WHAT DOES A DISTANCE MLIS REALLY COST?

Mary Thompson [Ocean County Library, Island Heights, New Jersey, USA] created a spreadsheet with the cost of distance MLIS programs. She included the in-state and out-of-state tuition and the number of credits required, but did not calculate the total cost. So, I did it. Here are the results:

Cheapest in-state: San Jose State University, $6,300, runner up: Emporia State University, $6,636
Cheapest out-of-state: University of Alabama, $7,640, runner up: San Jose State University, $9,030
Most expensive in-state: Drexel University, $35,100, runner up: Syracuse University, $29,016
Most expensive out-of-state: University of Pittsburgh: $37,980, runner up: Florida State University, $37,206

As you can see, where you go makes quite a bit of difference in cost. However, you should not choose a school based only on cost. Consider the quality of the school and the courses offered—
do they have the courses that will prepare you for the type of librarianship in which you are interested?

If you would like the entire spreadsheet, email me at jsiess@ibi-opl.com and I’ll be happy to send it to you.

URL for Thornton's spreadsheet: http://www.becomealibrarian.org/DistanceEdComparison.htm

WIKIS YOU CAN USE

LISWiki: http://liswiki.org/wiki/Main_Page--Subcategories; information management, issues, librarians, libraries, publications, services, and technology; lists of library-related wikis

Wikinews: http://en.Wikinews.org/--from the Wikimedia Foundation

Wikitravel: http://Wikitravel.org/en/

wikiHow: http://www.wikihow.com--How to do almost anything

WikiLaw: http://www.Wikilaw.org—focus on US law

JurisPedia: http://en.jurispedia.org/index.php/Main_Page—an open legal wiki from the University of Montpellier (France), Can Tho University (Vietnam), Groningen University (The Netherlands), Université du Québec Á Montreal (Canada), and Saarland University (Germany).

Wex: http://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/--This law wiki from Cornell University’s Legal Information Institute uses only authors deemed qualified

LawLibWik: http://www.edithis.info/lawlibrary/--law library wiki from Illinois Institute of Technology

HealthLib-Wiki: http://hlWiki.slais.ubc.ca—knowledge-base for health librarians with an international perspective but also emphasizing issues affecting practice in Canada

BE NICE OR ELSE!

Be Nice (or Else!) is a free newsletter that is a great resource on providing customer-focused services and products.

Quote of the day from it: ”Do what you do so well that they will want to see it again and bring their friends. Walt Disney

URL: http://www.beniceorelse.com/newsletter

I AM A LIBRARIAN -- IMAGES

Every wondered what the library blogger looks like? Check out the I am a Librarian blog and the photo gallery. The site is the creation of Cynthia Wilson of PALINET. She is working on a book also to be called I am a Librarian. Sounds like a neat project!

URL: http://www.iamalibrarian.com/gallery2.html

WHAT I’VE BEEN READING RECENTLY

While I was out of town, my to-read pile grew. I’ve just finished reading all of it. Here are some of the most interesting reads.

Vital Pathways for Hospital Librarians, Myths and Truths About Library Services, developed by the Colorado Council of Medical Librarians Advocacy Committee and the Medical Library Association, http://www.mlanet.org/resources/vital/index.html—great ideas for justifying your existence to your boss, even if you don’t work in a hospital.

What is Web 2.0? Design Patterns and Business Models for the Next Generation of Software, by Tim O’Reilly, http://www.oreillynet.com/go/web2—O’Reilly coined the term “Web 2.0” and explains it well here.

These next two were papers presented at the 2006 annual conference of the Library and Information Association of New Zealand Aotearoa:

The Nimble Information Adventurer, by Robert McEntyre, http://www.lianza.org.nz/library/files/store_014/NimbleInformation
Adventurer_RMcEntyre.pdf—a look into the information future in Australia and New Zealand.

Next generation libraries need next generation librarians: library training, library education, and continuing professional development, by Alison Fields and Amanda Cossham, http://www.lianza.org.nz/library/files/store_013/NextGenerationLibraries_AFields.pdf
not only what librarians want, but what they need to learn.

