The free, monthly newsletter for academics, students, engineers, scientists and social scientists.
ISSN: 1361-9381
Other Issues
Pinakes
Subject Launchpad
About Internet Resources Newsletter
Heriot Watt University
Heriot-Watt University Library
Heriot-Watt University Library
Issue 105 - June 2003
Edited by:
Roddy MacLeod (R.A.MacLeod@hw.ac.uk),
Catherine Ure and Catherine Ferguson.
Table of Contents:
|
Internet Resources Newsletter by email Tables of Contents Compilations More Blogs News items of interest |
A-Z New & Notable Web SitesInformation and reviews of new and recent Web sites |
||||||||||||||||||||
|
This month: Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ
|
5 new, free Internet tutorials for FE students now available from the RDN Virtual Training Suite |
||||||||||||||||||||
|
Review of: Find it On-line - the complete guide to on-line research, 3rd edition, by Alan M. Schlein |
||||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT
Internet Resources Newsletter by email
Over 13,000 people now subscribe to the free email version
of this Newsletter. The number of subscribers has been increasing over
the past few months, and very many thanks go to Willco
who distribute the email version. To subscribe, at no cost, go to http://www.hw.ac.uk/libwww/irn/irn.html
-----
Tables of Contents Compilations
I subscribe to The Informed Librarian http://www.infosourcespub.com/ which was mentioned in issue 97 of the Internet Resources Newsletter. The Informed Librarian is published by Infosources Publishing, and provides a free monthly email newsletter compilation of the most recent tables of contents from over 180 library and information-related journals, e-journals, magazines, e-magazines, newsletters and e-newsletters. The newsletter email can be opened as a normal message, or in a Web browser, and instantly I have access to links to the latest issues of many library and information journals. Not all the contents are freely available, as some titles included are subscription based. Nevertheless, this is a wonderfully useful alerting service.
Do such services exist in other subject areas? Most other journal alerting services that I know of consist of individual alerts from individual publishers (delivered whenever the journal in question issues a new volume or part), or are restricted to the publications of one publisher, or are 'traditional' alerts provided through database services, rather than like The Informed Librarian which aggregates titles from numerous publishers and delivers on a regular basis, allowing clickthough to the issues in question. If you know of any others, please let me know, R.A.MacLeod@hw.ac.uk and I will publicise them.
-----
More Blogs
EngLib
http://englib.info/
Engineering Libraries...news, technology, services and resources.
The (sci-tech) Library Question
http://www.podbaydoor.com/engine/
Occasional postings about issues and concerns of interest (but not restricted
to) engineering and scitech librarians.
Confessions of a Science Librarian
http://jdupuis.blogspot.com/
This weblog is by John Dupuis, science & electronic resources librarian
at Steacie Science Library, York University, Toronto.
http://www.searchengineguide.com/wire/wire.html
Search Engine Guide
Gary Price's ResourceShelf is now available as a RSS feed. Details are given at http://www.newsisfree.com/sources/info/7639/ One way to read RSS feeds is through a reader such as FeedReader.
-----
Here are this month's news items of interest
SciCentral Discontinued
As of May 1, 2003, the research news aggregation service hosted on the
SciCentral Web site and associated weekly customized newsletter have been
discontinued.
http://www.scicentral.com/Y-change.html
ebrary Announces Institutional Repository Pilot Program
ebrary is developing a new product that enables libraries to create online
institutional repositories of documents such as theses and dissertations,
technical reports and special collections.
http://www.managinginformation.com/news/content_show_full.php?id=1423
From: Managing Information News
PIMS: New Group for Property Information
The Property Information Managers Society (PIMS) is a new interest group
of information managers from a number of surveying firms set up as a forum
to address issues facing the property information professional.
http://www.managinginformation.com/news/content_show_full.php?id=1496
From: Managing Information News
BertelsmannSpringer sold to Cinven and Candover
Bertelsmann AG have agreed to sell its scientific publishing unit, BertelsmannSpringer,
to UK private equity firms Cinven and Candover for 1.05 billion euros.
http://www.biblio-tech.com/uksg/SI_PD.cfm?AC=5371&PID=10&ZID=715
From UKSG Serials eNews
And You Thought the Web Ad Market Was Dead: Sales of so-called "paid
placement" listings are soaring
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/03_18/b3831134_mz034.htm
From BusinessWeek Online
International Monetary Fund data released to UK Academia
The University of Manchester has signed an agreement with the (IMF) which
will give UK academics access to the statistical databanks produced by
the IMF.
http://www.biblio-tech.com/UKSG/SI_PD.cfm?AC=4680&PID=10&ZID=698
From UKSG Serials eNews
The Public Library of Science publishes open-access journal
PLoS is pleased to announce a nonprofit scientific publishing venture
and that we will be publishing our first open-access journal, PLoS Biology,
in October 2003.
http://www.biblio-tech.com/uksg/SI_PD.cfm?AC=5371&PID=10&ZID=708
From UKSG Serials eNews
2002 Worst Year for IT
Hopefully, the worst is over for the IT services industry, as findings
from Gartner Inc. indicate that 2002 was the most difficult year for the
market.
