Information Today articles from February 2005

Information Today archives from February 2005

Thomson West is on an integration mission.(INTERVIEW with Michael E. Wilens)(Interview)
February 1, 2005... When interviewed in mid-December 2004, Michael E. Wilens was president and CEO of Thomson West. On Jan. 1, 2005, he was promoted to president and CEO of North American Legal, reporting to Brian H. Hall, president and CEO of Thomson Legal &...

A global tragedy.(International REPORT)
February 1, 2005... I write this column as the new year dawns. Although normally a time for reflecting on the past year and making resolutions for the next, this new year, like no other, is dominated by one catastrophic event: the devastation around the coast of...

Aslib dies, and is reborn.(Feature)
February 1, 2005... Within weeks of going into voluntary liquidation, Aslib, the London-based LIS association offering recruitment, training, and information services, has been reborn as a private company called Global Information Management Services Limited. ...

B&T, OCLC partner to deliver e-content.(NewsBytes)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... Baker & Taylor (B&T) and netLibrary announced that they will join forces to deliver e-content to the library market. According to the release, increased demand from libraries for electronic content and the need to deliver digital content...

Thomson West acquires NETSCAN iPublishing.(NewsBytes)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... Thomson West announced that it has acquired NETSCAN iPublishing (NETSCAN). NETSCAN will operate as a business within Thomson West and will continue to provide products and services from its Falls Church, Va., headquarters. The NETSCAN...

WebFeat receives patent, provides translator technology.(NewsBytes)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... WebFeat announced that it received a U.S. patent for its federated search technology. The company also announced that it will provide translator technology for Central Search, Serials Solutions' federated search product. Patent The...

The day the world changed: Google takes command.(Up Front)
February 1, 2005... Well, that was quick. Last month, this column discussed the resurrection of electronic books, including an offer Google made to the world's publishers to digitize their backlists. Since then, the Google Print program has expanded massively by...

The latest on search, M&A, OA, and more.(NewsBreak Update)
February 1, 2005... Since the fateful events of Dec. 26, 2004, we've opened our hearts and wallets to the victims of the Asian tsunami that took countless lives, destroyed entire coastlines and communities, and impacted country and world economies. The tsunami...

Elsevier launches new ScienceDirect.(NewsBytes)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... Elsevier announced that its new release of ScienceDirect features advances to the Shibboleth Authentication system, which simplifies remote access. Other enhancements include the addition of new English-language titles from German publisher...

Thomson Financial adds research providers.(NewsBytes)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... Thomson Financial announced the addition of 12 new independent research providers to its research collections. The newcomers are: * Cathay Financial * Changewave Research * Fulcrum Global Partners * Marquis Investment Research...

Data depth answers litigation.(NewsBytes)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... Data Depth Corp., aka iCopyright.net, issued a news update that explained its answer, counterclaims, and third-party claims in the litigation by Valeo Intellectual Property. A copy of the pleading is on the corporation's Web site at...

ProQuest acquires Voyager Expanded Learning.(NewsBytes)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... ProQuest Information and Learning has signed an agreement to acquire Voyager Expanded Learning, a provider of in-school core reading programs, reading intervention programs, and professional development programs for U.S. school districts....

Project MUSE adds content.(NewsBytes)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... Project MUSE announced the selection of 26 new scholarly, peer-reviewed journals and seven new publishers for 2005. All titles will be part of the Full Collection, and many will also be offered through the other four collection options. A...

NPG switches to self-archiving.(NewsBytes)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... Nature Publishing Group (NPG) announced changes to its self-archiving policy. Starting this year, authors of original research papers published by NPG will be asked to submit their version of the accepted, peer-reviewed manuscript to their...

ProQuest expands Factiva agreements, increases content, launches database.(NewsBytes)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... ProQuest Information and Learning announced that it has extended and expanded two agreements with Factiva. The company also announced that it will add The Boston Globe to the ProQuest Historical Newspapers collection and that it will launch...