Show Your Librarian Some Love, by Todd Gilman, The Chronicle of Higher Education, http://chronicle.com/jobs/news/2006/10/2006100301c/careers.html—why faculty don’t appreciate
us and how to improve things.

What’s the Secret? by John R. Di Julius III, http://www.enewsbuilder.net/chartenews/e_article000561514.cfm?x=b11,0,w
what prevents most companies (and libraries) from delivering excellent customer service.

Visions 2020.2: Student Views on Transforming Education and Training Through Advanced Technologies, from the US Departments of Commerce and Education and NetDay, http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/os/technology/plan/2004/site/documents/visions_20202.pdf—includes the important section, “How Students Want to Learn Using Technology.” Remember, we have to adapt to them, not vice versa.

The Library as Place: The changing nature and appeal of library buildings and spaces, UI (University of Illinois) Current LIS Clips, September 2006, http://clips.lis.uiuc.edu/2006_09.htm—annotated bibliography on this important topic.

Ensuring the Net Generation is Net Savvy, by George Lorenzo and Charles Dziuban, Educause Learning Initiative Paper 2, September 2006, https://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI3006.pdf—another article on how we need to work with the next generation of students/customers.

Wiking in your library: a practical overview, by Eugene Barsky, a presentation to the Vancouver Association of Law Libraries, October 2006, http://weblogs.elearning.ubc.ca/physio/barsky-wiki-vall.pdf
just what it says, a practical view of the wiki and the library.

NEWS FROM DOWN UNDER

There is a new OPL/solo group in Australia: ALIA OPALs ACT (Australian Library and Information Association One Person Australian Librarians Australian Capital Territory). More information at http://alia.org.au/groups/opalsact. Welcome!

At their recent annual general meeting, the Australian Law Librarians’ Group voted to change their name to the Australian Law Librarians’ Association. The change was to reinforce their status as a “professional membership association.” See their website at http://www.allg.asn.au/

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS FOR SLA 2007 ANNOUNCED

Former US VP Al Gore will open the Special Libraries Association 2007 Annual Conference in Denver, Colorado. There will also be an all-conference program with Clifford Lynch (Coalition for Networked Information), Tom Hogan, Sr. (Information Today, Inc.—one of my publishers), Eugenie Prime (formerly at Hewlett Packard’s library), and Stephen Abram (VP, Innovation, SirsiDynix and President-elect of SLA)—that should be good! On a lighter note, Dilbert’s creator, Scott Adams, will be the closing keynoter. An interesting mix—I can’t wait—see you there.

DON’T UNDERSTAND WIKIS? LEARN MORE HERE

Why Wiki? is an online video course from the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee “to introduce you to the benefits and disadvantages” of wikis. There are four parts: Introduction (28 minutes), Caveats (20 minutes), Comparisons (12 minutes), and Other Wikis (20 minutes). All require high-speed Internet, and Flash (available at the site).

URL: http://www.uwm.edu/Libraries/courses/wiki/

ANOTHER LIBRARY TECHNOLOGY BLOG

Library Technology NOW! describes itself as “library technology news and product reviews written by library people for library people.” There is a social networking site, user reviews, and more. All from the Texas Library Association and the North Texas Regional Library System.

URL: http://www.librarytechnologynow.org/

WATCH OUT--STARBUCKS NOW HAS A BOOK CLUB!

The ubiquitous coffee chain, Starbucks, now has a nationwide reading group. The first book discussed is Mitch Albom’s For One More Day, with 25 Starbucks participating. They’re selling the book, too.

If Starbucks can do it, you can too. Read the article by OCLC’s Alice Sneary on how to respond to this.

URLs:
Starbucks’s Book Break: http://starbucks.gather.com/
Sneary: http://scanblog.blogspot.com/2006/10/starbucks-book-break.html

RSS FEEDS FOR FINDING LIBRARY JOBS

Also from Rachel Singer Gordon is a list of library-related job sites with RSS feeds.

URL: http://www.lisjobs.com/jobfeeds.htm

MEDICAL REFERENCE FOR NON-MEDICAL LIBRARIANS

The wonderful David Rothman has put a list of references for librarian not in medical libraries (and medical librarians too) up on his blog. They are super. Thanks, David.

