CARL - ABRC

Phone: 613.562.5385
Facsimile: 613.562.5297
Email: carladm@uottawa.ca
www.carl-abrc.ca

Canadian Association of Research Libraries
Morisset Hall
65 University Street Suite 239
Ottawa Ontario Canada
K1N 9A5

E-Lert # 321 / Cyberavis no. 321


Friday April 10, 2009 / le vendredi 10 avril 2009

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CARL COMMUNIQUÉ / COMMUNIQUÉ DE L'ABRC 

CARL Meets with Ministry Officials on Copyright

As a follow-up to their February 3 meeting with the Honourable James Moore, Minister of Canadian Heritage, CARL President Leslie Weir and CARL Executive Director Brent Roe, together with Steve Wills, Manager, Legal Affairs, AUCC, had a two-hour meeting on April 8 with officials from Canadian Heritage (led by Barbara Motzney, Director General, Copyright Policy Branch) and Industry Canada (led by Albert Cloutier, Director, Copyright and International Intellectual Property Policy Directorate).  This meeting was a very good opportunity to discuss in detail with the officials who craft legislation the key interests of CARL and AUCC concerning a new copyright bill that may be introduced in the current Parliament.

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Réunion entre l’ABRC et des fonctionnaires du ministère au sujet du droit d’auteur

Suite à leur réunion du 3 février avec l’honorable  James Moore, Ministre du Patrimoine canadien, Leslie Weir (Présidente de l’ABRC), Brent Roe (Directeur général de l’ABRC) et Steve Wills (Gestionnaire, Affaires juridiques  de l’AUCC) ont eu une réunion de deux heures le 8 avril avec des fonctionnaires du Patrimoine canadien (à la tête, Barbara Motzney, Directrice générale, Direction générale de la politique du droit d’auteur) et d'Industrie Canada (à la tête, Albert Cloutier, Directeur, Direction de la politique du droit d’auteur et de la propriété intellectuelle internationale). Cette réunion a été une très bonne occasion de discuter en détail avec le corps d'arbitrage qui établit la législation les intérêts principaux de l’ABRC et de l'AUCC au sujet d'un nouveau projet de loi sur le droit d’auteur qui pourra être présenté au Parlement actuel.

 

CARL Invited to Public Consultation on ACTA

On Monday April 6, CARL was among a number of organizations that Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada invited to participate at a public roundtable consultation on the proposed Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA). Presentation slides and a document that summarizes key elements under discussion are available on the Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada Website. Diego Argáez attended for CARL.  A fuller report will be made to the CARL Government Policies and Legislation Committee.
http://www.international.gc.ca/trade-agreements-accords-commerciaux/fo/intellect_property.aspx?lang=fra

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L’ABRC invitée a une consultation publique sur l’ACRC

Le lundi 6 avril, l’ABRC a été présente parmi un nombre d’organisations qui ont été invitées par Affaires étrangères et Commerce international Canada pour participer à une table ronde publique sur l’Accord commercial relatif à la contrefaçon (ACRC) qui est actuellement proposée. Le diaporama de la présentation et un document qui résume les éléments principaux faisant l’objet de discussion sont disponibles sur le site Web d’Affaires étrangères et Commerce international Canada. Diego Argáez a assisté pour l’ABRC. Un rapport plus détaillé sera présenté au Comité des politiques et de la législation gouvernementales de l’ABRC.
http://www.international.gc.ca/trade-agreements-accords-commerciaux/fo/intellect_property.aspx?lang=eng

 

NEWS / NOUVELLES 

La presse se rebelle contre l'info gratuite sur l'internet
Chris Lefkow
Agence France-Presse, 8 avril 2009

La révolte gronde parmi les patrons de presse américains qui en ont assez de voir fondre recettes publicitaires et abonnements au profit de sites internet d'information gratuits qui pillent allègrement leurs médias, en toute illégalité... et quasi-impunité. «Nous sommes fous furieux et nous n'allons plus nous laisser faire,» a lancé le patron d'Associated Press (AP), une coopérative de plus de 1.400 journaux.*
http://technaute.cyberpresse.ca/nouvelles/internet/200904/08/01-844829-la-presse-se-rebelle-contre-linfo-gratuite-sur-linternet.php

