RSS

Here is a publisher who gets it.

Nature Publishing Group (NPG) is pleased to announce the completion of the current phase of its RSS newsfeed collection which delivers tables of content for its journals and other timely information to scientists' desktops. This crop of newsfeeds covers the non-Nature-branded titles and complements our existing RSS offerings for the Nature-branded titles. Specifically the newsfeeds deliver information about NPG's Advanced Online Publication (AOP) series and announce articles published online ahead of being published in an archival issue. As with NPG's existing newsfeeds, this new batch of RSS newsfeeds comes with rich metadata. The titles covered by the new release are:

• Bone Marrow Transplantation
• British Journal of Cancer
• Cancer Gene Therapy
• Cell Death and Differentiation
• The EMBO Journal
• EMBO Reports
• European Journal of Clinical Nutrition
• European Journal of Human Genetics
• Eye
• Genes and Immunity
• Gene Therapy
• Heredity
• International Journal of Impotence Research
• International Journal of Obesity
• Journal of Exposure Analysis and Environmental Epidemiology
• Journal of Human Hypertension
• Journal of Perinatology
• Laboratory Investigation
• Leukemia
• Modern Pathology
• Molecular Psychiatry
• Neuropsychopharmacology
• Oncogene
• The Pharmacogenomics Journal
• Prostate Cancer and Prostatic Diseases
• Spinal Cord

See nature.com for a complete listing of all Nature newsfeeds, as well as a brief introduction to the advantages of using RSS. Additionally the listing of newsfeeds is accessible as an OPML file to facilitate the ready import of NPG newsfeeds into RSS newsreaders. A master RSS newsfeed of all NPG newsfeeds is also available for alerting subscribers to new NPG newsfeeds.

These newsfeeds are all based on the RSS 1.0 format which builds on the W3C Resource Description Framework and allows rich metadata (both PRISM and Dublin Core) to be included at both the channel and item level. Linking to the article full text is effected using industry-standard mechanisms for persistent linking: DOI and CrossRef.

That's a lot of structured metadata. As metadata specialists maybe we should be doing something useful with it. Maybe the jake folks could use it? Just musing?

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

On my recent trip to Virginia I had the pleasure of a quick look into the VA Tech library. Nothing surprising, a large collection, well used, people waiting to get in when the library opened, an important part of the education and research mission of the university.

When I think of the VA Tech library I think electronic theses and dissertations. They were important in the early development of tools and standards in that area. Now they host the Electronic Thesis/Dissertation OAI Union Catalog as part of The Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations (NDLTD).

Metadata Object Description Schema

The Library of Congress MODS Team would like to assemble and make publicly available a list of both active and prospective MODS implementations.

The MODS Implementation Registry will contain descriptions of MODS projects planned, in progress, and fully implemented. It will provide the MODS community with important information about how MODS is being used in various projects throughout the world. The registry will be available online.

The LC MODS Team invites institutions and organizations who are implementing or planning to implement MODS to submit the following information to either the MODS list (mods@loc.gov) or to the Network Development and MARC Standards Office (ndmso@loc.gov) at the Library of Congress.

1. Name of the institution or organization implementing MODS
2. The MODS project name
3. A short description of the MODS project
4. Projected dates of implementation
5. A URL to the MODS project web site (if available)
6. A URL to any available documentation or specifications developed forthe MODS project
7. A list of any MODS tools developed and or used as part of the MODSproject
8. The MODS version used in the project
9. Contact name and e-mail address

Please provide this information by November 15, 2004.

Metadata Crosswalks

"Metadata Crosswalks" by Carol Jean Godby appears in the latest issue (July/August/September 2004) of the OCLC Neswletter. It has yet to appear on the Web site, look for it soon. Or, if an OCLC member, look in your mail box. Progress on the Metadata Schema Transformations project can be seen on-line.

BioMed Central

BioMed Central provides MARC records to facilitate the cataloging of their large collection of Open Access journals. A delimited spreadsheet containing titles, URLs, ISSNs, journal abbreviation and date of initial publication is also available. The MARC records are very bare bones, less than minimal level, but they are something.

Open WorldCat

OCLC has decided to turn the Open WorldCat pilot into a program that will be an ongoing benefit for OCLC member libraries. The pilot has clearly demonstrated the value of making WorldCat records and library holdings available to the general public on the open Web. During the pilot phase, Open WorldCat brought millions of click-throughs from Web search engines such as Google and Yahoo! Search to the Open WorldCat interface, where users could find and link to library catalogs and other resources. This is consistent with OCLC's chartered objective of increasing the availability of library resources and goal of weaving libraries into the Web.

