Information Today articles from February 2007

Information Today archives from February 2007

Scholarly communication in turmoil.
February 1, 2007... Scholarly communication is in turmoil. It is not clear how scholarly publishers will cope with change or if journals will even survive. That's why we turned to two leading experts to provide some insight into scholarly publishing now and in the...

Tightening security in 2007.(data protection )
February 1, 2007... Security breaches at organizations with large databases continue to monopolize the headlines. A case in point is the recent disclosure of the University of California -Los Angeles' (UCLA) database breach that compromised the personal...

CAS turns 100.(Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS), a division of the American Chemical Society )(Company overview)
February 1, 2007... It's not every day that a company celebrates its centennial. Such a milestone is rare in business and nearly unheard of in the information technology industry. So kudos are in store for Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS), a division of the...

Dow Jones restructures Enterprise Media Group.(financial information services)
February 1, 2007... Dow Jones & Co. announced that it has restructured its Enterprise Media Group to increase business in the financial, corporate and media, and government markets. The company reorganized its management and consolidated its enterprise product...

IEEE brings global publication sales in-house.(Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers)(Brief article)
February 1, 2007... IEEE is now handling all of its worldwide online publication subscription sales internally as of Jan. 1. IEEE, which previously used a third-party provider for its overseas sales and systems support, has restructured its sales department to...

SLA's Click University gets IACET accreditation.(Special Libraries Association, International Association for Continuing Education and Training )(Brief article)
February 1, 2007... SLA announced that the International Association for Continuing Education and Training (IACET) has authorized SLA to award the IACET Continuing Education Unit (CEU) to SLA members who complete courses through Click University, the online...

TIME Magazine's Person of the Year.(News Bytes)(Brief article)
February 1, 2007... According to a TIME article (www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1569514,00.html), people used the World Wide Web as a tool to collect their contributions and make them matter. "[F]or seizing the reins of the global media, for founding...

Google tops the list.(Brief article)
February 1, 2007... When FORTUNE magazine rated Google the No. 1 place to work in its recent survey, why wasn't anyone surprised? Adam Redlich, Google's lead recruiter for engineering, wrapped up the sentiment in the company blog when the news hit the headlines:...

The year of mergers and acquisitions.(News Bytes)(Brief article)
February 1, 2007... At the close of 2006, the number of mergers and acquisitions across 11 media and information industry sectors was up 18 percent in deal activity and 12 percent in total deal value from 2005, according to The Jordan, Edmiston Group. The year...

Ex Libris and Francisco Partners acquire Endeavor Information Systems.(News Bytes)
February 1, 2007... Francisco Partners, owner of Ex Libris, announced its acquisition of Endeavor Information Systems, an Elsevier company. The acquisition, which was first announced in late November 2006, combines Endeavor and Ex Libris under a share-purchase...

MySpace accessible via Cingular Wireless.(accessing personal profiles)(Brief article)
February 1, 2007... MySpace users can now access their personal profiles through Cingular phones, thanks to a special partnership between Cingular Wireless and MySpace. Cell phone users will be able to use their phones via MySpace Mobile to edit their MySpace...

CAS indexes 1 million documents in 2006.(Chemical Abstracts Service )(Brief article)
February 1, 2007... Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS) reported that it has indexed and added more than 1 million document records to the CAS databases in 1 year for the first time. This milestone reflects the worldwide acceleration of scientific research and...

Earthquake limits access to Chinese online hosts.(earthquake off the coast of Taiwan damages underwater communication cables)(Brief article)
February 1, 2007... On Dec. 26 (1 year after the devastating tsunami hit the Indian Ocean), an earthquake off the coast of Taiwan damaged several key underwater cables, causing disruptions with phone and Internet access in key markets in Asia. The 7.1-magnitude...

'Dear Marty/Dear Matt'.(tips for the new company created by ProQuest Information and Learning and Cambridge Information Group takeover)
February 1, 2007... Well, ProQuest Information and Learning was recently sold to Cambridge Information Group (CIG), parent of CSA. By the time you read this, the new privately held company created out of the takeover will have announced its new name. At press...

Mergers and acquisitions dominate the news.(information industry )
February 1, 2007... The dominant news in the past few months was the merger and acquisition activity, which has been almost nonstop. The biggest news in our space was the announced purchase of ProQuest Information and Learning (PQIL) by the Cambridge Information...

