You want jobs? I have jobs! Especially if you are a librarian (I also have some for museum folk).

Despite all the doom and gloom surrounding libraries and their future, there are still a ton of jobs out there for public, academic and special libraries. I for one think there is a bit of a renaissance going on in libraryland and if you are a creative, dynamic LIS professional, you will have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reinvent the librarian position and the institution itself.

The list I put together has mostly RSS feeds and a few job-site URLs. Some are geography specific, some are library specific, some general, and even one in French.

Good luck with your search and have at it!

1. Denver Public Library Jobs – Website
2. ACRL/NY Events and Jobs – RSS Feed
3. Connecticut Library Jobs – RSS Feed – Website
4. Library Jobline Postings – RSS Feed – Website
5. LibWorm: Jobs – RSS Feed – Website
6. BAnQ – Offres d’emploi – RSS Feed
7. EngLib: The Engaged Librarian – Website
8. SWON Libraries – Website
9. Georgia State University Library – RSS Feed – Website
10. Combined Library Job Postings – Lisjobs.com and Library Job Postings on the Internet – RSS Feed – Website
11. MERC Recent Job Listings – RSS Feed
12. Museum Employment Resource Center – Website
13. NJLA: Job Hotline – RSS Feed – Website
14. SLIS Careers Feed – RSS Feed – Website
15. St. Charles Public Library, St. Charles, Illinois - RSS Feed – Website
16. Carleton College Human Resources Jobs – RSS Feed – Website

Image via Wikipedia

For my final project in IST 681 – Metadata, I created the Joshua Kitlas Metadata Element Set.

Follow this link to be taken to the project page where you will find a user guide, element set specifications, schema, metadata records, as well as a reflection and summary

Related articles

• DataCite2RDF – Mapping DataCite Metadata Scheme Terms to ontologies (opencitations.wordpress.com)
• Lifting the Lid on Linked Data (slideshare.net)
• Metadata Formally Recognized by Courts (arnoldit.com)
• The Semantic Web: Layered Architecture (herefordcomputer.com)
• Improve your taxonomy management using the W3C SKOS standard (ibm.com)
• Ontology for Media Resources 1.0 (w3.org)
• Project to Set Educational Metadata Standards Launched (downes.ca)

Smithsonian Castle Interior (Belly of the Whale)

A version of this is also posted on the Syracuse University iSchool blog, Information Space.

I am now nearing the end of my internship. In my last post, I promised to make this one about the projects I am working on and the skills and tools I am using to execute them. If at any point this post begins to sound like an advertisement or glowing review of the Syracuse University School of Information Studies…it is.

There were many things that first drew me to this internship at the Smithsonian Institution – the focus on professional development, the rigorous and diverse set of projects, and that the work combined library and information science skills and information management skills. I am jointly pursuing a LIS and IM degree so getting an internship that had elements of each was critical.

Of all the courses I have taken in my year at the iSchool, the following four classes – in this order – have provided me with the skills, tools, and knowledge to execute the projects I am working on at the Smithsonian

• IST 659 Data Administration Concepts and Database Management (Bei Yu)
  • From day one, I was writing SQL scripts to organize, manipulate, and extract data from entities with tens of thousands of records. This is not something for Excel. As nice as Excel is, and I do really like the software, it just does not have the engine to work nimbly with very large amounts of information. Aside from SQL, I was called on a couple times to explain theory and best practice in database design – all learned from Bei Yu and IST 659.
• IST 616 Information Resources: Organization and Access (Jian Qin)
  • I have had to do a LOT of ordering and structuring of digital resources in this internship. Every day I have worked through the nature of information-based problems and how information systems address these problems, the concepts, principles, standards, and technologies of information organization, the human aspects of information organization, and how organized information affects information search/retrieval.
• IST 600 Information Design (Jaime Snyder)
  • This course is a great companion to just about everything at the iSchool. It should be required, in my opinion. How did I use what I learned in Information Design at this internship? Primarily on a theoretical level and linked closely to the practicality of what I learned in 616, but also in designing the components of information-driven systems in my projects.
• IST 631 Enterprise Technologies (Dave Dischiave)
  • More than once the enterprise technology concepts discussed in this class came up. After educating some senior (rank not age) staff members about virtualization and ‘scaling up’ versus ‘scaling down’, I was labeled as ‘the expert’. In the meetings and casual water cooler conversations following, I was asked regularly to weigh in on questions about enterprise technology issues a lot more than I anticipated, sometimes daily.

As you can see, there is both a mix of IM and LIS classes and their real world applications. There are also bits and pieces from other classes that I employed on a regular basis. The iSchool had me well prepared, to say the least. On a separate note, if anyone wonders about the credibility of the iSchool in the real world, I definitely got more than a handful of ‘oohs’ and ‘ahhs’ after telling new colleagues and staffers my academic affiliation.

It has been a great experience and I only regret that the internship does not run longer.

If you want to ask me any questions, please do not hesitate – my email is jkitlas@syr.edu or you can go to http://kitlas.com

Smithsonian Institution

I’m VERY excited about this one…

http://ischool.syr.edu/newsroom/news.aspx?recid=1130

In today’s iSchool news:

The Syracuse University School of Information Science’s eScience Librarianship Program announced the launch of the eScience Fellow’s personal blogs. The blogs will offer the public direct access to up to date information about their projects, internships and courses. All sites are online and can be linked from the ‘Coursework Projects’ section of the website.

