Journal of Human Rights and the Environment

Journal of Human Rights and the Environment is a new publication coming from Edward Elgar Publishing in 2010

New purchase options for Wiley-Blackwell Journal Backfiles

"In 2009 institutional customers will have the option to:

* Pick and choose backfiles at the individual title level
* Purchase backfiles in newly expanded Subject Collections with no overlapping titles, giving you access to the complete backfile in a specific discipline
* If you have already purchased any of the Wiley Backfile Collections, you can supplement them with access to the additional titles at a special discount

All titles and Collections are available for a one-time fee with no running costs, providing you with perpetual access to the years of content bought. Volume discounts are available depending on your order total"

BC ELN Connect - December 2008

BC ELN Connect - December 2008 issue is now available from the British Columbia Electronic Library Network, Canada

The International Barcode of Life project

The International Barcode of Life project (iBOL) has one overarching goal - to assemble the sequence library and the technology necessary to identify organisms rapidly and inexpensively. This goal is underpinned by the observation that sequence diversity in short, standardized gene regions (DNA barcodes) enables both the identification of known species and the discovery of new ones. By building an identification system based on digital DNA strings rather than on analogue traits, DNA barcoding promises a massive improvement in our capacity to monitor and manage biodiversity with profound societal and economic impacts

New European Union prize for literature to be awarded in 2009

The European Commission has launched a new European Union prize for contemporary literature. The aim is to put the spotlight on the creative and diverse wealth of Europe's contemporary literature, promote more circulation of literature within Europe and greater interest in non-national literary works

2008 Guardian first book award winner announced

"An intricate, kaleidoscopic, all-embracing history of 20th-century music from Mahler to La Monte Young is the winner of this year's Guardian first book award. Alex Ross's The Rest Is Noise was the clear and undisputed winner of the £10,000 prize, which has been presented at a ceremony in central London"

Biblio Tech Review - December 2008

The December 2008 issue of Biblio Tech Review is now available. This issue includes:
* Ingram Digital, McGraw-Hill partner to bring advanced learning tools to Latin America
* India's Panjab University Library Taps 3M for Turnkey Conversion to RFID Circulation Management and Security
* Serials Solutions announces new reporting for the Serials Solutions 360 Resource Manager
* Oxford University Press deploys Thomson Reuters tool JADE to examine and expand subscriber base

Recipients of third annual Mellon Awards for Technology Collaboration announced

The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation has awarded $650,000 in prizes to ten not-for-profit institutions in the third annual Mellon Awards for Technology Collaboration. The Mellon Awards honor not-for-profit organizations for leadership in the collaborative development of open source software tools with application to scholarship in the arts and humanities, as well as cultural-heritage not-for-profit activities

SAGE to publish International Journal of Toxicology

SAGE has partnered with the American College of Toxicology to publish its official publication, the International Journal of Toxicology, beginning in 2009. The peer-reviewed, bi-monthly International Journal of Toxicology publishes current research for toxicologists, including such issues as: safety assessments, novel approaches to toxicological testing, mechanisms of toxicity, biomarkers, and risk assessment. The journal also publishes invited reviews on contemporary topics, articles based on symposia, and quarterly supplements from the Cosmetic Review Expert Panel

Liber Quarterly - Volume 18 (2008) No. 3/4

Liber Quarterly - Volume 18 (2008) No. 3/4 is now available from the European Association for Research Libraries

Votes for women, December 1918

14 December marks the 90th anniversary of the election of the first woman to the British House of Commons, and the first election in which women were able to stand as candidates and to vote. The 1918 election was also the first in which all men aged 21 or over could vote (free of earlier property qualifications), while the female franchise was initially restricted to women aged 30 or over who met certain property requirements. The vote was extended to all women (aged 21 or over) in 1928 and cast a year later in what was dubbed the Flapper election - ODNB

Journal of Global Infectious Diseases

The Board of Editors and the International Infectiologists Network in partnership with Medknow Publications present the Journal of Global Infectious Diseases. JGID will promote the Translation of Science from Bedside to Benchside and Beyond in the field of Infectious Diseases across the world. It will publish scientific contributions such as Original Articles, Review Articles, Case Reports, Case Series, Clinical Trials, Clinical Investigations, Interesting Photographs, Radiology and EKGs and Expert Commentaries. The journal is peer reviewed and indexed. Article Submission and Peer Review is fully Online and Web Based

National Library of Israel adds 788,000 records to OCLC WorldCat

"The National Library of Israel and OCLC have completed a pilot project that has resulted in the addition of more than 788,000 new bibliographic records and 1.1 million holdings from the national library to WorldCat, the world's largest online resource for finding information in libraries. These records from the National Library of Israel are now visible to Web searchers through WorldCat.org. The National Library of Israel, formerly known as the Jewish National and University Library, worked with OCLC in the pilot project to explore and resolve issues in adding records containing only non-Latin script data to WorldCat. Most of the new records added to WorldCat represent materials in Hebrew script, but significant numbers of records represent Arabic-script and Cyrillic-script publications. The National Library of Israel will continue to add records to WorldCat as new materials are cataloged."

