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

Chat: Teacher librarians and compulsory internships
by Saji S. Nair 11 Feb '06

11 Feb '06

Dear All, As part of the curriculum, the LIS students in India have to imbibe more theories than practical aspects. As we know, theoretical facets form the backbone, but exposure to real-life situations may not be ignored. Library schools could prepare a panel of librarians with sufficient knowledge/expertise/skills and deploy them at regular intervals to supplement their academic programs. Such an interactive teaching and learning process may essentially have some potential benefits. Compulsory internships to library professionals are also a neglected area. A neo-graduate/postgraduate without necessary training will find it difficult to cope with the situation, if he/she has been assigned professional duties. Why don�t we think about compulsory internships, as is practiced for years in various professions? This isn�t inoperable, since we have a number of libraries in the locality that demand more manpower investment. Bye for now Saji S. Nair Regional Cancer Centre Library Trivandrum Kerala _______________________________________________ Join Excite! - http://www.excite.com The most personalized portal on the Web!

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Public-Private Partnership for an OA database in genetics
by Subbiah Arunachalam 10 Feb '06

10 Feb '06

Friends: Please forward this to biomedical researchers and geneticists whom you know. Best wishes. Arun ------------------------------------- New OA database coming from the NIH The NIH will partner with Pfizer and other private corporations to launch an OA database of genetic data. See yesterday's press release from Pfizer: The Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (FNIH), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and Pfizer Global Research & Development, New London, Conn., today announced the launch of a unique public-private medical research partnership -- the Genetic Association Information Network (GAIN) -- to unravel the genetic causes of common diseases over the next three years. The information derived from GAIN will be publicly available to researchers world-wide. GAIN brings new scientific and financial resources to the NIH's existing whole genome association programs, encouraging all partners -- across and beyond NIH -- to work together toward the common goal of understanding the genetic contributions to common diseases. Organizers of the GAIN partnership believe the model holds promise of achieving rapid, scientifically sound results that any single researcher or institution working alone would be hard-pressed to equal. GAIN is designed to help medical researchers quickly identify the many genetic contributions to common illnesses such as heart disease, Alzheimer's disease, diabetes, osteoarthritis and stroke by comparing the genetic makeup of people with the disease to people who are healthy. Identifying genetic differences between these two groups will speed up the development of new methods to prevent, diagnose, treat and even cure common illnesses....The GAIN initiative proposes to raise $60 million in private funding for genetic studies of common diseases. The initiative does not require new expenditures of public funds nor will it be implemented at the expense of any existing or pending publicly funded biomedical research programs...."Virtually all diseases have a hereditary component, which is transmitted from parent to child through the three billion DNA letters that make up the human genome," said Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D., Director of the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) at NIH. "But progress in identifying the genetic factors that influence health or disease, or even the response to treatment, has been difficult. This initiative promises to identify rapidly the many genes in an individual that, taken together, contribute to an increased risk of illness -- or that increase the chances of a healthy life. As these genetic underpinnings become clear, researchers will be empowered to develop targeted treatments that either prevent illness from occurring or treat it effectively once it does." Also see Jeffrey Brainard, NIH Proposes New Project and Database to Study Genetic Causes of Disease, Chronicle of Higher Education, February 9, 2006 (accessible only to subscribers). Excerpt: The National Institutes of Health announced on Wednesday a new research effort and free, public database about the genetic causes of common illnesses. The project, to be financed jointly by the NIH and biotechnology companies, will be designed to protect the publishing priority of researchers who put data in the repository. The database, to be managed by the agency's National Library of Medicine, would contain genetic data from thousands of patients with particular diseases, with details that could identify the patients removed. The NIH will require users of the database to wait nine months before publishing papers based on data that they did not deposit themselves, Elias A. Zerhouni, the agency's director, said at a news conference. That policy is meant to prevent scientists who donate data from being scooped by competitors. The database will allow researchers to comb through the DNA of ill and healthy people to explore whether the sick individuals have genes in common. The NIH will also pay to study how genes and environmental causes, like pollutants, combine to cause disease....The new work will begin this year, financed with at least $20-million from Pfizer Inc., the pharmaceutical company, and additional contributions from Affymetrix Inc., a biotechnology company. The research will initially focus on seven illnesses and health conditions, to be determined based on a peer review of research proposals. However, the NIH cited as possible candidates arthritis, asthma, cancer, heart disease, and Alzheimer's disease. In his 2007 budget, released on Monday, President Bush proposed that the NIH spend an additional $68-million for work on other diseases. The project announced on Wednesday would be one of the NIH's few new efforts for 2007, when, under the president's proposal, the agency's overall budget would get no increase....The overall partnership between the NIH and the companies will be managed by the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health, an independent group that promotes similar alliances, and is to be called the Genetic Association Information Network [GAIN]....Pfizer, Affymetrix, and other contributors to the database will receive no special intellectual-property rights, according to Dr. Zerhouni. The data are considered "precompetitive," meaning that companies must perform further research on the publicly available data before they can reap commercially valuable discoveries. A similar model was followed by companies that contributed data to the HapMap project. Comment. One of the largest impediments I've seen to OA data is the fear of being scooped. Many researchers are only willing to share their data after they've published all they have to say about it themselves. I applaud the GAIN proposal as one way to solve this problem and make more data more sharable more quickly. It's likely that the benefits of sharing the data will outweigh the costs of the nine-month embargo on publishing new results based on the data --but it's not inevitable. I hope the NIH monitors the balance of these costs and benefits over time and shortens the embargo as much as it can without deterring submissions.

