A Weblog Communication channel from the Library to the University of Johannesburg Science Community. Created on 25th October 2007.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Academia.edu for Reserchers
ScienceDirect Top 25 Hottest Articles: July - September 2008
Research Tools
"100 Useful Tips and Tools to Research the Deep Web" (thanks to Kelly Sonora, for letting me know. I’m using at least 1/3 of these 100 tools)
- Meta-Search Engines
- Semantic Search Tools and Databases
- General Search Engines and Databases
- Academic Search Engines and Databases
- Scientific Search Engines and Databases
- Custom Search Engines
- Collaborative Information and Databases
- Tips and Strategies
- Helpful Articles and Resources for Deep Searching
Some old blog posts as a reminder:
Chemspider: Chemical Search engine
Lumifi: Research Search Engine
Golonka: E-Math, E-Physics, E-Chemistry for Africa
Faculty Acknowledge: Blogs contribute to Scholarly Communication
By noreply@blogger.com (Eric Schnell) on communications
One of my more recent hot topics is the need for librarians to expand how we define our own scholarly communications to keep up with changes in the practice of librarianship. A new report by the Ithaka Group being distributed by ARL explores how (non-librarian) faculty / scholars are making use of digital scholarly resources in the course of research. In the report entitled Current Models of Digital Scholarly Communication, authors Nancy Maron and Kirby Smith detail the various digital resources that expands the definition of what is a scholarly resource. Such resources include electronic-only data, e-journals, and blogs.
The report states that blogs are “being put to interesting use by scholars” and contribute to scholarship by providing a forum for discussion. Faculty acknowledge that blog postings allow scholars to share research findings and open up a dialog that can help to further shape and refine their ideas. Blogs can add a layer of commentary to published literature and can give frequent updates of researchers’ opinions rather than just facts and can also attract well established, well known writers in specific disciplines.
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Scientific Research: Useful links
A free, publicly available web portal allowing access to numerous scientific journals and public science databases. It allows students, teachers, professors, researchers, and the general public to access pertinent science information quickly and easily.
Provide an international forum for the presentation and discussion of frontier research in the biological, chemical, and physical sciences, and their related technologies.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Science Watch: Trends & Performance in Basic Research
- With Applications Looming, Is Graphene the New Silicon?
SCI-BYTES - WHAT'S NEW IN RESEARCH : Jan – Oct 2008
COUNTRY PROFILES
- Output in Science: Top Ten Countries, 1998-2008
- Top 10 Countries in Chemistry Including Most Cited Paper
- Top 20 Countries in Physics
NEW HOT PAPERS
- Hot Papers in Immunology - 2005-2007
- Hot Papers in Pharmacology & Toxicology
- Hot Papers in Chemistry - 2005-2007
JOURNALS RANKED BY....
- Journals Ranked by Impact: Agronomy
- Journal Rankings in Molecular Biology and Genetics, 1997-2007
- Journals Ranked by Impact: Energy & Fuels
- Journals Ranked by Impact: Entomology
- Journals Ranked by Impact: Infectious Diseases
- Journals Ranked by Impact: Geography
- Journals Ranked by Impact: Geology
- Journals Ranked by Impact: Mineralogy
- Journals Ranked by Impact: MathematicsJournals Ranked by Impact: Plant Sciences
- Australian Institutions: Highest Impact in Computer Science, 2002-06
- Computer Science & Engineering: High-Impact U.S. Institutions, 2002-06
- Institution Rankings In Molecular Biology & Genetics, 1997-2007
- Institution Rankings In Chemistry, 1997-2007
- Institution Rankings in Engineering 1997-2007
- Organic Chemistry/Polymer Science: High-Impact U.S. Institutions, 2003-07
- Institutional Rankings in Environment and Ecology 1998-2008
SCIENTISTS RANKED IN...
