IFLA: Introducing ResearchTrail

IFLA would like to announce a new service for information professionals and librarians – ResearchTrail.

ResearchTrail has two aims:
* To be a community and a meeting-place where those of us whose job it is to find information can interact with, collaborate with, and help the people who need that information, and also help each other.
* To provide a marketplace where businesses and individuals can find professional searchers, and info-pros looking for clients can advertise their services.

Since ResearchTrail is a free-access website, it's truly global – no matter where you live, you can interact with other information professionals, get help, and find work through ResearchTrail's marketplace.

ResearchTrail goes online in March; but you can register now at http://www.researchtrail.com/.

A week before we open, we'll send everyone who registered a personal username, so you can get a sneak preview. Then we open with a search competition (with prizes) for information professionals – to encourage as many of you as possible try us out and comment on what we're doing right and wrong and what you'd like to see there. Everyone who's registered is eligible to take part in the competition too.

ResearchTrail is built by info-pros for info-pros. We look forward to seeing you all on-site and hearing what you think.

Knowledge Management & Innovation Conference: 9 & 10 April 2008

The Knowledge Management & Innovation Conference will be held on 9 & 10 April 2008.

Venue: Premier Regent Hotel, Cape Town

Presentations will be from the following organizations:

o South African National Centre for Informatics Knowledge Management and Knowledge Economy - SANCIKMKE

o Development Bank of South Africa - DBSA

o Research Institute for Innovation and Sustainability - RIIS

o University of Witwatersrand o Datacentrix

o Knowledge Integration Dynamics

o I-Kno

o Steve Bayhegyi & Associates

o Suritec

o IBM

o Symbiosys Consulting

Objectives

o To establish the relationship between knowledge management and organizational transformations.

o To harness expertise to effectively implement knowledge management strategies.

o To apply knowledge management principles, techniques and tools into leadership.

o To structure the storing of information using knowledge management systems.

o To learn and understand technologies that support knowledge management initiatives Audience Individuals and teams with a serious business interest in knowledge management and the knowledge-based economy. Executive who are especially interested in new ideas on how to get a better return on their investments. Knowledge managers, creative strategist, architects, and executives who seek faster, smarter, better and most cost effective ways to generate optimum knowledge performance

TO REGISTER CALL TEL: +27 11 472 5388 - FAX: +27 11 472 5304 Email: info@ingwecom.co.za

Wiley InterScience: 5000 online books in 2008

Wiley-Blackwell is pleased to announce that over the next few months approximately 1500 books from the former Blackwell Publishing will be incorporated into the OnlineBooks™ program on Wiley InterScience. This milestone in the integration of content from the two publishing operations will dramatically expand the scope of the online book offering on Wiley InterScience, and enable your library and user community to search and access, on one platform, a vast repository of prestigious monographs across the sciences and humanities:

The Blackwell Publishing books will include:
* 600 books in Social Science and the Humanities
* 300 books covering many Medical disciplines, including evidence-based medicine
* 650 books in Life Science, Construction, Nursing, Food Science and Technology, Agriculture and Forestry, Aquaculture, and Applied arts

In addition, in early 2008 another 400 titles from Wiley-VCH will be added to Wiley InterScience, predominantly in physics, chemistry, material sciences and life sciences.

Your institution can license OnlineBooks for a subscription or for a one-time fee, on a title-by-title basis, with a custom starter package of 20 titles.
DOWNLOAD SPREADSHEETS:
>> List of Blackwell and Wiley-VCH books coming to Wiley InterScience
>> All Wiley InterScience OnlineBooks - Full Title List with Pricing Information

SLIS Workshop on Reference Interview: 18 March 2008

Grab your diary and immediately book a date with SLIS for a great tutoring and learning opportunity!

Our first workshop of the year is around conducting successful reference interviews. The reference interview is an art and forms the basis for information provision in all types of libraries. You as an information professional need to understand exactly what the user is asking for to be able to know which information sources to consult, how much information to provide, on which level it should be, and to evaluate the information before supplying it.

The workshop will be conducted at entrance level for students of Library and Information Science, information professionals who just started their career and who do information retrieval. There will be practical examples and the opportunity to practice with other delegates. It is not going to be theoretical.

Workshop Presenter: Louise Mitchell, ATD Tech-Know Link

When: Tuesday 18 March 2008, 9h30 - 12h00.

