Computer and Library Learning

Concerns over Google’s Privacy Policy Changing on March 1, 2012

Jennifer Stoddart, Privacy Commissioner of Canada, addressed a letter on February 23, 2012 to Colin MacKay, Manager of Global Public Policy at Google, in order to request additional information from Google over its plans to streamline its privacy policy on March 1, 2012 to one general policy from over 70 distinct ones. Ms. Stoddart acknowledged Google’s attempt to streamline its privacy policy but expressed concern over a lack of specific information related to data retention and disposal in its new consolidated policy.

The Privacy Commissioner’s concern was directed towards the impact on logged-in Google account holders and increased data sharing across more Google products including Google Search and YouTube. In the case of Android phone users, Stoddart expressed concern that those users would be limited in what they could do without signing into Google, such as making phone calls and sending text messages. Downloading or updating applications won’t be possible on an Android phone without signing into Google, nor will the ability to synchronize an Android phone with Gmail or Google Calendar. Google will retain several product-related policies such as Google Wallet that enables Android users to tap their phones and pay for products in stores.

 

 

 

 

 

Various media sources have been offering tips to Google users on removing search history, clearing one’s YouTube history, making Gmail Chat “off-the-record”, checking the dashboard, opting out of personalized advertisements on the Ads Preferences page, using Google Takeout for data liberation of selected information, and so on. Some Google users might choose to terminate their Google account by visiting the Google account settings page.

France’s Commission Nationale de l'Informatique et des Libertés (CNIL) will be launching an investigation into Google’s privacy policy with the interim view that Google’s policy would not conform to European laws that protect the privacy of individuals. Google announced that it would continue with the policy change as it has informed over 350 million authenticated (logged-in) users, has provided notifications on its home page, and has informed non-authenticated (not logged in) users through their search results.

(See also: Changes to Google’s Privacy Policy Attract Attention )

Playbooks are now Library Friendly

 Last Week Research in Motion unveiled the new operating system (OS 2) for the Blackberry PlayBook    Reviews have been mixed.  The biggest story seems to be the new native email and calendar feature which allows users to access their email and calendar without having to tether to their blackberries.  There is also access to a larger number of apps thanks to Playbooks new compatibility with select Android apps.

  What's of greater interest to those of us in library land however is the new access to Overdrive Media Console because what it means is that the Playbook is now able to support library e-book and e-audiobook downloads. 

  What's more is that these items can be downloaded directly onto the PlayBook Tablet without the need to transfer them from your computer.

  This can cause some confusion if you're used to using the web browser to check out and download books. 

  The Playbook browser will let you select and check out books as well. But to actually download the item for use on the Playbook, you need to do it via the Overdrive app.

  You will also have to go to the app store and download Overdrive as this app is not built in.  Luckily it's free.

  Here are the main steps in making your Playbook a library compatible e-reader

1. Make Sure your Playbook is updated to the new OS. If it's not, the next time you connect it to the Internet it will tell you the new OS is available.

2.  Go to Blackberry App World search select and download Overdrive Media Console. (It's free!)

3.  Open the Console, swipe down from black perimeter at top.  Select "Get Books".

4.  You need to tell the app which library you want to borrow from. Search for  Toronto Public Library or, if you prefer browsing, select Canada , then Ontario and finally your branch.   

5.Tap the star to add the selected Library to your  “Get Books” list.

6.Log in  with your library card and PIN.

7.You can check out and download library books from within the app.

With the Audiobooks, that's all you need to do.  With your first ebooks however, you will need to enter your Adobe Digital editions ID and Password (or create them) to authorize the Playbook. Once you have done that, you will not need to repeat this step.

 

Happy reading and listening!

Looking for something to read? Try NoveList Plus.

If you are looking for something to read - whether it is something similar to a favourite novel or something completely different -  NoveList Plus is a great resource for book recommendations (as is NoveList K-8 Plus for children's books).   To use either version of NoveList,  you will need an active Toronto Public Library card .

