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Taking science to rural communities
by Mailing List Manager 13 Mar '06

13 Mar '06

Date: Mon, 13 Mar 2006 07:45:02 +0530 From: Subbiah Arunachalam <arun(a)mssrf.res.in> Friends: Getting science and technology to the farmers and rural communities is an area India is also interested in. And Prof. M S Swaminathan, the architect of India's Green Revolution in the 1960s and currently Chairman of India's Farmers Commission, is spearheading the effort in India. Two years ago he was instrumental in setting up MISSION 2007: Every Village a Knowledge Centre, which aims at much more than merely connecting villages through computers, telecom and the Internet; it is truly a holistic development programme that goes far beyond connectivity, taking care of capcity building, content creation, empowering people through access to knowledge, skills and credit. The President of India, His Excellency Dr Abdul Kalam is keen to modernise rural India by providing rural communities with urban amenities, including communication infrastructure and quality education. Above all, like the Chinese professor (Li Ying Sheng) has realised in the Chinese context, the Indian programme is based on people's particiaption. Arun [Subbiah Arunachalam] Get a good bargain? Chinese farmers surf Internet to sell oranges Surfing Internet at desk has become a daily routine for Luo Mingjun, a 52-year-old farmer in southwest China's Sichuan Province, though he is still clumsy with the mouse. People may be surprised to learn the farmer got a good bargain selling oranges through the Internet in November. However, observers of rural China said the number of farmers like Luo is growing. Farmers in the relatively rich villages along the coastline have been seeking agricultural technologies and market information via the Internet, although computers and the Internet are still novelties for most of China's 900 million farmers. The central government has decided to step up the construction of an information network in rural areas and provide access to telephone for every village and access to the Internet for every town in the coming five years. Luo Mingjun, the owner of an orange orchard of two hectares, got a Pentium III computer as a prize from the county government of Pengshan to encourage the plantation of oranges. Last year, Luo happened to find a strong national market demand for oranges while surfing the Internet. He spread the message among local farmers, who then consolidated their position and successfully raised the wholesale price from 7 U.S. cents per kg to 15 cents. "We made a good deal thanks to the information on the Internet, " Luo said. Luo said villagers were very grateful to him, and some were considering buying their own computers. "We offer farmers computers in the hope that they can enjoy and benefit from information technology. They act as bellwethers and others will follow suit," Li Wanwen, director of the bureau of science and technology in Pengshan. Pengshan County has set up a website, www.pengshan.net, to market its farm produce. Oranges of the county have become popular on the market with the advertisement on the website. However, Li said some remote villages in the county do not even have access to telephones, much less the Internet. "We are planning to deal with it in the near future," he said. In Kaixian County of southwest China's Chongqing Municipality, farmers receive short messages on agricultural technology and information on their mobile phones from the local government. However, among the 111 million netizens in China, only a small percentage are farmers. There are 9,200 computers in Pengshan County that are connected to the Internet, but only 156 belong to farmers, according to Li Wanwen. "The central government has realized that it is almost impossible to build a new socialist countryside without the participation of farmers, who are the owners of villages," said Li Yingsheng, professor with China People's University. "To arm farmers with science and technology is key to the success of the campaign of building a new countryside," the professor said. Source: Xinhua

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Future of online publishing
by vimal kumar 11 Mar '06

11 Mar '06

Does online publishing signal the end of the newspaper? Jeffrey Cole, Director of the Center for the Digital Future, and Simon Levene of Yahoo debate the issue. BBC radio documentary now available at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/1478157.stm Vimal Kumar Asian School of Business Technopark Trivandrum-695 581 vimal0212(a)yahoo.com --------------------------------- Yahoo! Mail Bring photos to life! New PhotoMail makes sharing a breeze. Does online publishing signal the end of the newspaper? Jeffrey Cole , Director of the Center for the Digital Future, and Simon Levene of Yahoo debate the issue. BBC radio documentary now available at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/1478157.stm Vimal Kumar Asian School of Business Technopark Trivandrum-695 581 vimal0212(a)yahoo.com Yahoo! Mail Bring photos to life! http://pa.yahoo.com/*http://us.rd.yahoo.com/evt=39174/*http://photomail.mai… New PhotoMail makes sharing a breeze.