What's new on staff.(LETTER FROM THE EDITOR)
February 1, 2005... During this issue, longtime Information Today editor in chief John Eichorn turned the publishing reins over to me. I know I speak on behalf of everyone on the ITI staff and in the ITI audience in thanking John for a job well done and wishing...

Making a clean sweep (almost).
February 1, 2005... My family goes through computers like some households go through cars. Everyone around here has at least one, and everyone gets a new one every few years. Unlike cars, though, we never traded our computers in when we bought new ones. We just...

Infotoons.(Cartoon)
February 1, 2005... DUDE, WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH ALL THIS OLD JUNK? [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] JUNK? OH, NO. THESE ARTIFACTS OF TECHNOLOGY AER STEPPING STONES TO THE FUTURE... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] FAST FORWARD TO 2025 LOOK AT THIS ANCIENT...

Treasury-publisher saga continues.(Focus on Publishing)
February 1, 2005... On Dec. 16, 2004, the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued its final ruling regarding publishing activities with people in sanctioned countries (now identified as Cuba, Iran, and Sudan). This ruling...

Too much information.(Internet Waves)
February 1, 2005... I'm not exactly sure how the subject came up, but in the middle of college football bowl season, one of my customers was talking about the advertising during television sporting events. She pointed out the large number of commercials touting...

All Google, all the time.(Legal Issues)
February 1, 2005... google: (gu gol), v.: To use the Google (http://www.google.com) search engine to locate Internet information on just about anything, e.g., "The anxious dad googled his daughter's blind date. Boy was he surprised!" Actually, googling...

CASE Center offers IT Trends seminar.(NewsBytes)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... The CASE Center at Syracuse University announced that it will sponsor a Next-Generation Information Technology Seminar Series for industry professionals this year. This series is targeted toward experienced IT professionals and will include the...

Tug of war.(Poynder on Point)
February 1, 2005... After 20 years of campaigning by activists, the U.K. has finally got its own Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)--nearly 40 years after similar legislation was passed in the U.S. The new U.K. law means that 59 countries have now introduced FOI...

A convergence of TV and computers?(Link-Up@Home: Your Personal Guide to the Web)
February 1, 2005... There are those among us who were hoping computer technology was going to deliver us from the evils of television--not bring us more of it. "You watch television to turn your brain off," said Apple Computer and Pixar co-founder Steve Jobs....

Lost in translation: CyberSports.(Link-Up@Home: Your Personal Guide to the Web)
February 1, 2005... The latest joke from your Field Correspondent's extended family: What do you call someone who can speak three languages? Trilingual. What do you call someone who can speak two languages? Bilingual. What do you call...

How to respond to flames (without getting singed).(Link-Up@Home: Your Personal Guide to the Web)
February 1, 2005... If you've spent any amount of time in online discussion groups, you probably know that their single most-defining characteristic is the prevalence of angry, epithet-strewn arguments called "flame wars." The level of online hostility, with...

Library of Congress opens doors to education.(Product News & Reviews)
February 1, 2005... The Library of Congress (LC) has launched The Cataloger's Learning Workshop (http://www.loc.gov/catworkshop), a Web-based cataloging and metadata training resource that features a discussion group, links to cataloging training providers and...

Dialog adds German patent database.(Product News & Reviews)
February 1, 2005... Dialog announced that it has added a database of German full-text patents to its services. The new file (File 324) contains about 3.1 million German patent records that start in 1967 and are published by Univentio. Patent records from 1980...

Library e-books trump Google's grand plan.(Database Review)
February 1, 2005... On Dec. 14, 2004, e-books hit the very apex of the news cycle as stories concerning them ran in The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and on the front page of The New York Times. And what was this earth-shaking news? Google's...