In NoveList, you can search for books  by title, author, series or by a specific subject.  The Advanced Search allows for searching by a specific age range, reading (lexile) level, grade level, and/or author's nationality.  After you find something that interests you, a link to TPL's catalogue will show you, with just a click or two, if the book is available through the library so you can place a hold.

NoveList contains both fiction and non-fiction books and has recommended readings lists for many genres and themes. On the home page, there are some suggested popular titles as well as some recommended "read-alikes". 

If you want something similar to a favourite book, search for that book and have a look at the 'read-alikes' that NoveList recommends.  Just hover your mouse pointer above the cover image for information on a book.   If you want more suggestions, you can search by the subject of the book as well as by appeal features such as storyline (such as character-driven), pace (such as fast-paced), tone (such as heartwarming), and writing style (such as descriptive).  These appeal features are often more accurate than subject when searching some something similar to a particular book.

NoveList ia great resource when you want to find a complete list of books written by a particular author as well as for figuring out the order of books in a series.  Use the folders and My NoveList to keep track of books you find.  More information on using folders and My NoveList is available in the Help section.

 

The Toronto Public Library website is another great resource for finding book suggestions.  Have a look at our The Buzz..About Books blog, as well as the We Recommend, Bestsellers and Award Winners pages.  There is also our Ask A Bookhead online book recommendation service.

Some books to help you find something to read are:

• Read this Next: 500 of the best books you'll ever read by Sandra Newman
• Book Lust by Nancy Pearl
• 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die by Peter Boxall

Of course, you can always ask library staff in your local branch for suggestions. 

Happy Reading!

 

Wolfram Alpha: a Computational Knowledge Engine

 

Wolfram Alpha, a free computational knowledge or answer engine developed by Wolfram Research in 2009, was in the news recently over plans to launch a fee-for-service Pro version available for a nominal monthly sum. Nonetheless, the free version Wolfram Alpha is worth considering for research purposes as it is based on built-in knowledge selected by human experts to solve queries on the spot with specific answers and analysis. Wolfram Alpha contrasts itself in comparison to search engines such as Bing, Google and Yahoo that index web sites and then find word matches listed in pages of hyperlinks. Nonetheless, Wolfram Alpha negotiated separate agreements with search engines Bing and DuckDuckGo to support some of their searches. Wolfram Alpha also assists Apple’s Siri (integrated on the iPhone 4S) for answering factual questions and serving as a speech recognizing digital assistant. One can sign up for a free Wolfram Alpha account with the option to save favourites.

 

 

 

Wolfram Alpha has weathered mixed reviews since its inception with its strength in mathematics and the sciences earning it support from students. Wolfram Alpha was built on the knowledge base of Mathematica, mathematics formula software developed by Dr. Stephen Wolfram of Wolfram Research. Go to the Examples by Topic page on the Wolfram Alpha website to view examples from a variety of categories including: mathematics, statistics and data analysis, physics, chemistry, materials, engineering, astronomy, earth sciences, life sciences, computational sciences, units and measures, dates and times, weather, places and geography, people and history, culture and media, music, words and linguistics, sports and games, colors, shopping, money and finance, socioeconomic data, health and medicine, food and nutrition, education, organizations, transportation, technological world, and web and computer systems.

Customers with valid Toronto Public Library cards and internet access can access a streaming 2011 eVideo called WolframAlpha answering questions with the world's factual data through the Safari Tech Books Online collection.