URL: http://davidrothman.net/2006/10/04/medical-reference-for-non-medical-librarians/

LJ’S COMPUTER BOOK REVIEWS NOW ONLINE ONLY

The bad news: Rachel Singer Gordon’s Computer Media book review column and the pre-pub alert column in Library Journal will no longer be published in the magazine. They will be found online only.

The good news: You can now read these reviews even if you are not a subscriber to LJ. Let’s hear it for the Web!

URL: http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6377111.html

ORGANIZE YOUR ACADEMIC PAPERS

CiteULike is a free citation organizer designed for academics. It automatically extracts the citation details so you don’t have to re-enter them. You can also share your set of citations with others and see who else is reading the same articles. The home page shows recent articles posted to the site and lists most active tags.

There is also a list of electronic tables of contents and links to the articles (if you have the right to see them). (Emerald and Elsevier journals are represented.) Another neat feature is the list articles posted by groups on subjects as diverse as bone and soft tissue engineering, biocultural anthropology, and academic librarians. Seems worth a try.

URL: http://www.citeulike.org

NEW SEARCH ENGINE—ACCOONA

I just ran across this new European search engine. Accoona uses artificial intelligence technology of produce “better” searches. You can search in German, English, Spanish, French, Italian, Dutch, and Portuguese and choose searching on the web, for business information, or for news. My experience with it had mixed results, but try it for yourself.

URL: http://eu.accoona.com/en/

INSTITUTE FOR HEALTHCARE IMPROVEMENT

“The Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) is a non-for-profit organization leading the improvement of health care throughout the world. IHI was founded in 1991 and is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts.” The website has articles about healthcare improvement, links to resources, and free podcasts. You can also sign up for a free monthly e-newsletter.

URL: http://www.ihi.org/

BLOG ON WI-FI IN LIBRARIES

Wireless Libraries is Bill Drew’s blog “to advance the use of wireless local area networks in libraries.” Most of the posts relate to public libraries, but have relevance to all kinds of libraries. (Drew is associate librarian at Morrisville State College, Morrisville, New York, USA.)

URL: http://wirelesslibraries.blogspot.com/

DEAF RESOURCES LIBRARY

“An online collection of reference material and links intended to educate and inform people about deaf culture in Japan and the United States, as well as deaf and hard of hearing related topics.” Created by Karen Nakamura, assistant professor of Anthroplogy and Asian Studies at Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut. Includes: organizations, schools and universities, clubs, web resources, deaf kids and their parents, churches and synagogues, interpreting, captioning, ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act), technology and educational software, news articles about the deaf community, links, mailing lists and ezines, home pages of members of the deaf community, and deaf-owned businesses.

URL: http://www.deaflibrary.org/

FREE RESOURCES FROM ASKSAM

askSam, the database producer, has made a free searchable health news archive available. You can limit the search by title and/or date range. This joins their other free archives: FDA News and Recall Information, Country codes, Area codes, and Photography Dictionary and their scores of free e-books, legal texts and codes, US government reports, and political documents. The software to use them is also free.

URL: http://www.asksam.com/health/

CLINICAL CASES AND IMAGES

The blog of ClinicalCases.org (A Case-Based Curriculum of Clinical Medicine)with medical, tech and other interesting stories. Most of the contributors to the website are physicians at The Cleveland Clinic Foundation or Case Western Reserve University (St. Vincent/St. Lukes) Internal Medicine Residency Program (the blog is maintained by Dr. Vesselin Dimov). Has links to section on cardiology, pulmonology and critical care, endocrinology, gastroenterology, infectious diseases, nephrology, hematology/oncology, rheumatology, neurology, mnemonics, clinical notes, IT in medicine, travel, and other. A super resource!

URLs:
Blog: http://casesblog.blogspot.com/
WikiKidney: http://wikikidney.org/index.php/Main_Page
List of medical abbreviations and acronyms: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_medical_abbreviations

RESOURCES FOR TEACHING AMERICAN HERITAGE

The Smithsonian Institution has a website with resources for teaching Black History, Women’s History, Hispanic Heritage, American Indian Heritage, and about Asian-Pacific Americans. There are articles, information about museums, and photographs.

