D-Lib -- In Brief (September 2006)

D-Lib Magazine
September 2006

Volume 12 Number 9

ISSN 1082-9873

In Brief

Project StORe

Contributed by:
Graham Pryor
Project Manager, StORe
University of Edinburgh
<graham.pryor@ed.ac.uk>

Project StORe is one of twenty-five projects supported in the UK by the JISC (http://www.jisc.ac.uk) Digital Repositories Programme, which aims to bring together people and practices from across the domains of research, learning, information services, institutional administration and records management, for the purpose of ensuring maximum coordination in the development of digital repositories.

Project StORe (http://jiscstore.jot.com/WikiHome) has as its principal aim the design of bi-directional links from Source to Output Repositories, with the objective of generating new levels of discovery, dissemination and curation for the products of academic research. The ability to move seamlessly from source (data) repositories to output (publications) repositories, and vice versa, is expected to introduce new opportunities for researchers to explore a level of detail that cannot be reproduced in publications, to examine and validate experiments reported in published papers, and to identify how and to what extent their published research has been used by other researchers. Most conspicuously, an automatic association of research publications with their source data will considerably amplify the scope for accessing, disseminating and sharing research output.

This two-year project is focused upon disciplines within the scientific research community: archaeology, astronomy, biochemistry, biosciences, chemistry, physics and social policy/political science. Investigation into these disciplines is being conducted from seven research-intensive UK universities, with astronomy made the subject of a joint study by Edinburgh and Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore (http://jiscstore.jot.com/OrganisationAndManagement). A survey of researchers working in these disciplines has been undertaken to describe actual workflows and norms in their use of source and output repositories, the identification of functional enhancements to repositories they consider to be desirable, and specific problems encountered during their use of repositories. From this survey, and the business analysis being conducted upon it, a technical specification of functional enhancements will be developed, leading to the construction of a set of pilot middleware for enabling bi-directional links. During the test and proving phase, links will be established between the UK Data Archive (http://www.data-archive.ac.uk/), as source repository, and research papers stored in the institutional repositories of the London School of Economics and the University of Essex; but the middleware will be designed according to the cross-discipline requirements identified from the survey, with a view to eventual application across a broad range of disciplines.

The StORe survey found that the proposed bi-directional link was considered signally advantageous by 85% of the researchers who responded, but attitudes were tempered by a range of cultural and organisational barriers to deposit in both source repositories and institutional output repositories. Prevalent were concerns over perceived increases in workload, frustration with bureaucratic processes and uncertainty with respect to the protection of intellectual property. At a more technical level, repositories were often judged inconsistent in coverage and in the quality and appropriateness of their metadata. However, researchers found considerable consensus in the identification of core, generic metadata requirements, and many agreed that, given the size and complexity of most research data, links to/from processed data rather than raw data would be more achievable. Accordingly, completion of the project in August 2007 assumes delivery of a solution that is not entirely technological.

The REHASH Project

Contributed by:
Chara Balasubramaniam and Terry Poulton
St George's, University of London, United Kingdom

Background:
St George's, University of London, has adapted existing large collections of high-quality health resources for different educational contexts for the Re-purposing Existing Health Assets to SHare (REHASH) project. These re-purposed resources were specifically tailored to support student learning at several distinct educational levels.

The project:
The intention was to provide teachers with a fast and economic way of developing high-quality educational course units, and to provide students with learning resources that would be consistent when progressing from Further Education (FE) to Higher Education (HE), creating a 'resource escalator' moving up different educational levels (HE0, 1 and 2 levels), thereby promoting a feeling of familiarity, and reducing anxiety in adult learners moving to the HE sector.

The primary target of the project was to address the re-purposing of approximately 60% of the learning objectives for cells, tissues, and organs from the basic and clinical sciences for medicine (HE1 and 2), and approximately 30% of the objectives of the one-year "Access to Nursing" course and the foundation course for medicine (HE0). In both cases, the targets have been superseded, with a greater than expected coverage of learning objectives.

Project outcomes:

Resources do compete ergonomically and in quality with the existing rapid and efficient process used for assembly of teachers lesson plans.
Resources are attractive to both teachers and students.
Resource sharing has strengthened existing collaborative relationships between the FE and HE partners.
Institutions that have not created these resources are willing to use them in their own courses with little or no change in content.

