October 2005 - LIS-Forum - ncsi.iisc.ernet.in

Fw: Resignation of IFLA Secretary General
by JK Vijayakumar 28 May '06

28 May '06

Magda Bouwens <Magda.Bouwens(a)ifla.nl> wrote: Date: Wed, 08 Dec 2004 15:38:05 +0100 From: "Magda Bouwens" To: Subject: Resignation of IFLA Secretary General It is with great regret that IFLA announces that the Secretary General, Mr Ramachandran, has resigned for personal reasons effective 31 December 2004. IFLA is very grateful to him for his service to the Federation during his tenure of the post. Drawing on his wide experience gained during a distinguished career in librarianship in Singapore and Southeast Asia, Mr Ramachandran brought new perspectives to IFLA which have enhanced the planning processes. IFLA wishes Mr Ramachandran well in his future endeavours and thanks him for his contributions to global librarianship. Kay Raseroka IFLA President __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail - Helps protect you from nasty viruses. http://promotions.yahoo.com/new_mail

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OA for developing countries and public health
by Subbiah Arunachalam 01 Nov '05

01 Nov '05

The case for OA is powerfully argued in an article in PLoS Pathology. Arun ---- OA for developing countries and public health Josefina Coloma and Eva Harris, Open-Access Science: A Necessity for Global Public Health, PLoS Pathogens, October 2005. Excerpt: The world of scientific research and scholarly publishing is undergoing a profound transformation in large part due to the rapid development of information and communication technologies. The Internet and the advent of faster networking capabilities now allow virtually unlimited access to information, remote data gathering, real-time integration of data into databases and models, and online purchasing of research supplies. At the same time, it has opened new possibilities for researchers to communicate with colleagues and with the society in general. However, although some investigators in the developing world are keeping pace with this new reality, the majority are largely excluded from this transformation because of their limited access to scientific information. Particularly relevant to the area of pathogen research, the vast majority of infectious diseases in humans, animals, and plants occurs in the developing world, and efficient communication between local scientists in developing countries and the global community will facilitate advances in knowledge and control of these pathogens. Here we discuss open access and socially responsible philosophies in relation to scientific training, publishing, and intellectual property, and give examples of how we can help keep the developing world fully informed about these new models....In the developing world, scientists face a greater challenge to remain informed about the progress in their fields of research. Although they are disproportionately affected by infectious diseases, they are excluded from the relevant information that might help them cure, control, and manage the effects of these diseases....The first principle we should all support is that publicly funded research should be made publicly available through the most appropriate open-access channel. Funding agencies and reviewers need to give researchers credit, not penalize them, for efforts to publish in new open-access media. Even with strict peer review, new electronic journals will not immediately attain the same impact status as traditional print journals, but they will have a greater reach and a larger global influence. In fact, it has been shown that online accessibility increases the citation rate and, thus, the impact of a journal by 157%. This new online publishing venue might be the only way that scientists in the developing world conducting highly relevant research can make their data available to the world. It might also be the only means for them to obtain the most recent and relevant information for their research....We believe the whole spectrum of scientific endeavor should be as open access as possible, from training in laboratory and epidemiological techniques, proposal writing, and manuscript-writing skills to open-access publishing and socially responsible intellectual property policies. In this way, a new door of opportunity can be opened so that the fruits of our scientific breakthroughs are disseminated worldwide and benefit global public health.

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(no subject)
by Subbiah Arunachalam 01 Nov '05