“Part of our mandate from the IMLS is to publicly disseminate information gathered from the Fellow’s discoveries,” said Dr. Jian Qin, Principal Investigator of the project. “The Fellow’s blogs will do just that.”

The launch of the blogs is part of a greater initiative to increase the web and social media presence of the eScience Librarianship Program.

“As the eScience program matures, we need to get the word out in a variety of ways,” said Joshua Kitlas, webmaster for the project. “The Fellow’s blogs and other social media outlet will build on what we’ve done already with the website.”

Find out more about the program and links to the Fellow’s blogs at http://eslib.ischool.syr.edu/.

eScience Fellows Program

I don’t know why it’s taken me so long to post this but when I’m not schooling, I’m working.

I support Dr. Jian Qin, who’s the Principal Investigator of the IMLS (Institute of Museum and Library Services) funded initiative to build institutional capacity in eScience Librarianship.

I’m primarily responsible for the website design and love the project overall. It’s pretty pioneering stuff and it’s always nice to be at the forefront of development.

Learn more!

48:365 World Autism Awareness Day by Matt Beckwith

I, like many others, have been profoundly impacted by Autism. For me, it was the son of a co-worker who opened my eyes to the disorder. He is a very awesome kid who I fortunately was able to spend some quality time with. I watched him mature from a boy who would ask for food or water by taking you by the hand and putting it on the refrigerator or cupboard, to a pretty regular teenager who complained about mowing the lawn (I supervised) and loved to dance to reggae music (his lead). We’ve since moved out of visiting range (different continents) but I think about him every single day.

I put together this comprehensive list of autism resources as part of coursework for IST605 – Information Resources – Users & Services with my young friend in mind. It’s divided into a number of sections:

Authoritative Internet Resources
Audio Visual Resources
Print Resources
Database Resources
Sources for Ready Reference
Sources for In-depth Information for the Casual User
Sources for In-depth Information for a Scholar

The last 2 sections are a reorganization of the resources based on the user’s level of interest/competencies. It’s heavily annotated and I recomend you download the PDF.

But you have two options:

You can download it here. You can also view it in full below.

Comprehensive Autism Resources for the Beginner and the Researcher

Topic Area Description

For this pathfinder I’ve developed a detailed collection of print, audio-visual, database and Internet resources to aid both the beginner and the researcher in learning more about Autism.

Autism is a developmental disorder that appears in the first 3 years of life, and affects the brain’s normal development of social and communication skills. Autism is a physical condition linked to abnormal biology and chemistry in the brain. The exact causes of these abnormalities remain unknown, but this is a very active area of research. There are probably combinations of factors that lead to autism. (MedlinePlus)

The disorder has affected many lives and families. Though there is no cure for the disorder, intensive treatment of affected children at a very early age has often lead to improved and higher-level functioning as affected individuals progress through life.

There is a very focused nationwide movement aimed at curing Autism with assistance and awareness coming from many different areas – media, medical, industry and so on.

Given the near daily advances in the analysis, diagnosis, and cures for the disorder, the most up to date information will be found in either the Authoritative Internet Resources or Database Resources. That’s not to say that print sources aren’t viable – they are – but the researcher and user who wants the most up to date information would probably be more inclined to start their research online before moving to print resources.

Not being an expert on Autism, my research included several conversations with employees of the Autism Society, National Library of Medicine, and Autism Speaks. I relied on their expertise in direction on some of the resources, especially the Audio-Visual materials.

Authoritative Internet Resources

• Autism Speaks – Autism Speaks is the nation’s largest autism science and advocacy organization, dedicated to funding research into the causes, prevention, treatments and a cure for autism; increasing awareness of autism spectrum disorders; and advocating for the needs of individuals with autism and their families. We are proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish and look forward to continued successes in the years ahead.
  http://www.autismspeaks.org/

Autism Speaks. (November 2010). Autism Speaks. Retrieved 11 27, 2010, from Autism Speaks: http://www.autismspeaks.org/

• Autism Society of America – The Autism Society, the nation’s leading grassroots autism organization, exists to improve the lives of all affected by autism. They do this by increasing public awareness about the day-to-day issues faced by people on the spectrum, advocating for appropriate services for individuals across the lifespan, and providing the latest information regarding treatment, education, research and advocacy.
  http://www.autism-society.org

Autism Society of America. (November 2010). Autism Society of America. Retrieved 11 27, 2010, from Autism Society of America: http://www.autism-society.org

• Autism Fact Sheet: National Institute of Neurological Disorders (NINDS) – The mission of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke is to reduce the burden of neurological disease – a burden borne by every age group, by every segment of society, by people all over the world. NINDS is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
  http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/autism/detail autism.htm

National Institute of Neurological Disorders. (November 2010). Autism Fact Sheet: National Institute of Neurological Disorders. Retrieved 11 27, 2010, from National Institute of Neurological Disorders: http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/autism/detail_autism.htm

• Autism: MedlinePlus - MedlinePlus is the National Institutes of Health’s Web site for patients and their families and friends. Produced by the National Library of Medicine, it brings you information about diseases, conditions, and wellness issues in language you can understand. MedlinePlus offers reliable, up-to-date health information, anytime, anywhere, and for free.