These resources have been embedded in both FE and HE in several ways, one of which was to create an opportunity at both the regional and national level (UK) for sharing of these resources.

The project demonstrates that resources can be effectively re-purposed to different educational levels, made sufficiently 'generic', and shared by courses in different institutions. There is also genuine enthusiasm on the part of teachers in both FE and HE to utilise these resources, regardless of where they are made, so that the resources are not restricted to web-based learning but can also be use in the classroom, thereby forming a 'blended' approach.

The project is currently conducting a formal evaluation, addressing issues such as how students and teachers value the resources and their impact on teaching. We will begin to share resources between neighbouring FE institutions, exploring the extent to which these resources can be adopted without further re-purposing.

The REHASHed resources are currently freely available to all UK education institutions, with a view to being available internationally in the future. Please visit the project website for up-to-date information: <http://www.etu.sgul.ac.uk/rehash>

TAPESTREA: A New Way to Design Sound

Contributed by:
Ananya Misra, Graduate Student
Perry R. Cook, Professor*
Ge Wang, Graduate Student
Princeton University
Department of Computer Science (*also Music)
{amisra, prc, gewang}@cs.princeton.edu

TAPESTREA (or taps) is a unified framework, developed at the Computer Science Department, Princeton University, for interactively analyzing, transforming and synthesizing complex sounds. The system is cross-platform and open-source. Given one or more recordings, TAPESTREA provides the ability to:

Identify points of interest in the sound and extract them into reusable templates,
Transform sound components independently of the background and/or other events,
Continually resynthesize the background texture in a perceptually convincing manner,
Controllably place event templates over backgrounds, using a novel graphical user interface and/or scripts written in the ChucK audio programming language, and
Leverage similarity based retrieval to locate other interesting sound components.

Taps provides new ways to completely transform a sound scene, dynamically generate soundscapes of unlimited length, and compose and design sound by combining elements from different recordings. Taps has been tailored for sound designers, audio researchers, composers, and anyone interested in experimenting with sound.

For more information, see the TAPESTREA home page, <http://taps.cs.princeton.edu/> or view the TAPESTREA introductory video, "Sound Scene Modeling By Example" (Quicktime, 67MB, 5 minutes).

A Technology Analysis of Repositories and Services

Contributed by:
G. Sayeed Choudhury
Associate Director for Library Digital Programs and
Hodson Director of the Digital Knowledge Center at the Sheridan Libraries
The Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, Maryland, USA
<Sayeed@jhu.edu>

With funding from the Mellon Foundation, the Sheridan Libraries at Johns Hopkins University has conducted an analysis of repositories and services based on a methodology for connecting user requirements with repository programmatic features. The Sheridan Libraries considered a diverse range of content types and end user services by developing and gathering numerous scenarios from multiple institutions, and collaborating particularly with MIT, UVA, and ProQuest to evaluate DSpace 1.3.2 (http://dspace.org), Fedora 2.0 (http://www.fedora.info), and Digital Commons (http://www.proquest.com/products_umi/digitalcommons). In all cases, we worked with the "out of the box" system and documented APIs. It is important to note that our analysis focused on the ability of each of these systems to support specific functionality through documented APIs. Future work should include additional analysis of other means for supporting functionality (e.g., user interface or application based import or access), and of additional systems (e.g., ePrints).

During the Mellon Foundation's Research and Instructional Technology (RIT) Retreat in 2006, MacKenzie Smith described three aspects of interoperability: semantic, protocol and functional. This analysis examined the protocol aspects by assessing the existing protocols of JSR-170 (http://www.jcp.org/en/jsr/detail?id=170), Digital Repository OSID (DR OSID, http://www.okiproject.org/), and the eduSource Communication Layer (ECL, http://ecl.iat.sfu.ca/) and the functional aspects by testing the documented APIs from the aforementioned systems that can interface readily with applications.

While the specific results from this analysis are noteworthy, it is worthwhile to affirm the importance of the methodology and the recommendations for next steps. All project materials, including final results, are available at the main project wiki: <https://wiki.library.jhu.edu/display/RepoAnalysis/ProjectRepository>.