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School library project-kerala
by Saji S. Nair 10 Feb '06

10 Feb '06

Dear all, School library modernisation project of the Government of Kerala is moving ahead with innovative ideas, with active support from students and the public. The project also plans for a Handbook on maintaining school libraries. But nothing heard about inducting qualified professionals. see the news at http://www.hindu.com/2006/02/10/stories/2006021014971000.htm "School library modernisation project to continue". regards Saji S. Nair Regional Cancer Centre Library Trivandrum Kerala _______________________________________________ Join Excite! - http://www.excite.com The most personalized portal on the Web!

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Health Info Platform for Europe
by Subbiah Arunachalam 10 Feb '06

10 Feb '06

Launch of the European Health Information Platform Brian Robinson, EU focuses on health education, Government Health IT, February 7, 2006. Excerpt: The European Union has launched the European Health Information Platform, a $1.7 million multimedia initiative to improve the quality of information its citizens receive about health issues. Also known as Health in Europe, the program will create a rights-free bank of health-related reports, documentaries, radio broadcasts and print and online articles for distribution throughout the EU. -------------- Dear Guna: Please forward this to all interested in health information in India. I am away from MSSRF and I do not have the email addresses with me right now. Thanks.

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A Web Library of Research Output
by Library 09 Feb '06

09 Feb '06

EPW Commentary January 28, 2006 A Web Library of Research Output Data gathered and analysis carried out using public funds should be in the public domain, their dissemination is in the public interest. Here are some initial ideas about setting up a web library that ensures open access to publicly-funded social research output. V Srinivasan A large amount of social science research is carried out in the country, much of it with government, bilateral or multilateral funding, that is, public funding. Such research usually results in the production of reports, many of which contain useful data, analyses, ideas, and recommendations. But only a small portion of this output feeds into policy-making or public debate; the bulk of it is hardly circulated. Indeed, most of it is treated as virtually secret, inaccessible to the public in whose name it is carried out. Unfortunately, it is not an accepted view that data gathered and analysis carried out using public funds are a part of the public domain, and that their dis- semination is in the public interest. A scan of the websites of various government bodies illustrates this well. The ministry of social justice and empowerment and the ministry of rural development list some research reports on their sites but do not provide access to the listed reports or supporting studies. The reports of the National Sample Survey Organisation or the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices, to name just two important bodies, are not available via the internet. The government has commissioned 20 studies or reports on child labour but only two or three are available on the internet. The result is that a great deal of research work is duplicated, since there is no access to previous research in the same area. Today, even if the authors of these reports wished to disseminate them widely, they lack an effective mechanism for doing so. To address this problem, the innovation centre of a Mumbai-based non-governmental organisation, Society for Service to Voluntary Agencies (SOSVA), has proposed a strikingly simple solution: the creation of an internet library housing all economic, social and political studies and reports prepared with government, bilateral or multilateral aid. Such access to previous research would prevent duplication of research work in the same area and check plagiarism. The quality of research would be improved by public scrutiny. Discussion on the themes covered could also be advanced considerably. Finally, the disseminated work could feed into policy-making or public debate. SOSVA proposes that electronic copies of any study, report or document prepared using government or international funds be submitted to the web library. This proposal is along the lines of the practice followed in the US whereby a copy of any book published in the country must be deposited with the Library of Congress to receive a Library of Congress Control Number. Unless this is done, no public grant, foreign or Indian, would be deemed