**crossposted at Literature Review for Library Techs**
Introduction
This will be the first of many posts on the subject of search as it relates to library reference staff. It is an area that fascinates me. This literature review will examine some of the search strategies that you can employ in tracking down information on the databases. It is intended to be an introduction to online database searching. Continue reading “Online Database Search Fundamentals”
– 19 Canadians nominated for $127K IMPAC Dublin prize.
– Smitty fans: Smitty Miller’s traveling show hits the big time at ALA Mid-winter meetings.
– Fill the Shelves Campaign Raises Money, Buys Books For School Libraries.
– This year, Canada Year Book will close forever.
– In case you missed it: The Canada Council for the Arts announces 2012 Governor General’s Literary Award winners.
– Why good libraries are important for education.
– Amazon is slammed with $252 million in back taxes by France.
– ProQuest enhances strategic acquisition and discovery of e-books.
– More libraries join OCLC WorldShare Management Services community.
– EBSCO Publishing Introduces Humanities Source: most comprehensive collection available in the humanities field.
– National Library of Poland to add 1.3 million records to WorldCat.
– My 6,128 Favorite Books: One avid reader’s coments on how a harmless juvenile pastime turned into a lifelong personality disorder.
– 
And finally, believe or not, Apple now owns the page turn.
– The Canada Council for the Arts announces 2012 Governor General’s Literary Award winners.
– Library in a disaster zone after Hurricane Sandy.
– What Katrina Can Teach Libraries About Sandy and Other Disasters.
– Assessing the Market Value of eBooks Acquired by Libraries: An Economic Analysis Commissioned by ALA.
– Flat World Knowledge to Drop Free Access to Textbooks.
– Library Journal awards Best E-book Database to ebrary’s Academic Complete.
– EBSCO Publishing Releases K-8 and High School E-book Collections.
– LAC Modernisation – Does it Add Up?
– Pearson Project Will Let Professors Mix Free and Paid Content in E-Textbooks.
– Ferriss: Even if I sell a million Kindle books, some people will call it a failure.
– In praise of literature. A literary scholar looks back, and ahead, to diagnose the problems facing his field.
– Sony’s Reader app on iOS: Better late than never?
– Thanks to Allan Webner for bringing this to our attention: BCcampus to co-ordinate provincial open textbook project.
– Oyster Wants to be the Netflix of eBooks and Raises 3 Million in Funding to Make it Happen.
– Kobo Acquires French company which could lead to offering more digital comics and illustrative material.
– To sell books to China, foreign publishers may have to play by its rules.
– In self-publishing push, Amazon expands Kindle Owners’ Lending Library to Europe.
– Around the world, no set rules for ebook pricing or digital reading.
– Frankfurt Book Fair 2012: Self-publishing, cell phones and startups.
– Applied Science and Technology Source new from EBSCO Publishing.
– Where your computer goes: an inside look Google’s data centres.
– Cataloging Then, Now, and Tomorrow.
– LinkedIn sued over hacking incident that exposed six million passwords.
– Apple cofounder Steve Wozniak says the U.S. piracy case against Kim Dotcom is “hokey” and a threat to Internet innovation.
– Meanwhile Richard O’Dwyer, 24, is to be extradited from the U.K. to the U.S. on copyright charges for a website that is totally legal in the U.K.
– Penguin returns its e-books to New York libraries.
– Pew study: library patrons largely unaware of e-book offerings.
– But the same Pew study showed libraries say they find it difficult to acquire e-books for their users because of a restrictive policy on the part of book publishers.
– Will your children inherit your eBooks?
– Arizona libraries prepare for new obscenity law. Civil libertarians say it is too strict.
– Making eBooks is harder than you think.
– A new agreement between EBSCO Publishing and SirsiDynix will provide mutual customers with easier access to the databases, e-journals and other e-content end users are looking for.
– Flesky IOS app allows the visually impaired to use iPhone.
– Japan Passes Jail-for-Downloaders Anti-Piracy Law.
– IBM’s new supercomputer is cooled with hot water.
– Happy birthday Alan Turing, father of modern computing.
– Who knew May 9 was Global Accessibility Day?
– The Topeka & Shawnee County Library in Kansas has launched a grassroots campaign to convince publishers to increase the availability of ebooks to libraries. The advocacy effort launched Tuesday with a website called ebooks for libraries.