Open eBook forum lists best sellers for 2004.(Product News & Reviews)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... The Open eBook Forum released its list of the top-selling e-books for 2004. Dan Brown featured prominently in the lineup, with The Da Vinci Code topping the list and Angels & Demons and Deception Point ranking second and third, respectively....

xrefer adds new content, publishers.(Product News & Reviews)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... xrefer announced that it will incorporate reference works from Sage, HW Wilson, Continuum, and Macquarie into the xreferplus Ready-Reference service. Subjects to be covered include history, literature, medicine, technology, and more. ...

Endeavor to provide technology to Scopus.(Product News & Reviews)(Endeavor Information Systems Inc.)(Scopus Technology Inc.)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... Endeavor Information Systems announced plans to provide OpenURL-enabled linking capabilities to Scopus. Since 2004, Endeavor has been supporting nearly 50 worldwide libraries using a trial version of Scopus enhanced with LinkFinderPlus linking...

Chicago Public Library unveils 'Find It!'.(Product News & Reviews)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... The Chicago Public Library (CPL) introduced Find It!, the library's next-generation online researching software. The result of a collaboration between CPL and WebFeat, Find It! is designed to help patrons search the library's holdings and...

NYPL partners with Google for online books.(Product News & Reviews)(New York Public Library)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... The New York Public Library (NYPL) announced that it is partnering with Google in a pilot program to make a subset of its books available in full text on the Web. This collaboration will expand the accessibility of the library's...

ALJC gets best STM information product award.(Product News & Reviews)(Association of Learned Professional Society Publishers)(Learned Journals Collection)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... The Association of Learned Professional Society Publishers (ALPSP) Learned Journals Collection (ALJC), in partnership with Swets, was awarded the 2004 International Information Industry Award for "Best STM Information Product." The ALJC, an...

Openly Informatics adds OpenURL to Google scholar.(Product News & Reviews)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... Openly Informatics, Inc. announced that it has added OpenURL support to an open source browser plug-in extension, adding links to Web pages in Google Scholar. The plug-in software, called OpenURL Referrer, works with the Firefox Web...

EBSCO packs more databases into EBSCOhost platform.(Product News & Reviews)
February 1, 2005... EBSCO announced that it has added several new databases to its EBSCOhost platform, covering a wide range of indexes, guides, and scholarly content to meet the needs of its audience. Among the newcomers to the platform: access to a suite of...

Readers' Guide expands coverage with 25 additional magazines.(Product News & Reviews)
February 1, 2005... The periodicals reference database Readers' Guide Full Text now offers full-text coverage, page images, indexing, and abstracts for an additional 25 titles. The select additions were each highly recommended for periodicals collections by...

Cambridge University press chooses gale's virtual reference library.(Product News & Reviews)(Thomson Corp. Thomson Gale)
February 1, 2005... Thomson Gale, part of The Thomson Corp., and Cambridge University Press, one of the largest academic and educational publishers in the world, have joined forces to publish some reference titles electronically on Gale's Virtual Reference...

Information Handling Services, Inc.(People Line & the Executive Profile)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... Information Handling Services, Inc. (IHS) announced that Jeffrey R. Tarr has been named president and COO of the Engineering division of IHS Group. Most recently, Tan" was chairman and CEO of Hoover's, where he led its sale to D&B in 2003....

Elsevier and Reed Business.(People Line & the Executive Profile)(Herman van Campenhout)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... Elsevier and Reed Business have announced staff changes. Herman van Campenhout will join Elsevier as the CEO of Science & Technology. He comes from Reed Business Information (RBI) Netherlands, where he was CEO since 2001. Prior to that, he...

Reed Business Information Netherlands CEO.(People Line & the Executive Profile)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... Marianne van Leeuwen will take over the position of Reed Business Information Netherlands' CEO. Most recently, she was director of the Boston division of RBI USA. She has worked for RBI for 17 years. Source: Elsevier, Amsterdam,...

