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Volume 8 ■ VolumeNumber 1 4 ■■ NumberNovember 1 ■2010April ■ ISSN:2003 1549–3725
Welcome Theme: The Changing Face of Content
How has content changed with the digital revolution, and what In this issue tools are available to access the knowledge within this new features information ecosystem? These are some of the questions 2 Virtual knowledge spaces are putting users content innovators addressed for librarians in this issue of the in the driver’s seat like never before Library Connect Newsletter. Colleen DeLory 3 Reimagining the journal article: The Article of the Future project Conrad Wolfram gives his perspective on applications, virtual knowledge spaces such as 4 Increasing the value of content through the Wolfram Demonstrations ProjectTM and the role of the librarian. He describes the “crowdsourced” innovation challenge of sifting through vast quantities of information online and finding ways to 5 Panoramas and perspectives: Anita de Waard on “The Changing Face of Content” make it usable as a “dead-center librarian kind of problem.” Michelle Lee’s article delves further into the world of applications as vehicles for collaboration and innovation. behind the scenes She provides background and insight into SciVerse Applications, where users will be 6 Five questions with Wayne Shebilske of Wright State University’s Learning with Disability PhD program able to choose from a gallery of applications to customize their experience. 6 Elsevier wins the first-ever JISC TechDis Publisher Lookup Award for Accessibility Other highlights include new ways to access content via the Article of the Future, links 6 Cultivating a culture of accessibility: between ScienceDirect and Reaxys, and image search on SciVerse ScienceDirect. We also find Elsevier’s efforts start on the inside out how Wayne Shebilske of Wright State University’s Learning with Disability program and 7 ScienceDirect journal content and Reaxys are now Elsevier’s own Accessibility Working Group are helping to make content accessible to people interoperable, improving research productivity with physical and learning disabilities. From the developing world, we hear from individuals 7 Recognizing tomorrow’s chemists today: whose assistance in providing access to digital content supports life-sustaining initiatives. Announcing the inaugural Reaxys PhD Prize winners community connections As the new editor of the Library Connect Newsletter, I didn’t imagine covering topics like 8 Tackling HIV/AIDS: Developing a health information the Semantic Web, computational linguistics and application development. Today’s library network in Cameroon librarians are faced with an increasingly complex operational environment; that became clear 9 Broadening our reach: By training trainers, the as we put together this issue. With this in mind, a new feature will offer a personal outlook on E-library Training Initiative expands use of HINARI resources the newsletter’s theme. I’d like to encourage you — our librarian reader — to use “Panoramas 9 In Tribute: Vimbai M. Hungwe and Perspectives” to highlight your viewpoints, to share your hits and misses. Are you on the road excited by the possibilities, or did nobody ever tell you there'd be days like these? 10 Librarians focus on internal and external strategies for library promotion Colleen DeLory 10 Evaluating research performance, management strategies Editor, Library Connect Newsletter and policymaking in Chile 10 Accepting the Semantic Web Challenge: Please e-mail your comments, suggestions and ideas to [email protected]. Software developers compete to make data more meaningful 11 Researchers and students on Chinese campuses this summer engaged in “Happy Reading” Finding images made easy: 11 A week of Library Connect events in South Africa culminates in a celebration of young scientists SciVerse ScienceDirect now offers image searching www.elsevier.com/libraryconnect Users of SciVerse Users gain faster access to final articles ScienceDirect can now with article-based publishing search across an estimated Illuminating the editorial process for 8 million images from the Politecnico di Milano researchers world’s largest collection Uruguay celebrates first Scopus award winners of scientific, technical and Mobile solutions featured at the NIH Handheld Technology Expo medical fulltext literature. staying connected Image searching on 12 Elsevier offers free access to online references for SciVerse ScienceDirect Expert Consult titles provides researchers 12 New iPhone app Top Doc helps doctors in training with immediate access improve their game to important visual information — tables, Example of image search result page within SciVerse ScienceDirect. FIND, FRIEND, FOLLOW online! figures, videos and other Share your thoughts on this and upcoming issues imagery — covering both journal and book content published after 1994. Users no longer of the Library Connect Newsletter at your favorite need to scan entire articles to find relevant information to support their research. social media site: Images inform the researcher through visual explanations of a theory or concept and www.facebook.com/libraryconnect support the researcher in helping them to convey this information to others. After all, http://twitter.com/library_connect a picture is worth a thousand words. LC http://libraryconnect.blogspot.com www.info.sciverse.com/sciencedirect
Library Connect Editorial Office ● 525 B Street, Suite 1800, San Diego, CA 92101, USA ● Phone +1.619.699.6719 ● Fax +1.619.699.6310 ● [email protected] 109394_v 11/16/10 9:10 PM Page 2
FEATURES
Virtual knowledge spaces are putting users in the driver’s seat like never before Library Connect interviews Conrad Wolfram, Director of Strategic & International Development, Wolfram Research, Oxford, UK. The Wolfram Demonstrations Project is an instructional applet website with more than 5,000 knowledge spaces. Library Connect: What was the genesis of the How easy is it to create a demonstration? Demonstrations Project? Years ago it was quite hard to produce charts; Conrad Wolfram: At Wolfram Research, we’ve spent 20 years then spreadsheets came along, and everyone automating the method of how a calculation gets done, so users could do it. That’s where we want to go with are freed to focus on the task they’re trying to achieve. Within interactive applications. We’ve made a pretty our Mathematica program, there is now a process for automating good start, and people who are ahead of the Conrad Wolfram the construction of an application around your calculation so curve can do it easily now. With the technology coming up, that you don’t need to be an expert in programming to be able we’ll be at the stage where pretty much everyone can do it to share your ideas via an app. We also created a space online through linguistic programming. where they can share these apps, or demonstrations as we like We’ve started down that road with our knowledge engine, to call them. There are more than 5,000 demonstrations now Wolfram|Alpha. You type in a question, it tries to understand that