I think this is Jenny quoting Steven quoting Fiona, but in any case, Dynix is going to have RSS feed options from their catalog and Seattle Public Library is going to be using their new OPAC real soon now. As a small-library web developer, I just drool thinking of how easy it would be to pull OPAC content in to an otherwise static “new titles” page, as Jenny says.
Category: access
Q&A with google library
Librarians and others ask some questions of the Google Library Project. Compiled by Searcher Magazine’s crack editor Barbara Quint. [buzz]
An Introduction to Open Access for Librarians
Can’t believe I haven’t linked to this before, but it is very worth reading: Removing the Barriers to Research: An Introduction to Open Access for Librarians by Peter Suber. If you like this, you might also enjoy something I’m sure I haven’t posted “How and Why To Free All Refereed Research From Access- and Impact-Barriers Online, Now”
“The serials pricing crisis is now in its fourth decade. We’re long past the point of damage control and into the era of damage. Prices limit access, and intolerable prices limit access intolerably. Every research institution in the world suffers from intolerable access limitations, no matter how wealthy. Not only must libraries cope by cancelling subscriptions and cutting into their book budgets, but researchers must do without access to some of the journals critical to their research.”
extra staff hired to implement no pron policy
Add this to one of the hidden costs of filtering: additional staff to keep tabs on patrons. Phoenix AZ public library system has a “no pornography” policy and Internet users in the library have no option to have unfiltered access. Note the odd contruction in this sentence “The computers in Phoenix’s libraries now filter all Web sites that are classified as pornographic” Do you really think all porn web sites are filtered? Filtered by whom or what? And how? What about textual pornography? What does “objectionable for minors” mean anyhow? While I’m always happy to see more jobs available for librarians, it’s sad that they need to come this way. As a side note, we found that porn viewing and printing went down when we switched to a self-serve print server that patrons interact with. Formerly, circulation staff had had to hand printed pages directly to patrons and take their money and there was some speculation that this interaction with staff was part of the reason for the problematic porn printing.
internet archive steps up to the plate
Then again, I think maybe I just need to work for this new project. All digitized content of some major libraries — including the Library of Congress — available freely to online users. [riba rambles]