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
Mr. Claude Bonnelly, former Director of Libraries at Université Laval, was named recipient of the CARL Award of Merit, which was presented at a special reception held during the 2008 IFLA General Conference in Quebec City. The award was made to Mr. Bonnelly in recognition of his exceptional leadership in the development of Canadian research libraries and librarianship through his publications and deep involvement over many years in numerous library organizations, including IFLA.
http://www.carl-abrc.ca/about/award/pdf/news_release_2008-1-e.pdf
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M. Claude Bonnelly, ancien directeur de la Bibliothèque de l’Université Laval, a été désigné lauréat du Prix du mérite de l’ABRC qui a été présenté à une réception spéciale pendant la tenue du congrès annuel de l’IFLA 2008 à Québec. Le prix a été remis à M. Bonnelly en reconnaissance de son leadership exceptionnel dans le développement des bibliothèques de recherche et de la bibliothéconomie au Canada par le biais de ses publications et de son profond engagement de longue date au sein de nombreuses associations de bibliothécaires, dont l’IFLA.
http://www.carl-abrc.ca/about/award/pdf/news_release_2008-1-f.pdf
NEWS / NOUVELLES
National Research Council joins WorldWideScience.org
RE$EARCH MONEY, Volume 22, Number 12, July 28, 2008
The National Research Council (NRC) has joined WorldWideScience.org, a multilateral alliance providing one-point access to global research information. The site allows for real-time searches of national scientific databases such as the NRC's Canada Institute for Scientific and Technical Information. The Alliance was formed at a meeting between 38 countries in Seoul.
Value of government laboratories hampered by outdated IP policies
RE$EARCH MONEY, Volume 22, Number 12, July 28, 2008
A new report lambastes the government for inadequate policies governing intellectual property (IP) flowing from federal science-based departments and agencies (SBDAs). Commissioned by Industry Canada, the report says current policies and procedures fail to support effective technology transfer or S&T collaboration while best practices are routinely ignored. Starved of resources to protect patents and lacking any central authority to oversee government practices, government scientists are not motivated to manage IP and recent data suggest invention disclosures are declining.
Reaction to proposed copyright reforms mixed
Derek Hill
Law Times, July 28, 2008
The reaction to bill C-61, the latest round of proposed reforms to Canada’s Copyright Act, introduced in the House of Commons in June by Industry Minister Jim Prentice, has varied — from little reaction at all to outrage over the bill’s anti-circumvention provisions. The bill has been heavily criticized for the lack of public consultation on the matter, as well for having given the appearance that it was the result of heavy lobbying by American media industries to replicate the U.S. Digital Millennium Copyright Act.
http://www.lawtimesnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4177&Itemid=82
First It Was Song Downloads. Now It’s Organic Chemistry.
Randall Stross
The New York Times, July 27, 2008
All forms of print publishing must contend with the digital transition, but college textbook publishing has a particularly nasty problem on its hands. College students may be the angriest group of captive customers to be found anywhere. Consider the cost of a legitimate copy of one of the textbooks listed at the Pirate Bay, John E. McMurry’s “Organic Chemistry.” A new copy has a list price of $209.95; discounted, it’s about $150; used copies run $110 and up.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/27/technology/27digi.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
Canadian Librarian and Archivist Elected New ICA President
July 25, 2008
Canadian librarian and archivist Ian Wilson has been elected the new president of the International Council on Archives (ICA) for a two-year term. Wilson was elected to replace Austrian Lorenze Mikoletzky, at the ongoing 16th International Council Congress on Archives (ICA) annual general meeting (AGM) in Kuala Lumpur. After been elected to the post, he said he would work at enhancing networking among the ICA countries.
http://www.bernama.com.my/bernama/v3/news.php?id=348479
Research Funding Agencies Commit to Strategic Directions for Canadian Common CV
July 23, 2008
The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) and Quebec's three research-funding agencies renewed their vision for the Canadian Common CV and reached an agreement to implement a new, long-term business plan. The plan is designed to leverage advances in information and communication technology for the benefit of researchers across Canada.
http://www.cihr-irsc.gc.ca/e/36723.html
Open access to large-scale drug discovery data
July 23, 2008
The Wellcome Trust has awarded £4.7 million (€5.8 million) to EMBL’s European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI) to support the transfer of a large collection of information on the properties and activities of drugs and a large set of drug-like small molecules from publicly listed company Galapagos NV to the public domain. It will be incorporated into the EMBL-EBI’s collection of open-access data resources for biomedical research and will be maintained by a newly established team of scientists at the EMBL-EBI. These data lie at the heart of translating information from the human genome into successful new drugs in the clinic.
http://www.ebi.ac.uk/Information/News/pdf/Press23July08.pdf
ARTICLES
Cuil, le moteur de recherche qui veut détrôner Google
Laurent Checola
Le Monde, 29 juillet 2008
Un champ de recherche sur un simple fond noir. Cuil, le nouveau moteur de recherche, lancé lundi 28 juillet, utilise la même sobriété que son concurrent, le leader mondial Google. Mais autoproclamé "plus gros moteur du monde", Cuil suscite déjà, comme son illustre prédécesseur, l'effervescence médiatique. Certainement parce que trois de ses fondateurs, Anna Patterson, Russell Power et Louis Monier, sont d'anciens cadres de Google et des spécialistes de la recherche sur Internet. Le quatrième, Tom Costello, PDG de Cuil, est quant à lui un ancien employé d'IBM.