any user can view by downloading the free player. what you’re asking, and then it produces a result. Behind the What kinds of demonstrations are currently posted? scenes, it’s analyzing your input and building a document, which They cross most fields that in any way might use computation. it then turns into HTML and puts back up on the Web. That’s There are ones you expect, like mathematics, and then there are pretty close to a process where you type in language, human other topics like physical and life sciences, economics, engineering language, and you end up with an application built. and creative arts. How do knowledge engines change the role of a technical librarian? Does the fact that we’ve encoded expertise in many fields mean that experts are redundant? My answer is no, quite the opposite. By encoding their expertise, they can have it much more used, making their role more important. Likewise, the skills that librarians have are extremely important in this new world; they’re just slightly differently deployed, informing the systems that are built. I think in the end one of the big problems in the modern world is that there’s too much data out there. The way around that is to have computers sift it appropriately, and to do that, the information has to be in a usable form. That’s a dead-center librarian kind of problem. The person in charge of all the curation and set up of Wolfram|Alpha is a librarian. What are you predicting for the future of static content, such as traditional textbooks and journals? Regarding more technical subjects, they have to evolve. I was at the Royal Society in London, where the first scientific journal was published some 350 years ago in Newton’s time. The content of journals hasn’t changed much since then. There were all "Galileo's Experiment at the Leaning Tower of Pisa" from The Wolfram Demonstrations Project, kinds of constraints then about how difficult it was contributed by Enrique Zeleny. to publish, and interactivity was impossible, but those limitations just aren’t there anymore. Why are we still What is the benefit of using a demonstration? accepting this dead output? From the user’s perspective, I think you understand more about a subject if you can drive. Taking control of the route through Publishers come from a world of documents, while software which you explore an idea and the questions you ask of a model developers come from a world of apps. At Wolfram Research, is a very powerful methodology in learning. Authors set up we believe they are two sides of the same coin. What we’ve workspaces for their readers, and readers will interact with those been doing over the years, and we’ll continue to do, is to put workspaces in ways that authors may not have envisaged. The those two together. LC greater bandwidth of communication means you can pack more http://demonstrations.wolfram.com information in a compelling form into a smaller space. www.wolframalpha.com
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FEATURES
Reimagining the journal article: The Article of the Future project
By IJsbrand Jan Aalbersberg, Content Innovation’s Article of the Future Feedback and rollout project explores how current technology Vice President Content Innovation, Elsevier, User feedback on the new format and can enable a scientific article with improved Amsterdam, The Netherlands functionality is encouraging. Users like usability. As a first outcome, life sciences the task-based view, with its quick access research articles within Cell Press have How many times have to figures, data and contexts; Research you read through a been redefined. lengthy article to find the kernel of information you needed? And then gone back to that article sometime in the future and had to repeat the IJsbrand Jan Aalbersberg process? Multiply your lost time by the 1.4 million articles (scientific journals alone) published per year and the millions of readers out there, and you have an excellent case for reimagining the journal article. First strides forward That doesn’t mean there haven’t been great leaps forward. With Internet technology, articles are available everywhere in the world, disseminated directly after publication, searchable via fulltext search, and deliverable in New article presentation within Cell Press. seconds. They can contain active reference links, supplementary data ■ Tabs allow the reader to enter the article Highlights, with their speedy insight; and files (be it a blessing or a curse), and in line with the task at hand, e.g., scan links to related information, which shorten inline videos. At an experimental level, the figures and data, focus on the time spent finding associated facts and experimental results, or skim the article semantic markup and interactive data information. They also appreciate seeing at a very high level. manipulation have been introduced. ■ A Graphical Abstract (in the life sciences a Graphical Abstract in those cases where the research can be effectively presented Despite these leaps in accessibility and domain) and short and pointed Research Highlights reduce the time required to in a single image. We are continuing to discoverability, the scientific article itself get an overview of essentials for quick improve the Graphical Abstract’s ability to has not changed much. digestion of the article. represent the research within the article. ■ It is still print-based (though we now ■ Supplementary data is integrated where call it a PDF). needed and only appears when the Feedback will help prioritize the rollout ■ It still requires linear reading. reader chooses to see it. of enhancements to Elsevier’s journals ■ It is still one-size-fits-all, irrespective Current technology not only allows and to ScienceDirect and SciVerse. This of the reader’s intended use. articles to be presented in such a new year most journals will incorporate Consequently, there is still room for and improved format, but also allows the Research Highlights and many will offer articles to be digested faster and information contained in articles to be the option of submitting a Graphical understood better. better linked and contextualized. Such Abstract. Enriched (contextual) linking has Improving the scientific article links can be to other articles (whether already been provided in many instances. referenced, cited-by or related), but they Different readers want different things As research continues on discipline-specific can also be connections to databases from an article, based on their task at hand tools and presentation formats to improve containing the original research data or research discipline — that’s the premise usability, the Article of the Future will be an or with properties of certain entities of Elsevier’s Content Innovation initiative. ever-changing target, evolving to meet the like proteins or chemical compounds — In some situations, scientists want to get needs of the user community. LC another element of the Content a high-level idea of the article’s content, Innovation initiative. [email protected] while at other times they might need details to replicate an experiment.
