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 # 324 / Cyberavis no. 324


Friday May 1, 2009 / le vendredi 1 mai 2009

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CARL COMMUNIQUÉ / COMMUNIQUÉ DE L'ABRC 

Elections for 2009 - 2010 Board of Directors

We are pleased to note that Sylvie Belzile (Université de Sherbrooke) has been elected to the CARL Board of Directors and that Lorraine Busby (Memorial University of Newfoundland), acclaimed, will be serving for a second term.  Their term of office will be from May 2009 to May 2011. The new Board will meet for the first time on Thursday May 28, 2009 in Montréal, Québec.

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Élections au Conseil d'administration 2009 – 2010

Nous sommes heureux de noter que Sylvie Belzile (Université de Sherbrooke) a été élue au Conseil d'administration de l’ABRC et que Lorraine Busby (Memorial University of Newfoundland), acclamé, servira un deuxième terme.  Leur mandat sera de mai 2009 à mai 2011. Le nouveau conseil se réunira pour la première fois le jeudi 28 mai 2009 à Montréal, Québec.

 
NEWS / NOUVELLES 

China, Russia, Canada top copyright pirates, says U.S.
National Post, April 30, 2009

China and Russia once again top the list of countries with the worst record on preventing piracy and counterfeiting of U.S. goods, the U.S. Trade Representatives office said on Thursday. The  USTR also said it was placing Canada on the "priority watch list" for the first time because of increasing concern over Canada’s needs to reform its copyright laws and to strengthen border enforcement.*
http://www.nationalpost.com/news/canada/story.html?id=1550068

 

Ignatieff fulfills commitment to raise funding of science agencies in House
RE$EARCH MONEY, Volume 23, Number 7, April 30, 2009

Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff has made good on his promise to raise the research community’s concerns over funding of the granting councils and other S&T programs in the House of Commons. On April 21, Ignatieff lambasted the Conservative government for its strategic review-related $148 million in cuts to the granting councils’ budgets and the lack of long-term funding for Genome Canada. Ignatieff made his commitment to raise S&T in Parliament in his response to a group of scientists who wrote a March 16th open letter to the prime minister and leader of the opposition.*

 

The innovation imperative: Acting today for tomorrow's prosperity
Ian Thomas
RE$EARCH MONEY, Volume 23, Number 7, April 30, 2009

Thomas reflects on how far Canada has traveled in two decades utilizing the "innovation engine" to become a more globally competitive player. He argues that , at the national level, Canada has not traveled far, and this was borne out last year, when the Conference Board of Canada graded Canadian innovation with a ‘D' in innovation. Even if, at the regional/provincial level, there have been many advances and successes, the sum of these parts does not make an encouraging whole.*

 

Open Access Directory celebrates its first year online - Increasing demand drives success of Open Access resources
April 30, 2009

The popular Open Access Directory (OAD) marked its first anniversary. The OAD is a wiki, hosted by Simmons College, where community contributors create and maintain simple, factual lists about Open Access to science and scholarship. Launched one year ago, and operated entirely by an international corps of volunteers, the wiki has quickly grown from six to 40 lists and has served over 250,000 unique users.*
http://www.arl.org/sparc/media/09-0430.shtml

 

Justice Dept. Opens Antitrust Inquiry Into Google Books Deal
Miguel Helft
The New York Times, April 28, 2009

The Justice Department has begun an inquiry into the antitrust implications of Google’s settlement with authors and publishers over its Google Book Search service. However, the inquiry does not necessarily mean that the department will oppose the settlement, which is subject to a court review. But it does suggest that some of the concerns raised by critics, who argue the settlement would unfairly give Google an exclusive license to profit from millions of books, have resonated with the Justice Department.*
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/29/technology/internet/29google.html?_r=2&ref=technology

 

Hathi Trust Releases Temporary Catalog
Roy Tennant
Library Journal, April 28, 2009

