E-Lert # 311 / Cyberavis no. 311

Friday January 30, 2009 / le vendredi 30 janvier 2009

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CARL COMMUNIQUÉ / COMMUNIQUÉ DE L’ABRC

The Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL) applauds the Investments in Knowledge Infrastructure that the federal government will be making through Budget 2009 PDF

L'Association des bibliothèques de recherche du Canada (ABRC) applaudit les investissements en infrastructure du savoir que le gouvernement fédéral fera par le budget 2009 PDF

Increased capacity and seamless user-focused services are tops on the list for CARL
member libraries PDF

Les dossiers prioritaires des bibliothèques membres de l'ABRC sont le renforcement de leur capacité et la convivialité des services aux utilisateurs PDF

2009 Work plans and budgets for CARL Committees and Working Groups are on the members’ distribution site.

Les plans de travail et les budgets du 2009 pour les Comités et les Groupes de travail de l’ABRC sont disponibles sur la liste de distribution des membres.

NEWS / NOUVELLES

Physicists Set Plan in Motion to Change Publishing System
Jeffrey R. Young
The Chronicle of Higher Education, January 30, 2009

Researchers have mounted a takeover of high-energy-physics publishing. One signature at a time, national research agencies and university libraries have pledged to support a new system that would replace expensive subscriptions to leading journals with membership in a nonprofit group. The new organization would then dole out money to journal publishers, while pushing them to distribute all articles free online and to keep their prices in check. The group is called Scoap³, the Sponsoring Consortium for Open Access Publishing in Particle Physics.*
http://chronicle.com/weekly/v55/i21/21a00104.htm

Research reveals economic case for open access publishing
January 27, 2009

Sharing research information via a more open access publishing model would bring millions worth of savings to the higher education sector according to a report commissioned by the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC). Professor John Houghton from the Centre of Strategic Economic Studies at Melbourne’s Victoria University and Professor Charles Oppenheim at Loughborough University lead a research project to help understand economic and social implications of new models for scholarly publishing. The findings reveal that core scholarly publishing system activities cost the UK higher education sector around £5 billion in 2007, and show, what the estimated publication costs would have been with the subscription, open access, and author archiving models.*
http://www.jisc.ac.uk/news/stories/2009/01/houghton.aspx

Ottawa prévoit 3,1 milliards pour les infrastructures du savoir
Alec Castonguay
Le Devoir, 28 janvier 2009

Dans son plan de relance économique, le gouvernement Harper n'a pas oublié les infrastructures du savoir. Les universités, les collèges et les centres de recherche se partageront la somme de 3,1 milliards de dollars d'ici deux ans. Les institutions «et leurs partenaires» -- qu'on imagine être les gouvernements provinciaux, même si le budget n'en fait pas mention -- devront toutefois payer 50 % de la facture de chaque projet. Le ministère de l'Industrie précise déjà que la priorité ira aux projets qui peuvent améliorer la qualité des activités de recherche et développement des établissements. *
http://www.ledevoir.com/2009/01/28/229809.html

Money for bricks, but not talent
Elizabeth Church and Daniel Leblanc
Globe and Mail, January 27, 2009

Ottawa is giving Canadian campuses billions for brick-and-mortar projects, but Budget 2009 offered few assurances to universities that they will have the money needed to fill those refurbished labs and lecture halls with top talent. At a time when U.S. President Barack Obama has pledged to “restore science to its rightful place” with billions in new investments, leaders in the Canadian research community were puzzled over Stephen Harper's response to what many fear will become a widening research funding gap.* http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090127.wbudget_science0127/EmailBNStory/budget2009/home

Responses to Budget 2009

Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (English / Français)
Canadian Consortium for Research (HTML)
Canadian Association of University Teachers (English / Français)
Canadian Federation of Students (English / Français)

HathiTrust and OCLC to work together to enhance discovery of digital collections
January 26, 2009

HathiTrust, a group of some of the largest research libraries in the United States working to create a repository of their vast digital collections, and OCLC will collaborate to increase visibility of and access to items in the HathiTrust’s shared digital repository. HathiTrust 's digital collections, including millions of books, will be archived and preserved in a single repository. Materials in the public domain and those where rightsholders have given permission will be available for reading online.*
http://www.oclc.org/us/en/news/releases/20097.htm

We're in danger of losing our memories
Lynne Brindley
The Observer, January 25, 2009

Chief executive of the British Library, Lynne Brindley, is concerned that we are not saving enough of the digital evidence of our times. In a piece in Sunday’s Observer, Ms. Brindley points out that vast swaths of national memory are being lost and that “historians and citizens of the future will find a black hole in the knowledge base of the 21st century.”*
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/jan/25/internet-heritage

A Tool to Verify Digital Records, Even as Technology Shifts
John Markoff
The New York Times, January 25, 2009