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FEATURES
Increasing the value of content through “crowdsourced” innovation
By Michelle Lee, Director of Product Management, Within this landscape, outsourcing innovation SciVerse Applications, Elsevier, New York, NY, USA and fostering partnerships with the user community have become more important. With new advances in technology, including ways to tag, In particular, the ability to access, remix store, link and manage content, librarians have been able and reuse scientific information is critical to take advantage of a more enriched search and discovery in an increasingly multidisciplinary and experience. Integrated and interoperable applications are now collaborative research environment. providing even greater opportunities to enhance solutions. Customizing the search and Michelle Lee In ScienceDirect today, users can view articles that leverage discovery experience information from Reaxys, Elsevier’s Web-based chemistry Applications will play an important role in enhancing the database, and NextBio, a life-science technology company. researcher’s experience within this new environment. Like The Reaxys interoperability (see article on page 7) allows academic publications, applications built upon publisher researchers to visualize key chemical compounds supplied by content and other sets of data can be submitted, reviewed the author. The NextBio application displays the most relevant and eventually “published” to the broader research community. protein, disease and compound terms within a ScienceDirect For example, a researcher may be interested in better article. Deeply integrated within the context of the content, understanding the relationships between the top cited authors both of these applications lead to further discoverability and for a particular set of search results. A developer may create insights, and offer glimpses of the upcoming SciVerse an application that can analyze the user’s search result set Applications' value to researchers. and provide an author citation map that exposes the relationships between various authors. This example is not a hypothetical use case, but a tool the research community has already built (Tsinghua University’s Arnetminer application: www.arnetminer.org).
Elsevier has embarked on a multiphased strategy toward providing these types of integrated and interoperable solutions. Launched in August, SciVerse is an innovative platform that integrates ScienceDirect, Scopus and the new SciVerse Hub Beta. Its second phase will include the release of SciVerse Applications Beta to a select group of institutions. SciVerse Applications will allow developers to create applications that can be integrated within ScienceDirect, Scopus and SciVerse Hub. Researchers and administrators will be able to choose from a gallery of applications developed by the research community, empowering them Article exhibiting NextBio application. to customize their experience. Developers will have access to documentation, support and content/data APIs to develop applications. These Too much of a good thing applications will be reviewed within Elsevier and placed in the In his article “Data Is at the Heart of New Science Ecosystem” gallery to receive further feedback from the over 15 million (Sidi, 2010), Elsevier’s Rafael Sidi explores the tremendous researchers who access SciVerse’s products. expansion of datasets and information resources, largely disconnected. This data proliferation is making search and Springboards for collaboration discovery increasingly inefficient and time consuming, which Platforms like SciVerse can serve as springboards for further siphons scientists’ research hours. It forces them to reinvent the collaboration and innovation. Research groups that require wheel, Sidi states, instead of building on existing knowledge. assistance in developing a particular application will have access to a pool of developers. Resource users, like libraries, will also benefit by increasing the value and scope of their tools and providing new solutions to their constituents. >> page 5
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FEATURES
Panoramas and perspectives: Anita de Waard on “The Changing Face of Content”
With a title like director of disruptive “People are realizing that a scientific text Her technology technologies, we can expect that Anita de is not something you can plunk into a advocacy does not Waard is interested in change, and big database because it is really, first and preclude a reverence change at that. “A disruptive technology foremost, a narrative — a story. for what’s gone before. is not incremental,” says De Waard. “It A self-proclaimed changes the rules of the game.” lover of libraries, “A disruptive technology De Waard recalls At Elsevier Labs, she focuses on conceptual Anita de Waard sitting on the heater product development or ways to better is not incremental,” says at Leiden University, reading from the access the knowledge within Elsevier’s De Waard. “It changes personal collection of physicist Paul products. An early advocate of metadata, Ehrenfest; many of the books were De Waard put that knowledge to work on the rules of the game.” gifts from other luminaries like Albert products such as xPharm, a workflow Einstein and Niels Bohr, complete with solution with four distinct sections, all Fundamentally, a scientific paper is a story handwritten notes. searchable and highly interlinked. that aims to persuade the reader, using “It was amazing to actually see, and be “There are many ways to mark up data, of the validity of its claims.” She has able to touch, Einstein’s handwriting,” knowledge,” says De Waard. “The seen that realization increase in circles of says De Waard. It connected her to the question is what markup really helps the people who develop search engines and human aspect of science — done by scientist, and how can we integrate with text mining and entity identification tools. people, in language — in a way that was the scientific workflow across a broad The issues around integrating technology really moving. “Hopefully, technology spectrum of research. This is not a and language converge within computational allows us to maintain that personal question of technology; rather a social linguistics. “The technology is not the note but makes it easier to access the change is required.” problem; it’s more the transfer of knowledge knowledge within the content.” LC She believes this type of social change and insight from areas like linguistics, [email protected] where there’s a very sophisticated idea of could create a better recording of the http://labs.elsevier.com investigative process while it’s happening, how our language works, to so-called satisfying stakeholders, and in the end, harder sciences.” With a background in creating better papers. But she also physics and linguistics, De Waard is well envisions a leap forward from discovery situated to make such claims. to understanding.
<< page 4 With its launch, SciVerse featured three applications from NextBio in SciVerse Hub. ■ The Methods Section Search application allows researchers to find relevant methods and experimental procedures by searching only those sections within the fulltext article. ■ The Matching Sentences application reveals context by listing search terms within their original, complete sentences. ■ The Prolific Authors application ranks the most published authors within a set of search results. For publishers to better serve our customers, we must further encourage partnerships with the scientific community. SciVerse Applications and the SciVerse platform are a major step in that direction. LC [email protected] www.info.sciverse.com/sciverse-applications
NextBio applications in SciVerse Hub. Reference Sidi, R. (February/March 2010). Data is at the heart of new science ecosystem. Research Information. www.researchinformation.info
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BEHIND THE SCENES
Five questions with Wayne Shebilske of Wright State University’s Learning with Disability PhD program What is the mandate of the Learning with Disability (LwD) program? 1 The LwD program conducts interdisciplinary research, training and service programs that enhance formal education and lifelong learning for people with physical and learning disabilities. One overarching goal is to increase the number of persons with Wayne Shebilske disabilities in postsecondary science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) programs and, ultimately, within careers in those same disciplines.
