E-Lert # 322 / Cyberavis no. 322
Friday April 17, 2009 / le vendredi
17 avril 2009
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CARL COMMUNIQUÉ / COMMUNIQUÉ
DE L'ABRC
Silvie Delorme CARL nominee for Canadiana.org Board
Silvie Delorme (Université Laval) has been named by the CARL Board
as the CARL nominee on the slate for the Canadiana.org Board of Directors.
/
Silvie Delorme candidate de l’ABRC pour le Conseil du Canadiana.org
Silvie Delorme (Université Laval) a été nommée,
par le Conseil de l’ABRC, la représentante de l’ABRC
sur las liste de candidats pour le Conseil administratif du Canadiana.org.
NEWS / NOUVELLES
Canadian candidate for IFLA President-elect
CLA Digest, April 17, 2009
Ingrid Parent, Assistant Deputy Minister at Library and Archives Canada
(and newly appointed University Librarian at the University of British Columbia),
is a candidate for the post of IFLA President-elect. She will become
the first Canadian President of IFLA if elected. Ms. Parent has extensive
experience in IFLA governance, and has contributed to a wide variety of
international committees.*
http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/ingrid-parent/
PM urged to restore science funds
Anne McIlroy
Globe and Mail, April 16, 2009
Over 2,000 researchers, including some of Canada’s most respected
scientists, signed an open letter
to Prime Minister Stephen Harper calling the funding cuts in the January
budget “huge steps backward for Canadian science.” One of the
mathematicians who organized the letter, however, said Canadian scientists
are partly to blame because they have not successfully conveyed their message
that funding basic research is important both for itself and for the economy.*
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090415.wscience0416/BNStory/International/
Librarian and Archivist of Canada Retiring
April 16, 2009
Ian Wilson, the Librarian and Archivist of Canada, is retiring effective
April 24th 2009. Mr. Wilson was appointed as National Archivist
in 1999 and was subsequently named to his current position when the integrated
Library and Archives of Canada was created in 2004. Mr. Wilson looks
forward to dedicating more time to his work as the President of the International
Council of Archives, and to other projects of interest to libraries and
archives. The Government is expected to make an announcement shortly regarding
his successor.*
http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/whats-new/013-389-e.html
Industrial R&D spending stagnant as more firms spend less:
Statistics Canada
RE$EARCH MONEY, Volume 23, Number 6, April 16, 2009
The number of firms in Canada conducting research and development exploded by nearly 76% between 2000 and 2005. Ontario and Quebec increased their already dominant share of R&D outlays from 77% to 80%. Overall R&D expenditures, however, are projected to increase only $157 million in 2008 to $16.3 billion, following an even smaller increase of $22 million in 2007. Industrial R&D declined 3% between 2006 and 2007, when measured in constant 2002 dollars, reflecting continuing difficult economic times and an inability of policy makers to stimulate increased private sector R&D performance.*
Funding stagnant across the board
RE$EARCH MONEY, Volume 23, Number 6, April 16, 2009
According to the latest data from Statistics Canada, Stagnant health R&D
funding has stretched into its fifth year as turmoil in the pharmaceutical
sector and reluctance by governments to boost contribution levels continue
to take their toll. Spending is expected to come in at $6.2 billion in 2008,
up just $53 million over 2007. Expenditures have hardly budged since 2004,
compared to the period between 1998 and 2004 when they more than doubled,
jumping from $2.9 billion in 1998 to $6.1 billion in 2004.*
Full Access to Cochrane Library online to all Canadians
April 15, 2009
All Canadians have full access online to The Cochrane Library as of April
2009. The Canadian Cochrane Network and Centre, in partnership with the
Canadian Health Libraries Association has successfully secured a pilot for
a national license to The Cochrane Library providing every Canadian with
access to a computer the benefit of the immense volume of health information
found in The Cochrane Library. Researchers, physicians, healthcare decision-makers
and patients now have access to the best available evidence on which health
treatments work, which ones don’t, and which may cause harm.*
http://www.ccnc.cochrane.org/en/clib.html
The ACTA Threat To The Future Of WIPO
Michael Geist
IP Watch, April 14, 2009
Since representatives from the United States, European Union, Canada, and
a handful of other countries simultaneously announced their participation
in the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement negotiations in October 2007,
the ACTA has been dogged by controversy over the near-total lack of transparency.
