Monday, October 09, 2006

Review of r-library

A new software, called “r-library" ($14.95 US) by Riveted claims to be “Your ultimate research tool.” But it is little more than an enhanced web browser. In “r-library,” you can browse the internet, save webpages, highlight these webpages and take notes on them. But, it doesn’t appear to work with Portable Document Format (PDF) files. It provides a “citation creator,” but you still have to enter all the citation information into it. There are already free citation generators, like NoodleTools' NoodleBib that do this for free. Its primary sources are free internet sites. It completely ignores library tools in favor of Answers.com and Wikipedia. The only online database it links to is Questia, available for personal subscriptions. It does nothing to lead researchers to databases available for free from the library.

You can create a report from your saved webpages which includes the text you highlighted, source information (including the date you saved the page) and your notes. In the tutorial, the section on “Generating Reports” states, “You can now copy & paste any of the information or save it as a text file or .doc file.” Um, isn’t that plagiarism?!

Sure, if you take the time to read the “Acceptable Use Policy," you learn that Riveted “will attempt to terminate service to anyone who we become aware is repeatedly using our services in violation of copyright law.” But plagiarists have no fear! In the policy, Riveted admits that it does not police and “IT IS YOUR SOLE RESPONSIBILITY TO USE THE SERVICES IN COMPLIANCE WITH ALL APPLICABLE COPYRIGHT LAWS.” Capitalization is theirs.

Summary

Pros:
-Save, highlight, and take notes on a webpage
-Generate reports of the above which include date of access (important for citing)

Cons:
-Doesn’t work with PDFs
-Promotes poor research skills
-Encourages plagiarism

This is a commercial product with no academic value. I like the idea, but the product as it is now will only appeal to the lazy student who doesn’t know better. It could be used with the databases, but I would not recommend it to the average student. Free trail available at http://www.riveted.com/rlib_TryIt.aspx.

Friday, October 06, 2006

Presentations on Blogs and Wikis

The second session I attended at the TLA District 5 meeting was on Blogs and Wikis.
“Wikis, Briefly Considered” by Mark Gilman
“Blogs: Rethinking Library Outreach” by Davin Pate
The PowerPoints for this presentation provide some good general information on these two hot topics. They are available online at http://www.infinitevistas.org/tla/.

Thursday, October 05, 2006

Top Hits of the Reference Playlist

September 23, I attended the Texas Library Association District 5 meeting. The first session I attended was “Top Hits of the Reference Playlist” by Valli Hoski. These are the websites she recommended during the session. I have starred her favorite sites.

General Reference
*The Internet Public Library: www.ipl.org/
Internet Library for Librarians: www.itcompany.com/inforetriever/
Librarians Index to the Internet: lii.org
Onelook Dictionaries: www.onelook.com/
RefDesk: Reference, Facts, News: www.refdesk.com/
*Worldcat.org: www.worldcat.org

For Kids
FirstGov for Kids: www.kids.gov/
KidsClick!: sunsite.berkeley.edu/KidsClick!
*KidsSpace: www.ipl.org/div/kidspace/
TeenSpace: www.ipl.org/div/teen/
*Fact Monster: www.factmonster.com

Science Fair
*Cyber-Fair: www.isd77.k12.mn.us/resources/cf/welcome.html
*IPL Science Fair Project Resource Guide: http://www.ipl.org/div/projectguide/
Science Fair Central: school.discovery.com/sciencefaircentral/
Science Fairs Homepage: http://www.cdli.ca/sciencefairs/

Legal Information for Consumers
FindLaw: www.findlaw.com
NoLo Guides and Auntie NoLo: www.nolo.com
Project Avalon: Law, History, Diplomacy: www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/avalon.htm
CrimeLibrary: www.crimelibrary.com

Business Information for Consumers
Business.com: www.business.com
Hoovers: www.hoovers.com
MarketWatch: www.marketwatch.com
BigCharts: bigcharts.marketwatch.com/
BankRate.com: www.bankrate.com