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[Fwd: [BOAI] Increasing Institutional Repository Content with
by arun＠mssrf.res.in 10 Apr '06

10 Apr '06

---------------------------- Original Message ---------------------------- Subject: [BOAI] Increasing Institutional Repository Content with "email eprint" Button From: "Timothy Miles-Board" <tmb(a)ecs.soton.ac.uk> Date: Mon, April 10, 2006 6:11 pm To: "AmSci Forum" <american-scientist-open-access-forum(a)amsci.org> Cc: EuroscienceOA(a)lists.sopinspace.net JISC-REPOSITORIES(a)JISCMAIL.AC.UK -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ** Apologies for Cross-Posting ** A new feature has been built into the GNU EPrints (free) software for creating Institutional Repositories (IRs). We hope it will dramatically increase the growth rate of open access (OA) content deposited in IRs while -- perversely it may seem -- allowing authors to opt out of providing OA! It's extremely simple, and if implemented carefully by the repository can produce immediate results without additional cost or resource implications. http://www.eprints.org/news/features/request_button.php (Eloy Rodrigues, the dynamic OA activist at University of Minho in Portugal https://repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt/ has kindly implemented the feature in Dspace too, and will be announcing its availability for testing very shortly.) This new feature is called the "Request eprint" button. It works like this: To deposit a work using EPrints an author creates a record for the eprint by filling metadata fields in the repository deposit interface. Ideally we would of course like the eprint to be both deposited *and* made OA. However, not all authors are yet comfortable with this, so rather than have authors refrain from depositing their eprints altogether, EPrints offers authors the option of either: (1) making the eprint OA, or (2) restricting full-text visibility to designated viewers, with only its metadata visible publicly, or (3) making the full-text completely invisible, with only its metadata visible publicly (although the full-text is still stored in the system). There are a number of reasons for allowing this flexibility. One of the main hesitations authors have about providing OA -- even though 93% of journals have already given it their official green light http://romeo.eprints.org/stats.php -- is author worries about infringing their copyright agreement with the remaining 7% of journals. Institutions contemplating adopting self-archiving mandates have similar concerns. So far, none of this is new. The key need of the repository in terms of growing content is to persuade authors (or their designees) to perform the requisite keystrokes, i.e. to simply *deposit* the metadata and the eprint, without prejudice as to what else might be done with it. Once those all-important data are deposited, we can start to work with the author to maximise its usefulness and usage. This is where the "Request eprint" button comes in. Whenever record of a stored eprint tells a would-be user that an OA version of the full text copy is not accessible, a dialogue box appears inviting the user to paste in their email address and send a request to the author for a copy of the paper. This request is emailed automatically to the author, offering three choices in return: to email the requested eprint, to reject the request, or to make the eprint OA in the repository. Since the requested eprint is already in the repository, and merely invisible, a simple process enables the author to make a selection and activate that choice with a single click. This is simple for requesters, authors, repository implementers and policy makers as it allows them a full range of choices without any implications for the usual worries that otherwise deter or delay this type of dissemination. In particular, there are no implications for copyright. This furthers the objectives of increasing deposit and dissemination through the repository by reducing barriers and fears. It also gives authors valuable feedback on the degree of interest in their work (requests are counted, just as downloads of OA eprints are counted, and the statistics made available to the author). How might this affect growth of your repository? It is generally estimated that institutional repositories are capturing 15% of the annual articles that could be made OA today. There is thus an 85% gap to fill. There have been many hypotheses about the reasons for the slowness of authors in filling this gap. The "Request eprint" button enables us to overcome most of these concerns. It gives even authors who are wary of self-archiving the chance to begin depositing in their institutional repository, it improves access - even if it is not immediately OA it is better than no record at all - and it offers the prospect of conversion to OA when authors realise the level of interest in their work. This feature also makes it possible to implement the "weaker" model for an official Open Access Policy, both institutionally: http://openaccess.eprints.org/index.php?/archives/71-guid.html and nationally: http://www.ecs.soton.ac.uk/~harnad/Temp/weaker-OApolicy.htm ---- This message was adapted from Steve Hitchcock's text at: http://www.eprints.org/news/features/request_button.php

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PhD in LIS
by Mailing List Manager 10 Apr '06

10 Apr '06

Date: Mon, 10 Apr 2006 15:20:45 +0530 From: Jeetender Chandna <granthpal(a)gmail.com> Hello Friends I have just completed my MLIS from IGNOU with 58% I am looking at pursuing my PhD in LIS with the broad topic of Open Source and its impact on the LIS profession in India. What I would like is to get some guidelines and ideas from the senior and esteemed members of the LIS fora. In particularly suggestions related to the following aspects would be gladly received -- 1) Recommendation of institutions where this PhD work could be undertaken, keeping in mind that the broad IDS-Inter Disciplinary Subject is Computer Science 2) Recommendations of persons who are experts in the Open Source Movement. 3) Any suggestions to bibliographic resources for the same I thanking in advance for the help given by the fora-members. NOTE: Since such recommendations and suggestions are personal opinions, it leaves the room open for debate. Ergo, I request that solutions/suggestions be mailed to me directly at granthpal(a)gmail.com. I would be glad to summarise the findings for the forum. -- Regards Granthpal ---------------------------------------- Jeetender Chandna aka Vicky aka Granthpal Esha News Monitoring Services Pvt Ltd 10th Floor, Krushal Commercial Complex Chembur (W) Mumbai 400089 Tel: (91-22) 3245 2861 Email: granthpal(a)gmail.com

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EBSCO introduces Free Teacher Reference Center
by Mallikarjun 10 Apr '06

10 Apr '06

Dear professional After the success of LISTA,EBSCO launches Teacher Reference Center (TRC) - Journal Information for K-12 Teachers & Librarians This index of over 260 titles from the most popular teacher and administrator trade journals, periodicals, and books is now also offered free via the EBSCOhost platform. This database provides coverage on key education topics such as Assessment, Continuing Education, Current Pedagogical Research, Curriculum Development, Instructional Media, Language Arts, Literacy.Standards, Science & Mathematics, and more. For more information ,please visit http://www.libraryresearch.com Mallikarjun Dora Library and information Assistant(Trainee) Library and Information Center Indian Institute of Management,Kozhikode IIMK Campus, P.O Kozhikode-673571 Kerala contact-+91-495-2809143 Send instant messages to your online friends http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com Dear professional After the success of LISTA,EBSCO launches Teacher Reference Center (TRC) - Journal Information for K-12 Teachers & Librarians This index of over 260 titles from the most popular teacher and administrator trade journals, periodicals, and books is now also offered free via the EBSCO host platform. This database provides coverage on key education topics such as Assessment, Continuing Education, Current Pedagogical Research, Curriculum Development, Instructional Media, Language Arts, Literacy.Standards, Science & Mathematics, and more. For more information ,please visit http://www.libraryresearch.com http://www.libraryresearch.com Mallikarjun Dora Library and information Assistant(Trainee) Library and Information Center Indian Institute of Management,Kozhikode IIMK Campus, P.O Kozhikode-673571 Kerala contact-+91-495-2809143 Send instant messages to your online friends http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com

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Information literacy - promotion through libraries
by Subbiah Arunachalam 10 Apr '06

10 Apr '06

Friends: Achieving high level of information litearcy is one of the things the National Knowledge Commission and the LIS community should be greatly concerned about. I mean information litearcy at all levels - the lay public, the school children, college and university students, professionals and researchers. Which means libraries at all levels - public libraries, school and college libraries, university libraries, research and special libraries - should be sensitised to promoting information literacy. In today's world information litearcy is intertwined with information technology and Web literacy. Information literacy is especially important in today's India where we are producing graduates in large numbers but it is felt taht a very large percent of them are unemployable. I would like to alert you to an article in a recent issue of Journal of Information Science which talks about information literacy in a lucid way: Thomas P Mackey and Jinwon Ho: Implementing a convergent model for information literacy: Combining research and web literacy, J Info Sci, Vol. 31, No. 6, 2005, pp.541-555. Regards. Arun [Subbiah Arunachalam] Friends: Achieving high level of information litearcy is one of the things the National Knowledge Commission and the LIS community should be greatly concerned about. I mean information litearcy at all levels - the lay public, the school children, college and university students, professionals and researchers. Which means libraries at all levels - public libraries, school and college libraries, university libraries, research and special libraries - should be sensitised to promoting information literacy. In today's world information litearcy is intertwined with information technology and Web literacy. Information literacy is especially important in today's India where we are producing graduates in large numbers but it is felt taht a very large percent of them are unemployable. I would like to alert you to an article in a recent issue of Journal of Information Science which talks about information literacy in a lucid way: Thomas P Mackey and Jinwon Ho: Implementing a convergent model for information literacy: Combining research and web literacy, J Info Sci , Vol. 31 , No. 6, 2005, pp.541-555. Regards. Arun [Subbiah Arunachalam]