In recent weeks, the structure and key provisions within the draft treaty
have come to light, yet it is the candid acknowledgment that ACTA represents
an attempt to avoid the consensus-building approach of the World Intellectual
Property Organization that should give supporters of a multilateral approach
to intellectual property policy making pause.*
http://www.ip-watch.org/weblog/2009/04/14/the-acta-threat-to-the-future-of-wipo/
Les articles savants du personnel enseignant du MIT en accès
libre
Bulletin ACPPU, avril 2009
Le corps professoral du Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) a approuvé
à l’unanimité le projet de diffusion publique et gratuite
des articles savants de ses membres sur Internet.
Selon Bish Sinyal, président de l’association des professeures
et professeurs de cet établissement : « Ce vote signale au
monde entier que nous nous exprimons d’une seule voix, que nous accordons
une grande importance à la libre circulation des idées. »*
HTML
Tory minister scrambles to save Mont-Mégantic Observatory
Daniel Leblanc
Globe and Mail, April 14, 2009
Public Works Minister Christian Paradis was caught flat-footed when a federal
funding body eliminated a $325,000 grant to a major telescope and astronomy
centre in his riding. The Conservative MP and Quebec lieutenant is scrambling
to save the Mont-Mégantic Observatory, which now threatens to symbolize
the Harper government's recent cuts to research agencies.*
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090414.wastronomy0415/BNStory/National/home
Le Parlement rejette le projet de loi sur le téléchargement
illégal
Le Monde, 9 avril 2009
Le Parlement a rejeté, jeudi 9 avril, après un vote
négatif de l'Assemblée nationale, le projet de loi création
et Internet qui prévoyait de sanctionner le téléchargement
illégal. A main levée, une majorité de députés
ont rejeté le texte issu de la commission mixte paritaire (CMP),
alors qu'il avait été voté plus tôt dans la matinée
par le Sénat.*
http://www.lemonde.fr/technologies/article/2009/04/09/le-parlement-rejette-le-projet-de-loi-creation-et-internet_1178838_651865.html#xtor=RSS-651865
Federation [CFHSS] meets with the Minister of Finance
April 8, 2009
Representatives from the Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social
Sciences met with the Minister of Finance and several Members of Parliament
to discuss the future of the funding of social sciences and humanities research
in Canada. In discussion with the Minister of Finance and opposition critics
for finance and industry, Federation President Nathalie Des Rosiers emphasized
that in spite of serious economic challenges, it is essential to look to
the future and recognize the significant contribution of research in all
the social sciences and humanities in order for Canada to remain competitive
and prosper in the knowledge economy. The briefing document
[français]
the Federation provided to each elected official is available on the CFHSS
website.*
http://www.fedcan.ca/francais/newsletter/newsletter.cfm
ARTICLES
Government does not understand science
Dr. Marc Garneau
RE$EARCH MONEY, Volume 23, Number 6, April 16, 2009
Science, technology and innovation are the foundations of a strong economy with good jobs. Dr. Garneau argues that the current government does not understand this, as its recent budget suggests. It has seemingly failed to grasp the importance of long-term, predictable and globally competitive federal funding for economic growth and well-being. Resources remain an important economic component, but it is the knowledge and the resulting products and services that are crucial to ensuring a prosperous future for Canada.*
Copiez, collez!