While you’re there, check out the Smithsonian’s resources for families and students, too.

URL: http://www.smithsonianeducation.org/educators/resource_library/
heritage_resources.html

MY POSTS NOW HAVE LABELS

Since I am now using the updated Blogger, you'll notice that the posts have labels. I've added them to some of the older posts, too. To see all the posts with a specific label, just click on the label name. Let me know if you like this.

THREE INTERESTING WEBSITES

Nursery Rhymes: Lyrics and Origins

Did you know that the nursery rhyme Ring around the Rosy originated during the period of the bubonic plague and the words describe the symptoms and progress of the disease? This and more on this fascinating site.

URL: http://www.rhymes.org.uk/

oandp.com Resources: "the Global Resource for Orthotics and Prosthetics." Includes organizations and publications serving amputees, Web sites and articles about technical and fabrication issues, a collection of patient profiles from many different sites, sports organizations and coverage of related events, patient care facilities, practitioner, technician and associate training and residency programs, news of research, and upcoming seminars, courses and other events.

URL: http://www.oandp.com/resources/

World Legal Information Institute. “Free, independent and non-profit access to worldwide law.” Access to 675 databases from 86 countries including 21 international databases in collaboration with members of the Free Access to Law Movement.

URL: http://www.worldlii.org/

SCIENCE MYTHS DEBUNKED

The Most Popular Myths in Science

Very short factoids about myths like how long it takes to digest gum, whether chicken soup cures the common cold, and a cats' ability to always land on their feet.

URL: http://www.livescience.com/bestimg/result.php?back=myths_gumballs_03.jpg&cat=myths

FORMATTING PROBLEMS FIXED

You may notice that the formatting problem is solved. I did this by switching to the new version of Blogger (beta).

RSS TUTORIALS FOR LAW LIBRARIANS

RJason Eiseman [Computer Automation Librarian, Schwabe Williamson & Wyatt, Portland, Oregon, USA] has create a RSS tutorial for law librarians. He writes, "Really the first two parts of the tutorial can be applied to anyone interested in learning more about RSS. Part 3 deals with RSS feeds for information of particular interest to law librarians, but can be applied to just about anyone as well." The tutorials require Flash, but are well worth looking at.

URL: http://www.schwabe.com/library/rss_tutorials.htm

MEDICAL INFORMATION LIABILITY

More than just the evidence, Clinical Evidence, 19 October 2006

URL:http://clinicalevidence.blogspot.com/2006/10/more-than-just-evidence.html

The enigmatic BeckyJ, a medical librarian in Nashville, Tennessee (USA) mused about the liability librarians might face when giving customers information. Here is just a bit of the post.

"When we talk about clinical librarianship and the role of the librarian in selecting the 'best' articles, in terms of both methodological rigor and relevance to a given clinical context, it's not uncommon that we also think about liability concerns; when the librarian takes a more involved and active role in synthesizing the medical literature for a clinical question, fulfilling an 'evidence consultant' role for clinicians, what is his or her potential liability for this information selection process?

"Some libraries have developed disclaimers that accompany their literature searches, bibliographies, etc, attempting to address this issue, perhaps most commonly characterizing the literature search process (selection decisions, database choices, related concepts of possible interest) and containing a phrase to the effect of '...more information available on request.'

When I saw the headline for this Science Blog posting, I realized that it sums up my feelings about such liability concerns—'Evidence informs decisions but can’t make them.' Given our training as experts in searching the literature and identify key items related to a given topic/question, we provide information to support decision making. The clinician takes the articles, studies, reports, reviews etc, incorporates that data with his or her clinical expertise and the wishes of the patient, and makes a decision about the best course of action for that patient. I don't feel that I provide answers to clinical questions, but tools to aid clinicians with arriving at their own answers for clinical challenges."

WHAT WE'RE REALLY ABOUT...

New skills, new services, new opportunities, by Jill Stover [Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, USA], Library Marketing: Thinking Outside the Book, 18 October 2006

URL: http://librarymarketing.blogspot.com/2006/10/new-skills-new-services-new.html

Stover always has great ideas..here is her take on what business we're really in. (Don't forget to read her entire post....)