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/autism.html

MedlinePlus. (November 2010). Autism: MedlinePlus. Retrieved 11 27, 2010, from MedlinePlus: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/autism.html

• Autism Research Institute The Autism Research Institute (ARI) is the hub of a worldwide network of parents and professionals concerned with autism. ARI was founded in 1967 to conduct and foster scientific research designed to improve the methods of diagnosing, treating, and preventing autism. ARI also disseminates research findings to parents and others worldwide seeking help. The ARI data bank, the world’s largest, contains over 40,000 detailed case histories of autistic children from over 60 countries. ARI publishes the Autism Research Review International, a quarterly newsletter covering biomedical and educational advances in autism research.

http://www.autism.com

Autism Research Institute. (November 2010). Autism Research Institute. Retrieved from Autism Research Institute: www.autism.com

• Global Autism Collaboration – The mission of the Global Autism Collaboration is to network and collaborate with autism organizations worldwide to generate necessary legal and social change to deal with the global autism health crisis. (Global Autism Collaboration)

http://wwwautismwebsitecom/gac

Global Autism Collaboration. (November 2010). Global Autism Collaboration. Retrieved 11 27, 2010, from Global Autism Collaboration: http://www.autismwebsite.com/gac

Audio Visual Resources – Web-based Videos and DVDS

• Autism Key >> Autism Key Video Library – These ‘home made’ videos provide the most update, direct and personal views and insights on Autism. (Autism Key)

http://www.autismkey.com/autism videos/

Autism Key. (November 2010). Autism Key Video Library. Retrieved 11 27, 2010, from Autism Key: http://www.autismkey.com/autism_videos/

• Autism: Now What Do I Do? [VHS] – A good reference for information on medical treatments once a parent finds out their child has autism.

Freeman, S. (Director). (2006). Autism: Now what do l do? [VHS] International Documentary Television Corp., & SKF Books.

• Being Responsive: You and Your Child with Autism [DVD] – This is an Australian video for parents of young children with autism focused on developing and creating interaction times with their child.

Matthews, V. (Director). (2006). Being responsive: you and your child with autism [DVD]. Australia.

• Autism Spectrum Disorder: Screening, Diagnosing, Thinking About Genetic Aspects [DVD] – A topical, medical overview of autism.

Bodurtha, J. (Producer), & Oswald, D. (Director). (2008). Autism spectrum disorder: Screening, diagnosing, thinking about genetic aspects [DVD]. Richmond, Va.: VCU Health System.

• About Me and You. Watch Me Learn. [DVD] – This DVD is part of a comprehensive learning system aimed to compliment school and therapy teaching.

Palo, M. (Director). (2008). About me and you. Watch me learn. [DVD]. Greenlawn, NY: Watch Me Learn, Inc.

• Two Worlds, One Planet [DVD] – This video provides a look inside a private K-12 day school specializing in youth with Autism and other disorders.

Levin, G. (Producer), & Reinking, A. (Director). (2008). Two worlds, one planet [DVD]. Boston, MA: Faces of Autism, LLC.

• Understanding Autism [DVD] – This video is ideal for those with family members or loved ones affected by autism spectrum disorders, helps to identify and diagnose quirks/behaviors in the autistic.

Sydney, N.S.W: SBS. (Director). (2006). Understanding autism [DVD].

• Autism and Applied Behavioral Analysis: ABA [DVD] – This is an ABC Nightline News program on autism.

Wolfe, P. (Director). (2006). Autism and applied behavioral analysis: ABA [DVD].

Print Resources

• The Autism Answer Book: More Than 300 of the Top Questions Parents Ask by William Stillman – William Stillman, a noted autism expert and author, delivers an Autism Q&A style book for parents and concerned family members.

Stillman, W. (2007). The autism answer book: More than 300 of the top questions parents ask. Naperville, Ill: Sourcebooks.

• The Autism Book: Answers to Your Most Pressing Questions by S. Johanna Robledo, Dawn Ham-Kucharski – A popular question and answer book written parents of autistic children.

Robledo, S., & Ham-Kucharski, D. (2005). The autism book: Answers to your most pressing questions. New York: Avery.

• The Autism Encyclopedia by John T. Neisworth, Pamela S. Wolfe – an updated and exhaustive resource including 22 pages of references including ones from all four editions of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.

Neisworth, J., & Wolfe, P. (2005). The autism encyclopedia. Baltimore, Md: Paul H. Brookes Pub. Co.

• Autism Journey Guide by Talk About Curing Autism (TACA) – This 300 page guide is a collection of best practices in autism care and development based on experiences the Talk About Curing Autism (TACA) Foundation has had with families.

Talk About Curing Autism. (2009). Autism journey guide. Autism Journey Guide. Costa Mesa, CA, USA: Talk About Curing Autism.

• Autism Spectrum Disorders from A to Z: Assessment, Diagnosis…& More! By Emily Doyle and, Barbara T. Doyle – A comprehensive book covering all aspects of Autism and written in a very accessible and user-friendly format.

Doyle, B., & and, E. (2004). Autism spectrum disorders from A to Z: Assessment, diagnosis – & more! Arlington, TX: Future Horizons Inc.

• The Official Autism 101 Manual: Everything You Need To Know About Autism From Experts Who Know and Care by Karen L. Simmons – An exhaustive resource for parents and professionals. With over 40 contributors, this book provides a wide- ranging overview of all aspects of autism.

Simmons, K. (2006). The official autism 101 manual. Alta., Canada: Autism Today.

• Pervasive Developmental Disorder: An Altered Perspective by Barbara Quinn, Anthony Malone – The authors describe the symptoms of PDD, what a diagnosis means, how a child fits into the umbrella term used to cover the whole family of autistic spectrum disorders including autism and Asperger Syndrome.

Quinn, B., & Malone, A. (2000). Pervasive developmental disorder: An altered perspective. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.

