061308

E-lert / Cyberavis is a weekly alerting service commissioned for CARL Directors. Coverage is principally: research, innovation, scholarly publishing, scholarly communication, scholarly journals, electronic journals, copyright and access to published government information.

E-lert / Cyberavis est un service de signalement hebdomadaire à l'intention des membres de l'ABRC. Il porte principalement sur les domaines suivants: recherche, innovation, édition savante, communication savante, périodiques savants, périodiques électroniques, droit d’auteur et accès aux informations gouvernementales rendues publiques.

CARL COMMUNIQUE / COMMUNIQUÉ DE L’ABRC

Bill C-61, An Act to amend the Copyright Act, is large, complicated and detailed. In January 2008 the Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL) released a statement on “A Canadian Approach to Digital Copyright.” A key element of that statement was that “to compete nationally and internationally, researchers in Canada require a fair and balanced copyright regime that recognizes the importance of users’ rights. Users’ rights must not be limited or narrowed in the digital environment.”

http://www.carl-abrc.ca/new/pdf/copyright_bill_press_release-final-june2008-e.pdf

/

Le projet de loi C 61, Loi modifiant la Loi sur le droit d’auteur, est vaste, compliqué et détaillé. En janvier 2008, l’Association des bibliothèques de recherche du Canada (ABRC) a publié un énoncé intitulé «Approche canadienne du droit d’auteur à l’ère numérique». L’un des points principaux de cet énoncé était le suivant : «Pour être compétitifs aux niveaux national et international, les chercheurs canadiens ont besoin d’un régime du droit d’auteur honnête et équilibré qui reconnaît l’importance des droits des utilisateurs. À l’ère numérique, les droits des utilisateurs ne doivent pas être limités ni réduits.»

http://www.carl-abrc.ca/new/pdf/copyright_bill_press_release-final-june2008-f.pdf

The Board of the Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL) is pleased to announce the following CARL Committee and Working Group appointments:

· Ms. Lynn Copeland, University Librarian & Dean of Library Services, Simon Fraser University, Chair - Committee on Scholarly Communication

· Ms. Margaret Haines, University Librarian, Carleton University, Chair – Library Education Working Group

· Ms. Carol Hixson, University Librarian, University of Regina, Chair - Institutional Repositories Working Group

· Ms. Marnie Swanson, University Librarian, University of Victoria, Chair – Data Management Working Group

The Board would also like to thank the outgoing Chairs for the leadership they provided to their respective groups:

· Mr. Jean-Pierre Côté, Directeur général des bibliothèques, Université de Montréal, past Chair - Institutional Repositories Working Group

· Ms. Carolynne Presser, Director of Libraries, University of Manitoba, past Chair – Committee on Scholarly Communication and Data Management Working Group

· Dr. Vicki Williamson, University Librarian, University of Saskatchewan, past Chair – Library Education Working Group

/

Le Conseil d’administrateurs de l’Association des bibliothèques de recherche du Canada (ABRC) a le plaisir d’annoncer les suivantes nominations au Comités et Groupes de travail de l’ABRC :

· Mme Lynn Copeland, University Librarian & Dean of Library Services, Simon Fraser University, présidente – Comité sur la communication savante

· Mme Margaret Haines, University Librarian, Carleton University, présidente – Groupe de travail sur la formation en bibliothéconomie

· Mme Carol Hixson, University Librarian, University of Regina, présidente – Groupe de travail sur les dépôts institutionnels

· Mme Marnie Swanson, University Librarian, University of Victoria, présidente – Groupe de travail sur la gestion des données

Le Conseil d’administrateurs aimerait remercier les anciens présidents pour la direction qu’ils ont fourni à leurs groupes respectifs :

· M. Jean-Pierre Côté, Directeur général des bibliothèques, Université de Montréal, ancien président – Group de travail sur les dépôts institutionnels

· Mme Carolynne Presser, Director of Libraries, University of Manitoba, ancienne présidente – Comité sur la communication savante et Groupe de travail sur la gestion des données

· Mme Vicki Williamson, University Librarian, University of Saskatchewan, ancienne présidente – Groupe de travail sur la formation en bibliothéconomie

