Alberta Distributed Education and Technology Association

I don’t follow the Annoyed Librarian, and I didn’t pay much attention when it was announced that Library Journal was paying him/her to move his/her blog over there.  But holy cow, now the AL has shown up as the author of every article in a “special issue” of the Journal of Access Services! (volume 5, issue 4).  I’m on the  editorial board for this journal and this was news to me; it just showed up in my mail Friday afternoon.  I’ll skim through the articles to see how funny they are, but even if we’re having trouble scaring up contributors, I’m pretty sure this isn’t the path we want to go down with our peer-reviewed journals!

Apparently November 10-14, 2008 is National Distance Learning Week.

"Sponsored by the United States Distance Learning Association, National Distance Learning Week (NDLW) held on November 10-14, 2008, seeks to promote and celebrate the tremendous growth and accomplishments occurring today in distance learning programs offered by schools, businesses, and governmental departments."

Oh man, now I'm two versions behind since I'm still on Win2K here at the office (system requirements) :-(  Techsmith has  released Camtasia Studio 6, their most excellent screencasting tool (still only for Windows).  Lots of new features detailed on their site. 

The most useful one for me would be the independent audio & video editing:  "When recording audio and video at the same time, it's hard to be perfect. So we've made it easier to fix mistakes. Simply decouple the audio and video tracks to edit them independently. And move audio clips between (and along) tracks to line everything up perfectly. Bottom line: fewer retakes and less time spent on editing."

As always, you can download a free 30-day trial of the product.  Educational pricing is also available.

Update: Lon Naylor at Screencastprofits.com has a good review of the pros and cons of this new version.

The Public Knowledge Project is pleased to announce that registration is now open for the second international PKP conference, July 8 – 10, 2009 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Session proposals will be accepted until January 15, 2009.

Preconference Workshops on July 8 include:
Networkshop - Editors/Publishers: John Willinsky, Rowly Lorimer
Networkshop - Software Developers/Technical Experts: PKP Team Developers
Networkshop - Librarians/Information Specialists: Brian Owen, Kevin Stranack
OJS in an Afternoon: Kevin Stranack, James MacGregor
L8X in an Afternoon: MJ Suhonos
PKP Software Plug-in Workshop: Alec Smecher
CLA Open Access Interest Group: Lynn Copeland, Heather Morrison, Leah Vanderjagt, Andrew Waller

Postconference Workshop July 11:
Workshop on Creating Open Access Journals: David Solomon, Caroline Sutton

The first PKP conference was an overwhelming success with presentations and participants from around the world. A selected set of conference papers was subsequently published in the October 2007 issue of First Monday.

The conference will appeal not just to members of the PKP community, but to anyone interested in trends and developments for scholarly publishing and communication. There will be a wide range of topical sessions on new reading and publishing technologies; open access initiatives; alternative publishing and funding models; national and international collaborative projects; new roles and partnerships for libraries, scholarly publishers and others; and sustainability for open access publishing and open source software. Prospective and first time users of OJS and other PKP software will be able to learn more about the systems and establish contacts with the PKP community. Experienced implementers, developers, and system administrators will have an opportunity to participate in technical sessions and exchange information.

The conference will commence with an opening keynote session on the evening of July 8 convened by John Willinsky, the founder of the Public Knowledge Project. There will be several pre-conference workshops on July 8, and the main conference program will present a combination of concurrent and single track sessions during on July 9 and 10. The conference will conclude with three special symposia on community and network building intended for each of the core PKP constituents: journal editors and publishers; librarians; and software developers.

The conference will be hosted at Simon Fraser University’s downtown campus and will be adjacent to a wide range of accommodations, restaurants, and other popular tourist destinations. Please mark the July 8 – 10 dates on your 2009 calendars. The PKP partners look forward to welcoming you to the second PKP conference.

