Information Today articles from July 2006

Information Today archives from July 2006

SLA 2006: on the horizon.(conference)
July 1, 2006... The crowds filtering in and out of the Baltimore Convention Center for the SLA conference held June 11-14 ferried an arsenal of necessities: SLA 2006 Conference REPORT Guides, signature totes, FROM laptops, name tags, and THE comfortable shoes....

Breach of faith.(conference on data security)
July 1, 2006... Retailers who deal with customer information every day look carefully at the developments in data protection and data breaches. In fact, those were the major topics at the Retail Data Security Forum held May 22-24 in Chicago. "Our...

Iraq gets a foothold in cyberspace.
July 1, 2006... It appears that the safest place to build in Iraq is online. A group of American scientists have constructed a massive online database called the Iraqi Virtual Science Library (IVSL) to help bring Iraqi scientists and engineers up-to-speed...

H.W. Wilson donates $100,000 to New Orleans Public Library.(services of H.W. Wilson Foundation )(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... The H.W. Wilson Foundation donated $100,000 to the main branch of the New Orleans Public Library System during the ALA's annual conference on June 23 in New Orleans. The company will also provide free trial access to 28 WilsonWeb databases to...

XanEdu acquires rights to NACRA case studies.(NewsBytes)
July 1, 2006... The North American Case Research Association (NACRA) and the National Archive Publishing Co. (NAPC) agreed to a deal that will extend NAPC's rights to distribute NACRA's business case studies. XanEdu, a publishing business run by NAPC, will...

NetLibrary to provide e-books to German libraries.(Bayerische Staatsbibliothek)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, the state library of Bavaria, Germany, purchased 1,000 e-books from NetLibrary, a division of OCLC. The agreement makes the books available in libraries throughout Germany, including the Berlin State Library and the...

Dialog opens international scholarship competition.(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Dialog is searching for applicants worldwide for its annual Roger K. Summit International Scholarship. The company awards two scholarships each year--one to a NorthAmerican student and the other to a student from Europe, Asia, or Africa. ...

The British Library and EPS Research Information trends.(Electronic Publishing Services)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... The British Library worked with Electronic Publishing Services (EPS) on a study about how best to serve the needs of British research now and in the future. The report, "The British Library's Content Strategy--Meeting the Knowledge Needs...

Veterans groups sue Department of Veterans Affairs.( )(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... The Department of Veterans Affairs faces legal action after a laptop computer containing the names and personal information of about 26.5 million active and retired military personnel was stolen on May 3. Five veterans groups filed a...

Wiley-VCH partners with Asian chemical societies.(Singapore National Institute of Chemistry )(Chemical Society )(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Wiley-VCH plans to partner with the Singapore National Institute of Chemistry and the Chemical Society for the new publication, Chemistry--An Asian Journal. The journal will be published on behalf of six Asian chemical societies and is also...

Users as competitors.(UpFront)(Column)
July 1, 2006... The market in technology... the marketing of technology. Now how does that work again? When I was watching an old movie from the 1930s the other day, one scene had a very distrustful executive bargaining with a vendor for a service. In...

Legislative wrangling and developments in search lead the news.(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... The nonstop pace of events at the end of each year often leaves me breathless with a bevy of conferences, end-of-the-year wrap-ups, and the bustle of family gatherings and holiday events. But that pace is nothing in comparison to the tempo...

Byte Level names Google Best Global Web Site.(Byte Level Research )(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Byte Level Research released the third edition of "The Web Globalization Report Card," naming Google "Best Global Web Site," a distinction the search engine has won in every edition. The report cited Google's availability in 116 languages as...

Blackwell teams up with Le Jacq.(Le Jacq )(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Blackwell Publishing and Le Jacq have agreed to an exclusive long-term partnership under which Blackwell will publish Le Jacq's eight clinical journals and various books. Blackwell plans to expand its independent medical educational base,...

Factiva and SLA honor Salmon and Strongin-Garry.(Factiva Leadership Award)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Factiva and SLA presented the European Information Professional of the Year Award to Marie-Madeleine Salmon, head of the information center at Publicis. Ilene Strongin-Garry, research librarian for InterContinental Hotels Group, won the Factiva...

Telcontar becomes deCarta.(deCarta)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Telcontar, a location-based services (LBS) platform provider, announced that it has changed its name to deCarta. Seeking to highlight the Latin word "carta," from which the word "cartography" is de rived, the new nomenclature emphasizes de...