Simple-to-use digital technology will make it more difficult to distort history in the future. A group of researchers at the University of Washington is releasing the initial component of a public system to provide authentication for an archive of video interviews with the prosecutors and other members of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Rwandan genocide. The researchers say history is filled with incidents of doctoring, deleting or denying written records. Now, they say, the authenticity of digital documents like videos, transcripts of personal accounts and court records can be indisputably proved for the first time.*
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/27/science/27arch.html?ref=technology

On the Internet, a university without a campus
Tamar Lewin
International Herald Tribune, January 25, 2009

An Israeli entrepreneur with decades of experience in international education plans to start the first global, tuition-free Internet university, a nonprofit venture he has named the University of the People. Shai Reshef, an entrepreneur and founder of several Internet-based educational businesses, intends to “take social networking and apply it to academia."*
http://www.iht.com/articles/2009/01/25/technology/university.4-415520.php

JSTOR and Ithaka Merge, Uniting Efforts to Serve the Scholarly Community
January 25, 2009

JSTOR and Ithaka announced the merger of their organizations. This move unites two pioneering entities that focused on helping the scholarly community take advantage of rapidly advancing information technologies. The new combined enterprise will be called Ithaka. It will continue its mission of helping the academic community use digital technologies to advance scholarship and teaching, and to reduce system-wide costs through collective action.*
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/news/announcements/2009.jsp#JanB

Universités - Pour une stratégie sur les sciences et la recherche
Brigitte Saint-Pierre
Le Devoir, 24 janvier 2009

La présidente de la CREPUQ, Heather Munroe-Blum, estime que le Québec doit se doter d'une stratégie sur les sciences, la recherche et l'innovation, accompagnée du financement nécessaire pour sa mise en oeuvre. Elle convie en outre les gens influents de différents milieux à faire valoir l'importance de l'éducation.*

Une interface humain-machine
Fabien Deglise
Le Devoir, 24 janvier 2009

Le milieu de la génétique cherche depuis des années à cartographier le génome humain. Mais sur Internet, c'est désormais les comportements que l'humanité branchée tente de contenir sur des cartes. Pour mieux se voir évoluer. «C'est une façon visuellement superbe de référencer de l'information, dit Denis Poussart, professeur émérite au département de génie électrique et de génie informatique de l'Université Laval.*
http://www.ledevoir.com/2009/01/24/229209.html

Expanded green and gold routes to open access at Nature Publishing Group
January 22, 2009

Nature Publishing Group (NPG) is expanding open access choices for authors in 2009, through both 'green' self-archiving and 'gold' (authors-pays) open access publication routes. Eleven more journals published by NPG are offering an open access option from January 2009.*
http://www.nature.com/press_releases/greengold.html

Google calls for UK copyright reforms
Vicky Frost
The Guardian, January 22, 2009

Google called for UK copyright reforms that allow individuals limited use of copyrighted work in order to create new content. US "Fair use" laws –covering use of music for sampling, for example – were included in the 2006 Gowers review of UK intellectual property but have not been incorporated into British law.*
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/jan/22/google-calls-for-uk-copyright-reforms

Digital vision must include preservation, argues British Library chief executive
January 21, 2009

British Library chief executive, Lynne Brindley, urged the UK government to include preservation in its vision of a ‘Digital Britain’. She argued that digitizing and preserving the country’s collective memory is a ‘critical public service’. She also emphasized the role she believes the British Library can play in carrying out these tasks and ensuring ‘digital literacy for all’.*
http://www.bl.uk/news/2009/pressrelease20090121.html

ARTICLES

Connecting 24/5 to Millennials: Providing Academic Support Services from a Learning Commons
Anne Cooper Moore and Kimberly A. Wells
The Journal of Academic Librarianship, Volume 35, Issue 1, 2009

The authors investigated user preferences for reference and technical support, services, and facilities featured in an academic library and Learning Commons through a 23-item questionnaire that was distributed to building entrants during one 24-hour period on March 14, 2006. Results revealed a strong preference for face-to-face assistance (including roving), and suggested service enhancements. The study also and documented user demographics.*

Les docteurs du troisième millénaire
Assia Kettani
Le Devoir, 25 janvier 2009

Le diplôme de doctorat a connu dans les trente dernières années un essor exponentiel et un succès incontestable: sur un million trente six mille doctorats délivrés aux États-Unis au XXe siècle, plus des trois quarts l'ont été après 1970. Les doctorats au Québec ont suivi la même courbe: le taux d'accès au doctorat a doublé de 1990 à 2004, passant de 1,5 % à 2,9 %. Et les exigences académiques, comme les sujets d'étude, découlent d'un «processus constant de renouvellement».*
http://www.ledevoir.com/2009/01/24/229034.html

