From: Catherine Ure [mailto:[log in to unmask]] Sent: Saturday, December 01, 2001 4:52 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Internet Resources Newsletter, Issue 87
INTERNET RESOURCES NEWSLETTER
The free, monthly, non-subscription newsletter for academics,
students,engineers, scientists and social scientists.
ISSN: 1361-9381
Heriot-Watt University Library
Edited by:
Roddy MacLeod ([log in to unmask]),
Catherine Ferguson and Catherine Ure.
View the web version on
http://www.hw.ac.uk/libwww/irn/irn.html
To unsubscribe visit the Internet Resources Newsletter homepage at
http://www.hw.ac.uk/libwww/irn/irn.html
---------------------
ISSUE 87- CONTENTS
COMMENT
Random Quotes
Christmas
Internet Resources Newsletter by email
A-Z NEW AND NOTABLE WEB SITES
Information and reviews of new and recent Web sites
NICE WEB SITE
This month:
Managing Information
PRESS RELEASES
New EEVL service for engineering, mathematics and computing
Free Access to all SAGE Electronic Journals during December 2001
New European Studies section of SOSIG
Oxford adds new dimension to the dissemination and pursuit of knowledge
BOOK REVIEW
Review of: The invisible Web: uncovering information sources search engines
can't see, by Chris Sherman and Gary Price
Review of: Digital Developments in Higher Education: Theory and
Practice, edited by Peter Roberts and Mark Chambers
NETWORK NEWS
BUBL BIDS EEVL SOSIG EDINA
CHEST MIMAS RUDI BIOME ELDIS
Netskills BIZ/ed AHDS JISCmail
Data Archive TASI Chemical Database Service
RECENT INTERNET BOOKS IN THE LIBRARY
MAGiC
If you produce, or hold, engineering technical reports, the MAGiC Project
needs your input.
INTERNET IN PRINT
Industrial Networking and Open Control
Total Guide to Getting more from the Internet
GET A LIFE! LEISURE TIME
-------------------------
COMMENT
Random Quotes
"Britain is bored sick of reading about the web." Independent on Sunday, 4th
November, 2001
Christmas
Christmas will soon be upon us. If any readers of the IRN are looking for a
good cause to donate to, or are looking for Christmas cards, etc, I can
recommend Farm Africa http://www.farmafrica.org.uk/ . Apart from being a
good cause which helps rural African farmers, only 5 per cent of Farm
Africa's income is spent on fundraising.
Online Information 2001
Online Information 2001 will be held from 4-6 December, at Olympia, London.
This is the event for the information industry, with over 16,000 people
expected to attend the exhibition. More information is available at the
Online web site at: http://www.online-information.co.uk/
Internet Resources Newsletter by email
Over 3,000 people now subscribe to the email version of this Newsletter,
which is distributed by Free Pint. To subscribe, at no cost, go to
http://www.hw.ac.uk/libwww/irn/irn.html
-------------
A-Z NEW & NOTABLE WEB SITES
13th EAEEIE Annual Conference on Innovations in Education for Electrical and
Information Engineering (EIE)
http://www.eaeeie.york.ac.uk/
April 8th - 10th, 2002, The Moat House Hotel, York, England.
Organised by: The European Association for Education in Electrical and
Information Engineering (EAEEIE)
----------------
18th National Conference on Manufacturing Research
http://care.ies.lmu.ac.uk/ncmr/page14.htm
10 - 12th September 2002 Leeds Metropolitan University Yorkshire UK.
----------------
6th International Conference on Electronic Publishing: ELPUB2002
http://www.tu-chemnitz.de/elpub02/
Hosted by the Institute for Print and Media Technology of Chemnitz Technical
University, Germany and by the Department for Computer Science and
Engineering, University of West Bohemia in Pilsen, Czech Republic, November
06 - 09th, 2002.
----------------
AllConferences.Net
http://www.allconferences.net/
AllConferences.Net Is a directory focusing on conferences, conventions,
trade shows, exhibits, workshops, events and business meetings.
----------------
Assimilator
http://www.assimilatethe.net/
News headlines from various sources.
----------------
Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers: ALPSP
http://www.alpsp.org/
This site has been mentioned previously in the Internet Resources
Newsletter, but its worth a revisit, as it is continually being enhanced and
updated, and there are plenty useful and interesting links.
----------------
Bioline International
http://www.bioline.org.br/
New address for this service.
Bioline International is a not-for-profit electronic publishing service
committed to providing access to quality research journals published in
developing countries.
----------------
Blogger
http://www.blogger.com/
Blogger offers you instant communication power by letting you post your
thoughts to the web whenever the urge strikes.
