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Current Cities Volume 10 Number 03
_Current Cites_
Volume 10, no.3
March 1999
The Library
University of California, Berkeley
Edited by Teri Andrews Rinne
This issue guest edited by Roy Tennant
ISSN: 1060-2356
http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/CurrentCites/1999/cc99.10.3.html
Contributors:
Terry Huwe, Margaret Phillips,
Roy Tennant, Jim Ronningen, Lisa Yesson
Ellis, Steven, ed. "A Special Theme: Digital Libraries" Library HiTech 16(3-4) (1998):12-62. - Since
all but two of the seven articles are specifically on electronic text centers, the theme title is
more than a little misleading. E-text centers, as important as they may be, do not comprise anywhere
near the totality of digital libraries. However, if one takes this error into account, the collection
of articles can serve as a useful overview of a number of electronic text center projects. - RT
Floyd, Bianca. "Digital Storytelling Updates an Ancient Art by Adding Technology" The Chornicle of
Higher Education March 18, 1999. - This article describes the new art of digital storytelling as
pioneered at UC Berkeley's Center for Digital Storytelling. Participants claim that digital
storytelling--merging together text, images, sound and animation--will emerge as a new art form that
will be pursued by large numbers of people who have access to technology. Amateur practitioners may
be the pioneers of this art form, because basic manipulation of digital formats can be learned with
relative dispatch. Moreover, it may resemble independent filmmaking and other forms of expression
that do not rely on corporate sponsors. - TH
Fourie, Ian. "Should we Take Disintermediation Seriously?" The Electronic Library 17(1)(February,
1999): 9-16. - Does the growing volume of electronic information available to end-users spell the end
of intermediaries as we know them? Well, perhaps as we know some of them today. While end-users may
be increasingly less dependent on information specialists, Fourie argues that end-user empowerment
does not necessarily imply disintermediation or "the finding of information by an end-user without
the need for a third party." Fourie discusses the implications of disintermediation on the future of
information specialists in nearly excruciating detail. While his conclusion that information
specialists will continue to have a role in improving society's access to quality information is not
surprising, he does offer some valuable points for information specialists to consider in keeping
their skills effective and relevant. - LY
Hegener, Michiel. "The Internet, Satellites, and Human Rights" OnTheInternet 5(2) (March/April
1999):20-29; 40. - In a previous article on Internet satellite technology in OnTheInternet, Hegener
focused on issues of capability and implementation. This piece focuses on its possible impact on
global human rights. Not surprisingly, what may happen is far from clear and will be the result of a
complex interplay of technical, political, economic, and human realities. Hegener understands these
issues and does not fall into the trap of overlooking their complexity in order to deliver a strong
conclusion. It is not yet clear what, if any, impact satellite communication may have on the ability
of people to "get the word out" to the rest of the world about the violation of their human rights.
One might imagine, however, that every new method of communication would threaten the power of
oppressors to create and sustain their oppression. - RT
Huwe, Terence K. "New Search Tools for Multidisciplinary Digital Libraries" Online 23(2) (March/April
1999):67-74 . - This article is not just for librarians who "have" a digital library, because any
information service is becoming more about remote access and less about collection ownership. Online
searchers and librarians of all stripes should take a look. Current Cites contributor Terry Huwe sees
the migration of many online services to the Web environment as a stimulus for the creation of better
search utilities which can ease the task of multidisciplinary searches. He argues that "the current
challenge is to develop new search tools that deliver multidisciplinary results, but that also
preserve the metadata and finding aids of the discrete databases." The tools highlighted include the
KnowledgeCite Library by Silverplatter Information, UC San Diego's Database Advisor, the Ameritech's
Pharos system for the Calfornia State University System, and Northern Light. These critiques are
written from the point of view that a huge information utility's sheer size can become a curse, if it
turns the utility into a sea of bytes devoid of context and meaning. - JR
Kelley, Tina. "Whales in the Minnesota River?" The New York Times (March 4, 1999): D1-D8. - The Web
is largely unregulated and unchecked so it is wise to be skeptical when using web-based resources.
Talk about stating the obvious. Nonetheless, it is encouraging to see the Times "Circuits" section
illustrating some dramatic cases of bogus data found on the Web: the Amnesty International site on
human rights in Tunisia (www.amnesty.org/tunisia) versus a site sponsored by the Tunisian government
on human rights in that country (www.amnesty-tunisia.org). The article describes the efforts of some
librarians to teach students how to evaluate the Web. Included are references to some Web sites that
tell you what to look for when seeking reliable information online including: Thinking Critically
About World Wide Web Resources and Practical Steps in Evaluating Internet Resources. A sidebar on
"How to Separate Good Data From Bad" provides a checklist of what to look for including things that
are second nature to information professionals like: "beware of sites with lots of spelling and
grammatical errors" and notice when the site was last updated. - MP
Ober, John. "The California Digital Library" D-Lib Magazine (March 1999). - The California Digital
Library is a recent invention of the University of California, and so far very little has been
publicly available on what it's all about. This piece fills in a lot of holes, and provides some key
URLs for finding out more. Ober does a good job of both recounting the recent history that led to its
creation as well as describing its present and charting its future. - RT
Vogt-O'Connor, Diane. "Is the Record of the 20th Century at Risk? CRM: Cultural Resource Management
22(2) (1999): 21-24. - I don't recall ever reading a better articulated description of the digital
preservation problem. Vogt-O'Connor has penned a thorough, interesting and compelling description of
the challenges that face anyone with digital material they wish to preserve. The works she cites are
useful and very up-to-date, with most barely six months to a year old. If we are to avert a "digital
dark age of information loss," we should heed what Vogt-O'Connor has to say. - RT
_________________________________________________________________
Current Cites 10(3) (March 1999) ISSN: 1060-2356
Copyright © 1999 by the Library, University of California,
Berkeley. _All rights reserved._
http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/CurrentCites/1999/cc99.10.3.html
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Editor: Teri Andrews Rinne, trinne@library.berkeley.edu, (510)
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