Are persons with disabilities currently underrepresented in those fields? 2 The number of college students with disabilities enrolled in STEM disciplines is unknown because students are not required to disclose this information. However, their underrepresentation is suggested by the fact that between 2000 and 2004, the number of college students with disabilities receiving doctorate degrees dropped by 13 percent while the total number of college students with disabilities increased by 28 percent. A major reason for the underrepresentation is poor access to scientific laboratories and data.
Can you tell our readers about the research going on in your laboratory? 3 We’re studying how people with disabilities interact with computer-based technology so we can design tools to help them overcome barriers to learning. For example, our Usability Proficiency Assessment Tool tests the user’s ability to navigate a website’s tables, headings, forms, images and links via a screen reader. We’ve found that learning with screen magnifiers or poor screen readers is like learning through a soda straw. Students recognize details better than the relationships among the details. Often, persons using these assistive technologies are frustrated because they are slower to get the information they need online or to accomplish a task like registering for classes.
What new tools or processes have ameliorated or solved some of these issues? 4 Better screen readers such as JAWS (Job Access With Speech) enable students to see the big picture by actively searching for Headings, Links and Keywords. However, frustrations and slowness remain, so we are trying to improve these tools. Anyone interested in keeping abreast What’s next on the horizon? 5 of our lab’s developments can e-mail Part of our lab’s mission is to train and mentor graduate students so there’s always new research underway. [email protected] and Currently, two of our PhD students are working on developing tools to assist individuals using JAWS screen visit www.wright.edu/lwd. readers, and a master’s student is providing guidelines for choosing assistive technologies for computer interfaces. LC
Elsevier wins the first-ever JISC TechDis Publisher Lookup Award for Accessibility At the 2010 London Book Fair, JISC TechDis “Judges were impressed by Elsevier’s their embedded accessibility strategy,” said awarded Elsevier the first-ever JISC TechDis Alistair McNaught, a senior advisor at JISC Publisher Lookup Award for Accessibility. JISC response rates to customer inquiries and TechDis who helped found the award. TechDis created the award to recognize publishers their embedded accessibility strategy.” McNaught continued, “Accessibility is a cross- that excel in changing and adapting business management responsibility at Elsevier and processes to meet customers’ accessibility needs. Both Dolphin and evidently part of the organizational culture. Focusing on accessibility iansyst Ltd, organizations promoting independence among people benefits everyone and now, thanks to the awards, we’ve created a kind of with disabilities, sponsored the awards. community of practice where publishers are learning from each other.”
(L-R) Mark Bide, Executive Director, JISC TechDis is the United Kingdom’s leading advisory service on EDItEUR; Sarah Dyson, Corporate inclusion. It supports the education sector in achieving greater Responsibility Coordinator, Reed accessibility by stimulating innovation and providing expert advice Elsevier; Noel Duffy, Managing and guidance on disability and technology. Based at the Higher Director, Dolphin; Ian Litterick, Education Academy in York, JISC TechDis promotes, within educational Executive Chairman, iansyst Ltd. institutions, a culture of inclusive practice through engagement with senior managers and specialist staff. LC “Elsevier was selected from a really strong field of candidates. Judges www.techdis.ac.uk were impressed by Elsevier’s response rates to customer inquiries and
Cultivating a culture of accessibility: Elsevier’s efforts start on the inside By Andrea Kravetz, Vice President, “The ongoing initiatives of our working group The working group has presented over a demonstrate that we believe everyone dozen educational webinars on topics ranging User-Centered Design, Elsevier, Cincinnati, OH, USA should have equal access to from Accessibility 101 to Wright State our products and information, University’s cutting-edge research on brain- At Elsevier, the Accessibility Working Group regardless of disability or computer interfaces. The true stars of the educates our team members on different other limitation,” says Ted Gies, webinar program are the brilliant guest accessibility topics, promotes accessible product the senior user-experience speakers, like Richard Lane, Web editor of The development, and formulates the accessibility specialist who chairs the Lancet. He gave a memorable presentation on strategy. In 2009, the working group tracked working group. the perspective of a technically savvy IT staff over 40 core accomplishments. member who happens to be blind. Andrea Kravetz >> page 7
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BEHIND THE SCENES
ScienceDirect journal content and Reaxys® are now interoperable, improving research productivity Starting with two Elsevier chemistry journals, authors can now submit structure (MOL) files of key compounds alongside their articles to be published on ScienceDirect.
Elsevier will use these structure files to add compound identifiers — International Chemical Identifier (InChI) keys — to accompanying articles. As a result, articles and their key compounds will be more discoverable on ScienceDirect and through mainstream search engines like Google. In addition, these structure files will be used to create scrollable lists of the key compounds cited in the articles.
The new interoperability between ScienceDirect and Reaxys allows researchers to go beyond the content of an article on ScienceDirect and view chemical compounds in a much broader scope. Creating substructure searches in Reaxys directly from within a ScienceDirect article is also easier.
Future plans include expanding the interoperability of ScienceDirect content and Reaxys to additional chemistry journals. LC www.reaxys.com www.sciencedirect.com This screenshot indicates where to find Reaxys links in www.info.sciverse.com/sciencedirect/using/searching-linking/reaxys chemistry journal content at www.sciencedirect.com.
