Nealenews -- GONE

Nealenews Farewell

Goodbye. I enjoyed your particular take on the news. Good luck with your future endeavours.

CFUW National Meeting over for this year

CFUW Conference is over and I actually sat at the table for the final lunch with the incoming National President. I had a few issues and took the opportunity to discuss them with her. One is the lack of press. Seems national has not been issuing press releases on anything. That explains why I cannot find any when I search. Second is the level of technology available for members to use on the web site and elsewhere. If they want younger members, they will have to speak their language and their language involves interactive web sites, blogs, podcasts, and rss feeds. Younger member also want to register for and pay for sessions, membership, conferences online.

New blogs added to my reader

Baby Boomer Librarian http://babyboomerlibrarian.blogspot.com/
EDUCAUSE http://www.educause.edu/SyndicatetheseResources/647
Google Operating System http://googlesystem.blogspot.com/
knowledge management and librarianship resources http://kmlis.blogspot.com/
KSL Reference Weblog http://blog.case.edu/orgs/ksl/reference/
Library clips http://libraryclips.blogsome.com/
libraryassessment.info http://libraryassessment.info/
LibVibe: the library news podcast http://libvibe.blogspot.com/
McMaster University Libraries: Transforming our Future http://ultransform.wordpress.com/

I analyzed my existing feeds to see which ones could be deleted based on lack of posting and they are all still current (well, current enough for summer)

Slow posting for a few weeks

I am not having a good week, so it is nice to be able to say that I will be off for a couple of weeks.

The first stop is the CFUW annual conference, held this year in Edmonton.

From the site www.cfuw.org

Founded in 1919, The Canadian Federation of University Women, is a voluntary, non-profit, self-funded bilingual organization of over 10,000 women university graduates. CFUW/FCFDU members are active in public affairs, working to raise the social, economic and legal status of women, as well as to improve education, the environment, peace, justice and human rights.

•

Members belong to 122 Clubs in every province in Canada CFUW/FCFDU is one of the 78 member affiliates of the International Federation of University Women (IFUW/FIFDU) and its 140,000 members. CFUW is a non government organization with special consultative status at the United Nations (Economic and Social Council) Commission on the Status of Women. CFUW sends a representative to the Canadian Commission to UNESCO Education Committee.

I joined the Oakville chapter for the interest groups, book discussions, etc., and an opportunity to have non-work, non-child related conversations with intelligent adults. Somehow I ended up on the Executive. Last year Secretary, this year Membership (so if you want to join, let me know). Now I find myself going to this conference.

I do not know what internet access will be available, so there may be no posting for a while on this blog, but may be some at http://darimontvacations.blogspot.com/

IDES - The Plastics Web

IDES Overview: "IDES is a plastic materials information company with a vertical search engine for the plastics industry. Our mission is to provide tools for plastics professionals to quickly access technical plastic materials information and data sheets.

As a first step to fulfilling that mission, IDES's founder Mike Kmetz developed a new approach to cataloging plastic materials information, which later translated to an online three dimensional database, architected to hold and display highly technical and complex raw materials information. IDES is now widely recognized as the world's largest vertical search engine for plastic materials information and data sheets."

Free registration required to see "full plastic data sheet". Browse or search.

Design & Solution Center - Polymer Selector - Polymer Properties

Design & Solution Center - Polymer Selector - Polymer Properties: "This Polymer Selector has been designed primarily for OEMs, Designers, and Engineers involved in product design. This initial version, limited to thermoplastics, is intended to:

1. Facilitate the polymer screening and selection process according to a performance profile (max 4 criteria) and/or by applications.
2. Provide properties profiles for specific polymers
3. Compare polymer profiles in order to help you fine-tune your selection."

Free registration needed to see results.

You can search by name or property, metric or british units, Thermoplastics or TPE/TPV Thermoplastic elastomers, by application.

Meebo app for minimizing to toolbar with browser closed!!

I kept closing my browser window and then Meebo logged out. Like it is supposed to. I wanted to see if there was a way to have it minimize to my taskbar or tray. I searched the Meebo forum and found the post below. I downloaded the little programme and VOILA!! it works. No browser window needed, always online.

Somedays I actually like computers!!


forum.meebo.com :: View topic - more like an app, less like a browser window: "zhatka

PostPosted: Wed Aug 02, 2006 3:11 pm Post subject: Just threw this together... Reply with quote
This is ghetto, but serves my needs.

First off, mad props to the devs for Meebo. Good stuff.

Anywhoo, I made this based on the image in the first post.

I wanted a stand-alone something that I could leave in my system tray. This did the trick.

Not much to it. Requires IE.

http://www.binaryecho.com/myMeebo_setup.exe

z"

Publish Don't Perish -- from the Emerald "Knowledge + Networks" newsletter

Publish Don't Perish Issue 22: "Emerald LibraryLink

The Information Professional's Knowledge Network


How To Get Published

Publish, Don't Perish!

by Rachel Singer Gordon (rachel@lisjobs.com)

Will You, Won’t You, Will You, Won’t You, Will You Join the Dance?"

