Brewin Dolphin Borders Book Festival 2010 (Scotland)

"By the time of its seventh festival in 2010, the Borders Book Festival has grown into a national, UK, event. For four days in June in the stunning setting of Harmony Gardens in Melrose, it will stage the announcement of two of Britain's major literary awards. The inaugural Walter Scott Prize for historical fiction is sponsored by the Duke and Duchess of Buccleuch and will given to the best novel of 2009, and the Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust Scottish Arts Council Scottish Book of the Year will go to one of a shortlist of four."

BMC Research Notes

"BMC Research Notes is an open access journal publishing scientifically sound research across all fields of biology and medicine, enabling authors to publish updates to previous research, software tools and databases, data sets, small-scale clinical studies, and reports of confirmatory or 'negative' results. Additionally the journal welcomes descriptions of incremental improvements to methods as well as short correspondence items and hypotheses"

DBpedia 3.5 released

"The new release is based on Wikipedia dumps dating from March 2010. Compared to the 3.4 release, we were able to increase the quality of the DBpedia knowledge base by employing a new data extraction framework which applies various data cleansing heuristics as well as by extending the infobox-to-ontology mappings that guide the data extraction process."

Secret Songs of Birds: The Hidden Beauty of Birdsong Revealed (British Library)

"The British Library has launched a new CD that puts birdsong under the acoustic microscope, revealing the hidden detail of some of the natural world's most impressive songs. Many songbirds, such as the Skylark, Icterine Warbler and Grey Fantail produce songs that astound us with their complexity and speed of delivery. Though these songs never fail to impress, it is almost impossible for the human ear to distinguish the wealth of hidden notes and surprising melodies that make up these remarkable compositions. Secret Songs of Birds: The Hidden Beauty of Birdsong Revealed features 24 original recordings played alongside digitally mastered versions where the natural speed has been slowed down to reveal the subtle intricacy of each song in its full splendour. These extraordinary avian sound recordings are combined with an expert account of the latest theories about birdsong and its meaning"

National Non-Fiction Day 2010 (UK)

National Non-Fiction Day is an annual celebration, initiated by the Federation of Children's Book Groups in partnership with Scholastic Children's Books. It aims to celebrate all that is brilliant about non fiction and show that it's not just fiction that can be read and enjoyed for pleasure. The first National Non-Fiction Day will be celebrated on the 4th November 2010, and annually thereafter on the first Thursday in November. RSS Feed

Shakespeare makes Twitter debut with RSC Sorrow

A "world first" version of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet taking place entirely through social networking site Twitter launched today. A collaboration between the Royal Shakespeare Company and new media entertainment company Mudlark, Such Tweet Sorrow features a cast of six who will play out the story in real time over the next five weeks

Emerald adds Journal of Asia Business Studies to its portfolio

Emerald Group Publishing Limited has announced the addition of the distinguished University of San Francisco journal, Journal of Asia Business Studies, to its management research list

Digital Economy Bill [HL] 2009-10 (UK)

The Bill implements aspects of Government policy on digital media set out in the 'Digital Britain' White Paper published in June 2009. Key areas:

* requires Ofcom to report on communications infrastructure and media content
* imposes obligations on internet service providers to reduce online copyright infringement
* allows the Secretary of State to intervene in internet domain name registration
* requires Channel Four to provide public service content on a range of media
* provides more flexibility over the licensing of Channel 3 and Channel 5 services
* modifies the licensing regime to facilitate switchover to digital radio
* allows variation of the public service provision in Channel 3 and 5 licences
* provides Ofcom with additional powers in relation to electromagnetic spectrum access
* extends the range of video games that are subject to age-related classification
* includes non-print formats in the public lending right payment scheme

Following amendments in the House of Commons Committee Stage, the Bill no longer provides for the appointment of providers of regional and local news. Provisions in relation to extending copyright licensing and orphan works have also been removed

Wiley launches Chinese language website

"John Wiley & Sons has announced the launch of its Chinese language website. Wileychina.com will raise the publisher's profile in China through greater and more meaningful engagement with the community there. Designed to enhance Wiley's China-based customers' experience with tailored sections for librarians, authors, societies and industry partners, wileychina.com will feature general information about Wiley's presence in China as well as specific details about core content of particular interest to the Chinese community. In addition, this site will also include hyper-links and cross references to wiley.com, Wiley InterScience and the Press Room where all local news and events will be highlighted"

Google Books Bibliography - Version 6

Google Books Bibliography - Version 6 presents selected English-language articles and other works that are useful in understanding Google Books. It primarily focuses on the evolution of Google Books 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.

University of Manitoba Archives & Special Collections now on Twitter

"The University of Manitoba Archives & Special Collections is now on Twitter. Follow us at http://twitter.com/umarchives and receive frequent updates on new acquisitions, descriptions, digital collections, upcoming events, YouTube and blog uploads and more"

Springshare launches SMS Reference for LibAnswers

"Springshare has announced an addition to its LibAnswers platform - an SMS Reference module that enables libraries to receive texted reference questions from their customers. LibAnswers aggregates questions and answers from the web, from Twitter, and via SMS into one low-cost solution:

Library of Congress Digital Preservation Newsletter - April 2010

The April 2010 issue of the Library of Congress Digital Preservation Newsletter is now available

Call for papers for Journal of Interlibrary Loan, Document Delivery & Electronic Reserve