University of Southampton.(People Line & the Executive Profile)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... The University of Southampton has announced that Sir Tim Berners-Lee now holds the chair of Computer Science at its School of Electronics and Computer Science. Along with this position, he will retain his current roles as both senior research...

EDGAR Online, Inc.(People Line & the Executive Profile)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... EDGAR Online, Inc. announced the appointment of Morton Mackof to the position of executive vice president of sales. Prior to this, Mackof was an independent consultant specializing in business development to companies in the Internet field....

WebFeat.(People Line & the Executive Profile)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... WebFeat announced that Mary Marshall has joined the company as vice president of sales. In this position, she will oversee all North American sales operations. Most recently, Marshall was director of sales for electronic media at Greenwood...

IO Informatics.(People Line & the Executive Profile)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... IO Informatics has announced the election of two new board members: A. Blaine Bowman and Richard H. Freyberg III. Currently, Bowman is chairman of the board of directors of Dionex Corp., where he previously was president and CEO. He also...

Bibliographical Center for Research (BCR).(People Line & the Executive Profile)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... The Bibliographical Center for Research (BCR) announced that its board of trustees has appointed Brenda BaUey-Hainer vice president of the board. As vice president, she will fill in for the president as needed at meetings and other functions....

Thomson West.(People Line & the Executive Profile)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... Thomson West announced that Peter Warwick has been appointed its president and CEO. He will take over Mike Wilens' former position. Wilens has been appointed president and CEO of Thomson's newly formed North American Legal organization (for...

Conference calendar.(Conference Circuit)(Calendar)
February 1, 2005... MARCH 2005 16-18 Computers in Libraries Hilton Washington, Washington, D.C. http://www.infotoday.com/cil2005 16-18 Internet@Schools East 2005 Hilton Washington, Washington, D.C. http://www.infotoday.com/I@SE2005 APRIL 2005 ...

Hot topics.(On the Road)
February 1, 2005... You saw it here first. In September 2005, the curtain goes up on five new Information Today, Inc. events designed for information professionals, knowledge managers, and IT professionals. Each one addresses a new niche and is a highly intensive,...

Conference calendar.(Calendar)
February 1, 2005... February 21-25: Mumbai, India (Grand Hyatt Mumbai). The Indian Association of Special Libraries and Information Centres is hosting the international Conference on Information Management in a Knowledge Society. This conference seeks to...

One step ahead of the law.(Cover Notes)(Introduction to Online Legal, Regulatory, and Intellectual Property Research)(Book Review)
February 1, 2005... Introduction to Online Legal, Regulatory, & Intellectual Property Research edited by Genie Tyburski Mason, Ohio: South-Western, 2004 ISBN: 0-324-20315-2 391 pages $49.95 Legal research is one of the most intimidating areas of information...

One world.(In Other Words)
February 1, 2005... As much as the Internet has helped connect more people, more cultures, more languages, and more ideas through shared information and interaction, there is still much discord in our world. But, as is often the case when a single, devastating,...

New titles for the information professional.(The Skeptical Business Searcher: The Information Advisor's Guide to Evaluating Web Data, Sites, and Sources)(Choosing and Using a News Alert Service)(The Accidental Library Manager)(Best Technology Practices in Higher Education)(Super Searchers on Competitive Intelligence: The Online and Offline Secrets of Top CI Researchers)(The Web Library: Building a World Class Personal Library with Free Web Resources)(Assessing Competitive Intelligence Software: A Guide to Evaluating CI Technology)(Book Review)
February 1, 2005... The Skeptical Business Searcher: The Information Advisor's Guide to Evaluating Web Data, Sites, and Sources By Robert Berkman Foreword by Reva Basch This is the experts' guide to finding dependable, high-quality company and industry...

OCLC tests users' preferences.(NewsBytes)(OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc.)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... OCLC announced that it has launched a pilot to evaluate library users' experiences with searching and display of search results using a visual interface developed by Antarctica Systems, Inc. According to the announcement, the pilot began in...