tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-96285422012-01-10T13:25:52.155-06:00This blog is dedicated to exploring the idea that "books are dead". (Yeah, right.)Richard Leiterhttps://profiles.google.com/117683358375068767628noreply@blogger.comBlogger1461100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9628542.post-52917166007816427582011-10-14T08:39:00.004-05:002011-10-14T10:22:53.345-05:00

The previous post was written two weeks ago. And I've been working primarily with Paul Deschner of the HLSL Innovation Lab to design an algorithm that can mine cases from a full text law review database. There are some interesting challenges in doing this. We've been able to acquire test files with which to perform test searches and here are some of the interesting challenges that we've come up

Richard Leiterhttps://profiles.google.com/117683358375068767628noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9628542.post-86164122871730502272011-10-14T08:23:00.005-05:002012-01-10T13:25:52.398-06:00

This past academic year, John Palfrey, Professor of Law, Vice Dean, Library and Information Resources, Faculty Co-Director, Berkman Center For Internet and Society at Harvard Law School, was intrigued by an idea that I’ve been kicking around for several years and asked me to come to Harvard to work on it. With the support of an incredibly talented staff in my home library, I finally felt

Richard Leiterhttps://profiles.google.com/117683358375068767628noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9628542.post-39218145650953505002011-01-14T15:33:00.002-06:002011-01-14T15:34:58.189-06:00

I'm baffled by publishers' arrogance these days. Two recent events made me whack my head with the palm of my hand…. Law Journal Seminars Press is now rolling out a "fantastic" new program for their books. Instead of merely paying for the looseleaf supplements for their books (for the most part reasonably priced, by the way), we can now either opt to receive them in print and online, or online

Richard Leiterhttps://profiles.google.com/117683358375068767628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9628542.post-39041693339803265182011-01-04T12:23:00.002-06:002011-01-04T12:27:55.758-06:00

Reflecting on the character of the Durham Statement As the scholarship becomes more widely available in digital formats, it is critical that we seek input from catalogers and technical services librarians on how to make these digital resources as useful and usable as possible. I've been thinking about the meaning to legal researchers and legal bibliographers of the Durham Statement. It has

Richard Leiterhttps://profiles.google.com/117683358375068767628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9628542.post-4389498188240386402010-12-14T14:12:00.002-06:002010-12-14T14:18:56.931-06:00

[With due thanks to Jason Wilson's brilliant post, "Secondary Materials are Like Cheeseburgers," I propose below, a concept of how law librarians, law review editors, scholars and bloggers can cooperate and build a better (well, new!) cheeseburger. These are random thoughts. I welcome feedback. RL]The recipe: Take Web 2.0 + Digital Commons + Durham Statement; Combine them, process until well-done

Richard Leiterhttps://profiles.google.com/117683358375068767628noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9628542.post-31626114260086010362010-12-08T09:20:00.005-06:002010-12-08T09:44:33.953-06:00

[This post is in an essay written in preparation for the December 10, 2010, Episode 16 of "Law Librarian Conversations," a podcast about all things law library.... This week's podcast with guests Tom Boone, Reference Librarian, Loyola Law School; Jason Wilson, Vice President Jones McClure Publishing; Ed Walters, CEO, Fastcase.If you are reading this before Friday, 12/10, you can join us by

Richard Leiterhttps://profiles.google.com/117683358375068767628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9628542.post-66365427545743760222010-10-06T16:03:00.005-05:002010-10-06T17:03:26.750-05:00

First, things cost too much and the prices keep increasing at rates that are out-stripping inflation and funding for libraries. It's almost as though publishers don't want law libraries to buy law books any more. Second, while the quality of online services, and, indeed, even print resources get better and better, there is still an indication that publishers aren't developing their materials for

Richard Leiterhttps://profiles.google.com/117683358375068767628noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9628542.post-89302597195469957452010-07-06T10:17:00.002-05:002010-07-06T10:30:06.879-05:00

In reading all the late controversy about AALL's programming issues, it seems to me that the obvious cause of the complaints can be traced to the peculiar nature of the membership structure of the association itself. Several years ago, I proposed in Spectrum a fundamental change in the way AALL was structured. It required all members to select a section when they joined the association or as part

Richard Leiterhttps://profiles.google.com/117683358375068767628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9628542.post-43973546432558348402010-04-21T19:57:00.005-05:002010-04-23T12:23:10.263-05:00

Note, this is a draft of a column to be published in Legal Information Alert. RL]Well, ok. It happened. I hit the technology wall.It didn’t hurt or anything, but it was kind of stunning, and it made me laugh. In the back of my mind, however, there’s now an ache, a melancholy low-keyed, distant panic is now resting there. Waiting. You’re gonna hit it, too. So be prepared.Here’s the thing.

Richard Leiterhttps://profiles.google.com/117683358375068767628noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9628542.post-87676020150951657002010-03-07T15:49:00.003-06:002010-03-07T15:55:44.826-06:00

The Fourth Rail of the Digital Revolution in Legal MaterialsMuch good work is being done to insure that as the internet develops and digital information becomes the norm, it remains freely accessible to all citizens. After all, how can citizens participate in their government if they can't have access to their own laws? Efforts by AALL, PublicResource.org and NCCUSL and others are focused

Richard Leiterhttps://profiles.google.com/117683358375068767628noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9628542.post-41666510204443636392010-02-16T11:21:00.003-06:002010-02-16T13:47:09.240-06:00

3 Geeks and a Law Blog: WestlawNext - Some Issues Answered published an email that Anne Ellis, Senior Director, Librarian Relations, at West, distributed to many AALL listservs this week. Just beneath the surface of all the hub-bub surrounding the roll-out of WestlawNext (WLN), is an unanswered question regarding the structure and nature of the new search engine. West doesn't seem to be very

Richard Leiterhttps://profiles.google.com/117683358375068767628noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9628542.post-23185485489507468832010-02-09T14:43:00.002-06:002010-02-09T14:56:48.974-06:00

For years people have been predicting the death of books and the general demise libraries. The people who have been most passionate about them are those who stand to gain financially by their own predictions. And that’s not to say that we haven’t all benefited from digital developments in the world of legal bibliography. But in this past decade has seen some extraordinary technological

