Happy Open Access Week!

From "Open Access Week Preview," Information Today, October 15, 2012

Organizations around the world are gearing up to celebrate Open Access Week, officially held Oct. 22–28, 2012. For most institutions, Open Access Week is a way to increase the visibility of open access among scientists, researchers, librarians, university faculty members, and students. At the same time, it also provides opportunities for open access practitioners to exchange knowledge and share ideas. Open access means free, unrestricted access to and reuse rights for scholarly research, either through publication in open access journals or by posting copies of the peer-reviewed version of articles into open access repositories. This year’s theme for the week is Set the Default to Open Access, intending to make open access the norm in journal publishing rather than the exception. An increasing number of libraries, publishers, research funding agencies, NGOs, and other organizations are hosting workshops, speeches, and other types of events; launching advocacy campaigns; kicking off new initiatives; and participating in ongoing shows of support.

It should go without saying that I am in support of Open Access (OA) efforts.  There is one aspect of how OA is currently being spoken of that bothers me however.  It seems like most of the conversation about OA in my experience, at least in terms of viability and sustainability is how it will be paid for, and although I don't know the actual breakdown, it seems like most full or partial OA journals are funded by author (or author-related institution) paid fees.  IMHO, this is neither effective (leading to some unsavoury publishing efforts or putting up a barrier to new authors) nor necessary.  Just like much of academia, the funds required to get things done are paid indirectly:  people volunteering time, expertise or resources, or institutional support.

Enough of my complaining though...  Happy Open Access Week!  Spread the word and support OA yourself!

Tidying up my blog's tags

It's been bothering my for a while now.

I use Google's Blogger for this blog and it has a handy "labeling" tool for entries which are then linked and displayed for easy access to various similarly labeled entries.  It's a good function for the tagging practice that most people engage in.

But I'm different.  I can't remember whether I started tagging when I first created the blog but eventually, I recognized the main problem with simple tagging.  Most people use simple keywords to describe things -- politics, news, announcements, etc. -- and this is mostly fine.  However, as your list of tags increases, ensuring that everything is tagged consistently and comprehensively becomes more and more difficult.  At some point, you may accidentally start using a slightly different spelling at one point which will then start splitting your collection in two.  Or you may start using a different word altogether.  This may be a mistake or may even be intentional (e.g. using near synonymous tags like politics and government) seeing a difference in the entry that initially gets the new tag, but will also start splitting your content.

Also, as the list grows, appreciating the various types of tags becomes more difficult.  We tend to use different categories of tags:  subject descriptors and format types being the most common, but possibly describing audience preferences, included elements, or even subjective qualities.  Again, with a short list, this is fine, but, as the list grows, your ability to mentally juggle all the concepts you had in your head when you starting using each term becomes strained.  Did you use the "news" tag to describe news items you are posting, or commentaries on "The News"?  Or was it a misspelling of "new" and this was for newly discovered tools?  If you weren't vigilant enough in choosing your terms carefully (and I'm not sure any of us could be) then you will run across this problem eventually.  My solution to this was to make tag type explicit, using extended tags such as "Subject: Ethics" or "Type: Commentary".  Even then, sometimes I would forget what I meant exactly by a certain term and realize that two tags I've used should be merged.

However, given all that, I'm succumbing to standard tagging practice.  I'm converting all my tags into simple terms and phrases, trying to make it obvious what I mean but not "extending" my tags to clarify tag category.  My reason is mostly for space.  Blogger gives only a limited number of characters in the label field so using extra characters necessarily limits the number of tags I can use.  I'd rather have higher tag resolution (more tags per entry) than clearer tags.  This space-saving measure also helps in the tag cloud displayed in the side bar, and makes the list of tags in each entry a little more readable.

Finally, the purpose of this entry was not primarily to describe my retagging project, but to explain the existence of the "(checked)" tag.  This refers to entries I've looked at and am now happy with in the context of this effort.  When I'm done, I'll delete them all.

"Paying full-price for a second-class university education"

From OCUFA Report, May 24, 2011, Volume 5, Issue 17:

A Laurentian University Faculty Association (LUFA) report warns that students are paying full-price for a second-class university education, thanks to an arrangement where about 1,200 Laurentian students are educated in Simcoe County at Georgian College’s various campuses in Barrie, Orillia, and Owen Sound.