 

Le PDG de Google offre ses conseils à la presse en péril
Agence France-Presse, 8 avril 2009

Le PDG de Google Eric Schmidt a offert ses conseils aux patrons de presse américains qui tentent de trouver un nouveau modèle commercial pour ce secteur en difficulté, les appelant à collaborer avec le géant américain de l'internet. S'exprimant lors d'une rencontre de l'Association Américaine des Journaux à San Diego (Californie, ouest), M. Schmidt a loué le rôle que joue la presse dans une société démocratique et a insisté sur le fait que les journaux devaient considérer Google comme un partenaire et non comme un rival.*
http://technaute.cyberpresse.ca/nouvelles/internet/200904/08/01-844650-le-pdg-de-google-offre-ses-conseils-a-la-presse-en-peril.php

 

Canadian Research Receives $26 Million for Cutting-Edge Research Infrastructure
April 7, 2009

The Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) announced $26 million to support 117 projects in 29 Canadian research institutions, enabling 148 of the country’s brightest researchers to conduct their cutting-edge research with world-class equipment and facilities. This investment, under the CFI’s Leaders Opportunity Fund (LOF), continues support for the innovative research infrastructure that helps stimulate the various sectors of our economy.*
http://www.innovation.ca/en/news?news_id=126

 

Des experts en sécurité critiquent le service Street View de Google
Le Devoir, 6 avril 2009

Le nouveau service «Street View» de Google, qui permet aux internautes de parcourir virtuellement une ville et qui sera bientôt disponible pour 11 villes canadiennes, dont Montréal et Québec, soulève le scepticisme des experts en matière de vie privée du pays. Le gouvernement canadien a affirmé qu'il avait entamé des discussions de «hauts niveaux» avec Google alors que l'entreprise se prépare à une seconde tournée des villes canadiennes pour photographier les rues et tout ce qui s'y passe.*
http://www.ledevoir.com/2009/04/06/244069.html

 

Students less prepared for university education than in 2005, according to Ontario university faculty
Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations (OCUFA), April 6, 2009

According to over 55 percent of Ontario university faculty and librarians who responded to a recent questionnaire first-year students are less prepared for university education than students from just three years earlier. Survey participants considered the following to be common challenges among first-year students: lower level of maturity, poor research skills as evidenced by over reliance on Internet tools like Wikipedia as external research sources, expectation of success without the requisite effort, and an inability to learn independently.* Summary: PDF

 

Secrecy slowing drug research: leading scientist urges transparency to deliver drugs to patients sooner
Megan Ogilvie
Toronto Star, April 4, 2009

Renowned University of Toronto biochemist and respected laboratory leader Aled Edwards says the current method of creating drugs – one shrouded in secrecy and driven by patents and money-making – has failed. Too few medicines have come to market in the past 30 years, which means too many people still get sick and die from disease. Edwards believes the only way to get more medicines to patients is for industry and academia to work together – and to post all their findings free on the Internet.*
http://www.thestar.com/article/613662

 

La crise financière secoue aussi les universités québécoises
Claireandrée Cauchy
Le Devoir, 3 avril 2009

L'Université de Toronto est éprouvée par la crise financière. La caisse de retraite et le fonds de dotation de l'établissement ontarien ont enregistré une perte de 1,3 milliard en 2008, soit un rendement négatif de 30 %. Bien que moins dramatique, la situation est néanmoins préoccupante dans les universités québécoises, tant et si bien que les recteurs ont réclamé des assouplissements aux règles sur les régimes de retraite pour limiter les dégâts.*
http://www.ledevoir.com/2009/04/03/243515.html

 

Ralph Manning retires from LAC
CLA Digest, April 3, 2009

Ralph Manning retired from Library and Archives Canada after a long and distinguished career. LAC hosted a reception on March 12 for Mr. Manning where friends and colleagues celebrated his numerous achievements. Over the span of his 37-year career with the National Library of Canada and LAC, he contributed to countless numbers of national and international committees and working groups, and was instrumental in the development of standards and policies relating to many aspects of the library profession. One of his key interests has been the provision of services for people with print disabilities, and he will continue to work on that front as a member of the CLA Working Group for the Initiative for Equitable Library Access.*
http://www.cla.ca/docs/digest/Digest_4_03_2009.pdf