The Routledge/Taylor & Francis peer-reviewed Journal of Interlibrary Loan, Document Delivery & Electronic Reserve (JILDDER) has merged with Resource Sharing & Information Networks and is now accepting articles for Fall and Winter publication. Of particular interest to JILDDER are articles regarding resource sharing, unmediated borrowing, electronic reserve, cooperative collection development, shared virtual library services, digitization projects and other multi-library collaborative efforts

Directory of Open Access Journals - recently added titles

Semina : Ciências Agrárias

Journal of Advances in Information Technology

Journal of Reproduction and Infertility

Philosophy & Theory in Biology

Observatorio Laboral Revista Venezolana

International Journal of Multicultural Education

International Journal of Recent Trends in Engineering

Journal of Nephrology and Renal Transplantation

International Journal of ACM Jordan

New release of Social Theory from Alexander Street Press

Social Theory was recently updated with new materials from a host of important social theorists. The collection is nearing completion and now contains over 145,000 pages...The remaining 18 volumes of The Collected Works of Marx and Engels have been added along with several titles from Polity Press

Webcast Recordings available from Blue Ribbon Task Force Symposium on Economics of Sustaining Digital Information

"The symposium, "A National Conversation on the Economic Sustainability of Digital Information," was held in Washington, D.C. on 1 April 2010 and was webcast live. In this symposium, a diverse group of speakers, including OCLC Research Scientist and Blue Ribbon Task Force Co-Chair Brian Lavoie, discussed identifying practical solutions to the economic challenges of preserving today's deluge of digital data. They also discussed recommendations in the Blue Ribbon Task Force's final report on economically sustainable digital preservation practices. Webcast recordings from the symposium are available online, as well as the symposium agenda and complete list of participants"

Prologue Magazine now available on Apple iPad

"Prologue Magazine, the official quarterly publication of the U.S. National Archives, extended its reach to readers this week by adding Apple iPad to the number of ways readers can view or subscribe to it electronically. Prologue, which is now in its 42nd year of publication, is available on iPad through one of its publishing partners, Zinio. The magazine, still available in print format, offers historical stories from the holdings of the Archives as well as articles about Archives programs and initiatives"

ProQuest celebrates National Library Week

"To celebrate libraries and the ways you help communities thrive, ProQuest offers free, open access to many popular resources. Access is available from April 12 through April 18, 2010"

Government Book Talk (USGPO)

The U.S. Government Printing Office's (GPO) Government Book Talk. "Our goal is to raise the profile of some of the best publications from the Federal Government, past and present. We'll be reviewing new and popular publications, providing information about new publications in the offing, and talking about some out-of-print classics. The goal is to spotlight the amazing variety of Government publications and their impact on ourselves and our world - and have fun while doing it"

UK government publications - 1-9 April 2010

The latest round up of new UK government publications this week - 1-9 April 2010 from Intute and the LSE Library

Library 2.0 Gang 04/10: New Models for Bibliographic Record Supply

"Up until recently the world of bibliographic record supply has been fairly stable. The suppliers, practices and workflows currently used by libraries in their cataloguing and acquisition processes evolved twenty or so years ago and have changed very little since. Over the last couple of years we have seen the beginnings of possible change in this area. Open Library launched with the mission to provide an openly available page for every book. (Taking a preview look at their new interface at upstream.openlibrary.org, it is clear that they are expanding that to include a page for every author and subject.) Then, the recently acquired by PTFS, LibLime entered the field with their ‡biblios.net service offering low-cost cataloguing and record sharing service. More recently still Sky River launched its service offering a alternative services to incumbents such as OCLC, claimed to be of lower cost and higher quality, with no restrictions on record reuse. All this has been happening against the background of OCLC going through very public issues around its record reuse policy. Joining Gang regular, Ex Libris CTO, Oren Beit-Arie and myself on the call we have two very relevant guests for this topic. Karen Coyle, who joined us last month to talk about the Semantic Web, also has close association with the Open Library so is ideally placed to talk about their influence. Leslie Straus, Sky River President, also joined us providing an overview of the services they are offering and the drivers behind them."

Omeka Version 1.2 now available

"Omeka is a web platform for publishing collections and exhibitions online. Designed for cultural institutions, enthusiasts, and educators, Omeka is easy to install and modify and facilitates community-building around collections and exhibits. Omeka is free and open source"

Blanche Wiesen Cook to receive Whitehead Award (USA)

"Blanche Wiesen Cook is the 2010 recipient of the Publishing Triangle's Bill Whitehead Award for Lifetime Achievement, named in honor of the legendary editor of the 1970s and 1980s. Cook, a historian, activist, and scholar, has received near universal acclaim for her multibook biography of Eleanor Roosevelt. Volume 1, 1884-1933, published in 1992, won the Lambda Literary Award and Los Angeles Times Book Award. The second volume, The Defining Years, 1933-1938, appeared in 1999 and the final book is forthcoming. She is Distinguished Professor of History and Women's Studies at the John Jay College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York"

Nordic Information Literacy Summer School 2010

The ninth NordINFOLIT Information Literacy Summer School will take place in the southwestern archipelago of Finland in June 2010. The theme of the course will be learning processes and tools in the digital world

eBooks in SwetsWise

"SwetsWise has now been extended to support the acquisition and management of eBook content. SwetsWise offers you a single, user-friendly interface to acquire and manage both journals and eBooks, which is unique to the information industry. If you so wish, SwetsWise can be used solely for acquiring and managing your eBooks collection. SwetsWise provides the easiest way to acquire, access and manage eBooks in a number of ways"