More non-conformist birth, marriage and death records go online

More than 600,000 records of births, baptisms, marriages and burials have been added to the searchable online service at BMDRegisters. These records were previously only viewable on microfilm as the RG 8 series. Among the extensive collections you can find:

* Maternity records from the British Lying-in Hospital, Holborn, 1749-1868
* Registers of burials in the Victoria Park Cemetery, Bunhill Fields Burial Ground, Bethnal Green Protestant Dissenters Burying Ground and many more
* The archive of the Russian Orthodox Church in London, 1721-1927: these records include births, marriages, deaths and conversions, as well as comprehensive general records on the day-to-day running of the church

Credo Reference adds key University of Chicago Press references

Credo Reference has signed an agreement with the University of Chicago Press to integrate four titles into the Credo General Reference collection. As a result of the agreement, Credo Reference researchers will be able to access the following titles:

Critical Terms for Art History, 2nd edition
Critical Terms for Literary Study, 2nd edition
Critical Terms for Religious Studies
Critical Terms for the Study of Buddhism

ASA Conference 2009

Association of Subscription Agents & Intermediaries Conference 2009 - 16-17 February 2009 - London, UK

Podcast: Merchant Navy Operational Records

Janet Dempsey examines the wealth of records which deal with the tragedy, terror, heroism and honour of the Merchant Navy in both World Wars. - UK National Archives Podcast

Book Digitized Reading Online Protocol (BookDROP)

"This document specifies an industry standard for the discovery, browse, search, and distribution of digitized book content over the World Wide Web. The purpose of this standard is to encourage the promotion and distribution of digital content while at the same time allowing publishers to manage the quality and availability of the content."

Calendar of Close Rolls

From British History Online: "The calendar for the reign of Edward II is now live. Offered as part of our premium content service, this is the latest stage in our publication of the complete Calendar for the period 1227 to 1509. Our premium content service also includes the complete Calendar of State Papers, Domestic series"

The Friday Brain-teaser from Credo Reference

The Friday Brain-teaser from Credo Reference - this week: Spain. Answers here.

1. What is the capital of Spain?
2. What is the name of the mountain chain between France and Spain?
3. In bullfighting, what is a picador?
4. Are wines from Rioja predominantly red or white?
5. Which Spanish novelist wrote "Don Quixote" about a self-deluding knight errant?
6. What is the name of the plateau which covers most of Spain?
7. Who designed the Church of the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona?
8. Which Spanish composer wrote the guitar concerto called "Concierto de Aranjuez"?
9. Which Spanish painter between 1810 and 1814 executed 65 etchings called "Los Desastres de la Guerra" (The Disasters of War)?
10. What is the "zapateado"?

National Library of Scotland selects Hitachi Data Systems to build digital archive

"Hitachi Data Systems has announced that it is supporting the National Library of Scotland in its plans to build a digital archive; allowing it to ramp up its digitisation efforts. The library's Digital Repository, which is starting to be populated with digital copies of the Library's collection of over 14 million items which includes nearly 2 million maps and 100,000 manuscripts, is accessible to public viewers both within and outside Scotland and preserves almost 400 years of the country's historical and cultural heritage. As the legal deposit library for Scotland, NLS is entitled to claim a copy of each one of the 6,000 publications released in Great Britain every week. In 2004 the library adopted a new strategy of 'Breaking through the Walls,' aiming to make its collections more accessible to a wider range of people no matter where they are located. With new titles being added daily, the library needed to ensure that its DR was not only available to current users but also able to grow substantially. The library includes among its collection some extremely valuable historical documents, including the first Scottish books ever printed, so it also had to be secure enough to keep the nation's literary and cultural assets safe for future generations to enjoy" - newswire Today

Libraries offer free relief from tough times (NBC Nightly News)

Wayne State creates School of Library and Information Science

The Wayne State University Board of Governors has approved the creation of a School of Library and Information Science, effective Spring/Summer 2009, to house the existing Library and Information Science Program. The LIS Program has grown from 125 students in 1987 to nearly 600 graduate students currently enrolled. Provost Nancy Barrett said, "The successful program has outgrown its designation and its size warrants the status of a school." The academic oversight and degree-granting authority for the program will be transferred from the Graduate School to the new School. The Dean of University Libraries and the Library and Information Science Program, Dr. Sandra Yee, will continue to serve as the dean of the new School.

