University of Johannesburg officialy closed for 2007

The Academic 2007 year is officially over. The University of Johannesburg closes on the 14th of December and re-opens on 2nd of January 2008.
Wishing you all peaceful and full of love holiday.

The Latest from Science Online Magazine

14 December 2007Vol 318, Issue 5857, Pages 1691-1793

* News of the Week

- SPACE SCIENCE: China's Crystal-Sharp Moon Map Sets the Internet Abuzz

- CLIMATE CHANGE: Senate Bill Would Provide Billions for Deploying Cleaner Technologies

- RESEARCH POLICY: NIH Weighs Big Changes in Peer Review

- PHYSICS: Simple Scheme Stores Light by Converting It Into Vibration and Back

- ECOLOGY: Parasites From Fish Farms Driving Wild Salmon to Extinction

* News focus

- REEFS IN TROUBLE: Spawning for a Better Life

* Perspectives

- ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCE: Resolving an Atmospheric Enigma

- MICROBIOLOGY: A Fifth Pathway of Carbon Fixation

- ECOLOGY: Invasion of the Whiteflies

- GEOLOGY: On the Accumulation of Mud

The latest from Science Online Magazine (30/11-7/12/2007)

The latest two issues of Science Online highlights:

7 December 2007Vol 318, Issue 5856, Pages 1519-1648

(http://0-www.sciencemag.org.ujlink.uj.ac.za/current.dtl)

* Special issue: Hinode

* News of the Week: MATHEMATICS EDUCATION: U.S. Expert Panel Sees Algebra As Key to Improvements in Math; ACADEMIC FREEDOM: Thai Science Agency Clamps Down on Sensitive Research; BIOTERRORISM: Panel Provides Peer Review of Intelligence Research

* News Focus: MALARIA: Did They Really Say ... Eradication?

* Letters: Virtual Worlds, Real Healing; The Age-Old Question of Researcher Innovation

* Policy Forum: ECOLOGY: China's Forestry Reforms

* Perspectives: PHYSICS: A Whiff of Chemistry in Heavy Electron Physics; ASTRONOMY: A Texture in the Sky? PLANT SCIENCE: The Power of the Pyramid; ECOLOGY: How Do Roots Interact?

30 November 2007Vol 318, Issue 5855, Pages 1345-1482

( http://0-www.sciencemag.org.ujlink.uj.ac.za/content/vol318/issue5855/index.dtl)

* Special issue: The Nucleus

* News of the Week: PALEOANTHROPOLOGY: Hominid Harems: Big Males Competed for Small Australopithecine Females; SCIENCE ADVICE: Germany Finally Picks a National Science Academy

* News focus: CARBON SEQUESTRATION: Should Oceanographers Pump Iron? HIGHER EDUCATION: MIT Engineer Shakes Korean Academia to Its Core

* Policy Forum: CLIMATE CHANGE: Climate Assessment: What's Next?

* Perspectives: GEOCHEMISTRY: The Leaking Mantle; GENETICS: Paradigm for Life; CHEMISTRY: Metal-Based Therapeutics; PHYSICS: Precision Without Entanglement

* Brevia: Plants Tolerant of High Boron Levels

What's New @ JSTOR: December 2007

Some of the latest news from JSTOR Publishers in December:

Collections - Currently UJ have access to all Collections as part of 3 year offer for all Africa continent. http://www.jstor.org/about/collection.list.html

Did you Know?

* New JSTOR platform has been developed. It will be available in 2008. http://sandbox.jstor.org/jstorPreview.html

* Free Preview of Aluka extended to June 30, 2008. Since February 2007 institutions that have access to JSTOR have had the opportunity to access Aluka at no charge. Aluka is a digital library of primary source materials:
- Government documents, personal accounts, and correspondence documenting liberation movements in six southern African countries -- see a list of collections;
- Photographs, 3D models, and travelogues documenting cultural heritage sites in Africa, as well as a broadly based collection of African rock art;
- High-quality digitized plant specimens, botanical drawings, paintings, photographs, and expedition accounts.

Click on the TITLE for more information.

Wiley-Blackwell Newsletter: December 2007

Welcome to the first issue of the new Wiley-Blackwell newsletter. It is mostly for Librarians, but it could also keep you updated on new products, website developments, special offers, publishing news, and tips for making better use of licensed resources. Why is this important for you: Don't forget that as from 2008 the UJ Library will have access to BlackwellSynergy.

This issues offers:

* Latest News in Key Subject Areas

* New Titles Online From Wiley-Blackwell

* Wiley-Blackwell Newly Launched Journals for 2008 (available on BlackwellSynergy)

* Journal Backfiles

* Books Online

* Reference Works

* Platforms Updates - Blackwell Synergy changed its individual login functionality from username/password to e-mail address/password last month.

* Understanding Impact Factors

This Newsletter is user-friendly and easy to read and find information. This newsletter can provide an opportunity for us to select new online books, reference works, etc. Click on the TITLE for access.

You Tube: Videos

I have just created an account with You Tube. It is amazing how many videos are available there. You can select either per "Categories" or you can search on "Specific topic". I found videos on "Climate Change", "Greenhouse Effect", "Energy", "Hacking", etc. All your subject interest can be satisfied. If you want you can create an account and select your favourite videos. I have added to this blog two videos on Climate Change, Part 1 & 2 as an example. I also subscribed to be notified of the latest videos in different subject areas. To view "my You Tube" visit: http://www.youtube.com/pavlinka45.