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Fw: ECDL 2006 Doctoral Consortium
by Subbiah Arunachalam 10 Apr '06

10 Apr '06

=== ECDL 2006 Doctoral Consortium - Deadline 22 April === ECDL 2006, The European Conference on Research and Advanced Technology for Digital Libraries, will feature a Doctoral Consortium to give doctoral students the opportunity to discuss their work with experienced researchers from the Digital Library Community as also with other students. Attendance at the Doctoral Consortium will be based on an acceptance of a written abstract, of up to 6 pages, singly authored by the student. Submissions must be done in PDF format, following the layout guidelines for the LNCS format provided by Springer (please see http://www.ecdl2006.org/) followed by a free supporting statement from the adviser. Deadline for submission is 22 April, to be sent by email to doctoral_consortium(a)ecdl2006.org. Accepted students will have to deliver a full paper, which will be published electronically in a special issue of the bulletin of the IEEE TCDL - Technical Committee for Digital Libraries. The students will be able to present also a poster at the ECDL 2006 poster session. The full papers will be reviewed by senior scientists who will be also present in the Doctoral Consortium meeting, where the students will receive feedback about their work and will have a chance to participate in an open discussion. The paper will be the basis for detailed discussions at the Consortium. To get the most out of the discussion it should include: * motivation for the proposed research * background and related work (with key references) * description of proposed research including main research questions, research methodology and proposed experiments (where appropriate) * particular issues which you want to highlight for discussion. All submissions will be reviewed by the Doctoral Consortium Program Committee, with respect to overall quality of presentation, the potential for future impact of the proposed PhD research on the field of Digital Libraries, and the likely benefit to the student of attending the Consortium. More details are available at http://www.ecdl2006.org/consortium.jsp ===================================================== Doctoral Consortium Chairs Jose Borbinha (INESC-ID / IST, Lisbon Technical University, Portugal) Lillian Cassel (Villanova University, USA) ===================================================== @page Section1 {size: 595.3pt 841.9pt; margin: 70.85pt 3.0cm 70.85pt 3.0cm; } P.MsoNormal { FONT-SIZE: 12pt; MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt; FONT-FAMILY: "Times New Roman" } LI.MsoNormal { FONT-SIZE: 12pt; MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt; FONT-FAMILY: "Times New Roman" } DIV.MsoNormal { FONT-SIZE: 12pt; MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt; FONT-FAMILY: "Times New Roman" } A:link { COLOR: blue; TEXT-DECORATION: underline } SPAN.MsoHyperlink { COLOR: blue; TEXT-DECORATION: underline } A:visited { COLOR: blue; TEXT-DECORATION: underline } SPAN.MsoHyperlinkFollowed { COLOR: blue; TEXT-DECORATION: underline } SPAN.estilocorreioelectrnico17 { COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial } SPAN.estilocorreioelectrnico18 { COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial } SPAN.estilocorreioelectrnico19 { COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial } SPAN.estilocorreioelectrnico20 { COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial } SPAN.EstiloCorreioElectrnico21 { COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial } DIV.Section1 { page: Section1 } === ECDL 2006 Doctoral Consortium - Deadline 22 April === ECDL 2006, The European Conference on Research and Advanced Technology for Digital Libraries, will feature a Doctoral Consortium to give doctoral students the opportunity to discuss their work with experienced researchers from the Digital Library Community as also with other students. Attendance at the Doctoral Consortium will be based on an acceptance of a written abstract, of up to 6 pages, singly authored by the student. Submissions must be done in PDF format, following the layout guidelines for the LNCS format provided by Springer (please see http://www.ecdl2006.org/) followed by a free supporting statement from the adviser. Deadline for submission is 22 April, to be sent by email to doctoral_consortium(a)ecdl2006.org. Accepted students will have to deliver a full paper, which will be published electronically in a special issue of the bulletin of the IEEE TCDL - Technical Committee for Digital Libraries. The students will be able to present also a poster at the ECDL 2006 poster session. The full papers will be reviewed by senior scientists who will be also present in the Doctoral Consortium meeting, where the students will receive feedback about their work and will have a chance to participate in an open discussion. The paper will be the basis for detailed discussions at the Consortium. To get the most out of the discussion it should include: * motivation for the proposed research * background and related work (with key references) * description of proposed research including main research questions, research methodology and proposed experiments (where appropriate) * particular issues which you want to highlight for discussion. All submissions will be reviewed by the Doctoral Consortium Program Committee, with respect to overall quality of presentation, the potential for future impact of the proposed PhD research on the field of Digital Libraries, and the likely benefit to the student of attending the Consortium. More details are available at http://www.ecdl2006.org/consortium.jsp ===================================================== Doctoral Consortium Chairs Jose Borbinha (INESC-ID / IST, Lisbon Technical University, Portugal) Lillian Cassel (Villanova University, USA) =====================================================

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Clarifications from Prof. Stevan Harnad
by Subbiah Arunachalam 08 Apr '06

08 Apr '06

Friends: A few minutes ago I forwarded a message from Prof. Stevan Harnad addressed to me and Prof. Krishnaswamy of MKU to the oa-india and lis-forum lists. Here is a message from Prof. Harnad about depositing papers in OA archives. Certainly Prof. Harnad would not advocate violating the law. Best wishes. Arun ----- Dear Arun, Sure, that's fine. But could I ask then that you modify (2) to add that I do not myself recommend 3rd-party posting without authorization? Otherwise it gives the impression that I am recommending breaking the law. Point (3) should also be modified for public posting, to make it clear that the author (*only*), if he no longer has the digital text of his own article, can scan in and OCR the published PDF for his own article, but should then convert it back to his own original typescript. The way I said it below makes it look as if I am advocating piracy, which I am not. Best wishes. Stevan Friends: A few minutes ago I forwarded a message from Prof. Stevan Harnad addressed to me and Prof. Krishnaswamy of MKU to the oa-india and lis-forum lists. Here is a message from Prof. Harnad about depositing papers in OA archives. Certainly Prof. Harnad would not advocate violating the law. Best wishes. Arun ----- Dear Arun, Sure, that's fine. But could I ask then that you modify (2) to add that I do not myself recommend 3rd-party posting without authorization? Otherwise it gives the impression that I am recommending breaking the law. Point (3) should also be modified for public posting, to make it clear that the author (*only*), if he no longer has the digital text of his own article, can scan in and OCR the published PDF for his own article, but should then convert it back to his own original typescript. The way I said it below makes it look as if I am advocating piracy, which I am not. Best wishes. Stevan

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Lecture invitation
by SRELS 08 Apr '06

