Rowland Institute Library Blog

have a conversation on the O’Reilly network inspired by Dan’s book We the Media, and how the web and related technologies are affecting mainstream media. 

This week’s Nature features a comparison of the two presidential
candidates and their views on scientific topics such as climate change,
stem cell research, space exploration and others.  BBC News offers
a summary.  (Has Nature done something like this before?  I
can’t recall, and maybe it is the experience of the Bush administration
that prompted these questions. )

from the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse.  (Source: beSpacific)

Recently the U.S. House Appropriations committee made recommendations
that research papers funded by NIH should be deposited in PubMedCentral
and made open access.  Peter Suber has put together a FAQ on the
recommendations.  Evidently, the NIH has heard volumes from
various publishers and associations disparaging the idea. 
(Sources: Open Access News, Current Cites)

This article considers blogs from the viewpoint of preserving digital
ephemera.  Are they worth preserving and what practices are in
place?  (Source: Current Cites)

“We’re becoming digital pack rats,’ proclaims a news article.  (Source: Library Link of the Day)

Lycos offers a beta version of a new search engine that purportedly
limits its scope to “discussion groups” or “web-based
conversations.”  This does not include newsgroups, and supposedly
is not meant to include blogs, although some blog pages will show up in
search results.  After executing a search, you can limit to a
specific kind of forum, such as Yahoo groups.  No advanced search
options as of yet, only a few limiters which appear on the results
page.  (Source:  Pandia Search World)

This week’s Scientist focuses
on nanobiotechnology, including drug discovery, imaging, therapeutics,
quantum dots and safety and environmental concerns. 

at the New England School of Law library, that is, where they have
indexed their catalog entries according to spine color.  For
example, you can click on an aqua image and get a full listing of
books.  Also, their color swatches from their bindery are
included.  “It was red … and it had Wisconsin in the title…”
(Source: Library Link of the Day)

Maugre the Grokster decision, the INDUCE act has gained considerable
support in Congress (several influential senators have signed on to the
bill). Aimed at criminalizing software that could potentially be used
for copyright infringement,  INDUCE is reviled by many
technologists as a threat to innovation.