NLA Discovery Service Prototype

The National Library of Australia has released a prototype of a search engine for their wide range of digitised resources - called SBDS.

Here's a quote from the site:

SBDS will be a new discovery service focussed on Australia, Australians, and items found in Australian collecting institutions. It will provide a single point of access to resources currently discoverable via the Library's multiple discovery services, and to digitised material freely available online anywhere in the world.

They are now asking for feedback and ideas for improvement. I think it looks great but have a look yourself and see what you think.

Mosman Library vs That Search Engine

For those of you who haven't already caught up with it you should definately check out Mosman Library's wonderful promotion for their online reference collection, Mosman Library vs That Search Engine.

What an ingenious, fun way to illustrate the worth of their databases.

First release 2006 Census Statistics out now!

ABS has released the first statistics from the 2006 census. A quick look at the ABS site indicates a vast improvement in usability.

There are currently three online tools provided for retrieving data sets:


QuickStats - A summary of key Census data for a chosen area, bench marked against Australia.

MapStats - A series of thematic maps showing the distribution of Census data for a chosen location.

Census Tables - Individual tables of Census data, available on a range of topics, for a chosen location.
The Next Release will be August 2007 -1st Release Community Profiles (Basic, Indigenous and Time Series).

Enjoy!

Reference @ the Metcalfe seminar; presentation links.

The following list of URL's are derived from the Reference at the Metcalfe Seminar presentations.

Brett Poole of Yahoo!7
My web
http://au.myweb2.search.yahoo.com/myweb?dg=6&sort=pop

Answers
http://au.answers.yahoo.com/
will talk about social search including myweb and Yahoo!7 Answers

Ellen Forsyth
Web 2.0 the machine is us/ing us
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gmP4nk0EOE

Ambient librarian
http://www.ambientlibrarian.org/index.php?title=Main_Page
Arlington Heights Memorial Library
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-qujBrz8W4&eurl=
Friends : social networking sites for engaged library services
http://onlinesocialnetworks.blogspot.com/
New technology
http://libraryofthemind.com/blog/?p=63

Ross Balharrie, Manly
http://www.manly.nsw.gov.au/Library-Blogs.html

Martin Boyce, Sutherland
http://sutherlandshirelibraries.blogspot.com/
http://www.sutherlandlibrary.com/blogging.htm

Campbelltown
http://campbelltowncitylibraryassignment.blogspot.com/

Bernard de Broglio Mosman
http://www.mosman.nsw.gov.au/library/webcasts.html
http://teens.mosmanlibraryblogs.com/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mosmanlibrary/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Municipality_of_Mosman
http://www.mosman.nsw.gov.au/library/localstudies.html (scroll down the screen for the links)

Philippa Armfield Reader Services
http://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/databases/athome.cfm

Library Success Wiki

Yes, another wiki! The Library Success Wiki aims to facilitate the exchange of cutting edge initiatives that are being developed/deployed in Libraries around the world. The creator Meredith Farkas invites Library professionals to use the site as a one stop shop for identifying new service initiatives.

At the recent Information Online Conference a presenter from the Catholic University outlined how they had created an online internal policy/procedure manual using the Wiki software. Is anyone in NSW using a Wiki for in-house purposes? If so we would love to hear from you! Please forward any details of Wiki related projects to your-stories@nsw-risg.org

Post by Ross Balharrie

Webjunction; worth a look!

Webjunction is an online community for Library Staff. The site is a US initiative however; many of the resources are applicable to the Australian context. In the resources section of this site you will find useful guides on a range of subjects including; patron services, library management and technology planning.

You also have the option of becoming a member which affords you greater access to the various resources on offer.

Post by Ross Balharrie