In the News

Excerpts from Recent Press Releases and Announcements

Institute of Museum and Library Services Receives Comments on Plan to Consolidate Library Programs

September 13, 2006 - "The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) today released a summary of comments on its draft plan for consolidating the functions of the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science (NCLIS) and the public and state library surveys of the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). The plan, which would go into effect in fiscal year 2008, results from President Bush's fiscal year 2007 budget request. The draft plan (PDF, 75KB) was developed in consultation with key stakeholders including the Federal-State Cooperative System and State Library Administrative Agency survey steering committees, the Chief Officers of State Library Agencies, national library service organizations, and IMLS's federal partners."

"In response to its public request for input on August 2, 2006, the Institute received 25 comments. The majority were received from national library and museum associations (including the steering committees) and state librarians. Comments were also received from interested members of the library community. The Institute also received a response from NCLIS."

"'We are grateful to everyone who participated in this process,' said IMLS Director Anne-Imelda M. Radice. 'The quality and thoughtfulness of the comments received are a testament to the importance of library data collection and information policy. These comments will help inform the development of a final plan that will be part of the President's FY 2008 budget request for the Institute of Museum and Library Services.'"

For more information, including a summary of the comments, please see the full IMLS press release at <http://www.imls.gov/news/2006/091306.shtm>.

Dutch National site for Doctoral Theses officially launched

September 13, 2006 - "Professor Blom, the University Rector of the Radboud University Nijmegen, launched the National site for Doctoral Theses 'Promise of Science' on behalf of all University Rectors in the Netherlands. At the initiative of the SURF Foundation over 10,000 doctoral theses are currently available worldwide on the <http://www.DAREnet.nl/promiseofscience> website. The doctoral theses originate from all universities in the Netherlands. They are no longer gathering dust in attics or on academic shelves. Now everyone can have access to new and sometimes groundbreaking research in the Netherlands."

"Each year approximately 2500 doctoral theses are published in the Netherlands. Through them young scientists present the most recent theories in a certain field. Until now these research results were hard to access. By making them available over the Internet both the author and the university can showcase their research. A broad public can benefit from this, not only fellow scientists. Public exposure of research results also is a major contribution to highlighting the Netherlands as a knowledge economy...."

"...The National Site for Doctoral Theses 'Promise of Science' was developed within the national DARE (Digital Academic REpositories) programme. This is a joint collaboration of all universities in the Netherlands, a number of scientific organisations and SURF. The aim of the DARE programme is to make research publications publicly accessible without any restrictions. The website DAREnet (http://www.DAREnet.nl) is developed to realise public access to this material, through one site. DAREnet also contains a selection of 'Cream of Science', this gives access to publications of 200 prominent scientists in the Netherlands. With Promise of Science there is now also room for young, rising researchers next to the 'established' scientists."

For more information, please see the full press release at <http://www.darenet.nl/en/page/news.list/show#openingpromise_EN>.

New book in the Digital Future Series tackles the important and complex issue of digital preservation

September 6, 2006 - "Digital preservation is an issue of huge importance to the library and information profession right now. With the wide scale adoption of the internet and the rise of the world wide web, the world has been overwhelmed by digital information. Digital data is being produced on a massive scale by individuals and institutions: some of it is born, lives and dies only in digital form, and it is the potential death of this data, with its impact on the preservation of culture, that is the concern of this new book from Facet Publishing."

"So how can information professionals try to remedy this? Digital preservation is a complex issue involving many different aspects and views, and each chapter of this edited collection is written by an international expert on the topic. Many case studies and examples are used to ground the ideas and theories in real concerns and practice. Digital Preservation, edited by Marilyn Deegan and Simon Tanner, aims to arm the information professional with all the knowledge they need and gives examples of best practice to help find solutions."

For more information, please see the full press release at <http://www.cilip.org.uk/aboutcilip/newsandpressreleases/news060906.htm>.For ordering information, contact Mark O'Loughlin, Marketing Manager, Facet Publishing, email: <mark.o'loughlin@facetpublishing.co.uk>.

DRIVER: Networking European Scientific Repositories

September 11, 2006, announcement from Wolfram Horstmann, DRIVER Scientific-Technical Manager: "An international partnership has started work on a project to build a large-scale public infrastructure for research information across Europe. "

"The 'Digital Repository Infrastructure Vision for European Research' (DRIVER) project responds to the vision that any form of scientific-content resource, including scientific/technical reports, research articles, experimental or observational data, rich media and other digital objects should be freely accessible through simple Internet-based infrastructures. Like GEANT2, the successful European network for computing resources, data storage and transport, the new DRIVER repository infrastructure will enable researchers to plug into the new knowledge base and use scientific content in a standardised, open way. The project is funded by the European Commission under the auspices of the 'Research Infrastructure' unit."

