INFORMATION UPDATE July 2007 Number 85 Welcome to INFORMATION UPDATE, a monthly resource for information seekers and users. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ IN THIS ISSUE ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ => Do It Yourself - Open Access - Free Online Journals => Did You Know - News Comes in Many Forms and Languages => Notes, News and Announcements => Subscribe/Unsubscribe Information ************************************************************ DO IT YOURSELF - Open Access is a Growing Concern ************************************************************ Traditionally scientific, technical, and medical (STM) research results are published in peer-reviewed journals. These journals are usually published by professional associa- tions (American Society of Clinical Oncology, for example) or by for-profit publishing houses (Elsevier, for example.) Open access (OA) is an alternative that appears to be reaching a turning point in terms of viability and credibility. The open access model for STM literature puts research papers online making them accessible without a paid subscription. Open access material may be posted in a repository such as a university or PubMed Central that is sponsored by the National Institutes of Health. Alternatively the papers are published in an open access journal by organizations such as BioMed Central or the Public Library of Science. There is an excellent directory pointing to open access papers, and three key sites specifically for STM literature. Directory of Open Access Journals http://www.doaj.org/ "Directory of Open Access Journals is a service that provides access to quality controlled Open Access Journals. The Directory aims to be comprehensive and cover all open access scientific and scholarly journals that use an appropriate quality control system, and it will not be limited to par- ticular languages or subject areas." [from DOAJ Web site] The Directory is maintained by the Lund University Library and it currently contains listings for 2751 journals. Note that this directory goes beyond STM literature to include arts, history, business, and law. PubMed Central http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/ "PubMed Central (PMC) is the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) free digital archive of biomedical and life sciences journal literature. Participation by publishers in PMC is voluntary, although participating journals must meet certain editorial and technical standards. PMC, itself, is not a publisher. Access to PMC is free and unrestricted." [from PMC Web site] PubMed Central currently includes articles from almost 350 journals. BioMed Central http://www.biomedcentral.com/ "BioMed Central is an independent publishing house committed to providing immediate open access to peer-reviewed bio- medical research. All original research articles published by BioMed Central are made freely and permanently accessible online immediately upon publication." [from BioMed Central Web site] BioMed Central currently has 179 journal titles in its portfolio. The Public Library of Science http://www.plos.org/ "The Public Library of Science (PLoS) is a nonprofit organi- zation of scientists and physicians committed to making the world's scientific and medical literature a public resource." [from PLoS Web site] PLoS publishes nine journals including PLoS Biology and PLoS Medicine. I suggest bookmarking these sites for future reference. It's hard to argue with free access to peer reviewed literature. ************************************************************* DID YOU KNOW - News Comes in Many Forms and Languages ************************************************************* Just about every quest for business, competitive intelligence, company, product, or industry information leads to the news sources. So, what are the news sources? Newspapers, radio, magazines, and television still lead the pack. There are thousands of these outlets to consider, and their scope ranges from the smallest local weekly paper to the conglomerates publishing and broadcasting globally. Is it even possible to search so many sources in a timely and cost effective way? It is if you have access to some of the aggregated databases that bring these sources together. One of the tools I use is a product called Factiva. A Dow Jones product, Factiva brings together over 10,000 sources from 152 countries in 22 languages. That's a lot of news, and it even includes transcripts of network news broadcasts from BBC, CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox and NPR. A subscription to Factiva http://www.factiva.com allows searching across all of these sources all at once. That's a powerful tool to put to work on your need for information. ************************************************************* Notes, News, and Announcements ************************************************************* Speaking of news, Information Today has published a new book called "Consider the Source: A Critical Guide to 100 Prominent News and Information Sites on the Web." Authors James F. Broderick and Darren W. Miller, review and analyze news sources from "National Enquirer" to "National Geographic" and the BBC to USA Today. They give each source a rating from 1 newspaper (disappointing, definitely look elsewhere) to 5 newspapers (superior sites worth checking in with every day). Information Update readers know how important it is to consider the source, and this book really helps facilitate that process. Thanks to reader Louis Shamel for calling attention to the growing influence of open access journals. Suggestions for Information Update topics are always welcome. >>Information Seekers may now subscribe to Information Update using the web form at http://shamelinfo.com. If someone has forwarded this newsletter to you, why not register for your own free copy? Use the form on the Shamel Information Services web site at http://shamelinfo.com. ************************************************************** Shamel Information Services Web Site ************************************************************** The Shamel Information Services web site at http://shamelinfo.com contains Information Update archives. Just click on "Newsletters" and check for any issues you might have missed. Cynthia L. Shamel, editor Shamel Information Services Decisions-Informed Telephone: +1 858-673-4673 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ SUBSCRIBE/UNSUBSCRIBE ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Subscriptions to INFORMATION UPDATE are free. To subscribe use the form at http://shamelinfo.com. To unsubscribe, please send your request to cshamel@shamelinfo.com. All requests are handled promptly. Copyright 2007 Shamel Information Services Please feel free to forward this issue to colleagues, in its entirety. Other uses without permission may violate copyright. Online archives at http://shamelinfo.com/newsletter.htm ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^