Claireandrée Cauchy
Le Devoir, 11 avril 2009
Le plagiat ne date pas d'hier. Mais la génération de cégépiens
qui planche ces jours-ci sur des travaux de fin de session a vécu
toute sa vie scolaire à l'ère d'Internet. La grande disponibilité
des sources, qui ne demandent qu'à être sélectionnées
(fonction «copier»), rend aussi tentante leur restitution mot
à mot («coller») dans les travaux scolaires. Les collèges,
premier jalon de l'éducation supérieure, prennent de plus
en plus conscience du phénomène et agissent. Un sondage effectué
auprès de quelque 17 000 étudiants universitaires mené
par la chercheuse Julia Christensen Hugues, de l'Université Guelph
(en Ontario), et Donald McCabe, de l'Université Rutgers (aux États-Unis),
révèle que 53 % des étudiants au premier cycle ont
déjà eu recours au plagiat pour un travail écrit.*
http://www.ledevoir.com/2009/04/11/245210.html
Archiving Writers' Work in the Age of E-Mail
Steve Kolowich
The Chronicle of Higher Education, April 10, 2009
Leslie Morris is used to handling John Updike's personal effects. For decades,
Mr. Updike had been sending a steady stream of manuscripts and papers to
Harvard University's Houghton Library, where Ms. Morris serves as a curator.
But in late February, several weeks after the iconic writer died, some boxes
arrived with unexpected contents: approximately 50 three-and-a-half and
five-and-a-quarter-inch floppy disks — artifacts from late in
the author's career when he, like many of his peers, began using a word
processor. Harvard isn't the only university puzzling over new media from
old — and not-so-old — masters.*
http://chronicle.com/weekly/v55/i31/31a00102.htm
In Defense of Open Access: academic publishing in the 21st century
Gabe Schubiner
the eye, April 9, 2009
Print journals have long been the currency of academia, but the cheap,
instant distribution network of the Internet has thrown the publishing world
into turmoil. In an environment where research is done at an unprecedented
rate, scholars are exploring new models for publishing academic works. But
Open access is not merely a practical or economic issue—it’s
rooted in the core principles of the academic community.*
http://eye.columbiaspectator.com/article/2009/04/09/defense-open-access
Policy Briefing: Innovation
The Hill Times, April 6, 2009
Some of the articles in this Policy Briefing: Innovation ‘extremely
important’ to government, says Goodyear - Canada’s
Science Minister Gary Goodyear bites back in response to recent criticism
that the federal government isn’t doing enough to help stimulate innovation,
Q&A; Just do it - Liberal MP Marc Garneau says the
current federal government doesn’t get innovation; Targeted
strategies - NDP MP Jim Maloway, says manufacturing will continue
to decline without targeted innovation policies.*
http://www.thehilltimes.ca/policy_briefings/040609_pb.pdf
Engineering Results: Some Alternative Search Engines
Adrian Janes
FUMSI FreePint, February 2009
Information professionals are familiar with the ‘Big Four' of search
- Google, Yahoo, Live and Ask - even if they habitually use only one or
two of them. Certainly there are many situations where these can provide
reasonable results, not least because of the sheer size of their indexes.