For more information, please visit the conference web site: http://pkp.sfu.ca/ocs/pkp/index.php/pkp2009

The Public Knowledge Project is a federally funded research initiative at Simon Fraser University, Stanford University, and the University of British Columbia. It seeks to improve the scholarly and public quality of academic research through the development of innovative online environments. PKP has developed free, open source software for the management, publishing, and indexing of journals and current conferences. The PKP software suite is comprised of three modules in production: Open Archives Harvester, Open Journal Systems, and Open Conference Systems, and two in development: Lemon8-XML and Open Monograph Press.

CALL FOR PAPERS

The Public Knowledge Project is pleased to announce that the second international PKP conference will be held from July 8 – 10, 2009 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The first PKP conference was an overwhelming success with presentations and participants from around the world. A selected set of conference papers was subsequently published in the October 2007 issue of First Monday.

The conference will consist of a mixture of plenary talks and parallel conference streams intended for the following groups:

•  journal editors and publishers
•  researchers in scholarly publishing
•  librarians and information specialists
•  open source software developers and system administrators

Papers and presentation proposals that address one or more of the following topics are especially encouraged:

• New reading and publishing technologies, e.g. integration of Web 2.0 features;
• Open access initiatives;
• Alternative publishing and funding models;
• National and international collaborative projects;
• New roles and partnerships for libraries, scholarly publishers, and others;
• Sustainability for open access publishing and open source software.

Parallel sessions will each be up to 1 hour in length. They may consist of a workshop, a case study, a research report, a set of 3 presentations on a single theme, a panel discussion as well as other options.

Proposals for papers or presentations should be submitted by January 15, 2009, using the submission guidelines and form available at http://pkp.sfu.ca/ocs/pkp/index.php/pkp2009/

The Public Knowledge Project is a federally funded research initiative at Simon Fraser University, Stanford University, and the University of British Columbia. The partnership brings together faculty members, librarians, and graduate students dedicated to exploring whether and how
new technologies can be used to improve the professional and public value of scholarly research. Its research program is investigating the social, economic, and technical issues entailed in the use of online infrastructure and knowledge management strategies to improve both the
scholarly quality and public accessibility and coherence of this body of knowledge in a sustainable and globally accessible form. It seeks to improve the scholarly and public quality of academic research through the development of innovative online environments. It continues to be an
active player in the open access movement, as it provides the leading open source software for journal and conference management and publishing. The research and publishing activities of the project have been reviewed and cited in Inside Higher Ed, Nature, New England Journal of Medicine, Science, The Scientist and others.

I missed this when it was first "announced", but apparently the first RSS to email utility that I fell in love with is no more.  About a year and a half ago, NBC purchased Rmail and rebranded it as SendMeRSS.  Apparently NBC just stopped supporting it; the SendMeRSS website is down, and Randy Charles Morin, the original developer of Rmail, is reporting that NBC is threatening legal action against him for pointing out the fact that they're no longer supporting SendMeRSS.  Seems a little heavy-handed, eh?  Interestingly, in his post from August 24, 2008 Randy points to a library blog that detailed some of the problems being experienced with the now defunct product.  Scarily, that blog no longer exists, though of course you can still read about the problems (and here) on Google's cache.  Pittland simply ceased to exist after the last August 1, 2008 post.  Wonder if I'll be next?  ;-)

Since it was one of the first RSS to email options I offered on this site I suspect there may be a few folks either receiving (or not) content from me via that channel.  I'd be really interested to hear whether you're still getting stuff from me, or NBC, or ?  I know it's a long shot, kinda like "raise your hand if you're not here", but it's worth a shot :-)

The Journal of Library and Information Services for Distance Learning would like to welcome the new Editor-in-Chief, Jodi Poe.

Ms. Poe comes to the Journal with more than 17 years of service in an academic library, and eight years of service in distance education.  She is currently the Head of Technical Services at the Houston Cole Library at Jacksonville State University in Jacksonville, Alabama. Prior to accepting the department head position in October, Jodi served as the distance education librarian at the Houston Cole Library for eight years.

