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Overview about Google Scholar
by Sreeharsha_Gopalakrishna＠i2.com 20 Nov '04

20 Nov '04

Dear Professionals, This is in continuation with my earlier mail. Here is a bird's eye view about Google scholar which launched couple of days ago. ************************************************************************************ The world of on-line "scholarly" research is changing today as Google introduces Google Scholar. This specialized new interface -- which will NOT be linked from Google's main search page -- will allow users to search a treasure chest of "scholarly material." As you've read here many times, Google is brilliant (that is, ingenious at marketing and trying new things), and this is yet another example of their savvy. This is something that some other large web engine(s) could have done years ago to help separate themselves from other players and also provide a useful service. No one did it. Now, others will likely play catch-up with Google. Basically, users of Google Scholar can, via a single search location, access content from "scholarly" materials found on the OPEN WEB that they've found in the Google crawl of the web. Btw, it might also be time to take another look at what has traditionally thought of as "scholarly" since some of the material in Google Scholar is not "scholarly" using a traditional definition. Some basic facts: + In a nutshell, Google has built an algorithm that makes a calculated guess at to *what it thinks* is a scholarly content mined from the OPEN WEB, and then makes it accessible via the Google Scholar interface. + Precisely what makes something "scholarly" enough to be included in Google Scholar, Google will not say. And this is not an insignificant omission. Librarians, especially academic librarians, are *always* being asked to provide "scholarly" material, even if customers aren't quite sure what this means. Their instructor told them they needed articles from "scholarly journals," so this is precisely what they ask for at the library. As librarians, we may try to educate them about how "refereed publications" work, but let's face it. What most of these folks really want is to quickly download an appropriate article and beat feet out of the library. And if they think they can get what they need from Google, the odds are slim that they will bother with library resources at all. College students AND professors might not know that library databases exist, but they sure know Google. The database vendors don't always make it easy for us, either. For example, when searching Gale databases such as InfoTrac OneFile or Expanded Academic ASAP, you see a check box that you can fill in if you want to restrict your search to "refereed publications." How many of our customers know what a "refereed publication" is? Does any instructor ever ask his or her students to find articles from "refereed publications"? What's up with this? More facts: + Material accessible via Google Scholar can also be in the main Google index. + Google Scholar results pages *will not contain advertising* -- at least for now. + Some examples of material from major publishers whose material you'll find (we know Google has been working with many)? Google will not provide us with a complete list, but look for content from ACM, IEEE, and yes, Open Worldcat material from OCLC. We also don't know precisely what is and is not available, date ranges, etc. * In some cases Google will be crawling and searching the full text of an article but users will either have to have a subscription to the content or pay for access to an individual articles. + VERY COOL! For many citations, you'll find a direct link to other articles in the Google Scholar database that cite the article you've selected. Yes, Google Scholar is a citation database too! This reminds me of two specialized databases that focus on specific types of scholarly content accessible on the open web that have been on-line for many years and remain EXCELLENT tools. 1) CiteSeer (focuses on computer science material, info tech content) 2) SmealSearch (focuses on business material) + Some material, let's say from Open Worldcat, isn't always scholarly in the way many people think of it. For example: ++ Here are many John Grishman books. ++ Although we're honored, we don't consider this blog to be a "scholarly" resource. ++ Academic librarians will be sad to learn that it's impossible to limit to only "peer-reviwed" material. + How big is the Google Scholar database? Google isn't saying. As Google makes this announcement and word spreads about a "scholarly search tool" -- ESPECIALLY in the academic community -- we think the use of specialty databases (the ones university libraries offer and spend $$$ for) will drop. It's worth watching to see if people begin paying for material located via Google Scholar that they can get *free* from a specialty database they may not know is available via their public or academic library. Might this be a golden opportunity for the library community to tell people -- look, we have access to this stuff and MUCH MUCH MORE? We have better ways to search it, and you might not even have to pay for it? Well, yeah...but if what we've seen in the past is any indication, this is not going to happen. Maybe this time it will be different. Bottom line: It's very difficult to compete with the Google marketing machine. In the meantime, we'll be extremely interested in the response to Google Scholar from fee-based database publishers. Some might ask, are specialized database tools still necessary? Info pros know they are but we sure haven't done a good job of explaining why. It will also be interesting to see if *any* of the press/chatter about Google Scholar makes even a small mention of specialized subscription databases, free access to these via libraries, and the fact that what Google is offering is merely the tip of the "scholarly" info iceberg. Is all of this yet another nail in the coffin for library resources and maybe librarians? Too early to tell, of course. Kudos to Google for doing so but the library community could (should?) have done something similar years ago. Why didn't we? When big announcements come from Google and web engines, we often get nervous and...sometimes upset with our profession. Not this time, however. It's just not worth it. This is BIG news and something that should have been around for years. It's going to be interesting what transpires moving forward. Finally, specialized databases are still valuable for many types of searching, including searching for "scholarly material." Why? A few examples: + Limit to material published by date + Ability to view more than 1000 results. The Google cutoff of 1000 results is still in place with Google Scholar + Google is constantly crawling the web but we don't know how often the Google Scholar database is being refreshed with new content + Searching using a controlled vocabulary/subject searching + Ability to limit by publisher affiliation + You can limit by author with author: but you can only use a last name. First names and initials are not searchable when using author:. + Proximity operators + Gobs and gobs of content, Google Scholar still doesn't have it all. Example: While you're find John Grisham books, you will NOT find material (both current and archived) from MANY newspapers, trade publications, and general interest periodicals. + I'm sure you can add many more examples of what's NOT there Again, it's one thing for the info pro to understand all of this, it's something else for the typical searcher. Stay tuned, this is going to be interesting. ************************************************************************************ Sreeharsha BG Knowledge Management Group i2 Technologies software Pvt. Ltd. 5th Floor, Diamond District, Airport Road, Bangalore-8 PH: 25047319 Work does not require effort if its of ones interest....:-)