http://cyberatlas.internet.com/big_picture/applications/article/0,,1301_2207121,00.html
From CyberAtlas
-----
Text version
A text only version of the Internet Resources Newsletter is available at: http://www.hw.ac.uk/cgi-bin/parser.pl/0304/www.hw.ac.uk/libwww/irn/irn.html
A-Z NEW & NOTABLE WEB SITES
http://www.theacorntrust.org/
The Acorn web site is dedicated to making environmental performance control accessible and profitable for smaller companies and their customers.
http://www.actionenergy.org.uk/
"Action Energy provides businesses, industries and public sector organisations with free, practical and impartial help and advice on how to cut their energy costs. The programme is an integral part of the government's climate change programme, aimed at meeting the UK's carbon reduction obligations under the Kyoto Protocol."
http://www.selfadvocacy.org/
Advocating Change Together (ACT) started in 1979 in response to the growing concern that individuals with developmental disabilities were being isolated and excluded from decisions regarding their lives. ACT is a grassroots, member-controlled organization, run by and for persons with developmental and other disabilities.
http://www.albacentre.com/
"The Alba Centre is the hub of a Scottish initiative aimed at driving the future of electronic design. It represents a unique collaboration involving government, industry and academia to create a world-leading centre for the electronic and related design industries of the future."
http://www.all-linux.net/
A directory of Linux resources.
http://allwhois.com/
"Allwhois is the most complete whois service on the internet. It automatically locates the appropriate "whois" database server for a particular domain name, queries that database for information about that domain name, and returns all available data. If a "whois" database does not exist for a particular domain name, a Root Name Server query will check the domain's availability."
American Architectural Manufacturers Association: AAMA
http://www.aamanet.org/
The American Architectural Manufacturers Association is the source of performance standards, product certification and educational programs for the fenestration industry.
American Coal Ash Association: ACAA
http://www.acaa-usa.org/
"The American Coal Ash Association (ACAA) is a not-for profit 501(c) (6) organization that promotes the beneficial use of coal combustion products (CCPs). CCPs are produced by the burning of coal in a boiler and take the form of fly ash, bottom ash, boiler slag, flue gas desulfurization materials, and other similar materials. CCPs have a myriad of uses that allow the substitution of CCPs for natural or manufactured materials in many processes and applications."
American Indian Science & Engineering Society: AISES
http://www.aises.org/
"The American Indian Science & Engineering Society (AISES) is a national, nonprofit organization which nurtures building of community by bridging science and technology with traditional Native values. Through its educational programs, AISES provides opportunities for American Indians and Native Alaskans to pursue studies in science, engineering, and technology arenas. The trained professionals then become technologically informed leaders within the Indian community. AISES' ultimate goal is to be a catalyst for the advancement of American Indians and Native Alaskans as they seek to become self-reliant and self-determined members of society."
Architects & Engineers for Social Responsibility
http://www.aesr.org/
A UK based association, which promotes a socially responsible ethic in the use of technology, works for the abolition of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction, campaigns on specific environmental issues, cooperates with professional groups in the fields of engineering, science, architecture, medicine, etc.
http://www.aviationjobsearch.com/
Aviationjobsearch.com is a specialist aviation job site: for airline jobs, aerospace jobs, aircraft jobs, airport jobs and aviation jobs.
http://www.bifm-training.co.uk/
"In May 2002 The British Institute of Facilities Management appointed Quadrilect, a long established FM training and conference company, to manage the BIFM Training programme. This comprises a selection of training courses, seminars and workshops which focus on almost every aspect of building and building services management, property & estate services."
Bioscience Education Electronic journal: BEE-j
http://bio.ltsn.ac.uk/journal/
Bioscience Education Electronic journal (BEE-j) is an on-line, bi-annual electronic journal owned and published by the LTSN Centre for Bioscience. The journal will publish a range of original articles on tertiary level biosciences education, including peer-reviewed research and practice papers. The journal should be of interest to tertiary level staff and students and to upper secondary school staff.
http://www.bravenet.com/
Web tools for webmasters.
http://www.calibration4u.co.uk/
"This site provides everything you need to know about calibration in the UK."
http://www.cannonadvantage.com
"Consulting in business management and marketing from new product launch to business development; employee empowerment to customer relationship management and beyond. The Cannon Advantage can help your business gain a competitive advantage."
http://www.chipdocs.com/
The online datasheet source for electronic components and semiconductors, especially for obsolete parts.
Clinical Engineering Association of South Africa: CEASA
http://www.ceasa-national.org.za/
Clinical Engineering: the management, support, development and quality assurance of healthcare technology as part of safe, cost-effective and sustainable healthcare delivery.
http://www.librarysupportstaff.com/coffeelibs.html
A site about cafes & libraries.
Confessions of a Science Librarian
http://jdupuis.blogspot.com/
This weblog, featurings links and pointers to information of interest to academic science librarians, is by John Dupuis, science & electronic resources librarian at Steacie Science Library, York University, Toronto.
http://constructionclub.com/
"Your Everything Construction Building Site."
Consultant Engineers & Technologists 500
http://www.cet500.com/
A database of engineering and technology consultants in the UK and Europe.
http://www.copus.org.uk/
Copus grant schemes support and encourage ways of making science more accessible to public audiences.
http://www.infotoday.com/it/apr03/peek.shtml
An article in Information Today (April 2003) by Robin Peek.
Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat
http://www.ctbuh.org/
The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, an international non-profit organization sponsored by architectural, engineering, planning, and construction professionals, was established to facilitate professional exchanges among those involved in all aspects of the planning, design, construction and operation of tall buildings and the urban habitat.
The first issue of CTBUH Review is available.
Digital Libraries and VLEs: The JISC DiVLE Initiative
http://www.jisc.ac.uk/index.cfm?name=programme_divle
Jointly Organised by the JIBS User Group, JISC, and JUGL.
23rd July Oxford University Computing Services 13 Banbury Road, Oxford
http://www.bt.com/directory-enquiries/
Free directory enquiries from BT.
http://www.marketingsource.com/associations/
Directory of Associations allows online searching of associations (free searching displays up to 25 results and displays only the name, city, state, and URL of an organization), with the full directory available in both on- line and CD-ROM format, on a yearly subscription basis.
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ
http://www.doaj.org/
This service covers free, full text, quality controlled scientific and scholarly journals.
The goal of the Directory of Open Access Journals is to increase the visibility and accessibility of open access scholarly journals, thereby promoting their increased usage and impact. The directory aims to comprehensively cover all open access scholarly journals that use an appropriate quality control system. Journals in all languages and subject areas will be included in the DOAJ. The database records will be freely available for reuse in other services and can be harvested by using the OAI-PMH, thus further increasing the visibility of the journals.
http://shop.ebrary.com/
"If you do not yet have free access to ebrary's database collections through your library, this site's for you. Discover over 20,000 full-text books in multiple academic and general interest subject areas, sheet music titles and reports. Use our advanced research technology, highlights, bookmarks, annotations and more."
http://edtechdev.org/blog/
A blog for educational technology, learning sciences research, programming.
Educational Software Directory.net
http://www.educational-software-directory.net/
A Guide to Learning Software Resources on the Web
http://www.ektron.com/ewebeditpro.cfm
"The leading WYSIWYG, browser-based, XHTML/HTML editor-lets content contributors easily create and publish Web content, while Webmasters/IT maintain control over a site's look and feel."
http://www.elearnchina.com/
EICC - Edinburgh 21, 22, 23 July 2003.
Entering the Chinese market place is a complex move. This conference provides a forum on exchange of market information not only on product and service requirements, but on specialist market entrance requirements.
http://www.elearningalliance.org/
The eLearning Alliance is a membership-based organisation that seeks to promote eLearning in Scotland and beyond. It is a company limited by guarantee, and a not-for-profit organisation.
Engineering and Technology Board: ETB
http://www.etechb.co.uk/
"ETB is a national partnership to promote science, engineering and technology. The driving force behind this partnership, which comprises business, industry, the profession and education, is our desire to ensure a supply of appropriately skilled individuals to meet the needs of business and industry, both now and into the future. We will achieve this by ensuring that the role of science, engineering and technology, at the heart of the UK economy, is fully recognised. "
http://www.pepublishing.com/magazines/eng_opps/2002.htm
A guide to everything you need to know about becoming an engineer.
http://www.engineerjobs.com/
"Engineerjobs, the engineering job source, provides fast-loading and easily accessible job listings for engineers and technical professionals."
http://www.engitek.com/index.htm
Find information about engineering products and services, engineering books, engineering software, links to the best Engineering sites,ewtc.
http://englib.info/
A blog for Engineering Libraries...news, technology, services and resources.
http://www.leicesterequal.co.uk/
This site is provided by Leicester City Council Area Traffic Control (ATC) to test a range of information about local and regional traffic, travel and air quality can be presented to local residents and businesses.
http://www.eupraxis.com/
"An information delivery service to those of you who are thinking of making applications for European Funds.
As your private virtual secretary we notify you immediately and directly into your personal e-mail address (24/7), as soon as a new opportunity is launched by the European Institutions and their contractors."
http://www.freecad.com/
"The one site for all free CAD, CAM and CAE programs, brought to you by TenLinks, Inc."
http://www.getamap.co.uk/
A free improved mapping service from Ordnance Survey.
http://www.infomotions.com/musings/getting-started/
This is the home page for Getting Started With XML, a manual/workbook about XML.
Designed for librarians and library staff, this workshop introduces participants to the extensible markup language (XML) through numerous library examples, demonstrations, and structured hands-on exercises.
http://news.google.co.uk/
Google does it again.
Guide to Useful Business Information Websites
http://www.scottish-enterprise.com/publications/book5.pdf
From LEDU, the small business agency.
http://www.higher-ed.org/
The goal of this evolving website is to provide a comprehensive collection of information resources in the field of higher education throughout the world.
Higher Education Resources for the Built Environment: HERBE
http://www.litc.sbu.ac.uk/imaging/Herbe.html
Electronic Resources for the Teaching of Building Construction. An ADC-LTSN and CEBE funded Project.
http://www.hkengineer.org.hk
"Hong Kong Engineer (HKE) is the official journal of the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers (HKIE). This monthly journal covers in-depth articles on engineering topics and up-to-date news about HKIE activities, making it a must-read for all engineering professionals in Hong Kong. It is distributed free of charge to nearly 20,000 members, whom are engineers in a wide range of field, including consultants, contractors, civil servants and academics."
http://www.idr-online.info/
IDR-online.com is the web-based version of Industrial Diamond Review or IDR as it is more well known.
