Author Archives: Louise Deis

About Louise Deis

Science & Technology Reference Librarian Emerita Princeton University

NOVA has a Physics Blog

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NOVA’s Physics Blog

·http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/physics/blog/

“NOVA’s Physics Blog is billed as “the physics of nothing, everything, and all the things in between.” This “Nature of Reality” blog promises “a space that welcomes big ideas about space, time, and the universe.” The posts here include graphics, animations, and other visually compelling materials. Visitors can scroll down on the right side of the page to look over Recent Posts, Recent Comments, and the contributors to the blog. It’s a diverse group, including mathematician James Stein and physicist Frank Wilczek. Recent posts include “Why is the Higgs So Light?” and “Scientific Approaches to the Fine-Tuning Problem.” Each entry concludes with the Go Deeper area, which features the editor’s picks for further reading. [KMG]”

Source:  Today’s Scout Report from the University of Wisconsin

WorldCat database reaches 2 billion holdings

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“WorldCat is a database of bibliographic information created and continuously updated by some 25,000 OCLC member libraries around the world. WorldCat records describe specific works and contain a listing of institutions that own an item, referred to as “holdings.” Institutions use holdings information to create local catalogs, arrange interlibrary loans and conduct reference work.”

“WorldCat was created in 1971 so that libraries could share cataloging information from a central database, increasing workflow efficiency and the ability to locate and loan materials. It took the OCLC cooperative almost 34 years, from August 26, 1971 to August 11, 2005, to add 1 billion holdings in WorldCat. It has taken just seven years and eight months to add the next billion.” 

“WorldCat spans six millennia of recorded knowledge, from about 4800 B.C. to the present. It encompasses records for books, serials, sound recordings, musical scores, maps, visual materials, mixed materials and computer files.”

From OCLC Member Update [oclc@oclc.org]

“Find more about WorldCat on the OCLC website, and watch WorldCat grow as libraries around the world contribute to the database.”

(Holdings constitute a higher number than titles.  A(nother) holding is counted for each library that owns a title.

HHMI Cool Science

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www.hhmi.org/coolscience
  • 4 stars (excellent)
  • Beautifully designed site, content for many age groups
  • Limited resources for children

“Are you ready for some COOL SCIENCE? (Yeah, I thought so.) The Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Cool Science website is an entertaining and informative site that certainly lives up to its name and its mission of “sharing the facts and fun about science with all ages.” There really is something for everyone on this site. For instance, the “For Educators” page includes a number of teaching resources for all grade levels, from kindergarten to graduate education. These resources include books, animations, games and videos, among others. At the other end of the age spectrum, the “Curious Kids” page features a small number of activities that address such questions as “Why are snakes like lizards?” The “Becoming a Scientist” page includes interviews with a number of scientists who give their opinions regarding what it takes to succeed as a scientist, and the “Ask a Scientist” page gives site visitors the opportunity to have their own scientific questions answered.”

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“In each print issue of Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News, our Best of the Web columnist Taralyn Tan reviews websites of interest. Taralyn Tan is a web-savvy graduate student in Harvard University’s program in neuroscience.”

*The opinions expressed are solely those of the author(s) and should not be construed as reflecting the viewpoints of the publisher, Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News, Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., the publishing house, or employees and affiliates thereof.

Molecular Movies Illustrate Science

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Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News [update@genengnewsmail.com]

Feb 15, 2013 (Vol. 33, No. 4)

MolecularMovies.org

“If you get a kick out of beautifully animated scientific movies, then you’ll be beside yourself with excitement when you visit MolecularMovies.org, a site that has compiled a large number of science animations from all over the web. Links to the animations can be found on the “showcase” page, where users can sort animations by scientific area, animator, or date added, can search all animations by keyword, or can jump to animations falling within a given scientific topic. There are 22 topics represented, and they range from adhesion/extracellular matrix, to DNA/chromatin, to neuronal signaling, and beyond. The animations are not embedded within this site itself, and there do exist a few problems with some of the links; however, most of the links worked as expected. Beyond the animations, the Molecular Movies site also includes some software animation tutorials and a newsfeed covering the latest in molecular animation.”

*The opinions expressed are solely those of the author(s) and should not be construed as reflecting the viewpoints of the publisher, Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News, Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., the publishing house, or employees and affiliates thereof.