Definition of Weblog: "A weblog is, literally, an individual's log of the
web - a diary of web pages to recommend to others." (Source: Guardian
Unlimited )
----------------
Brownfield sites
http://www.brownfieldsites.com/
"Europe's first point of reference on brownfield redevelopment"
----------------
CityOrganiser
http://www.cityorganiser.com/cityorganiser.htm
Travel, airport, hotel information, conferences, events.
----------------
Complete Guide to Web Logs
http://www.lights.com/weblogs/
The intention of this site is to compile as much information as possible
about web-logging.
----------------
Complinet (recruitment)
http://www.complinet.com/recruitment/
New address for a site mentioned in issue 69.
Complinet offers a range of specialist recruitment services centred on its
core Financial Services and Telecoms products.
----------------
Daypop
http://www.daypop.com/
Search 5700 News Sites and Weblogs for Current Events and Breaking News
----------------
Design and Manufacture for Sustainable Development
http://www.liv.ac.uk/sustain/
Conference being held from 27-28 June 2002 University of Liverpool, UK.
----------------
Digital library funders and support
http://www.ceangal.com/diglibs/funding.html
This page consists of a list of organisations that fund, or provide
information about funding for, digital library projects and services in UK
academia.
----------------
Dublin Core Metadata Initiative
http://www.dublincore.org/
The Dublin Core Metadata Initiative is an open forum engaged in the
development of interoperable online metadata standards that support a broad
range of purposes and business models.
----------------
Earthquake Information Network: EQNET
http://www.eqnet.org/
News, events and other information about earthquakes.
----------------
Earthshaper: Civil Engineering Portal
http://www.earthshaper.com/
A collaboration of ASCE and ICE. It is a gateway into the Internet for civil
engineers worldwide.
----------------
E-BioSci
http://www.e-biosci.org/
A European platform for access and retrieval of full text and factual
information in the Life Sciences
----------------
eCriteria
http://www.ecriteria.net/
"eCriteria was created out of the fundamental need to create Web databases
quickly, easily, and affordably. After witnessing the sore disadvantages of
individuals and small businesses that could not afford to build dynamic,
data-driven Web sites, we created eCriteria, a Database Service Provider
(DSP) that brings Web database publishing to the masses-- small business,
non-profit, and e-business communities. eCriteria offers an affordable and
reliable alternative to hiring an expensive third party Web development
team."
----------------
Engineering Education 2002
http://conferences.iee.org/ee2002/
03 January 2002 to 04 January 2002 IEE HQ Savoy Place London.
----------------
Eric Weisstein's World of Mathematics
http://mathworld.wolfram.com/
This site is sponsored by Wolfram Research.
" MathWorld is a comprehensive and interactive mathematics encyclopedia
intended for students, educators, math enthusiasts, and researchers. Like
the vibrant and constantly evolving discipline of mathematics, this site is
continuously updated to include new material and incorporate new
discoveries."
----------------
European Conference or Research Methodology for Business and Management
Studies: ECRM 2002
http://www.mcil.co.uk/2d-ecrm2002.htm
Call for papers.
The European Conference on Research Methodology for Business and Management
Studies (ECRM 2002) is an opportunity for academics to share the latest
thinking on research strategies, tactics and paradigms.
----------------
European Parliament UK Office
http://www.europarl.org.uk/index.htm
News, publications, etc.
----------------
Evolution Exhibitions
http://www.evolutionexhibitions.com
"Evolution Exhibitions is made up of a professional team of designers and
craftsmen dedicated to the creation of custom exhibition stands."
----------------
Faculty of 1000
http://www.facultyof1000.com/start.asp
"A unique service for research scientists that systematically highlights and
evaluates the most interesting papers published in the biological sciences,
based on the recommendations of over 1000 leading researchers."
----------------
Fagan Finder
http://www.fagan.f2s.com/
A free resource for searching, research, etc., containing many sections such
as news, advanced reference, biographies, science, government, shopping,
software, etc.
----------------
FantaSearch
http://www.fantasearch.com/
A search and directory service.
----------------
Flying Sites
http://www.flyingsites.co.uk/
"The R/C Aero Portal"
----------------
Free Access to all SAGE Electronic Journals during November and December
2001
http://www.sagepub.co.uk/freeaccess
SAGE Publications is providing free access via ingenta to over 250
electronic journals during the months of November and December 2001. This
includes full text files for the 2001 subscription year, as well as back
files for 2000 and 1999 where available.
----------------
Free images
http://www.freeimages.co.uk/
"Free images is a high quality resource of digital stock photographic images
for use by all. All images are free to use on websites and printed
materials, Terms Apply"
----------------
Global University Alliance
http://www.gua.com/
GUA is an alliance of prestigious universities. They offer students from
around the world an extensive portfolio of higher education awards by means
of the Internet.