• Understanding Autism Spectrum Disorders by The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) (2006) – This booklet will help parents identify early signs, symptoms, and the behavioral differences in their children so that an intervention program can be started as soon as possible.

American Academy of Pediatrics. (2006). Understanding autism spectrum disorders. American Academy of Pediatrics.

• Understanding Autism: From Basic Neuroscience to Treatment by Steve Moldin, John Rubenstein – This reference book reviews state-of-the-art research on the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of autism includes a discussion of the economic cost of autism.

Moldin, S. O., & Rubenstein, J. L. (2006). Understanding autism: From basic neuroscience to treatment. Boca Raton, Fla.: CRC Press.

• Understanding Autism by Susan Dodd – Provides information to assist parents in developing their understanding of how autistic children think and respond.

Dodd, S. (2005). Understanding autism. Marrickville, N.S.W, Australia: Elsevier.

Database Resources

• NDAR – The NIH has developed the National Database for Autism Research (NDAR) as a secure bioinformatics platform for scientific collaboration around autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Its objectives are to facilitate data sharing and scientific collaboration, provide bioinformatics solutions to address community-Wide needs, and enable the effective communication of detailed research data, tools, and information. NDAR is a robust resource designed to help the ASD research community to accelerate discoveries that will improve the lives of people with autism and their families.

http://ndar.nih.gov/ndarpublicWeb/

National Institutes of Health. (November 2010). National Database for Autism Research. Retrieved 11 27, 2010, from National Database for Autism Research: The NIH has developed the (NDAR) http://ndar.nih.gov/ndarpublicweb/

• DIRLINE is a directory database of addresses, phone numbers and information about health and biomedicine organizations, research resources, projects, and databases.

http://dirline.nlm.nih.gov/

U.S. National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health & Human Services. (n.d.). DIRLINE – U.S. National Library of Medicine. Retrieved 11 29, 2010, from DIRLINE – U.S. National Library of Medicine: http://dirline.nlm.nih.gov/

• PubMed searches MEDLINE (and OLDMEDLINE l95l-1965).

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/services/usemedline.html

U.S. National Library of Medicine, the National Institutes of Health. (n.d.). FAQ: Finding Medical Information in MEDLINE. Retrieved 11 29, 2010, from U.S. National Library of Medicine, the National Institutes of Health: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/services/usemedline.html

• LocatorPlus – an online catalog of all the books, journals, and other materials owned by NLM to identify materials on autism.

http://locatorplus.gov/

U.S. National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health. (n.d.). LocatorPlus. Retrieved 11 25, 2010, from LocatorPlus: http://locatorplus.gov/

• Autism Society’s Resource Database is searchable by location or service type, and provides resource listings throughout the United States. Listings include: Autism Society Local Chapters, government agencies, physicians, medical and diagnostic centers, day schools, information and support groups, early intervention, community services for adults, service providers, legal and advocacy services, consultants, camps, research centers, and more. The resource database was created in 2004 and now contains well over 25,000 individual listings.

http://www.autismsource.org

Autism Source. (n.d.). Autism Source. Retrieved 11 28, 2010, from Autism Source: http://www.autismsource.org/

Sources for Ready Reference

• The Autism Answer Book: More Than 300 of the Top Questions Parents Ask by William Stillman – William Stillman, a noted autism expert and author, delivers an Autism Q&A style book for parents and concerned family members.

Stillman, W. (2007). The autism answer book: More than 300 of the top questions parents ask. Naperville, loll: Sourcebooks.

• The Autism Book: Answers to Your Most Pressing Questions by S. Jhoanna Robledo, Dawn Ham-Kucharski – A popular question and answer book written parents of autistic children.

Robledo, S., & Ham-Kucharski, D. (2005). The autism book: Answers to your most pressing questions. New York: Avery.

• The Autism Encyclopedia by John T. Neisworth, Pamela S. Wolfe – an updated and exhaustive resource including 22 pages of references including ones from all four editions of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.

Neisworth, J., & Wolfe, P. (2005). The autism encyclopedia. Baltimore, Md: Paul H. Brookes Pub. Co.

• Autism Spectrum Disorders from A to Z: Assessment, Diagnosis…& More! by Emily Doyle and, Barbara T. Doyle – A comprehensive book covering all aspects of Autism and written in a very accessible and user-friendly format.

Doyle, B., & and, E. (2004). Autism spectrum disorders from A to Z: Assessment, diagnosis – & more! Arlington, TX: Future Horizons Inc.

• The Official Autism 101 Manual: Everything You Need To Know About Autism From Experts Who Know and Care by Karen L. Simmons – An exhaustive resource for parents and professionals. With over 40 contributors, this book provides a wide-ranging overview of all aspects of autism.

Simmons, K. (2006). The official autism 101 manual. Alta., Canada: Autism Today.

• Autism: Now What Do I Do? [VHS] – A good reference for information on medical treatments once a parent finds out their child has autism.

Freeman, S. (Director). (2006). Autism: Now what do I do? [VHS]. International Documentary Television Corp., & SKF Books.

• Two Worlds, One Planet [DVD] – This video provides a look inside a private K-12 day school specializing in youth with Autism and other disorders.

Levin, G. (Producer), & Reinking, A. (Director). (2008). Two worlds, one planet [DVD]. Boston, MA: Faces of Autism, LLC.

• Understanding Autism [DVD] – This video is ideal for those with family members or loved ones affected by autism spectrum disorders, helps to identify and diagnose quirks/behaviors in the autistic.