IDR was first published in 1940 and is acknowledged as the leading international journal for reporting on all the major happenings in the world of industrial diamond and cubic boron nitride.
If Two Heads Are Better than One, Try 7,000 with Wikipedia
http://www.econtentmag.com/Articles/ArticleReader.aspx?ArticleID=4293
An article by Kinley Levack, from the April issue of Econtent.
http://turing.bear.uncw.edu/iLumina/index.asp
"iLumina is a digital library of sharable undergraduate teaching materials for chemistry, biology, physics, mathematics, and computer science. It is designed to quickly and accurately connect users with the educational resources they need."
http://www.faganfinder.com/img/
From Fagan Finder.
http://www.imeche.org.uk/research/
"This page lists all of the seminars and conferences that are currently being proposed by the IMechE but that have not yet been confirmed as going ahead. If you are potentially interested in attending, speaking, exhibiting or sponsoring at any of our proposed events, you may register your interest..." Also available is Eventwatch Newsletter.
http://www.iukt.com/
Purpose:
To help companies stay up to date on technological developments likely to affect their industry
To help technology developers and innovation support organisations reach a wide industry audience and gain profile.
Internet replacing libraries as top source for research By Laura Stevens
http://www.ucffuture.com/news/433203.html?mkey=205341
An article by Laura Stevens in The Central Florida Future.
http://www.virtualmed.netfirms.com/internethealth/
A Journal on Internet Research, Applications, Communication and Ethics.
Is this the library of the future?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/2859845.stm
Written by Megan Lane, and included in BBC News.
Issues in Science & Technology Librarianship: Spring 2003
http://www.istl.org/03-spring/
The Spring issue with the theme: Information Literacy for Science & Technology, is now available.
http://www.itsearchportal.com/
"ITsearchPortal is a new search engine dedicated solely to the IT industry, enabling you to save time by searching for articles across the top IT websites in one place.
Search our extensive database for IT news, features, reviews and downloads, with the site's clean and fresh design making finding information easy"
Joint Funding Councils' Report 'Improving Standards in Postgraduate Research Degrees'
http://www.grad.ac.uk/downloads/rdp_report/rdp_framework_report.pdf
This is the main report.
Journal of Digital Information Management
http://www.dirf.org/jdim/
Disusses the ideal practices for effective management of digital information. The contents of the first issue:
Digital Information Science and Technology
Links to the Future
Indexing an intelligent video database using evolutionary control
Design A Method for Detecting the Inconsistent Loops in the Specification
of Multimedia Hyper-Presentation Using Petri -Net
Fine-tuning of Graphic Thesaurus Displays
The dawn of a new era for mobile and Ambient Learning:MOBIlearn
Vision Online.
http://www.justgraduates.net/
justgraduates.net provides a single point of access for matching the recruitment needs of graduates, employers and recruitment agencies. justgraduates.net is 100% free to candidates, providing access to job searches, career advice, e-mail alerts and newsletters.
http://www.justrail.net/
A leading rail recruitment site.
http://kairosnews.org/
A Weblog for discussing Rhetoric, Technology and Pedagogy.
Libraries Without Walls 5: The Distributed Delivery of Library and Information Services
http://www.cerlim.ac.uk/conf/lww5/
19 - 23 September 2003 Hotel Delfinia, Molyvos, Lesvos, Greece.
http://bio.ltsn.ac.uk/imagebank/
The LTSN Bioscience Imagebank is a shared image resource of freely available bioscience images contributed by academics and industry, with rights cleared for educational purposes. ImageBank also offers reviews of and links to other bioscience image collections.
http://www.marbleandmore.com/
A portal for the stone industry. This site also produces an RSS news channel called Marbleandmore.
http://middleeastdirectory.com/
A guide to Middle East web sites.
http://www.mimas.ac.uk/news/mof2003/
The MIMAS Open Forum 2003 will be held in Manchester on Wednesday 2 July 2003 in Crawford House at the University of Manchester.
MIMAS is a JISC-supported national data centre providing the UK higher education, further education and research community with networked access to key data and information resources to support teaching, learning and research across a wide range of disciplines.
http://www.interdok.com/mind/
"As a complementary service to our Directory of Published Proceedings (DoPP), we have assembled a database that allows free easy access to locate future events. Most listings are for conferences, congresses, meetings and symposia that eventually will result in published proceedings and therefore, be referenced in DoPP."
http://www.nationmaster.com/
A handy way to graphically compare nations.
http://rssxpress.ukoln.ac.uk/view.cgi?rss_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nature.com%2Fmaterials%2Frss.rdf
This is an RSS channel. The latest developments in materials science and nanotechnology from the publishers of Nature.
Net the Ancestors: The Internet and Family History
http://www.freepint.com/issues/150503.htm#tips
An article in Free Pint, by Jonathan Crowhurst.
http://www.nceplus.co.uk/
The address mentioned in issue 21 of the Internet Resources Newsletter no longer works. NCE is a popular trade magazine for civil engineers.
http://www.onescotland.com
"This website is part of a campaign organised by the Scottish Executive to tackle and eliminate racism in our country. We believe that a just society is one free from prejudice and discrimination. Our anti-racism campaign is based on that belief."