http://www.lemonde.fr/technologies/article/2008/07/29/cuil-le-moteur-de-recherche-qui-veut-detroner-google_1078215_651865.html#ens_id=1078222
Better bibliometrics needed for greater accountability of research expenditures
Éric Archambault and Grégoire Côté
RE$EARCH MONEY, Volume 22, Number 12, July 28, 2008
Canada spends about $25 billion on R&D every year, of which $5 billion are public funds spent by the federal government alone. Compared to our relative benevolence at spending these sums, we are incredibly stingy when it comes to spending time and money to acquire hard data on the outputs and immediate impacts of science. The most cost-effective indicators of these outputs and impacts are scientometrics ("measurement of science") and technometrics ("measurement of technology") assessments based on bibliometric methods (i.e., counts of bibliographic records of, for example, papers or patents). However, these are seldom seen in the Canadian science policy and evaluation landscape.
Literacy Debate: Online, R U Really Reading?
Motoko Rich
The New York Times, July 27, 2008
At least since the invention of television, critics have warned that electronic media would destroy reading. Few who believe in the potential of the Web deny the value of books. But they argue that it is unrealistic to expect all children to read “To Kill a Mockingbird” or “Pride and Prejudice” for fun. Some Web evangelists say children should be evaluated for their proficiency on the Internet just as they are tested on their print reading comprehension. Starting next year, some countries will participate in new international assessments of digital literacy, but the United States, for now, will not.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/27/books/27reading.html
The Future of Science
Michael Nielsen, July 17, 2008
The adoption and growth of the scientific journal system has created a body of shared knowledge for our civilization, a collective long-term memory which is the basis for much of human progress. This system has changed surprisingly little in the last 300 years. The internet offers us the first major opportunity to improve this collective long-term memory, and to create a collective short-term working memory, a conversational commons for the rapid collaborative development of ideas. The process of scientific discovery - how we do science - will change more over the next 20 years than in the past 300 years.
http://michaelnielsen.org/blog/?p=448
Library of Congress: DRM a serious obstacle to archiving
Nate Anderson
Ars Technica, July 16, 2008
Libraries labor under most of the same rules that govern the rest of us, with a few key exceptions. But copyright law also hampers important work being done at places like the Library of Congress. One big issue is the exemption for published works in a library's collection; these can also be copied three times, but only to "replace a work in their collections that is damaged, deteriorating, lost or stolen or whose format has become obsolete." In other words, librarians can't backup or archive such works until destruction is well under way.
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080716-library-of-congress-drm-a-serious-obstacle-to-archiving.html
RESOURCES / RESSOURCES
WorldWideScience.org: The Global Science Gateway
WorldWideScience.org is a global science gateway connecting you to national and international scientific databases and portals. WorldWideScience.org accelerates scientific discovery and progress by providing one-stop searching of global science sources. The WorldWideScience Alliance, a multilateral partnership, provides the governance structure for WorldWideScience.org. Subsequent versions of WorldWideScience.org will make additional science information resources from many nations accessible via this portal.
http://worldwidescience.org/index.html
Digital Natives Series: Open Source Reality
Douglas Rushkoff
The Library of Congress Webcasts, June 30, 2008
Today's constantly evolving interactive technologies are having a profound impact on our culture, and the analog generation needs to look to its children to learn how to cope. According to new media and pop culture expert Douglas Rushkoff, the nation's youth have already adapted to the digital world's demands. The series seeks to understand the practices and culture of the digital natives and the implications for education at schools, universities and libraries.
http://www.loc.gov/today/cyberlc/feature_wdesc.php?rec=4348
Rapport du Comité information scientifique et technique (IST)
19 mai 2008
Le comité IST [France] est parti du constat suivant : l'accès à l'information scientifique et technique (IST), sa circulation et sa disponibilité sont des facteurs clés de l'efficacité de la recherche scientifique, de la compétitivité industrielle et du progrès social. Leur importance justifie donc l'attention que les pouvoirs publics portent à ce secteur et elle explique aussi le montant et la croissance spectaculaire des investissements consentis en sa faveur dans tous les pays développés. Pourtant, en France et à l'étranger, experts et acteurs concernés s'accordent à
reconnaître que la situation de l'IST n'est pas satisfaisante.
http://media.education.gouv.fr/file/2008/65/8/Rapport_IST-Juin_2008_31658.pdf
EVENTS / ÉVÉNEMENTS
SPARC Digital Repositories Meeting 2008
Baltimore, Maryland, November 17 – 18, 2008
Coming on the heels of two groundbreaking U.S. developments—a recent vote by Harvard’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences enabling the university to offer access to their articles in an institutional repository and implementation of a new National Institutes of Health public access policy—as well as unprecedented advancement in the international sphere over the past year, the meeting will enable stakeholders to explore next steps for the burgeoning open archiving movement. The program, developed by a diverse and expert program committee, will delve into four key areas: The Policy Environment, New Horizons, Campus Publishing Strategies, and Value-Added Services. These tracks will be supplemented with an Innovation Fair, where new technologies, strategies, and approaches will be highlighted, and a Practicum on marketing and advocacy.
http://www.arl.org/sparc/meetings/ir08/
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) 562-5297
E-mail / Courriel : ac.awattou|oprlrac#ac.awattou|oprlrac
www.carl-abrc.ca
