Welcome to second issue of the Internet Resources Newsletter for 2007. You'll find all sorts of interesting Internet-related material below - new and notable sites, lots of interesting blogs and RSS-related sites, and much more- even some websites on Leith.

In the last issue, I asked anyone who knew of RSS feeds for Calls for Papers from conferences, journals and books etc, in subject areas of choice, to email me, at: r.a.macleod@hw.ac.uk . No-one did. I'd still like to know of feeds which provide this sort of information.

Internet Resources Newsletter by email and RSS

Over 40,000 people now subscribe to the free email version of this Newsletter. Very many thanks go to Willco http://www.willco.com/ who distribute the email version. To subscribe, at no cost, go to http://www.hw.ac.uk/libwww/irn/

The Internet Resources Newsletter has an RSS feed: http://www.hw.ac.uk/libwww/irn/irn.rss
To add this RSS feed to any feedreader, go to: http://tinyurl.com/39sg5j

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Library Blog
Heriot Watt University Library now has a blog, called: spineless?
http://hwlibrary.wordpress.com/
The blog will give news, views, information and advice on the Library's resources and services, for all staff and students of Heriot-Watt University.

Random quote
"...the quality of information retrieved in a literature search is dependent on the tool that was used to seek it. Google Scholar searches are useful for getting basic information and then building a more robust search in an abstract database like those on CSA Illumina. However, Google Scholar will never be able to replace abstract databases because of the fundamental differences between the two approaches to gathering information. Google Scholar surveys the available information, which leaves it susceptible to inconsistency. Abstract databases collect information so that current and historical articles are always available. In either case, authors need not be at the mercy of the whims of search engines."
Source: http://www.csa.com/discoveryguides/publish/review.php

Engineer your career

I was sent an excellent wall chart by Setform, recently. It's designed to encourage more students to take up a career in engineering, and features a number of companies and organisations that can offer career opportunities for engineering students.

The chart is very large, so I can't feature it here, but below are some of the many links mentioned on it.

Prospects
http://www.prospects.ac.uk/
Working in partnership with the most prominent official bodies in the field of Higher education, Graduate Prospects has been bringing students, graduates and recruiters together in for over 30 years.

Find A Masters
http://www.findamasters.com/

Learndirect
http://www.learndirect.co.uk/
Courses, centres, advice, etc.

Further Education and Short Courses
http://www.hotcourses.com/ucas/
You can now search for a course in many large cities in the UK through the hotcourses.com search

Aimhigher
http://www.aimhigher.ac.uk/
Information you need to get started on the road into HE

Engineer Live
http://www.engineerlive.com/
Sector developments and news stories from trade magazines.

Inside Careers
http://www.insidecareers.co.uk/
Up-to-date advice about engineering careers.

Online Graduate
http://www.online-graduate.co.uk/
The place for graduate job seekers

ECUK
http://www.engc.org.uk/
ECUK's mission is to set and maintain realistic and internationally recognised standards of professional competence and ethics for engineers, technologists and technicians, and to license competent institutions to promote and uphold the standards.

Engineering Industries Association
http://www.eia.co.uk/
Established for over 65 years, the Association has grown to provide a network of information and assistance, with excellent added value membership benefits, and with effective lobbying & representation helping promote the engineering industry in the UK, Europe and Global Markets.

Institution of Engineering Designers
http://www.ied.org.uk/
Information about Engineering design, and Product design

Institute of Carer Guidance
http://www.icg-uk.org/

Your Career Guide
http://www.yourcareerguide.co.uk/
This site offers pupils and students career information and guidance to help you make the right career choice.

Here is this month's selection of news items of interest

A-Z NEW & NOTABLE WEB SITES

Abbreviations.com

http://www.abbreviations.com/

Search Acronyms & Abbreviations.

Academy Scotland News

http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/natfundedprogs/AcademyScotlandNewsJan2007.pdf

The fifth edition of the Higher Education Academy’s newsletter for the Scottish sector is now available.

Ariadne Issue 50

http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue50/

The January issue is available. Ariadne is a Web magazine for information professionals in archives, libraries and museums in all sectors.

Association for College Management

http://www.acm.uk.com/

The Association for College Management is a TUC affiliated trade union and professional association which represents managers of post 16 education and training.