Global Climate Change (Part 2)

Global Climate Change (Part 1)

Excellent segment from the ABC 20/20 Special, "Last Days on Earth", about global climate change. Superb graphics.

Making Deforestation Unprofitable is Key to Bali Success

Deforestation puts more carbon dioxide in the air than all the world's automobiles, yet it wasn't even considered in the Kyoto Treaty. With carbon capture technologies like ocean fertilization and ground sequestration still experimental, and farmers in developing nations cutting forests to make room for biofuel and food crops, the future looks bleak -- unless, that is, a forest protection system is established in Bali... The costs can be covered. The forests can be monitored. Developing countries want this. The trick is getting developed countries on board, then making sure that everyone plays by the rules. But so long as keeping trees produces lots more money than cutting them down, people will love their forests...(Wired Science blog, 4/12/2007). Relevant links to articles are available.

Blogging, Webcasts from the Bali Climate Change Conference

Wired Science blog is giving you some information on the UN Climate Change Conference in Bali, 3-14 Dec 2007. Additional links to other blogs who cover & summarises the Conference are available.

Daily Video News from the UN Climate Change Conference are available on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/climateconference
Bali Blog: http://www.davidsuzuki.org/Bali_Blog/
Oxfam International: http://oxfaminternational.wordpress.com/

Friending, Ancient or Otherwise

"THE growing popularity of social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace and Second Life has thrust many of us into a new world where we make “friends” with people we barely know, scrawl messages on each other’s walls and project our identities using totem-like visual symbols...." In this article from "The New Yourk Times" (2/12/2007), academic researchers are "exploring the parallels between online social networks and tribal societies"

Plagiarism, Education, and Information Security

Plagiarism is becoming widespread especially in academic environment. The acccess to Internet documents makes it easy to accomplish. Julie Ryan, from George Washington University in article available in IEEE Security & Privicy, proposes a model of curbing the Plagiarism. Click on the TITLE to read the article.

New from UN: Climate Change 2007, The Synthesis Report

Follow up the 21/11/2007 post on this topic.

The Synthesis Report was launched in Valencia, Spain, on 17 November 2007 during a press conference. Click on the TITLE to view the latest information.

Summary for Policymakers of the Synthesis Report (23 pages draft, 16 November 2007): http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment-report/ar4/syr/ar4_syr_spm.pdf

Links to the different IPCC Reports:

* The IPCC Working Group I assesses the physical scientific aspects of the climate system and climate change. Its latest report "Climate Change 2007 - The Physical Science Basis" was launched on 2 February 2007 in Paris.

* The IPCC Working Group II assesses the vulnerability of socio-economic and natural systems to climate change, negative and positive consequences of climate change, and options for adapting to it. Its latest report "Climate Change 2007 - Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability" was launched on 6 April 2007 in Paris.

* The IPCC Working Group III assesses options for mitigating climate change through limiting or preventing greenhouse gas emissions and enhancing activities that remove them from the atmosphere. Its latest report, "Climate Change 2007 - Mitigation of Climate Change" was launched on 4 May 2007 in Bangkok.

The UJ Library purchase this year the "Climate Change 2001" reports.

A Student Guide to Footnoting for Informational Clarity and Scholarly Discourse

Abstract:

This short article is a guide for authors, student editors, and research assistants to the major types of footnotes and how to prepare them. First, I introduce the three basic types of text requiring footnote citations – those containing (a) references, (b) facts, and (c) ideas. Footnotes for references are designed to allow your readers to retrace your research and to decide for themselves whether your line of analysis is correct. Footnotes for facts are designed to provide your reader with additional background information about anything you have mentioned that may not be familiar to your readers, including potentially obscure people, places, objects, events. Footnotes for ideas are designed to place your arguments, ideas, and analyses in the broader intellectual context of those scholars who have already considered your subject, and often offers glimpses down the side avenues of discourse that cannot be pursued in the article itself. The article concludes with some guidelines for undertaking research in ways that make it easier to prepare scholarly footnotes efficiently and correctly.
International Journal of Legal Information, Vol. 34, No. 1, p. 87, 2006 (available through A-to-Z list full-text OR click on the TITLE, scroll on your left side to find the article)

Reliability of Journal Impact Factor Rankings

BMC Medical Research Methodology 2007, 7:48 (for provisional full-text - click on the titile)

Journal impact factors and their ranks are used widely by journals, researchers, and research assessment exercises.Decisions placed on journal impact factors are potentially misleading where the uncertainty associated with the measure is ignored. This article proposes that caution should be exercised in the interpretation of journal impact factors and their ranks, and specifically that a measure of uncertainty should be routinely presented alongside the point estimate.

Published: 15 November 2007

This Week in Science Online Magazine

23 November 2007,Vol 318, Issue 5854, Pages 1213-1318

News of the Week:

* DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY: Field Leaps Forward With New Stem Cell Advances

* ASTRONOMY: If You Build It, Will They Come?

News Focus:

* GLOBAL WARMING: How Urgent Is Climate Change?