Berghahn Books Librarian's Newsletter – April 2010

Berghahn Books Librarian's Newsletter – April 2010 issue is now available

Get London Reading on your iPhone (UK)

"Explore London's literary heritage for free with the Get London Reading app. Find books on your street, on your way to work, or in places of interest. Simply click the map to find books in your area. Use augmented reality to see exactly where the books are in 3D. Add books to your favourites, and search the books database. With over 500 books (and counting), you can explore London through it's books"

Kipling first edition with author's poignant note found (UK)

A rare first edition of The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling, with a poignant handwritten note by the author to his young daughter, has been discovered. The book was found by librarians at the National Trust's Wimpole Hall in Cambridgeshire, where Kipling's eldest daughter, Elsie, lived. The author wrote the inscription to his daughter Josephine, who died in 1899 aged six, said Trust officials. The book is on display at Wimpole Hall, where Elsie lived from 1938 to 1976. The inscription reads: "This book belongs to Josephine Kipling for whom it was written by her father, May 1894." - BBC

Boston library trustees approve plan to close four branches

"The Boston Public Library Board of Trustees has approved a plan to close four neighborhood branches as part of an effort to eliminate a $3.3 million budget shortfall. The plan would shutter the Faneuil branch in Brighton's Oak Square, along with Lower Mills in Dorchester, Orient Heights in East Boston, and Washington Village in South Boston's Old Colony Housing Development. The trustees also approved a plan to slash up to 69 jobs at the main library in Copley Square and in administrative offices. Before the votes, dozens of people spoke at a public meeting of the board, many expressing anger and resignation as they described the value of libraries and urged trustees to keep all branches open. Nick Collins spoke specifically about the Washington Village branch and warned that the trustees were 'turning their backs' on children in the city with the greatest need. John McGrath told the board that, 'if you close one library, you are going to have to open a prison.' - Boston.com

2010 Saskatchewan Libraries Conference

2010 Saskatchewan Libraries Conference - May 6-8, 2010 - Regina, Canada. "The theme of this year's annual Saskatchewan Libraries Conference is Diverse Communities, One Voice. We are seeking to probe the many ways that we, within the information and library communities, are diverse and yet share similar purposes, develop shared services and have common passions"

The Friday Brain-teaser from Credo Reference

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

1. Who shot to fame in 2001 with his role as David Brent in the BBC television show "The Office"?
2. In which series was Kelsey Grammer's character, Dr Frasier Crane, first seen on television?
3. Which character did Tony Robinson play in the TV series "Black Adder"?
4. "High Society", broadcast in 1995, was a US version of which British sitcom?
5. "Terry" is the first name of two members of the comedy team which made "Monty Python's Flying Circus". What were their surnames?
6. Which American television comedy series popularised such catchphrases as "Sock it to me" and "Look that up in your Funk and Wagnalls"?
7. Which English comedian's real name was Alfred Hawthorne Hill?
8. Which American actress was Dick Van Dyke's costar in the TV comedy series "The Dick Van Dyke Show"?
9. After appearing in the US television show "Friends", Matt LeBlanc went on to star in which sitcom in 2004?
10. Name the three fictitious characters who are featured alongside Jerry Seinfeld in the American television sitcom "Seinfeld"

HathiTrust Digital Library - Update on March 2010 Activities

HathiTrust Digital Library - Update on March 2010 Activities:

Floating Collections group at WebJunction

This group is for people who are currently using the floating collections approach to collection management or who are interested in finding out more about the floating collections approach. All levels of experience are welcome

E-News for ARL Directors - April 2010

E-News for ARL Directors - April 2010 is now available online

ACRL/LLAMA Spring Virtual Institute 2010

The ACRL/LLAMA Spring Virtual Institute will offer a forum for an energizing exchange of ideas focusing on leading and managing libraries and staff in libraries. The conference theme, "Doing Well by Doing Good": Entrepreneurial Leadership for Librarians, will explore different models and aspects of leadership and management and their impact on academic librarianship in today’s challenged and flat economic environment - April 21-22, 2010

Swets & Reprints Desk form pilot partnership in the Americas for document delivery

"Swets and Reprints Desk have announced their pilot document delivery partnership spanning across the Americas. Reprints Desk's STM Document Delivery services will be integrated into SwetsWise"

The Fiesole Collection Development Retreat Series

The Fiesole Collection Development Retreat Series: An informal meeting of leading library and information industry participants devoted to thinking through and debating the new world order in collection development - University Libraries of K. U. of Leuven - Leuven, Belgium - April 08-10, 2010

Shortlist announced for the Theatre Book Prize (UK)

Shortlist announced for the Theatre Book Prize (UK):

* The Cambridge Introduction to Theatre Historiography by Thomas Postlewait
* Different Drummer: the Life of Kenneth Macmillan by Jann Parry
* Opera for Everybody: The Story of English National Opera by Susie Gilbert
* The Oxford Handbook of Early Modern Theatre edited by Richard Dutton
* The Pantomime Life of Joseph Grimaldi by Andrew Stott

This year's award will be presented on April 27 and will be chosen by a judging panel comprising actor and former TV presenter Matthew Kelly, Professor Jane Moody and Stage critic Mark Shenton. The Theatre Book Prize was first presented in 1997 and is now given annually for a book on British theatre

Navajo man earns title 'Librarian of the Year' (USA)

"A Navajo Nation librarian was given top honors recently for his contributions to literacy on the 27,000-square-mile reservation. Irving Nelson, who serves as library program supervisor of the Navajo Nation, was selected from a pool of more than 500 librarians worldwide for the title of Librarian of the Year for 2010. Reader to Reader, a nonprofit organization based at Amherst College in Amherst, Mass., honored Nelson for his more than three decades of advocating for literacy on the reservation. "Irving Nelson is an extraordinary individual," said David Mazor, executive director of Reader to Reader. "His dedication to his library and the citizens that use it is unsurpassed." Nelson began his career driving a bookmobile on the reservation's rural roads. He also is credited with building an American Indian collection that includes 11,000 books, oral history tapes and land-claim records dating to 1675. Nelson works from the Nation's Window Rock, Ariz., capital, where he oversees more than 76,000 books."