Sydney, N.S.W: SBS. (Director). (2006). Understanding autism [DVD].

• Autism Speaks – Autism Speaks is the nation’s largest autism science and advocacy organization, dedicated to funding research into the causes, prevention, treatments and a cure for autism; increasing awareness of autism spectrum disorders; and advocating for the needs of individuals with autism and their families. We are proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish and look forward to continued successes in the years ahead.

http://www.autismspeaks.org/

Autism Speaks. (November 2010). Autism Speaks. Retrieved 11 27, 2010, from Autism Speaks: http://www.autismspeaks.org/

Sources for In-depth Information for the Casual User

• Understanding Autism: From Basic Neuroscience to Treatment by Steve Moldin, John Rubenstein – This reference book reviews state-of-the-art research on the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of autism includes a discussion of the economic cost of autism.

Moldin, S. O., & Rubenstein, J. L. (2006). Understanding autism: From basic neuroscience to treatment. Boca Raton, Fla.: CRC Press.

• Autism Society’s Resource Database is searchable by location or service type, and provides resource listings throughout the United States. Listings include: Autism Society Local Chapters, government agencies, physicians, medical and diagnostic centers, day schools, information and support groups, early intervention, community services for adults, service providers, legal and advocacy services, consultants, camps, research centers, and more. The resource database was created in 2004 and now contains well over 25,000 individual listings.

http://www.autismsource.org/

Autism Source. (n.d.). Autism Source. Retrieved 11 28, 2010, from Autism Source: http://www.autismsource.org/

• Autism Journey Guide by Talk About Curing Autism (TACA) – This 300 page guide is a collection of best practices in autism care and development based on experiences the Talk About Curing Autism (TACA) Foundation has had with families.

Talk About Curing Autism. (2009). Autism Journey Guide. Autism Journey Guide. Costa Mesa, CA, USA: Talk About Curing Autism.

• Understanding Autism by Susan Dodd – Provides information to assist parents in developing their understanding of how autistic children think and respond.

Dodd, S. (2005). Understanding autism. Marrickville, N.S.W, Australia: Elsevier.

• Autism Key >> Autism Key Video Library – These ‘home made’ videos provide the most update, direct and personal views and insights on Autism. (Autism Key)

http://www.autismkey.com/autism_videos/

Autism Key. (November, 2010). Autism Key Video Library. Retrieved 11 27, 2010, from Autism Key: http://www.autismkey.com/autism_videos/

• Autism and Applied Behavioral Analysis: ABA [DVD] – This is an ABC Nightline News program on autism.

Wolfe, P. (Director). (2006). Autism and Applied Behavioral Analysis: ABA [DVD] –

• Being Responsive: You and Your Child with Autism [DVD] – This is an Australian video for parents of young children with autism focused on developing and creating interaction times with their child.

Matthews, V. (Director). (2006). Being responsive: you and your child with autism [DVD]. Australia.

• About Me and You. Watch Me Learn. [DVD] – This DVD is part of a comprehensive learning system aimed to compliment school and therapy teaching.

Palo, M. (Director). (2008). About me and you. Watch me learn. [DVD]. Greenlawn, NY: Watch Me Learn, Inc.

• Autism Society of America – The Autism Society, the nation’s leading grassroots autism organization, exists to improve the lives of all affected by autism. They do this by increasing public awareness about the day-to-day issues faced by people on the spectrum, advocating for appropriate services for individuals across the lifespan, and providing the latest information regarding treatment, education, research and advocacy.

http://www.autism-society.org

Autism Society of America. (November, 2010). Autism Society of America, Retrieved 11 27, 2010, from Autism Society of America: http://www.autism-society.org

• Global Autism Collaboration – The mission of the Global Autism Collaboration is to network and collaborate with autism organizations worldwide to generate necessary legal and social change to deal with the global autism health crisis. (Global Autism Collaboration)

http://www.autismwebsite.com/gac

Global Autism Collaboration. (November, 2010). Global Autism Collaboration. Retrieved 11 27, 2010, from Global Autism Collaboration: http://www.autismwebsite.com/gac

Sources for In-depth Information for a Scholar

• NDAR – The NIH has developed the National Database for Autism Research (NDAR) as a secure bioinformatics platform for scientific collaboration around autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Its objectives are to facilitate data sharing and scientific collaboration, provide bioinformatics solutions to address community-wide needs, and enable the effective communication of detailed research data, tools, and information. NDAR is a robust resource designed to help the ASD research community to accelerate discoveries that will improve the lives of people with autism and their families.

http://ndar.nih.gov/ndarpublicweb/

National Institutes of Health. (November, 2010). National Database for Autism Research. Retrieved 11 27, 2010, from National Database for Autism Research: The NIH has developed the (NDAR) http://ndar.nih.gov/ndarpublicweb/

• DIRLINE is a directory database of addresses, phone numbers and information about health and biomedicine organizations, research resources, projects, and databases.

http://dirline.nlm.nih.gov/

U.S. National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health & Human Services. (n.d.) DIRLINE – U.S. National Library of Medicine. Retrieved 11 29, 2010, from DIRLINE – U.S. National Library of Medicine: http://dirline.nlm.nih.gov/

• PubMed searches MEDLINE (and OLDMEDLINE 1951-1965). U.S. National Library of Medicine, the National Institutes of Health

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/services/usemedline.html

• LocatorPlus – an online catalog of all the books, journals, and other materials owned by NLM to identify materials on autism.

http://locatorplus.gov/

• Pervasive Developmental Disorder: An Altered Perspective by Barbara Quinn, Anthony Malone – The authors describe the symptoms of PDD, what a diagnosis means, how a child fits into the umbrella term used to cover the whole family of autistic spectrum disorders including autism and Asperger Syndrome.