On Canadian topics, I found Wolfram Alpha’s answers to be uneven. I was unsuccessful in finding any references to Tommy Douglas (“The Greatest Canadian”) but found references with basic factual information, pictures and timelines on Canadian prime ministers (including Stephen Harper), current and previous Liberal leaders Bob Rae and Michael Ignatieff, author Margaret Atwood, hockey player Wayne Gretzky, and singer Céline Dion. Wolfram Alpha listed birth and death information with a picture on politician Jack Layton (but no acknowledgement of his success in the recent federal election as NDP leader), and birth information on chemist John C. Polanyi as well as an acknowledgement of his winning the 1986 Nobel Prize for Chemistry. Doing a comparative city search “Toronto Ontario vs. Montreal Quebec” provided comparative population statistics, geographic elevation above sea level, current weather conditions, current local time, distance and flying time between the two cities, and latitude and longitude coordinates.

The Wolfram Alpha Pro service includes data analysis from uploaded files, the ability to customize and save information as graphs and tables, data and image input analysis, and interactive graphs, images, maps and plots created with computable document format (CDF) (developed by Wolfram Research).

JSTOR

JSTOR (or Journal Storage) is a database archive that offers access through full-text searches to more than one thousand digitized back issues of academic journals in the arts, sciences, and the humanities and more than one million images, letters and other examples of primary sources. JSTOR, a non-profit organization, was conceived in 1995 partly to address the issue of access to growing numbers of academic journals. Toronto Public Library offers its customers with valid library cards access to JSTOR’s content through the Toronto Public Library website or in-branch at all Toronto Public Library branch locations.

JSTOR provides access to content on the basis of a “moving wall” whereby JSTOR and the journal publishers agree to exclude the most current 3-5 years of content, depending on the agreement with a specific publisher.

 

 

 

When I attended university many years ago, I had to rely on paper-based subject indexes (available in both academic and some public libraries) to track down relevant articles for research papers. Users of JSTOR can employ keyword searching either through the search box or the advanced search box (with options to limit by date range, discipline, journal title, accessible and/or external content only) as well as the option of browsing journal titles by discipline. I enjoyed using JSTOR to reconstruct a research trail on an esoteric topic that I had undertaken for a fourth-year undergraduate geography course over 20 years ago on the “Anuchin controversy” and the resulting debates that occurred amongst Soviet geography academicians in the 1960s over whether geography was either a divided or a unified discipline. Oh, I wish that I had had access to JSTOR back then!

In January 2012, JSTOR announced a pending beta “Register and Read” program that will provide free, limited access for individuals, researchers and scholars (not affiliated with any local participating organizations such as Toronto Public Library and the various post-secondary institutions) to all articles in 70 journals from more than 30 publishers. Those registering personally for a MyJSTOR account will be able to read (but not download) 3 articles every 2 weeks.

 

Microsoft Issues Security Updates

Microsoft Corporation issued 9 security updates on February 14, 2012 that are intended to patch 21 weaknesses in Microsoft Windows, Internet Explorer, Office, .Net, Silverlight, and Sharepoint Server. Drive-by attacks can take advantage of several of the glitches. 4 of the 9 updates were marked “critical” or the highest threat ranking available; the other 5 updates were classified as “important”. Of the 21 weaknesses listed by Microsoft, 6 were deemed to be “critical”, 14 as “important” and one as “moderate”.

 

Both independent security experts and Microsoft representatives encouraged users to employ updates MS12-010 to fix vulnerabilities in Internet Explorer and MS12-013 to provide 1-patch updates to Windows Vista, Windows 7, Server 2008 and Server 2008 R2 that addresses the vulnerability in the C Run-Time Library that could result in remote code execution.

 

 

Online Tutorials for Gale Databases

It's late at night (or perhaps early in the morning). That ten-page assignment is due at 9am. The library is closed, leaving you without a librarian to help figure out that pesky online database. What can you do? If you're using a Gale database (such as Canada in Context, Opposing Viewpoints or the Gale Virtual Reference Library) there are a number of online tutorials available from the Gale website. These tutorials often give an overview of how to use a database, what resources are available and how to choose the best search terms.

As an example, here is an overview for the Gale Virtual Reference Library:

 

The tutorials are also a nice refresher for even the advanced database user, especially as databases are updated and modified on a regular basis. Happy searching!