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What's New Backfiles [July-December 2006]

December 2006

• Advocating and Facilitating Open Access
  Get published AND ensure open access: Authors' Rights and Wrongs
  Over the past decade, concerned scholars and scientists have begun to leverage the capabilities of digital technology and to respond to escalating journal prices by posting their work on the web. The term “open access” describes these materials that are freely accessible to everyone with an Internet connection and easily discoverable in a Google search. Open access increases the impact of research and scholarly work by providing broader dissemination.
  
  Research shows that open access journal articles are cited 25% to 250% more often than journal articles with restricted access – because faculty and students typically start their search for information with a Google search. ... --Denise Troll Covey, Librarian for Special Projects, Carnegie Mellon University.
  
  
  
• Exploratory Data Analysis and Visualization for Everyone
  Fourth lecture of the Digital Libraries Colloquium series, 2006-07.
  
  SPEAKER: Mark Derthick. SPEAKER BIO Mark Derthick earned a Computer Science PhD from Carnegie Mellon in 1988. In his thesis, Derthick argued that connectionist models of knowledge representation and reasoning degrade more gracefully than symbolic frameworks. Later he worked on analogical reasoning with the Cyc large-scale common-sense knowledge base, and developed interfaces for entering knowledge into Cyc. In 1995, Derthick joined Carnegie Mellon’s Human and Computer Interaction Institute (HCII). He helped develop user interfaces to explore structured data for the SAGE project. His most current work includes summarizing for biologists probability distributions over thousands of possible evolutionary trees, and developing an enjoyable interface for non-technical users to browse and data mine image collections.
  

November 2006

• DATABASE: Synthesis Digital Library of Engineering and Computer Science | Browse by Subject
  Fifty to 100-page self-contained e-books, authored by expert contributors, synthesize important research or development topics. More analysis and depth than typical research journal articles. Peer reviewed.
  
  
• DATABASE: PsycCRITIQUES
  Contains full-text reviews of books, films, videos and software in the field of psychology. It replaces the APA print journal Contemporary Psychology: APA Review of Books as of January 2005. PsycCritiques includes international material selected from periodicals written in over 25 languages.
  
  
• Meta-search in the Liberal Arts, Libraries and Beyond
  Third lecture of the Digital Libraries Colloquium series, 2006-07.
  
  SPEAKER: Mike Richwalsky ABSTRACT It goes by many names: Web 2.0, the social web, the semantic web. Call it what you will, the web of today is dramatically different from the web of two years ago. With blogs, social networking, podcasts and more, the web is becoming more user-centric--regular users are the content creators and contributors. It is about forming communities and sharing expertise. With sites like Flickr, MySpace and Digg, and tools like Del.icio.us and Newsvine, comes the need to search and organize various information and media into a usable form and more importantly, make it user-friendly. Enter meta-search tools. They gather relevant data from across the web and organize it into easy-to-digest chunks. Staff and students at Allegheny College developed one such engine, Gnosh, which is quickly gaining users around the world. What started as a fun, after-hours project has developed into a fledgling company that is developing new search tools, including a federated search tool for libraries. Richwalsky will discuss the genesis, development and growth of Gnosh, and its impact on libraries and the web (and Web 2.0) in general. SPEAKER BIO Mike Richwalsky is the Manager of Web Services at Allegheny College. Since 2002, he has led Allegheny into the forefront of colleges and universities using new technologies including RSS, podcasts, MySpace and more. He is the creator, president and CEO of the award-winning meta-search engine, Gnosh. He received a BA from Duquesne University, where he developed the university website, web-based applications, and was technical support liaison for faculty using WebCT. He also has led development and design efforts at Stargate and Fishtank Creative. Most recently, Mike chaired the Web and Technology track of HigherEd BlogCon, and presented to the CNI task force. He is active in the social software user group sponsored by NITLE. He has been featured in the Christian Science Monitor, University Business magazine, and Chronicle of Higher Education's Wired Campus blog.

October 2006

• Intro to ACD/Labs Online [PDF, 134 KB]
  Presented by Dr. Roberto Gil and librarian Diane Covington.
  
  DATE: Tuesday, Oct. 24
  
• Project SAILS at Carnegie Mellon
  The university's information literacy program takes off with a diagnostic test administered to undergrads.
  
  
• Crossing a Minefield: Current Problems with Internet Technology and Policy
  VIEW LECTURE VIDEO Second lecture of the Digital Libraries Colloquium series, 2006-07.
  

ABSTRACT There has been a raging argument in the U.S. over how Internet access should be priced and controlled. The players have often used emotional words to describe the issues. Rarely does debate focus on understanding the implications of proposed directions on future technologies and services that might be offered. Recently the issues were debated in a event sponsored by the Center for American Progress, "The Great Debate: What Is Net Neutrality?" Speakers were Vinton G. Cerf, Vice President and Chief Internet Evangelist, Google; and Dave Farber, Distinguished Career Professor of Computer Science and Public Policy, Carnegie Mellon University. This talk, based on the results of the debate, will address the following issues:

• Impact that networking has had on the world from both a technical and societal view
• Current chaos on the Internet e.g. spam and other nasty pests and what can be done
• Trade-offs across interconnections, privacy, government security and individual freedom
• Current wars over Net Neutrality

SPEAKER BIO David Farber is the Distinguished Career Professor of Computer Science and Public Policy in the School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon. In 2003, he retired from the University of Pennsylvania where he held the Moore Chair of Telecommunications. From 2000 to 2001, he was Chief Technologist for the FCC. He has held positions at Bell Labs, Rand Corporation, Xerox Data Systems, University of California at Irvine and the University of Delaware. His contributions to computer science include creation of the SNOBOL programming language and the first operational distributed computer, DCS. He is a Fellow of the ACM and IEEE. He serves on the Board of Trustees of the EFF. He has served on the U.S. President’s Information Technology Advisory Committee. He was awarded the Sigcomm Award for lifelong contributions to communications and Philadelphia’s John Scott Award for Contributions to Humanity. 