Richard Leiterhttps://profiles.google.com/117683358375068767628noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9628542.post-67329513759530095322010-02-06T16:55:00.003-06:002010-02-06T17:10:09.236-06:00

[I wrote this the day after hosting a podcast with Professors Richard Danner and John Palfrey, authors and architects of the Durham Statement. The podcast can be found on iTunes, here. The transcript of the chat room can be found here. RL][In a curious irony, when I logged onto the website to "sign" the statement, I got a 404 error.... Uh, I guess the gods do have a sense of humor! RL]OK, I'm

Richard Leiterhttps://profiles.google.com/117683358375068767628noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9628542.post-43960150881044435872009-12-21T13:31:00.003-06:002009-12-21T13:39:36.165-06:00

The panel had some good comments on the year's biggest developments. And predictions.... the predictions are available in the chat room transcript, which you can find by clicking here. I'll post more information about the show later.

Richard Leiterhttps://profiles.google.com/117683358375068767628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9628542.post-53420328290331415682009-12-09T15:41:00.003-06:002009-12-09T15:45:14.832-06:00

Reaction to Google Scholar Legal Opinions and Journals (SLOJ) has been largely defined by our experience with extant legal databases. All online legal research tools that we're familiar with at present are databases filled with documents that we search using boolean operators or simple, character-by-character, word-for-word text searching. The main differences between, say, Westlaw and the

Richard Leiterhttps://profiles.google.com/117683358375068767628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9628542.post-28654568034436363682009-12-06T16:22:00.003-06:002009-12-09T15:41:32.693-06:00

I will be writing later about our conversation with Anurag Acharya, Chief Engineer of Google Scholar. Greg Lambert, Roger Skalbeck, Marcia Dority Baker and I had a wonderful 90-minute conversation with Mr. Acharya, and I think that I speak for us all when I say that the conversation was not only enlightening, but we were all very impressed with Mr. Acharya's charm, his sense of humor and the

Richard Leiterhttps://profiles.google.com/117683358375068767628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9628542.post-86019829716448079762009-11-18T10:11:00.002-06:002009-11-18T10:31:21.121-06:00

Uh-oh. It may be nothing at all, but a few searches in Google SLOJ have retrieved cases that have headnote numbers embedded in them. There are no headnotes, of course, nor are there any key numbers, but the headnote numbers themselves are clearly embedded in the text of the cases. What does this mean? Apparently the cases in Google SLOJ were, at some point, in the Westlaw database. To see what I

Richard Leiterhttps://profiles.google.com/117683358375068767628noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9628542.post-16682198909736640642009-11-17T12:12:00.002-06:002009-11-17T12:19:29.656-06:00

Always humble. Read Google's explanation of what their new service, Scholar Legal Opinions and Journals (SLOJ), is intended to accomplish, you'll see that they see themselves as giants standing on the shoulders of giants. Fascinating.Official Google Blog: Finding the laws that govern us

Richard Leiterhttps://profiles.google.com/117683358375068767628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9628542.post-82844689173125123902009-11-17T10:10:00.006-06:002009-11-17T12:14:20.115-06:00

Amazing. Google has made a giant step toward creating a practical search engine of legal materials. Click on the link above the check it out. Google's new Legal Opinion and Journals (LOJ) is not a Wexis, or VHPPLM killer. It is a game changer in the "free law," community. Here are a few initial comments about it. First, it is still classically a Google product. By this I mean that they spend

Richard Leiterhttps://profiles.google.com/117683358375068767628noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9628542.post-8215953204800689162009-11-16T16:25:00.005-06:002009-11-17T09:55:53.593-06:00

I have been thinking about this concept for about a year, and I can't get it out of my head. It's time to share it. I hope that Google, CCH or BNA reads it, exploits it and sends me a hefty check.... Why online haven't legal database providers figured out that online databases are a new breed of legal research tool and developed something completely different? To date, all online databases are

Richard Leiterhttps://profiles.google.com/117683358375068767628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9628542.post-23903216090097530082009-11-08T13:20:00.008-06:002009-11-10T08:46:28.217-06:00

On Friday afternoon, 6 November 2009, we interviewed Carl Malamud, founder of Public.Resource.org. A transcript of the chat room can be found here. You can download the interview from The Law Librarian's BlogTalkRadio web page or find it on iTunes.Law.Gov was the focus of the interview, and it seems that much of the hoopla (and kerfuffle) about Law.Gov and the "free law" movement is all misguided

Richard Leiterhttps://profiles.google.com/117683358375068767628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9628542.post-49508116064197328072009-10-18T23:01:00.004-05:002009-10-21T09:44:44.987-05:00

It's rare that the buzz in the air is equal to the reality. I think that we're finally approaching a critical mass in activity to bring the movement to preserve, protect and distribute state primary materials to fruition that something may actually come of it. In addition to Carl Malamud's law.gov effort, LIPA, the Chesapeake Project, AALL's Authentication & Preservation of Digital Law Special

Richard Leiterhttps://profiles.google.com/117683358375068767628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9628542.post-45989240005488056432009-10-09T14:52:00.003-05:002009-10-09T15:24:36.107-05:00

This is just a random thought. But it has occurred to me that if libraries undertake to be good stewards of born digital public information, that our technical services departments will have to establish standard methods and practices for visiting public websites where the information is released, and download it systematically. Is this much different from checking in serials? I think not...

Richard Leiterhttps://profiles.google.com/117683358375068767628noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9628542.post-86041354185917347222009-10-05T10:29:00.002-05:002009-10-05T11:19:45.971-05:00

This month on "The Law Librarian," on BlogTalkRadio, we discussed using and uses of social media tools in law libraries. We had a lively discussion about the use of "socnets" (social networks) for a variety of purposes: marketing, general information, announcements, etc. But we also eventually got around to discussing the use of these tools for gathering information and, even preserving it.

