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 # 362 / Cyberavis no. 362


Wednesday February 5, 2010 / le mercredi 5 février 2010

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CARL COMMUNIQUÉ / COMUNIQUÉ DE L’ABRC

Lynda Gadoury nommée Directrice générale des bibliothèques par intérim à l’UQÀM

Mme Lynda Gadoury a été nommée Directrice générale par intérim du Service des bibliothèques à l’UQÀM le 1er février 2010. À l’emploi de l’Université du Québec à Montréal depuis près de 6 ans, elle a occupé diverses postes, dont, le plus récemment, Directrice de la Bibliothèque centrale. Diplômée du baccalauréat en sciences juridiques de l’UQAM en 1984 et membre du Barreau du Québec à partir de 1986, Mme Gadoury a pratiqué le droit pendant plusieurs années. Elle a complété une maîtrise en bibliothéconomie et sciences de l’information à l’Université de Montréal en 1995, et a travaillé dans plusieurs milieux documentaires, dont, entre autres, la Fonction publique provinciale, l’entreprise privée et les ressources documentaires Web. Elle remplace comme Directrice générale Mme Lucie Gardner que nous voulons remercier de ses contributions au travail de l’Association et à laquelle nous exprimons nos meilleurs vœux.

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Lynda Gadoury appointed interim Directrice générale des bibliothèques, UQÀM

Lynda Gadoury was appointed Directrice générale des bibliothèques at Université du Québec à Montréal on February 1, 2010. Working with the library network at UQÀM for about six years, Mme Gadoury has held various positions, most recently Directrice de la Bibliothèque centrale. Graduating with a Bachelors degree in legal sciences at UQÀM in 1984 and becoming a member of the Quebec Bar 1986, Mrs. Gadouri practiced law for several years. She completed a Maters of library and information studies at Université de Montréal in 1995, and then held several positions as an information specialist such as for the provincial public service (Quebec), in the private sector, and developing information resources for the Web. She replaces as Directrice générale Mme Lucie Gardner whom we want to thank for her contributions to the work of the Association and to whom we express our best wishes.

 

NEWS / NOUVELLES

A Tribute to Alan MacDonald

It was with great sadness for the staff and members of CARL to learn of the passing of such a devoted member of the library profession. Alan has touched many souls in the Canadian library community. Some information has been compiled on  the CARL website site to help the library community to know, and share, a little more about Alan. A Celebration of Alan's Life will be held on Friday, February 19 2010, from 4:00 to 6:30 p.m., in the Alberta Room of the Dining Centre at the University of Calgary.
[Veuillez noter que la version française de cette page sera disponible sou peu.]
http://www.carl-abrc.ca/about/amacdonald-e.html


Le ministère de la justice américain rejette l'accord entre Google et les éditeurs
Le Monde, 5 février 2010

« Insatisfaisant malgré "des progrès substantiels" : le ministère de la justice américain a vivement critiqué, jeudi, la proposition d'accord entre Google et les éditeurs de livres américains. Ce projet d'accord est une version amendée du texte original, qui devait répondre aux objections formulées en septembre – par le ministère de la justice et d'autres instances – à la première mouture, au sujet de la protection des droits d'auteur et des lois contre le monopole. L'accord doit toujours être ratifié par la justice. Si les objections du ministère ne sont pas en soi contraignantes, les chances pour que l'accord soit validé par un tribunal contre l'avis du ministère sont très réduites. Une nouvelle audience est prévue le 18 février. »
http://www.lemonde.fr/technologies/article/2010/02/05/le-ministere-de-la-justice-americain-rejette-l-accord-entre-google-et-les-editeurs_1301485_651865.html

 

ARL Weekly Update
February 5, 2010
https://app.e2ma.net/app/view:CampaignPublic/id:11423.100035461162/rid:b2e00a1f8d1b8637810a7feedfe3aa45

 