* AUTOIMMUNE DISEASES: The B Cell Slayer

* BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH: From Rolfer to Researcher

* SOCIETY OF VERTEBRATE PALEONTOLOGY MEETING: Jaw Shows Platypus Goes Way Back

Policy Forum:

* Ecology: Managing Evolving Fish Stocks

Perspectives:

* CELL BIOLOGY: IP7 Debut in Insulin Release

* CHEMISTRY: Chemicals from Biomass

* PHYSICS: Better Computing with Photons

* BIOCHEMISTRY: Signaling Across the Cell Membrane

* APPLIED PHYSICS: Filling the Terahertz Gap

Research Articles:

* High-Resolution Crystal Structure of an Engineered Human β2-Adrenergic G Protein–Coupled Receptor:

* GPCR Engineering Yields High-Resolution Structural Insights into β2-Adrenergic Receptor Function

Reports:

* Shape and Temperature Memory of Nanocomposites with Broadened Glass Transition

* Efficient Transplantation via Antibody-Based Clearance of Hematopoietic Stem Cell Niches

Click on the TITTE for full-text

Science challenges simply irresistable for acclaimed UJ researcher

Professor Jens Gutzmer, lecturer and researcher in the Department of Geology at the University of Johannesburg (UJ has been honoured with the Third World Academy of Science (TWAS) Prize for Young Scientists in South Africa, a prestigious award issued by the Academy of Sciences for the Developing World. This national award is made annually to young scientists (under 40 years of age) who have made outstanding contributions in scientific research within specific developing countries.

Congratulations!

Climate Change Irreversible? United Nations Chief Urges Breakthrough After Dire IPCC Report Released

ScienceDaily (Nov. 18, 2007) — Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has challenged the world's policymakers to start devising a comprehensive deal for tackling climate change at next month's summit in Bali, Indonesia, after a United Nations report released Nov. 17 found that global warming is unequivocal and could cause irreversible damage to the planet.

Click on the title for full-text article

Oceans Could Slurp Up Carbon Dioxide To Fight Global Warming

ScienceDaily (Nov. 20, 2007) — Researchers in Massachusetts and Pennsylvania are proposing a new method for reducing global warming that involves building a series of water treatment plants that enhance the ability of the ocean to absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. About 100 such plants -- which essentially use the ocean as "a giant carbon dioxide collector" -- could cause a 15 percent reduction in emissions over many years, they say. About 700 plants could offset all CO2 emissions.

Click on the title for full-text article

MIT lecture Search Engine Aids Students

ScienceDaily (Nov. 16, 2007) — Imagine you are taking an introductory biology course. You're studying for an exam and realize it would be helpful to revisit the professor's explanation of RNA interference. Fortunately for you, a digital recording of the lecture is online, but the 10-minute explanation you want is buried in a 90-minute lecture you don't have time to watch.

Click on the title for full-text article

This Week in Science Online Magazine

16 November 2007,Vol 318, Issue 5853, Pages 1033-1164

* Special issue: Robotics

* This Week in Science: Editor summary of this week papers: http://0-www.sciencemag.org.ujlink.uj.ac.za/content/vol318/issue5853/twis.dtl

* News of the Week

- AIDS RESEARCH: Did Merck's Failed HIV Vaccine Cause Harm?

- EPIDEMIOLOGY: Privacy Policies Take a Toll on Research, Survey Finds

- ENVIRONMENT: Panel Calls for Pilot Program for National Indicators

- SCIENTIFIC WORK FORCE: New Analysis Questions Push for More Degrees

- CLIMATE CHANGE: Scientists Say Continued Warming Warrants Closer Look at Drastic Fixes

* News Focus

- SCIENTIFIC FACILITIES: Oceanography's Third Wave

- PUBLIC HEALTH: In the HIV Era, an Old TB Vaccine Causes New Problems

* Letters

- The Carbon Benefits of Fuels and Forests

* Policy Forum

- PUBLIC HEALTH: Biobanks in Developing Countries: Needs and Feasibility

* Perspectives

- PHYSICS: When Oxides Meet Face to Face

- GENETICS: Widespread Monoallelic Expression

- PLANETARY SCIENCE: Hidden Mars

* Brevia

- Hurricane Katrina's Carbon Footprint on U.S. Gulf Coast Forests

* Research Articles

- Orbital Reconstruction and Covalent Bonding at an Oxide Interface

* Reports

- Generation and Photonic Guidance of Multi-Octave Optical-Frequency Combs

- Three-Dimensional Splay Fault Geometry and Implications for Tsunami Generation

- Rise and Fall of Species Occupancy in Cenozoic Fossil Mollusks

- Melatonin Suppresses Nighttime Memory Formation in Zebrafish

Click on the TITLE to access the full-text articles

New European Loess Map

Leipzig. A new map showing the distribution of loess sediments in Europe has been published for the first time in 75 years, in digital format. With this map, Dagmar Haase, a geographer at the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ), has completed the work of various researchers who had begun as far back as the 1970s and 80s to revise the last comprehensive inventory produced by Rudolf Grahmann, which appeared in Mitteilungen der Gesellschaft für Erdkunde in Leipzig in 1932. Haase and her colleagues have produced the new map with a scale of 1:2,500,000 with the help of modern digital information systems.

