Why You Should Never Pay for Articles!

Have you ever tried to get a journal artice you needed only to find that you had to pay for it? Do you know how much money the library already pays for journal articles. Did you know it’s Open Access Week? We need to start thinking about and talking about Open Access! Check out this YouTube video: http://youtu.be/L5rVH1KGBCY

 

Do you have a research project due soon?

A Librarian is always  available to help you find the sources you need.  Come to the Research Help Desk on the second floor of the Library, or call 549-2333.  Consultations with subject specialists are also available. Call to make an appointment.

Open Access Data

We’ve all heard about Open Access journal articles or Open Access software. Much scientific research is already open and freely available to the public. According to the National Institutes for Health, “as of April 7, 2008, all final peer-reviewed manuscripts arising from NIH funds must be submitted to PubMed Central upon acceptance for publication.” http://publicaccess.nih.gov/.

But how about the data sets that scientists generate as part of their research? Could this data be shared to further collaborative research efforts? I ran across this blog today and learned something new and exciting about Open Access Data. http://sciencecommons.org/weblog/archives/2007/12/20/ensuring-the-freedom-to-integrate/

Here’s an excerpt from the Science Commons’ About Us page:

“There are petabytes of research data being produced in laboratories around the world, but the best web search tools available can’t help us make sense of it. Why? Because more stands between basic research and meaningful discovery than the problem of search.

Many scientists today work in relative isolation, left to follow blind alleys and duplicate existing research. Data is balkanized — trapped behind firewalls, locked up by contracts or lost in databases that can’t be accessed or integrated. Materials are hard to get — universities are overwhelmed with transfer requests that ought to be routine, while grant cycles pass and windows of opportunity close. It’s not uncommon for research sponsors to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in critically important efforts like drug discovery, only to see them fail.

The consequences in many cases are no less than tragic. The time it takes to go from identifying a gene to developing a drug currently stands at 17 years — forever, for people suffering from disease.

Science Commons has three interlocking initiatives designed to accelerate the research cycle — the continuous production and reuse of knowledge that is at the heart of the scientific method. Together, they form the building blocks of a new collaborative infrastructure to make scientific discovery easier by design.

Making scientific research “re-useful” — We help people and organizations open and mark their research and data sets for reuse. Learn more.

Enabling “one-click” access to research materials — We help streamline the materials-transfer process so researchers can easily replicate, verify and extend research. Learn more.

Integrating fragmented information sources — We help researchers find, analyze and use data from disparate sources by marking and integrating the information with a common, computer-readable language. Learn more.

Science Commons in action
We implement all three elements of our approach in the Neurocommons, our “proof-of-concept” project within the field of neuroscience. The Neurocommons is a beta open source knowledge management system for biomedical research that anyone can use, and anyone can build on.

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That is a GREAT IDEA!
Rhonda