Report shows manufacturing lagging in online ad spending.(NewsBytes)
July 1, 2006... Outsell's "Annual Ad Spending Study 2006: Advertisers' Spending and Behaviors in Vertical Industries" revealed that manufacturing companies are spending less on advertising than other companies. As the fourth installment in Outsell's Ad...

KnowledgeFilter, Inc. receives patent for online content management.(KnowledgeFilter Inc. patent)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... KnowledgeFilter, Inc. was awarded U.S. Patent No. 7,031,952 for its application that can transform content organization on the Internet. The application captures and filters large volumes of information based on user input. "Sorting Web...

Celgene tops fastest-growing list.(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... In its June 2006 issue, Business 2.0 released its list of the 100 fastest-growing technology companies. First was Celgene Corp., one of 29 medical companies in a category that drew the highest number of growing companies. Six of the top 10 and...

Update and clarification from ProQuest.(NewsBreak Update)(David Prichard)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Commenting on the June Information Today (IT) issue's cover story about ProQuest's finances by Phillip Britt, president of the Information and Learning division David "Skip" Prichard told IT that the article was basically very balanced and...

Endeca Technologies, Inc. awarded patent for Guided Navigation.(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Endeca Technologies, Inc. announced that it was awarded U.S. Patent No. 7,035,864, covering its hierarchical data-driven navigation system and information-retrieval method called Guided Navigation. The system is designed to help Web users find...

Macmillan India, Ltd. acquires ICC.(NewsBytes)
July 1, 2006... Macmillan India, Ltd. (MIL) announced that it has acquired the U.S.-based Interactive Composition Corp. (ICC). The acquisition will allow the companies to combine ICC's experience in producing books for K-12, college, and trade and Macmillan's...

Kenneth R. Thomson, former chairman of the board, dies at 82.(Obituary)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Kenneth R. Thomson, former chairman of the board at The Thomson Corp., died on June 12 at the age of 82. A controlling shareholder (with about 70 percent of the shares), Mr. Thomson became chairman of the family business in 1976 and chairman of...

Best places to work.(survey)(Survey)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Once the surveys were completed and the results were tallied, Computerworld magazine finalized its list of the top 100 Best Places to Work for IT Professionals in its June issue. Hats off to Thomson West (No. 55); LexisNexis Group (No. 84);...

It's out of the gag.(NewsMakers)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... The Connecticut librarian foursome (Barbara Bailey, Peter Chase, George Christian, and Janet Nocek), who were gagged by the FBI, finally spoke out about their ordeal. The librarians had previously been ordered to turn over patrons' library...

In the running.(appointments)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... President George W. Bush selected Jose-Marie Griffiths, dean of the School of Information and Library Science at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, to serve on the National Science Board. Griffiths recently presented a session at the...

Lazy days of summer.(LETTER FROM THE EDITOR)
July 1, 2006... Now that we've finally hit a lull after the flurry of spring and summer conferences, it's time to make the most of the dog days of summer. Since this is a combined July/August issue, we'll have an extra week or 2 to plan the next issues of...

Aural conversion.(Column)
July 1, 2006... Lately, I've heard that some people would rather listen to than read something. The assertion is being used to advocate everything from Web events to corporate podcasting. But I haven't actually been able to find any data to back up this claim,...

Infotoons.(Cartoon)
July 1, 2006... O.K. I'VE GOT MY WALTON ANTI-VIRUS AND FIREWALL INSTALLED. ALSO, MY PRESTO IDENTITY THEFT PROTECTION... MAN, I'M GOOD! ALRIGHTY, THEN! I'M SAFE, SECURE, PROTECTED...--I'M OUTTA HERE! WELL, HELLO THERE, JOHN E. DOE. SOCIAL...

The impact of open choice.(Focus on Publishing)(Column)
July 1, 2006... The findings of a study released last month in PLoS Biology reveal that articles that are published by the author-pays open access (OA) approach are cited more often than those that are published in the same journal and that are publicly...

The new video connection.(Internet Waves)(Column)
July 1, 2006... I am in my living room typing this column on my laptop, while my No. 2 son is in the Florida room on his laptop watching a ballgame on MLB.TV (we received an annual subscription as a gift). MLB.TV lets us watch any Major League Baseball...

