National Research Council Canada
www.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca
Common menu bar links
Institutional links
-
Left-hand Menu
Summer 2007
VOLUME 23, NUMBER 1
In This Issue
- Pilot project to provide open access to NRC publications
- Have a great idea? Work it out at NRC-CISTI Lab
- NRC Research Press round up
- NRC-CISTI-UdeM feasibility project offers valuable insights
- Links+ extends your target reach
- New log-in pages
- Opening soon: the NRC-CISTI Online Standards Store
- And the award goes to...
- Go green, go electronic
- Short Takes
Pilot project to provide open access to NRC publications
One research organization, one gateway for information. This is the goal of a new pilot project to demonstrate the viability of an NRC Publications Archive. This archive would establish an NRC-wide approach to managing and providing seamless access to NRC's scientific contributions, which translate to about 3,700 papers each year from 20 NRC institutes and 5 technology centres.
Called NPArC (pronounced N-Park) for short, the two-year, NRC-CISTI-funded pilot will offer public access to NRC publications from seven NRC institutes. Open-access search engines like Google Scholar will also be able to access the publications.
The institutes participating in the project include the Institute for Research in Construction (IRC), the Institute for National Measurement Standards (INMS), the Institute for Information Technology (IIT) and the Institute for Aerospace Research (IAR), which have publications databases; and the Institute for Chemical Process and Environmental Technology (ICPET), the Integrated Manufacturing Technologies Institute (IMTI) and the Canadian Neutron Beam Centre (CNBC) of the Steacie Institute for Molecular Sciences (SIMS), which do not.
NRC-CISTI expects that this pilot will establish the importance of an institutional information repository in measuring NRC's performance at translating science and technology into value for Canada. In addition, the project will be a first step in making NRC's publications more accessible to the scientific community, as well as the general public.
For more information, contact Alison Ball at alison.ball@nrc-cnrc.gc.ca.
Have a great idea? Work it out at NRC-CISTI Lab
It's not a typical white-coat science laboratory, but it's definitely a place where ideas are tested and scientific research takes place. NRC-CISTI Lab is an experimental Web site for demonstrating and evaluating prototype software and services of next-generation digital library applications. As of July 2007, the site has been updated with new content, downloads and prototype demonstration applications, and it's ready for users.
"One of our objectives is to give NRC-CISTI customers a peek into potential future offerings developed by NRC-CISTI staff and research partners, including other NRC institutes, universities, libraries and the private sector," says NRC-CISTI Lab Manager André Vellino. "We want to obtain feedback from technology early adopters-both within and outside NRC-CISTI-about the value and usability of innovations such as visualization tools and software agents for information retrieval."
This feedback will enable the NRC-CISTI Lab developer community, including NRC-CISTI Research, to make improvements as early as possible in the innovation cycle. Early feedback is an important contributor to the success of advanced software technology. In its new form, NRC-CISTI Lab will also be used to disseminate best practices in digital library software architectures.
In addition, to bring even more ideas to fruition, NRC-CISTI Lab will make the tools and data at its disposal available to anyone who wishes to contribute to the innovation process. These include a significant collection of electronic documents, full-text indices and metadata about these documents, as well as a collection of software tools and APIs for building Web-based applications and services.
Collaborators can access the NRC-CISTI Lab site at lab.cisti-icist.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca. For more information, contact Andre Vellino at andre.vellino@nrc-cnrc.gc.ca.
NRC Research Press round up
Forget the lazy, hazy days of summer. For NRC Research Press (RP), June, July and August are a busy time. Here's just a brief list of what's been going on in RP lately:
- RP adds the Canadian Journal of Microbiology (1954-1997 inclusive) to the list of journals with back issues available online. This addition brings the total number of journals with back issues available online to 7 of RP's 16 journals (see sidebar). The regular price for each journal back file is CAN$2,000, but early bird and bundled discounts are available. Access is perpetual, and there are no annual maintenance fees.
