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!
McGraw-Hill Research Foundation releases paper on strategies to boost STEM research – 27 Sep 2011
The McGraw-Hill Research Foundation has released a new policy paper by Dr. Freeman A. Hrabowski, III, that seeks to offer practical and scalable solutions to the problem of inadequate supply of college graduates excelling in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). Dr. Hrabowski is President of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC). He says research in STEM is critical as the US addresses key challenges in healthcare, the environment, national security and the economy.
In the paper, Institutional Change in Higher Education: Innovation and Collaboration, Dr. Hrabowski discusses how his institution has addressed the shortage of STEM graduates, particularly among groups that have been underrepresented in these fields, including minorities, women and students from low-income backgrounds. UMBC has been recognised widely as a leader in higher education innovation, according to him. For three years in a row, the US News and World Report America’s Best Colleges Guide has ranked the university number one among ‘Up-and-Coming’ national universities.
To help meet the growing demand for STEM experts nationwide and encourage institutional change, Dr. Hrabowski urges colleges and universities to establish priorities, focus on strategic planning, and emphasise effectiveness and efficiency in the use of resources; reflect on their institution’s culture, taking into account school values, practices, habits and even the relationships among faculty, staff, and students; encourage the involvement of the entire campus, including faculty, administration, and students, in understanding and addressing broad retention issues and general academic performance; focus on the importance of group study and other approaches that inform redesign for first-year STEM courses; increase support for minority groups by providing knowledge and skill development, academic and social integration, support and motivation, and advising and monitoring; and develop distinct programmes and initiatives that address change needed in graduate programmes.
Dr. Hrabowski shows that the framework developed through the Meyerhoff Scholars Program underlies other important programmes and initiatives at UMBC that have helped create a campus climate of inclusive excellence. He will discuss the paper’s themes as a featured speaker at the third annual Innovation in Education Summit in New York City on September 28, 2011. Sponsored by The McGraw-Hill Research Foundation, the event brings together experts to discuss critical issues and trends and their impact on today’s education environment.”
Source: Knowledgespeak Newsletter
Astro2010: The Astronomy and Astrophysics Decadal Survey [pdf]
http://sites.nationalacademies.org/BPA/BPA_049810
“Every ten years, the National Research Council (NRC) of The National Academy of Sciences produces a series of surveys related to their areas of scientific inquiry. The public release of the Astro2010 survey of astronomy and astrophysics took place on August 13, 2010, and visitors to this site can read the report and also watch the webcast from the release event. The goal of this publication is to “recommend priorities for the most important scientific and technical activities of the decade 2010-2020.” Drawing on the expertise of scholars at Stanford University, Vassar College, the University of Chicago, and other institutions, the report is a crucial piece of work on what should be done across the board in these two branches of the physical sciences.”
From the Scout Report, Univ. of Wisconsin, Aug.27, 2010
Source: Knowledgespeak Newsletter
OpenHelix Resource Newsletter today proclaims the launch of an open access search and learn portal: openhelix.com web site to help researchers find the most relevant of the thousands of databases and analysis tools.
From their "About’ page:
There is a blog. There is a newsletter to which one is free to subscribe.
April 2009 (from the Apr. 30, Thomson Reuters Newsletter)
Science Watch takes its annual look back at the hottest of recent research.
Science Watch from Thomson Reuters tracks trends and performance in basic research year-round. In this highly anticipated annual review, it identifies researchers who accounted for the highest numbers of Hot Papers published over the preceding two years from 2008. It also highlights which papers published during 2008 were the most cited by year’s end.
Kuo-Chen Chou of the Gordon Life Sciences Institute and Shanghai Jiao Tong University tops the Hot Paper rankings, with 17 published since 2007 covering a variety of sequencing tools for predicting protein location. Thirteen of these reports were co-authored with another of the featured scientists, Hong-Bin Shen.
The list of 2008’s most-cited papers is striking for the prominence of physical-sciences reports in the top spots—especially those on iron-based superconductors, a topic that accounts for the number one paper and three others in the top ten. Theoretical physics, and specifically string theory, also registers strongly, with several papers examining recent refinements to M-theory.
The hottest research of 2007-08: read the full analysis
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Leading associations call for universities need to promote broader dissemination of research and scholarship – 16 Feb 2009
Four leading associations serving research universities – the Association of Research Libraries (ARL), the Association of American Universities (AAU), the Coalition for Networked Information (CNI), and the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges (NASULGC) – have issued a joint statement, ‘The University’s Role in the Dissemination of Research and Scholarship.’ The statement is a call to action for universities to ensure the broadest possible access to the products of their work.
The statement is an outgrowth of a roundtable discussion hosted by the four organisations that engaged provosts, chief research officers, chief information officers, senior faculty, and library and university press directors. These leaders identified a set of actions that should be taken to expand the dissemination of the full range of products of the university community’s research and scholarship. The call to action offers a broader vision for the university’s role and provides a series of recommended actions, both for campus leaders and for collective action by the university community.
The complete document, ‘The University’s Role in the Dissemination of Research and Scholarship—A Call to Action,’ is available online at http://www.arl.org/bm~doc/disseminating-research-feb09.pdf."
Source: Knowledgespeak Newsletter