Coalition for Networked Information announcements Wednesday, Nov 19 2008

There have been a number of interesting announcements coming out of the Coalition for Networked Information discussion list lately:

Reinventing Science Librarianship

Presentation audio and slides are now online from the recent forum on “Reinventing Science Librarianship: Models for the Future,” co-sponsored by the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) and the Coalition for Networked Information (CNI). Leaders of research libraries and campus IT services gathered in Arlington, Virginia, October 16-17, 2008, to discuss trends in scientific research and the development of new library roles responsive to those trends.The program highlighted a few case studies to illustrate trends and new, emerging models of library support.

Sessions included: 

• E-Science: Trends, Transformations & Responses
• Data Curation: Issues and Challenges
• Supporting Virtual Organizations
• Lessons & New Roles: the Experience of Health Sciences Libraries
• Education for New Roles: What does the science library/informatics professional need to know and be able to do?
• Summary Reactor Panel
• Poster Session: Tools, Programs and Services, and Organizational Models

The proceedings are online at http://www.arl.org/resources/pubs/fallforumproceedings/forum08proceedings.shtml.

The Tower and the Cloud

EDUCAUSE has just released a new book titled “The Tower and the Cloud: Higher Education in the Age of Cloud Computing”, edited by Richard Katz. The book contains a number of notable chapters dealing with the role of the academy and how information technology is reshaping that role, as well as the changing nature of research, teaching and learning. I have authored a chapter for the book that examines questions and opportunities surrounding the mission of the university to disseminate and exercise stewardship over scholarship. The entire book, or individual chapters, can be downloaded without charge from the EDUCAUSE web site at http://www.educause.edu/thetowerandthecloud/133998

Archiving Scientific Data

The Alliance for Permanent Access recently completed its annual conference (Budapest, 4 November) : this year the theme was the economics of archiving scientific data.

 

The Alliance’s international membership includes strategic partners from the research community, libraries, publishers, and digital preservation organisations. Participants called upon the Alliance to act as an umbrella organisation to secure sustainable funding for permanent access in Europe.

 

A comprehensive conference report (complete with photographs conveying the atmosphere!), together with the powerpoint presentations, abstracts and authors’ biographies is now available online at http://www.alliancepermanentaccess.eu/index.php?id=3

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R&D Budget Projections Thursday, Nov 13 2008

I was able to attend an Elsevier Customer Council meeting recently which included a fascinating presentation from a Kei Koizumi, the Director of the R&D Budget and Policy Program at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).

 

Here’s a link to his presentation and the book (an annual effort) that he presented.  It does not paint a bright picture of R&D funding in the future for either defense or non-defense projects.

 

Presentation to the Elsevier Customer Council:

http://www.aaas.org/spp/rd/prelse1108.pdf

 

AAAS REPORT XXXIII Research and Development FY 2009 http://www.aaas.org/spp/rd/rd09main.htm

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Interesting future… Wednesday, Sep 24 2008

Several future-related things have popped up on my radar recently so I had to post them to the Information Futurists Caucus discussion list and link them to our del.icio.us account as well.  Here’s a summary:

Social Networking Research

IBM unveiled the IBM Center for Social Software, which brings together the brightest minds from IBM to work with clients, partners, university students and faculty, creating the industry’s premier incubator for the research, development and testing of social software. [Read more at eWeek.com]

Next Decade’s Browser Concept

Aurora is a vision from Mozilla Labs and Adaptive Path of ‘how technology, the browser, and the Web might evolve in the future’. It is a 3-D concept that shows how interaction, sharing, privacy, and handhelds could be handled in 2018. The release of Aurora is part of the launch of Mozilla Labs’ browser concept series, an ongoing initiative to encourage designers and developers to contribute their own visions of the future of the browser and the Web. They’ve released a concept video (also in HD), as well as background material showing just what went into imagining the future of the Web and translating that into a video.

Print on Demand Comes to Libraries

The Chronicles of Higher Education reported on 9/18 that the University of Michigan’s library has installed a print-on-demand device to produce out-of-copyright books for $10 a copy. The device’s manufacturer, On Demand Books, wants to create a network of machines in libraries and bookshops around the world, allowing users to print books from collections anywhere.

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Final (?) thoughts on the 23 Things Challenge Monday, Sep 15 2008

This summer has been a challenge in a number of ways but SLA has provided at least one fun challenge that has also been useful in my personal and professional life.  By being encouraged to explore the use of blogs, wikis, etc. I was forced to look at tools that I would not have normally looked at and in the process learned some of the value and potential of them. 

Here are some examples:

• I’m now using del.icio.us tags [SLA_KINF] to turn the Information Futurist Caucus web page into a dynamic web site that is updated simply by tagging a new resource!
• I’m also using Flickr to add photos of the Information Futurist Caucus tour at the last ALA Annual in Seattle [SLA-KINF].  I’m also using PhotoBucket to create a photo slide show for my church’s web site.
• I’m exploring how to use RSS to add dynamic feeds from other sources – not just news but calendar feeds, discussion list topics, etc.  I’m especially looking at how to add RSS to the ALA Federal and Armed Forces Libraries Round Table (FAFLRT) web site that I maintain so that it dynamically shows any ALA press release that is related to Federal Libraries.
• I’ve switched the National Research Library Alliance (NRLA) to a wiki-based web site so that the group can have an easy to maintain presence on the web.
• I’ve expanded my thinking about how to use Web 2.0 and want to dive in to create some not only interconnected web sites but have them interdependent!
• I’ve played with YouTube for a while (one of my favorites is “Introducing the Book“) but it wasn’t until this exercise that I actually tried to upload videos.  I uploaded a trip report from my recent trip to Peru on a similar site call GodTube.
• I’ve expanded my use of FaceBook and am looking at creating a group for use by the Caucus.  I’m also playing with a Google Group to help explore a wide collaboration encouraging more librarians to get into federal service.
• I’m even working out the logistics of how to catalog my personal collection of books and videos into LibraryThing!

I’ve maintained web sites for over a decade but the wealth of free tools and resources, I can clearly see that the age of personal publishing is clearly here for everyone!  It is also raising the level of possibilities for web developers like me, pushing us a step closer to a Semantic Web that Tim Berners-Lee envisioned all those years ago!

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Catching up… Wednesday, Sep 10 2008

I should have known that the summer would get away from me!  After going to Peru for two weeks and the massive amount of catch up work needed after that (both at work and at home), I’m realizing that the 23 Things challenge is rapidly coming to an end.

This shouldn’t be too challenging for me since I’m already doing some blogging (would do more if I devoted more time to it), have jumped into del.icio.us for the Information Futurists Caucus, and have started using photo sharing sites for a couple of the sites I maintain.  I’ve even turned some RSS feeds into dynamic lists on some sites – cool feature!

Now I’ve got to get cracking and finish reviewing the 23 Things before it is too late!!

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Here we go… Tuesday, Jul 1 2008

I’m starting SLA’s 23 Things challenge and need a blog.  I already have a blog but I thought I’d start a new, more general one for this effort.  Let’s see how this goes!

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