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

InfoWatch - April 2003
by M.R Lalitha 02 May '03

02 May '03

Dear LIS-Forum member, The April 2003 issue of InfoWatch is now online, bringing you details of new Internet sites related to Science and Engineering. You can access the complete issue on the NCSI Web server at the URL : http://www.ncsi.iisc.ernet.in/infowatch/iw.php You will also find earlier issues of InfoWatch here. For your convenience, the table of contents is given below. If you wish to be on the mailing list of InfoWatch to receive the complete issue by e-mail, let us know. Also mention your format preference - html or text. Regards -Lalitha M.R lalitha(a)ncsi.iisc.ernet.in ------------------------------------------------------------------------ InfoWatch Tracking Networked Scientific Information Sources and Services (An electronic update service brought to you by NCSI) April 2003 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ In This Issue: 1. Biomolecular Interaction Network Database - BIND 2. Classic Computer Magazine Archive 3. Ethics of Genetics - Community Action Guide 4. FAO-BioDeC - The State-of-the-art of Crop Biotechnology in Developing Countries 5. Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Data Center 6. Global Village - Institute for Appropriate Technology 7. Guide to Available Mathematical Software - GAMS 8. International Global Atmospheric Chemistry 9. ISIHighlyCited.com 10. LEVEL5 Knowledge Base on Extragalactic Astronomy & Cosmology 11. Nanotechnology Gallery at NASA Ames Center for Nanotechnology 12. Network Cabling Help 13. NIST/SEMATECH e-Handbook of Statistical Methods 14. Revolutionising Science and Engineering through Cyber-infrastructure 15. ScienceNOW from California Academy of Sciences 16. separationsNOW.com 17. Spectra Online [A free database for chemists] 18. Virus World [Images of human, animal and plant viruses] 19. WebStripper Free [For quickly downloads web sites] 20. WebWord.com [Internet Usability information] ------------------------------------------------------------------------ About InfoWatch : InfoWatch is a monthly electronic newsletter, brought out by the National Centre for Science Information (NCSI) Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore - 560 012, INDIA. Information in the newsletter is collected and verified by NCSI staff.The newsletter aims to raise awareness of new sources of information on the Internet, particularly those which are relevant for higher education and research. Some items may be of relevance only to the IISc community.Resources reported here have been taken from various discussion lists and other network tools and no special claims are made for accuracy or originality. Most of the sources cited in the newsletter were checked at the time of publication, however it is possible that some of the resources are no longer available. We welcome comments about the newsletter and suggestions for resources to be featured. Please e-mail your comments to Infowatch editors: Ms. K. Thulasi (thulasi(a)ncsi.iisc.ernet.in) & Ms. M. R. Lalitha (lalitha(a)ncsi.iisc.ernet.in) ------------------------------------------------------------------------

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A Useful Link
by Mailing List Manager 01 May '03

01 May '03

Date: Tue, 29 Apr 2003 15:41:25 +0100 (BST) From: "[iso-8859-1] Saiful Amin" <saifulamin(a)yahoo.com> Hi all, The Berkley Electronic Press (http://www.bepress.com/) publishes a number of peer-reviewed journals on different topics. It also has working papers in different subjects in electronic form as well as some monographs. It also licenses it's scholarly publication services to universities and academic institutions. I hope you'll find this link useful. Regards, Saiful Amin Learning Resource Centre Indian School of Business Gachibowli Hyderabad - 500 019 Ph. +91-40-23187999 http://purl.org/net/saiful

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Fulbright Fellowships for 2004-2005
by Sreekumar 01 May '03

01 May '03

Dear Colleagues: The Fulbright Fellowships for the academic year 2004-2005 were recently announced. The fellowship information and application forms are available at "www.fulbright-india.org". The deadlines for request for application and the receipt of applications are July 01 and July 15, 2003 respectively. Thanks and with best wishes, M G Sreekumar Librarian & Head, Center for Development of Digital Libraries (CDDL) Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode Kunnamangalam P.O Kozhikode, Kerala, India-673 571 ----------------------------------------- Phone : +91 495 2803001/2 Ext. 140 Fax : +91 495 2803010/11 Email : mgsree(a)iimk.ac.in =========================================

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REPORT: Little Evidence for Effectiveness of Scientific Reer (fwd)
by Shyam Prasad pujar 01 May '03

