 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|||||
| ALA American Library Association | Search ALA Contact ALA Login |
|
|||||||||||||
|
|
FAST FACTSC&RL News, December 2007Vol. 68, No. 11 Data visualization Gapminder’s Trendalyzer software provides a simple interface to data visualization and animation. Gapminder uses data from universities, United Nations organizations, public agencies, and nongovernmental organizations. It then provides free software for enhancing data representation, enabling one to see trends in human development. Trendalyzer has been acquired by Google, which intends to scale up the software and, perhaps, incorporate other data. Gapminder, gapminder.org/, November 1, 2007 Wikipedia The German-language version of Wikipedia will be the first version of the online encyclopedia to restrict instant editing to “trusted editors.” These editors will review new content from other users before it appears online. The changes may be implemented later this year, and could be applied to the English-language version of Wikipedia, if feedback from users is positive. Nicole Martin, “Wikipedia clamps down on ‘unreliable’ editors,” September 20, 2007. Telegraph.co.uk. www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/09/20/wiki120.xml, October 30, 2007 End-user searching Database end-users rarely use advanced system features, and when they do, they are quite likely to use them incorrectly. Although research findings demonstrate that end-users are not conducting sophisticated online searches, the vast majority are satisfied with their searches. In fact, percentages of users who express satisfaction with the results of their searches reach into the high 70s and beyond. Despite the high levels of satisfaction, end-users express with their search results, they concede that a trained intermediary searcher would do a better job. Karen Markey, “Twenty-five years of end-user searching,” Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, Volume 58, Issue 8, June 2007, pp. 1071–81 RUSA awards RUSA is interested in learning about innovative, outstanding achievements being made in the field of reference and adult services librarianship. The awards honor librarians, publishers, libraries, and authors for significant current or past achievements, such as publications, program development, and leadership in the profession. Awards are available in several categories. ALA Reference and User Services Association, www.ala.org/ala/rusa/rusaawards/default.cfm, November 1, 2007 Terabyte One terabyte is equal to 1 trillion bytes. One terabyte of data is equivalent to 1,537,752 books of average size. One hundred eighty five Wikipedias or 333 copies of the Human Genome could fit on a 1 terabyte hard-drive. The Hitachi corporation began shipping the first terabyte hard drives for the consumer market this year. Patrick Di Justo, “Tera! Tera! Tera!” Wired, March 2007, p. 54 Gary Pattillo is reference librarian at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, e-mail: pattillo@email.unc.edu |
| ACRL is a division of the American Library Association |
| © 2008 American Library Association. Copyright Statement Last Revised: May 21, 2007 |