PALS: Publisher and Library/Learning Solutions
http://www.palsgroup.org.uk/
Ongoing collaboration between UK publishers (ALPSP and the Publishers Association) and higher/further education (JISC). PALS aims to foster mutual understanding and work collaboratively towards the solution of issues arising from electronic publication.
Patterns of Journal Use by Scientists through Three Evolutionary Phases
http://www.dlib.org/dlib/may03/king/05king.html
An article in a recent issue of D-Lib Magazine
http://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/
PhilSci Archive, an electronic archive for preprints in the philosophy of science. It is offered as a free service to the philosophy of science community.
http://plants.usda.gov/
The PLANTS Database maintains and generates data reports in specialized areas.
Poisons, Potions and Toxins - Toxicology Sources on the Web
http://www.freepint.com/issues/200203.htm#feature
An article in a recent issue of the Free Pint newsletter, by Teresa Loughbrough
http://www.prweb.com/
PR Web has offered free online press release distribution services since August 1997.
Providing Online Resources To Online Learning Environments: PORTOLE
http://www.leeds.ac.uk/portole/
The PORTOLE project aims to produce a range of tools for tutors which will enable them to discover information resources and embed these into their course modules from within the University Virtual Learning Environment (VLE).
http://www.qualitymark.org.uk/
The Government's Quality Mark Scheme gives you access to independently inspected and approved tradesmen such as builders, roofers, electricians and plumbers.
http://rac.alionscience.com/rac/jsp/journal/racjournal.jsp
From the Reliability Analysis Center. The link mentioned in issue 70 of the Internet Resources Newsletter no longer works.
Reading, Writing and Researching for History
http://academic.bowdoin.edu/WritingGuides/
A guide for College students.
http://www.reprotox.org/
An Information System on Environmental Hazards to Human Reproduction and Development
Research library responses to the NSF cyber-infrastructure program
http://www.arl.org/arl/proceedings/142/messerschmitt.html
Powerpoint presentation by David G. Messerschmitt, Member, NSF Blue Ribbon Advisory Panel on Cyberinfrastructure.
http://www.scottishbiotechjobs.com/asp/home.asp
"At Scottish Biotech Jobs.com we clearly recognise the growing need for a dedicated, science focused recruitment medium within Scotland."
Scottish Embedded Software Centre
http://www.embedded-software.org.uk/
"The Scottish Embedded Software Centre aims to increase Scotland's collective capability in Embedded Software. It offers assistance to everyone engaged in embedded software development in Scotland, particularly small and medium sized companies, helping them to develop their expertise and capitalise on growing market opportunities."
http://www.searchengineguide.com/wire/wire.html
"Search Engine Guide is the definitive guide to search engine information on the Internet."
http://www.semiseek.com/
Semiconductor Search Engine for - Semiconductors - Capital Equipment - Components - Electronics - Environmental Test.
http://www.sixbrowser.com/
I haven't tried this, so I cannot vouch for it in any way, but it is a browser that allows you to view several sites at once, and includes some bookmark software as well.
Skat Foundation and Skat Consulting
http://www.skat.ch/
"The Skat Foundation and Skat Consulting are sister organisations with a common vision - to contribute to poverty reduction and sustainable development through professional knowledge sharing and the provision of advisory services in the developing world. Our areas of expertise are:
water supply and environmental sanitation
architecture and settlement management
transport
environmental management
knowledge management.
http://www.sbgateway.com/
The Small Business Gateway is a service provided by the Scottish Enterprise Network and its local partners. It provides a single access point to a range of integrated services for businesses in Scotland.
http://www.stm-assoc.org/
The mission of STM is to create a platform for exchanging ideas and information and to represent the interest of the STM publishing community in the fields of copyright, technology developments, and end user / library relations.
Summer School in Evolutionary Computing
http://evonet.dcs.napier.ac.uk/summerschool2003/
Organised by EvoNet Network of Excellence in Evolutionary Computing. Host Institution: University of Parma, Italy (24 - 31 August 2003).
http://www.suspronet.org/
SusProNet is a Thematic Network of industries and institutes under the EU Fifth Framework Programme (FP5). SusProNet develops and exchanges expertise on design of product-service systems for sustainable competitive growth.
http://www.talentscotland.co.uk/
talentscotland.com is a joint initiative between Scottish Enterprise and their international division Scottish Development International. The project is also supported by the Alba Centre and a number of partners from the optoelectronics, microelectronics and communication technologies industries.
Teaching, Learning and Assessment in Databases
http://www.ics.ltsn.ac.uk/events/databases/
An LTSN event. Coventry University, TechnoCentre 14th July 2003.
http://www.trnmag.com/
"Technology Research News (TRN) is an independent publisher and news service dedicated to covering technology research developments in university, corporate and government labs. Every story published by TRN is the result of direct, original reporting."
http://www.tecnalia.info/
TECNALIA is the largest private research organisation in Southern Europe. It is a Technology Corporation whose main purpose is to contribute to economic and social development, initiating and promoting Technological Innovation through Research Development and Dissemination.