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Kalam emphasises need for digitalisation of books
by BHOSALE, DEEPALI [AG-Contractor/6020] 19 Nov '04

19 Nov '04

123Bharath.com, November 19, 2004 Kalam emphasises need for digitalisation of books Maharashtra, India > Mumbai, Nov 18 : President A P J Abdul Kalam today emphasised the need for digitalisation of books in libraries for its preservation and making it availabile to maximum number of people. "The digitalisation of books of the library is very vital. The mission should be to make availabe books to maximum public and digitalisation would enable free access to books by the public," Kalam said inaugurating the concluding function of the bi-centenary celebrations of the Asiatic Society of Mumbai. It would also help in preserving old books, Kalam said, adding the digitalisation of books has started in 2003 at 23 centres and is progressing in the right direction. The Asiatic society should also be part of it, he said, adding, he would ask authorities concerned to include the 200-year-old Society in the programme so that there can be preservation and dissemination of its vast knowledge. PTI Source: http://www.123bharath.com/news/index.php?action=fullnews&id=37691 Thanks & Regards, Ms. Deepali Bhosale Consultant - Library & Info Services Monsanto India Limited Mumbai [Bombay] Tel: 91-022-28247220 Fax: 91-022-28244707 email: deepali.bhosale(a)monsanto.com http://www.monsantoindia.com

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Workshop on Network Configuration and Management
by K Prakash 19 Nov '04

19 Nov '04

Workshop on Network Configuration and Management Duration: 13 - 17 December, 2004 Venue: Vigyan Bhavan, Mohanlal Sukhadia University, Udaipur More details can be had from http://www.mlsu.org/workshop/ncm.htm Contact on email: suic(a)mlsu.org or tsbohra(a)mlsu.org Contact Mobile No: 094144 72094 With best wishes/ regards. Bye. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------- K PRAKASH Scientific/Technical Officer-I Information and Library Network (INFLIBNET) Centre An Inter-University Centre of University Grants Commission Near Gujarat University Guest House Post Box No.4116, Navrangpura, AHMEDABAD - 380 009 India # Tel.: 91 - 079 - 2630 5971 / 2630 4695 Extn: 38; Fax: 2630 0990(Off.); 2676 3724(Res.) # Email: prakash(a)inflibnet.ac.in; prakash_k(a)yahoo.com # URL: http://www.inflibnet.ac.in/ ; http://www.prakashk.netfirms.com/

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RE: [oa-india] And Google Scholar Includes medIND
by Dr. T.B. Rajashekar 19 Nov '04

