Computer Magazine Devotes Special Issue to the Expanding Capabilities of Search

Today’s web-based search engines perform well when searchers know what they are looking for, but fall short for learning, decision making, and other complex mental activities that take place over time.

In its March issue, Computer, the IEEE Computer Society’s flagship magazine, explores efforts by the research community and search engine companies to go beyond search, designing and implementing systems that meet information seekers’ broader requirements.

According to the guest editors, today’s search engines are augmenting our memories, presumably freeing us to focus more mental effort on interpreting and using information to learn and make decisions. The easier access to information becomes, the greater our expectations for ubiquitous access in all kinds of situations.

Read the March issue of Computer: http://libcat.qut.edu.au/search~S7?/tComputer/tcomputer/1%2C418%2C478%2CB/frameset&FF=tcomputer&2%2C%2C2

No Brief Candle: Reconceiving Research Libraries for the 21st Century

Something for the library students & those interested in libraries & research:
http://www.clir.org/pubs/reports/pub142/pub142.pdf

In the winter of 2008, the Council on Library and Information Services (CLIR) convened a group of 25 leading librarians, publishers, faculty members, and information technology specialists to look into the following question: “How should we be rethinking the research library in a swiftly changing information landscape?”

There are articles from “Future of the Library in the Research University” to “Role of the Library in 21st Century Scholarly Publishing” and “How to Change Faculty Perceptions
of Librarians and Ensure the Future of the Research Library”

Informit Enhancements

Hey database groupies … Informit (from RMIT) is excellent for Australian content … including TV news and public affairs plus IT in goverment & law.

Now it is enhanced for your researching pleasure:

1. Custom Database Screen

A new custom database screen has been added to Informit.  This screen allows customers to prioritise certain databases to list at the top of the Databases screen. Use Informit Admin – ‘Custom Databases’ field to specify databases to show on this screen.

2. Email Alerts – New Databases

The search alerts functionality has been extended to cover new databases.  Alerts are now available for:

· A+ Education

· AGIS Plus Text

· Australian Public Affairs – Plus Text

· Informit e-Library – Business Collection

· Informit e-Library – Engineering Collection

· Informit e-Library – Humanities and Social Sciences Collection

· Meditext

· RequestTV

3. RSS Feed Changes

Table of Contents RSS feeds are now available for each journal and replace the current Issue Feeds for Journals.   New Title RSS feeds from databases remain the same.

RSS feeds and Authentication

Some RSS Feeds from Informit databases require authentication and a current subscription in order to view the feed content.   Many people use RSS feed aggregators such as Google Reader or Bloglines in order to view RSS feeds. This is not possible with most Informit databases as those aggregating services do not have access to Informit content even though the person subscribing to the RSS feed does.

Only databases with freely available metadata, such as Informit e-Library collections, may be subscribed to via feed aggregators.

The only way to successfully subscribe to RSS feeds from Informit is to use a built in RSS reader on your desktop such as the one in Internet Explorer 7 or “Live Bookmarks” within Firefox.  Many other add-in / plug-in products that read RSS are available for these browsers and Windows / MacOS in general.

4. Other Fixes / Changes

• On the Database screens, ‘Title List’ links have been renamed to ‘Browse Titles’
• ‘Move to top’ (^top) links have been added between sections on Databases screen
• TVNews/RequestTV databases now show episode titles if available on program Title page

Emma goes to LIANZA!

I’m just about to head off to the LIANZA (Library & Information Association New Zealand Aotearoa) Conference in Auckland … yay!!!

This is all quite exciting as I’ve never been to NZ before & will get a day to play before it starts on Sunday (how very industrious!) and also because it has been awhile since I’ve been to a conference & even longer since I went to a library specific conference. These I alway find inspiring & interesting.

I hope also to visit a couple of uni libraries while there AUT & Uni Auckland so it’ll be interesting to compare & contrast.

I will attempt to get to a computer & blog the experience, but I’ll certainly report back on my return.