Lunch will be served Where: Anglo American Auditorium

RSVP: 12 March 2008, christelle.vermaak@fluor.com

Cost: SLIS paid-up members & students (full-time or part-time but not employed) - free of charge

All other attendees: R 50,00
Further detail & workshop programme to be confirmed.

About the presenter: Louise Mitchell has been part of the Anglo American library (ATD Tech-Know Link) team for 10 years and before that has worked in various academic and public libraries. Over the last 20 years it has become her personal challenge and passion to perfect the art of the reference interview and she is still working on it. Understanding and knowing the exact information needs of their user base and being able to match it with the most appropriate information sources, in the right amount, format and time is key to their successes. The secret ingredient? One of many is definitely a well-conducted reference interview!

South African Information Services News: February 2008

What are the latest news from South African Information Services:

* Dialog alerts

As a Dialog customer, you’re eligible for our special alert setup service . Utilize our expert search staff – at no charge – to assist with setting up alerts on your most business-critical strategies. You’ll be the first to know of essential information that will keep you at the forefront of your industry and eliminate hours of research time. You can also have teammates included in your distribution, at your specified frequency, so you’re all in the know. Whether you’re short on time, staff or lack expertise in a specific area, your Dialog search team is ready to help. Visit www.scientific.thomson.com/forms/alerts to request a confidential alert setup consultation -- and, make sure you’re one of the first to know.

* World News Connection
Sign up today for a free trial. World News Connection offers:
• Unique content from hard-to-monitor countries
• Content provided through and in exclusive partnership with NTIS
• Ideal source for the latest information on current developments in over 100 countries
• Receive email updates on specific topics with alerts
• Records from 1995 to present
• Updates daily with from 300 – 1,000 records per day
For a free trial and/or more information (including the source list), please contact Lynne on 011 469 4032 or lynner@saonlinefinfo.co.za

* Training and consultancy
Contact Christa on 083 980 3087 or christaf@soanlineinfo.co.za for any training needs.

UKSG Serials-eNews

Some of the topics in the UKSG Searials-eNews in the last three issues were:

22 Feb 2008, no. 164

* Harvard Faculty adopts open access requirement

Harvard University's arts and sciences faculty has approved a plan that will post finished academic papers online free, unless scholars specifically decide to opt out of the open access programme. While other institutions have similar repositories for their faculty's work, Harvard's is unique for making online publication the default option. The policy will allow Harvard authors to publish in any journal that permits posting online after publication.

* CrossRef launches free citation tool for bloggers

CrossRef has launched the beta version of a plug-in that allows bloggers to look up and insert DOI-enabled citations in the course of authoring a blog. The plug-in, which is available for download, allows the blogger to use a widget-based interface to search CrossRef metadata using citations or partial citations. The results of the search, with multiple hits, are displayed and the author can then either click on a hit to follow the DOI to the publisher's site, or click on an icon next to the hit to insert the citation into their blog entry (as either a full citation or as a short 'op. cit.').

* What does Higher Education want from Publishers?

The purpose of this well-attended conference was to review the future of the textbook - a campaign which the Publishers Association has promoted since 2003. There were a number of highlights to the day, which started with an impressive overview of academic publishing and university concerns. Students and academics from Manchester Metropolitan University gave their views on how they wanted to use textbook material. The presentations from the conference are available online.

8 Feb 2008, no 163:

* Researchers of the future: underskilled?

Discussion on the report about the so-called "Google Generation" - Information Behaviour of the Researcher of the Future http://www.ucl.ac.uk/slais/research/ciber/downloads/

The report counters the common assumption that the 'Google Generation' - young people born or brought up in the Internet age - is the most adept at using the web. "Our verdict: This is a dangerous myth. Digital literacies and information literacies do not go hand in hand. A careful look at the literature over the past 25 years finds no improvement (or deterioration) in young people's information skills."

The report claims that, although young people demonstrate an ease and familiarity with computers, they rely on the most basic search tools and do not possess the critical and analytical skills to asses the information that they find on the web.

The report calls for libraries to respond urgently to the changing needs of researchers and other users and to understand the new means of searching and navigating information. Learning what researchers want and need is crucial if libraries are not to become obsolete - libraries and information services need to become "much more e-consumer-friendly and less stodgy and intellectual".