19 Nov '04

Dear All So also eprints@iisc, the IISc e-prints archive! Enter 'eprints@iisc' in Google Scholar search box. Regards Rajashekar T.B. Rajashekar NCSI, IISc > -----Original Message----- > From: Sukhdev Singh [mailto:esukhdev@hotmail.com] > Sent: Friday, November 19, 2004 2:07 PM > To: Discussion Group for Open Access Workshop India > Subject: [oa-india] And Google Scholar Includes medIND > > > Dear Members > > As expected, Google Scholar includes medIND. > Have a try!!, Visit http://www.scholar.google.com/ and input > keyword 'medind'. > > medIND (http://medind.nic.in) has full text of 28 Indian > Biomedical Journals. > > Regards > Sukhdev Singh > National Informatics Centre > New Delhi > > Dgroups is a joint initiative of Bellanet, DFID, Hivos, ICA, > IICD, OneWorld, UNAIDS and World Bank > --- You are currently subscribed to oa-india as: > raja(a)ncsi.iisc.ernet.in > To unsubscribe send a blank email to > leave-oa-india-143982O(a)dgroups.org

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And Google Scholar Includes medIND
by Sukhdev Singh 19 Nov '04

19 Nov '04

Dear Members As expected, Google Scholar includes medIND. Have a try!!, Visit http://www.scholar.google.com/ and input keyword 'medind'. medIND (http://medind.nic.in) has full text of 28 Indian Biomedical Journals. Regards Sukhdev Singh National Informatics Centre New Delhi

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Digital Libraries Master's Program and Fellowships
by Shyam Prasad pujar 19 Nov '04

19 Nov '04

Dear Members, This program with limited fellowships is open for International students. It could be of interest to some of you. Regards, S.M. Pujar IGIDR, Mumbai =============================== ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Thu, 11 Nov 2004 21:58:33 +0100 (MET) From: daalbert(a)slis.indiana.edu To: diglib(a)infoserv.inist.fr Subject: [DIGLIB] Digital Libraries Master's Program The School of Library and Information Science (SLIS) at Indiana University, Bloomington (IUB) announces a new Master's program with emphasis on Digital Libraries. The program is funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (http://www.imls.gov) It has been developed as a collaboration among the School of Library and Information Science at Indiana University, Bloomington (http://www.slis.indiana.edu) the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (http://alexia.lis.uiuc.edu/) and the Digital Library Program at Indiana University (http://www.dlib.indiana.edu/) For the first year of the program, SLIS-IUB invites applicants for five fellowships to support a complete Master's degree with internship experience. More information about the program can be found at the Digital Libraries Education Program website (http://lair.indiana.edu/research/dlib/)

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Google service for Scholars
by Sreeharsha_Gopalakrishna＠i2.com 19 Nov '04

19 Nov '04

Dear Professionals, The leading Search Engine - Google is doing a bit of service to the scholar community. Pls read the article appeared on NY Times.Kudos to the Indian who led the team http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/18/technology/18google.html SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 17 - Google Inc. plans to announce on Thursday that it is adding a new search service aimed at scientists and academic researchers. Google Scholar, which was scheduled to go on-line Wednesday evening at scholar.google.com, is a result of the company's collaboration with a number of scientific and academic publishers and is intended as a first stop for researchers looking for scholarly literature like peer-reviewed papers, books, abstracts and technical reports. Google executives declined to say how many additional documents and books had been indexed and made searchable through the service. While the great majority of recent scholarly papers and periodicals are indexed on the Web, many have not been easily accessible to the public. The engineer who led the project, Anurag Acharya, said the company had received broad cooperation from academic, scientific and technical publishers like the Association of Computing Machinery, Nature, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and the On-line Computer Library Center. PS: Its live and pretty amazing. See the "about" section at http://www.scholar.google.com/ for some suggestions as to how to use it Thanks Sreeharsha BG Knowledge Management Group i2 Technologies software Pvt. Ltd. 5th Floor, Diamond District, Airport Road, Bangalore-8 PH: 25047319 Happiness is not the absence of problems but the ability to deal with them....:-)

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Wanted Library Assistant
by d.v. patwardhan 18 Nov '04