"Librarians, I've argued, aren't in the information warehousing business - we're in the improving people's lives business. We help people find, evaluate, and use information so that they can accomplish those things that are meaningful to them. Those "things" could be learning a new skill, completing major research projects, learning about a new or personally interesting topic, finding employment, doing self-exploration, filling in the family tree, communicating with friends, creating works of art or any one of countless activities that enrich patrons' lives. How exactly we go about our life-improvement business is changing. Patrons want and expect different things from us and they have more alternatives than they did in the past. These changes may be a little scary because they create a lot of uncertainty, but they are also incredibly exciting because they give us the opportunity to find new ways to apply our talents and resources. And we're not the only ones doing a lot of introspection these days.

"John Jantsch of the Duct Tape Marketing blog, offers the following bit of advice (http://www.ducttapemarketing.com/weblog.php?id=P762), 'This principle is one that every business can and should think long and hard about. How can you become more valuable to your clients. What can you offer to do, even if it's not really your job, that would help them be more successful, get better results, solve more problems. Do that, and you will find the universe will make you more successful in the process.'

"We're not alone in confronting the question of how to redefine ourselves given the realities of the modern marketplace. Some of what we've always done will remain, but I believe that librarians will have to develop new skills (like marketing?) and uncover new opportunities to turn our stuff into meaning for patrons. We will have to become adept at finding ways of helping our patrons be successful in their pursuits. Doing so means that we will have to leave our comfort zones, continually refresh our skills, and become indispensable partners with our patrons. Our success, it seems, is directly linked to our patrons' success."

PRACTICING MEDICAL REFERENCE

Excerpts from Practicing Medical Reference, by Mary Carmen Chimato, medlibrarian.net, 17 October 2006, URL: http://medlibrarian.net/archives/54

"As a rule, I don’t complete students’ assignments for them (neither does my colleague). I will give them all the help they need, I will even do some hand holding if necessary, but I will never take the assignment sheet, sit down at the computer and conduct the search for them. These are mainly graduate students in the health sciences - they should do their own homework and I strongly believe that they need to learn how to search the medical and health sciences literature.

"Some of our students will not work in large, university hospitals with the benefit of a medical library at their disposal. Some will work in small hospitals that only have Internet access. Some may work in an environment where they have no Internet access. I like to empower the students by showing how to effectively search PubMed. As the largest free biomedical database, this may be the only database they have access to, so learning how to get to the information they need is extremely important.

"The only times I have flat out conducted a full-on database search for someone is when a doctor has come down to the library in scrubs, (this has happened more than once or twice), or about to go into surgery and needs to find out something immediately.

"I think medical librarians remain important when they empart their skills and knowledge to others through instruction and training, not by mechanically answering question after question after question. Anyone can pretend to do that well, but by showing our patrons what we do is a skill and takes time and practice to get really good at doing, they value us more. "

SOME OF THE TWENTY TECH TRAINING TIPS

Rob Coers and Michael Stephens gave a presentation at ILI2006 in which they presented Twenty Tech Training Tips. Here are just a few of them.

"Make training part of your change management strategy."

"Be enthusiastic."

"Emphasize how technology helps the use solve his or her problems (the personal approach)."

"Encourage “playing” with the tools; give them a place online to play (“sandbox”) and the tools (“gadget garage”)."

URL: http://www.tametheweb.com/ili2006/CoersStephensTechTraining.ppt

HOW TO TEACH PEOPLE HOW TO USE THE LIBRARY

To Give the Fish or to Teach People How to Fish, by Ivan Chew, Rambling Librarian: Incidental Thoughts of a Singapore Liblogarian, 15 October 2006

I really like what Chew has to say. Here is just some of the article--you should read the whole thing!

"Do we instantly gratify to help the client get what they need or do we teach to enable them to learn how to get more.

"Increasingly we are faced with clients that want the piece of information they want and nothing else.

"We ALL live in an age of "instant gratification" and will continue to do so. Unless Internet Technology collapses, and/ or Google closes down, people will tend to want 'answers now.’

"Even if the customer knows how to fish, they will still want to find cheaper, faster and 'good enough' ways because they'd rather be doing something else.

"We still need to 'teach people how to fish,' but in order to have them want to stay and listen, we must "give them the fish".