You can enter Information Today, Inc.'s 2007 InfoTubey Awards!
February 1, 2007... We're looking for videos that librarians have created and posted to YouTube. Each production must demonstrate creativity, humor, and sincerity in marketing a library, promoting library services, or enhancing a library's value. Videos cannot be...

New terms in technology.(Internet)(Brief article)
February 1, 2007... dotsam: The Internet's wasteland of abandoned Web sites, Hotmail accounts, blogs, wikis, MySpace pages, etc., that their creators have ignored for months or years but that are still accessible on the Web. adminispam: Useless email sent...

Achievo receives ISO 9001:2000 Certification in Germany.(Achievo Germany)(Brief article)
February 1, 2007... Achievo announced that Achievo Germany's Ingolstadt and Munich software development facilities have passed an audit for ISO 9001:2000. The certification is awarded to companies that meet special standards of business process-management quality....

Redi-Direct Marketing acquires Dialog Group.(Brief article)
February 1, 2007... Redi-Direct Marketing, the holding company of Redi-Mail Direct Marketing and StayinFront, announced that it has acquired the Dialog Group and its subsidiaries. The Dialog Group, which is composed of Data Dialog Marketing and Healthcare Dialog...

Take a survey: test your ROI know-how.(News Bytes)
February 1, 2007... Information Today and Babson College's Working Knowledge Research Center are co-sponsoring a special Discovering Content ROI (return on investment) contest beginning this month. The purpose is to identify the best strategies used by companies...

Trexy: have trail, will blaze.
February 1, 2007... In less than a year, the trailblazing tool better known as Trexy has taken the technology industry by storm. In late November, Trexy won the 2006 International Information Industry Award for the Best Specialist Search Product. Then, a week...

U.K. ID card project faces tough challenges.(aimed for homeland security)
February 1, 2007... A controversial biometrics-based ID card system being pushed by the U.K. government faces more than a few obstacles. The system proposed by U.K. prime minister Tony Blair and his allies in the governing Labour Party is the country's best...

Now's your chance.(LETTER FROM THE EDITOR)
February 1, 2007... Every so often, it's good to touch base with our readers to find out what's on your minds, to learn how can we help you, and to get details about what you want to see in the pages of Information Today. As I'm busy lining up articles for...

Thoughts on a consolidated industry.(ProQuest Co. in the process of being sold to Cambridge Information Group)
February 1, 2007... With ProQuest Information and Learning and the bulk of ProQuest Co. in the process of being sold to Cambridge Information Group (the sale was still pending as we went to press), I started thinking about what the ongoing and continuing...

Infotoons.(Comic)
February 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Caption: GENTLEMEN, 2007 IS THE YEAR OF ACQUISITIONS AND MERGERS... SO, CAN WE ARRIVE AT A PRICE THAT WILL MAKE US BOTH HAPPY? LOOK, I'LL TRADE YOU "PARK PLACE SOFTWARE" FOR "BOARDWALK SEARCH ENGINE"......

Librarians on Second Life.(Focus on Publishing)
February 1, 2007... Like a civilizing force in a brave new world, libraries and librarians have set up camp (or more specifically, islands) in Second Life (SL). This popular massive multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) tests the limits of online gaming....

Patent reform gets a fresh look: the BlackBerry lawsuit.(increasing patent right cases in United States)
February 1, 2007... The late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black had a dim view of patents. He reportedly told one of his law clerks that he "had seen only one real invention--the airplane--and he wasn't even certain about that one." The stunning rise in...

Untethered communication.(Internet Waves)
February 1, 2007... When not in uniform, he looked like a baby, as do so many of my customers. And he is somebody's baby. I have two sons of my own, so I have a soft spot for all of these young men and women whom I see every working day. This young airman was...

Tricks of a true procrastinator.(Library Stuff Revisited)(RSS and other time saving tools)
February 1, 2007... I've always been a big believer in saving time. Since I am a procrastinator, the time available to complete tasks diminishes with every ticking minute. It's no wonder that I am an RSS fan because the technology has saved me time over the years,...

U.K. intellectual property review.
February 1, 2007... In December 2005, Gordon Brown, U.K. chancellor of the exchequer, requested that the U.K. intellectual property system be reviewed by an independent source. Brown commissioned Andrew Gowers, the former editor of the Financial Times, to lead the...

