Science Library Updates

According to ScienceCommons.org, the world's largest protein database now has a Creative Commons license. This means it is free for use by the public, and is another step into the fight for Open Access. Please read the following statement from the Science Commons blog:

Uniprot.org, the world's most comprehensive catalog of information on proteins, is now using Creative Commons licensing. We spent a lot of time talking to the Uniprot folks over the last year. I'd encourage everyone to check out the FAQ we wrote on database licensing and Creative Commons licenses to understand exactly which elements of the database are copyrighted and which are not.

But the important thing is, as the terms state, you are now free to copy, distribute, display and make commercial use of these databases, provided you give credit where it's due. That means the data, the layouts, the entry sheets, everything. Congratulations to the Uniprot consortium and to Eric Jain.

Posted by Mary Abdoney at 8:40 PM | Permalink

I have pasted a message from CAS regarding the discontinuation of older versions of SFS. Most of you already use the 2006 version, but if you have not upgraded, please do so. If you need assistance installing or upgrading, please let me know and I will do the magic.

On March 31, 2005, CAS will discontinue access to versions of SciFinder Scholar older than v 2006, regardless of whether they are for Mac or PC.

To download the software go to http://my.cas.org and using your administrative id log in and upgrade to SciFinder Scholar 2006.

SciFinder Scholar 2004.2 is the only version that will be available for Mac 0S 9 users. So users who are using SciFinder 2004 still need to upgrade to SciFinder Scholar 2004.2. It is a patch for SciFinder Scholar 2004 and has enhancements as well.

Posted by Mary Abdoney at 7:18 PM | Permalink

The University of Saskatchewan Library has a list of electronic journals and their RSS feeds. What is this? To learn more about RSS feeds, click here.

*For Psychology journals, APA has also put together a list.

*ACS also has an RSS feed for all publications; or, you can choose to be notified of new content via email.

*Nature Magazine and Science Magazine both have choices for different types of RSS feeds.

*Geologists and Environmental Scientists may find the RSS feeds from USGS helpful.

RSS feeds require an RSS reader, many of which can be downloaded for free off the Internet. For a complete list of readers, see AllRss.com. I recommend Bloglines.

To find out if your favorite journals (or news and entertainment sites) support RSS feeds, look for these symbols those familiar orange boxes that say "RSS", "XML" or "CAP".

You could even keep up with the new entries on the Science Library Updates blog.

Posted by Mary Abdoney at 10:40 AM | Permalink

We now have access to Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres. Full text is available from 2006 on, and abstracts are available from 1994. If you have a personal AGU membership, you may be able to access the full text of these articles.

At this point, JGR: Atmospheres is not available in the Periodical Finder or via the proxy server. You can locate it in Annie with a title search. However, in a few days, you should be able to access the journal from off campus, and find it in the Periodical Finder.

Posted by Mary Abdoney at 9:59 AM | Permalink

BioMed Central, the open access publisher, has released its forthcoming titles in Biology.

Cell Division
Diagnostic Pathology
Journal of Biomedical Discovery and Collaboration
Philosophy, Ethics, and Humanities in Medicine
Synthetic and Systems Biology
. . . and many more.

BioMed Central (BMC) is a for-profit Open Access journal publisher. BMC hosts independent, Open Access journals in addition to publishing the BMC series and a few others. Currently BMC hosts 81 active independent, Open Access journals

For more information on Open Access, see Peter Suber's blog at http://www.earlham.edu/~peters/fos/fosblog.html

Posted by Mary Abdoney at 1:54 PM | Permalink

I've been informed that many of you have stopped by the Science Library to meet with me, only to find out that I am at a meeting elsewhere on campus. Because I would like to speak with all of you one-on-one, I would be happy to set up appointments to meet with you.

We can schedule appointments using GroupWise; or, if you feel more comfortable, we can use email or phone. (abdoneym@wlu.edu or ext. 8647) I would like to get a chance to talk for 30 minutes or so about your concerns and expectations for the library, as well as your current research interests.

I hope to hear from you.

Posted by Mary Abdoney at 2:18 PM | Permalink

If you want to know when there is a new post to the Science Library Updates blog, you can be notified via email. I have already entered everyone into the notification list, so if you want to receive these emails, you don't have to do anything.

If you would not like to receive these emails, or you think you have been placed on this list in error, please email me at abdoneym@wlu.edu or call me at ext. 8647.

Posted by Mary Abdoney at 10:08 AM | Permalink

I am pleased to announce that the Science Library will be offering reference service starting this Monday, February 20. From 8 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., and from 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., either I or Cindy Morton will be available to answer reference questions from faculty and students. In addition, we will be available Sunday and Monday evenings from 7-10 p.m. to answer reference questions.

While there is no physical reference desk, we will be on call during these hours for reference service. Please stop by the circulation desk and ask for the reference librarian.

For a copy of the schedule, please visit http://library.wlu.edu/TelfordReference.asp

For handouts to post in class, visit http://library.wlu.edu/documents/ScienceLibraryReferenceHours.pdf

Posted by Mary Abdoney at 8:33 AM | Permalink

I would like to thank everyone for their hospitality at the coffee break this morning, and welcome you to the Science Library Updates blog. You can keep current on new resources, services, and events in the Science Library, as well as discuss issues pertaining to the science library.

I encourage you to inform your students of this blog, as well, since this information will be quite relevant to them.

I hope to hear from some of you soon!

Posted by Mary Abdoney at 6:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)