Association of Colleges

http://www.aoc.co.uk/

“The Association of Colleges was created in 1996 as the single voice to promote the interests of further education colleges in England and Wales.

The Association provides a broad range of services to its subscribers. It represents their interests locally, regionally, nationally and internationally. Its management, split into various directorates, provides a pool of expertise on which the sector draws.”

Atlantis Press

http://www.atlantis-press.com/

“Atlantis Press is a new scientific publishing company aiming at serving the scientific and intellectual community by providing the best infrastructure for researchers to get their work published, referenced, found and read.”

Awareness Watch™ Newsletter

http://zillman.blogspot.com/2007/01/awareness-watch-newsletter-v5n2.html

The February 2007 V5N2 Awareness Watch™ Newsletter is a freely available 44 page .pdf document (1.21MB) available from this URL. The Awareness Watch Featured Report this month features Prediction Markets.

Best Free Reference Web Sites Combined Index, 1999-2006 RUSA Machine-Assisted Reference Section (MARS)

http://www.ala.org/ala/rusa/rusaourassoc/rusasections/mars/marspubs/MARSBESTIndex.htm

This is an index of the web sites included in the 1999-2006 annual lists issued by the Mars Best of Free Reference Web Sites Committee of the Machine-Assisted Reference Section (MARS) of the Reference and User Services Association (RUSA) of ALA to recognize outstanding reference sites on the World Wide Web.

British Oceanographic Data Centre: BODC

http://www.bodc.ac.uk/

Mentioned in issue 9 of this Newsletter, this is now the correct address for the BODC. The BODC produce various thing such as the United Kingdom Digital Marine Atlas (UKDMAP) and the GEBCO Digital Atlas (GDA), and also provide some Web Services

Business Podcast Directory

http://www.ibizradio.com/

Business Podcast Directory organized by subject.

Careers in Audit

http://www.careersinaudit.com/

Careers in Audit is a specialist site offering hundreds of careers within the audit industry.

CiteBite

http://citebite.com/

This is a useful service.

Paste a chunk of text and the URL of the page containing the text and in return get a link that opens directly to your selection and highlights it.

ConnectViaBook

http://www.connectviabooks.com/

“Using the website is easy: You start by creating a list of books you like. Using this list the site will introduce you to discussions you may want to engage in as well as other members you may want to connect with.”

Design Manual for Roads and Bridges

http://www.standardsforhighways.co.uk/dmrb/index.htm

The Design Manual for Roads and Bridges is available here on a series of Adobe Acrobat Portable Document Format (PDF) files.

Developing the UK’s e-infrastructure for science and innovation

http://www.nesc.ac.uk/documents/OSI/index.html

Produced by the Office of Science and Innovation (OSI) e-Infrastructure Working Group, the report - Developing the UK’s e-infrastructure for science and innovation - sets out the requirements for a national e-infrastructure to help ensure the UK maintains and indeed enhances its global standing in science and innovation in an increasingly competitive world.

Made up of senior representatives from JISC (Joint Information Systems Committee), the Research Councils, RIN (Research Information Network) and the British Library, the Working Group was formed in response to the Science and Innovation Investment Framework 2004-2014, published by the Treasury, the DTI and the DfES in 2004, to explore the current provision of the UK’s e-infrastructure and help define its future development.

dgCommunities

http://topics.developmentgateway.org/

dgCommunities is a collaborative space for professionals working to reduce poverty and promote sustainable development worldwide. Share knowledge, tools, contacts, and more with members in 200 countries. Each online community is centered on specific themes and guided by experts in the field. Thousands of information resource links are included, plus valuable member services.

DNV Exchange

http://exchange.dnv.com/

“DNV Exchange is the DNV Maritime interface to acquire both fully updated specific information relative to your business relationship with DNV, as well as a source of general information from DNV.

Updated every day, DNV Exchange provides client access to vessel specific survey status, documents and other services, publications and tools based on the type of subscription.”

East Lothian Council

http://www.eastlothian.gov.uk/content/

A local government site which is full of useful information.

Educational feeds directory

http://www.educational-feeds.com/

RSS feeds in education.

Environmental Research

http://environmentalresearchweb.org/

A portal from the Institute of Physics.

