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Spring 2008
VOLUME 23, NUMBER 3
In This Issue
- Transcending boundaries to build national access
- Research Press Round Up
- Groundbreaking exhibit coming to NRC-CISTI
- NRC offers commercialization and technical transfer services: introducing Strategic Technical Information Analysis
- Competitive Technical Intelligence Success Stories
- SHORT TAKES
- Comings & Goings
Transcending boundaries to build national access
The transformation from a print to a digital environment offers the Canadian library and information services community both opportunities and challenges. As Canada's national science library, NRC-CISTI's goal is to promote and support initiatives that improve seamless and permanent access to global STM information for Canadian research, health, and innovation.
Creating national access to digital information for all Canadians in the scientific, technical and medical fields requires collaboration across jurisdictional and organizational boundaries. Universities, NRC-CISTI and other organizations in the innovation and health sectors have important roles to play in developing one or more components of a distributed Canadian digital information infrastructure, or cyberinfrastructure.
Several initiatives are underway by universities, such as institutional repositories and knowledge networks. NRC-CISTI is in the process of creating new open access e-repositories, and working to establish links that will build on and complement other initiatives.
NRC-CISTI is also facilitating discussions to address issues and challenges related to the access and preservation of scientific data in Canada. NRC-CISTI will contribute to this larger data access effort by leveraging its metadata expertise, and by developing a gateway Web site that will provide access to Canadian scientific data sets and other important data repositories.
Scientific or medical research information is not contained by borders or nationalities and as such, the Canadian cyberinfrastructure must also have strong links with international partners. NRC-CISTI will leverage its international linkages and relationships as part of its contribution to development of a comprehensive Canadian cyberinfrastructure. A case in point is NRC-CISTI's participation as a founding member of WorldWideScience.org (http://worldwidescience.org), a global science gateway accelerating scientific discovery and progress through a multilateral partnership to enable federated searching of national and international scientific databases.
These are just three examples of efforts that cut across disciplinary, organizational and jurisdictional boundaries, and that leverage the strengths of many stakeholders in the Canadian health, academic and government communities. NRC-CISTI has positioned its new Partnership Office to be ready to collaborate to build the cyberinfrastructure necessary to support Canadian health services and innovation in the 21st century.
For more information, please contact Donna Meighan, Partnership Development Officer, at Donna.Meighan@nrc-cnrc.gc.ca or 613-993-1601.
Research Press Round Up
Impact factors up for RP journals
Research Press has done well in the 2006 Thomson ISI journal citation report of impact factors and other metrics, released in June 2007. The impact factor is a ratio of citations to citable articles during a limited period.
- Biochemistry and Cell Biology (BCB) posted the highest impact factor ever received by a Research Press journal, at 3.483. BCB's editor, James R. Davie, a University of Manitoba researcher, has worked hard to raise the impact factor by soliciting high-quality review papers and attracting top research. BCB now ranks 87th in terms of impact factor out of a large field of 264 biochemistry and molecular biology journals.
- the Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences has an impact factor of 1.882 and a ranking of fifth among 20 journals in fisheries
- Genome has an impact factor of 1.972 and come in at 84 out of 129 journals in genetics and heredity.
- The Canadian Journal of Forest Research is ranked sixth out of 35 forestry journals, with an impact factor of 1.549.
- In 2006, its fifth year of existence, the Journal of Environmental Engineering and Science posted its second impact factor. Between 2005 and 2006, its impact factor increased by fifty percent, reflecting the inroads made by this young journal in the burgeoning discipline of environmental science.
- A relative newcomer to the NRC Research Press stable, Applied Physiology, Nutrition and Metabolism (APNM) has yet to post an impact factor under its new name. Its predecessor, the Canadian Journal of Applied Physiology, had an impact factor of 1.567 in 2006, which augurs well for the success of APNM in the future.
Now publishing Open Access articles. NRC RP is pleased to announce a new publishing option in support of authors who wish or need to sponsor open access to their published research articles. The OpenArticle option establishes a fee-based mechanism for individual authors, or their research funding agencies, to sponsor the open availability of their articles on the Web at the time of online publication. Under this new policy, implemented in January 2008, NRC RP has enabled unrestricted Web access to a contributing author's publication from the NRC RP Web site, in exchange for a fixed payment from the sponsoring author. The base fee for the OpenArticle option will be initially set at a subsidized price of $3,000 for all NRC RP journals.
The OpenArticle option will be offered to authors after editorial acceptance. Once the fee to sponsor the OpenArticle option has been received, NRC RP will make the article freely available upon Web publication.