In total, loess soils cover around one fifth of Europe: especially in the Eastern European lowlands, in a belt north of the low mountain range, in the foothills of the Alps and the Danube basin and in various other river basins. The publication of the map in Quaternary Science Reviews marks the completion of a project on which geographers and soil scientists have been working for decades.

Public release date: 15-Nov-2007

ISI Journal Citation Reports: South African Journals Impact Factors

According to the 2006 ISI Journal Citation Reports, only 17 South African Journals are accredited internationally. Look at the Sciences Journals Impact Factors:

* African Journal of Marine Science (1.086)

* South African Journal of Geology (1.000)

* South African Journal of Botany (0.648)

* African entomology (0.613)

* South African Journal of Science (0.602)

* Water SA (0.494)

* South African Journal of Wildlife Research (0.488)

* South African Journal of Chemistry (0.459)

* African Zoology (0.408)

* Bothalia (0.407)

* Ostrich (0.256)

* South African Journal of Animal Science (0.215)
* J S AFR I MIN METAL (0.124)

Click on the Table to enlarge image. You will also find out what are the: Total Cites, Immediacy Index, Articles and Cited half-life indicators.

P.S. ISI Journal Citation Report is available through the Library Databases list. Direct link is also available on this website.

Climate scepticism: The top 10

What are some of the reasons why "climate sceptics" dispute the evidence that human activities such as industrial emissions of greenhouse gases and deforestation are bringing potentially dangerous changes to the Earth's climate? As the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) finalises its landmark report for 2007, we look at 10 of the arguments most often made against the IPCC consensus, and some of the counter-arguments made by scientists who agree with the IPCC.

The World University Rankings 2007

Martin Ince reveals the winners and losers in The Times Higher-QS World University Rankings 2007. The world's top ten universities are in the UK or the US, according to the annual Times Higher-QS World University Rankings published with this issue.
Harvard has emerged as the world's top university for the fourth time in succession, with Cambridge, Oxford and Yale universities all tied for second place. The UK has four institutions in the top ten this year, compared with three last year. Imperial College London makes fifth place, up from ninth last year. University College London rose 16 places, making it to ninth place. Princeton, California Institute of Technology, Chicago and Massachusetts Institute of Technology make up the rest of the top ten....

The rankings confirm the modest world status of universities in continental Europe, with the top university being France's Ecole Normale Superieure in 26th place. This places continental Europe behind institutions in Canada, Australia, Japan and Hong Kong, the US and UK.
The top 200 includes four from the developing world: two in Brazil, one from Mexico and, for the first time, an African university, Cape Town, in 200th place.
A total of 28 nations have at least one institution in the 200. Virtually every university in Australia is in the rankings, with 12 representatives, while the Netherlands, with 11, emerges as continental Europe's principal power in higher education.

Single-largest Biodiversity Survey Says Primary Rainforest Is Irreplaceable

ScienceDaily (Nov. 14, 2007) — As world leaders prepare to discuss conservation-friendly carbon credits in Bali and a regional initiative threatens a new wave of deforestation in the South American tropics, new research from the University of East Anglia and Brazil's Goeldi Museum highlights once again the irreplaceable importance of primary rain forest.
Click on the TITLE to view the full article

First-ever 'State Of The Carbon Cycle Report' Finds Troubling Imbalance

ScienceDaily (Nov. 14, 2007) — The first "State of the Carbon Cycle Report" for North America, released online this week by the U.S. Climate Change Science Program, finds the continent's carbon budget increasingly overwhelmed by human-caused emissions. North American sources release nearly 2 billion tons of carbon into the atmosphere each year, mostly as carbon dioxide. Carbon "sinks" such as growing forests may remove up to half this amount, but these current sinks may turn into new sources as climate changes.Click on the TITLE to view the full article.

The full report, Draft 4, May 2007 is available under "Environmental Science" topic on the left side of this web page.

Environment Research Letters: ERL

Environment Research Letters is an open-access journal for Environmental Science. At the end of October 2007, ERL celebrated it's 1st birthday. Some of the articles published through 2007 were:

Vol.2, no.4, October-December 2007

* Strategic GHG reduction through the use of ground source heat pump technology: Higher energy prices and concern about climate change is drawing increasing attention to ground source heat pump (GSHP) systems

The focus of this issue is on Environmental Health and Justice Internationally.

* Environmental justice: a critical issue for all environmental scientists everywhere; Environmental justice in Scotland: policy, pedagogy and praxis; Exploring the joint effect of atmospheric pollution and socioeconomic status on selected health outcomes: an overview of the PAISARC project; Environmental justice and the distributional deficit in policy appraisal in the UK; The dilemma of contact: voluntary isolation and the impacts of gas exploitation on health and rights in the Kugapakori Nahua Reserve, Peruvian Amazon

Vol.2, no.3, July-September 2007

* Critical technical areas for future improvement in bio diesel technologies; The risk of surprise in energy technology costs; Limitations of science and adapting to Nature; Relaxed eddy accumulation measurements of ammonia, nitric acid, sulfur dioxide and particulate sulfate dry deposition near Tampa, FL, USA; Global multi-decadal ocean climate and small-pelagic fish population; Will dry events occur more often in Hungary in the future?The water intensity of the transitional hydrogen economy.