Quinn, B., & Malone, A. (2000). Pervasive developmental disorder: An altered perspective. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.

• Understanding Autism Spectrum Disorders by The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) (2006) – This booklet will help parents identify early signs, symptoms, and the behavioral differences in their children so that an intervention program can be started as soon as possible.

American Academy of Pediatrics. (2006). Understanding autism spectrum disorders. American Academy of Pediatrics.

• Autism Spectrum Disorder: Screening, Diagnosing, Thinking About Genetic Aspects [DVD] – A topical, medical overview of autism.

Bodurtha, J. (Producer), & Oswald, D. (Director). (2008). Autism Spectrum Disorder: Screening, Diagnosing, Thinking About Genetic Aspects [DVD]. Richmond, Va.: VCU Health System.

• Autism Fact Sheet: National Institute of Neurological Disorders (NINDS) – The mission of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke is to reduce the burden of neurological disease – a burden borne by every age group, by every segment of society, by people all over the world. NINDS is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/autism/detail autism.htm

• Autism: MedlinePlus – MedlinePlus is the National Institutes of Health’s Web site for patients and their families and friends. Produced by the National Library of Medicine, it brings you information about diseases, conditions, and wellness issues in language you can understand. MedlinePlus offers reliable, up-to-date health information, anytime, anywhere, for tree.

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/autism.html

• The Autism Research Institute (ARI) is the hub of a worldwide network of parents and professionals concerned with autism. ARI was
  founded in 1967 to conduct and foster scientific research designed to improve the
  methods of diagnosing, treating, and preventing autism. ARI also disseminates research findings to parents and others worldwide seeking help. The ARI data bank, the world’s largest, contains over 40,000 detailed case histories of autistic children from over 60 countries. ARI publishes the Autism Research Review International, a quarterly newsletter covering biomedical and educational advances in autism research.

http://www.autism.com

Joshua Kitlas' Spring Semester 2011 Week 1 Word Cloud

I’m taking (gulp) 4 courses this semester:

IST600 – Information Design – Spring 2011 (m004)
IST614 – Management Principles for Info. Professionals
IST618 – Survey of Telecom. and Info. Policy – Spring 2011 (M003)
IST659 – Data Admin. Concepts and Database Mgmt. – Spring 2011 (M003)

I thought it would be interesting to do a word cloud of every digital thing related to these courses for the first week (this includes, syllabi, assignment overviews, readings, and my own essays). I first copy pasted each course and generated a word cloud of the top 50 words. I did this because there were far more digital items in some courses than others and wanted to give all courses a fair shot.

This is a repost of a press release I came across. I’ve found some very cool images there.

Site now faster, easier to navigate

Oak Ridge, TN – Science.gov now quickly finds science images, including animal and plant, weather and space, and earth and sun images and more. The information is free and no registration is required. Go to www.science.gov and select the Image Search link under Special Collections.

Initially, three databases are being searched from one search box. More image databases will be added to Science.gov in the coming months. The current federated search includes:

• The National Biological Information Infrastructure (NBII) Library of Images from the Environment (LIFE), a collection of high-quality photographs, illustrations, and graphics covering a wide range of topics, including images of plants, animals, fungi, microorganisms, habitats, wildlife management, environmental topics, and biological study/fieldwork.
• The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) Image eXchange (NIX), a search engine of NASA’s multimedia collections, including images of space flight wind tunnel, solar system, aircraft, and education initiatives.
• The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Photo Library, a collection spanning centuries of time and much of the natural world from the center of the earth to the surface of the sun.

In addition to the image search, Science.gov has:
• undergone a significant software upgrade for quicker performance
• included both the Federal Register and Code of Federal Regulations in the basic search
• provided an author cluster on the results page
• upgraded the alerts service so you can manage your Science.gov alerts directly from your alerts email and get daily alerts rather than weekly
• added a Science.gov widget for download to your website or customized pages
• and provided more citation download options.

Science.gov is a gateway to more than 42 scientific databases and 200 million pages of science information with just one query, and is a gateway to over 2000 scientific websites from 18 organizations within 14 federal science agencies: the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Education, Energy, Health and Human Services, the Interior, and Transportation; the Environmental Protection Agency, the Government Printing Office, the Library of Congress, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the National Archives and Records Administration, and the National Science Foundation. These agencies represent 97 percent of the federal R&D budget.

Science.gov is the USA.gov portal to science and the U.S. contribution to WorldWideScience.org. Science.gov is hosted by the Department of Energy Office of Scientific and Technical Information, within the Office of Science, and is supported by CENDI (www.cendi.gov), an interagency working group of senior scientific and technical information managers.

Infrared remote control receiver for Arduino

With so many disparate assets, publications, and data on the Web, it’s a wonder we can find anything at all; and when we do find something we’re searching for, are we really sure we’ve exhausted all resources, maximized search operators, and have assurance in our results? Factor in user tags and varying search algorithms and the Web begins to look like a tangled network of information. Employing authority control for Web resources can add a level of accuracy, completeness, and confidence to a user’s search.

For this paper I used a variety of articles on three distinct subject areas that I felt painted a complete view of the aspects of authority control and how it relates to Web resources: authority control for the purpose of bibliographic control on the Web, authority control as a model for organizing the Web, and authority control coupled with specific methodologies and coding of Web resources. I also elected to use some articles using the vision of the Semantic Web in an effort to be forward thinking.