NEWS / NOUVELLES

Ottawa pénalisera le piratage illégal

Philippe Renaud

La Presse, 13 juin 2008

Après de nombreux délais, le ministre de l'Industrie, Jim Prentice, et la ministre du Patrimoine, Josée Verner, ont finalement déposé hier une proposition de modification à la Loi sur le droit d'auteur. Critiquée avant même sa présentation, la nouvelle proposition, si elle est adoptée à la prochaine session parlementaire, pénalisera désormais le téléchargement illégal sur l'Internet et facilitera les poursuites à l'endroit des contrevenants.

http://www.cyberpresse.ca/article/20080613/CPACTUALITES/806130802/1019/CPACTUALITES

Canada takes aim at digital pirates

Nick Lewis

Calgary Herald, June 13, 2008

Canadians who download music, movies, television shows and video games from the Internet could be subject to a $500 fine under a new proposal by the federal government. But the penalty for other infringements of copyright law, such as uploading those files or distributing copies of them, will be up to $20,000. The Conservative bill introduced to Parliament on Thursday seeks to bring Canada into the digital age through a number of reforms. The bill is being greeted with mixed reaction.

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/story.html?id=b5f0dc1a-0d92-425a-ac47-80b2e3edc771

Encyclopaedia Britannica To Follow Modified Wikipedia Model

Eliot Van Buskirk

Wired, June 9, 2008

In a bid to wed the comprehensive, grassroots information factory of Wikipedia with the authority of the traditional encyclopedia, Encyclopaedia Britannica is opening the floodgates for online user submissions into its 240-year-old publication — a move it long resisted and sniffed was akin to intellectual pollution. What Britannica wants to do, on the other hand, is create "a welcoming community for scholars, experts, and lay contributors," it said in an announcement last week.

http://blog.wired.com/business/2008/06/ency.html

Federal labs face increasingly challenging environment as they steps to measure and maximize benefits to Canada

RE$EARCH MONEY, Volume 22, Number 9, June 5, 2008

Efforts to enhance and measure the benefits of federal S&T are constrained by the current high-tech industrial landscape and a lack of tools for accurately measuring the impact of government labs in the economy and society. Perhaps the most vexing challenge is the difficulty in measuring the impact of federal S&T — a conundrum currently being tackled through several projects designed to generate new indicators and an overarching framework. Projects by the Policy Research Initiative (PRI) and Management Solutions Inc (MSI) are attempting to more accurately gauge the output of government laboratories by improving the measurement and reporting of their activities.

NSERC announces $535 million in new grants

RE$EARCH MONEY, Volume 22, Number 9, June 5, 2008

The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) has awarded $535 million to professors, young researchers and undergraduate students at 75 institutions across Canada. The awards include $398 million in grants to approximately 3,000 researchers under NSERC's bedrock Discovery Grants Program, $110 million to support 2,600 graduates students and 250 post-doctoral fellows and $15.6 million to 3,470 undergraduate students. More than 64% of the total went to 15 universities which received $343.3 million, led by the University of Toronto with $42.8 million.

Digital Libraries Initiative: Agreement between Cultural Institutions and Right Holders on Orphan Works

June 4, 2008

An agreement on copyright was signed today by libraries, archives and right holders, in the presence of Commissioner Viviane Reding. The Memorandum of Understanding on orphan works will help cultural institutions to digitise books, films and music whose authors are unknown, making them available to the public online.

http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/newsroom/cf/itemdetail.cfm?item_id=4145

GridTalk spreads the word on European grid computing

May 30, 2008

The web changed our lives for good by enabling information-sharing over the Internet. Now we have grids, which will ultimately turn the global network of computers into one vast computational resource. Grid computing is already revolutionizing the way data is analyzed, stored and shared. Helping to take grid communications to the next level is GridTalk, a recently-started innovative project, which is co-funded by the European Commission under its Seventh Framework Programme.

http://ec.europa.eu/research/infocentre/article_en.cfm?id=/research/headlines/news/article_08_05_30_en.html&item=Information%20society&artid=7297

Canadian Library Association Position Statement on Open Access for Canadian Libraries

May 21, 2008

Whereas connecting users with the information they need is one of the library's most essential functions, and access to information is one of librarianship's most cherished values, therefore CLA recommends that Canadian libraries of all types strongly support and encourage open access.

http://www.cla.ca/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Position_Statements&Template=/CM/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=5306

ARTICLES

The Last Professors

Scott Jaschick

Inside Higher Ed, June 11, 2008

Two much-discussed trends in academe — the adoption of corporate values and the decline in the percentage of faculty jobs that are on the tenure track — are closely linked and require joint examination. That is the thesis of a new book, The Last Professors: The Corporate University and the Fate of the Humanities, just published by Fordham University Press. Frank Donoghue, the author, is associate professor of English at Ohio State University. Donoghue recently responded to e-mail questions about the themes of his book.

http://insidehighered.com/news/2008/06/11/lastprofs

Is Google Making Us Stupid?

