More Database Considerations for Reference Committee

This is fun! I hope we can get a trial to all of these. Please make comments. --Alicia

1. Europa World Plus

http://www.europaworld.com/pub/about

“Europa World Yearbook and Europa Regional Surveys of the World”

2. Science Full Text Select (New Product)

http://www.hwwilson.com/science/

“Affordable choice for community colleges”

3. General Science Full-Text

http://www.hwwilson.com/databases/gensci.htm

“Designed specifically for students and non-specialists”

4. Greenwood Products

http://www.greenwood.com/default.asp?ImprintID=I1

The African American Experience (Spring 2006)
Additional Products in the future include Latino, Asian, and Native American Experience.

World Cultures Today

5. Facts on File Products

http://www.facts.com/

Issues and Controversies*
Today’s Science*
Reference Suite ?
World Alamanac?

Science Search Comparison

The Library Link of the Day for Thanksgiving Day was an interesting article from Current Science called "As we may search - Comparison of major features of the Web of Science, Scopus, and Google Scholar citation-based and citation-enhanced databases" (PDF file). Fits in nicely with the discussion of SCOPUS etc we had in the Reference Committee meeting today.

Sony/BMG CD Anti-Piracy Software Update

Here's the abridged version. After perfectly justifiable outcry, Sony claims to have ceased manufacturing compact discs with XCP software. They also claim to be working with their retail partners to remove the offending discs from the chain of distribution, and they have established an exchange program for people who've already bought the discs. They've also finally released a list of the affected titles. There are 52 on the list, so I haven't had time to search our catalog yet, but I will be doing it shortly. In the meantime, if you have reason to believe that the anti-piracy software has been installed on a PC, you might want to contact John. As I understand it, the software is difficult to remove, and the patch offered by Sony is rumored to make the security holes even worse. Hopefully this will not affect us or our patrons, but we should keep our fingers crossed.

[Update 11/29/05 by Tessa:]
I have thoroughly checked our catalog for the 52 titles on the list. We had two that had just been received, so I managed to grab those before they were cataloged. We also had two that had been cataloged and sent to Nonprint. Of those two, one was on the shelf and one was checked out, each had only circulated once. I've grabbed the one that was on the shelf and have a hold on the one that is charged out. I've asked everyone who orders CDs to check the list whenever ordering a Sony/BMG title, so, hopefully, we've contained the problem.

LISNews.org | ProQuest Sells Periodical Microfilm business

Interesting note on LISNews about ProQuest selling off it's periodicals microfilm business. The article referes to this part of PQs business as "sluggish". Is this the beginning of the end of microfilm as a format for periodicals preservation/ retention?

Nice new design on LISNews too. Definitely miss things like that using a news aggregator!

Sony/BMG CD Anti-Piracy Software

A discussion of the problems related to Sony's new anti-piracy software has cropped up on one of my cataloging listservs. Apparently, a class-action lawsuit has already been filed about this in California and one is about to be filed in New York. Here's a summary from AUTOCAT (quoted with permission):

I don't know if anyone has been following this, but for those of you who have collections with CDs, be aware that there is a potentially fatal problem with the new anti-piracy software that comes with new Song/BMG titles. These CDs come bundled with their own player, which has to be installed in order for the CD to run. This program then limits the number of copies that can be made from the CD to three. However, in doing this it also installs a rootkit.

Rootkits, according to Mark Russinovich, who writes a computer blog, are "cloaking technologies that hide files, Registry keys, and other system objects from diagnostic and security software, and they are usually employed by malware attempting to keep their implementation hidden." What this rootkit does is actually rewrite parts of the code on your OS. Trying to delete these files may cripple your system, and may leave it vulnerable to other viruses and worms that capitalize on security weaknesses in the new code. It may also lead to the "Blue Screen of Death" and potential loss of data.

Note that nowhere in the licensing agreement we all click without reading does it say that using the CD will alter your OS or rewrite your computer's code. It is also very hard to get the uninstall program from Sony, and it doesn't seem to work very well if you do get it.

The original problem was noted in Russovich's blog:
Sony, Rootkits and Digital Rights Management Gone Too Far

and its follow-up:
More on Sony: Dangerous Decloaking Patch, EULAs and Phoning Home

It has also been covered by several news outlets and on IT security websites:
Sony Rootkit or Aggressive DRM?

Hackers Raid Sony's Playbook
(this has good links to other ariticles [sic] as well)

Because libraries buy and circulate CD copies to mulitple users, you may want to take a look at the CDs in your collection and avoid these. Apart from the spyware and privacy aspects, this is potentially a huge security problem, and may actually cause Windows PCs to fail. Caveat emptor.

I haven't had time to look into whether or not we have any of these CDs. There is a list that is making the rounds on slashdot and elsewhere. I'm not sure if there is any way to tell if they have this software before ordering them, but it might behoove us to look into it. It won't really be a problem for old fogeys like me who rarely listen to CDs on a computer, but our patrons who do might be understandably irritated by this. Thoughts?

Wikipedia Article

Interesting article from cnn.com about our friend Wikipedia possibly producing print/ cd versions of some content for the developing world.

Bye and thanks

I've enjoyed working with you, thanks for everything, and all my best wishes.

Can't wait to see you at GUGM, COMO, SAMM, ALA . . .

New Librarian @ Decatur

The Decatur Campus Library is pleased to welcome Adrienne Graham on board as our new full time Reference Librarian. Adrienne was formerly a part time librarian at Rockdale, so she is be no means new to the GPC Libraries family. Adrienne will be working with Circulation and Serials as well as the usual reference desk and instruction class duties.

Her contact info is on the staff page is you want to say welcome aboard. We're glad to have her!