E-Lert # 299 / Cyberavis no. 299
Friday October 24, 2008 / le vendredi 24 octobre 2008
CARL COMMUNIQUE / COMMUNIQUÉ DE L’ABRC
The response of the Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL) to
the Draft Repository Library Agreement (June 17, 2008) is available on the
CARL website. PDF
/
La réponse de l’Association des bibliothèques de recherche
du Canada (ABRC) à l’ébauche d'entente pour les Bibliothèques
de dépôt (17 juin 2008) est disponiblesur le site web de
l’ABRC. PDF
(en anglais)
NEWS / NOUVELLES
BMJ converts to gratis OA
Peter Suber
Open Access News, October 20, 2008
The BMJ [formerly, the British Medical Journal] reiterated its commitment
to open access publishing on the first international Open Access Day. After
10 years of providing free access to its peer reviewed research online,
the BMJ is now officially an open access journal. The BMJ's unique business
model means that all research articles are freely available immediately
on publication, regardless of whether or not they are publicly funded, with
no charges to authors or readers.
http://www.earlham.edu/~peters/fos/2008/10/bmj-converts-to-gratis-oa.html
Launch of the Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association (OASPA)
October 14, 2008
The Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association, OASPA, announced its
official launch in conjunction with an OA Day celebration [October 14, 2008]
hosted by the Wellcome Trust in London. The mission of OASPA is to
support and represent the interests of Open Access (OA) journals publishers
globally in all scientific, technical, and scholarly disciplines through
an exchange of information, setting of industry standards, advancing business
and publishing models, advocating for gold OA journals publishing, education
and the promotion of innovation.
http://www.oaspa.org/press.release.html
Opening up resources for learning
Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE)
October 14, 2008
Students, academics and higher education institutions are to benefit from
the combined experience and knowledge of educators throughout the country.
An innovative project will significantly increase access to educational
resources across the higher education sector. HEFCE has announced an initial
£5.7 million of funding for pilot projects that will open up existing
high-quality education resources from higher education institutions to the
world.
http://www.hefce.ac.uk/news/hefce/2008/os.htm
In Win for Publishers, 'Textbook Torrents' Piracy Site Shuts Down
for Good
Jeffrey R. Young
The Chronicle of Higher Education, October 14, 2008
A popular online directory of pirated textbooks for download has closed
shop for good. The site, Textbook Torrents, came to the attention of publishers
after being featured in a
Chronicle article in July. Since then, publishers pressured
the site’s founder — an anonymous college student who goes by
the online name Geekman — to close, but he had refused, calling his
site an act of “civil disobedience” meant to make a statement
about the high cost of textbooks.
http://chronicle.com/wiredcampus/index.php?id=3390&utm_source=wc&utm_medium=en
An Elephant Backs up Google’s Library
Miguel Helft
The New York Times, October 13, 2008
Google often says that it likes to take the long-term view of things. But
Google’s idea of long term does not appear to be long enough for some
librarians, who tend to equate long term with forever, at least when it
comes to preserving books. [See also HathiTrust
press release, and Library Journal interview
with HathiTrust Executive Director John Wilkin.]
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/10/13/an-elephant-backs-up-googles-library/?th&emc=th
Newspapers’ Web Revenue Is Stalling
Stephanie Clifford
The New York Times, October 12, 2008
Newspapers, already facing a grim economic forecast, are digesting another
piece of bad news: the growth in online advertising they saw as their salvation
has slowed to a crawl. In the last few years, newspaper companies have been
rapidly expanding their Web presence — adding blogs, photo slide shows
and podcasts — in the belief that more features would bring more advertisers.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/13/business/media/13adco.html?th&emc=th
ARTICLES
Contribution des provinces aux publications scientifiques du Canada
Jean Lebel et al
L’Observation S & T, Note no. 21, Septembre 2008
Avec 36 249 publications en 2006, le Canada maintient le 8ième rang
mondial pour le nombre de publications scientifiques en sciences naturelles,
en génie et en sciences de la santé (SNG). Les provinces de
l’Ontario et du Québec contribuent à près des
trois quarts des publications du Canada alors qu’on note également
une progression importante de la production scientifique des provinces de
l’Ouest du pays. Cette note examine la production scientifique des
provinces selon les secteurs institutionnels et selon les disciplines des
SNG.
http://www.ost.uqam.ca/Portals/0/docs/note/note21_f.pdf
Telling a different story in Open Access journals?
