MOBIUS Libraries

What this means for us in libraries is that we shouldn't be thinking that linked data will replace bibliographic data. It will encode the aspects of bibliographic data that will give us the most and the best links.

More than half the faculty, postdocs, and other research and academic staff told us that they use library databases to search for e-journal articles, and almost the same number of faculty told us that they use Vera, the library’s gateway to electronic subscriptions.

Why would experienced researchers like faculty include Vera in their searching repertoire? Library databases—all of which can be accessed through Vera—generally offer information that is more consistently relevant and reliable (and may also be peer-reviewed). Google is quite fast with a single search box, is well embedded in many browsers, and can do a general search across all disciplines at the same time. Often, however, the information found in library databases is not, or cannot be, indexed in Google. Library databases on a subject are likely more in-depth, although they may not be quite as fast to search, and a single database generally does not cover all academic disciplines.

After years of guarding such details, one of the nation's largest nonprofit chiropractic colleges has disclosed on its tax forms that the institution's president and his family members collectively earned more than $1-million in 2010-11. The bulk of the $1,028,939 went to George A. Goodman, whose $798,198 compensation as president of Logan College of Chiropractic University Programs, in Missouri, rivals that of the leaders of some elite research institutions. The remaining $230,741 went to Mr. Goodman's wife, son, and daughter-in-law.

The second-highest earner in the family was Mr. Goodman's son, Jason C. Goodman, whose compensation as an instructor totaled $97,910. Elizabeth A. Goodman, Mr. Goodman's wife, earned $92,486 in her role as dean of university programs. Jessica Chrun-Goodman, Jason Goodman's wife, earned $40,345 for duties unspecified in the form.

The IRS assesses all benefits flowing to a family to determine whether compensation for a chief executive is excessive, and any tax form that fails to provide that information is incomplete, said Raymond D. Cotton, a lawyer in Washington who specializes in presidential contracts and compensation matters.

I went to the exhibit expecting to see shelves of neglected books I’d never heard of; titles long forgotten by the general public, an island of misfit tomes. Instead I immediately noticed some books by household names: Blood and Gold, by Anne Rice; Running Dog, by Don DeLillo; David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens; The Habit of Being, by Flannery O’Connor; and even a Dover Thrift edition of Edith Wharton’s short stories.