LawCite Alpha launched by Australasian Legal Information

The Australasian Legal Information Institute has released LawCite Alpha. The free service provides access to Australian law and those of other countries whose case data is available through the Free Access to Law Movement by citation, case name, court and jurisdiction searches. You can also search for law journal articles by title and author

Scottish Open Source software award for AccessApps

AccessApps, a package of over 50 open source and freeware assistive technologies run from a USB stick, has just won the Excellence in Education category at the Scottish Open Source Awards. It has been developed by the JISC Regional Support Centre (RSC) Scotland North & East3 and made freely available following a successful collaboration between JISC TechDis (the accessibility advisory service) and JISC's RSC Scotland South & West. JISC's open source software advisory service OSS Watch is now also getting involved with the project. Using open source and freeware applications packaged in this way, users can access assistive software in a flexible way without the stigma of using dedicated machines. The suite includes tools to make reading and writing easier and browsing more accessible, anywhere the user happens to be and on any machine

Directory of Open Access Journals - recently added titles

Macedonian Journal of Medical Sciences

Balkan Journal of Medical Genetics

Economics and Organization of Enterprise

Folia Oeconomica Stetinensia

Hacquetia

Human Affairs

Human Movement

Journal of Konbin

Journal of Water and Land Development

Vjesnik za Arheologiju i Povijest Dalmatinsku

BMB Reports

Rursus

Many lie over books 'to impress'

"Nearly half of all men and one-third of women have lied about what they have read to try to impress friends or potential partners, a survey suggests. Men were most likely to do this to appear intellectual or romantic, found the poll of 1,500 people by Populus for the National Year of Reading campaign. The men polled said they would be most impressed by women who read news websites, Shakespeare or song lyrics. Women said men should have read Nelson Mandela's biography or Shakespeare. Among the 1,500 who took part in the research were 864 teenagers" - BBC

Books for Schools

Books for Schools - "Times Education is committed to helping teachers, parents and children to gain access to some of the best books for young readers, and to help spread the enjoyment of reading. We are delighted to offer every school in the country the chance to increase the number of books in their library - absolutely free. Our aim is to help you to encourage your pupils to read, giving them the chance to develop their imaginations and improve their literacy skills. Each day during the school term in 2009, readers of The Times and The Sunday Times can collect tokens that can be redeemed for free books. With books available for as little as ten tokens, you could benefit from hundreds of books next year"

Vadlo

Vadlo is a new search engine for the biological sciences

Librarians' Internet Index - New This Week

Librarians' Internet Index - New This Week - December 11, 2008

First Monday - December 2008

First Monday - Volume 13, Number 12, 1 December 2008 now available

Google Book Search Bibliography version 3

Google Book Search Bibliography version 3 "presents selected English-language articles and other works that are useful in understanding Google Book Search. It primarily focuses on the evolution of Google Book Search and the legal, library, and social issues associated with it. Where possible, links are provided to works that are freely available on the Internet, including e-prints in disciplinary archives and institutional repositories. Note that e-prints and published articles may not be identical" - From Charles W. Bailey, Jr.

Henry VIII: Man and Monarch

"In April 2009, to mark the 500th anniversary of Henry VIII's accession to the throne, historian and broadcaster Dr David Starkey will guest-curate a major exhibition at the British Library, London. Important and rarely displayed items from the British Library's unrivalled Henry VIII collections, including correspondence, key official documents, maps and books from the King's own library, will be exhibited alongside loans from other national museums and collections"

Darwin and the Story of Evolution: British Library exhibition

"Twenty years in the making, the publication of 'On the Origin of Species' in 1859 completely revolutionised modern scientific thinking and established Charles Darwin as one of the most influential thinkers of all time. In recognition of the 200th Anniversary of Darwin's birth, the British Library is launching Darwin and the Story of Evolution on 10 December; a folio gallery exhibition revealing the intellectual journey made by the man behind the theory"

New ALA Scholarship: Peter Lyman Memorial/SAGE Scholarship in New Media

"The American Library Association has announced a new scholarship, the Peter Lyman Memorial/SAGE Scholarship in New Media, which is being offered with the support of SAGE Publications. The scholarship was created in memory of Peter Lyman, former university librarian and professor emeritus of the School of Information at the University of California, Berkeley. Professor Lyman was nationally known for his landmark study on information overload entitled, 'How Much Information?' co-authored with Hal Valerian. The Peter Lyman Memorial/SAGE Scholarship in New Media will support a student in an ALA accredited master's program in Library and Information Studies pursing a specialty in new media. New media is defined as digital technology's transformation of business and culture during the past 25-plus years, clarifying the evolution of digital communications and human-computer interaction. The scholarship winner must have demonstrated academic excellence, leadership and evidence of a commitment to a career in librarianship. The recipient will receive a $2,500 scholarship as well as a travel stipend to attend the ALA Midwinter Meeting"

AASL releases two toolkits focused on advocacy during tough times

"The American Association of School Librarians recently launched two new toolkits exclusively for school library media programs. The School Library Media Health & Wellness and Crisis Toolkits are designed to address the needs of and resources available to school library media specialists to build stakeholder support in their programs. "Unless administrators know the essential and unique roles school library media programs have in student learning and 21st century skills, they will continue to be at the top of the list of programs to be cut. The School Library Media Health & Wellness and Crisis Toolkits are designed to help school library media specialists systematically educate decision makers and other stakeholders of the contributions their programs make to student learning," said Deb Logan, AASL Advocacy Committee chair."

