E-Lert # 447 / Cyberavis numéro 447
Friday November 18, 2011 / vendredi 18 novembre 2011
E-lert / Cyberavis is a weekly alerting service commissioned for CARL Directors. Coverage is principally: research, innovation, scholarly publishing, scholarly communication, scholarly journals, electronic journals, copyright and access to published government information.
E-lert / Cyberavis est un service de signalement hebdomadaire à l’intention des membres de l’ABRC. Il porte principalement sur les domaines suivants : recherche, innovation, édition savante, communication savante, périodiques savants, périodiques électroniques, droit d’auteur et accès aux informations gouvernementales rendues publiques.
TOP STORIES IN THIS ISSUE / ARTICLES PRINCIPAUX DANS CE NUMÉRO
L'ordinateur le plus puissant au Canada à l'Université de Sherbrooke
http://www.usherbrooke.ca/medias/nouvelles/nouvelles-details/article/16878/
Mexico's Largest University to Post Online Nearly All Publications and Course Materials
http://chronicle.com/article/Mexicos-Largest-University-to/129772/
At Open-Access Meeting, Advocates Emphasize the Impact of Sharing Knowledge
http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/at-open-access-meeting-advocates-emphasize-the-impact-of-sharing-knowledge/34226
Leading North American institutions endorse the Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge
http://www.berlin9.org/news/11-1109.shtml
CARL COMMUNIQUÉ / COMMUNIQUÉ DE L ’ABRC
CARL Research in Librarianship Grants Announced
The CARL Research Libraries Committee has selected two recipients for this year’s competition in the Research in Librarianship Grant fund. PDF
/
ABRC attribue ses subventions de recherche en bibliothéconomie pour 2011
Le Comité des bibliothèques de recherche de l’ABRC a choisi deux lauréats pour le concours de cette année en vue d’attribuer la subvention de recherche en bibliothéconomie. PDF
NEWS/ NOUVELLES
L'ordinateur le plus puissant au Canada à l'Université de Sherbrooke
14 novembre 2011
Selon le dernier classement international Top 500 des supercalculateurs, l'Université héberge le plus puissant outil de calcul scientifique au Canada, et le 41e plus puissant au monde. Nommé «Mammouth» et possédant la mémoire et la vitesse combinées d'environ 20 000 ordinateurs personnels de dernière génération, ce superordinateur effectue des calculs d'une ampleur jusqu'ici inégalée au pays. Grâce à Mammouth, des équipes provenant de plusieurs universités du Québec et du Canada peuvent réaliser des simulations numériques essentielles à leurs recherches dans différents secteurs du génie, des sciences, de la médecine et même dans des secteurs traditionnellement moins associés au calcul scientifique, comme l'économie et la linguistique.*
http://www.usherbrooke.ca/medias/nouvelles/nouvelles-details/article/16878/
Jian Ghomeshi makes the case for NSCAD University
Q, CBC Radio, November 14, 2011
NSCAD University, one of Halifax's most storied arts institutions, is facing a wide-ranging review of its existence, and its future is as yet uncertain. In times of economic difficulty, are the arts to be regarded as a mere frill? In the show's opening essay, Jian speaks to the importance of the arts, and of an independent and intact NSCAD U.*
http://www.cbc.ca/q/2011/11/14/jian-makes-the-case-for-nscad-university/
Mexico's Largest University to Post Online Nearly All Publications and Course Materials
Steven Ambrus
The Chronicle of Higher Education, November 13, 2011
The National Autonomous University of Mexico, better known as UNAM, has said it will make virtually all of its publications, databases, and course materials freely available on the Internet over the next few years—a move that some academics speculated could push other universities in the region to follow suit. Campus officials at UNAM, Mexico's largest university, said the program, known as All of UNAM Online, could double or triple the institution's 3.5 million publicly available Web pages, as the largest collection of its kind in Latin America.*
http://chronicle.com/article/Mexicos-Largest-University-to/129772/
Internet Architects Warn of Risks in Ultrafast Networks
Quentin Hardy
The New York Times, November 13, 2011
David Cheriton, a computer science professor at Stanford known for his skills in software design, and Andreas Bechtolsheim, one of the founders of Sun Microsystems, have committed $100 million of their money, and spent half that, to shake up the business of connecting computers in the Internet’s big computing centers. As the Arista founders say, the promise of having access to mammoth amounts of data instantly, anywhere, is matched by the threat of catastrophe.*
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/14/technology/arista-networks-founders-aim-to-alter-how-computers-connect.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha26
The 3-D Printing Free for All
Nick Bilton
The New York Times, November 13, 2011
It won’t be long before people have a 3-D printer sitting at home alongside its old inkjet counterpart. These 3-D printers, some already costing less than a computer did in 1999, can print objects by spraying layers of plastic, metal or ceramics into shapes. People can download plans for an object, hit print, and a few minutes later have it in their hands. Call it the Industrial Revolution 2.0. Not only will it change the nature of manufacturing, but it will further challenge our concept of ownership and copyright.*
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/13/disruptions-the-3-d-printing-free-for-all/
At Open-Access Meeting, Advocates Emphasize the Impact of Sharing Knowledge
Jennifer Howard
The Chronicle of Higher Education, November 11, 2011
