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

Playstations
by Thapar, Amit 18 Dec '05

18 Dec '05

Dear members, is it a nice idea to install game stations (like Xbox, playstations, etc.) in public libraries to increase membership and usage of other library materials ??? Comments pls. amit@niper Cell: 9417419457 e-mail: amit_thapar(a)yahoo.com Dear members, is it a nice idea to install game stations (like Xbox, playstations, etc.) in public libraries to increase membership and usage of other library materials ??? Comments pls. mailto:amit@niper amit@niper Cell: 9417419457 e-mail: mailto:amit_thapar@yahoo.com amit_thapar(a)yahoo.com

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Tips to recover scratched CDs...
by Thapar, Amit 18 Dec '05

18 Dec '05

Tips to recover scratched CDs Don't you feel like crying every time you add another disc to your pile of scratched discs. Trashing that disc which contained your favorite songs, pics, files, games or videos is not easy. Read-on, if you find yourself wishing for a miracle every time your fav CD is scratched: Home Remedy : here's an easy home remedy, which might give you the desired results. Rub a small amount of toothpaste on the scratch and polish the CD with a soft cloth and any petroleum-based polishing solution (like clear shoe polish). Squirt a drop of Brasso and wipe it with a clean cloth. Technology to the rescue There are many softwares available on the net, which enable the recovery of the CD data. BadCopy Pro is one such software, which can be used to recover destroyed data and files from a range of media. Just a few clicks is all it requires to recover the disc from almost all kind of damage situation; be it corrupted, lost data, unreadable or defective. DiskDoctors is another popular company, which offers both software and solutions to recover data from a scratched CDs and DVDs. General Tips: * Always wipe the CD from the center outward with stratight spoke-like strokes. Wiping CDs in circles will create more scratches. * Do not scratch the graphics layer as you cannot repair the disc. HINT: Hold the disc up to a light with the graphics layer facing the light source. If you can see light thru the scratches at any point then the disc may be irreparable and or exhibit loading or playing errors. * Clean your Disc players lens regularly with a suitable product to ensure optimal viewing pleasure. * Make sure to use a soft, lint-free cloth to clean both sides of the disc. Wipe in a straight line from the centre of the disc to the outer edge. * If wiping with a cloth does not remove a fingerprint or smudge, use a specialized DVD disc polishing spray to clean the disc. * Only handle the disc by its outer edge and the empty hole in the middle. This will help prevent fingerprints, smudges or scratches. **************************************** Tips to recover scratched CDs Don't you feel like crying every time you add another disc to your pile of scratched discs. Trashing that disc which contained your favorite songs, pics, files, games or videos is not easy. Read-on, if you find yourself wishing for a miracle every time your fav CD is scratched: Home Remedy : here's an easy home remedy, which might give you the desired results. Rub a small amount of toothpaste on the scratch and polish the CD with a soft cloth and any petroleum-based polishing solution (like clear shoe polish). Squirt a drop of Brasso and wipe it with a clean cloth. Technology to the rescue There are many softwares available on the net, which enable the recovery of the CD data. BadCopy Pro is one such software, which can be used to recover destroyed data and files from a range of media. Just a few clicks is all it requires to recover the disc from almost all kind of damage situation; be it corrupted, lost data, unreadable or defective. DiskDoctors is another popular company, which offers both software and solutions to recover data from a scratched CDs and DVDs. General Tips: * Always wipe the CD from the center outward with stratight spoke-like strokes. Wiping CDs in circles will create more scratches. * Do not scratch the graphics layer as you cannot repair the disc. HINT: Hold the disc up to a light with the graphics layer facing the light source. If you can see light thru the scratches at any point then the disc may be irreparable and or exhibit loading or playing errors. * Clean your Disc players lens regularly with a suitable product to ensure optimal viewing pleasure. * Make sure to use a soft, lint-free cloth to clean both sides of the disc. Wipe in a straight line from the centre of the disc to the outer edge. * If wiping with a cloth does not remove a fingerprint or smudge, use a specialized DVD disc polishing spray to clean the disc. * Only handle the disc by its outer edge and the empty hole in the middle. This will help prevent fingerprints, smudges or scratches. ****************************************

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OA improves citation impact
by Subbiah Arunachalam 18 Dec '05

18 Dec '05

Friends: Here is some evidence for OA improving citation impact. From Peter Suber's blog. Arun More evidence supporting the OA impact advantage C. Hajjem, S. Harnad, and Y. Gingras, Ten-Year Cross-Disciplinary Comparison of the Growth of Open Access and How it Increases Research Citation Impact, IEEE Data Engineering Bulletin, 2005. Self-archived December 16, 2005. Abstract: In 2001, Lawrence found that articles in computer science that were openly accessible (OA) on the Web were cited substantially more than those that were not. We have since replicated this effect in physics. To further test its cross-disciplinary generality, we used 1,307,038 articles published across 12 years (1992-2003) in 10 disciplines (Biology, Psychology, Sociology, Health, Political Science, Economics, Education, Law, Business, Management). We designed a robot that trawls the Web for full-texts using reference metadata (author, title, journal, etc.) and citation data from the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) database. A preliminary signal-detection analysis of the robot's accuracy yielded a signal detectability d'=2.45 and bias = 0.52. The overall percentage of OA (relative to total OA + NOA) articles varies from 5%-16% (depending on discipline, year and country) and is slowly climbing annually (correlation r=.76, sample size N=12, probability p < 0.005). Comparing OA and NOA articles in the same journal/year, OA articles have consistently more citations, the advantage varying from 25%-250% by discipline and year. Comparing articles within six citation ranges (0, 1, 2-3, 4-7, 8-15, 16+ citations), the annual percentage of OA articles is growing significantly faster than NOA within every citation range (r > .90, N=12, p < .0005) and the effect is greater with the more highly cited articles (r = .98, N=6, p < .005). Causality cannot be determined from these data, but our prior finding of a similar pattern in physics, where percent OA is much higher (and even approaches 100% in some subfields), makes it unlikely that the OA citation advantage is merely or mostly a self-selection bias (for making only one's better articles OA). Further research will analyze the effect's timing, causal components and relation to other variables, such as, download counts, journal citation averages, article quality, co-citation measures, hub/authority ranks, growth rate, longevity, and other new impact measures generated by the growing OA database.

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Workshop on D-Space and WINISIS, Jan 4-8, 2006
by Biradar B.S. 17 Dec '05