Ten Trends & Technologies for 2009 with Michael Stephens

Ten Trends & Technologies for 2009 with Michael Stephens - What technologies and trends should librarians be watching? Transparency, Micro-content, Open Source and more will be included. What's the next big thing as we move into 2009? Join librarian and Tame the Web blogger Michael Stephens for a discussion of ten technologies to be aware of in now and beyond. How do trends impact library services? - Audio Conference - Tuesday, January 13, 2009 - 1:00 pm ET

Towards the academic library of the future

"Key national organisations in the library field are to collaborate on a major programme of consultation to help shape the future of the academic library. JISC, SCONUL, RLUK, the British Library and the Research Information Network (RIN) are to work together on a major strategic initiative which will explore the substantial challenges facing academic libraries as they respond to a period of unparalleled change in the external environment. Workshops, studies and a combination of partnership and advocacy with key stakeholders in the higher education arena will build on existing work to develop a transformative agenda that will ensure the continuing relevance of libraries to the communities of information creators and users they serve. In particular the study will explore what is best done locally and what is best done through co-operation at national or international level"

Open Milton

From the Open Knowledge Foundation Weblog: "The 9th of December 2008 is John Milton's 400th birthday. To celebrate this life-long advocate of liberty we've officially launched Open Milton - an open set of Milton's works, together with ancillary information and tools, in a form designed for reuse"

Electronic Resources & Libraries 2009 Conference - abstracts available

ER&L 2009 provides a forum for information professionals to explore ideas, trends, and technologies related to electronic resources and digital services - February 9-12, 2009 - Los Angeles, CA, USA. Abstracts of papers to presented are now available

December Early Reviewer books at LibraryThing

The December batch of Early Reviewer books is now available at LibraryThing. There are 1,545 copies of 71 books available this month

Penguin 2.0

"Penguin 2.0 is a new suite of digital and print-based services that offer readers a new way to engage with and discover Penguin content. These collected services will encompass the entire spectrum of a Web 2.0 world by including aspects of customization, personalization, delivery to mobile phones, as well as eBooks and e-only content. In addition, later phases of Penguin 2.0 will offer community functionality and social networking. The Penguin US website will be the focus and hub for the program. Individual services, such as Penguin Mobile and Penguin Personalized, are launching in December 2008. Additional Penguin 2.0 features and programs will be rolled out in 2009, with the entire suite of services being phased in over the next 12 months"

The Campaigning Toolkit from CILIP

"Library and information professionals are facing questions about their value to their employers and the communities they serve. As a personal membership organisation CILIP supports its members in terms of qualifications, careers, professional practice, information, advice and continuing professional development. The Campaigning Toolkit is a resource designed by CILIP to help you create an effective grassroots action plan to demonstrate your value as a library and information professional" - CILIP

Magazines come to Google Book Search

From Inside Google Book Search: "Over the past couple of years, we've made an effort to bring specialized content like Patents, News Archives and the LIFE Photo Archive online. Today, that effort continues - we're beginning to add magazines to the Google Book Search index, so that when you search on Google Book Search, you'll be searching across the full text of both books and an ever-growing number of magazines, which will appear tagged with the keyword "Magazine" in search results."

UNESCO launches first-ever survey of historical and contemporary slavery

"Slavery may have been legally abolished around the world, but it remains 'a widespread and deeply rooted component on contemporary life' concludes the first-ever comparative analysis of historical slave systems and modern forms of human bondage, published online today by UNESCO. Entitled Unfinished Business, the survey was commissioned by UNESCO's Slave Route project and prepared by Joel Quirk of the Wilberforce Institute for the study of Slavery and Emancipation (WISE, U.K). It aims to provide the basis for dialogue about ways of addressing contemporary slavery, including human trafficking, sexual servitude and child labour, and the enduring legacies of historical slave systems"

Keeping current: What's new in engineering information?

Keeping current: What's new in engineering information? presented by Roddy McLeod at Online Information 2008 (London, December 2-4, 2008), reviews a selection of news sources, and then looks at new services, new eBooks, new journals, open access developments, social networking developments and RSS

Gale Cengage Learning Award for Excellence in Reference and Adult Library Services

The Gale Cengage Learning Award for Excellence in Reference and Adult Library Services is given to a library or library system for developing an imaginative and unique resource to meet patrons' reference needs. The resource can be a bibliography, a guide to the literature of a specific subject, a directory, a database, or any other project that has helped the library meet adult or children's reference needs. Tools, guides, or databases that have been developed for reader's advisory or adult service questions and needs are also eligible for the award. Deadline is December 15, 2009

English Reports 1220-1873 available free online

CommonLII has added a freely available database of English Reports from 1220-1873. "The English Reports is the oldest collection of the most authoritative, comprehensive law reports in publication. Over 100,000 of the most important cases reported between 1220 and 1873 compiled into one collection, the English Reports is an essential resource for all Commonwealth barristers and solicitors"