The report says the partnership between Laurentian and Georgian is a way of offering postsecondary education “on the cheap”, emphasizing that the vast majority of Georgian-based faculty are low-paid contract academic staff who have to share offices, in one instance with up to 17 others.

Students, moreover, agreed with the faculty association’s critique that many of the college’s professors have crushing workloads, lack job security, and cannot voice dissenting opinions while working at the college site.

Students studying at Georgian also say that while they pay close to $800 more in tuition than college students, they have an inadequate library, few extra-curricular options, and face administration resistance when they try to form a student union.

Last week Georgian signed an agreement with Laurentian based on a memorandum of settlement negotiated between Laurentian and LUFA, signed December 2009, whereby Georgian now accepts that LUFA members have academic freedom. But still...no private offices.

Libraries can be, should be and are the hub of the school

From parentcentral.ca:

“A contemporary library that is running well should be the learning hub, the go-to place that kids flock to when they need to find something out,” said Kelsall of John G. Althouse Middle School in Etobicoke.

“In my library, kids come here to play chess, it’s the place they go to knit, run the Eco-Team — it’s the home base for student government.

“It’s where they can get really good reading materials, books they can’t get in the public libraries because the waiting lists are too long.”

Principals don't get it and school librarians are paying the price

From the Montreal Gazette:

While governments say librarians are necessary to teach the skills needed to navigate today's information environment, schools aren't hearing the message, a report released Monday suggests.

And that misunderstanding has led to cuts in school-library programs that could decrease student achievement and harm Canada's ability to build a knowledge-based economy, says People for Education, an Ontario-based, parent-led education agency.

"2.0" from May 16, 2011

Mentions of 2.0 in the news from Monday, May 16, 2011:

Garden Center 2.0 (from Four Seasons Greenhouse And Nursery: Garden Center 2.0): Simply adding a point-of-sale system to their business made it 2.0.

Mobile 2.0 (from See the future of mobile development at Mobile 2.0): "Mobile 2.0 Europe – openIDEAS Conference is a Two-Day Event on June 16-17th, 2011 exploring the Future of Mobile Development and Innovation of an ever-changing Mobile Ecosystem." So I guess, 2.0 means innovation and development.

Summer of Mercy 2.0 (from Late-term Abortionist Carhart Focus of 'Summer of Mercy 2.0' Event in Germantown, MD): A press release about a pro-life event that supposedly utilizes "new, cutting edge tactics". The body of the text says nothing about these "tactics" so it's unclear what is meant exactly.

Women 2.0 (from Women 2.0 Appoints Makovsky + Company): "Women 2.0 [is] a social venture focused on increasing the number of technology companies founded by women..." I suppose in this case, 2.0 refers to the focus on technology.

Bronx Zoo 2.0 (from Bronx Zoo 2.0? Jorge drama overshadows Sox series): This article tells the story of a player dropping out of a game due to some combination of mental fatigue and back issues. I have NO idea how it relates to 2.0 or even Bronx Zoo. Perhaps it's some inside reference to something I'm not privy to. Anyone have an idea?

Enterprise 2.0 (from The Angry VP And The Art Of Enterprise 2.0): I had skipped over the leader not noticing the fact that it said it was a Zen parable. But it sure was written like one: pompous angry authority figure who is outwitted and humbled by a wise student of Zen, er, uh, 2.0. There are plenty of articles about Enterprise 2.0 but this one was pretty simple: business with 2.0 stuffed inside.

Sassy 2.0 (from Sassy 2.0: Social Media Catches Up With Jane Pratt At xoJane.com): Sassy is a girls magazine. xoJane.com is the updated, online, connected version of Sassy, or Sassy 2.0.

Coginchaug 2.0 (from Principal Pushes for Coginchaug 2.0): The principal of Coginchaug Regional High School is setting in motion an effort to change school policy to allow, for school purposes only, digital devices in the classroom.

(And of course, plenty of mentions of actual second full versions of software or protocols, or direct references to Web 2.0.)

Alma Smith Jacobs, Librarian.

