Digital Scholarship in the Age of Googlepedia

Recommended:

Masters of the Bibliographic Universe?:
The Promises and Pitfalls of Digital Scholarship in the Age of Googlepedia

A talk for ALIA URLS to be given by Chris Blackall
Friday, July 6, 2007, 12.30pm
McDonald Room, RG Menzies Library
Australian National University

ABSTRACT: The provision of bibliographic information, and bibliographic instruction, are bread-and-butter issues for most research librarians working with the academic community, but what of the future of bibliography in an era where 'Googlepedia' (Google +Wikipedia) is increasingly used as the first, and sometimes only, step in the information gathering process? In this presentation, I discuss the impact of Googlepedia on bibliographic practices and how some research libraries are creatively responding to bibliographic challenges it poses. In particular, I demonstrate the use of new Web 2.0 bibliographic technologies, such as Zotero [www.zotero.org], that enable academics and students to access, create and exchange bibliographic information to bridge the old and new bibliographic universes.

BIO: Chris Blackall is currently the Development Portfolio Coordinator for the Australian Partnership for Sustainable Repositories (APSR). His academic background is in the humanities, but he has worked in the Australian higher education and research sector since 1990 as an information technology specialist. His current work focuses on improving the interoperability of digital repositories to better serve the Australian higher education and research community. With postgraduate qualifications in curatorial studies, he is also interested in museum informatics and preservation of digital cultural heritage in the context of the new national eResearch infrastructure.