use personal languages. Information like personal (34.19%), advisory (17.75%), reflective (17.72%), impressive (15.60%) and courtesy and politeness (13.70%) are being presented through comments. In addition to this, content of comments distributed among library issues (23.58%), technology issues (23.58%), web 2.0 (16.50%), general librarianship (5.66%) open access issues (2.83%) and conference (0.94%). This study reveals that most of the blog’s readers are passive and do not comment or contribute content to blog.   At the other hand, the LIS blog readers who participate and add comments to the posts took advantage of this platform and discuss topics which are relevant to librarians’ work and profession. The writing of the comments enables them rethink, reflect, evaluate, and reconsider professional issues and to share it with their colleagues. The author concludes that the current findings add a new dimension to LIS blogosphere. It is not only the LIS bloggers who deal with professional issues in their blogs, but it is also the readers who add comments, write, and discuss professional topics. It seems that both the bloggers and their readers exploit their medium for dissemination of professional information as well as for sharing their experience and thought.

*Aharony, Nao. LIS blog comments: An exploratory analysis. Libri. Vol 60, pp 65-77,   March 2010.

Author’s E-mail: aharonn1@mail.biu.ac.il

20 GOOGLE Searching Tips

1. Either/or
Google normally searches for pages that contain all the words you type in the search box, but if you want pages that have one term or another (or both), use the OR operator -- or use the "|" symbol (pipe symbol) to save you a keystroke. [dumb | little | man]

2. Quotes
If you want to search for an exact phrase, use quotes. ["dumb little man"] will only find that exact phrase. [dumb "little man"] will find pages that contain the word dumb and the exact phrase "little man".

3. Not
If you don't want a term or phrase, use the "-" symbol. [-dumb little man] will return pages that contain "little" and "man" but that don't contain "dumb".

4. Similar terms
Use the "~" symbol to return similar terms. [~dumb little man -dumb] will get you pages that contain "funny little man" and "stupid little man" but not "dumb little man".

5. Wildcard
The "*" symbol is a wildcard. This is useful if you're trying to find the lyrics to a song, but can't remember the exact lyrics. [can't * me love lyrics] will return the Beatles song you're looking for. It's also useful for finding stuff only in certain domains, such as
educational information: ["dumb little man" research *.edu].

6. Advanced search
If you can't remember any of these operators, you can always use Google's advanced search.

7. Definitions
Use the "define:" operator to get a quick definition. [define:dumb] will give you a whole host of definitions from different sources, with links.

8. Calculator
One of the handiest uses of Google, type in a quick calculation in the search box and get an answer. It's faster than calling up your computer's calculator in most cases. Use the +, -, *, / symbols and parentheses to do a simple equation.

9. Numrange
This little-known feature searches for a range of numbers. For example, ["best books 2002..2007] will return lists of best books for each of the years from 2002 to 2007 (note the two periods between the two numbers).

10. Site-specific
Use the "site:" operator to search only within a certain website. [site:dumblittleman.com leo] will search for the term "leo" only within this blog.

11. Backlinks
The "link:" operator will find pages that link to a specific URL. You can use this not only for a main URL but even to a specific page. Not all links to an URL are listed, however.

12. Vertical search
Instead of searching for a term across all pages on the web, search within a specialized field. Google has a number of specific searches, allowing you to search within blogs, news, books, and much more:
• Blog Search
• Book Search
• Scholar
• Catalogs
• Code Search
• Directory
• Finance
• Images
• Local/Maps
• News
• Patent Search
• Product Search
• Video

13. Movies
Use the "movie:" operator to search for a movie title along with either a zip code or U.S. city and state to get a list of movie theaters in the area and show times.

14. Music
The "music:" operator returns content related to music only.

15. Unit converter
Use Google for a quick conversion, from yards to meters for example, or different currency: [12 meters in yards]

16. Types of numbers
Google algorithms can recognize patterns in numbers you enter, so you can search for:

• Telephone area codes
• Vehicle ID number (US only)
• Federal Communications Commission (FCC) equipment numbers (US only)
• UPC codes
• Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) airplane registration number (US only)
• Patent numbers (US only)
• Even stock quotes (using the stock symbol) or a weather forecast regarding the next five days

17. File types
If you just want to search for .PDF files, or Word documents, or Excel spreadsheets, for example, use the "filetype:" operator.

18. Location of term
By default, Google searches for your term throughout a web page. But if you just want it to search certain locations, you can use operators such as "inurl:", "intitle:", "intext:", and "inanchor:". Those search for a term only within the URL, the title,
the body text, and the anchor text (the text used to describe a link).

19. Cached pages
Looking for a version of a page the Google stores on its own servers? This can help with outdated or update pages. Use the "cached:" operator.

20. Answer to life, the universe, and everything
Search for that phrase, in lower case, and Google will give you the answer.

Harvard Library Lab

The Harvard Library Lab, managed by the Office of Scholarly Communication (OSC) in the Harvard University Library (HUL), is just getting off the ground, and will have up to $1 million to support projects proposed by Harvard students, faculty, and staff.

The Library Laboratory at Harvard Law School was established a year ago, and recently announced a new co-director. Its projects range from the practical to the whimsical, such as the Harvard Library Hose, which generates a Twitter post for each book checked out from libraries across Harvard, including the book's title, its author, and a link to its Harvard catalog entry.