 

Google’s Plan for Out-of-Print Books is Challenged
Miguel Helft
The New York Times, April 3, 2009

The dusty stacks of the nation’s great university and research libraries are full of orphans — books authors and publishers have essentially abandoned. These works are out of print, and while they remain under copyright, the rights holders are unknown or cannot be found. Millions of orphan books may soon get a new legal guardian. Google has been scanning the pages of such books and others as part of its plan to bring a digital library and bookstore of unprecedented scope to computer screens. Critics argue that the settlement, which is subject to court approval, will give Google virtually exclusive rights to publish the books online and to profit from them. Some academics and public interest groups plan to file legal briefs objecting to this and other parts of the settlement before a review by a federal judge in June.*
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/04/technology/internet/04books.html?_r=2&hp=&pagewanted=all



UNESCO, Library of Congress and partners launch World Digital Library
April 1, 2009

UNESCO, the Library of Congress and 31 partner institutions are planning to launch the World Digital Library, a web site featuring unique cultural materials in libraries and archives from all over the world, at UNESCO Headquarters on April 21. The site will provide free, unrestricted public access to manuscripts, maps, rare books, films, sound recordings, prints and photographs.*
http://portal.unesco.org/ci/en/ev.php-URL_ID=28484&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html
 


BAnQ et la Société des musées québécois poursuivent leur travail de mobilisation - Un réseau patrimonial numérique québécois est nécessaire

31 mars 2009

Le processus de concertation lancé par Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec (BAnQ) il y a maintenant trois ans pour dresser un état des lieux de la numérisation patrimoniale au Québec a connu un aboutissement important ces dernières semaines, avec la présentation officielle des résultats d’une enquête réalisée par BAnQ en partenariat avec la Société des musées québécois sur l’ensemble du territoire au cours de l’année 2008. Les réponses de 324 institutions muséales, bibliothèques, centres d’archives et autres organisations à vocation patrimoniale qui ont accepté de participer au sondage soulignent la pertinence d’une initiative de numérisation panquébécoise.*
http://www.banq.qc.ca/portal/dt/a_propos_banq/communiques/2009/com_2009_03_31.jsp?bnq_resolution=mode_1280

 

OCULA New Librarian Residency Award
Ontario College and University Library Association (OCULA), March 31, 2009

The Ontario College and University Library Association (OCULA), a division of the Ontario Library Association (OLA), is requesting applications from academic libraries (colleges and universities) in Ontario for a pilot residency program for new librarians.  OCULA is awarding $20,000 to help fund this position to the successful academic library for the upcoming academic year. The purpose of the residency program is to facilitate recruitment of new librarians and provide entry-level professional opportunities in academic and research library settings. *
http://www.accessola.com/ocula/bins/content_page.asp?cid=2649-2990

 

John Teskey honoured by UNB
March 24, 2009

John Teskey, Director of Libraries, University of New Brunswick was awarded the UNB (Fredericton) 2009 President’s Medal. Mr. Teskey continues to challenge conventional wisdom, testing assumptions about how libraries ought to deliver services, and emphasizing the numerous benefits of the technological solutions available to us. His bold vision has produced impressive results: UNB had one of the first library websites in the country, and UNB had the first library-based humanities computing centre in Canada (the second only in North America at the time) for example. The physical manifestation of John’s vision is the Harriet Irving Library Learning Commons, which has quickly become a major hub of intellectual life on campus.* 
http://www.unb.ca/faculty/awards/JohnTeskey.html

 

Ontario university faculty sound warning over declining quality
Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations (OCUFA), March 23, 2009

A report from the Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations (OCUFA) expresses major concern about declining quality of university education in Ontario. University faculty and librarians point to larger classes, fewer full-time faculty hires as signs of a decline. “Faculty and librarians are on the frontline of university education. They witness the impacts of cuts and constraints every day, and now they are sounding the alarm,” said Brian E. Brown, OCUFA’s President, and Professor of Visual Arts at the University of Windsor. “Again and again, the respondents came back to concrete examples of how our universities are falling behind.” *
Key findings: PDF

 