To make clear the distinction between the Web and the Semantic Web, the current Web is like a giant text file and you can search for instances of particular words. The Semantic Web is like a database, where every item of information is categorized, and new queries can combine categories in any imaginable way (Hardesty, 2010). Of the Semantic Web, “everything is based on Resource Description Framework (RDF) triples which exhibit the simplest possible semantic structure” (Dunsire, 2008, p.3). I bring up RDF because it is important in the discussion of authority control in Web resources. Although, machines can quickly process many chains of RDF triples, they cannot ‘think’ so humans must still be involved in creating RDF resources.

I wanted to get as broad a view as I could so I deliberately took the pains to find articles from sources both inside and outside the United States. As a general rule, I reviewed articles published within the past four years, but I did make some exceptions where I found relevant material.

Literature Reviews

UNIMARC, RDA and the Semantic Web – by G. Dunsire

In developing useable, easy to index and relatable metadata, well-trained professional catalogers combined with an internationally agreed upon authority control are at the core of making the Web a data-driven display of data, says the author.

Leaning on the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), Dunsire (2010) suggests that professional catalogers should apply Resource Description and Access (RDA) as the content standard for metadata encoded in the Universal MARC Format (UNIMARC) to facilitate the exchange of bibliographic data on the Semantic Web.

This human-focused view is close to what needs to happen to help bridge the Web to a data-driven reality, but can we expect professional catalogers to be the only ones classifying Web resources and can we expect UNIMARC to be a metadata standard and RDA to be a content standard? My hunch is that this will not be sustainable in the long term, but that is just conjecture and speculation on my part. If you asked me 15 years ago if I thought I’d get my news from somewhere other than newspapers, magazines and television I would have laughed at you. I do think that, despite the acceptance of RDA, the greater challenge here will be for the global population to agree unilaterally on content and metadata standards – whether they’re a part of IFLA or not.

Authority Control of People and Organizations on the Semantic Web
by Kurki, J., & Hyvonen, E.

Kurki and Hyvonen (2009) discuss a bold and sweeping national initiative known as the Finnish General Upper Ontology. It is intended to be the main ontology in Finland, interlinking domain and instance ontologies and is focused on using authority control for classifying individuals and organizations. It is based on the widely used Finnish General Thesaurus that is maintained by the National Library of Finland. This is part of the nine year National Semantic Web Ontology Project in Finland that is due to close in 2012 (Finnish Ontology Library Service, 2010).

The manifestation of this initiative is a repository named ONKI People that is a service for finding and clarifying the identities of persons, groups, and organizations. The ontology is developed collaboratively between individuals and organizations and has a multifaceted search component and graph visualizer component (Kurki and Hyvonen, 2009).

This is a prime example of brave and visionary thinking – and it’s working. Although it’s limited in that it’s only brief name and organization information, it provides a solid foundation for focused experimentation and development. Having a national initiative that has the support of its citizenry is very unique and can only happen in an environment where there is a high level of literacy (internet and reading) and ample availability of Internet access. This limits what countries or regions may be able to undertake such an initiative, but nonetheless provides a good framework for development.

Interestingly, this system fits in well with a concept proposed by Barbara B. Tillett nearly a decade ago in her speech titled ‘Authority Control on the Web’ at the Bicentennial Conference on Bibliographic Control for the New Millennium (2001). In her speech, she talks of linking existing authority record control numbers and other nation’s authority files to display uniform results for users (Tillett, 2001, p. 9).

Supporting Name Authority Control in XML Metadata:
A Practical Approach at The University Of Tennessee – by M. Veve

There is an ongoing effort for libraries and other intuitions to develop automated systems to execute routine tasks. Though this is possible in some instances, it is not yet possible to execute an automated process for name authority control in XML metadata. In this paper, Veve defines a system that “consists of a simple manual approach to extract and create name access points that effectively reduces time and research efforts by efficiently setting priorities, identifying critical descriptive areas in the digital transcriptions, and identifying the most appropriate biographical resources to consult” (2009, p. 42).

Finding ways to integrate these initiatives with existing mechanisms for name authority control in libraries can help to bring library catalogues into the mix of tools available on the Web (Harper, 2007, p. 62).

Here again (as in the earlier Dunsire paper) we see an article with a call for the human factor – not machines – to serve an important role in authority control for Web resources.

Encoding Library of Congress Subject Headings in SKOS: Authority Control for the Semantic Web – by C.A. Harper

This paper discusses the importance of simplifying authority control systems, converting information to a model for data interchange, and utilizing the formatting style detailed in the Simple Knowledge Organization System (SKOS) project (The World Wide Web Consortium, 2010). According to Harper (2006), the Library of Congress Subject Headings Authority Records provide a ready-made framework that is suitable for making a useful and accurate search and retrieval system across the Web and its resources.

The author goes on to say that by paring down any existing MAchine-Readable Cataloging (MARC) or Metadata Authority Description Schema (MADS) and translating them into to Library of Congress Subject Headings Authority Records, we will have a uniform and easily classifiable system that will make the Web a data-driven and easy to index network (Harper, 2006, p. 4). He adds that using Library of Congress Subject Headings will give users and Web developers a system that has been honed over decades by librarians and information professionals

I found this article to oversimplify existing content issues, authority control and Semantic Web formatting. I agree with parts and pieces, but as a general solution or roadmap to the development of the Semantic Web, it falls very short. Library of Congress Subject Headings are without question an excellent valid and reliable system for organizing information, but there is definitely more information that would need to be tagged in different ways and MARC or MADS will probably not be sufficient for all resources. Resources such as programming codes or databases and their multiple iterations, for instance, would be hard to classify with LCSH alone.

