|
Full Moon, the FMU Newsletter
 |
| Tony McSean |
Tony McSean, Director of Library Relations,Elsevier, Oxford, UK
The last Full Moon was mostly taken up with Full MU Library’s efforts to capture the 2005 Nobel Prize for Librarianship. Iron Maiden’s old sound system has been cranking out student-friendly songs, but the coincidence of distribution date and copy deadline means our requests for readers to suggest library-related songs that could be blasted out at 110db has not yet produced a rich crop and so results are being held over till the next time around. So you still have time to send in your suggestions and receive Full Moon t-shirts.* Entries to full.moon@elsevier.com, please. (For added details on this plea, see page 15 in the Library Connect Newsletter, 3(4), at www.elsevier.com/libraryconnect)
As our musical approach to modifying student behavior remains under development, FullMU’s Nobel nomination instead centered on the pioneering new Muddle search engine developed by the library’s Department for Cognitive Displacement (CogDis). Muddle offers all the features of a traditional search engine but adds a highly developed visual pattern recognition capability to the more usual Web crawling method of data harvesting. One outstanding feature, MuddleHome, illustrates the potential of this groundbreaking new technology.
Answering many common household problems is now as simple as following MuddleHome’s three-stage process: 1. Log onto the MuddleHome homepage; 2. Fill out the registration form; 3. Connect up a simple cordless video camera (such as the iMuddle). Then go round the house videoing everything including the insides of drawers and underneath the beds, and when you have finished log out. The system’s advanced software makes a complete inventory of every item and where it is. In coming months, all you need to do is input a message such as “Where are my car keys?” and MuddleHome will give you the answer (e.g., “On the table in the hall, you oaf, under the Blockbuster DVD case”), saving time and preventing marital friction. There is a parental control option which when enabled only allows epithets up to and including “damned” to be inserted into the search argument. It is also possible to print out a full inventory, useful in support of insurance claims.
Which brings us to why this service will be such an important element in the forthcoming Muddle share flotation. MuddleHome is wholly free, and its sustainable business plan is as innovative as its central concept. Its operation is entirely supported by the profits of its sister service MuddleBurgle, whose name essentially says it all. Profit maximization is ensured by dynamic real-time links to Web auction sites, so hard-to-find collectors’ items commanding the highest prices can be matched with locations on the MuddleHome database.
To summarize, FullMU Library is proud to recognize the out-of-the-box pioneering spirit demonstrated by Muddle and its related service. In future months we will proudly share with you further news of the Muddle our colleagues have produced, achievements which make FullMU faculty feared and discussed wherever academics gather.
* Not available in any shops, guaranteed to survive two washes, available in sizes up to marquee, terms and conditions apply, etc.
|