Recognizing tomorrow’s chemists today: recommendation from his or her academic supervisor, and the applicant’s curriculum vitae.
Announcing the inaugural Reaxys PhD Prize winners More than 50 leading chemists reviewed the Selected from an international field of more than entries. Dr. Petr Kocis, Professor Horst Kunz 300 entries, the winners of the 2010 Reaxys PhD and Professor Henry N.C. Wong, members of Prize are: the Reaxys Advisory Board who served as ■ Thomas Maimone, PhD, Massachusetts Institute regional coordinators for the prize, made the of Technology final selection of winners and runners-up. ■ Hiroyuki Miyamura, PhD, University of Tokyo ■ Robert Phipps, PhD, University of Cambridge The Reaxys PhD Prize Symposium was held The Prize — for chemistry researchers studying at the 3rd EuCheMS Chemistry Congress in for a PhD or having completed a PhD within the Nürnberg, Germany, in August. Each of the previous year — recognizes excellence in organic, three winners presented a paper on his organometallic or inorganic chemistry research. In (L-R) 2010 Reaxys PhD Prize winners Robert Phipps, research, and all attending finalists participated addition, 42 researchers affiliated with institutions Hiroyuki Miyamura and Thomas Maimone. in a poster session and reception hosted by located around the globe were selected as runners-up. Elsevier Properties SA.
“We were delighted with the breadth and quality of the entries. All of The prize celebrates the creativity, quality of research and scientific the finalists should feel extremely proud of their achievements. In its rigor of extraordinary young chemists. These qualities lie at the inaugural year the Reaxys PhD Prize has really reached out to some heart of Reaxys. Its design and content selection, based on a of the best young scientists from some of the leading chemistry thorough understanding of chemists’ needs, enhances chemists’ departments in the world,” said Dr. David Evans, Scientific Affairs research workflows and supports their innovation. Director for Elsevier Properties SA, which sponsored the prize. For more on the 2010 prize winners and submission deadlines and Each submission included a peer-reviewed published paper criteria for the 2011 Prize (available soon), visit prize.reaxys.com. LC presenting findings from the applicant’s research, a letter of http://prize.reaxys.com www.reaxys.com/info
<< page 6 Five core areas regularly cultivate accessibility 5. Sales teams communicate product The Digital Archive, which helps university at Elsevier. accessibility to customers and are aware disability offices get the electronic book 1. The User Centered Design Group identifies of the requirements of various markets, such as government. files needed by students with disabilities, is best practices and leads product audits another success story. “In 2009, we turned and research across the organization. The topic of accessibility will gain even more around over 2,000 book file requests — 97 2. Corporate responsibility (CR) reports accessi- momentum in the coming year with upcoming percent the same day,” says Tripp Narup, bility work across the company through pre- revisions to both the U.S. Americans with an expert in print accessibility who sentations to the CR Forum and RE Board, Disabilities Act (ADA) and the U.S. Section and externally through the CR Report. manages the archive. Elsevier was also 508 Guidelines. LC instrumental in helping to develop the 3. The Strategy Group promotes accessibility [email protected] through the Universal Access department. AccessText.org platform, which helps to [email protected] streamline the book request process 4. Product managers include accessibility [email protected] between publishers and universities. requirements in new and existing online products. www.accesstext.org November 2010 Library Connect newsletter 7 | 109394_v 11/11/10 11:23 AM Page 8
COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS
Tackling HIV/AIDS: Developing a health information library network in Cameroon Library Connect interviewed Odile Ouwe Missi Oukem, PhD, and Appolinaire Djikeng, PhD, about their project to develop a health information library network in Cameroon. Odile is located at the project’s hub, the Chantal Biya International Reference Centre for Research on HIV/AIDS Prevention and Management (CIRCB) in Yaoundé-Messa, Cameroon. Appolinaire is located at the BecA-ILRI Hub in Nairobi, Kenya.
Library Connect: Why did you respond to the Elsevier Foundation for efficient and early reporting of new and unknown infections, Program for Innovative Libraries in Developing Countries? known and reemerging infections, drug-resistant strains of Odile Ouwe Missi Oukem and known and usually treatable infections, etc. Appolinaire Djikeng: When we saw the How did you go about achieving this goal? RFP, we were already involved in various We took advantage of a network of collaborating institutions for activities focusing on HIV/AIDS and other research and control of HIV/AIDS to establish a library information infectious diseases. We had identified system in selected public and private health institutions in gaps and weaknesses in information Cameroon (nodes) and linked them to CIRCB (the hub). (L-R) Appolinaire Djikeng and sharing and Odile Ouwe Missi Oukem dissemination What success have you seen to date? from ongoing projects, which could Rural health facilities now receive be overcome by putting in place a HIV patients’ results as soon as they health information network. Our are available at the central testing proposal, “Building on an Operational lab (CIRCB). This is particularly Health Network to Develop a Health beneficial to infants born of Information Library Network in HIV-positive mothers because Cameroon,” addressed these gaps. early diagnosis guarantees early treatment, which may prolong and What makes this project different improve their lives. from other efforts to improve healthcare in Cameroon? Health information, such as the Like in many other countries, the latest information related to HIV/AIDS relationship between the Ministry treatment, Ministry of Health of Health and the peripheral hospitals decisions, information on national is weak, but to our knowledge, and international conferences on information and communications infectious diseases, debates technology has rarely been used to www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzukPA2cL6M occurring through electronic forum address this weakness. Investment Watch a short video on the project at the District Hospital of Obala and training opportunities, are being (Centre region). The Elsevier Foundation produced