Category: Glenda’s Online Currents articles

By Glenda: First published in Online Currents – Vol.18 Issue 5, October 2003

Living in the Blue Mountains, and working from home, I rely heavily on the Web for specific information and as a way of keeping up-to-date with the fields that interest me – indexing, library and information science, and information technology in general. I am impressed by the number of sites that offer free quality publications, with contributions ranging from short news snippets to fully-fledged journal articles. Online sources usually have less delay between writing and publication than print sources, so are particularly useful for keeping up with the latest developments. read more

By Glenda: First published in Online Currents – Vol.19 Issue 5 & 7, June & September 2004

1. General Resources

The more technological our society becomes, the more people seem to be interested in linking with the past.  One of the most personal ways to do this is by researching one’s own family.  There are vast family history resources available in print, microfiche and CD-ROM formats, with a smaller but rapidly growing number on the Internet.  These provide from-home access to international tools for genealogical researchers. read more

By Glenda: First published in Online Currents – Vol.19 Issue 1, January/February 2004

Information architecture (IA) is a natural extension of the traditional roles of librarians and indexers. For many years I have been keeping up with developments in this expanding field. This article describes Web sites about Information Architecture that I have found useful.

Information architecture is the structuring of information for access, primarily by navigation through browse categories. In many ways it is an extension of traditional library approaches, using categorisation (classification), indexing, cataloguing (metadata creation) and thesaurus (or taxonomy) creation skills. Many librarians and library technicians now have roles in the management of library Web sites or intranets, and therefore need to know about information architecture. read more

By Glenda: First published in Online Currents – Vol.18 Issue 8, October 2003

Information visualisation is a technique for visually presenting large quantities of information to users. It has been applied to search engine results, library catalogues, business information and scientific research data, with the aim of making information quickly accessible to end-users, and of developing new ways for users to explore data. The methods for displaying the data are often compared with traditional maps; both summarise an enormous amount of information and allow users to identify patterns and trends. read more

Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page ) is a free encyclopedia on the Web.  As it is set up in wiki format, anyone can edit or add content.  Administrators keep an eye on specific sections and make changes as needed.  Wikipedia and its associated projects, including Wiktionary (http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Main_Page ), are managed by the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.

What I Love About Wikipedia
It is free to search and edit.  The project was founded by Jimmy Wales, who contributed capital and ideas.  It is now supported entirely by grants and donations. read more

By Glenda: First published in Online Currents – Vol.19 Issue 2, March 2004

Asthma and allergies, especially food allergies, are a hot topic these days, as the prevalence of these conditions has increased significantly over the last generation. Australia and New Zealand have one of the highest incidences of asthma in the world, and about one in seventy Australian children are allergic to peanuts. This article covers asthma and allergies in general, with the emphasis on food allergies, as these can be chronic and life-threatening, and they affect carers of, and caterers to, sufferers, as well as the people with the allergy themselves. read more

By Glenda: First published in Online Currents – Vol.18 Issue 6, July/August 2003

Book reviews:

Bishop, Karen. Information service professionals in knowledge-based organisations in Australia: what will we manage? A report by Karen Bishop for the University of Technology, Sydney, Department of Information Studies. Sydney: The One Umbrella, [November 2001], 65p. ($65 including GST, plus $7 postage and handling).

Bishop, Karen. New roles, skills and capabilities for the knowledge-focused organisation. BEA 003-2002. Sydney: Jointly published by The One Umbrella & Business Excellence Australia (a division of Standards Australia International Limited), December 2002, ISBN 0 7337 4874 0, 30p. Available in hardcopy at $29.92 or PDF at $26.93 (including GST). Contact Standards Australia on 1300 654 646 or sales@standards.com.au. read more

OLCOct2012GBrowneGrants

Library and information fellowships, sponsorship, awards and grants

First published in Online Currents October 2012 vol. 26 pp. 243-50.