Les centres de données, de plus en plus gourmands en énergie
Lilian Alemagna
Le Monde, 24 janvier 2009

La chasse au "gaspi" dans les centres de données est ouverte. Ces immenses salles, appelées aussi "data centers", composées de multiples serveurs informatiques qui stockent les informations nécessaires aux activités des entreprises, sont devenues de véritables gouffres énergétiques. Selon une étude menée par des chercheurs européens dans le cadre du programme de l'Union européenne "Energie intelligente - Europe", les 7 millions de centres de données recensés dans les pays de l'Union européenne consommeraient, chaque année, 40 milliards de kilowattheures, soit l'équivalent de l'énergie utilisée annuellement par une grande agglomération française pour son éclairage public.*
http://www.lemonde.fr/planete/article/2009/01/24/les-centres-de-donnees-de-plus-en-plus-gourmands-en-energie_1146015_3244.html#xtor=RSS-651865

Webpages on copyright in Canadian academic libraries
Tony G. Horava
Partnership: the Canadian Journal of Library and Information Research and Practice
Volume 3, Number 2, 2008

Academic librarians value the web as a vital channel for communicating information and policies to their user community. Designing a webpage on copyright is a challenging task requiring consideration of the medium and the message. The author proposes a conceptual model and proactive approach for integrating policy objective and goals into developing a copyright webpage, based on key elements of the library’s involvement in academia. This theoretical approach includes an analysis of Canadian academic library websites to gage the effectiveness of copyright webpages, in the Canadian legal context.*
http://journal.lib.uoguelph.ca/index.php/perj/article/view/583/1355

Del.icio.us Subject Guides: Maintaining Subject Guides Using a Social Bookmarking Site
Edward M. Corrado
Partnership: the Canadian Journal of Library and Information Research and Practice
Volume 3, Number 2, 2008

Libraries can more easily manage subject guides and other lists of Web resources with Web 2.0 social bookmarking sites. Social bookmarking services such as Delicious provide a simple, one-click method of bookmarking a Web site, and enable librarians to describe and categorize Web sites. The author discusses and analyses the use of social bookmarking at a medium-sized comprehensive college library for the creation and maintenance of modern languages subject guides. He also includes a brief technical description of the necessary JavaScript code to try this idea elsewhere.*
http://journal.lib.uoguelph.ca/index.php/perj/article/view/328/1370

Wikipedia May Restrict Public’s Ability to Change Entries
Noam Cohen
The New York Times, January 23, 2009

Wikipedia appears ready to introduce a system that prevents new and anonymous users from instantly publishing changes to the online encyclopedia after criticism it received when vandals changed Wikipedia entries to erroneously report that Senators Edward Kennedy and Robert Byrd had died. The new system, called Flagged Revisions, would mark a significant change in the anything-goes, anyone-can-edit-at-any-time ethos of Wikipedia, which has become one of the top 10 sites on the Web and the de facto information source for the Internet-using public.*
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/01/23/wikipedia-may-restrict-publics-ability-to-change-entries/

International Preservation News
No. 46, December 2008

This issue of IFLA’s IPN covers preservation of audio collections and still and moving pictures with a range of international opinions regarding the stewardship of audiovisual material. Some of the articles included in the current issue: Socio-technical and Socio-cultural Challenges of Audio and Video Preservation; Albert Kahn, des images pour la paix :Rappels historiques et choix de conservation ; Challenges of Preserving and Conserving Audiovisual Collections in sub-Saharan Africa.*
http://www.ifla.org/VI/4/news/ipnn46.pdf

RESOURCES / RESSOURCES

Designing Libraries: the gateway to better library design

Designing Libraries is for anyone with an interest in or involvement with library planning and design. This website features a database, image galleries, a news service on library building projects, events and publications, links to various resources about all aspects of library design planning, and a forum for exchanging ideas. Future plans for the website include an analysis of library design trends based on the contents of the Designing Libraries database and expert comment from librarians, architects and others.*
http://www.designinglibraries.org.uk/

Healing Fair Dealing? A Comparative Copyright Analysis of Canada’s Fair Dealing to U.K. Fair Dealing and U.S. Fair Use
Giuseppina D’Agostino
McGill Law Journal, Volume 53, Number 2, 2008

Commentators are calling for greater consideration of user rights and, more particularly, the development of fair dealing given the owner-centred focus of current copyright regimes. Fair dealing in Canada has been criticized as weak and overly restrictive, applying only to works used for a narrow list of purposes. The Supreme Court of Canada’s 2004 decision in CCH Canadian Ltd. v. Law Society of Upper Canada (CCH) elevated fair dealing from a set of exceptions to a user right but has also created uncertainty about its scope.*