- RP changes the name of the Canadian Journal of Botany to Botany, effective January 2008. This name change will solidify the journal's position as an international journal for plant biology. Published since 1929, this monthly journal features comprehensive research articles and notes in all areas of plant science. It also publishes commentary and review articles on topics of current interest, contributed by internationally recognized scientists.
- RP takes two environmental journals fully electronic, beginning in January 2008. Two "green journals," the Journal of Environmental Engineering and Science and Environmental Reviews will return to their environmental roots in 2008 by publishing exclusively on electronic media. To help with the transition, RP is offering a free electronic subscription to these journals for 2007. Contact RP for a no-obligation username/password. In 2008, clients will receive a 20 percent bundled discount when they subscribe to both journals.
For more information, contact Christine Midwinter at christine.midwinter@nrc-cnrc.gc.ca.
A wealth of information online
Back issues of the following NRC Research Press journals are available for one-time purchase.
- Canadian Journal of Chemistry (1951-1997)
- Canadian Journal of Forest Research (1971-1996)
- Canadian Geotechnical Journal (1964 -1995)
- Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering (1974 -1996)
- Canadian Journal of Botany (1951-1997)
- Canadian Journal of Physics (1951-1996)
- Canadian Journal of Microbiology (1954 -1997)
NRC-CISTI-UdeM feasibility project offers valuable insights
In January 2006, NRC-CISTI and Université de Montréal (UdeM) developed a joint project that marked a number of firsts and ultimately led to valuable insights for both organizations.
The project was undertaken to evaluate the feasibility of using Canada's scientific infostructure (Csi) to archive and provide access to an academic library's digital content. Csi is a collaborative effort to provide Canadians with seamless and permanent access to full-text digital content through a national information and infrastructure network.
For NRC-CISTI, this project was the first time it had explored a partnership with a Canadian university with respect to Csi and for UdeM, it was the first time that it had explored an archive solution for its electronic journals.
The project findings verified that Csi can be an archival solution for academic libraries, and identified the technology issues and potential solutions to using Csi as an archival platform for digital content. In addition, the project clarified misconceptions about perpetual access rights and archival rights.
For further information, contact Lucie Molgat at lucie.molgat@nrc-cnrc.gc.ca.
Links+ extends your target reach
When it comes to finding information in the new digital reality, the difficulty is location, location, location. Finding what you need is often frustrating, but Links+, the new system for linking out from NRC-CISTI Source, can help you locate and link to your desired target.
Links+ is an enhancement that is available on the NRC-CISTI Source search or alert result interface at no additional cost and replaces the e-journal and full-text links. Simply click the Links+ button for a menu that includes some or all of the following options, then select your choice:
- Link directly to the abstracts
- Order from NRC-CISTI Source
- View the full text of the article
- Search the NRC-CISTI Catalogue for NRC-CISTI holdings
- Search other Web search tools
- Save and format the article in the Citation Manager software program
- Get Help:
- Links+ FAQ
- Suggestions / Feedback
Because access to full-text resources is often restricted, Links+ can only lead you to resources. You may need to be recognized as a subscriber to gain access to a resource or full-text article.
Questions? Contact the NRC-CISTI Source team at source.cisti@nrc-cnrc.gc.ca.
New log-in pages
Once you're in, you're in. That's the idea behind changes to the log-in screens for NRC-CISTI Source, Interactive ordering, Order Tracker, Secure Desktop Delivery, and document pick-up. The changes will provide a single sign-on for a session, standardize the look of all log-in pages, and include system-wide messages such as holiday closure hours. Closing your browser or clicking a logout button will log you out of all services.
Part of a larger initiative to re-vamp NRC-CISTI's instant registration system, this project will make the log-in process simpler and easier for users, as well as more agile for future development.
NRC-CISTI staff will make every effort to minimize service disruptions as the screens are changed during the summer. Users with IP recognition won't be affected.
For more information, contact the NRC-CISTI Help Desk by e-mail at info.cisti@nrc-cnrc.gc.ca or telephone at 1-800-668-1222 (Canada & US) or 613-998-8544.