The Hathi Trust, having put up an experimental full-text search, has just released a new catalog of the digital content in the Hathi Trust. Built using VUFind, the catalog has all the features expected of the latest search systems - faceted narrowing of search results, various sorting options, suggestions of similar items, cover art (or title page images of older works), etc. There are presently around 2.8 million items represented, although only about 16% of the volumes are freely available. Searchers can be limited to "fullview" items. The current discovery catalog is temporary, pending the release of a permanent catalog that is being developed by OCLC in conjunction with the HathiTrust partners. *
http://www.libraryjournal.com/blog/1090000309/post/640043864.html

 

Google Agrees to Books Settlement Delay
Ryan Singal
Wired, April 27, 2009

Google and the Authors Guild agreed to give the world’s authors and publishers at least two more months to contemplate — and possibly coordinate opposition to — the looming settlement that gives the search-and-advertising giant a de facto monopoly to create the world’s digital library, according to documents filed in the case. A small coalition of copyright holders, including folk singer Arlo Guthrie, John Steinbeck’s heirs and sci-fi god Philip K. Dick’s trust, asked a federal court judge to give all book authors another four months to comprehend and respond to the 334-page settlement proposed last October after the Author’s Guild sued Google for massive copyright violations in its Google Book Search product.*
http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2009/04/google-agrees-to-books-settlement-delay/

 

Fonds de recherche en santé du Québec - La recherche est arrivée à un «moment critique»
Jessica Nadeau
Le Devoir, 26 avril 2009

Malgré la crise économique et les nombreux défis qui l'attendent, la recherche en santé au Québec se porte mieux que jamais et pourrait devenir «la nouvelle marque de commerce de la province sur la scène internationale», estime M. Yves Joannette, chercheur et nouveau président-directeur général du Fonds de recherche en santé du Québec. Jouissant déjà d'un rayonnement important au Canada et à l'étranger, la recherche québécoise en santé ne cesse de se développer et de se démarquer.*
http://www.ledevoir.com/2009/04/25/247343.html

 

La langue française de toute la Francophonie sera scrutée à la loupe
Thierry Haroun
Le Devoir, 25 avril 2009

Le 9 avril dernier, l'Université Laval a inauguré l'Observatoire démographique et statistique de l'espace francophone (ODSEF). Cette initiative est financée à hauteur de 650 000 dollars sur une période de quatre ans, dans le cadre d'un partenariat avec le gouvernement du Québec (par l'entremise du ministère des Relations internationales), l'Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF) et l'Agence universitaire de la Francophonie (AUF). Les études menées à l'Observatoire permettront de suivre l'évolution du français au sein des populations de la francophonie.*
http://www.ledevoir.com/2009/04/25/247365.html

 

Prime Minister Stephen Harper Announces Appointment of New Librarian and Archivist of Canada
April 24, 2009

Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced the appointment of Daniel J. Caron as Librarian and Archivist of Canada, effective April 25, 2009. Mr. Caron, Senior Assistant Deputy Minister, Corporate Management and Horizontal Integration Sector, Library and Archives Canada, replaces Ian E. Wilson, who is retiring from the Public Service after a very distinguished career.*
http://www.pm.gc.ca/eng/media.asp?category=1&id=2540
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Le PM annonce la nomination du nouveau bibliothécaire et archiviste du Canada
24 avril 2009

Le Premier ministre Stephen Harper a annoncé  la nomination de Daniel J. Caron à titre de bibliothécaire et archiviste du Canada, à compter du 25 avril 2009. M. Caron, sous-ministre adjoint principal, Secteur de la gestion intégrée et des initiatives horizontales, Bibliothèque et Archives Canada, remplacera M. Ian E. Wilson, qui prend sa retraite de la fonction publique après une brillante carrière.*
http://www.pm.gc.ca/fra/media.asp?category=1&id=2540


EU parliament seeks to extend music rights
Agence France Presse, April 24, 2009

The European Parliament has voted in favour of extending musicians' royalties to 70 years, a sizeable increase on the current 50 years but less than an original EU Commission initiative. The move comes as ageing rockers such as the remaining Beatles and the Rolling Stones prepare to see their right to royalties on their recordings expire.*
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5itDm-H4q4Bkm3nWCC-aIOo_h-fJw

