Comments for Bibliographic Wilderness http://bibwild.wordpress.com Gone to Croatoan Sun, 20 Jul 2008 23:22:14 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=MU Comment on Free Covers? From Google? by Mike Kelly http://bibwild.wordpress.com/2008/06/06/free-covers-from-google/#comment-2847 Mike Kelly Fri, 11 Jul 2008 18:53:14 +0000 http://bibwild.wordpress.com/?p=106#comment-2847 I am keenly interested in getting book cover images added to our OPAC, particularly for our vast holdings of 19th-century fiction in special collections. This IMLS-funded site is an inspiration: http://bindings.lib.ua.edu/ It's also a bit of a problem because it's a stand-alone database. I want accurate cover images embedded in the MARC record and easily browsable through the OPAC. But the point you raise about cover image rights just makes me more determined to fight to add images of our copies of these books, rather than relying on images from a third party. I am keenly interested in getting book cover images added to our OPAC, particularly for our vast holdings of 19th-century fiction in special collections. This IMLS-funded site is an inspiration:

http://bindings.lib.ua.edu/

It’s also a bit of a problem because it’s a stand-alone database. I want accurate cover images embedded in the MARC record and easily browsable through the OPAC.

But the point you raise about cover image rights just makes me more determined to fight to add images of our copies of these books, rather than relying on images from a third party.

]]> Comment on Threading in Rails by junebug http://bibwild.wordpress.com/2007/08/28/threading-in-rails/#comment-2839 junebug Fri, 13 Jun 2008 16:43:25 +0000 http://bibwild.wordpress.com/2007/08/28/threading-in-rails/#comment-2839 im using mysql. i think mysql can handle queries in parallel. i replaced my thread code to use the spawn plugin instead and that seems to work. it fires off the queries in parallel and mysql has no problem with it. the problem is i want to return results from the forked off child processes back to the parent process. i cant think of a good way to do that. perhaps i could create a tmp table in sql for each child process to update and read it back via the parent process. or have each child process write their result to the local /tmp disk and have the parent process read it all back. both of these sound bad to me. thats why i liked threads because it looked like there was an easy way to pass results from the threads back to the main thread. oh well...i'll keep looking...thanks for the help though. i know i can probably easily do this with backgroundrb, but i dont want to deal with maintaining/monitoring another server. im using mysql. i think mysql can handle queries in parallel. i replaced my thread code to use the spawn plugin instead and that seems to work. it fires off the queries in parallel and mysql has no problem with it. the problem is i want to return results from the forked off child processes back to the parent process.

i cant think of a good way to do that. perhaps i could create a tmp table in sql for each child process to update and read it back via the parent process. or have each child process write their result to the local /tmp disk and have the parent process read it all back. both of these sound bad to me.

thats why i liked threads because it looked like there was an easy way to pass results from the threads back to the main thread. oh well…i’ll keep looking…thanks for the help though. i know i can probably easily do this with backgroundrb, but i dont want to deal with maintaining/monitoring another server.

]]> Comment on Threading in Rails by Jonathan Rochkind http://bibwild.wordpress.com/2007/08/28/threading-in-rails/#comment-2838 Jonathan Rochkind Fri, 13 Jun 2008 00:40:07 +0000 http://bibwild.wordpress.com/2007/08/28/threading-in-rails/#comment-2838 What database are you using? Is the database itself capable of handling concurrent connections? I'm not really expert in this topic, but I'm not sure you can get an actual speed up by doing what you're doing. You only have so much CPU and disk I/O available, I'm not sure that, even if you had a DB that could handle concurrent querries, the total time to completion of all the querries run in parallel will be any less than the total time of them all run serially. Potentialy barring multiple CPUs and a database that knows how to use them. But this is not my area of expertise, sorry. What database are you using? Is the database itself capable of handling concurrent connections?