September 2006

• What is my ID? What is my PIN?
  • At the library, "Carnegie Mellon ID" is your 9-digit CMU ID typed without dashes. EXAMPLE: 815055971
  • "Andrew ID" is your Andrew user ID typed without domain. EXAMPLE: abcxyz for "abcxyz@andrew.cmu.edu"
  • Your assigned PIN is the last four digits of your CMU ID. EXAMPLE: 5971
    
    
    
    
• 2006-07 Digital Libraries Colloquium series begins this week
  VIEW LECTURE VIDEO
  
  Muses in the Library II: The Reality of the Virtual
  

  Abstract In great libraries of the past, an individual was surrounded by a vast structure of statues, paintings, frescoes, architecture and gardens, in which mythic and historic meanings of knowledge were encoded. The person was immersed in significant context. Now, rich frameworks of context can be projected through computer-based virtuality, changing/enhancing the dynamic relationships of the mind to collected objects. Experience a library of the future, in which central truths of ancient Egyptian culture will be revealed in a large-projection environment. The “ Virtual Egyptian Temple” is part of Lynn Holden’s “Virtual Ancient Egypt" (VAE), a digital learning system. Jeffrey Jacobson will talk about VAE’s connections to electronic libraries, demonstrate visual interfaces to pure information, and reveal how visual interfaces help to create a coherent digital library. BIOs Lowry Burgess is an internationally renowned environmental artist/poet and educator, professor of art and former dean of the College of Fine Arts at Carnegie Mellon, a fellow in the Studio for Creative Inquiry, a member of the Center for the Arts and Society, and a staunch library supporter and patron. Dr. Lynn Holden (D. Phil., Yale) is an Egyptologist with extensive museum and academic experience. He provided content direction for the Virtual Egyptian Temple and was a principal designer for the Egypt Hall exhibit at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History. Jeffrey Jacobson is a doctoral candidate at the School of Information Sciences. His research focus is in the use of virtual reality for museum and classroom education. See http://planetjeff.net

August 2006

• DATABASE: International Financial Statistics (IFS)
  International Financial Statistics is published by the Statistics Department of the International Monetary Fund. It provides time series data for major economic aggregates used in economic analysis as well as current data on exchange rates, international liquidity, international banking, currency, interest rates, prices, production, trade, government accounts, and national accounts.
  
  
• BETA
  
  MetaLib®, a multi-database and resource searching product, is now available for beta testing. Try it and tell us what you think -- appearance, functionality, ease of use, or other comments and suggestions. Your feedback on MetaLib beta this fall will help us tailor the product to meet the federated searching needs of the Carnegie Mellon community.
  
  
  • The basics Introducing MetaLib 1-page PDF
  • MetaLib Search Tips
  • Use Internet Explorer 5.0 or above (functionality with other browsers will be available later)
  • Set screen resolution at 1280 x 1024 pixels
  • Email comments to MetaLib Implementation Team
  • MetaLib Implementation Team members
    
    
    
• W E L C O M E
  
  • Library Tours Scheduled August 22, 25, 27.
  • Dear Students Letter from the dean.
  • Get A Job! Libraries are hiring work/study.
  • Orientation Guide
  • Ask A Librarian
  • Where is it in the Library?
  • Print & Photocopy FAQ

  
  

• !
  Click the GET IT icon in your search results to see if the article is available online. GET IT is a new graphic to identify SFX® links. SFX helps you to obtain articles efficiently.
  
  is a new graphic symbol that accesses embedded link server software, SFX®. The SFX software enables Carnegie Mellon users to click on a bibliographic citation in a library database, then view a list of services available to obtain that particular article. The most common services available are (1) one-click to full text, (2) a link to Cameo (our online catalog) to see if a print version is available in the library, and (3) a link to ILLiad to request interlibrary loan. The availablity of full text depends on what is permitted in the university's licensing agreements with the various publishers and vendors of online resources. /SFX is available to current Carnegie Mellon faculty, staff, and students, and to other library patrons when they are logged into Internet workstations in the University Libraries.
  

July 2006

• DATABASE: Historical Statistics of the United States (HSUS)
  HSUS is a standard source for quantitative indicators of American history. This definitive reference work contains more than 37,000 annual time series of quantitative historical information covering virtually every quantifiable dimension of American history: population, work and welfare, economic structure and performance, governance, and international relations, all from the earliest times to the present. Each series is fully documented and placed in historical context by a recognized expert.
  
  
• DATABASE: Corbis Images for Education: Historical Collection
  The Corbis Historical Collection contains over 400,000 digital images from art, historical, nature, science, space and various other stock collections. Image sources include the renowned Bettmann Archive, the United Press International, and the Hulton-Deutsch Collection. Usage: Images downloaded from this site may be used for non-commercial research and educational purposes only.
  

What's New Backfiles:

• January-June 2007
• July-December 2006
• January-June 2006
• July-December 2005
• January-June 2005
• July-December 2004
• January-June 2004
• July-December 2003
• January-June 2003