BiblioCore

"BiblioCore allows any writer or publisher to self distribute their books into Apple's iBookstore while keeping all their rights and receiving 100% of the revenue from the sale of their work. It charges a simple flat up front fee for its distribution service. It is non-exclusive and can be cancelled at any time. It was launched by the same team that created TuneCore, the largest distributor of music, artists and labels in the world"

The World Cup Toolkit from National Literacy Trust (UK)

National Literacy Trust (UK) has produced a new toolkit on how to use the World Cup to inspire readers. Author and reading specialist Tom Palmer has produced a full and easy to use guide on what to do and how to do it

SAGE and National Library of China make agreement for access to SAGE backfile collection

"SAGE has announced a new agreement with the National Library of China which enables access to SAGE's deep backfiles for over 1425 libraries in China. The SAGE Deep Backfile Package provides access to 380+ journals in the fields of business, humanities, social science, and science, technology, and medicine. Dating back to volume 1, issue 1 for all journals to the last issue of 1998, the Backfile contains more than 32,000+ issues; 418,000+ articles; and over 4.6 million pages. The national licence enables perpetual access to this content from all public libraries in China"

RefWorks-COS launches RefWorks 2.0 beta

"RefWorks-COS has announced that it has launched RefWorks 2.0, the next generation of its web-based research management, writing and collaboration tool, used by over 3 million researchers, students and librarians worldwide. Currently in beta release, RefWorks 2.0 is a new user interface for the RefWorks service, putting all of RefWorks’ sophisticated features right at users’ fingertips. Employing the latest web technologies and conventions makes RefWorks 2.0 easier to navigate, providing a more intuitive, faster user experience"

ResearchRaven™

"ResearchRaven™ is a public service provided by the Samaritan Health Services Center for Health Research and Quality. ResearchRaven™ is designed to advance health research, program development and scholarship by enabling users to efficiently find current information about funding opportunities, professional conferences, calls for papers and other research-related materials. The tools and resources featured on ResearchRaven™ are collected with an eye toward the information needs of those working across the spectrum of health, medicine and science - including quality improvement, clinical and behavioral research, basic science, and public and community health"

Ohio Library Support Staff Institute 2010

The Ohio Library Support Staff Institute is a dedicated group of individuals from all varieties of Ohio libraries including school, special, public, and academic. They volunteer their time and energy each year to organize an annual, residential, multi-day conference for library support staff. This year's theme: "Libraries Rock!" - 25-27 June, 2010 - Baldwin-Wallace College Berea, Ohio

Directory of Open Access Journals - recently added titles

International Journal of Conservation Science

Social Medicine

Postępy Higieny i Medycyny Doświadczalnej

GeoScape

International Journal of Computer Applications

International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Society

Arts and Social Sciences Journal

Keys to Engaging Older Adults @ your library (USA)

Keys to Engaging Older Adults @ your library is the latest library outreach toolkit offered by the ALA Office for Literacy and Outreach Services. Created in response to the concerns of librarians across the country who provide services for the growing numbers of older adults in their communities, this toolkit contains valuable advice on programming, accessibility concerns, finding funding, engagement and implementation, model programs, and more.

Archives Hub website updated

"The new site, search application and brand identity are the result of over a year's dedicated hard work by the Archives Hub team at Mimas and our software developer colleagues at the University of Liverpool. JISC's funding of the service over the last decade has allowed us to make our vision for the new service a reality"

Wellcome Library Insights: April-May 2010

From The Wellcome Blog: "Our popular Insight sessions offer visitors to the Wellcome Library an opportunity to explore the variety of our holdings. These free sessions are thematic in style, last around an hour and offer a chance to learn about our collections from a member of Library staff. The Spring 2010 series of Insights begins this Thursday afternoon (8 April) at 3pm, exploring how Native American cultures have been recorded, celebrated and misrepresented, using examples from the Library's American collections. Our upcoming Insights sessions for April and May are:

Caricatures and Cartoons - 22nd April, 3-4pm
Anatomies of London – 29th April, 6-7pm
Fascinating Faces – 6th May, 3-4pm
The Occult - 13th May, 6-7pm
Madness - 20th May, 3-4pm"

French records further enrich WorldCat as global resource

"There are now more than 16.3 million French records in WorldCat, following completion of batchloading projects from the Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF), Système Universitaire de documentation (Sudoc) and the Bibliothèque municipale de Lyon (BM Lyon). In 2009, the BnF and ABES, the agency that manages the Sudoc database for French universities, signed an agreement with OCLC to load their records and holdings information into WorldCat. OCLC then processed more than 8.8 million records for BnF and over 7.9 million records for ABES. The Bibliothèque municipale de Lyon, the second largest public library in France, contributed more than 1.3 million records to WorldCat. With these projects complete, there are now more than 16.3 million French-language records in WorldCat. Just as the total number of WorldCat records has grown substantially in recent years to 175 million, the percentage of French-language records has also increased from 6.2 percent in 2007 to 9.6 percent in 2010"