Richard Leiterhttps://profiles.google.com/117683358375068767628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9628542.post-7774272319844556592009-09-08T13:47:00.006-05:002009-09-08T15:22:13.405-05:00

Last Thursday's BlogTalkRadio show was very informative. Particularly because we had a lively group of law firm librarians who were quite willing to share their ideas about the skills that law students/recent graduates lack. The firm librarians were Liza MacMorris, of Wilson, Sonsini, Mary Staats, of Farella Braun & Martel, Kathy Skinner, of Morrison Foerster, Sara Paul, of Paul Hastings, Camille

Richard Leiterhttps://profiles.google.com/117683358375068767628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9628542.post-70612987588277062982009-08-25T11:05:00.003-05:002009-08-25T11:10:06.627-05:00

In an interesting twist, eBooks are now available for virtual check out from libraries. Gizmodo's article says it all: My favorite part of Sony's Reader announcement was probably Library Finder, powered by OverDrive, which lets you check out eBooks from your local library—and "thousands" have signed up—for free, wirelessly, direct to your reader. But there's a catch.There aren't an unlimited

Richard Leiterhttps://profiles.google.com/117683358375068767628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9628542.post-62112515174011743462009-08-19T17:51:00.001-05:002009-08-19T17:55:23.472-05:00

The Future Isn't Now. Not quite. Just because we can get "free" and easy access to all the primary law in the world, it doesn't mean that we can safely say that we can do "free" and easy legal research.There's an interesting post on the Huffington Post that's being circulated in the law library blogosphere by Peter Schwartz that's causing some alarm with the declaration that "The Future is Now."

Richard Leiterhttps://profiles.google.com/117683358375068767628noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9628542.post-22775159652849020692009-08-14T12:32:00.003-05:002009-08-14T12:44:53.335-05:00

The New York Times (and many others) report that textbook sellers and publishers are renting textbooks. The irony is stunning. One of the (many) complaints about e-textbooks has been the fact that you can't really "buy" one. You simply license it. But the paradigm that publishers and booksellers drool over is one where they can license the information without having to sell anything. They would

Richard Leiterhttps://profiles.google.com/117683358375068767628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9628542.post-45839005146260413832009-08-11T16:13:00.002-05:002009-08-12T09:04:18.558-05:00

The Ephemeral City and Modern (Digital) LibrariesAs we move toward an all born-digital information future feel like I’m wandering a yellow brick road that leads inevitably to the Ephemeral City. A city governed by illusion and impermanence. We need to be careful, lest we all end up with libraries filled with copies of 1984 to our suppliers’ Amazon.....I’m not sure of the exact reasons, but it

Richard Leiterhttps://profiles.google.com/117683358375068767628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9628542.post-88422003628886713032009-07-31T19:44:00.001-05:002009-07-31T19:44:54.902-05:00

Just a thought: I'm beginning to get frustrated with publishers, now. They seem to be stuck in a rut. All they seem capable of is getting us the same old thing in new packages. You know, "books on database." When it gets down to it, for the most part most publishers are selling us the same thing twice. Once in print and once electronically. And if we all dump the print in favor of the electronic

Richard Leiterhttps://profiles.google.com/117683358375068767628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9628542.post-69794441219161712342009-07-16T14:27:00.002-05:002009-07-16T15:12:29.571-05:00

[Below is a draft of a column that will be coming out shortly in Legal Information Alert. The published version will be well-edited and cleaner. I encourage you all to check that publication out....]Two weeks ago I attended the 19th annual CALI conference in (beautiful/splendid/amazing) Boulder, Colorado. As conferences go, this one was remarkable for several reasons. First of all, the venue was

Richard Leiterhttps://profiles.google.com/117683358375068767628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9628542.post-32009443290023121402009-06-25T14:34:00.002-05:002009-06-25T16:18:27.220-05:00

The "Durham Statement" has become a meme. And I can't imagine why. I understand the desire of law faculties to want their scholarship widely disseminated - even freely disseminated - but I can't understand why some have determined that this means that law reviews and law journals should cease being printed altogether. Law journals and law reviews have long histories in legal academe. The quality

Richard Leiterhttps://profiles.google.com/117683358375068767628noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9628542.post-64672220741366107522009-05-15T23:32:00.000-05:002009-05-15T23:50:09.164-05:00

I'm inclined to think that secondary materials are in greater danger of disappearing from the Public's access than are primary materials - if only because they are being distributed in ways that keep them out of reach: restrictive licensing agreements; great cost in obtaining access; and, pragmatic obstacles, such as lack of bandwidth or lack of adequate equipment. Since secondary materials are

Richard Leiterhttps://profiles.google.com/117683358375068767628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9628542.post-52631412182221787982009-05-14T16:20:00.001-05:002009-05-14T16:57:14.739-05:00

As I was signing invoices the other day, it ocurred to me that if all titles from the Big Three (or four) law publishers end up costing $3000 per year, we won't be able to afford much more than a 200-title law library!But of course, I'm not sure what is a title anymore....-- Posted From My iPhone

Richard Leiterhttps://profiles.google.com/117683358375068767628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9628542.post-89728362673340037142009-04-03T11:17:00.003-05:002009-04-03T12:48:35.401-05:00

On March 25, Inside Higher Education ran an editorial by Scott McLemee titled, "A Change is Gonna Come." McLemee is obviously a bright guy and correctly parses the issues surrounding digital scholarship. He also presents a very balanced discussion of the pros and cons. I encourage everyone in the academy and in libraries to read the piece carefully. I think that there IS a danger of University

Richard Leiterhttps://profiles.google.com/117683358375068767628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9628542.post-40380368303925319912009-03-24T21:48:00.006-05:002009-03-25T11:38:54.371-05:00

The Great Lakes IT Report reports that the U of Michigan Press is following the trends and will revamp their publishing operation and expand into "3D animation and video", as well as publish it's scholarship in digital format so it can provide hot links and graphics. The announcement says that it "will be "restructured" to focus primarily on digital monographs, not the printed version."It seems

Richard Leiterhttps://profiles.google.com/117683358375068767628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9628542.post-31619794886599354822009-03-23T10:19:00.006-05:002009-03-23T14:56:49.334-05:00