New University Librarian at UBC
March 20, 2009

Ingrid Parent has been appointed UBC's University Librarian effective July 1, 2009. Ms. Parent is currently the Assistant Deputy Minister for the Documentary Heritage Collection Sector at Library and Archives Canada (LAC) responsible for the development, description, and preservation of Canada’s documentary heritage. She has also led the development of LAC’s digital agenda.*
http://www.vpacademic.ubc.ca/Appointment_of_Parent.pdf  

 
ARTICLES

Signs of epistemic disruption: Transformations in the knowledge system of the academic journal
Bill Cope and Mary Kalantzis
First Monday, Volume 14, Number 4, April 6, 2009

Cope and Kalantzis take the academic journal as their reference point in this article seeing it as symptomatic of underlying knowledge systems. They consider the academic journal in a moment of enormously unsettling, uncertain and exciting times, and look at seismic stresses in the workings of the academic journal, and analyze these for signs of a deeper epistemic disruption — in the very ways we know.*
http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/2309/2163

 

Reflections on University Press Publishing
Bill Harnum
Academic Matters, February / March 2009

Developments over the last few decades have changed some primary concerns of scholarly book publishers within university presses. The enterprise of publishing remains a vital part of the ecology of the academy, yet the future direction of book publishing is unclear.  While that future is less dire than some may believe, there are undoubtedly challenges that the scholarly publishing community needs to address.*
http://www.academicmatters.ca/current_issue.article.gk?catalog_item_id=2423&category=featured_articles  


Selling the Academy Without Selling Out
Ken Steele
Academic Matters, February / March 2009

Faculty at Canadian universities are rightly concerned with a number of threats to academic quality and integrity, including the growing ranks of contingent faculty, larger class sizes, corporate research sponsorship, grade inflation, and a “new managerialism” on campus. University marketing, Steele argues, should not be one of them. Marketing, far from dumbing down the university mission, can have the opposite effect, raising entrance averages and enhancing institutional selectivity.*
http://www.academicmatters.ca/current_issue.article.gk?catalog_item_id=2078&category=featured_articles

 

Scientists say Obama gets it, and Canada doesn't
Harris MacLeod
The Hill Times, March 31, 2009

Scientists are not worried about whether Canada's Minister of State for Science and Technology Gary Goodyear believes in evolution, rather they fear that his understanding of research will see scientists follow funding dollars to the United States. It has been suggested that the government's budget shows that they do not understand the importance of scientific research and that it was more politically motivated than well-thought-out. Genome Canada, an organization that supports medical and genetic research projects that was shutout of the budget, much to the surprise of many in the scientific community, has been cited as a case in point. *
http://www.thehilltimes.ca/html/cover_index.php?display=story&full_path=/2009/march/30/obama_gets_it/&c=1

 

Institutional Repositories: Current State and Future
Sarah L. Shreeves and Melissa H. Cragin
Library Trends, Special Issue on Institutional Repositories, Volume 57, Number 2, Fall 2008

Institutional repositories (IRs) exist in a constantly shifting landscape. There is still no clear consensus on their role in the academic environment. Low article manuscript archiving rates have dampened hopes that IRs would have a significant impact on scholarly publishing models. Preservation programs, a stated goal of many IRs, are often not well established. In many cases, IRs are not part of a larger vision for services the library can provide to the institution, but are isolated projects without a strong support base. Institutions are beginning to explore the role of IRs in the collection of materials like data sets. Given this environment, where will IRs be in the next five or ten years? This issue of Library Trends contains a slate of articles from prominent practitioners and researchers in the field, offering a range of perspectives on the current state of IRs in academic institutions and reflections on their future.*
http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/library_trends/toc/lib.57.2.html

 

RESOURCES / RESSOURCES

E-journals: their use, value and impact
Research Information Network, April 2009

Journal publishers have been providing online access to full-text scholarly articles since the late 1990s, ushering in a revolution in the scholarly communications process. A very high proportion of journal articles is online – 96 per cent of journal titles in science, technology and medicine, and 86 per cent of titles in the arts, humanities and social sciences. This RIN report examines how researchers interact with journal websites and whether enhanced access to journal articles has led to greater productivity, research quality and other outcomes. Findings in the study suggest that researchers are savvy when it comes to using e-journals, finding the information they need quickly and efficiently, and that higher spending on e-journals is linked to better research outcomes.*
http://www.rin.ac.uk/use-ejournals