01 May '03

Dear Members, It could be of interest to you. Regards, S.M. Pujar Assistant Librarian IGIDR, Mumbai *********************************************************** Little Evidence for Effectiveness of Scientific Peer Review by Caroline White / BMJ 2003;326:241 ( 1 February ) [http://bmj.com/cgi/content/full/326/7383/241/a ] DateLine: London Despite its widespread use and costs, little hard evidence exists that peer review improves the quality of published biomedical research, concludes a systematic review from the international Cochrane Collaboration. [ http://bmj.com/cgi/reprint/326/7383/241/a.pdf ] Yet the system, which has been used for at least 200 years, has only recently come under scrutiny, with its assumptions about fairness and objectivity rarely tested, say the review authors. With few exceptions, journal editors�and clinicians�around the world continue to see it as the hallmark of serious scientific endeavour. Published last week, the review is the third in a series from the Cochrane Collaboration Methods Group. .. Only the latter escapes a drubbing, with the reviewers concluding that technical editing does improve the readability, accuracy, and overall quality of published research.The Cochrane reviewers based their findings on 21 studies of the peer review process from an original trawl of only 135. [snip] On the basis of the current evidence, �the practice of peer review is based on faith in its effects, rather than on facts,� state the authors, who call forlarge, government funded research programmes to test the effectiveness of the system and investigate possible alternatives. �As the information revolution gathers pace, an empirically proven method of quality assurance is of paramount importance,� they contend. Professor Tom Jefferson, who led the Cochrane review, suggested that further research might prove that peer review, or an evolved form of it, worked. At the very least, it needed to be more open and accountable. But he said that there had never even been any consensus on its aims and that it would be more appropriate to refer to it as �competitive review.� [snip] REPORT FULL-TEXT AVAILABLE Editorial peer-review for improving the quality of reports of biomedical studies [ http://www.update-software.com/Cochrane/MR000016.pdf ] Jefferson TO, Alderson P, Davidoff F, Wager E This is a reprint of a Cochrane methodology review, prepared and maintained by the Cochrane Collaboration and published in The Cochrane Library 2003, Issue 1

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Re: [LIS-Forum] CD-ROM database production
by Manish Amte 29 Apr '03

29 Apr '03

Dear Sir , You can contact NISC at the following address for all your requirements regarding production of CD-ROM databases. NISC India S1, III Floor , Ballad Estates , St Ann's Road Tarnaka, Hyderabad-500017 Tel : 040-27001517 Web : www.nisc.co.in NISC publishes more 100 databases and is the only international database publishing company having publishing HUB in India. Best regards Manish Amte B17 , 9A Sahyadri Patpar Ganj New Delhi -1110092 -------------------------------------------------------------------- kss(a)informindia.co.in Wed Apr 23 15:12:16 IST 2003 Dear All, Could any one help me with the contact details of companies preferably in Bangalore, involved in offering software solutions for the production of CD-ROM databases from tagged records in ASCII format? Thanks K S Subba Rao Director Informatics India Ltd 337, Karuna Complex Sampige Road Malleshwaram Bangalore - 560 003 India Tel: +91-80-3464878 Fax: +91-80-3464878 kss at informindia.co.in www.informindia.co.in www.j-gate.informindia.co.in On Wed, 16 Apr 2003 Saiful Amin wrote : > >Hi Nivedita, >I've heard that IGNOU is going to start a 6-month or 1-year >course on Library Automation/Digital Libraries for the library >professionals very soon. I'm even told that the course material >is ready for that. >Being in Delhi, you might be better placed to inform us about any >developments in the IGNOU campus! >Regards, >Saiful > Nivedita.Sharma(a)fluor.com wrote:Hi everyone, > >This mail that has come from T.B. Rajashekar has really made me >think about raising this query - Do we really have some good >quality advance courses for working library science professionals >as well(other than offered by NISCAIR). This course that NCSI is >offering is about one and half year duration(Information and >Knowledge Management) and needs full time devotion on learner's >part. The contents of the course are quiet good and relevant for >working persons like me. I find that even after working for 10+ >years, I am interested to go for this training. The only barrier >is that I am full time working and settled in Delhi. > >It is a general feeling amongst library professionals that after >doing Masters in LIS only you are left with M.Phil or Phd to >upgrade your knowledge or qualification, and going for such >higher education is not that easy for everyone. The point behind >writing all this is that we should think about organizing such >good courses thru distance education program for working >professionals also. > >If any one in the field has some information about such program >that are already available, Pl let me know. If bodies like >NISSAT/NISCAIR/NCSI start doing some positive move in this >direction, I strongly believe that it is really going to help >professional like me who constantly on the look for something new >to learn, implement and create/add value to work. > >Nivedita Sharma >Sr. Technical Librarian >Knowledge Center >Fluor Daniel India Pvt. Ltd. >Gurgaon >Haryana > > >Information Consultant >Learning Resource Centre >Indian School of Business >Gachibowli >Hyderabad - 500 019 >Ph. +91-40-23187999 >http://purl.org/net/saiful > >Catch all the cricket action. Download Yahoo! Score tracker >_______________________________________________ >LIS-Forum mailing list >LIS-Forum(a)ncsi.iisc.ernet.in >http://ncsi.iisc.ernet.in/mailman/listinfo/lis-forum