Nicholas Carr

Atlantic Monthly, July/August 2008

The author of this article reflects on the ways Internet usage may be affecting the way people today approach reading. Although he acknowledges the benefits of the Internet allowing for “research that once required days in the stacks or periodical rooms of libraries” to be done in minutes, he remains skeptical suggesting that it also tends to scatter our attention and diffuse our concentration.

http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/print/200807/google

Finished With Your Exam? Good. Now Share It.

Andy Guess

Inside Higher Ed, June 10, 2008

Give us a test — any old test — and we’ll give you a $5 Starbucks coffee card. If that sounds like a surprisingly blunt quid pro quo, it’s consistent with the purpose of the site, called PostYourTest.com, which encourages students to upload tests and exams from their courses — anonymously, if they want — for others to find and download. The concept has already aroused suspicion and concern among some faculty members at UCSD, where many of the posted tests originated, and seems to run afoul of both traditionally accepted norms of academic integrity and, potentially, copyright law.

http://insidehighered.com/news/2008/06/10/postyourtest

Transparency needed on ACTA

Michael Geist

Toronto Star, June 9, 2008

Last week, Canadian negotiators huddled with representatives from the United States, Europe and Japan at the U.S. Mission in Geneva to negotiate the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA). The ACTA, shrouded in secrecy until a leaked summary of the agreement appeared on the Internet last month, has sparked widespread opposition as Canadians worry about the prospect of a trade deal that could lead to invasive searches of personal computers and increased surveillance of online activities.

http://www.thestar.com/sciencetech/article/439551

Are Google, Yahoo the next dinosaurs?

Leslie Cauley

USA Today, June 9, 2008

Charles Darwin famously declared that "natural selection" was Mother Nature's way of improving a species so it could advance. Internet search engines are locked in their own Darwinian drama. Depending how it turns out, desktop brands such as Google (GOOG) and Yahoo (YHOO) could become sturdier versions of themselves, ensuring survival as more people bolt for the mobile Web. Or they could become the Dodo birds of the Net — outclassed by a new generation of rivals.

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/products/services/2008-06-09-mobile-search_N.htm

Bits, Bands and Books

Paul Krugman

The New York Times, June 6, 2008

Do you remember what it was like back in the old days when we had a New Economy? In the 1990s, jobs were abundant, oil was cheap and information technology was about to change everything. Then the technology bubble popped. So much, then, for the digital revolution? Not so fast. The predictions of ’90s technology gurus are coming true more slowly than enthusiasts expected — but the future they envisioned is still on the march.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/06/opinion/06krugman.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

Strengthening Canada's science culture

Dr. Arthur Carty

RE$EARCH MONEY, Volume 22, Number 9, June 5, 2008

Canada's ambivalence towards science and technology and our failure to recognize the centrality of science and technology in and to society can be traced to the lack of a strong embedded science culture. We have some serious challenges ahead of us and science is a key element and driver for all of the changes needed. Competition for knowledge workers – particularly bright people with a strong background in science and technology – is severe and will only increase.

Future of reading is taken to extremes

Russell Smith

Globe and Mail, June 5, 2008

The discussion of the future of the book in the digital age continues to preoccupy the literary classes. Two extreme positions tend to dominate: Either the digitization of everything will lead to a golden age of reading and knowledge, or it will result in a crass bazaar of entertainment products that devastates the precious copyright that artists require to earn an income.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080605.wrussell05/BNStory/Technology

RESOURCES / RESSOURCES

Canadian Copyright Law: A Consumer White Paper

Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic (CIPPIC), June 2008

Copyright law is designed to balance the interests of creators with the interests of the public. Copyright grants creators exclusive rights in their works as a reward for creativity that also serves as an incentive for the creation of new works. These rights are not absolute, but limited in nature, scope and time. These limits are essential to copyright’s greater design, for it is at the limits of copyright owners’ rights that important consumer interests come into play.