MySpace.com and library filters: Deleting Online Predators Act.(Legal Issues)
July 1, 2006... When I was growing up in Vancouver, Wash., I could see Mount St. Helens from the front window of our house. Unfortunately, I left home for college before the volcanic mountain (which had been dormant for many years) erupted 26 years ago the...

Blackwell North America.(People Line & the Executive Profile)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Blackwell's Book Services announced the appointment of Susan Peterson as CEO of Blackwell North America. Most recently, Peterson was an independent consultant who provided services to printers, publishers, distributors, retailers, and...

Elsevier.(People Line & the Executive Profile)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Elsevier announced that Scott Virkler is now its vice president of Web strategy and business development. He will be responsible for the overall development and execution of its strategy in the Internet search marketplace. Previously,...

Thomson Corp.(People Line & the Executive Profile)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Thomson Corp. announced that Candace Hatton was promoted to vice president of content operations at Thomson West. In this role, she will continue to have primary site responsibility for the Cleveland Content Center, where she currently oversees...

Swets Information Services.(People Line & the Executive Profile)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Swets Information Services announced that Thomas Snyder is its new chief commercial officer. He will be responsible for the company's global marketing, sales, customer relations, and product development activities. Before this, Snyder held...

Nstein Technologies, Inc.(People Line & the Executive Profile)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Nstein Technologies, Inc. announced that Mario Girard, chairman and CEO of Nstein Technologies, was named Quebec's Personality of the Year in Information Technology for 2005. This award is given by the Federation de l'Informatique du Quebec...

Danware A/S.(People Line & the Executive Profile)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Danware A/S announced that Jason Vargovchik has been chosen to head its U.S. subsidiary, NetOp Technologies. In this position, he will manage the subsidiary and build a partner channel for Danware's NetOp product line. Most recently, he...

Jenny Walker, executive vice president of marketing, Xrefer, Ltd.
July 1, 2006... Free is good... right? According to Jenny Walker, Xrefer, Ltd.'s new executive vice president of marketing, when it comes to researching, free services may come with a much higher price tag--time. "There is no 'one-size-fits-all,'"...

Web tools I can't live without.(Library Stuff Revisited)(http://www.browster.com)(http://www.librarystuff.net/2006/05/browster.html)(http:// support.opml.org)(http://www.bugme not.com)(http://pubsub.com)(rankings of web tools)
July 1, 2006... My daughter's favorite movies are Disney's Princess classics. How do I know that? Well, if you have ever spent time with a 3-year-old, you know that he or she will tell you everything. Sometimes you'll be told the same thing five times within a...

StopBadware.org announces four additions to 'Badware Watch List'.
July 1, 2006... Downloading files from the Internet can sometimes be risky. You can never be sure exactly what you are installing when you click that "download" button. Some software programs, termed "badware," embed malicious spyware without the online...

Elsevier's vice chair revisited.(Elsevier Information Systems Inc.)(Y.S. Chi )(Interview)
July 1, 2006... When I last spoke with Y.S. Chi at ALA 2005, he had been in his new job as vice chair of Elsevier for only 2 days. He was just getting to know the groups he referred to as his constituencies. (See "The New View at the Top," IT, September 2005:...

From book fairs to global Cybersecurity.(International REPORT)(Reed Exhibitions organizes the London Book Fair)(World Telecommunications Day to control cyber crimes)(Stockholm Challenge - awards for IT workers)
July 1, 2006... In the world of information technology, nothing stays the same for long. Change is never far, especially when it comes to a little old-fashioned competition. Reed Exhibitions may have won a bizarre battle with the organizers of Frankfurt...

Nervana: the quest for discovery.(management of Nervana Discovery Solution)
July 1, 2006... Webster's dictionary describes nirvana as "any place or condition of great peace or bliss." For Nosa Omoigui, chairman and CEO of Nervana, Inc., the spelling of the company's name may be slightly different, but the results are much the same....

More summer conferences.(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Ah, the long, lazy days of summer--an annual period eagerly anticipated by almost everyone. But, as I explained in my last column, summer is often used for combining vacations with furthering one's education by attending a seminar or...

A question of content management.(annual Gilbane conferences)(Brief article)(Conference notes)
July 1, 2006... The annual Gilbane Conferences on Content Management Technologies, which was held April 24-26 in San Francisco, featured programs on content management, enterprise DRM, enterprise search, intranets, wikis, and blogs...