Opening soon: the NRC-CISTI Online Standards Store
Imagine the critical standards information you need at your fingertips any place, any time. This luxury of information will soon be available to NRC-CISTI Web site users through a direct link to Techstreet, a division of Thomson Scientific. The link will allow NRC-CISTI users the seamless ability to enter, search and buy full-text standards, specifications and codes online in hard copy or PDF format.
Techstreet's online database includes over 300,000 industry codes and standards aggregated from 350 of the world's leading standards developing organizations. This content serves the business, industry, government and academic markets, and covers a broad range of disciplines, including aerospace, information technology, manufacturing and pharmaceuticals.
NRC-CISTI expects this new service to be up and running in fall 2007. For more information, contact marketing.cisti@nrc-cnrc.gc.ca.
And the award goes to...
...NRC-CISTI's Beverly (Bev) Brown! Surrounded by enthusiastic applause, Bev accepted the prestigious Margaret Ridley Charlton Award for Outstanding Achievement at the annual conference of the Canadian Health Libraries Association (CHLA) at the end of May. The award recognized her exceptional contributions to CHLA and the broader health library and health sciences communities.
Described as a leader, communicator and facilitator, Bev was recognized for her long-standing support of the work of health librarians across Canada. As the Canadian DOCLINE Coordinator, Bev's success in implementing DOCLINE as a national resource sharing program continues to provide major benefits and efficiencies to the over 300 participating libraries.
As Secretary of the NRC-CISTI Committee on Health Sciences Information, Bev was instrumental in expanding NRC-CISTI's health sciences collection and in improving NRC-CISTI services to the health community. Bev also provided leadership and expertise to the National Network of Libraries for Health Task Force, a CHLA initiative to provide national access to essential health information and library resources.
Currently, Bev's leadership skills are being put to good use in her role as lead for both the NRC-CISTI e-repository and the Licensing Team for the Federal Science eLibrary initiative.
Go green, go electronic
Environmental changes don't have to be big and splashy to make a difference. NRC-CISTI News is encouraging readers to take a small step toward living a greener life by switching their subscription from paper to electronic.
It only takes one e-mail:
- Send a message to info.cisti@nrc-cnrc.gc.ca, with the following text in the body of your message: "Please replace my paper subscription with an electronic version." Be sure to include your subscription name and address. You will receive an e-version of the quarterly publication thereafter.
Questions? Contact Erika Rosenfeld at erika.rosenfeld@nrc-cnrc.gc.ca or 613-949-9689.
Short Takes
New Head of Communications at NRC-CISTI
NRC-CISTI is pleased to announce the appointment of Brigitte Smiley as NRC-CISTI's Head of Communications. Brigitte comes to NRC-CISTI from the Canadian Forces Personnel Support Agency (CFPSA), where she looked after many aspects of internal and external communications, including communications planning, exhibits, Web sites, and publications. She was also in charge of national advertising for base newspapers, Editor-in-chief of "Apropos," CFPSA's internal newsletter, and manager of the graphic design section. A magna cum laude graduate from the University of Ottawa in Communications, Brigitte has more than 20 years' experience in marketing and communications for both the public and private sectors.
Clarification: NRC-CISTI's Caps on Account service
The spring 2007 edition of NRC-CISTI News included an article on NRC-CISTI's new Caps on Account service, which requires some clarification. Caps on Account will enable you to set a limit on the number of orders that can be placed or the dollar amount that can be spent on orders received through the NRC-CISTI Catalogue. The Caps on Account service will also apply to NRC-CISTI Source orders; however, only on the number of orders, not the dollar amount as was reported in the spring edition.
NRC-CISTI expects this new service to be released by September 2007.
For more information on the service, contact a NRC-CISTI Client Service Representative at crs.cisti@nrc-cnrc.gc.ca.
Published quarterly by:
Canada Institute for Scientific and Technical Information
National Research Council Canada
Building M-55, Ottawa Canada K1A 0R6
Tel.: 613-998-2362
Fax: 613-952-9112
Email: info.cisti@nrc-cnrc.gc.ca
Web: http://cisti-icist.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca
Editor: Alison Cachia
Graphic Designer: Reprographic Services
ISSN 0715-8661