http://www.cippic.ca/uploads/Consumers_Copyright_White_Paper-EN.pdf

New Tools Promote Wider Sharing of Research for Scholars across Disciplines

June 10, 2008

The Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL), the Association of Research Libraries (ARL), and SPARC (Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition) have released a new series of bookmarks in the Create Change campaign, which targets scholars in different disciplines with messages about the benefits of wider research sharing. Librarians can use these freely available files to enhance their efforts to engage faculty interest in changing the way scholarly information is shared.

http://www.arl.org/sparc/media/08-0610.shtml

To Share or not to Share: Publication and Quality Assurance of Research Data Outputs

Research Information Network (RIN), June 2008

This report presents the findings from a study of whether or not researchers do in fact make their research data available to others, and the issues they encounter when doing so. The study is set in a context where the amount of digital data being created and gathered by researchers is increasing rapidly; and there is a growing recognition by researchers, their employers and their funders of the potential value in making new data available for sharing, and in curating them for re-use in the long term.

http://www.rin.ac.uk/data-publication

Digital preservation of e-journals in 2008: Urgent Action revisited

Results from a Portico/Ithaka Survey of U.S. Library Directors

In September 2005, library directors from 17 universities and colleges met to discuss the current state of electronic journal preservation and endorsed a statement calling for "Urgent Action" to preserve scholarly e-journals. Over two years later in January 2008, Portico and Ithaka invited 1,371 library directors of four-year colleges and universities in the United States to respond to a survey examining current perspectives on the preservation of e-journals. This survey finds widespread agreement that the potential loss of e-journals is unacceptable, and a significant majority of library directors believe their own institution has a responsibility to take action to prevent an intolerable loss of the scholarly record.

http://www.portico.org/comment/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/porticosurveyondigitalpreservation.pdf

A Comparative Study of e-Journal Archiving Solutions

Terry Morrow et al, May 2008

This report is the result of a call by the JISC, issued in January 2008, for a Comparative Study of e-Journal Archiving Solutions. Although there are many obvious benefits that accrue from publishing and accessing academic papers through the internet, there are costs and challenges associated with long term preservation and access which urgently need to be addressed. Finding solutions to these is the shared responsibility of all in the information chain, including authors, publishers, repository managers, librarians, subscription agents and aggregators.

http://www.jisc-collections.ac.uk/media/documents/jisc_collections/reports/e_journals_archiving_%20solutions_report_final_080518.pdf

Scholarly Electronic Publishing Bibliography

Version 72, June 9, 2008

Version 72 of the Scholarly Electronic Publishing Bibliography is now available from Digital Scholarship. This selective bibliography presents over 3,250 articles, books, and other printed and electronic sources that are useful in understanding scholarly electronic publishing efforts on the Internet. This version adds hundreds of links to freely available journal articles from publishers as well as to e-prints of published articles housed in disciplinary archives and institutional repositories. All article references were checked for the availability of such free content.

http://www.digital-scholarship.org/sepb/sepb.html

EVENTS / ÉVÉNEMENTS

Input wanted on the future of academic libraries

ACRL Research Planning and Review Committee (RPRC)

ALA Annual Conference Anaheim, California, June 29, 2008

Each year, the ACRL Research Planning and Review Committee (RPRC) provides input to the Board of Directors on the “Assumptions About the Relevant Future for Research and Academic Librarians and Libraries” report and the annual ACRL Environmental Scan. Come to the RPRC Open Forum on Annual Assumptions at the 2008 ALA Annual Conference to voice your opinions. The forum will be held Sunday, June 29 from 4:00 to 5:00 p.m. in the Oceanside Room of Disney’s Paradise Pier Hotel.

The First World Summit on the Knowledge Society

Athens, Greece, September 24-28, 2008

The World Summit on the Knowledge Society will bring together Academics, People from Industry, Policy Makers, Politicians, Government Officers and active citizens to look at the impact of Information Technology, and the knowledge-based era it is creating, on key facets of today’s world: the state, business, society and culture.

http://knowledge-summit.org/

Diego Argáez

Research Officer / Agent de recherche

Canadian Association of Research Libraries / Association des bibliothèques de recherche du Canada

Room / Pièce 238, Pavillon Morisset Hall, 65 University Private

Ottawa, Ontario K1N 9A5

Phone / Téléphone : (613) 562-5800 ext. 2427

Fax / Télécopieur : (613) 562-5195

E-mail / Courriel : ac.awattou|oprlrac#ac.awattou|oprlrac

www.carl-abrc.ca

Unless otherwise stated, the content of this page is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License