Tidbits, 23 October 2009

My del.icio.us tag overfloweth…

  • A challenge to libraries from an information science professor: "I wish I could say that libraries were the obvious organization to take care of data… But… they have not been ambitious, they lack the subject area knowledge, they often lack the technical skills." What say ye, librarian Trogoolies?
  • Cross-disciplinary use of data shines in this account of the decline of the Maya. "Space technology is revolutionizing archeology." Who would have guessed it?
  • On the tools front, take a look at the Tranche Project, aimed at securely sharing datasets among researchers.
  • On the interesting collections front, Canadensys is trying to collect biodiversity information from various researcher networks. Their technical infrastructure is very much "use what you have; build only what you must."
  • Why build yet another silo for data? Exploring curation micro-services is a great introduction to the simple, UNIX-y tools coming out of the California Digital Library.
  • And because it's Friday, a lovely lyrical reflection from John Mark Ockerbloom on why preservation matters. Sometimes it's not all about the bottom line.

Have a good weekend!

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