"Open Access to research information is vital for researchers and helps the public appreciation and understanding of science. DRIVER will be helping countries to create networks of openly-accessible repositories for research information."

The project is a joint collaboration between ten international partners with the intention to create a knowledge base of European research. DRIVER will put a test-bed in place across Europe to assist the development of a knowledge infrastructure for the European Research Area. The project will develop over the next 18 months, building upon existing institutional repositories and networks, from countries including the Netherlands, Germany, France, Belgium and the UK. The aim is for one large-scale virtual content resource to be created to access and integrate individual repositories. DRIVER will also prepare for the future expansion and upgrade of the Digital Repository infrastructure across Europe and will ensure the widest possible user involvement."

For more information, please contact Dr. Horstmann at <wolfram.horstmann@gmail.com>.

For more information, please see the full press release at <http://www.cilip.org.uk/aboutcilip/newsandpressreleases/news060906.htm>. For ordering information, contact Mark O'Loughlin, Marketing Manager, Facet Publishing, email: <mark.o'loughlin@facetpublishing.co.uk>.

Nominations sought for 2007 ALCTS awards

September 5, 2006 - "Nominations are being accepted for the 2007 Association for Library Collections & Technical Services (ALCTS) awards. ALCTS presents 10 awards to honor individuals whose work represents the finest achievements in research, collaboration, creative work, leadership and service in the field of library collections and technical services and to support travel for library support staff to attend the American Library Association (ALA) Annual Conference. "

For more information, please see the full press release at <http://www.ala.org/ala/pressreleases2006/september2006/Nominations2007ALCTSawar.htm>.

Call for nominations for 2007 ASCLA awards

September 5, 2006 - "The Association for Specialized and Cooperative Library Agencies (ASCLA) is now accepting nominations for its 2007 awards program. The purpose of ASCLA awards is to recognize outstanding achievement in networking, enrichment and educational opportunities, and service by library agencies, libraries serving special populations, multi-type library organizations and independent librarians. ASCLA encourages people to submit nominations for the following awards by the deadline of December 15, 2006..."

For more information, please see the full press release at <http://www.ala.org/ala/pressreleases2006/august2006/2007ASCLAawardsnominatio.htm>.

Reference and User Services Association (RUSA) announces call for nominations for 2007 awards

September 5, 2006 - "The Reference and User Services Association (RUSA) is pleased to announce a call for nominations for its 17 awards for 2007. RUSA is interested in learning about innovative, outstanding achievements in the field of reference and adult services librarianship. RUSA encourages people to submit nominations for the following awards, which have a deadline of December 15 unless otherwise noted..."

For more information, please see the full press release at <http://www.ala.org/ala/pressreleases2006/september2006/RUSA2007awardnominations.htm>.

Full year results from Oxford Open show wide variation in open access uptake across disciplines

August 30, 2006 - "Oxford Journals, a division of Oxford University Press, today released full year figures from its optional open access experiment, Oxford Open. In the first year of launch, almost 400 papers have been published under the optional open access model across 36 of the 49 participating titles."

"The majority of uptake of optional open access has, as predicted, been in the life sciences, with approximately 10% of authors selecting the open access option across 16 participating journals in this area, compared with approximately 5% in medicine and public health, and 3% in the humanities and social sciences. Three life sciences titles in the areas of molecular and computational biology have seen over 20% uptake. The highest of these was for Bioinformatics, which has published over 50 open access papers in 2006. 2007 online subscription prices have been adjusted for these journals to reflect this uptake."

"Oxford Open, launched in July 2005, gives authors the option of paying for their research to be made freely available online immediately upon publication in the participating journals. Twenty-one titles adopted this model in July 2005, and further titles have joined in 2006, giving 49 journals participating at present."

For more information, please see the full press release at <http://www.oxfordjournals.org/news/2006/08/30/full_year_results_from_oxford_op/
full_year_results_from_oxford_op.html>.