----------------
Globeroom
http://www.globeroom.com/
"Newsletters, expert advice, inspirational articles and interesting
discussion groups. Globeroom guides you to better work and life. Join
thousands of young professionals in the Globeroom community today!"
----------------
High Energy Physics Libraries Webzine
http://library.cern.ch/HEPLW/5/index.html
Issue 5 / November 2001 is now available.
----------------
Indonetwork
http://www.indonetwork.org/
Trade information and tool based in for manufacturers, importers, exporters,
distributors, agents, wholesalers, retailers, associations, governmental
bodies and all other trade-related parties.
----------------
InfoJukebox
http://www.infojukebox.com
Currently compatible only with Microsoft Windows / Internet Explorer 5.0 and
higher. Requires downloading (I haven't attempted this yet)
----------------
International Chemical Information Conference
http://www.infonortics.com/chemical/
Details of past and future conferences.
----------------
Internet Course Finders
http://www.internet-course-finder.com/
This site offers free access to information about MBA courses, e-learning
courses, aviation training centres, etc., in many countries.
----------------
Journal of Environmental Engineering and Science
http://www.nrc.ca/cgi-bin/cisti/journals/rp/rp2_desc_e?jees
"This new NRC Journal will provide an effective forum for the dissemination
of environmental research, encouraging interdisciplinary research
collaboration to address the multi-faceted nature of environmental problems.
It will address all aspects of environmental engineering and applied
environmental science."
----------------
Journal of Information Law & Technology (e-journal)
http://elj.warwick.ac.uk/jilt/01-3/
2001 issue 3 is now available.
----------------
Jumpstation Geo
http://www.ccge.org/geosources/jumpstn.htm
Links to geography web sites.
----------------
just35.com
http://www.just35.com/
A directory which charges subscriptions to those sites wanting to be listed.
----------------
knovel
http://www.knovel.com/
knovel is an on-line collection of 250+ interactive engineering and
scientific handbooks and databases from publishers like McGraw-Hill, CRC
Press, Plastics Design Library, Industrial Press, Kluwer Academic
Publishers, Butterworth-Heinemann, Noyes/William Andrew Publishing and
others.
----------------
Law Dictionaries
http://LawDictionaries.com/
LawDictionaries.com features free online law dictionaries, translation
interfaces and other useful tools.
----------------
mad.co.uk
http://www.mad.co.uk/
The online community for marketing, media, new media, advertising and design
----------------
Managing Information
http://www.managinginformation.com/
This is the new site for Aslib's monthly journal Managing Information.
Managing Information is an important magazine for information managers
worldwide. It includes quality features along with news and reviews. Amongst
its features, the Web site offers a daily news feed covering industrial,
legal, financial, education, museums, public, voluntary sector,
pharmaceutical, copyright, patents, trademarks, knowledge management, data
protection, freedom of information, intellectual property, taxonomy and
customer care.
ManagingInformation.com will soon be starting a free weekly email newsletter
with the latest news stories, event listings, employment vacancies etc.
----------------
Marketing Library and Information Services
http://www.freepint.com/issues/011101.htm#feature
An article in the popular newsletter Free Pint, by Sheila Webber
----------------
Marketing Terms.com
http://www.marketingterms.com/
Internet Marketing Dictionary
----------------
Mine of Information
http://www.mineofinfo.ac.uk/
Mine of Information is a cross-sectoral project led by the University of
Wales Swansea and funded by the Research Support Libraries Programme. It
aims to improve access to research resources relating to the South Wales
Coalfield by creating online catalogue records for archives and printed
books located in partner institutions, holding the records in EAD and MARC
databases at the University of Wales Swansea, and enabling cross-searching
of these by the end-user via the Web.
----------------
NetLab Conference
http://www.lub.lu.se/netlab/conf/
NetLab and friends Tribute and outlook after 10 years of digital library
development.
NetLab celebrates its 10 years anniversary with a conference that will take
place 10th - 12th of April 2002 in Lund, Sweden.
----------------
Network for Good
http://www.networkforgood.org/
"Network for Good, an independent, 501(c)(3) organization, was founded by
the AOL Time Warner Foundation and AOL, Inc.; the Cisco Foundation and Cisco
Systems, Inc.; and Yahoo! Inc., in partnership with over 20 nonprofit
foundations and associations who share the desire to foster the informed use
of the Internet for civic participation and philanthropy. The Website
aggregates content and resources from these leaders, organizes them and
makes them available in one comprehensive, easy-to-use destination, which
also helps to expand the reach, effectiveness and pervasiveness of all of
Network for Good's nonprofit partners."
----------------
Optics2001
http://www.optics2001.com/
Links to optics web resources.
----------------
Perseus
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/
"Perseus is an evolving digital library, engineering interactions through
time, space, and language."