- Scientist Rankings in Geosciences
- Scientist Rankings In Environment/Ecology, 1997-2007
- Scientist Rankings in Plant Sciences by Total Citations 1997-2007
- Science in Argentina, 2002-06
- Science in Australia, 2003-07
- Science in Canada, 2003-07
- Science in France, 2003-07
- Science in Germany, 2003-07
- Science in India, 2002-06
- Science in Ireland, 2002-06
- Science in Israel, 2002-06
- Science in Italy, 2003-07
- Science in Japan, 2003-07
- Science in the Netherlands, 2003-07
- Science in Poland, 2002-06
- Science in Russia, 2002-06
- Norwegian Science, 2002-06
- Science in Scotland, 2002-06
- Science in Spain, 2003-07
- Science in Switzerland, 2003-07
- Science in Sweden, 2003-07
- South Korean Science, 2002-06
- Science in Taiwan, 2002-06
- Science in the United Kingdom, 2003-07
EMERGING RESEARCH FRONTS 2008
- October 2008
- August 2008
- June 2008
- April 2008
- February 2008
TOP TOPICS 2008
Monday, October 20, 2008
Physics Resources in support to Research and Innovation
AMERICAN PHYSICAL SOCIETY (APS) JOURNALS
INSTITUTE OF PHYSICS (IOP)
Physics highlights exceptional papers from the Physical Review journals. To accomplish this, Physics features expert commentaries written by active researchers who are asked to explain the results to physicists in other subfields. These commissioned articles are edited for clarity and readability across fields and are accompanied by explanatory illustrations.
2. Focus Physical Review (APS): Selections from “Physical Review” and “Physical Review Letters” explained to students and researchers in all fields of Physics
3. Physics Central (APS): We invite you to visit our site every week to find out how physics is part of your world. We'll answer your questions on how things work and keep you informed with daily updates on physics in the news.
4. Virtual Journals in Science & Technology
* Virtual Journal of Applications of Superconductivity
The Virtual Journal of Applications of Superconductivity (VJAS) is a semi-monthly virtual journal presenting articles that have appeared in one of the participating broad-based source journals not specializing in superconductivity. Those interested in following applications of superconductivity should regularly go to the tables of contents of specialized superconductivity journals, which contain most of the published papers on applications of superconductivity.
* Virtual Journal of Biological Physics Research
This semi-monthly virtual journal contains articles that have appeared in one of the participating source journals and that fall within a number of contemporary topical areas in biological physics research. Links to other useful Web resources on biological physics are also provided.
* Virtual Journal of Nanoscale Science & Technology
This weekly virtual journal contains articles that have appeared in one of the participating source journals and that fall within a number of contemporary topical areas in the science and technology of nanometer-scale structures. Links to other useful Web resources on nanoscale systems are also provided.
* Virtual Journal of Quantum Information
This monthly virtual journal contains articles that have appeared in one of the participating source journals and that fall within a number of contemporary topical areas in quantum information, including quantum computing, cryptography, error correction, and theoretical and experimental investigations of entanglement.
* Virtual Journal of Ultrafast Science
This monthly virtual journal contains articles that have appeared in one of the participating source journals and that fall within a number of contemporary topical areas as they pertain to ultrafast phenomena. Links to other useful Web resources on ultrafast phenomena are also provided.
Friday, October 10, 2008
OPEN ACCESS DAY - 14 OCTOBER 2008
Why Does Open Access Matter?
"Universities, who support and produce research, can’t keep up with inflating journal prices and are forced to cut subscriptions. With Open Access, instead of cutting off access to information to professors and students, we are able to provide that knowledge without increasing the college’s costs." Diane J. Graves, University Librarian Trinity University (Texas)
"The critical aspect of Open Access for me is that increased discoverability and browseability will lead to greater efficiency of conducting research. Any savings in efficiency translate quite directly into savings for taxpayers and time savings for researchers. That ultimately means more discoveries, sooner, for less money." André Brown, Ph.D. Student University of Pennsylvania
- What Faculty Can Do to Promote Open Access
- UJDigiSpace: University of Johannesburg Open Access Repository
- Directory of Open Access Journals: Welcome to the Directory of Open Access Journals. This service covers free, full text, quality controlled scientific and scholarly journals. We aim to cover all subjects and languages. There are now 3651 journals in the directory.
- OA Librarian Blog
- Open Access News
- Open Students (very good)
- Open Science Directory
- Open J-Gate Journals
- PLoS Biology
- BioMedCentral
Thursday, October 9, 2008
NOBEL PRIZE WINNERS 2008
Chemistry
Three U.S.-based scientists share Nobel chemistry prize
Roger Y. Tsien of UC San Diego, Martin Chalfie of Columbia University and researcher Osamu Shimomura developed a fluorescent protein from jellyfish that allows researchers to trace cell molecules.