ASIS&T SIG-III InfoShare Award - Call for Nominations

August 25, 2006 announcement from ASIS&T - "The ASIS&T International Information Issues Special Interest Group (SIG III) is pleased to announce that for 2007 we will be able to sponsor another group of deserving information professionals from developing countries for complimentary ASIS&T memberships (the financial burden of which would otherwise be prohibitive)."

"We are soliciting nominations of candidates for the InfoShare Membership Award. Please send recommendations of deserving candidates to Caryn Anderson (caryn.anderson@simmons.edu). Please include a Curriculum Vitae (or equivalent) and a brief description of why this person is deserving of membership, including their willingness to promote ASIS&T within their networks. Awardees will be decided by a vote of the SIG III officers at the end of 2006."

Collaboration between two University Presses brings first Chinese peer-reviewed journal to a Western audience

August 25, 2006 - "Oxford Journals, a division of Oxford University Press, is delighted to announce the launch of The Chinese Journal of International Politics (CJIP), an English translation of China's first peer-reviewed journal of international studies."

"The Journal, published in China as Science of International Politics, was launched in 2005 by Peking University Press on behalf of Tsinghua University's Institute of International Studies. Its launch today as an English language translation marks a new opportunity for researchers around the world to access high quality Chinese research into international security...."

"...The venture has been made possible with funding from the MacArthur Foundation, one of the largest grant giving institutions in the world. CJIP furthers the Foundation's aim of strengthening the community of science and security experts, facilitating discussions of policy-oriented research, and supporting scholarly exchange with counterparts abroad. The Foundation has provided support for the publication of the journal over two years...."

"...The first issue of CJIP is published today, and can be accessed for free online. There will be two issues of CJIP in 2006 and 2007. CJIP will be quarterly from 2008. Further information on the title is available on the website: <http://www.oxfordjournals.org/our_journals/cjip/>"

For more information, please see the full press release at <http://www.oxfordjournals.org/news/2006/08/25/collaboration_between_two_univer/
collaboration_between_two_univer.html>.

IFLA/OCLC Fellows for 2007 named

International Fellowship program prepares librarians to help libraries thrive in developing countries

August 23, 2006 - "OCLC Online Computer Library Center, Inc., the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), the American Theological Library Association, and OCLC PICA today announced the IFLA/OCLC Early Career Development Fellows for 2007."

"The 2007 IFLA/OCLC Fellows were named by Phyllis B. Spies, Vice President, OCLC Collection Management Services, at a news conference during the IFLA World Library and Information Congress: 72nd IFLA General Conference and Council in Seoul, Republic of Korea. The 2007 Fellows are:

Mr. Kodjo Elolo Atiso, Librarian, Animal Research Institute, Achimota, Ghana
Mrs. Alicia Chavarria Esguerra, Instructor/Librarian, Bulacan State University, City of Malolos, Bulacan, Philippines
Mrs. Pauline Nicholas, Information Specialist, Mona School of Business, University of the West Indies, Kingston, Jamaica
Mrs. Elisangela Alves Silva, Information Assistant, Abrinq Foundation for the Rights of Children and Adolescents, S�o Paulo, Brazil
Ms. Nevena Tomić, Library Manager, Cultural Centre "Students' City," Belgrade, Serbia"

"The IFLA/OCLC Early Career Development Fellowship Program supports library and information science professionals from countries with developing economies. The Fellowship program provides advanced continuing education and exposure to a broad range of issues in information technologies, library operations and global cooperative librarianship. Since its inception in 2001, the program has welcomed 28 librarians and information science professionals from 21 nations."

For more information, please see the OCLC PICA web site at <http://www.oclcpica.org/> and select the full press release for August 23, 2006.

NISO Board Appoints Todd Carpenter to Lead Organization

August 23, 2006 announcement from Cynthia Hodgson, NISO: "The National Information Standards Organization (NISO) announced today that Todd Carpenter will take over as Managing Director, effective September 1, 2006. Carpenter steps into NISO's leadership position at a time when the Board of Directors has begun implementing a strategic plan designed to improve constituency relationships, standards development, and operational procedures."

"'NISO's new strategic plan calls for a new leader with a deep understanding of our members' needs as well as their existing practices and priorities,' said Carl Grant, President and COO of VTLS and NISO's Board Chair. 'We believe Todd has the acumen we need and the vision to ensure that NISO's contributions to the NISO community remain valuable.'"

