Category Archives: Libraries

Microformats + RDF + CSS = Semantic Richness

Posted on 19 January 2009 by Rick Mason

Add Symantic Richness To Your Markup With (RDF) Ease is the title of an article on SitePoint that delves into a topic I find fascinating, yet have only dabbled in in my own website creations. Microformats are one of the … Continue reading →

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Using Our Time Wisely

Posted on 16 January 2009 by Rick Mason

Karen Coyle wrote an excellent post about OCLC’s delayed implementation of the records licensing policy.  An exerpt: Those of us who promote open access must use this time wisely. First, we need to get some solid legal advice. It’s clear … Continue reading →

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OCLC Creates Review Board of Shared Data Creation and Stewardship

Posted on 13 January 2009 by Rick Mason

Some big news from OCLC:  They are creating a review board to solicit feedback about their licensing policy (and judging from the press release, the entire concept of sharing library data).  They are drawing from the OCLC Board of Trustees … Continue reading →

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Why Libraries Must Reject the OCLC Policy

Posted on 11 January 2009 by Rick Mason

We are now one month away from the implementation of OCLC’s new records policy.  Tim Spaulding at Thingology has compiled seven arguments why libraries should resist the license. Even if you don’t feel that OCLC intends to take a hard … Continue reading →

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CPSIA and Libraries

Posted on 9 January 2009 by Rick Mason

The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA), passed by Congress last August and due to be enforced beginning February 10th, is designed to protect children from exposure to products containing unsafe levels of lead or phthalate.  All well and good.  … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Government, Libraries, News | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

HotStuff 2.0

Posted on 6 January 2009 by Rick Mason

HotStuff 2.0 is described by its creator, Dave Pattern, as “an automatically updated blog… [in which] a daily blog post is generated using a single word that has seen a marked increase in usage over the last few days.”  The … Continue reading →

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Nine Inch Nail’s Creative Commons Success

Posted on 6 January 2009 by Rick Mason

The Creative Commons blog has a thought-provoking post about CC licensed music.  It seems that the latest Nine Inch Nails album, Ghost I-IV, is available under a CC license.  This means that you can legally download it from any of … Continue reading →

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A Look Back, A Look Ahead

Posted on 1 January 2009 by Rick Mason

2008 was an uncertain year for Libraryland.  Ideas and tools abound for how we can do more with what we have, and we are becoming more aware of what it is we have : data and the systems to organize … Continue reading →

Posted in Google, ILS, Libraries, Library 2.0, Licensing, OCLC, Online Services, OPAC, Open Access, Open Source, Software, Web Design | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Transcribe Dewey and the Gang

Posted on 18 December 2008 by Rick Mason

Unshelved is having a transcription party, and we all are invited! Bill and Gene have installed the ohnorobot comic search engine, and all that remains to make every Unshelved comic searchable by character, quote, or topic is for everyone to … Continue reading →

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Ohio RFPs for Open Source

Posted on 15 December 2008 by Rick Mason

The State Library of Ohio has just released a Request For Proposal for an Open Source Statewide Resource Sharing System (Pdf). Their summary page (which will soon contain an F.A.Q.) states that The desired product would provide a seamless resource … Continue reading →

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DSpace Reaches 500 Installations

Posted on 14 December 2008 by Rick Mason

DSpace, the open-source digital repository system, reached the 500 installation mark earlier this month.  Earlier this year I did a bit of research on various repository solutions, and DSpace was the one I was most impressed with, and it seems … Continue reading →

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OCLC License Policy – A Recommendation

Posted on 10 December 2008 by Rick Mason

I wrote a recommendation, on request, about the impact to my workplace of the OCLC license policy changes that are scheduled to start in February.  I am posting an exerpt here, not because I feel it brings anything new to … Continue reading →

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OCLC Policy and Federal Libraries

Posted on 10 December 2008 by Rick Mason

Another installment in the exploration of the effects of OCLC’s licensing policy changes, this one an examination of various Federal Library records by Thingology’s Tim Spaulding.

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The Elusive Moose and OCLC

Posted on 8 December 2008 by Rick Mason

The Elusive Moose and OCLC is a post over at LibraryThing‘s Thingology blog that is yet another good effort at explaining why the new OCLC records license is not a good thing for anyone (including, in the long run, OCLC, … Continue reading →

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Open and Libraries Class Journal

Posted on 8 December 2008 by Rick Mason

The Open and Libraries Class Journal is a new, peer-reviewed journal on open access and libraries, and the first issue contains the “final papers for the Open Movement and Libraries class (LIBR287-06) at San Jose State University, School of Library … Continue reading →

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A Useful Amplification

Posted on 19 November 2008 by Rick Mason

A Useful Amplification of Records That Are Unavoidably Needed Anyway is an essay by Brett Bonfield which, dare I phrase it this way, usefully amplifies several of the major web-based entities which are intertwined with libraries.  These include (but aren’t … Continue reading →

Posted in Cataloging, Classification, Definitions, Libraries, OCLC, Online Databases, Online Services, OPAC, Search, WebSearch | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on A Useful Amplification

Cataloging Flash Mob

Posted on 18 November 2008 by Rick Mason

In Beverly, Massachusetts a mob of 20 LibraryThing enthusiasts cataloged the entire collection of St. John’s church library, as well as the rector’s book collection, consisting of over 2,000 books (averaging 100 books per person). Akin to an Amish barn-raising, … Continue reading →

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Rational and Well Thought-Out OCLC Response

Posted on 17 November 2008 by Rick Mason

Over the past few days, I have been gathering my thoughts together in order to post an essay-style overview of the issues surrounding the OCLC records policy changes.  As of now, I am going to put those thoughts aside, as … Continue reading →

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The Library and the Bazaar

Posted on 14 November 2008 by Rick Mason

The Library and the Bazaar is an essay by Greer Hauptman that discusses copyright options, libraries, and the freedom to read. Of note is his argument that with greater control being exerted by publishers over access to content (think e-journals) … Continue reading →

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More OCLC Comments

Posted on 14 November 2008 by Rick Mason

The debate about OCLC’s revision of their Policy for Use and Transfer of WorldCat Records is heating up.  The core issue appears to be the licensing of WorldCat records and the limitations imposed, namely that “data extracted from a WorldCat … Continue reading →

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