The Encyclopedia of Life

With an impressive list of partners (Steering Committee and Advisory Board Members, Cornerstone Institutions, Libraries, Sponsors, and Contributors):

The Encyclopedia of Life is an ecosystem of websites that makes all key information about life on Earth accessible to anyone, anywhere in the world. Our goal is to create a constantly evolving encyclopedia that lives on the Internet, with contributions from scientists and amateurs alike. To transform the science of biology, and inspire a new generation of scientists, by aggregating all known data about every living species. And ultimately, to increase our collective understanding of life on Earth, and safeguard the richest possible spectrum of biodiversity.

Information Access Alliance Web Site

The web site of the Information Access Alliance (IAA) has been redesigned and updated. The new site now has a resource guide, a FAQs section, a news archive, and more details about the IAA.

The Information Access Alliance (IAA), established in 2003 by leading US national library organizations to address growing market dysfunctions in academic publishing markets, is particularly concerned about:

* insupportably high prices of journals and other serial publications, which leads to cancellation and reduced information availability;
* accelerating industry consolidation, which contributes to price increases and elevates barriers to market entry; and
* anti-competitive product bundling practices by an array of large publishers.

The new site is accessible at http://www.informationaccess.org

e-Science: Transformations in the Conduct of Scholarship

The current issue of the Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication includes several articles on the theme of "a revolutionary transformation of the scientific enterprise" involving the use of networks and high-speed computers for collaboration, data collection and analysis, archiving, electronic publishing, and other aspects of the scholarly and professional work.

No less than a revolutionary transformation of the scientific enterprise is claimed to be underway [says Blackwell, publisher of the journal]. A plethora of phrases have been coined to describe this transformation: e-Science, e-Social Science, e-Research, cyberscience, Internet-mediated research. Whatever the term, observers assert that the very essence of science is undergoing change, particularly through employment of electronic networks and high-speed computers. The everyday procedures and practices of traditional forms of science in which most scholars engage during their professional lives are being affected by features of e-Science. Although emphasis varies, most descriptions of e-Science involve the following aspects: internationally-oriented collaboration among researchers separated by distance and using high-speed computers and Internet-based tools for managing the research enterprise; for performing data collection, archiving and analysis; and for disseminating findings.

It is timely and appropriate to critically examine these developments from the perspective of the social sciences. This theme issue of the Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication (JCMC) consists of reflective and empirical articles that examine the basic principles and features of e-Science and analyze early initiatives emerging from this new approach to scientific investigation.

Topics covered in this issue include:

• Managing collaboration and communicating among researchers separated by distance
• Developing and using Internet-based tools for data collection, analysis and visualization of findings
• Archiving and providing access to data
• Publishing results in an electronic environment

This issue is free on Blackwell Synergy.

Ezra Pound Poetry Recordings on PennSound: Digital Archive

The Almanac, a weekly publication of the University of Pennsylvania, recently announced the availabilty of downloadable recordings of Erza Pound from PennSound. Based at the University of Pennsylvania, PennSound hosts, according to their site, the largest archive of digital poetry recordings -- all are accessible online. For links to more information about PennSound and the Pound recordings, see the Almanc article.

ERIC Microfiche Digitization Project

A news item on the ERIC (Education Research Information Center) web site provides an update on the program to digitize thousands of microfiche documents and make them open acess:

ERIC is undertaking an initiative to obtain permission from copyright holders to convert, archive, post, and disseminate an electronic copy of full-text microfiche documents indexed from 1966-1992. The digitization project includes about 340,000 documents currently available only in microfiche format due to the specific language of the permission forms and the technology available at the time of indexing. This initiative will continue until March 2009.

For faculty, perhaps the most important part of the announcement is the paragraph below which outlines the steps you can take to grant open access to publications you might have in this collection:

If you have contributed a document that is currently available only in microfiche, and would like to grant ERIC the right to disseminate your document(s), please complete the contact form below. NAPC will contact you about the document(s) you submitted and request approval (see sample authorization agreement) for each document. If you know someone who contributed a document in the timeframe1966-1992, please pass the word. ERIC appreciates your interest in, and support of, this initiative to more broadly disseminate the historical materials in the ERIC Collection.

SPARC Open Access Newsletter

Issue #109 of Peter Suber's SPARC Open Access Newsletter has just been published (May 2, 2007). It is accessible at http://www.earlham.edu/~peters/fos/newsletter/05-02-07.htm . Particularly interesting is the beginning article: "Trends favoring open access."

Open Access Textbooks

An editorial in The New York Times (1 May, 2007) critical of the high cost of college textbooks praises the system at Rice University where online access to at least some textbook material is free:

The State of Washington is looking out for students and their families by passing a law requiring textbook companies to disclose prices and other relevant information when they market books to college professors in the state. Lawmakers hope that professors who learn the costs upfront will opt for reasonably priced textbooks that cash-strapped students can afford.

This law, along with similar measures pending in several other states, is a response to intense lobbying by student groups, who have complained for years about the bankrupting cost of college textbooks. A 2005 study by the Government Accountability Office found that book costs had nearly tripled over some two decades, thanks in part to pricey but marginally useful CD-ROMs and instructional supplements, as well as the constant issuing of lucrative but little changed new editions — publishing’s version of planned obsolescence.

The law is an important first step. But to really drive down costs, colleges and universities around the country will need to embrace creative solutions, like the one on display at the online Connexions system at Rice University.

That content, already in use for several courses at Rice and at other colleges and universities, is generated by a consortium of writers. Online use is free. And a 300-page hardcover electrical-engineering textbook can be printed out for about $25 — roughly one-fifth the cost of a book from a conventional publisher. Other universities should follow Rice’s creative lead. Students can use all the help they can get.