[Alma Smith] Jacobs was the first black librarian in Montana and spent her life fighting for racial equality.

...instrumental in the construction of the current library in 1967, but also was the first black person to hold the position of library director in the state. In 1957, Jacobs was the first black person to be elected as president of the Pacific Northwest Library Association.

Great librarian AND great community leader. Not a coincidence. Thanks, Alma.

^{[ Inspired by "Librarian Jacobs honored during Black History Month" by Ashley Korslien from KRTV.com on 7 February 2011 ]}

"2.0" from February 7, 2011

How did the media use "2.0" yesterday? I'll tell you...

Internet 2.0 - "Though the United States has not exhausted its supply of allotted IPv4 addresses, the proliferation of mobile devices is straining reserves. So tech companies are ramping up a migration to the next-generation Internet, IPv6..."

Tom Ford 2.0 - "The designer... was ushering in a new era of personal luxury, designed with the customer in mind, not the critic."

Revolution 2.0 - "The social media’s finest hour: journalists and activists in Egypt are capturing the uprising as it happens, on Twitter, Facebook and image-sharing sites like Flickr."

CRM 2.0 - "Merkle (www.merkleinc.com), the nation’s fastest growing customer relationship marketing (CRM) agency, today published a new whitepaper entitled CRM 2.0: Customer Strategy as a Business Strategy - Creating Sustainable Competitive Advantage in a New Digital World"

Crash Proof 2.0 - "...about government overspending, the decline of the USD and impending financial collapse which we are already in the midst of, but still have a long way to go through yet. ... The [book]... give[s] great information and suggestions to help get through the next few years of economic turmoil."

"2.0" from February 6, 2011

Bar Tools 2.0 - "Jigger, shaker, spoon? Check, check, check. The next wave of bar tools is a lot more fun."

iPad 2.0 - "If it were it a movie, the sequel to the iPad just might be titled 'iPad 2: 2 Fast, 2 Light.'"

Dotcom boom 2.0 - "The information technology sector is growing fast again."

Vestron's Law: What is it?

Vestron’s Law states that:

when publishers or content producers in non-print media license rights to third-parties, over time the pressure builds to revert those rights. McGraw-Hill thus joins other book publishers, journals publishers, Hollywood movie studios, television producers, and newspapers in viewing subsidiary rights licenses as short-term opportunities and long-term obstacles for developing their businesses.

[ From "Vestron’s Law: The Propensity for Rights to Revert to the Original Publisher" from the Society for Scholarly Publishing's blog the scholarly kitchen ]

Da Big House 2.0

In Florida... or Hawaii?

Corrections needs a new paradigm... designed to target recidivism and drive cost reduction via a bold, new approach: a continuum of care through public-private partnerships (PPPs). PPPs are simply government contracts with private sector prison operators or service vendors to provide a range of correctional services... Expanding the use of PPPs to create a continuum of care in corrections — one that follows offenders from intake, through prisons and into post-release services — would create a more integrated and coordinated system of programming and management to provide as ideal a programming continuum as possible to optimize outcomes while lowering costs.

Not often does "2.0" in the news refer to an actual "social network" of sorts rather than simple improvement.

Read more of "Corrections 2.0: A Proposal to Create a Continuum of Care in Corrections Through Public-Private Partnerships" in Hawaii Reporter

Microsoft's "2.0 Experience"

...for the new Surface, Microsoft teamed up with Samsung for the SUR40 with Microsoft Surface, or ”the 2.0 Experience”, as they called it. The exterior has been revamped, as it now features various pedestals so that you can mount the platform to, let’s say, a wall... The next generation of Surface features infrared ”pixel sense” detection in each and every pixel, so the entire screen is at your command. The first Surface only had specific points of touch. Some wacky things you can do are scanning the contents of a piece of paper you put on top of the screen.

Surface 2.0. Sweet.

Read more of "Microsoft Surface 2.0 Featuring Pixel Sense Detection (No Release Date Yet)" from Free-PC-Guides.com

Blood Cell 2.0

A challenge constantly faced by researchers developing new drug delivery methods is how to create particles that will stay in the blood stream for an extended amount of time... He and his colleagues found one solution that, according to DeSimone, "represents a real game changer for the future of nanomedicine." What they did was create a kind of Blood Cell 2.0--synthetic particles that are as flexible as real red blood cells and can stay in the body longer.