01 Nov '05

Friends: Here is one reason why we need to promote open access WORLDWIDE. Escalating prices of journals have led to cancellations of subscriptions even in affluent libraries. But physicists are by and large not affected because many of them adopted open access about 15 years ago! Arun ---- >From Peter Suber's blog of 31 October 2005 More on the pricing crisis Anna Norman, Cost of scientific journals 'staggering', The Daily (newspaper of the University of Washington at Seattle), October 31, 2005. Excerpt: Every quarter, students wonder how to pay for expensive textbooks. The rising costs of scientific and scholarly journals is creating the same problem for the UW libraries, said Timothy Jewell, head of Collection Management Services, which manages research databases and scholarly journals...."The prices of [the journals] are just staggering," said UW President Mark Emmert. "If you went down a list of some of these major journals, you would see series with four issues a year for over $8,000."...Jewell cited publisher consolidation as the primary reason for soaring prices. "A lot of the smaller publishers have been bought out by large, multinational corporations," he said. "The largest scientific, technical and health journal publisher, Elsevier, has been overtaking publishers for the last 10 years or so." With fewer companies dominating the market, journal prices have risen exponentially Despite an estimated 7 to 8 percent increase each year aimed at journal costs, the libraries' budget isn't keeping up with escalating expenses, Jewell said. "In years that we can't find the necessary funding to pay, we have to cancel our subscriptions to stay in budget," he said....Although the library staff has increased funding, there is no end to cancellations in sight, said Mel DeSart, head of the Engineering Library. "I've only been here for five and a half years, and I've already been through two cancellations," he said. "They are substantial cuts - we've cut thousands of titles over the last ten years."...Without major changes in the academic publishing market, Jewell said he isn't sure where the libraries will be a few years from now.

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ICSU calls for open access
by Subbiah Arunachalam 01 Nov '05

01 Nov '05

Friends: Here is a news report from SciDevNet. http://www.scidev.net/News/index.cfm?fuseaction=readNews&itemid=2435&langua… Arun ---- Global forum for free sharing of research data planned Wu Chong 24 October 2005 Source: SciDev.Net [SUZHOU] A forum to promote the free exchange of information in the global scientific community was proposed last week at the annual meeting of the International Council for Science (ICSU). The International Scientific Data and Information Forum or SciDIF would help ensure that scientists in poor countries can access information as easily as those in the North, said Roberta Balstad, chair of the ICSU Priority Area Assessment on Data and Information. Balsted stressed, however, that the forum is "only an idea so far". To take things further, ICSU will set up a committee that during the next three years will define how the forum should work. An ICSU report published on 20 October raises some of the issues. It recommends that all scientific data, whether produced commercially or through public-private partnership, should be provided free or at low cost for research and education purposes in both developed and developing countries. One way to make this possible, says Shuichi Iwata of the ICSU Committee on Data for Science and Technology (CODATA), would be through an open-access database. According to the report, the poor access scientists in low-income countries have to scientific publications makes it difficult for them to learn about research in other parts of the world, and to find an outlet for their own research results. Also, not all researchers in Africa and other poor regions have access to computers, says Balstad. Even those who have computers at research institutes face "exorbitant" costs in accessing information through the Internet and must put up with an unstable electric supply, said David Mbah, executive secretary of the Cameroon Academy of Sciences. Balstad also said it was also important for researchers in developed countries to be able to access information produced in developing countries. "Scientists in poorer countries can seldom build a strong digital database to facilitate the flow of information," she said. "So we place great emphasis on extending new technology, training and capability building in developing countries." Related SciDev.Net articles: Global disaster research programme launched International Council for Science opens Africa office UN meeting urged to back open access science Open access archiving: an idea whose time has come?

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Bangalore University Library Website
by Dr.P.V.Konnur 30 Oct '05

30 Oct '05

Dear Friends, Best wishes for Happy Diwali on behalf of Librarian and Staff of Bangalore University Library. I am happy to inform you all that, we have launched our Website on the Internet (for trial) today. You may access the same through the fallowing URL: http://202.141.128.125/index.htm Many of the links are yet to be connected. I desire to take your advise before I finalise my website. You can access the UGC-Infonet online journals and also search the Library online catalogue through the website. Your suggestions are most valuable to us. Please do not hesitate to criticise also, which will correct us effectively. Thanks, Konnur. Dr.P.V.Konnur, University Librarian, Bangalore University Library, Jnana Bharathi, Bangalore-560 056 Phone: o8o-22961131, 080-23215510 __________________________________ Yahoo! FareChase: Search multiple travel sites in one click. http://farechase.yahoo.com

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China wants be the cleverest
by Subbiah Arunachalam 29 Oct '05

