Author Archives: Louise Deis

About Louise Deis

Science & Technology Reference Librarian Emerita Princeton University

Print Archives Preservation Registry now online

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“US Print Archives Preservation Registry now online – 06 Aug 2012

The Print Archives Preservation Registry (PAPR) has announced that it is now available online at http://papr.crl.edu. The registry is designed to support archiving and management of serial collections by providing detailed information about titles, holdings, and terms and conditions of the major print archiving programs.

PAPR now includes a searchable database, tab-delimited reports for download, and the simultaneous display of title and holdings information from multiple print archiving programmes, including the Western Regional Storage Trust (WEST), Law Library Microform Consortium (LLMC), and CRL’s JSTOR archive. It also references titles held in digital format by Portico and CLOCKSS. Most of the records included at this time are for the WEST project archives.

The California Digital Library (CDL) is CRL’s PAPR development partner. Additional advisory services were provided by CRL consultant Lizanne Payne and Ithaka S+R. This first phase focused on developing a data analysis system for WEST and on using the standards developed by the OCLC print archives disclosure pilot project to transmit data via the MARC field 583. The next phase will address additional functional, data and user needs.

At this time the registry is a work in progress; its usefulness will depend upon input and participation by the CRL community. CRL welcomes all ideas and feedback.

Click here”
Source: Knowledgespeak Newsletter, Aug. 6, 2012

PubMed Central = PMC

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“US PubMed Central renamed PMC, adopts new web page design – 06 Aug 2012

PubMed Central, the repository of the US’ National Institutes of Health, has shortened its name to PMC in a bid to avoid being confused with PubMed. It has also gone for a new look and feel, and has been updated to conform to NCBI’s new standards for page design. The redesign is seen to allow for a cleaner and more uniform presentation across PMC’s site as well as its article, issue and journal archive pages.

For instance, the journal logo is on the page centre, with additional white space. The navigation links are designed to be more compact while the font colours are more uniform across the site. The article pages have also been enhanced by a more compact presentation for article front matter, featuring links to author information, article notes and copyright and licence information.

The views for tables and figures have been enhanced. Other improvements to the new article page include easier readability and navigation, including links to the various article formats, and to the corresponding article citation in PubMed as well as to those PubMed citations that are related to the article.

There is also an enhanced look for bibliographic citations that are referenced in the article. Finally, at the top of each section of an article, the “Go to” navigation links offer a drop down menu that takes the reader to any section more quickly and easily, whether it’s the Abstract, Introduction, Discussion, or any others within the article page.

Click here”

Source: Knowledgespeak Newsletter, Aug. 6, 2012

100 Open Access science journals to be launched by Versita in 2012

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Versita Launches Open Access Journal Program

By Theresa Cramer 

From ResourceShelf Newsletter No. 558, May 31, 2012 

From the press release:

Academic publisher Versita announced today the launch of a new program of Open Access journals. 100 Emerging Science Journals are being launched in 2012. The program’s focus is on young and rapidly developing fields of science, which have not yet been covered by a designated journal. The emerging topics have been identified in Life Sciences, Chemistry, Medicine, Physics and Mathematics.
…

One of the main reasons of this outstanding support is the Open Access publishing model, which provides free and unlimited access to the journal articles for all interested readers. In view of Academic Spring – and with Open Access gaining a momentum across scholar communities worldwide – Versita is not planning any publication fees for the first two years.

Read the full release

Petition for Public Access to all Publicly-funded Research

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ASU (Arizona State University) Libraries have posted a concise piece about Open Access to scholarly research in ” The Library Channel” newsletter:  http://lib.asu.edu/librarychannel/2012/05/21/petition/

There is a video and a link to more information as well as the petition at http://www.whitehouse.gov

Freely share the data and the knowledge!

 

Search Engines, etc. for finding Free Online STEM Resources

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“Search Engines and Beyond: A Toolkit for Find­ing Free Online Resources for Sci­ence, Tech­nol­ogy and Engi­neer­ing“
By Nedelina Tchangalova and Francy Stil­well, Uni­ver­sity of Maryland

in the Spring, 2012 issue of Sci­ence and Tech­nol­ogy Librar­i­an­ship  [ http://www.istl.org/ ]

NTIS launches National Technical Reports Library Version 3.0 – 16 May 2012

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“The National Technical Information Service (NTIS) of the U.S. Department of Commerce has announced the launch of the next generation National Technical Reports Library Version 3.0, also known as NTRL V3.0.

The NTRL V3.0 is now publicly available after two years of research and development. Through the utilisation of the open-source platform Fedora/SOLR, the NTRL V3.0 builds upon the successes of previous iterations by offering the public online access to the large NTIS repository of scientific and technical information through the use of enhanced functionalities, features and improved display.

The NTIS repository consists of over 2 million bibliographic records representing billions of dollars in federally-funded research performed over the past 70 years with a broad scope of Scientific, Technical & Engineering Information (STEI) subject coverage. NTIS sought to improve dissemination of STEI, and economic, social and environmental information by permanently enlarging, preserving and providing ready access to its repository.

The NTIS seeks to actively collect, preserve and disseminate STEI and other information thereby supporting the Department of Commerce mission to promote U.S. economic growth by providing access to information that stimulates innovation and discovery. The NTRL V3.0 represents the NTIS commitment to ensuring access to this invaluable repository is affordable, convenient, and widely available to the academic, corporate, library and government communities, and to the public-at-large.