Impact, not ideology, was the watchword at the Berlin 9 Open Access Conference, held here on Wednesday and Thursday at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. The 260 high-level researchers, fund providers, and open-access advocates who attended didn’t waste time bashing publishers who keep research behind paywalls. (Some commercial publishers, including Elsevier, attended.) Instead they focused on the benefits of putting research—in the humanities and social sciences as well as in the sciences—quickly and freely into the hands of scholars, students, innovators, and the general public.*
http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/at-open-access-meeting-advocates-emphasize-the-impact-of-sharing-knowledge/34226
Yukon premier keen on Canadian Arctic university
Nunatsiaq Online, November 10, 2011
Yukon wants to take the lead in founding a university in Canada’s Arctic. That’s what Yukon’s premier, Darrell Paslowski, who was sworn in Nov. 5, said during his recent election campaign. If elected, his Yukon Party government would help create a Yukon University, he promised.*
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674yukon_premier_keen_on_canadian_arctic_university/
Leading North American institutions endorse the Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge
November 9, 2011
Thirty-three research institutions, associations, and foundations in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico have made a commitment to Open Access to research by signing the Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities. These top private, public, and non-profit organizations join nearly 300 more from around the world in another clear sign of the growing demand for change in the way scientific and scholarly research results are communicated and maximized. The announcement is made in conjunction with the ninth Berlin conference, at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.*
http://www.berlin9.org/news/11-1109.shtml
CODATA 45th Anniversary video
This video was made to celebrate CODATAs 45 Anniversary. The celebration took place in Beijing on 30th October 2011.*
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIAoAQu_qjs
ARTICLES
Will Cloud Computing Make Everything (and Everyone) Work Harder?
Quentin Hardy
The New York Times, November 14, 2011
Virtualization of computer servers, a core element in the development of cloud computing, made it possible for a single PC that was used 20 percent of the time to be used 80 percent or more. Software monitored workloads, spotted when a machine was free, and assigned it a workload that would keep it busy without distracting it from the original function. Now, thanks to the cloud’s ability to cheaply connect a lot of people and information over a broad array of devices, a similar use of spare resources is going on elsewhere in the economy.*
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/14/will-cloud-computing-make-everything-and-everyone-work-harder/?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha26
Time for an independent science council
Yves Gingras
RE$EARCH MONEY, Volume 25, Number 17, November 11, 2011
“Anyone who talks about the "knowledge economy" will undoubtedly utter the word innovation. Governments are proud to showcase their "innovation strategies" and ministers are convinced that in our "global world" (another buzz phrase) no society can thrive without innovation. Innovation, however, does not happen magically. It is the result of previous scientific research that often goes back decades. While incremental innovation can come easily from short-term R&D projects, radical innovation is difficult to predict and most often results from the unanticipated discoveries of curiosity-driven or loosely targeted research.”
In the 21st-Century University, Let's Ban (Paper) Books
Marc Prensky
The Chronicle of Higher Education, November 13, 2011
Recent news that South Korea plans to digitize its entire elementary- and secondary-school curriculum by 2015, combined with the declining cost of e-readers and Amazon's announcement earlier this year that it is selling more e-books than print books, prompts an interesting question: Which traditional campus will be the first to go entirely bookless? Not, of course, bookless in the sense of using no book content, but bookless in the sense of allowing no physical books.*
http://chronicle.com/article/In-the-21st-Century/129744/?sid=wc&utm_source=wc&utm_medium=en
Fire Aside, Other Kindles Also Shine
David Pogue
The New York Times, November 13, 2011
Pogue writes, regarding the fiercely competitive e-book reader market, “If you think that the pace of technological progress is already too fast, you’d better not look at e-book readers. You’ll get whiplash.”*
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/14/technology/personaltech/the-fire-aside-amazons-lower-priced-kindles-also-shine.html?_r=1&src=recg
Canadian broadband: the time for complaining is over
Peter Nowak
Maclean’s, November 11, 2011
Canada has an estimated 500,000 households that can’t afford broadband, which is not necessarily a case of whether telecom companies are charging too much for the service, but rather a simple fact of poverty. The Canadian government’s record in all things broadband, meanwhile, is dismal, particularly in comparison with our G8 partners. Along with the U.S., every other country that counts has taken definitive steps to get all of its citizens connected.*
http://www2.macleans.ca/2011/11/11/canadian-broadband-the-time-for-complaining-is-over/
Institutional Repositories, Open Access, and Scholarly Communication: A Study of Conflicting Paradigms
Rowena Cullen and Brenda Chawner
The Journal of Academic Librarianship, Volume 37, Issue 6, December 2011