Ok. Anonymous, here's an attempt to clear up my earlier post on Westlaw and Lexis. I grant you that stock price isn't necessarily an indicator of profitability. But for a company with a virtual monopoly on a very important (critical?) product, with an ever-expanding market, it seems to me that they should be doing better than they are. (Ie., Not raising prices at double the rate of inflation, not

Richard Leiterhttps://profiles.google.com/117683358375068767628noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9628542.post-48989069629312309152009-03-23T09:44:00.002-05:002009-03-23T10:04:53.280-05:00

It appears that the industry just isn't adapting to the times. First, they failed to compete with Craig's List and lost classified revenue; Second, in response, they laid off staff and let the quality of their product slide; and, Third, many have failed to develop an online format that will connect with their users. The future of the news looks like it will be a combination of Twitter feeds,

Richard Leiterhttps://profiles.google.com/117683358375068767628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9628542.post-16318593628981845392009-03-18T16:44:00.003-05:002009-03-18T16:50:54.907-05:00

Here's a delightful quote from Professor Theodore Glasser. The article is about the demise of newspapers:"We need to view journalism in the same way that we view libraries and public schools, as absolutely essential to any prospering community," says Theodore Glasser, professor of communications at Stanford University.Prof. Glasser has just become one of my personal heroes. (I've never met the

Richard Leiterhttps://profiles.google.com/117683358375068767628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9628542.post-87363746497194717142009-03-11T18:30:00.004-05:002009-03-17T13:47:44.750-05:00

Weird. I just looked up Reed Elsevier’s and Thomson Reuters’ stock quotes for the recent past. In the case of Thomson, Yahoo! Finance’s charts only go back a couple of years, and in the case of Reed Elsivier they go back much further. If stock is any indication of anything at all, it’s the company’s profitability. And over the long haul, both companies are not doing well at all. The charts show a

Richard Leiterhttps://profiles.google.com/117683358375068767628noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9628542.post-65306568561981530632009-02-03T10:10:00.004-06:002009-02-03T10:25:57.536-06:00

John C Dvorak keeps marveling at the reactions of newspapers to declining readership: they lay off writers and reporters! It does seem like a weird response to a marketing problem. If people are not reading newspapers as much as they were, making the product better would seem to be the best response. Here's a thought: I think that people are relying on more immediate services like RSS feeds,

Richard Leiterhttps://profiles.google.com/117683358375068767628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9628542.post-75051753576767426852009-01-31T20:48:00.002-06:002009-01-31T20:56:12.298-06:00

It occurs to me that reality has finally come to Emerald City. (The here and now.) I think that Lexis and Westlaw have actually finally become the extensions of treatises. Think about it: The Great Treatises, Wright & Miller, Wigmore, Thompson on Property, etc., are no longer affordable case-finding tools. Which actually was their original purpose, by the way. The treatises themselves represent

Richard Leiterhttps://profiles.google.com/117683358375068767628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9628542.post-83032568462498723472009-01-16T11:07:00.003-06:002009-01-16T11:27:39.209-06:00

It occurs to me that the future is finally here. At last week's AALS meeting, there was nary a word about "the future of libraries"! All library programs, meetings and discussions were actually about managing libraries, studying legal information and striving to improve services and collections. It was inspiring. I just hope that we librarians have gotten over our infatuation with speculating

Richard Leiterhttps://profiles.google.com/117683358375068767628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9628542.post-80716021439954496842008-10-07T10:16:00.002-05:002008-10-07T10:32:22.145-05:00

Publishers are a determined lot, I'll give them that. The whole concept of eTextbooks is stupid, that's why no one wants them. I mean, who in their right mind would pay $40 for a text book on, say, chemistry, that you can't resell or keep for later reference? Or that you can't print from - or that you can only print ten pages from? Or only open fifty times....? From the consumers POV it's

Richard Leiterhttps://profiles.google.com/117683358375068767628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9628542.post-26999821789682918242008-09-19T10:53:00.003-05:002008-09-19T11:17:23.950-05:00

While anyone can look back through writings of various technology naysayers and cautionary pundits of the past (including yours truly) and find warnings about how the rapid (and thoughtless, apparently) wholesale adoption of technology for publication of legal information, it's turning out to be much more complicated than that. Simply taking snapshots of Agency websites won't capture the

Richard Leiterhttps://profiles.google.com/117683358375068767628noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9628542.post-12036741486510458312008-09-19T10:12:00.003-05:002008-09-19T10:25:34.460-05:00

If you listen to no other podcast and are interested in what's happening in the world of hi-tech, it should be John C Dvorak's "Tech 5". Subtitled, "The most important five minutes of your day," Dvorak covers all the latest tech trends with economy and wit. Occasionally, he even makes brilliant observations:The September episode carries mention of a story circulating that day in which it is

Richard Leiterhttps://profiles.google.com/117683358375068767628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9628542.post-76736595541541726352008-06-18T09:34:00.002-05:002008-06-18T09:38:10.884-05:00

This is a fascinating article about the WWW and it's role as an information retrieval tool, IF the entire infrastructure were analog. No computers would mean mountains of paper storage facilities and archives. Amazing.

Richard Leiterhttps://profiles.google.com/117683358375068767628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9628542.post-75928004717631460592008-05-28T10:49:00.003-05:002008-05-28T11:02:54.928-05:00

This is a way cool new PC concept. The size of a large hardback book, but a quarter of the width; two touch-sensitive, haptic-enhanced screens that can function as a key board and a monitor, when opened like a book, like two screens, when laid out flat like two touch screen tablets. What more can you ask for? And for a target price of $75?! Sheesh.

Richard Leiterhttps://profiles.google.com/117683358375068767628noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9628542.post-39154445043526475522008-05-27T09:59:00.002-05:002008-05-27T10:03:13.664-05:00

Brewster Kahle, self-described internet librarian and all-around technological gadfly, talked excitedly on TWiT this week about one of the Internet Archives great projects: a book mobile that is connected to the net and is fitted out with a high speed printer-binder so the book mobile can roll around the country side printing out books on demand. Hmmm. Digital library meets the real world.