08 Apr '06

Dear Moderator, Kindly arrange to annouce the following lecture invitation to the lis-forum members. Thanking you, Yours truly, K.N. Prasad Executive Officer Sarada Ranganathan Endowment for Library Science 702, 42nd Cross, III Block, Rajajinagar Bangalore 560 010. Ph: 080-23305019; e-mail: srels(a)vsnl.com ********* Prof. M.R. Kumbahr Memorial Lectures Committee, Bangalore cordially invites you to the Prof. M.R. Kumbhar Memorial Lectures (12) (2006) on CLASSIFICATION MODELLING OF HOMOGENOUS RETRIEVAL OF INFORMATION by Dr. M.A. Gopinath Visiting Professor, North Carolina Central University, Durham, North Carolina, USA 0n Sunday, 16th April 2006 at 6.00 pm Dr. K.S. Raghavan Professor, Documentation Research & Training Centre Indian Statistical Institute, Bangalore presides at Sarada Ranganathan Endowment for Library Science 702, 'Upstairs', 42nd Cross, (near Syndicate Bank) III Block, Rajajinagar, Bangalore 560 010 Dear Moderator, Kindly arrange to annouce the following lecture invitation to the lis-forum members. Thanking you, Yours truly, K.N. Prasad Executive Officer Sarada Ranganathan Endowment for Library Science 702, 42nd Cross, III Block, Rajajinagar Bangalore 560 010. Ph: 080-23305019; e-mail: srels(a)vsnl.com ********* Prof. M.R. Kumbahr Memorial Lectures Committee, Bangalore cordially invites you to the Prof. M.R. Kumbhar Memorial Lectures (12) (2006) on CLASSIFICATION MODELLING OF HOMOGENOUS RETRIEVAL OF INFORMATION by Dr. M.A. Gopinath Visiting Professor, North Carolina Central University, Durham, North Carolina, USA 0n Sunday, 16th April 2006 at 6.00 pm Dr. K.S. Raghavan Professor, Documentation Research & Training Centre Indian Statistical Institute, Bangalore presides at Sarada Ranganathan Endowment for Library Science 702, 'Upstairs', 42nd Cross, (near Syndicate Bank) III Block, Rajajinagar, Bangalore 560 010

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Municipal broadband networks
by arun＠mssrf.res.in 07 Apr '06

07 Apr '06

Friends: Are there cities (towns) in the developing world pursuing Municipal broadband networks so all citizens can access the Internet? Can such networks help bridge the digital and other divides? Arun ---- NEWS Broadband provision a municipal duty, says report >From "400 Cities Worldwide Planning To Deploy Municipal Broadband Networks," Wi-Fi Technology News, 27 January: "There are over 400 cities worldwide planning to deploy municipal broadband networks and the number will double in 2006, making community broadband initiatives a very real and significant trend. That is the finding of the latest report, Municipal Broadband Networks: Market impact and implications, 2006-2011, published by industry research firm visiongain. "Despite legal opposition and intense lobbying from incumbent telcos and cable companies, municipal broadband is coming and is here to stay. As of Q1 2006, there are over 100 city and regional wireless broadband networks operational worldwide, more than 40 of which are in the US. "Small town rural deployments were the beginning of the wave, but the tide is now embracing large urban metropolises. New York, San Francisco, Rome and Paris are among the major cities planning wide-scale deployments. While these networks present yet another new competitive threat to the broadband market landscape, there are opportunities to be grasped for service providers, whether fixed-line or wireless, if these companies play their cards right. Major vendors, such as Motorola, Cisco, HP and IBM are already reaping cumulative contract awards running into hundreds of millions of dollars. " 'Generally speaking, we believe resistance towards Muni networks is futile,' says lead author Pam Duffey. 'Finer points of the debate aside, it is fast becoming a city or state government duty to provide at least the means for widespread broadband service to the citizenry. By 2010/2011, we believe the majority of cities and townships in the US will have a municipal wireless network in place and the focus then will be in uniting them into a seamless, if not centralised, national network.' " 'New and emerging applications such as digital libraries, virtual laboratories, distance-independent learning and tele-immersion will require broadband speeds and reverse the digital divide. In addition, applications such as LBS and gaming over city-wide networks could seriously threaten existing carrier business models,' adds Duffey. "For a large number of reasons, municipalities are considering the concept of a Municipal Broadband Network as the 'fifth utility.' These communities are choosing between deploying fibre and a wireless broadband network using Wi-Fi hotspots, mesh networks or pre-WiMAX technology. There will be a significant build-out, blending technologies and building on existing service, both wired and unwired. "However, many technological and business factors need to be considered, any one of which can better or worsen the outcome for any given municipality. Often, cities lack sufficient experience and knowledge of technologies to make the best choices and compound the problem further by inadequately funding the effort or by employing a business model that can not sustain the endeavor. "This report examines the various technology options open to communities in deploying broadband networks, as well as the business models, assessing the advantages and disadvantages of each approach. It looks at case studies of successful and failed initiatives, identifying and outlining the reasons behind them. The impact that these networks have had and will have on local markets and incumbent operators are also analysed..." [Muni Wireless: 28 January 2006]

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WiFi in the $100 laptop of Negroponte
by arun＠mssrf.res.in 07 Apr '06

07 Apr '06

Friends: I received this news today and I want to share it with you. Best wishes. Arun ---- NEWS $100 laptop includes WiFi >From "One-Wireless-Laptop-Per-Child Founder Negroponte Resigns from MIT," by Brian White, The Wireless Report, 16 February: "As many readers can probably tell, the word 'Wireless' was slipped into the OLPC (One Laptop Per Child) phrase in the title above. With Nicholas Negroponte stepping down from MIT's famed Media Lab yesterday to concentrate on his 'One Laptop Per Child' iniative, I have to give it up to the man - following his real passion and dream of connecting every child possible to the world, each other, and global informaton - to empower them to create and fulfill their dreams. And, for many, to escape knowledge repression and to rise up to what they all could be. I applaud the man greatly, even if the OLPC initiative fails or is slow to gain strength. "The one 'killer app' in this whole initiative is the inclusion of WiFi in these hand-cranked $100 laptops. Enabling villages and small towns (and big towns) to form WiFi mesh networks is the glue that will make this all work. Interconnection and sharing is the linchpin of such an effort and even as WiFi gains on wired connections in the developed world as a preferred connection method for the internet, it will be the only connection method for under-developed nations to breach their own 'digital divide' and connect and interact with the rest of the world. Some of Negroponte's MIT associates are also following him to his OLPC non-profit to assist, which speaks even more highly of this highly-regarded initiative." _________ [On 12 February 2006, OLPC announced that Mark Foster, former head of portable computer engineering at Apple, has joined the project. Foster was responsible for developing the first high-volume wireless networking product, the AirPort. The "$100 Laptop FAQ" confirms that "The laptops will have wireless broadband that, among other things, allows them to work as a mesh network; each laptop will be able to talk to its nearest neighbors, creating an ad hoc, local area network."] [WiFi: 17 February 2006]

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Openomy Online File System
by sandeep bhavsar 07 Apr '06

07 Apr '06

Openomy Online File System http://openomy.com/ Openomy is an online file system. You can store files on Openomy and access them from any computer. Openomy organizes files and users via tags (as opposed to folders). You can choose to keep your files guarded by Openomy, or allow certain outside applications (of your choice) to do new and interesting things with your data. Currently, all storage is 1gb. The plan is to increase this in the future. Let us know what you think is fair. Openomy is completely free for now. In the future there will be an additional premium membership, in exchange for some nice extras. The APIs (i.e. creating applications) are also completely free to use, but a similar structure may one day appear as well. This would likely be limited to commercial applications. Thanks and Regards Sandeep Bhavsar Librarian Dr.V.N.BRIMS Thane (w) 400601 ------------------------------ Phone (Off) 25364492 25446554 Mobile 9870484626 email sandeep(a)vpmthane.org Website www.vpmthane.org ------------------------------ ___________________________________________________________ Win a BlackBerry device from O2 with Yahoo!. Enter now. http://www.yahoo.co.uk/blackberry

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Prevention of loss of books in the college library
by js vijaya 07 Apr '06

07 Apr '06

Dear Friends, Give some suggestions to prevent the loss of books in the college library. Especially for the reference section. Waiting for your valuable suggestions. Regards Vijayalakshmi J S __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com

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SALIS Awards for the year 2006 - nomination invited - reg
by Arunachalam Hariharan 07 Apr '06

