Tuesday, 30th May 2006

Now Free! Directory of Published Proceedings (DoPP) Database; Kozoru, IM Answers, and Search Encarta via MS Messenger Today

Professional Reading Shelf
Proceedings--Databases
Meetings--Databases
Source: InterDok
Now Free! Directory of Published Proceedings (DoPP) Database
Subjects Include:
+ Science / Engineering / Technology
+ Medical / Life Sciences
+ Pollution Control / Ecology
+ Social Sciences / Humanities
With author & paper title information. As of today, DoPP contains over 50,000 records.
See Also: InterDok's MInd: The Meetings Index
Free. "...offers free access to locate future conferences, congresses, meetings and symposia." ResourceShelf first reviewed MInd: The Meetings Index in 2004.
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IM--Search
Kozoru Will Release IM Answers Software
The Kansas City-area company Kozoru, a company we've been tracking for a couple of years, will release a new service next week (we haven't had a peek yet) that allows the user to ask a question and get a specific answer or set of links back via IM. It sounds very similar to what, for example, AOL has been offering for years and others also provide*. It also sounds a bit like what Ask.com is doing "on the web" with Smart Answers or MSN is doing with Direct Answers. From the article, "The premise behind Kozoru's BYOM (build your own mobile search) technology is that consumers looking for something while in instant messenger want to act on the information: find out the latest weather forecast, settle a bar bet over when Teddy Roosevelt was first elected or read a news story someone on the train just mentioned." We agree, the potential synergy between IM, mobile, and answers is quite strong.
Several questions:
+ Will this service be free?
+ Will individuals (with no coding experience) be able to create BYOMs?
+ How long will it take a typical user to create a BYOM?
+ Who will select sources?
For us, that's the key to all of this, source selection. Incorrect choices will likely yield poor results (and incorrect facts) and frustrated users. Will a blog offer the quick answers that an online reference source can provide? Of course, this selection process might be a new role for the info pro and a new marketplace for reference publishers.
On a separate note, the author of the News.com article we linked to above mentions both Google's and Yahoo's answer services but makes no mention of the many virtual reference (VR) services libraries have offered long before GA and YA. In fact, the Johnson County Public Library located in Kozoru's backyard offers numerous VR services including 24/7 chat reference. Why chat with a computer via IM when you could interact with a live librarian? Depends on your info need. I think mobile IM is another area VR services needs to consider. I wonder if the Kozoru folks have talked to JCPL about the librarians trying the service in beta mode. If ResourceShelf can help get the two sides together, just holler.

UPDATE 1: For more on chatbots AOL offers see this page
We've used the Moviefone and Shopping Buddy for many months. Not bad at all.

*UPDATE 2: We've learned that MSN Messenger already offers the ability to search and receive direct answers and links via Encarta using IM. Simply send an IM to encarta@conversagent.com and off you go. Not bad.

*UPDATE 3: The wonderful Searchforvideo.com offers IM search access to its amazing database. Works with AOL, Yahoo, and MSN. Details here.

Update 4: Let's also not forget that SMS (text message) services also offer interactive question answering and services like 4info.net, Smarter.com, Google SMS, and Yahoo SMS.
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Sci-Tech Libraries
Source: ISTL
New Issue: The spring 2006 issue of Issues in Science and Technology Librarianship is now online
Articles include:
+ Innovative Library Liaison Assessment Activities: Supporting the Scientist's Need to Evaluate Publishing Strategies
+ Assessing Reference: Using the Wisconsin-Ohio Reference Evaluation Program in an Academic Science Library
+ The Role of Industry Standards: An Overview of the Top Engineering Schools' Libraries
+ Webliography: Mapping the Brain: Resources for Researchers in Neurosciences
+ Review: IEEE/IEE Electronic Library
+ Review: SpringerLink
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Access to Information
Librarians
Source: AP
Conn. librarians bitterly decry gag order in Patriot Act case
"Four otherwise mild-mannered librarians from Connecticut spoke out bitterly for the first time Tuesday after being subjected to a months-long gag order when the FBI demanded records about library patrons under the Patriot Act. U.S. District Judge Janet Hall ruled last year that the gag order should be lifted, saying it unfairly prevented the librarians from participating in a debate over how the Patriot Act should be rewritten. But it wasn't until April that prosecutors dropped an appeal of that order. The librarians, at a press conference organized by the American Civil Liberties Union -- which represented them -- did little to hide their displeasure at being told by the government to keep quiet."
See Also: Learn More and Hear from the Librarians Involved in this National Public Radio Report
Direct to audio.

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