Physics
Three Physicists Share Nobel Prize
An American and two Japanese physicists on Tuesday won the Nobel Prize in Physics for their work exploring the hidden symmetries among elementary particles that are the deepest constituents of nature.
Medicine
Discoverers of AIDS and Cancer Viruses Win Nobel
The Nobel Prize in Medicine was awarded Monday to three European scientists who had discovered viruses behind two devastating illnesses, AIDS and Cervical cancer
Monday, October 6, 2008
Online Lectures vs Traditional Classes: Study results
Free Books - 50 places to find Free Books Online
Freeload Press - A wonderful selection of free textbooks and educational materials are available for free download at Freeload Press.
Open Book Project - This site is a great place to find free textbooks and other educational materials.
Textbook Revolt - Students fight back against the high cost of textbooks on this site by offering up their used books for free.
Textbook Revolution - Textbook Revolution is one of the best sites on the web to find free textbooks and other educational materials.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
University of Johannesburg Research articles on ScienceDirect
ScienceDirect Top 25 Hottest Articles: April-June 2008
Elsevier Library Connect Newsletter: 6:3 August 2008
In the world of eLearning 2.0, eLearners can share their knowledge and experience by creating blog, wiki, photo, video and audio content freely and easily. This function gives eLearners an opportunity to become eTeachers, and vice versa. The bottom line? Web 2.0 technology makes all sorts of eLearning platforms easy-to-use.
- Dr. Bakary Diallo explains how the African Virtual University is furthering higher education through hybrid offerings, Interview by Risa Blumlein, Library Marketing Intern, Elsevier, USA
Useful Links to Articles: Open Access, Scholarly Publishing, Institutional Repositories
Ithaka’s 2008 report on its 2006 faculty and librarian surveys
http://www.earlham.edu/~peters/fos/2008/08/ithaka-2008-report-on-its-2006-faculty.html
http://www.ithaka.org/research/faculty-and-librarian-surveys
Open Access: Institutional Repositories
Publishers allowing the depositing of their published version/PDF in Institutional Repositories
http://www.sherpa.ac.uk/romeo/PDFandIR.html
3 Articles on IR's in Developing Countries
http://www.earlham.edu/~peters/fos/2008/09/3-articles-on-irs-in-developing.html
Open Access Repositories begin to reap benefits for South African Science as CSIR research goes global:
http://blogs.uct.ac.za/blog/gray-area/2008/07/29/csir-research-goes-global
Seven Academic Open-Access Repositories Compared
http://www.icommons.org/articles/oa-academia-in-repose
LabMeeting: a scientist’s answer to an institutional repository?
http://lib.calpoly.edu/blog/crossingthechasm/2008/07/30/labmeeting-a-scientists-answer-to-an-institutional-repository/
Many publishers do allow authors to deposit their works in institutional repositories. See: Sherpa/Romeo
http://www.sherpa.ac.uk/romeo/index.html
Director of Open Access Repositories
http://www.opendoar.org/
Open Access: Science/ Education/ Research
Open Access – What is it?
http://www.library.uiuc.edu/scholcomm/openaccess.html
Open Access in South Africa
http://www.sivulile.org/
Open Educational Resources
http://deoracle.org/online-pedagogy/emerging-technologies/open-educational-resources.html
Open Access and Science
http://lib.calpoly.edu/blog/crossingthechasm/2008/09/11/open-access-and-science/
Are Online and Free Online Access Broadening or Narrowing Research?
http://openaccess.eprints.org/index.php?/archives/443-Are-Online-and-Free-Online-Access-Broadening-or-Narrowing-Research.html
Research funders’ open access policies
http://www.sherpa.ac.uk/juliet/index.php
Open Access: Good for Business!
