4.3 Develop and Provide Discovery Tools and Services

Providing access to information alone is not sufficient to support world-class researchers, especially those engaged in cross-disciplinary research. To process and analyze larger amounts of information that will enable new discoveries in shorter time frames, Canadian researchers and innovators require knowledge discovery tools that find novel, interesting and useful patterns in data using techniques such as such as data and text mining, pattern recognition, machine learning, data visualization, optimization and high performance computing. CISTI has implemented a virtual demonstration and incubator platform, CISTI Lab, to enable collaborative development of knowledge discovery tools which will analyse and present information in new and innovative ways.

Discovery Tools and Services

Initiative	Description & Partners	Value	Status
Federal Science eLibrary	Purchasing consortium of Federal Science-based Departments and Agencies (SBDA) to expand access to more titles. Partners: EC, NRCan, HC, DFO, and AAFC.	Improved access for SBDAs, mitigate collection price increases, improve buying power.	Proof of concept testing.
PubMed Central Canada (PMC Canada	A mirror site for the US PubMed Central and an open access repository for federally-funded health research. Partners: Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), US National Institutes of Health (NIH)- NLM/NCBI.	Improved access to health information for all Canadians. Aligns with CISTI's mandate as National Science Library.	In negotiations.
Canadian Virtual Health Library	Gateway to web-based health information resources across Canada. Partner: National Network of Libraries for Health (NNLH) sponsored by the Canadian Health Libraries Association (CHLA).	Improved electronic access to health and evidence-based information for Canadian health practitioners.	In early stage of investigation for feasibility.
NRC Publications Archive	Internet access to NRC publications in linked CISTI and institute repositories. Partners: NRC Institutes.	Access to NRC research publications. Greater visibility of NRC research in Canada and around the world.	Funding for full implement-ation received.
Research Data Canada	Potential being explored. Working Group of representatives from research funding agencies, CARL, CNC/CODATA, researchers, federal library and other organizations.	Improved access to research data for Canadians.	Working group and task groups formed.