RSS Tool

Planet looks like a useful tool. No library related Planet sites yet.

Planet is a flexible feed aggregator. It downloads news feeds published by web sites and aggregates their content together into a single combined feed, latest news first.

It uses Mark Pilgrim's Universal Feed Parser to read from RDF, RSS and Atom feeds; and Tomas Styblo's templating engine to output static files in any format you can dream up.

Planet may be used, modified, copied and distributed under the same terms as Python.

RSS
Planet

Librarian's Book Club Selection

Libraries in the Ancient World has been chosen as the April-May selection of the Librarian's Book Club.

Libraries in the Ancient World
Librarian's Book Club

OCLC

Connexion client version 1.30 is now available. This new version includes WorldCat searching enhancements, support for cataloging with the Arabic and CJK scripts, a Spanish interface, plus a lot more.

OCLC
Connexion

Cataloging Book

Just want to plug Unlocking the Mysteries of Cataloging : A Workbook of Examples by Elizabeth Haynes and Joanna Fountain. I've had the pleasure of working with Joanna and a more competent and decent person would be hard to find.

Supplementing existing textbooks with exercises that allow practice in description, classification, subject analysis, and MARC 21, this workbook pinpoints problem areas that arise in the cataloging of a wide variety of materials in public, school, special, and academic library settings. Real title pages and other necessary materials are used throughout. AACR2 rule numbers are included, as well as questions for consideration. MARC records are provided for some 150 titles, and a supplemental Web site provides full keys and further details. The site also aids teachers by providing indexes beyond those in the book. This book will appeal to cataloging students as necessary practice for sharpening their skills, as well as to beginning catalogers in the large library environment. It will be a valuable addition as individual study material and for in-house training of catalogers.

Unlocking the Mysteries of Cataloging

OAI Software

The OCKHAM initiative today released version 0.5.3 of its Harvest-to-Query (H2Q) software. This is the first widely-publicized release of H2Q. H2Q is an end-to-end solution for providing standard querying capabilities (such as Z39.50) for OAI-PMH available metadata collections.

Currently, H2Q has the following major features:

• It is as easy to install as your stereo system (with all of its components)
• It is able to harvest metadata from any OAI-PMH available collection which provides its records in Dublin Core
• Provides Z39.50 querying to harvested collections

Once H2Q achieves its 1.0 status, it will have the following major features:

• It will be as easy to install as your toaster
• It will be able to harvest metadata from any OAI-PMH available
  collection
• It will provide Z39.50 and SRU/W querying to harvested
  collections
• It will allow harvesting and indexing of any XML-based metadata
  scheme

OAI
H2Q

Texas

Action Needed During the Next Three Days!

The textbook funding issue is approaching a crisis mode. Both the Senate and the House are building their budgets as this email is being written. How many dollars are included for textbooks seems to vary with to whom you are talking. The numbers seem to also change by the day and sometimes the hour. Speculation is that half of the dollars will be included in the base budgets of both the House and Senate and the remaining dollars, which will include fine arts, will come from an emergency bill later in the session. Whether the emergency funding actually happens is very much in question at this time.

The purpose of this email is twofold. First is a final effort to increase the numbers of registered voters who have signed up for the GoArts campaign before compiling the final lists to be distributed to the members of the legislature. The number of signers is slightly over 30,000. If each member gets only five more registered voters to participate, that response will grow to almost 75,000. Do your part to make it happen!

The second purpose is simply to alert you that in two-three weeks we will be asking you to contact your legislator and request full funding for textbooks for both the deferred materials and the materials included in Proclamation 2002 (which includes fine arts). We will notify you by email with the appropriate instructions and the specific time for action.

TMEA's voice at the Capitol can truly make a difference on this issue!

What You Can Do:

1. Sign up at GoArts.org and enlist at least five other registered voters to do the same.
2. Spread the word through booster club website postings or via email to music parents as well as friends in your address book. The success of the project will depend on the effort of each of our members and other fine arts advocates to do their part to get the word out through email, newsletters, websites and word-of-mouth to current supporters and parents to take the sixty seconds to click on the site and fill out the required information.
3. Enlist the support of arts organizations in your community. Contact symphony associations, community arts organizations, and PTA's for their support.
4. Forward this email to five persons you feel may not have registered at GoArts.org.

Texas
Music
Education

Terminologies/Thesauri Pilot Program

OCLC is exploring a service that provides access to multiple thesauri for libraries, museums, and archives. The service will create consistent metadata for collections providing mappings across thesauri to assist in relating terminology. It will provide a 'one-stop' thesaurus web service accessible through any web-enabled metadata editor.

