Category Archives: Search

APML

Posted on 9 May 2008 by Rick Mason

APML stands for Attention Profiling Markup Language.  Its purpose is to permit a standardized way to gather and transfer your interests from site to site across the web.  It is built using XML, and is definitely a new technology that … 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 →

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Berkeley Accord

Posted on 11 April 2008 by Rick Mason

ILS Basic Discovery Interfaces, a.k.a the Berkeley Accord In what may turn out to be a historically significant event in the history of library tech, a group called the ILS Discovery Task Force has generated an outline detailing what amounts … Continue reading →

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BookChaser Editions Lookup

Posted on 28 March 2008 by Rick Mason

BookChaser Editions Lookup is an International Standard Book Number (ISBN) lookup service with a twist : it obtains information from the amazingISBN, thingISBN and xISBN services and displays them, all for the purpose of letting the user compare and contrast … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, OCLC, Online Services, Search | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Google Books API

Posted on 17 March 2008 by Rick Mason

This is a few days old, but it is still an important bit of news : Google has opened it’s Application Programming Interface (API) to developers. What this means for libraries is that they now have the potential to link … 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

Day of the Blog

Posted on 8 February 2008 by Rick Mason

This will be the eighth post today, possibly a record. Not that I was trying… there were just too many interesting bloggable items, and for once there was enough time to post them all. In addition, and the purpose of … 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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Intelways

Posted on 12 January 2008 by Rick Mason

Intelways is an interesting search site.  It isn’t a meta search tool, but it does harness multiple search engines to create an improved experience. As with many things on the web, the best way to understand it is to try … Continue reading →

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Wikia Launched

Posted on 7 January 2008 by Rick Mason

Wikia, the search engine designed around the concept of wikis, has been launched in alpha.  This means that a) it isn’t going to work as well as anyone wants, and b) no fair comparing it to Google et. al., except … Continue reading →

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USA.gov Mobile

Posted on 6 January 2008 by Rick Mason

USA.gov Mobile is a great little search tool for government web pages and toll-free numbers (and it is well designed for your PC, even though it is made for mobile browsers). found via ResourceShelf

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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 →

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Monopolies, Libraries, and Challenges

Posted on 26 December 2007 by Rick Mason

A somewhat rambling essay, but one that is important nonetheless: Joe Wilcox has posted an interesting essay at Microsoft Watch regarding Google’s merger with DoubleClick, the internet advertising company.  I strongly disagree with some of his interpretations (he tries to … Continue reading →

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LENS – University of Chicago

Posted on 19 December 2007 by Rick Mason

LENS is an AquaBrowser online catalog installation at the University of Chicago library that has just gone live, albeit in beta. It is an impressive catalog interface, showing what can be done with our existing cataloging, good software, and an … Continue reading →

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The Definite Article

Posted on 14 December 2007 by Rick Mason

The Definite Article : Acknowledging ‘The’ in Index Entries (pdf) is this years’ winner of the IgNoble Prize in Literature. Note that the banner of their site includes the phrase “Research that makes people LAUGH and then THINK”, and note … Continue reading →

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Two Essays by Eric Lease Morgan

Posted on 7 December 2007 by Rick Mason

I have run into two essays by Eric Lease Morgan this week that paint an excellent picture of today’s challenges for library technology and possible future solutions within our reach: Catalog Collectivism : XC and the Future of Library Search … Continue reading →

Posted in Blogs, Cataloging, Fair Use, Lecture, Libraries, Online Databases, Online Services, Search, Software | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Two Essays by Eric Lease Morgan

Firefox : Add to Search Bar

Posted on 29 November 2007 by Rick Mason

For those of you using the Firefox web browser (and if not, why?) here is an add-on that is currently impressing me to pieces : Add to Search Bar. It isn’t flashy, or obvious, but it does one thing that … Continue reading →

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Browsing LCSH

Posted on 16 November 2007 by Rick Mason

Bernhard Eversberg of the Braunschweig University Library (or Universitätsbibliothek Braunschweig ) has created a very neat, and very useful online tool : a Library of Congress Subject Headings Browser. Try it out; put in some of your favorite gnarly subject … Continue reading →

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WebWISER

Posted on 25 October 2007 by Rick Mason

WebWISER is an online access point for WISER, which stands for Wireless Information Sytem for Emergency Responders.  This database of information on hazardous materials is maintained by the National Library of Medicine, and can be used to both find information … Continue reading →

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World Digital Library

Posted on 23 October 2007 by Rick Mason

The World Digital Library is a project that is quite vast in scope, but is looking ready to take on the challenge of combining primary historical resources from many of the worlds great libraries. This project was started by UNESCO … Continue reading →

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