 

Revolutionary Espresso Book Machine launches in London
Alison Flood
The Guardian, April 24, 2009

It's not elegant and it looks like a large photocopier,  but the Espresso Book Machine is being billed as the biggest change for the literary world since Gutenberg invented the printing press over 500 years ago and made the mass production of books possible. Launching at Blackwell's Charing Cross Road branch in London, the machine prints and binds books on demand in five minutes, while customers wait.*
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/apr/24/espresso-book-machine-launches

 

London Book Fair panel calls JISC e-textbook study ‘myth-shattering’
April 23, 2009

A panel at the London Book Fair believes early results from JISC Collections’ recently concluded e-books observatory project have shattered a key myth. During this two-year project, JISC provided UK university students with free access to 36 core e-textbooks in science, technology and medicine to all UK university students, to monitor their usage patterns. The report overturns the presumption that increased e-book usage will negatively affect sales. Its findings reveal that, in reality, e-book usage actually has ‘no impact’ on print sales. Another myth - that only younger students, the so-called ‘Google generation’ use the online resources – was also proven false. Usage was actually widespread across all age groups.*
http://www.jisc.ac.uk/Home/news/stories/2009/04/ebooks.aspx

 

Copyright Battle Looms for Docs Who 'Grew Up Google'
Brian Blank
ABC News, April 22, 2009

Harvard Medical School Student Carolina Solis has witnessed firsthand the difficulty that some medical professionals encounter when it comes to accessing copyright-protected research online. While legislators rush to transform health care, a debate brews over access to this information and whether medical professionals should be forced to pay for it.*
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Story?id=7391207&page=1

 

Les eurodéputés adoptent un amendement sur la liberté d'accès à Internet
Le Monde avec AFP, 22 avril 2009

La polémique autour du projet français de lutte contre le piratage sur Internet empoisonne les négociations finales sur une vaste réforme européenne censée améliorer la concurrence dans le marché des télécoms. Les eurodéputés de la commission Industrie ont adopté, mardi 21 avril, par 44 voix pour, 4 contre et 2 abstentions, un amendement à ce "paquet télécoms" selon lequel "aucune restriction ne peut être imposée aux droits et libertés fondamentaux des utilisateurs finaux sans décision préalable des autorités judiciaires".*
http://www.lemonde.fr/europe/article/2009/04/22/piratage-les-eurodeputes-adoptent-un-amendement-sur-la-liberte-d-acces-a-internet_1183710_3214.html#ens_id=1162478

 

ARTICLES

The age of e-discovery Lawyers face daunting challenges in sifting through mountains of e-documents
Donalee Moulton
The Lawyers Weekly, May 1, 2009

In the online environment, discovery is e-discovery. The new legal landscape, however, is not a mirror image of the old way of working, and it is fraught with challenges. Complicating matters is current practice which has not changed with the times. “What we’ve had are traditional rules about discovery being applied to electronic documents. It simply hasn’t worked well,” says Kelly Friedman, a partner with Ogilvy Renault LLP in Toronto. One reason for the disconnect, she noted, is volume. “You’ve had this real data explosion and that affects discovery.” *
http://www.lawyersweekly.ca/index.php?section=article&volume=28&number=48&article=4

 

Google is watching you
Robert Sibley
Ottawa Citizen, April 26, 2009

We live in a surveillance society, and, like it or not, we are under constant monitoring. Oddly, this is nothing new as Sibley points out. And now there's Google Street View. The Internet behemoth recently put its camera cars on the streets of a dozen or so Canadian cities, including Ottawa. With their pole-mounted panoramic cameras, the cruising cars snapped pictures of whatever was to be seen at that particular moment.*
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/Technology/Google+watching/1535329/story.html
 


Sciences et démocratie - Pour qui, la recherche?