29 Oct '05

Friends: Here is something very interesting. Sundar Sarukkai and Anitha may forward this to all participants of the NIAS conference on India's competitiveness and preparedness. This step is probably the result of the discussions the political leaders have been having with academics like Prof. Xue Lan, the public policy professor at Tshinghua University, which I mentioned in my talk. Thanks. Arun China's next great leap is to be the cleverest country By Howard French in Shanghai October 29, 2005 China wants to transform its top universities into the world's best within a decade, and is spending billions of dollars to woo big-name scholars and build first-class research laboratories in the latest bid to raise the country's profile as a great power. Having already pulled off one of the most remarkable expansions of education in modern times, increasing the number of undergraduates and people who hold doctoral degrees fivefold in 10 years, this latest model is simple. Recruit top foreign-trained Chinese and Chinese-American specialists, set them up in well-equipped labs, surround them with the brightest students and give them tremendous leeway. China is focusing on science and technology, areas that reflect the country's development needs but also reflect the preferences of an authoritarian system that restricts speech. The liberal arts often involve critical thinking about politics, economics and history, and China's government, which strictly limits public debate, has placed relatively little emphasis on achieving international status in those subjects. In fact, Chinese say - most often euphemistically and indirectly - that those very restrictions on academic debate could hamper efforts to create world-class universities. Nonetheless, the new confidence about entering the world's educational elite is heard among politicians and university administrators, students and professors. "Maybe in 20 years MIT will be studying Qinghua's example," said Rao Zihe, director of the Institute of Biophysics at Qinghua University, an institution that is renowned for its sciences and is regarded by many as China's finest university. "How long it will take to catch up can't be predicted, but in some respects we are already better than the Harvards today." When Andrew Chi-chih Yao, a Princeton professor who is recognised as one of the top computer scientists in the US, was approached by Qinghua University in Beijing last year to lead an advanced computer studies program, he did not hesitate. It did not matter that he would be leaving one of America's top universities for one that is little known outside China, or that after his birth in Shanghai, he was raised in Taiwan and spent his entire academic career in the US. He felt he could contribute to his fast-rising homeland. "Patriotism does have something to do with it, because I just cannot imagine going anywhere else, even if the conditions were equal," said Yao, who is 58. In only a generation, China has sharply increased the proportion of its college-age population in higher education, to roughly 20per cent now from 1.4per cent in 1978. But only Beijing University and a few other top Chinese institutions have been internationally recognised as superior. The biggest weakness, many Chinese academics indicated, is the lack of academic freedom. "The greatest thing we've done in the last 20 years is lift 200 million people out of poverty," said Xu Tian, a leading geneticist who teaches at Yale. "What China has not realised yet, though, if it truly wants to go to the next level, is to understand that numbers are not enough. "We need a new revolution to get us away from a culture that prizes becoming government officials. We must learn to reward real innovation, independent thought and genuine scholarly work." The New York Times Friends: Here is something very interesting. Sundar Sarukkai and Anitha may forward this to all participants of the NIAS conference on India's competitiveness and preparedness. This step is probably the result of the discussions the political leaders have been having with academics like Prof. Xue Lan, the public policy professor at Tshinghua University, which I mentioned in my talk. Thanks. Arun China's next great leap is to be the cleverest country By Howard French in Shanghai October 29, 2005 China wants to transform its top universities into the world's best within a decade, and is spending billions of dollars to woo big-name scholars and build first-class research laboratories in the latest bid to raise the country's profile as a great power. Having already pulled off one of the most remarkable expansions of education in modern times, increasing the number of undergraduates and people who hold doctoral degrees fivefold in 10 years, this latest model is simple. Recruit top foreign-trained Chinese and Chinese-American specialists, set them up in well-equipped labs, surround them with the brightest students and give them tremendous leeway. China is focusing on science and technology, areas that reflect the country's development needs but also reflect the preferences of an authoritarian system that restricts speech. The liberal arts often involve critical thinking about politics, economics and history, and China's government, which strictly limits public debate, has placed relatively little emphasis on achieving international status in those subjects. In fact, Chinese say - most often euphemistically and indirectly - that those very restrictions on academic debate could hamper efforts to create world-class universities. Nonetheless, the new confidence about entering the world's educational elite is heard among politicians and university administrators, students and professors. "Maybe in 20 years MIT will be studying Qinghua's example," said Rao Zihe, director of the Institute of Biophysics at Qinghua University, an institution that is renowned for its sciences and is regarded by many as China's finest university. "How long it will take to catch up can't be predicted, but in some respects we are already better than the Harvards today." When Andrew Chi-chih Yao, a Princeton professor who is recognised as one of the top computer scientists in the US, was approached by Qinghua University in Beijing last year to lead an advanced computer studies program, he did not hesitate. It did not matter that he would be leaving one of America's top universities for one that is little known outside China, or that after his birth in Shanghai, he was raised in Taiwan and spent his entire academic career in the US. He felt he could contribute to his fast-rising homeland. "Patriotism does have something to do with it, because I just cannot imagine going anywhere else, even if the conditions were equal," said Yao, who is 58. In only a generation, China has sharply increased the proportion of its college-age population in higher education, to roughly 20per cent now from 1.4per cent in 1978. But only Beijing University and a few other top Chinese institutions have been internationally recognised as superior. The biggest weakness, many Chinese academics indicated, is the lack of academic freedom. "The greatest thing we've done in the last 20 years is lift 200 million people out of poverty," said Xu Tian, a leading geneticist who teaches at Yale. "What China has not realised yet, though, if it truly wants to go to the next level, is to understand that numbers are not enough. "We need a new revolution to get us away from a culture that prizes becoming government officials. We must learn to reward real innovation, independent thought and genuine scholarly work." The New York Times http://www.smh.com.au/weekend http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/chinas-next-great-leap-is-to-be-the-clever…