17 Dec '05

Workshop on D-Space and WINISIS 4-8 January 2006 Organised by: Department of Library and Information Science, Kuvempu University, Jnana Sahyadri-57 451, Shimoga, Karnataka Venue: Dept. of Library and Information Science Kuvempu University Jnana Sahyadri-577 451, Shankaragatta, Shimoga, Karnataka. ABOUT KUVEMPU UNIVERSITY The Kuvempu University was established in the year 1987 is named after KUVEMPU, the Renowned National Poet. Situated in the picturesque Malnad region, literally in the lap of Sahyadri Western Ghats, the main university campus is adjacent to the Bhadra Wild Life Sanctuary, which has been declared as Tiger Reserve. It is one of the very few universities in India with a totally rural and green profile. Since its establishment as an affiliating, teaching and research university, it is contemplating to offer best suitable courses to the area and help the rural youth to compete in the fast changing world. The university has more than 30 Post-Graduate Departments offering various programmes at Masters and Doctors level, at Jnana Sahyadri campus. ABOUT DEPARTMENT OF LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SCIENCE The Department of Library and Information Science was established in December 1993 offers two years M.Sc degree course in Library and Information Science since its inception. The course is designed to suit to the changing needs of the modern society. Greater emphasis has been laid in the curricula on IT oriented areas and practical aspects. To facilitate this, the department is equipped with necessary classrooms, furniture and equipment. It has an independent computer lab with 15 systems and internet facility. So far, the department has produced more than 270 M.Sc students and many of them have occupied better positions in Central/State Government departments, public/private enterprises, higher education institutions, R&D organizations and multinational companies. Some of them also have moved abroad. The department is also offering Ph.D. programme in Library and Information Science in regular mode and B.L.I.Sc and M.L.I.Sc programs in distance mode. It is active in teaching, training and consultancy activities. It has organized many national level seminars, conferences and UGC sponsored Refresher Courses in Library and Information Science. Now the department is holding five days workshop on D-Space and WINISIS. ABOUT THE WORKSHOP The enormous growth of information and advances in technology have brought about a sea change in collection, organization and dissemination of information. IT has provided greater challenges to the libraries, both in storage technology as well as in dissemination mode. Capabilities for digital storage of archival resources and presently available variety of information resources in different digital forms have indeed contributed to the easy access of variety of resources from different corners of the globe. Even remote libraries need to necessarily think of developing digital resources, so as to access different kinds of resources for their users at low cost. In the light of different options available for providing better access to information resources to the users, Librarians need training in use of open software. Thus this workshop intended to provide training in use of Information Technologies in Library and Information Science work. ABOUT D-Space D-Space, an open source software, which acts as a repository for digital research and educational material produced by an organization or institution. This is one of the important Open Source Software available at free of cost, used for developing digital library system to capture, store, index, preserve, and redistribute the intellectual output of a college/universitys research faculty in digital formats. It accepts any type of digital content, including text, images, audio, video etc. Registration: Registration Fee Rs. 600/- For ALUMNI Students Rs. 400/- DD drawn in favour of "Chairman Dept. of Library and Information Science, Kuvempu University" Shankaragatta, payable at SBM, B.R.Project' sent before 24th December 2005. The registration fee includes participation, Workshop kit (containing course materials, bag, and stationery). Note: Participants strength is restricted to 20 and selection will be on first cum first served basis. For further information you may please contact: Dr. B.S. Biradar, Chairman, Dept. of Library and Information Science Kuvempu University, Jnana Sahyadri Shankaragatta-577 451, Shimoga, Karnataka. Phone: Off : (08282) 257 319, Cell: 94484 42513 E-mail: bsbiradar53(a)rediffmail.com, __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com Workshop on D-Space and WINISIS 4-8 January 2006 Organised by: Department of Library and Information Science, Kuvempu University, Jnana Sahyadri-57 451, Shimoga, Karnataka Venue: Dept. of Library and Information Science Kuvempu University Jnana Sahyadri-577 451, Shankaragatta, Shimoga, Karnataka. ABOUT KUVEMPU UNIVERSITY The Kuvempu University was established in the year 1987 is named after KUVEMPU, the Renowned National Poet. Situated in the picturesque Malnad region, literally in the lap of Sahyadri Western Ghats, the main university campus is adjacent to the Bhadra Wild Life Sanctuary, which has been declared as Tiger Reserve. It is one of the very few universities in India with a totally rural and green profile. Since its establishment as an affiliating, teaching and research university, it is contemplating to offer best suitable courses to the area and help the rural youth to compete in the fast changing world. The university has more than 30 Post-Graduate Departments offering various programmes at Masters and Doctors level, at Jnana Sahyadri campus. ABOUT DEPARTMENT OF LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SCIENCE The Department of Library and Information Science was established in December 1993 offers two years M.Sc degree course in Library and Information Science since its inception. The course is designed to suit to the changing needs of the modern society. Greater emphasis has been laid in the curricula on IT oriented areas and practical aspects. To facilitate this, the department is equipped with necessary classrooms, furniture and equipment. It has an independent computer lab with 15 systems and internet facility. So far, the department has produced more than 270 M.Sc students and many of them have occupied better positions in Central/State Government departments, public/private enterprises, higher education institutions, R&D organizations and multinational companies. Some of them also have moved abroad. The department is also offering Ph.D. programme in Library and Information Science in regular mode and B.L.I.Sc and M.L.I.Sc programs in distance mode. It is active in teaching, training and consultancy activities. It has organized many national level seminars, conferences and UGC sponsored Refresher Courses in Library and Information Science. Now the department is holding five days workshop on D-Space and WINISIS. ABOUT THE WORKSHOP The enormous growth of information and advances in technology have brought about a sea change in collection, organization and dissemination of information. IT has provided greater challenges to the libraries, both in storage technology as well as in dissemination mode. Capabilities for digital storage of archival resources and presently available variety of information resources in different digital forms have indeed contributed to the easy access of variety of resources from different corners of the globe. Even remote libraries need to necessarily think of developing digital resources, so as to access different kinds of resources for their users at low cost. In the light of different options available for providing better access to information resources to the users, Librarians need training in use of open software. Thus this workshop intended to provide training in use of Information Technologies in Library and Information Science work. ABOUT D-Space D-Space, an open source software, which acts as a repository for digital research and educational material produced by an organization or institution. This is one of the important Open Source Software available at free of cost, used for developing digital library system to capture, store, index, preserve, and redistribute the intellectual output of a college/universitys research faculty in digital formats. It accepts any type of digital content, including text, images, audio, video etc. Registration: Registration Fee Rs. 600/- For ALUMNI Students Rs. 400/- DD drawn in favour of "Chairman Dept. of Library and Information Science, Kuvempu University" Shankaragatta, payable at SBM, B.R.Project' sent before 24 th December 2005. The registration fee includes participation, Workshop kit (containing course materials, bag, and stationery). Note: Participants strength is restricted to 20 and selection will be on first cum first served basis. For further information you may please contact: Dr. B.S. Biradar, Chairman, Dept. of Library and Information Science Kuvempu University, Jnana Sahyadri Shankaragatta-577 451, Shimoga, Karnataka. Phone: Off : (08282) 257 319, Cell: 94484 42513 E-mail: mailto:bsbiradar53@rediffmail.com bsbiradar53(a)rediffmail.com , __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com

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Google: Search or Destroy?
by Thapar, Amit 17 Dec '05

17 Dec '05

Google: Search or Destroy? Google stands accused of copyright infringement by two major American authors’ associations and a French newswire. But the tools the company provides have done more to promote global access to information than any other. Here. librarians, lawyers, legislators and thinkers discuss the rights and wrongs of an internet giant. http://www.opendemocracy.net/media-copyrightlaw/google_3130.jsp amit@niper Cell: 9417419457 e-mail: amit_thapar(a)yahoo.com Google: Search or Destroy? Google stands accused of copyright infringement by two major American authors’ associations and a French newswire. But the tools the company provides have done more to promote global access to information than any other. Here. librarians, lawyers, legislators and thinkers discuss the rights and wrongs of an internet giant. http://www.opendemocracy.net/media-copyrightlaw/google_3130.jsp http://www.opendemocracy.net/media-copyrightlaw/google_3130.jsp mailto:amit@niper amit@niper Cell: 9417419457 e-mail: mailto:amit_thapar@yahoo.com amit_thapar(a)yahoo.com

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Workshop on Scientific Journal Publishing in India
by Suvarsha Walters 17 Dec '05