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An all-OA academic press
by arun＠mssrf.res.in 10 Mar '06

10 Mar '06

Friends: An American university has launched an all open access publishing programme. Will Indian universities be bold enough to adopt OA for its entire publication output? Should not taxpayers demand it? Should not the Knowledge Commission recommend it? Arun [Subbiah Arunachalam] ----------------------- >From Peter Suber's blog U of Tennessee libraries launch all-OA academic press Newfound Press is a new digital imprint from the University of Tennessee University Libraries. All its publications will be OA. >From the site: Todays scholarly publishing environment presents a strategic opportunity for academic libraries to expand their role in the publications process. Universities are both creators and consumers in the information economy. A digital library press offers the potential for making scholarly and specialized resources widely available at a reasonable cost. The University of Tennessee Libraries is developing a framework to make scholarly and specialized works available worldwide. Newfound Press, the University Libraries digital imprint, advances the community of learning by experimenting with effective and open systems of scholarly communication. Drawing on the resources that the university has invested in digital library development, Newfound Press collaborates with authors and researchers to bring new forms of publication to an expanding scholarly universe. We consider manuscripts in all disciplines, encompassing scientific research, humanistic scholarship, and artistic creation. It will publish OA journals as well as OA books and OA multimedia scholarship. It only asks for non-exclusive rights from authors and offers CC licenses as an option. It works in partnership with the University of Tennessee institutional repository. And it links to Open Access News from the front page --from the phrase, Open Access. What's in it for us? PS: Kudos to the UT librarians! I wish this enterprise well and hope other universities consider testing the same waters. Update. Also see Scott Teague's article about the launch in the Daily Beacon Online.

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Mandating OA for publicly funded research
by arun＠mssrf.res.in 10 Mar '06

10 Mar '06

A South African librarian has called for government to mandate open access to publicly funded research as a more democratic, cost-effective and strategic intervention to promote South African science. Will the National Knowledge Commission of India and the Scientific Advisory Council to the Prime Minister be bold enough to recommend (and implement) such a step in India? Arun [Subbiah Arunachalam] ------------------------ >From Peter Suber's blog The case for OA, especially in South Africa Allison Moller, The case for open access publishing, with special reference to open access journals and their prospects in South Africa, Masters thesis, Department of Library and Information Science, University of the Western Cape (South Africa), 2006. Abstract: Open access publishing is an initiative that aims to provide universal, unrestricted free access to full-text scholarly materials via the Internet. This presents a radically different approach to the dissemination of research articles that has traditionally been controlled by the publishing enterprise that regulates access by means of subscriptions and licences fees levied on users, predominantly academic libraries. In presenting the case for open access publishing, the thesis explores the contemporary research environment, changing modes of knowledge production, the problems associated with the existing academic journal system, and the subsequent growth of the open access movement as an intervention to reclaim scientific communication. It highlights the ways in which open access better answers the requirements of researchers, funders, governments, and society more broadly. Free access to publicly funded scientific research is more democratic and is necessary for knowledge dissemination and production in a knowledge economy, particularly for developing countries such as South Africa. Attention is drawn to the ways that open access intersects with the ethical norms guiding the practice of research, with the idea of information as a public good, and with other parallel initiatives that resist the enclosure of knowledge through excessive copyright legislation. The study also closely interrogates the economic viability of open access journals, and shows how the author pays model represents a reasonable approach, but by no means the only one available to publishers considering the transition to open access. Sections are also devoted to examining the impact potential of open access articles and the ways in which open access journals can achieve greater permanence. The main research question centres on the feasibility of open access journals becoming widespread within the South African research system. The study presents the findings of an investigation undertaken to assess the current awareness, concerns and depth of support for open access amongst South African stakeholders. Separate questionnaires were distributed to government departments, research councils, research funders, research managers within universities and a sample of published authors from biomedical fields. The conclusion recommends proactive engagement by faculty librarians and organized advocacy on the part of LIASA to promote the cause of open access within South Africa. It further calls for government to mandate open access to publicly funded research as a more democratic, cost-effective and strategic intervention to promote South African science. The gains to be won are particularly relevant for present challenges: training a new generation of researchers and scholars, and stimulating knowledge production and its subsequent application to solve the nations developmental needs.

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Calling for OA to publicly-funded data
by arun＠mssrf.res.in 10 Mar '06