Libraries in the Digital Age 2006.(conferences)
July 1, 2006... Librarians are facing a new task, according to Carol C. Kuhlthau of Rutgers University in New Jersey. As the opening speaker at the Libraries in the Digital Age (LIDA) conference from May 29 to June 4 in Croatia, Kuhlthau said librarians will...

Honors for Saracevic.(works and honors of Tefko Saracevic)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Tefko Saracevic, professor at the School of Communication, Information and Library Studies at Rutgers University in New Jersey, was honored with a book titled Contributions to the Creation of a Theory of Information Science, which contains...

SIIA content forum: San Francisco stronghold.(conferences of Software and Information Industry Association)(Brief article)(Conference notes)
July 1, 2006... As the world of publishing continues to change, publishers are searching for new ways to get users' eyes on their content. That's why members of the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) gathered for a 2day conference on Tools,...

Conference calendar.(Calendar)
July 1, 2006... July 6-7: York, United Kingdom (York Moat House Hotel). The Joint Information Systems Committee and the Coalition for Networked Information will present their 6th International Meeting. The theme is Envisioning Future Challenges in...

The newspaper dilemma: more than 1,500 U.S. daily newspapers have online editions.(Link-Up@Home: Your Personal Guide to the Web)(Industry overview)
July 1, 2006... The advent of the Internet has been revolutionary for newspapers. However, newspaper publishers are still searching for economically viable digital publishing models. Part 1 of this two-part series examines why newspapers have been migrating...

A Rogue's gallery: CyberSports.(Link-Up@Home: Your Personal Guide to the Web)
July 1, 2006... The world of nutritional supplements, steroids, and all the other little chemicals designed to turn schlubs into stars makes your Field Correspondent a little queasy. For one, the thought of injecting a chemical used by veterinarians into...

Improve your photography.(usage of websites)(http:// photo.net)(http://dir.yahoo.com/Arts/ Visual_Arts/Photography)(http://dir.yahoo.com/ Arts/Visual_Arts/Photography/Photo graphers_Resources)(http://www .kodak.com/US/en/nav/takingPics)(http://www.Photonhead.com)(http://dpreview.com)(http://www.luminous-landscape.com)
July 1, 2006... What's the most important thing a photographer needs to take great portraits? Is it a camera that produces extremely high-resolution images? Expensive lenses? Sophisticated lighting equipment? None of the above, according to writer and...

Talario rolls out digital writing product.(Product News & Reviews)(Xpaper)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Now that music, books, television, and telecommunications have gone digital, why not paper? Xpaper, Talario, LLC's patent-pending, easy-to-use digital writing system, replaces regular paper, while offering instant digital copies of printed or...

Dialog offers government research reports.(Product News & Reviews)(Dialog Corporation PLC)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Dialog announced that it will be offering a collection of more than 400,000 government-sponsored research reports distributed by the National Technical Information Service (NTIS). The reports cover a spectrum of subjects including aerospace,...

Clusty solves information overload.(Product/service evaluation)
July 1, 2006... Google is now the 800-pound gorilla among search engines, but it won't necessarily continue to be this way forever. In recent issues, I've reviewed intriguing search engines, including Grokker (October 2005) and Ask.com (May 2006), which have...

Who's Who in American Art goes online.(Marquis Who's Who adds a print directory to its online database)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Marquis Who's Who announced that Who's Who in American Art, which is a print directory, will be added to Marquis Who's Who on the Web, its online database. Who's Who in American Art contains, biographical information on more than 14,000...

Google updates Earth and maps.(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Google recently announced plans to upgrade Google Earth and Google Maps. Google Earth will receive a satellite imagery update for increased resolution, making submeter, high-resolution imagery available for more than one-third of the...

ScholarlyStats now available through EBSCO.(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... EBSCO Information Services and MPS Technologies have teamed up to offer ScholarlyStats, a usage statistics management portal, through EBSCO. Libraries primarily use ScholarlyStats to consolidate vendor usage stats into a single access point....

Asigra and NetMass offer backup plan.(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Asigra and NetMass have teamed up to offer data backup and recovery services to companies who might otherwise lose everything in a natural disaster. The two companies have developed a solution that is based on Asigra Televaulting software and...

McGraw McGrows.(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... The McGraw-Hill Cos. has leased about 70,000 square feet of office space in Columbus, Ohio, where SRA/McGraw-Hill, its K-8 education business, will be expanding its facilities. Approximately 300 employees in editorial, production, marketing,...