Perseus is a non-profit enterprise, located in the Department of the
Classics, Tufts University.
----------------
PhysicsWeb Resources
http://physicsweb.org/resources/
This seems to have replaced the service previously known as 'The Internet
Pilot to Physics: TIPTOP'
----------------
Portal Webliography
http://www.infomotions.com/portals/
The purpose of the webliography is to collect, organize, and disseminate
pointers to information and examples of user-driven and customizable
interfaces to sets of Internet resources -- portals. Pointers to Internet
directories or search engines that are not user-driven and/or customizable
are not included here.
----------------
PULMANweb
http://www.pulmanweb.org/
Europe's Network of Excellence for Libraries, Museums and Archives.
"Europe's public libraries and cultural organisations have a vital role to
play in the development of an e-Europe. The PULMAN Network will stimulate
and promote sharing of policies and practices for the digital era, in public
libraries and cultural organisations which operate at local and regional
level."
----------------
Revelation
http://www.is.bham.ac.uk/rslp/revelation.htm
Revelation will address a stated RSLP priority area. The purpose of the
project is indeed to extend the concept of the distributed national research
library resource by a programme to enhance awareness of and access to the
most substantial higher education and other collections for research into
19th and 20th century church history and Christian theology.
----------------
Royal Horticultural Society
http://www.rhs.org.uk/
"From its foundation in 1804, the Royal Horticultural Society has grown to
be the world's leading horticultural organisation. We at the Society
continue our commitment to gardeners through inspirational flower shows,
gardens, and over 1,000 lectures and demonstrations making sure they are
easy to access throughout the UK."
----------------
Schmidt Periodicals GmbH & Periodicals Service Company
http://www.backsets.com/index.htm
Specialists in the purchase and supply of reprints, backsets, back volumes
and back issues of out-of-print journals, periodicals, reference works and
serials.
----------------
Syndic8.com
http://www.syndic8.com/
A community-driven effort to gather syndicated news headlines.
----------------
Thomson Mergers
http://www.thomsonmergers.com/
Commercial service giving information on mergers and acquisitions
----------------
UK 2002 - The Official Yearbook of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Northern Ireland
http://www.statistics.gov.uk/statbase/Product.asp?vlnk=5703&More=N
The definitive overview of the UK in text, figures, tables, maps, charts and
(hardcopy only) colour photographs. Formerly known as the Britain Yearbook.
The yearbook is available for download, at no cost.
----------------
UK Wind Engineering Society
http://www.homeusers.prestel.co.uk/gaylard/WES/
The aim of the UK Wind Engineering Society is to promote cooperation in the
advancement and application of knowledge in all aspects of wind engineering.
----------------
UKAIS 2002
http://www.lmu.ac.uk/ies/ukais/
Conference on Information Systems at Leeds Metropolitan University, 10th -
12th April 2002.
"The host for the 2002 conference is the School of Information Management,
Leeds Metropolitan University. This conference is the premiere event in the
Information Systems calendar within the UK and attracts leading academics
and researchers from the UK and overseas."
----------------
Untangling The Web For Health Professionals
http://www.freepint.com/issues/151101.htm#feature
Article in a recent issue of the popular Free Pint newsletter, by Alison
Turner
----------------
US National Virtual Observatory
http://www.us-vo.org/
Astronomers from 17 research institutions have announced that they're
starting an ambitious new project to put the universe online.
----------------
Wales 1801-1919
http://www.wales1801-1919.ac.uk/
A joint project between the Welsh Higher Education sector and the National
Library of Wales.
The project will realize the uncompleted aim of the 'Nineteenth Century
Short Title Catalogue'.
----------------
Web English Teacher
http://www.webenglishteacher.com/
"Web English Teacher presents the best of online English/Language Arts
teaching resources: lesson plans, WebQuests, videos, biography, e-texts,
criticism, jokes, puzzles, and classroom activities."
----------------
webOrator
http://www.weborator.com/
webOrator is a Public Limited Company based in Windsor, Berkshire and listed
on the Ofex Stock Exchange. It's a business to business information service
online. It includes SearchOrator, a structured and refined search tool that
uses key words for products &/or service type, geography, World Markets (eg:
Engineering) and Trade Centres (e.g: Automotive).
----------------
Zeus Collective
http://www.zeuscollective.com/
The Zeus Collective is a search engine that only has listings of
highly-organized link directories
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.
Sites that particularly impressed me this month include All Conference,and
Eric Weisstein's World of Mathematics, but this month's Nice Web Site is:
Managing Information
http://www.managinginformation.com/
This is the new site for Aslib's monthly journal Managing Information, and a
lot of work has obviously gone in to its design and development. For the
information professional, this is a valuable site which should be revisited
regularly. Included are reviews, an events diary, lots of news, and more.
