ACS applauds passing of America COMPETES Act to boost research funding - December 23, 2010
The American Chemical Society (ACS) has applauded the US Congress for reauthorising the America COMPETES Act. America COMPETES (Creating Opportunities to Meaningfully Promote Excellence in Technology, Education and Science) was originally enacted in 2007. It was needed to be reauthorised this year in order to… Read More
FCC’s net neutrality order protects libraries as ‘consumers’, lacks strong protections for library services to the public, say library associations - December 22, 2010
The American Library Association (ALA), the Association of Research Libraries (ARL), and EDUCAUSE say the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) passage of its network (net) neutrality order is a first step toward restoring an open Internet. However, the new… Read More
US’ Federal Communications Commission expected to approve Net neutrality rules - December 21, 2010
The US' Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is reportedly set to approve Net neutrality rules after the agency's two Democratic commissioners announced that they would vote in support of the order. Commissioner Mignon Clyburn and Michael Copps will reportedly vote in favour… Read More
US associations oppose provision expanding NIH public access policy to other agencies - December 17, 2010
Representatives of the American Physiological Society and the Association of American Publishers (AAP) have written a letter opposing legislation to expand a policy of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The legislation seeks to expand the NIH policy requiring that private-sector scientific… Read More
US Commerce Dept. releases policy framework for protecting consumer privacy online - December 17, 2010
The US' Department of Commerce has issued a report detailing initial policy recommendations aimed at promoting consumer privacy online while ensuring the Internet remains a platform that spurs innovation, job creation and economic growth. The report outlines a framework to increase protection of consumers' commercial data… Read More
Panel to study safety of electronic patient data formed - December 15, 2010
US President Barack Obama, almost two years ago, initiated $19 billion in stimulus incentives to convert the nation's hospitals and doctors to using a paperless system of electronic health records. The initiative was aimed at improving quality of care and reducing costs. However, the adaptation is still a slow work… Read More
W3C issues best practices to create smarter mobile web applications - December 15, 2010
The World Wide Web Consortium has announced a new standard that will make it easier for developers and content providers to create mobile Web applications. The Mobile Web Application Best Practices, published as a W3C Recommendation, offers practical advice from many mobile Web stakeholders for the… Read More
OCLC files motion to dismiss case alleging anticompetitive practices - December 15, 2010
OCLC has filed a motion in the US District Court for the Southern District of Ohio to dismiss a lawsuit filed by SkyRiver Technology Solutions and Innovative Interfaces, Inc. against OCLC. On July 28, 2010, SkyRiver Technology Solutions and Innovative Interfaces, Inc. filed a suit… Read More
BioMed Central to continue accepting supplementary files with manuscripts - December 13, 2010
Publishing online supplementary material has been the subject of continuing debate in scholarly circles since the Journal of Neuroscience, published by the Society for Neuroscience, decided to no longer accept supplementary files with manuscripts. Open access publisher BioMed Central (BMC) has announced that it takes the… Read More
WHO to develop information standards for traditional medicine - December 8, 2010
The World Health Organization (WHO) has announced that it will develop, for the first time, a classification of traditional medicine, paving the way for the objective evaluation of its benefits. The classification will initially focus on traditional medicine practices from China, Japan and the Republic of… Read More
