Linked Open Data at NYPL Labs

I'm just back from a brown bag session on linked open data that was sponsored by NYPL Labs (which is "an experimental unit at the Library working at the intersection of collections, technology and the digital humanities"). The crowd more than filled the room and included, in addition to our contingent of four from NYU, folks from Columbia, Fordham, and CUNY, as well as the International Center of Photography and the New York Times, to name a few. NYPL's brand-new president even attended! Clearly, linked open data is a topic of interest. The presenter, Jon Voss of Historypin, made good on the program's promise to be a basic overview, and he didn't overwhelm us with too much content to absorb over lunch on a blisteringly hot summer day. He included several slides at strategic moments that listed the key 3 or 5 points (the 5 were actually Tim Berners-Lee's 5 stars) that he wanted us to take away from the presentation. Voss also mentioned a book that he credited with changing the way he viewed things, Linked by Alberto-Laszlo Barabasi.

report from IASSIST 2011

I recently returned from the IASSIST Conference in Vancouver, BC. Luckily I was there when the Canucks were still winning and the sun was shining, and got back to NYC well before the riots.

IASSIST is the International Association for *Social Science* Information Services & Technology, and although the org has been around for many years, it’s recently been attracting more and more folks interested in e-science and data from disciplines that don’t fit nicely into the “social science” label (not to mention many professionals who are being asked to deal with ALL types of data). It’s an exciting time to be a part of IASSIST as interest in all things data continues to grow and we continue to contemplate our mission and scope. Another thing I like about IASSIST (the org and the conference) is that there are data librarians, but also plenty of others--archivists, programmers, LIS and other researchers, IT professionals, government employees, etc. Of course I love librarians, but it’s nice to hear what others are thinking about occasionally too. The group is still small enough for good networking and getting to know each other.

The narrative we’ve all been hearing for awhile now is still going strong: we need to get our researchers to contribute/share/preserve data...some of them are really into it, many are not (for various reasons)...we need to use a carrot and/or a stick to get more of them on board. Even in the relatively short time I’ve been involved with these communities, I see progress related to all parts of the story, this year particularly re: the NSF data management plan requirements (stick) and creating standards for consistent data citations (carrot).

I also really enjoyed the session on library workshops about data and am looking forward to seeing more (and hopefully to contributing more) sessions about the public services aspects of data librarianship in the future.

The closing plenary session was fantastic. Andrea Reimer is a member of the Vancouver City Council, which seemed an odd choice for a closing plenary speaker, but her session on Vancouver’s open government initiatives was an inspiring end to the conference. She was probably preaching to the choir a bit talking to the IASSIST crowd, but it was refreshing to hear these things from a politician. I was hoping I’d be able to post the video, but it isn’t available yet and would’ve been pretty long to watch anyway. A few key points:
- Citizens can’t be meaningfully involved in government decisions if they aren’t making decisions based on the same information that the politicians have. Plus, citizens/developers can usually make data much more useful faster and more efficiently than can a bureaucracy.
- A lot of info was already out there, but not in logical/usable formats and not well easily findable. It can’t be called “open access” if info is released in formats that are unusable. Releasing data buried in pdf documents is probably better than nothing, but under this initiative, Vancouver is making it standard for agencies to release their data in tabular format that can actually be digested, manipulated, and found. [aside: releasing born-digital material on paper is unacceptable. State of Alaska, take note.]
- Finally, end discrimination against open source software. Let government employees choose the tools they need to do their jobs.

-Samantha

Goddard Applications and Possible Session

The deadline for Goddard applications for fall semester 2011 is May 15, and the deadline for spring semester 2012 is Sept. 15. Information and the application can be found in the Faculty Handbook on the wiki. Please let us know if you think it would be helpful for the Mentoring Committee to host a session in which people who have had Goddard fellowships talk about their experience.

Association of Asian Studies 2011 Conference

This year the Association of Asian Studies celebrated its 70th anniversary by holding its annual conference as close to Asia as possible—in Honolulu. It was a tough assignment, but attending that conference and the in-conjunction annual meetings of the Council on East Asian Libraries required me to spend a full week in Hawaii in late March-early April. Sadly, the panels and other events were largely overshadowed by the tragic occurrences in Japan, which affected both the conference, in terms of speaker and participant cancellations, and Hawaii generally, in terms of a significant drop in Japanese tourism. I was struck by the way the Japanese speakers who were able to attend the conference expressed their obviously deeply felt gratitude toward the United States for its assistance in the immediate aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami. The topics of some programs were changed at the last minute to address the calamity. The “Network for Historical Materials,” which originated in the wake of the 1996 Kōbe Earthquake has posted some photographs and information about the damage to museums and other sites.

In the exhibit hall, I was happy to see that a book I co-translated was being heavily featured at the booth of the publisher, University of Minnesota Press. The title of the original work by Saitō Tamaki literally means “A Psychoanalysis of Beautiful Fighting Girls,” but the editors and translators ultimately chose the simpler Beautiful Fighting Girl as the English title of this somewhat eccentric, partly Lacanian treatment of otaku--obsessive fans of manga and anime--who focus particularly on the very young girl heroines who appear in those works.

Call For Papers: Public Services Quarterly

Copied from an email I received yesterday,

"Public Services Quarterly is now accepting manuscripts for a special issue: Next Generation Library Services, guest edited by Beth Blakesley, Washington State University, and Alex Merrill, Washington State University.

Over the past decade libraries have faced increasing pressure to provide more with less. Academic libraries have developed innovative programs to meet the challenge of continuing to provide the same level of service using different methods. Many of these programs have been implemented using new web technologies or social media platforms. Unfortunately, these new and novel methods are not created equal.

This special issue of Public Services Quarterly seeks papers reporting the success (or failure) of "Next Generation" library services in any type of library environment. These services are not limited to web applications or projects and can most certainly include all manner of analog or digital services that have proven (or not) to be effective. Case studies or "How we did it here" papers are welcome but the editors are looking for a solid underlying framework for discussing the methodologies used to prove or disprove why the service was or was not a success.

The submission deadline is June 1, 2011. Please send all submissions and questions to the guest editors at:

beth.blakesley@wsu.edu and merrilla@wsu.edu"

ALA Annual 2011

ALA has published the preliminary program for this year's annual conference in New Orleans, June 23-28.

Writing Groups

This article, published in the Chronicle in December, has a nice discussion of ways in which two people can support each other’s writing work.