Janes highlights some lesser-known search and metasearch engines, and gives
several reasons for using them. For example: greater efficiency from searching
something with a smaller, but more focused, index; certain features that
give them an advantage over bigger engines; and encouraging use of smaller
search engines so as to prevent monopolies emerging, “along with the
mind-set that there is nowhere else to go in search terms.” *
http://web.fumsi.com/go/article/find/3616
RESOURCES / RESSOURCES
Impact: Journal of Applied Research in Workplace E-learning
Call for papers: inaugural issue
Impact: Journal of Applied Research in Workplace E-learning, a publication
of the E-learning Network of Australasia (ElNet),
seeks to address the paucity of research publication avenues with a particular
emphasis on e-learning in workplace settings. It will be an online journal,
publishing refereed and non-refereed contributions from both researchers
and practitioners relating to the design, implementation, evaluation and
management of workplace e-learning across a range of sectors and industries.*
http://journal.elnet.com.au/files/Impact_InauguralIssue_CFP_FINAL.pdf
Augustana's InfoLit assessment/survey software (WASSAIL) released
open source
April 15, 2009
WASSAIL is a database-driven, web-based application employing PHP, MySQL,
and Javascript/AJAX technologies. It was created at the University of Alberta
Augustana Campus to manage question and response data from the library instruction
sessions, pre- and post-tests from credit bearing information literacy (IL)
courses, and user surveys. The software has now expanded beyond its original
function and is being used to manage question and response data from a variety
of settings. Its most powerful feature is the ability to generate sophisticated
customized reports.*
http://www.augustana.ualberta.ca/services/library/infolit/wassail/
White Paper: Strategic Directions for the Federal Depository Library
Program
Association of Research Libraries, April 2009
The US Government Printing Office (GPO) is carrying out a strategic planning
process concerning the future of the Federal Depository Library Program
(FDLP). The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) believes the result
of the current FDLP strategic planning process should be a flexible,
sustainable, and reconfigured program that reflects the needs and interests
of users of government information and participating libraries; fully incorporates
the digital networked environment; and encourages collaborative network-based
services while ensuring a smooth and orderly transition to a new program
framework.*
http://www.arl.org/pp/access/fdlp/
Draft report on the provision of usage data and manuscript deposit
procedures for publishers and repository managers
Foudil Brétel et al
Publishing and the Ecology of European Research (PEER), March 31, 2009
This report is the result of a process of negotiation with publishers to
establish best practice in deposit procedures least disruptive of existing
publication workflows, while minimizing interruption of repository ingest
activities. The content comprises the contribution of approximately 11 publishers,
who have agreed to participate in the project intended to make accessible
stage-2 outputs for 200 journal titles, in a research observatory.*
http://www.peerproject.eu/fileadmin/media/reports/PEER__D2.1.pdf
What Today’s College Students Say about Conducting Research
in the Digital Age
Alison J. Head and Michael B. Eisenberg
Project Information Literacy Progress Report, February 2009
In a world teeming with information technology and overflowing with access
to data, how do students find the information they need? How do students
conduct research for course-related assignments? What frustrations and obstacles
do they encounter? What strategies have students developed to meet their
information needs? Head and Eisenberg seek to answer these questions by
studying how college students operate in the digital age—their tasks,
their situations, their solutions, and their systems. This is a report of
preliminary findings and analysis from student discussion groups held on
7 U.S. campuses in Fall 2008, as part of Project Information Literacy. Project
Information Literacy (PIL) is a national research study based in the University
of Washington’s Information School.*
http://www.projectinfolit.org/pdfs/PIL_ProgressReport_2_2009.pdf
EVENTS / ÉVÉNEMENTS
4th Annual Canadian Learning Commons Conference: Open Access Learning
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, June 11-13, 2009
Following on successful conferences in Guelph, Vancouver and Fredericton,
the 4th Canadian Learning Commons Conference brings together participants
involved in planning, creating, developing, and operating a Learning Commons.
The Learning Commons is central to enhancing the learning experience that
includes a place for learning, collaboration, research, technology, and
academic help. "Open Access Learning" is the theme of this year's
conference. Richard Baraniuk, Victor E. Cameron Professor of Electrical
and Computer Engineering at Rice University and the founder of Connexions
(cnx.org), will provide the
keynote address. There will also be a bonus lecture; the University of Saskatchewan
Library will host the University
Library Dean's Annual Research Lecture. This year’s lecture,
to be given by Dr. David Wiley,
Brigham Young University, is entitled The Disaggregated Future
of Higher Education or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Internet.*
http://www.usask.ca/learningcommons/conference.php
First Conference on Open Access Scholarly Publishing
Lund, Sweden, September 14-16, 2009
The Open Access Scholarly Publishers
Association and the DOAJ/Lund
University Libraries are hosting the1st Conference on Open
Access Scholarly Publishing. Participants will hear from many leading
figures within the open access publishing movement, and have
the chance to participate in workshops that will highlight a number of important
issues related to open access publishing.*
http://www.oaspa.org/coasp/
*Text adapted from source / Texte adapté de la source