European Union Centers of Excellence: EUCE

http://www.unc.edu/euce/

The group is dedicated to advancing the study of the European Union.

Find A Masters

http://www.findamasters.com/

Postgraduate masters degrees from the UK and Ireland.

Freeload Press

http://www.freeloadpress.com/

Freeload Press, Inc. harnesses commercial sponsorship to deliver more affordable course materials.

General Chemistry Online

http://antoine.frostburg.edu/chem/senese/101/index.shtml

Created by Frederick A. Senese, Frostburg State University.

Geology Digimap

http://www.jisc-collections.ac.uk/catalogue/coll_geol_digimap.aspx

Geology Digimap is an EDINA service which delivers geological maps and data to UK Tertiary Education. Geology maps and data from the British Geological Survey (BGS) are available at scales of 1:50,000, 1:250,000 and 1:625,000.

Grid Computation: the Fastest Supercomputer in the World

http://www.csa.com/discoveryguides/grid/review.php

A new, free discovery guide from CSA.

Highlights

http://www.inderscience.com/highlights

The Winter 06/07 issue of Highlights, the free, quarterly newsletter from Inderscience Publishers, is now available. News, free articles, etc.

Histpop - The Online Historical Population Reports Website

http://www.histpop.org.uk/

The Online Historical Population Reports (OHPR) collection provides online access to the complete British population reports for Britain and Ireland from 1801 to 1937.

HUMAINE (Human-Machine Interaction Network on Emotion)

http://emotion-research.net/

HUMAINE aims to lay the foundations for European development of systems that can register, model and/or influence human emotional and emotion-related states and processes - 'emotion-oriented systems'. Such systems may be central to future interfaces, but their conceptual underpinnings are not sufficiently advanced to be sure of their real potential or the best way to develop them. One of the reasons is that relevant knowledge is dispersed across many disciplines. HUMAINE brings together leading experts from the key disciplines in a programme designed to achieve intellectual integration.

iHOP - Information Hyperlinked over Proteins

http://www.ihop-net.org/

“A network of concurring genes and proteins extends through the scientific literature touching on phenotypes, pathologies and gene function. iHOP provides this network as a natural way of accessing millions of PubMed abstracts. By using genes and proteins as hyperlinks between sentences and abstracts, the information in PubMed can be converted into one navigable resource, bringing all advantages of the internet to scientific literature research.”

Information Research

http://informationr.net/ir/

Volume 12 No. 2 of Information Research is now available.

Information Research, is an open access, international, scholarly journal, dedicated to making accessible the results of research across a wide range of information-related disciplines.

Informing Science Institute

http://informingscience.org/

“All our publications are available free online to everyone regardless of membership status.”

Infoteach

http://www.infoteach.org/wiki/index.php/Main_Page

“Infoteach is intended to be a dynamic information base on teaching and learning in a library or information context. Originally developed as part of a UK National Teaching Fellowship project, the aim of Infoteach is to play a part in enabling librarians and information workers, in every sector, to be competent teachers and facilitators of learning. Infoteach is not about Information Literacy or Information Skills - it is about the teaching of these things.”

International Journal of Design

http://www.ijdesign.org/ojs/index.php/IJDesign/

International Journal of Design (ISSN 1991-3761) is a peer-reviewed journal devoted to publishing research papers in all fields of design, including industrial design, visual communication design, interface design, animation and game design, architectural design, urban design, and other design related fields.

International Journal of Design is available free of charge as an Open Access journal.

International Journal of Education Policy and Leadership

http://journals.sfu.ca/ijepl/index.php/ijepl

International Journal of Education Policy and Leadership is a refereed electronic journal dedicated to enriching the education policy and leadership knowledge base, and promoting exploration and analysis of policy alternatives.

International Journal of Education Policy and Leadership is available free of charge as an Open Access journal on the Internet.

International Journal of Environment and Health

http://www.inderscience.com/browse/index.php

A new journal.

The IJEnvH is a fully-refereed scientific journal that provides an international forum for the exchange of information and the advancement of knowledge in the multidisciplinary field of Environment and Health. The aim of the IJEnvH is to stimulate the discussion and communication among scientists, researchers and experts with different background and expertise, involved, at different levels, with the study of environment and health problems.

