Cloud computing is a model to provide on-demand access of configurable computing services and resources to the network users without direct service provider interaction. Cloud computing is one of the new buzzwords in the business world. It is a generic term for computing solution where software and services are provided over the Internet. Also the cloud computing delivered and managed IT services in several different forms such as Platform, Infrastructure, and to publish Web services for the patrons. In this chapter we discuss technology, benefits, and initiatives and mainly compare about the Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Online Computer Library Centre (OCLC) cloud service players.
TopTypes Of Cloud Players
Google
Google technologies that use cloud computing (including Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Docs, Google App Engine, and Google Cloud Storage among others) provide familiar, easy-to-use products and services for business and personal/consumer settings. These services enable users to access their data from Internet-capable devices. This common cloud computing environment allows CPU, memory, and storage resources to be shared and utilized by many users while also offering security benefits. Google provides these cloud services in a manner drawn from its experience with operating its own business, as well as its core services like Google Search Security is a design component of each of Google’s cloud computing elements, such as data storage, server assignment, compartmentalization, and processing (Google, 2012).
LibraryThing
LibraryThing is an online service to help people catalogue their books easily. The people can access a catalogue from anywhere even on their mobile phone. Because everyone catalogues together, LibraryThing also connects people with the same books, comes up with suggestions for what to read next, and so forth.
LibraryThing is a full-powered cataloguing application, searching the Library of Congress, all five national Amazon sites, and more than 690 world libraries. Users can edit their information, search and sort it, “tag” books with their own subjects, or use the Library of Congress and Dewey systems to organize their collection. LibraryThing uses Amazon and libraries that provide open access to their collections with the Z39.50 protocol. The protocol is used by a variety of desktop programs, notably bibliographic software like EndNote. LibraryThing appears to be the first mainstream Web use (LibraryThing, n.d.).
Reed Elsevier
Reed Elsevier is a world leading provider of professional information solutions. The company delivers improved outcomes to professional customers across industries, helping them make better decisions, get better results and be more productive (Reed Elsevier, 2013).
SeerSuite
SeerSuite is an application toolkit for search engines and digital libraries, that is, CiteSeerX. It includes automatic Metadata extraction, citation graph, full text indexing, ranking autonomous citation indexing, Web UI. It is a framework for scientific and academic digital libraries and search engines built by crawling scientific and academic documents from the Web with a focus on providing reliable, robust services (Source Forge, 2013).
CiteSeerX
CiteSeerX is an evolving scientific literature digital library and search engine that has focused primarily on the literature in computer and information science. CiteSeerX aims to improve the dissemination of scientific literature and to provide improvements in comprehensiveness, usability, efficiency, functionality, availability, cost, and timeliness in the access of scientific and scholarly knowledge (CiteSeerX, 2011).
TerraPod
Terrapod is a science vodcast (video podcast) and Website for youth ages 10-18. Its goal is to encourage kids to use filmmaking (“TerraPod,” n.d.).