From the Announcement:

Library and Archives Canada is pleased to announce a new, improved version of our primary institutional search page, Search All, available through Search on the top menu. Related search pages, such as Archives Search and Library Search, have been redesigned as well.

The changes impact layout and content. The new pages will feature:

+ improved functionality;

+ a cleaner, more easily navigated layout;

+ some changes in terminology;

+ less redundancy of information;

Archives Search Results now:

+ display control numbers (Archival Reference Number, Former Archival Reference Number, Accession Number, etc.),

+ allow more options for sorting and limiting results, and,

+ have higher result set limits;

+ Archives Search now includes the option of expanding or limiting a search to descriptions in ARCHIVESCANADA.ca

Direct to “Search All” Page

Source: Library and Archives Canada

+ Microsoft Moves Live Search Mobile Nearer Google (via PC Magazine)

+ Google Slashes Recruiters, Engineering Offices (via socalTech)

+ Google Ends Google Video Uploads, Shutters Notebook, Catalog Search, Dodgeball & Jaiku (via Search Engine Land)

A great selection of new web resources and news from Roddy MacLeod and crew at the Heriot-Watt University Library.

Direct to Newsletter

Source: Heriot-Watt University Library

A new video via YouTube from the American Library Association.

ALA Executive Director Keith Michael Fiels discusses the economy, its effect on libraries, and what ALA offers to help libraries survive in tough times. This video also serves as an introduction to a special issue of AL Direct to be sent January 20 on the economy and other issues.

Direct to Video

Source: YouTube

Hat Tip: Jenny L.

From the Abstract:

The Web 2.0 trend has placed a renewed emphasis on interoperability and cooperation between systems and people. The digital libraries community is familiar with interoperability through technologies like OAI-PMH, but is disconnected from the general Web 2.0 community. This disconnect prevents the digital library from taking advantage of the rich network of data, services and interfaces offered by that community. This paper presents a case study of a collection within the Texas A&M Repository that was improved by adopting the principles of cooperation embodied by the term Web 2.0.

Direct to Full Text Article

Source: Journal of Digital Information

From the Article:

Barring a drastic change in legal interpretation, public libraries across the nation might soon consider banning children.

The American Library Association, a nationwide library advocacy organization, fears such bans are the only option left available by a new federal lead-testing law that takes effect Feb. 10.

Source: Bristol Herald Courier

From the News Release:

The Library of Congress will digitally scan “The Heroic Life of Abraham Lincoln: The Great Emancipator” as the 25,000th book in its “Digitizing American Imprints” program, which scans aging “brittle” books often too fragile to serve to researchers. The program is sponsored by a $2 million grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. The Library, which has contracted with the Internet Archive for digitization services, is combining its efforts with other libraries as part of the open content movement. The movement, which includes over 100 libraries, universities and cultural institutions, aims to digitize and make freely available public-domain books in a wide variety of subject areas.

All scanning operations are housed in the Library’s John Adams Building on Capitol Hill. Internet Archive staff work two shifts each day on 10 “Scribe” scanning stations. The operation can digitize up to 1,000 volumes each week. Shortly after scanning is complete, the books are available online at www.archive.org. Books can be read online or downloaded for more intensive study. The Library of Congress is actively working with the Internet Archive on the development of a full-featured, open-source page turner. A beta version, called the Flip Book, is currently available on the Internet Archive site.

Source: LC

Pinellas library cafe owners struggle to stay afloat

The owners of local library cafes say they’ve felt the wrath of the economy.

“The economy is hitting everybody,” said Bernie Dillman, 59, who runs Bernie’s Cafe at Clearwater’s Main Library. “It’s slow, but people are hanging in there.”

His sales average less than $2,000 a month, according to the city’s most recent figures.

And Dalal Mansour, who runs the Bookmark Cafe at Largo Public Library, said things are so tough she won’t be able to pay her $1,752 rent and sales tax to Largo this month.

“We had a big loss. Our sales are not even $100 a day,” said Mansour, 47, whose cafe serves sandwiches, salads, gourmet coffees and pastries.

Source: St. Petersburg Times

From the Article:

Thousands of documents in the Martin Luther King Jr. Collection at Morehouse College will now be available online for public research, school officials announced on Tuesday.

Source: AP

Direct to Martin Luther King Collection, Jr Collection

See Also: Scholarly Access Now Available to the Martin Luther King Jr. Collection

Enhancing Child Safety and Online Technologies
From Executive Summary (PDF; 188 KB):

The Task Force remains optimistic about the development of technologies to enhance protections for minors online and to support institutions and individuals involved in protecting minors, but cautions against overreliance on technology in isolation or on a single technological approach. Technology can play a helpful role, but there is no one technological solution or specific combination of technological solutions to the problem of online safety for minors.

Instead, a combination of technologies, in concert with parental oversight, education, social services, law enforcement, and sound policies by social network sites and service providers may assist in addressing specific problems that minors face online. All stakeholders must continue to work in a cooperative and collaborative manner, sharing information and ideas to achieve the common goal of making the Internet as safe as possible for minors.

The Task Force does not believe that the Attorneys General should endorse any one technology or set of technologies to protect minors online. Instead, the Attorneys General should continue to work collaboratively with all stakeholders in pursuing a multifaceted approach to enhance safety for minors online. The Task Force makes specific recommendations in Part VII to the Internet community and to parents, as well as recommendations regarding the allocation of resources….

+ Full Report (PDF; 2.7 MB)

Source: Internet Safety Technical Task Force to the Multi-State Working Group on Social Networking of State Attorneys General of the United States

From the News Release:

OCLC Members Council and the OCLC Board of Trustees will jointly convene a Review Board of Shared Data Creation and Stewardship to represent the membership and inform OCLC on the principles and best practices for sharing library data. The group will discuss the Policy for Use and Transfer of WorldCat Records with the OCLC membership and library community.

The purpose of this Review Board is to engage the membership and solicit feedback and questions before the new policy is implemented. In order to allow sufficient time for feedback and discussion, implementation of the Policy will be delayed until the third quarter of the 2009 calendar year.

See Also: An open letter to the OCLC membership on the WorldCat Record Use Policy