During her tenure as a distance librarian, Poe has written numerous journal articles on distance learning and librarianship, which appeared in popular journals like The Journal of Access Services and the Journal of Interlibrary Loan, Document Delivery and Electronic Reserves. Additionally, Jodi co-authored a chapter in the book Going the Distance: Library Instruction for Off-Campus Students.

CALL FOR MANUSCRIPTS

The Journal of Library and Information Service for Distance Learning, a peer- reviewed journal published by Routledge/The Haworth Press, welcomes the submission of manuscripts.

The journal is devoted to the issues and concerns of librarians and information specialists involved with distance education and delivering library resources and services to this growing community of students.

Topics can include but are not limited to:

• Faculty/librarian
• cooperation and collaboration
• Information literacy
• Instructional service techniques
• Information delivery
• Reference services
• Document delivery
• Developing collections

If you are interested in submitting an article, send the manuscript directly to the Editor, Jodi Poe at jpoe@jsu.edu by December 1, 2008.  Inquiries and questions are welcome.

Instructions for authors are available at http://www.haworthpress.com or can be emailed to you directly.

The Journal of Library and Information Services for Distance Learning would like to welcome the new Editor-in-Chief, Jodi Poe. Ms. Poe comes to the Journal with more than 17 years of service in an academic library, and eight years of... Paul R. Pival

Are you a tech savvy librarian using new technologies in innovative ways? Adapting existing technologies to reach user needs? Here is an opportunity to share your innovations with your colleagues, library administrators, and others at ACRL 14th National Conference, March 12-15, 2009, in Seattle! Grab your 20 minutes of fame and educate others – submit a proposal for a Cyber Zed Shed presentation. 

The ACRL 14th National Conference Innovations Committee is looking for proposals that document technology-related innovations in every area of the library. Whether you are teaching in a classroom, answering questions from patrons; acquiring, cataloging, processing or preserving materials; or providing other services, we're interested! We invite you to submit your most innovative proposal to help us make Seattle the site of a truly groundbreaking conference! 

FORMAT
Cyber Zed Shed presentations are 20 minutes in length, with fifteen minutes to present a demonstration, and five additional minutes for audience Q&A. Presentations should document technology-related innovations in academic and research libraries. A computer, data projector, screen, and microphone will be provided in the Cyber Zed Shed theater. You will be responsible for bringing all other equipment required for your demonstration, except as agreed to in advance.

Cyber Zed Shed presentations will be held from 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. on Friday, March 13 and Saturday, March 14 in the Cyber Zed Shed theater, adjacent to the exhibit floor in Seattle.

HOW TO SUBMIT A PROPOSAL
Proposals must be submitted via the online proposal form at https://marvin.foresightint.com/surveys/Tier1Survey/ACRL/284. Please have the following information ready at the time you submit your proposal:

• Contact information
• How does this technology make you and/or your library more effective, efficient, or productive? (200 word limit)
• Describe your innovative application of technology as it applies to libraries. (200 word limit)
• What technology will you require for your presentation? Please list all equipment, software, and connections you will need/bring for your demonstration.
• Time slot preference (Friday morning, Friday afternoon, Saturday morning, Saturday afternoon).

DEADLINE
Proposals must be submitted by Friday, December 12, 2008 (midnight CST).

NOTIFICATIONS
Applicants will be notified via e-mail in January 2009.

Visit http://www.acrl.org/ala/mgrps/divs/acrl/events/seattle/program/cyberzedshed.cfm for complete details. Questions should be directed to Margot Conahan at mconahan@ala.org, or call 312-280-2522.

