Dontcha luv ‘em, hate them?
In its mission to bring the world’s information into the public domain, Google has rarely stumbled. But the Google Book Search settlement has upset several US library associations. Three of them have filed comments on the recent settlement citing the absence of competition as being a major concern. The worry is that equity to information, patron privacy and intellectual freedom will be compromised. See if you agree after reading Here.
World Digital Library comes of age
Functioning in seven languages with content from 21 countries, thank the Library of Congress and UNESCO for getting it off the ground. Packed with treasures, the library offers descriptions of each item and videos of expert curators speaking about selected items designed to encourage the public to learn more about cultural heritage. So far, China and Japan alone represent Asia’s participation. Our centre pages have more.
How green are your stacks?
Not green enough. But the University of Kansas may have the answer. Its library will soon be powered by the wind which sweeps across America’s central plains. And guess what the initiative is not coming from faculty. A student organization is buying wind power credits from a local energy utility equivalent to the amount of power it takes to supply the building for a year. You live in a windy place? This page tells you how..
Where have all the numbers gone?
OECD is concerned about the problems of data discovery and citations and the remedy in creating industry standards for bibliographic dataset metadata and linking. A recent white paper proposes bibliographic metadata standards to provide users and librarians with data that is easy to find and catalogue. here has the details.
Feeling sorry for newspapers?
You should. Many of them, including the biggest names you can think of, are in trouble. The world is fleeing in droves from reading the newspaper at the breakfast table, to getting free news from their web editions. As a new survey from the Center for the Digital Future points out, there is a large increase in the use of online newspapers which means that revenue-earning print editions are declining. How will the media habits of millions change our daily broadsheet?
Some hints onthis page.
Open access gains momentum
After making its course materials available free of charge in 2001, attracting more than 50 million visitors, MIT faculty has voted to make their scholarly articles free of charge to the public via DSpace. They are not alone, Harvard is also moving down the open access route. A faculty committee will work with MIT libraries to oversee the implementation and determine workflow. Search engines including Google will make the content discoverable. More on this page.
7,800 chemicals explained for public enlightenment
Chemistry can be an impenetrable subject, especially in countries with limited teaching facilities. A new service from CAS, Common Chemistry, with links to Wikipedia, will help demystify chemicals of general interest, those having been cited more than 1,000 times. And what’s more, the service is free and aimed at the general public, people like you and me. Want to know more about benzoyl peroxide?
Turn to this page for the details.
Get a life, a second life, in Hong Kong
Few libraries in the region are taking the plunge into second life. One who is, is the Pao Yue-kong library of Hong Kong’s PolyU. Launched during Library Week in April, also on the menu was the Preferred Library Scenario, a portrait of what the campus community wants from library services in 2011. Want to know what the two year consultation uncovered? Turn to
this page for the answer.
Bill & Melinda, the Asia Foundation and Vietnam
Public libraries and public access to the internet got a boost recently in Vietnam with a grant from the Gates Foundation. The project will train librarians in towns and rural areas to educate the public on using the internet through local ‘internet festivals’. The programme will also learn which tools are the most suitable for improving the lives of rural Vietnamese. This page has the story.
Catch a thief with CrossCheck
Anti plagiarism tools have never been needed more. Stealing the work of others and passing it off as one’s own is as easy as a click of the mouse. This form of theft undermines the entire research process and ruins the reputation of authors, peer reviewers and publishers. Catching plagiarism before it is published is now possible through CrossCheck, a service for publishers from CrossRef. Using iThenticate from iParadigms, suspect research will be caught early in the publishing cycle. this page has the story.
Dynamic libraries and information services in Southeast Asia
The 14th General Conference of CONSAL gathers in Hanoi
By Susanne Ornager
The 14th General Conference of the Congress of Southeast Asian Librarians (CONSAL) took place on 21-22 April 2009 in Hanoi, Vietnam. The Conference’s theme, ‘Towards dynamic libraries and information services in Southeast Asian countries’ provided a forum for participants to exchange ideas on enhancing dynamism and effectiveness in library and information practices in their respective countries.
Around 800 delegates from 26 countries attended the two day event which was opened by the Vietnamese Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Mr. Hoang Anh Tuan. He highlighted knowledge and information as a decisive force in the development of modern society, and he stressed that libraries and information centres have played an essential role in the advancement of each country and the whole of humankind.
Her Excellency State Vice President, Dr. Nguyen Thi Doan in her welcoming address expressed her hope that libraries and librarians will be more dynamic and proactively apply science and technology to serve the development of each nation in the region.
What enables a dynamic library?
According to Dr. Ching-chih Chen from USA, a dynamic library is represented by technology. She shared her technology application of World Heritage Sites inscribed by UNESCO from 145 countries. She showed with the single click of the mouse how one is able to access multimedia and multilingual information on any of the chosen sites. (http://www.memorynet.org). Traditional retrieval methods were substituted by content-based image retrieval.
Similarly, Mrs. Mila Ramos from the Philippines contends that knowledge sharing is no longer a function of time and geographical location. She presented an agricultural research programme which formerly had difficulties getting its content out because it lacked a central vehicle for searching and retrieval. Through the development of a platform (http://vlibrary.cgiar.org) for metasearching and web 2.0 applications, content development and collaboration was established between the CGIAR centre libraries. Moreover, through its blog and wiki spaces (web 2.0 tools), agricultural scientists had better awareness of the information and tools developed for them.
