E-Lert # 317 / Cyberavis no. 317

Friday March 13, 2009 / le vendredi 13 mars 2009

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CARL COMMUNIQUÉ / COMMUNIQUÉ DE L’ABRC

“Research is more valuable when it’s shared,” according to a new educational initiative launched in partnership by the Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL) and SPARC (the Scholarly Publishing & Academic Resources Coalition). Called, “Greater Reach for Your Research,” the campaign encourages Canadian authors to use their campus digital repository to increase the use
and impact of their research outputs. ( PDF )

/

Une nouvelle initiative en matière d’éducation, lancée par l’Association des bibliothèques de recherche du Canada (ABRC) en collaboration avec la Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition (SPARC), souligne que « La recherche a plus de valeur lorsqu’elle est partagée ». Intitulée Une plus grande portée pour vos recherches, cette campagne encourage les auteurs canadiens à utiliser le dépôt institutionnel de leur institution afin d’accroître l’usage et l’impact de leurs résultats de recherche. ( PDF )

NEWS / NOUVELLES

First U.S. Public Access Policy Made Permanent
March 12, 2009

President Obama signed into law the 2009 Consolidated Appropriations Act that includes a provision making the National Institutes’ of Health (NIH) Public Access Policy permanent. The NIH Revised Policy on Enhancing Public Access requires eligible NIH-funded researchers to deposit electronic copies of their peer-reviewed journal article manuscripts into PubMed Central (PMC), the National Library of Medicine’s online archive. PMC makes the texts of the articles publicly available and searchable online no later than 12 months after publication in a journal.*
http://www.arl.org/sparc/bm~doc/omnibus_09--final.pdf

CANARIE ajoute huit connexions à son réseau
12 mars 2009

Huit nouvelles organisations auront accès au réseau CANARIE grâce au Programme d'extension des infrastructures de l'organisme. Lancé à l'automne 2007, ce programme de 15 millions de dollars crée des extensions au réseau national de la recherche et de l'éducation en vue d'améliorer ou d'intensifier la recherche, de permettre les collaborations nationales et internationales, de faciliter l'accès au savoir et de concourir au développement de la cyberinfrastructure et de la cyber-recherche au Canada.*
http://www.canarie.ca/press_f/releases_f/09_03_12.html
[English: http://www.canarie.ca/press/releases/09_03_12.html]

Group of European scholars petitions the European Parliament to reject directive on term extension of copyright for sound recordings
March 11, 2009

On 23 March 2009, the European Parliament will vote on a Directive, extending the term of copyright for sound recordings. Such an extension, from 50 to 95 years (or perhaps 70 years), would be detrimental to Europe’s cultural economy. The European Parliament is being asked to remove sound recordings from the public domain for another generation, apparently in order to benefit performers. Copyright extension, however, will serve the shareholders of four major multinational companies that control the valuable recordings of the 1960s (Universal, Warner, Sony and EMI).*
http://www.cippm.org.uk/downloads/Press%20Release%20Copyright%20Extension.pdf
[Independent studies of Copyright Term Extension: PDF]

Téléchargement illégal : deux visions de la société s'opposent
Nathaniel Herzberg
Le Monde, 11 mars 2009

Il fleure ces jours-ci à l'Assemblée nationale un parfum oublié. Le gouvernement propose, et l'opposition s'oppose. Pas sur des questions de calendrier, de niveau d'engagement budgétaire, de nombre de postes de fonctionnaires ou d'éventail de peines substitutives à la prison. Non, avec le projet de loi "création et Internet" sur le téléchargement illégal, c'est un affrontement entre deux principes, deux visions du monde, qui s'impose. Un face-à-face frontal comme on n'en avait pas connu depuis bien longtemps.*
http://www.lemonde.fr/opinions/article/2009/03/11/telechargement-illegal-deux-visions-de-la-societe-s-opposent-par-nathaniel-herzberg_1166404_3232.html

Minister's use of recorder highlights need for clear copyright rules
Sarah Schmidt
Ottawa Citizen, March 10, 2009

One of the Conservative government's leaders on the copyright file, Heritage Minister James Moore, recently admitted that he hasn't always abided by Canada's copyright law. Like many younger Canadians, Moore told reporters he doesn't watch television the "conventional way." In addition to legally purchasing shows to watch on his iPod, he said he was an early adopter of the personal video recorder (PVR) -- although the PVR is already old-school for him. Currently, Canada's copyright law does not permit people to record television programs through widely used PVRs to watch them at a more convenient time.*
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/News/Minister+recorder+highlights+need+clear+copyright+rules+expert/1371986/story.html

Le ministre de l'Industrie annonce la création du Programme d'infrastructure du savoir d'une valeur de 2 milliards de dollars
9 mars 2009