* Academics want to improve peer review

A study involving 3,000 authors, reviewers and editors has been written up in a new report by Mark Waring Consulting called Peer review in scholarly journals: perspective of the scholarly community - an international study. The full report, Peer review in scholarly journals: perspective of the scholarly community - an international study, can be accessed on the Publishing Research Consortium website. A summary report, Peer review: benefits, perceptions, and alternatives, is also available.

* Swets to act as global sales partner for Wiley's OnlineBooks

Wiley has announced that it has chosen Swets to act as a global sales partner for its range of OnlineBooks. This deal makes the range of electronic book material hosted on Wiley Interscience's web platform available to order directly through Swets.

* The Royal Society chooses HighWire
HighWire Press and the Royal Society have announced a new partnership in the provision of the independent scientific academy's publications online. All content of the Society's eight periodicals, some dating back as early as 1665, will be live on HighWire's e-publishing platform from 2009.

25 Jan 2008, no. 162:

* The issue of identity for institutions and individuals:

Thomson Scientific has launched ResearcherID.com, a web environment which enables researchers to create stable personal identifiers to present their works and manage public presentation of their personal metrics. Each individual identification (ID) number will act as a digital 'calling card' that the researcher can place anywhere, such as a personal home page, a CV, or a university page. The identifier links to a personal workspace that automatically updates citation data, user-generated tags and keywords, and professional information that can be shared with the public or kept for personal monitoring. ResearcherID.com ensures an accurate record of a researcher's output and attribution, providing a gateway for colleagues to pinpoint not only that researcher's published work, but also the researcher as a potential collaborator. Web of Science users will be able to create identifiers and workspaces to share publicly, with wider availability via trusted sponsors in the future.

* IEEE continues to update legacy content

Originally promised to be 180,000 documents large, the IEEE Xplore legacy collection has topped 237,286 documents as IEEE continues to complete its vision to provide the first volume, first issue release of all its technology journals.

Golonka: E-Math, E-Physics, E-Chemistry for Africa

Have you heard about Golonka initiative for Africa?

The aim of the Golonka is to co-ordinate the efforts to make an African consortium for e-journals and databases. The main purpose is to promote the use of Open Access journals and other scientific resources, as well as being a platform for consortia building.

Currently, Golonka provide access to:

* E-Math Africa (http://math.golonka.se)

* E-Physics Africa (http://physics.golonka.se)

* E-Chemistry Africa (http://chemistry.golonka.se)

On these websites you can find information on: Statistical Pan African Society (SPAS); Mentoring African Research in Mathematics; European Math Departments support African colleagues; Free ACD/ChemSketch Licenses to All Academic Institutions. You can subscribe to an e-mail alerts with news about access to databases and journals. The following resources are available on each website:

- Links to: Societies, Academies & Institutions;

- Databases and Search Engines

- Reprints

- E-books ( number of full-text books/textbooks available on the Internet)

- Free Journal Archives, Open access and African e-journals ( 431 journals - Maths, Applied Maths, Statistics, IT, etc.)( 81 journals - Chemistry)(96 journals - Physics)

These "portals" to Maths, Physics & Chemistry resources will definitely be of use to undergraduates and postgraduates students. It will be useful for research, learning & teaching purposes.

Conferences: Call for papers

If you are interested in writing paper for a conference, these are your current opportunities:

NINTH SOUTHERN AFRICAN ONLINE INFORMATION MEETING, 3-5 JUNE 2008
CSIR CONFERENCE CENTRE MEIRING NAUDE ROAD, PRETORIA
Preliminary Announcement and Call for Papers

Suggested Topics for Papers include (but is not limited to):
Web search Federated search Social networking & Global best practices Taxonomies, folksonomies Evidence-based librarianship Information policy Web site usability Needs assessment Collaborative working
Career development talks
Content Management
RSS Feeds
Embedded Librarian
Web search engines
Planning next generation users
Disappearing mouse – touch screens/voice
Knowledge Sharing & Collaboration Training and teaching
Internet resources Managing e-resources Mobile technology Library 3.0 Distance learning, e-learning Multimedia searching Innovative projects Incorporating new technologies Web design Content management Development & Competency issues/skills

Call for Papers: Whilst priority will be given to contributors on the suggested themes, presentations on other relevant topics will also be considered. · Concise papers (20 minutes maximum) based on practical experience or practical applications of information technology are preferred. Supporting and supplementary detail may be included in the complete, written paper. · If you wish to submit a paper, please submit your 250 word detailed abstract by no later that 14 March 2008.
E-mailed to Dr. Glenda Myers: glenda.myers@wits.ac.za
If your paper is provisionally accepted, you will be asked to submit the complete paper in machine readable format by 16 May 2008 at the latest. · The decision of the selectors is final, and no correspondence with regard to acceptance or rejection of submitted papers will be entered into.