International Journal of Information and Computer Security

http://www.inderscience.com/browse/ijics

A new journal.

The IJICS aims to promote and coordinate developments of information and computer security in the fields of information technology, political science, informatics, sociology, engineering and science. IJICS publishes papers representing synergy between theory and practices to help policy makers and executives manage information and computer security and its related technologies.

Internet Librarian International 2007: Calls for Speakers

http://www.internet-librarian.com/CallForSpeakers.shtml

Information Today invites proposals for presentations at Internet Librarian International 2007: New Realities, Roles and Resources, taking place at Copthorne Tara Hotel, London, UK on 8 - 9 October 2007.

“We are looking for a mix of papers for conference sessions, workshops and short tutorials. Our emphasis is on the practical rather than theoretical. We are seeking case studies and proposals about initiatives in your organisation, not product pitches or overviews.”

Issues in Science and Technology Librarianship

http://www.istl.org/07-winter/index.html

The Winter 2007 issue of Issues in Science and Technology Librarianship is now available.

Journal of Information Literacy

http://www.informationliteracy.org.uk/JIL.aspx

JIL is an international, peer-reviewed, academic journal that aims to investigate Information Literacy (IL) within a wide range of settings. Papers on any topic related to the practical, technological or philosophical issues raised by the attempt to increase information literacy throughout society are encouraged. JIL is published in electronic format only and is an open-access title.

Journal of Networks

http://www.academypublisher.com/jnw/

Journal of Networks (JNW) is a scholarly peer-reviewed international scientific journal published monthly, focusing on theories, methods, and applications in networks. It provide a high profile, leading edge forum for academic researchers, industrial professionals, engineers, consultants, managers, educators and policy makers working in the field to contribute and disseminate innovative new work on networks.

Journal of Networks is available free of charge as an Open Access journal on the Internet.

Journal of Software

http://www.academypublisher.com/jsw/

Journal of Software (JSW) is a scholarly peer-reviewed international scientific journal focusing on theories, methods, and applications in software. It provide a high profile, leading edge forum for academic researchers, industrial professionals, engineers, consultants, managers, educators and policy makers working in the field to contribute and disseminate innovative new work on software.

Journal of Software is available free of charge as an Open Access journal on the Internet.

Knowledge Exchange

http://www.knowledge-exchange.info/

In 2005, four European organisations signed the collaborative agreement that brought the Knowledge Exchange initiatative into being. Knowledge Exchange is a co-operative effort that intends to support the use and development of ICT infrastructure for higher education and research.

LearnHigher

http://learnhigher.hope.ac.uk/

“As the country’s biggest collaborative HEFCE funded Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL), we are a partnership of 16 Universities and the Higher Education Academy. We are committed to improving student learning through practice led enquiry, building a research base to inform the effective use of Learning Development resources.”

lib-web-cats

http://www.librarytechnology.org/lwc-search-advanced.pl

Library Web pages, online catalogs, and profiles. A directory of libraries worldwide.

Life of the Party: Social Web Browsers

http://www.freepint.com/issues/150207.htm#feature

An article in Free Pint, by Stephanie Taylor.

MetaGlossary

http://www.MetaGlossary.com/

“MetaGlossary harvests definitions from the entire web, the world's largest, constantly-updated repository of information. Hence, it surpasses traditional dictionaries, which grow more out of date with each passing day. MetaGlossary is as dynamic as the web, offering the most current information out there on the most contemporary topics.

However, unlike other search engines, MetaGlossary is able to precisely extract the meanings of terms and phrases from the often frustratingly unmanageable mass of information on the web. It provides you with concise, direct explanations for terms and phrases, not just endless links to sift through in search of a comprehensive definition.“

MIT OpenCourseWare

http://ocw.mit.edu/index.html

A free and open educational resource (OER) for educators, students, and self-learners around the world.

Modelling of Heterogeneous Materials with Applications in Construction and Biomedical Engineering: MHM 2007

http://mech.fsv.cvut.cz/mhm2007/

25-27 June 2007 in Prague.

Monarch

http://www.monarchrecruitment.co.uk/

Monarch is one of the UK's largest and most successful specialist recruitment consultancies.

