Issues with Chrome and Library eResources

Some off-campus users have recently reported difficulties accessing their library accounts and certain e-resources when using Google Chrome. Please use one of the following solutions when working outside the DIT network:

In Chrome:

• Clear the Chrome cache and HSTS settings with these instructions
• http://classically.me/blogs/how-clear-hsts-settings-major-browsers
• Copy and paste in your login credentials when prompted.

 Alternatively:

• Choose browsers such as IE, Firefox or Safari

 Changes in how Chrome uses Java  have necessitated these steps and Java have issued a progress update,

 

Still having problems? Contact us at kst.library@dit.ie.

New Google Scholar Button

If you're a fan of Google Scholar you may like to try the new Google Scholar button.  It allows you to check for scholarly articles via Google Scholar as you browse the web. Just highlight any article reference while searching, then use the blue icon which will inform you if the article is available via Google Scholar and it it's an open access article. Other functionality includes:

- Find full text on the web or in your institute's library. Select the title of the paper on the page you're reading, and click the Scholar button to find it.

- Transfer your query from web search to Scholar. Press the Scholar button to see top three results; click "full screen" in the lower left of the popup to see them all.

- Format references in widely used citation styles. Press the quote button in the popup to see a formatted reference and copy it into the paper you're writing.

The GS button can be installed on Chrome or Firefox. 

Is technology dumbing us down?

The internet debate rumbles on. Many of us are familiar with the arguments both for and against the idea that google is making us stupid and Nicholas Carr's latest book The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains fuels the debate arguing that the internet’s info-bites and quick-links format may be impairing our capacity for in-depth reading and thinking. Read a review and interview here and keep an eye out for the book in Kevin St Library.

Calling all postgrads: useful tools from Google Scholar

In order to get the most out of using Google Scholar have a look at the following recently released new features:

• Google Scholar Alerts to help you keep up to date with your field of interest
• Search within Citing Articles which can help you trace an article's impact

Remember when using Google Scholar you need to set your preferences so that Google knows you are affiliated with  DIT Library. That way, Google can detect which journals DIT Library has a subscription to and provide a link to take you to the full text.

You can choose up to three libraries to link to. Once you save your preferences, either a library link or icon will appear in your search results. In addition to selecting your library, you can also choose to display citation import links to various bibliography managers, such as EndNote and RefWorks.

Google enters the real-time

Google has launched real-time search to give users access to up-to-the-second information. The search giant said it will draw real-time data from over a billion pages on the web. The new feature will also include updates from Twitter and the social networks of MySpace and Facebook. Read more here

Worlds largest online library at risk?

Google's plan for world's biggest online library: philanthropy or act of piracy? Google has already scanned 10 million books in its bid to digitise the contents of the world's major libraries, but a copyright battle now threatens the project, with Amazon and Microsoft joining authors and publishers opposed to the scheme as copyright issues raise their head. Read William Skidelsky's article in full here

Search engine wars

Google is in the wars. MS Bing have recently signed to be the search engine behind Yahoo search. And with Bing beginning to get some market share from Google the competition is hotting up. Facebook has also just launched a new real time search engine aka Facebook Search. But Google’s fighting back and is working on the next generation of Google Search; a new infrastructure for the world’s largest search engine e.g. a new version of Google. It's still under construction, but Google’s now so happy with the new version of its search engine that it has released the development version. Go see more at http://mashable.com/2009/08/10/google-new-version/version/

New Google titles now available

What Would Google do? (2009) at 658.4012

Google SketchUp Cookbook (2009) at 006.693

Google Docs 4 Everyone (2009) at 005.5

Using Google App Engine (2009) at 004.678

Google launches new operating system

The kingdom advances? Google announces a natural extension of the Chrome project: Google Chrome OS which is an open source, lightweight operating system that will initially be targeted at netbooks and will be available for consumers in the second half of 2010. The software architecture is simple — Google Chrome running within a new windowing system on top of a Linux kernel. More info and news n views here

Google waves at Twitter

Everyone uses email and instant messaging on the web now, but imagine if you could tie those two forms of communication together and add a load of functionality on top of it. At its most fundamental form, that’s essentially what Google Wave is. Wave was born out of the idea that email and instant messaging, as successful as they still are, were both created a very long time ago. Or as Lars Rasumussen put it, “Wave is what email would look like if it were invented today.” Still at developer stage see reviews, vids and content at

http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/05/28/google-wave-drips-with-ambition-can-it-fulfill-googles-grand-web-vision/

New Google Fan Facts.......

Check out Google's Search Options function, a collection of new tools to filter searches:

• by type: reviews, videos, images, etc.


• by time: most recent, a week ago, etc.


• related searches to expand a query including a Wonder Wheel graphic

To access these expanded search options first type an initial query, then click on the "Search Options" link at the top of the page. See the youtube tour and more discussion here.

Google are also previewing a new tool called Google Squared. GS doesn't find webpages about your topic; instead it automatically fetches and organizes facts from across the Internet. Available to users at the end of May on Google Labs.

British search engine to rival Google?

A British physicist has revealed his plan to launch a a new search engine so powerful that one expert has suggested it "could be as important as Google". Due to be released in May 2009 the search engine Wolfram Alpha is an attempt to address some of the deficiencies of current web search by understanding people's questions and answering them directly.

Other search engines like Google, compare search terms against billions of documents stored on its servers, before pointing to the pages on which the correct answer is probably kept. Although this method is very successful, computer scientists have continued trying to create a system that can understand human language. According to some scientists Alpha is far more impressive than what has gone before."Wolfram Alpha is like plugging into a vast electronic brain. It provides thorough questions asked in many different ways, and it computes answers – it doesn't merely look them up in a big database."

Watch this space or see more at http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/mar/09/search-engine-google

Wise up to the Web with Internet Detective

“Sure, you use the Internet all the time, but you need to wise up to the web when you use it for your university or college work.”


Use this free Internet tutorial to learn to discern the good, the bad and the ugly for your online research. Click on: http://www.vts.intute.ac.uk/detective/index.html