Vol.2, no.2, April-June 2007

* Life-cycle energy and greenhouse gas emission impacts of different corn ethanol plant types; Scientific reticence and sea level rise; Reconsidering 'appropriate technology': the effects of operating conditions on the bacterial removal performance of two household drinking-water filter systems; The regrets of procrastination in climate policy.

Vol.2, no.1, January-March 2007

* On the verge of dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system? Climate change, bio fuels, and global food security; Allowable CO2 concentrations under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change as a function of the climate sensitivity probability distribution function; Global scale climate–crop yield relationships and the impacts of recent warming; How hybrid-electric vehicles are different from conventional vehicles: the effect of weight and power on fuel consumption

Click on the TITLE above to visit ERL journal. Short cut to this journal is available under "Open Access Journals" on this web page.

Show Your Librarian Some Love

Show Your Librarian Some Love / by Todd Gilman

Many academic librarians feel unloved and underappreciated on their campuses, and the main reason is that they sense they are viewed as second-class citizens by members of the teaching faculty.Certainly that sentiment will not come as news to librarians. I wonder, though, to what extent teaching faculty members know how their library colleagues feel.....

.....Many professors summarily dismiss librarians' earnest and repeated offers of research instruction or, at the very least, don't take full advantage of those offers. When prodded they may claim they have "too much to cover" in their courses to make time for a library visit.....

.....Your students need the library and the librarians in it. If your students didn't get enough exposure to research education before your course (and trust me, they didn't) you owe it to them to bring them in. Most undergraduates come to college having mastered only the most basic tools for research. They can use a dictionary. They can conduct a search in Google that yields results (5 million, in fact!). They may even be able to run an online search by author or title and then find the book on the shelf.....
....Better yet, why not work with that librarian to develop one or more assignments for a grade that will enable your students to apply what they have learned while the library is still fresh in their minds? That way they are sure to take the library seriously, reap the maximum benefit from their interaction with the librarian, and get practice using the library for something more than study space...

Click on the title to view the full article.

This Week in Science Online

Volume 318, Number 5852, Issue of 9 November 2007
http://0-www.sciencemag.org.ujlink.uj.ac.za/current.dtl
What is interesting to read:
News of the Week:
* ASTROPHYSICS: Universe's Highest-Energy Particles Traced Back to Other Galaxies
* TUBERCULOSIS: Few Mutations Divide Some Drug-Resistant TB Strains
* SCIENCE IN CHINA: Max Planck's Asian Venture Rethinks Its Agenda
* EVOLUTIONARY GENOMICS: Fruit Fly Blitz Shows the Power of Comparative Genomics
New Focus:
* MICHAEL WALKER: Seeking Nature's Inner Compass
* MICHAEL WALKER: A Home for Maori Science
* PLANETARY SCIENCE: Majority Rules in Finding a Path for the Next Mars Rover
* GENETICS: Who's the Queen? Ask the Genes (Biologists are finding that in some social insects nature...)
Policy Forum:
* ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE: Rethinking Desalinated Water Quality and Agriculture
Perspectivevs:
* CHEMISTRY: Enhancing Colloids Through the Surface
* COMPUTER SCIENCE: Is There Progress on Talking Sensibly to Machines?
Brevia:
* A Cretaceous Hoofed Mammal from India
Research Articles:
* Correlation of the Highest-Energy Cosmic Rays with Nearby Extragalactic Objects
* IRE1 Signaling Affects Cell Fate During the Unfolded Protein Response
.... and much more for you to read.

Climate: SA 'not bothered'

Some of the research findings on how South Africans feel about the Climate Change & Global Warming were published in News24 on 9/11/07.

Cape Town - Only a third of adults living in South Africa's metro areas feel that climate change or global warming will affect them. This is one of the findings of a study conducted in September by South Africa's leading marketing and social insights company, TNS Research Surveys. The company interviewed 2 000 adults in all seven of South Africa's major metropolitan areas in a study that looked at how people feel about climate change, their use of key resources and what their carbon footprint is.
Most people put issues such as crime, HIV/Aids, corruption, poverty and unemployment, and poor service and housing delivery higher in importance than climate change.

Read the full article from News24: http://www.news24.com/News24/Technology/News/0,,2-13-1443_2217656,00.html OR click on the TITLE above.

UJLink: Library Catalogue in action

It is a fact! The UJ Library has a new Library Catalogue!

How to get started?

From the main page you can select any of the searching options.
· Basic Search – by default you search for KEYWORDS. You can select from OTHER OPTIONS to search for a Title, Author, Subjects, Journal Title, Afrikaans Subjects, Shelf Number, Dewey Number, ISBN/ISSN and Author/Title
· Advanced Search – You can EXTEND your search to multiple fields, but also you can LIMIT your search to specific Campus Collections (APK, APB, etc), Location (References, Main Collection, Law Collection, etc.), Material type, Language, Years of Publication, and Publisher. You can SORT the results by: relevance, date or title. On the right site of the screen SEARCH TIPS are available
· Multiple Databases – NEW feature to the Library Catalogue. You can search across multiple resources to find full-text articles, abstracts, images, books, and more. You can search simultaneously the UJ Library Catalogue, Other Universities Catalogues, some Internet websites, selected databases, etc. You need to exercise to get the feeling of what you will get as results.
· Databases A-to-Z - Link to the existing databases list.
· Course Reserve – Find out what materials are placed on Reserve. You can either search per COURSE or LECTURER. You have BASIC SEARCH option link.
· My UJLink – NEW! Your’ personal UJLink. You need to login with your Surname and Staff/student number. You can renew your books, place a hold on a book, save preferred searches, look at your reading history and my ratings. You can search through a Basic search screen; limit your search per location or available items only.