Resource of the Month from Ovid - April 2010

Each month, Ovid provides you with the opportunity to "test drive" a sampling of its content, tools and services - free of charge - through its Resource of the Month program. April Resource of the Month is the Analytical Abstracts

InSITE - April 5, 2010

InSITE: A Current Awareness Service of Cornell Law Library - Vol. 15, No. 16, April 5, 2010 is now available. Contents:

# FedFlix
# National Data Catalog
# Snitching Blog

National Library Workers Day 2010 (USA)

"On April 13, thousands of communities will celebrate National Library Workers Day, a time when library staff, patrons, administrators and Friends groups will recognize the valuable contributions made by all library workers. You are invited to name a 'Star' library employee for the NLWD website, where everyone can see what makes this person an exceptional library employee. Anyone working in or for a library can be nominated, and self-nominations are welcome. The day's theme 'Libraries Work Because We Do!' focuses on how library services depend on the important work done by every library employee. Library employees help Americans deal with tough economic times. Patrons are visiting libraries in record numbers, seeking guidance from library employees in using computers and the Internet, accessing financial literacy resources, and searching for jobs"

Queens Public Library wins Marshall Cavendish Excellence in Library Programming Award (USA)

"The 2010 Marshall Cavendish Excellence in Library Programming Award goes to Queens Library in Queens, N.Y., for the Queens Library HealthLink and Cancer Action Councils, the American Library Association announced. The award is given by the ALA each year to either a school or public library that provides programs that have community impact and respond to community needs. This year, the library is partnering with the Queens Cancer Center, the American Cancer Society of Queens and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center to bring cancer information, screenings and treatment referrals to medically underserved communities in Queens. The project, called Queens Library HealthLink, is funded through a five-year grant from the National Cancer Institute and the National Institute of Health"

Crossroads - April 2010

Crossroads: the newsletter of WebJuntion.org - April 2010 issue is now available

Free access to SAGE Reference Online

Free access to SAGE Reference Online (with 160 handbooks and encyclopedias in the social sciences) from now until May 15, 2010

Many Open Access (OA) journals don’t have Table of Contents RSS feeds, and they are therefore missing out a great deal

Roddy MacLeod writes - "Here's a quick survey of some Open Access (OA) journals added recently to the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ). I wanted to see how many of the newly added titles had RSS feeds for their Tables of Contents (TOCs). There are many reasons why all scholarly journals should produce a TOC RSS feed. Lisa Rogers wrote RSS and Scholarly Journal Tables of Contents: the ticTOCs Project, and Good Practice Guidelines for Publishers which explains how RSS is an effective sharing mechanism for journal TOCs, and a CrossRef working group produced Recommendations on RSS Feeds for Scholarly Publishers which explains good practice. RSS feed consumption can occur through many feed aggregators, such as Google Reader, iGoogle, Bloglines, etc. Some journal TOC RSS feeds have hundreds of subscribers via each of these services, and this drives considerable traffic to their sites..."

ASLIB acquired to run alongside Emerald Group Publishing

"ASLIB, The Association for Information Management, has been acquired by MCB Group, the holding company for Emerald Group Publishing Limited. Emerald and ASLIB have been working closely together since 2001, when ASLIB's collection of research journals, including Journal of Documentation and ASLIB Proceedings, were acquired by Emerald. The acquisition means that ASLIB's services to members will continue and grow, and the operating name and identity of ASLIB will be preserved"

OCLC adding records to WorldCat for Google Books Library Project and HathiTrust Digital Library collections

"OCLC is adding records to WorldCat that represent digitized books from the Google Books Library Project and the HathiTrust Digital Library to provide greater access to and increased visibility of these rich digitized collections. OCLC is working with libraries, Google and the HathiTrust to derive new MARC records that represent these digital collections based on the rich collection of print records contributed to WorldCat by the OCLC membership over the last 40 years. Searchers will begin seeing these records in WorldCat immediately. OCLC will continue to add records for these collections to WorldCat on an ongoing basis. WorldCat searchers will be able to locate digitized books from these collections and link to the associated book landing page, and in some cases can access the full text of eBooks available through these significant initiatives"

Bibliography of the History of Art freely available

"As of April 1, 2010, the Bibliography of the History of Art (BHA) will be available free of charge on the Getty Web site. Free Web access to BHA is an advantage not only to all traditional users of the database but also to such potential users as institutions in developing countries and independent scholars worldwide, who until now have been unable to afford access to the BHA. Since ending its collaboration with the Institut de l'Information Scientifique et Technique (INIST)-CNRS in December 2007, the Getty has been searching for partners to continue the production and distribution of BHA. This process has been complicated, and with no suitable arrangement immediately available, the Getty decided to act on its commitment to the scholarly community by providing access to BHA directly from its own Web site"

British Library acquires Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast notebooks and more...

"The British Library has acquired the archive of the writer and artist, Mervyn Peake, best known as the author of Gormenghast, for which he won the Heinemann Prize for Literature in 1951. With support from independent charity The Art Fund, Friends of the British Library, Friends of the National Libraries and individual donors, Peake's extraordinary creative endeavours across an astonishing variety of media and forms will bepreserved in perpetuityand made available for present and future generations of researchers. The collection came to the Library in 28 containers and comprises 39 autograph Gormenghast Notebooks as well as the complete set of original drawings for Lewis Carroll's Alice Through the Looking Glass and Alice in Wonderland, the original manuscript of which is currently on display in the Sir John Ritblat Gallery at the British Library. Lesser well known short stories, war poems, radio plays and nonsense verse are also included in this uniquely visual archive..."