the video in is more likely to be with basic or disseminated to healthcare workers. collaboration with the investigators and Africa Interactive, an online As a result, one technician based in sophisticated medical equipment media company with 1,500 local reporters in 48 African countries. rather than communication and one node of the network (in the far documentation infrastructures. North region) has been selected to Although this is a pilot project with few sites constituting the attend the 2010 session of a postgraduate training in biological network, this initiative attempts for the first time to bridge this retrovirology in Dakar. In addition, relationships between the gap by linking remote health facilities, thereby reducing the rural health facilities and the reference laboratory located in digital divide. Yaoundé, the capital city of Cameroon, are stronger. When did you begin? What are your next steps? The proposal was selected for funding in January 2009, and we We will finalize the digitization of the HIV bibliography in began in March 2009 when the funds were transferred to CIRCB. Cameroon to make it accessible to remote health facilities, and we’ll continue to use the communication infrastructure What was your goal? to maintain regular interactions with the rural health facilities. In Cameroon and in most sub-Saharan African countries, Depending on need, we will propose personalized activities, healthcare professionals still suffer from the digital divide. It including training on basic software (e.g., Word, Excel, was clear to us that reducing this divide could improve their PowerPoint). Finally, we would like to extend this project to access to up-to-date biomedical information relevant to their as many health facilities as possible to really see an impact efforts in controlling several infectious diseases — such as at the country level. For this step, we will require funding for HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria — with a devastating a second phase. LC impact on public health. In addition, they could access tools to [email protected] accelerate the transmission and documentation of biomedical information in the context of control (diagnosis, treatment and [email protected] vaccination) of diseases. Furthermore, using informatics tools www.circb.com to manage and control infectious diseases would set the stage www.elsevierfoundation.org
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COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS
Broadening our reach: By training trainers, the E-library Training Initiative expands use of HINARI resources A partnership between the World Health Organization and major scientific/ technical/medical publishers like Elsevier, HINARI, the Access to Research in Health By Lenny Rhine, PhD, Coordinator, E-library Training Initiative Programme, enables institutions in developing countries to access more than 7,000 Medical Library Association (USA)/Librarians Without Borders® biomedical and health journals. Thousands of health workers and researchers benefit from this access and, in turn, contribute to improved world health. Since 2005, I’ve been part of a team that Information Literacy, Authorship Skills, Millennium Development Goals for 2015, trains individuals in developing countries Evidence-based Resources for HINARI Users, specifically #8: Develop a Global Partnership to use the online health resources available and E-book Resources for HINARI Users. for Development/Target 5: In cooperation through HINARI. For the past four years with the private sector, make available (with renewal into 2011), the Elsevier benefits of new technologies, especially Foundation has funded the E-library information and communications. R4L is Training Initiative, which conducts training a tangible program that meets this goal. workshops for information professionals, The consultants noted the dedication of the physicians, lecturers, researchers and staff with finite resources and the high level students and develops training modules of cooperation among the UN agencies. and distance-learning courses. The reviews also acknowledged known problems, such as electricity, bandwidth and In most countries, there is an increase in Lenny Rhine (back row, center) with participants hardware issues. There was confirmation usage after a countrywide HINARI workshop. who successfully completed HINARI training in that the “awareness rate” of HINARI is The number of registered institutions and Stone Town, Zanzibar. not sufficient, as it averaged 25 percent volume of logins have increased regularly Ongoing challenges in a 12-country study. during the past four years, but this initiative requires an ongoing commitment. The biggest challenge still is the cost of and Regarding the workshops and training access to the Internet. The second broad material, the LWB® project and other trainers Advances made issue is the need to change the information will develop strategies to help promote the Within host countries, bandwidth and culture. We need to focus our efforts on R4L programs and use of the numerous hardware, as well as the baseline skills of developing advocates for the value and use training modules. With new customer- participants, are improving. At the last four of Internet-based information and continually relationship management software, we workshops I taught in Moldova, Jamaica, update our contacts. As individuals leave will be able to disseminate this material Papua New Guinea and Nepal, the venues the institution, sometimes the HINARI to the participants. connection details leave as well, and use had reasonably new workstations, plus, New training options individuals brought laptops. Several cables decreases. It’s vital that we keep that pipeline Via the MLA Moodle server linking West and East Africa to Europe, the of advocates filled. (mla.mrooms.org), we have launched two Middle East and Asia have been completed. Lastly, we need to develop better distance-learning courses: the HINARI Train As the cables are linked within sub-Saharan mechanisms for disseminating information the Trainers Course and the HINARI Short African countries, the bandwidth will about the training material. Currently, Course. The first course is geared toward increase and the costs should decrease. there is no way to reliably contact all individuals from industrialized countries institutional representatives. In the past three years, librarians and who have links with HINARI-eligible researchers in developing countries A systematic review institutions. The second course contains demonstrate better Internet, search and the basics needed