Available @ Amazon.com
On the same shelf:How Amazon and Goodreads could lose their best readers
When Amazon bought Goodreads it got a community of passionate readers, not all of whom want to follow the new rules,
PREFACE: Librarians continue to play an important role in creating consistent bibliographic records and in dealing with cataloguing issues, on an on-going basis. To be consistent the cataloguers and indexers need re-education of the trends, problems and alternative ways to resolve the problems. One great help comes from the big libraries, such as, Library of Congress, British Library, etc. in setting up working standards and best practice guidelines. Ask me for more on this.
by
Abd al-Razzaq al-Qashani ("This is the first accessible English translation from the Arabic of a
book that has been required reading in Sufi circles for more than six
centuries"). This post is also about the importance of attributing the ownership, systematizing bibliographic work and tackling cataloguing Issues, based on the case of an Urdu book on Sufi Terminology:
(a) issues in transliteration (or Romanization) of Urdu Books,The Urdu title that brings forth the above concerns, here is, ISTALAHAAT-E-SUFIA (اصطلا حاتِ صو فیا). While the book did not track down the original source, the catalogers too did not indicate that this a reprint of either a 1983 work (printed in Lahore, Pakistan) or 1929 (printed in Delhi, India). Compare the three prints of the same title, here:
(b) dealing with a Market that is more open / competitive / irresponsive and
(c) how to troubleshoot/avoid all related problems (esp., in dealing with rare/reprinted books, conducting proper search in library catalogs, retaining consistency in title, author name, searchability, findability and access).
Lahore, Sang-e-Meel Publications, 2011. ISBN: 9693524195| Author: | Sayyid Rāshid Ashraf; Muqtadirah-yi Qaumī Zabān (Pakistan), Islāmābād : Muqtadirah-yi Qaumī Zabān, 2006. |
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Amazon.com remained the best website for shopping online, while JC Penney suffered the largest drop in customer satisfaction of any major online retailer this holiday season, according to a survey released on Thursday. Flash sale sites Gilt.com and RueLaLa.com were among the worst performers in online shopping satisfaction this season, according to ForeSee's Holiday E-Retail Satisfaction Index. continue reading
Mehra B, Potnis D & Morden J. An exploratory study of the nature and composition of current library and information science programs in Indian state universities, Perspectives in International Librarianship 2012:1This article is a study of the performance of LIS programs in state run universities.
Furthermore, I quote: "The data in Table 3 indicates a total of 27 universities that offered master level degree programs however seven of these were branch campuses of the same university in multiple locations." [end of quote].
Comment by Dr. Abdul Majid Baba:I have only one comment —appalling!
This is just the tip of the iceberg. Today every one thinks that by reading some papers/studying some websites/portals they can do research and then publish the same. Journal publishers/conference organizers need papers to fill their pages (registrations) and so naturally inclined to publish them (and turn a blind eye to the objectives/methods of research)!
So a researcher whimsically chooses a source -- (in this particular case (http://india.studybot.org/) and the source of data does not include a certain department of LIS, which has been offering an LIS program for the last 47 years (for example University of Mysore) (you are damned!) and you do not exist and not counted!
First and foremost, I had not heard of this portal (studybot) and after getting your mail, visited the same and once again appalled to find that the top 10 universities include universities such as Symbiosis, Sikkim Manipal (and excludes top universities such as University of Hyderabad for example)!
With a view to introduce some academic rigor, we at the University of Mysore introduced a clause in the Ph.D. regulations (two published papers-- a must). The result? Every Ph.D. student/guide sends a mail to some journal publisher (editor) and routinely gets an acceptance letter to all and sundry papers from the said journal and so the compliance is met!
Conference Organizers are also similarly placed—since you need papers to include in your conference proceedings and people to attend your conference, routinely accept all papers—no peer review, nothing of that sort.
