185 lines
11 KiB
Plaintext
185 lines
11 KiB
Plaintext
_Current Cites_
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Volume 10, no. 9
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September 1999
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The Library
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University of California, Berkeley
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Edited by Teri Andrews Rinne
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ISSN: 1060-2356
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http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/CurrentCites/1999/cc99.10.9.html
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Contributors:
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Terry Huwe, Margaret Phillips,
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Roy Tennant, Jim Ronningen, Lisa Yesson
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Cheverie, Joan F. "Federal Information in the Networked Environment: A
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Perspective from the Coalition for Networked Information" Heisser,
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David C.R. "Federal Depository Program at the Crossroads: The Library
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Administrator's Perspective" Government Information Quarterly 16(3)
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(July 1999) - The focus of this pair of articles is nothing less than
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our system of accountability for the U.S. federal government, in
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theory and in practice. The first article raises issues regarding
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future networked access to federal documents, and the second examines
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the health of the primary conduit for them: the Depository Program,
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administered by the Government Printing Office. Cheverie ponders the
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very nature of this type of information, and poses questions about its
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availability, reliability and use, including aspects of the
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librarian's function. Heisser surveyed 24 depository libraries and
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interviewed directors and documents librarians; his findings focus on
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the stresses placed on the system by the push toward electronic
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formats. He concludes that, despite the pressure of constant
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adaptation to change, people who are instrumental in the depository
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program are dedicated to their mission, and will remain vigilant so
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that the principle of free public access will not become compromised
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by privatization, fragmentation or legislative neglect. - JR
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Chudnov, Daniel. "Open Source Software: The Future of Library
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Systems?" American Libraries 124(13) (August 1999): 40-43. - Open
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source software (software for which the source code is freely
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distributed) has proven to be a force to be reckoned with in the
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software industry. Apache (an open source web server application)
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serves up more web pages than any commercial application. Linux (an
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open source operating system) is thought by some to be capable of
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competing against Microsoft NT. Meanwhile, open source initiatives in
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the library world are few and usually of little impact. Chudnov is
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obviously out to change this, not only by penning this paean to open
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source, but also by providing some himself (gnujake, mentioned in the
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piece, is his). As someone involved in my own open source project
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(SWISH-E, a web site indexing application at
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http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/SWISH-E/) I support Chudnov's plea to
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"grow the phenomenon." But I also realize that library programmers are
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hard to find, and managing an open source project is not trivial
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(anyone can chuck it out there for the taking, but managing the
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development and refinement of it once it's out there is another thing
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entirely). That being said, more power to him (and us). As he says,
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"if you've ever used the Internet, you've used open source software."
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Perhaps one day we'll be able to say the same about library catalogs
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or web sites. - RT
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Crawford, Walt. Being Analog: Creating Tomorrow's Libraries Chicago:
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American Library Association, 1999. - In this wide-ranging and
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no-holds-barred case against "digitopia", Crawford goes after those
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who predict an all-digital future for the nation's libraries. Who are
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these people? Well, no one I can think of in the profession of
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librarianship. So this book, it appears, is ammunition for those
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needing to persuade their board or administrators that the idea of
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getting rid of the physical library is...um...premature. But it's more
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than that as well. Crawford, who frankly sounds a bit ticked off in
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this book (phrases such as "web crazies" come to mind), is also
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speaking directly to his readership <20> librarians. He urges us to think
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critically about technology (hear! hear!) and implement it
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thoughtfully and for good reason. He admonishes us to use numeracy and
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critical thinking skills as shields against pundits, futurists, and
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doomsayers. He has much to tell us, and in typical style, he does so
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bluntly and readably. Hang on, since at the very least you're in for
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an interesting ride, and if you're paying attention you'll be thinking
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a lot as well. - RT
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Crawford, Walt. "Up to Speed on DVD" American Libraries 30(8)
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(September 1999): 71-74. - Crawford packs a ton of useful and
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understandable information about a new storage technology into this
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excellent summary piece. Besides covering all the technical issues, he
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provides advice to public and academic libraries about how they should
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regard this new technology (hot) and when they should jump into the
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game (soon if not now). In summary, he believes DVD to be the most
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promising technology since CDs, and one that can and should replace
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technically inferior VHS tapes. If you presently collect material on
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VHS or CD, you cannot afford to miss this article. - RT
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Eakins, John P. and Margaret E. Graham Content-based Image Retrieval:
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A report to the JISC Technology Applications Programme Newcastle, UK:
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Institute for Image Data Research, University of Northumbria at
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Newcastle, January 1999
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(http://www.unn.ac.uk/iidr/research/cbir/report.html). - Have you ever
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wanted to find images based on color, texture, shape, or other image
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characteristics? I haven't, but read on. This technology, called
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alternatively Query By Image Content (QBIC) or Content-Based Image
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Retrieval (CBIR), seeks to provide a method whereby images can be
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retrieved without first indexing or cataloging them. The idea is that
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a) indexing or cataloging images is a time-consuming (expensive)
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undertaking, and b) indexing has it's own problems, such as the
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difficulty of pre-selecting every aspect of an image by which someone
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may eventually wish to search. Having the ability to search for images
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that "look like" a reference image, for example, may be useful in
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particular instances, such as automatic fingerprint matching and face
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recognition. If this idea intrigues you, this report should be
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required reading. Eakins and Graham are relentlessly thorough in their
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coverage of current CBIR systems and the literature describing such.