Dutch higher education sector convinced of need for Open Access
February 4, 2010

Open Access is winning ground, and more and more information is becoming freely accessible to the public. At an Open Access seminar organized by SURF in Amsterdam, Professor Jos Engelen, chairman of the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO), announced that his organization will provide a special Open Access budget of EUR 2.5m.*
http://www.openaccess.nl/index.php?view=article&catid=1%3Anews-archive&id=165%3Adutch-higher-education-sector-convinced-of-need-for-open-access-&format=pdf&option=com_content

 

U.S. Scientists Given Access to Cloud Computing
John Markoff
The New York Times, February 4, 2010

The National Science Foundation and the Microsoft Corporation will provide American scientific researchers free access to the company’s new cloud computing service. A goal of the three-year project is to give scientists the computing power to cope with exploding amounts of research data.*
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/05/science/05cloud.html?hpw

 

Justice Dept. Criticizes Latest Google Book Deal
Miguel Helft, The New York Times, February 4, 2010

Google’s plan to create a giant digital library and bookstore received another blow on Thursday, February 4. The Justice Department said that a class-action settlement between the company and groups representing authors and publishers had significant legal problems, despite recent revisions. It  said, in a 31-page filing that could influence a federal judge’s ruling on the settlement,  that the new agreement was much improved from an earlier version but the last changes are not enough to placate concerns that the deal would grant Google a monopoly over millions of orphan works – that is books whose right holders are unknown or cannot be found.*
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/05/technology/internet/05publish.html?hpw

 

Canadian Writers Air Google Book Search Gripes
Leigh Ann Williams
Publishers Weekly, February 3, 2010

A group of about 175 Canadian writers registered objections to the Google Book Search settlement  just before the January 28 deadline for submissions to a New York court.
University of Ottawa law professor, director of the Canadian Internet Policy & Public Interest Clinic (CIPPIC), and  representative for the group of authors, David Fewer, says that Canadian authors should have been exempted from the settlement as authors from many other countries were when the settlement was revised to only apply to the U.S., Canada and Australia. “The onus shouldn’t be on the writer to opt out. The onus should be on the writer to opt in, “ Fewer says. “Because, at the end of the day, the writer should have the right to control how their copyrights are exploited, how they are commercialized, who benefits from their copyrights and how.” *
http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6717523.html

 

Amazon Said to Buy Touch Start-Up
Nick Bilton and Brad Stone
The New York Times, February 3, 2010

In a sign that Amazon intends to upgrade its Kindle e-reader to compete head-on with the Apple iPad, Amazon has acquired Touchco, a start-up based in New York that specializes in touch-screen technology. Amazon is merging Touchco’s technology and staff members into its Kindle hardware division, Lab126, based in Cupertino, California. Touchco uses a technology called interpolating force-sensitive resistance, which it puts into displays that can be completely transparent and could cost as little as $10 a square foot. The technology is designed to work well with full-color LCD screens, similar to those used in the iPad and Hewlett-Packard’s coming line of tablet PCs. The technology could allow Amazon to introduce a full-color touch-screen Kindle, raising the question of whether the device’s current displays, made by a company called E Ink, will play a role in the next round of dedicated reading devices.*
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/04/technology/04amazon.html

 

Stanford signs Google Book Search agreement, endorses court settlement
February 2, 2010

Stanford University has affirmed its support for the recently amended Google Book Search settlement agreement by expanding its earlier agreement with Google Inc. to digitize its library materials. Stanford’s expanded agreement is a milestone in Stanford’s commitment to the program and to the provision of public access to millions of its books. University Librarian Michael A. Keller said, "We are highly supportive of the amended settlement, which offers an enormous public good, making the full text of millions of books available to the American public." *
http://news.stanford.edu/news/2010/february1/google-book-agreement-020210.html

 

Vaccin et autisme: The Lancet se rétracte
Silvia Galipeau
La Presse, 2 février 2010

