jan09a.indd David Free N e w s f r o m t h e F i e l d I Love My Librarian Award winners announced Two academic librarians were among the ten winners of the Carnegie Corporation of New York/New York Times I Love My Librar­ ian Award, announced in early December 2008. Jean Amaral, reference librarian at An­ tioch University New England in Keene, New Hampshire, and Iona R. Malanchuk, associate university librarian and head of the Education Library at the University of Florida, joined eight other librarians in receiving a $5,000 cash award. Award winners were honored December 9, 2008, at a ceremony and recep­ tion at TheTimesCenter in New York. “The New York Times is proud to collabo­ rate with the American Library Association and Carnegie Corporation of New York in recognizing the role of librarians in society,” said Janet L. Robinson, president and chief executive officer of the New York Times Company. “Literacy and public access to knowledge are critical to our democracy and the work of these librarians quite simply, enriches us all.” The I Love My Librarian award was ad­ ministered by ALA through the Campaign for America’s Libraries, a awareness campaign that promotes the value of libraries and librarians. The award, which began as The New York Times Librarian Awards in 2000, is now a collaborative program of Carnegie Cor­ poration of New York, The New York Times, and ALA. More information about the award recipients is available at www.ilovelibraries. org/ilovemylibrarian. Springer joins CLOCKSS archive Springer Science and Business Media re­ cently announced a partnership with the community­governed archive cooperative CLOCKSS to preserve Springer content in the CLOCKSS global archive. The mission of the CLOCKSS archive is to build a sustain­ able, geographically distributed dark archive with which to ensure the long­term survival of Web­based scholarly publications for the benefit of the greater global research com­ munity. Content from participating publish­ ers is held in a dark archive until it is trig­ gered and the CLOCKSS Board determines that the content should be copied from the archive and made freely available to all, re­ gardless of prior subscription. Participating CLOCKSS libraries and publishers govern the archive themselves via three tiers of governance—an executive board, a board of directors, and an advisory council. Research libraries, working alongside publishers like Springer, are able to help shape policy and practice in their communi­ ties. Additional information on CLOCKSS is available online at www.clockss.org Columbia University Libraries and the National Library of China sign cooperative agreement The Columbia University Libraries and the National Library of China recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding, outlining future cooperative efforts. The two institu­ tions have agreed to explore ways they can exchange traditional materials and provide training opportunities by exchanges of li­ brary staff members. They also will try to support each other’s work by providing venues for exhibitions, and by keeping each other up to date on relevant publications by the exchange of publishers’ catalogs. “We are extremely proud to be partnering with such a distinguished library,” said Amy V. Heinrich, director of Columbia’s Starr East Asian Library. The National Library of China holds well over 6 million Chinese language books, and close to 4 million foreign books, as well as a significant rare book collection, and expanding electronic resources of books, periodicals, and databases. National Library of China Director Zhan Furui is pursuing cooperation widely and expanding public access to the library’s holdings. To this end, the library opened a new building for public use of the collections on September 9, 2008, as part of the celebration of its 99th anniver­ sary. The addition of the new building makes the library the third largest in the world. It also announced the creation of the National Digital Library of China, with materials both ancient and modern. C&RL News January 2009 6 http:www.clockss.org www.ilovelibraries Visit the National Library of China online at www.nlc.gov.cn and the Columbia University Starr East Asian Library at www.columbia. edu/cu/lweb/indiv/eastasian. Holiday giving at Central Michigan The staff and students at Central Michigan University’s (CMU) Park Library knew there was going to be a greater need in their community this holiday sea­ son. In early Oc­ tober, the library started collecting canned goods, personal hygiene products, cloth­ ing, and toys to assist local fami­ lies. The library team wheeled 15 book carts packed with donations to a nearby collec­ tion center on campus. Nearly 1,000 families were expected to benefit from contributions from CMU departments and offi ces, along with local organizations. Autism Speaks adopts open access Autism Speaks, the nation’s largest autism advocacy organization, has announced that all researchers who receive an Autism Speaks grant will be required to deposit any resulting peer­reviewed research papers in the PubMed Central online archive, mak­ ing the articles available to the public with­ in 12 months of journal publication. This new policy will make the results of Autism Speaks­funded research freely and easily ac­ cessible to individuals with autism, families and other advocates, as well as interested researchers. Autism Speaks is the fi rst U.S.