"Leadership in collaborative initiatives and partnerships among libraries and publishers has been a key aspect of Carpenter's career. As Director of Business Development with BioOne, a not-for-profit online journal aggregator, he has served the goals of both constituencies by enhancing the products, services and distribution that BioOne provides to participant publishers and subscribers. Among Carpenter's successes at BioOne was the development and execution of a multi-faceted business model realignment, which balances library fiscal constraints with publisher's revenue needs as institutions transition from print to electronic subscription models."

"Previously, Carpenter was at the Johns Hopkins University Press, where he directed the marketing of their 60 academic journals and was closely involved in the growth of Project MUSE, JHUP's online aggregation of humanities and social science journals. He also held marketing and business development positions at the Energy Intelligence Group, a news service covering the oil and natural gas industries, and the Haworth Press, an academic and professional publisher. He is a graduate of Syracuse University, earned a masters degree in marketing from The Johns Hopkins University, and is an active member of the Society for Scholarly Publishing."

For more information, please see the full press release in NISO Newsline's September issue at <http://www.niso.org/news/newsline/NISONewsline-Sept2006.htm>.

The Dewey Decimal Classification debuts in Vietnamese

August 22, 2006 - "OCLC Online Computer Library Center announces the publication of the Vietnamese translation of the Dewey Decimal Classification and Relative Index, Abridged Edition 14, by the National Library of Vietnam. The new edition was officially launched at a seminar in Hanoi on August 16, at which Assistant Editor Julianne Beall represented the Dewey team. This is the first complete translation of an edition of the Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) into Vietnamese."

"In September 2001, at a workshop in Hanoi sponsored by The Atlantic Philanthropies and RMIT International University Vietnam, and attended by librarians from across the country, Vietnamese librarians chose the DDC as one of their bibliographic standards. Joan S. Mitchell, Editor-in-Chief of the DDC, was present at the 2001 workshop, and noted: 'We knew from the start how important it would be to work closely with Vietnamese librarians to ensure that the new edition was localized to meet special needs and interoperable with the standard edition. For example, we worked with the Vietnamese team to develop an updated and expanded area table for the Vietnamese edition, and then derived an interoperable abridgment of that table for the English-language edition.'"

"Translations of the most recent editions of Dewey are available, under way, or under discussion in Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Icelandic, Italian, Norwegian, Russian, Spanish, and Swedish."

For more information, please see the full press release at <http://www.oclc.org/news/releases/200635.htm>.

NCLIS Members Respond to IMLS Request for Comments: Commissioners Oppose Draft Plan Proposed by IMLS

August 17, 2006 - "Meeting in Washington, DC, members of the U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science (NCLIS) responded to the request of the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) for comments about the draft proposal for the consolidation of NCLIS into IMLS. Voting at the August 14 NCLIS meeting, the Commission agreed to oppose the plan as described in the IMLS document by a vote of 11-1. Commissioner Jan Cellucci cast the single dissenting vote (http://www.imls.gov/pdf/ConsolidationPlan_draft.pdf)."

"A major concern is the proposed plan's lack of reference to the Commission's statutory advisory and policy development role...."

"...In recording their opposition, the Commissioners also stated their concern that 'the proposed merger of the statistics, policy development, and funding programs' would compromise the integrity of the three activities, considered by the members of the Commission to be essential but separate programs. Likewise, the Commissioners were disturbed that the Commission's responsibility for U.S. national library standards and its formal position in the standards community as a voting member of the National Information Standards Organization (NISO) would be eliminated. This role, pointed out by the American Library Association in its statement on the proposed merger, is not referred to in the draft proposal from IMLS."

"Finally, the stated purpose of the consolidation, to provide 'more efficient and effective delivery of public services' with respect to libraries and information science, is unrealized in the draft proposal, according to the members of the Commission."

For more information, including a link to the NCLIS motion, please see the full press release at <http://www.nclis.gov/news/pressrelease/pr2006/NCLISConsolidationResponse-2006-11.pdf>.