Harvard Library Lab: a focus on openness

The new Harvard Library Lab was established last month; its first projects will be funded in January.

The lab will be funded by part of a $5 million grant the library received from the London, England-based Arcadia Fund in April 2009. Up to $1 million will be used for the Library Lab in the first year of the program, according to HUL spokesman Peter Kosewski.

Stuart Shieber, the Faculty Director of the OSC and the Welch Professor of Computer Science at Harvard, told LJ that part of the lab's aim is to support projects that promote openness—that is, projects that are sharable as much as possible, as well as projects that help make Harvard's information resources more accessible to the general public.

"We expect a lot of the proposals will come from librarians because, obviously, they have the most knowledge of what the opportunities are for improving services," said Shieber, architect of the pioneering Open Access Resolution approved in 2008 by Harvard's Faculty of Arts and Sciences.
Please find attached Harvard Library Lab Guidelines dated 15 July 2010 The OSC, in a document [PDF] regarding the lab's details and guidelines, gives examples of the kinds of projects that might qualify for support, including innovative mobile apps for existing library systems, customizable search applications for electronic resources, applications improving browsing capability for digital resources, or improving print-on-demand capabilities.

The document also states that the Harvard Library Lab's efforts would be guided by four main principles: entrepreneurialism (supporting projects via a "bottom-up" proposal system), scalability, openness, and experimentation.

Source | http://osc.hul.harvard.edu/

25 Important Legal Issues Every Librarian Should Research

Most people don’t think of librarians as legal entities, but the fact is there are a number of legal issues that are important for librarians to understand. Whether you’re dealing with copyright or disabilities, the best way to protect yourself is to be informed. Be sure that you’ve brushed up on these important issues.
1. Filters: Many public libraries are under pressure to filter Internet access to patrons. Whether or not you do so can have legal implications for your library.
2. Accessibility: It’s important that libraries comply with the Americans with Disabilities act in order to make accessing the libray easier for people with disabilities.
3. Accessible website and written materials: Accesibility in your library also extends to your website and written materials. Make sure you’re in compliance with this resource.
4. Privacy: As many libraries become more technologically savvy, the issue of privacy will often come up. You will have to be careful about publishing your patrons’ information, images, and more.
5. Freedom of information: According to the First Amendment, the government is allowed to restrict information in the library. Find out what you can do about it and how you have to comply.
6. Children on the Internet: Your library may be held responsible for offensive content accessed using the library’s computers, so it’s important to find out how to protect yourself.
7. Employee rights: Just like other employment entities, libraries have to be well aware of employment law, avoiding discrimination and wrongful treatment of library workers.
8. Hate meetings: Your library’s meeting rooms and computers may be used in order to spread and promote hateful speech and thoughts. Additionally, you may find that hateful literature is requested. Find out how to deal with this issue before it comes up.
9. Book removal: Librarians have to be careful about removing books from a library’s collection. You will find that you often do not have unrestricted authority to remove offensive library books from your library.
10. Licensing: Public use of electronic resources will almost always require a license, so it’s key that you fully understand how to use the licenses that have been granted to your library.
11. Information liability: If a patron uses your library resources to learn how to build a bomb, and then uses the bomb to harm people, can your library be held partially responsible? Find out the exact legalities and how you can protect your library and resources from this issue.
12. Digitizing material: By creating digital collections, you may be violating copyright law. Be careful not to violate any copyright laws as you make information more available.
13. Library policies: You may make the rules in your library, but that doesn’t mean they are legal. Ensure that your library policies are legally enforceable with this resource.
14. Banned books: Many books can be offensive to library patrons and parents of young patrons that visit your library, and books are often challenged by groups and individuals. How you deal with the removal or preservation of a book is important.
15. Software lending: If you’re lending software out to patrons, be careful that your policies do not violate any legal issues. Considerations to pay attention to are licensing, copyright, and liability.
16. Bulletin boards: Your library’s bulletin boards may be used as a community resource, so it’s important to consider whether or not you’re violating free speech with your bulletin board policy.
17. Latchkey kids: Often, libraries find that children are left to do homework and entertain themselves in the library. Consider how your library could be held liable if something were to happen to a child on the library’s property.
18. Reproduction: It’s important for libraries to respect copyright law when making reproductions for their collections and archives. Additionally, your library may need to monitor patron usage to ensure that they are not violating copyright laws.
19. Video performance: Consider whether allowing patrons to watch videos individually or in a group performance voilates the copyright laws of the motion picture.
20. Game night: Like video performance, allowing copyrighted video games to be played in the library and with library resources may violate copyright law.
21. Homeless people: Educate yourself on the legal rights of homeless library users, particularly solicitation, harassment, odor, and helping to provide homeless people with resources.
22. Fair use: Educate yourself on the law surrounding fair use so that you can understand when usage is fair, and when it violates a work’s copyright.
23. Public domain: Learn about public domain so that you can provide copyright-free resources to your patrons. It’s especially useful to learn how to identify a work in the public domain.
24. FBI in the library: The FBI can use your library as a resource for investigating the public’s usage of your resources, so it’s important to know how to deal with it. One librarian has come up with a few technically legal signs that you can use to let patrons know they may be monitored.
25. Rude patrons: Be careful when dealing with rude patrons. Be sure that you know the laws regarding issues like defacement, theft, violence, and trespassing.

source- http://www.bestcollegesonline.com/blog