07 Apr '06

Nominations are invited for the following SALIS Awards for the year 2006. SALIS Awards 1. Dr. Harish Chandra-Sushila Chandra Best Librarian Award (National level) ------------------------------------------------------ SALIS instituted an award- sponsored by Dr. Harish Chandra, Librarian, IIT Madras, in the name of `Dr. Harish Chandra-Sushila Chandra Best Librarian Award' . Aim of instituting the award: To honor and recognize library professionals - for their outstanding contributions to the profession. Eligibility: Professionals holding any degree in Library Science or equivalent and working in library and information field in any parts in India. Must be a citizen of India About Dr.Harish Chandra -------------------------- Dr.Harish Chandra is currently working as Librarian of IIT, Madras. Prior to this, he has also worked in IIT, Delhi, GSI and IIFT. He underwent training in Library Automation and Digital Library at University of Cambridge, UK and Tilburg University, Netherlands respectively. His major contributions are in the areas of New Library Building Planning, ISO-9001 application in the Library, Digital Library Initiative, Web based library and information services, etc. Dr.Chandra is a member of Senate, IIT since 1995, a member of Task Force for Higher Education Library System, MHRD. He is also a member in the editorial board of various journals including OCLC Systems and Services. He is also a member of many professional bodies. Dr.Chandra has over 60 publications to his credit and completed various projects and consultancy assignments. He has organized several national and international conferences. He has received several awards, chaired number of technical sessions and delivered number of invited lectures. He has visited more than 12 countries and received several awards. He has also received many awards including SALIS Life Time Achievement Award Previous Year Award winners: 1. Dr. T.A.V. Murthy, Director, INFLIBNET â for the year 2004 2. Prof. (Dr.) M.Suriya, HOD, Dept of Library & Information Science & Librarian, Annamalai University â for the year 2005 --------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------- 2. AutoLib-Tamilnadu Best Librarian Award (for Library Professionals working in Tamilnadu region only) 3. AutoLib -Tamilnadu Best Young Librarian Award (for Library Professionals working in Tamilnadu region only: Age below 40 years) Must be a citizen of India The above two awards are sponsored by M/s AutoLib Software System , a leading Library Automation Solution Provider at Chennai. AutoLib Software System ---------------------------------- AutoLib Software System has been established to provide low cost and high quality library automation solutions. They undertake all types of library automation projects. One of their objectives is to recognize and encourage library professionals who contribute more for the profession. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Eligibility for the above two Awards : Professionals holding any degree in Library Science or equivalent and working in library and information field in Tamilnadu region. Must be a citizen of India Previous Award Winners: 1. AutoLib-Tamilnadu Best Librarian Award Dr Dr.K.Nithyanandham, Director-in-charge, Librray, Anna University 2. AutoLib-Tamilnadu Best Young Librarian Award Mr. T. Stephen CSI Bishop Appasamy College of Arts & Science, Coimbatore Mr. S.Swaminathan, Librarian, Sri Ramakrishna Vidyalaya College of Education, Coimbatore Nominations for all the three awards ( by Library professionals holding responsible position or by self) are invited for the year 2006 from eligible professionals. The application form can be obtained from the Convener, SALIS Award Committee by sending a self addressed stamped (Rs.10/-) cover or downloaded from http://autolib-india.net/salis or by sending E-mail to salisawards(a)yahoo.com. The other details are given in the application form. Filled-in application along with necessary supporting documents should be sent in a sealed cover to The Convener, SALIS Award Committee, SALIS, C/o, AutoLib, B2-Solai Apartments(Opp to MGR Garden) Mount-Poonamallee Road, Chennai - 600 089. Awards will be presented to the winners in the form of a Silver Medal, Citation and a shawl. The awards will be presented to the winners during the SALIS 2006 National Conference to be held at Karunya Deemed University, Coimbatore on 9th June 2006. Last date for the receipt of filled application is 15.05.2006 For any clarifications, E-mail to the convener at salisawards(a)yahoo.com -------------------------------- Mr. Jesudas Manalan Convener SALIS Award Committee & Librarian Bishop Heber College, Trichi â 17 & Secretary, SALIS Tiruchi Chapter __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com

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Fw: [BOAI] 1950 Florence Agreement/ 1976 Nairobi Protocol
by Subbiah Arunachalam 07 Apr '06

07 Apr '06

Please forward this to all the members of the "Kalpana Joshi Committee". Thanks and best wishes. Arun [Subbiah Arunachalam] ----- Original Message ----- From: "Peter Suber" <peters(a)earlham.edu> To: "BOAI Forum" <boai-forum(a)ecs.soton.ac.uk> Sent: Friday, April 07, 2006 8:08 AM Subject: Re: [BOAI] 1950 Florence Agreement/ 1976 Nairobi Protocol > Dear Julia, > > I share your sense that people who support open access will likely support > the enforcement of these agreements. I can't be the only reader who was > glad to learn that world leaders once made sensible agreements like these > and sorry to learn that our current leaders are disregarding them. > > So I hope that simply circulating your letter will have a beneficial > effect, even if small. The readers of this list are OA proponents from > over 100 countries. Many will undoubtedly be inclined to support your > cause even if they rarely have a chance to discuss issues of this kind > with their governments. > > Let me make a two-sided decision as the moderator of the list. On the one > hand, these agreements are a bit far from our topic here. I distributed > your first message with my eyes open because of its strong interest and > distant OA connection, but now that the issue has aired I want to return > the discussion to issues with a stronger OA connection. On the other > hand, if any forum readers learn about international efforts to shore up > support for these agreements, please send information about them to Julie > or me (or both). I'll look for a way to communicate that information > concisely to the OA community. If I don't do it through the BOAI Forum, > then I may do it through the SPARC Open Access Forum, which has a slightly > wider scope. > > Best wishes, > Peter > > > Peter Suber > Open Access Project Director, Public Knowledge > Research Professor of Philosophy, Earlham College > peter.suber(a)earlham.edu > > > > At 11:02 PM 4/4/2006, you wrote: > >>Dear Stevan Harnad, >>I am retired and now run a library in Florence which is international and >>ecumenical. It was my own library as a professor and is intended as a gift >>to the world. I cause it to flourish on the principle that people can >>become members through giving it a book rather than paying dues. But most >>gifts to it of books from America are taxed by the Italian Dogana and Post >>Office working in collusion with each other, this money having to come out >>of my slim pocket/pension. The earlier versions of the Budapest Open >>Access Initiative had been UNESCO's 'Florence Agreement' (1950) and its >>Protocol known as the 'Protocol of Nairobi' (1976), which allowed cultural >>materials, books, films, electronic data, etc., to pass across >>international boundaries without paying customs duties. I spoke to this >>issue at the St Petersburg UNESCO Conference in May 2005 on the World >>Summit on the Information Society, where it was said that this constantly >>needs to be remembered and executed. >>Could the BOAI and Berlin Declaration signatories recognize the principle >>in international law, reminding their governments of the 1950 'Florence >>Agreement/Accord de Florence' and of its 1976 Nairobi Protocol? >>Sincerely, >> >>Julia Bolton Holloway, Professor Emerita >>Director, Biblioteca e Bottega Fioretta Mazzei >>'English Cemetery', Piazzale Donatello, 38 >>50132 Florence, Italy juliana(a)tin.it >>http://www.umilta.net http://www.florin.ms >>http://piazzaledonatello.blogspot.com >

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Striking Thirteen - Impact of ISBN13 - full report
by Rajesh Chandrakar 06 Apr '06