10 Mar '06

>From Peter Suber's blog Calling for OA to publicly-funded geospatial data in the UK Charles Arthur and Michael Cross, Give us back our crown jewels, The Guardian, March 9, 2006. (Thanks to Glyn Moody.) Excerpt: Imagine you had bought this newspaper for a friend. Imagine you asked them to tell you what's in the TV listings - and they demanded cash before they would tell you. Outrageous? Certainly. Yet that is what a number of government agencies are doing with the data that we, as taxpayers, pay to have collected on our behalf. You have to pay to get a useful version of that data. Think of Ordnance Survey's (OS) mapping data: useful to any business that wanted to provide a service in the UK, yet out of reach of startup companies without deep pockets. This situation prevails across a number of government agencies. Its effects are all bad. It stifles innovation, enterprise and the creativity that should be the lifeblood of new business. And that is why Guardian Technology today launches a campaign - Free Our Data. The aim is simple: to persuade the government to abandon copyright on essential national data, making it freely available to anyone, while keeping the crucial task of collecting that data in the hands of taxpayer-funded agencies. One government makes the data it collects available free to all: the United States. It is no accident that it is also the country that has seen the rise of multiple mapping services (such as Google Maps, Microsoft's MapPoint and Yahoo Maps) and other services - "mashups" - that mesh government-generated data with information created by the companies. The US takes the attitude that data collected using taxpayers' money should be provided to taxpayers free. And a detailed study shows that the UK's closed attitude to its data means we lose out on commercial opportunities, and even hold back scientific research in fields such as climate change.... In a seminal piece of research into the real cost of charging for access to public data, the late Peter Weiss, of the US National Weather Service, compared open and closed economic models for public sector data. His paper, Borders in Cyberspace: Conflicting Public Sector Information Policies and their Economic Impact, is online. He quoted a 2000 study for the European Commission carried out by Pira International, which noted that "the concept of commercial companies being able to acquire, at very low cost, quantities of public sector information and resell it for a variety of unregulated purposes to make a profit is one that policymakers in the EU find uncomfortable." But why? Pira pointed out that the US's approach brings enormous economic benefits. The US and EU are comparable in size and population; but while the EU spent 9.5bn (£6.51bn) on gathering public sector data, and collected 68bn selling and licensing it, the US spent 19bn - twice as much - and realised 750bn - over 10 times more. Weiss pointed out: "Governments realise two kinds of financial gain when they drop charges: higher indirect tax revenue from higher sales of the products that incorporate the ... information; and higher income tax revenue and lower social welfare payments from net gains in employment." The Office of Fair Trading is preparing a report on public sector information, due this summer, which will "look at whether or not the way in which public sector information holders (PSIH) supply information works well for businesses. It will examine whether PSIHs have an unfair advantage selling on information in competition with companies who are reliant on the PSIH for that raw data in the first place." Though it may already be shooting for an open goal, we urge the OFT to compare the UK with the US; read Peter Weiss's paper; and then, finally, to free our data.

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Let us make data free!
by arun＠mssrf.res.in 10 Mar '06

10 Mar '06

Friends: Shoud we not free data? I mean make research and other data freely available to whoever needs them. A number of scientists (including Dr K Sekar of the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore, Nobel Laureate Sir John Sulston, economist Paul A David, Prof. Suichi Iwata of CODATA and a very large number of others) are helping free data. The National Knowledge Commission might wish to frame policies and recommendations on three RELATED issues, viz. Open Source Software, Open Access to Scientific and Scholarly Literature, and Open Data. Please read on an excerpt from an article in The Guardian (courtesy Peter Suber): More on OA to data Glyn Moody, The Dream of Open Data, Open..., March 9, 2006. Excerpt: Today's Guardian has a fine piece by Charles Arthur and Michael Cross about making data paid for by the UK public freely accessible by them. [PS: see my blogged excerpt.] But it goes beyond merely detailing the problem, and represents the launch of a campaign called "Free Our Data". It's particularly good news that the unnecessary hoarding of data is being addressed by a high-profile title like the Guardian, since a few people in the UK Government might actually read it. It is rather ironic that at a time when nobody outside Redmond disputes the power of open source, and when open access is almost at the tipping point, open data remains something of a distant dream. Indeed, it is striking how advanced the genomics community is in this respect. As I discovered when I wrote Digital Code of Life, most scientists in this field have been routinely making their data freely available since 1996, when the Bermuda Principles were drawn up. The first of these stated: It was agreed that all human genomic sequence information, generated by centres funded for large-scale human sequencing, should be freely available and in the public domain in order to encourage research and development and to maximise its benefit to society. The same should really be true for all kinds of large-scale data that require governmental-scale gathering operations. Since they cannot be feasibly gathered by private companies, such data ends up as a government monopoly. But trying to exploit that monopoly by crudely over-charging for the data is counter-productive, as the Guardian article quantifies. Let's hope the campaign gathers some momentum - I'll certainly being doing my bit. ---- Arun [Subbiah Arunachalam]

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Peter Suber's suggestions to India's Knowledge Commission
by arun＠mssrf.res.in 10 Mar '06