OCLC has released an updated interface for the Open WorldCat Program. Interface enhancements include:

• A library distance indicator
• An expandable view of holdings beyond local libraries (when available)
• A more intuitive display of IP-authenticated, library services links
• Book cover images, when available (for IP-authenticated users)
• An easier-to-use layout to help web users find materials in library collections

OCLC plans the following enhancements to Open WorldCat by January 2005:

• Expand the set of libraries exposed through Open WorldCat to all libraries with ownership information in the WorldCat database. This is scheduled to occur on November 7. Libraries that do not wish to participate in the Program may request removal using the "Update your links" feedback form. OCLC will continue to honor previous removal requests.
• Make all records with holdings in WorldCat available for harvesting by Google and Yahoo! Search. Harvesting by partners will occur gradually over a period of time.
• Release a usage statistics site for libraries. With these statistics, library staff may monitor the number of times someone reaches their catalog, Web site or various IP-based FirstSearch fulfillment links from the Open WorldCat interface.

A fact sheet with additional details about the Open WorldCat pilot and plans for the ongoing Open WorldCat Program is available on the Open WorldCat Web site.

Shifted Wiki

The Shifted Librarian is back and using a Wiki. A Wiki is a Web page that anyone can edit and change. If you have been curious or this is totally new, check this out and add links and suggestions. The Shifted Wiki is

a place to put your ideas for RSS feeds you think different types of librarians could benefit from reading in an aggregator. If we can pull this off, it will be a great way to help those who are new to RSS get a jumpstart.

So I'd like to ask that you think about which library feeds are most useful to you and ask that you add them to the appropriate library type on the wiki. There's also the start of the never-got-off-the-ground Honor Roll of Shifted Libraries, so feel free to add suggestions there, too.

Metadata for Digital Still Images

Capturing Technical Metadata for Digital Still Images by Robin L. Dale and Gunter Waibel appears in RLG DigiNews.

the community cannot afford to wait for a "magic bullet" file format because it is unlikely to come. Instead, institutions should become familiar with existing tools that will assist with metadata exposure and extraction. The Spotlight below contains a list of metadata harvesting tools that are available for use now. In addition, RLG will be releasing two new tools as a part for the Automatic Exposure initiative. The first tool, the "Automatic Exposure Scorecards," will profile and review the available technologies for capturing technical metadata. Scorecards will be available on the Automatic Exposure web site in the coming months. A second tool under development is a Z39.87-Adobe Extensible Metadata Platform (XMP) panel to allow the extension of the metadata handling capabilities of Adobe Photoshop, a commonly used software package in the cultural heritage digitization process. When completed, this tool will be announced in a future issue of RLG DigiNews and will be freely available on the RLG web site.

FRBR Institute, San Jose, California

Registration is still open for the California Library Association Institute "The FRBR Model: Influencing Future Development of Information Standards." Sponsored by the CLA Access, Collections, and Technical Services Section, the one-day institute will be held on Friday, November 12, 2004, 9 AM-5 PM (with a break from noon to 1:30) at the San Jose Convention Center in San Jose CA. All library staff are welcome to attend. Cost is $75. Pre-registration closes Monday, November 1.

Register online.
Printable registration form.

The institute will feature presenters:

• Barbara B. Tillett, Chief, Cataloging Policy and Support Office, Library of Congress
• Thomas B. Hickey, Chief Scientist, OCLC
• Merrilee Proffitt, Program Officer, RLG.

The Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records (FRBR) model provides a new way of defining relationships between bibliographic items, their creators, and their subjects. While it embodies the fundamental laws of cataloging and librarianship, it also offers ways to further develop and enrich existing catalogs. This full day workshop will provide participants with an introduction to FRBR concepts, descriptions of FRBR research, and a project implementing FRBR concepts, as well as the opportunity to hear from some of the leading experts in the field. Informative handouts will be provided.

Registry of Digital Masters

New Registry of Digital Masters service available. This new service is a joint venture between OCLC and the Digital Library Federation. Its purpose is to provide a means to find digitized materials (or soon-to-be-digitized materials) that have been digitized according to established standards and best practices. The registry is a subset of WorldCat and is available to library users via FirstSearch.

For guidelines on using the registry--including information on how to contribute registry records, a glossary, future enhancements and more--visit the Registry of Digital Masters Record Creation Guidelines.

Background on the registry.

Weekend in Virginia

Pictures from my long weekend in Virginia. Off topic. Virginia is so pretty.