18 Nov '04

dear Library Professional Colleagues, A post of Library Assistant is vacant at the Library of Global Academy of Technology, a three year old but well established Engineering college with student strength more than 1200. Qualification: Any graduate with the knowledge of MS-Office. The Applicants will be called for an interview. No TA or DA will be paid to attend the interview. The selected candidate will be entrusted with jobs such as processing newly received books, circulation of documents, reader assistance, maintaining reference section, user assistance, etc. He should also be ready to work in evening shift duty (1 P.M. to 8 P.M.) one week in a month. If you know any suitable candidate, then please direct him to send his resume along with copies of marks cards to: The Principal, Global Academy of Technology, Ideal Homes Township, Rajajeshwarinagar, Bangalore-560098, Tel: 28603158; fax: 28603157 The candidates should write �Application for the post of Library Assistant� on the envelope. Thanks, D.V.Patwardhan Librarian, Global Academy of Technology, Ideal Homes Township, Rajajeshwarinagar, Bangalore-560098 Tel: 080-23409434 (Res. after 6.30 p.m.) __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? The all-new My Yahoo! - Get yours free! http://my.yahoo.com

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ICFAI PUBLICATION MEET
by vasanth raj 18 Nov '04

18 Nov '04

Dear Sir/Madam/Friends. ICFAI University, has established its national college at 1/3, K.B arcade, Hunsur Road. Mysore. THis colege has been functioning dor the past seven months and has 220 students pursuing mangement education. we have well qualified and experincied faculty handlning all subject of Management. We would be delighted to have interaction with your faculties on subjects of matual interest and benefit.ICFAI got its own publication division from where 40 journals are published monthly/ querterly. Thier publications inclued subjects like finance, HR, Marketing, Banking Insurence, Entrepeunership, EPR, etc........ In addition to this ICFAI publication also brings out text books in finance, economics and mangement. In order to give an idea about ICFAI and its activities, We are organising an "ICFAI PUBLICATION MEET" in our college premises. Kindly, depute as many faculties as posible, to come to uur ICFAI publication meet. The Book meet will be open from 10.00 am to 6:00 pm on friday the 19th of November 2004. For registration please contact 5288835/5559394 and registar yourself Wish you a happy and gain full reading Vasantha Raju N Librarian ICFAI national college Mysore Yahoo! India Matrimony: Find your life partneronline. Dear Sir/Madam/Friends. ICFAI University, has established its national college at 1/3, K.B arcade, Hunsur Road. Mysore . THis colege has been functioning dor the past seven months and has 220 students pursuing mangement education. we have well qualified and experincied faculty handlning all subject of Management. We would be delighted to have interaction with your faculties on subjects of matual interest and benefit.ICFAI got its own publication division from where 40 journals are published monthly/ querterly. Thier publications inclued subjects like finance, HR, Marketing, Banking Insurence, Entrepeunership, EPR, etc........ In addition to this ICFAI publication also brings out text books in finance, economics and mangement. In order to give an idea about ICFAI and its activities, We are organising an " ICFAI PUBLICATION MEET " in our college premises. Kindly, depute as many faculties as posible, to come to uur ICFAI publication meet. The Book meet will be open from 10.00 am to 6:00 pm on friday the 19th of November 2004. For registration please contact 5288835/5559394 and registar yourself Wish you a happy and gain full reading Vasantha Raju N Librarian ICFAI national college Mysore http://in.rd.yahoo.com/specials/mailtg/*http://yahoo.shaadi.com/india-matri… Yahoo! India Matrimony : Find your life partner http://in.rd.yahoo.com/specials/mailtg2/*http://yahoo.shaadi.com/india-matr… online .

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Google Product for Scholars
by Farooque Shaheen 18 Nov '04

18 Nov '04

Web search leader Google Inc. on Wednesday unveiled Google Scholar, a new search product aimed at helping users search scholarly literature such as technical reports, theses and abstracts. Google Scholar, at http://scholar.google.com, searches a specific subset of Google's index and covers a wide swath of fields, from medicine and physics to economics and computer science Thanks & Regards, Farooque Shaheen, Caritor (India) Pvt Ltd. Bangalore, Tel. 080-26678388 # 4105 Mobile-9342507449 Web search leader Google Inc. �on Wednesday unveiled Google Scholar, a new search product aimed at helping users search scholarly literature such as technical reports, theses and abstracts. Google Scholar, at http://scholar.google.com, searches a specific subset of Google's index and covers a wide swath of fields, from medicine and physics to economics and computer science Thanks & Regards, Farooque Shaheen, Caritor (India) Pvt Ltd. Bangalore, Tel. 080-26678388 # 4105 Mobile-9342507449

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