The Open Access movement of the past decade, and institutional repositories developed by universities and academic libraries as a part of that movement, have openly challenged the traditional scholarly communication system. This article examines the growth of repositories around the world, and summarizes a growing body of evidence of the response of academics to institutional repositories. It reports the findings of a national survey of academics which highlights the conflict between the principles and rewards of the traditional scholarly communication system, and the benefits of Open Access. The article concludes by suggesting ways in which academic libraries can alleviate the conflict between these two paradigms.*
Specters in the Archive: Faculty Digital Image Collections and the Problems of Invisibility
Joan E. Beaudoin
The Journal of Academic Librarianship, Volume 37, Issue 6, December 2011
This paper presents the findings of a research study which investigated the digital preservation practices among two faculty user groups, archeologists and art historians. This faculty's knowledge of digital preservation practices and their perceptions and emotions concerning the digital images they had created and, or collected to support their professional activities were examined. What was discovered is a worrisome situation where an important part of our cultural record is at serious risk of being lost.*
Whether public and/or academic
Peter Brantley
Publishers Weekly, November 10, 2011
One of the most confusing impacts of the surge in access to e-books is whether academic library interests should be more or less bound together with public libraries. The issue has a wide range of ramifications, from acquisitions, to collections, to the responses to the shifting commercial marketplace.*
http://blogs.publishersweekly.com/blogs/PWxyz/?p=8038
CIA Analysts Comb Social Media for Trouble Spots
National Public Radio, November 4, 2011
In an anonymous industrial park, CIA analysts who jokingly call themselves the "ninja librarians" are mining the mass of information people publish about themselves overseas, tracking everything from common public opinion to revolutions. The group's effort gives the White House a daily snapshot of the world built from tweets, newspaper articles and Facebook updates.*
http://www.npr.org/2011/11/04/142029141/cia-analysts-comb-social-media-for-trouble-spots
RESOURCES / RESSOURCES
A Surfboard for Riding the Wave: Towards a four country action programme on research data
Maurits van der Graaf et al
Knowledge Exchange, November 2011
The Riding the Wave report calls for a collaborative data infrastructure that will enable researchers and other stakeholders from education, society and business to use, re-use and exploit research data to the maximum benefit of science and society. This paper presents an overview of the present situation with regard to research data in Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom and offers broad outlines for a possible action programme for the four countries in realizing the envisaged collaborative data infrastructure. An action programme at the level of four countries will require the involvement of all stakeholders from the scientific community.*
http://www.knowledge-exchange.info/Default.aspx?ID=469
Exploring the Digital Nation: Computer and Internet Use at Home
U.S. Department of Commerce, November 10, 2011
This report investigates broadband Internet use in the United States and finds that disparities continue to exist in broadband Internet adoption among demographic and geographic groups. The report also delves into the reasons why households have not adopted broadband Internet, an important input into the design of policies to achieve a more digitally connected nation.*
http://www.esa.doc.gov/sites/default/files/reports/documents/exploringthedigitalnation-computerandinternetuseathome.pdf
Report of the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression
Frank Larue
United Nations, Human Rights Council, May 16, 2011
This report explores key trends and challenges to the right of all individuals to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds through the Internet. The Special Rapporteur underscores the unique and transformative nature of the Internet not only to enable individuals to exercise their right to freedom of opinion and expression, but also a range of other human rights, and to promote the progress of society as a whole.*
http://www.article19.org/data/files/pdfs/reports/report-of-the-special-rapporteur-on-the-promotion-and-protection-of-the-righ.pdf
EVENTS / ÉVÉNEMENTS
SSHRC president offers vision for universities in the digital age
November 1, 2011, University of Saskatchewan (Video recording)
Chad Gaffield, president of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, delivered a lecture on the continuing and growing relevance of liberal arts education at Convocation Hall November 1. Gaffield explored trends toward interdisciplinary research and teaching, and how there are rich areas of opportunity at the intersection of science and liberal arts.*
http://news.usask.ca/2011/11/07/sshrc-president-offers-vision-for-universities-in-the-digital-age/
Open Scholarship in the Digital Era
October 25, 2011 (recorded webcast, video and slides)
Keynote address by Dr. Chad Gaffield, President, SSHRC at OISE (University of Toronto)
http://connect.oise.utoronto.ca/p9ambmdruyu/?launcher=false&fcsContent=true&pbMode=normal
*Excerpted or adapted from the original source. / *Extrait tirée ou adaptée de la source originale.
Diego Argáez
Program Officer / Chargé de programme
Canadian Association of Research Libraries / Association des bibliothèques de recherche du Canada
600-350 Albert Street
Ottawa, Ontario K1R 1B1
Phone / Téléphone : 613-482-9344 X 105
E-mail / Courriel : diego.argaez@carl-abrc.ca
www.carl-abrc.ca