Re-inventing Subject Access for the Semantic Web – by R.A. Franklin

This article deals with subject access and authority control as it relates to scholarly and academic research. The author forecasts the future of the Web as an entity that models “subject access with library science principles of bibliographic control and cataloging” (Franklin, 2003, 94) and adds that as we enter the next generation of scholarly research on the Web, the foundation, based on authority, is there (Franklin, 2003, p. 100).

As the development the Web quickens, developers will need to “incorporate standards that are basic to the integrity of data” (Franklin, 2003, p. 94). Employing authority control, enabling interoperability and establishing thesauri are at the core of this development.

Although not the most recent article, the manner in which the author relates quality of academic and scholarly research to the integrity of sound measures of authority control on the Web is timeless. The currency of thought on this area represented in this article from seven years ago is a good reference point in that little has changed in this area of the research as it relates to the Web. There is, however, little relevance to the statements concerning the Web closely modeling library science principles of bibliographic control and cataloging.

Closing Thoughts

The implications of authority control for Web resources can be both positive and negative.

It’s absolutely necessary to develop a universal, mutually agreed upon and committed to, system of authority control if we choose to maximize the resources on the Web. This is the only way to have a complete, uniform, and thorough indexing and retrieval system for Web resources. However, librarians and information management specialists are among the few that have not just the structural understanding of authority control, but the theoretical understanding of what authority control is and how it is beneficial to organizing the panoply of resources on the Web. This knowledge also dovetails into realizing how critical authority control is in forming the bedrock for the ongoing development of the Semantic Web.

There will have to be a bridge across the various camps of authority control thought to make an effective marriage of authority control and the Web. Some embrace RDA and are loathe to accept MARC; some of the MARC diehards see no use for RDA; Dublin Core holds promise, but some professionals find it too limiting; LCSH is tried and true, but does it offer enough classification schemes to make the Web as useful as it can possibly be? Without a united formalized classification system, there will only be awkward steps toward interoperability among existing Web resources and, without interoperability, there will be no unification of terms and possibly little or no disambiguation.

Regarding metadata, current practices simply do not support name disambiguation. As the number of resources and types of metadata grow, so will this challenge as will the need for humans to use authority control to map web resources.

The irony of my research is that while the benefits of authority control are many, if there are no unilateral agreements on authority control, any efforts may end up having adverse implications on Web resources. We may see the same frustrations and challenges currently going on in some camps of bibliographic control (MARC vs. RDA, UNIMARC, etc.) spill over to the organization of Web resources.

Bibliography

Dunsire, G. (2008). Said the spider to the fly: identity and authority in the Semantic Web. CILIP Cataloguing and Indexing Group Conference Programme (p. 2). Glasgow: University of Strathclyde.

Dunsire, G. (2010). Unimarc, rda and the semantic web. International cataloguing and bibliographic control , 37-40.

Eckert, K., & Haffner, A. (n.d.). Use Case Authority Data Enrichment. Retrieved 12 2, 2010, from The World Wide Web Consortium: http://www.w3.org/2005/Incubator/lld/wiki/Use_Case_Authority_Data_Enrichment

Finnish Ontology Library Service. (n.d.). ONKI2 :: Finnish general upper ontology – yso. Retrieved 12 2, 2010, from Finnish Ontology Library Service ONKI: http://www.yso.fi/onki2/overview?o=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.yso.fi%2Fonto%2Fyso&l=en

Franklin, R. A. (2003). Re-inventing subject access for the semantic web. Online Information Review , 94-101.

Hardesty, L. (2010, 6 22). Toward the semantic web. Retrieved 12 3, 2010, from MIT News: http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2010/semantic-web-0622.html

Harper, C. A. (2006). Encoding library of congress subject headings in SKOS: authority control for the semantic web. DC-2006: Proceedings of the International Conference on Dublin Core, (p. 5). Manzanillo: Universidad de Colima.

Harper, C., & Tillett, B. (2007). Library of congress controlled vocabularies and their application to the semantic web. Cataloging & classification quarterly , 43(3-4), 47-4.

Keizer, J. (n.d.). Use case FAO authority description concept scheme. Retrieved 12 2, 2010, from The World Wide Web Consortium: http://www.w3.org/2005/Incubator/lld/wiki/Use_Case_FAO_Authority_Description_Concept_Scheme

Kurki, J., & Hyvonen, E. (2009). Authority control of people and organizations on the semantic web. Helsinki: Semantic Computing Research Group.

Rapoza, J. (2007, June 4). Spinning the semantic web. eWeek , pp. 31-33.

RIF Developers. (n.d.). RIF Working Group. Retrieved 12 3, 2010, from The World Wide Web Consortium: http://www.w3.org/2005/rules/wiki/RIF_Working_Group

The World Wide Web Consortium. (2010, 12 1). SKOS: simple knowledge organization for the web. Retrieved from The World Wide Web Consortium: http://www.w3.org/2004/02/skos/

Tillett, B. B. (2001). Authority Control on the Web. Proceedings of the Bicentennial Conference on Bibliographic Control for the New Millennium (p. 12). Washington, DC: Library of Congress.

Veve, M. (2009). Supporting name authority control in xml metadata: A practical approach at the university of tennessee. Library resources & technical services , 41-52.