Letter of intent recently signed with Symtext Corporation. The new agreement will extend the reach of NRC RP publications by making its data, books and articles more readily available to university educators developing customized course material. Digital media publishing software developed by Symtext enables professors to assemble digital publications that incorporate content from an array of sources into a customdesigned, print or electronic textbook. RP will supply Symtext with e-content for the creation of these liquid textbooks that professors can update on the fly.
Journals are no longer available through ProQuest. NRC Research Press journals will no longer be included in ProQuest's Science Journals database. If libraries wish to continue to have access to NRC Research Press journals, they must subscribe.
For more information about OpenArticle, Symtext and subscriptions, contact Mike Boroczki, Business Manager, NRC Research Press, at mike.boroczki@nrc-cnrc.gc.ca.
Monograph Program
The Monograph Program of NRC Research Press is proud to announce the publication of The Flora of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago: Descriptions, Illustrations, Identification, and Information Retrieval (ISBN-13 9780660197272| NRC 46859), by Susan Aiken et al. It is a co-publication of NRC Research Press and the Canadian Museum of Nature. Everything you want to know about 349 flowering plants and ferns of the Canadian Arctic Islands is available on NRC Research Press' first-ever CD-ROM flora. The guide includes descriptions of each plant, their distribution, and more than 3,000 colour photographs and line drawings. It also offers interesting historical references as well as information on arctic plant use by indigenous peoples.
Also available:
Coleoptera, Curculionidae, Entiminae. Weevils of Canada and Alaska — Volume 2 (ISBN-13 9780660194004 | NRC 46845), by Donald E. Bright and Patrice Bouchard. This latest instalment of the Insects and Arachnids of Canada Series (Part 25) focuses on a group of Canadian and Alaskan broad-nosed weevils, several of which are known to be detrimental to the agriculture and forestry industries.
Coming Soon!
Her Daughter the Engineer: the life of Elsie Gregory MacGill by Richard Bourgeois-Doyle. Elsie MacGill, the world's first female aeronautical engineer and professional aircraft designer, influenced early bush planes and guided the production of famous World War II aircraft such as the Hawker Hurricane and the US Navy Helldiver bombers. "Elsie the engineer" was a driving force on Canada's Royal Commission on the Status of Women and was every inch the daughter of suffragette judge Helen MacGill. MacGill's inspirational life story will be the third instalment in the Biography Series.
To order these or any other of our publications, visit our online bookstore at http://pubs.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/eng/books/index.html. You can also order by phone, at 613-990-2254 or 1-800-668- 1222 (Canada and U.S. only), by fax, 613-952-7656 or by sending us an email at monographs.cisti@nrc-cnrc.gc.ca.
Groundbreaking exhibit coming to NRC-CISTI
Until July 2008, NRC's Canada Institute for Scientific and Technical Information (NRC-CISTI) will be hosting Places and Spaces: cartography of the physical and abstract, a science exhibit. Designed to demonstrate the power of maps to navigate and make sense of places and abstract topic spaces, the exhibit encompasses 34 large-format, high-resolution maps and several globes that will help the average person better understand where science gets done, how different areas of science relate to each other and how knowledge moves through time and space.
In conjunction with this exhibit, NRC-CISTI's Technology and Research (T&R) Directorate has created a map featuring information from NRC Research Press (RP). This map will help identify opportunities for promoting RP journals and for targeting prospective authors. Dr. Yves Gingras, Canada Research Chair in History and Sociology of Science, Université du Québec à Montréal, is also collaborating on a map showing the impact of the NRC on Canadian science.
The exhibit, located in M-55's North Foyer, will be open to the public from 8:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. For more information, contact Tracie Taylor-Labonté, 613-949-9689 or tracie.taylor-labonte@nrc-cnrc.gc.ca.
NRC offers commercialization and technical transfer services: introducing Strategic Technical Information Analysis
Strategic Technical Information Analysis (STIA) is a Competitive Technical Intelligence product provided by NRC-CISTI. STIA gives you access to high value information for a comprehensive assessment of the potential of a product, technology or an innovation. Fully integrated reports tailored to your specific needs summarize the key business and scientific issues that you need to know.
- Reduce your investment risk and accelerate your decision making by developing successful business strategies that anticipate emerging needs and trends.
- Expand your network of contacts, partners, collaborators and discover new areas of application for your technology.
Want to know more about what STIA could mean for your commercialization and technology transfer strategies? For more information, please contact Tamara Keating at 613-949-8100.