Richard Leiterhttps://profiles.google.com/117683358375068767628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9628542.post-81359764977344784012008-05-27T09:34:00.002-05:002008-05-27T09:44:30.490-05:00

Love him or hate him, Brewster Kahle, found of the Internet Archive, is the guest on the fabulous podcast, TWIT, This Week In Tech. Leo Laporte, Denise Howell (This Week in Law), and John C Dvorak interview Brewster about his projects. It's a fascinating interview. If you haven't heard of it before, the podcast is an amazing source of information about what's happening in the technology world,

Richard Leiterhttps://profiles.google.com/117683358375068767628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9628542.post-61832339208607747912008-05-08T10:54:00.003-05:002008-05-08T13:49:50.083-05:00

For years now, much of library conversations have been about books vs. online sources. I've always rejected the notion that we need to make choices between the two formats. There's no war going on, and I think that the "death of the book" pundits always understate the value of print, at the expense of some fundamental values that libraries possess, vis a vis collecting, sorting and storing

Richard Leiterhttps://profiles.google.com/117683358375068767628noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9628542.post-72460434092477372572008-04-30T09:29:00.005-05:002008-04-30T09:44:18.703-05:00

In a bizarre twist of I-don't-know-what, PC Magazine reports that PARC is working on developing reusable printer/copier paper. The idea is that most print jobs are for temporary purposes, such as printing emails, after which they are discarded. This paper, which is light-activated, fades after about a day and then can be re-used up to 100 times. Robert Scobel even has a Qik video of it: http:

Richard Leiterhttps://profiles.google.com/117683358375068767628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9628542.post-3963464420842829952008-04-24T13:46:00.002-05:002008-04-24T14:34:30.420-05:00

Gizmodo reported about a cool hands-free book scanner from Swiss company, 4DigitalBooks. The new machine, the DL 3000 will scan 3000 pages an hour with no human innovation to mess things up. Sweet. And it only costs $250,000, according to Giz.... So don't look for it in your local library any time soon. Read all about it on the company's website:http://www.4digitalbooks.com/

Richard Leiterhttps://profiles.google.com/117683358375068767628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9628542.post-8952033241254339762008-04-03T14:41:00.005-05:002008-04-03T15:05:47.843-05:00

I'm just starting to read a fascinating book, "Educating Lawyers," by Sullivan, Colby, Wenger, Bond and Shulman. It's a book about legal education (obviously) published in conjunction with The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. I'm going to be commenting on it from time time as I read through it looking for information on how legal research factors into the authors' view of

Richard Leiterhttps://profiles.google.com/117683358375068767628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9628542.post-46385283561943443702008-03-20T08:49:00.001-05:002008-04-03T16:47:09.809-05:00

People are up in arms about the big air tanker contract going to Airbus (a foreign company). Where were the protesters when foreign nationals took over the publication of US laws? Good grief, West, Lexis, CCH, Aspen, Matthew-Bender, RIA, Lawyer's Co-Op are all now owned by Canadian, British or Dutch companies. That's got to amount to nearly 90% of all commercial legal materials. And now

Richard Leiterhttps://profiles.google.com/117683358375068767628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9628542.post-10855143600229918662008-03-19T04:23:00.001-05:002008-04-03T11:26:35.021-05:00

The character of legal information is changing in the fact that the breadth of what qualifies as legal information is changing. Just as librarians have struggled in the past with incorporating new formats into existing collections and classification schemes, we need now to be creative in figuring out how to capture, preserve and classify new mercurial formats such as podcasts, blogs and twitters

Richard Leiterhttps://profiles.google.com/117683358375068767628noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9628542.post-52464995581650814702008-03-18T16:31:00.000-05:002008-03-18T16:36:43.718-05:00

I heard about this on TWiT a couple of weeks ago and I've been telling people about it since then. No one believes that it can be real. Well, it is: Google is investigating a service that serves up broadband wireless by attaching access points to balloons (yes, balloons) and then floating them into the atmosphere where the rise until they pop and then parachute back to earth where lucky

Richard Leiterhttps://profiles.google.com/117683358375068767628noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9628542.post-3215086930714543302008-03-18T16:03:00.000-05:002008-03-20T20:26:55.493-05:00

I just returned from a trip to Washington, DC. I was equipped with my iPod Touch and my MacBook Pro - hey I'm fully connected - and ready for anything. But you know what? I couldn't use either device for email of web-browsing anywhere in two airports (Omaha and National), the Hyatt Regency Hotel, Starbucks and Georgetown University School of Law! Why? I don't have subscriptions to the "pay

Richard Leiterhttps://profiles.google.com/117683358375068767628noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9628542.post-51455488662107499672008-03-16T16:14:00.000-05:002008-03-16T16:23:33.832-05:00

It seems to me that law publishers - of all people - should be aware of the funding crisis in (public) academe. I'm not sure that any law libraries or law schools are getting funding increases, so how do they get off raising costs at all? We, here at the University of Nebraska haven't received a budget increase in eight years. But our vendors are all increasing prices five to ten percent! How

Richard Leiterhttps://profiles.google.com/117683358375068767628noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9628542.post-8466477884072946852008-03-16T09:20:00.000-05:002008-03-16T09:25:37.158-05:00

I am going to experiment with a call-in internet radio show on Blog Talk Radio. Brian Striman will co-host with me on May 2 during which we will interview Ken and discuss the challenge of managing libraries in the face of shrinking public funding and out of hand inflation from information providers. The show will be one hour on Friday afternoon and will accept call-ins from listeners as well as

Richard Leiterhttps://profiles.google.com/117683358375068767628noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9628542.post-74683743311550707192008-03-05T09:04:00.000-06:002008-03-05T09:14:53.271-06:00

Legislative history is, essentially, whatever sources you can find that help reveal the intent of the legislative body in it's conduct, usually passing legislation. But the principle also applies to actions of the executive branch, and, therefore, includes hearings, speeches, correspondence, reports (commissioned or otherwise), and whatever else a resourceful researcher can uncover or discover.