The (sci-tech) Library Question
http://www.podbaydoor.com/engine/
A blog. Occasional postings about issues and concerns of interest (but not restricted to) engineering and scitech librarians.
The AfterWeb: Digital Distribution Without the URL
http://www.econtentmag.com/Articles/ArticleReader.aspx?ArticleID=961&CategoryID=4
An article by Steve Smith, from the February 2003 Issue of EContent.
The Top Seven Academic Library Issues
http://libraryjournal.reviewsnews.com/index.asp?layout=article&articleid=CA280461&publication=libraryjournal
An article from Library Journal by Andrew Richard Albanese.
http://www.thefabricator.com/
"Thefabricator.com is an official Web site of the Fabricators & Manufacturers Association (FMA), the leading educational association serving the metal forming and fabricating industry through a variety of resources."
http://www.tool-mouldmaking.com/
North American Tool & Mold Making Product News is a tabloid magazine offering sourcing information for tool and mold makers in Canada, Mexico and the USA. European Tool & Mould Making is a publication for mould makers and their associates in the European Union. Both magazines compliment, and feed content into, this website.
Towards a better map: Science, the public and the media
http://www.esrc.ac.uk/esrccontent/DownloadDocs/Mapdocfinal.pdf
An ESRC report.
http://turbo10.com/
Turbo10 claims to search the 'Deep Net' of 1170 specialist databases which are often not searched by the popular search engines such as Google and allows personalisation of choice of search engine. This site has been having problems recently, and requires you to enter your email address, but looks as if it incorporates some very interesting concepts.
http://www.ukcivilengineering.co.uk/
News. Job Vacancies. Consultants. Contractors. Suppliers. Plant and Equipment. Institutions and Associations. Training and Education. Small Ads. CVs.
http://www.grad.ac.uk/index.jsp
Previously known as the Research Councils Graduate Schools Programme.
"Our aim is to support students, supervisors, universities, and employers to realise the value of postgraduate talent."
United Kingdom Quality Ash Association
http://www.ukqaa.org.uk/
The UKQAA represents the interests of the major producers and users of coal ash from coal fired power stations within the United Kingdom.
http://www.thevcx.com/
"The Virtual Component Exchange is a unique Business-to-Business (B2B) software and E-commerce organisation focussed on producing Internet tools for trading Intellectual Property.
It has already delivered the VCX TradeFloor - the first, regulated Exchange for trading Semiconductor Intellectual Property (SIP), or VCs (Virtual Components)."
http://www.wammi.com/
Web Usability Questionnaire.
http://pages.slu.edu/faculty/bunnellcs/Standards.htm
A good set of links.
http://webjunction.org/do/Home
This looks like a useful site.
"WebJunction is an online community of libraries and other agencies sharing knowledge and experience to provide the broadest public access to information technology"
http://www.whynotchemeng.com/
Use this site to discover more about Chemical Engineering - a professional career that; pays well, allows you to travel the world (if you want), is challenging, and important to society.
http://people.morrisville.edu/%7Edrewwe/wireless/index.htm
"The purpose of this page is to provide a space for documenting my experiences using wireless and to provide resources for other libraries and librarians going through the wireless experience. This site so far concentrates on Wireless LANs in libraries but will be expanded if other wireless technologies start to make their way into libraries."
http://www.workgateways.com/
WORKgateways helps to organise UK engineering jobs, UK town planning jobs, UK construction jobs, UK health and medical jobs, UK architecture jobs, UK teaching jobs, UK Banking and Finance jobs, UK Accounting jobs, UK Legal jobs for travellers from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.
http://www.refugees.org/WRS2003.cfm.htm
Downloadable reports.
NICE WEB SITE
In the course of finding sites of interest for this Newsletter, we sometimes come across Web sites which we feel deserve slightly more than a passing mention. Each month we will pick out one or more such sites, and give them a short review. The sites will normally be UK based, may be small or large, and be of interest or potential interest to academics. After lengthy discussions we have decided, with incredible creativity :-), to call these: Nice Web Sites. Details of previous Nice Web Sites are available in the Nice Web Site Archive.
I had thought about making the PALS:
Publisher and Library/Learning Solutions site the Nice Web Site this
month, not so much because of its content, but because I think that its
key current topics of communication between publishers and HE/FE, JISC's
new Information Environment, content delivery, pricing and charging mechanisms,
and access to archival information, are all very important topics which
need further effort and development.
However, the Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ gets the vote this month.
The Directory aims to be comprehensive and cover all open access scientific and scholarly journals that use a quality control system to guarantee the content.
"Open Access" is defined as journals that use a funding model that does not charge readers or their institutions for access. "Quality Control" is defined as meaning that the journal must exercise peer-review or editorial quality control to be included.
This site will be a useful way to promote the existence of such journals. It will not, however, be a listing of all freely available journals, many of which, despite being non-peer-reviewed, can be useful sources of information.