Directory of Open Access Journals - recently added titles

Journal of Preventive Medicine

Focus

American Theological Inquiry

Bulletin astronomique de Belgrade

Serbian Astronomical Journal

ARL Statistics Webcast - December 10, 2008

The Association of Research Libraries is offering a webcast on the findings of the ARL Ad Hoc Task Force on Best Practices for Counting Serial Titles and the way the work of the group has informed changes in the ARL Statistics 2007–08 survey. The webcast will be held December 10, 2008, 1:00-1:45 p.m. EST. Joyce McDonough (Director, Continuing and Electronic Resources Management, Columbia University Libraries), a member of the task force, will discuss her engagement with the task force and how her library implemented new counting procedures for serials. Martha Kyrillidou (Director, ARL Statistics and Service Quality Programs) and Julia Blixrud (Assistant Executive Director, External Relations, ARL) will offer background on the work of the task force and how the revised definitions are working for libraries

Carnegie Corporation of New York/New York Times I Love My Llibrarian Award winners announced

10 librarians have been recognized for service to their communities, schools and campuses as winners of the Carnegie Corporation of New York/New York Times I Love My Librarian Award. More than 3,200 library users nationwide nominated a librarian:

Linda Allen
Libraries Director
Pasco County Library System
Hudson, Fla.

Jean Amaral, Reference Librarian
Antioch University New England
Keene, N.H.

Amy J. Cheney, Librarian
Alameda County Library, Juvenile Hall
San Leandro, Calif.


Jennifer Lankford Dempsey, Library Media Specialist and Technology Coordinator
Wrights Mill Road Elementary School
Auburn, Ala.

Carol W. Levers, Community Services Librarian
Kansas City, Kansas Public Library; Weekend Supervisor
Plaza Branch Library, Kansas City Public Library
Kansas City, Mo.

Dr. Margaret "Gigi" Lincoln, Library Media Specialist
Lakeview High School Library
Battle Creek, Mich.

Iona R. Malanchuk, Associate University Librarian and Head of the Education Library
University of Florida
Gainesville, Fla.

Elaine McIlroy, Director
Wellfleet Public Library
Wellfleet, Mass.

Paul McIntosh, Library Media Specialist
Wadleigh Secondary School For The Performing and Visual Arts
New York, N.Y.

Arezoo Moseni, Senior Librarian
The New York Public Library, Mid-Manhattan Library, The Art Collection
New York, N.Y.

C&RL News - December 2008

C&RL News Volume 69, No. 11, December 2008 is now available from ACRL

Morgan Library & Museum receives Oscar Wilde gift

The Morgan Library & Museum, New York, USA, has announced that it has received the gift of a highly important bound collection of Oscar Wilde's letters and manuscripts, the whereabouts of which has been unknown to scholars for over half a century. The magnificent red-leather-bound volume, totaling just over fifty handwritten pages, will be placed on exhibition beginning April 17, 2009. The volume comprises nine manuscripts of poems and prose pieces and four important letters that illuminate the life and work of the celebrated writer, dramatist, aesthete, wit, and selfproclaimed "lord of language." Of special note are the earliest surviving letter from Wilde to his lover Lord Alfred Douglas (called "Bosie,"); a manuscript of the story "The Selfish Giant" in the hand of Wilde's wife, Constance; the only surviving autograph manuscripts of Wilde's Poems in Prose; and a letter in which Wilde reiterated his famous claim that art is "useless."

Video available from conference on Traditional Cultural Expression

In November 2008 the ALA Office for Information Technology Policy hosted a conference in Washington, D.C. titled Cultural Heritage and Living Culture: Defining The U.S. Library Position on Access and Protection of Traditional Cultural Expression. Here is some video:

LISTen: The LISNews.org Podcast - Episode #51

LISTen: The LISNews.org Podcast - Episode #51 : "This week's episode is characterized by variety. The episode kicks off with a recap of stories that might have flown below the radar. After that the program talks to Evan Prodromou, the creator of the Laconica software that operates sites site as TWiT Army and Identi.ca. From there the podcast took a look at a musical program at the West Charleston branch of Las Vegas-Clark County Library District. After that there is a mix of Linux and open source news followed by another installment of Tech for Techies. After Tech for Techies the episode wraps up". Previous Podcasts can be found here

German National Archive posting millions of photos to Wikipedia

"The German National Archive has announced that some 100,000 digitalized historical photos were available for the internet encyclopedia Wikipedia in a dual project that will eventually make about 11 million photos available for public use. The digital photos will be uploaded to Wikimedia Commons, where users will then be able to attach them to corresponding entries on Wikipedia" - The Local Europe

Computers in Libraries 2009 Advance Program

Computers in Libraries 2009 has published its advance program

Dr. LIU Chuang, 2008 CODATA Prize Recipient

"Dr. LIU Chuang, from the Institute of Geography and Natural Resources in Beijing, was the 2008 recipient of the CODATA Prize. For more than two decades, she has contributed to the development of significant new scientific data products and services and worked with the Chinese scientific community and key government institutions to improve data quality and availability. She received the award for her outstanding achievement on the world stage in scientific data research, policy and management issues while simultaneously nurturing international cooperation and highlighting the many challenges facing data scientists in developing countries"

Footnote.com and The US National Archives launch largest interactive World War II collection online

Footnote.com and the US National Archives and Records Administration announced today the release of the first ever interactive World War II collection, which includes an interactive version of the USS Arizona Memorial, WWII Hero Pages, and WWII photos and documents previously unavailable on the internet

