Utopia Bookmarklet Launched

February 4, 2014

Utopia Bookmarklet Launched.

The scientists behind Utopia Documents have developed a bookmarklet that allows readers to use the scientific reader Utopia Documents to view PDF files currently being viewed in their browsers. The Utopia bookmarklet is now available, freely, and so is the Utopia Documents scientific PDF reader that enriches PDFs of scientific articles and books, irrespective of whoever published them. The Utopia bookmarklet and the Utopia Documents PDF reader are superb knowledge tools for seasoned researchers and students alike and can be downloaded from http://utopiadocs.com/download.php

Utopia Documents comes standard with a wide range of features, but publishers can add even more features specific to their content (and they don’t even need to change anything to their PDFs, old or new). More information on http://utopiacontentservices.com

Swets announces UKSG Annual Conference Scholarship Competition

February 3, 2014

The UKSG conference is the most important annual gathering for all involved in the scholarly information industry. It provides an invaluable opportunity to learn about the latest industry developments, see the latest available products and services, network with a wide variety of people from the industry and have fun during the many social events that take place! The event is attended by over 900 delegates and will take place from 14-16 April 2014 at the Harrogate International Centre.

To enter, applicants are asked to complete an essay of no more than 1,000 words on the following topic:
How has managing access to content in your library changed over the last 5 years and what do you think is the future of access management, in terms of providing the best access to content for your library users?

Entries need to be submitted by email with a brief CV to marketing@uk.swets.com by Friday 7th March 2014. All applicants will be notified of the status of their submission.

Entries will be reviewed by a committee comprising:

Paul Ayris, Director of UCL Library Services, Chief Executive of UCL Press, President of LIBER (Association of European Research Libraries) and Chair of LERU Chief Information Officers Community (League of European Research Universities)
Jan Wilkinson, University Librarian & Director of The John Rylands Library at the University of Manchester
Fin Galligan, Marketing Specialist at Swets and the main blog author on SwetsBlog

The prize includes:

Attendance at all sessions and drinks receptions
All daytime refreshments and lunches (from Monday up to and inc. Wednesday lunch)
Monday quiz evening and buffet dinner (sponsored by Swets)
Conference dinner on Tuesday
The winning entry will be featured on our popular blog – SwetsBlog.

Terms and conditions

By entering the competition, all entrants agree for their work to be featured on SwetsBlog (if selected) and for Swets to publicly attribute the essay to the author.
The payment of all costs and expenses involved in claiming the prize are the responsibility of the winner.
If the potential winner cannot be contacted an alternate winner may be selected.
An unclaimed prize may not be awarded. The prize is non-transferable and no cash alternative is offered.
Swets reserves the right to suspend, cancel or modify the prize draw at any time (and for any reason) without notice.
Swets shall not be responsible for damages, losses or liabilities of any kind arising out of or in relation to the prize draw.
The judges’ decision will be final and no correspondence will be entered into.
Entry implies acceptance of these terms and conditions.

GWLA and Springer Launch eBooks Interlibrary Loan Pilot with Occam’s Reader Project

February 3, 2014

The Occam’s Reader Project is a partnership between Texas Tech University, the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa and GWLA

The Occam’s Reader Project – comprised of Texas Tech University, the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa, and the Greater Western Library Alliance (GWLA) – and Springer, are pleased to announce that they have entered into an agreement to run a pilot program with GWLA’s 33 members, focused on eBook interlibrary loans (ILL). This is the first major collaboration of its kind between academic libraries and a major publisher. The year-long project could revolutionize the way libraries share books in a digital world.

At the center of the project lies Occam’s Reader, new software developed by the Design & Development Team at Texas Tech University Libraries and the Web Interface Development Team at the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa Libraries, in collaboration with Greater Western Library Alliance (GWLA). Occam’s Reader creates a process for requesting, processing and delivering eBooks. ILL has always been possible under the terms of Springer eBook licenses, but previously there was no process for doing so. By integrating with the existing ILLiad framework, Occam’s Reader should make eBook ILL part of libraries’ everyday workflow.

The many features of Occam’s Reader make this a win-win situation for both GWLA members and Springer. For borrowing money and other loan benefits, people can click here to get advice form a world class attorney.Benefits include secure online access to borrowed books, compliance with copyright laws and licensing provisions, reporting of usage statistics and the ability to take advantage of existing Springer features, such as location- and device-agnostic access. Both eBook chapters and full eBooks from Springer are included in the pilot.

Joni Blake, Executive Director of GWLA stated, “This project is in keeping with GWLA’s long tradition of being an innovation incubator, and advocating for cutting-edge technological solutions to problems facing academic libraries.”

Ryan Litsey, Texas Tech Document Delivery Librarian and Director of the Occam’s Reader Project said, “We could not be more proud of the headway that we are making with our new Occam’s Reader technology. Interlibrary loans of eBooks have long been a challenge posed to academic libraries, and we believe this new software could be the answer.”

