April 2007 | Main | July 2007
June 29, 2007
EPA Library Closings--Update
After considerable pressure by librarians, researchers and the public,
Congress has ordered the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to
restore its library network. In the fiscal year (FY) 2008 Interior
Appropriations bill, the Senate Appropriations Committee orders EPA to
reopen the closed libraries. Last year, EPA closed its Headquarters
Library in Washington, DC, to visitors and walk-in patrons. EPA also
closed several regional libraries, the toxics and pesticides library and
the Ft. Meade Environmental Science Center Library.
The language reads
"$2,000,000 shall be used to restore the network of EPA libraries
recently closed or consolidated by the administration. While the
Committee approves of efforts to make environmental data collections
available electronically, the Committee does not agree to further
library closures or consolidations without evidence of how the public
would be served by these changes. Therefore, the Committee expects the
EPA to restore publicly available library facilities in each region. EPA
is directed to submit a plan on how it will use this funding increase to
reopen facilities and maintain a robust collection of environmental data
and resources in each region by December 31, 2007."
The bill is now headed to the full Senate for consideration. The
House-passed FY 2008 Interior Appropriations bill doesn't contain the
EPA library language.
Posted by Donna Braquet at 05:51 PM
BioOne Impact Factor
2006 ISI Journal Citation Report Confirms BioOne High-Impact Status
Five BioOne titles gain an Impact Factor according to recently published report
Washington, DC (June 29, 2007)
BioOne (www.bioone.org) is delighted to announce the cumulative increase of journal impact in its BioOne.1, BioOne.2, and Open Access Collections, according to the Thomas Scientific Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) 2006 Journal Citation Report (JCR), published last week.
An innovative full-text aggregator of essential bioscience research journals published by independent not-for-profit societies and institutions, BioOne now boasts 86 ISI ranked titles--a robust 68% of its total collection of 126 journals. This includes five titles that have gained an Impact Factor in the 2006 JCR including:
Castanea, published by the Southern Appalachian Botanical Society
URSUS, published by the International Association for Bear Research and Management
Rangeland Ecology and Management, published by the Society for Range Management
Haseltonia, published by the Cactus and Succulent Society of America
Journal of Insect Science, published by the University of Wisconsin
Several other BioOne publications saw marked increases in their Impact Factor from the 2005 to 2006 Journal Citation Reports. BioScience, the journal of the American Institute of Biological Sciences, became BioOne's most highly ranked participating publication with an Impact Factor of 5.424, up from 4.708 in the 2005 index. BioScience now is ranked 6th of 64 titles in biology.
BioOne also increased its title presence in a number of ISI subject categories, including Ornithology. The Auk, published by the American Ornithologists' Union, ranks 2nd of 19 titles in Ornithology, with an Impact Factor of 2.056 (up from 1.838 in the 2005 index.) The Condor, published by the Cooper Ornithological Society, ranks 3rd in Ornithology, with an Impact Factor of 1.604 (up from 1.337 in the 2005 index.)
Mindful that the ISI Impact Factor is most useful when combined with other metrics for assessing journal quality, we applaud the BioOne participating titles that have made such impressive strides in the 2006 ISI Journal Citation Report.
Posted by Donna Braquet at 04:53 PM
June 27, 2007
New SciFinder Scholar
SciFinder Scholar 2007 has been released for both Windows and Mac. The new client software is now available from the libraries website. If you have an older version of SciFinder Scholar installed, you do not need to download the site.prf file again.
Information about the new features is available from CAS.
Posted by teresa berry at 11:07 AM
June 26, 2007
Art Professor to present zoological prints
Art professor Beauvais Lyons will present a series of recently-made zoological prints on behalf of the Association for Creative Zoology at the 20th Scopes Trial Reenactment, Sat, July 21, in Dayton, Tennessee. For more info call 974-3202.
[from the @Tennessee, 6/25/07]
Posted by Donna Braquet at 05:00 PM
June 25, 2007
Science Channel
A New Science Channel
Organizations and scientists experiment with YouTube as an outreach tool
Celia Henry Arnaud
C&E News, June 25, 2007 Volume 85, Number 26 p. 44-46
Scientific organizations face a challenge in communicating with the younger generation. Some organizations are dipping their toes in the waters where that generation swims--on the Web. Museums, scientific societies, and even scientific teams are starting to post videos on YouTube, the popular Google-owned online video website.
Continue Reading>>
Posted by Donna Braquet at 04:48 PM
June 22, 2007
Library purchases backfiles to Nature
UT patrons now have electronic access to Nature back to 1950.
Search for Nature in the e-journals list or bookmark the link below.
http://www.lib.utk.edu/cgi-bin/auth/connect.cgi?sfxejournal=0028-0836
Posted by Donna Braquet at 05:15 PM
June 21, 2007
Encyclopedia of Life-- authoritative, open access resource
http://www.eol.org/press_release.htmlA Leap for All Life: World's Leading Scientists Announce Creation of "Encyclopedia of Life"
Biodiversity, Science Communities Unite Behind Epic Effort To Promote Biodiversity, Document All 1.8 Million Named Species on Planet
WASHINGTON (May 9, 2007) - Many of the world's leading scientific institutions today announced the launch of the Encyclopedia of Life, an unprecedented global effort to document all 1.8 million named species of animals, plants, and other forms of life on Earth. For the first time in the history of the planet, scientists, students, and citizens will have multi-media access to all known living species, even those that have just been discovered.
The Field Museum of Natural History, Harvard University, Marine Biological Laboratory, Smithsonian Institution, and Biodiversity Heritage Library joined together to initiate the project, bringing together species and software experts from across the world. The Missouri Botanical Garden has become a full partner, and discussions are taking place this week with leaders of the new Atlas of Living Australia. The Encyclopedia today also announced the initial membership of its Institutional Council, which spans the globe, and whose members will play key roles in realizing this immense project. An international advisory board of distinguished individuals will also help guide the Encyclopedia.
Continue reading the press release>>
Posted by Donna Braquet at 05:39 PM
June 12, 2007
Good news for Scirus users
You can now see a FindText@UTLibraries link with the journal results in Scirus, a science-specific search engine, thus providing a shortcut to the library's online subscriptions and catalog. If you are using Scirus from off-campus, the FindText link will send you through our proxy server to authenticate access to our licensed content.
To enable this feature, click on Search Preferences within Scirus. Click on Enable for library partners, and choose the University of Tennessee Libraries in the drop down box, then Save Preferences.
Posted by teresa berry at 04:51 PM