10th ANNUAL CONFERENCE ON WORLD WIDE WEB APPLICATIONS: Cape Town (South Africa) Wednesday 3 to Friday 5 September 2008.
Please find the Call for Papers to the 10th annual event at http://www.zaw3.co.za
Topics for the 2008 event can relate to trends and developments over the last ten years; for example the growing number of “foreign” language sites; the politics of the Web; censorship and legal issues; new methods of access and device and network convergence; search engines and search techniques; emerging Web technologies, developments and trends; Web 2.0; in fact e-anything (health, government, commerce, marketing, learning, society, entertainment).

University of Pretoria Bookfest 5-8 March 2008

You are invited to attend the festival of books, which mark the University of Pretoria Centenary. As part of its centenary celebrations, the University of Pretoria (UP) through the aegis of its Library Services, is hosting the BookFest and the 1st South African eBook Fair from 05-08 March 2008 in Pretoria. The 4-day programme includes:

1. Writers in Dialogue - a programme which features a wide range of South African authors, including UP alumni. This line-up includes Fred Khumalo, Sindiwe Magona, Chris Mann, Darryl Accone, PG du Plessis, Helene de Kock, Buti Skhosana, Joan Hambidge, Jaco Jacobs, Anzil Kulsen, and many others. Shimmer Chinodya, the 2007 Noma Award winner for Publishing in Africa will also be present.

2. The eBook Phenomenon
The eBook Phenomenon: A New Chapter: A symposium will be held on Friday, March 07 2008 that addresses the emerging electronic book environment and its impact on print media and publishing. Mark Carden of MyiLibrary will be the keynote speaker. The 1st SA eBook Fair - Twelve international publishers will introduce their latest eBook collections and present a virtual exhibition of eBooks. Cost: R 100

Registration at: http://www.bookfest.up.ac.za/symposium_registration.htm

3. TUKSbooks and UniverCity - a display of 1000 books by UP staff and students published during its century. This programme also includes a series of talks by various experts.

4. Future Leaders at Play - a stimulating programme of activities for local schools, children and youth which will include the participation of children's authors and illustrators.

5. Exhibitions by local and international publishers and booksellers.

6. Sunset and lunch-time concerts by the university choirs and orchestra, rap poets, street musicians, museum collections and art exhibitions will add to the festivities.

This Bookfest is being sponsored by Elsevier, EBSCO, Blackwell's Book Services, Swets, Protea Boekhuis, KWP Argitekte and OCLC.

Direct link to the programme: http://www.bookfest.up.ac.za/programme.htm

Institute of Physics: Librarian Insider Newsletter

In the latest December issue of IoP "Librarian Insider" Newsletter, you will find the following information:

* News: New look for IoP. Some improvements to the website were made.
* Did you know? NEW product!

IOPscience … always more to discover. IoP introduces their new platform for electronic journal content, IOPscience. Some of the features are:
- Related Articles: A ‘Related Articles' tab has been added to every abstract page in IOPscience.
- Content Finder: The introduction of the ‘Content Finder’ allows you to go straight to a specific article in the service.
- Saved Searches: Personalization features have been enhanced, with the inclusion of a brand new tab called ‘My IOPscience’.
- Most cited: The IOPscience homepage, and all journal homepages, now show the 5 most cited articles
- Enhanced PDFs: All PDFs downloaded from IOPscience now include an interactive coversheet, allowing you to link back to IOPscience at any time.
IOPscience provides site-wide access to content from 1874 to the present day, and is available by electronically license. IoP want to give every customer cost-effective access to IOP content, through our tailored pricing model, which is based on a number of factors including the size of relevant research at your institution and your geographic location.

Click on the TITLE to view the Newsletter

ILibrarian blog: latest posts

The "ILibrarian" blog posted information (24/1/08) about case study report on "Libraries and Facebook". The report provides an overview of Facebook, a brief literature review, details the project’s use of the Facebook social network, discusses Facebook groups, applications, and pages of interest to libraries, and recommends best practices for using Facebook as a librarian.