utilised; indeed, the comptroller and auditor general or other appropriate agency would report that the funds are deemed unutilised. Steps need to be taken to make this legally binding and administratively effective. These studies would then be posted on the web library, which would have a standard classification system and easy search tools. The advantages of such a library are the advantages of the internet: At no cost, a huge wealth of information would be available to the public. Moreover, users would not need to know of the existence of particular reports or other materials in advance; they could discover them while browsing through the library, as it were. Not only would duplication of labour be avoided, and the quality of research improved by subjecting it to public scrutiny, but the quality of debate on questions of public interest could be enhanced. That, in turn, ought to spur genuine development. The same library could also host many documents that are available today but only as hard copies, that is, in printed form, and therefore in effect accessible only to a few. The idea could be developed further and the web library need not be restricted to work undertaken by government and donor agencies. For example, the web library could include doctoral theses, documents of international non-governmental organisations, and so on. Linkages can be provided to other electronic libraries as well, to constitute a core bibliography to be available on the websites. This idea could be extended further. The web library need not be restricted to work undertaken by government and donor agencies. For example, the documents of international non-governmental organisations or agencies could be put up on this site. Links could be provided to other electronic libraries to constitute a core bibliography available on the internet. Certain technical and legal issues involved in setting up such a site may need examination. Some reports (or portions of them) may need to be withheld on grounds of "national security"; others because they reveal confidential or copyright materials. However, these questions appear fairly easy to resolve. The costs involved for setting up the web library, either as a fully owned portal facility co-hosted in a data centre or as portal hosted in a private hosting service provider, are negligible (a few lakhs of rupees) compared to the public funds spent on such research. The potential social benefits of such a web library are huge. In a sense, it could be argued that providing such access is a legitimate extension of the current efforts under the Freedom of Information Act. Although the thrust of the act is towards transparency in decision-making by government, the fundamental principle of the act, that government must throw its books open, applies as much as to information dissemination and development benefits as to decision-making. Email: sosva(a)hotmail.com http://www.epw.org.in/showArticles.php?root=2006&leaf=01&filename=9634&file… Sincerely B. Murugan Library Services M. S. Swaminathan Research Foundation 3rd Cross Street, Taramani Institutional Area Chennai - 600 113 Phone: 22541229 / 22542698; Extn: 208/209 EPW Commentary January 28, 2006 A Web Library of Research Output Data gathered and analysis carried out using public funds should be in the public domain, their dissemination is in the public interest. Here are some initial ideas about setting up a web library that ensures open access to publicly-funded social research output. V Srinivasan A large amount of social science research is carried out in the country, much of it with government, bilateral or multilateral funding, that is, public funding. Such research usually results in the production of reports, many of which contain useful data, analyses, ideas, and recommendations. But only a small portion of this output feeds into policy-making or public debate; the bulk of it is hardly circulated. Indeed, most of it is treated as virtually secret, inaccessible to the public in whose name it is carried out. Unfortunately, it is not an accepted view that data gathered and analysis carried out using public funds are a part of the public domain, and that their dis- semination is in the public interest. A scan of the websites of various government bodies illustrates this well. The ministry of social justice and empowerment and the ministry of rural development list some research reports on their sites but do not provide access to the listed reports or supporting studies. The reports of the National Sample Survey Organisation or the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices, to name just two important bodies, are not available via the internet. The government has commissioned 20 