Applause, applause.(Ian Russell to succeed Sally Morris as chief of Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers)
February 1, 2007... We bid a hearty welcome to Ian Russell and a fond farewell to Sally Morris as the respective current and former CEOs of the Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers (ALPSP). Russell stepped into Morris' shoes as chief...

Hats off to libraries.(role of public libraries in community development)(Brief article)
February 1, 2007... A new study from the Urban Institute turned the spotlight on the new role of public libraries. The study "Making Cities Stronger: Public Library Contributions to Local Economic Development" reports that libraries have gone from an institution...

Going global.(search engine usage )(Brief article)
February 1, 2007... The results are in, and it's a small world after all. According to a comScore Networks study, "14 of the top 25 U.S. Web properties attract more traffic from people outside the U.S. than from within." Global By Design reported that Google...

Tired of winter? Attend a conference.(Conference Circuit)(Calendar)
February 1, 2007... Even though I'm writing this column on an unseasonably warm December day, it won't be long before we will be in the throes of the normal North American winter. And many of us will be suffering from a case of cabin fever as we grow tired of...

Conference calendar.(Calendar)
February 1, 2007... February 5-7: Washington, D.C. (Renaissance Mayflower Hotel). The theme of the AAP (Association of American Publishers)/PSP (Professional Scholarly Publishing) Annual Conference is Global Publishing: Emerging Markets, New Models. ...

Debunking from A to Z: skeptics gather on these sites to question everything.(http://skepdic.com)(Website overview)
February 1, 2007... Ehrich Weiss was a skeptic. Better known as Harry Houdini, he was famous during the early 20th century not only for escaping from handcuffs and straitjackets but also for debunking the claims of mediums and psychics. He even visited seances in...

A no-nonsense Web site: cybersports.(www.StrikeoutsForTroops.com and www.SportsNetwork.com)(Website overview)
February 1, 2007... Back in the Dark Ages (aka when all we had was dial-up Internet access), the emphasis was on simple, clean, fast-loading Web pages. But now that we have high-speed access anywhere from the restrooms at Burger King to the Super Bowl, there's...

Raising the bar for Information Literacy.(Cover Notes)(Book review)
February 1, 2007... Information Literacy Assessment: Standards-Based Tools and Assignments by Teresa Y. Neely Chicago: ALA, 2006 ISBN: 9780838909140 $40 216 pages If you are an academic librarian, you are probably acquainted with the Association of College &...

Not-so-extreme makeovers.(articles in defferent magazines)
February 1, 2007... OK, so it's now the second month of the year. For most of us, this means any resolutions we dared to make last month are now toast (and they're probably not the nonfattening kind). This is actually good news because it means we can get on with...

Safari Books Online.(Jeffrey Patterson is new chief executive )(Brief article)
February 1, 2007... Safari Books Online, a joint venture of O'Reilly Media, Inc. and Pearson Technology Group, announced the appointment of Jeffrey Patterson as CEO. He will also join the company's board of directors and work with O'Reilly and Pearson executives...

Coutts Information Services.(Bob Nardini appointed)(Brief article)
February 1, 2007... Coutts Information Services announced the addition of Bob Nardini to its executive management team as group director of client integration and head bibliographer. In this position, he will develop and expand the company's approvals services. He...

CTB/McGraw-Hill.(Ellen Haley appointed)(Brief article)
February 1, 2007... CTB/McGraw-Hill announced the appointment of Ellen Haley as president. Haley has been with CTB for 20 years and has led many of the company's departments. Most recently, she served as vice president of publishing, where she was responsible...

CrossRef.(Geoffrey Bilder appointed)(Brief article)
February 1, 2007... CrossRef announced that Geoffrey Bilder has joined the company in the newly created position of director of strategic initiatives. Most recently, Bilder was publishing technology consultant at Scholarly Information Strategies, Ltd. Prior to...

Njini, Inc.(Doug Rich and Phil Maynard appointed)(Brief article)
February 1, 2007... Njini, Inc. has announced the appointments of Doug Rich as vice president of sales EMEA (Europe Middle East Africa region) and Phil Maynard as product marketing director. Previously, Rich was vice president of sales EMEA at OuterBay...

Library Dynamics.(Howard Harris as new president )(Brief article)
February 1, 2007... Library Dynamics announced that Howard Harris is its new president. In this new role, he will be responsible for the day-to-day operations of the company and for setting its strategic direction. Most recently, Harris was Library Dynamics'...