Multiphrase

http://www.multiphrase.org/

Audible bilingual books.

NHS Knowledge Management Specialist Library

http://www.library.nhs.uk/knowledgemanagement/

The aim of this site is to provide the best available evidence and practical examples of health professionals successfully sharing and applying knowledge and experience to their daily activities.

Online Academic Advisor

http://www.OnlineAcademicAdvisor.com/

The Online Academic Advisor is a community portal for students and academics to promote academic discussion and socializing.

Open Archives Initiative -Object Reuse and Exchange

http://www.openarchives.org/ore/

ORE will develop specifications that allow distributed repositories to exchange information about their constituent digital objects. These specifications will include approaches for representing digital objects and repository services that facilitate access and ingest of these representations. The specifications will enable a new generation of cross-repository services that leverage the intrinsic value of digital objects beyond the borders of hosting repositories.

Oxford Scholarship Online

http://www.oxfordscholarship.com/oso/public/index.html

Oxford Scholarship Online is a cross-searchable library containing the full text of over 1,200 Oxford books in the areas of Economics and Finance, Philosophy, Political Science, and Religion. Specially-commissioned abstracts and keywords are available at book and chapter level, and up to 200 new and recently-published books are added each year.

Paperless Myth: Rumours of Paper's Demise Have Been Greatly Exaggerated

http://www.freepint.com/issues/010207.htm#feature

An article in Free Pint, by Ulla de Stricker.

Payment of publication fees

http://www.rin.ac.uk/files/Briefing%20Note%201%20-%20Payment%20of%20Publication%20Fees.pdf

The RIN has published a briefing note to provide background guidance on the payment, by research funders and/or universities, of publication fees for journal articles.

Pipes

http://pipes.yahoo.com/

Pipes is an interactive feed aggregator and manipulator.

Pipes is a free online service that lets you remix popular feed types and create data mashups using a visual editor. You can use Pipes to run your own web projects, or publish and share your own web services without ever having to write a line of code.

prestonpans.com

http://www.prestonpans.com/

“This is the partner website to the prestonpans.com community newsletter. It is hoped that the website will continue to be community owned and managed and would encourage any local people who are interested in the local life of Prestonpans. This web site is a snapshot of some of the events which are going on in and around Prestonpans. If your local club or group has an event planned or wishes to be represented on this website, then please contact us to find out how you can add your details to this website.”

Publish or Perish: Afterlife of a Published Article

http://www.csa.com/discoveryguides/publish/review.php

A new, free discovery guide from CSA.

Referencing

http://www.learnhigher.org.uk/site/index.php

The LearnHigher information site on academic referencing is aimed primarily at students studying for UK higher education awards at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. It will also be of interest to members of staff or researchers at institutions of higher education, as it contains a discussion and research section on referencing issues.

RIBA Bookshops

http://www.ribabookshops.com/

The latest and best books on architecture, design and construction.

Slightly Foxed

http://www.foxedquarterly.com/

The lively quarterly book review for non-conformists – people who don’t want to read only what the big publishers are hyping and the newspapers are reviewing.

Spanish-test.net

http://www.spanish-test.net/

The language assessment test by spanish-test.net has been created according to the European Framework of Reference for Languages. It provides a method to determine your Spanish skills.

Stargate Static Repository Gateway for small publishers

http://stargate.cdlr.strath.ac.uk/gateway/

This service improves access to the output of small publishers by allowing their bibliographic records to be distributed to union catalogues and other metadata aggregation services.

Structurae

http://en.structurae.de/index.cfm

“This site offers you information on works of structural engineering, architecture or construction through time, history and from around the world. Our documentation begins at the time of the pyramids in Egypt and Roman construction, continues to Romanesque and Gothic churches and through to the Industrial Revolution all the way to today and beyond. Structurae deals mostly with bridges, tunnels, dams, skyscrapers, stadiums, towers, etc. “

In addition, a good set of links to Engineering, Architecture & Construction sites is available.

StructuralWiki,

http://www.bridgeart.net/wiki/Main_Page

“The main goal of StructuralWiki is to develop comprehensive open knowledgebase for civil, structural & bridge engineers, and architects. Based on wiki platform, StructuralWiki is perfectly suited to promote and simplify the exchange of knowledge and experience between professionals.”