Helena Francke
ScieCom info – Nordic-Baltic Forum for Scientific Communication,
Volume 4, Number 2, 2008
What happens to scholarly journals when they move online? This article
explores the possibility that research will be narrated in different ways
when untraditional tools are available for use as a result of a change of
medium – a remediation of the scholarly journal takes place. The discussion
is based on a study of 265 open access journals. An indication that new
ways of communicating research may be emerging is identified, although they
are so far fairly uncommon.
http://nile.lub.lu.se/ojs/index.php/sciecominfo/article/viewFile/652/446
University of Helsinki opens its research vaults: a few words on
open access and the new research environment in Finland
Marjut Salokannel
ScieCom info – Nordic-Baltic Forum for Scientific Communication,
Volume 4, Number 2, 2008
In May 2008 the Rector of the University of Helsinki made the historic
decision to make available to the general public across the world all research
results funded by the University. With its decision the University, for
its part, is transforming the static archiving and publication culture into
a new, open and dynamic one. Archives are no long static preservation facilities
but dynamic facilitators of research. When publications, underlying research
data and archives are all interlinked, the research cycle is accelerated,
which saves both time and money.
http://nile.lub.lu.se/ojs/index.php/sciecominfo/article/viewFile/653/447
Focus on the Interface
Edward Vielmetti
Library Journal, October 15, 2008
It's time for libraries to reevaluate systematically this attitude toward
patrons who bring communications devices into the library and to see what
they can do to engage patrons both inside the building and on the go with
their collections and services. An investigation of what some pioneering
library systems are doing to connect to patrons via their mobile devices
reveals transcoded catalogs, SMS reminders, and other mobile-friendly Internet
services. They represent a mere prelude to what the future of the mobile
library might be.
http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6599063.html
CODATA 2008: Scientific information for society - from today to
the future
National Technical University of Ukraine - Kyiv Polytechnic Institute
Kyiv, Ukraine, 5-8 October 2008
The theme of the 21st International CODATA Conference continued the emphasis
on the information society that has emerged in the last few biennial meetings.
The 2008 meeting took as its keynote the importance of engaging the younger
generation of scientists to lead future developments in a world community
increasingly dependent upon information and scientific data.
http://www.iucr.org/resources/data/meeting-reports/codata-2008
Institutional Repositories: Strategies for the Present and Future
Connie Foster et al
North American Serials Interest Group (NASIG) Conference Proceedings, 23rd
Annual Conference, June 6, 2008
Institutional repositories are tools to support, disseminate and showcase
the scholarly communications and intellectual life of an institution. A
successful repository requires planning and a defined focus, as well as
an attractive name and design. To achieve success, the IR must serve faculty
on faculty’s terms; the librarian’s role is to collaborate with
faculty and ensure that the services of the IR meet their needs. Foster,
Bankier and Wiley offer strategies for success drawn from their work creating
successful institutional repositories.
http://works.bepress.com/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1017&context=jean_gabriel_bankier
Acclaimed Colombian Institution Has 4,800 Books and 10 Legs
Simon Romero
The New York Times, October 19, 2008
In a ritual repeated nearly every weekend for the past decade here in Colombia’s
war-weary Caribbean hinterland, Luis Soriano gathered his two donkeys, Alfa
and Beto, in front of his home on a recent Saturday afternoon. Sweating
already under the unforgiving sun, he strapped pouches with the word “Biblioburro”
painted in blue letters to the donkeys’ backs and loaded them with
an eclectic cargo of books destined for people living in the small villages
beyond.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/20/world/americas/20burro.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
RESOURCES / RESSOURCES
Latindex - Online Regional Information System for Scholarly Journals from Latin America, the Caribbean, Spain and Portugal
A network of institutions that gather and disseminate scholarly periodical
literature produced in the region produces Latindex. Subject coverage includes
the pure and applied sciences, the social sciences and the humanities. Latindex
makes available to its users three basic information products: a periodical
directory, a catalog and links to over 2,400 electronic journals.
http://www.latindex.org/latindex/busquedas1/english/latin.html
/
Répertoire de revues académiques d'Amérique
latine, des Caraïbes, d'Espagne et du Portugal, Latindex produit
par un réseau d'institutions ibéro-américaines. Les
disciplines couvertes sont les sciences humaines et sociales, les sciences
exactes et de la vie. Le site offre trois rubriques distinctes : un répertoire
de revues, un catalogue de périodiques issus du répertoire
et un index de plus de 2400 périodiques électroniques accessibles
en ligne.