­ based nonprofit advocacy organization to institute this public access requirement. “Families with autism are, by nature, moti­ vated advocates constantly seeking new and reliable information to educate themselves,” said Sophia Colamarino, Autism Speaks vice president of research. “They are also par­ ticularly sophisticated in their ability to read and interpret scientific literature pertaining to Central Michigan University’s Park Library staff members Abby Haggart, Jane Morey, and Robin Sabo help lead the book cart donation parade. Photograph by Robert Barclay. autism. This is an effort to give those fami­ lies and their physicians access to important information about the latest developments in autism research.” While families are now able to view a wide range of information about autism research online, they often do not have easy access to primary sources, including peer­reviewed scientific litera­ ture. This new policy will allow everyone to ac­ cess complete ar­ ticles that in the past may have been available only through fee­ based journals. PubMed Central’s repository of full­ text biomedical journal articles is freely available online at www. pubmedcentral. gov. To lear n more about Autism Speaks, visit www.au­ tismspeaks.org. Western Illinois University Libraries produce gaming video Western Illinois University’s (WIU) Leslie F. Malpass Library recently produced a video promoting its frequent “Game Nite” activi­ ties. The video uses Rocky, the university’s mascot and Wii Sports boxing enthusiast, to help promote and market the gaming events. Watch Rocky take on a contender on WIU’s YouTube channel at youtube.com /watch?v=p0LXuLgR_jM&fmt=18. Waldo Gifford Leland Award call for nominations Have you read a great new book about ar­ chives? Come across an exceptional fi nding aid for a newly processed archival or manu­ script collection? Encountered a documen­ tary publication that is head and shoulders above the rest? Has a Web publication re­ ally stood out to you? If so, please consider nominating it for the Waldo Gifford Leland Award. The annual Leland Award, consisting of a cash prize and certificate, encourages and January 2009 7 C&RL News http:youtube.com http:tismspeaks.org www.columbia www.nlc.gov.cn rewards writing of superior excellence and usefulness in the field of archival history, theory, and practice. The Leland Award subcommittee of the Society of American Ar­ chivists (SAA) is now seeking nominations for monographs, finding aids, or documentary publications published in North America in 2008 for this year’s recognition. Established in 1959, the award honors American archi­ val pioneer Waldo Gifford Leland, president of SAA in the 1940s and one of the driving forces behind the founding of the National Archives. Nomination forms, a list of previous winners, and more information is at www. archivists.org/gover nance/handbook /section12­leland.asp. The deadline for ap­ plications is February 28, 2009. Iowa State launches Learning Connections Center The Iowa State University (ISU) Library re­ cently opened a new Learning Connections Center (LCC), an integrated research and technology facility that couples onsite refer­ ence services and high­end multimedia sup­ port in a space formerly occupied by a more traditional reference desk and collection. This broadened set of services and multi­ media equipment allows students to work individually and collaboratively on papers and multimedia projects within the library from start to finish. The center was funded principally by a $260,000 grant from the Roy Carver Charitable Trust with matching funds donated by parents of freshmen students. LCC’s new Help and Information Desk is staffed by reference librarians along with IT staff and student employees, who provide a wide range of library and technology assis­ tance. As well as collaborative workstations, LCC includes four multimedia production studios and a presentation room equipped with a large LCD panel, camera, and DVD equipment to allow students to preview their projects and practice their presentations. The ISU Library is online at www.lib. iastate.edu. New ACRL publications Two new titles,Academic Library Research: Perspectives and Current Trends and Design Talk: Understanding the Roles of Usability Practitioners, Web Designers, and Web De­ velopers in User­Centered Web Design, are now available from ACRL Publications. Edited by Marie L. Radford and Pamela Snelson, Academic Library Research: Per­ spectives and Current Trends is number 59 in the ACRL Publications in Librarian­ ship monographic series. The title updates traditional topics that have undergone exceptional, and in some cases unexpected, change since 1990 as well as reaching into new areas. It combines theoretical scholar­ ship with real world research, including case studies and user surveys, designed to inform practice. Part I highlights significant