Other interesting posts are: Academic Library Blogging Book (24/1/08), 7 Things You Should Know About Lulu (web-based self-publishing service)(23/1/08), Online Higher Education ranking (23/1/08), Gamimg to Develop Research skills (18/1/08), Changing the Way We Work(16/1/08), Library use "IGoogle" as start page (15/1/08), 10 Blogs To Read In 2008 ( 14/1/08)

Elsevier Library Connect Newsletter, no.1, 2008

In this newsletter:
* Sign up for Research Trends: To fulfill the increasing demand for high-quality research performance measurement (RPM) and trend-related information, the Scopus team recently launched Research Trends, a free bimonthly e-newsletter delivering updates on developments, approaches and tools in this area. Launched in October 2007, Research Trends provides objective, up-to-the-minute news on scientific trends as well as articles based on bibliometric data. The articles are written by experts in the field of bibliometrics. Each issue focuses on five categories: the value of bibliometric measures, research trends, country trends, expert opinion and citation choices of individual authors. Developed for deans, faculty heads, researchers, funding bodies, ranking agencies and research libraries, Research Trends aims to be an essential source of information for the research community at large: www.researchtrends.com
* How marketing can help increase the value of e-resource investments: Five key findings
1. Interpersonal connections make the difference
2. Training is a key component of the marketing mix
3. Never underestimate the importance of a librarian
4. Interactive promotions are effective
5. Repetition is important
* Research watch
- Academic libraries positively impact student retention
- Assessing library instruction indicates lasting results
* Community connections
- European libraries feel effects of VAT on e-publications: At the moment, many libraries are hanging in limbo, stuck between traditional print materials and the advancement of electronic publications. Statistics tracked by libraries often compare usage metrics and budget percentages allotted for each format so as to try and find a happy medium for users who prefer holding physical forms of information in their hands and users who routinely conduct research using online resources.
- Study shows migration to online books saves libraries money and increases usage: The availability of digital journals is without doubt one of the cornerstones of today’s academic library. Thousands of STM journals are currently accessible via increasingly sophisticated electronic platforms like ScienceDirect. Now, many publishers, including Elsevier, are making significant progress in bringing book content online.
* Staying connected
- Want to learn more about tagging and RSS? Visit the Elsevier TrainingDesk and register for a free topic-focused online training. The TrainingDesk also offers downloadable presentations, tutorials, practice exercises and reference materials covering best-practice use of Elsevier electronic products. While visiting the TrainingDesk site, take a look at the blog and wiki.www.trainingdesk.elsevier.com
- Reprints Desk delivering ScienceDirect articles: Since November 2007, Elsevier has been partnering with Reprints Desk, a new content re-purposing company focused on medical and scientific publishing, to provide full-service article delivery. Through this initiative, customers can order individual articles from over 2,000 scientific journals published by Elsevier and receive the articles electronically or in print. Reprints Desk delivers articles in their original format and color, either in PDF or in professionally printed hardcopy: www.reprintsdesk.com
- Academic Database Assessment Tool: JISC Collections, in partnership with DataSalon Ltd., UK, has created the Academic Database Assessment Tool — a free online database comparison tool. Librarians can use it to evaluate and make purchasing decisions for online resources. The tool provides title lists for bibliographic and fulltext databases, plus service information regarding content platforms. Sponsors include Scopus, Engineering Village and EMBASE.com, as well as Thomson Scientific and ProQuest: www.jisc-adat.com/adat/home.pl
Click on the TITLE to access this newsletter. Even if it is addressing librarians, can be very useful to the researchers and academics to read.

UKSG Serials-eNews

In the Current UKSG Serials-eNews, no. 161, 11 Jan 2008, the following news are noteworthy:

* UKSG seminar report: Caught up in web 2.0? Feedback from Web 2.0 seminar. Presenters from Ingenta, CABI, Talis, etc. talked about the "the web 2.0 emphasis is on public sharing of data and enabling improved communication", "Blogs have also been used to replace email communication between library staff", "some advice on the use of web 2.0 concepts in web page design", "a publisher's view of web 2.0 and talked about the move from formal to informal scholarly communication", "number of case studies describe the use of social software for the presentation of reading lists", " about web 2.0 in relation to library management and catalogue systems", "the life of an avatar inside the virtual world, Second Life".