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Corporate Card
by Monali Panchbhai 28 Oct '05

28 Oct '05

Dear Friends, I would like to know if any of our professionals are using corporate card for online purchasing. If then can Please guide me if there are any rules for the same, if anyone wants to have that for library on whose name it should be who should have control over it who is responsible of that generally who all are the authorised for same how it can be misused how to restrict any misuse what all cares should be taken while using the same also update me on any other information which you think will be helpful for me. Thanks to all of you, HAPPY DIWALI & PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR Regards, Monali Panchbhai Sr. Executive - Library & Documentation Odyssey Capital Pvt Ltd Mumbai

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UGC NET - LIS
by Saji S. Nair 28 Oct '05

28 Oct '05

Dear All, Dear All, These days, there is a sharp decline in the number of students clearing UGC NET for JRF/Lectureship in Library and Information Science. In many Universities, not even a single candidate is qualified in many occasions. Is this because of the lack of quality of LIS education in India OR UGC�s hard-line attitude towards this profession? It is a fact that job prospects our field, especially in the teaching arena is not at all encouraging. In such a situation, Why UGC is enforcing strict rules to restrict the qualified candidates? Regards Saji Trivandrum Kerala Join Excite! - http://www.excite.com http://www.excite.com The most personalized portal on the Web!

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Scientific data circulation in an open environment
by Subbiah Arunachalam 28 Oct '05

28 Oct '05

Friends: we have open source software and open access to full texts of research papers. Now we have free data circulation in an open environment! "Free scientific data circulation within an open environment" - an interview with L. Romary, head of the newly created Scientific Information Directorate of the French National Center for Scientific Research. http://www.inist.fr/openaccess/article.php3?id_article=118 A brief interview available on INIST/CNRS website dedicated to the Open Access to scientific data issues. Arun

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Co-operation projects between India and Germany
by Seth, Renu 28 Oct '05

28 Oct '05

Dear Colleagues, I need to know, if you are aware of any partnership projects between India and Germany. E.g. between Indian and German libraries, Library Science Departments, Exchange programmes, or any other kind of continued co-operation between Indian and German Library and Information Science field. I am not refering to one time co-operation but a programme which is continuing for some time or will continue in future. I need this information urgently. In case you are aware of any such programmes, please get back to me as soon as possible. Any help in this regard is highly appreciated. With best regards Renu Seth Librarian In-Charge Max Mueller Bhavan Regional Information Centre & Library 3, Kasturba Gandhi Marg New Delhi 110001 Telephone +91-11-23329506 librarian.mmb(a)delhi.goethe.org www.goethe.de/newdelhi

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