Competitive Technical Intelligence Success Stories
Winnipeg Regional Health Authority
The Winnipeg Regional Health Authority (WRHA) requested an Information Report to help them identify neurological research candidates to head up a new neurological institute laboratory being built in Winnipeg. WRHA wanted a leading researcher who would be able to generate enthusiasm for the planned institute. The Information Report, prepared by NRC-CISTI's NRC Information Services (NIS) team, set parameters such as age, grant funding and geographic location to find the ideal candidate.
The team met the challenge, generating a meaningful, validated and evidence-based list of the best possible candidates for the job. The Chief Innovation Officer for WRHA, Harry Schultz, noted that he was thoroughly satistified with the list NRC-CISTI's NIS team produced. It enabled us to validate our intuition.".
Plato Industries
Founded in 1997, Plato Group is a St. John's-based professional IT consulting and software development firm that has created a data masking software product that can disguise private information in database systems while they are beingtested or maintained. Given privacy concerns, this software product could have wide-ranging applications.
In 2005, their NRC Industrial Research Assistance Program (IRAP) Industrial Technology Advisor, or ITA, requested competitive technical intelligence (CTI) from NRC-CISTI on research and competitors in their field. The CTI led to the discovery of two key researchers, one located at the University of Kentucky and the other at Oklahoma State University, and to an NRC-IRAP-assisted visit with the researchers. The visit and subsequent work led to an improved version of Camouflage, the company's flagship software program. The researchers also have an intellectual property (IP) agreement in place with Plato Group and are actively involved in a new $250K NRC-IRAP project. As well, the ITA has been receiving monthly research alerts on data masking from NRC-CISTI. This helps the ITA keep Plato Group informed about any key data being published which, in turn, helps them to maintain a competitive edge.
Because of NRC-IRAP and NRC-CISTI's support, Plato Group is now splitting their company into Plato Consulting Inc. and Camouflage Software Inc. Their technical resources have nearly quadrupled since 2003. Plato Group's software is now used in several Fortune 500 companies in the United States such as Citigroup, Boeing and Iron Mountain.
SHORT TAKES
Asian Partners
Until recently, NRC- NRC-CISTI used "Far East Partners" when referring to ISTIC, KISTI, STPI and SUNMEDIA. NRC-CISTI has now chosen to use "Asian Partners" when referring to our Document Delivery Partners located in Asia. See partner details.
Extended Service and Open Access documents
NRC-CISTI fills more than 90 percent of document delivery orders from its own collection or those of the Canadian Agriculture Library (CAL) and NRC-CISTI's Asian Partners. To obtain articles not found in those collections, NRC-CISTI relies on a broad spectrum of sources. As the Internet is becoming an increasingly important source for documents, many of these sources are Open Access. To cover our costs in identifying these documents on behalf of clients, NRC-CISTI charges the standard Extended Service fee. Copyright fees are not applicable in the case of Open Access documents and are not included in the fee.
Holidays and service availability
As an agency of the Government of Canada, NRC-CISTI is closed on statutory holidays – ordering is available 24/7 and orders continue to be processed on most holidays. Client Support and Urgent Services are not available on holidays. Notices of closure related to statutory holidays and service availability are posted on the NRC-CISTI site, usually about a week before a holiday. Notices are also posted when service disruptions are anticipated. Complete information on statutory holidays and NRC-CISTI's hours of operation are available at: http://www.cisti-icist.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/eng/ibp/cisti/about/business-hours.html.
Comings & Goings
- Mary Low has accepted the position of Director, NRC Information Service (NIS), replacing Michel Gauthier who retired in January. In her new role, Mary will lead a growing and dynamic NIS team that provides services to NRC Institutes, NRC-IRAP clients, and other NRC partners and stakeholders.
- Vera Keown and Sylvain Durocher have been promoted from Technical Business Analysts (TBAs) to TBA Team Leaders for the NRC-CISTI CTI program. The TBA Team Leader is a new position, created to address the rapid growth and expansion of the CTI program
- Kristen Trautman joined NRC-CISTI's CTI program as a TBA in February. This is a new position and Kristen's office is located within the NRC Plant Biotechnology Institute (NRC-PBI) in Saskatoon.
- Karen Hlady has accepted the position of Information Access and Delivery (IAD) Business Manager.
- Michael Brandt has accepted an assignment as Marketing Manager.
- Donna Meighan was recently appointed to the position of Partnership Development Officer responsible for NRC-CISTI's Health Portfolio.
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: Tracie Taylor-Labonté
Graphic Designer: Reprographic Services
ISSN 0715-8661