* Cambridge Journals Online. 2007 has been a significant year for Cambridge Journals, marking their tenth year of online journals publishing. Some key new developments were released by Cambridge Journals Online in December

* Thomson Scientific launches journal citation impact forum. Thomson Scientific have launched an online Citation Impact Forum aimed at promoting scholarly discussion about all facets of citation-based research evaluation - from Thomson Scientific's own influential Journal Impact Factor to emerging citation metrics, such as the h-index.

* Discussion paper: the identification of digital book content. An important discussion paper on the identification of digital content, written for BIC and the Book Industry Study Group in the US by Michael Holdsworth, has been published. It can be freely accessed on the website.

* CrossRef passes 30 million DOI mark. CrossRef recently registered its 30 millionth DOI. While the majority of CrossRef's Digital Object IdentifiersR (DOIs) are assigned to online journal articles, there are now over 2.5 million DOI names assigned to other types of publications, including conference proceedings, dissertations, books, datasets, and technical reports. Over 2,400 publishers and societies participate in CrossRef linking.

* JSTOR and the journal 'Science'. The American Association for the Advancement of Science has reversed its earlier decision to pull its flagship publication, Science, from JSTOR, the scholarly electronic journals archive. Officials issued this statement: "AAAS and JSTOR are pleased to announce that we have concluded an ongoing discussion and have been able to reach an agreement to continue what has been a very productive relationship between JSTOR and the journal Science."

* Wiley-Blackwell takes on journals. Wiley-Blackwell have formed two new publishing partnerships in the Asia-Pacific region. They will publish Basic & Applied Pathology and Pacific Focus from 2008. The have also been selected by the International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (IUBMB) to publish IUBMB Life.

Other announcement of interest are: Nature Archive go live; Nature GeoScience launched (the library order it for the Faculty of Science); Nature Publishing launches Mucosal Immunology; Future present: changing your environment with e-books? EBSCO digitises backfile for International Political Science Abstracts

SAOUG Workshop

Southern African Online User Group in conjunction with South African Online Information Services are delighted to bring you a talk with a difference!

Date: Monday, 18 February 2008
Venue: Goldenpipit, End Street 241, Centurion. Tel. 012-654 3009
(see http://www.goldenpipit.co.za/map.htm for map)
Time: 11:30 – 15:00
Cost: R50 for paid-up members; R80 for non-members

Programme:
11:30 -12:00 Registration
12:00 -13:00 Financial Strategic Planning for Libraries by Dave Crawford
13:00 - 15:00 Lunch

Financial Strategic Planning for Libraries
Do you hate that time of year when you’re asked to put in your budgets for your information services? Do you absolutely hate trying to second-guess what the Rand is going to do against a basket of foreign currencies, or what nasty surprises the Minister of Finance/Receiver of Revenue have tucked up their expensively tailored sleeves with regard to VAT or other tax implications for your services? Do you wish that courses on Basic Bookkeeping 101/Excel 101/Financial Planning for Non-Financial Managers had been included in your LIS subjects for compulsory attendance? Do you absolutely loathe and detest your vendors and the publishers when they won’t reveal how their annual subscription price increases can be justified? Is there NO ONE your institution that understands Library Finance? Are you a lonely little librarian in your weedy petunia patch of onion-like finance bulbs? Do you still count on your fingers?
If you’ve answered yes to at least one of these questions, then you absolutely have to come and hear what Dave Crawford has to say! Dave Crawford is Chief Financial Planner of Crawford Employee Financial Guidance and oversees financial education. He has been involved in this work since 1992 and Writes regularly for the Sunday Times answering reader queries in the Rands and Sense column. He also hosted a financial program on Radio Today for four years.

Please RSVP by Friday 11 February 2008 to Christa on:
E-mail: christaf@saonlineinfo.co.za

World Resources 2005: The Wealth of the Poor

I have just posted this on the UJ Science Librarian Blog, but I thought that some of the Info's will find this e-book of interest to their Departments. The latest 2005 edition of World Resources book is available free online (Click on the TITLE for access). The book can be useful as reference source for many UJ students and academics. We have in print some old edditions in the library. See below a short Table of Content:

