ACTEA librarians' eNews
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Joe Simfukwe
Jun 25, 2009, 6:04:47 AM6/25/09
to actea-libra...@googlegroups.com
Greetings fellow Librarians/Information workers!
After a long break, ACTEA Librarians' eNews is up and running again!
Please remember that this is your publication and that to keep it alive, I need contributions from you! Contributions can be technical (library related subjects), personal (you, your library and your patrons) or amusing.
In this issue.
1. Print and Electronic Serials (Journals)
2. Print Journals
3. Surviving the information Tsunami.
4. RSS or Really Simple Syndication or Rich Site Summary
5. Wolfram/Alpha
6. CALA Workshop in Kenya June/July 2009.
7. Good deals on books/electronic media, also donations of books, grants, etc!
8. Library of Congress Headings Online
1. Print and Electronic Serials (Journals).
If you are like me, you might also wonder, from time to time, about the benefits of switching from Print to Electronic Journals. An interesting study undertaken at Yale University's Medical Library in 2005, when they were thinking about print cancellation decisions and how to make them, discovered that print journals are used only a fraction as often as their electronic counterparts. Very interesting was the discovery that in the case of both print and electronic journals, a high percentage of use came from a relatively small number of subscribed titles. Collection maintenance is more costly and labour- intensive for print, than electronic. In the case of Yale Medical Library, resources spent supporting 53% of the print collection that is not used seriously impacts efficiency. Funding unused collections seems wasteful. A word of warning is sounded, not all electronic titles are used regularly, so although they may be more cost effective in that generally electronic titles are more often used, those not used are also a drain on resources.
John Gallagher, Kathleen Bauer, Daniel M Dollar. "Evidence-Based Librarianship: Utilizing Data from All Available Sources to make Judicious print Cancellation Decisions". Library Collections, Acquisitions & Technical Services 29.2 (2005): 169-179.
2. Print Journals
If you do not have access to electronic journals, it is still a good idea to look at your print collection carefully. Are there titles which are largely unused, but you have in your collection simply to keep subscriptions up to a certain number? Perhaps you could substitute for local, cheaper, alternatives. Where there are several colleges in the same vicinity, cooperative arrangements and sharing of resources, can be cost effective. Why duplicate a journal when colleges could cooperate and share? If you do not have access to electronic databases, it might also be a good idea to index your journal articles, even an old fashioned card index can be helpful here. I have found that if journals are not indexed in some way they tend to remain unused. It is too much of an effort for the borrower to page through endless issues of a journal in order to find a relevant article.
3. Surviving the information Tsunami.
This was the title of a workshop I recently attended. Consider the following stats that give an indication of the information-glut:
· More than 3000 books are published daily
· Technical information is doubling every two years, and is predicted to double every 72 hours by 2010
* A new blog is created every half minute
* 50 million blogs were created in the second quarter of 2006
* 6 000 000 photos uploaded on Flickr
* 2.7 million Google searches each month
* Only 31% of searches on the web succeed (Oblinger, 2007)
Before searching the web, it is best to analyse the question so as to determine which kind of search to do. It might be that a published book, or an electronic database (perhaps a CD-ROM) may well be a better option.
When searching the web use Boolean Logic (AND, OR, NOT).
AND limits number of hits, e.g. mountain AND goats
NOT eliminates unwanted terms, e.g. drugs NOT painkillers
OR broadens the search by allowing for synonyms e.g. pastors OR clergy
4. RSS or Really Simple Syndication or Rich Site Summary.
Tired of constantly checking websites or databases for updates or searching for new websites? Try using RSS feeds to get the lists of latest updates on websites or blogs or table of contents from your must-read academic journals - all in one place through your Google or Yahoo or Hotmail or Bloglines account. A useful tool is http://page2RSS.com <http://page2rss.com/> which will create a feeder for you. You will need a reader http://222.google.co.za <http://222.google.co.za/>
The RSS is a way of making access to new information simpler, better and faster - to get content delivered to one place as soon as the site is updated. The content comes to you (on your desktop or a website) rather than you going in search of the content, over the web.
This is where librarianship is at now. The Library must go to the borrower rather than the borrower coming to the Library. We must be proactive in searching for ways to make this happen. This applies to those who only have book collections, as much as to those who are largely digital. We need to break down library walls and create libraries/librarians without walls. Here we come!
5. Wolfram/Alpha.
How many of you have set up this search engine? You can have a Wolfram/Alpha query box on the same page as your Google query box. Useful for those short factual borrower questions e.g. How many books are there in the Old Testament?
Users submit queries and computation requests via a text field. Wolfram/Alpha computes answers and relevant visualizations from a knowledge base of structured data. Alpha differs from semantic search engines, which index large numbers of answers and they try to match the question to one.