Libraries and the new information ecosystem
Lee Rainie
HELIN Library Consortium, January 14, 2009

Director of the Pew Internet & American Life Project Lee Rainie was recently invited to present at the 25th anniversary of the Rhode Island HELIN Library Consortium. His presentation addressed ways libraries can adapt to the new information ecosystem.*
http://www.resourceshelf.com/2009/01/16/presentation-libraries-and-the-new-information-ecosystem/

PEER - Invitations to tender for research now available
December 22, 2008

PEER (Publishing and the Ecology of European Research) will investigate the effects of the large-scale systematic depositing of authors' final peer-reviewed manuscripts on reader access, author visibility, and journal viability, as well as on the broader ecology of European research. Invitations to Tender for the Behavioural Research and Usage Research aspects of the PEER project are now available. Tenders for both areas of research must be received by the Max Planck Digital Library by 17.00 on Tuesday February 17, 2009.*
http://www.stm-assoc.org/home/peer-invitations-to-tender-for-research-now-available.html

Library energy conservation benchmarks
Primary Research Group, December 2008

Library Energy Conservation Benchmarks presents detailed data largely from academic and public libraries about their efforts to conserve energy and reduce their greenhouse gas imprint.
The report covers a broad range of energy use and environmental issues including but not restricted to: architectural and structural changes to preserve energy, better use of insulation, current and planned use of alternative energy sources such as wind, solar and geothermal;
management of library-operated vehicles; use of energy audits and energy-efficient computer workstation management, among other issues.*
http://www.primaryresearch.com/200901211-Library-Facilities-Management.html

Securing a place for language in cyberspace
Marcel Diki-Kidiri
United Nations Educational, Scientifi c and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), 2008

The disappearance of languages is a phenomenon that has been present throughout History. There is evidence that linguistic diversity has long been in decline. Another worrying factor is that, according to some estimates, half of all languages will have disappeared by the year 2050. Information and communication technologies (ICTs) play a key role in the linguistic transformations under way worldwide; they may provide an important vehicle for communication among the various linguistic communities. On the other hand, ICTs may be an aggravating factor in the marginalization of languages in cyberspace.*
http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0014/001497/149786E.pdf

International Journal of Library and Information Science
Starting May 2009

The International Journal of Library and Information Science (IJLIS) will provide rapid publication (monthly) of articles in all areas of the subject approximately one month after acceptance. All articles published in IJLIS will be peer-reviewed. It will be published monthly (one volume per year) by Academic Journals, and will be published freely online to attract a wide audience.*
http://www.academicjournals.org/IJLIS/index.htm

European Innovation Scoreboard 2008

The eighth edition of the European Innovation Scoreboard (EIS) provides a comparative assessment of the innovation performance of EU Member States, under the EU Lisbon Strategy. The research focuses on services, non-technological aspects, and outputs of innovation. Analysis of trends over time is based on changes in the absolute values of the indicators over a five-year period.* HTML

Digital Music Report 2009: New Business Models for a Changing Environment
International Federation of the Phonographic Industries (IFPI)

This report tells the story of the music business as it is developing today. Music drives a large number of diverse businesses, and demand for the product is growing year-by-year. Music companies are changing their business models and refining their skills in bringing artists to an ever more complex and sophisticated marketplace.*
http://www.ifpi.org/content/library/DMR2009.pdf

For the common good: the Library of Congress Flickr project
Michelle Springer et al, October 2008

The Library of Congress launched a pilot project on Flickr, the popular photo sharing Web site On January 16, 2008. LC invited the public to tag and describe two sets of approximately 3,000 historic photos. The Flickr community responded enthusiastically. By offering broad public opportunity for interaction with collections, the Library struck a chord that fits well with Web 2.0 communities. Today, LC photos on Flickr average approximately 500,000 views a month and have surpassed the 10 million mark in total views.*
http://www.flickr.com/photos/library_of_congress
Executive summary (PDF )
Full report (PDF )

EVENTS / ÉVÉNEMENTS

The Great Library 2.0
CBC Radio One, February 9, 9:00 p.m. CST

There has arguably been nothing like it since ancient times. Google, through its book scanning initiative, may soon hold the largest collection of books in history. This broadcast will explore what this will mean for our culture and the way we get our information.*
http://www.cbc.ca/ideas/schedule3.html

Google Analytics Workshop
Washington DC, April 24, 2009

The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) Statistics and Measurement Program will offer a full day of Google Analytics training in partnership with LunaMetrics, a Google Analytics Authorized Consultant. Google Analytics allows you to learn where your Web site visitors are coming from and how they interact with your Web pages. Learn how you can use this knowledge to improve your site and overall user experience. *
http://www.arl.org/news/pr/google-analytics-23jan09.shtml

* Text adapted from source / Texte adapté de la source