06 Apr '06

Dear Professionals, Following article provides very good information on ISBN13. It ellaborates its impact on library, vendors and existing systems. You may go to link for complete details describes with various exmaples. With regards, Rajesh "Striking Thirteen" Library Journal (03/01/06) P. 36 ; Breaux Ann-Marie; Dawson, Laura The forthcoming introduction of 13-digit international standard book numbers (ISBNs) to increase the availability of ISBNs and improve their compliance with worldwide product numbering systems should have librarians, publishers, and booksellers on alert, as the new numbers will have a significant effect on all aspects of library transactions and operations, write YBP Library Services' Ann-Marie Breaux and LJNDawson.com's Laura Dawson. All 10-digit ISBNs will officially switch to ISBN-13s for transaction purposes on Jan. 1, 2007, and every order, claim, and invoice should employ ISBN-13s by that time; booksellers are overhauling their internal and external systems to facilitate ISBN-13 transactions for both publishers and libraries, while system vendors are rewriting software to resolve most transition problems. Breaux and Dawson recommend that librarians bone up on the transitions and be certain their vendors are ready, and inventory all systems and databases to learn the location and manner of ISBN storage and usage, ensuring that a locally programmed or vendor-partner-provided solution is available in every case. Librarians should query their vendors on such issues as whether their databases are both ISBN-10- and ISBN-13-searchable, whether both types of ISBNs are displayed in their databases, changes to electronic invoicing as well as cataloging records or other MARC records supplied by vendors, and whether libraries' electronic ordering, invoicing, or cataloging arrangements must be reevaluated. Systems vendors are relied on by libraries to supply new software releases that support ISBN-13, and librarians need to comprehend the update process for any areas where ISBNs are searched, indexed, and stored, in addition to the acquisitions module. Breaux and Dawson suggest librarians ask system vendors such questions as whether searches accommodate both ISBN-10 and ISBN-13; whether an ISBN-10 and its corresponding ISBN-13 can be recognized by the system as identical for functions such as duplication control, bibliographic record overlay, and federated search results merging; how to order an ISBN-10 title when the vendor desires an ISBN-13; and the handling of electronic data interchange transactions. (Link to Web Source) Dear Professionals, Following article provides very good information on ISBN13. It ellaborates its impact on library, vendors and existing systems. You may go to link for complete details describes with various exmaples. With regards, Rajesh "Striking Thirteen" Library Journal (03/01/06) P. 36 ; Breaux Ann-Marie; Dawson, Laura The forthcoming introduction of 13-digit international standard book numbers (ISBNs) to increase the availability of ISBNs and improve their compliance with worldwide product numbering systems should have librarians, publishers, and booksellers on alert, as the new numbers will have a significant effect on all aspects of library transactions and operations, write YBP Library Services' Ann-Marie Breaux and LJNDawson.com's Laura Dawson. All 10-digit ISBNs will officially switch to ISBN-13s for transaction purposes on Jan. 1, 2007, and every order, claim, and invoice should employ ISBN-13s by that time; booksellers are overhauling their internal and external systems to facilitate ISBN-13 transactions for both publishers and libraries, while system vendors are rewriting software to resolve most transition problems. Breaux and Dawson recommend that librarians bone up on the transitions and be certain their vendors are ready, and inventory all systems and databases to learn the location and manner of ISBN storage and usage, ensuring that a locally programmed or vendor-partner-provided solution is available in every case. Librarians should query their vendors on such issues as whether their databases are both ISBN-10- and ISBN-13-searchable, whether both types of ISBNs are displayed in their databases, changes to electronic invoicing as well as cataloging records or other MARC records supplied by vendors, and whether libraries' electronic ordering, invoicing, or cataloging arrangements must be reevaluated. Systems vendors are relied on by libraries to supply new software releases that support ISBN-13, and librarians need to comprehend the update process for any areas where ISBNs are searched, indexed, and stored, in addition to the acquisitions module. Breaux and Dawson suggest librarians ask system vendors such questions as whether searches accommodate both ISBN-10 and ISBN-13; whether an ISBN-10 and its corresponding ISBN-13 can be recognized by the system as identical for functions such as duplication control, bibliographic record overlay, and federated search results merging; how to order an ISBN-10 title when the vendor desires an ISBN-13; and the handling of electronic data interchange transactions. ( http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6308665.html Link to Web Source )

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Greenstone latest version
by noufal palliparamban 06 Apr '06

06 Apr '06

Dear friends, http://www.cs.waikato.ac.nz/~mdewsnip/greenstone/make-images.html Regards Noufal.P.P --------------------------------- Jiyo cricket on Yahoo! India cricket Yahoo! Messenger Mobile Stay in touch with your buddies all the time. Dear friends, http://www.cs.waikato.ac.nz/~mdewsnip/greenstone/make-images.html http://www.cs.waikato.ac.nz/~mdewsnip/greenstone/make-images.html Regards Noufal.P.P Jiyo cricket on http://us.rd.yahoo.com/mail/in/mailcricket/*http://in.sports.yahoo.com/cric… Yahoo! India cricket http://us.rd.yahoo.com/mail/in/mailmobilemessenger/*http://in.mobile.yahoo.… Yahoo! Messenger Mobile Stay in touch with your buddies all the time.

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Opening up educational material
by arun＠mssrf.res.in 06 Apr '06

06 Apr '06

Dear Dr Bhargava: University Vice Chancellors and professors in India may consider Open Course Ware and Open Educational Resources initiatives. The Knowledge Commission may facilitate by convening a workshop/ brainstorming session. Regards. Arun [Subbiah Arunachalam] ---------------------- >From Peter Suber's blog UNESCO report on OA educational resources Paul Albright, Open Educational Resources, UNESCO, undated but released April 4, 2006. The final report of a six-week forum on open educational resources (OER) convened by UNESCO in late 2005. Forum participants included 490 individuals from 90 countries. See UNESCO's press release. Excerpt from the report itself: The OER movement is breaking down barriers that have blocked access to academic content. Until recently, most electronic course content was locked up behind passwords within proprietary systems, noted the forums initial moderator, Sally Johnstone. OER represents a major step toward sharing teaching materials, methods and tools, just as academics have shared their work in scholarly papers for a long time. The result is to augment teaching resources while expanding knowledge opportunities for learners and faculty members. Throughout the forum, a forthright exchange of views stimulated thought and ideas that can advance the cause of OER. Participants stressed the importance of providing open, accessible and superior higher education content for a global community of teachers and scholars, students and lifelong learners. Whether OERs are categorized as open access or free content, they collectively promote autonomy and self-reliance within the learning community. Without the constraints of time or geography, the power of education is released to combat economic, social and cultural obstacles. Through independent, self-determined learning and open academic content, the individual is able to grow intellectually beyond previous personal, institutional or local boundaries. Other benefits range from developing valuable work skills to engaging in life-enriching, lifelong learning....The main challenge to widening access to OER lies in overcoming reticence and uncertainty within the academic community. Although participants reported a growing awareness of OER, many emphasized the need to explain and promote the institutional benefits, and to provide incentives for faculty members to become actively involved....There appears to be a growing tension between the ethical push to promote open access to knowledge and the need for university managers to maximize income from their key assets. How can OER fit into this increasingly commercial, financially and intellectually competitive framework for higher education?

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subscription of e-journals
by paidayya namburu 05 Apr '06

05 Apr '06

Dear sir, Ours is a P.G. college running the courses in M.B.A, M.C.A. We want to subscribe the required e- journals. We need your help to clarify some doubts regarding 1. The vendors of e-journals ? 2. software and hardware required in the library ? 3.whether AICTE consider the e-journals instead of hardcoppies at the time of inspection ? 4.Is there any AICTE approved e-journals website for M.B.A. and M.C.A courses ? 5. Will they give any username and password if we can subscribe the e-journals ? 6. How can we give acess to the users in the library and the posibility of searching outside library ? Please give your suggesitions Thanking you, Yours sinceraly N.Paidayya, Librarian, Al-Ameer college of Engineering & I.T, MBA ,MCA Programme, Gudilova , Annadhapuram, Visakhapatnam Andhra Pradesh. Pin : 531173 --------------------------------- Talk is cheap. Use Yahoo! Messenger to make PC-to-Phone calls. Great rates starting at 1¢/min. Dear sir, Ours is a P.G. college running the courses in M.B.A, M.C.A. We want to subscribe the required e- journals. We need your help to clarify some doubts regarding 1. The vendors of e-journals ? 2. software and hardware required in the library ? 3.whether AICTE consider the e-journals instead of hardcoppies at the time of inspection ? 4.Is there any AICTE approved e-journals website for M.B.A. and M.C.A courses ? 5. Will they give any username and password if we can subscribe the e-journals ? 6. How can we give acess to the users in the library and the posibility of searching outside library ? Please give your suggesitions Thanking you, Yours sinceraly N.Paidayya, Librarian, Al-Ameer college of Engineering & I.T, MBA ,MCA Programme, Gudilova , Annadhapuram, Visakhapatnam Andhra Pradesh. Pin : 531173 Talk is cheap. Use Yahoo! Messenger to make PC-to-Phone calls. http://us.rd.yahoo.com/mail_us/taglines/postman7/*http://us.rd.yahoo.com/ev… Great rates starting at 1¢/min.