Part 1: The Wealth of the Poor
* Chapter 1: Nature, Power and Poverty
* Chapter 2: Ecosystems and the Livelihoods of the poor
* Chapter 3: The role of governance
* Chapter 4: Four steps to greater environmental income
* Chapter 5: Turning natural assets into wealth: Case Studies ( NATURE IN LOCAL HANDS: The Case for Namibia’s Conservancies; Regenerating Woodlands: Tanzania's HASHI Project)
* Special section - Global development policies: Making MDGs and PRSPs work for the poor and the environment
Part 2: Data Tables (The World Resources 2005 data tables present information for 155 countries). The following statistics are available: Population & Education; Human Health; Gender & Development; Income & Poverty; Economics & Financial Flows; Institutions & Governance; Energy; Climate & Atmosphere; Water Resources & Fisheries; Biodiversity; Land Use & Human Settlements; Food & Agriculture.
References

Carrot2: New Open Source Search Results Clustering Engine

My previous post informed you about this new "Wikia Search Engine" that is available on the Internet since last week, and today I learned from Mary Ellen Bates newsletter that there is another new search engine available for Info's to explore in time of desperate need. This is what Mary says about Carrot2.

Carrot2 (http://demo.carrot2.org), an open source search-results-clustering engine, just recently out in beta. In a nutshell, it takes search results, analyzes them and, on the fly, creates groups of the most common concepts or terms from those results. Since this is all done by algorithms rather than by humans, expect the odd result every once in a while, but I found the clusters to be consistently useful.
Carrot2's default is to search the web using eTools.ch, a Swiss meta-search engine that queries 10 search engines, including Google, Yahoo, Ask and MSN. However, since eTools only returns the top 20 results from each search engine, I prefer not to use eTool search results. Instead, you can click a tab to limit your search to Google, Yahoo, MSN, Wikipedia, PubMed and a few other finding tools. Because clustering is a computationally intensive process, Carrot2 limits the search results by default to the top 100 results from any of the search engines. However, you can click the Show Options link and set Carrot2 to search and sort up to 400 results. (Note that increasing the number of search results also increases the number of results from each search engine when using the eTools meta-search engine from 20 to 40.)
Geek that I am, I find it even more intriguing that, under that "Show Options" link is a pull-down menu that lets you select which of six different sorting algorithms you want to use. The clustering results are dramatically different (although keep in mind that the search results themselves stay the same -- only the clusters change). With my "social capital" search, I was able to see a variety of groupings of my search results, and identify some of the key writers and terms.
Carrot2 may not be your day-to-day search tool, but it is tremendously useful for those searches in which it is difficult to sift the wheat from the chaff. www.BatesInfo.com/tip.html.

P.S. I have just had a look at this Search Engine. It is not difficult to use and explore. I will add direct link on this blog, so it will be easier for you to access when you need.

New Wikia Search Engine comes to Live

The latest Web 2.0 development tool " Wikia Search Engine" has been made available on Monday, 7th of January 2008. Below are some articles links that can give you an idea of what this search engine is all about. You can do some more searches or visit directly www.wikia.com or http://alpha.search.wikia.com . Click on "About us" option to learn more about this site. Create an account to create a wiki, to upload files and images and other features.

* The New York Times article dated 7th of January 2008, discusses the new Wikia Search Engine, which early version was made available on Monday. Jimmy Wales the co-founder of Wikipedia in 2001 is again behind the 2008 new Internet search engine, Wikia Search, at www.wikia.com. Like Wikipedia, he plans to rely on a “wiki” model, a voluntary collaboration of people, to fine-tune the Wikia search engine. When it starts up Monday, the service will rank pages based on a relatively simple algorithm. Users will be allowed and encouraged to rate search results for quality and relevance. Wikia will gradually incorporate that feedback in its rankings of Web pages to deliver increasingly useful answers to people’s questions. The Wikia search engine will be an open-source project, whose programming code and data will be available to anyone, he said. (Wiki Citizens Taking on a New Area: Searching, By MIGUEL HELFT,

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/07/technology/07wiki.html?_r=1&ref=business&oref=slogin)

* Wikia Search finds few fans in early going, By Marcus Browne , 8th Jan 2008: Since its launch on Monday much debate has arisen surrounding its validity, its potential to compete against search giants such as Google and Yahoo, and its current performance--which, according to many reports, is unsatisfactory. The search engine also comes complete with several other functions, including a social-networking site, and a "miniarticles" function--a stub of a full wiki page that appears above popular search terms.

http://www.news.com/Wikia-Search-finds-few-fans-in-early-going/2100-1032_3-6225083.html

* Jimmy Wales on Wikia Search's Lukewarm Reveal: We come from the world of open source, which is all about "release early, release often" rather than highly polished releases. Also, since the whole concept of the search engine is to put the editorial control in the hands of the community, we wanted to get started with building that community and getting their support in figuring out what that means in practice.

