worth checking out nature this week...

[ Source:www.nature.com ]

google's new browser - Chrome - really worth looking at!

[ Source:www.google.com ]

monkiri - a great new tool

[ Source:www.monkiri.com ]

linkouts

2collab ... is a new type of research tool launched in 2007- a collaboration platform designed specifically for researchers in the science, technical and medical communities. intended for use by professional researchers in academic, government and corporate institutions, 2collab provides three types of features: (1) online bookmarking and reference management; (2) groups - for sharing with existing networks, or building new ones; (3) networking - find, evaluate and initiate contact with new people
[they also carried out a very interesting social media survey back in mid-June]

NPG, in their ultimate wisdom, have recently launched a manscript deposition service and previous to that an english language editing service... the former enables authors to meet the open access or public access policies of all of the participating funders, making it simple and free for researchers to comply and the latter is pretty much what it says on the tin - with gold and silver options, which are 'comprehensive' and 'thorough' respectively...

CrossRef have launched CrossCheck with iThenticate in order to verify the originality of works submitted for publication...

Charlesworth have developed AutoProof to be integrated with Aries Preprint Manager. it allows publishers to create page proofs from their own desk top within ten minutes (!)

NISO and ALPSP have released a report on journal article versions, which describes the various versions that appear - and especially what the 'version of record' is...

and, finally, a great post from the scholarly kitchen asking 'are we watching the wrong things'?

starting back at it...

so... it's been a lo-o-ong time since i posted anything here, and it think i should probably not go all the way back to mid-march and detail every post in google reader i've 'starred' since then. instead i'm going to start back at around mid-june, as it serves me well [see the next list-post]...

the reason for starting back up? well, for one, it's a good discipline and helps focus my mind on what's important in this line of work; for two, i was listening to a stephen fry podcast this morning (if you haven't you should...) and what he was talking about - Oscar Wilde and the beauty of nature versus the mess we make of things - coincided with a butterfly flitting about the packed commuter train i was squeezed into at the time. this stirred me into thinking that any web contribution could be a good one - as there's just a chance it might strike a chord at the right time somewhere to someone...

you'd better be a genius...

check out the 'readability test' this blog just undertook...



... that classifies this blog as readable only by a genius... unless i'm missing something here, there's a reciprocal relationship in that which just doesn't work...

crossref and sermo partner up...

DOIs will back the links from discussion to content...

CrossRef, the publisher linking service, announced that it has entered into a strategic partnership with Sermo, the largest online physician community. Through this new partnership, Sermo will make use of the DOI® (Digital Object Identifier) to link real-time physician discussions about current research to the source medical journal articles.

other more 'social' health sites are...

iMedix, which won best new startup at the TechCrunch Crunchies 2007

iMedix is a free website that helps you find and share health information. At iMedix, you are not alone, coping with fear and confusion regarding your medical condition. Whether you're looking for symptoms, diseases, treatments, or simply general health information, you will be searching together with many other people. Members of the iMedix community assist each other by sharing their experiences and ranking medical content in order to make health information personal, organized and accessible to any individual.

and the still to come google health

the latest common craft video...

this time: twitter...

pick of the recent knowledgespeak linkouts...

Traditional academic publishers are ‘on the move’

SURFfoundation have released the results of an inquiry into the copyright policies of traditional academic publishers. A group of forty seven traditional publishers, who do not currently allow Open Access, were assessed and it was found that these publishers are increasingly interested in allowing the depositing of articles into a publicly accessible repository.
The study asked publishers if they supported principles formulated by SURFfoundation and JISC, regarding publishing in traditional journals. The conclusion was that a growing number of traditional publishers support some, if not all, of the current open access repository principles. Furthermore, many of these publishers were said to be looking into changing their current policies to encourage an environment of sharing academic materials.

Thomson Scientific Launches ScienceWatch.com For Top News On Scientific Discovery

ScienceWatch.com combines the newest Science Watch newsletter material and regularly updated data, analysis, interviews, and commentary that had been previously found in In-Cites and ESI Special Topics. The website provides the scientific community a convenient location for keeping up with the latest developments in science – what the leading scientists have to say, how the hottest topics are affecting research and everyday life, where the most significant research is taking place, and much more.

