Ghoulish Science Fun This Halloween

Stephanie Bianchi of the National Science Foundation Library always has an interesting set of links concerning how science and Halloween intermingle...

Criticism of the High Salaries of American Chemical Society Executives

This is reported in Sourcewatch. Essentially, the article claims "that executives at the American Chemical Society receive bonuses based on the profitability of the society's publishing division. These bonuses are approved by the Committee on Executive Compensation which was chaired by Bill Carrol." The article also explains why the ACS is against "Open Access" principles, since it would reduce the profitability of their journals. It also explains why they support the work of Eric Dezenhall and the rediculous "Partnership for Research Integrity in Science & Medicine" coalition. See http://www.prismcoalition.org/. Peter Suber of Earlham College has a point by point rebuttal of the PRISM coalition's stance in his Open Access News.

New Training Resources for SciFinder Scholar

I got a note from the CAS that they have some new training materials. The new how-to guides might be useful, and I've taken some of their e-seminars.

Communicating Astronomy with the Public Journal

I received a notice that the IAU has a new online journal -- Communicating Astronomy with the Public Journal. As I was browsing through some of the new articles, I noticed that DU was mentioned in the article, "Astronomy in Second Life: A User’s Perspective" by Adrienne J. Gauthier. (See http://www.capjournal.org/issues/01/32_34.pdf.)

Chronicle of Higher Ed Article

The Chronicle has a new article, "Young Librarians, Talkin' 'Bout Their Generation: Up-and-comers discuss what will change and what needs to change." Too bad I don't fit into their demographic -- I just turned 40 this summer.

By SCOTT CARLSON
"Most people are familiar with the stereotype of librarians. They are twenty- or thirtysomethings, with tattoos, cat's-eye glasses, and vintage clothes, schmoozing with famous authors, and playing DJ at parties in Brooklyn.

Wait, that's just the stereotype in The New York Times. Last summer the newspaper declared young librarians hip — and, in the minds of some librarians, actually reinforced the other stereotype: that older members of their profession are reclusive bookworms and cranky old ladies."

Etc., etc., etc.

Librarians Protest Science's Departure From JSTOR

Have you heard the news that the AAAS will no longer contribute their articles from Science to JStor as of 2008? This article in the Chronicle of Higher Education covers the controversy.

As far as DU is concerned, we will keep our 1880-2002 archive in JStor, and we will continue to get the current issues from the AAAS from 1997-present. We are not planning on double purchasing the backfile from the AAAS.

Open Access Articles from PhysMathCentral

PhysMathCentral from BMC has just been launched -- http://www.physmathcentral.com/. The Penrose Library strongly supports BioMed Central and the Open Access Movement.