The blue text on a grey background is not always easy to read, however.
Altogether, a Nice Web Site!
Roddy MacLeod
PRESS RELEASES
**** Completely new EEVL service now available ****
The new EEVL service, aimed at those interested in finding information in
engineering, mathematics and computing, is now available at www.eevl.ac.uk
EEVL provides access to quality engineering, mathematics and computing
information resources and is the focal point for online access to
information in these subject areas. EEVL is an award winning, free service,
created and run by a team of information specialists from a number of
universities and institutions in the UK. It is part of the Resource
Discovery Network (RDN), and currently gets around 35,000 visitors each
month. It is funded by JISC (the Joint Information Systems Committee).
The new service covers Mathematics and Computing, as well as Engineering. An
attractive new design with several extra features is now available. The new
service allows cross-searching of a catalogue of over 8,000 quality-assured
Internet resources in all three subject areas, along with a search engine
which searches the full text of web sites included in the catalogue.
Catalogue search results are ranked so that the best records appear first.
In addition there are searchable and browsable sections for each subject.
Numerous other services are also available, such as Web tutorials, the
Recent Advances in Manufacturing bibliographic database, an Offshore
Engineering Information Service, an Engineering E-journal Search Engine,
links to Literature Searching, Current Awareness and Jobs & Recruitment
sites, etc.
The new EEVL service facilitates access to Internet resources such as
e-journals, databases, training materials, professional societies,
university and college departments, research projects, bibliographic
databases, software, information services and recruitment agencies, for
students, staff and researchers in higher and further education, and anyone
else working, studying or looking for information in Engineering,
Mathematics and Computing.
Although the new service has been completely redesigned to allow easy access
to all subjects, it works in a similar way to the old EEVL service which
covered only engineering, so regular users should find it easy to become
familiar with the new site.
EEVL is a collaborative service run and hosted by Heriot-Watt University,
who also produce the Engineering section, in partnership with Cranfield
University (Aerospace & Defence section of Engineering), the University of
Birmingham (MathGate) and the University of Ulster (Computing). The
Nottingham Trent University, Imperial College of Science, Technology and
Medicine, University of Sheffield and LTSN Maths, Stats and OR Network also
contribute to the service.
Leaflets for the new service are available from the address below.
For more information, contact
Roddy MacLeod, EEVL Manager, Heriot-Watt University:
[log in to unmask] 0131 451 3576
November 2001
**** Free Access to all SAGE Electronic Journals during November and
December 2001 ****
SAGE Publications is providing free access via ingenta to over 250
electronic journals during the months of November and December 2001. This
includes full text files for the 2001 subscription year, as well as back
files for 2000 and 1999 where available.
If you already have an account with an ingenta, access will automatically be
available to all SAGE's journals at no charge during these two months.
If you do not have an ingenta account, then simply register with ingenta at
their website: www.ingenta.com.
Access will then be available to all SAGE's journals at no charge, direct
from the relevant journal page on this website.
List of SAGE Publications journals available electronically via ingenta
**** New European Studies section of SOSIG ****
SOSIG is pleased to announce a new section dedicated to European Studies is
now available.
The new EuroStudies gateway will provide access to Internet resources about
Europe as a region, ranging from issues of international security to the
introduction of the Euro. In addition, it will cover information provided by
individual European countries, with a particular emphasis on those located
in Central and Eastern Europe, which are generally under-represented on the
Web.
A team of subject information specialists based at Information Services at
the University of Birmingham is responsible for the content for the new
EuroStudies gateway. They will be working closely with researchers based at
the University's Centre for Environmental Research and Training (CERT) and
the new European Research Institute (ERI) which brings together major
research areas in Europe such as the Centre for Russian and East European
Studies (CREES) and the Institute of German Studies (IGS).
EuroStudies will be significantly developing over the next few months, some
of the plans in place include:
Introduction of information about particular regions
Introduction of subject level headings within country or region sections
To access the new gateway, go to:
http://www.sosig.ac.uk/eurostudies/
If you have any feedback about the new gateway please contact Tracy Kent
[log in to unmask] or Debra Hiom [log in to unmask]
**** Oxford adds new dimension to the dissemination and pursuit of knowledge
***
Finding answers to tricky questions in Oxford s famous reference works will
soon take just seconds. In March 2002 Oxford University Press will publish
its core language and subject reference dictionaries online for the first
time. A two-year collaborative project between OUP Oxford and OUP New York
will make 100 titles available as a subscription service to academic,
corporate, and specialist libraries, schools, colleges, universities,
businesses, and government offices around the world - from San Francisco to
Sydney.
