HodgePodge
Posted On Apr 19 2007Nothing major really striking my fancy, but there has been a smattering of interesting news on the library technology front in the last couple of weeks. Free-gle Scholar Some scholarly societies are launching something that is either a counter to or a target for Google Scholar. Scitopia.org will launch this summer and include 3 million articles from 13 scholarly societies. The jury has not even gathered yet since it’s only April and the site will not launch until June, so I am left only to complain at this point that I don’t have any great love for press releases that …
Google Acquires OCLC, World Domination Near Total
Posted On Apr 1 2007What do you get when the 800-pound gorilla mates with the elephant in the room? Well, it looks as though you might just get the OCLC division of Google, Inc. The Mountain View, California, search giant has announced that it will acquire 100% of OCLC, the library cooperative based in Dublin, Ohio. The news was reported today on the ALA TechSource blog. Screenshot provided by ALA TechsourceThe news should come as a shock to the library community, which has waffled for several years between loathing their supposed competition and acquiescing to Google’s leading position in the search market. On the other …
On the Catalog
Posted On Dec 6 2006It probably would not surprise anyone to know that I have given quite a bit of thought to the library catalog. While I (and others) have been taking NCSU’s story on the road quite a bit lately, I have not participated very actively in the professional discussion since I uttered those four seemingly innocent little words at LITA’s Top Technology Trends almost two years ago: “The OPAC still sucks.” The fuller context of the quote had to do with newer technologies and trends distracting us from this inescapable fact; nevertheless, I will be remembered in some circles for adding a word …