Plymouth, UK ICO3 Limited is a web technology company funded by JISC to develop a JISC Repository Aggregator demonstration web site that would enable users to search for, organize and submit information about a range of relevant repository information. As part of building that capacity ICO3 is testing a suite of repository web widgets.

Widgets are web versions of handy gadgets, like, for example, the Hello Kitty emergency gadget that rolls a hand crank USB cell phone charger, LED flashlight, AM/FM radio, hazard siren, and compass into a branded pink kitty package.

The online equivalent of a gadget is a widget which is a pluggable chunk of code that can be added to any HTML-based web page (not necessarily available in pink). Many types of open source web widgets that perform multiple functions are freely available on line and are designed to add value to existing web services. The ICO3 web widgets are designed to be used with Netvibes and iGoogle and present information from existing repository-related information services such Sherpa Romeo, ROAR, OpenDOAR and Sword.

Users may embed the ICO3 widgets as active environments in their own websites to improve workflow as well as sorting, editing, and deleting them in a widgets style environment to create a personalized “universe” of repository sources.

You may see the ICO3 widgets in action here: http://www.netvibes.com/rwidgets#General and download them here: http://www.rwidgets.co.uk/wiki/doku.php. IOC3 would like to hear from users on the following four questions:

1) Do you understand what widgets are?
2) Can you see how they can be used for your own work?
3) What widgets did you find particularly useful for repositories?
4) Are there any other sources of information which could be made
available as a widget?

More information and links to the ICO3 repository widgets can be found here. Contact David Gadd, Project Leader, ICO3, with questions.

Librarian Dude: Hello, I’m a Librarian.

37K followers on Twitter. We’re gonna miss you!!!!

Originally uploaded by Michael Casey

Over 37,000 people on Twitter were following the Mars Phoenix lander — many of those 37K were students in schools around the world. It’s been amazing to watch, on a day-by-day basis, as @MarsPhoenix sent messages to its many Twitter followers. What a community it built. We’re going to miss @MarsPhoenix. A bit of sadness may seem odd for those who have not been following, but @MarsPhoenix has become a part of our daily lives, and seeing it “go dead” on a cold lonely planet so far away is, strange as it sounds, very sad.

Job well done, @MarsPhoenix.

London, UK Dates are being finalized for Developer Happiness Days, a Fedora-related event that will be held in London in mid-February 2009–mark your calendars now!

Developer Happiness Days, sponsored by JISC (tag: dev8D), “Is a way of saying ‘thank you’ to developers for all the hard work they do.  Of course the question is: how do you show your gratitude to a developer who spends all their free time on a computer?  Well other than beer, bowling and video games (which dev8D will have plenty of) we (dev8D) provide them with the gift of more development skills!” Newbie Code Labs, The Developer Decathlon, and a Community Creativity Day are all planned as part of the event to make developers feel appreciated.

Please contact David Flanders with questions.