« 12 ans après avoir publié un article hautement controversé qui suggérait un lien entre le vaccin contre la rougeole et l'autisme, la prestigieuse revue The Lancet se rétracte. «Nous retirons cet article de nos archives», a déclaré le journal scientifique hier. C'est la deuxième fois en 10 ans que la revue reconnaît ainsi qu'elle n'aurait pas dû publier cette recherche. »
http://www.cyberpresse.ca/sciences/medecine/201002/02/01-945429-vaccin-et-autisme-the-lancet-se-retracte.php

 

Guy Bujold Steps Down as President and CEO of CANARIE
February 1, 2010

CANARIE, Canada’s advanced research and innovation network, today announced that Guy Bujold has decided to step down as the President and CEO of CANARIE for personal reasons. He will continue to serve as a strategic advisor to CANARIE, enabling the corporation to leverage his many years of experience in Canada’s innovation system. Jim Roche, current Chair of the Board, will serve as interim President and CEO of the corporation until a successor is appointed.
http://www.canarie.ca/templates/news/releases/01_02_10_E.pdf
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Guy Bujold laisse la présidence et la direction de CANARIE
http://www.canarie.ca/templates/news/releases/01_02_10_F.pdf

 

Despite Spending Freeze, Obama Proposes More Money for Research in His 2011 Budget
Libby Nelson
The Chronicle of Higher Education, February 1, 2010

President Obama has proposed spending increases for both the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation in his budget for the 2011 fiscal year, despite his announcement that he would impose a net freeze on discretionary domestic spending. In all, the president has proposed $66-billion for nondefense research and development projects for the 2011 fiscal year, and a 4-percent increase in basic research funds.
http://chronicle.com/article/Despite-Spending-Freeze-Obama/63849/

 

L’internet haute vitesse, un droit fondamental
Marc Thibodeau
La Presse, 30 janvier 2010

« L'accès à une connexion internet haute vitesse est considéré depuis quelques mois comme un droit fondamental en Finlande, où le gouvernement s'est engagé à rendre le service accessible à toute la population au plus tard en juillet. «Nous avons depuis longtemps commencé à instaurer la société de l'information et les e-services, en particulier dans le secteur public. Or, il faut que tout le monde y ait accès. Dans notre pays, l'égalité est une valeur très, très importante», a expliqué hier à La Presse la ministre finlandaise des Communications, Suvi Linden, lors d'un entretien téléphonique. »
http://technaute.cyberpresse.ca/nouvelles/internet/201001/30/01-944665-finlande-linternet-haute-vitesse-pour-tous.php

 

More press coverage of the iPad / L’iPad dans la presse

Bienvenue dans l’ère du iPad, Nicolas Berubé, La Presse, 30 janvier 2010 : « En lançant le iPad, Jobs sous-entend que les gens ne sont pas complètement satisfaits de leur ordinateur portable. Les années à venir nous diront si son pari était le bon. »
http://technaute.cyberpresse.ca/nouvelles/produits-electroniques/201001/30/01-944672-bienvenue-dans-lere-du-ipad.php

For old media, iPad is not The Answer
, Derek De Cloet, Globe and Mail, January 29, 2010: “Far from magical, it could turn out to be a mixed blessing.” http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/commentary/for-old-media-ipad-is-not-the-answer/article1449996/

Why old media loves Apple’s newest thing
, John Barber, Globe and Mail, January 28, 2010: “Those with the most hope invested in the new iPad are newspaper and magazine publishers who are struggling to open new revenue streams as print advertising shrinks and readers seek free content on the Internet.” http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/technology/personal-tech/apple/why-old-media-loves-apples-newest-thing/article1446780/