17 Dec '05

NATIONAL WORKSHOP ON SCIENTIFIC JOURNAL PUBLISHING IN INDIA 10th and 11th February, 2006 Conducted by National Centre for Science Information, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore in collaboration with Public Knowledge Project, Univerity of British Columbia & Simon Fraser University, Canada supported by Asian Media and Information Centre, Singapore Dates: 10th and 11th February, 2006. ------ Content: ------- Aimed at academic publishers in India, including institutions and associations with Institutional Archives as well as journal publishers, the workshop aims to - Impart knowledge about OAI-PMH and the tools and techniques required to publish with OAI compliance. - Conduct hands-on session with the free journal management and publishing software, Open Journal Systems(OJS), which facilitates OAI-PMH indexing - Present talks by eminent persons on Open Access Publishing Registration Information: ------------------------ The workshop is open to Indian nationals employed in organizations, associations or private companies involved in academic and research publication OR have plans in the near future to start their own archives or publishing initiatives. Two members from the same organization are encouraged to participate. Additional members can be accommodated subject to the availability of seats. The number of seats is limited to 20 only. Registration Cost: ----------------- - No registration fee is charged to the participants. - Travel expenses to and from Bangalore should be borne by the participant or the sponsoring organization. - Accommodation, food, local transport and hospitality will be extended. Important dates: --------------- Last date for registration: 2nd January, 2006 Confirmation of registration to the participants: 15th January, 2006 Workshop Dates: 10th and 11th February, 2006 Registration form: ----------------- Available for download at: http:http://www.ncsi.iisc.ernet.in/ojs-workshop/register.pdf Brochure: -------- Available for download at: http://www.ncsi.iisc.ernet.in/ojs-workshop/brochure.pdf Workshop Website: ------- For more information check the URL: http://www.ncsi.iisc.ernet.in/ojs-workshop/ Contact: ------- Postal Address: National Centre for Science Information, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560 012 Phone: 080-22933273, 22932654 and 22932511 E-mail: sjpi(a)ncsi.iisc.ernet.in with regards, Suvarsha *********************************************************************** Suvarsha Walters, Project Assistant, National Centre for Science Information Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore - 560 012 INDIA Ph (Off): 080-23600271 / 22932511 Ph (Mobile): 98458 33694 E-mail: suvarsha_w(a)yahoo.com suvarsha(a)ncsi.iisc.ernet.in ************************************************************************

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Re: [LIS-Forum] 2020 Shape of Academic and Research Libraries
by Mailing List Manager 17 Dec '05

17 Dec '05

Date: Fri, 16 Dec 2005 14:12:35 +0530 From: sathya <sathya(a)informindia.co.in> Sukhdev The scenerio imagined by you is very likely to happen and is already happening partially. Access models will break the current campus and IP-restriction barrior making authenticated access from home a reality. Academic & Research Librareis will either disappear or will become vendors. Considering the fact that higher education is gradually moving in the direction of student-funding, this scenerio is not unlikely. Access cost @10% of total educational cost looks very high, but very encouraging for libraries to turn vendors! Sathya ---------------------------------- N V Sathyanarayana Informatics (India) Ltd Bangalore 560003, India. www.informindia.co.in ----- Original Message ----- From: "Mailing List Manager" <mailman(a)ncsi.iisc.ernet.in> To: <lis-forum(a)ncsi.iisc.ernet.in> Sent: Thursday, December 15, 2005 4:03 PM Subject: [LIS-Forum] 2020 Shape of Academic and Research Libraries > Date: Tue, 13 Dec 2005 15:33:59 +0530 > From: Sukhdev Singh <esukhdev(a)gmail.com> > > Year 2020 - Online is In and Paper is Out: > > Let us assume by the year 2020: > -- All content required for teaching, learning and research is available > online. > -- 24/7 Access is available for free or fee. > -- Online content is well indexed and rated. > -- Vendors provide single point access to premium content and > organized free content. > -- Access is available at a cost, which is less then 10 % of the total > educational cost of a postgraduate student. > > What would be shape [should I call future?] of Academic and Research > Libraries? > Any wild guesses? > > Let us dare to imagine. > > Comments Please. > > --Sukhdev Singh, NIC. > http://openmed.nic.in > > _______________________________________________ > LIS-Forum mailing list > LIS-Forum(a)ncsi.iisc.ernet.in > http://ncsi.iisc.ernet.in/mailman/listinfo/lis-forum >

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OCLC Report : Perceptions of Libraries and Information Resources
by Mailing List Manager 17 Dec '05

17 Dec '05

Date: 16 Dec 2005 07:12:43 -0000 From: Sharad Jadhav <email2sharad(a)rediffmail.com> �--apologies for cross postings-- An informative report from OCLC Perceptions of Libraries and Information Resources http://www.oclc.org/reports/2005perceptions.htm Perceptions of Libraries and Information Resources (2005) summarizes findings of an international study on information- seeking habits and preferences With extensive input from hundreds of librarians and OCLC staff, the OCLC Market Research team developed a project and commissioned Harris Interactive Inc. to survey a representative sample of information consumers. In June of 2005, we collected over 3,300 responses from information consumers in Australia, Canada, India, Singapore, the United Kingdom and the United States. The Perceptions report provides the findings and responses from the online survey in an effort to learn more about: Library use Awareness and use of library electronic resources The Internet search engine, the library and the librarian Free vs. for-fee information The "Library" brand The findings indicate that information consumers view libraries as places to borrow print books, but they are unaware of the rich electronic content they can access through libraries. Even though information consumers make limited use of these resources, they continue to trust libraries as reliable sources of information. Inside the Report Introduction Part 1: Libraries and Information Sources--Use, Familiarity and Favorability Part 2: Using the Library--In Person and Online Part 3: The Library Brand Part 4: Respondents' Advice to Libraries Part 5: Libraries--A "Universal" Brand? Conclusion Appendix A: Supporting Data Tables Appendix B: Sample Verbatim Comments About OCLC Regards, Sharad Jadhav, National Insurance Academy, Pune 411045, India sharad7703(a)yahoo.co.in

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BetaNews: Librarians Voice Support for OpenDoc
by sandeep bhavsar 17 Dec '05

17 Dec '05

BetaNews: Librarians Voice Support for OpenDoc Dec 16, 2005, 22 :00 UTC (3 Talkback[s]) (584 reads) (Other stories by Ed Oswald) "Five library associations voiced their support for the use of OpenDocument (ODF) in Massachusetts this week, sending a letter to William Galvin, the Commonwealth's Secretary of State. In it, the groups say the open source format is the best choice, as everyone has access to its specifications. "Secretary Galvin has publicly derided the plan, saying he has 'grave concerns' about switching to OpenDocument from Microsoft Office. He also had been rumored to be pushing the various state agencies to decline to participate..." Regards Sandeep Bhavsar Librarian Dr.V.N.Bedekar Institute of Research and Management Studies Thane(W) 400601. MUMBAI PH : 25364492 25446554 25339868 Mo : 9867437438 email : sandeep.bhavsar(a)gmail.com --------------------------------- To help you stay safe and secure online, we've developed the all new Yahoo! Security Centre. BetaNews: Librarians Voice Support for OpenDoc Dec 16, 2005, 22 :00 UTC ( http://www.linuxtoday.com/infrastructure/2005121602226OSPB#talkback_area 3 Talkback[s] ) (584 reads) (Other stories by http://www.linuxtoday.com/search.php3?author=Ed:Oswald Ed Oswald ) "Five library associations voiced their support for the use of OpenDocument (ODF) in Massachusetts this week, sending a letter to William Galvin, the Commonwealth's Secretary of State. In it, the groups say the open source format is the best choice, as everyone has access to its specifications. "Secretary Galvin has publicly derided the plan, saying he has 'grave concerns' about switching to OpenDocument from Microsoft Office. He also had been rumored to be pushing the various state agencies to decline to participate..." Regards Sandeep Bhavsar Librarian Dr.V.N.Bedekar Institute of Research and Management Studies Thane(W) 400601. MUMBAI PH : 25364492 25446554 25339868 Mo : 9867437438 email : mailto:sandeep.bhavsar@gmail.com sandeep.bhavsar(a)gmail.com To help you stay safe and secure online, we've developed the all new http://us.rd.yahoo.com/mail/uk/taglines/default/security_centre/*http://uk.… Yahoo! Security Centre .

