New Site, WWW.MikeWagnerOnline.com

Title pretty much tells the story. Although I haven't been blogging much, I'll likely be focusing my attention to www.mikewagneronline.com where you can find more bio & contact info on me.

Social Media Marketing Poll

I created a limited LinkedIn poll. What alone is the most effective Social Media Marketing tool poll?
http://polls.linkedin.com/poll-results/44998/soppp

Pleas take a second and share your thought.

Palo Alto-Based Picaboo Lands $1 Million in Funding

Palo Alto, Calif. -- Picaboo, the Palo Alto-based developer of a custom online photo book and card printing service for consumers, has raised $1 million in new funding, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The company now has raised nearly $3 million since its founding in 2006. Picaboo competes in the growing market for custom photo books with Blurb, Viovio, SmileBooks, Snapfish, Shutterfly and Kodak. The company's previous backers include New Enterprise Associates, CampVentures, Odyssey Research, Softbank Capital Venture Partners and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.

The Enterprise Web 2.0 Trend Continues with Business Orientated Mashups

By Jeff Feinman

May 14, 2009 — It started slowly. First, one person in Mexico got sick. Then another. Then more. The culprit? A strain of influenza commonly known as swine flu. But before it was identified, folks returning from that country were unwittingly bringing the deadly flu back to their homelands.

As fear of a pandemic grew, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) needed to get a handle on outbreaks of the H1N1 virus. One of the tools of their disposal was a software mashup, created by IBM, that brings together the CDC’s reporting data with Google Maps.

“The mashup could see where the outbreaks are in different regions of the country,” said Rod Smith, vice president of IBM’s emerging Internet technologies unit. “A business can now share that mashup with its stores and regions so they can see what’s going on with it, and the CDC can share it with state services, maybe to see what other health facilities or health products are out there.”

Continue Reading

Social Media and Product Marketing Consulting

I've decided to go full force into the services business and offer my expertise in Product Marketing and Social Media on a consulting basis. I've started a group dedicated to connecting organizations with Social Media needs with those who can help. I just created the Facebook group so trying to get people to join to get the wave effect going. You can join the group here.

JackBe - Mashups and the DIA

Happy to see JackBe still making news and especially with regards to a project which started while I was there. Click through to read the article from eweek in the entirety.

Mashups Give Defense Department Strategic Edge
( Page 1 of 4 )

Off-the-shelf Web 2.0 mashup software from JackBe aids decisions and keeps troops safe.

To make the right decision, it's essential to have the right information at the right time. But just what information is needed, when and in relation to what other information is a subtle science that tests the mettle of IT managers everywhere.

In the armed forces, victory and defeat—not to mention human life—may hang in the balance of every decision that is made. In its ongoing effort to enable better decision-making, the U.S. Defense Information Systems Agency, or DISA, has deployed an enterprise mashup server running JackBe software to bring together strategic information from disparate sources, particularly geographic and mapping data.

"The DOD [Department of Defense] has the ability to mash up multiple data sources on the fly and display them geospatially with off-the-shelf products," said DISA CTO David Mihelcic.

continued....

Summon Service Adds New Content Providers and Beta Partner

Serials Solutions (www.serialssolutions.com), a business unit of ProQuest, has added several new content providers and a new library beta development partner for its Summon unified discovery service. The service is being developed in close cooperation with library beta partners, with a goal of not only bringing the researcher back to the library but providing a channel for greater return on the library's content investment. The new partner, Western Michigan University, which will use the Summon service with its VuFind next-generation catalog, joins Dartmouth College, Oklahoma State University, University of Sydney, and University of Liverpool in providing feedback that will refine all aspects of the service.

New content providers include IEEE, the pre-eminent engineering society, information technology publisher IGI Global, international scholarly publishing leader Brill, and a pair of Australian presses that expand the service's local coverage. The Summon service's contributors, which include the content resources of ProQuest and Gale, have expanded to more than 80. Harvested content now exceeds 400 million records in preparation for the service's July launch.

Summon bypasses federated search in favor of a single search against preharvested content enabling fast results, in true relevancy-ranked order. Publishers have embraced the service for this ability to surface content in the right context at the right time for the right user. The Summon unified discovery service creates a library-branded search box that eliminates the confusion users have in finding a starting point for library research, making collections simple to use. The hosted service is built with an open API that will allow it to integrate with existing library websites or campus systems with low impact on staff. To learn more about the Summon unified discovery service, visit www.serialssolutions.com/summon.

New Discovery Tools for Online Resources From OCLC and EBSCO

by Paula J. Hane

Providing a single point of access to a broad range of library materials seems to be emerging as the Holy Grail of the library world. Libraries provide a vast richness of content, but that content has historically resided in separate silos of storage and access-books in the catalog, subscription content from multiple providers, ebooks, archival collections, electronic journals, and other resources on the web. Library vendors have approached the problem with federated search products that search remotely and rely on connectors, but these are generally seen to be only partial and limited solutions. However, new discovery tools have begun to appear that promise to provide a single interface to multiple resources based on using a centralized consolidated index to provide faster and better search results. Serials Solutions (www.serialssolutions.com) announced its Summon service in January (see NewsBreak) and garnered much interest; it is currently in beta testing in a small number of libraries with general availability expected in July. The recent announcements from OCLC and EBSCO have just moved the discovery tool competition to a new level. Now it's not just about which library vendor has the latest technology but which provides access to the most content.
--> http://newsbreaks.infotoday.com/NewsBreaks/AP-Challenges-Google-and-Other-Ne ws-Aggregators-at-Newspaper-Conference-53423.asp