This is the state of affairs of research/research publications in India.In the name of research (done for the sake of NOT research but the degree of Ph.D. and conference/journal paper publications), today there is a nexus between the researchers/research supervisors/academic publishers/Conference organizers.Quality is expensive; don't expect it to be available dime-a-dozen.Long live academic rigor and integrity!---ShaliniDr. Shalini R.UrsExecutive Director and ProfessorInternational School of Information ManagementUniversity of MysoreManasagangotriMysore - 570006Phone : + 91 821 2514699Fax : + 91 821 2519209www.isim.ac.inISiM - Management School of IT. Technology School for IM
Presently we are having having near about 120 institutions in India imparting Library Science Education including Universities, Polytechnics, Associations, DRTC etc. 100 Universities approx impart library science education.
Dr.Abdul Majid BabaComment by Dr. M P Satija:
Allama Iqbal Library
Deputy Librarian
9419014203
abmbaba@kashmiruniversity.ac.in
There is a Ph.D topic like this:Comment by Dr R.S.R.Varalakshmi:
"A socio psychological study of the breast feeding habits of black skinned economically weaker infants from urban slums of South central Punjab".
In the sample the researcher studied four children three of them were orphans.
Similarly I received a Ph.D thesis for evaluation which studied only four libraries and three of them had no librarian for long. Jai Ho
Dr M P Satija, UGC Emeritus fellow
Dept of Library & Inf Science,
Guru Nanak Dev University
Amritsar-143005,India
0091-(0)183-5012654(R)
0091-9463169696
The article is a good attempt to explore the LIS education programmes in India. I heart fully appreciate the attempt as an LIS teacher. However the findings do not show a true picture of LIS Education in India. My observations are as follows:
1. “Unfortunately, there have been no comprehensive and detailed studies of government-managed state universities and colleges in India, or analysis of government support or lack thereof, of LIS educational programs in these institutions. This article begins to address these questions by exploring the nature and composition of LIS programs in state universities and colleges in India.” (P 3)
The statement indicates the authors are not aware of the higher education system in India. The Departments of LIS under State Universities are functioning under clearly defined regulatory structure.
“Education is listed in the Concurrent List of the Constitution. Therefore, both the centre and the states can make laws with regard to education. In addition, the centre can determine standards for higher educational institutions while the states can incorporate, regulate and wind up universities.
“Higher education is regulated by multiple authorities. The University Grants Commission (UGC) regulates universities and colleges teaching general subjects. It has the power to determine and maintain standards and disburse grants.” http://www.prsindia.org/billtrack/cover-note-on-higher-education-1360/)
Therefore:
a) LIS education programmes in Universities, traditional Central and State Universities or Open University systems are being supported by the Government; legally with State Universities Act and University Grants Commission (Central funding body) and politically with Ministry of Human Resources Development (MHRD, Govt of India). b) The UGC Modular Curriculum (Chairman Dr C.R.Karisiddappa), 2001 has made an analysis of all LIS courses in India that helps to understand the structure of LIS education in the country. c) A good number of studies have already been conducted on LIS education in India and the special issue of DESIDOC Journal of Library and Information Technology 30(5) 19-31 is a recent source besides many other research articles.
2. There are no criteria for selection of sample (30 Departments of LIS) for study as some are Central Universities (BHU), majority State Universities and few Distance Education (Magadh, Karnataka State Open University etc.). For example, in Tamilnadu University of Madras (established 1857) is the pioneer in initiating LIS courses with the efforts of Dr S.R.Ranganathan and its website provides complete details. Instead Alagappa University has been chosen for study. Similar is the case in other States too.
I think it is not proper to compare the student intake and faculty strength and faculty student ratio as it varies between regular and distance education programmes.
3. The data provided is also not correct in certain institutions (though I have not made complete verification). For e.g. Andhra University intake of students is 40 per year (as per website info) i.e. 80 students of MLISc (2 year integrated course) per annum but Table 4 displays it as 190.
Dr R.S.R.Varalakshmi, Professor (Rtd), Visakhapatnam - 530 022
From a Book Review to a Criminal Trial in France
By ADAM LIPTAK, The New York Times,
"In a little more than a week, a court in Paris will decide whether a law professor in New York committed criminal libel by publishing a book review."