(http://blog.wired.com/business/2008/01/jimmy-wales-exp.html)

* Wikia Launches Search Engine, Challenges Google, 9 Jan 2008: The new search engine uses Web 2.0 components and touts -- in contrast to Google -- an open algorithm for greater transparency about how the order in which the results appear is determined. Google is taking the arrival of a new competitor in stride.

http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,3048800,00.html

The Bloggers Among Us: Survey results

The article "The Bloggers Among Us" from the Library Journal, dated 15/12/2007, provides useful survey condacted with 839 blogging librarians from US.

Blogging has become central to communication in libraries and traditional library media in the past few years.

* Almost 70% of respondents have had their current blogs for two years or less. The blogs with the most reach, read by thousands of people, focus on how libraries can use technologies to improve services.

* The majority of bloggers (67%) contribute to more than one blog. There are collaborative blogs and individual blogs, staff blogs, and blogs for patrons.

* Men are more likely to blog than women. While women make up approximately 80% of librarians, they represent only 66% of library bloggers surveyed. Still, the percentage of female bloggers has risen, up from 57% in 2005, perhaps because blogging has become mainstream and no longer an activity predominantly for techies.

* Nearly two-thirds of respondents currently work in academic or public libraries. Two years ago, twice as many academic librarians blogged as public librarians, but now the percentages are almost equal. Still, academic librarians remain overrepresented. Why are academic librarians more likely to blog? Perhaps because so many academic libraries encourage or require their staff to publish—they're also overrepresented among published librarians and conference speakers—and blogging is considered good writing practice (22% identified writing practice as a primary reason they blog).

* Respondents were asked to list their top three reasons for blogging. The majority (69%) identified sharing ideas with others. Other popular reasons include building community (38%), contributing to the profession (23.2%), and reaching out to patrons (23%). Some people use their blogs more as a tool for their own continuing education. Nearly 40% believe their blogs help them to keep up with trends in the profession, and 27.3% cite blogging as a way to process their own ideas.

* Nearly one-quarter of librarian bloggers post anonymously. Some may have bosses who don't support employee blogging. Others simply feel more comfortable expressing themselves under the radar

* Librarian bloggers also read—or skim—a lot of blogs. The bulk (47.7%) read up to 40, while the remainder read more, and 10.7% of respondents even reported reading more than 200.
Some 71.1% of those surveyed said they read blogs in a web-based RSS aggregator (Bloglines, Google Reader, etc.), while 15.1% said they visited each blog individually, 7.5% read blogs in a desktop RSS aggregator, and 4.1 % read blogs on a personalized start page

* What does the future hold for the biblioblogosphere? Clearly, the number of bloggers will increase, covering many subject areas beyond technology. Blogs that focus on certain populations, such as teens or medical practitioners, are gaining in popularity.

Click on the TITLE to read the full-text article

Snap Shots from Snap.com on UJ Librarians News blog

Happy New Year to all of you and welcome back to the 2008 Academic year. After a good rest I hope we are ready to face the information overload once again. I had the good intentions to work during the holidays, but I developed a real "holiday virus" - swimming, tanning and reading books. Let's not forget the number of parties, the Christmas shopping's and the movies that came along. In between I managed to exercise, to keep from piling the many calories from the delicious treats. Overall I have an relaxed and enjoyable holiday and I can "hopefully" face the pressure of work.

What is new on this blog?
I have installed in December a nice little tool on this site called Snap Shots that enhances links with visual previews of the destination site. Sometimes Snap Shots bring you the information you need, without your having to leave the site, while other times it lets you "look ahead," before deciding if you want to follow a link or not. The icon is easy to spot next to the titles. Just take the cursor there. Should you decide this is not for you, just click the Options icon in the upper right corner of the Snap Shot and opt-out.

Personally I like this tool. It provide a "quick look" at the web page you want to view, even without clicking on the link.

Let me know if you find it useful? Sent me a comment!

UJ official closure

The Academic 2007 year is officially over. The University of Johannesburg officially closes on the 14th of December and re-opens on 2nd of January 2008. Wishing you all peaceful and full of love holiday.