As well as mathematics queries, W/A is capable of responding to natural-language fact-based questions like "where was John Calvin born"?"
People have said that W/A will give Google a run for it's money. I would say the applications are different, so Google will still be around for a long time. An important lesson here for librarians, always look at the application and the market for which the product is intended. When is it appropriate to use books as a reference source and when would the internet or commercial databases be more appropriate? More than ever, the Librarian has to learn to make judgments regarding the use of various forms of information packaging.
6. CALA Workshop in Kenya June/July 2009
Hey! Those Kenyan theological Librarians/Information workers are an example to us all! CALA (Christian Association of Librarians in Africa) is holding a 5 day workshop at Kabarak University, Nakuru town, Kenya from 29th June - 3rd July. The title for the conference is "Library Services in the 21st Century". Key topics are:
* Reference Service in a Digital Environment
· Disaster/Risk Management of Information Resources
· Providing Leadership in an Electronic Library: Challenges and opportunities.
Contact Ephraim Mudave mud...@negst.edu <mailto:mud...@negst.edu>
Members: K Sh15,000 ($200); Non Members K Sh17,000 ($225)
7. Good deals on books/electronic media, also donations of books, grants etc!
Just a friendly reminder that Langham Literature Trust, Feed the Minds Book service and Darien Book plan, offer Library Grants, donations and greatly reduced prices on ordered books.
Darien Book Aid Plan Inc, 1926 Post road, Darien, Connecticut 06820, USA
Langham Partnership International
P.O. Box 997
Guildford
GU1 9DS
United Kingdom
Email: in...@langhampartnership.org <mailto:in...@langhampartnership.org>
Feed the Minds
36 Causton Street
London
SW1P 4AU
United Kingdom
tel 08451 21 21 02
int’l +44 (0)20 7592 3901
fax +44 (0)20 7592 3939
8. Library of Congress subject Headings Online!!!
Fran Etemesi sent the following website links for Library of Congress subject headings. I tried it - wonderful, and so easy to use! Thank you, Fran!
http://id.loc.gov/authorities/search/
http://id.loc.gov/authorities/sh85025219
and
http://id.loc.gov/authorities/about.html#top
Well, that is all for now, brothers and sisters! Please write in with your news.
God bless!
David Fitz-Patrick
LIBRARIAN
Bible Institute of South Africa
180 Main Road, Kalk Bay 7975
Cape Town, RSA
<http://www.bisa.org.za>
After a long break, ACTEA Librarians' eNews is up and running again!
Please remember that this is your publication and that to keep it alive, I need contributions from you! Contributions can be technical (library related subjects), personal (you, your library and your patrons) or amusing.
In this issue.
1. Print and Electronic Serials (Journals)
2. Print Journals
3. Surviving the information Tsunami.
4. RSS or Really Simple Syndication or Rich Site Summary
5. Wolfram/Alpha
6. CALA Workshop in Kenya June/July 2009.
7. Good deals on books/electronic media, also donations of books, grants, etc!
8. Library of Congress Headings Online
1. Print and Electronic Serials (Journals).
If you are like me, you might also wonder, from time to time, about the benefits of switching from Print to Electronic Journals. An interesting study undertaken at Yale University's Medical Library in 2005, when they were thinking about print cancellation decisions and how to make them, discovered that print journals are used only a fraction as often as their electronic counterparts. Very interesting was the discovery that in the case of both print and electronic journals, a high percentage of use came from a relatively small number of subscribed titles. Collection maintenance is more costly and labour- intensive for print, than electronic. In the case of Yale Medical Library, resources spent supporting 53% of the print collection that is not used seriously impacts efficiency. Funding unused collections seems wasteful. A word of warning is sounded, not all electronic titles are used regularly, so although they may be more cost effective in that generally electronic titles are more often used, those not used are also a drain on resources.
John Gallagher, Kathleen Bauer, Daniel M Dollar. "Evidence-Based Librarianship: Utilizing Data from All Available Sources to make Judicious print Cancellation Decisions". Library Collections, Acquisitions & Technical Services 29.2 (2005): 169-179.
2. Print Journals
If you do not have access to electronic journals, it is still a good idea to look at your print collection carefully. Are there titles which are largely unused, but you have in your collection simply to keep subscriptions up to a certain number? Perhaps you could substitute for local, cheaper, alternatives. Where there are several colleges in the same vicinity, cooperative arrangements and sharing of resources, can be cost effective. Why duplicate a journal when colleges could cooperate and share? If you do not have access to electronic databases, it might also be a good idea to index your journal articles, even an old fashioned card index can be helpful here. I have found that if journals are not indexed in some way they tend to remain unused. It is too much of an effort for the borrower to page through endless issues of a journal in order to find a relevant article.