Oxford Reference Online: The Core Collection comprises well over one million
dictionary definitions, facts, figures, people, places, sayings, and dates
from 100 of Oxford s central English and bilingual dictionaries, usage,
quotations, and subject reference books all combined to create one
integrated knowledge resource.
A key benefit of the service will be regular updating from Oxford s
extensive programme of new references and regular new editions of works on
core subjects. With around 30 new and revised works due between now and 2004
on subjects such as statistics, tourism, sport, archaeology, and business,
expanding a reference collection and keeping it up to date will be quicker
and simpler than ever before. It will also be safer. With so much unchecked
information on the internet, the fact that every Oxford reference work is
written by experts and extensively checked for quality before publication,
will be an additional reason to Ask Oxford .
The initiative to put Oxford s reference texts online has already meant the
digitization of tens of millions of words, and the complex and extensive
restructuring and tagging of texts. From Aalenian in the Dictionary of
Earth Sciences to ZZ Ceti star in the Dictionary of Astronomy, material
equivalent to over 60,000 book pages is being turned into more than more
500Mb of data. This will be delivered using extensive innovations in
functionality on a site created to be attractive and easy to use.
For more information
Visit the ORO web-site at www.oxfordreference.com
BOOK REVIEW
Review of:
The invisible Web: uncovering information sources search engines can't see
Chris Sherman and Gary Price
Information Today, 2001
ISBN 0 910965 51x
$29.95
Web: http://www.invisible-web.net/
Chris Sherman is the Associate Editor of SearchEngineWatch.com, and Gary
Price writes The Virtual Acquisition Shelf. Both authors contribute to other
publications and are well-known in the information world. Together, they
have written what I consider to be the best book on the Internet I've read
all year.
We are all coming, gradually, to realise that even the most powerful search
engines such as Google or AllTheWeb do not index a large proportion of the
information available on the Web. There is a number of reasons for this.
Some Web sites prevent search engines from gathering data about their pages,
others require registration before access is granted and effectively exclude
the robots that gather information for the search engines. Others use
database technologies or file types or dynamically generated content which
search engines cannot always access. Effectively, millions of resources are
hidden from the search engines and are therefore invisible to them. Hence
the title of this book which attempts to map those parts of the Web that
search engines can't reach.
Is the invisible Web important? Definitely! Much excellent high quality
information exists outwith the reach of the popular search engines. Having
said that, as Sherman and Price advise, it is best to use invisible Web
resources in conjunction with general Web indexes and rely completely on
neither one nor the other.
The Invisible Web is designed to fit the needs both of those with less
search experience and also those who might be termed advanced searchers. To
fully understand the concept of the invisible Web it is best to read all of
ths book, but experienced searchers might want to skip the first two
chapters which trace the development of the Internet and look at search
engines and directories, and jump to Chapter 3 which analyses specialised
search tools such as targeted directories, focused crawlers (which use
search engine methods to find and index pages in a particular subject area),
vertical portals (often these combine a targeted directory and a focused
crawler in one subject area), metasearch engines, value added search
services, Web rings and such like.
The following chapters give an insight into exactly what the invisible web
is and why it is invisible to search engines. Advice is given on how to
decide when to search the visible or invisible Web, why both are important,
and what is available. A set of case studies on information seeking make up
Chapter 7 and this is followed by an interesting chapter on the future of
the invisible Web.
The rest of the book consists of a directory of over 1000 quality resources
that provide access to the invisible Web. Not all of these deal exclusively
with 'invisible' material, and many have both visible and invisible
portions. Most are free. The directory is arranged alphabetically by
subject, and covers over 250 pages. Here you will find descriptions of some
of the best sites on the Web. A Web version is available at:
http://www.invisible-web.net/ .
Why do I think this is such a good book? Well, it is written in a clear
style, its authors are very well informed and the subject they have chosen
is an important one, and it is full of useful information, but above all,
because it provides an insight into Internet life and information beyond
those popular search engines on which many of us have become over-reliant.
The Forward, by Danny Sullivan, could have been beter proof-read as a couple
of paragraphs are repeated, and there might have been more about the
'Proprietary Web' and traditional online databases. For the average users
the book is possibly a little too detailed. However, these are minor
quibbles about a work which is essential reading for information
professionals, librarians, and those who spend too much of their time
searching the Internet.
R.M.
Review of:
Digital Developments in Higher Education: Theory and Practice
Edited by Peter Roberts and Mark Chambers
Taylor Graham Publishing
ISBN: 0947568786
#30
"Emerging digital technologies provide both opportunities and challenges for
academics, students, administrators and others involved in higher
education."
"Experts from around the world who are deeply involved in these evolving
educational processes distil here their experience, in a volume designed to
provide direct insights for all who are facing up to the new challenges
posed for teaching and research"
This book examines, through a series of academic essays, the debates which
are raging within the higher education sector about the implications of the
rapid changes taking place in education. Virtual universities, interactive
course work, the ability to communicate with anyone, anywhere in the world,
anytime, all provide the opportunity for a radical shift in the way
education is delivered, and the relationship between students and their
teachers.