Marie-Ève Maheu
Le Devoir, 25 avril 2009

Le développement du savoir dans les universités québécoises est en péril, affirment les chercheurs. Non seulement l'argent manque, mais l'orientation de la recherche est de plus en plus pervertie et éloignée des citoyens, avance Cécile Sabourin, présidente de la Fédération québécoise des professeures et professeurs d'université (FQPPU).*
http://www.ledevoir.com/2009/04/25/247364.html

 

How the E-Book Will Change the Way We Read and Write
Steven Johnson
The Wall Street Journal, April 20, 2009

The digital-books revolution offers great promise and opportunity. The question remains whether we recognize the book itself when that revolution has run its course. In our always-connected, everything-linked world, it is easy to forget that books are the dark matter of the information universe. While we now have access to terabytes of data at our fingertips, we have nonetheless drifted further and further away from one of the world’s most valuable archives of knowledge: the tens of millions of books that have been published since Gutenberg's day. That's because the modern infosphere is both organized and navigated through hyperlinked pages of digital text, with the most-linked pages rising to the top of Google Inc.'s all-powerful search-results page. But there is good reason to believe that this strange imbalance will prove to be a momentary blip. 2009 may prove to be the most significant year in the evolution of the book according to Johnson.*
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123980920727621353.html

 

Economic Analysis and Policy (EAP): Journal of the Economic Society of Australia (Queensland) Inc. - Open Access issue
Volume 39, Number 1, March 2009

Articles presented in this OA-themed issue are written by economists discussing their experience with open access and by also by economists directly involved in open access publishing. Themes cover the transition the publishing industry is currently undergoing, the surprisingly low cost of publishing an open access journal, the impact of open access and various open source aspects of the open access movement.*
http://blog.repec.org/2009/04/24/the-economics-of-open-access-publishing/

 

Dialogue
Quarterly newsletter of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC)
Spring 2009

Some of the items covered: the Virtual world of Second Life; The social economy: a different kind of currency; Q&A with Meric Gertler (University of Toronto, Faculty of Arts & Science) on what draws people and industries to some city-regions over others.*
http://www.sshrc.ca/newsletter/2009spring-printemps.asp

 

RESOURCES / RESSOURCES

Professional writing and publishing: Resources for librarians
Laurie L. Putnam
C&RL News, Volume 70, Number 4, April 2009

Putnam presents a sampling of sites useful to librarian-writers. Whether one is writing for a scholarly journal or a blog, there’s likely to be a tool here that can help manage the writing process, answer a grammar question, or lead to a suitable venue for publication. This is a collection of well-worn reference guides, shelved with some dynamic blogs, podcasts, and online communities.*
http://www.cro2info.org/ala/mgrps/divs/acrl/publications/crlnews/2009/apr/prowritepublish.cfm

 

Online Catalogs: What Users and Librarians Want
Karen Calhoun et al
OCLC Online Computer Library Center, Inc., 2009

In 2008, OCLC conducted focus groups, administered a pop-up survey on WorldCat.org, and conducted a Web-based survey of librarians worldwide. The findings suggest two traditions of information organization at work - one from librarianship and the other from the Web. While librarians’ perspectives about data quality remain highly influenced by their profession’s classical principles of information organization, end users’ expectations of data quality arise largely from their experiences of how information is organized and presented on popular Web sites. Calhoun et al conclude with recommendations for a data quality program that balances what end users and librarians want and need from online catalogs.*
http://www.oclc.org/reports/onlinecatalogs/fullreport.pdf

 

Technology proximity between firms and universities and technology transfer
Martin Woerter
KOF Swiss Economic Institute Working Paper, Number 222, April 2009

Woerter investigates the technological orientation of firms and universities and their propensity to have knowledge and technology transfer (KTT) activities. He considers the technological potential for KTT and how it is used, emphasizing differences between smaller and larger firms. Examination of the data  collected on the technology activities of firms (patent statistics), the technology activities of universities, and survey data on technology transfer activities suggests – especially for smaller firms – that great technology proximity fosters transfer activities with different universities.*
http://www.kof.ethz.ch/publications/science/pdf/wp_222.pdf

