LibLime [has] announced the launch of ‡biblios.net--a free browser-based cataloging service with a data store containing over thirty-million records. Records are licensed under the Open Data Commons, making the service the world's largest repository of freely-licensed library records.
‡biblios.net (pronounced 'biblios dot net') features an intuitive metadata editor complete with templates, macros, authority auto-completion and embedded context-sensitive help. The central record repository contains 25-million bibliographic records and just under eight-million authority records. The data is maintained by ‡biblios.net users similar to the model used by Wikipedia. Catalogers can use and contribute to the database without restrictions because records in ‡biblios.net are freely-licensed under the Open Data Commons Public Domain Dedication and License (https://biblios.net/open-data-commons-license).
‡biblios.net also includes a built-in federated search system allowing catalogers to find records from any Z39.50 target. A central Search Target Registry, seeded with over 2,000 Z39.50 servers, makes it easy for catalogers to find, create and share Z39.50 targets.
In addition to offering a cutting-edge cataloging interface, ‡biblios.net offers a unique social cataloging environment. Built-in forums and private messaging make finding help and communicating with other users a cinch. Real-time chat is slated for an upcoming release.
"The philosophy behind an Open Data movement scarcely needs an explanation to a library audience," explains LibLime CEO, Joshua Ferraro. "The mission of libraries--to provide open, free access to ideas and information--surely applies to the metadata created BY librarians," Ferraro says.
"To date, libraries haven't had a freely-licensed repository of library records to date and that makes ‡biblios.net an especially exciting development, one that I'm proud to have been a part of," says Ferraro. "It's our hope that ‡biblios.net, as well as other open data movements, will usher in a new era of library openness, where libraries can collaboratively create and share metadata with the whole community," Ferraro says.
You can sign up for a free ‡biblios.net account by visiting http://biblios.net.
A family of resources to help information workers be more effective, raise the value of information in their organisations and contribute to success. Read more »
Recently I have found myself cooing over visualisation maps (and heat maps) of health and well being resources. The content rich data is overlayed with mapping technologies, and some interesting themes and patterns are emerging.
A lot of the talk around social media in the last year has been around information overload. Social media has provided us with new and exciting ways to create content. But it has also meant learning new ways to manage and engage with social media tools. Are we teetering on the edge of an information overload precipice?
Information overload is a figment of your imagination. Or a failure of your filter. Or a symptom of your technological submissiveness. Depends on who you ask.
What if you had to sort through 3.5 million articles and social media posts a day and try to pull out the most relevant items for your organisation? What if you then had to cobble it all together into something readable for your top groups and executives in your organisation?
Alacra Compliance saves time by aggregating information from both free and fee-based sources and enabling users to conduct an accurate federated search across these sources (coined “simultaneous search” by Alacra).
FreePint Family
Quilting big data threads
The fallacy of information overload
Information overload: fact, fantasy or filter failure? 
