Category Archives: Online Databases

OCLC Proposed Policy Text

Posted on 3 November 2008 by Rick Mason

As an accompaniment to this and this, I am including the text of OCLC’s proposed policy which was posted briefly yesterday before being removed and replaced with “We are reconsidering some aspects of the policy. More information will be available … Continue reading →

Posted in Cataloging, Libraries, Licensing, OCLC, Online Databases, Online Services, OPAC | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

OCLC WorldCat is the Tiger, not the Lady?

Posted on 3 November 2008 by Rick Mason

OCLC released their updated Policy for Use and Transfer of WorldCat Records yesterday, with implementation scheduled for mid-February.  If you see the phrase We are reconsidering some aspects of the policy. More information will be available in the near future. … Continue reading →

Posted in Cataloging, Copyright, ILS, Libraries, Licensing, News, OCLC, Online Databases, Online Services, OPAC | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Dead Sea Scrolls going Online

Posted on 27 August 2008 by Rick Mason

In an example of how much open access may change scholarship, it was announced the Dead Sea Scrolls will be scanned in high resolution and made available online and open access. As more primary sources are made available for study, … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Online Databases, Open Access, Translation | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Unidentified Decedent Reporting System

Posted on 10 August 2008 by Rick Mason

This is one of those resources which you hope will not have to be used, but when it helps someone find the information they need, it can be invaluable: The Unidentified Decedent Reporting System (Warning:  site is definitely not for … Continue reading →

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ISEN -or- All Your Databases are Belong to Us

Posted on 30 July 2008 by Rick Mason

The Internet Search Environment Number (ISEN) is a fantastic idea.  On-line databases would be assigned their own, unique number, similar to an ISBN or ISSN, which would identify them as a resource.  This would aid tremendously in organizing and ultimately … Continue reading →

Posted in Online Databases, Search | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

TeachingTips list of Useful Reference Sites

Posted on 8 July 2008 by Rick Mason

100 Unbelievably Useful Reference Sites You’ve Never Heard Of is the title of a post on the TeachingTips blog. And yes, there are a lot of interesting and useful links to be found (though I suspect you may recall hearing … Continue reading →

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Infochimps.org

Posted on 9 May 2008 by Rick Mason

Think of Infochimps.org as not only a wikipedia of data sets, but as potentially the greatest data mash-up tool yet. Imagine having loads of census, weather, sports, and other statistical data available in one big database.  Then standardize the fields … Continue reading →

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WorldCat and Digital Images Collections

Posted on 15 April 2008 by Rick Mason

Go to WorldCat and type in a search.  The results contain books, video, audio, you name it.  One of the more recent additions is the Digital Images Collections, which can be wonderful to view.  How to find them, though? Type … Continue reading →

Posted in Archival, Libraries, OCLC, Online Databases, Photography, Search | Tagged | Comments Off on WorldCat and Digital Images Collections

BookLamp.org

Posted on 18 March 2008 by Rick Mason

BookLamp.org is a web 2.0 application that does something new with book recommendations. Their approach is to avoid any book selling sites and focus only on responses from readers. This provides benefits when one thinks about libraries — people often … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Library 2.0, Online Databases, Online Services, Statistics, Web Design | Tagged | Comments Off on BookLamp.org

Open Bibliographic Data : The State of Play

Posted on 7 March 2008 by Rick Mason

Open Bibliographic Data : The State of Play is a post by Rufus Pollock at the Open Knowledge Foundation which examines a variety of sources for cataloging and database information.  He makes the observation, which I think is on target, … Continue reading →

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UNdata

Posted on 6 March 2008 by Rick Mason

UNdata is a search tool for the many informational databases that the United Nations maintains. It is straightforward, easy to use, and effective in attaining what you need. If only the UN as a whole worked so well 😉 via … Continue reading →

Posted in Government, Groups, Online Databases, Online Services, Search, Statistics, Web Design, WebSearch | Tagged , | Comments Off on UNdata

Elsevier’s Intermediate Print Copy ILL Policy

Posted on 3 March 2008 by Rick Mason

Kind of an interesting post on Open Access News over the weekend.  It seems that the license requirements for Elsevier’s electronic journals include printing a copy of the article, then scanning the article, before a library can provide that article … Continue reading →

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Elsevier’s Intermediate Print Copy ILL Policy

Posted on 3 March 2008 by Rick Mason

Kind of an interesting post on Open Access News over the weekend.  It seems that the license requirements for Elsevier’s electronic journals include printing a copy of the article, then scanning the article, before a library can provide that article … Continue reading →

Posted in ILL, Libraries, Licensing, Online Databases, Periodicals | Tagged | Comments Off on Elsevier’s Intermediate Print Copy ILL Policy

Data on Demand in Wisconsin

Posted on 1 March 2008 by Rick Mason

Data on Demand is a collection of data sets put together by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.  It contains data for a variety of topics, such as campaign fundraising, home foreclosures, popular baby names, and school instructional hours. This is a … Continue reading →

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Tim Berners-Lee and DataPortability

Posted on 29 February 2008 by Rick Mason

In a long interview on the state of the semantic web, Tim Berners-Lee (if you don’t recognize the name, you should really read this) briefly discussed DataPortability, the ability to move information freely and easily from one site to another: … Continue reading →

Posted in ILS, Libraries, Library 2.0, Online Databases, Online Services, Open Access, Software, Web Design | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Tim Berners-Lee and DataPortability

Library of Congress LCCN Permalink Service

Posted on 20 February 2008 by Rick Mason

LCCN Permalink is a service provided by the Library of Congress that allows one to generate links to items in the LC collection by the Library of Congress Control Number (LCCN). The format is: http://lccn.loc.gov/99011685 This is similar to the … Continue reading →

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SERU Initiative

Posted on 9 February 2008 by Rick Mason

SERU: A Shared Electronic Resource Understanding is an attempt by libraries and publishers alike to break out of the licensing process that many in both camps find problematic. Simply put, it is a straightforward agreement that a particular library subscribes … Continue reading →

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Foreign Book Dealers Directory

Posted on 23 January 2008 by Rick Mason

Foreign Book Dealers Directory is just as described : a database of book dealers around the world that lets you search for book dealers by company, region, and country.  It is hosted by ALCTS, and seems extremely useful for those … Continue reading →

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Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) review

Posted on 15 January 2008 by Rick Mason

Review : Directory of Open Access Journals (Pdf), by Heather Morrison is a very good introduction to what is becoming a top-tier collection of journals. Although some of the statistics are a bit dated (due to a strength of the … Continue reading →

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Online Book Search – the Present and the Future

Posted on 4 January 2008 by Rick Mason

I have encountered a few interesting items relating to online, full-text books during the past few days, and thought they would make a good snapshot of where things stand at this time: Google Book Search : the Good, the Bad … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Google, Libraries, Online Databases, Online Services, Open Access, Search, Web Design, WebSearch | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Online Book Search – the Present and the Future