 

Open Access to Research Outputs: Final Report to Research Councils UK (RCUK)
SQW Consulting and LISU, Loughborough University, September 2008

The purpose of this report is to identify the effects and impacts of open access on publishing models and institutional repositories in light of national and international trends. The report presents options for the [U.K.] Research Councils to consider, such as maintaining the current variation in Research Councils’ mandates, or moving towards increased open access, eventually leading to a “Gold Standard.” *
http://www.rcuk.ac.uk/cmsweb/downloads/rcuk/news/oareport.pdf
[See commentary on this report at http://www.earlham.edu/~peters/fos/2009/04/new-oa-report-from-rcuk.html and also at http://openaccess.eprints.org/index.php?/archives/563-Pre-Emptive-Gold-Fever-Strikes-Again.html]

 

On the Move With the Mobile Web: Libraries and Mobile Technologies
Ellyssa Kroski
Library Technology Reports, Volume 44, Number 5, 2008

Kroski looks at the mobile Web landscape including, mobile devices, mobile Web applications, library mobile initiatives, and discusses how libraries can create a mobile experience for users. The mobile Web is the World Wide Web accessed through hand-held, mobile devices ranging from a cellular phone to an iPod Touch for example. It constitutes the entirety of the Internet and is not limited to websites which have been specifically designed for mobile viewing.*
http://eprints.rclis.org/15024/1/mobile_web_ltr.pdf

 
EVENTS / ÉVÉNEMENTS

Get It Where You Can: The Changing World of Collections and Acquisition
St. Catharines, Ontario, May 8, 2009

Limited funds, patron urgency, and new technologies are some factors driving innovations in resource sharing. Academic libraries have demonstrated ingenuity in addressing these challenges and as a result more efficient models are developed. Buy-on-demand, direct consortial borrowing, and streamlined ILL are some models that are proving to be very effective. *
http://www.niagara.edu/library/acrl/upconf.html

 

What to Expect at the 2009 Fourth Annual Conference on Open Repositories Conference (OR09)
Sun in Education Web Seminar
May 13, 2009, 9:00 am PT; 12:00 pm ET

Tune in for a 60 minute preview of highlights from conference plenary presentations.  Dr. John B. Howard, OR09 Program Chair, Associate University Librarian, Arizona State University Libraries, will discuss several themes represented in presentations and panels at this year’s conference including: the role of repositories in emergent data management networks, repositories and the cloud, and strategies for innovation and sustainability in repository applications.*
http://www.education-webevents.com/


Digital Preservation – the Planets way
Copenhagen, Denmark, June, 22-24, 2009

Planets (Preservation and Long-term Access through NETworked Services) is hosting the first in a series of three-day training events in Europe at The Royal Library, Copenhagen. Digital Preservation – The Planets Way will examine preserve digital content preservation needs, required action and the Planets approach to addressing digital preservation issues. Planets is a joint European project co-funded by the European Commission as part of Framework Programme 6 and delivered by a Consortium of 16 National Libraries, Archives, research and technology institutions.*
http://www.planets-project.eu/events/copenhagen-2009/  

 

Towards a Digital Mathematics Library
Grand Bend, Ontario, July 6-12,  2009

Mathematicians dream of a digital archive containing all peer-reviewed mathematical literature ever published, properly linked, validated and verified. Experts estimate the entire corpus of mathematical knowledge ever published amounts to approximately 100,000,000 pages - an amount easily manageable by current information technologies. Following success of DML 2008, workshop's objectives are to formulate the strategy and goals of a global mathematical digital library and to summarize the current successes and failures of ongoing technologies and related projects. David Ruddy (Project Euclid, Cornell University Library, US) will provide the keynote address entitled Getting from Here to There: Assembling the Pieces of the Digital Mathematics Library.* 
http://www.fi.muni.cz/~sojka/dml-2009.html

 

*Text adapted from source / Texte adapté de la source

 

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