April 2010 batch of Early Reviewer books at LibraryThing

The April 2010 batch of Early Reviewer books is now available at LibraryThing. There are 2098 copies of 93 books available this month

New version of NoveList coming summer 2010

"The new version of NoveList, from EBSCO Publishing, is designed to make searching more intuitive, reading recommendations easier to obtain, and allow quicker access to more content than ever"

LibConf.com

"LibConf.com is the new address for blog coverage of Computers in Libraries 2010 and past Computers in Libraries and Internet Librarian conferences. At the new site you will find an archive of all the CIL and IL blog posts as well as new features including access to the conference attendee and speaker Twitter lists and feeds for Bloggers@CIL2010. You can also download the Computers in Libraries 2010 program in iCalendar format and link off to the Mobile Computers in Libraries Program"

Jacqueline Wilson overtakes J K Rowling as the writer whose books are most stolen from Scotland's libraries

"Jacqueline Wilson has overtaken Harry Potter author JK Rowling as the writer whose books are most stolen from Scotland's libraries. Taxpayers are footing an annual bill of GBP659,294 for the unreturned books with 129,450 disappearing from the shelves. The 2009 bill, revealed through the Freedom of Information Act, is nearly three times the previous year's GBP223,463 library book debt. Edinburgh-based Rowling's Harry Potter books have slipped from the top spot to sixth in the most-stolen list. Thieves have instead been taking work by the likes of children's author Wilson, American thriller writer James Patterson and romance novelist Nora Roberts. More books were unreturned at Scottish Borders Council libraries than anywhere else last year. The authority cannot account for 11,918 books"

C&RL News - April 2010

"The April 2010 issue of C&RL News is now freely available online. Today's academic and research librarians are more intimately involved in the scholarly research process than ever before. Libraries now host of institutional repositories and serve as journal publishers. And librarians conduct the same sorts of qualitative and quantitative research that were once the purview of other academic departments. With this shift in role comes a need to be fully versed in institutional policies, procedures, and standards for research. In this issue, Robert V. Labaree sheds light on the often mysterious processes of 'Working successfully with your institutional review board,' a necessity when conducting any sort of research with human subjects"

2010 Hugo Award nominees

The nominees for the 2010 Hugo Award have been announced

2010 Orion Book Award winner

The winner of the 2010 Orion Book Award is Charles Bowden's Some of the Dead Are Still Breathing: Living in the Future (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt). Mr. Bowden will be awarded a $3,000 prize and the finalists will each receive $500

LISTen: The LISNews.org Podcast - Episode #113

LISTen: The LISNews.org Podcast - Episode #113. "A short episode is presented this week with a zeitgeist recap. The team is hunkering down to prepare the LISNews Bulletin for release at Computers in Libraries 2010. As such there will be no episodes on April 12th and April 19th. LISTen #114 is provisionally scheduled for April 26th". Previous Podcasts can be found here

The Guardian Hay Festival 2010

This year's Hay Festival, an annual literature festival held in Hay-on-Wye, Wales, takes place from Thursday 27 May to Sunday 6 June 2010. Among those taking part: Quentin Blake, Harry Evans, Pervez Musharraf, Nadine Gordimer, Rob Brydon, Tina Brown, Tim Minchin, Philip Pullman, Toumani Diabate, Orquesta Buena Vista Social Club, Cressida Cowell, Stephen Fry, Laura Marling, Henning Mankell, Beth Orton, Christopher Hitchens, Chris Evans, Jerry Hall, Tom Stoppard, Erik Truffaz and Martin Amis

PLoS ONE publishes 10,000th manuscript

PLoS ONE has announced the publication of its 10,000th article: "Immunoproteomics Analysis of the Murine Antibody Response to Vaccination with an Improved Francisella tularensis Live Vaccine Strain (LVS)", by Twine et. al.

William Farquhar: Singapore's First Resident and Commandant (1819 – 1823)

William Farquhar: Singapore's First Resident and Commandant (1819 – 1823) - co-organised by National Library Singapore and Singapore Heritage Society - 31 March to 31 August 2010

Above the Fold - March 30, 2010

Above the Fold is a Web-based newsletter published by OCLC Research. It has been developed to serve a broad international readership from libraries, archives and museums - March 30, 2010 - Vol. 3, No. 12 now available

SPARC Open Access Newsletter, issue #144

SPARC Open Access Newsletter, issue #144 - April 2, 2010 is now available from Peter Suber

Alice Oswald wins inaugural Ted Hughes award (UK)

"The inaugural Ted Hughes award for new work in poetry, founded by Carol Ann Duffy, has gone to Alice Oswald, a nature poet who writes "very much in the tradition" of Hughes, according to the poet laureate. Oswald won the GBP5,000 prize, funded with Duffy's yearly stipend from the Queen, for Weeds and Wild Flowers, in which she has imagined the characters behind the evocative names of common plants and flowers. Judges considered radio poems, film poems, public art inscriptions and works for the stage for the prize, intended to reward "the most exciting contribution to poetry" in the past year. Oswald's collection, interspersed with etchings by Jessica Greenman, was selected ahead of shortlisted poets including former laureate Andrew Motion with his collection The Cinder Path, and Jackie Kay's bringing together of verse, music and theatre The Maw Broon Monologues." - Guardian

iPres 2009 presentations now online

iPres 2009: The Sixth International Conference on Preservation of Digital Objects - 5-6 October, 2009 - San Francisco, CA, USA. Presentations now online