I’m not really expert in this topic, but I’m not sure you can get an actual speed up by doing what you’re doing. You only have so much CPU and disk I/O available, I’m not sure that, even if you had a DB that could handle concurrent querries, the total time to completion of all the querries run in parallel will be any less than the total time of them all run serially. Potentialy barring multiple CPUs and a database that knows how to use them. But this is not my area of expertise, sorry.

]]> Comment on Threading in Rails by junebug http://bibwild.wordpress.com/2007/08/28/threading-in-rails/#comment-2837 junebug Fri, 13 Jun 2008 00:08:08 +0000 http://bibwild.wordpress.com/2007/08/28/threading-in-rails/#comment-2837 i tried the approach above, but it fails to work for me. my rails app does fire off the threads in parallel, but the threads seem to share the same activerecord connection so they end up waiting and firing off db queries serially (which is exactly what i'm trying to parallelize!) how do you work around this? i have the concurrency variable set to true and i'm using mongrel... my app is fairly simple. i'm running 10 queries. i want to run them in parallel using threads and join the results for display. thanks in advance for any help you can provide i tried the approach above, but it fails to work for me. my rails app does fire off the threads in parallel, but the threads seem to share the same activerecord connection so they end up waiting and firing off db queries serially (which is exactly what i’m trying to parallelize!)

how do you work around this? i have the concurrency variable set to true and i’m using mongrel…

my app is fairly simple. i’m running 10 queries. i want to run them in parallel using threads and join the results for display. thanks in advance for any help you can provide

]]> Comment on Threading in Rails by skwpspace – Long running Threads in Rails and metaprogramming fun http://bibwild.wordpress.com/2007/08/28/threading-in-rails/#comment-2836 skwpspace – Long running Threads in Rails and metaprogramming fun Wed, 11 Jun 2008 03:07:50 +0000 http://bibwild.wordpress.com/2007/08/28/threading-in-rails/#comment-2836 [...] reading a post on using Ruby Threads, I decided to be brave and try this approach. I implemented a simple action which would spawn a [...] [...] reading a post on using Ruby Threads, I decided to be brave and try this approach. I implemented a simple action which would spawn a [...]

]]> Comment on Think you can use Amazon api for library service book covers? by Free Covers? From Google? « Bibliographic Wilderness http://bibwild.wordpress.com/2008/03/19/think-you-can-use-amazon-api-for-library-service-book-covers/#comment-2833 Free Covers? From Google? « Bibliographic Wilderness Fri, 06 Jun 2008 21:17:34 +0000 http://bibwild.wordpress.com/2008/03/19/think-you-can-use-amazon-api-for-library-service-book-covers/#comment-2833 [...] we get to the actual legal issues (discussed here before). To begin with a “terms of service” that you do NOT in fact need to even “click [...] [...] we get to the actual legal issues (discussed here before). To begin with a “terms of service” that you do NOT in fact need to even “click [...]

]]> Comment on custom code4lib google search engine: another late night idea by gary price http://bibwild.wordpress.com/2008/06/02/delicious-to-google-cse/#comment-2832 gary price Mon, 02 Jun 2008 17:14:28 +0000 http://bibwild.wordpress.com/?p=105#comment-2832 Just remember that Google Custom Search does not always find all results for a search. We have been blogging about this for almost a year on ResourceShelf. Deep inside the Google CSE documentation you'll find the info. Here's the RS post from August, 2007. See second item here: http://www.resourceshelf.com/2007/08/20/briefs-using-more-than-sites-when-building-a-google-custom-search-zohos-powerful-web-based-notebook-adds-more-features/ and direct at: http://www.google.com/support/customsearch/bin/answer.py?answer=70392&topic=11502 cheers, gary Just remember that Google Custom Search does not always find all results for a search. We have been blogging about this for almost a year on ResourceShelf.

Deep inside the Google CSE documentation you’ll find the info.

Here’s the RS post from August, 2007.

