Science @ UCD Library

Nature reaches 140!

2009-11-10T12:10:00.005Z

This week Nature is 140 years old. To celebrate Nature has published a two page miscellany with information from that issue and from others issues in 1889, 1909, 1929, 1949, 1969 and 1989.
You can also check out the history of nature in words and video.
Diarmuid

New PubMed Interface launched

2009-11-09T15:23:00.004Z

The National Library of Medicine has just lauched a new interface for PubMed which has given the database a new sleeker look. Some of the changes un the new look PubMed include:

A more streamline homepage
The tabs giving access Limits, Preview/Index, History, and Details have been removed and are now available through the Advanced Search option
The drop down Send to menu has been reorganised and moved on the screen.
How you export to Endnote has slightly changed. You can find the exact changes here.

You can get more information about the changes here.
Diarmuid

Open Access Week

2009-10-19T11:36:00.005+01:00

This week is Open Access Week (Oct 19-24). Open Access is a movement within the global research community to make the published results of scholarly research freely available on the Web. Open Access Week is an opportunity to raise awareness of the services, technology and expertise available to you.
Your research results can be made freely available in a variety of ways:

Archive your research in a local Institutional Repository ('Green' Open Access)

Offering copyright clearance, professional cataloguing and detailed usage statistics, Research_online@UCD, currently being piloted by the UCD Library, will allow you to do just this from 2010.

Pay your publisher a fee to make publications open (Gold Open Access)

Click here for a list of publishers
Submit your research or have your research sent to a subject repository. Examples include:

PubMed Central (required by many Life Sciences publications)

ArXiv.org -- Physics repository, author submits

Economists Online -- aggregated from local repositories including Research_online@UCD

Please note: if you are publishing research as a result of SFI, HEA and/or IRCSET funding since May-June 2008, (SFI since Feb 2009), you may be required by your funder to store a copy in your local institutional repository. Research_online@UCD can accept the post-peer-review final draft of your paper (post-print) now. Submission instructions are available here

Please do not send publishers' final edited version unless your publisher appears in this list

With your help, Research_online@UCD will ensure that each item archived is copyright cleared.
For more information on Open Access or archiving your research, please contact the Library or research.online@ucd.ie.
Diarmuid

Ig Nobel Prizes 2009 awarded

2009-10-05T12:09:00.002+01:00

The 2009 Ig Nobel Prizes 'for achievements that first make people LAUGH then make them THINK' were awarded on 1st October in Boston.
Favourites this year are the Veterinary Medicine Prize for showing that cows who have names give more milk than cows that are nameless (Anthrozoos, vol. 22, no. 1, March 2009, pp. 59-69) and the prize for Physics for analytically determining why pregnant women don't tip over (Nature, vol. 450, 1075-1078, December 13, 2007)

--- Michael ---

New H1N1 Information Portal now available

2009-09-10T12:56:00.002+01:00

Due to Pandemic H1N1 Influenza and concerns about the 2009/2010 flu season, the EBSCO Publishing Medical and Nursing editors of DynaMed™, Nursing Reference Center™ (NRC) and Patient Education Reference Center™ (PERC) have made key influenza information from these resources freely available to health care providers worldwide.

The editorial teams will monitor the research and update these resources continuously throughout the upcoming flu season.

Diarmuid

EndNote Lunchtime Sessions are back!

2009-09-07T11:43:00.004+01:00

UCD Library is offering introduction sessions to EndNote for students and staff. These sessions are designed for beginners and will cover the creation of EndNote libraries and references, the download of references from online resources and the use of Cite While You Write to add references to a Word document.

Each session will be held in the Information Skills Room of the Health Science Library, always from 1pm-2pm.

The dates for this semester are:

Advance booking for any of these sessions is possible.

--Josh

Reaxys Trial

2009-08-21T16:08:00.002+01:00

UCD has full access to Reaxys for a trial period until 31st October 2009.
Reaxys is a web-based search and retrieval system for chemical compounds, bibliographic data and chemical reactions.
It is a new Elsevier product, built on Beilstein and Gmelin, and will eventually replace those databases.

--- Michael ---

The Article of the Future

2009-08-14T15:01:00.002+01:00

"Cell Press and Elsevier have launched a project called Article of the Future that is an ongoing collaboration with the scientific community to redefine how the scientific article is presented online. The project's goal is to take full advantage of online capabilities, allowing readers individualized entry points and routes through the content, while using the latest advances in visualization techniques." (Cell Press)

More information and two prototype articles could be found here: http://beta.cell.com/

--- Michael ---

Lunar landing - 40 years

2009-07-20T12:09:00.002+01:00

2008 data for Journal Citation Reports is now available

2009-06-22T12:21:00.002+01:00

Journal Citation Reports^® is a comprehensive resource that allows you to evaluate and compare journals using citation data drawn from over 7,500 scholarly and technical journals from more than 3,300 publishers in over 60 countries. It is the only source of citation data on journals, and includes virtually all areas of science, technology, and social sciences. Journal Citation Reports can show you the:

Most frequently cited journals in a field
Highest impact journals in a field
Largest journals in a field

Citation and article counts are important indicators of how frequently current researchers are using individual journals. By tabulating and aggregating citation and article counts, JCR offers a unique perspective for journal evaluation and comparison. JCR is updated annually and with 2008 figures now available you can compare journals from 2003-2008.

