Tag Archives: Google

Thomson Reuters Pulling Web of Science from Discovery Services

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Thomson ReutersEarlier this month, Thomson Reuters announced a partnership with Google to add its Web of Science content to Google Scholar.  However, we are learning that Thomson Reuters is pulling its Web of Science content from other discovery services such as Summon, EBSCO Discovery Service, and Primo as early as the end of this year.

From a Thompson Reuters letter:

Web of Science is keeping pace with the evolution of research discovery. Increasingly, researchers of all levels are turning to the Open Web to begin their search.

That is why Thomson Reuters is collaborating with Google Scholar to make the Web of Science instantly discoverable and bring users directly to the Web of Science, where they can experience the power of citation connections.

We have always been committed to supporting researchers around the world as they find, evaluate and assign meaning to research.

Increasingly we have seen that while Discovery Services are a valuable tool for accessing full text content, they are not a replacement for the unique research discovery experience that the Web of Science offers.

As enabling research discovery based on citation connections is the primary objective of the Web of Science, and the foundation upon which our evaluation, selection and indexing process is based, we believe it is in the best interest of our customers and end users to use the Web of Science research discovery environment as the primary interface for authoritative search and evaluation of citation connected research.

For this reason we will no longer make Web of Science content available for indexing within EBSCO, Summon or Primo Central. We will, however, continue to support Web of Science Accessibility via linking and federated search capabilities in each of these discovery layers. Please direct any questions regarding configuration changes to their respective support teams.

This could foreshadow a troubling development for all discovery service vendors if others follow.

Read the partnership announcement at Against the Grain.

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Librarian Communities on Google+

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Google+If you use Google+ you are probably already aware of the new Communities function.

Many librarians were quick to utilize this new functionality to create social and professional groups.  Already these Communities have formed and some are quickly growing quite large and active:

So if you haven’t tried Google+, Google+ Communities might be the best reason yet to give it a try.

Electronic Resources on Social Media Sites

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Social Media iconsFollow or friend your favorite electronic resource websites on three major social networking sites: Facebook, Google+, and Twitter.  The database vendors often use these outlets to give updates, offer free access trials, and announce downtime.

Facebook

Google+

Twitter

Think Quarterly on the Acceleration of Everything

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Think QuarterlyLast year Google started an online periodical called Think Quarterly.  Rather than looking back, Google will explore aspects of the Internet on future culture.  From Think Quarterly‘s About page:

We don’t want to review what’s happened; we want to prepare you for what happens next. For each issue, we tap our homegrown visionaries, plus heads of industry, innovators and experts, to lend their insights and outlooks on the digital future. We hope it gives a view into what drives us as a company and inspires those of you who lead the way.

Previous issues have be titled “The Innovation Issue” (July 2011) and “The People Issue” (September 2011).  The current issue is called “The Speed Issue”.  All of this is great reading for the librarian who wants to understand the digital world in which we work.

One interesting article in the current issue looks at the speeding Internet time and its disruption of just about every sector of life.  The author makes an analogy to “Gutenberg Time” when the new printed book disrupted the Church, increased information and the pace of the Reformation, allowed scientists to more easily build on the past work of others, and created new jobs and whole industries.  Read more from the article Not So Fast.

Access the current issue Think Quarterly.

Palo Alto Library Lending Chromebooks

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Google Chromebook (Acer)The Palo Alto Library will begin a service in January to lend Google Chromebooks, the basic notebook computer running Google’s Chrome OS software.  The library purchased 21 computers which will be offered for a one-week checkout period.  Besides the low price of the Chromebook, it uses no installed apps, but instead accesses many web-based services such as Gmail and Google Docs.

Read more in the Wired article Silicon Valley Library Lends Google Chromebooks.

Find out more about the Google Chromebook.

The Evolution of Google Search

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GoogleGoogle talks about the development of its search engine in a new video. From the Official Google Blog:

Our goal is to get you to the answer you’re looking for faster and faster, creating a nearly seamless connection between your questions and the information you seek. That means you don’t generally need to know about the latest search feature in order to take advantage of it—simply type into the box as usual and find the answers you’re looking for.