 Rating = 4 stars = excellent

Strong points: large collection of animations

Weak points:  some links didn’t work

www.molecularmovies.com

 

Microbiology Online — from the Society for General Microbiology

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Microbiology Online

Source:  Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News [update@genengnewsmail.com]

Mar 15, 2013 (Vol. 6, No. 33)

www.microbiologyonline.org.uk
  • 4 stars = excellent
  • Nice site design and organization
  • No weak points

“Now here is one big website for things so small! The educational website for the Society for General Microbiology, Microbiology Online is packed full of information about microorganisms. Combining animations and actual images of the microbes, the website offers students the opportunity to explore pages such as introducing microbes, microbes and the human body, microbes and food, and microbes and climate change. For teachers, the site provides information on such topics as microbes and basic principles, preparation of media and cultures, activities, and safety information. There are a number of free downloadable resources available to teachers, as well. Beyond the teacher and student pages, Microbiology Online also includes links to the latest news and podcasts/videos. The site is well organized and contains a lot of material to excite both students and teachers of the subject.”

*The opinions expressed are solely those of the author(s) and should not be construed as reflecting the viewpoints of the publisher, Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News, Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., the publishing house, or employees and affiliates thereof.

International Standard Name Identifier (ISNI) & ORCID IDs

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“ORCID spells out structure of 16-digit identifier

ORCID, an international, interdisciplinary, open and not-for-profit organisation, recently revealed information on what an ORCID identifier looks like.

The ORCID ID is a 16-digit number that is compatible with the ISO Standard (ISO 27729), also known as the International Standard Name Identifier (ISNI). Initially, ORCID IDs will be randomly assigned by the ORCID Registry from a block of numbers that will not conflict with ISNI-formatted numbers assigned in other ways. ORCID IDs always need all 16-digits – they cannot be shortened to remove leading zeros if they exist.

Only the ORCID Registry will assign ORCID IDs, either through the ORCID website, or the related APIs. ORCID IDs are intended to be assigned to individuals, and may be secured at no charge. The IDs will be assigned randomly from a block of numbers reserved for this purpose. (Initially IDs will be assigned between 0000-0001-5000-0000 and 0000-0003-5000-000X).

ORCID IDs will be expressed as an HTTP URI. The number will be proceeded by ‘http://orcid.org/‘. A hyphen will be inserted every 4 digits to aid readability, though if the hyphens are removed, the number still refers to the same ORCID ID.”

Source:  Knowledgespeak Newsletter 8/9/12

National Academy of Sciences is 150 years old

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 Editorial by NAS President Ralph Cicerone
An editorial by NAS President Ralph Cicerone will appear in the March 19 print edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. On the occasion of NAS’s 150th year of service to the nation, Cicerone discusses the missions and work of the Academy and not only its historical significance but also its value in the future.”

 What’s New @ The National Academies, Monday, March 12, 2013  

In other news from Knowledgespeak Newsletter, today: the Proceedings of the NAS will be stored in Portico.  As an electronic archiving service provider, Portico will act as a perpetual access mechanism for this title.

Image database available now in the Princeton University Library collection

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Image Quest  

Over two million images of objects, events, places, works of art, sports, and scientific pursuits, from dozens of collections such as Getty Images and the National Geographic Society. Each image includes full citation and copyright information. Rights have been cleared for education use.  (Britannica’s compilation from over 50 of the world’s best collections.)

From  Bobray Bordelon, March 6, 2013

eLife — Open Access journal for important research in Life Sciences and Biomedicine

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 “Website for new open-access journal, eLife, launched – 17 Dec 2012

eLife, a new open-access journal for outstanding advances in life science and biomedicine, reveals a fresh approach to presenting and using scientific content on its new website.”

“The eLife journal invites visitors to explore important new research and associated data, read comments and commentary by experts and colleagues, and get a sense of the quality of work that eLife is publishing. Nineteen research papers have now been selected for publication by eLife’s academic editors.

The new site also offers a chance to explore how eLife is taking advantage of digital media. Presentation of content is clean and distraction-free, allowing authors to present the results of their research in full, and inviting readers to delve deeply into the work by exploring figures and their supplements, watching videos, reading editor decision letters and author responses, downloading data sets, viewing article-level metrics, and more. All of this is a starting point, as eLife will continue to solicit feedback from the community in making the presentation as accessible and usable as possible.

The eLife journal is now online at http://elife.elifesciences.org.”

Click here

Source: Knowledgespeak Newsletter, Dec. 17, 2012