3. Surviving the information Tsunami.
This was the title of a workshop I recently attended. Consider the following stats that give an indication of the information-glut:
· More than 3000 books are published daily
· Technical information is doubling every two years, and is predicted to double every 72 hours by 2010
* A new blog is created every half minute
* 50 million blogs were created in the second quarter of 2006
* 6 000 000 photos uploaded on Flickr
* 2.7 million Google searches each month
* Only 31% of searches on the web succeed (Oblinger, 2007)
Before searching the web, it is best to analyse the question so as to determine which kind of search to do. It might be that a published book, or an electronic database (perhaps a CD-ROM) may well be a better option.
When searching the web use Boolean Logic (AND, OR, NOT).
AND limits number of hits, e.g. mountain AND goats
NOT eliminates unwanted terms, e.g. drugs NOT painkillers
OR broadens the search by allowing for synonyms e.g. pastors OR clergy
4. RSS or Really Simple Syndication or Rich Site Summary.
Tired of constantly checking websites or databases for updates or searching for new websites? Try using RSS feeds to get the lists of latest updates on websites or blogs or table of contents from your must-read academic journals - all in one place through your Google or Yahoo or Hotmail or Bloglines account. A useful tool is http://page2RSS.com <http://page2rss.com/> which will create a feeder for you. You will need a reader http://222.google.co.za <http://222.google.co.za/>
The RSS is a way of making access to new information simpler, better and faster - to get content delivered to one place as soon as the site is updated. The content comes to you (on your desktop or a website) rather than you going in search of the content, over the web.
This is where librarianship is at now. The Library must go to the borrower rather than the borrower coming to the Library. We must be proactive in searching for ways to make this happen. This applies to those who only have book collections, as much as to those who are largely digital. We need to break down library walls and create libraries/librarians without walls. Here we come!
5. Wolfram/Alpha.
How many of you have set up this search engine? You can have a Wolfram/Alpha query box on the same page as your Google query box. Useful for those short factual borrower questions e.g. How many books are there in the Old Testament?
Users submit queries and computation requests via a text field. Wolfram/Alpha computes answers and relevant visualizations from a knowledge base of structured data. Alpha differs from semantic search engines, which index large numbers of answers and they try to match the question to one.
As well as mathematics queries, W/A is capable of responding to natural-language fact-based questions like "where was John Calvin born"?"
People have said that W/A will give Google a run for it's money. I would say the applications are different, so Google will still be around for a long time. An important lesson here for librarians, always look at the application and the market for which the product is intended. When is it appropriate to use books as a reference source and when would the internet or commercial databases be more appropriate? More than ever, the Librarian has to learn to make judgments regarding the use of various forms of information packaging.
6. CALA Workshop in Kenya June/July 2009
Hey! Those Kenyan theological Librarians/Information workers are an example to us all! CALA (Christian Association of Librarians in Africa) is holding a 5 day workshop at Kabarak University, Nakuru town, Kenya from 29th June - 3rd July. The title for the conference is "Library Services in the 21st Century". Key topics are:
* Reference Service in a Digital Environment
· Disaster/Risk Management of Information Resources
· Providing Leadership in an Electronic Library: Challenges and opportunities.
Contact Ephraim Mudave mud...@negst.edu <mailto:mud...@negst.edu>
Members: K Sh15,000 ($200); Non Members K Sh17,000 ($225)
7. Good deals on books/electronic media, also donations of books, grants etc!
Just a friendly reminder that Langham Literature Trust, Feed the Minds Book service and Darien Book plan, offer Library Grants, donations and greatly reduced prices on ordered books.
Darien Book Aid Plan Inc, 1926 Post road, Darien, Connecticut 06820, USA
Langham Partnership International
P.O. Box 997
Guildford
GU1 9DS
United Kingdom
Email: in...@langhampartnership.org <mailto:in...@langhampartnership.org>
Feed the Minds
36 Causton Street
London
SW1P 4AU
United Kingdom
tel 08451 21 21 02
int’l +44 (0)20 7592 3901
fax +44 (0)20 7592 3939
8. Library of Congress subject Headings Online!!!
Fran Etemesi sent the following website links for Library of Congress subject headings. I tried it - wonderful, and so easy to use! Thank you, Fran!
http://id.loc.gov/authorities/search/
http://id.loc.gov/authorities/sh85025219
and
http://id.loc.gov/authorities/about.html#top
Well, that is all for now, brothers and sisters! Please write in with your news.
God bless!
David Fitz-Patrick
LIBRARIAN
Bible Institute of South Africa
180 Main Road, Kalk Bay 7975
Cape Town, RSA
<http://www.bisa.org.za>
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