The UKSG E-Resources Technical Update: London

The UKSG E-Resources Technical Update course will give you a good understanding of the underlying technicalities involved in e-resource set-up and delivery including e-journals, online databases and e-books, and will help you feel more confident in your day-to-day work - 10 June 2010 - London, UK

The HeinOnline Newsletter - March 2010

The HeinOnline Newsletter - March 2010 - Issue #3 is now available online

EBSCOhost PDF viewer and other new features

EBSCOhost has announced a PDF Viewer and many other new features

22nd Annual Lambda Literary Awards

The 22nd Annual Lambda Literary Awards will be held Thursday, May 27, 2010 at the School of Visual Arts Theater in New York City

SUNCAT Newsletter - April 2010

SUNCAT Newsletter - Issue 8: April 2010 is now available online. SUNCAT = The Serials Union Catalogue for the UK

Emerald's Journal of the Week for April 2010

Emerald offers free access to two journals in its collection every week. Below is the schedule for April:

April 5:
Critical Perspectives on International Business
International Journal of Housing Markets and Analysis

April 12:
Journal of Information, Communication & Ethics in Society
International Journal of Commerce and Management

April 19:
International Journal of Gender and Entrepreneurship
Industrial and Commercial Training

April 26:
On the Horizon
Social Responsibility Journal

H.W. Wilson Company launches Careers

"H. W. Wilson's Careers database brings you all the careers information you need in a single source. Careers will prove to be an ideal resource for high-school students, vocational college and technical college students, and anyone considering a career change. It will offer comprehensive coverage of all aspects of careers and career-related issues, including

* Qualifications
* Duties and responsibilities
* Pay scales
* Application processes
* Future prospects

Initially, Careers will cover at least 50 Professions, almost all unique to this database. Each Profession will consist of at least 10 - 15 carefully vetted full-text articles of varying lengths, selected by H. W. Wilson's own expert staff for their coverage, balance, and reading or interest level. Issues will be further organized into topics to ensure that patrons can easily locate materials on their chosen profession"

Exploring Wellcome Collection: A Social History of Madness in Europe

"What did it mean to suffer mental health problems in the past? How was madness understood and how were patients treated? Drawing on the rich holdings both in the Library and Wellcome Collection, this short course looks at the history of madness in Europe. Operated in conjunction with our colleagues at Birkbeck College, the course will focus on different ways of classifying and treating insanity, as well as looking at the difference that gender and class made to treatment and diagnosis. Topics explored include madness in medieval and early modern Europe; 'moral treatment' in the eighteenth century; the asylum age; hysteria and neurasthenia, degeneration and mental deficiency. This module also includes a special case study on alcoholism and madness"

Directory of Open Access Journals - recently added titles

KEMANUSIAAN : The Asian Journal of Humanities

Journal of Physical Science

Pravara Medical Review

Annales Universitatis Apulensis : Series Oeconomica

Psychological Test and Assessment Modeling

InKoj

Indian Journal of Anaesthesia

Digital Culture & Education (DCE)

Enthymema

Asian Academy of Management Journal

Quaderns de Psicologia

Biomedicine International

Concrete Research Letters

International Journal of Advances in Pharmaceutical Sciences

CARL E-Lert # 370

CARL E-Lert # 370, April 2, 2010 from Canadian Association of Research Libraries. Some of this week's items: The human genome at ten; Google Starts Grant Program for Studies of Its Digitized Books; Canada 3.0 2010 Forum Sets Goal for Canada's Digital Economy; University Supports for Open Access: A Canadian National Survey

Afghanistan Observed: 1830 - 1920

"An important touring exhibition of historic images of Afghanistan opens on 24 April 2010 in the Queen's Palace in Baghe Babur, Kabul. The exhibition is supported by the World Collections Programme - funded by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) - and the Government of Norway, through the Afghan Cultural Initiative implemented by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture. It will later be shown in Herat. Afghanistan Observed reflects the observations of European visitors to Afghanistan between 1830 and 1920. This was a period during which Afghans' relations with the outside world was critical not only for the country and region, but for the superpowers at the time. The exhibition features 150 digital prints of sketches, prints, drawings and photographs that relate to the history and culture of Afghanistan, selected from the British Library’s collections"

Walter Scott Prize shortlist announced

The shortlist for the Walter Scott Prize has been announced. The winner will be announced June 19, 2010:

Hodd by Adam Thorpe
Lustrum by Robert Harris
Sacred Hearts by Sarah Dunant
Stone's Fall by Iain Pears
The Glass Room by Simon Mawer
The Quickening Maze by Adam Foulds
Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel

The Friday Brain-teaser from Credo Reference

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

1. Which English comic actor appeared in the films "Four Weddings and a Funeral" and "Bean"?
2. Which US actor appeared in the films "There's Something About Mary" and "Meet the Parents"?
3. Which English actor and comedian became a Hollywood star after appearing in "10" in 1979?
4. Was Charlie Chaplin born in Zurich, New York or London?
5. Which Canadian comedian voiced the main character in the Academy Award-winning animated comedy "Shrek"?
6. What was Groucho Marx's real first name?
7. Which English actor and comedian played three roles in the 1963 film "Dr Strangelove"?
8. Which US actor's first films were "The Absent-Minded Waiter" (1977) and "The Jerk" (1979)?
9. Which comedian married Cuban bandleader Desi Arnaz in 1940?
10. Which American comedian originally used the name Joseph Levitch?