to effectively use the The Research4Life (R4L) programs, which HINARI resources and focuses on users. information skills. To accommodate user include HINARI, underwent a systematic needs, our training material has grown with review by consultants that was reported at We expect that the online short course will modules on publishing and underutilized the 2010 Partner Publishers’ Meeting. For be a valuable tool for training those who HINARI resources. The new modules include HINARI, the evaluation is tied to the UN’s have not been able to attend workshops. Consequently, we are planning to In Tribute: Vimbai M. Hungwe translate this module starting with Born in Zimbabwe, Vimbai was a Senior Programme Officer for the Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic and Nepali. Information Training and Outreach Centre for Africa at the time of his passing These courses and the other efforts in South Africa. Vimbai spearheaded the Research4Life programs training throughout Africa, helping researchers, faculty, clinicians, doctors and described above should further our many others to build much needed information-literacy skills. He served as attempts to broaden access to president of the Association of Health Information and Libraries in Africa since much-needed information in the 2007 and advocated for the mainstreaming and use of electronic information Vimbai M. Hungwe developing world. LC (11-09-1971 to resources at African academic and research institutions. His dedication and [email protected] commitment to the information fraternity in Africa will be missed. 06-06-2010) https://www.mlanet.org/ “What I remember about Vimbai was his energy, enthusiasm and inclusiveness as a teacher, resources/global plus his ability to also have fun. Watching the World Cup or cricket with him was a real joy.” — Lenny Rhine November 2010 Library Connect newsletter 9 | 109394_v 11/11/10 11:23 AM Page 10
ON THE ROAD
Librarians focus on internal Evaluating research performance, and external strategies management strategies and for library promotion policymaking in Chile
By Yuki Tsuneyoshi, Account Development Manager, By Ana Luisa Maia, Customer Development Manager-Latin America, Elsevier, Tokyo, Japan Elsevier, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
This summer, the Asia Pacific Library Connect program sponsored Zuzana With the support of Chile’s Helinsky’s “Library Marketing” workshops in Hanoi, Manila, Seoul, Tokyo National Commission for and Osaka. More than 180 participants attended the workshops, which Scientific and Technological covered marketing strategy, including internal and external marketing. Research (CONICYT), Elsevier hosted a Research Connect Helinsky, author of the event in Santiago on Aug. 19. book A Short-cut to More than 60 academic Marketing the Library, directors of research, used tools like the members of the research Boston Matrix to help community, and CONICYT attendees pinpoint representatives gathered product and service to discuss “Scientific stars, milk cows and Research and Information: Mauricio Escuday speaks at Elsevier’s those with low returns Tendencies and Perspectives.” Research Connect event in Chile on Aug. 19. on investment. Presentations and speakers included: Participant feedback ■ Online Scientific Information and Access to the Grant Process Zuzana Helinsky presents “Library Marketing” in Osaka. was extremely positive: — Eduardo Mogrovejo, Elsevier Account Manager-Chile ■ “It was great. I'd like to use what I learned here for my work ■ Public Policies and Access to Scientific Information — Patricia from tomorrow.” Kengo Yamada, Librarian, Hosei University Muñoz, Director of CONICYT Scientific Information Program ■ “It was easy to understand, and I was able to enjoy learning and ■ Chilean Universities, Research and Postgraduation Program thinking. It was good to communicate with other librarians and Analysis — Mauricio Escuday, Vice Chancellor of Research had group presentations as well as lectures. I'd like to share what and Development, Universidad de Santiago de Chile I learned here with other librarians and actually take actions.” ■ Science Measurement and Performance Evaluation: Naoyo Shimazaki, Librarian, Showa Women's University Challenges in the Constantly Changing World Scenario — ■ “I was able to learn not only external marketing but also Ana Heredia, Elsevier Research Advisor-Latin America the importance of ‘internal marketing’ very well. I'll give it ■ Innovation, Science and Technology Challenges Within the a try from 5m in radius first!” Minoru Tanabe, Librarian, Chilean Economy and How to Build Membership in the Keio University Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development If you’d like to read Ms. Helinsky’s insights on her trip to Asia, (OECD) — José Antonio Ardavín, OECD Director for visit http://bit.ly/cj79pZ. LC Latin America [email protected] The breadth of speakers and agencies represented provided http://japan.elsevier.com/news/events/lc2010 attendees with new insight into Chile’s current research landscape http://asia.elsevier.com/LC2010SEA and its vision for the future. LC http://korea.elsevier.com/events [email protected]
Accepting the Semantic Web Challenge: Software developers compete to The key goal of the billion triple track is to By Sweitze Roffel, Publisher, For the open track, the “meaning” of the demonstrate how semantic technologies Science & Technology, Elsevier, data must play a pivotal role in the app’s functionality. The focus is on manipulating, can interact and reason with very large and Amsterdam, The Netherlands processing and visualizing the very diverse messy datasets in real time. All competing The annual Semantic Web Challenge (in terms of ownership, control, syntax, apps must use at least the first billion triples encourages academic software developers format, structure and semantics) information from data provided by the organizers. to adopt Semantic Web practices. Awards commonly found on the open Web. The A jury of Semantic Web experts selects the are presented to workable end-user app must use this information in ways winners; each winner receives an award from applications in two tracks — open, and that cannot be achieved using traditional the Challenge’s sponsor, Elsevier. Winning billion triples — at the International (nonsemantic) Web technologies. Bonus apps have been as diverse as the Web itself, Semantic Web Conference (ISWC). points are awarded based on criteria such from apps to improve clinical trials to cultural as usefulness, novelty, scalability, solidity, search engines that access artworks from accuracy and commercial potential.