The NTRL V3.0 was developed by the Federal Science Repository Service (FSRS) a public-private partnership between NTIS and Information International Associates, Inc. (IIa) of Oak Ridge, TN. The intent of the public-private partnership was to create an Institutional Repository (IR) Service for federal agencies.”

Source: Knowledgespeak Newsletter, May 16, 2012

The Nature of Science and the Scientific Method

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The Nature of Science and the Scientific Method [pdf]

http://www.geosociety.org/educate/NatureOfScience.htm

For those who haven’t been in science class for some time, the scientific method may be a bit of a hazy memory. Those people (educators and others included) who need a bit of a refresher, along with a nice guide to talking about the scientific method, will find this resource from The Geological Society of America most efficacious. Authored by scientist Christine V. McLelland, this 9-page document “promotes understanding of the nature of science and how the scientific method is used to advance science, focusing in particular on the Earth sciences.” The document covers topics like “What is Science?” and breaks the scientific method down into its five primary parts. It also offers some brief talking points about the nature of science, and a nice bibliography.”

Source:  Scout Report, Univ. of Wisconsin, Apr. 13, 2012

Interactive Physics Simulations

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“Interactive Physics Simulations [Flash]

http://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulations/category/physics

At the top of this site’s homepage, visitors will see a banner that proclaims “Over 70 million simulations delivered.” Needless to say, the Interactive Physics Simulations site is quite popular, and the offerings here can be used in the classroom or by persons with a general curiosity about static electricity, alpha decay, and other related topics. The site is sponsored by a range of institutions, including the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and the National Science Foundation. The site includes three dozen different simulations, many of which are available in over a dozen languages, including French, Russian, Chinese, Italian, and Vietnamese. First-time visitors might want to start with the “Build an Atom” which affords visitors the opportunity to build an atom out of protons, neutrons, and electrons and then play a fun game after they’re done. Also, users can look at the simulations by topical headings, which include “Sound & Waves”, “Heat & Thermo”, and “Light & Radition”. ”

Source:  Scout Report, Univ. of Wisconsin, Apr. 13, 2012

Hottest Scientific Researchers & Papers — 2011 (Web of Science)

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US Thomson Reuters names Hottest Scientific Researchers and Papers of the year – 12 Apr 2012

“The Intellectual Property & Science business of Thomson Reuters has announced ‘The Hottest Research of 2011’, a ranking of the most influential scientific researchers and research papers of the year by Science Watch, its open Web resource for science metrics and analysis. Tracking researchers whose recent published papers recorded notably higher levels of citations during 2011, along with the most highly cited individual papers of the year, the annual report spotlights emerging trends in science and the innovators behind them.

This year’s group of 15 Hottest Researchers each contributed to at least 10 Hot Papers, covering key areas such as genetics, cardiology, epidemiology and cancer research. Eric S. Lander of The Eli and Edythe L. Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard topped the list of most influential researchers for the second year straight, recording 14 Hot Papers in 2011. This was Lander’s eighth year on the list. He was followed by Salim Yusuf of McMaster University and Michael R. Stratton of the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, both of whom recorded 13 Hot Papers in 2011. The most highly cited individual paper published in 2011, ‘Seven-Year Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe Observations: Cosmological Interpretations,’ by E. Komatsu, of The University of Texas at Austin, et al. received a total of 564 citations during the year.

The year’s Hottest Researchers were identified using citations that occurred during calendar year 2011 for papers published between 2009 and 2011. The list of Hottest Papers tracks total citations to non-review papers during calendar year 2011. To compile both lists, Science Watch draws on data and commentary from Thomson Reuters bibliometric experts and Essential Science Indicators, a unique compilation of science performance statistics and science trends data based on journal article publication counts and citation data from Web of Knowledge.”

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Source:  Knowledgespeak Newsletter

ScienceAlerts.com adds Biological Sciences category

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Thailand ScienceAlerts.com adds Biological Sciences category – 06 Apr 2012

“ScienceAlerts.com, a Web 2.0 social network to discover and share scholarly content, has announced that the latest addition to this natural sciences website is the Biological Sciences Category. The new Biological Sciences category currently features 520,658 stories largely derived from 984 scientific biology publishing sources.

ScienceAlerts.com’s Biological Sciences Category covers life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, genetics, and distribution. This category also provides a Biological Sciences RSS feed to stay up to date with the latest research in this science discipline. One of the latest articles presents the interrelationship of mycophagous small mammals and ectomycorrhizal fungi in primeval, disturbed and managed Central European mountainous forests.

Besides the Biological Sciences category, ScienceAlerts.com contains an Agricultural Sciences Category which the cultivation and production of crops, raising of livestock, and post-harvest processing of natural products. ScienceAlerts.com’s Environmental Sciences Category covers the external physical conditions affecting growth, development, and survival of organisms, and their management while it’s Forestry Sciences Category presents the cultivation, maintenance, and development of forests. ScienceAlerts.com’s Geographical Sciences Category covers the physical characteristics of the earth including its surface features, and the distribution of life on earth, and that of the Health Sciences aggregates the effects of disease and medical treatment on the overall condition of organisms.

ScienceAlerts.com’s review process is partly automated and partly manual to rigorously ensure that only relevant content is featured on the site. Since new science content is discovered in real-time, the delay between original publication and appearance at ScienceAlerts.com is usually only minutes. ScienceAlerts.com includes a search feature to retrieve specific titles or keywords from its’ large database. In addition, it suggests up to ten related articles for each article selected.”

Source:  Knowledgespeak Newsletter, April 6, 2012