See second item here:
http://www.resourceshelf.com/2007/08/20/briefs-using-more-than-sites-when-building-a-google-custom-search-zohos-powerful-web-based-notebook-adds-more-features/

and

direct at:
http://www.google.com/support/customsearch/bin/answer.py?answer=70392&topic=11502

cheers,
gary

]]> Comment on OAISter -> points to plenty of non open access stuff by nostuff http://bibwild.wordpress.com/2008/01/25/oaister-not-open-access/#comment-2820 nostuff Tue, 27 May 2008 19:19:48 +0000 http://bibwild.wordpress.com/?p=70#comment-2820 Hi Good post, agree we need an OAIster which only searches across open access content. I am probably one of many who were not aware of their policy and presume it was a service to search open content. On a different note, I've heard people talk about (on the jisc-repository mailing list) the disadvantages of OAI-PMH. My (basic) understanding is that OAI-PMH concentrates on describing records, and not the actual full text content. I can see what they mean. Looking at this example http://eprints.sussex.ac.uk/perl/oai2?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=oai_dc&identifier=oai:eprints.sussex.ac.uk:777 (you may need to do 'view source' to see the actual XML OAI-PMH You can see that there are two relations. Now one so happens to be a copy of the item (full text) within the repository that, for whatever reason, is only accessible by the repository admin (which so happens to be me). The other relation is a DOI Url which will take you to the publisher's copy of the article. Now I know nothing about OAI-PMH, but I can see nothing in the code which states these facts, i.e. that one is an external link, and one is not publicly available. That seems like not a good thing to me. Cheers Chris Keene Hi

Good post, agree we need an OAIster which only searches across open access content. I am probably one of many who were not aware of their policy and presume it was a service to search open content.

On a different note,
I’ve heard people talk about (on the jisc-repository mailing list) the disadvantages of OAI-PMH. My (basic) understanding is that OAI-PMH concentrates on describing records, and not the actual full text content.

I can see what they mean. Looking at this example
http://eprints.sussex.ac.uk/perl/oai2?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=oai_dc&identifier=oai:eprints.sussex.ac.uk:777

(you may need to do ‘view source’ to see the actual XML OAI-PMH

You can see that there are two relations. Now one so happens to be a copy of the item (full text) within the repository that, for whatever reason, is only accessible by the repository admin (which so happens to be me). The other relation is a DOI Url which will take you to the publisher’s copy of the article.

Now I know nothing about OAI-PMH, but I can see nothing in the code which states these facts, i.e. that one is an external link, and one is not publicly available. That seems like not a good thing to me.

Cheers
Chris Keene

]]> Comment on Academic freedom and privacy by Hugh Taylor http://bibwild.wordpress.com/2008/05/26/academic-freedom-and-privacy/#comment-2818 Hugh Taylor Tue, 27 May 2008 06:39:36 +0000 http://bibwild.wordpress.com/?p=103#comment-2818 In the interests of accuracy I should point out something that the Guardian article makes quite clear - the threat of deportation arises from unrelated immigration charges. It doesn't make it any less distressing for the individual concerned, of course, but it's quite different to being charged under the Terrorism Act. Especially for one's reputation. In the interests of accuracy I should point out something that the Guardian article makes quite clear - the threat of deportation arises from unrelated immigration charges. It doesn’t make it any less distressing for the individual concerned, of course, but it’s quite different to being charged under the Terrorism Act. Especially for one’s reputation.

]]> Comment on What I wish I could do with Internet Archive by Internet Archive and just my timing « Rube Goldberg machines for libraries http://bibwild.wordpress.com/2008/05/23/what-i-wish-i-could-do-with-internet-archive/#comment-2815 Internet Archive and just my timing « Rube Goldberg machines for libraries Mon, 26 May 2008 20:06:06 +0000 http://bibwild.wordpress.com/?p=102#comment-2815 [...] Archive and just my timing After Jonathan Rochkind’s post about the Internet Archive not providing an API, I spent part of the weekend writing a screen scraper to get at what we want from the Internet [...] [...] Archive and just my timing After Jonathan Rochkind’s post about the Internet Archive not providing an API, I spent part of the weekend writing a screen scraper to get at what we want from the Internet [...]

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