"Most library customers these days will search for information on the Internet, and then ask friends or colleagues before they ask librarians (if they do at all). Suppose they approach librarians after that. Instead of getting direct information or answers, they get more instructions, which in their minds could be just more of the same of what they have tried to do earlier."

URL: http://ramblinglibrarian.blogspot.com/2006/10/
to-give-fish-or-to-teach-people-how-to.html

LA OF SINGAPORE'S BLOG

The Library Association of Singapore now has a blog.

URL: http://SingaporeLibrariesBulletin.wordpress.com

RESOURCES FOR PRISON LIBRARIANS

PRISON-LIB (http://www.neflin.org/prison-lib/FAQ.html), the prison librarians’ listserv?)

Library services to adult prisoners in the United States: a good intro and a well-sourced paper, http://www.ib.hu-berlin.de/%7Elibreas/libreas_neu/ausgabe6/003shir.htm

Three Experts Describe How to be a Successful Prison Librarian: Preparation for a Foreign Land, published by the Association for Specialized and Cooperative Library Agencies, a division of ALA, Interface 25(3), 2003, http://www.ala.org/ala/ascla/asclapubs/interface/archives/contentlistingby/volume25/successprisonlib/howsuccessful.htm

(From Jessamyn West, librarian.net, 17 October 2006.

Library Use Value Calculator

What is your library worth to you?
How much would you pay (or your organization)out-of-pocket for your library’s services?
An online spreadsheet developed by the Massachusetts Library Association and adapted for the web by Chelmsford Public Library, will help you (or your customers) discover how valuable the library can be. You could adapt it for your own library.

URL: http://www.maine.gov/msl/services/calculator.htm

Apology for formatting problems

For some reason my formatting isn't working right. I'll get it fixed, but right now I think it's better to get the info out to you.

Top 10 Research Tools, from CNET

Check out CNET's top 10 list--note that number one is not digital. Interesting....


1. Encyclopedia Britannica 2007, digital version US$49 plus online access
2. Wikipedia, for when you don’t find anything in EB (http://en.wikipedia.org/)
3. FeedDemon 2, RSS reader, US$29, customizable, (http://www.newsgator.com/NGOLProduct.aspx?ProdID=FeedDemon)
4. Diigo beta, free bookmarking service that lets you highlight text and comment on Web pages, works with Del.icio.us (http://www.diigo.com, http://del.icio.us)
5. Google Scholar beta, find abstracts and some full text journal articles, points to libraries that have the hardcopy. (http://scholar.google.com/)
6. Google Book Search, read the entire text of books in the public domain. (http://books.google.com)
7. Yahoo Answers, ask experts for research help, but you might hit an amateur, so be on guard. (http://answers.yahoo.com)
8. Windows Live Local, for its innovations and ability to mark locations with pushpins. (http://local.live.com)
9. Google Earth 4, you can add your own landmarks. (http://earth.google.com)
10. Google Home, organizes your newsfeeds, site bookmarks, maps, stock quotes, e-books, podcasts, calculators, and much more into a sign-in screen accessible wherever you go. (http://www.google.com/ig)
11. Google Search, the No. 1 search engine, which gets more powerful the more people use it. (http://www.google.com)


URL for the article: http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-9239_7-6654999-1.html

WORLD USABILITY DAY

November 14 is World Usability Day. Look for events in your area. Some may be sponsored by the Usability Professionals Association.
URLs:
World Usability Day: http://www.worldusabilityday.org/
Usability Professionals Association: http://www.upassoc.org/

I'M BACK---DID YOU MISS ME?

I'm sorry I forgot to tell you all that I'd be away for a while. I was on vacation--visiting family and friends in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois; St. Louis, Missouri (where I talked to the local SLA group on time management); Memphis, Tennessee; (I've lived in all of the above) Alexandria and Madisonville, Louisiana; and Atlanta, Georgia. 3100 miles in 16 days. Now I'm home until the second week of December (when I'm off to DISNEYWORLD!)