Tonight is the night

Tonight at 8 PM I will be sitting in the Cannon Theatre (Toronto Ontario Canada) watching Spamalot. Can't wait.

and according to the web site, I will even be able to purchase my own set of coconuts:

MeeboMe

I saw this somewhere and now I am seeing it everywhere, so yesterday I installed it. It is a widget you add to your web page, blog, whatever, which allows browsers on your site to talk to you. Again I did not expect this to work behind the firewall, but it does. Not only that, Meebo itself allows me to aggregate all my IM identities into one place.

On my Meebo account, I enter all my IM usernames and passwords. Meebo logs them all in and presents a unified "buddy" list. Wonderful

Our firewall blocks IM from most locations. With MeeboMe, people who cannot use IM software can message me via my library webpage. They do not need to download anything or login. If you change the default Meebo username on the widget, it remembers from one session to the next so you dont' have to change it again.

Love those widgets.

I've been busy playing -- Library toolbar for my library

I found a reference on Baby Boomer Librarian and Librarian In Black to free online toolbar creator at Effective Brand

Thinking it would never create a toolbar I could use behind our firewall, I nevertheless, tried to create one. It was very easy to create and lo and behold, it works from inside the firewall!!!

I added a link to our catalogue, contact info, links to external databases, links to other libraries in Xerox.

I love it. So far I have 7 downloads!! Not much, but some.

Reports are also available on how many people have downloaded, have installed, are using.

Library Toolbar

Library Toolbar, originally uploaded by Carolyne.

I actually made a toolbar for my library and it works!! Sounds complicated, but it wasn't. My biggest concern was whether it would work behind our firewall. Most web-based apps don't. But this does. Created easily and quickly at www.effectivebrand.com

an EffectiveBrand toolbar

Tourist Remover

Tourist Remover

This is cool. Have not tried it yet, but it seems like it works like my Canon camera software for splicing panorama photos together. Comparing two or more images and removing what is not in them all (or a majority) and leaving the common elements. Now if Canon would just add that functionality to its "zoombrowzer" software.

Wiley Introduces Six New Journals in 2007 with Complimentary Online Access

FROM WILEY INTERSCIENCE NEWSLETTER JULY 2006

Wiley is launching 6 new journals with complimentary online access during 2007.

* Asia Pacific Journal of Chemical Engineering
* Mount Sinai Journal of Medicine
* Statistical Analysis and Data Mining
* Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine
* Macromolecular Reaction Engineering*
* physica status solidi - Rapid Research Letters**


If you wish to opt-in to receive complimentary access to any of these journals contact your Account Manager or e-mail us at optinaccess@wiley.co.uk.

*Libraries who renew subscriptions to Macromolecular Chemistry and Physics and/or Macromolecular Materials and Engineering for 2007, automatically receive complimentary access to Macromolecular Reaction Engineering.

** Libraries who renew subscriptions to physica status solidi a and/or physica status solidi b for 2007 automatically receive complimentary access to physica status solidi - Rapid Research Letters.

Alaska Grizzly Bears, McNeil River Falls - Wildcam Grizzlies - National Geographic Magazine

Alaska Grizzly Bears, McNeil River Falls - Wildcam Grizzlies - National Geographic Magazine

This is a treat. I have checked in on they throughout the day and just a minute ago saw one catch a fish. Just like on TV. Wish I could go in person!!

You need to have realplayer (not my favourite) but the quality is good and there seems to be human intervention in the camera all day today, not just from 1-5 like is advertised.

There is also sound.

Well worth checking out.

Sobre o Livre -- access to free online journals

Sobre o Livre: "LivRe!

LivRe! is the portal developed by CNEN - Comissão Nacional de Energia Nuclear (Brazilian National Nuclear Energy Commission), through its CIN - Centro de Informações Nucleares (Nuclear Information Center), aiming to ease the identification and the access to free journals available on the Internet.

The Portal covers scientific journals, magazines, bulletins and newsletters.

Free access journals are spreaded over several categories:

* free access to all the issues and articles. Great part of the titles are included in this category;
* free access requiring mandatory registration;
* free access only during a pre-established period from the publishing on;
* free access only after a period following publishing;
* partial free access, that means, only part of the articles are available for free.

The following data are available for each title: time coverage, language, secondary sources indexing the title, if it is a peeer reviewed journal, optional comments and contents description, as supplied by the publisher.

Beyond displaying journals by initial letter of its title, searches can be done by title words and by subject field.

Searches can be refined selecting only peer-reviewed journals or only journals indexed by any secondary source.

Your collaboration by sending us comments or suggest"

Wiki: the ultimate tool for online collaboration

July 13, 2006
Meredith G. Farkas, Distance Learning Librarian, Norwich University

This was a very good overview session on wikis. She went over what a wiki is, what a wiki is not, what they are good for, what they are not good for, how various libraries are using wikis and how to start your own.