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Services from and collaboration with the Kesavan Inst. of Information and Knowledge Management (KIIKM) (fwd)
by Shyam Prasad pujar 29 Apr '03

29 Apr '03

> From: "Jai Haravu" <jharavu(a)hotmail.com> > Date: Sun, 27 Apr 2003 17:57:42 +0530 > Subject: [nmlis] Services from and collaboration with the > Kesavan Inst. of Information and Knowledge Management > (KIIKM) > > Dear Friends > > As mentioned in the first email that was sent announcing the formation > of KIIKM, we envisage some services and the possibility for > collaboration with a number of academic and other institutions. These > will be need based and in many cases articulated by institutions > themselves. KIIKM welcomes suggestions. > > However, even as of date the KIIKM can provide the following services > and offers some ideas for collaboration.: > > 1. KIIKM has developed a good set of modules for a P G course on > library automation with considerable emphasis on hands-on training. > The course is well suited to M L I Sc programmes and is of three weeks > duration. The course expects that the students will do a number of > assignments. KIIKM would be happy to come and deliver the course to M > L I Sc students in interested library schools. The course expects good > computer and networking infrastructure in the library and information > science schools where the course is expected to be delivered. > > 2. Similarly, a course (one week) on Knowledge Management also > suitable for M L I Sc is also possible to be delivered to students of > M L.I Sc students in interested library schools. > > 3. KIIKM will be happy to make available its new web-based library > automation software called NewGenLib to the Library and Information > Science Departments of Indian universities and/or college libraries on > a free trial for 3 months in which period the library school or > university library/college library can use it for its training > activity and/or the university or college library can see how it works > and also how it is possible to network different libraries. Interested > library schools/university libraries please ask for a brochure on > NewGenLib. Send an email to haravu(a)newgenlib.com for a free copy of > the brochure or if you wish to see the brochure as a PDF file online > go to the web site http://www.kiikm org/ > > 4. Professionals can contribute to the e-mail newsletter on issues > that they consider to be important. The newsletter and modalities of > how people can contribute to it will be established soon. Invited > presentations will also be part of the newsletter. > > 5. KIIKM will also provide a forum for professionals to write books on > identified topics. They can also suggest topics on which books should > be written, i.e., those that are needed in teaching programmes and > where there is a gap in the availability of good books at affordable > prices today. KIIKM proposes to invite senior and experienced > professionals to share their knowledge via specially commissioned > writings. > > 6. KIIKM has plans to develop e-learning modules for delivery over the > Internet and/or stand-alone use. KIIKM welcomes suggestions and > collaboration for the development of e-learning modules. An > experimental module has been developed for the B R Ambedkar Open > University in Hyderabad. > > > Haravu > L J Haravu > 69 Krishnapuri Colony > West Marredpally > Secunderabad 500026 > Tel: (91)-40-27803947

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MetaMap Project
by Mailing List Manager 28 Apr '03

28 Apr '03

Dear All, There is some detail about MetaMap Project. With the exponential development of the World Wide Web, there are so many metadata initiatives, so many organisations involved, and so many new standards that it's hard to get our bearings in this new environment. The problem is exacerbated by the fact that the names of most of these new standards are represented by acronyms. The MetaMap exists to help gather in one place information about these metadata initiatives, to try to show relationships among them, and to connect them with the various players involved in their creation and use. The MetaMap is a pedagogical tool in the form of a subway map, the goal of which is to help people understand metadata standards, sets, and initiatives related to information studies. The MetaMap project came about from the idea of representing "metaspace" as a subway map showing metadata standards related to information management. In this, metadata standards, sets, and initiatives (MSSIs) were considered and the theme lists were then organised into graphics representing subway lines. One can see metamap from the following site. http://mapageweb.umontreal.ca/turner/meta/english/index.html The site is a very good reference for metadata standards, sets and initiatives as well as it consists of detailed study about metadata, its origin, features, standards, components, types etc. Aurigene Discovery Technologies Limited, Electronic City, phase II, Hosur Road, Bangalore 562 158 Phone 8521314-16 Ext.- 422 Fax 852 6285 E-mail: madhureshsinghal(a)yahoo.com http://www.aurigene.com/

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Junior consultants
by Francis Jayakanth 28 Apr '03

28 Apr '03

---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Mon, 28 Apr 2003 17:26:43 +0530 From: Pravakar Rath <pkrath_99(a)hotmail.com> To: lis-forum-owner(a)ncsi.iisc.ernet.in Dear Professionals Our faculty is looking for two Junior consultants urgently.Please send your biodata stating all your acdemic achievements. Qualification-MLIS with UGC-NET Stipend-Rs.10,000 per month Send your biodata if iterested within one weeks time to Prof.S.B.Ghosh,(sbghosh(a)hotmail.com) with a copy to Dr P.K.Rath(pkrath_99(a)hotmail.com) Faculty of Library and Information Science IGNOU,New Delhi-110068