Advance notice of Call for Special Issue of New Review of Hypermedia and Multimedia (NRHM)

August 17, 2006 announcement from Michael Khoo, NSDL and UCAR:

"Digital technologies are increasingly integral components of educational settings and Digital Libraries, serving for instance as repositories, as scaffolds to enhance face-to-face pedagogy, and as distance-learning tools. How might we understand the impact of these technologies on knowledge and learning, and what lessons might be learnt from their use, that could be applied to future technologies? Addressing these research questions requires recognition of the highly complex character of digital education technologies: they vary in size from handheld PDAs to large distributed digital library projects; they are used in a range of formal and informal educational settings ranging from schools and universities to hospitals, clinics, museums and art galleries; and they serve learners of all ages. How may researchers approach this heterogeneity and work towards useful research outcomes?"

"This special issue of NRHM addresses issues associated with the qualitative understanding of the use of digital educational technologies in real-life contexts (with a focus on digital libraries, broadly conceived), by emphasizing the importance of contextual sociotechnical studies of technology use and design. The issue will consider educational technologies as complex mixtures of people, practices and technologies, embedded in a range of institutional, technological and social contexts. The editor therefore invites contributions that address the qualitative and sociotechnical study of digital educational technologies and users 'in the wild.' "

"Guest editor: Michael Khoo, National Science Digital Library, University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, Colorado, United States
<mjkhoo@ucar.edu>

Submission deadline: 16 May 2007
Acceptance notification: 2 July 2007
Final manuscripts due: 20 August 2007"

For more information, including more details about suggested topics, please contact Michael Khoo <mjkhoo@ucar.edu>.

Web users can now search the collections of the world's libraries through the new WorldCat.org site

August 8, 2006 - "Web users can now search the catalogs of more than 10,000 libraries worldwide through WorldCat.org, a site that offers a downloadable search box to allow access to the world's largest database and resource for discovery of materials held in libraries."

"The search box can be downloaded from the WorldCat.org site to library Web sites, museum sites, genealogy sites, book club sites, blogs or any other site where Web searchers would benefit from access to the collections of the world's libraries."

"WorldCat connects libraries of all types and sizes, from giant research libraries to small public libraries around the world. It enables people to find what they're looking for in library collections irrespective of where they are located."

For more information, please see <http://www.oclc.org/news/releases/200632.htm>.

ALA surveys non-MLS positions

August 8, 2006 - "The first edition of the American Library Association - Allied Professional Association (ALA-APA) Non-MLS Salary Survey will be available in late August. This is the first survey to collect information on a large number of the positions within libraries that do not require a MLS degree from an ALA-accredited institution."

"This study is a companion report to the annual ALA-APA Survey of Librarian Salaries published by the ALA-APA and the American Library Association Office for Research and Statistics (ORS)...."

"...The ALA Non-MLS Salary Survey will be $90 for institutional and individual ALA members and $100 for non-ALA members. It may be purchased from the ALA online store, www.alastore.ala.org. The 2006 Survey of Librarian Salaries will be $63 for institutional and individual ALA members and $70."

For more information, please see the full press release at <http://www.ala.org/ala/pressreleases2006/august2006/ALAsurveysnonMLSjobs.htm>.

Five Presidential Nominees Appointed to National Museum and Library Services Board

August 4, 2006 - "The U.S. Senate confirmed five presidential nominees to serve as members of the National Museum and Library Services Board last night. The board advises the Institute of Museum and Library Services, an independent federal agency that is the primary source of federal funds for the nation's museums and libraries. 'The Institute enthusiastically welcomes these distinguished individuals to the National Museum and Library Services Board,' said the Institute's Director Anne-Imelda M. Radice. 'Our agency is committed to enhancing learning and innovation, sustaining cultural heritage, and giving libraries and museums the support they need to lead these efforts. We will benefit greatly from the wealth of knowledge and expertise the new board members will bring to the table.'"

The nominees confirmed are as follows:

Katherine M. B. Berger, Trustee, Berger Collection Educational Trust, Berryville, VA
Karen Brosius, Executive Director, Columbia Museum of Art, Columbia, SC
Ioannis N. Miaoulis, President and Director, Museum of Science, Boston,
Christina Orr-Cahall, Director, Norton Museum of Art, West Palm Beach, FL
Kevin Starr, Professor, University of Southern California, California State Librarian Emeritus; San Francisco, CA

For more information, please see the full press release at <http://www.imls.gov/news/2006/080406.shtm>.