Plateau Systems releases new talent management program.(human resources program)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Plateau Systems announced the release of its new human resources program, Plateau OnDemand. By targeting companies interested in maximizing employee productivity, the subscription-based service offers ready-made forms and processes based on...

SequenceBase Corp. and FIZ Karlsruhe introduce USGENE.(SequenceBase Corp. and FIZ Karlsruhe)(USPTO Genetic Sequence Database)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... SequenceBase Corp. and FIZ Karlsruhe introduced the USPTO Genetic Sequence Database, USGENE, a new resource for freedom-to-operate, prior-art, validity, and patent infringement searches. USGENE, which will be available on STN International this...

XanEdu launches improvements to control center.(CoursePack Control Center)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... XanEdu Custom Publishing, part of National Archive Publishing Co., announced enhancements to its CoursePack Control Center. The center is an exclusive feature for XanEdu customers that lets bookstore administrators and faculty track the...

Wetpaint launches six new Web sites.(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Wetpaint recently launched six new Web sites, combining aspects of wikis, blogs, and forums. The sites concern popular topics such as The Da Vinci Code and the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) World Cup. The company,...

Google explores the final frontier with Google Mars.(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Two down; seven to go (planets, that is). Google recently released Google Mars, an online collection of maps similar to Google Earth, though less likely to inspire reactions like, "I can see my house from here." Google Mars allows users to view...

New WorldCat Selection service helps libraries streamline work flows.(service development of OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. and Cornell University Library)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... OCLC collaborated with Cornell University Library to develop a new WorldCat Selection service to help libraries save time and money. It streamlines the selection and ordering processes for new library materials and delivers the corresponding...

Worktopia, Inc. offers meeting planning solutions.(Worktopia Inc.)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Worktopia, Inc. helps meeting planners book short lead-time meetings online. Planners can search for space in real time, check availability, get instant quotes from branded hotels and conference and business centers, compare competitive...

Nuance adds Watson to PaperPort Professional 11.(Nuance Communications)(Intellext)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Nuance Communications, Inc. plans to use a version of Intellext's Watson intelligent search agent in its upcoming ScanSoft PaperPort Professional 11, which is used to scan, search, and organize documents and images on a computer. PaperPort...

Nike, Apple collaborate on iPod running gear.(footwear with nano music player from Nike, Inc. in colloboration with Apple Computer, Inc.)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Nike, Inc. and Apple Computer, Inc. announced they are jointly developing a system so that some Nike shoes can communicate with Apple's iPod nano music player to track a runner's performance. The Nike+iPod Sport Kit, which will be...

Thomson Elite introduces Elite Image Connect.(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Thomson Elite unveiled its new Elite Image Connect software, a program aimed at helping firms rely less on paper. Thomson's new software, which is currently in beta, uses a Web interface to store scanned images to a predetermined location that...

John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. releases journal.(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. announced the release of Evidence-Based Child Health: A Cochrane Review Journal to complement its expanding Evidence-Based Medicine portfolio. The journal presents concise, easy to understand, expert commentaries and...

Google launches site dedicated to William Shakespeare.(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Google recently launched a site that is devoted entirely to searching the texts of William Shakespeare's plays. Users can plug in words, such as "to be or not to be" from Hamlet, and be immediately taken to that part of the play. The site,...

Finding a balance between electronic and print resources.(Integrating Print and Digital Resources in Library Collections)(Book review)
July 1, 2006... Integrating Print and Digital Resources in Library Collections edited by Audrey Fenner Binghamton, N.Y.: Haworth, 2006 Simultaneously published as The Acquisitions Librarian, Nos. 35/36 (2006) ISBN: 0-7890-2834-1 203 pages $49.95, softcover ...

Cruisin'.(In Other Words)
July 1, 2006... It's easy to shift into autopilot during the summertime. There must be something in the air that makes us feel relaxed, less focused, and more prone to playing hooky. While there's certainly nothing wrong with trying to find ways to...

New titles for the information professional.(The Visible Employee)(Book review)
July 1, 2006... The Visible Employee: Using Workplace Monitoring and Surveillance to Protect Information Assets--Without Compromising Employee Privacy or Trust By Jeffrey M. Stanton and Kathryn R. Stam 2006, 356 pp, softbound, ISBN 0-910965-74-9, $24.95 ...

A buzzword that works.
July 1, 2006... blahger: A blogger whose message primarily consists of blah-blah-blah. Source: BuzzWhack (http://www.buzzwhack.com)