Open Book Alliance criticises Google’s revised book settlement proposal - November 17, 2009
Internet search services provider Google, Inc., the Authors Guild (AG) and the Association of American Publishers (AAP) recently released their revised book settlement proposal in an attempt to revise the existing legal agreement. According to Open Book Alliance co-chair Peter Brantley, the… Read More
ARL brings out E-book Collections, SPEC Kit 313 - October 6, 2009
The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) has announced the publication of the E-book Collections, SPEC Kit 313. The kit examines the current use of e-books in ARL member libraries; their plans for implementing, increasing, or decreasing access to e-books; purchasing, cataloging and collection management issues; and… Read More
Chief academic officers at 18 US varsities support public access legislation - October 5, 2009
The Chief Academic and Research Officers of 18 research universities in the US have declared their support for the Federal Research Public Access Act in a letter recently issued by the Greater Western Library Alliance (GWLA). The officers represent public and private institutions across 10 states.… Read More
OCLC convenes council to study and develop new WorldCat Record Use Policy - September 16, 2009
Global library cooperative OCLC, US, has announced that its board of trustees has convened a Record Use Policy Council. The council will draw upon the fundamental values of the OCLC cooperative and engage with libraries worldwide to develop the next generation of the WorldCat Record Use… Read More
Association of Research Libraries publishes Public Engagement, SPEC Kit 312 - September 1, 2009
The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) has published Public Engagement, SPEC Kit 312, which explores the ways in which traditional ‘outreach’ programmes in academic libraries are evolving to address the emergent concept of ‘public engagement’ at the institutional level. It also looks at the degree to… Read More
Nielsen Book issues e-book listings policy statement - August 17, 2009
Nielsen Book, operator of the UK ISBN Agency and provider of product information, transaction and sales measurement services for the English language book industry worldwide, has announced its listings policy for e-books. This is in response to the International ISBN Agency recently issuing a policy statement… Read More
ARL publishes Public Access Policies, SPEC Kit 311 for member libraries - August 12, 2009
The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) has published Public Access Policies, SPEC Kit 311, which explores the role played by ARL member libraries in supporting public access policies in their institutions. The concept of a public access policy for research results is based on the premise… Read More
SPARC unveils centralised web resource and group of experts to advise on OA policy - August 7, 2009
The Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition (SPARC) has announced that it has introduced a new suite of web-based tools to facilitate fact-based campus policy discussions on open access (OA). This includes key topics such as copyright, journal sustainability, disciplinary differences and author rights. With these… Read More
ARL releases new guide on outreach to scholarly society leaders, editors and members - August 7, 2009
The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) has released a new guide on outreach to scholarly society leaders to assist libraries in developing positive, supportive relationships with leaders, editors, and members of academic scholarly societies affiliated with their institutions. It will support development of faculty outreach programmes… Read More
PRISMA statement endorsed by BioMed Central journals - July 29, 2009
A new reporting guideline for systematic reviews and meta-analyses - the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses) statement - has been published and is endorsed in open access publisher BioMed Central's instructions to authors. The guidelines address systematic reviews and meta-analyses, which are considered the 'gold standard'… Read More