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UNESCO Temporary Recruitment
by mgsree＠iimk.ac.in 05 Apr '06

05 Apr '06

Dear professionals: I have been asked by UNESCO Delhi Office to inform you about a 10-month temporary position under recruitment in the Communication and Information (CI) in that office. The incumbent will assist in the overall conception, planning and execution of information activities in South Asia including the promotion of access to information and the development of libraries, archives and other information centres. The remuneration will be the equivalent of US$ 700 per month tax free currently about Rs. 30,800 subject to the current exchange rate). The terms of reference are as follows: within the framework of the Information for All Programme (i) Conceptualization, development and implementation of strategies and projects in the use of communication and information technologies (ICTs) for knowledge building and development to include testing of localized solutions and applications such as Open eNRICH software and its content packaging (ii) organization of seminars, workshops and training courses in various aspects of information and development (iii) development of training materials and curricula regarding information technology, literacy and their applications (iv) networking with relevant national, regional and international agencies, NGOs, and relevant local partners in the identification and development of appropriate areas of cooperation (v) identification of possible extra-budgetary sources of funding and development of proposals to access these funds (vi) provision of regular inputs to briefings, deadlines and reports on programme implementation (vii) close follow-up of new developments and resources available in the field of information technology, literacy and their applications. Qualifications · Advanced University Degree in the field of library/information science with excellent knowledge of the internet and its applications . Working experience in the information field (preferably 3-5 years) · Excellent understanding of the issues relating to the application of the information and communication technologies (ICTs) for development · Updated knowledge of information policy, research methods, software applications particularly open-source, and development trends · Strong verbal and written communication skills, analytical and project management techniques · Strong technical and research skills; proposal writing; project conceptualization and development · Ability to work as a team member in an inter-cultural (and preferably multi-national) environment · Willingness to travel · Thorough mastery of English essential. For more information on UNESCO's programmes see http://unescodelhi.nic.in/ and www.unesco.org/webworld. Interested specialists should contact Ms. Jocelyne Josiah, UNESCO Adviser for Communication and Information in Asia (j.josiah(a)unesco.org) with copy to Ms. Mini Nair (m.nair(a)unesco.org) The full contact information of Ms Josiah is: Adviser in Communication and Information for Asia UNESCO New Delhi UNESCO House B-5/29- Safdarjung Enclave New Delhi 110 029. India Tel: + (91) 11 26713000 - 204/210 Fax: + (91) 11 26713001,02 With regards, Sreekumar -- Dr. M. G. Sreekumar Librarian & Head, Center for Development of Digital Libraries (CDDL) Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode IIMK Campus P.O. Kozhikode, Kerala, India-673 570 ----------------------------------------- Phone : +91 495 2809140 Fax : +91 495 2803010/11 Email : mgsree(a)iimk.ac.in Web : www.iimk.ac.in =========================================

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Vacancy for the post of Librarian
by upasana surinder saijpal 05 Apr '06

05 Apr '06

Dear All If u know of professinals in our field who are M.L.I.Sc (NET/SET cleared)then please get back to me on this e mail id urgently. This is an opening in an academic library setup for a year in mumbai.If u need any further information, kindly get back to me at the above e mail id or call 9820095816 regards Upasana Saijpal Dear All If u know of professinals in our field who are M.L.I.Sc (NET/SET cleared)then please get back to me on this e mail id urgently. This is an opening in an academic library setup for a year in mumbai.If u need any further information, kindly get back to me at the above e mail id or call 9820095816 regards Upasana Saijpal http://adworks.rediff.com/cgi-bin/AdWorks/sigclick.cgi/www.rediff.com/signa… http://adworks.rediff.com/cgi-bin/AdWorks/sigimpress.cgi/www.rediff.com/sig…

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Electronic Check Point System ( Installation)
by Krishnamurthy M 05 Apr '06

05 Apr '06

Dear Colleagues, Indian Statistical Institue,Bangalore Center Library has introduced the Electronic Check Point System. This allows inventory is protected by the most advanced electronic Article Surveillance (EAS) technology, designed with the realities of day- to-day business. When a " live" checkpoint target enters the sensors radio frequency detection field, a signal is interrupted, triggering an alaram that alerts to a possible lifting attempt. M.Krishnamurthy -- Dr.M.Krishnamurthy Librarian Indian Statistical Institute 8th Mile Mysore Road R.V.C.E. Post Bangalore 560059 Ph:91-80-28483002/3/4/4 Fax: 91-80-28484265

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Fw: [BOAI] decision on open access at the 8th COP of the Convention on Biological Diversity, Curitiba, March 31
by Subbiah Arunachalam 05 Apr '06

05 Apr '06

----- Original Message ----- From: Donat Agosti To: 'BOAI Forum' Sent: Tuesday, April 04, 2006 5:27 PM Subject: [BOAI] decision on open access at the 8th COP of the Convention on Biological Diversity, Curitiba, March 31 [sorry for cross-posting with American Scientist open Access Forum] Dear colleagues COP-8, the follow-up conference of the parties of the Convention on Biological Diversity, ended on March 31 with a decision of importance for our work. Here the excerpt: SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL COOPERATION AND THE CHM: Discussions on scientific and technical cooperation and the CHM (UNEP/CBD/COP/8/4/Rev.1, 17, 17/Add.1, and 18) took place in WG-II on Thursday, 23 March, and Tuesday, 28 March. A decision was approved by WG-II on 28 March. On scientific and technical cooperation, delegates highlighted collaboration with other initiatives, with Colombia stressing repatriation of information. Canada urged parties to provide free and open access to information and, supported by the EU, suggested reference to the Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Brazil expressed concern about the cost implications of CHM activities, and delegates agreed to take notes of Brazil's reservation in the decision. Final Decision: In the decision (UNEP/CBD/COP/8/L.5), the COP adopts the annexed CHM updated strategic plan for the period 2005-2010 and the CHM work programme up to 2010. THE COP INVITES PARTIES AND OTHER GOVERNMENTS, AS APPROPRIATE, TO PROVIDE FREE AND OPEN ACCESS TO ALL PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE PUBLIC-GOOD RESEARCH RESULTS, ASSESSMENTS, MAPS AND DATABASES ON BIODIVERSITY, IN ACCORDANCE WITH NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL LEGISLATION It also requests parties, and invites other governments and donors, to continue providing financial and technical support to develop national and regional CHMs. The COP requests the Executive Secretary to prepare a report on progress made in the implementation of the strategic plan of the CHM and its work programme for 2005-2010, for COP-10 consideration. Donat Dr. Donat Agosti Research Associate, American Museum of Natural History and Smithsonian Institution Email: agosti(a)amnh.org Web: http://antbase.org Skype: agostileu CV: http://antbase.org/agosticv_2003.html Dalmaziquai 45 3005 Bern Switzerland +41-31-351 7152  ----- Original Message ----- From: mailto:agosti@amnh.org Donat Agosti To: mailto:boai-forum@ecs.soton.ac.uk 'BOAI Forum' Sent: Tuesday, April 04, 2006 5:27 PM Subject: [BOAI] decision on open access at the 8th COP of the Convention on Biological Diversity, Curitiba, March 31 [ sorry for cross-posting with American Scientist open Access Forum] Dear colleagues COP-8, the follow-up conference of the parties of the Convention on Biological Diversity, ended on March 31 with a decision of importance for our work. Here the excerpt: SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL COOPERATION AND THE CHM: Discussions on scientific and technical cooperation and the CHM (UNEP/CBD/COP/8/4/Rev.1, 17, 17/Add.1, and 18) took place in WG-II on Thursday, 23 March, and Tuesday, 28 March. A decision was approved by WG-II on 28 March. On scientific and technical cooperation, delegates highlighted collaboration with other initiatives, with Colombia stressing repatriation of information. Canada urged parties to provide free and open access to information and, support ed by the EU, suggested reference to the Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Brazil expressed concern about the cost implications of CHM activities, and delegates agreed to take notes of Brazil s reservation in the decision. Final Decision: In the decision (UNEP/CBD/COP/8/L.5), the COP adopts the annexed CHM updated strategic plan for the period 2005-2010 and the CHM work programme up to 2010. THE COP INVITES PARTIES AND OTHER GOVERNMENTS, AS APPROPRIATE, TO PROVIDE FREE AND OPEN ACCESS TO ALL PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE PUBLIC-GOOD RESEARCH RESULTS, ASSESSMENTS, MAPS AND DATABASES ON BIODIVERSITY, IN ACCORDANCE WITH NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL LEGISLATION It also requests parties, and invites other governments and donors, to continue providing financial and technical support to develop national and regional CHMs . The COP requests the Executive Secretary to prepare a report on progress made in the implementation of the strategic plan of the CHM and its work programme for 2005-2010, for COP-10 consideration. Donat Dr. Donat Agosti Research Associate, American Museum of Natural History and Smithsonian Institution Email: agosti(a)amnh.org Web: http://antbase.org Skype : agostileu CV: http://antbase.org/agosticv_2003.html Dalmaziquai 45 3005 Bern Switzerland +41-31-351 7152