10 www.elsevier.com/libraryconnect | http://libraryconnect.blogspot.com | http://twitter.com/library_connect 109394_v 11/11/10 11:23 AM Page 11
ON THE ROAD
Researchers and students on A week of Library Connect events Chinese campuses this summer in South Africa culminates in a engaged in “Happy Reading” celebration of young scientists
By Xiaoling Kang, Account Development Manager, Noelle Gracy, Customer Development Manager, Elsevier, Beijing, China Elsevier, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Database usage decreases On Sept. 1, Elsevier and the National Research Foundation (NRF) over the summer holidays, of South Africa presented the 2nd annual Elsevier Young Scientist and libraries rarely sponsor Award in Maropeng, South Africa. The committee used Scopus promotional activities data to evaluate the international impact of candidates and awarded during this downtime. Professor De Wet Swanepoel and Dr. Gina Ziervogel with the However, librarians prestigious prize. recognized that there are “I learned a great deal about how things work in South Africa,” students and researchers said Baker Evans, Vice President of Business Development, Elsevier. who choose to stay on “Perhaps what was most telling to me was the ambition South campus during the holidays. Africa has related to its research growth. The Vision 2015 outlined Partnering with Elsevier, by the NRF and the way the individual institutions are trying to more than 30 libraries outperform one another are a testament to the countrywide belief across China put in place that they can and will grow.” a series of ScienceDirect The Young Scientist Award promotions from mid- crowned a busy week of July to early September Library Connect seminars to help these database in Cape Town and Pretoria, users make the most of as well as search strategy, their time. “Happy career and author workshops Reading in Summer at Stellenbosch, Western Holidays” included: Cape, Zululand and Free ■ Article and journal recommendations from Elsevier, including State universities. More top downloads on ScienceDirect, and articles from Nobel Laureates and China Scopus Young Researcher Award winners than 130 librarians attended ■ Online ScienceDirect trainings targeting different levels the Library Connect events, which combined talks from ■ Researcher and student article recommendations with (L-R) Baker Evans and NRF President consortia representatives and accompanying comments or an article review and CEO Dr. Albert van Jaarsveld present Elsevier staff with informal the 2010 Elsevier Young Scientist Award to “Happy Reading” was promoted via links on library home pages sessions on ebooks and De Wet Swanepoel. and on ScienceDirect, and e-mail to all student/researcher contacts. mobile applications. More than 600 participants submitted their feedback or recommended their favorite articles, and 657 people attended the online training. “Thank you for arranging such an informative event. It is much appreciated,” said Rejaene van Dyk, Agricultural Research Council. LC For students and researchers at Chinese libraries over the holidays, [email protected] a summer read this year had a whole new meaning. LC [email protected] http://china.elsevier.com/sdsummer make data more meaningful several museum collections. Nicola Henze, a 2005 What is the third-place winner, continued to work on her Personal Semantic Web? Publication Reader (PPR) after the contest and now The World Wide Web offers it online. Consortium’s “Semantic Web” “This year we are particularly encouraging entries refers to a vision of linked data involving Human Language Technologies, which that have been enriched with showcase their now widespread use within real Semantic additional meaning. On a Web applications,” says Diana Maynard, University of Semantic Web, computers will Sheffield, who is chairing the 2010 Challenge along with be better able to search, process, (L-R) Peter Mika, co-chair of last year's Challenge; Christian Bizer, Freie Universität Berlin. Winners will be integrate and present content in Dr. Karthik Gomadam, one of last year’s winners in announced in November at ISWC 2010 in Shanghai. LC a meaningful, intelligent manner. the Open Track of the Semantic Web Challenge; [email protected] and Christian Bizer. http://challenge.semanticweb.org www.elsevier.com/computerscience November 2010 Library Connect newsletter 11 | 109394_v 11/11/10 11:23 AM Page 12
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STAYING CONNECTED New iPhone app Top Doc helps doctors Elsevier offers free access to in training improve their game online references for Expert Consult titles Medical librarians take note: Medical Recently, extensive reference lists (often numbering in the students, residents and junior faculty thousands) at the end of chapters in select medical reference looking to hone their diagnostic skills titles were removed from printed versions. Instead, they are can now turn to Top Doc, an iPhone being provided online only on Elsevier’s Expert Consult website, medical quiz application. More than addressing customer feedback to: 600 questions — accompanied by clinical ■ Make resources shorter, lighter, and hence more portable photographs depicting a physical sign or ■ Save paper and become more eco-friendly symptom — challenge players to make a ■ Link online references directly to MEDLINE correct diagnosis as quickly as possible. In response to requests for full access to references for library Questions range from novice to expert, adjusting to and other institutional users, in mid-October 2010 Elsevier each player’s knowledge level as they navigate through made all references for Expert Consult titles freely available multiple levels of difficulty and all body regions to become online — no purchase, no registration, no login — just select a the Top Doc. A review version also allows users to study the book and go! content in a noncompetitive flashcard format.
To access references, go to www.expertconsult.com, locate the Developed by Elsevier and video game designer Legacy book from the list of Available Titles, click on the Preview button Interactive, Top Doc is available for purchase in the iTunes App to access the desired title, and use the Table of Contents to store. Librarians interested in institution-wide access to Top Doc navigate to and view the References at the end of each chapter. LC can contact James Merritt ([email protected]). LC www.expertconsult.com www.topdocgame.com
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Library Connect Editorial Team Alison Bert, Executive Editor, Global Communications, New York, NY, USA; Alicia Burns, Solutions Marketing Manager, A&G Products Group, New York, NY, USA; Kira Cooper, Engagement Director, Elsevier, San Diego, CA, USA; Karen Hunter, Senior Vice President, New York, NY, USA; Iris Kisjes, Senior Communications Manager, A&G Products Group, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Daviess Menefee, Global Director for Institutional Relations, New York, NY, USA; Jason Miller, Executive Publisher, Health Sciences, New York, NY, USA; Carla Pieroni, Customer Development Director-North America, New York, NY, USA; Ylann Schemm, Corporate Relations Manager, Corporate Relations, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Ingrid van de Stadt, Regional Customer Development Manager EMEA, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Vicki Wetherell, Publishing Editor, Oxford, UK; Mary Ann Zimmerman, Associate Developmental Editor, Nursing Books, Philadelphia, PA, USA; Managing Editor: Colleen DeLory, Customer Communications & Engagement Manager, San Diego, CA, USA www.elsevier.com/libraryconnect | http://libraryconnect.blogspot.com | http://twitter.com/library_connect