perspectives and trends, including reference service, in­ formation literacy, collection management, knowledge organization, and leadership. Part II features two chapters on recently developing evaluation methods including usability testing and measuring library ser­ vice quality through LibQUAL+. Academic Library Research is designed to be useful to those interested in current trends in academic library research including scholars, practitioners, and students. While many books on Web site develop­ ment and design exist, few address the vari­ ous roles involved. Design Talk, written by Brenda Reeb of the University of Rochester, brings together and differentiates the unique roles and activities of usability practitioners and Web designers. Included in the volume are descriptions of and instructions for con­ ducting different types of usability tests and discussion of Web design issues. Design Talk is suitable for usability practi­ tioners,Web designers, people with a vested interest in Web content, or staff responsible for implementing new technologies in a library Web site. Academic Library Research and Design Talk will be available for purchase at the ALA Midwinter Meeting in Denver.The titles are also available through the ALA Online Store (www.alastore.ala.org) and by telephone or­ der at (866) 746­7252 in the United States or (770) 442­8633 for international customers. C&RL News January 2009 8 http:www.alastore.ala.org http:iastate.edu 2008 George N. Atiyeh Prize winners The Middle East Librarians Associa­ tion (MELA) recently announced La­ rissa Halishoff, Michael Prohaska, and Sean Swanick as winners of the 2008 George Atiyeh Prize. The award, founded in 1999 to honor the retired head of the Near East Section of the Library Congress, provides financial aid to attend the annual meetings of MELA and of the Middle East Studies Association of North America (MESA). Awardees receive a cash award in addition to their registration fees for both the MELA and MESA annual conferences. Halishoff is a student in the School of Library, Archival and Information Studies of the University of British Columbia. Prohaska is a student in the Master’s of Library Science pro­ gram at Southern Connecticut State University. Swanick is enrolled in the Master’s in Library and Informa­ tion Studies program at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. I can’t live without . . . Can you name one Web resource that you can’t live without? Is there a blog out there that blows your mind? Or a wiki that wows you ev­ ery time? Maybe you use a database or Web site that seems to answer your questions before you even ask. If there’s a Web resource that speaks to you, chances are it will speak to others in the profession. C&RL News wants to hear from you about these tools and how they help you succeed in your work. Whether it provides inspiration or information, we encourage you to share your thoughts about your favorite resource so that we can share them with our readers. Submissions should be brief, providing a snapshot of the resource and why you can’t live without it in about 100 words. Please make sure to include access information. Send your submissions by e­mail to David Free, C&RL News editor, dfree@ala.org. Published weekly, SciBX provides con­ Additional information is available on the cise analysis of the scientific content and MELA Web site at www.mela.us . commercial potential of the most important translational research with the potential to The Tech Static reviews online transform human therapeutics and diag­ The Tech Static, a new collection develop­ nostics. ment resource for technology titles, pub­ By distilling the flood of life sciences lished its inaugural issue in November literature down to the 25 key scientific devel­ 2008. Edited by Rachel Singer Gordon, The opments each week and providing in­depth Tech Static is a continuation of the reviews analysis of the most important fi ndings, of technology­related books formerly pub­ SciBX provides a unique scientific and com­ lished in the Library Journal “Computer mercial perspective on today’s breakthrough Media” review column. science. The same content will be published The free resource includes reviews of weekly in both formats. current computer books, technology­re­ Visit www.nature.com/scibx for addi­ lated titles targeted at librarians, collection tional information. development articles, DVD and ebook re­ views, and prepublication alerts. C&RL News RSSThe Tech Static is available freely online at www.thetechstatic.com and provides RSS Cover art, article links, and other valuable and e­mail subscription options. information from C&RL News is now avail­ able by subscribing to our new RSS feed. SciBX now in HTML Point your Web browser to http:// Nature Publishing Group and BioCentury feeds.feedburner.com/candrlnews, and Publications have introduced a full­text add our feed to your favorite reader, such HTML version of SciBX: Science Business as Bloglines or Google Reader. eXchange to complement the existing dis­ tribution via PDF. January 2009 9 C&RL News http:www.thetechstatic.com www.nature.com/scibx http:www.mela.us mailto:dfree@ala.org