Calendar of State Papers, Venice now online

The complete series of the Calendar of State Papers, Venice is now live. These 38 volumes cover the period 1202-1675, and calendar papers in the Venetian archives which relate to English affairs. Covering a period in which Venetian diplomacy was central to European politics, these calendars offer a rich external view of English history - British History Online

ALPSP International Conference 2009

ALPSP International Conference 2009 - 9-11 September, 2009 - The Oxford Belfry, UK. ALPSP = The Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers

Credo Reference recently added and updated titles

• A Biographical Dictionary of Women Economists, Edward Elgar Publishing
  
• The Bridgeman Art Library Archive
  
• The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Hunters and Gatherers
  
• The Columbia Encyclopedia, Columbia University Press
  
• Continuum Companion to Twentieth Century Theatre
  
• Continuum Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World: Media, Industry and Society
  
• Continuum Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World: Performance and Production
  
• Critical Terms for Art History, University of Chicago
  
• Critical Terms for Literary Study, University of Chicago Press
  
• Critical Terms for the Study of Buddhism, University of Chicago
  
• Dictionary of Computing, A&C Black
  
• Dictionary of Food: International Food and Cooking Terms from A to Z, A&C Black
  
• Dictionary of Medical Terms, A&C Black
  
• Dictionary of Modern American Philosophers, Continuum
  
• Encyclopedia of Empiricism, Routledge
  
• Encyclopedia of the History of American Management, Continuum
  
• Handbook of Research on Teaching the English Language Arts, Routledge
  
• The Hutchinson Chronology of World History
  
• Manufacturing Engineering Handbook, McGraw-Hill
  
• Marquis Who Was Who in America: 1607-1984
  
• Rivers of North America, Elsevier
  
• Shakespeare's Theatre: A Dictionary of His Stage Context, Continuum
  
• Time Saver Standards for Architectural Design: Technical Data for Professional Practice, McGraw-Hill
  

Focus on Mimas - December 2008

The December 2008 edition of Focus on Mimas is now available. Mimas is a national data centre, supported by JISC and ESRC, and based at The University of Manchester, England

OECD Subscription Prices 2009

OECD has announced its 2009 subscription prices

The Friday Brain-teaser from Credo Reference

The Friday Brain-teaser from Credo Reference - this week: Computer Games. Answers here.

1. Which Japanese company introduced the Game Boy in 1989?
2. What kind of animal is "Sonic" in games manufactured by Japanese company Sega?
3. Name the electronic toy which was all the rage in 1997. It displayed a digital image of a creature that had to be looked after by its owner as if it were a pet.
4. Which video game console was released in Japan by Sony in 1994?
5. What did players have to do in the game of Space Invaders?
6. In the game "Donkey Kong", what was the name of the little man who had to rescue a lady in distress from a gorilla?
7. In the game "Pac-Man", which was popular in the early 1980s, what exactly was the "Pac-Man"?
8. What was the name of IBM's chess machine which in 1997 defeated grandmaster Garry Kasparov by 3.5-2.5?
9. In talking about computer games, what does MMOG stand for?
10. Which video games business was founded in 1972 by Nolan Bushnell?

Digital New Zealand

Digital New Zealand, a nation-wide project to help make New Zealand digital content easier to find, share and use, was launched at the National Library of New Zealand on 3 December 2008. John Truesdale from the National Library says "Digital New Zealand will offer all New Zealanders interactive access to a variety of rich taonga, resources, knowledge and stories from a range of organisations, communities and individuals. It will make New Zealand content of all types more discoverable, accessible and usable". Digital New Zealand is a collaborative project, led by the National Library and funded by the New Zealand Government, which aims to test new ways to create digital content, collect and share existing digital content and build smart, freely available search and discovery tools.

ONIX for Serials: Case Studies of Use

ONIX for Serials: Case Studies of Use - NISO/EDItEUR Webinar - December 11, 2008, 1:00-2:30 p.m. (Eastern Time)

2008 Costa Book Awards shortlists

The 2008 Costa Book Awards shortlists have been announced. See also videos from the 2007 winners. 2008 winners will be announced 6 January 2009

FreePint Newsletter 266

FreePint Newsletter 266 - 4 December, 2008 now available

The Polymer Library now available on EBSCOhost

"The Polymer Library is now available on the EBSCOhost platform thanks to a partnership between Smithers Rapra and EBSCO Publishing. The Polymer Library (formerly Rapra Abstracts) is the world's largest database dedicated to plastics, rubber, polymeric composites and adhesives. The database is designed for both academic and corporate researchers and includes information on the science, technology and business of polymers. The Polymer Library includes content from around 500 publishers and contains nearly a million records dating from 1972 to the present. The information originates from a wide range of sources including technical and application-focused journals, conference proceedings, books and reports. Coverage is comprehensive, including well-known major journals and smaller niche content"

The Global Legal Information Network offers new features

"A new version of the Web-accessible Global Legal Information Network (GLIN) was released on November 24, 2008, offering users three new features. The most significant enhancement is the application of digital signatures to each full text document in the GLIN database, for security purposes. Other new features include a simplified Chinese Web interface and direct access to the United Kingdom's Acts of Parliament" - Library of Congress