Richard Leiterhttps://profiles.google.com/117683358375068767628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9628542.post-37498568210404020742008-02-18T16:37:00.000-06:002008-02-18T16:59:54.452-06:00

Click this link:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pyjRj3UMRMand pity the poor early adopters.....

Richard Leiterhttps://profiles.google.com/117683358375068767628noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9628542.post-17219478374007365502008-02-08T09:46:00.000-06:002008-02-08T10:54:40.632-06:00

Gizmodo reports on a device created by researchers at the University of Michigan that harvests the energy of the knee to power cell phones or other handheld devices. Great news for people who have chronically dead phones: They just need to be convinced to get up and walk around....

Richard Leiterhttps://profiles.google.com/117683358375068767628noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9628542.post-46197584872452276932008-01-03T22:48:00.000-06:002008-01-03T23:13:56.398-06:00

It occurred to me recently that the term, "digital collection" may well be an oxymoron. When libraries 'purchase' a digital collection, it is usually a license, not a purchase at all. How can libraries collect licenses? When a publisher decides to drop a file or database from an online service, what is a library to do about it? We can insist on paying less for the service, but that's about it

Richard Leiterhttps://profiles.google.com/117683358375068767628noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9628542.post-16364825458959785642007-11-18T16:40:00.000-06:002007-11-18T17:07:19.982-06:00

OK. Who doesn't want to be the Leonardo, Gutenberg or Edison of his day? But do you get there by declaring it to be so? Or do you wait around for posterity to declare that you're special? It seems to me that humility is an important aspect of greatness. At least in the present. Edison may have been a keen self-promoter, but history proved him correct in whatever he may have thought about

Richard Leiterhttps://profiles.google.com/117683358375068767628noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9628542.post-60772596140709047952007-11-18T13:24:00.000-06:002007-11-18T13:59:35.030-06:00

Gizmodo reports that Atiz Innovation Co., Ltd., a leading manufacturer of book digitization hardware and software, has announced the development of "BookSnap", a personal book scanner that allows the user to digitize, "rip," her own books. The Atiz website, http://www.atiz.com/, declares, on it's home page, that "It's not a scanner. It's a book ripper." It also declares that it allows the user

Richard Leiterhttps://profiles.google.com/117683358375068767628noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9628542.post-79105258278591863882007-11-14T19:09:00.000-06:002007-11-14T19:16:13.019-06:00

TradingMarkets.com posted this interesting article which highlights Espresso, the on-demand book publishing machine that was announced recently. The ironies are frightening. Kinko's can become a bookstore, bookstores can become publishers and libraries faux bookstores. Publishers can make more money by licensing all these activities and selling direct to consumers. Ironic, isn't it? Amazon

Richard Leiterhttps://profiles.google.com/117683358375068767628noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9628542.post-5507054502650132942007-11-07T20:15:00.000-06:002007-11-07T20:37:28.211-06:00

This past weekend, I attended a meeting of the Mid America Association of Law Libraries, where Rivkah Sass was the keynote speaker. Wow! If you ever get a chance to hear her speak about change, don't miss it. But she got me thinking about an old idea I've had about the perfect blending of old and new technology. You see, many people tend to see the coming "revolution" as some sort of an all

Richard Leiterhttps://profiles.google.com/117683358375068767628noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9628542.post-14566521049339571852007-10-23T19:36:00.000-05:002007-10-23T19:44:06.399-05:00

Brewster Kahle, creator of the Internet Archive and the Wayback Machine is one of the is apparently one of the masterminds behind the UNESCO digital library initiative reported below. Way to go, Brewster! The only question remains: will anyone be content reading books online?I once read "Greystoke, the Legend of Tarzan" on a Palm Pilot (in full color, I should add), just to say I did it. Once

Richard Leiterhttps://profiles.google.com/117683358375068767628noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9628542.post-75846270043044769102007-10-23T19:25:00.000-05:002007-10-23T19:34:32.015-05:00

This interesting article over at ZDNet points out a little known issue facing the "one world, one library – for free" idealists. Google and Microsoft's initiative for the online libraries, are a pretty good deal for the libraries whose materials they scan: it's free! However, the agreement limits the availability to their own services. OCA's digital initiative, on the other hand, costs

Richard Leiterhttps://profiles.google.com/117683358375068767628noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9628542.post-10303444906781142762007-10-22T00:10:00.000-05:002007-10-22T00:13:57.845-05:00

According to AppleInsider.com, Apple is a major supporter of the World Digital Library, reported below. What's more, it apparently has a name after all....

Richard Leiterhttps://profiles.google.com/117683358375068767628noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9628542.post-45941250132875103562007-10-21T23:26:00.000-05:002007-10-21T23:42:50.238-05:00

UNESCO, the Library of Congress, Bibliotheque Nationale, National Library of Brazil, Egypt's Bibliotheca Alexandrina, the National Library of Russia and Russian State Library have teamed up to an create online global library. James Billington, Librarian of Congress, has been instrumental in the creation of the digital library that appears to be, as yet unnamed.

Richard Leiterhttps://profiles.google.com/117683358375068767628noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9628542.post-25157191890770267952007-09-11T09:13:00.000-05:002007-09-11T09:47:46.168-05:00

Gizmodo reports that pictures of the new Sony E-Book reader have been leaked. Apparently the device is much improved, but asks the critical question: will a new and improved dumb device actually make it better?It has always seemed to me that the promise of e-books is that the books will be more easily distributed and widely available. But so far, e-book vendors' strategies have gone contrary

Richard Leiterhttps://profiles.google.com/117683358375068767628noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9628542.post-79344772998536290412007-09-10T15:39:00.001-05:002007-09-10T15:39:02.049-05:00

C|Net News.com reports that Google is about to enter the eBook market.  The Google Book Search of a few years ago, apparently taught them a thing or two about business possibilities and now they are exploring ways to spruce up their book offerings and sell them to viewers.  There's also a rumor that they are looking to develop a new device on which customers will be able to read the books they

Richard Leiterhttps://profiles.google.com/117683358375068767628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9628542.post-59051762732207537392007-09-10T15:05:00.000-05:002007-09-10T15:21:20.187-05:00