studies or reports on child labour but only two or three are available on the internet. The result is that a great deal of research work is duplicated, since there is no access to previous research in the same area. Today, even if the authors of these reports wished to disseminate them widely, they lack an effective mechanism for doing so. To address this problem, the innovation centre of a Mumbai-based non-governmental organisation, Society for Service to Voluntary Agencies (SOSVA), has proposed a strikingly simple solution: the creation of an internet library housing all economic, social and political studies and reports prepared with government, bilateral or multilateral aid. Such access to previous research would prevent duplication of research work in the same area and check plagiarism. The quality of research would be improved by public scrutiny. Discussion on the themes covered could also be advanced considerably. Finally, the disseminated work could feed into policy-making or public debate. SOSVA proposes that electronic copies of any study, report or document prepared using government or international funds be submitted to the web library. This proposal is along the lines of the practice followed in the US whereby a copy of any book published in the country must be deposited with the Library of Congress to receive a Library of Congress Control Number. Unless this is done, no public grant, foreign or Indian, would be deemed utilised; indeed, the comptroller and auditor general or other appropriate agency would report that the funds are deemed unutilised. Steps need to be taken to make this legally binding and administratively effective. These studies would then be posted on the web library, which would have a standard classification system and easy search tools. The advantages of such a library are the advantages of the internet: At no cost, a huge wealth of information would be available to the public. Moreover, users would not need to know of the existence of particular reports or other materials in advance; they could discover them while browsing through the library, as it were. Not only would duplication of labour be avoided, and the quality of research improved by subjecting it to public scrutiny, but the quality of debate on questions of public interest could be enhanced. That, in turn, ought to spur genuine development. The same library could also host many documents that are available today but only as hard copies, that is, in printed form, and therefore in effect accessible only to a few. The idea could be developed further and the web library need not be restricted to work undertaken by government and donor agencies. For example, the web library could include doctoral theses, documents of international non-governmental organisations, and so on. Linkages can be provided to other electronic libraries as well, to constitute a core bibliography to be available on the websites. This idea could be extended further. The web library need not be restricted to work undertaken by government and donor agencies. For example, the documents of international non-governmental organisations or agencies could be put up on this site. Links could be provided to other electronic libraries to constitute a core bibliography available on the internet. Certain technical and legal issues involved in setting up such a site may need examination. Some reports (or portions of them) may need to be withheld on grounds of “national security”; others because they reveal confidential or copyright materials. However, these questions appear fairly easy to resolve. The costs involved for setting up the web library, either as a fully owned portal facility co-hosted in a data centre or as portal hosted in a private hosting service provider, are negligible (a few lakhs of rupees) compared to the public funds spent on such research. The potential social benefits of such a web library are huge. In a sense, it could be argued that providing such access is a legitimate extension of the current efforts under the Freedom of Information Act. Although the thrust of the act is towards transparency in decision-making by government, the fundamental principle of the act, that government must throw its books open, applies as much as to information dissemination and development benefits as to decision-making. Email: mailto:sosva@hotmail.com sosva(a)hotmail.com http://www.epw.org.in/showArticles.php?root=2006&leaf=01&filename=9634&file… http://www.epw.org.in/showArticles.php?root=2006&leaf=01&filename=9634&file… Sincerely B. Murugan Library Services M. S. Swaminathan Research Foundation 3rd Cross Street, Taramani Institutional Area Chennai - 600 113 Phone: 22541229 / 22542698; Extn: 208/209