Mary Rose Muccie, Director, Project MUSE.(information industry)(Interview)
February 1, 2007... The Internet has made it easy for anyone looking for information on any topic to find answers instantly. So it's no surprise that scholarly content is beginning to follow suit. But according to Mary Rose Muccie, the new director of Project...

Nature Publishing Group launches Nature Photonics.(new science journal)(Brief article)
February 1, 2007... Nature Publishing Group recently launched Nature Photonics, a journal that covers photonics research. The first issue, which is available at www.nature.com/naturephotonics, includes topics from lasers to microphotonic circuitry to slow light....

The Thomson Corp. announces additions, enhancements, and releases.(Product News & Reviews)
February 1, 2007... Thomson Scientific announced the addition of three new country modules to the IDRAC database: India, Israel, and Turkey. IDRAC is a global pharmaceutical regulatory intelligence database that is "designed to help pharmaceutical companies adapt...

Intellext and HandySoft team up for OfficeEngine.(Brief article)
February 1, 2007... Intellext and HandySoft Global Corp. announced that HandySoft's new Office-Engine software will use Intellext's Watson technology. OfficeEngine is an application that lets knowledge workers create, assign, subdelegate, track, and execute...

Northern Light: better the second time around?(new online database service)
February 1, 2007... We might call 2006 the year of the "classification engine," a term referring to a search technology that classifies results by subject, in addition to a single ranked list. Classified searches are valuable because you often need to explore the...

Phonezoo: customizing those ringtones.(online ring tone services )
February 1, 2007... "If ringtones were free, 60 percent of people would change their ringtones every day or week. Ninety percent would change their ringtones monthly," said Jim Mansfield, vice president of marketing for Phonezoo, a new company that lets users...

JSTOR adds BMJ and science news.(Journal of Storage adds science periodicals )(Brief article)
February 1, 2007... The complete backfiles of BMJ (British Medical Journal), a peer-reviewed medical title, and Science News, a publication that covers research from all scientific fields, will be available through JSTOR's Health & General Sciences Collection in...

Atypon: building a brand behind the scenes.(Atypon Systems, Inc. provides solutions for online publishing)(Company overview)(Brief article)
February 1, 2007... If Atypon Systems, Inc. isn't a common word in the e-publishing vocabulary, it's because the company prefers to keep a low profile. Atypon typically works behind the scenes for e-publishing's scholarly powerhouses, including Blackwell...

CSA Illustrata provides deep indexing.(science journal database)(Brief article)
February 1, 2007... CSA announced that information presented in tables, figures, charts, and other illustrations within scholarly articles is now searchable with its new resource, CSA Illustrata. Researchers can search for the information, view the full object...

BioMed Central launches open access journal.(science journal)(Brief article)
February 1, 2007... BioMed Central recently launched BMC Systems Biology, the first open access journal about systems biology. The journal publishes peer-reviewed research, software, database, and methodology articles that describe systemslevel analyses of...

Knovel partners with NCRP.(National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements and Knovel Corp.)(Brief article)
February 1, 2007... Knovel Corp., a provider of Web-based research and information services, announced a new content partnership with the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements (NCRP), a resource for information, guidance, and recommendations on...

EBSCO announces additions, agreement.(EBSCO Information Services )(Brief article)
February 1, 2007... EBSCO Information Services announced that it has included Live Search Academic as one of the OpenURL-enabled sources for its LinkSource link resolver, letting EBSCO A-to-Z customers activate their online resources at no charge through the...

Forsythe: the ABCs of strategic planning.(Forsythe Group on future of data centers)(Brief article)
February 1, 2007... According to Fred Latala, director of data center relocation services for the Forsythe Solutions Group, 2007 may be the year of the data center. When he attended the Gartner 25th Annual Data Center Conference at the end of 2006, he heard the...

Service management goes online with BlueService.(BlueFolder Inc.)
February 1, 2007... BlueFolder, a service team automation (STA) designer, released Blue-Service, a product engineered to make conducting business easier and more efficient for service-oriented firms. Today, repair and delivery service firms store data on paper...

Access Innovations improves IEEE's research services.(Product News & Reviews)
February 1, 2007... Access Innovations (AI), content management specialists and publishers of the Data Harmony suite of taxonomy software tools, announced that it is working with IEEE, a publisher of technical research, to improve the group's online research...