Leo Klein's blog
So I'm famous, I guess. I made it into the student newspaper, the DePaulia, on the subject of e-books:
"I've got a great book collection, and there are great atlases and things like that. [T]here's a great book we have here, The Burnham Plan of Chicago, it's wonderfully illustrated from 100 years ago. [W]ould an electronic version replace that?" said Leo Klein, part time librarian at the DePaul Library.
Of course, not every book fits into this category. In fact, the majority don't, which is why I'm perfectly happy to access them online. It's just the distribution methods, some quite restrictive and proprietary, that give me indigestion.
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Posted in Submitted by Leo Klein on Fri, 03/05/2010 - 8:28am.
Current Cites for February 2010 is out! You can find the issue here...
I wrote about this rather striking article by Peter Jacso where he completely trashes the job Google Scholar is doing getting correct bibliographic information together for its entries. His tone is quite strident and as I say, you really have to wonder why Google can't get this right. On the other hand, if their product is so broken in this respect, why should academics (who should know better) be using it in the first place.
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Posted in Submitted by Leo Klein on Sun, 02/28/2010 - 2:59pm.
You'll be able to wave your smart phone at a product in a store and buy it if this article in the New York Times is to be believed.
Of course, the notion that people will be willing to turn their phones into a delivery device for retail marketing based on their every GPS move, called "aggressive merchandising" in the article, is a complete absurdity.
This however sounds more promising:
Many big retailers have already created cellphone applications that do more than just dole out coupons. Target, for one, has an application that can identify which store aisle sells nightgowns.
We don't do nightgowns (at least not yet) but it's the same idea for say, books on English Literature or the Life Sciences. Our wares can just as easily be exposed.
In any case, the more general point is how powerful the potential is for a device that's both networked and capable of real-time audio/video.
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Posted in Submitted by Leo Klein on Sat, 02/27/2010 - 11:40am.
Just got an interesting question over the phone today. A woman called the reference desk wanting to know if we were open to the public. She said she wasn't a student from DePaul.
"Yes," I replied, explaining that she had access to the books and print journals.
"Do we have access to the wireless as well?"
I had to explain that, like most schools, you need a student ID and password to access the wireless here. I was impressed though by her assumption that wireless was now part of what it means for a library to be "open".
"It's only available for students here," I continued, "but just across the street is the public library and you can use it there no problem."
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Posted in Submitted by Leo Klein on Sat, 02/27/2010 - 10:45am.
Roy was a bit more taken with the recently introduced Apple iPad than I, to the point that he titled his post, "Kindle Killer".
From what I've heard, the device is modeled on the iPhone which is both good and not so good. It's good because, as Roy points out, if you're familiar with one, you'll be familiar with the other. It's not so good because, among other things, Apple keeps a firm grip on what you can put on it through its App store. What's more, it's feature set isn't all that great and it seems the one word that's been associated with it following its release is, 'disappointment'.
In walks the Dell Mini 5. With its 400x800 screen, the device fits somewhere between a smart phone and a netbook. Engadget calls it "neither too big nor too small". You can actually use it as a phone and the screen while smaller than the iPad is large enough compared to your average smart phone that reading is easier. In addition, the thing has a camera and runs on the open source Android system.
At the moment, it's still in production. Things like the keyboard still need a bit more work. But once the kinks are ironed out, perhaps in a second iteration, this kind of middling approach where you can both read and phone seems far more worthy of 'Kindle Killer' status than the iPad.
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Posted in Submitted by Leo Klein on Mon, 02/22/2010 - 9:42am.
Here I am sitting at DePaul reference with one IM request popping up after another (we use LibraryH3lp), and I read the following from a study of "Net Gen" undergrads done at Marywood University:
Research assistance preference
It is this section of the survey that reveals the most striking results, suggesting that our Net Gen students, whatever their status may be, are most averse to using Facebook/MySpace as a means to seek research help. A similarly negative response to the use of chat/IM for research help was also indicated.... [emphasis added]
They go on to discuss a student preference for email but really -- considering the traffic we're getting on IM (can we say, gangbusters?), I'd suggest they'd revisit their data or more probably their research methods.
UPDATE: From a different article in the same journal:
In terms of our actual experience, however, it is clear that the chat reference service (which draws from a university-wide audience rather than just those in the MLC) is used far more heavily than in-person reference service.
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Submitted by Leo Klein on Sat, 02/20/2010 - 1:26pm.
The irreplaceable Adobe Photoshop is celebrating its 20th Anniversary today.
I started using it way back in the early to mid 90s -- back before layers were introduced. I distinctly remember it was version 2.5. What I can't remember is how I managed back then since layers which came out with Version 3.0, totally changed how people work with the program.
For quickie things nowadays I use Fireworks but for anything serious, Photoshop is still my main squeeze.
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Posted in Submitted by Leo Klein on Thu, 02/18/2010 - 11:30pm.
It is with great sadness that we have learned of the sudden death of Harvey the Reference Plant on February 13th, age 2 weeks. In Harvey's brief association with us, he brightened up the Reference Desk in ways that more puny (and apparently cheaper) plants just couldn't match. We send our condolences to the entire plant world and have reconciled ourselves to the fact that a replacement, in the form of a new bouquet, is on its way.
UPDATE: Stop the presses -- apparently Harvey is not dead! He's a 'bulb' plant and all we have to do is wrap him up and wait till he blooms again. It's a miracle.
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Posted in Submitted by Leo Klein on Thu, 02/18/2010 - 7:52am.
PHOTO 1. Inclusive? Depressing? Neither? Both? Sign on Chicago El reads: "Depressed? Diabetic? Depressed and Diabetic? Neither one?"
PHOTO 2: Effective messaging (if you happen to be a lawyer). Sign on doors at UIC warning, "These doors are for A.D.A. Use Only".
PHOTO 3: Strange marketing juxtaposition. Preparation H on clearance at the Dominicks normally full of college students near DePaul University.
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Submitted by Leo Klein on Tue, 02/16/2010 - 10:57pm.
This doesn't sound encouraging:
But as Illinois' budget problems worsen, lawmakers will have to decide which programs are essential and must be funded and which are not as critical, said state Rep. Ed Sullivan, a Mundelein Republican. It could come down to funding schools or libraries, he said - not both. [Lissau, Russell. "State funding shortage may doom library systems", Daily Herald, 2/14/2010]
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Submitted by Leo Klein on Tue, 02/16/2010 - 11:56am.