Study Science Engineering & Technology Worldwide

http://www.science-engineering.net/

An e-magazine in SET.

Tales from the Terminal Room

http://www.rba.co.uk/tfttr/archives/2007/jan2007.shtml

January 2007, Issue No. 76

Techworld

http://www.techworld.com/

“Techworld has been set up with one aim in mind; that of making the network manager's job easier. Unlike many IT sites, Techworld has been written by people with experience of running networks - people who are only too aware of the technical problems that are thrown up in the course of the working day.”

TechXtra Patents & Standards Search

http://www.techxtra.ac.uk/patents/index.html

The free TechXtra Patents and Standards search is provided in association with GlobalSpec.

The Bookseller

http://www.thebookseller.com/

The Bookseller has redesigned and re-launched its website.

The open-access debate

http://physicsweb.org/articles/world/20/1/4/1

An interesting article from Physics World.

Top 10 Largest Databases in the World

http://www.businessintelligencelowdown.com/2007/02/top_10_largest_.html

An interesting list, from Business Intelligence Lowdown.

UK-ChinaNetwork

http://82.23.131.119/UKChinaNetwork/default.htm

“This network is sponsored by the UK Engineering and Physical Science Research Council and the National Natural Science Foundation of China. It is aimed to establish a wide range of joint research programmes in automation, computing and manufacturing between UK and Chinese universities and research institutes. The initial membership includes 17 UK universities and 32 Chinese universities and research institutes. This network will allow the latest research ideas and theories to be shared for mutual benefits. The network will also support the development of multidisciplinary research programmes in a coherent manner.”

Verbs-online.com

http://www.verbs-online.com/

Improve your skills on verbs in different languages; French, German, Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese verbs.

What is OpenURL?

http://www.serialssolutions.com/alourl01.asp

A nice explanation, from SerialsSolutions.

workinproperty.com

http://www.workinproperty.com/

“workinproperty.com is an Internet job site dedicated to those looking to work in, or recruit for the Property & Construction Industry. It is owned and operated by Workin.com Limited a company established in 2005 with a vision to develop a new wave of interactive, fully automated and secure recruitment websites.”

[Contents] - [ IRN Home Page ] - [HWU Library Home Page] 

NICE WEB SITE

In the course of finding sites of interest for this Newsletter, we sometimes come across Web sites which we feel deserve slightly more than a passing mention. Each month we will pick out one or more such sites, and give them a short review. The sites will normally be UK based, may be small or large, and be of interest or potential interest to academics. After lengthy discussions we have decided, with incredible creativity :-), to call these: Nice Web Sites. Details of previous Nice Web Sites are available in the Nice Web Site Archive.

Citebite
http://citebite.com/

I often list potentially helpful sites in the main section of this newsletter, and then forget about them afterwards, but here's a really useful, simple and helpful site.

As it says at Citebite, "Link directly to quotes in Web pages." That's it - and its really useful! You can paste a selection of text and the URL of the page containing the text, and in return get a link that opens directly to your selection and highlights it.

RM

[Contents] - [ IRN Home Page ] - [HWU Library Home Page] 

BLOGORAMA

News about Blogs, RSS, etc:

You already know what blogs are, but for more information about RSS see the Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RSS_(protocol) or Webopedia http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/R/RSS.html

The Internet Resources Newsletter has an RSS feed (essentially the Table of Contents for each issue): http://www.hw.ac.uk/libwww/irn/irn.rss
To add this RSS feed to any feedreader, go to: http://tinyurl.com/39sg5j

Federal resources for educational excellence - RSS feed
http://www.ed.gov/free/free-rss.xml

RSS
http://standards-catalogue.ukoln.ac.uk/index/RSS
From the JISC Standards Catalogue

UK Recruitment blogs
http://www.ukrecruiter.co.uk/blogs.htm
A one page guide to what UK recruitment bloggers are talking about.  It aggregates blog feeds from a variety of UK bloggers specialising in recruitment and is updated every 30 minutes. 