– Moving Beyond the NetLibrary Legacy, EBSCO Reshapes Its Ebook Platform.
– Google asks judge for dismissal of library suit. The Authors Guild says Google doesn’t have permission to reproduce portions of books for their digital library.
– Twitter Fights Prosecutors Seeking Occupy Protester’s Data Without Warrant.
– State of the Internet report from Consumer Reports: Do you share too much on Facebook?
– New survey confirms American librarians’ commitment to protecting privacy rights.
– Harvard Library bibliographic dataset now available via EBSCO Discovery Service from EBSCO Publishing.
– Elsevier Experiments With Allowing ‘Text Mining’ of Its Journals. Heather Piwowar, of the Univeristy of British Columbia, helped negotiate the deal.
– Robot writers and robot readers. The latest Cory Doctorow book? No. You gotta try this out. Both students and faculty are passing around links to EssayTyper, a website that opens with the simple prompt: “”Oh no! It’s finals week and I have to finish my [blank] essay immediately.” The rest of the story here.
– Speaking of Mr. Doctorow: Why the death of DRM would be good news for readers, writers and publishers.
– Pornography. Now that I have your attention, pornography barely makes the top ten of websites most dangerous to visit. Number 1? You’re reading it. So wash your hands and study up some more.
– CISPA: An Alternate Future Where Your Personal Privacy No Longer Exists.
– Canada jumps on the eBook price fixing lawsuit bandwagon.
– Library workers’ union outraged Vancouver Public Library hires high-priced lawyer to negotiate contract.
– New agreement brings academic video database to EBSCO Discovery Service.
– Nothing disturbs print-centric researchers like the idea of kicking books out of a library to make room for computers. The New York Public Library set off a fierce debate recently with its plans for a major reorganization.
– OverDrive Data Shows Majority Still Like To Browse the Virtual Shelves.
– April 20, 1964: Picturephone Dials Up First Transcontinental Video Call.
– Introducing the Journal of Digital Humanities.
– Distance-Learning Survey Shows Growing Concern for Student Services.
– Robots Are Grading Your Papers!
– ‘Free-Range Learners’: Study Opens Window Into How Students Hunt for Educational Content Online
– Dead Media Beat: Lignin, a website for extinct, important magazines.
– It is easy in the age of the Internet to think things like social media giant Facebook just appear out of thin air. The new data centre for Facebook makes one think again.
– App Roundup: Virtual Assistants for Your Smartphone.
– Be careful when sending mass e-mails. Be very careful.
– And now boys and girls it is time for Storytime with Terry Gilliam.
Please welcome Phil Menger to LibTech Soup! You may have seen Phil’s informative emails on the LTAIG and UFV listservs. Special thanks to our mighty Interim Convenor and Mentoring Queen, Tamarack Hockin, for recruiting Phil.
Copyright Case Supreme Court USA: Equal Protection for Shostakovich? Justices Question Lawyers in Copyright Case from The Chronicle of Higher Education
Want a job? Dress up your social media. 69% of Hiring Managers Have Rejected Candidates Based on Social Networking Presence from ResourceShelf.
Happy Birthday ALA! ALA’s 135th Birthday from ResourceShelf.
Project MUSE News: MUSE Book Collection Details Now Available
During a CBC discussion of Toronto’s proposed library cuts Joan Crockatt, a Calgary journalist and commentator, recently said that people don’t go to libraries anymore. Stephen Karr, our intrepid website manager, has compiled responses from the library community on his new blog.
Surrey Libraries’ new City Centre branch is featured in the latest issue of Award magazine. The article discusses building features, including LEED Silver certification, and some of the community consultation that went into its design; even the furniture. The Surrey Libraries update says its grand opening will be September 24, 2011.
In database news, H.W. Wilson has been acquired by EBSCO. Wilson databases and controlled vocabularies will be added to EBSCOhost. Nancy Davis Kho wrote on VIP Livewire that “EBSCO customers stand to gain in functionality benefits if the integration happens as planned, but it’s one less vendor on the landscape driving price competition and product improvements.” For more, read the official announcement. Thanks to Internet News blog for the story.
Another interesting item from Internet News: Zakta has released an asynchronous collaborative search tool called Search Team. It would probably be especially useful for student group work (ahem, Pacific Rim Magazine projects at Langara). Greg R. Notess discusses it further at Information Today.
BC LTAS 