Most of the first part I was familiar with, the what is and what for parts. It was interesting to know who is using them, however, what I wanted was the "how to get started with wikis" session.

After attending this session I have a better overview of the software available, but still don't know how to really set one up inside a corporate firewall environment. I have some access to the server, but the software you install yourself assumes knowledge and access I don't have. I suppose that information is good to have and I will have to deal with IT. I was hoping I could just download something to a folder in my library webserver folder and it would go.

I tried wikimedia and could not understand the installation instructions and finding the location and actual file do download was not as easy as I would have liked. I did find a simple download and one click install system and wondered why the others cannot be as easy to install. Projectforum gives you one zip file which self extracts, loads and goes. The install asked me almost nothing and it still works. It is not, however, free. I need something I can use to prove to management that wikis are a good thing and I have no budget for this. It is not really my job, but someone needs to do it.

I will keep trying. Perhaps I can talk an IT person to look at this with me. Here's hoping!!

This SirsiDynix seminar is available to view at anytime from their archive at: http://www.sirsidynixinstitute.com/archive.php

7 Things You Should Know About...

EDUCAUSE | ELI | 7 Things You Should Know About...: "The EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative's (ELI's) 7 Things You Should Know About... series provides concise information on emerging learning technologies and related practices. Each brief focuses on a single technology or practice and describes:

* What it is
* How it works
* Where it is going
* Why it matters to teaching and learning

Use ELI's 7 Things You Should Know About... briefs to:

* Enhance faculty development activities
* Open a dialogue with senior administrators about emerging technologies and their implications for your institution
* Stay up-to-date on emerging technologies

7 Things You Should Know About...pieces provide quick, no-jargon overviews of technologies and related practices that have demonstrated or may demonstrate positive learning impacts. Any time you need to explain a new learning technology or practice quickly and clearly, look for a 7 Things You Should Know About... brief from ELI."

... virtual worlds
... google jockeying
... remote instrumentation
... screencasting
... virtual meetings
... grid computing
... collaborative editing
... instant messaging
... augmented reality
... blogs
... video blogging
... wikis
... podcasting
... clickers
... social bookmarking
...

New feeds in my reader

I have recently found and added a couple of new blogs to my Bloglines subscriptions.


Laurie-the-Librarian http://dl1.yukoncollege.yk.ca/laprange/ a Reference Librarian at Yukon College Library

Michael Habib On Librarianship and the Information Sciences http://mchabib.blogspot.com/ a M.S.L.S. student at UNC-Chapel Hill.

ISBN-13: Ready or Not, Here it Comes

ISBN-13: Ready or Not, Here it Comes
SLA Toronto Courier, Volume 43, Number 4, Summer 2006
Carolyne Sidey

triskaidekaphobia: an irrational fear of the number 13 (http://www.reference.com/browse/wiki/Triskaidekaphobia)

In the case of the ISBN change, this fear may not be entirely irrational if your Library Management System cannot handle the extra digits. But so far, I have found it makes some things much easier.

Why?
To make room. It is a similar situation to the 905/416 phone numbers in the Greater Toronto Area. One day they just ran out and everyone had to start dialing ten digits. It's the same with international standard book numbers and now the ISBN-10 is an ISBN-13.

When?
January 1, 2007
Publishers are using both numbers as an interim step.


Who?
Everyone who uses an ISBN - publishers, cataloguers, librarians, book stores, etc.

What?
The ISBN-13 is the same number as the European Article Number (EAN). EAN is the barcode number on the back of books, now known as the "International Article Number." This 13-digit number has been in use for over 20 years in the retail trade.

If you look closely at the ISBN-10 and the barcode number on the back of a book, you will see they are mostly the same. The ISBN-10 simply has a 978 in front of the first nine digits.

The 10th digit of an ISBN is the check digit. A new check digit is required for the ISBN-13.

All books will have 978 or 979 as their first three EAN/ISBN-13 numbers. The official standard for this is ISO 2108:2005. Any ISBN-13 with a 978 prefix can be converted into an ISBN-10, however, there is no ISBN-10 equivalent for a book with a 979 prefix.

What do you need to do?

* Read up on the situation. Understand the implications for your own processes.
* Check with your database / management system vendor to ensure that you will be ISBN-13 compliant. Most will be, and you will not be the only library asking.
* If you use EDI for ordering or claiming, verify with your book vendor that your new EDI files and their EDI files will be read properly after the implementation.
* Enjoy the fact that you can now simply wand in the barcode on the back of the book for an ISBN search.
* Locate and save locations of conversion utilities. You may need them.

Other Sources:

Are You Ready for ISBN-13?
http://www.isbn.org/standards/home/isbn/transition.asp

Are You Ready for ISBN-13?
http://www.bisg.org/isbn-13/

Frequently Asked Questions about the new ISBN standard
http://www.lac-bac.gc.ca/iso/tc46sc9/isbn.htm

Get Ready for the New ISBN!
http://www.niso.org/standards/resources/ISBN.html

ISBN-13 for Dummies
http://www.bisg.org/isbn-13/for.dummies.html