This Week in Science Online

Volume 318, Number 5851, Issue of 2 November 2007

View the latest Content of Science Online:

* News of the Week: Climate change; Natural Disasters, Medicine; AIDS Research; History of Science

* New Focus: SCIENCE AND COMMERCE: Who Owns Glycobiology?; NUCLEAR PHYSICS: A Lab to Get the Measure of Matter; IMMUNOLOGY: Testing the Line Between Too Much and Too Little; ECOLOGY: Do Wandering Albatrosses Care About Math?

* Policy Forum: Disaster Management: confronting Disaster loses

* Perspectives: DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY: Acceptable nAGging; CHEMISTRY: No Protection Required; PHYSICS: A New State of Quantum Matter; ASTRONOMY: Mining for the Ephemeral

* Research Articles

- Quantum Spin Hall Insulator State in HgTe Quantum Wells

- Molecular Basis for the Nerve Dependence of Limb Regeneration in an Adult Vertebrate

* Reports

* Technical comments

UJLINK: Launch of New Library Catalogue interface

The University of Johannesburg Library and Information Centre (UJLIC) is proud to announce the launch of UJLink, the new library catalogue interface, on 1st of November 2007.

UJLink has a contemporary look and feel and in addition offers enhanced services such as:
- The ability to do a meta-search which can include the library catalogue as well as a selection of electronic databases and catalogues from other institutions.
- My UJLink – a facility where library clients can rate the items in the library collection, save their most useful searches for re-use, keep a reading history, view their loan record, renew items on loan and place holds on items that they want to borrow, which is not currently available.

Please make use of this improved library catalogue by visiting the library web page (http://ujlink.uj.ac.za) and clicking on the UJLink option.

Welcome to UJ Science Librarian Blog

I think it is time for marketing of this blog, to ensure it serve its purposes. I have created it on 25th of October 2007, with the good intention to provide timely and useful information to the UJ Faculty of Science community. What I would like to do is give you a MAP of this blog and what information you can expect to find.

On the right side you will see the so-called "posts". These posts will give you current information on publishers and databases developments, marketing of Library services, science information, highlights of interesting events and many more. Links for comments and suggestions are available. Currently the following information is available:

* This Week in Science - the latest research news from Science Online
* Landolt-Brnstein collection on SpringerLink platform
* What's new @ JSTOR
* New Interactive and intuitive tools on ScienceDirect - the latest developments
* UJ Archives and Special Collections: New Exhibition in the APK Library
* What's new @ RefWorks
* ISI Web of Knowledge: the new face of research - the latest interface is available
* OvidSP - Now Live! - new interface for SilverPlatter WebSPIRS and Ovid

On the left site you will see links to variety of topics. With one click you can access and find information on:

* About this blog
* Blog archive - view the information available on this blog per month
* Useful Links - link to UJ Library webpage is available for now, but more will be added
* Journals - links to important interdisciplinary journals, such as Science, Nature, New Scientist, etc.
* Useful Search Engines & Websites - easy access to Google Scholar, Scirus, Live Search Academic are some that will help you with your research. They should be viewed as good addition to the available Library databases
* Open Access Journals - search through a thousands of free peer-reviewed journals
* Reference Works - links to free and subscribed reference works to help you start with a project
* Research News & Useful Links - links to Research websites, how to start research, etc.
* New Books in the Library - some of the latest acquisitions for Sciences
* Information Literacy & Study Skills - learn how to search and use databases, how to acquire a study skills, etc.
* Del.icio.us - links to "sciencelibrarian" favourite's articles or websites on different topics.
* Podcasts - you can listen to the audio recordings from relevant Science websites
* Newsletters - links to web newsletters
* Daily news from Apple, Google and Microsoft

This Week in Science Online

Volume 318, Number 5850, Issue of 26 October 2007

View the Highlights of Research in the latest issue of Science Online. Editor summaries of this week's papers.

Landolt-Brnstein collection on SpringerLink platform

Landolt-Brnstein is a unique high-quality physics, chemistry and technology collection. Landolt-Brnstein represents all fields of Physics and boasts the most comprehensive Numerical Data in Science and Technology. H. Landolt and R. Brnstein compiled the first edition over a century ago. Six editions have been published since then; each extended to complement the original content.

Preview the Table of Contents to the most recent volume available on SpringerLink. Today the New Series comprises some 300 volumes dedicated to expanding fields of research and applications. Data seekers find that Landolt-Brnstein, found on SpringerLink platform has an amazing wealth of information that's easily searchable.

Features for Researchers
* Access to raw scientific data.

