Penn State Great Valley Library Blog

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Thursday, August 9, 2007
5:00 - 7:00 p.m.

Penn State Great Valley
Safeguard Scientifics Building

For more information go to: http://www.gv.psu.edu/openhouse/

Penn State University Libraries recently unveiled its new website at www.libraries.psu.edu. Some of the new features on the front page include detail on Multisearch - which enables users to search multiple databases simultaneously; searching The CAT (our online catalog), Google Scholar, and Google Books in a drop down box feature; and general library information for students, faculty, and alumni.

The new site also showcases several of Penn State University Libraries outstanding collections including our archival and digitalized materials. Subject resource guides and a new online reference shelf is also available.

Feel free to stop by the Great Valley library to learn more about the new Penn State University Libraries website.

A more scholarly version of the popular Wikipedia - called Citizendium - will be launched in the upcoming weeks. This wiki will only contain contributions from experts and scholars of various disciplines. The project’s creator, Larry Sanger, is a co-founder of Wikipedia and has become one of its most vocal opponents in recent months. You can learn more about Citizendium by clicking here.

Microsoft is preparing to release its wireless competitor (Zune) to Apple’s wildly popular Ipod and; a Zune Marketplace for downloads of music and other materials. Available in three colors (black, white, & brown), analysts are doubtful that the new device will erode Ipod’s popularity among the masses.

Read more about Zune by clicking here.

Apple unveiled their new Ipods today (including a smaller version of the Shuffle) that will have popular video games like PacMan and Tetris. A new 80 gigabyte Ipod will retail for about $350. Also, the Itunes store will begin selling movies from Disney, MiraMax, Touchstone, and Pixar in time for the release of a new I-TV device that will go on sale in 2007.

The new I-TV will retail for about $300 and will incorporate all of the popular functions of the IPod. Read more about this at CNN.com here.

While news in technology has been fairly light for the past several weeks, Apple “cranks” things up by hinting of possible movie downloads for their extremely popular IPod. The rumor has gained traction with the media as many tech reports received invitations to a September 12th press event with the moniker “It’s Showtime” on the cover.

Read more about this latest move from Apple by clicking onto this link.

Paranormal experts believe that they have hard core evidence that the 100 year old Phoenixville Library is haunted by the ghost of a man and his dog. According to library legend, books have been seen sliding off of the shelves and a pencil holder has been seen spinning.

Cindy Starr-Whitman of the Chester County Paranormal Research Society said that the ghost is harmless and should not prevent visitors from coming to the library. You can view the actual footage of the ghost and his deeds on this NBC 10 weblink.

Google has announced that there are no plans in the works to launch a national Wi-Fi Network - although they are currently rolling out wireless Internet service in Mountain View, CA (the city where Google is based). There are approximately 300 open bids in the United States for municipal Wi-Fi services and Google is not bidding on any of them.

Google has waged war with telephone and cable industry companies that have threatened to charge content providers for access to their networks. This hotly debated topic has landed in Washington where Google and its supported are pushing legislators and regulatory agencies to ensure what they call “Net neutrality.”

You can read more in The New York Times.

University of California and Google announced plans for the university to join Google’s massive book scanning project. The deal tocovers all the libraries in UC’s 10-campus system, making this the biggest expansion of Google’s effort to convert millions of library books into digital form since a group of authors and publishers sued Google last fall in an effort to halt the project.

“We think this is a pretty significant step forward,” said Adam Smith, the group product manager overseeing Google’s book-scanning initiative.

Read more about the Google digital book project by clicking onto this link.

The New Orleans Public Library is in the process of rebuilding their collection and is willing to accept donations of all kinds. However, there is a frequently asked questions section for those interested in providing materials.

Click onto this link to learn more.

In an effort to tap into the lucrative college and youth technology market, Sony has unveiled plans to launch a wireless handheld - the Mylo (which stand for “my life online”). The pocket size device is primarily for instant messaging and Internet based communications. The device can not support corporate email programs. The Mylo is not a cellular phone and will not require a service contract.

Sony has teamed with eBay Inc.’s Skype VoIP service, which offers free voice chats for its registered users. Read more about the Mylo by clicking onto this link.

Yale, Harvard, and The British Library are now reporting that more maps are missing from their collections than those E. Forbes Smiley, III (the Martha’s Vineyard map thief) admitted to stealing, according to the Hartford Courant newspaper. The British Library suspects that the map dealer has taken three additional maps. As a result, they have hired Philadelphia lawyer Robert Goldman to further explore their case. Before joining private practice this year, Goldman prosecuted more than 30 art and culture thieves; along with helping to recover stolen items once belonging to President George Washington, Patrick Henry, and Geronimo.

“We continue to entertain serious doubts about the completeness of the investigation and the extent of Mr. Smiley’s cooperation with the authories,” said Clive Field - director of scholarship and collections at The British Library.

Smiley has admitted to stealing several maps and then selling them for more than $110,000 each on his website to rare map collectors around the world.

Harvard released the names of five additional maps missing from their collection last Friday and Yale and The British Library made their thefts public information. A closed door meeting of the Yale librarians and the FBI is scheduled on August 7th in preparation for Smiley’s sentencing.

Harvard will post a public version of their list of missing maps in the thefts section of www.maphistory.info. Yale’s list is located at www.library.yale.edu/MapColl/msgmaps.html

With technology changing so quickly, it can be somewhat confusing to determine when you should upgrade your computer versus purchasing a new one. The answer to this question varies based on the needs of the primary user of the computer. However, to maximize logging onto library resources remotely (particularly large size databases), your computer should have a signifigant amount of memory or RAM. This will allow you the ability to move through databases quickly and toggle between programs (ie running a Powerpoint presentation and surfing databases simultaneously).

To learn more about upgrading versus replacing your computer, click onto this link.

Verizon Wireless announced today that they are launching an Ipod-like cellphone - Chocolate - “that will have full video capabilities, and also allow consumers to choose from more than 1.3 million songs from Verizon’s online music store for download,” the company said on their website. The cellphone will only be available to Verizon Wireless customers and will retail for approximately $199 US. The phone is currently available on Verizon Wireless’ website and will be distributed to stores on August 7th.

Also, the company added that it will no longer charge customers a $15 monthly fee to download music and will instead, charge around $2 per music download. The launch of this new product makes Verizon a direct competitor to Apple and their popular Itunes service.

Apple has announced the release of the new wireless Mighty Mouse that is twenty times more sensitive than the standard mouse and is Bluetooth 2.0 based. The mouse has an advanced power system that automatically switches to a low power mode during periods of inactivity. It also has an off switch to maintain battery power. The device works with either one or two AA batteries.

Currently retailing for $69, there is no word yet as to whether or not the 20th Century Fox (creators of the popular fictional pint size superhero who bears the same name) will dispute naming similiarities and licensing issues.