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Herbert Van de Sompel Receives Kilgour Award for Res. in Library & IT
by Mailing List Manager 26 Apr '03

26 Apr '03

Date: Fri, 25 Apr 2003 10:13:44 +0530 IT From: Subbiah Arunachalam <arun(a)mssrf.res.in> 2003 LITA Frederick G. Kilgour Award winner announced Dr. Herbert Van de Sompel of the Los Alamos National Laboratories is the winner of the Frederick G. Kilgour Award for Research in Library and Information Technology for 2003. OCLC Online Computer Library Center, Inc., and the Library and Information Technology Association (LITA), a division of the American Library Association, sponsor the award. The award was established to honor the achievements of Frederick G. Kilgour, the founder of OCLC and a seminal figure in library automation. The award is given to a person who has amassed a significant body of "real world" research in the field of library and information technology that has had an impact in the way in which information is published, stored, retrieved, disseminated or managed. It consists of $2,000, an expense-paid trip to the ALA Annual Conference, and a citation of merit. "The Kilgour Award Committee was delighted to acknowledge the significant work of Dr. Van de Sompel, whose research has contributed significantly to not one, but two major current developments in our field: linking technologies and metadata harvesting." said Larry Woods, chair of the award committee. Based on the research for his PhD, Herbert and his colleague Patrick Hochstenbach created SFX, a system that uses information passed from one information system to create locally appropriate related web links to other systems. The SFX system now is in use in hundreds of libraries worldwide. Parallel products have been or are now being developed by various companies, universities, and other players in the library information technology environment, all based on the insights and architecture developed for SFX. A key element of the SFX linking architecture is the OpenURL, a method for passing bibliographic information from one information system to another encoded in a URL. The OpenURL is now being standardized by NISO (an effort in which Herbert is heavily involved), and shows promise of becoming a key tool in the interoperation of distributed digital library systems. As a matter of fact, it has the potential to change the nature of links on the Web in general. With Carl Lagoze, Herbert led an international effort to devise a protocol by which systems holding descriptive metadata could make that metadata available for "harvesting" and re-use by other information systems. Originally developed to support the building of union catalogs of metadata derived from distributed e-print archives, the protocol has been generalized through work in the larger digital library world as the Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting. Dr. Van de Sompel received a Masters degree in Mathematics in 1979, and a Masters degree in Computer Science in 1981 and a Ph.D. in Communication Science in 2000 all from Ghent University, Belgium. He is now employed at the Research Library of the Los Alamos National Laboratories in New Mexico as Team Leader, Digital Library Research and Prototyping Group. The award will be presented at the LITA President's Program on Monday, June 23, 2003 at the ALA Annual Conference in Toronto.

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Fwd: [nmlis] Announcing the formation of a New Institute to honour late Mr B S Kesavan
by JK Vijayakumar 25 Apr '03

25 Apr '03

--- Jai Haravu <jharavu(a)hotmail.com> wrote: > To: nmlis(a)yahoogroups.com > From: "Jai Haravu" <jharavu(a)hotmail.com> > Date: Thu, 24 Apr 2003 12:37:12 +0000 > Subject: [nmlis] Announcing the formation of a > New Institute to honour late Mr B S Kesavan --------------------------------- Dear List Members I am happy to announce the formation of a charitable Trust called Kesavan Institute of Information and Knowledge Management. The trust has been formed as an initiative of many former colleagues, friends, admirers, students and relations of late Mr B S Kesavan as a token of our admiration and respect for Mr Kesavan's many achievements as a pioneer institution builder, a warm human being and a mentor to so many of us. The initial funding for the trust has been provided by voluntary contributions by many of Mr Kesavan's colleagues and others. In fact the trust has been working for the last one year on various initiatives. However, we did not formally announce the formation since we were waiting for approval from the Income Tax authorities for tax exemption. We are now told that the exemption will come this month. A web site for the Institute has just been created and the URL is: http://www.kiikm.org/. There is already some content on the site and more will be added in time. I would appreciate hearing from members of this list about the objectives and initiatives of the Trust. The current trustees of the Institute are M/s S Parthasarathy, A K Dasgupta and L J Haravu. Mr T N Rajan, also a long time colleague of Mr Kesavan has taken the role of Settlor of the Trust. The Institute is committed to collaborating with like minded individuals and institutions on activities envisaged in the objectives of the trust and I welcome your comments and suggestions. L J Haravu Trustee, Kesavan Institute of Information and Knowledge Management. ------------------------------- __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? The New Yahoo! Search - Faster. Easier. Bingo http://search.yahoo.com

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