At the same time, there are also many challenges which are discussed, such
as profit driven "virtual universities" driving down academic standards, and
bad, or unimaginative use of technology, which can be worse than useless in
driving forward education.
This book examines both the theoretical and practical issues in digital
developments in higher education. It is written in a highly academic tone
(by experts in the field), which I have to admit in some places left a mere
librarian floundering in places! However the issues being debated are
fascinating, and the scale of the "opportunities and challenges" is made
excitingly, or frighteningly clear depending on your viewpoint.
One strong point of the book is the broadness of the argument. Education is
not seen as something separate, boxed off from reality, but as a part of the
world around it. The debates discuss the social, cultural, and market forces
which impact on education, and in turn are impacted on by it. Corporate
capitalism, globalisation, standardisation and Aristotle all figure in the
discussions, making it a wide ranging, highly engaging book.
Cath Ferguson
NETWORK NEWS
DNER News
The Distributed National Electronic Resource (DNER) is a managed environment
for accessing quality assured information resources on the Internet which
are available from many sources.
http://www.jisc.ac.uk/dner/information/news/index.html
----------------
NISS News
A week-by-week listing of new information resources on the NISS (National
Information Services and Systems) Information Gateway selected by experts in
the subject area is available at:
http://www.niss.ac.uk/welcome/whatsnew.html
----------------
BUBL News
BUBL has retained a strong library element, but now provides a subject-based
service to the academic and research community more generally, this via the
BUBL LINK Subject Tree. The latest news from BUBL is available at:
http://bubl.ac.uk/news/
The latest updates to the BUBL LINK / 5:15 Catalogue of Internet Resources
are available at:
http://bubl.ac.uk/link/updates/current.html
----------------
EEVL News
The latest Additions to EEVL, The Hub for Engineering, Mathematics and
Computing, are available at:
http://www.eevl.ac.uk:4321/whatsnew/
----------------
SOSIG News
The latest additions to SOSIG (Social Science Information Gateway) are
available at:
http://sosig.esrc.bris.ac.uk/roads/whats-new.html
----------------
EDINA Newsline
The latest issue of Edina (Edinburgh Data & INformation Access) Newsline can
be found at:
http://edina.ed.ac.uk/newsline/
----------------
CHEST News
CHEST aims to obtain quality commercial software, datasets, training
materials and other IT products for the Education and Research Community at
low prices and attractive licence terms. The latest news from CHEST is
available at:
http://www.chest.ac.uk/news.html
----------------
MIMAS News
MIMAS is a JISC-supported national data centre run by Manchester Computing,
at the University of Manchester, to provide the following range of services
to the academic community:
Flexible on-line access to strategic research and teaching datasets.
Access to key bibliographic information.
Access to specialist support and training.
Access to software packages and large-scale computing resources.
The latest news from MIMAS can be found at:
http://www.mimas.ac.uk/news.html
----------------
New on RUDI
RUDI (Resource for Urban Design Information) is a multimedia information
resource for research and teaching in the field of urban design in the
Western cultural context. The latest news from RUDI can be found at:
http://www.rudi.net/
----------------
BIOME News
BIOME is a collection of gateways which provide access to evaluated, quality
Internet resources in the health and life sciences, aimed at students,
researchers, academics and practitioners. The latest news from BIOME can be
found at:
http://biome.ac.uk/whatsnew/
----------------
Netskills: News
Netskills aims to help the UK HE community make effective use of the
Internet for teaching, research and administration. The latest news from
Netskills can be found at:
http://www.netskills.ac.uk/news/
----------------
What's new on Eldis
Electronic Development and Environment Information System. A gateway to
information sources on development or the environment. What's new on Eldis
can be found at:
http://nt1.ids.ac.uk/eldis/wnew.htm
----------------
What's New on Biz/ed
Biz/ed is a dedicated business and economics information gateway for
students, teachers and lecturers.
http://www.bized.ac.uk/homeinfo/whatsnew.htm
----------------
AHDS Newsletter
The latest issue of the AHDS (Arts and Humanities Data Service) Newsletter
can be found at:
http://ahds.ac.uk/newsletters.htm
----------------
JISCmail News
JSICmail provides electronic discussion lists for the UK higher education
community.