10 Mar '06

Dear Dr Bhargava: Here are three suggestions for the National Knowledge Commission from Prof. Peter Suber of Earlham University, who runs a daily blog called "Open Access News". India's Knowledge Commission launches its web site India's National Knowledge Commission, launched in June 2005, now has its own web site. The site has separate pages for each of the NKC's five "focus areas": access to knowledge, knowledge concepts, knowledge creation, knowledge application, and knowledge services. The access to knowledge page doesn't mention OA, but comes close in these statements of commitment: Information networks and a culture of information-sharing are required in sectors like education, health, agriculture, business, R&D, food distribution, disaster management, security, etc....National web-based portals need to be established as one-stop comprehensive sources of information on issues like water, sanitation, health, education, housing, nutrition, employment, etc. Technology and the Internet also have an important role in making the recently legislated Right to Information Act more effective in its implementation. Peter Suber's Comment. I have a few recommendations for the NKC suggestion box: (1) support a network of OA institutional repositories at India's universities and research centers, (2) require recipients of publicly-funded research grants to deposit their peer-reviewed manuscripts in these repositories, and (3) encourage these institutions to adopt their own local policies requiring researchers to deposit their research output in them, whether it is publicly-funded or not.

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Fw: 17% GREEN in Japan
by Subbiah Arunachalam 10 Mar '06

10 Mar '06

----- Original Message ----- From: "SUGITA Shigeki" <sugita(a)LIB.HOKUDAI.AC.JP> To: <JISC-REPOSITORIES(a)JISCMAIL.AC.UK> Sent: Friday, March 10, 2006 5:57 PM Subject: 17% GREEN in Japan >I apologize cross-posting. > > In this January, we, JANUL (Japan Association of National University > Libraries), > had the survey to the academic societies in Japan, which is as "Publisher > copyright > policies & self-archiving"of SHERPA/ROMEO. > > summary: > 710 answers out of the 1730 academic societies in Japan (reply ratio: 41%) > 17% of 710 were green or blue, however, 31% of them (17%) require written > applications > and 35% of them (17%) permit to use publisher PDF. > > The research paper (Japanese); > http://www.tulips.tsukuba.ac.jp/ir/digcon-enq-form.pdf > > Green Societies (.xls raw data) (Japanese) > http://www.tulips.tsukuba.ac.jp/ir/digcon-enq0209.xls > * We are planning to make a list like the SHERPA/ROMEO list, near the > future. > > > Thank you. > > with best regards, > -- > SUGITA Shigeki <sugita(a)lib.hokudai.ac.jp> > University Library, Hokkaido University, JAPAN > HUSCAP http://eprints.lib.hokudai.ac.jp/ > OAI-PMH http://eprints.lib.hokudai.ac.jp/dspace-oai/request

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Libri: Best Student Paper Award 2006
by rupesh kumar 10 Mar '06

