New laboratory informatics system revolutionises experimentation management through scientific big data mining - 14 Jun 2013 Accelrys, Inc., a US-based provider of scientific innovation lifecycle management software, has announced the Accelrys Experiment Knowledge Base (EKB), an industry-first laboratory informatics system that raises the bar for experimentation management and enables organisations to transform mass amounts of scientific data into knowledge essential for faster, more efficient new product innovation. Designed specifically for research and development, EKB offers scientists for the first time the ability to search and mine experimentation data from almost any source. The system also provides integration and interoperability with existing lab equipment and applications as well as features for improving experimentation management and collaboration. With a flexible, modular and integrated approach to data search and experimentation management, EKB overcomes the failures of poorly architected legacy R&D informatics systems that have not kept pace with today's fast-changing business environments and the large amounts of complex data generated. EKB offers scientists the industry's first single system for efficient searching, analysis and mining of data from virtually any source based on capability to Extract, Transform and Load (ETL). Additionally, the unique 'data mart' approach allows end users to consider new ways to query data every day, without the necessity to re-architect the system or its database. EKB is applicable to many industries and areas of science and has been successfully deployed for catalyst design, petrochemical processing, biofermentation, formulations design and more. EKB leverages four key capabilities in a modular architecture to increase innovation velocity and consistency by reducing or eliminating repeat experiments, enhancing laboratory efficiency, improving experimentation consistency and extracting knowledge from data. Capabilities include planning and design of experiments and campaigns; step-by-step execution of experiments; capture of experiments and sample data; and search and analysis of experiments and sample data by properties/descriptors. By leveraging the Accelrys Enterprise Platform, EKB also complements document-centric systems such as ELNs and downstream systems focused on scale-up, manufacturing and compliance to support an end-to-end, integrated scientific innovation lifecycle management approach. Integration with ELNs also streamlines project documentation while improving global collaboration and intellectual property protection.

Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute unveils international initiative to promote sharing of standardised genetic and clinical data - 11 Jun 2013 The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute recently unveiled an international initiative to promote the sharing of standardised genetic and clinical data. More than 60 leading healthcare, research and disease advocacy organisations from across the world are joining together to form an international alliance dedicated to enabling secure sharing of genomic and clinical data. Each of these organisations have signed a 'Letter of Intent', pledging to work together to create a not-for-profit, inclusive, public-private, international, non-governmental organisation (modelled on the World Wide Web Consortium, W3C) that will develop a common framework. In January 2013, 50 colleagues from eight different countries met to discuss the current challenges and opportunities in genomic research and medicine, and how they could work together to foster medical progress. They concluded that the greatest need was a common framework of international standards designed to enable and oversee the sharing of genomic and clinical data in an effective, responsible, and interpretable manner. Following the circulation of a White Paper from the meeting, more than 60 organisations from North and South America, Europe, Asia and Africa have joined together to form a non-profit global alliance which will work to develop a common framework, that enables new research based on shared data while protecting participant autonomy and privacy.

ACSESS, Inc. to preserves with CLOCKSS Archive - 23 May 2013 The CLOCKSS Archive has announced that ACSESS, Inc. is participating in the archive to preserve their full-text Digital Library in CLOCKSS's geographically and geopolitically distributed network of redundant archive nodes, located at 12 major research libraries around the world. This action provides for content to be freely available to everyone after a "trigger event" and ensures an author's work will be maximally accessible and useful over time. ACSESS is an umbrella organisation representing three prominent international scientific societies (American Society for Agronomy; Crop Science Society of America; Soil Science Society of America). Society members are dedicated to the conservation and wise use of natural resources to produce food, feed, and fiber crops while maintaining and improving the environment. dl.sciencesocieties.org.

De Gruyter selects CLOCKSS for long-term digital archiving of databases and e-books - 09 May 2013 Academic publisher De Gruyter, Germany, has announced that it is now archiving its 36 databases and 55 eBookPLUS at the CLOCKSS Archive. CLOCKSS is a US-based non-profit whose mission is to provide for the long-term digital archiving of academic publications. Partnership with CLOCKSS ensures that in the event of server failure and data loss, De Gruyter's content will remain globally available to the scientific community. The permanent backup of digital archives is stated to be particularly useful for libraries seeking to preserve their electronic collections. De Gruyter can look back on a history spanning over 260 years. The group releases over 1,250 new titles each year in the fields of medicine, the humanities, natural sciences, and law, in addition to more than 650 journals and digital media publications. The De Gruyter Group includes the publishing houses Versita, Birkhäuser, Oldenbourg Wissenschaft and Akademie.

Eight new publishers participate in CLOCKSS digital preservation archive - 07 May 2013 The CLOCKSS Archive has announced the participation of BraDypUS Books, Business Systems Laboratory, Illiesia, the International Journal of Stonefly Research, IWA Publishing, KwaZulu-Natal Museum, Liverpool University Press Translated Texts for Historians E-Library, LIBRE Repository, OMICS Group Inc., and Practical Action Publishing. CLOCKSS is a not-for-profit joint venture between the world's leading scholarly publishers and research libraries whose mission is to build a sustainable, geographically distributed dark archive with which to ensure the long-term survival of web-based scholarly publications. BraDypUS is a small Italian publisher and consulting company, engaged since 2008 in the communication and enhancement of cultural and archaeological heritage. It seeks to promote cultural dissemination and technological innovation, and supplies national and international projects and institutions with the best practices and strategies to gain higher social and cultural impact in respect to environment and sustainability. Business Systems Laboratory (BS-Lab) is a non-profit association for the promotion of research and teaching in the field of business and social systems. Its aim is to be a bridge between the business community and the academia. Illiesia, the International Journal of Stonefly Research, is an international online and printed journal published by Mississippi College and the Slovenian Museum of Natural History. It is freely available to individuals and institutions on the web. No login or subscription is needed. IWA Publishing, a wholly owned subsidiary of the International Water Association (IWA), publishes in the water, wastewater and related environmental fields. It is reportedly committed to excellence in delivery of information both in print and online, and continues to invest in innovation and development of services to encourage usage of its publications worldwide. KwaZulu-Natal Museum is said to rank among the top national natural and cultural history museums in South Africa and is renowned for its collection of arthropods, earthworms and molluscs. Liverpool University Press (LUP) is the UK's third oldest university press, with a distinguished history of publishing exceptional research since 1899, including the work of Nobel laureates. LUP has rapidly expanded in recent years and now publishes approximately 70 books and 21 journals a year, specialising in literature, modern languages, history and visual culture. LIBRE (LIBerating REsearch) is a free, multidisciplinary article and data repository offering services that enable a community-based organisation, evaluation and dissemination of the global research output. LIBRE is developed by Open Scholar C.I.C. (Community Interest Company), a not-for-profit organisation founded by a group of research scientists with the mandate to promote a new, more open and transparent culture in scholarly communication and to create an alternative model of knowledge exchange for the benefit of both the scientific community and the society at large. OMICS Group is a publisher of approximately 250 open access journals in a number of academic fields. The Group, with the help of council members of HUPO, started its first open-access journal, the Journal of Proteomics&Bioinformatics, in 2007. Practical Action is an international NGO that uses technology to challenge poverty in developing countries.