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Study: Wikipedia as accurate as Britannica
by sandeep bhavsar 17 Dec '05

17 Dec '05

Study: Wikipedia as accurate as Britannica Daniel Terdiman, December 16, 2005 The journal Nature says the open-access encyclopedia is about as accurate as the old standby. Over the last couple of weeks, Wikipedia, the free, open-access encyclopedia, has taken a great deal of flak in the press for problems related to the credibility of its authors and its general accountability. In particular, Wikipedia has taken hits for its inclusion, for four months, of an anonymously written article linking former journalist John Seigenthaler to the assassinations of Robert Kennedy and John F. Kennedy. At the same time, the blogosphere was buzzing for several days about podcasting pioneer Adam Curry's being accused of anonymously deleting references to others' seminal work on the technology. In response to situations like these and others in its history, Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales has always maintained that the service and its community are built around a self-policing and self-cleaning nature that is supposed to ensure its articles are accurate. Still, many critics have tried to downplay its role as a source of valid information and have often pointed to the Encyclopedia Britannica as an example of an accurate reference. For its study, Nature chose articles from both sites in a wide range of topics and sent them to what it called "relevant" field experts for peer review. The experts then compared the competing articles--one from each site on a given topic--side by side, but were not told which article came from which site. Nature got back 42 usable reviews from its field of experts. In the end, the journal found just eight serious errors, such as general misunderstandings of vital concepts, in the articles. Of those, four came from each site. They did, however, discover a series of factual errors, omissions or misleading statements. All told, Wikipedia had 162 such problems, while Britannica had 123. That averages out to 2.92 mistakes per article for Britannica and 3.86 for Wikipedia. "An expert-led investigation carried out by Nature--the first to use peer review to compare Wikipedia and Britannica's coverage of science," the journal wrote, "suggests that such high-profile examples (like the Seigenthaler and Curry situations) are the exception rather than the rule." And to Wales, while Britannica came out looking a little bit more accurate than Wikipedia, the Nature study was validation of his service's fundamental structure. "I was very pleased, just to see that (the study) was reasonably favorable," Wales told CNET News.com. "I think it provides, for us, a great counterpoint to the press coverage we've gotten recently, because it puts the focus on the broader quality and not just one article." He also acknowledged that the error rate for each encyclopedia was not insignificant, and added that he thinks such numbers demonstrate that broad review of encyclopedia articles is needed. He also said that the results belie the notion that Britannica is infallible. "I have very great respect for Britannica," Wales said. But "I think there is a general view among a lot of people that it has no errors, like, 'I read it in Britannica, it must be true.' It's good that people see that there are a lot of errors everywhere." To Britannica officials, however, the Nature results showed that Wikipedia still has a way to go. "The (Nature) article is saying that Wikipedia has a third more errors" than Britannica, said Jorge Cauz, president of Encyclopedia Britannica. But Cauz and editor in chief Dale Hoiberg also said they were concerned that Nature had not specified the problems that it had found in Britannica. "We've asked them a number of questions about the process they used," Hoiberg said. "They said in (their article) that the inaccuracies included errors, omissions and misleading statements. But there's no indication of how many of each. So we're very eager to look at that and explore it because we take it very seriously." Regards Sandeep Bhavsar Librarian Dr.V.N.Bedekar Institute of Research and Management Studies Thane(W) 400601. MUMBAI PH : 25364492 25446554 25339868 Mo : 9867437438 email : sandeep.bhavsar(a)gmail.com --------------------------------- Yahoo! Messenger NEW - crystal clear PC to PC calling worldwide with voicemail Study: Wikipedia as accurate as Britannica Daniel Terdiman, December 16, 2005 The journal Nature says the open-access encyclopedia is about as accurate as the old standby. Over the last couple of weeks, Wikipedia, the free, open-access encyclopedia, has taken a great deal of flak in the press for problems related to the credibility of its authors and its general accountability. In particular, Wikipedia has taken hits for its inclusion, for four months, of an anonymously written article linking former journalist John Seigenthaler to the assassinations of Robert Kennedy and John F. Kennedy. At the same time, the blogosphere was buzzing for several days about podcasting pioneer Adam Curry's being accused of anonymously deleting references to others' seminal work on the technology. In response to situations like these and others in its history, Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales has always maintained that the service and its community are built around a self-policing and self-cleaning nature that is supposed to ensure its articles are accurate. Still, many critics have tried to downplay its role as a source of valid information and have often pointed to the http://www.britannica.com/ Encyclopedia Britannica as an example of an accurate reference. For its study, http://www.nature.com/news/2005/051212/full/438900a.html Nature chose articles from both sites in a wide range of topics and sent them to what it called "relevant" field experts for peer review. The experts then compared the competing articles--one from each site on a given topic--side by side, but were not told which article came from which site. Nature got back 42 usable reviews from its field of experts. In the end, the journal found just eight serious errors, such as general misunderstandings of vital concepts, in the articles. Of those, four came from each site. They did, however, discover a series of factual errors, omissions or misleading statements. All told, Wikipedia had 162 such problems, while Britannica had 123. That averages out to 2.92 mistakes per article for Britannica and 3.86 for Wikipedia. "An expert-led investigation carried out by Nature--the first to use peer review to compare Wikipedia and Britannica's coverage of science," the journal wrote, "suggests that such high-profile examples (like the Seigenthaler and Curry situations) are the exception rather than the rule." And to Wales, while Britannica came out looking a little bit more accurate than Wikipedia, the Nature study was validation of his service's fundamental structure. "I was very pleased, just to see that (the study) was reasonably favorable," Wales told CNET News.com. "I think it provides, for us, a great counterpoint to the press coverage we've gotten recently, because it puts the focus on the broader quality and not just one article." He also acknowledged that the error rate for each encyclopedia was not insignificant, and added that he thinks such numbers demonstrate that broad review of encyclopedia articles is needed. He also said that the results belie the notion that Britannica is infallible. "I have very great respect for Britannica," Wales said. But "I think there is a general view among a lot of people that it has no errors, like, 'I read it in Britannica, it must be true.' It's good that people see that there are a lot of errors everywhere." To Britannica officials, however, the Nature results showed that Wikipedia still has a way to go. "The (Nature) article is saying that Wikipedia has a third more errors" than Britannica, said Jorge Cauz, president of Encyclopedia Britannica. But Cauz and editor in chief Dale Hoiberg also said they were concerned that Nature had not specified the problems that it had found in Britannica. "We've asked them a number of questions about the process they used," Hoiberg said. "They said in (their article) that the inaccuracies included errors, omissions and misleading statements. But there's no indication of how many of each. So we're very eager to look at that and explore it because we take it very seriously." Regards Sandeep Bhavsar Librarian Dr.V.N.Bedekar Institute of Research and Management Studies Thane(W) 400601. MUMBAI PH : 25364492 25446554 25339868 Mo : 9867437438 email : mailto:sandeep.bhavsar@gmail.com sandeep.bhavsar(a)gmail.com http://us.rd.yahoo.com/mail/uk/taglines/default/messenger/*http://uk.messen… Yahoo! Messenger NEW - crystal clear PC to PC http://us.rd.yahoo.com/mail/uk/taglines/default/messenger/*http://uk.messen… calling worldwide with voicemail

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SITE FOR LIBRARIANS
by Suresh Kumar Tejomurtula 16 Dec '05

16 Dec '05

Dear Student friends, Am a final student in LIS from Andhra University, I would like to let all the students know the information I've found. This a site for the students who are new to Internet http://www.lii.org/ Have a note of it friends, And I hope students from all the corners will share their informative knowledge with the remaining. Regards T.suresh Kumar Dept. Library & Information science Andhra University Visakhapatnam. Dear Student friends, Am a final student in LIS from Andhra University, I would like to let all the students know the information I've found. This a site for the students who are new to Internet http://www.lii.org/ http://www.lii.org/ Have a note of it friends, And I hope students from all the corners will share their informative knowledge with the remaining. Regards T.suresh Kumar Dept. Library & Information science Andhra University Visakhapatnam.