The best of the blogs
http://education.guardian.co.uk/elearning/story/0,,1985302,00.html
The Edublog awards

The L Files
http://bulibrary.blogspot.com/
A blog from Bond University Library

Top 100 Education Blogs
http://oedb.org/library/features/top-100-education-blogs
From the OEDb

Engineering Podcast Search Engine
http://google.com/coop/cse?cx=012986998404578862421:9fqge3kh0ro

The Blog - Another Tool in Your Arsenal
http://www.llrx.com/features/lawblogarsenal.htm
By Janet Peros. I saw this mentioned in the January TFTTR

FeedBlitz
http://www.feedblitz.com/
A Blog and RSS to Email Service

Library Audio to Go: Podcast
http://www.wpi.edu/Academics/Library/Borrowing/Podcasts/index.html
From George C. Gordon Library - Worcester Polytechnic Institute

How and why to use RSS feeds
http://www.rin.ac.uk/why-subscribe
Helpful tips from James Brown, RIN Communications Officer

What the Heck is RSS?
http://www.copyblogger.com/what-the-heck-is-rss/
From Copyblogger

RSS Does Not Equal Blogs
http://www.rss-specifications.com/rss-does-not-equal-blogs.htm

Educational feeds directory
http://www.educational-feeds.com/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1tvYc9_wZ38&eurl=
Academia 2.0 A further exploration into how technology is changing the way information is relayed in the classroom. Created for KSU Anthropology Department.

This month's selected interesting blogs and RSS feeds

Weblogg-ed
http://weblogg-ed.com/

Nanotechnology World News
http://www.nanotechnologyworld.co.uk/index.php?option=com_rd_rss&id=3

Significant Figures
http://www.sciencetext.com/
From David Bradley, Science Writer, a "Daily Dose of Tips&Tricks, General Gripes, and Major Moans"

Google Librarian Central
http://librariancentral.blogspot.com/

Michael Habib
http://mchabib.com/
On Librarianship and the Information Sciences

IEE News Feed - Manufacturing
http://www.iee.org/oncomms/sector/manufacturing/rss.xml

Process Register
http://www.processregister.com/help/help_rss.asp
ProcessRegister.com offers RSS feeds to monitor new suppliers listed, top search engine referrals and internal Process, Energy and Greater Manufacturing industry searches with links back to ProcessRegister.com for more details.

Maeve's Blog
http://maeverest.blogspot.com/
Maeve Everest is a librarian from Perth, Australia. She posts about new developments and interesting websites she's found.

eContent
http://econtent.typepad.com/econtent/
Technical Knowledge Management Online Resources - Your host: Rich Hoeg

JISC Digitisation Programme Blog
http://jiscdigitisation.typepad.com/

Wiley InterScience Newsletter
http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/aboutus/newsletter/rss/newsletter.xml
This is the feed from their Newsletter, which is available at: http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/aboutus/newsletter/

Facet Publishing
http://www.facetpublishing.blogspot.com/

FreshPatents.com: Notable Patent Applications
http://rss.freshpatents.com/misc/rss_frontpage_picks.xml

The Good Library Blog
http://goodlibraryguide.com/blog/

Wordblog
http://wordblog.co.uk/
Journalism in a changing world

The Editors Weblog
http://www.editorsweblog.org/

Research@UCD Library
http://ucdlibraryresearch.blogspot.com/

MIT OCW RSS Feeds
http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/Global/OCWHelp/rssfeeds.htm
Receive notification of new MIT OCW courses, video, audio or newsletter feature summaries.

The Telegraph Education
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/newsfeed/rss/education.xml

Environmental News Bits
http://lib.wmrc.uiuc.edu/enb/
Browsing over 100 environmental news sources so you don’t have to.

Observatorio de Martinej
http://martinej.wordpress.com/
Sobre ciencia, tecnología, información, documentación, conocimiento.

Searching the Internet
http://www.qdinformation.com/searching/
Advice and tips from Ed Vawter - a series of podcasts.

Spineless?
http://hwlibrary.wordpress.com/
Heriot-Watt Library's blog

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PRESS RELEASES

**** British Library and US Department of Energy to collaborate on global science gateway ****

For more news items in business information products we recommend VIP: http://www.vivavip.com/

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RECENT INTERNET BOOKS IN THE LIBRARY

The Mantex Information Design web site has reviews of some of the books mentioned in previous issues of the Internet Resources Newsletter.