So I’ll be away until next Friday but will attempt to check email regularly & my diary is open & I do recommend you Ask a Librarian in the first instance: http://www.library.qut.edu.au/help/ask.jsp

5 Reasons to Publish with IFLA Journal

Publish with IFLA Journal at http://ifl.sagepub.com and benefit from;

1. High Visibility at the Heart of the Information Science Research Community: IFLA Journal is available online via SAGE Journals Online, hosted by the world’s leading electronic content provider, HighWire Press. So, your paper will be in good company – readers of related journals on HighWire can link to the full-text versions of all cited and citing references for FREE.
2. The journal is fully peer reviewed, articles are refereed anonymously by the IFLA editorial board.
3. IFLA journal = wide scope of content: Not only does the journal publish IFLA related news and articles, but the journal welcomes contributions covering (for example); original research, articles and features; news and information; reviews or announcements of new publications, products or services;  education and training opportunities, fellowships, honours and awards; personal news; obituaries; and letters to the Editor.
4. The journal is published on behalf of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions; this fact alone lends huge gravitas and respect to your article.
5. High circulation journal: The journal is circulated to over 1,700 IFLA members in 150 countries worldwide – plus by being featured on SAGE Journals online it is open to all subscribing institutions, giving your article an increasingly high level of exposure in the field of librarianship and information services.

New ACM Journals

The ACM Journal on Computing and Cultural Heritage (JOCCH)

JOCCH publishes papers of significant and lasting value in all areas relating to the use of ICT in support of Cultural Heritage. Submissions are sought under two broad categories: Use-inspired Basic Research and Applied Research. Use-inspired Basic Research contributions describe results which push forward the bounds of knowledge in computing science. Applied Research contributions take state-of-the-art results from general computing science and apply them to real data from the cultural heritage sector. http://jocch.acm.org/

The ACM Journal of Data and Information Quality (JDIQ) – Spring 2009

JDIQ’s mission is to publish high quality articles that make a significant and novel contribution to the field of data and information quality. JDIQ is a peer reviewed journal employing a double blind review mechanism. Each issue of JDIQ will include full research papers, plus one or two short concise papers. http://jdiq.acm.org/

ACM Transactions on Reconfigurable Technology and Systems (TRETS)

TRETS is a new peer-reviewed and archival journal that covers reconfigurable technology, systems, and applications on reconfigurable computers. TRETS is focused on research in, on, and with reconfigurable systems and on the underlying technology that supports these systems for computing or other applications. Unlike other journals, the scope, rationale, and coverage in TRETS is not limited to only certain aspects of reconfigurable technology or reconfigurable systems.

http://trets.cse.sc.edu/index.html

use of Social Networking Sites and Services by Higher Ed Citizens

The 2008 edition of the _ECAR Study of Undergraduate Students and Information Technology_ that was released this week includes extensive data and analyses on the use of Social Networking Sites and Services by Higher Ed Citizens.

The ECAR Study of Undergraduate Students and Information Technology, 2008 (ID: ERS0808)

Gail Salaway (EDUCAUSE) and Judith Borreson Caruso (University of Wisconsin-Madison) /With: Mark R. Nelson (NACS) / Introduction by: Nicole Ellison (Michigan State University)
Documents Contributed by ECAR, Research Studies (10/21/2008)

Abstract: This 2008 ECAR research study is a longitudinal extension of the 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007 ECAR studies of students and information technology. The study is based on quantitative data from a spring 2008 survey of 27,317 freshmen and seniors at 90 four-year institutions and eight two-year institutions; student focus groups that included input from 75 students at four institutions; and analysis of qualitative data from 5,877 written responses to open-ended questions.

For the library mob: a couple of presentations

The Library as Strategic Investment: Results of the Illinois ROI Study

So Tell Me What You Want: Applying Evidence-Based Librarianship to the User Experience in a Special Library

and as I was on late shift I couldn’t come along so I didn’t get any free food either!

New Journal: IEEE Internet Computing, July-August 2008

Covers topics ranging from mesh networking research and deploying rural community wireless programs to reputation-oriented trustworthy computing in e-commerce environments and the semantic sensor Web.

It’s here: http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/servlet/opac?punumber=4236

or do a journal title search in the QUT catalogue.

QUT Emerald Literati Network Award for Amanda Spink

Congratulations to Amanda Spink of FIT

A paper by Professor Amanda Spink (QUT) and Dr. Chery Dee (South Florida University) is Highly Commended Winner at the Emerald Literati Network Awards for Excellence 2007. The paper is – Spink, A., & Dee, C. (2007). Cognitive shifts related to interactive information retrieval: A replication study. Online Information Review, 31(6), 845-860.

Read it here: www.emeraldinsight.com/10.1108/14684520710841801