Note that J R Soc Interface is on the Rising Stars list for March!


Elsevier Launches Publishing Ethics Resource Kit

PERK is an online resource which contains links to Elsevier and non-Elsevier policy and procedures documents, decision trees and flow charts for dealing with different forms of publishing ethics abuse with the recommended action that can be followed, as well as COPE (Committee On Publication Ethics) charts for a second opinion. It also contains examples of appropriate letters for various situations and a large resource of useful information structured in the form of Questions and Answers.

Serials Solutions Releases Usage Reporting for 360 Search

Serials Solutions, a business unit of ProQuest, today announced the release of 360 Search Usage Reporting, a free enhancement that allows libraries to track resource usage through 360 Search federated search service. Usage Reporting enables librarians to analyze usage trends with graphically and textually represented statistics, then use this information to create the best possible search experience for library patrons.

linkouts

a good slideshow of data storage options from Go2Web20

then...

adobe air and some of the applications built for it

The Adobe® AIR™ runtime lets developers use proven web technologies to build rich Internet applications that deploy to the desktop and run across operating systems.

then...

microsoft's silverlight

Microsoft® Silverlight™ is a cross-browser, cross-platform plug-in for delivering the next generation of media experiences and rich interactive applications for the Web.

and...

jooce - a personal desktop

intute - from MIMAS and JISC

check out intute...

Intute is a free online service providing you with access to the very best Web resources for education and research. The service is created by a network of UK universities and partners. Subject specialists select and evaluate the websites in our database and write high quality descriptions of the resources.

... we're here

elsevier release illumin8

elsevier have released a powerful semantic search tool for R&Ders... illumin8

in their words, it's...

the first web-based research tool that integrates natural language search technology with content from Elsevier’s full-text scientific articles, millions of scientific abstracts, patents and billions of web sources to give users actionable solutions for research initiatives. The products is Elsevier’s latest online solution that transforms its high value content into actionable knowledge, in formats that fit into the professional’s workflow.

the encyclopedia of life

an ambitious new project soon (tomorrow) to release it's first 30k entries...

i quote...

Comprehensive, collaborative, ever-growing, and personalized, the Encyclopedia of Life is an ecosystem of websites that makes all key information about life on Earth accessible to anyone, anywhere in the world. Our goal is to create a constantly evolving encyclopedia that lives on the Internet, with contributions from scientists and amateurs alike. To transform the science of biology, and inspire a new generation of scientists, by aggregating all known data about every living species. And ultimately, to increase our collective understanding of life on Earth, and safeguard the richest possible spectrum of biodiversity.

it's been a while...

as you can see from below it's been over a month since my last post... there has been a combination of factors that have led to this hiatus, but in the meantime i have been starring and storing items in gReader to come back to an post on...

so watch this space for a fair few 'linkout' posts in the near future...

Are journals effective/efficient at getting research across?

New publication on PLoS ONE...

Stringer MJ, Sales-Pardo M, Nunes Amaral LA (2008) Effectiveness of Journal Ranking Schemes as a Tool for Locating Information. PLoS ONE 3(2): e1683 doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0001683

Serials Solutions launch new Knowledgeworks

From KnowledgeSpeak:
Serials Solutions, a business unit of ProQuest, US, has re-introduced its e-resource knowledgebase called Serials Solutions KnowledgeWorks. The expanded and improved knowledgebase covers e-journals and e-books; new legal citations abbreviations; and titles entered through a new Library Managed Holdings feature.

Here's the what...
An accurate knowledgebase is essential for reliable searching, linking, and management. By keeping the underlying data accurate and up-to-date, Serials Solutions® KnowledgeWorks reduces librarian workload and ensures your patrons can access the information they desire.