[Note: This is not a review / interview from my desktop]
"Much relieved Fulham FC fan James Lappin tracks the inspiration for his blogging career back to reading a Korean poem while waiting for a haircut in a barber's shop in Surrey"
Q: What do you do?
A: I am a 39-year-old records management consultant and trainer,working for TFPL in London.
Q: Where is your blog?
A: I am one of the contributors to the TFPL blog, at http://tfpl.typepad.com
"This list, updated for 2005, contains the "Top 1000" titles owned by OCLC member libraries—the intellectual works that have been judged to be worth owning by the "purchase vote" oflibraries." Complete list
engaging. However, some others simply link to other sites. Among the former is the following blog:Summary / objective stated in the first post: "Managing Personal Finance" provides you with well researched facts. Each post exposes personal interaction with financial experts and industry professionals. Starting with banking, credit cards, economy, home, insurance, investment, marketing etc. you get in-depth information about a wide variety of subjects. Be it fighting bank with banks or tips to survive an economic storm, planning your child's future or an investment plan for the middle class or even tips to corporate success, all are there for you to gain from.
The Self-Destructive Habits of Good ...
Popular business literature is full of stories of great companies and their invincibility. But with corporate lifecycles coming down at an alarming pace, that doesn’t seem true anymore....Well known academic Jagdish Sheth is closely watching a clutch of hugely successful companies like Google and Cisco. He is convinced that on their way to success, they have unintentionally acquired certain bad habits which might lead to their downfall. Says Sheth, “With success, Google will become arrogant and complacent. Google is today’s avatar of Microsoft, which is yesterday’s avatar of IBM.” Sheth is convinced that Infosys is treading the same path. And Cisco? “Cisco is succeeding so very well right now that it is underestimating Chinese competition from Huawei,” he says. ...
Jagdish 'Jag' Sheth is the Charles H. Kellstadt Professor of Marketing at Emory University's Goizueta School of Business. An acclaimed expert in Marketing, Sheth is the author and co-author of books like The Rule of Three and Tectonic Shift.
Overall, the studies presented in the book cover several affective and emotional aspects of information behaviour of different groups of people in different contexts. While the first three chapters of the book provide helpful theoretical information about research on emotional aspects of information behaviour, the other chapters present a vareity of research questions as well as methodologies that can be applied to investigate them. Therefore the book can be a source of inspiration for those graduate students and researchers interested in this area of human information behaviour. The book is a valuable addition to the ASIST Monograph Series and a second enlightening book coming out of the SIG USE research community after the Theories of Information Behavior. The publication of this book can be a turning point for establishing a research community and literature related to the affective and emotional aspects of human information behaviour.
NB. This is not from my desktop.Posted by David E. Williams of the Health business blog
Reed Elsevier and other big scientific and medical publishers have had a hard time adjusting to the electronic age. Their expensive journals are taking a drubbing from open source alternatives like Public Library of Science (PLoS) –co-founded by my junior high school lab partner, Mike Eisen. And despite the fact that the Health Business Blog itself is delivered to Elsevier clients thanks to an agreement between Elsevier subsidiary LexisNexis and Newstex, Elsevier is still in rather deep trouble.
Unfortunately for them, their latest innovation WiserWiki, isn’t going to bail them out. From Information World Review: continue readingInfo courtesy: Informaticopia
Table of Contents:
Chapter One: "Reality" Is Splitting.
Chapter Two: The New Tribalism: Swift Boats And The Power Of Choosing.
Chapter Three: Trusting Your Senses: Selective Perception and 9/11.
Chapter Four: Questionable Expertise: The Stolen Election And The Men Who Push It.
Chapter Five: The Twilight of Objectivity, or What's the Matter with Lou Dobbs?
Chapter Six: "Truthiness" Everywhere.
Epilogue: Living In a World without Trust.
An extract from Farhad Manjoo's Blog @ Salon.com:
"True Enough: Learning to Live in a Post-Fact Society" is a book near and dear to my heart. That's because, wouldn't you know, it's my book! I wrote it, and will be discussing it here a bit in advance of its publication in March.