* More Linked content: Seamless integration of eBooks, online journals and eReference works on one platform.
* Unlimited access to surveys of numeric tables, graphs, data sets, phase diagrams, property tables, tables of special abbreviations and symbols that will aide in ongoing research.
* All of the organizational and research benefits of SpringerLink.com.

Link to Demo: http://216.122.46.36/springer/landolt_solo.html

Link to Landolf-Brnstein page: http://www.springer.com/west/home/laboe?SGWID=4-10113-12-95859-0

Please note: This collection does not form part of the SpringerLink database subscription.

What's New @ JSTOR

JSTOR October's Newsletter addresses the new way JSTOR is connecting to students, by using the latest technological Web 2.0 tools. Social Networking through the Internet, is currently the most popular channel for young people to communicate and share information, photos, musics, etc.

Reaching out to Students

Web 2.0 is a collective term for a wide array of community-based, interactive web tools and networking sites found on the Internet. College and High School students spend an increasing amount of time in these online environments. We are experimenting with two of the most popular social networking sites in order to put JSTOR information in the places where students spend their time.
* Facebook (a social networking site originally aimed at college students):We have created a Facebook group for the purpose of pointing students in the direction of helpful information about using JSTOR. The idea is that if a student is working on research late at night and needs help using the JSTOR interface, they may find the Facebook group via a general search and get exactly the information they need. Contents of the JSTOR Information Facebook group include links to JSTOR help pages, a short online tutorial on “How to Search JSTOR”, frequently asked questions and answers, and a link to the JSTOR Search application also on Facebook.
* YouTube:The second venue we chose was YouTube, the enormously popular site that provides users with the ability to upload videos and make them available to the world. Since students are likely to search for almost any topic on YouTube, we uploaded two short video tutorials on searching and browsing JSTOR. So far this has not been as frequently accessed as the Facebook applications, but we believe it is yet another promising avenue for providing information in an online location easily discovered by students.

The Librarian Comment:

Social Networking tools are also popular with the UJ students and the Library should try to embrace them and make the best to connect to the university younger generation.

How do you feel about using My Space, Facebook, YouTube, etc. as communication channel between yourself and the Library? Post a comment!

New interactive and intuitive tools encourage wider usage of ScienceDirect

More development-partner-tested features have been added to ScienceDirect. This new functionality, which is mirrored to researchers’ needs, will encourage greater use and exploitation of the wealth of information on ScienceDirect.

* The Related Articles feature automatically displays citation information and the abstract – including a link to the full text – of content relevant to the article being accessed. This improves the discoverability of information and makes it easier for users to find key information. Related Articles is enabled for every article accessed on ScienceDirect.

* To maximize search outcomes and eliminate unwanted results, the Fast Search & Transfer (FAST) spell check function has been integrated into ScienceDirect. The spell checker recognizes spelling errors using a built-in dictionary.

* As an added value to traditional abstracts, ScienceDirect is now indexing Graphical Abstracts of 30 chemistry titles. Important to chemistry researchers, Graphical Abstracts help to summarize the scope of a structure or reaction more succinctly than plain text. Graphical Abstracts will appear as the default display when browsing a table of contents from one of these journals on the journal homepage. On the search results the default display is the Article List with Full Abstracts or Graphical Abstracts as alternative display options.

Copyright permissions enabled through ScienceDirect
Subscribers can order copyright permissions directly through ScienceDirect now that Rightslink® has been selected for online copyright permissions. “Rightslink was the easy choice for improving customer responsiveness and accelerating turn-around times for copyright permissions,” said Helen Gainford, Elsevier’s Director of Global Rights, “Rightslink has a strong track record of success and we’ve been highly impressed with its ease-of-use and its ability to deliver quality customer service directly from our own content.”

New Major Reference Works available on ScienceDirect
Encyclopedia of Stress, Comprehensive Glycoscience and Treatise on Geophysics are now available on ScienceDirect.

Visit ScienceDirect September-October Product newsletter: http://info.sciencedirect.com/news/newsletters/connect/archive/sdconnect0710.html#10

The Librarian comment:

The latest ScienceDirect features will definetely be beneficial to all researchers. I like the "View Related Articles" option, as will give the users access to additional useful articles. The Graphical Abstracts will be beneficials to the Chemistry users. It seems there is no list with all specific titles, but as you do search the articles with show the structure if available. Browse Tetrahedron journal on ScienceDirect, to see an example.

UJ Archives and Special Collections: New Exhibition in the Library

The staff from the UJ Library Archives ans Special Collections has mounted a new exhibition in the APK Library on the 6th floor foyer: "Famous Libraries of the World".
Did you know that Ptolemy III of Egypt (3rd Century B.C.) forced visitors to the country to relinguish their books (in those days you called them scrolls) to the Bibliotheca Alexandrina?
Did you know that 1.4 million people visited the Library of Congress in Washington last year?
These and other interesting facts, books and authentic library posters are on display! If you have any brochures or books that you can add to the exhibition, please come and talk to us!
Visit the Rare Book Collections and University Archives web page, to glimpse at the wealth of collections available there: http://www.uj.ac.za/library/InformationSources/RareBookCollectionUniversityArchivesAPK/tabid/4237/Default.aspx

What's New @ RefWorks

The latest enchancements to RefWorks have been just made, to help you with your research and improve service:

* Direct linking from RefWorks to the databases: At the top of your RefWorks page, next to the University of Johannesburg, you will see a blue i displayed. Click on the i will allow you to go directly to the UJ list of databases.