The first e-resource knowledgebase is still the best. Since 2000, Serials Solutions has been the leading provider of metadata for e-resources. Today, Serials Solutions® KnowledgeWorks is the only authoritative knowledgebase to include e-journals, eBooks, and more. KnowledgeWorks also is the core data repository for Serials Solutions® 360 and provides a solid foundation for e-resource access, management, and assessment.

Here's the why...
Maintaining an accurate knowledgebase is complex and requires the ability to update metadata on a continual basis. Content aggregators and providers constantly acquire and drop titles to make their packages as attractive and competitively priced as possible. The locations of e-resource titles change often, and multiple URLs are used to represent the same resource in multiple databases.

Here's the how...
The professional librarians at Serials Solutions are dedicated to creating the most accurate and complete knowledgebase available. In partnership with publishers and content providers, they collect and correct bibliographic metadata, then normalize the data using the Library of Congress and other authority data sources. They update your holdings information daily to ensure that your patrons can find and access the information they need.

And here's a bit more on it's integration with Serials Solutions 360...
Collect - Serials Solutions collects comprehensive holdings metadata from content providers and integrates it into the KnowledgeWorks knowledgebase. The Serials Solutions® KnowledgeWorks Certification program helps content providers ensure their data is the most accurate and up to date available.
Correct - Our dedicated team of professional librarians corrects holdings data received from content providers. They employ proprietary software tools to correct missing and erroneous data and normalize titles across vendors to authority sources.
Connect - 360 Link, 360 Search, and 360 MARC Updates use KnowledgeWorks to connect patrons with content. KnowledgeWorks also enables 360 Core to provide the A-to-Z Title list, E-Journal Portal, Overlap Analysis, and more.

new(ish) common craft video

this time: online photo sharing...

SciAm's science 2.0

Scientific American are conducting a network-journalism experiment:
Science 2.0: Great New Tool, or Great Risk?
... it'll be - already looks to be - a good discussion on a discussion that has direct relevance to how we approach our core set of readers...

a film and a documentary worth seeing (in my opinion)...

the film... 'the bridge' ... a really interesting docu-film on the suicides attempts from the Golden Gate Bridge in 2004 - and their stories.

and the documentary... 'Louis Theroux: behind bars' [catch it quick... six days left on the bbc's iplayer] ... fascinating view of pockets of life in San Quentin

linkouts

mediaFire - 100% free and unlimited file host. unlimited uploads / downloads / bandwidth, multiple simultaneous downloads and no sign up required

PDF Hammer - a website that allows you to edit your pdf files online for free

ebrary reader - provides every eBook or other pdf document submitted into the ebrary platform with sophisticated research utilities

and finally, for the tech-mad (me)...
eye-fi - a wireless memory card that automatically uploads pictures from your digital camera to your PC or Mac and to your favorite photo sharing, printing, blogging or social networking site

SciVee

SciVee - a newish service operated in partnership with the Public Library of Science (PLoS), the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC).

Combines video, community features and other online resources to provide a new sharing platform for web-savvy scientists.

"SciVee is about the free and widespread dissemination and comprehension of science."

CrossRef makes it to 30 million

CrossRef, the well known linking service, announced today that it had recently registered its 30 millionth DOI. While the majority of CrossRef’s Digital Object Identifiers® (DOIs)® are assigned to online journal articles, there are now over 2.5 million DOI names assigned to other types of publications, including conference proceedings, dissertations, books, datasets, and technical reports. CrossRef’s dues-paying membership exceeds 500, with over 2,400 publishers and societies participating in CrossRef linking.

The 30 millionth DOI, doi:10.1103/PhysRevE.76.055201 was registered by The American Physical Society for their journal Physical Review E.

CrossRef adds an average of 550,000 new items every month to its DOI registry and linking service. Of the over 6.5 million DOIs created and assigned during the past year, a large number are associated with archival, or back-file, journal articles, as several large publishers have recently undertaken extensive retro-digitization projects. These include the Royal Society, Elsevier, Springer, Sage, Kluwer, Wiley, Blackwell, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. In 2007 alone, the scholarly journal archive JSTOR added a total of 325,251 DOIs to CrossRef.