/
Latindex -Sistema Regional de Información en Línea
para Revistas Científicas de América Latina, el Caribe, España
y Portugal- es producto de la cooperación de una red de
instituciones para reunir y diseminar literatura científica producida
en la región. Están consideradas todas las publicaciones seriadas
en las disciplinas de las ciencias exactas, naturales, sociales y humanas.
Latindex pone a disposición de sus usuarios tres productos básicos
de información: un directorio de revistas , un catálogo
y mas de 2,400 enlaces a revistas electrónicas.
http://www.latindex.org/
ARL Annual Salary Survey 2007-08
October 21, 2008
The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) has published the ARL Annual
Salary Survey 2007-08, which analyzes salary data for all professional staff
working in the 123 ARL member libraries during 2007-08. The 2007-08 data
show that ARL librarians' salaries outperformed inflation for the fourth
consecutive year. The combined median professional salary in US and Canadian
ARL university libraries was $61,833--a 3.7% increase from the previous
year. Over the same period, the Consumer Price Index rose 2.4% in the US
and 2.5% in Canada.
http://www.arl.org/bm~doc/ss07.pdf
E-Science Talking Points for ARL Deans and Directors
Elizabeth Jones et al
Association of Research Libraries (ARL), October 15, 2008
The term “e-science” is roughly—though not precisely—synonymous
with “Cyberinfrastructure;” where the latter term is prevalent
in the United States, e-science predominates in the United Kingdom and elsewhere
in Europe. Both terms refer to the use of networked computing technologies
to enhance collaboration and innovative methods in research. “e-science,”
however, has a more specific focus on scientific research, whereas Cyberinfrastructure
is more inclusive of fields outside the sciences and engineering, and incorporates
greater emphasis on supercomputing resources and innovation. Some researchers
favor a third term for similar efforts: “e-Research.” E-Research
is more inclusive of the social sciences and humanities fields, which have
also benefited from networked collaboration and investigative resources
in recent years.
http://www.arl.org/bm~doc/e-science-talking-points.pdf
Embracing the Future: Embedding digital repositories in the University
of London
Stijn Hoorens et al
RAND Corporation, 2008
Digital repositories can help Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) to develop
coherent
and coordinated approaches to capture, identify, store and retrieve intellectual
assets such
as datasets, course material and research papers. With the advances of technology,
an
increasing number of Higher Education Institutions are implementing digital
repositories.
The leadership of these institutions, however, has been concerned about
the awareness of
and commitment to repositories, and their sustainability in the future.
http://www.rand.org/pubs/technical_reports/2008/RAND_TR625.pdf
Statistiques générales des bibliothèques universitaires
québécoises 2006-2007
Conférence des recteurs et des principaux des universités
du Québec (CREPUQ)
14 octobre 2008
Les Statistiques générales des bibliothèques universitaires
québécoises sont
publiées annuellement par le Sous-comité des bibliothèques
de la CREPUQ, depuis
1978-1979. Elles constituent un véritable portrait collectif quantitatif
des ressources
documentaires aussi bien que matérielles, financières et humaines
des bibliothèques
universitaires québécoises, de même que de leurs activités
et de leurs services.
http://www.crepuq.qc.ca/IMG/pdf/Stats_bibliotheques_CREPUQ_2006-2007_14octobre2008.pdf
France numérique 2012: plan de développement
de l’économie numérique
Éric Besson
Secrétariat d’état chargé de la prospective,
de la évaluation des politiques publiques et du développement
de l’économie numérique, octobre 2008
L’économie numérique (télécommunications,
audiovisuel, logiciel, services informatiques, services en ligne) représente
le secteur le plus dynamique de l’économie mondiale. Dans la
plupart des pays développés, son taux de croissance est le
double de celui de l’économie. Elle représente désormais
plus de 25 % de la croissance mondiale. Elle en représentera 30 %
avant 5 ans. L’économie numérique est le principal facteur
de gain de compétitivité des économies développées.
Les investissements dans l’économie numérique sont identifiés
comme les plus productifs, parce qu’ils accroissent la compétitivité
de l’ensemble des autres secteurs de l’économie.
http://francenumerique2012.fr/
Academic journal publishers' policies and practices in online publishing,
3rd Edition
Laura Cox
Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers (ALPSP), October
2008
This is the third in a series of ALPSP surveys undertaken to establish
current scholarly publishing practices, designed to track changes in policy
and practice since 2000, as online publishing has matured. The survey
was conducted of 400 journal publishers, both commercial and not-for-profit,
consisting of ALPSP and other major association members. A response rate
of over 65% was achieved including the majority of major journal publishers.