ALSO FOUND ON THE WEB

Getting Clued in to Experience Management

The Shifted Librarian, 27 September 2006, http://www.theshiftedlibrarian.com/archives/2006/09/27/20060927_02_mla2006_getting_clued_in_to_experience_management.html

Notes from an MLA event. “Attitudes are important and drive behaviors, but what drives attitudes are emotions. How does this organization make me feel?”


Top 10 Uses for RSS in Law Firms

Vancouver Law Librarian blog, 26 September 2006,
http://vancouverlawlib.blogspot.com/2006/09/top-10-uses-for-rss-in-law-firms.html
Hint: number one is current awareness.


Articles that Law Libraries are Writing and Publishing in Legal Publications
American Association of Law Libraries website, http://baseportal.com/cgi-bin/baseportal.pl?htx=/Publishing_Initiatives/main
There were 101 on the list as of September 2006. Gives author, title, publications, date, and subject. Very impressive list compiled by the Publishing Initiatives Caucus.
See also http://www.aallnet.org/caucus/pic/chapters.htm for list of articles written by members of AALL’s various chapters.


Making the best use of medical librarians

Article by Helen Elwell, British Medical Journal 333(7568):108, 2006. Free download of .pdf file at http://careerfocus.bmjjournals.com/cgi/reprint/333/7568/108
This is a wonderful article!


Week 6 Thing 15: Library 2.0

Learning Express blog, 22 September 2006, http://learningexpress.blogspot.com/2006/09/week-6-thing-15-library-20.html

Thoughts on Library 2.0 by Lori Reed [Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County North Carolina, USA]. Quote: “Why not let Kinko’s set up a copy and print shop in a small corner of the library?”

See also http://questinglibrarian.blogspot.com/2006/09/15-library-20-more-than-teen-gaming.html for Library 2.0—More Than Teen Gaming Night, which started Lori thinking on this subject. Quote: “make the library where you want to be in real life.”

FORTUNE 500 DATABASE

“A database of every year of Fortune’s list of America’s largest corporations,” this searchable database covers the years 1955-2005. A search yields the years that the company appeared on the list. Clicking on the year gives a profile of the company, including rank, financial data, number of employees, and earnings. There’s also a database of the Global 500 as well. The database is downloadable, too.


URL: http://cgi.money.cnn.com/tools/fortune/archive_search.jsp

THE MILITARY BLOGOSPHERE

MILblogging.com is a blog dedicated to keeping track of blogs relating to or by the military. As of 21 September 2006 there were 1508 blogs in 28 countries listed.


URL: http://www.milblogging.com/

WHEN SHOULD I GO TO THE EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT?

The American College of Emergency Physicians has put together a one page handout to help health consumers decide whether their condition is serious enough to go to the emergency room. It also has a list of items to bring with you for better care.


URL:

http://www.acep.org/webportal/PatientsConsumers/
HealthSubjectsByTopic/emcare/whentogotoed.htm

ARE YOU EATING RIGHT?

The World’s Healthiest Foods is a website from the non-profit George Mateljan Foundation. There’s a food of the week, food tip of the week, and recipe of the week, backed up by “100 Quick and Easy Recipes” and cooking lessons. Each day there is a suggested menu with recipes. There is also a question and answer section and a section listing 130 healthy foods (defined as nutrient-dense, whole, familiar, readily available, affordable, and tasting good) along with detailed health benefits, nutrient analysis, description, history, how to select and store, how to enjoy, safety, and list of articles on the food.


URL: http://www.whfoods.com

A WEBLOG ABOUT MAPS

The Map Room has been around since March 2003, but I just came across it. It is run by a website developer who created it as a self-education exercise. The blog includes information on new sources, books about maps, collections, etc. and is interesting reading.


URL: http://www.mcwetboy.net/maproom

LOOKING FOR A PICTURE?

Pixsy is a new search-engine just for photos. Their “goal is to collect, index, and organize the millions of photos and videos being added to the Internet each day.” And they’re doing a great job. You can search by category (world news, sports, celebrities, politics, science news, travel, etc.), by provider (BBC, CNN, Metacafe, MSNBC, New York Times, Reuters, USAToday, YouTube and more). You can also choose from the top photos and videos in the news, sports, music, and celebrity categories. The interface is also very attractive and easy to use.


URL: http://www.pixsy.com