 

A field guide to misunderstandings about open access
Peter Suber, April 2009

“The woods are full of misunderstandings about OA.  They thrive in almost every habitat, and the population soars whenever a major institution adopts an OA policy.  Contact between new developments and new observers who haven’t followed the annual migrations always results in a colorful boomlet of young misunderstandings. Some of these misunderstandings are mistaken for one another, especially in the flurry of activity, because of their similar markings and habitat.  Some are mistaken for understanding by novices unfamiliar with the medley of variant plumage, adaptive camouflage, and deceptive vocalizations.  This field guide should help you identify 25 of the most common visitors to your neck of the woods.”
http://www.arl.org/sparc/publications/articles/openaccess_fieldguide.shtml

 

Licensing Digital Content: A Practical Guide for Librarians, 2nd Edition
Lesley Ellen Harris
ALA Editions, 2009

The revised second edition of this book conveys the basics of digital licensing for librarians in plain-language, and helps demystify the process. Updated material covers licensing terminology and changes in technology, opportunities for cost savings, further information on the global aspects of licensing, a comprehensive digital license checklist, and a discussion on educating organizations that have signed license agreements. Librarians play an important role in license agreements. This book gives library professionals the tools needed to negotiate and organize license agreements.*
http://www.alastore.ala.org/detail.aspx?ID=2630    

 

Special Collections in ARL Libraries:  A Discussion Report from the ARL Working Group on Special Collections
March 2009

Special collections in ARL libraries encompass the full gamut of research topics and formats. They have the potential to serve every discipline in the academic curriculum, and they can be useful to all possible clients both within and beyond institutions of higher education. In an environment where mass digitization of books and periodicals for Web access is accelerating, and aggregated databases are part of the shared landscape of scholarly communication, accumulated special collections increasingly define the uniqueness and character of individual research libraries. If they encapsulate the essence of a research library, it is vital that special collections be allotted sufficient resources for their good management. In spite of financial, legal, and technical challenges libraries face in their efforts to collect, describe and provide access to rare and historical resources, there are abundant opportunities to expose truly unique research materials.*
http://www.arl.org/bm~doc/scwg-report.pdf

 

Deep Packet INSPECTION: A Collection of Essays from Industry Experts
Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, 2009

How does society reconcile the technological benefits and privacy implications of new technology? Deep packet inspection is just one seemingly neutral technological application that can have a significant impact on privacy rights and other basic civil liberties, especially as market forces, the enthusiasm of technologists and the influence of national security interests grow stronger. The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada website features a collection of essays about DPI from Leading academics and professionals working in telecommunications, law, privacy, civil liberties and computer science.*
http://dpi.priv.gc.ca/ 

 
EVENTS / ÉVÉNEMENTS

Picking the winners: SCONUL Conference, June 10-12, 2009
Dorset, UK, June 10-12, 2009

Picking the Winners, SCONUL’s 2009 Conference, brings together a wide range of respected plenary speakers to help write the guide to the library turf for the next ten years. Nine parallel sessions will cover such topics as lean staff management, learning object repositories, mobile learning, commercial content development, virtual learning environments (VLEs), the textbook’s future in the electronic age, Web 2.0 and libraries, and the future of librarians in the workforce. A survey of students will produce a vox pop video of interviews “straight from the horse’s mouth.” *
http://www.sconul.ac.uk/events/agm2009/

 

The Second International m-libraries Conference   
Vancouver, British Columbia, June 23-24, 2009

This conference will explore and share work carried out in libraries around the world to deliver services and resources to users 'on the move,' via a growing plethora of mobile and hand-held devices. The conference will be of interest to researchers, technical developers, managers and library practitioners. Keynote speakers have been confirmed: Ken Banks, founder of kiwanja.net, Sir John Daniel, President and Chief Executive Officer, Commonwealth of Learning, Lorcan Dempsey, Vice President and Chief Strategist, Online Computer Library Center (OCLC),Carie Page, Programme Coordinator for the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative, and Dr. Frits Pannekoek, President of Athabasca University.*
http://m-libraries2009.ubc.ca/

 

*Text adapted from source / Texte adapté de la source



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