Press Release (pdf)
http://www.alpsp.org/ngen_public/article.asp?aid=24781
eXtensible Catalog (XC) Project
The eXtensible Catalog (XC) Project is working to design and develop a
set of open-source applications that will provide libraries with an alternative
way to reveal their collections to library users. XC will provide easy access
to all resources (both digital and physical collections) across a variety
of databases, metadata schemas and standards. XC will also make library
collections more web-accessible by revealing them through web search engines.
http://www.extensiblecatalog.org/node/59
Learning Space Pre-programming Took Kit
Crit Stuart
Association of Research Libraries (ARL), October 2008
The preparation and planning for a learning commons or related project,
especially a
collaboration with partners outside the library, must be carefully considered.
The
process must result in a vision and goals, programming elements, outcomes,
staff
engagement, and customer insight that leads to the best possible built environment
and
programming.
http://www.arl.org/bm~doc/planning-a-learning-space-tool-kit.pdf
The Global Competitiveness Report 2008-2009
Michael E. Porter and Klaus Schwab
World Economic Forum, 2008
This year’s Report is characterized by the continued expansion of
country coverage. Currently featuring 134 economies, it remains the most
comprehensive assessment of its kind. The Report contains a detailed profile
for each of the economies featured in the study as well as an extensive
section of data tables with global rankings covering over 100 indicators.
http://www.weforum.org/documents/GCR0809/index.html
Study on copyright limitations and exceptions for libraries and
archives
Kenneth Crews
World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), August 26, 2008
This study of copyright exceptions for libraries and archives provides
an overview of the nature and diversity of statutory provisions in the copyright
law of the 184 countries that are WIPO members. It gathers library exceptions
from nearly all WIPO countries and provides an analytical survey of the
law. The statutory exceptions for libraries primarily address such issues
as reproduction of copyrighted works for purposes such as private research
and study, preservation and replacement of materials, and document supply
and interlibrary lending. This study also encompasses library exceptions
to the prohibition against circumvention of technological protection measures.
http://www.wipo.int/edocs/mdocs/sccr/en/sccr_17/sccr_17_2.pdf
Long-term Preservation Results from a survey investigating preservation
strategies amongst ALPSP publisher members
Sarah Durrant
Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers (ALPSP), July
2008
One of the most important issues facing publishers and their library customers
is long-term preservation of digital content. More and more scholarly content
is published electronically with an increasing amount 'born digital' with
no print counterpart. This dramatic increase in electronic scholarly resources
raises important questions about rights and responsibilities relating to
long-term preservation.
http://www.alpsp.org/ngen_public/article.asp?id=200&did=47&aid=27137&st=&oaid=-1
EVENTS / ÉVÉNEMENTS
Calling Canada's librarians - the Canadian Public Domain needs
you!
October 15 - December 15, 2008
Access Copyright (The Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency) and Creative Commons Canada, in partnership with Creative Commons Corp. and the Wikimedia Foundation, invite Canada's library community to help us test the Canadian Public Domain Registry beta website. The ground-breaking project, the most comprehensive of its kind in Canada, will create an online, globally searchable catalogue of published Canadian literary works. The Registry's integrated rights calculator allows users to automatically determine each work's copyright status. Contact mailto:marcus@creativecommons.ca for details.
Renewing & Negotiating Licenses
ACRL OnPoint chat, October 30, 2008, 11:00 a.m. Pacific; 12:00 p.m. Mountain;
1:00 p.m. Central; 2:00 p.m. Eastern
Negotiating licenses for electronic content remains a dynamic process.
While librarians responsible for these activities share many concerns, they
take different approaches based on the norms at their institutions and the
needs of their user communities. Some posit that copyright is increasingly
non-relevant because it is being superseded by contract law and that license
agreements will continue to guide us in what we can do with online databases,
rather than copyright.
http://www.acrl.org/ala/mgrps/divs/acrl/proftools/OnPoint/onpoint.cfm
Research Data Management Forum Roles and Responsibilities for Effective
Data Management
Manchester, U.K., November 26-27, 2008
The Workshop will include a mix of presentations, breakout groups and discussion and allow time for networking and collaboration. Objectives will be to:
- To describe the roles and responsibilities associated with data curation and good stewardship
- To identify the core skills required for these roles
- To explore ways in which the various stakeholders might acquire the required skills
- To examine different models and working practice to facilitate the exchange of skills
- To highlight next steps for the data community and the Digital Curation Centre (DCC) / Research Information Network (RIN) http://www.dcc.ac.uk/events/data-forum-2008-november/