Podcast: Cabinet Papers, 1915-1977

Podcast: Cabinet Papers, 1915-1977: Laura Withey (Project Manager) and Dr. Ed Hampshire (Records Specialist ) talk about this exciting new project, the new web pages and the records being made available online for the first time - UK National Archives

Historians Peter Brown, Romila Thapar named recipients of $1 Million 2008 Kluge Prize for Study of Humanity

"Peter Robert Lamont Brown and Romila Thapar will receive the 2008 Kluge Prize for Lifetime Achievement in the Study of Humanity in a ceremony Dec. 10 at the Library of Congress. They are the sixth and seventh recipients since the Prize's 2003 inception. Endowed by Library of Congress benefactor John W. Kluge, the Kluge Prize is unique among all international prizes at the $1 million level in rewarding a very wide range of disciplines including history, philosophy, politics, anthropology, sociology, religion, criticism in the arts and humanities, and linguistics, as well as a great variety of cultural perspectives in the world. Each awardee will receive half of the $1 million prize" - Library of Congress

ALIA Information Online 2009

14th ALIA Information Online Conference & Exhibition - 20-22nd January 2009 - Darling Harbour Exhibition and Convention Centre, Sydney, Australia

Ontario Library Association Super Conference

Ontario Library Association Super Conference - 28-31 January 2009 - Toronto, Canada

DailyLit launches books from the University of North Carolina Press

DailyLit has launched several books from the University of North Carolina Press. The books are all available on DailyLit for $4.95 or $6.95

CC Asia-Pacific Conference 2009

"You are cordially invited to attend and participate in the regional conference of Creative Commons in Asia and the Pacific in the Philippines on 5-6 February 2009 to be hosted by the Arellano University School of Law, Lead Public Institution of Creative Commons - Philippines. The principal venue for the event will be at the Coral Ballroom of the Manila Pavillon Hotel situated at the heart of the City of Manila. The conference aims (a) to showcase the various initiatives of Creative Commons in Asia and the Pacific and (b) for the stakeholders to get together in a forum to define the roadmap of Creative Commons in the region following the 2008 iCommons Summit in Sapporo, Japan"

HeinOnline Update November 2008

HeinOnline Update November 2008 is now available

Podcast: The real Little Dorrit: Charles Dickens and the debtors' prison

David Thomas examines the reality behind Charles Dickens' fiction - what were Victorian debtors' prisons really like and how accurate was Dickens' portrayal of them? - UK National Archives

Librarians' Internet Index - New This Week

Librarians' Internet Index - New This Week - December 4, 2008

Unlocking Audio 2 - Connecting with Listeners

Unlocking Audio 2: Connecting with Listeners is a key event exploring the use of sound recordings online, focussing on ways that researchers and other audiences expect to discover, browse, audition and analyse archival audio resources. It will be of interest to content owners, academics & students, service providers, user groups, resource managers, system integrators, and designers and implementers of search & content analysis tools. Keynotes speakers include Charles Leadbeater, a leading authority on innovation and creativity in organisations, and Andy Powell, Head of Development at the Eduserv Foundation - 16-17 March 2009 - The British Library Conference Centre, London, UK

5 million articles online at HighWire Press

"A division of the Stanford University Libraries, HighWire Press hosts the largest repository of high impact, peer-reviewed content, with 1189 journals and 5,009,562 full text articles from over 140 scholarly publishers. HighWire-hosted publishers have collectively made 2,013,680 articles free. With our partner publishers we produce 71 of the 200 most-frequently-cited journals"

Nixon Presidential Library opens additional White House tape recordings and textual materials

On December 2, 2008, the Nixon Presidential Library opened approximately 198 hours of tape recordings from the Nixon White House recorded between November and December 1972 and consisting of approximately 1,398 conversations. The conversations cover topics such as the 1972 Presidential and Congressional elections, reorganization of the executive branch, creation of a "New Majority" for a reinvigorated Republican Party or new conservative third party, the late stages of the peace negotiations to end the Vietnam War, and the decision to bomb the Hanoi and Haiphong areas in North Vietnam

Cabinet Papers, 1915-1977

The UK National Archives has launched Cabinet Papers, 1915-19774, a ground-breaking education website concerning British governance in the 20th century that provides free online access to more than 60 years' worth of cabinet papers. The project was funded via the JISC Digitisation Programme, and provides online access to more than half a million pages of cabinet minutes and memoranda. Users are able to key-word search the entire content of each record, while education tools - including interactive maps and images - will help students engage with the records and understand the way they influenced people's lives over the years