Recent Arrivals

025.04 LAN
Google's PageRank and beyond: The science of search engine rankings
by Amy N Langville and Carl D Meyer
Princeton University Press, 2006

025.04 SAU
Blogging and RSS: A librarian's guide
by Michael P Sauers
Information Today, 2006

A complete list of new books added to Heriot-Watt University Library is available at: http://hw.lib.ed.ac.uk/cgi-bin/newbooks.cgi

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BOOK REVIEW

Digital Literacies for Learning
Martin, A. and Madigan, D.,
Facet Publishing, 2006
ISBN: 978-1-85604-563-6
£39.95

Edited by Allan Martin and Dan Madigan, this book addresses the wide range of skills and competencies required of learners in the digital age. Written by and aimed at information professionals, researchers and educators it expands on the 2003 text “Information and IT Literacy” - co-edited by Martin. This new text takes on the broader concept of digital literacy and what it means for learners, educators supporting professionals.

With input from 25 contributors spanning nine countries (UK, Sweden, France, USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Mexico), the text discusses the multi-faceted nature of digital literacy. Included in this concept are a number of overlapping literacies relevant in the digital age, e.g. ICT, technology, information, media and visual perception.

The book is divided into two main parts over 21 chapters. Part 1 entitled “Literacies for the Digital Age” (chpts 1-11) introduces the idea of the importance of digital literacies to the learning process and to social survival. Also covered in this section are the development of the digital literacy concept and the evolution of virtual learning environments with some useful discussion on e-pedagogy.

Part 2 entitled “Enabling and Supporting Digital Literacies” (chpts 12-21) discusses equipping learners with competencies relevant to digital literacy. Different approaches to, and problems with, this process are given as examples. A variety of scenarios and settings are described, from application of government policy to digital literacy skills training courses. Some of the problems associated with e-learning from both student and teacher perspectives are addressed and the impact of digital literacy on graduate employment is also discussed.

The development of e-learning is covered and the current emphasis on learner participation, identity and relationships in e-learning is placed within its wider setting – both historical and social. The value placed on these social competencies in e-learning is heartening to read about given the tendency of e-learning to isolate the learner from certain other social learning opportunities, e.g. face to face tuition, classroom and lecture hall situations.

Focused on the higher education sector, this book should appeal to those involved in learning at both a strategic and practical level. For librarians, Chapters 4 and 16, covering publishing in the digital age and the information commons, will be of particular interest.

The editors suggest that “digital literacy is about mastering ideas, not keystrokes” (p XXVII). While working examples are given, the book also deals in great part with ideas and concepts (particularly in Part 1) and the language used is often correspondingly conceptual. However, there is a wide variety of writing styles across the 235 pages adding texture to the book.

As the preface suggests this books is “one bite at the apple of making the digital amenable to understanding . . .” (p XXVII). In bringing together contributions from a wide range of professionals from different countries and settings, it offers an important text for anyone wishing to help learners learn successfully in the digital age.

Allan Martin (ed) is Director of the IT Education Unit at the University of Glasgow. Dan Madigan (ed) is Interim Director of Scholarship of Engagement at Bowling Green State University, Ohio.

MK

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GET A LIFE! - LEISURE TIME

Round the World Backpacking
http://www.yearinthelife.org/index.php
This is Steve James' record of his round the world trip. Nice sunburn!

Great Scottish Walk
http://www.greatscottishwalk.com/gsw/
10th June, 2007.

wifi TV
http://wfitv.com/
Provides a FREE selection of the best broadband internet television channels. (over 1400)

Electric Scotland's Calendar of Scottish Events around the world http://www.electricscotland.com/familytree/calendar_help.htm

Have you ever visited Leith? Here are some Leith websites.

Visit Leith
http://www.visitleith.org/
Situated only ten minutes from Edinburgh's city centre, historical Leith is a must for the visitor and tourist. Full of cultural influence and historical architecture yet calm with waterfront serenity.

Ocean Terminal
http://www.oceanterminal.com/
Edinburgh shopping centre

Leith Rules Golf Society
http://www.leith-rules-golf.co.uk/

Leith Festival
http://www.leithfestival.com/
1-10 June 2007.

The story of Leith
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/leith/index.htm

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