Ever wonder about why eBooks aren't taking off? Well, it's because Amazon hasn't been involved in the marketing of this fabulous, tree-saving, shelf-space-saving tool of the future! And everyone knows that the future is all about digital, right?And if that exciting announcement in itself isn't enough, get ready for the BIG news: The rumors are that the Amazon eBook will have proprietary

Richard Leiterhttps://profiles.google.com/117683358375068767628noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9628542.post-11578795635428907492007-08-10T10:59:00.000-05:002007-08-10T11:37:01.902-05:00

One may ask if this is an example of computers replacing books, or of books dominating technology as the format of choice for literature....The Columbia (SC) Free Times reports that a company called On Demand Books has developed something called the "Espresso Book Machine," a device that is capable of printing "15-20 paperbacks in an hour – in any language and with a four-color cover." The

Richard Leiterhttps://profiles.google.com/117683358375068767628noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9628542.post-50392164122685270722007-07-24T10:14:00.000-05:002007-07-24T10:30:59.030-05:00

Please read Bob Berring's article in the recent issue of The Green Bag. In it he raises some critical issues that are facing the world of legal information. As governments of all stripes, municipal, state, county, federal, make the "inevitable" switch from print to online publication of their laws, we're finding that the law is getting lost; the old law, that is. Obviously, the governments are

Richard Leiterhttps://profiles.google.com/117683358375068767628noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9628542.post-74801963082087281252007-07-24T10:12:00.000-05:002007-07-24T10:14:26.588-05:00

What can I say? It's difficult to maintain a blog, and I got bored. But I'm back and hope to maintain this discussion regularly from here on out.

Richard Leiterhttps://profiles.google.com/117683358375068767628noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9628542.post-1152119613562641482006-07-05T11:49:00.000-05:002006-07-05T12:13:33.626-05:00

It's true, a company called "Delicious Monster," http://www.delicious-monster.com/, has developed a very cool, tool. This is a personal library management software application. With the software you can catalog your collection of books, CD's, DVD's, etc., to your heart's content. Been there, done that, right? Not exactly. Everything that I'm aware of for the consumer market requires you to

Richard Leiterhttps://profiles.google.com/117683358375068767628noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9628542.post-1150312190821715832006-06-14T11:23:00.001-05:002007-04-12T02:33:57.556-05:00

I refer you to an interesting article in the June 2006 (23:6) issue of Information Today, "Gaming: The Next Hot Technology for Libraries?" The article made me think of a news item I once wrote of in "Law Library Hi-Tech," in AALL Newsletter (23:3, p 597, 1991). I've reproduced the article, to the left. (Obviously.)

Richard Leiterhttps://profiles.google.com/117683358375068767628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9628542.post-1150235265144548722006-06-13T16:35:00.000-05:002006-06-13T16:47:45.170-05:00

A fascinating article about the chief architect of the transformation of legal publishing in our time. Read it and weep. Do you think that all the West folks at AALL this year will be wearing black; black arm bands, or something?

Richard Leiterhttps://profiles.google.com/117683358375068767628noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9628542.post-1150147381038767372006-06-12T16:05:00.000-05:002006-06-12T16:24:13.250-05:00

Andrew Sullivan makes an intersting point about new technology and newspapers: what was once ephemeral is becoming more discoverable and "permanent." While I don't share his confidence that the new technology will provide a permanent place for old materials, a point that he almost raises is that columnists have always had a certain luxury of anonymity of time. After all, unless someone decides

Richard Leiterhttps://profiles.google.com/117683358375068767628noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9628542.post-1150123739063519442006-06-12T09:47:00.000-05:002006-06-12T09:48:59.066-05:00

The following will be published in an upcoming "Database Report" column in Legal Information Alert: Welcome to 2006. The NSA is collecting our phone records to protect us from terrorists and now it seems that Lexis (for one) is monitoring our research habits in order to protect them from inappropriate usage. A few days ago I received a phone message from a person in Lexis's "Contract Compliance"

Richard Leiterhttps://profiles.google.com/117683358375068767628noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9628542.post-1150123581933525942006-06-12T09:37:00.001-05:002006-06-14T18:08:53.540-05:00

The following will soon be published in an upcoming "Database Report" column in Legal Information Alert:I recently was asked if I had any concerns to bring to the attention of a certain large midwestern publisher. I responded, with characteristic reserve and diplomacy:"Yeah: Everything is getting too expensive. We're considering canceling Westlaw to save money. Over the last six years, their

Richard Leiterhttps://profiles.google.com/117683358375068767628noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9628542.post-1150066448660147812006-06-11T17:50:00.000-05:002006-06-11T17:54:08.686-05:00

I'm not sure how many of you missed me, but I've figured out a way around some spamming problems associated with managing this blog, and am now ready to keep it up again. Watch here; I'll be in touch soon.

Richard Leiterhttps://profiles.google.com/117683358375068767628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9628542.post-1144247136499514742006-04-05T09:11:00.000-05:002006-04-05T09:25:57.973-05:00

I'm sorry to readers for being such a slacker in getting new posts on this blog. But, hey! I've been busy.....Any way, the NewYorkTimes.com's technology section contains a remarkable article, "E-books, has your time come?" by Elinor Mills, who was writing for News.com. The article is a pretty good analysis of what's happening in the industry, but contains the following few paragraphs (below)

Richard Leiterhttps://profiles.google.com/117683358375068767628noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9628542.post-1132765173758996542005-11-23T09:20:00.001-06:002005-11-23T10:59:33.833-06:00

With little fanfare, Google has changed the name of its digital library initiative from Google Print to Google Book Search. The old URL, print.google.com now refers surfers to books.google.com.While the change doesn't look like much, on close examination it clearly represents a fundamental shift in Google's digital library philosophy. The title alone implies that the service is more of a book

Richard Leiterhttps://profiles.google.com/117683358375068767628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9628542.post-1132765127352860902005-11-23T09:20:00.000-06:002005-11-23T10:58:47.443-06:00

With little fanfare, Google has changed the name of its digital library initiative from Google Print to Google Book Search. The old URL, print.google.com now refers surfers to books.google.com.While the change doesn't look like much, on close examination it clearly represents a fundamental shift in Google's digital library philosophy. The title alone implies that the service is more of a book