Are you a tech savvy librarian using new technologies in innovative ways? Adapting existing technologies to reach user needs? Here is an opportunity to share your innovations with your colleagues, library administrators, and others at ACRL 14th National Conference, March... Paul R. Pival

Apparently November 10-14, 2008 is National Distance Learning Week."Sponsored by the United States Distance Learning Association, National Distance Learning Week (NDLW) held on November 10-14, 2008, seeks to promote and celebrate the tremendous growth and accomplishments occurring today in distance... Paul R. Pival

Received via email:

The Second International m-Libraries Conference 

Vancouver, 23-24 June 2009

Call for papers

Following the successful First International Conference on M-Libraries in 2007 we are delighted to call for papers for the Second International Conference in Vancouver in 2009. For more information about the conference visit http://library.open.ac.uk/mLibraries

The conference, will be hosted by the University of British Columbia in collaboration with Athabasca University, the Open University (UK) and Thompson Rivers University. The aim of the conference is to explore and share work carried out in libraries around the world to deliver services and resources to users ‘on the move’ via mobile or handheld devices, including mobile and smartphones, PDAs, portable gaming devices, MP3 players and ebook readers.

The conference will bring together researchers, technical developers, managers and library practitioners to exchange experience and expertise and generate ideas for future developments.

If you would like to be involved in this exciting conference submit your abstracts (up to 300 words) to M-Libraries-Conference@open.ac.uk by December 15th, 2008. These will be subject to peer review and authors will be notified by mid-January.

We expect that papers may include research reports, demonstrations of technical developments, practical case studies or reviews. Posters are also invited.

Themes will include;

• service models for library services delivered to mobiles
• cost and sustainability factors for m-library service development
• the changing relationships between libraries and users resulting from innovation in ubiquitous computing
• partnership projects for developing integrated services to mobiles
• implications of mobile technologies on library space planning
• reconfiguring library collection development to enhance ubiquitous access to resources
• exploring methodologies for evaluating the impact of mobile and ubiquitous computing on library service development

Papers or presentation
Papers or presentations should last no longer than 20 minutes plus 10 minutes for discussions.

Poster sessions
Posters will be displayed throughout the conference and time will be allocated in the programme for poster viewing. A prize will be awarded to the best poster.

Conference proceedings will be published online

The conference will be held at the University of British Columbia campus in Vancouver, British Columbia. Situated on Canada's West Coast, Vancouver is a popular travel destination and is a host city for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games. For more information see http://hellobc.com/en-CA/RegionsCities/Vancouver.htm

Contact Information

General enquiries: leonora.crema@ubc.ca
Program enquiries: m-libraries-conference@open.ac.uk

Why not join the m-Libraries facebook group? http://www.facebook.com/group?gid=7719700810

Received via email: The Second International m-Libraries Conference Vancouver, 23-24 June 2009 Call for papers Following the successful First International Conference on M-Libraries in 2007 we are delighted to call for papers for the Second International Conference in Vancouver in... Paul R. Pival

Read all about Google's "groundbreaking agreement with authors and publishers." 

"Three years ago, the Authors Guild, the Association of American Publishers and a handful of authors and publishers filed a class action lawsuit against Google Book Search.
Today we're delighted to announce that we've settled that lawsuit and will be working closely with these industry partners to bring even more of the world's books online. Together we'll accomplish far more than any of us could have individually, to the enduring benefit of authors, publishers, researchers and readers alike.
It will take some time for this agreement to be approved and finalized by the Court. For now, here's a peek at the changes we hope you'll soon see."

Unfortunately for me, the changes outlined in the settlement only apply to the US.

"Because this agreement resolves a United States lawsuit, it directly affects only those users who access Book Search in the U.S.; anywhere else, the Book Search experience won't change. Going forward, we hope to work with international industry groups and individual rightsholders to expand the benefits of this agreement to users around the world."

Some snide commentary from moi: 

Google writes, "For Library Project books that are still in copyright, our results are like a card catalog; we show you info about the book and, generally, a few snippets of text showing your search term in context."  Is a card catalogue really the analogy most of your users are going to understand these days?

Google writes: "We believe it will be a tremendous boon to the publishing industry to enable authors and publishers to earn money from volumes they might have thought were gone forever from the marketplace."  Yeah, like the publishers couldn't reprint volumes they thought were gone forever?  And let's not mention the tremendous boon to people who want to read the books!

