Open Science Directory: New Open Access Initiative for Developing Countries

EBSCO has recently joined forces with Hasselt University Library, Belgium, and the International Oceanographic Data and Information Exchange programme of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO to develop a global Open Science Directory which is available via the Internet at no charge. The Open Science Directory provides developing regions with a comprehensive search tool for all open access and special programme journal titles. The Open Science Directory offers immediate access to approximately 13,000 scientific journal titles, with an objective of 20,000 titles midway through development.

Access to scientific literature is very important for the scientific work in developing countries. As a result of different projects a large collection of e-journals is now available for researchers in developing countries. The number of Open Access Journals is growing steadily as we can see in the Directory of Open Access Journals (http://www.doaj.org/). Major UNO organizations like WHO, FAO and UNEP have their specific programs for the scientific institutions in low-income countries. Finally a lot of universities, institutes and other organizations are supporting access programs. The most important are INASP, eIFL and eJDS.

The Open Science Directory is creating a unique access point to all the journals contained in the different programs.

Searching Options:

* From the home page, click on Open Science Directory

* The Portal is an A-to-Z journals list ( as in UJ A-to-Z)

* You can either search directly for specific journals

OR

* Select - Journal Collections - to view all Providers of the Journals, with links to the title lists

* Select - Subjects - to view the journals per specific subject area

* Select - Search - to view the Advanced search screen

* Select - Custom Google Search - to search either Scholar Google (academic articles) or Google Custom Search (Search in: DOAJ - OpenDOAR - HINARI - OARE - AGORA - INASP - eJDS - Ingenta Connect)

* Select - Links - to have access to journals portals, useful websites to different organisations

* Select - About the Site - to view more information about this site

Once you access the journal of interest, there is an option to search within this journal for articles.

I hope you will find this Open Science Directory very useful.

I will create a direct link on this BLOG under Open Access Journals

EbscoHost 2.0: New interface comming in July 2008

This post is just an alert about the upcoming next generation EbscoHost user interface in July 2008. According to information from their website the new interface is " based upon results gathered from extensive user testing. EBSCOhost 2.0 offers a clean new look and feel, for a technologically sophisticated, yet familiar search experience, with the built-in flexibility to provide individual user customization options".

Click on the post TITLE for details and screen shots on the functionality of the redesign. Click on any of the icons and see what is coming soon:

- Basic Search Screen 2.0

- Advanced Search Screen 2.0

- Result List 2.0

- Branding 2.0

- My EbscoHost 2.0

- Image Quick View 2.0

- Visual Search 2.0

- Improved Bibliographic Functionality

Click on the link to view the new User Guide and relevant FAQ:

http://0-support.ebsco.com.ujlink.uj.ac.za/ebscohost2/

Free Databases @ EbscoHost

In a post dated 1st of April (UKSG Serials E-News) I have mentioned that EbscoHost offers a number of free databases. After contacting Ebsco representatives, we are please to announce that these databases have been ADDED to the UJ Library EbscoHost list (find them at the end of the list).

* GreenFile

GreenFILE offers well-researched but accessible information covering all aspects of human impact on the environment. Its collection of scholarly, government and general-interest titles include content on the environmental effects of individuals, corporations and local/national governments, and what can be done on each level to minimize negative impact. Topics covered include global warming, green building, pollution, sustainable agriculture, renewable energy, recycling, and more. GreenFILE is multidisciplinary by nature and draws on the connections between the environment and a variety of disciplines such as agriculture, education, law, health and technology.The database provides indexing and abstracts for approximately 295,000 records, as well as Open Access full text for more than 4,600 records.

* Teacher Reference Center

Provides indexing and abstracts for more than 270 of the most popular teacher and administrator journals and magazines to assist professional educators.

I have done quick search on "science and research". The top references are:

- Professional development for computer-enhanced learning: a case study with science teachers.Research in Science & Technological Education; May2008, Vol. 26 Issue 1, p3-12

- Virtual teamwork: students studying about ethics in an online environment. Research in Science & Technological Education; May2008, Vol. 26 Issue 1, p13-29

- Teaching chemical bonding through jigsaw cooperative learning. Research in Science & Technological Education; May2008, Vol. 26 Issue 1, p47-57

The above journal is available in print & online - search through A-to-Z list ( the May 2008 issue is not yet available)

* Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts (LISTA)

Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts,(LISTA) indexes more than 690 periodicals, plus books, research reports and proceedings. Subject coverage includes librarianship, classification, cataloging, bibliometrics, online information retrieval, information management and more. Coverage in the database extends back as far as the mid-1960s. It is EBSCO Publishing’s intention to provide access to LISTA on a continual basis at http://www.libraryresearch.com/.

TIPS for searching:

As these databases provide bibliographic information it could be an added value if you search with some of the full-text databases, such as Academic Search Premier. Some of your results can be available full-text through that database.

DO YOU KNOW!

EbscoHost have added some new options for searching. If you are either in the Basic or Advanced Search Screens, you can select from the option "Specific Databases" a SUBJECT group databases to search:

- General/News databases

- Computer Science/Engineering Databases

- Earth/Environmental Databases

- Health Sciences Databases

- Life Sciences Databases

- EJS E-Journals

To summarise it, you can either search:

- selected individual databases

- selected 2 or more databases or

- the SUBJECT grouping from the individual databases available on EbscoHost.