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UK to launch online life sciences archive
by Subbiah Arunachalam 08 Feb '06

08 Feb '06

More on the UK version of PMC James Watson, UK to launch online life sciences archive, VNUnet, February 9, 2006. Excerpt: UK scientists have started work on the creation of a free online digital archive of peer-reviewed medical research in the UK. The site, due to be launched at the beginning of next year, will hold more than 500,000 research articles. An estimated one million unique users are expected to visit the site every month, accessing about three million full-text medical articles. Led by the Wellcome Trust, with support from a group of major UK biomedical research funding bodies, the UK PubMed Central (UKPMC) project aims to mirror a similar repository in the US, while also accepting UK research material. The implementation of UKPMC represents the creation of a significant resource for the life sciences community, said Robert Terry, senior policy adviser at the Wellcome Trust. It is about a subject-based repository for life sciences that is freely available with the internet. It is part of a movement in research to improve access to peer-reviewed published literature. The process of finding a supplier to develop, host and manage the service started this month. The appointed contractor will host and manage three separate components, comprising a UK-hosted mirror of the USPMC, a local author manuscript submission and tracking system, and a system to provide authenticated login services for manuscript submission. We are making a standalone UK portal of the US version. It mirrors US material and takes UK material, said Terry....A contract is expected to be awarded in July. ---- This is a model other countries could follow. Arun [Subbiah Arunachalam]

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Reminder:Invitation to the Inaugural Session of the Workshop
by Suvarsha Walters 08 Feb '06

08 Feb '06

You are cordially invited to attend the inaugural session of the National Workshop on Scientific Journal Publishing in India Venue: ===== Seminar Hall, National Centre for Science Information (NCSI), Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore Date & Timings: ============== 10th February, 2006. 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Schedule: ======== 10.00 - 10.15 am - Inagural 10.15 - 11.00 am - 'Open Access Publishing in India' by Prof. Subbiah Arunachalam, MS Swaminathan Foundation 11.00 - 11.30 am - High Tea 11.30 - 12.15 pm - 'Medknow Publications - A Case Study' by Dr. D.K. Sahu, Medknow Publications Pvt. Ltd 12.15 - 1.00 pm - 'Indian biomedical Journals at NIC - Issues for migration to OJS' Sukhdev Singh, National Informatics Centre Please confirm your participation by email to the following email ID, so that we can make the necessary arrangements. 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 E-mail: sjpi(a)ncsi.iisc.ernet.in ************************************************************************

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US gearing up to producing more scientists
by Subbiah Arunachalam 08 Feb '06