Enthousiasme mitigé pour la tablette d'Apple
, Le Monde, 28 janvier 2010 :
«Une "révolution", un objet qui "a tout pour relever ce défi insensé de réinventer l'ordinateur"... Une bonne partie de la presse généraliste est, ce matin, enthousiaste à propos de l'iPad, la tablette tactile dévoilée mercredi par Apple. Mais les sites spécialisés, notamment américains, portent un jugement plus sévère sur l'objet, dont Apple promet qu'il doit créer un nouveau marché, à mi-chemin entre l'ordinateur portable et le téléphone mobile. »
http://www.lemonde.fr/technologies/article/2010/01/28/enthousiasme-mitige-pour-la-tablette-d-apple_1297957_651865.html  
 

An Open Letter to the 40th Parliament from Canada’s Research Community
Canadian Consortium for Research
The Hill Times, January 25, 2010

Basic research is essential to our long-term prosperity, and we can’t rely on the rest of the world to do it for us. Recent Budgets contained welcome support for university research, however, unlike the U.S., basic research is being squeezed in favour of increased shorter-term targeted efforts. The CCR urges MPs to use their influence to ensure that Canada’s research granting agencies and universities have the money for increased support of basic research too. PDF
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Lettre ouverte de la communauté de la recherche canadienne aux parlementaires de la 40e législature
Consortium canadien pour la recherche
The Hill Times, 25 janvier 2010

« Il est généralement reconnu que la recherche fondamentale est essentielle à notre prospérité à long terme, et nous ne pouvons certainement pas attendre que le reste du monde agisse en ce sens pour nous. Si les récents budgets fédéraux prévoyaient certaines mesures opportunes d’aide à la recherche universitaire, il n’en demeure pas moins que, contrairement aux États-Unis, le financement de la recherche fondamentale est amputé au benefice des investissements à court terme accrus dans la recherche ciblée. Nous vous demandons donc de faire pression pour que les organismes subventionnaires et les universités de recherche du Canada reçoivent une aide financière plus importante au titre de la recherche fondamentale également. » PDF


Library Explores Ways to Release Open Source Software
January 14, 2010

In the spirit of transparency and community, the Library of Congress has established an internal process to create open source software  to make it easier for software developers and sponsors within the Library to produce software that can be freely redistributed to users worldwide. The Library has developed tools that support digital preservation processes, including the secure transfer of digital files. This includes the release of a full suite of digital content transfer tools that support the Bagit specification.*
http://www.digitalpreservation.gov/news/2010/20100114news_article_open_source.html

 

ARTICLES

Why HTML5 Isn't Going to Save the Internet
John Herrman
Gizmodo, February 5, 2010

The web-o-sphere has been abuzz over talk about HTML5, the next version of the language that powers our internet. Will it revolutionize web apps? Will it kill Flash video? Will it fix our gimpy iPads? Yes... and no. At the heart of HTML is just a framework, a glimpse, and an ideal: Its real effect on the internet continues to be defined by the companies and web developers who choose to adopt its many pieces—and it is further shaped by those who don't.*
http://gizmodo.com/5461711/giz-explains-why-html5-isnt-going-to-save-the-internet

 

Do web editors dream of electric eyeballs?
Ben Myers
The Fulcrum, February 3, 2010

Newspapers have been fighting a losing battle in the past decade, attempting to attract more eyeballs on the Internet. Many newspaper websites have added video reports, photo slide shows, podcasts, and blogs in order to keep up with the pace of the rest of the Web. But ongoing reports of shrinking revenue, bankruptcy, and ever-changing ownership across the industry suggest that newspapers in their current form cannot survive.*
http://www.thefulcrum.ca/articles/26003

 

Where is Canada's plan for the digital age?
Marc Garneau
National Post, February 2, 2009

During and after the Second World War, Canadian politician C.D. Howe formulated a vision to transform Canada into a leading industrial power in the second half of the 20th century. Today, a half-century after that success, a renewed vision is required for a digital economy that Mr. Howe wouldn't have recognized. This is something other nations already understand.
http://www.nationalpost.com/opinion/story.html?id=2510715