Diarmuid

Survival blog for scientists

2009-06-22T10:38:00.003+01:00

"In this blog, professional scientists write about their scientific life. Contributors are scientists in various stages of their career, from junior positions to senior positions. The aim is to supply scientists with tips on how to survive in science. Typical subjects include the writing of articles, delivering scientific presentations and career planning. This blog is a continuation of the book The Survival Guide for Scientists by Ad Lagendijk, published by Amsterdam University Press in 2008. Sample chapters are supplied (Writing guide, Presentation guide, Email guide)." (from: www.intute.ac.uk)
http://www.sciencesurvivalblog.com/

--- Michael ---

CABI preview new interface for CAB Abstracts

2009-06-17T14:30:00.003+01:00

CABI plan to switch over to a new platform on 1st September this year. This new platform will see some major changes in how you interact with CAB abstracts. Among the new features are

MyCABDirect – a personalised area where users can set-up email alerts and RSS feeds based on their search results; share information, and save important searches
Faceted searching – users can finely filter information to fit their research needs, based on CABI’s indexing terms and metadata
The capability to view full text at the search results level
Improved user experience, through a more intuitive interface
Suggestions for spelling variations

If you want to preview the new platform you can go to http://www.cabdirect2.org and try it out. Currently this will only work while on campus.
Diarmuid

Library Summer Opening Hours

2009-06-03T14:36:00.003+01:00

The Library has started Summer Opening Hours, running from June through August:
James Joyce Library will be open Monday-Friday 8.30-17.30 (weekend closed)
Veterinary Library will be open Monday-Friday 9.00-17.00 (weekend closed)
Health Science Library will be open in June Monday-Friday 8.30-21.45, Saturday 9.30-17.00 (Sunday closed); July and August Monday-Friday 9.00-17.00 (weekend closed)

A complete list Summer Opening Hous can be found at the Library's web site.

--- Michael ---

New Search Engine Launched

2009-05-18T12:45:00.004+01:00

Wolfram Alpha, a new search engines that gives you answers rather than directing you to a list of website has just been launched. You can express your question in natural language and It will search a variety of databases to give you the answer. The creators' aim is to "build on the achievements of science and other systematizations of knowledge to provide a single source that can be relied on by everyone for definitive answers to factual queries."
You can ask a wide range of questions such as comparing two stocks, get information on a mineral , get historical weather information, a list of Nobel prize winners for chemistry
At the moment it is somewhat biased towards American information, but that should change over time.
You can try it out using the search box at the top of the post.
Diarmuid

NCBI Biosystems Database now available

2009-05-11T16:39:00.004+01:00

The NCBI Biosystems database has now gone public. The NCBI BioSystems Database currently contains biological pathways from two source databases, KEGG and the EcoCyc subset of BioCyc. As an added bonus it uses the same search interface as other NCBI databases as pubmed and Entrez Gene.
You can use the database to:
List the genes, proteins, and small molecules that are involved in a biological pathway. Find out more
Find the pathways in which a given gene or protein is involved. Find out more.
Find the pathways in which a specific small molecule is involved. Find out more.
Retrieve 3D structures for proteins involved in a biosystem. Find out more
Find related biosystems that are linked to each other because they share an identical protein sequence or have another relationship. Find out more.
Diarmuid

CABI creates Swine Flu Dashboard

2009-05-11T16:31:00.002+01:00

CABI has put together a number of resources to help you keep up to date with the latest developments in the emerging influenza A(H1N1) outbreak, commonly being referred to as "swine flu".
The information on the dashboard is organised into the following different areas:

Resources from CABI: links to selected abstracts from our databases, updates from our blog and a feed of valuable information selected by our subject experts
Global Health: free access to CABI’s Global Health database, including prepared searches in this area
Center for Disease Control and World Health Organisation: latest updates from these two organisations
Wikipedia: latest updates
Google: relevant search trend information
Maps: two of the best visualisations showing information about swine flu

Diarmuid

New Library Patent Information Web Page

2009-04-21T12:06:00.000+01:00

Information on patents and access to patents becomes increasingly important for research and innovation everywhere. Therefore the library has launched a new web site with patent information. It bundles links to full text patents databases and search engines as well as information on patent application and patent statistics. Links to relevant patent journals and some patent blogs are also provided.

---- Michael ----

IReL Impact Survey 2009

2009-03-26T14:57:00.005Z

Are you an avid researcher? Do you regularly use library resources such as the ACM Digital Library, ESDU, GeoScienceWorld, Lecture Notes in Computer Science, Nature Journals, Optics Infobase, Project Euclid, or SpringerLink? If so, here is your chance to support the Irish Research e-Library initiative by taking 5 minutes of your time to fill in the IReL impact survey.

