Coming soon: the Librem 5 open source smart phone!

So why am I talking about a smart phone? Well, I must admit that I do have a soft spot for cutting edge tech when it relates to open source anything, so here it is. Purism is the Social Purpose Corporation behind the development of the Librem 5 Linux-driven smart phone. They even have a funding campaign that has so far surpassed everybody's expectations. Although the phone isn't quite ready to ship, it will be soon by the look of things. What fascinates me about this in relation to libraries is that these phones may bring with them a whole set of benefits (and maybe problems) to people accessing information within the library. Their focus on privacy and security (they won't be tracing our location with these) is a very appealing draw. Hopefully they'll be able to run the apps that we've come to use like Mendeley and Zotero, among many others.

My NU and UIC Practicum Document

To view my slide show, click here.

More info to come shortly!

Mendeley and Zotero Resource Managers

I'll be doing some exploring of these 2 freely available reference managers very soon. In the meantime, check out the links below that compare Mendeley and Zotero, among a few other reference managers.

Helpful links:
http://libguides.wustl.edu/choose
http://www.docear.org/2014/01/15/comprehensive-comparison-of-reference-managers-mendeley-vs-zotero-vs-docear/
https://www.library.yorku.ca/web/research-learn/citations/zotero-vs-mendeley-comparison/
https://library.barnard.edu/find-books/guides/which-citation-tool

Have fun!

A little something I found on Bibliometrics...

 

I've been very intrigued by Bibliometrics and have been seeking out interesting articles and slide presentations that can shed some light on this new field that focuses on research impact. There are some details that I was surprised about, notably that it seems to be more relevant in the sciences where there is a great deal of article publishing. The Arts or Humanities don't have quite as much, so research impact is harder to measure. More great tidbits in this slide show from Ciarán Quinn, Research Support Librarian at Maynooth University, Ireland.
Enjoy! (You can click here to watch.)

The Public Library of Science (PLOS)

 

 

 

Q: What is PLOS? What does PLOS stand for?

"The Public Library of Science (PLOS) was founded in 2001 as a nonprofit organization to accelerate progress in science and medicine by leading a transformation in research communication. We strive to bring scientists together and to share their work as rapidly and as widely as possible, to advance science and to benefit society as a whole. We are constantly looking for ways to use emerging technology and new ideas to open up scientific communication—to make it faster, more efficient, more connected and more useful.
Learn more about PLOS."

PLOS promotes itself as a leader in Open Access (OA) publishing, a large trend that is transforming academic publishing globally.

Here is a Wikipedia article about PLOS One, their journal.

After some time away...

Yes, I have returned to Library in the City! It's been a while, and a lot has happened since I last posted, but I must admit that I am excited to be back and share public, academic, and K-12 library resources and stories.

Thank you for visiting and I hope you enjoy these resources as much as I do!

Sincerely,

Fernando