Serials Solutions Signs Beta Partner WMU and New Content Providers for the Summon™ Unified Discovery Service

• April 14, 2009

  Serials Solutions Signs Beta Partner WMU and New Content Providers for the Summon™ Unified Discovery Service

  IEEE, Brill, IGI, and Australian presses bring new content to rapidly expanding service

• Serials Solutions, a business unit of ProQuest, has signed Western Michigan University as a beta development site for its new Summon™ unified discovery service. New content providers will also participate. Among them are IEEE, the world's pre-eminent engineering society, information technology publisher IGI-Global, international scholarly publishing leader Brill and a pair of Australian presses that expand the service's local coverage. The Summon™ service's contributors, which include the massive content resources of ProQuest and Gale, have expanded to more than 80. Harvested content now exceeds 400 million records in preparation for the service's July launch.

• Announced in January, the Summon™ unified discovery service has captured the attention of both librarians and publishers for its creation of Google-like searching of the full breadth of content found in library collections -- from books and videos to e-resources at the article level. The Summon™ service addresses what research shows is a fundamental barrier between libraries and users: a simple, obvious starting point for searches.

• The service is being developed in close cooperation with library beta partners, with a goal of not only bringing the researcher back to the library, but providing a channel for greater return on the library's content investment. Western Michigan University, which will use the Summon™ service with its VuFind next-generation catalog, joins Dartmouth College, Oklahoma State University, University of Sydney and University of Liverpool in providing feedback that will refine all aspects of the service.

• The Summon™ service bypasses federated search in favor of a single search against pre-harvested content enabling fast results, in true relevancy-ranked order. Publishers have embraced the service for this ability to surface content in the right context at the right time for the right user. The journals of IEEE bring significant engineering content, while Brill and IGI Global will contribute high-quality research publications in multiple fields. Australian content is expanding with the addition of University of Queensland Press, a dynamic university press best known for its risk-taking philosophy and commitment to publishing works of cultural significance, and Australian Academic Press, the largest privately owned Society journal publisher in Australia. Other recently added contributors include Adam Matthew Digital, American Society of Hematology, American Society for Microbiology, Annual Reviews, IOS Press, John Libbey Eurotext and Publishing House Technika.

• The Summon™ unified discovery service creates a library-branded search box that eliminates the confusion users have in finding a starting point for library research, making collections simple to use. It's the result of Serials Solutions' unique combination of assets and expertise, enabled by its growing list of content providers. The hosted service is built with an open API that will allow it to integrate with existing library Web sites or campus systems with low impact on staff. To learn more about the Summon™ unified discovery service, visit http://www.serialssolutions.com/summon.

• About Serials Solutions

• Founded by a librarian for librarians in 2000, Serials Solutions is the global leader in E-Resource Access and Management Services (ERAMS) that serves more than 2,000 libraries of all sizes and types. Serials Solutions® KnowledgeWorks, the authoritative e-resource knowledgebase, is the foundation for Serials Solutions® 360, the only complete and integrated e-resource access and management solution. Serials Solutions recently introduced the Summon™ unified discovery service, a revolutionary discovery tool that provides instant access to the full breadth of the library's collection through a single search.

• Serials Solutions also is the exclusive source for Ulrichs™ Global Serials Intelligence and represents the AquaBrowser Library® unified discovery interface in the academic market in North America. The WebFeat® federated search service recently acquired by ProQuest soon will be incorporated into the Serials Solutions family of access and discovery services.

• Serials Solutions provides fast implementation, easy customization, and outstanding value to libraries throughout the world. For more information, please visit www.serialssolutions.com or call 1-866-SERIALS. Serials Solutions is a division of ProQuest LLC.

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About ProQuest LLC

• ProQuest creates specialized information resources and technologies that propel successful research and lifelong learning. A global leader in serving libraries of all types, ProQuest offers the culmination of experience from many respected brands, including CSA™, UMI®, Chadwyck-Healey™, SIRS®, and eLibrary®. With Serials Solutions®, Ulrich's™, RefWorks®, COS™, and Dialog® brands now in the ProQuest family, the company continues to build on its legacy of responsive people in partnership with librarians.

• ProQuest consistently seeks new ways to support researchers and quality research. More than a content provider or aggregator, ProQuest is an information partner, creating indispensable research solutions that connect people and information. Through innovative, user-centered technology, ProQuest offers a depth and breadth of global content that includes historical newspapers, dissertations, and uniquely relevant resources for researchers of any age and sophistication--including content not likely to be digitized by others. Inspired by its customers and end users, ProQuest is working toward a future that blends information accessibility with community to further enhance learning and encourage lifelong enrichment. For more information, visit www.proquest.com or the ProQuest parent company website, www.cambridgeinformationgroup.com.

Serials Solutions

I joined the Summon product team at Serials Solutions this week as the product marketing manager. I have to say, it was the potential I saw in this streamlined information discovery service that was the tipping point in choosing the oppertunity over others. Just as Newspapers have been dropping like flies, acedemic libraries face a very real challenge of exposing the breadth of information in a streamlined fashion in keeping with the paradim establish by Google. Libraries are realizing that information if undiscoverable is meaningless in this experimental learning culture. Meaning, if the discovery process is not streamlined to the standards of the web search engines, people will pop out to the web and bypass all the resources behind the walled garden of the institution. Summon, unified discovery service soon to be released by Serial Solutions, aims to solve this problem... and it does as proven in early beta tests.

More to come....