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India should adopt "Open course ware"
by arun＠mssrf.res.in 05 Apr '06

05 Apr '06

Friends: Many universities around the world, following MIT's Open Course Ware project, are providing their course material free on the Internet. In China and Japan universities take the trouble to translate the material into Chinese and japanese. As far as I know, not a single university in India has taken to providing the course ware on the Net for people to use. Of course IGNOU broadcasts over radio and television a large number of programmes under its Gyan Vani programme. Leading universities and university teachers should come forward to make thie courses available to students (and others interested to learn) on the Net. That could be one small step in making India a knowledge society. Subbiah Arunachalam -------------------- >From MIT's Open Course Ware site 8. China Quality OCW (CNQOCW) ---------------------------------------------------------------- China Open Resources for Education (CORE), MIT OCW's Chinese language translation partner, now offers links to more than 450 China Quality OpenCourseWare (CNQOCW) courses for use and sharing in China and globally. In addition, CORE has translated 110 MIT OCW courses into Simplified Chinese, which are available at http://www.core.org.cn/OCW_CN/Global/all-courses.htm 9. Japan OCW Alliance ---------------------------------------------------------------- The leading nine universities in Japan -- Hokkaido University, Keio University, Kyoto University, Kyushu University, Nagoya University, Osaka University, Tokyo Institute of Technology, the University of Tokyo, and Waseda University -- have formed the Japan OCW Alliance. These six universities now offer open access to more than 100 courses, in both English and Japanese. 10. FETP OCW in Vietnam ---------------------------------------------------------------- Inspired by the MIT OCW initiative, the Fulbright School Economics Teaching Program (FETP) in Vietnam launched FETP OpenCourseWare in 2003, the first "opencourseware" project to launch after MIT OCW opened in September 2002. The Fulbright School participates with other academic institutions in Vietnam to promote the use of innovative long-distance learning activities.

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Need for mandating OA - Evidence from Australia
by arun＠mssrf.res.in 05 Apr '06

05 Apr '06

Friends: Here is additional for the need for mandating from Australia. We in India (and other developing countries) should not delay any further. We should go ahead and mandate OA for all publicly funded research. Best wishes. Subbiah Arunachalam ------------------- >From Peter Suber's blog OA mandates work better than requests Arthur Sale, Comparison of content policies for institutional repositories in Australia, First Monday, April 2006. Abstract: Seven Australian universities have established institutional repositories (containing research articles, also known as eprints) that can be analyzed for content and which were in operation during 2004 and 2005. This short paper analyses their content and shows that a requirement to deposit research output into a repository coupled with effective author support policies works in Australia and delivers high levels of content. Voluntary deposit policies do not, regardless of any author support by the university. This is consistent with international data.

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Copyright Law Amendment
by Padmanabha Vyasamoorthy 04 Apr '06

04 Apr '06

Dear Friends The Indian Copyright Act is being amended and the government is asking for views of the public. Please visit www.copyright.gov.in and follow the Link Amendment to Copyright Act to send your views. Librarians have a lot of concerns and they must be addressed now. The form needs some expertise in legal matters. I suggest that some 'active' associations like KALA, ALSD or ILA or IASLIC collect views quickly and send it to government. -- Dr P Vyasamoorthy, SENIORS (Society for Enriched Information of Relevance to Seniors), 30, Gruhalakshmi Colony, Secunderabad 500018 Phone 27846631

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Mandating OA
by Subbiah Arunachalam 04 Apr '06