08 Feb '06

Friends: The US is concerned about the brain power of Chinese and Indian scientists and technologists and is gearing up to producing more home-grown talent. Please read what Christian Science Monitor has to say on this issue. Arun [Subbiah Arunachalam] ---- Commentary > The Monitor's View from the February 08, 2006 edition Yes, it does take a rocket scientist The Monitor's View A bright spot in the Bush budget is more money to nurture more bright people - no, not just kids who can solve a Rubik's cube in 11 seconds, but the types who invented the Internet or can build the most high-tech widgets or teach the future Einsteins. The iPod nation needs an eyewash about its techno-future. While still the world leader in science and engineering, America has let its technological edge become dull. Federal aid for basic physical sciences has dipped, companies aren't investing as much in long-term research, and schools aren't producing enough students who are both competent and interested in science and math to match the competition from nations such as India and China. Among high school seniors in 21 top countries, the US ranks 16th in science. Its math ranking is 19th. News like that should create another Sputnik moment for the US. Up-and-coming poor countries with burgeoning brainpower are competing on more than wages. US-based companies often prefer the technical skills of Chinese workers and the innovation of Indian researchers, or they simply seek special US visas to import them. That is hollowing out US manufacturing and leaving too many lesser-skilled Americans losing out on factory jobs. Nudged into action by a few Democratic and Republican senators, as well as key high-tech leaders, the president has proposed a "competitiveness initiative," which he sees as a prime domestic cause for the rest of his presidency. He's smart to find an issue with bipartisan support to help dampen Washington's blue-red schism. President Bush has asked Congress to commit $136 billion to science and math education over the next 10 years. That would help train and hire 70,000 new science and math teachers for Advanced Placement courses in high schools. He also wants to allow 30,000 professionals in those fields to become math and science teachers, and to create incentives for students to sign up for those courses. One big incentive is a plan to add science to the accountability testing in public schools under the No Child Left Behind law. Bush also wants to make permanent a tax credit for R&D in industry and double funding for research in basic areas such as nanotechnology. Such steps aren't simply aimed at raising the number of scientists and engineers (many of whom have left some overpopulated fields) or producing more high-tech workers. They're also aimed at pushing people into new fields and keeping up US quality in creative discoveries, inventions, and innovations. The nation has to generate a lot of frogs to find an Edison prince. Unlike the post-Sputnik spurt in US science education and spending during the 1960s, the rapid pace of today's global competition compels the US to keep its investment in these fields permanently high. It's become a net importer of high-tech goods and lost its lead in patents - despite its current high R&D spending. Bush must work as closely with Democrats in passing these measures as he did to pass the No Child act. Politics isn't rocket science, but rocket scientists and their colleagues need politicians to keep the US aloft in science Friends: The US is concerned about the brain power of Chinese and Indian scientists and technologists and is gearing up to producing more home-grown talent. Please read what Christian Science Monitor has to say on this issue. Arun [Subbiah Arunachalam] ---- http://www.csmonitor.com/commentary/index.html Commentary > http://www.csmonitor.com/commentary/monitorView.html The Monitor's View from the February 08, 2006 edition Yes, it does take a rocket scientist The Monitor's View A bright spot in the Bush budget is more money to nurture more bright people - no, not just kids who can solve a Rubik's cube in 11 seconds, but the types who invented the Internet or can build the most high-tech widgets or teach the future Einsteins. The iPod nation needs an eyewash about its techno-future. While still the world leader in science and engineering, America has let its technological edge become dull. Federal aid for basic physical sciences has dipped, companies aren't investing as much in long-term research, and schools aren't producing enough students who are both competent and interested in science and math to match the competition from nations such as India and China. Among high school seniors in 21 top countries, the US ranks 16th in science. Its math ranking is 19th. News like that should create another Sputnik moment for the US. Up-and-coming poor countries with burgeoning brainpower are competing on more than wages. US-based companies often prefer the technical skills of Chinese workers and the innovation of Indian researchers, or they simply seek special US visas to import them. That is hollowing out US manufacturing and leaving too many lesser-skilled Americans losing out on factory jobs. Nudged into action by a few Democratic and Republican senators, as well as key high-tech leaders, the president has proposed a "competitiveness initiative," which he sees as a prime domestic cause for the rest of his presidency. He's smart to find an issue with bipartisan support to help dampen Washington's blue-red schism. President Bush has asked Congress to commit $136 billion to science and math education over the next 10 years. That would help train and hire 70,000 new science and math teachers for Advanced Placement courses in high schools. He also wants to allow 30,000 professionals in those fields to become math and science teachers, and to create incentives for students to sign up for those courses. One big incentive is a plan to add science to the accountability testing in public schools under the No Child Left Behind law. Bush also wants to make permanent a tax credit for R&D in industry and double funding for research in basic areas such as nanotechnology. Such steps aren't simply aimed at raising the number of scientists and engineers (many of whom have left some overpopulated fields) or producing more high-tech workers. They're also aimed at pushing people into new fields and keeping up US quality in creative discoveries, inventions, and innovations. The nation has to generate a lot of frogs to find an Edison prince. Unlike the post-Sputnik spurt in US science education and spending during the 1960s, the rapid pace of today's global competition compels the US to keep its investment in these fields permanently high. It's become a net importer of high-tech goods and lost its lead in patents - despite its current high R&D spending. Bush must work as closely with Democrats in passing these measures as he did to pass the No Child act. Politics isn't rocket science, but rocket scientists and their colleagues need politicians to keep the US aloft in science

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Switzerland goes for open access
by Subbiah Arunachalam 07 Feb '06