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NET JUNE'05 RESULTS OUT!!!
by rupesh kumar 16 Dec '05

16 Dec '05

Dear All, The results of June 2005 UGC-NET exam is available on the UGC website http://www.ugc.ac.in/inside/net.html Congratulations to the successful candidates and good luck to aspirants. Regards, RUPESH KUMAR.A. DEPARTMENT OF LIBRARY & INFORMATION SCIENCE BANGALORE UNIVERSITY __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com Dear All, The results of June 2005 UGC-NET exam is available on the UGC website http://www.ugc.ac.in/inside/net.html Congratulations to the successful candidates and good luck to aspirants. Regards, http://www.bub.ac.in/buLogo.jpg RUPESH KUMAR.A. DEPARTMENT OF LIBRARY & INFORMATION SCIENCE BANGALORE UNIVERSITY __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com

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New Stuff
by Thapar, Amit 16 Dec '05

16 Dec '05

Library, Librarian and Librarianship Quotes http://informatics.buffalo.edu/faculty/ellison/quotes/libquotesac.html There's a lot of material for sig files here; you can also submit your own favorite quotes. Merriam-Webster Open Dictionary http://www3.merriam-webster.com/opendictionary/ "where you can 1) submit and share entries that aren't already in our Online Dictionary, and 2) browse entries submitted by other members of the Merriam-Webster Online community." Among the recent submissions: "blogosphere" (THAT isn't in the dictionary yet?), "craptastic," "geekmeister," "chillax." amit@niper Cell: 9417419457 e-mail: amit_thapar(a)yahoo.com Library, Librarian and Librarianship Quotes http://informatics.buffalo.edu/faculty/ellison/quotes/libquotesac.html http://informatics.buffalo.edu/faculty/ellison/quotes/libquotesac.html There's a lot of material for sig files here; you can also submit your own favorite quotes. Merriam-Webster Open Dictionary http://www3.merriam-webster.com/opendictionary/ http://www3.merriam-webster.com/opendictionary/ "where you can 1) submit and share entries that aren't already in our Online Dictionary, and 2) browse entries submitted by other members of the Merriam-Webster Online community." Among the recent submissions: "blogosphere" (THAT isn't in the dictionary yet?), "craptastic," "geekmeister," "chillax." mailto:amit@niper amit@niper Cell: 9417419457 e-mail: mailto:amit_thapar@yahoo.com amit_thapar(a)yahoo.com

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From libraries to 'libratories'
by Mailing List Manager 15 Dec '05

15 Dec '05

Date: Wed, 14 Dec 2005 15:57:29 +0530 From: "Thapar, Amit" <amitt(a)niper.ac.in> Source: First Monday Volume 10, Number 12 - December 5th 2005 >From libraries to 'libratories' by Leo Waaijers http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue10_12/waaijers/ Abstract: While the eighties of the last century were a time of local automation for libraries and the nineties the decade in which libraries embraced the Internet and the Web, now is the age in which the big search engines and institutional repositories are gaining a firm footing. This heralds a new era in both the evolution of scholarly communication and its agencies themselves, i.e. the libraries. Until now libraries and publishers have developed a digital variant of existing processes and products,i.e. catalogues posted on the Web, scanned copies of articles, e-mail notification about acquisitions or expired lending periods, or traditional journals in a digital jacket. However, the new OAI repositories and services based upon them have given rise to entirely new processes and products, libraries transforming themselves into partners in setting up virtual learning environments, building an institution's digital showcase, maintaining academics' personal Web sites, designing refereed portals and - further into the future - taking part in organising virtual research environments or collaboratories. Libraries are set to metamorphose into 'libratories', an imaginary word to express their combined functions of library, repository and collaboratory. In such environments scholarly communication will be liberated from its current copyright bridle while its coverage will be both broader - including primary data, audiovisuals and dynamic models - and deeper, with cross-disciplinary analyses of methodologies and applications of instruments. Universities will make it compulsory to store in their institutional repositories the results of research conducted within their walls for purposes of academic reporting, review committees, and other modes of clarification and explanation. Big search engines will provide access to this profusion of information and organise its mass customization.

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2020 Shape of Academic and Research Libraries
by Mailing List Manager 15 Dec '05

15 Dec '05

Date: Tue, 13 Dec 2005 15:33:59 +0530 From: Sukhdev Singh <esukhdev(a)gmail.com> Year 2020 - Online is In and Paper is Out: Let us assume by the year 2020: -- All content required for teaching, learning and research is available online. -- 24/7 Access is available for free or fee. -- Online content is well indexed and rated. -- Vendors provide single point access to premium content and organized free content. -- Access is available at a cost, which is less then 10 % of the total educational cost of a postgraduate student. What would be shape [should I call future?] of Academic and Research Libraries? Any wild guesses? Let us dare to imagine. Comments Please. --Sukhdev Singh, NIC. http://openmed.nic.in

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Digital Content Management
by visakhi bapaiah pulagam 15 Dec '05

15 Dec '05

Dear Collegues, We are planning to digitize the contents, subject heading / glossories from books of our library. Can any body kindly help me to write the name of the libraries where this type of project was done. Thanking U Dr. P. Visakhi Librarian, IASRI, New Delhi Dear Collegues, We are planning to digitize the contents, subject heading / glossories from books of our library. Can any body kindly help me to write the name of the libraries where this type of project was done. Thanking U Dr. P. Visakhi Librarian, IASRI, New Delhi 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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Re: [oa-india] Re: Fw: [BOAI] Functioning IRs
by Subbiah Arunachalam 15 Dec '05