10 Mar '06

Dear All, Since 1950, through 56 volumes, Libri: International Journal of Libraries and Information Services has been a leader among scholarly journals in the international library world. As part of its strategy to remain one of the premier library journals, Libri is issuing a call for "Best Student Paper of 2006." This competition supports Libri's goal of publishing the best articles from the next generation of library and information science professionals. Students* at all levels are invited to submit articles with clarity and authority. There is no stated theme. Research papers should address one of the significant issues facing today's librarians and information professionals. Case studies, best practices, and pure research papers are all welcome. * Exception: Senior information scholars returning to school for additional degrees outside the field of library and information science are not eligible for this award. Length: approx. 5000 words Language: English Deadline: May 31, 2006 The best paper will be selected by an independent panel consisting of selected members of the Editorial Board, the Advisory Board and other international experts. Submissions will be judged on the basis of - originality of thought and observation - depth of research and scholarship - topicality of problems addressed - the international readership of the journal The article will be published in the 2006:3 issue. The author of the winning article will be honoured with an award of 500.00 USD and with a complementary subscription to Libri for 2007. If the quality of competition warrants, some papers may be designated as honourable mention and the authors will receive complementary subscriptions to Libri for 2007. The normal provision to the author of 10 offprints and one copy of the complete issue applies to all winners. Manuscripts should be sent to the Libri Editorial Office, Statsbiblioteket, Universitetsparken, DK 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark. Electronic submissions are encouraged and may be submitted to libri(a)statsbiblioteket.dk. Author instructions and further indications of the scope of papers suitable for publication in Libri are available at the Libri site at http://www.librijournal.org/authorinst.html Further details at http://www.librijournal.org/award.html Regards, RUPESH KUMAR.A. DEPARTMENT OF LIBRARY & INFORMATION SCIENCE BANGALORE UNIVERSITY --------------------------------- Yahoo! Mail Use Photomail to share photos without annoying attachments. Since 1950, through 56 volumes, Libri: International Journal of Libraries and Information Services has been a leader among scholarly journals in the international library world. As part of its strategy to remain one of the premier library journals, Libri is issuing a call for "Best Student Paper of 2006." This competition supports Libri 's goal of publishing the best articles from the next generation of library and information science professionals. Students * at all levels are invited to submit articles with clarity and authority. There is no stated theme. Research papers should address one of the significant issues facing today's librarians and information professionals. Case studies, best practices, and pure research papers are all welcome. * Exception: Senior information scholars returning to school for additional degrees outside the field of library and information science are not eligible for this award. Length: approx. 5000 words Language: English Deadline: May 31, 2006 The best paper will be selected by an independent panel consisting of selected members of the Editorial Board, the Advisory Board and other international experts. Submissions will be judged on the basis of - originality of thought and observation - depth of research and scholarship - topicality of problems addressed - the international readership of the journal The article will be published in the 2006:3 issue. The author of the winning article will be honoured with an award of 500.00 USD and with a complementary subscription to Libri for 2007. If the quality of competition warrants, some papers may be designated as honourable mention and the authors will receive complementary subscriptions to Libri for 2007. The normal provision to the author of 10 offprints and one copy of the complete issue applies to all winners. Manuscripts should be sent to the Libri Editorial Office, Statsbiblioteket, Universitetsparken, DK 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark. Electronic submissions are encouraged and may be submitted to mailto:libri@statsbiblioteket.dk libri(a)statsbiblioteket.dk . Author instructions and further indications of the scope of papers suitable for publication in Libri are available at the Libri site at http://www.librijournal.org/authorinst.html http://www.librijournal.org/authorinst.html Further details at http://www.librijournal.org/award.html http://www.librijournal.org/award.html Regards, http://www.bub.ac.in/buLogo.jpg RUPESH KUMAR.A. DEPARTMENT OF LIBRARY & INFORMATION SCIENCE BANGALORE UNIVERSITY Yahoo! Mail http://us.rd.yahoo.com/mail_us/taglines/pmall2/*http://photomail.mail.yahoo… Use Photomail to share photos without annoying attachments.

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RE: LIS-Forum Digest, Vol 36, Issue 17
by LS Venkatesh 10 Mar '06

10 Mar '06

Dear Professionals: I would be grateful if someone can provide the following information. Is there any data available on the number of Universities/Colleges schools offering Undergraduate and Post Graduate Library Science programs in India. Also any data on how many Library Science graduates/post-graduates/doctorates enter the job market in India each year. Thank you. Venkatesh -------------- Venkatesh L S General Manager Edutech India Pvt Ltd 8, Khader Nawaz Khan Road Chennai 600 006, India Tel: +91 44 28330999 Fax: +91 44 28331777 GSM: + 91 98403 21214 www.edutechindia.com "Enhancing knowledge and skills for success, lifelong." -----Original Message----- From: lis-forum-bounces(a)ncsi.iisc.ernet.in [mailto:lis-forum-bounces@ncsi.iisc.ernet.in] On Behalf Of lis-forum-request(a)ncsi.iisc.ernet.in Sent: Friday, March 10, 2006 10:31 AM To: lis-forum(a)ncsi.iisc.ernet.in Subject: LIS-Forum Digest, Vol 36, Issue 17 Send LIS-Forum mailing list submissions to lis-forum(a)ncsi.iisc.ernet.in To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit http://ncsi.iisc.ernet.in/mailman/listinfo/lis-forum or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to lis-forum-request(a)ncsi.iisc.ernet.in You can reach the person managing the list at lis-forum-owner(a)ncsi.iisc.ernet.in When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than "Re: Contents of LIS-Forum digest..." Today's Topics: 1. Translation work (annapurna T.S) 2. MSN Search Offers Free Full Text Access to Encarta Encyclopedia (sandeep bhavsar) 3. Document Delivery Service via Google (Dr. R M Vatnal) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message: 1 Date: Thu, 9 Mar 2006 22:04:50 +0530 From: "annapurna T.S" <annapurnats(a)gmail.com> Subject: [LIS-Forum] Translation work To: lis-forum(a)ncsi.iisc.ernet.in Message-ID: <1310ac900603090834k2300e4afy5052a7bcd44396c6(a)mail.gmail.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Dear Professionals, Will anybody please let me know who would take up translation work from Spanish to English in Bangalore? Thanks & Regards, Annapurna

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