http://poeticeconomics.blogspot.com/2005/09/open-access-good-for-business.html
Structural Genomics Knowledgebase (free resource)
http://kb.psi-structuralgenomics.org/about/this_site.html
Science Dissemination using Open Access (free to download)
http://sdu.ictp.it/openaccess/SciDissOpenAccess.pdf
Max Planck Society - Scientists Publish at PloS - Free of charge for their institutes
http://lilyheart.wordpress.com/2008/08/21/max-planck-society-scientists-publish-at-plos-free-of-charge-for-their-institutes
Out in the Open: Some MIT Scientists Sharing Results, Posting Unpublished Data
http://www-tech.mit.edu/V128/N31/openscience.html
Science Dissemination Using Open Access (free downloadable book)
http://scholarship20.blogspot.com/2008/08/science-dissemination-using-open-access.html
How open access is your research area? (revisited)
http://blogs.openaccesscentral.com/blogs/bmcblog/entry/how_open_access_is_your1
Microsoft Research Unveils Free Software Tools to Help Scholars and Reseachers Share Knowledge
http://www.reviewspc.com/microsoft-research-unveils-free-software-tools-to-help-scholars-and-researchers-share-knowledge.html
Open Access: Scholarly Publishing/Peer Reviewing/Commons
Data Sharing and the Digital Science Commons
http://blog.mttlr.org/2008/09/data-sharing-and-digital-science.html
Scholarly Electronic Publishing Bibliography
http://www.digital-scholarship.org/sepb/toc.htm
Who Profits when you Publish?
http://www.aaup.org/AAUP/pubsres/academe/2008/JA/Feat/wall.htm
The Impact of Digitizing Special Collections on Teaching and Scholarship
http://www.oclc.org/programs/publications/reports/2008-04.pdf
Best Practices for Access to Images: Recommendations for Scholarly Use and Publishing
http://www.arhv.lhivic.org/index.php/2008/08/22/790-best-practices-for-access-to-images-recommendations-for-scholarly-use-and-publishing
CreateChange – Digital Scholarship
http://www.createchange.org/
Bringing down the barriers (digital scholarship)
http://www.createchange.org/modes/bringing.shtml
Peer reviewing: privilege and responsibility
http://www.textjournal.com.au/april08/johnston_krauth.htm
Researchers benefit from Sharing
http://www.createchange.org/modes/researchers.shtml
Open Source approach to textbook publishing
http://www.springwise.com/education/open_source_approach_to_textbo/
ThoughtMesh: an Innovative Scholarly Publishing and Discovery Model
http://scholarship20.blogspot.com/2008/05/thoughtmesh-innovative-scholarly.html
Funding for Open Access Publishing (one way of addressing OA publishing)
http://ucalgaryhslnews.blogspot.com/2008/08/funding-for-open-access-publishing.html
Open Access: Authorship/Copyright
Authorship: why not just toss a coin?
http://ajpcell.physiology.org/cgi/content/full/295/3/C567
Open Access anxiety in the publish or perish world
http://www.plos.org/cms/node/397
Authors’ rights
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Authors'_rights
http://www.arl.org/sparc/author/addendum.shtml
Canadian Association of University Teachers advises Authors to retain Copyright
http://www.earlham.edu/~peters/fos/2008/08/caut-advises-authors-to-retain.html
Search Engines/ Directories/ References/ Databases
World Wide Web Reference
http://www.wwwreference.info/
Student Research Resources
http://www.studentresearch.info/
Quick Reference Research
http://www.refdesk.com/instant.html
Alltheweb.com
www.alltheweb.com
CompletePlanet (Deep Web Directory)
http://aip.completeplanet.com/index.jsp
The Web: How we use it.
http://scienceblogs.com/clock/2008/07/the_web_how_we_use_it.php?utm_source=sbhomepage&utm_medium=link&utm_content=channellink
National Center for Biotechnology Information – Public Databases
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/
Life Sciences Search Engine
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/gquery
Biodiversity Heritage Library
www.biodiversitylibrary.org
Science Portal (Open Access - 90% of items not accessible on Google)
www.WorldWideScience.org
Biodiversity Heritage Library (Open Access)
http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/About.aspx
The Digital Doorway (South Africa)
http://www.digitaldoorway.org.za/index_main.php
Open Access: Journals
Directory of Open Access Journal growth rate nearly doubles in the past year
http://poeticeconomics.blogspot.com/2008/08/doaj-growth-rate-nearly-doubles-in-past.html
Make China journals open access, says top scientist
http://www.scidev.net/en/news/make-china-journals-open-access-says-top-scientist.html
Support for Open Access Journals
http://www.earlham.edu/~peters/fos/2008/08/support-for-oa-journals.html
Searching Patents
WIPO Patentscope
http://www.wipo.int/patentscope/en/
European Patent Office
http://ep.espacenet.com/advancedSearch?locale=en_ep
Google Patents
www.google.com/patents
Patent Information in Brief
http://www.wipo.int/patentscope/en/data/patent_information.html