07 Feb '06

Friends: Switzerland is embracing Open access. Read the press release from the Swiss national Science Foundation reprinted below. Subbiah Arunachalam Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Foerderung der wissenschaftlichen Forschung 07.02.2006 Globalised knowledge market poses new challenges to science Joint signing of the Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities by Swiss scientific organisations The Rectors Conference of the Swiss Universities (CRUS), the Conference of the Swiss Universities of Applied Sciences (KFH), the Swiss Conference of Schools for Teacher Education (SKPH) as well as the Council of the Swiss Scientific Academies (CASS), together with the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF), have signed the so-called Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities which furthers open access to knowledge in the sciences and humanities. The joint signing of the Berlin Declaration by Rectors Conferences, Academies and National Foundation demonstrates the determined support for the Open Access philosophy, namely the most open access to scientific information for all interested parties, free of charge. The declaration is the response from the research system to the new opportunities for information offered by the Internet: opening up faster, more comprehensive and differentiated access to digital information for scientists and offering the corresponding services. The Conference of Swiss University Libraries (KUB) has already been canvassing for some time for widespread signing of the Berlin Declaration, in particular because Open Access systems will offer an alternative for the rapid increase in prices for subscriptions to commercial magazines from scientific publishers. Knowledge as a public asset for researchers and interested parties Scientific information is normally the result of the creation of knowledge subsidised by public funds. As public property it should be accessible to all interested parties without payment in return. Open Access simultaneously helps to break down barriers for accessing research knowledge. The objective of Returning Science to the Scientists is to provide maximum access to the results of research for scientific communities; after all, science as a public asset for researchers, both stimulates and generates new research ideas. 2.5 million articles published every year in 24,000 scientific magazines Open Access for publications is concentrated on the 2.5 million magazine articles which are published worldwide every year in the exclusive 24,000 scientific magazines categorised as peer-reviewed scholarly and scientific journals. This can be achieved in two different forms: first of all through the actual archiving of the proprietary publications already appearing in scientific journals, on its own Homepage, the university server or a platform for institutions (approx. 92% of the 24,000 journals already permit their authors to do this); secondly, through publication in Peer Reviewed Open Access Journals (around 10% of the 24,000 journals currently allow this). One example of this is currently the largest provider of Open Access journals, BioMed Central (BMC), a profit-orientated British publishing firm with a portfolio of over 170 journals, including 137 pure Open Access Journals; as well however as the non-profit organisation Public Library of Science (PLoS). Researchers are convinced: Open Access is crucial in promoting knowledge exchange In Switzerland there is no study that gives an insight into the change in the publications market which is the subject of keen discussion due to Open Access but provides virtually no data. However, a very recent survey by the German Research Foundation (DFG) on the attitude of scientists to publications and reception shows a German perspective : over 80% of the researchers questioned from the humanities/social sciences, natural/engineering sciences and life sciences, are convinced about the culture of Open Access: It is a decisive factor in promoting the exchange of scientific knowledge. In addition, the idea of personal archiving of scientific articles which have already been published in reputable specialized journals was considered very positively. Need to develop a technical infrastructure in Switzerland By signing the Berlin Declaration the Conferences of Rectors, the Academies and National Foundation, as an organisation promoting research, will in future pursue the following aims: researchers will be encouraged to make their (Peer Reviewed journals) publications openly available through way of Open Access personal archiving. The development of a technical infrastructure that permits fast and convenient access to scientific content, as well as the provision of help and services from the technical and organisational aspects, will provide these researchers with institutional support for their OA efforts. There also remains a series of legal and scientific-political questions to be clarified on the international cooperation side - what is important first of all however is to provide the joint, positive signal for the introduction of Open Access solutions into Switzerland.

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Google Merges IM With Email
by noufal palliparamban 07 Feb '06

07 Feb '06

Friends, Google is integrating its popular e-mail service with its instant messaging (IM), allowing users to chat and send e-mails from the same web browser window. The new facility will be visible to existing subscribers from within Google's Gmail browser window. Full Details: http://www.techtree.com/techtree/jsp/article.jsp?article_id=71207&cat_id=643 Regards Noufal.P.P IIT Kanpur --------------------------------- Jiyo cricket on Yahoo! India cricket Yahoo! Messenger Mobile Stay in touch with your buddies all the time. Friends, Google is integrating its popular e-mail service with its instant messaging (IM), allowing users to chat and send e-mails from the same web browser window. The new facility will be visible to existing subscribers from within Google's Gmail browser window. Full Details: http://www.techtree.com/techtree/jsp/article.jsp?article_id=71207&cat_id=643 http://www.techtree.com/techtree/jsp/article.jsp?article_id=71207&cat_id=643 Regards Noufal.P.P IIT Kanpur 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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