L'honorable Tony Clement, ministre de l'Industrie, a annoncé aujourd'hui la création du rogramme d'infrastructure du savoir, une mesure d'une valeur de 2 milliards de dollars et d'une durée de deux ans, qui servira à appuyer l'amélioration des infrastructures dans des établissements postsecondaires, notamment dans des universités et des collèges communautaires au Canada. Le programme favorisera la création d'emplois, en plus de donner un nouveau souffle à l'économie. Il permettra en outre de créer l'infrastructure technologique de pointe nécessaire au maintien des installations de recherche et d'enseignement du Canada à l'avant-garde des percées scientifiques.*
http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/ic1.nsf/fra/04480.html
[English : http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/ic1.nsf/eng/04480.html]

La mobilisation prend forme
Samuel Auger
Le Soleil, 9 mars 2009

Des lettres de professeurs d'université ont rempli les pages éditoriales des journaux. En seulement 10 jours, la députée néo-démocrate Niki Ashton a obtenu 12 500 signatures d'universitaires pour sa pétition. Sur Facebook, plus de 4000 membres issus de tous les campus dénoncent l'ingérence des conservateurs dans l’indépendance d'esprit universitaire. *
http://www.cyberpresse.ca/le-soleil/actualites/education/200903/08/01-834424-la-mobilisation-prend-forme.php

L'accès à Internet est-il un droit fondamental ?
Le Monde, 9 mars 2009

« L'accès à Internet ne peut pas être considéré comme un droit fondamental. Nous savons bien l'importance qu'il revêt dans tous les secteurs de la vie actuellement, mais avoir chez soi un accès à Internet, sachant qu'on peut avoir accès à Internet partout ailleurs, ne peut pas pas être qualifié de droit fondamental. Ce serait aller trop loin." La ministre de la culture, Christine Albanel, a insisté sur ce point, jeudi 12 mars, lors de l'examen du projet de loi création et Internet, qui prévoit notamment de couper l'accès au Web des personnes qui téléchargent illégalement. La ministre avait déjà annoncé sa position la veille, préférant qualifier l'accès à Internet de "commodité".*
http://www.lemonde.fr/technologies/article/2009/03/12/l-acces-a-internet-est-il-un-droit-fondamental_1167277_651865.html#xtor=RSS-651865

Fight Over Internet Filtering Has a Test Run in Europe
Kevin J. O’Brien
The New York Times, March 8, 2009

As European lawmakers debate how to maintain net neutrality they are inundated by lobbyists. However, corporate envoys roaming the halls of Brussels trying to make their case, more often than not, do not represent the Continent’s myriad telecommunications and Internet companies, but rather those from the United States. Europe has become the world’s technology regulator. So the AT&Ts and Verizons are pitted against the Googles and Yahoos to shape European law in the hopes that American regulators will follow suit.*
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/09/technology/internet/09neutral.html?ref=technology

ARTICLES

Are We Ready to Use Wikipedia to Teach Writing?
Robert E. Cummings
Inside Higher Ed, March 12, 2009

Teaching writing with Wikipedia, as Cummings argues, has advantages that complement the traditional college essay. Composition assignments in Wikipedia frame writing as a collaborative practice hosted within a network. Such an arrangement seems much more predictive of the environment students will likely find themselves writing in after they complete their fist composition course, both in later college courses as they collaborate with fellow students in coursework or in the workplace as they collaborate with co-workers to prepare reports, proposals, or Web pages for example. When teaching writing with Wikipedia, moreover, the audience is real and usually writes back immediately.*
http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2009/03/12/cummings

Clickstream Data Yields High-Resolution Maps of Science
Johan Bollen et al
PloS One, Volume 4, Issue 3, March 2009

Intricate maps of science have been created from citation data to visualize the structure of scientific activity. Most scientific publications, however, are now accessed online. Scholarly web portals record detailed log data at a scale exceeding the number of all existing citations combined. Such log data are recorded immediately upon publication, as are the sequences of user requests (clickstreams) that are issued by a variety of users across many different domains. Given these advantages of log datasets over citation data, the authors investigate whether the latter can produce high-resolution, more current maps of science.*
http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0004803
[Article reviewed in Nature]

Open Access: Whom would you back?
Richard Poynder, March 10, 2009

As the Open Access movement continues developing and gaining momentum, an interesting question arises: should Green and Gold OA be viewed as concurrent or consecutive activities? This is not an issue of intellectual curiosity alone, Poynder suggests, because it has important strategic implications for the OA movement. It requires that the movement decide whether to treat Green and Gold OA as complementary or competitive activities; and if they are competitive, then where the OA movement should concentrate its efforts.*
http://www.richardpoynder.co.uk/Whom_Would_You_Back.pdf

Professional associations stand up for librarians
Tracey Caldwell
Information World Review, March 9, 2009

Library and information professionals wage a war on two fronts. The Google generation’s skepticism about the value of libraries places librarians under mounting pressure to justify their budgets, and they must constantly evaluate a tidal wave of new electronic information and information tools. Librarians look to specialist professional groups for support in this transition. The associations, in turn, have been responding faster than ever to the shift to specialization. They offer new products and services and sometimes partner with bigger professional groups such as CILIP.*
http://www.iwr.co.uk/information-world-review/features/2238054/united-stand-librarians

