BL1001

Resources for the BL1001 class

New CLA license announced

A new HE CLA license comes into force from the 1st August. It covers both scanning and photocopying. It has particular benefits in terms of what now is permissible for electronic copying and digitising.

As with the previous Trial Digitisation License it is possible for the Library to scan articles and chapters of books for you and put them on WebCT. There are obviously limits and rules about what you can do and Katrina Acland of Short Loans can explain these to you if you contact her (on x2284 or ka4). However, unlike the trial license it is possible to scan works from a significant number of US publishers.

The new license also includes provision for copying from e-books and e-journals.

Please contact either Katrina or me if you would like more information about digitising material. Nicki Brain, the University’s Copyright Adviser can give more advice on general copyright queries.

The CLA press release.

Electronic Publication and the Narrowing of Science and Scholarship

Science has an interesting article about the effects of the availability of e-journals on scientific publishing. James Evans of the University of Chicago has carried out some research which indicates that contrary to expectations the explosion of journals available electronically has resulted in a smaller number of titles being cited.

News Summary
Article

Electronic Publication and the Narrowing of Science and Scholarship
James A. Evans (18 July 2008)
Science 321 (5887), 395. [DOI: 10.1126/science.1150473]

2collab

From time to time I am asked about using bibliographic software management systems to share references collaboratively between research teams. I usually point people towards RefWorks’ RefShare, as it is better at this sort of thing in my opinion than EndNote. However, it still isn’t totally without its problems.

There is a new product available from Elsevier which may provide an easier way to deal with this. It is called 2collab and it is a free web-based service.

It allows you to bookmark and save references as you search. At the moment it will only pick up information from Elsevier products, Science Direct and Scopus being the main ones, however you can key in the references manually. There is a bookmarking widget which you can use on your browser to make importing easier. You can also import references into or out of 2collab from RefWorks or Endnote.

2collab allows you to add tags to any references, anything that you want –module numbers, for example. Users can also add reviews or comments to a reference.

There are 3 ways to share the information. You can set up a closed group, the way that is it most frequently used, where only named users can see and use the information. This is ideal for research groups but it could also be used for sharing information with students on a module. You can have a closed group where references can be seen but you have to apply to the list owner to add information. Finally there is an open group, where anyone can participate.

For more information there is a video.

www.2collab.com

The problem with publishing....

A bit of Friday afternoon fun.



(With thanks to Jon for recommending it.)

Free online resource

Lectures on Superconductivity

A series of films, available free of charge online, covering a broad range of topics in superconductivity, and featuring interviews and contributions from leading world experts. The Lectures on Superconductivity, developed and hosted in the University of Cambridge, are intended primarily for undergraduate and postgraduate students of physics, chemistry and materials science. The films can be viewed on various video players.

(via Intute)

UKRR to get £10m funding

As many people will know, St Andrews has been part of the United Kingdom Research Reserve pilot project - a scheme to ensure that the UK takes a collaborative, co-ordinated and sustainable approach to securing the long-term retention, storage and access to low-use printed research journals.

The pilot phase has been very successful and today HEFCE has announced funding for a full-blown scheme.

More information can be found on at Information World Review.

Importing references into Refworks

IMG_9702,
originally uploaded by University of St Andrews Library.

A comprehensive list of instructions on importing from RefWorks can be found on their website:

If you are having problems importing from any of our databases please don't hesitate to get in touch and I can try and find out what the problem is.

EndNote Webinar

Office Cubical,
originally uploaded by fensterbme.

There will be a free EndNote Webinar taking place at 2.30pm on the 10th July 2008.

This will last approximately half an hour and will give you an introduction to the product.

To participate, you'll need a broadband internet connection to view the presentation and a separate telephone line to listen to the audio commentary.

More details are available from the AdeptScientific Website.

New Database - RSC eBook Collection

The Library has just taken out a subscription to the RSC eBook Collection of over 700 Chemistry e-books published between 1968-2008.

On campus access is via: http://www.rsc.org/Publishing/eBooks/

Off campus access is only available through the University's VPN.

"The RSC eBook Collection is a definitive point of reference for anyone working in the chemical sciences. Over 700 books spanning 40 years have been brought together, digitalised as pdf files and made fully searchable. The result is a comprehensive overview of research and opinion in a multitude of areas of chemical science.

Continually updated and expanded throughout the year the RSC eBook Collection provides access to new content as it is published and continuous access to our full catalogue of books. The eBook Collection is fully searchable and indexed to chapter level, with all documents provided as pdfs. Excellent search engines, powered by Google, enable you to quickly retrieve the data you want. "

Weird science

Royal Institution theatre,
originally uploaded by Matt From London.

"Explosions. Bunsen burners. Adoring crowds in evening dress - or school uniform - eyes wide with wonderment. Can we recapture the excitement of science, asks historian Lisa Jardine."

The BBC Magazine is carrying a story today about the Royal Instuitution lectures.

New Endnote Styles

The May release of the New Endnote filters includes an update for FEBS. A full list is available from the Adept Site. If you are not sure about installing them, please feel free to contact me.