John Miedema » Publications

OpenBook Article in NISO’s “Information Standards Quarterly” Magazine

John — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 23:25:34 +0000

I am pleased to announce the publication of my article, Linking to Library Records with OpenURL using the OpenBook WordPress Plugin, in Information Standards Quarterly, the print magazine of the National Information Standards Organization (NISO). The article describes how OpenBook uses OpenURL to let libraries connect webpages to their bibliographic records. NISO is a non-profit association accredited by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). The association identifies, develops, maintains, and publishes technical information standards. The full magazine is available from the NISO website. NISO has generously provided an excerpt version of the magazine so you can read my article in PDF version here. It is also linked in the OpenBook sidebar widget.

Slow Reading, the Book, is Now Available

John — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 13:13:17 +0000

I am pleased to announce that my book, Slow Reading, is now available for purchase. The book is a meditation on the many meanings of slow reading. It is organized into four essays, to be summarized in forthcoming posts at this website. The book can be purchased at most online book stores and from the publisher, Litwin Books. A description and book store links are provided here.

Slow Reading emerged from writings and dialogue at this website, from independent research as part of a Master of Library Information Science program, and from deeper reflection as I turned it into a book. The book is a significant expansion on the original materials, going deeper into the research, drawing on personal experience, and providing a larger context for the ideas. It is a concise work, at 92 pages, including extensive references and an index, reasonably priced at $12 USD, $15 CAD, £9.00.

I hope you enjoy it.

OpenBook Article Published in Code4Lib Journal

John — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 00:13:52 +0000

The Code4Lib journal published my article on OpenBook. Check out the article here. The full issue is available here.

The article is a formalization and update of the blog posts I wrote as I developed OpenBook. I think of my blog as a scratchpad for ideas, meant to be rewritten more formally later on, after thinking it through and getting some feedback. The publication of this article is one example of that process.

BTW, there have been over 500 downloads of OpenBook, but only one rating (4/5). Are you using OpenBook? Care to rate it?

“Slow Reading” Reprinted in Western News

John — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 15:17:11 +0000

My statement on slow reading was featured yesterday on page four of the Western News, the newspaper of the University of Western Ontario. If you are on campus, you can pick up a copy nearly anywhere. Otherwise, you can read it here or here.

I have received comments in the past from students, grateful that someone thinks slow reading is a good idea. It’s no wonder given the heavy reading demands placed on students. Many students look forward to the day that they will be done school so they can start reading material of their own choosing again. Hopefully, they get a chance now and again during slow periods of the term.

Update, November 12, 2007. FIMS Graduate Bulletin.