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They conclude that CBIR is exciting but immature, and that it although
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it is unlikely to completely replace other methods of locating images,
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it nonetheless will be essential for some applications. - RT
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Kelly, Brian. "WebWatch: UK University Search Engines" Ariadne 21
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(September 1999) (http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue21/webwatch/). -
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Making your web site searchable is both easy and very difficult. How
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so? you say. Well, it's "easy" if you take an existing commercial
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search engine such as InfoSeek or HotBot and limit their search to
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your site. What's wrong with that? Well, for starters, you have to put
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up with their ads on your search results. It gets worse from there.
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The more difficult route is to install search software on your server,
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configure it, and maintain it. Sometimes you even need to write code.
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All the choices are laid out in this overview article masquerading as
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a survey of UK academic web sites, and the search services they offer.
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What solution is the most popular? ht://Dig, at over 15% of the sites
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(but that doesn't necessarily make it the best for your site). Kelly
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won't get caught recommending any particular solution, rather he lays
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out important questions web managers should consider in making their
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selection. - RT
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Miller, Paul. "Z39.50 for All" Ariadne 21 (September 1999)
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(http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue21/z3950/intro.html). - Miller has
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succeeded in what I have long thought to be impossible <20> he has
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explained Z39.50 briefly, simply, and understandably. The text is
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embellished with screen shots, diagrams, and even its own glossary <20>
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an essential element for any explanation of Z39.50. The URLs alone are
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worth a lot, as Miller has pulled together a lot of pointers to the
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essential web sites, technical information, and working systems.
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Anyone interested in Z39.50 should check this out. The rest of us can
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look (in vain) for the famous Ariadne caption contest; or, better yet,
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check out the latest Brian Kelly column (see elsewhere in this issue).
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- RT
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Zorn, Peggy et al. "Finding Needles in the Haystack: Mining Meets the
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Web" Online (23)5 (Sept/Oct 1999):17-28. - In her introduction to this
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issue of Online, editor Nancy Garman states that since online access
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tools have become more readily available, there is a growing role for
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librarians who know how to organize information so that anyone can
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find it (as opposed to the traditional librarian's role as the
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intermediary who holds the secret for finding it). For everyone with
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such aspirations, data mining is an important concept. The ability to
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analyze data and identify patterns in large databases may seem more
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relevant to librarians when it's thought of as "text mining" which can
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be applied to text-rich but insufficiently tagged resources such as
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Web pages. Mining models fall into three basic categories
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(classification, clustering, and associations & sequencing) which are
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clearly explained as tools for handling unstructured networked
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information. The authors then describe and critique four applications
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(Dataware II Knowledge Management Suite, SemioMap, Relevance EIC, and
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Northern Light) which are said to be part of the next wave of
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interfaces for advanced Web data retrieval and analysis. - JR
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_________________________________________________________________
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Current Cites 10(9) (September 1999) ISSN: 1060-2356
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Copyright (c) 1999 by the Library, University of California,
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Berkeley. _All rights reserved._
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http: //sunsite.berkeley.edu/CurrentCites/1999/cc99.10.9.html
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Copying is permitted for noncommercial use by computerized bulletin
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cost. This message must appear on copied material. All commercial use
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requires permission from the editor
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All product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their
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respective holders. Mention of a product in this publication does not
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necessarily imply endorsement of the product.
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To subscribe to the Current Cites distribution list, send the message
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Editor: Teri Andrews Rinne, trinne@library.berkeley.edu, (510)
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642-8173
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