15 Dec '05

Thank you Sukhdev for expressing your views openly so everyone will have an opportunity to reflect. 1.India has such a great reputation - as one of the world's best in software, for example - and many of our LIS professionals attend and speak at conferences on digital libraries and other adanced topics. Many Indian LIS professionals have spent several months in good US institutions as Fulbright scholars and a few have spent time in the UK (as exchange visitors). Many LIS departments do teach computer programming and use of technology in libraries as part of their curriculum. One would therefore expect that there should be no "fear of working with Linux," at least in leading research institutions and the better higher educational institutions. Assuming that some LIS professionals are not familiar with Linux, how long would it take to learn? 2. There is no harm in examining different software before one chooses one of them. For example, at NIC Sukhdev and colleagues took time before they decided to go ahead with GNU EPrints. Mr Muthu Madhan at NIT Rourkela took time to examine both DSPace and EPrints before he decided to work with DSPace. Indeed taking time to examine different software before a repository is set up, in my opinion, is a good thing. It gives one hands-on experience and strengthens one's involvement in OA. 3. Yes, the passing away of Raja is a great loss. But his legacy, viz. the IISc GNU EPrints archive, should inspire the rest of the community to set up similar archives in other institutions. Right now we have competent people such as Dr A R D Prasad, Dr D K Sahu and Sukhdev imself. When I wanted OneWorld South Asia to set up an archive for ICT-enabled Development (somewhat similar to penMED for biomedical research), I took the OWSA team to Sukhdev without prior appointment and he was kind enouugh to spare two hours (and he even offered to provide us lunch). My point is we have lost one of our best men, but mercifully we have others who are more than willing to help anyone who wants to set up an archive. 4. I have not heard of any computer science department coming forward to set up an institutional archive. By and large is going to be the LIS personnel who will have to set up and maintain institutional archives. At least in India, that is how it will happen. 5. When we held two workshops at MSSRF more than 18 months ago, virtually everyone of the participants told Leslie Chan that he/she would be able to set up an archive within a few months (ranging from 3-9 months). But only a few have actually set up till now. As the coordinator of the workshop, I wrote to virtually everyone of the participants more than once. I am not even sure how many of them spoke to their managements (Vice chancellor, Director, Registrar, Head of Dept, Dean, etc.). Things may improve only if there is an order from above! If heads of institutions/ funding agencies could mandate making publicly funded research available through open access, then people will start action. The recent versions of both DSpace and EPrints are pretty easy to install. Costs are not a major problem, but cannot be ignored altogether. Advocacy at all levels - at the levels of research students, faculty, heads of institutions, policy makers, donor agencies - should continue. And of course some introspection - just started by Sukhdev, for which he deserves our thanks. Let us hope Dr Alma Swan [who will speak at the Science Congress on 6th January and also visit Bangalore, Bombay and Delhi to meet with people and promote Open Access] will inspire a number of people to start new OA archives. Best wishes. Arun [Subbiah Arunachalam] ----- Original Message ----- From: "Sukhdev Singh" <esukhdev(a)gmail.com> To: "Discussion Group for Open Access Workshop India" <oa-india(a)dgroups.org> Sent: Thursday, December 15, 2005 11:10 AM Subject: [oa-india] Re: Fw: [BOAI] Functioning IRs > However, Institutional Archives are not coming up as expected in > India. What are the reasons? > > I suspect the following could be some of the factors: > > - Fear of working with Linux. > - Spending too much time on deciding which IA Repository Software to use. > - Lack of technical leadership of the kind of Late Dr. Rajshekhar > - Confusion on Domain Area, whether computer department should set up > or initiative should be taken by libraries. Some librarians may even > fear loosing the (false?) tag of being the sole custodian of > knowledge > - Mere lip service to the whole issue. Boosting too much and doing too > little. > > Following could serve a solution to some extend. > > - Work to package all components required for installing and running : > Linux, Apache and EPrints. > - Distributing a set of CDs that will format a new machine, install > linux and eprints - all set and running. > - A national level team of practical professionals could be formed > that would implement the above two steps. > - State level teams could be formed that would take the distribution > CDs and implement the same in instituions / universities. It would > also provide training and support service for day to day running of > servers. > > However, the motivation and policy level lobbing is not included the > above solution. Moreover funding has also to be arranged. Someone > else may suggest the same. > > Regards > Sukhdev Singh, NIC. > http://openmed.nic.in > > > On 12/15/05, Subbiah Arunachalam <arun(a)mssrf.res.in> wrote: >> >> >> >> [Forwarding from the AmSci OA Forum. --Peter Suber] >> >> >> Posted on behalf of Subbiah Arunachalam, Leslie Chan and Barbara Kirsop >> >> Regarding comments to the list on the costs of setting up and maintaining >> an >> Institutional Repository (IR), we agree that figures are being publicised >> about the costs without distinguishing whether these are solely for the >> institute's published research output or for a high-cost Institute-wide >> or >> Campus-wide resource for all purposes. So when issuing cost statements it >> is >> critical to explain precisely what is being set up, otherwise figures are >> meaningless. Because of these confusions, we are concerned that the very >> high figures quoted can deter smaller institutions and developing >> countries >> from setting up open access archives. >> >> To off-set such concerns, we know that over 70 repositories for research >> publications have already been set up in the developing world and we have >> evidence of the low costs associated with these. >> >> Only yesterday a colleague from India responded to a question we asked, >> saying '....organisations can do with a server just costing about 40 K >> (rupees) and use a broad band connectivity. This connectivity has become >> very cheap recently due the launch of Broadband Services by >> BSNL/MTNL/Private Cos. Running the server is also not a problem for us. >> We >> are already paid for other work. It just takes fraction of our time to >> maintain the server and handle the approval of uploaded articles. In the >> same manner, Indian Universities / Research Institutes already have >> infrastructure in form of libraries and librarians....' And we have had >> other similar reports from developing country organisations. >> >> Cost should not be used as an argument to dissuade organisations from >> setting up an eprints server. As Arthur says, costs are trivial compared >> with the overall institutional budgets and can generally be absorbed. If >> further examples of costs are to be reported, the purpose of the >> repository >> and the overall research budget of the institution should be stated at >> the >> same time. >> >> Leslie Chan, Subbiah Arunachalam, Barbara Kirsop >> Electronic Publishing Trust for Development >> >> >> Dgroups is a joint initiative of Bellanet, DFID, Hivos, ICA, IICD, >> OneWorld, UNAIDS and World Bank >> --- You are currently subscribed to oa-india as: esukhdev(a)gmail.com >> To unsubscribe send a blank email to >> %%email.unsub%% > > Dgroups is a joint initiative of Bellanet, DFID, Hivos, ICA, IICD, > OneWorld, UNAIDS and World Bank > --- You are currently subscribed to oa-india as: arun(a)mssrf.res.in > To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-oa-india-137598Y(a)dgroups.org

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Re: [medlib] 2020 - Shape of Academic and Research Libraries
by Sukhdev Singh 15 Dec '05

15 Dec '05

Dear Friends, Thank you all very much in responding to email on the above subject. Ihad made certain assumptions that could be true in the year 2020.Under such circumstances, what could be the Shape of Academic andResearch Libraries? I did not touch upon the Public and NationalLibraries, as their functions are more of serving the citizens and ofarchival of national heritage. Some of you [1][2] have valid reasons to question such assumptionsespecially when it comes to India. Infrastructure like Electricity andReliable Internet connectivity could be major hurdles. You won'tbelieve that even in Delhi, the capital of India, there are regularpower cuts. Even in day of Govt. Control of power distribution thesituation was much better. Only problem was billing and their payment.With private companies, billing and payments is no problem, can behandled conveniently over Internet. But the power cuts are a routineand unscheduled. So lesson learned is that Privatization withoutcompetition is worse. But friends, hold a bit, lack of infrastructure won't affect thecoming shape of libraries in India. The Reason? Our Research andTeaching depends largely depends on what is published outside India.Even good Indian content is published outside India. So we have nochoice if much of it is available in electronic format in future. Iagree with some of you [2][5] that paper is more convenient mode ofreading. But then efforts to develop display gadgets that will givethe comfort of paper are on way and by 2020 could be a reality. So, Ithink, whether we are ready or not – content may only available inelectronic form [3][6] from developed countries. Economics ofpublishing may not favor print formats. The publishers will bedistributing the content, as done now, in various business models –Free, Fee Based, Pay-per-view etc. Only thing would be that confusionsaround copyrights etc would be cleared and taken care of by the year2020. Friends, training of the end-users will also be not a major problemthen. The future users are the now primary school children. You willappreciate how both their teachers and parents keen to teach themcomputers. Infact, if a middle class Indian family is buying a homecomputer today, it is for their children. I hope this generation ofusers may be well ahead of present day users. I am not painting a gloomy picture for future of Librarianship. I amonly assuming a "worst – case scenario". I know, I was told in mymatriculation math class, how to solve problem and find unknownquantity – 'Let the quantity be "X" !!!' and so on. So friends, under the given assumptions, what would be the librariesof year 2020 look like? References:1. http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/medlib/message/163 - Satish S Munnolli2. http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/medlib/message/164 - Varalakshmi3. http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/medlib/message/165 - Surinder Kumar4. http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/medlib/message/166 - Vasumathi Sriganesh5. http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/medlib/message/168 - Rama Reddy6. http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/medlib/message/167 - Prasanna --Sukhdev Singh, NIC.http://openmed.nic.inhttp://indmed.nic.in

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RE: [LIS-Forum] Interesting book available- free full text Online
by madhuresh.singhal 15 Dec '05