Promoting International Digital Curation and Preservation Activity

August 2, 2006 announcement from Joy Davidson, DCC Training Coordinator and ERPANET British Editor: "To help promote the range of ongoing, international activity in the fields of digital curation and preservation, the Digital Curation Centre (DCC) would like to encourage you to disseminate information about your research, tools, resources, documents, news, and events via the DCC web site. A short, on-line submission form is available at <http://www.dcc.ac.uk/adding/>."

"Successfully promoting the curation and preservation of digital information to a range of stakeholder communities depends on a high level of community awareness regarding the breadth of current research activity and a shared commitment to collaborate on the development of tools, resources and best practices – both within the UK and internationally. The DCC is committed to undertaking its own research into digital curation and preservation issues and to the development of related tools and resources, but are also eager to promote the extremely valuable work being done by others in the fields of digital curation and preservation."

"By improving the visibility of current international activity, the DCC hopes to increase the overall awareness of digital curation and preservation issues but also to help foster collaboration between related international curation and preservation initiatives and stakeholder communities."

For more information, please contact <british.editor@ERPANET.ORG>.

The Colorado Alliance Releases Gold Rush Linker version 4.0

August 2, 2006 - "The Colorado Alliance has recently released a new version of its Electronic Resource Management System, Gold Rush."

"This latest release is a full rewrite of the OpenURL link resolver software that provides greatly improved reliability, functionality and flexibility."

For more information, please see the full press release at <http://www.coalliance.org/Homedocs/news/grv4release.html>.

NPG journals to open access to online archives

August 1, 2006 - "Nature Publishing Group (NPG) is pleased to announce that its academic and society journals will be opening access to all online content published before January 2003. The archives will be accessible from January 2007."

"This policy helps clarify content associated with a site license. From January 2007, site license access to any NPG publication will include content from the current year plus a four-year rolling archive, with the exception of those journals which already offer an open archive after 12 months."

"The decision to open the journal archives has been made jointly by NPG and by the societies for whom we publish. Making each journal's older content freely accessible will encourage wider usage. The policy also helps to address the issue of perpetual access to archives of society-owned journals that transfer between publishers."

For more information, please see the full press release at <http://www.nature.com/press_releases/NPG_opens_archives.pdf>.

Frederick G. Kilgour, founder of OCLC, dies at 92

August 1, 2006 - "Frederick G. Kilgour, a librarian and educator who created an international computer library network and database that changed the way people use libraries, died on July 31, 2006. He was 92 years old and had lived since 1990 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina."

"Kilgour is widely recognized as one of the leading figures in 20th-century librarianship for using computer networks to increase access to information in libraries around the world. He was among the earliest proponents of adapting computer technology to library processes. At the dawn of library automation in the early 1970's, he founded OCLC Online Computer Library Center and led the creation of a library network that today links 55,000 institutions in 110 countries."

For more information about Dr. Kilgour and his many accomplishments and contributions, please see the full press release at <http://www.oclc.org/news/releases/200631.htm>.

New JobLIST site combines American Libraries, C&RL News online ads

August 1, 2006 - "Employers and job seekers in library and information science and technology now have a completely searchable and all-inclusive Web resource at their command with the official launch of JobLIST."

"A joint project of American Libraries magazine, the Association of College and Research Libraries' (ACRL) C&RL News, and ALA's Office for Human Resource Development and Recruitment (HRDR), the site was designed and developed by Fig Leaf Software of Washington, D.C. The new site incorporates the current AL and ACRL job sites and many services of HRDR, including placement services at the ALA Midwinter Meeting and Annual Conference."

"JobLIST allows job seekers to do a "quick search" or to register for the site at no charge and do more advanced searching. The site sorts job listings not only by library type, but also by date, state, institution name, salary range, and other parameters. In addition, registered job seekers can post their resumes on the site and recruiters will be able to search those resumes confidentially. The site will include openings for professional and support staff in libraries of all types, in information technology, and at associations (including the American Library Association) and related institutions and companies."

For more information, please see the full press release at <http://www.ala.org/ala/pressreleases2006/august2006/NewJobLISTsite.htm>.

doi:10.1045/september2006-inbrief

D-Lib Magazine September 2006

Volume 12 Number 9 ISSN 1082-9873