04 Apr '06

Friends: The European Commission has just released a report that talks about guaranteeing open access to all publicly-funded research. We in India should adopt a much more progressive step and mandate instant open access for all publicly funde research, meaning that papers should be made available via open access the same day as they are published. We have already lost much time. We cannot afford to lose any more time. Arun [Subbiah Arunachalam] EC recommmends OA archiving for publicly-funded research The European Commission has released its lengthy (108 pp.) and long-awaited report, Study on the Economic and Technical Evolution of the Scientific Publication Markets in Europe. (Thanks to INIST-CNRS.) The report is dated January 2006 but was not apparently released until today. The underlying inquiry was announced in June 2004. Excerpt: Aware of current public debates that reveal worries about the conditions of access and dissemination of scientific publications, the European Commission's Directorate- General for Research has commissioned a study that seeks: (i) to assess the evolution of the market for scientific publishing; and (ii) to discuss the potential desirability of Europeanlevel measures to help improve the conditions governing access to and the exchange, dissemination and archiving of scientific publications (taking into account all actors/ stakeholders of the sector)....The report considers the specificities of the market for current journal issues. In doing so, it discusses the broad facts about the market; it undertakes a quantitative analysis of journal prices; it discusses the implications of technological innovation on pricing strategies and the dynamics of entry; and it analyzes the implication of these developments in terms of competition policy. It also discusses the various alternatives for disseminating and accessing scientific publications. This includes the question of access to research results on individual web pages or in public repositories, the development of openaccess journals as well as other alternatives, such as pay-per-view, the question of the longterm preservation of electronic publications and the use of standards to ensure interoperability between systems....[M]uch of scientific activity is publicly funded: the output of research is typically not bought by journals but 'donated' by publicly-funded researchers; so are to a large extent refereeing services for the evaluation of research; and finally, journals are bought by publicly-funded researchers or, more often now, by publicly-funded libraries. It is therefore crucial for public authorities to form a view on the relative efficiency of the scientific publication process.... In view of the libraries' ongoing budgetary difficulties and of the opportunities provided by information technologies, and acknowledging the significant part of public funds involved in the scientific publishing process, a movement in favor of open access to scientific information has gained scale in the research community and research-related organizations. Declarations in favor of open access, such as Budapest Open Access Initiative and the Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities, were signed by thousands of individuals and by major research institutions and research funding bodies around the world. These concerns about access to research results have been echoed by the civil society (e.g. at the World Summit on the Information Society) and by political bodies at national and international levels (e.g. the OECD Declaration on Access to Research Data from Public Funding). In the UK, the House of Commons (2004) recommended that public funding agencies require open access to publicly-funded research through deposit of the publications in the authors' institutional repositories. Following these declarations and recommendations, several important research funding bodies have established policies urging their funded researchers to publish in open access journals, offering to pay the publication fees if any, and/or to deposit their articles in an open access repository (e.g. the US National Institutes of Health, the UK Research Councils, the Wellcome Trust, CERN.). These policies have raised publishers and learned societies' concerns about the potential threat on their existence and activities: they fear that as articles become freely available in open archives and as search, access and retrieval facilities are enhanced by search engines and interoperability, journal subscriptions will be cancelled, thereby undermining the viability of their journals. Starting from this global economic and research-policy context, this report provides an independent analysis of the conditions regarding access and dissemination of research results, with a view to maximizing societal returns on R&D investments.... The evidence discussed in Sections 3 to 5 points however to a market where publishers do enjoy market power. This means that access can be improved significantly before one has to start worrying about threatening this reader/library-pay model. At present, immediate access can be achieved through individual web pages, through open access repositories or archives collecting e-prints deposited by their authors, and through open access journals which rely on various sources of income. In some countries, public authorities have funded large-scale projects to develop portals providing free online access to selected scholarly journals published in their countries (e.g. SciELO in Latin American countries, J-STAGE in Japan, various projects in India). As an increasing volume of research output from outside Europe becomes openly accessible, it raises the question of the visibility and accessibility, and of the subsequent potential impact, of European research as most articles by European researchers are published in subscription-based journals. In this respect, policies like those put in place by the U.S. NIH, the UK Research Councils or the Wellcome Trust - which promote open availability of research results no later than 12 months after publication - could be emulated across Europe, after discussions with the publishers. The aim could be to ensure that published European-funded research (at EU, national, or regional levels) be deposited in standardized open archives some time after publication. Recent surveys show that a majority of researchers seem willing to self-archive their articles if induced to do so by their employer or funding body....It is worth noting that, if the research funding authorities want to 'give a chance' to the author-pay model, they have to allow for a 'level-playing field' in comparison with the reader/library-pay model, that is, provide funding for publication costs and not only for library budgets....[T]here is a central role for funding bodies to define policies which will improve access and dissemination of publications, especially in terms of self-archiving requirement.... RECOMMENDATION A1. GUARANTEE PUBLIC ACCESS TO PUBLICLY-FUNDED RESEARCH RESULTS SHORTLY AFTER PUBLICATION. Research funding agencies have a central role in determining researchers' publishing practices. Following the lead of the NIH and other institutions, they should promote and support the archiving of publications in open repositories, after a (possibly domain-specific) time period to be discussed with publishers. This archiving could become a condition for funding. The following actions could be taken at the European level: (i) Establish a European policy mandating published articles arising from EC-funded research to be available after a given time period in open access archives, and (ii) Explore with Member States and with European research and academic associations whether and how such policies and open repositories could be implemented. Also see the HTML splash page for the report. The EC is soliciting comments on the report; please send them to rtd-scientific-publication(a)cec.eu.int by June 1, 2006. Peter Suber's Comment. This is big. Recommedation A1 doesn't directly call for an OA mandate to publicly-funded research, but it does call for a "guarantee" of OA, asserts that OA archiving "could become a condition of funding", and proposes that a mandate is one action that "could be taken at the European level". If the authors are distinguishing a guarantee from a mandate, then I'd like to hear more about it. But "even" a guarantee would be extremely welcome. Moreover, the recommendation calls for OA "shortly after publication". I hope this report strengthens the final draft of the RCUK policy, triggers the adoption of OA policies at the national level across Europe, and increases the odds that the nascent European Research Council will mandate OA to ERC-funded research. Friends: The European Commission has just released a report that talks about guaranteeing open access to all publicly-funded research. We in India should adopt a much more progressive step and mandate instant open access for all publicly funde research, meaning that papers should be made available via open access the same day as they are published. We have already lost much time. We cannot afford to lose any more time. Arun [Subbiah Arunachalam] EC recommmends OA archiving for publicly-funded research The http://europa.eu.int/comm/index_en.htm European Commission has released its lengthy (108 pp.) and long-awaited report, http://europa.eu.int/comm/research/science-society/pdf/scientific-publicati… Study on the Economic and Technical Evolution of the Scientific Publication Markets in Europe . (Thanks to http://www.inist.fr/openaccess/ INIST-CNRS .) The report is dated January 2006 but was not apparently released until today. The underlying inquiry was http://www.europa.eu.int/comm/research/press/2004/pr1506en.cfm announced in June 2004. Excerpt: Aware of current public debates that reveal worries about the conditions of access and dissemination of scientific publications, the European Commissions Directorate- General for Research has commissioned a study that seeks: (i) to assess the evolution of the market for scientific publishing; and (ii) to discuss the potential desirability of Europeanlevel measures to help improve the conditions governing access to and the exchange, dissemination and archiving of scientific publications (taking into account all actors/ stakeholders of the sector)....The report considers the specificities of the market for current journal issues. In doing so, it discusses the broad facts about the market; it undertakes a quantitative analysis of journal prices; it discusses the implications of technological innovation on pricing strategies and the dynamics of entry; and it analyzes the implication of these developments in terms of competition policy. It also discusses the various alternatives for disseminating and accessing scientific publications. This includes the question of access to research results on individual web pages or in public repositories, the development of openaccess journals as well as other alternatives, such as pay-per-view, the question of the longterm preservation of electronic publications and the use of standards to ensure interoperability between systems....[M]uch of scientific activity is publicly funded: the output of research is typically not bought by journals but donated by publicly-funded researchers; so are to a large extent refereeing services for the evaluation of research; and finally, journals are bought by publicly-funded researchers or, more often now, by publicly-funded libraries. It is therefore crucial for public authorities to form a view on the relative efficiency of the scientific publication process.... In view of the libraries ongoing budgetary difficulties and of the opportunities provided by information technologies, and acknowledging the significant part of public funds involved in the scientific publishing process, a movement in favor of open access to scientific information has gained scale in the research community and research-related organizations. Declarations in favor of open access, such as Budapest Open Access Initiative and the Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities, were signed by thousands of individuals and by major research institutions and research funding bodies around the world. These concerns about access to research results have been echoed by the civil society (e.g. at the World Summit on the Information Society) and by political bodies at national and international levels (e.g. the OECD Declaration on Access to Research Data from Public Funding). In the UK, the House of Commons (2004) recommended that public funding agencies require open access to publicly-funded research through deposit of the publications in the authors institutional repositories. Following these declarations and recommendations, several important research funding bodies have established policies urging their funded researchers to publish in open access journals, offering to pay the publication fees if any, and/or to deposit their articles in an open access repository (e.g. the US National Institutes of Health, the UK Research Councils, the Wellcome Trust, CERN). These policies have raised publishers and learned societies concerns about the potential threat on their existence and activities: they fear that as articles become freely available in open archives and as search, access and retrieval facilities are enhanced by search engines and interoperability, journal subscriptions will be cancelled, thereby undermining the viability of their journals. Starting from this global economic and research-policy context, this report provides an independent analysis of the conditions regarding access and dissemination of research results, with a view to maximizing societal returns on R&D investments.... The evidence discussed in Sections 3 to 5 points however to a market where publishers do enjoy market power. This means that access can be improved significantly before one has to start worrying about threatening this reader/library-pay model. At present, immediate access can be achieved through individual web pages, through open access repositories or archives collecting e-prints deposited by their authors, and through open access journals which rely on various sources of income. In some countries, public authorities have funded large-scale projects to develop portals providing free online access to selected scholarly journals published in their countries (e.g. SciELO in Latin American countries, J-STAGE in Japan, various projects in India). As an increasing volume of research output from outside Europe becomes openly accessible, it raises the question of the visibility and accessibility, and of the subsequent potential impact, of European research as most articles by European researchers are published in subscription-based journals. In this respect, policies like those put in place by the U.S. NIH, the UK Research Councils or the Wellcome Trust which promote open availability of research results no later than 12 months after publication could be emulated across Europe, after discussions with the publishers. The aim could be to ensure that published European-funded research (at EU, national, or regional levels) be deposited in standardized open archives some time after publication. Recent surveys show that a majority of researchers seem willing to self-archive their articles if induced to do so by their employer or funding body....It is worth noting that, if the research funding authorities want to give a chance to the author-pay model, they have to allow for a level-playing field in comparison with the reader/library-pay model, that is, provide funding for publication costs and not only for library budgets....[T]here is a central role for funding bodies to define policies which will improve access and dissemination of publications, especially in terms of self-archiving requirement.... RECOMMENDATION A1. GUARANTEE PUBLIC ACCESS TO PUBLICLY-FUNDED RESEARCH RESULTS SHORTLY AFTER PUBLICATION. Research funding agencies have a central role in determining researchers publishing practices. Following the lead of the NIH and other institutions, they should promote and support the archiving of publications in open repositories, after a (possibly domain-specific) time period to be discussed with publishers. This archiving could become a condition for funding. The following actions could be taken at the European level: (i) Establish a European policy mandating published articles arising from EC-funded research to be available after a given time period in open access archives, and (ii) Explore with Member States and with European research and academic associations whether and how such policies and open repositories could be implemented. Also see the HTML http://europa.eu.int/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/06/414&forma… splash page for the report. The EC is soliciting comments on the report; please send them to mailto:rtd-scientific-publication@cec.eu.int rtd-scientific-publication(a)cec.eu.int by June 1, 2006. Peter Suber's Comment . This is big. Recommedation A1 doesn't directly call for an OA mandate to publicly-funded research, but it does call for a "guarantee" of OA, asserts that OA archiving "could become a condition of funding", and proposes that a mandate is one action that "could be taken at the European level". If the authors are distinguishing a guarantee from a mandate, then I'd like to hear more about it. But "even" a guarantee would be extremely welcome. Moreover, the recommendation calls for OA "shortly after publication". I hope this report strengthens the final draft of the RCUK policy, triggers the adoption of OA policies at the national level across Europe, and increases the odds that the nascent European Research Council will mandate OA to ERC-funded research.

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