OCLC is seeking Connexion client users who can incorporate this potential service into their workflow during the pilot period, March to May, 2005. During this pilot, OCLC will be conducting market research in the form of online surveys and/or phone interviews to solicit feedback from participants. As a result of the pilot, OCLC expects to gain insight on how to better serve library needs for a terminologies service.

The technology for this pilot project has been assembled by OCLC’s Office of Research using a new framework from Microsoft.

OCLC plans a phased approach, making different thesauri available at different points in the pilot. Guidelines on Subject Access to Individual Works of Fiction, Drama, etc. (GSAFD) will be the initial thesaurus offered and will be available from the beginning of the pilot.

In addition to GSAFD, the list of terminologies includes:

• gmgpc & lctgm – Thesaurus of graphic materials, TGM I & II (LC)
• radfg – Radio form / genre terms guide (LC)
• migfg – Moving image genre-form guide (LC)
• ngl – Newspaper Genre List (University of Washington)
• aat, tgn, ULAN (subsets only) – AAT (Art & Architecture Thesaurus), TGN (Thesaurus of Geographic Names), ULAN (Union List of Artists’ Names) (Getty)
• mesh – Medical Subject Headings (NLM)

OCLC encourages libraries who can assist in the effort to recruit volunteers to forward this information to the appropriate staff who may want to volunteer for the pilot. Responses should indicate which thesauri will be used during the pilot, and also include contact information. This link may be used to quickly supply that information.

The tools needed to participate include:

• MS Office 2003
• MS Internet Explorer 6.0
• Connexion client user

OCLC
Thesauri

Trackback

I've added trackback to this weblog. Please let me know if it causes you any problems.

Trackback

Cataloging Tool

Cataloging Demo Release We’re very proud to announce the release of the Evergreen Cataloging (Pre-Alpha) Demo. Again, this is a pre-alpha version meant simply for demonstration and proof of concept. There are many, many bugs in this release, and it has limited functionality. The purpose for this release is to gather feedback and to determine if we’re generally heading in the correct direction. We are not looking for bug reports or detail-oriented feedback. The time for that will come later, after the Alpha release this summer.

With those caveats in mind, here are some of the specific functionalities this release contains:

• Basic bibliographic searching; narrowing hits by owning library or local system (more basic options and advanced searching forthcoming).
• Customizable hit list; ability to re-arrange, remove, or add columns. (sorting of columns forthcoming)
• Integrated MARC editor that enforces basic MARC standards. Ability to edit and save MARC records to the test database.
• "Tree" listing of copies; ability to easily see what system/branch owns what and how many.
• Copy editor.
• Ability to add copies or volumes 1 at a time or in a batch mode at any level of the organization structure (at local system or per branch).

Seen on librarian.net.

Cataloging

ONIX

The Serials Release Notification (SRN) subgroup of the NISO/EDItEUR Joint Working Party (JWP) invites you to participate in a review of the draft Serials Release Notification message.

The SRN is an XML message based on ONIX for Serials structure, and is being developed with the intention of providing details of print and electronic journal releases primarily at the issue level, but also potentially at the table of contents or article level. Future versions of the SRN message may address other use cases such as sending advance notification for forthcoming journal releases, and providing advance notice of changes in journal release schedules.

A copy of the SRN Draft for Review, along with a background statement and message examples, may be found on the JWP website.

The review period for this draft will be open until April 30, 2005.

ONIX
Serials

Dublin Core

Firefox Dublin Core viewer extension, this extension adds a button to the browser's status bar (and, optionally, the toolbar) to access an overview list of Dublin Core Metadata embedded in HTML/XHTML documents with META and LINK elements.

DC
Firefox
Metadata

Geoscience Information Society (GSIS)

I'd like to invite any or all of you to join the Geoscience Information Society (GSIS), an international society of geology librarians and other geoscience information professionals. The society includes members from the USGS, state geological surveys, most U.S. major universities, as well as from business, publishing, and other organizations. More information can be found at our website.

Our annual fall meeting, held jointly with the Geological Society of America, typically includes current issues forums, oral and poster presentations, and business meetings. One first-time attendee said, "Overall, the conference provided a fabulous overall look at the field of geology and the role that libraries and librarians play in this dynamic area of study. For me, many pieces came together and I feel my understanding of geology is much solider as a result. It was a dynamic and interesting opportunity and was certainly time well spent."

Our bi-monthly newsletter includes news of committee and officer activities, the schedule and abstracts for the annual meeting, Michael Noga's continuing comparison of geoscience journal prices, and lots of other info of interest to our members.

Our listserv, GeoNet, is hosted by Purdue University, at cjm@thurston.com.

GIS is a great society, and we invite you to join us. The application form is available on our website.

Connie J. Manson
(formerly, Senior Librarian, Washington Division of Geology and Earth Resources library)

cjm@thurston.com

GSIS
Geoscience
Societies