Roddy MacLeod
PRESS RELEASES
**** 5 new, free Internet tutorials for FE students now available from the RDN Virtual Training Suite****
A national eLearning initiative offering free online training in Internet skills to students and lecturers in further education is launching five new titles on Monday June 2nd at: http://www.vts.rdn.ac.uk
- Internet for English Studies
- Internet for Science
- Internet for Mathematics & Adult Numeracy
- Internet for Learning Languages
- Internet for Health and Safety at Work
Building on the success of 56 tutorials already available in other subject areas, the 5 new "teach yourself" Web tutorials will enable students in Further Education to find high quality information on the Internet to support their course work.
The RDN Virtual Training Suite is a highly popular service, built collaboratively by members of the teaching and lecturing community in colleges and universities across the UK. The 5 new tutorials are:
1) INTERNET FOR ENGLISH STUDIES
Written by: Mark Williams, Lecturer in English, Kingston College
Aimed primarily at students of:
- A level English Literature
- A Level English Language
- A Level English Literature and Language
Includes examples of how to find full text of plays, poetry and prose on the Internet, and how to find online dictionaries and grammar guides and much more!
2) INTERNET FOR SCIENCE
Written by Dr Stuart Barker, Chemistry Course Leader, Park College
Aimed primarily at students of:
- A level Biology
- A Level Chemistry
- A Level Physics
Helps students find science museums online, revision Web sites, electronic science textbooks and much more!
3) INTERNET FOR MATEMATICS AND ADULT NUMERACY
Written by Deborah Prence, Mathematics Lecturer, The Sheffield College.
Aimed primarily at students of:
- A level Maths
- Adult Numeracy
Includes great examples of eLearning Web sites for Maths from around the World eg. "M.C. Escher: Artist or Mathematician" and "Fibonacci Numbers and the Golden Section" and much more!
4) INTERNET FOR HEALTH AND SAFETY AT WORK
Written by Tony Weston, Construction & Health and Safety Lecturer and ILT Development, at Grimsby College, North East Lincolnshire Aimed primarily at students of:
- Health and Safety (particularly on vocational courses)
Enables students to find key H&S organisations on the Web, Trades Union sites on H&S, eLearning materials about first aid, environmental health and much more!
5) INTERNET FOR LEARNING LANGUAGES
Written by Yvan Tardy, Senior Lecturer in French, De Montfort University.
Aimed primarily at students of:
- French, German, Spanish, Italian
- English as a Foreign Language (EFL)
Helps students locate Web sites that support language learning online and Web sites for: language schools, foreign embassies, tourist offices and newspapers worldwide and much more!
There are free posters to download and print available from:
http://www.vts.rdn.ac.uk/posters/
HE and FE staff may order a bundle of leaflets for free, please email:
rdn-vts@bristol.ac.uk
The RDN Virtual Training Suite is available at http://www.vts.rdn.ac.uk
Issued by the Institute for Learning and Research Technology, University
of Bristol, tel (0117) 928 7183 Contact: Emma Place
rdn-vts@bristol.ac.uk
NETWORK NEWS
- NISS News
-
A week-by-week listing of new information resources on the NISS (National Information Services and Systems) Information Gateway selected by experts in the subject area is available at:
http://www.niss.ac.uk/welcome/whatsnew.html
- BUBL News
-
BUBL has retained a strong library element, but now provides a subject-based service to the academic and research community more generally, this via the BUBL LINK Subject Tree. The latest news from BUBL is available at:
http://bubl.ac.uk/news/
The latest updates to the BUBL LINK / 5:15 Catalogue of Internet Resources are available at:
http://bubl.ac.uk/link/updates/current.html
- EEVL News
-
The latest news from EEVL, plus the latest additions to EEVL, The Hub for Engineering, Mathematics and Computing, are available at:
- http://www.eevl.ac.uk/news.htm
EEVL adds career development news from Science's Next Wave
A news feed giving the latest career development news from Science's
Next Wave magazine has been added to EEVL's Engineering Jobs & Recruitment
section.
http://www.eevl.ac.uk/engineering/nextwave-career-development.htm
- SOSIG News
-
The latest additions to SOSIG (Social Science Information Gateway) are available at:
http://sosig.esrc.bris.ac.uk/roads/whats-new.html
- EDINA Newsline
-
The latest issue of Edina (Edinburgh Data & INformation Access) Newsline can be found at:
- http://edina.ed.ac.uk/newsline/
- CHEST News
-
CHEST aims to obtain quality commercial software, datasets, training materials and other IT products for the Education and Research Community at low prices and attractive licence terms. The latest news from CHEST is available at:
http://www.chest.ac.uk/news.html
- MIMAS News
-
MIMAS is a JISC-supported national data centre run by Manchester Computing, at the University of Manchester, to provide the following range of services to the academic community:
Flexible on-line access to strategic research and teaching datasets.
Access to key bibliographic information.
Access to specialist support and training.