The book examines a question that's long captivated me, a child of the Internet: Is digital technology advancing truth in the world, or is it distorting it?
By truth, I mean what we call sets of observable, objective, empirical "facts." You might argue -- and many do -- that wide access to information has the capacity to create a more knowledgeable, more tolerant, more rational society. [source: Tech News Review]When a book gets really popular, like The Time Traveler’s Wife, then I’m sure I don’t want to read it. When I finally got over myself and read it, it was terrific. This is just probably my need to be special, or something. Thus spake: Ted!
See also: Same shelf and aisle, The Sheila Variations: Which book do you irrationally cringe away from reading, despite seeing only positive reviews?
Strangely enough, I cringed from reading Harry Potter.
"It is well known that doctors, dentists, and lawyers must be licensed to practice their professions. But what about occupational therapists, manicurists and barbers? How about fortune tellers, massage therapists, shampoo assistants, librarians, beekeepers, electrologists and movie projector operators? These are just a sampling of the hundreds of occupations that require a license in at least some states or counties.In a new book, "Licensing Occupations: Ensuring Quality or Restricting Competition?" (Upjohn Institute, 2006), Morris M. Kleiner, an economist at the University of Minnesota, questions whether occupational licensing has gone too far. He provides much evidence that the balance of occupational licensing has shifted away from protecting consumers and toward limiting the supply of workers in various professions. A result is that services provided by licensed workers are more expensive than necessary and that quality is not noticeably affected." ... continue reading
See also:
ALAN B. KREUGER. "Economic Scene; Do You Need a License to Earn a Living? You Might Be Surprised at the Answer." The New York Times (Thurs., March 2, 2006): C3.
NB. Is the following REFERENCE ON THE NET or Net as a Reference Tool. I would prefer the second title. Reference sources are now scattered both in the library and On the Net--And, librarians have been one of the first to use both the worlds.
Here is what I found and is interesting to show how much libraries (whether search in the library or via virtual Web) depend on the Net. This appeared in The Disseminator is an electronic newsletter published by the Nova Scotia Provincial Library V.9, N.11, November 2002*
Here are some more reference questions referred to the Provincial Library by the Regional Public Libraries. They were answered using resources found on the Internet.Q. Would like plans for building a wooden clock and wooden mechanisms.
A. At the Canadian Home Workshop Magazine Article Index search page at http://www.canadianhomeworkshop.com/articles.html enter clock as a keyword. This locates quite a few clock woodworking projects with the month, year and page where they appeared in Canadian Home Workshop magazine. You can also search the project plans from Woodworker's Journal and Today's Woodworker Magazine at http://www.woodworkersjournal.com/wwjstore2/webpage3.cfm?DID=1. Again enter clock in the search box and this finds 46 plans which you can browse through. Another useful site is Woodworker's Website Association PlanSearch at http://www.woodworking2.org/PlanSearch/search.htm. Enter clock in the keyword search to locate 18 plans. Some are free including Wooden Clock 1 and Wooden Clock 2 on Brian Law�s Woodenclocks site http://www.woodenclocks.co.uk/. These have plans for wooden mechanisms.
Q. Would like names and addresses of Canadian companies which distribute or manufacture therapeutic magnetic products.
A. Here are three databases which are useful for answering this question:
At the Canadian Company Capabilities database at http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/sc_coinf/ccc/engdoc/homepage.html use the search words magnetic therapy to locate companies.At the Canadian Exporters Catalogue search page at
http://www.worldexport.com/search/default.asp?Param=English select Safety, Medical and Health-Care Products in the Section field and in the Key Word field enter magnetic.At the Canadian Trade-marks Database search page at http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/cgi-bin/sc_consu/trade-marks/search_e.pl enter the phrase magnetic therapy and select the Wares and Services (11) field to search in.
***The Disseminator is an electronic newsletter published by the Nova Scotia Provincial Library, which has temporarily ceased publication with the Winter 06/Spring 07 issue.
Just released: Job Search The Canadian Way 
More about (my new home) Google sites and the old home, READ