15 Dec '05

Dear Friends, In continuation of Mr. Pradeep's mail, I would like to add that National Academies Press is providing 3500+ books freely in PDF format. One can read the book online or can download full text pdf. There are couples of good titles in scientific publishing, DL's, Information Management, and on various major subjects ranging from Agriculture to Biology.....Computer......and Urban Development. One can get a full list of all freely available books (1959 till 2005). And when you are there at NAP website, try their Discovery Engine, which will give you the related keywords derived from the results and other options like Research dashboard, Find Similar etc. And also an interesting service is Reference Finder (Find more like your own document). Here you are provided with a text box where you can paste up to 8 pages of text from any other source or your own document and can get 1) relevant reports from NAP and other institutes OR 2) Extract key terms to produce a more fine-tuned set of resources to use to build web queries. Here are couples of titles which might be of general interest. Electronic Scientific, Technical, and Medical Journal Publishing and Its Implications: Proceedings of a Symposium (2004) Open Access and the Public Domain in Digital Data and Information for Science: Proceedings of an International Symposium (2004) A Patent System for the 21st Century (2004) Developing a Digital National Library for Undergraduate Science, Mathematics, Engineering and Technology Education: Report of a Workshop (1998) Please note the change in my mail id and address. Regards Madhuresh Singhal Assoc. Res. Scientist - Inf. Sc. Advinus Therapeutics Pvt. Ltd. 21 & 22, Phase 2, Peenya Industrial Area, Bangalore - 560058 Phone: +91 80 51172085, Ext. 25; Mobile 098861 82822 E-mail: madhureshsinghal(a)yahoo.com http://nettalk2.tripod.com/ -----Original Message----- From: lis-forum-bounces(a)ncsi.iisc.ernet.in [mailto:lis-forum-bounces@ncsi.iisc.ernet.in] On Behalf Of pradip umdale Sent: Wednesday, December 14, 2005 6:21 PM To: LIS-FORUM Subject: [LIS-Forum] Interesting book available- free full text Online Dear Members An interesting book available- free full text Online - "Adviser, Teacher, Role Model, Friend: on Being a Mentor to Students in Science and Engineering." http://books.nap.edu/openbook/0309063639/html/index.html Regards Pradipkumar Pradeepkumar M Umdale Proj Ass. National Chemical Laboratory Information Division/ Library Pashan Rd., Pune- 411 008 Ph.No.91-20-25902031/25902038 (Direct) --------------------------------- Yahoo! India Matrimony: Find your partner now.

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Google to launch music content feature
by rahul kumar 15 Dec '05

15 Dec '05

Dear All, McGraw-Hill Professional, in its continuing effort to provide the most authoritative and innovative digital content to professionals and students worldwide, today announced the establishment of a Digital Advisory Board. The board comprises representatives from McGraw-Hill's customer base, including decisionmakers in corporate, public and academic libraries at Sun Microsystems, Weill Cornell Medical College, the University of Ottawa, the University of Toronto, and the University of California-San Diego. To read more Click below: http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D8EGGFV83.htm?campaign_id=apn_… Regards Rahul Kumar Jaypee Institute of Information Technology A-10, Sec-62, Noida, UP --------------------------------- Yahoo! Shopping Find Great Deals on Holiday Gifts at Yahoo! Shopping Dear All, McGraw-Hill Professional, in its continuing effort to provide the most authoritative and innovative digital content to professionals and students worldwide, today announced the establishment of a Digital Advisory Board. The board comprises representatives from McGraw-Hill's customer base, including decisionmakers in corporate, public and academic libraries at Sun Microsystems, Weill Cornell Medical College, the University of Ottawa, the University of Toronto, and the University of California-San Diego. To read more Click below: http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D8EGGFV83.htm?campaign_id=apn_… http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D8EGGFV83.htm?campaign_id=apn_… Regards Rahul Kumar Jaypee Institute of Information Technology A-10, Sec-62, Noida, UP Yahoo! Shopping Find Great Deals on Holiday Gifts at http://us.rd.yahoo.com/mail_us/footer/shopping/*http://shopping.yahoo.com/;… Yahoo! Shopping

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New service aims to help developing world in research
by sandeep bhavsar 15 Dec '05

15 Dec '05

New service aims to help developing world in research Stefanie Olsen December 14, 2005 Scientists in developing countries may soon have better access to peer research on the Internet, thanks to a partnership between search specialists at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Elsevier. MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory is contributing technology to a joint project with Elsevier that will allow scientists with limited bandwidth to access information online more easily, the school announced on Tuesday. MIT's technology, called TEK, lets researchers with limited resources, such as outdated technology or weak funds, send a query to its servers and search engine. TEK will collect documents, compress them and send them back via email a week later, saving the recipient on connectivity costs. Combined with Elsevier's science search engine, dubbed Scirus, TEK will hone in on the science-related subset of the Web for researchers, according to the two partners. Called Search Scirus with TEK, the service "can help bridge the information divide between technologically advanced and developing countries, serving the global scientific community at large", Sharon Mombru, Scirus' senior product manager, said in a statement. The move comes as many projects are under way to bring more scientific information to the Web and mitigate the costs of otherwise pricey information. Google, for example, is adding many different sources of scientific data to its specialised search engine, Google Scholar. Still, the project doesn't directly address the slow connection speeds that bandwidth-challenged researchers face. MIT and Elsevier plan to bring the project to institutions with specific expertise in information-delivery to developing countries. "We hope that organisations with access to users in these countries will take Elsevier's lead and get involved... to help put this initiative into practice and extend the reach of valuable scientific information available on the Internet," said Saman Amarasinghe, associate professor of electrical engineering and computer science at MIT. Sandeep Bhavsar Librarian Dr.V.N.Bedekar Institute of Research and Management Studies Thane(W) PH : 25364492 25446554 25339868 Mo : 9867437438 email : sandeep.bhavsar(a)gmail.com ___________________________________________________________ Yahoo! Exclusive Xmas Game, help Santa with his celebrity party - http://santas-christmas-party.yahoo.net/

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Fw: [BOAI] Functioning IRs
by Subbiah Arunachalam 15 Dec '05

15 Dec '05

[Forwarding from the AmSci OA Forum. --Peter Suber] Posted on behalf of Subbiah Arunachalam, Leslie Chan and Barbara Kirsop Regarding comments to the list on the costs of setting up and maintaining an Institutional Repository (IR), we agree that figures are being publicised about the costs without distinguishing whether these are solely for the institute's published research output or for a high-cost Institute-wide or Campus-wide resource for all purposes. So when issuing cost statements it is critical to explain precisely what is being set up, otherwise figures are meaningless. Because of these confusions, we are concerned that the very high figures quoted can deter smaller institutions and developing countries from setting up open access archives. To off-set such concerns, we know that over 70 repositories for research publications have already been set up in the developing world and we have evidence of the low costs associated with these. Only yesterday a colleague from India responded to a question we asked, saying '....organisations can do with a server just costing about 40 K (rupees) and use a broad band connectivity. This connectivity has become very cheap recently due the launch of Broadband Services by BSNL/MTNL/Private Cos. Running the server is also not a problem for us. We are already paid for other work. It just takes fraction of our time to maintain the server and handle the approval of uploaded articles. In the same manner, Indian Universities / Research Institutes already have infrastructure in form of libraries and librarians....' And we have had other similar reports from developing country organisations. Cost should not be used as an argument to dissuade organisations from setting up an eprints server. As Arthur says, costs are trivial compared with the overall institutional budgets and can generally be absorbed. If further examples of costs are to be reported, the purpose of the repository and the overall research budget of the institution should be stated at the same time. Leslie Chan, Subbiah Arunachalam, Barbara Kirsop Electronic Publishing Trust for Development [Forwarding from the AmSci OA Forum. --Peter Suber] Posted on behalf of Subbiah Arunachalam, Leslie Chan and Barbara Kirsop Regarding comments to the list on the costs of setting up and maintaining an Institutional Repository (IR), we agree that figures are being publicised about the costs without distinguishing whether these are solely for the institute's published research output or for a high-cost Institute-wide or Campus-wide resource for all purposes. So when issuing cost statements it is critical to explain precisely what is being set up, otherwise figures are meaningless. Because of these confusions, we are concerned that the very high figures quoted can deter smaller institutions and developing countries from setting up open access archives. To off-set such concerns, we know that over 70 repositories for research publications have already been set up in the developing world and we have evidence of the low costs associated with these. Only yesterday a colleague from India responded to a question we asked, saying '....organisations can do with a server just costing about 40 K (rupees) and use a broad band connectivity. This connectivity has become very cheap recently due the launch of Broadband Services by BSNL/MTNL/Private Cos. Running the server is also not a problem for us. We are already paid for other work. It just takes fraction of our time to maintain the server and handle the approval of uploaded articles. In the same manner, Indian Universities / Research Institutes already have infrastructure in form of libraries and librarians....' And we have had other similar reports from developing country organisations. Cost should not be used as an argument to dissuade organisations from setting up an eprints server. As Arthur says, costs are trivial compared with the overall institutional budgets and can generally be absorbed. If further examples of costs are to be reported, the purpose of the repository and the overall research budget of the institution should be stated at the same time. Leslie Chan, Subbiah Arunachalam, Barbara Kirsop Electronic Publishing Trust for Development

