Libraries around the world faced the same selection problem between the users’ “needs” and the “wants”. How can library manage to select the correct materials for its collection based on the users’ needs and wants? This is important to consider especially in the sharing of resources of different  libraries in a country where budget may be a constraint.

The article discussed the discover of the criteria used on selection decision among six mobile libraries in New Zealand. Using a case study of six mobile librarians with the use of collection development policy and selection procedures statement to guide the selection.

The findings suggested that there is no universal approach in selection of materials. Each library is guided by its users’ needs and wants to some extent and there is no relationship between nature of mobile library services and the serving of needs and wants. Each of them guided by its own set of defined criteria.

[Source: Selection criteria for mobile library collections by Glenn Davidson and Dan Dorner. Collection Building, 28/2 (2009), pp 51-58]

I just came back from Thailand – Phuket for a week stay. Went out to some islands and beaches. Also has eaten seafood dinners almost everyday!

But, the price of seafood is not cheap nowsaday at Phuket, guess that this could be due to they charge the tourist prices. Phuket is becoming more and more expensive, also more properties are built and selling to foreigners.

I think Hua Hin may be better than Phuket in terms of the cheaper seafood prices and not too many foreigners for now. Hope it will remain so for a longer time.

In the field of business, there are many multidisciplinary database resources that can be used. One must be either very familiar with the business databases, or be lost in the sea of business information sources. How can one know which database to use when looking up for a particular area in business?

In this paper, it identified types of information useful to business domain and as well as resources for specific business information types. It also discussed a method (a set of business tasks and questions) to identifying core resources in a particular discipline. The result of the analysis is obtained by surveying a group of academic business reference libraries with the business tasks and questions.

[Source: Learning from experts: collection development in business by Soojung, Kim. Collection Building, Vol 28, number 2, year 2009, page 62-67.]

Library funds allocation and budgeting are always not an easy task to do for acquisitions department. Here, we are talking about budgeting the funds for appropriate use for the number of courses and curriculums and its users  needs.

With the increase of courses and curriculums, fund structure has to be flexible to cater for them. There is a need to study how to have a new approach towards developing a flexible fund structure to suit its purpose. In this paper, a new way was described for the past one year experience of Texas A&M University libraries’ in  re-designing the fund structure to meet the needs and goals of the library and their users.

This paper discussed the different fund lines created for different purposes and how they are being used effectively to cater to different users’ need.

[Source: Creating a flexible structure to meet the needs and goals of the library and its users. by Wyoma vanDuinkerken, Jane Smith, Jeanne Harrell, Leslie J. Reynolds, Sandra Tucker, and  Esther Carrigan. Library Collections, Acquisitions, & Technical Services, vol 32, year 2009, page 142-149.]

If you have read the book “The world is flat” by Thomas L. Friedman, you will understand what the author meant by similar comparison of libraries and museums in this flat world.

Indeed, with the proliferation of the technology and movement of people traveling around the world, the world is becoming flat in the sense that everything can be connected. In the libraries and museums world, these are becoming apparent as we are connected by networks of computers and the used of Internet.

In this article, the author discussed the issues of virtual place (library / museum) and the roles of libraries and museums can play in the future. The future of searching online is by using the various ways like amazon, google, search engines, etc., and how libraries and museums must change the way information can be disseminated so as not to lose out in this virtual world.

[Source: Libraries and museums in the flat world: are they becoming virtual destinations? by Yasar Tonta. Library Collections, Acquisitions, & Technical Services vol. 32, year 2008, paper1-9.]

The King of the adventure (Taiwan travel show) is back on Channel U, Singapore again. Good news for die-hard A-bu fans! Promise to be more fun and exciting.

Watch it tonight (21 May 09) at 8-9pm on Channel U.

The article compared between two newly ready-made e-book readers in the market: Amazon’s Kindle 2 and Sony’s PRS-700. Kindle has a better interface and ease-of-use than PRS-700. Sony is working with Google to offer public-domain books. The number of available titles for purchase about 600,000 (Sony) and 270,000 (Kindle).

However, the prices of these two latest gadgets are still in the expensive range: about US$350 to US$400. Download via iphone available & amazon.com (Kindle) and ebookstore.sony.com & google.com (Sony). I think it is still not a hit in Singapore as the download require wireless connection. Not everyone has subscribed to a wireless connection.

[Source: Amazon vs. Sony: E-book Reader Face-Off by Melissa J. Perenson. PCWorld, May 2009, pp 42-45.]

This is a book chapter on impact factor. Any academic or individual researcher who wants to publish paper in a journal needs to check whether the journal is popular among researchers or it is a highly soughted journal in a particular field. So, how do you know the particular journal is highly recommended? One way is by knowing the impact factor for the journal and the source used to find out could be from Journal Citation Reports (JCR).

However, sometimes, the impact factor may varies for different subject areas because of the method used to calculate the impact factor. The chapter described how the impact factor is calculated and compared with the different subject categories. It also showed the relationship between journal size and impact factor changes between years.

[Source: The E-Resources Management Handbook, chapter: Impact factors - the basics by Jo Cross, Assess: http://www.uksg.org/serials/handbook.asp]

The article provided some tips for electronic resource development for libraries with limited budget. Some tips are:

(1) Activate: access to free e-version that comes with print materials or e-books purchase online.
(2) Evaluate: to reduce duplicate of electronic resources subscribed.
(3) Negotiate: get a better price by negotiate with vendors.
(4) Free access: get free publications or contents from digital institutional repository (open-access).
(5) Consortia: to form library consortia to share resources.
(6) Academic search engines: Google scholar, FindArticles at BNET, MagPortal.com, Scirus and Intute.
(7) Open source: programs like LibX and iVia; systems like Sourceforge.net and Open Source Initiative.

[Source: How to make a dollar out of fifteen cents tips for electronic collection development by Apryl C. Price. Collection Building, Volume 28, Number 1, 2009, pp31-34]

This book talked about the 23 habits of the invertment gurus: Warren Buffet and George Soros. It compared the habits with their investment habits and provided their thinking philosophies.

Good book and I recommend it to all.

[Source: The winning investment habits of Warren Buffett & George Soros : harness the investment genius of the world's richest investors by Tier, Mark. Inverse Books, 2006.]