Google digitization project adds 12 more schools
Twelve more universities will digitize select collections in each of their libraries — up to 10 million volumes — as part of Google Inc.’s book-scanning project. The goal: a shared digital repository that faculty, students and the public can access quickly.
The partnership involves the Committee on Institutional Cooperation, which includes the University of Chicago and the 11 universities in the Big Ten athletic conference (yes, there are 11): Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Northwestern, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue and Wisconsin.
Once digitized, Google will make these volumes available through its free globally accessible search service and through a “hosted” service available only to the CIC members.
Swedes get a life – in Second Life
Sweden opened an embassy Wednesday in the computer-generated world of “Second Life,” but it wasn’t the pioneering venture into virtual diplomacy the country had expected.
The high-tech Swedes found they were second to SL, having been beaten online by the tiny island nation of the Maldives by a week.
“They beat us to the gate,” said Olle Wastberg, a former Swedish consul in New York who helped create the Scandinavian country’s mission to “Second Life.”
“Second Life” is a virtual world in which some 7 million players interact with one another through their avatars. They can do basically anything that people can in real life, including socializing, building a house or starting a business.
Sweden announced in January it would set up a virtual presence in the online world to spread information about the Scandinavian country of 9.1 million and attract more young visitors.
But it was the Maldives, which has a population of 350,000, that opened the first “Second Life” embassy on May 22.
Kennel records online in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania is placing online the complete inspection records of its 2,600 licensed dog kennels.
The Web site — www.agriculture.state.pa.us/padoglaw — allows for more accurate record-keeping and cuts down on paperwork, said Chris Ryder, spokesman for the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, which is in charge of dog law enforcement.
The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals welcomed easy public viewing of the records online, saying it believes Pennsylvania is the first state to do so.
Obtaining inspection reports from states “can be quite a struggle,” said Bob Baker, a St. Louis-based national investigator for the ASPCA. “This adds an air of transparency. … People will be able to look over the shoulder of inspectors.”
Ryder said the site also makes inspections more efficient.
The state’s dog wardens now use tablet PCs during inspections, giving them immediate access to records and other information. Their reports are then sent electronically to the database and available for public viewing.