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/news.htm
----------------
UK Data Archive news
The UK Data Archive at the University of Essex houses the largest collection
of accessible computer-readable data in the social sciences and humanities
in the United Kingdom. It is a national resource centre, disseminating data
throughout the United Kingdom and, by arrangement with other national
archives, internationally.
http://www.data-archive.ac.uk/home/archiveNews.asp
----------------
Chemical Data Service (CDS)
CDS provides on-line access to a variety of quality databases in the field
of Chemistry, plus support, training and advice. This is available (free of
charge) to academics at UK Universities.
http://cds.dl.ac.uk/cds/
----------------
Academic Info
Your gateway to quality educational resources. Academic Info is an annotated
subject directory tailored toward a college and university audience and is
used by students, librarians, and researchers.
http://www.academicinfo.net/new.html
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 CHO
Information sources and searching on the World Wide Web
by G G Chowdhury and Sudatta Chowdhury
Library Association Publishing, 2001
301.07 ODO
The Internet research handbook: a practical guide for students and
researchers in the social sciences
by Niall O'Dochartaigh
Sage, 2002
658.05 WIL
Digital futures: living in a dot-com world
edited by James Wilsdon
Earthscan, 2001
A complete list of new books added to Heriot-Watt University Library is
available from the Library News page.
http://www.hw.ac.uk/library/news.html
MANAGING ACCESS TO GREY LITERATURE COLLECTIONS (MAGiC) PROJECT
The Managing Access to Grey Literature Collections (MAGiC) project aims to
enhance awareness, access and utilisation of key collections of technical
reports for the benefit of the UK engineering community and UK plc.
The MAGiC project is carrying out an investigation which seeks to identify
major producers of engineering technical reports. As part of this study,
MAGiC is also trying to locate organisation that hold significant
engineering technical report collections. This exercise is intended to lay
the foundations of a National Reports Catalogue. The catalogue will act
effectively as a "shop window" for engineering organisations and raise
awareness, visibility and use of technical reports in the UK.
The project team would like to invite the UK engineering community to
participate in this survey. Online questionnaires are available on the MAGiC
project web site:
Producers (of engineering technical reports) :
http://www.magic.ac.uk/producers.html
Holders (of report collections) : http://www.magic.ac.uk/holdings.html
The MAGiC project is being led by Cranfield Information & Library Services
in collaboration with the British Library Document Supply Centre, the Public
Record Office, the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory, Loughborough
University, and SIRSI Ltd.
John Harrington
Information Services Manager
Cranfield University
[log in to unmask]
INTERNET IN PRINT
Industrial Networking and Open Control
http://www.industrialnetworking.co.uk/
Published monthly by Magpye Publishing
ISSN 1464-6065
Web: http://www.industrialnetworking.co.uk/
Each issue of the controlled circulation trade journal Industrial Networking
and Open Control includes a column entitled On The Web, which lists a
handfull of useful web sites
Total Guide to Getting More from the Internet
Publisher: John Brown Contract Publishing Ltd, The New Boathouse, 136-142
Bramley Rd., London W10 6SR
Frequency: Quarterly
Subscription: #2.99 cover price
Web: http://www.whsmith.co.uk/
This is the first Internet magazine review to appear in the Internet
Resources Newsletter for some time, as the release of new titles seems to
have slowed down a great deal. In fact, I was not sure whether this was a
magazine at first. Its editor describes it as a magazine, and it looks like
a magazine, but nowhere in its pages could I find subscription information.
I thought it might be just a one-off publication from WH Smith, or possibly
a pilot, but I see from the WH Smith Web site that it is, in fact, going to
be a quarterly publication.
Total Guide to Getting More from the Internet is published by WH Smith, and
is available at their retail outlets. It has been produced because, in the
words of its editor Chris Dunkerley, there is a need for a magazine that is
neither for people who spend all their time in front of a computer or for
complete beginners. Some knowledge is therefore assumed, but not too much.
Most of us probably fall into this category, and so the potential market for
the Total Guide must be large.
Issue one of the Total Guide is reasonably priced at #2.99 and stretches to
130 pages. It contains brief articles on topics such as ISPs (Internet
Service Providers), search engines, health information on the Internet, and
online shopping. It also includes a fair number of adverts, news items and a
Top 300 section listing popular Web sites and games sites. Total Guide is
quite a mixed bag of reasonably serious features and frivolous items. Apart
from taking issue with Janette Marshall who writes in the article on health
information that there is not really a UK evaluated resource in the area
(check out OMNI http://omni.ac.uk/ ), Total Guide appears to be a
well-informed and useful general interest publication. The URLs in the text
of articles could do with being typed in bold, though.
RM
GET A LIFE! - LEISURE TIME
Winners of the Ig. Nobel Prize
http://www.improbable.com/ig/ig-pastwinners.html
ZZSpirit
http://uk.zzspirit.net/
Special offers, etc
Curry Restaurant Guide
http://www.currypages.com/
Journeywoman
http://www.journeywoman.com/
Travel resource for women
End of issue 87
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