Access to software packages and large-scale computing resources.The latest news from MIMAS can be found at:
http://www.mimas.ac.uk/news.html
PSIgate (Physical Science Information Gateway) is the physical sciences hub of the Resource Discovery Network (RDN).
http://www.psigate.ac.uk/newsite/whatsnew.html
- BIOME News
-
BIOME is a collection of gateways which provide access to evaluated, quality Internet resources in the health and life sciences, aimed at students, researchers, academics and practitioners. The latest news from BIOME can be found at:
http://biome.ac.uk/whatsnew/
- Netskills: News
-
Netskills aims to help the UK HE community make effective use of the Internet for teaching, research and administration. The latest news from Netskills can be found at:
http://www.netskills.ac.uk/news/
- What's new on Eldis
-
Electronic Development and Environment Information System. A gateway to information sources on development or the environment. What's new on Eldis can be found at:
http://nt1.ids.ac.uk/eldis/wnew.htm
- What's New on Biz/ed
-
Biz/ed is a dedicated business and economics information gateway for students, teachers and lecturers.
http://www.bized.ac.uk/homeinfo/whatsnew.htm
- AHDS Newsletter
-
The latest issue of the AHDS (Arts and Humanities Data Service) Newsletter can be found at:
http://ahds.ac.uk/newsletters.htm
JSICmail provides electronic discussion lists for the UK higher education community.
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/news.htm
- UK Data Archive news
-
The UK Data Archive at the University of Essex houses the largest collection of accessible computer-readable data in the social sciences and humanities in the United Kingdom. It is a national resource centre, disseminating data throughout the United Kingdom and, by arrangement with other national archives, internationally.
http://www.data-archive.ac.uk/home/archiveNews.asp
Chemical Data Service (CDS)
CDS provides on-line access to a variety of quality databases in the field of Chemistry, plus support, training and advice. This is available (free of charge) to academics at UK Universities.
http://cds.dl.ac.uk/cds/
Academic Info
Your gateway to quality educational resources. Academic Info is an annotated subject directory tailored toward a college and university audience and is used by students, librarians, and researchers.
http://www.academicinfo.net/new.html
RDN News
The Resource Discovery Network (RDN) is a cooperative network of independent subject-based service providers called hubs, coordinated by the Resource Discovery Network Centre (RDNC). It is a free Internet service dedicated to providing effective access to high quality Internet resources for the learning, teaching and research community.
http://www.rdn.ac.uk/news/
Humbul
The latest additions to Humbul, the humanities hub of the Resource Discovery Network (RDN).
http://www.humbul.ac.uk/output/new.php?int=30
BOOK REVIEW
Review of:
Find it On-line - the complete guide to on-line
research
3rd edition, by Alan M. Schlein
Facts on demand Press, 206 W. Julie Drive, Suite 2, Tempe, Arizona,
85283
ISBN 1-889150-29-0
$19.95
This is a good guide to Internet research, for beginners right through to more expert researchers looking for new way to approach the Internet.
It is a well structured and well written book. Divided into 14 chapters, each deals with a different aspect of researching - beginning with basics of the Internet and creative uses for it, through framing a search strategy, general search tools, specialized tools, government resources, public records, news resources, business tools, international research, managing and filtering information, evaluating information, search strategies, sample searches and finally privacy and protection.
At over 500 pages, it is fairly text heavy, with loads of discussion surrounding each section, as well as masses of links to sites. This makes it more useful than the usual books filled with lists of sites. At first glance the amount of text looks off-putting, but the information given is interesting and useful. For example, there is a page which neatly compares search engines capabilities and methods of searching - along with, of course, a link to a site which will give the information in even more detail; one which lists the domain codes for each country.
The main problem I found with the book is that it has clearly been written for an American readership, so the sites and information given are heavily biased towards the US - the "best on-line newspapers" according to the book are: Chicago Tribune, International Herald Tribune, Los Angeles Times, New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post, and Le Monde is the only non-US one that rates a mention. Again with the best TV news sites, the BBC manages a mention, other than that, "the best" are given as ABC, CBC, CBS, CNN, Fox , MSNBC and NPR.
As a result of this, sections such as Public records and Government resources are not particularly useful if you're outside the US. Non-US Public records amount to a whole 2 sites - about a quarter of a page out of a 26 page chapter! The section on "International Research" is incredibly useful, though, with loads of country and region specific sites and search engines listed for all over the world.
So basically, a great book if you're a researcher based in the US, or researching information from the US. If you're not, and you don't mind being "a foreigner" while you read it, you'll find some really useful and interesting stuff as well. All in all, one of the better books on Internet research, and great value for money.
Cath Ferguson
RECENT INTERNET BOOKS IN THE LIBRARY
The Mantex Information Design web site has reviews of some of the books mentioned in previous issues of the Internet Resources Newsletter.
Recent Arrivals
004.36 BER
Grid computing
Edited by Fran Berman, Geoffrey C Fox and Anthony J G Hey
Wiley, 2003
A complete list of new books added to Heriot-Watt University Library is available from the Library News page.
http://www.hw.ac.uk/library/news.html
GET A LIFE! - LEISURE TIME
Tennis Network
http://www.tennisnetwork.com/
allrecordlabels.com
http://allrecordlabels.com/
Record labels worldwide
Hog Heaven
http://www.loc.gov/rr/scitech/harley100/
Celebrating 100 years of the Harley-Davidson
Reality TV World
http://www.realitytvworld.com/index/
Castles of Scotland
http://www.castlepictures.com/
This page is: http://www.hw.ac.uk/libwww/irn/irn105/irn105.html
© 2003 Heriot-Watt University
You may pass this newsletter on to others, as long as it is sent in its entirety.