RESOURCES / RESSOURCES

The More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same: Online Audiences and the Paradox of Web Traffic
Matthew Hindman
Oxford Internet Institute, March 4, 2009

While many Internet scholars make strong - and often erroneous - assumptions about patterns of Web traffic, there has been little comprehensive research on actual online audiences distributions, and even less work on how site traffic changes over time. Using three years of daily Web traffic data, and new models adapted from financial mathematics, Dr. Mathew Hindman discusses his research examining large-scale variation in Web traffic. The results challenge many accepted notions about online life. In particular, Hindman suggests what these traffic patterns mean for the openness the online public sphere.*
http://webcast.oii.ox.ac.uk/?view=Webcast&ID=20090306_271

The Atlantic Century: Benchmarking EU and U.S. Innovation and Competitiveness
Robert D. Atkinson and Scott M. Andes
The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, February 25, 2009

The global economic recession dramatically increases pressures on nations to be globally competitive. Many nations no longer compete principally on low costs, but instead compete on the basis of innovation and knowledge as they seek to create, cultivate and attract high value-added firms. This report assesses nations’ innovation-based, global competitiveness.*
http://www.itif.org/index.php?id=226

The Google Library Project: Is Digitization for Purposes of Online Indexing Fair Use Under Copyright Law?
Kate M. Manuel
Congressional Research Reports, February 5, 2009

in 2005, Authors and publishers sued Google Inc. shortly after Google announced plans to digitize books in several major libraries’ collections, index them in its search engine, and allow searchers to view “snippets” of the digitized books. The rights holders, who alleged that the Google Library Project infringed their copyrights, did not authorize Google’s proposed reproduction and display of copyrighted books. Google’s counterarguments—that allowing rights holders to “opt out” of having their books digitized or indexed kept its proposed uses from being infringing, or that, if found to be infringing, its proposed uses were fair—raised important questions about reproduction and fair use under copyright law. This report provides background on the Library Project, legal issues raised by digitization and indexing projects, and the proposed settlement. It will be updated as developments warrant.*
http://opencrs.com/document/R40194

Supporting eResearch: The Victorian eResearch Strategic Initiative
Ann Borda
Ariadne, Issue 58, January 2009

The Victorian eResearch Strategic Initiative (VeRSI) was the first State-funded initiative of its kind in Australia. VeRSI follows on the heels of the former Department of Education, Science and Training (DEST) decision to commission the then Australian eResearch Coordinating Committee to undertake a comprehensive review of eResearch and recommend how Australia could coordinate a national eResearch initiative.*
http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue58/borda/

Embedding Universities in Knowledge Cities: An Ideopolis and Knowledge Economy Programme paper
Laura Williams et al
The Work Foundation, December 2008

The contribution of universities to regional and local economies is not a new phenomenon. Universities have had, for centuries, a deep and dynamic relationship with the economic, social and cultural life of the cities in which they are based. As the UK transitions towards an economy that is more reliant on knowledge, innovation and skills, national policy makers are placing increasing emphasis on capturing, building on and incentivising a stronger relationship between universities and cities.*
http://www.theworkfoundation.com/assets/docs/publications/208_ideopolis_education061208.pdf

EVENTS / ÉVÉNEMENTS

Pre-conference CLA 2009: From Rules to Entities: Cataloguing with RDA
Montreal, Quebec, May 29, 2009

RDA is the new cataloguing standard that will replace AACR2 in 2009. This pre-conference will provide practitioners with a brief background about RDA’s development, a demonstration of the web version, links to existing rules, implementation guidelines, subsequent changes to MARC 21, and a overview of the training available to assist libraries in the transition to RDA. The line up of speakers includes: Ingrid Parent (LAC-BAC); Pat Riva (BAnQ); Chris Oliver (McGill University); Tom Delsey (RDA editor); Bill Leonard (LAC-BAC); Marg Stewart (LAC-BAC); Mireille Huneault (BAnQ); Trina Grover (Ryerson University). *
http://tsig.wikispaces.com/Pre-conference+2009

Bridging the gap - 5th International Evidence Based Library and Information Practice (EBLIP5) Conference
Stockholm, Sweden, June 29 – July 3, 2009 / For early bird registration fee make sure to register before April 27th 2009. Registration closes on June 1st.

Library practitioners constantly face the challenge of demonstrating the effectiveness of services they design, advocate, and provide. Whether this challenge occurs within a climate of expansion, of reaffirmation or of survival, we have a professional responsibility to demonstrate to our users, our managers, our colleagues and our other stakeholders that we remain in touch with the evidence base for library and information practice. Evidence based practice provides the profession a means for identifying the best information, the best services and the best outcomes for specific user groups or for the public at large.*
http://blogs.kib.ki.se/eblip5/

*Text adapted from source / Texte adapté de la source