IReL currently provides access to 22,000 e-journals and over 40,000 books. It's important that we don't take this valuable initiative for granted and let the funders know how essential it is for research in Ireland!

--Josh

IEEE Celebrates its Two Millionth Article on IEEE Xplore®

2009-03-25T13:50:00.001Z

IEEE, the world’s largest technical professional society, is celebrating the addition of the two millionth article to IEEE Xplore, the world’s largest source of valuable, cutting-edge, research, standards and educational courses. Providing nearly one-third of the world’s highest quality technical literature in electrical engineering, communications and computer science, the IEEE Xplore digital library is the most trusted source for vital information in technology today.

IEEE Xplore, which includes content from IEEE journals and magazines going back as far as the year 1913, is a comprehensive, online database of current and past research from many industries, including aerospace and defense, automotive, computing, medical devices, nanotechnology, petroleum and natural gas, power and energy, semiconductors and telecommunications. As a trusted and knowledgeable source, the IEEE Xplore digital library provides access to IEEE journals, magazines, proceedings from industry conferences, and standards that have set the bar for today’s technological advancements. Content from The Institution of Engineering and Technology journals is also available.

(IEEE Press Release, 16th March 2009)

UCD Library is providing access to this resource.

--- Michael ---

Today is Ada Lovelace Day

2009-03-24T16:45:00.003Z

Ada Lovelace Day was created by Suw Charman-Anderson to celebrate the contribution the women have made to technology. Suw asked 1000 other people to publish a blog post about a woman in technology that they admire and nearly 1700 have agreed to do this.
Ada Lovelace corresponded with Charles Babbage who developed the concept of the programmable computer in the early nineteenth century. "Today she is appreciated as the "first programmer" since she was writing programs—that is, manipulating symbols according to rules—for a machine that Babbage had not yet built. She also foresaw the capability of computers to go beyond mere calculating or number-crunching while others, including Babbage himself, focused only on these capabilities." (Wikipedia)
Diarmuid

Search CAB Abstracts through Web of Knowledge

2009-03-20T14:09:00.004Z

CAB Abstracts provides access to the most comprehensive and integrated international agricultural and applied life sciences database in the world. It contains over 4 million records from over 11,000 journals. books, conferences, reports, and other kinds of literature published internationally. Subjects covered include animal and crop husbandry, animal and plant breeding, plant protection, genetics, forestry engineering, economics, veterinary medicine, human nutrition, and rural development.
As well as being searchable through CABI's own service, CAB abstracts can now be searched through the Web of Knowledge interface which is familiar to many. You can search for CABI material in conjunction with other Web of Knowledge resources by searching in the All Databases tab. Alternatively you can search CAB Abstracts on its own by going into the Select a Database tab and clicking on CAB Abstracts.
Diarmuid

The World Wide Web at 20

2009-03-13T12:42:00.007Z

Some of you may already be aware of the fact that the World Wide Web (WWW) is now 20 years old this month. The Web was proposed in 1989 by a computer scientist at CERN named Tim Berners-Lee who went on to found the World Wide Web Consortium at MIT. To commemorate this profound historic event CERN has created a website called World Wide Web@20. A webcast of events happening today (March 13) at CERN can be viewed from this site.

Oh, and be sure to visit the "End of the Internet" by clicking on the graphic above!

--Josh

Nature celebrates Darwin's 200th Anniversary

2009-03-09T11:23:00.006Z

Nature recently published a special issue celebrating the life of Darwin and his impact on science. The issue has features on looking for Darwin in the genome, and on what evolution has done to shape human nature, while our editorial and two commentaries look at some of the problems inherent in applying biology to questions about humanity.
There is also and on Darwin's pigeons and poetry by his great great grand-daughter Ruth Padel. and a range of experts give their views on a range of hot topics in evolution.
Diarmuid

Science Direct and Scopus offline Saturday, 7th March

2009-03-06T09:51:00.002Z

Elsevier has announced that due to scheduled maintenance both Science Direct and Scopus will be down from 1pm Saturday, 7th March until approximately 1.30am on Sunday, 8th March.

--Josh

Book Week and International Women's Day

2009-03-04T11:31:00.010Z

WITS is offering us two celebrations in one!

City Hall,

Sunday, March 8,

1.15-2:30 p.m.

WITS in association with the Dublin City Book Festival

Invites you to celebrate

International Women's Day, 2009

at the launch of

"Lab Coats and Lace" edited by Mary Mulvihill

The Lives and Legacies of Inspiring Irish Women Scientists and Pioneers,

(a companion volume to Stars, Shells and Bluebells (1997)

Adm free, all welcome.

Lab Coats and Lace now available to purchase on Amazon or at the Dublin Book Festival March 6- 8, 2009, City Hall, Dublin 2

Mary