Read more of Scientists create a kind of Red Blood Cell 2.0 from FierceDrugDelivery

Is Wi-fi harmful?

Important conclusion quotes from an article regarding the potential harm of wi-fi:

"...it is possible to select the results of individual research studies in support of a variety of opinions [regarding exposure to RF energy]; which may range from no risk of health effects on the one hand, to a clear need to reduce current exposure limits on the other."

"...there is emerging evidence that long-term frequent use of cellphones may be associated with an increased risk of tumours on the side of the head where the cellphone is used. This is an active area of research and additional studies may confirm or refute this association."

"...Wi-Fi exposure are not only well within recommended limits, but are only a small fraction (less than 1%) of what is received during typical use of cellphones."

In other words, it isn't clear whether wi-fi is harmful, but cellphones, however harmful they may be, are almost certainly much worse.

[ Quotes from "Wireless Technology and Health Outcomes: Evidence and Review: Are there human health effects related to the use of wireless internet technology (Wi-Fi)?" from the Ontario Agency for Health Protection and Promotion ]

Web Design, No Time

I LOVE pages like this. Nothing but great web design examples. Although they do make me a little evil - since I want to "steal" everything on them. I immediately think about how I can use these ideas somewhere for me, for my work, or even somewhere else, anywhere else.

In fact, reading this made me want, nay NEED, to redesign my site. Coming soon.

[ Inspired by Inspiration: 30 Web Designs with Beautiful Typography ]

Threat to U.S. right to resell or redistribute

From MLA-FOCUS July 22, 2010 email newsletter:

MLA Urges Supreme Court to Reverse Decision in Costco vs. Omega

MLA has signed onto a brief urging the Supreme Court to reverse a decision that Costco infringed copyright by selling Omega watches without the watchmaker’s permission. The brief addresses the harmful impact of the decision on consumers, resellers, libraries, and the economy at large. The first sale doctrine permits libraries to lend books without infringing the copyright owners’ exclusive right of distribution. The Ninth Circuit held that the first sale doctrine applies only to copies physically made in the United States. If the Supreme Court affirms this decision, it could call into question libraries’ ability to lend books and other materials printed overseas. Even if a book has a US publisher, the book may actually have been printed abroad. In the absence of the first sale doctrine, libraries would have to rely on fair use to circulate foreign-made copies.

The brief, which was prepared by Public Knowledge, was also signed onto by the American Association of Law Libraries and the Special Libraries Association and can be found on MLANET.

The linked brief mentioned at the end is entitled "Brief of Amici Curiae Medical Library Association, American Association of Law Libraries, American Free Trade Association, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Public Knowledge, and Special Libraries Association" (pdf)

Testing Twitterfeed

I just signed up for and set up Twitterfeed, a tool that tweets all my blog entries.  At least I think I did.  This is just a test to see if I did everything right.  *fingers crossed*

(Update 20100429 11:39 am:  Just checked it and it worked!  Yay!)

PubMed Central Canada is open for business

From an email from NRC-CISTI:

NRC’s Canada Institute for Scientific and Technical Information (NRC-CISTI) is pleased to announce the launch of PubMed Central Canada (PMC Canada) in partnership with the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and the US National Library of Medicine (NLM). With PMC Canada, Canadians now have a freely accessible national digital repository of the latest peer-reviewed health and life sciences literature at their fingertips, including research resulting from CIHR funding.

PMC Canada also includes a manuscript submission system that will enable CIHR-funded researchers to deposit their peer-reviewed articles, exposing their research to a global audience and facilitating collaboration to advance scientific progress.

To find out more, please see please see the full press release.

Although it's not clear what exactly is in PMC Canada, most sources seem to suggest that it contains similar content to PMC (full-text health publications) with a focus on Canadian authored/supported/related content.

Check out PMC Canada and tell me what you think.

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Cochrane Library available until April 1

Thanks to the efforts of CHLA, librarians, and everyone else involved, free Canadian access to the Cochrane Library has been extended until April 1, 2010. For more information, read the related CHLA blog entry.