Using the Web to Encourage Critical Thinking

From Intute, UK: "Using the Wider Web to Encourage Critical Thinking is a series of exercises designed for classroom or seminar use, aimed at sixth formers and first year undergraduates. Intended to develop students' analytical abilities, these resources use the Web - which offers unparalleled opportunities for comparative study of different types of writing and argument - as source material. The subject matter is of relevance to a range of humanities disciplines (most especially, though by no means limited to, philosophy and religious studies), while the research skills gained will be valuable to all students. Two units are currently available, the first focussing on checking facts, and the second on gauging and analysing popular opinion on a range of controversial issues. In both units, students are invited to explore the Web and find a number of sites which address the selected topic, and then, in a teacher-led group discussion, to share and discuss their findings. The Teacher's Guide includes suggested session outlines and discussion points, and worksheets and PowerPoint presentations are also supplied"

Scholarly Electronic Publishing Weblog update

The December 3, 2008 edition of the Scholarly Electronic Publishing Weblog from Charles W. Bailey, Jr. is now available

Novanet and University of New Brunswick to use OCLC WorldCat Local service

"Novanet and the University of New Brunswick have signed agreements to implement OCLC's WorldCat Local, the service that combines the cooperative power of OCLC member libraries worldwide with the ability to use WorldCat.org as a solution for local discovery and delivery services. Novanet and the University of New Brunswick are the first library systems outside the United States to use WorldCat Local. These Canadian libraries join a growing number of libraries in the United States that are using WorldCat Local to help their users more easily find and get items in library collections"

School Library Journal's Best Books 2008

From School Library Journal: "Of the more than 5000 books reviewed in SLJ's pages in 2008, 67 books stood out as having distinctive voices, singular vision, and/or innovative approaches. They include books for toddlers and preschoolers, terrific picture books and easy readers, and some highly original novels. Fantasy, historical fiction, science fiction, humor, mystery, affecting family stories, and adventure all make an appearance"

InSITE - December 1, 2008

InSITE: A Current Awareness Service of Cornell Law Library - Vol. 14, No. 8, December 1, 2008, is now available

Free educational podcasts from Emerald

Emerald Group Publishing Limited is making a range of educational podcasts freely available for a limited period. The podcasts cover a range of subjects, including Accounting and Finance, Human Resources Management, Marketing and Logistics, and more. The podcasts have been specially written by David Pollitt, Information and Research Officer at the University of Bradford's European Briefing Unit. David Pollit has also edited various journals on Strategic Management, Human Resource Management and Training

AALL Spectrum - December 2008

AALL Spectrum - December 2008 is now available from the American Association of Law Libraries

Video presentations from "Deep Search"

Video presentations from Deep Search, held 8 November 2008 at the World-Information Institute Conference in Vienna, Austria, are now available

Eurostat regional yearbook 2008

"Through graphics and text, the Eurostat regional yearbook 2008 paints a statistical portrait of life in the regions of the European Union's member states, candidate countries and the EFTA countries. Its 13 chapters are written by specialists and presented in a language accessible to all. The book gives an ideal opportunity to assess the progress made so far in regional policy programmes recently launched as part of the EU's new cohesion policy. The latest results from the Urban Audit provide a snapshot of city life across the regions"

Directory of Open Access Journals - recently added titles

Rhizomes : Cultural Studies in Emerging Knowledge

Humanising Language Teaching

Call for Papers: Digitizing Medieval and Early Modern Material Culture

Editors Brent Nelson (University of Saskatchewan) and Melissa Terras (University College London) invite submissions for a collection of essays on "Digitizing Medieval and Early Modern Material Culture" to be published in the New Technologies in Medieval and Renaissance Studies Series edited by Ray Siemens and William Bowen. This collection of essays will build on the accomplishments of recent scholarship on materiality by bringing together innovative research on the theory and praxis of digitizing material cultures from roughly 500 A.D. to 1700 A.D. Full details at Melissa Terras' Blog

The Virginia Boucher-OCLC Distinguished ILL (Interlibrary Loan) Librarian Award

The Virginia Boucher-OCLC Distinguished ILL (Interlibrary Loan) Librarian Award is an annual award consisting of $2,000, sponsored by OCLC, and a citation. It recognizes a librarian for outstanding professional achievement, leadership, and contributions to interlibrary loan and document delivery through recent publication of significant professional literature, participation in professional associations, and/or innovative approaches to practice in individual libraries. The deadline for nominations is December 15

Archives Hub Collections of the Month, December 2008

Archives Hub Collections of the Month, December 2008: Typewriters and Office Machines - "This month we look at typewriters and their impact on office workers in collections at The Women's Library and other collections around the UK"

LLRX.com November 2008 update

LLRX.com November 2008 update is now online. LLRX.com is a unique, free Web journal dedicated to providing legal, library, IT/IS, marketing and administrative professionals with the most up-to-date information on a wide range of Internet research and technology-related issues, applications, resources and tools, since 1996

LISTen: The LISNews.org Podcast - Episode #50

LISTen: The LISNews.org Podcast - Episode #50 : "In this week's episode we hear from Rob Lopresti not only about music but also about stolen books at Western Washington University. An analysis of a perhaps overlooked part of media coverage of the Mumbai incident is also presented". Previous Podcasts can be found here

Ingentaconnect goes mobile

Ingentaconnect is making preparations to go mobile. They have been putting together a proof of concept to see how connect would look on a mobile device, and explore the benefits it could bring