Open Societies need open systems
Bill Thompson
BBC News, February 2, 2010

The last few days have seen skirmishes in a war that could define the future shape of the internet, and may even have some impact on those societies predicated on fast and reliable access to the network and its many affordances. At the heart of this and similar fights lies an attempt to limit the ways in which the network and the computers connected to it can be used, and in ways that seemingly serve corporations’ interests.  Although these interests may sometimes be aligned with those of the wider public, that alignment is conditional and contingent and cannot be relied upon - which is why it must always be challenged. *
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8493006.stm

 

Why computers as we know them are doomed
Omar El Akkad
Globe and Mail, January 30, 2010

Although the recently launched Apple iPad has been touted, by some, as the computing machine of the future, Omar El Akkad suggests there are bigger issues to the digital paradigm shift underway. One of the most profound transformations in the history of computer science will begin to take shape sometime around the end of this decade; it will simply become impossible to improve computing power at the rate it has advanced for the past three decades. The ceiling won't be cost-related. Computer chips in their current configurations can only be made so small before running into the basic laws of physics. The implications for the computer industry are enormous. It may be years away, but software programmers, circuit makers and computer manufacturers nonetheless see a brick wall in the distance.*
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/technology/why-the-computer-is-doomed/article1449339/
[See related content: The next frontier: quantum computing HTML, and A surprising solution: Bacterial computing HTML]

 

Copyright, companies, individuals and news: the rules of the road
Cory Doctorow
Guardian, January 26, 2010

Copyright may not be perfect, but when applied with common sense, it's the best system we've got. Debates about copyright fall apart when they're pitched in terms of absolutes: "Copyright prohibits all copying", or "Non-commercial copying is always legal". Copyright started life as an industrial regulation that set out the rules governing the relationship between different actors in the supply-chain of the "creative industries" (originally just publishing, later music, film, software and many other industries). Between corporate bullies who like to assert that "all rights reserved" means that no one is allowed to do anything without permission, and personal theories of what copyright means, we tend to treat copyright as absolute. And when we do, we turn a system with a real purpose (providing a framework for participants in creative businesses) into a caricature of itself, one that no one can respect.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2010/jan/26/copyright-cory-doctorow

 

RESOURCES / RESSOURCES

Online Guide to Open Access Journals Publishing
February 5, 2010

The online guide addresses small independent teams and provides practical information on planning, setting up, launching, publishing and managing an open access scholarly journal. Users will benefit from additional information resources, samples of applied practices and downloadable tools. The guide is interactive, allowing users to share their own best practices, tips and suggestions. Although the guide contains some information that is specific to the Nordic region, most of its content can be applied internationally. Development of the Online Guide to Open Access Journals Publishing was generously supported by the Swedish National Library and the technical solution was supported by Nordbib.*
http://www.doaj.org/doaj?func=loadTempl&templ=100205

 

Innovation ouverte. Enjeux et défis pour le Québec. Rapport de conjoncture 2009

« Le document propose une lecture de la situation du Québec au regard de l’innovation ouverte, une des grandes tendances observées dans le monde actuellement. Cette ouverture se manifeste en amont, dans l’exploitation de toute une variété de sources d’information et de savoirs externes à l’entreprise ou à l’organisation qui cherche à innover. Elle apparaît également en aval, avec la multiplication des canaux de diffusion et de commercialisation des actifs immatériels. »
http://www.cst.gouv.qc.ca/Innovation-ouverte-Enjeux-et-defis
Résumé : http://www.cst.gouv.qc.ca/IMG/pdf/Resume_du_RC2009_VF_en_ligne_.pdf

 

EVENTS / ÉVÉNEMENTS

Canadian Association of Law Libraries 2010 annual conference
Windsor, Ontario from May 9-12, 2010

The conference features several programs, including the Innovation Gallery- showcasing innovative projects in different libraries, keynote speaker Maude Barlowe (National Chairperson of the Council of Canadians), and numerous seminars.
http://callacbd.ca/conferences/2010/en/program_whole.php


*Text adapted from source / Texte adapté de la source

 
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