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Free Live Presentation of LiBSUITE RFID system.
by Pranaykumar Dhiwar 14 Dec '05

14 Dec '05

Dear All, We Cordially Invite you for a Free Live Demonstration of LiBSUITE RFID at Hotel Ashraya International, SHANGHALA HALL, 149, Bhagvan Mahaveer Road (Infantry Road) Diagonally Opp to Police Commissioners Office, Bangalore 560 001. On Friday 16th December 2005 Between 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM (Any One Hour which you find comfortable ) Requested to Give us a Call on Soft-AID Computers (P) Ltd. 080- 23464717 / 23444860 or 9844278564 (Vanishree) and confirm what time is suitable for you to attend. Thanks & Regards, Pranaykumar Dear All, We Cordially Invite you for a Free Live Demonstration of LiBSUITE RFID at Hotel Ashraya International, SHANGHALA HALL, 149, Bhagvan Mahaveer Road (Infantry Road) Diagonally Opp to Police Commissioners Office, Bangalore 560 001. On Friday 16th December 2005 Between 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM (Any One Hour which you find comfortable ) Requested to Give us a Call on Soft-AID Computers (P) Ltd. 080- 23464717 / 23444860 or 9844278564 (Vanishree) and confirm what time is suitable for you to attend. Thanks & Regards, Pranaykumar

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Interesting book available- free full text Online
by pradip umdale 14 Dec '05

14 Dec '05

Dear Members An interesting book available- free full text Online - "Adviser, Teacher, Role Model, Friend: on Being a Mentor to Students in Science and Engineering." http://books.nap.edu/openbook/0309063639/html/index.html Regards Pradipkumar Pradeepkumar M Umdale Proj Ass. National Chemical Laboratory Information Division/ Library Pashan Rd., Pune- 411 008 Ph.No.91-20-25902031/25902038 (Direct) --------------------------------- Yahoo! India Matrimony: Find your partner now. Dear Members An interesting book available- free full text Online - "Adviser, Teacher, Role Model, Friend: on Being a Mentor to Students in Science and Engineering." http://books.nap.edu/openbook/0309063639/html/index.html http://books.nap.edu/openbook/0309063639/html/index.html Regards Pradipkumar Pradeepkumar M Umdale Proj Ass. National Chemical Laboratory Information Division/ Library Pashan Rd., Pune- 411 008 Ph.No.91-20-25902031/25902038 (Direct) http://yahoo.shaadi.com Yahoo! India Matrimony : Find your partner now.

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Why is open access important for higher education?
by Subbiah Arunachalam 14 Dec '05

14 Dec '05

Here is an interview, reproduced from Peter Suber's blog "Open Access News". Arun --- Interview with Ray English on OA Michael Roy, Open Access to Scholarship: An Interview with Ray English, Academic Commons, December 11, 2005. Ray is the Library Director at Oberlin College. Excerpt: Why is open access important for higher education? Open access is one strategy - and actually the most successful strategy so far - for addressing dysfunctions in the system of scholarly communication. That system is in serious trouble. High rates of price increase for scholarly journals (particularly in scientific fields), stagnant library budgets, journal cancellations, declining library monograph acquisitions, university presses in serious economic trouble, and increasing corporate control of journal publishing by a small number of international conglomerates that have grown in size through repeated mergers and acquisitions - those are all symptoms of the problem. Scholars have lost control of a system that was meant to serve their needs; more importantly, they are also losing access to research. Open access has extraordinary potential for overcoming the fundamental problem of access to scholarship. It is a means of reasserting control by the academy over the scholarship that it produces and of making that scholarship openly available to everyone - at anytime and from virtually any place on the globe. Why does open access matter to liberal arts colleges in particular? It is especially important for liberal arts colleges because of the access issue. Liberal arts college libraries have smaller budgets, compared to the research universities. While even the major research libraries cannot afford all of the journals that they need, the lack of access is an even bigger problem in the liberal arts college realm. Faculty at many liberal arts colleges are expected to be active researchers and independent study is also a hallmark of a liberal arts college undergraduate education. So the lack of access to journal literature can be even more problematic in the liberal arts college framework than it is for the research universities.... What's the hottest current issue related to open access? I think it's the issue of taxpayer-funded research. Both in this country and abroad there is increasing interest in making publicly-funded scientific research openly accessible. We saw the beginnings of that with the National Institute of Health policy that was instituted last year and I think we will soon see a broad national debate about the advisability of this for all U.S. government agencies. The United Kingdom is moving toward a comprehensive policy of mandating open access to all government-funded research. What is your role in the open access movement? I have been a member of the steering committee of SPARC (the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition) since its inception. SPARC, which is a coalition of academic and research libraries, has been a prominent advocate for open access. I have also played a leading role in the scholarly communications program of the Association of College & Research Libraries. I chaired a task force that recommended the ACRL scholarly communications initiative and I have been chair of the ACRL Scholarly Communications Committee since it was established. Being involved with both SPARC and ACRL has put me in the middle of a number of these issues for the past several years. Here is an interview, reproduced from Peter Suber's blog "Open Access News". Arun --- Interview with Ray English on OA Michael Roy, http://www.academiccommons.org/the-commons/interviews/Ray_English_Open_Acce… Open Access to Scholarship: An Interview with Ray English , Academic Commons , December 11, 2005. Ray is the Library Director at Oberlin College. Excerpt: Why is open access important for higher education? Open access is one strategy and actually the most successful strategy so far for addressing dysfunctions in the system of scholarly communication. That system is in serious trouble. High rates of price increase for scholarly journals (particularly in scientific fields), stagnant library budgets, journal cancellations, declining library monograph acquisitions, university presses in serious economic trouble, and increasing corporate control of journal publishing by a small number of international conglomerates that have grown in size through repeated mergers and acquisitions those are all symptoms of the problem. Scholars have lost control of a system that was meant to serve their needs; more importantly, they are also losing access to research. Open access has extraordinary potential for overcoming the fundamental problem of access to scholarship. It is a means of reasserting control by the academy over the scholarship that it produces and of making that scholarship openly available to everyone at anytime and from virtually any place on the globe. Why does open access matter to liberal arts colleges in particular? It is especially important for liberal arts colleges because of the access issue. Liberal arts college libraries have smaller budgets, compared to the research universities. While even the major research libraries cannot afford all of the journals that they need, the lack of access is an even bigger problem in the liberal arts college realm. Faculty at many liberal arts colleges are expected to be active researchers and independent study is also a hallmark of a liberal arts college undergraduate education. So the lack of access to journal literature can be even more problematic in the liberal arts college framework than it is for the research universities.... Whats the hottest current issue related to open access? I think its the issue of taxpayer-funded research. Both in this country and abroad there is increasing interest in making publicly-funded scientific research openly accessible. We saw the beginnings of that with the National Institute of Health policy that was instituted last year and I think we will soon see a broad national debate about the advisability of this for all U.S. government agencies. The United Kingdom is moving toward a comprehensive policy of mandating open access to all government-funded research. What is your role in the open access movement? I have been a member of the steering committee of http://www.arl.org/sparc SPARC (the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition) since its inception. SPARC, which is a coalition of academic and research libraries, has been a prominent advocate for open access. I have also played a leading role in the scholarly communications program of the Association of College & Research Libraries. I chaired a task force that recommended the ACRL scholarly communications initiative and I have been chair of the ACRL Scholarly Communications Committee since it was established. Being involved with both SPARC and ACRL has put me in the middle of a number of these issues for the past several years.

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