Richard Leiterhttps://profiles.google.com/117683358375068767628noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9628542.post-1132091103839265222005-11-15T15:43:00.000-06:002005-11-15T15:45:17.570-06:00

Faced with the near impossible task of securely and permanently preserving and protecting thier substantial investment in the production of the millions of pages of books that it intends to scan and make available worldwide on the internet, Google has entered into an agreement with Ames Research Center in Mountain View, CA under which Google will take possession of the storied former US Army

Richard Leiterhttps://profiles.google.com/117683358375068767628noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9628542.post-1131500986548189652005-11-08T19:47:00.000-06:002006-12-14T00:14:42.776-06:00

In terrific editorial, Needless fight threatens Google's online library, USA Today defends Google's "online library" initiative in convincing and in insightful ways. Excerpts:"The publishers are not without reasonable arguments, but Google's are better. Copyright law specifically allows limited copying of protected material for purposes that serve the public — such as commentary, news reporting,

Richard Leiterhttps://profiles.google.com/117683358375068767628noreply@blogger.com54tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9628542.post-1131486851053672632005-11-08T15:52:00.000-06:002005-11-08T15:55:45.860-06:00

According to a recent article in idm.net.au Amazon is set to launch new services called Amazon Pages and Amazon Upgrade. To quote the article:"Building on its successful Search Inside the Book technology, Amazon is developing two new programs that will allow customers to search the complete interior text of hundreds of thousands of books and purchase online access to any page, section or chapter

Richard Leiterhttps://profiles.google.com/117683358375068767628noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9628542.post-1131036721970584002005-11-03T10:45:00.000-06:002005-11-03T10:52:01.970-06:00

I have lately been experiencing technical difficulties with the Widget that I've been using to create entries to my blog. It reports a successful post and appears on the page when I check it. However the next day it simply disappears. As a result, lots of brilliant (!) entries have been lost. Over the next week or so I will endeavor to recreate the ones I can remember.I have also changed the

Richard Leiterhttps://profiles.google.com/117683358375068767628noreply@blogger.com160tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9628542.post-1131035576658196642005-11-03T10:10:00.000-06:002005-11-03T10:41:28.513-06:00

Wrting for TheStreet.com about the value (or lack thereof?) of print newspapers and the newspaper business, Jon Markman makes a brilliant observation about the intrinsic value of home delivery of printed newspapers:"It's a random Saturday morning, and after an evening of watching a baseball game on television, reading about it online and talking about it with friends over instant messenger, I pad

Richard Leiterhttps://profiles.google.com/117683358375068767628noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9628542.post-1130685422083148672005-10-30T09:17:00.000-06:002005-10-30T09:17:02.126-06:00

According to a press release from RLG, dated 29 October 2005, RLG is partnering with an impressive group of business partners to create a unique online database of books. The partners include the California Digital Library, Adobe (uh-oh!) Yahoo!, HP, Microsoft (oh well....). An ecnouraging thing about this program is that materials to be digitized will be selected and bibliographically

Richard Leiterhttps://profiles.google.com/117683358375068767628noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9628542.post-1129680579311903262005-10-18T19:09:00.000-05:002006-09-10T16:16:23.966-05:00

Apparently this service, developed by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council in the UK links up a variety of libraries' reference staffs to be on call via email and online chat to handle any question from patrons. The article on 24dash.com does not explain how the on-call system works, but one does wonder how those late night reference questions are handled....

Richard Leiterhttps://profiles.google.com/117683358375068767628noreply@blogger.com55tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9628542.post-1129679096006681232005-10-18T18:44:00.000-05:002006-07-07T15:24:37.546-05:00

According to a USA Today article, "Google said its objective was to build the world's largest online card catalog."What's more, "Google Print product manager Adam Smith says the biggest misconception is that Google's master plan is to display entire books online. "We don't have permission to do that," he says. "We're a finding tool, like a digital card catalog."This is very insightful

Richard Leiterhttps://profiles.google.com/117683358375068767628noreply@blogger.com64tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9628542.post-1128473489162478632005-10-04T19:51:00.000-05:002005-10-04T19:51:29.206-05:00

According to a News.com (c|net) article from 3 October 2005:The European Commission isn't about to sit back and let Google have control over digitizing the world's information--it's planning to turn Europe's "historical and cultural heritage into digital content."According to an EC announcement on Friday, the aim of the project is to digitize and preserve records of Europe's heritage--including

Richard Leiterhttps://profiles.google.com/117683358375068767628noreply@blogger.com24tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9628542.post-1128466035138806042005-10-04T17:47:00.000-05:002005-10-04T17:47:15.170-05:00

The Daily Californian, today, reports:"With the digital support of Yahoo Inc., which will provide its search technology to the project, the materials are scheduled to be made available beginning in the spring of 2006 on the Open Content Alliance Web site, the global consortium building the archive."This program will allow UC Berkeley students and researchers to access material at the click of a

Richard Leiterhttps://profiles.google.com/117683358375068767628noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9628542.post-1127260657963129622005-09-20T18:57:00.000-05:002005-09-20T18:58:33.216-05:00

In an article about the growing interest and availability of digital audio books, the writer's subtitle says it all: But so far the files can be used only on Windows, not on Apple’s iPod. NetLibrary and OverDrive, Inc., still won't (they say can'tprovide audio books in an iPod compatible format. Don't these people read the news? iPod has dominated the digital audio market! Not good enough

Richard Leiterhttps://profiles.google.com/117683358375068767628noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9628542.post-1127256324388236602005-09-20T17:41:00.000-05:002005-09-20T17:45:24.390-05:00

From the article: Tony Sanfilippo is of two minds when it comes to Google Inc’s ambitious programme to scan millions of books and make their text fully searchable on the internet. Mr Sanfilippo credits the programme for boosting sales of obscure titles at Penn Sdate University Press, where he works. But, he’s worried that Google’s plans to create digital copies of books obtained directly from

Richard Leiterhttps://profiles.google.com/117683358375068767628noreply@blogger.com19