Mr. Somkiat Chaechuenyot from Thailand talked about the journey of Silpakorn University library into a next generation library by utilizing web 2.0 tools. The impact of web 2.0 applications has forced the library to change and to develop new user services to share information, serve and collaborate with patrons.
Library 2.0 is a loosely defined model for a modernized form of library service. The focus is on user-centred change and participation in the creation of content and community. The concept of Library 2.0 includes online services such as the use of OPAC systems and an increased flow of information from the user back to the library. With Library 2.0, library services are constantly updated and re-evaluated to best serve library users. Library 2.0 also attempts to harness the library user in the design and implementation of library services by encouraging feedback and participation. Proponents of this concept expect that ultimately the Library 2.0 model for service will replace traditional, one-directional services that have characterized libraries for centuries.
There was no doubt among the many participants that new technology, Library 2.0 tools and web 2.0 applications enable a dynamic library and information service. Many questions focused on metasearching and the experiences and problems the libraries observed when adapting the more user oriented Library 2.0 and web 2.0 applications.
Susanne Ornager (2nd right) and friends
600 delegates from 26 countries
Library education
Library education either about information literacy, practical requirements or information culture caused a lively debate among the participants. Mr. Wanna Net from Cambodia spoke about a successful information literacy programme at the Royal University of Phnom Penh. The programme was a success, despite the poor condition of the library system, because it contributed strongly to the awareness of library values and services. He stressed, though, that the programme needs to be innovative and continuously updated to reflect the needs of students and that it requires strong support from the management of the university.
Ms. Vu Duong Thuy Nga from Hanoi University of Culture discussed solutions for library and information science (LIS) education in Vietnam. She pointed to enhancement of continuous education, distance learning and the competence of LIS lecturers. To improve LIS skills classes, the focus should be on emerging issues in LIS and educating the management of libraries. Here she echoed Dr. Patricia Oyler from the USA who concluded her speech by saying, “We must educate our librarians to provide excellent library service but we must also educate university administrators, government officials and stakeholders about the services of libraries and the importance of funding them”.
A more academic approach was offered by Ms. Sangdee Pornnapa from Thailand who presented an investigation of the information culture in Thai public universities. She employed a quantitative study to explore the information culture of eight public universities with data collected from around 600 persons. It was found that most of the staff used information related to studying and teaching. These results were similar to a study from 2002 which revealed that faculties in public universities paid more attention to teaching than conducting research. The survey also found that staff at the newer universities showed a higher level of information culture than those in older universities. The survey responses provide guidance on the importance of emphasizing an information culture in order to support the goals of universities.
CONSAL 2012
CONSAL honours outstanding work and this year was no exception. Silver prizes were presented to outstanding librarians from Singapore, Vietnam, Philippines and Indonesia. A gold prize was awarded to the former director of the National Library of Malaysia Dato’ Zawiyah Baba.
CONSAL 2009 was a grand event and brilliantly managed. The participants contributed to the vibrant atmosphere at the congress which is sure to be repeated at CONSAL 15th to be held in Bali, Indonesia, 2012.
Susanne Ornager is the Chief, Information and Communication Unit, UNESCO, Bangkok.
ACCESS | Asia 's Newspaper on Electronic Information Product & Service
Dontcha luv ‘em, hate them?
In its mission to bring the world’s information into the public domain, Google has rarely stumbled. But the Google Book Search settlement has upset several US library associations. Three of them have filed comments on the recent settlement citing the absence of competition as being a major concern. The worry is that equity to information, patron privacy and intellectual freedom will be compromised. See if you agree after reading 
What enables a dynamic library?
According to Dr. Ching-chih Chen from USA, a dynamic library is represented by technology. She shared her technology application of World Heritage Sites inscribed by UNESCO from 145 countries. She showed with the single click of the mouse how one is able to access multimedia and multilingual information on any of the chosen sites. (http://www.memorynet.org). Traditional retrieval methods were substituted by content-based image retrieval.
Similarly, Mrs. Mila Ramos from the Philippines contends that knowledge sharing is no longer a function of time and geographical location. She presented an agricultural research programme which formerly had difficulties getting its content out because it lacked a central vehicle for searching and retrieval. Through the development of a platform (http://vlibrary.cgiar.org) for metasearching and web 2.0 applications, content development and collaboration was established between the CGIAR centre libraries. Moreover, through its blog and wiki spaces (web 2.0 tools), agricultural scientists had better awareness of the information and tools developed for them.
Mr. Somkiat Chaechuenyot from Thailand talked about the journey of Silpakorn University library into a next generation library by utilizing web 2.0 tools. The impact of web 2.0 applications has forced the library to change and to develop new user services to share information, serve and collaborate with patrons.
Library 2.0 is a loosely defined model for a modernized form of library service. The focus is on user-centred change and participation in the creation of content and community. The concept of Library 2.0 includes online services such as the use of OPAC systems and an increased flow of information from the user back to the library. With Library 2.0, library services are constantly updated and re-evaluated to best serve library users. Library 2.0 also attempts to harness the library user in the design and implementation of library services by encouraging feedback and participation. Proponents of this concept expect that ultimately the Library 2.0 model for service will replace traditional, one-directional services that have characterized libraries for centuries.
There was no doubt among the many participants that new technology, Library 2.0 tools and web 2.0 applications enable a dynamic library and information service. Many questions focused on metasearching and the experiences and problems the libraries observed when adapting the more user oriented Library 2.0 and web 2.0 applications.