But seriously, there's some really great stuff in here for the user.  Anything that's been digitized and is out of print will now be available full text online, either for free (out of copyright) or purchase (still in copyright).  Prices TBD, of course.  Also cool, "the agreement also creates opportunities for researchers to study the millions of volumes in the Book Search index. Academics will be able to apply through an institution to run computational queries through the index without actually reading individual books."

And,

"We'll also be offering libraries, universities and other organizations the ability to purchase institutional subscriptions, which will give users access to the complete text of millions of titles while compensating authors and publishers for the service. Students and researchers will have access to an electronic library that combines the collections from many of the top universities across the country. Public and university libraries in the U.S. will also be able to offer terminals where readers can access the full text of millions of out-of-print books for free."

Anyhoo, looks like the Google Book Searh Project will continue on, which is a good thing, IMHO.  You can also read the press releases from the AAP side.  There are quite a few more details available there.

Read all about Google's "groundbreaking agreement with authors and publishers." "Three years ago, the Authors Guild, the Association of American Publishers and a handful of authors and publishers filed a class action lawsuit against Google Book Search.Today we're delighted to... Paul R. Pival

Engadget points to a new product from Calgary company SMART Technologies, the Smart Table for kids.  It's a pint-sized MS Surface-like product.  I'm hoping to see this puppy show up in my kids' school, if not at the UofC!  Maybe I need to schedule a field trip!

SMART

I missed this when it was first "announced", but apparently the first RSS to email utility that I fell in love with is no more. About a year and a half ago, NBC purchased Rmail and rebranded it as SendMeRSS.... Paul R. Pival

Educause has published the latest results of their survey of Undergraduate students and IT.  The main report is 124 pages long, but the Key Findings is only 11.  Libraries and the use of library websites are mentioned several times, but I don't think there's anything earth shattering along those lines.  A couple of the things I found interesting include:

• When asked if they liked to learn using specific types of technologies, "a solid half (50.8%) like to learn through programs they can control, such as video games or simulations."
• There's also a lot of data around students' use of Social Networking Sites (Facebook's still the big one). 
  "Perhaps most interesting... is the finding that half of SNS users... have integrated SNSs into their academic life as a mechanism for communicating with classmates about course-related topics.  Only 5.5%, however, extend their use of SNSs to communication with instructors about course-related matters.  Students in focus groups and in the survey comments expressed both pros and cons about the involvement of instructors in their SNS lives - many being adamant that social networking sites should be the exlusive realm of students, but others liking the idea of interacting with instructors and using the same SNS mechanism they already use to communicate with friends and classmates."

If you work in Academics, go read the Key Findings, at least.

Educause, ECAR

Educause has published the latest results of their survey of Undergraduate students and IT. The main report is 124 pages long, but the Key Findings is only 11. Libraries and the use of library websites are mentioned several times, but... Paul R. Pival

Saw a mention of AideRSS go by on Twitter the other day, and just tried it out.  The idea is great - give AideRSS a blog URL and it purports to sift through all the posts and then offer separate feeds to you so you can subscribe to only the "best post" the "great", "good" or all the posts (the naked feed, if you will).  Supposedly it's a way to deal with overload, by only getting the best of the posts from the bloggers you want to follow.  Sounds great, right?

Maybe, but IMHO they've got some work to do on their algorithms.  With someting like this I like to compare myself to someone I know is a "better" blogger.  In this case I picked Meredith at Information Wants to be Free.  Yeah, we blog differently, but AideRSS appears to place a lot of weight on how many links and how much of a conversation a given blog post has.  In that case Meredith definitely blows me away.  And yet, here are the screenshots of her blog and mine.  Take a look at the highlighted sections.  Any rhyme or reason there?  Look how many posts, saves and comments her posts have, and she doesn't even get a "best posts" category!  Maybe they're placing way more weight on # of recent posts than they should? (click for bigger versions)

By all means go give it a try - maybe it'll be useful to you.

Engadget points to a new product from Calgary company SMART Technologies, the Smart Table for kids. It's a pint-sized MS Surface-like product. I'm hoping to see this puppy show up in my kids' school, if not at the UofC! Maybe... Paul R. Pival