Alexander Street announces open access to American History in Video through April

"Electronic publisher of educational and library reference resources Alexander Street Press has announced that one of its most popular online streaming video collections, American History in Video, will be freely accessible through the month of April. The collection, which was named both a 2009 Booklist Editor's Choice selection and a 2009 Library Journal Best Reference, gives patrons at subscribing libraries access to a current total of more than 4,000 complete newsreels and documentaries from leading video providers, including PBS, The History Channel®, Bullfrog Films, California Newsreel, Media Rich Learning, and Documentary Educational Resources, among others. It will grow to include more than 5,000 video titles totaling more than 2,000 hours of footage

Internet Archive announces 2,000,000th free digital text

"The Internet Archive is pleased to announce an important manuscript, Homiliary on Gospels from Easter to first Sunday of Advent, as the 2,000,000th free digital text. Internet Archive has been scanning books and making them available for researchers, historians, scholars, people with disabilities, and the general public for free on archive.org since 2005. 'This 1,000 year old book which has only been seen by a select few people, can, with the technology of today, be shared with millions tomorrow,' said Robert Miller, Director of Books of the Internet Archive. 'Selecting this title for the 2 millionth text is a fitting tribute to the team of scanners who have been carefully working for the past 5 years.' The Homiliary manuscript was copied on parchment by at least three different scribes at the important medieval Abbey of St. Martin in Tours less than 100 years after having been composed by Heiric of Auxerre and is the oldest known copy of Heiric’s original text."

ebrary launches new e-book subscription databases for schools and public libraries

"ebrary has announced a new School Collection featuring more than 6,600 e-books and other authoritative titles from leading publishers. Created by a librarian, the new subscription collection provides simultaneous, multi-user access to content designed specifically for young adults in high schools, vocational schools, and college preparatory academies, as well as the public libraries that serve them. Additionally, ebrary's long-time partner, e-Libro, has recently launched e-Libro Secundaria, a Spanish language e-book subscription database powered by ebrary that can supplement ebrary's School Collection or be licensed separately"

Haiti's Declaration of Independence discovered at The National Archives (UK)

"After more than 50 years of searching, the only known printed copy of Haiti's Declaration of Independence has been discovered at The National Archives in Kew. Julia Gaffield, from America's Duke University, found the eight page pamphlet dated 1 January 1804 within The National Archives' colonial correspondence relating to Jamaica. The graduate student said: 'I was hoping that the original [Declaration] would be in London, but I wasn't certain that it would be. It wasn't a surprise, but it was very exciting!' The Declaration was attached to a letter sent on 20 January 1804 by Jean-Jacques Dessalines, first ruler and Governor-General of the Republic of Haiti, to Sir George Nugent, Lieutenant-Governor of Jamaica. This document is only the second declaration of its kind in the world, the first being the US Declaration of Independence, printed on 4 July 1776."

13 Ways (and 147 Tools) to Help Your Library Save Money on Technology

Sarah Houghton-Jan writes: "These are my favorite options for libraries to use as alternatives to the expensive paid services and software that we use now, usually because our parent organizations or IT departments have gone along with the mainstream, bought the expensive stuff from the well-known companies, and never blinked. But now that we are all facing budget crunches the likes of which we haven't seen in decades, we have a chance to show these alternatives to the decision-makers, save the organization some money, and support the open source movement at the same time. I have personally used all of these, at least in a demo setting. Most of them I use on a regular basis at work or at home. So trust me - these recommendations do not come lightly! I think these tools are darn good, otherwise they wouldn't have made the cut. This list has come out of a few different presentations I've given for public libraries recently, from Hawaii to Iowa. Take a look, see what you want to try, and let me know how it works. The list is not exhaustive, so I invite all of you to comment on this post and add your own favorite free web tools, software, and open source awesomeness"

CALL Mentorship Program (Canada)

"The mission of the mentoring program is to facilitate the creation, development and maintenance of mutually satisfactory mentoring relationships between new Canadian Association of Law Libraries members, or those CALL members pursuing new professional development opportunities, and their experienced colleagues. Our mentors will be committed individuals, working one-on-one with librarians for at least one year on a consistent basis. Their mutual goal will be to maximize the librarian's potential"

The future of libraries: a video

Thewikiman has created a one-minute video, using the Xtranormal service, entitled "The future of libraries"

Ann Chapman, UKOLN, talks about RDA

Ann Chapman of UKOLN spoke about Resource Description and Access (RDA) at the 23 March CILIP Executive Briefing Day:

The Why, What, How and When of RDA: the current state of play

View more presentations from Ann Chapman.

National Poetry Month 2010

"Inaugurated by the Academy of American Poets in April 1996, National Poetry Month brings together publishers, booksellers, literary organizations, libraries, schools, and poets around the country to celebrate poetry and its vital place in American culture. Thousands of businesses and non-profit organizations participate through readings, festivals, book displays, workshops, and other events"

Digital Libraries à la Carte 2010

Digital Libraries à la Carte 2010 : Modular course to prepare librarians for the future. Some modules are relevant to publishers, researchers, or IT specialists - 26-30 July 2010 - Tilburg University, the Netherlands