* Updating user information: RefWorks have now added more User Types to this interface. This will help the RefWorks Publisher get better understanding of who are the users. While the new users will have the option of accessing the new user types, if you are an existing user, you need to update your user profile information on RefWorks and choose the type that best suits you. You can click on the Tools option on the menu list and then shoose Update User Information.

* E-mail your Librarian: Have a question on RefWorks? Want to suggest a citation format or maybe even improvements? You can use E-mail your Librarian link, located under the Help function, to e-mail any questions or suggestions regarding RefWorks to your Administrator.

Need Help?

Do you make use of RefWorks for your research? If not, it is never too late to get started. Ask for help or training! Contact your Subject Librarian at your Campus.

ISI Web of Knowledge: The New Face of Research

New version of ISI Web of Science is now available simultaneously with the current. When I logged into Science Citation Index Database, on the top of the screen next to the logo is "access the new virsion" option. It seems the link is not yet activated for UJ users, but definetily will be available soon. Our users can then have an opportunity to explore and get used to the new interface.

What's new? The enhancements have been made to help streamline the research process, to better manage your search results and improve security. One of the most important features is the All Databases search, which replaces CrossSearch. The All Databases search allows you to:
- Search across all ISI Web of Knowledge databases our institution subscribes to;
- Retrieve up to 100,000 results, automatically sorted by the journal cover publication date;
- Easily refine and analyze your search results.

Marked List functionality is now available. Use Marked list to help you manage your search results within ISI Web of Knowledge, to easy print, export, save and download records. New! Every record you mark is automatically submitted to the Marked List when you navigate away from the page. You can also click on the Submit Marks button to create your Marked List. Export your Marked List records to EndNote Web or other reference management tools ( such as RefWorks).

New Web tool is WebPlus from "Further information" option. It will complement your research while searching Science Citation Index and other ISI Web of Knowledge databases, by searching highly focused, high-quality Web content.

For more information visit: http://0-newface.newisiknowledge.com.raulib.rau.ac.za/

You can access the ISI Web of Knowledge databases through the Library webpage. The following databases are useful to the Science community:

* ISI Journal Citation Reports

* ISI Current Contents databases (per subjects)

* ISI Science Citation Index

* ISI Social Science Citation Index

Let us know how useful and advanced is the new interface. Your inputs will be used to make future recomendations to the Publisher.

OvidSP- Now Live!

Ovid Publishers have announced that on 25th of October 2007 a newly designed platform will come live. The new OvidSP is designed for speed, simplicity, and precision. OvidSP takes all the sophisticated search functionallity of both Ovid Gateway and SilverPlatter WebSPIRS features and tools to give you a simplified, streamlined search experience.

Simplified, intuitive interface

- Multiple search modes: It accomodates all types of searchers - from the beginners to the more advanced. The end-users can choose their prefered search style: Basic; Ovid/SilverPlatter Syntax; Find citation; Search tools; Search fields.

- Natural language searching: Available in the Basic search, it allows users to enter any search term or question - no need for special syntax!

- Clean intuitive interface design: The platform's look-and-feel is fresh and contemporary. New features and tools can help you work quickly and easy

Powerful, trusted precision search technology

- Advanced search functionality: OvidSP retains all of the best features and functionality of both Ovid Gateway and SilverPlatter WebSPIRS, including thesauri, subject headings, term mapping, limits, and more.

- Simultaneous searching across all content types: Quickly and easy search book, databases, and journals at the same time.

- Fast, flexible results management: OvidSP is designed to support the way you work. Organize and analyze your search results with simple, time-saving tools.

Enhanced research workflow tools

- Search refinement tools: Easily identifiable in the upper left-hand corner of the screen, the Search Aid section provides greater search transparency and allows you to refine initial searches: Follow the research trail; Narrow or broaden search; Search related authors and journals;

-Inline abstracts: Citation abstracts are now on the same page as your result. Expand or collapse abstracts for easy viewing.

- Annotations: Create, view, and edit search results annotations, marked by yellow icons. Annotations always stay with your results.

- Content updates delivered via RSS or email: Customized alerting mechanisms help you stay current on the latest research: eTOCS – Electronic tables of contents track changes in a specific journal’s table of contents. AutoAlerts - Get saved searches delivered automatically whenever new articles match your search criteria become available.

- Sortable search results: Use a simple pull-down box to re-sort results based on available fields—by database name, unique identifier, and more.
- Search Results Manager feature: Now located in the left-hand side of the screen for easier access as you conduct your searches, this feature lets you save, email, and print your results. Plus, you can change the number of results displayed on each page.
- Find Similar Articles feature: Link to related articles from a search result’s complete reference display.
- De-duplication of multi-file results: Eliminate repetitive results automatically when you’re searching multiple databases.

For more information visit: http://www.ovid.com

Why should you know about these changes:

UJ Library & Information Services subscribes to SilverPlatter WebSPIRS databases. The databases relevant to the Science community are:

* Analytical Abstracts

* Applied Science & Technology

* Parasitology Database