Scholarly Research – Google vs. Librarians

A recent article from the Chronicle of Higher Education, Librarians Find a Place in a ‘Web 2.0′ World, directs attention to Thomas Mann’s essay, The Peloponnesian War and the Future of Reference, Cataloging, and Scholarship in Research Libraries.  This essay examines the: priniciples and practices of reference services and cataloging; the differences between quick information seeking and scholarly research; and the implications for the future of cataloging.  Mann concludes that while machine driven tools such as Google are fine for “quick information” seeking, for more scholarly research, librarians’ expertise are still needed to to guide users in the right direction.  Feel free to post your comments. 

Authority 3.0

With the Web 2.0 world of self-publishing and social networking rapidly growing and companies such as Google continually developing more effective search mechanisms for retrieving relevant results, where does that leave the traditional peer review process?

Michael Jensen’s recent article from the Chronicle of Higher Education, The New Metrics of Scholarly Authority, discusses the changing nature of scholarly authority in the dynamic world of scholarly communication that is increasingly being influenced by Web 2.0.  Jensen notes, “As we become dependent on the digital movement of information goods, we find ourselves entering an era of information abundance.  In the process, we are witnessing a radical shift in how we establish authority, significance, and even scholarly validity.”

With the next evolving phase of the web, referred to as  Web 3.0, Jensen predicts we will move away from man to the machine in the review process.  This process will incorporate a “heavily computed reputation-and-authority metrics, based on many of the kinds of elements now used, as well as on elements that can be computed only in an information-rich, user-engaged environment, ” which Jensen refers to as “Authority 3.0.” 

Jensen also notes, “For universities, the challenge will be ensuring that scholars who are making more and more of their material available online will be fairly judged in hiring and promotion decisions. It will mean being open to the widening context in which scholarship is published, and it will mean that faculty members will have to take the time to learn about — and give credit for — the new authority metrics, instead of relying on scholarly publishers to establish the importance of material for them.”

Feel free to post your thoughts on this topic.

Father’s Day 2007, from the U.S. Census Bureau

June 17, 2007 Profile America — Sunday, June 17th. Legend has it that there are more collect telephone calls made on this day than any other — it’s Father’s Day. However you celebrate the day — a funny card, a tool he’s always wanted, or dinner at his favorite restaurant, it’s a time to say thanks to the dads, stepfathers, grandfathers and other father figures for all they’ve done for us. The observance goes back to 1910, when Sonora Dodd of Spokane, Washington, wanted to honor her father, who raised six children by himself after his wife died. The idea spread across the country and became official in 1966. More than 26 million men are part of married-couple families with children under 18. Of these, nearly 160,000 dads have dropped out of the labor force to stay at home and raise young children. You can find these and more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau on the Web at <www.census.gov>. Sources: Chase’s Calendar of Events 2007, p. 324
U.S. Census Bureau, Facts for Features, CB07-FF.08
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/facts_for_features_special_editions/009879.html

If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em

A recent article in the Chronicle of Higher Education, “The Campus in the Palm of Your Hand describes how cell phone services are being used on college and university campuses as a way for faculty, staff, and students to communicate with one another.  As college and university administrators realize that cellphones are the best, and often the only way to reach their students, a growing number of campuses have implemented cell phone services on campus with companies such as Rave Wireless.  

Some of the many cell phone applications allow faculty, staff, and students to check and send e-mail and text messages from their phones, access Blackboard, review homework assignments, give quizzes, get text messages about campus events or registration deadlines, receive alerts about campus safety, access campus maps, and track shuttle buses.   Because these wireless services are still in the pilot project phase, there have been issues such as not getting complete coverage on campus or how to entice students to sign up.

What cell phone applications do you think would be useful or not useful for faculty, staff, and students?  Do you think this use of technology weakens or strengthens a sense of campus community?  Feel free to post your comments.

Google to Digitize 10 million more books

Google has recently partnered with an additional 12 universities in the Midwest to digitize up to 10 million books as part of its ongoing Google Book Search project.  See the complete June 6, 2007 article in Computerworld.  For the history and overview of this project, see the Google Book Search Wikipedia article.