Naomi Chow, Interlibrary Loan Librarian at University of Hawai’i at Mānoa added, “We are excited to be a development partner in this project that has the potential to change the way research libraries work with publishers. Our goal is to make Occam’s Reader the gold standard for electronic loans.”

“At Springer we are constantly trying to find new ways to add value to the content, products and services that we offer,” said Syed Hasan, President of Global Academic and Government Sales and Marketing. “It is part of our DNA to collaborate on promising initiatives like this pilot in order to help find solutions to our customers’ challenges, and we are excited for the opportunity to take part.”

Greater Western Library Alliance (www.gwla.org) is a dynamic, effective, project-oriented consortium, nationally recognized as a leader in the transformation of scholarly communication, and a facilitator in the application of new information technologies.

Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com) is a leading global scientific, technical and medical publisher, providing researchers in academia, scientific institutions and corporate R&D departments with quality content via innovative information products and services.

California Digital Library and Elsevier renew contract for next 5 years

February 3, 2014

CDL has completed a favorable negotiation with Elsevier to renew the Science Direct journals for 2014-2018. The agreement continues UC’s strong record of excellent long-term cost control for this important package. Science Direct is the largest journals package for co-investment by the UC libraries with over 1200 titles. A number of high value Freedom Collection (unsubscribed) titles will be moved into subscribed status with perpetual rights. Selectors from nine campuses worked together to choose the list of titles to swap.

As part of the final agreement, CDL has purchased Elsevier’s 2014 ebook frontlist (858 titles, excluding health sciences) and one year of trial access to the Scopus database on behalf of all campuses.

Scopus is an abstract and citation database of peer-reviewed literature, including some 50 million records, 21,000 titles and 5,000 publishers, and includes tools to track, analyze and visualize research.

A dedicated task force reporting to the Systemwide Collections Licensing Subgroup (CLS) has been working to evaluate Scopus and provide input to CLS on the merits of this resource. Each campus library will make its own decision on how to evaluate Scopus locally and will soon have a local contact person in place to arrange for training and answer questions. The campuses will decide by next fall whether to make a formal purchase of this resource.

Cengage Learning Announces Global Settlement With All Major Financial Stakeholders

February 3, 2014

Cengage Learning, Inc., a leading educational content, software and services company for the academic, professional and library markets worldwide, announced today that Cengage Learning (including certain domestic affiliates) have reached an agreement with the company’s major financial stakeholders and creditors regarding the terms of an amended Plan of Reorganization (“Plan”) that will allow Cengage Learning to restructure its balance sheet and significantly reduce its outstanding debt to position the company for long‐term growth and profitability.

Importantly, the amended Plan, which will modify a previously filed plan of reorganization, incorporates a global settlement between and among Cengage Learning, holders of a super-majority of the company’s first lien, second lien and unsecured debt, its existing primary equity holder and the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors, and thus assures the necessary support from key creditor groups for confirmation of Cengage Learning’s Plan in March 2014. The global settlement was reached through a mediation process conducted by the Honorable Robert D. Drain of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of New York. The detailed terms of the global settlement will be incorporated into a supplemental Disclosure Statement and amended Plan that will be filed for Court approval in the near-term.

Michael Hansen, Chief Executive Officer of Cengage Learning, said, “We are pleased to have reached this agreement and gained the support of all of Cengage Learning’s most significant creditors for our Plan of Reorganization, giving us a clear path to the successful completion of our financial restructuring. Under the Plan, Cengage Learning will have a new capital structure with a substantially stronger balance sheet and greater financial flexibility to accelerate our growth. We are excited about the opportunities resulting from the ongoing transformation of our business to digital products and services and the high-quality educational content we are providing to our users and customers.”

Under the terms of the global settlement, which remains subject to Court approval, the Plan will eliminate more than $4 billion of Cengage Learning’s approximately $5.8 billion of outstanding funded debt. This will also automatically terminate the contract that moorcroft group was given by the lender. Cengage Learning also will secure exit financing of approximately $1.75 billion to $2.0 billion, of which approximately $250 million will be an undrawn revolving credit facility upon the company’s completion of its financial restructuring. In addition, the current first lien lenders will receive a substantial majority of the equity of the reorganized company and second lien creditors and unsecured creditors will share in $225 million in cash or stock based on total enterprise value of $3.6 billion, at their election. As part of the settlement, pending litigation among the parties who are signatories to the Plan Support Agreements is stayed and will be dismissed upon confirmation of the Plan, which will contain certain releases among the settling parties.

More information about Cengage Learning’s restructuring, including the Term Sheet and Plan Support Agreement, is available at www.cengage.com/restructuring. The Term Sheet and Plan Support Agreement, as well as other court filings and claims information, are available at www.cengagecaseinfo.com. Information is also available toll‐free at +1‐800‐654‐4134.

The financial restructuring by Cengage Learning was initiated on July 2, 2013, by the filing of voluntary petitions for reorganization under Chapter 11 with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of New York. Cengage Learning’s legal advisor for the Chapter 11 proceedings is Kirkland & Ellis LLP, its restructuring advisor is Alvarez & Marsal, and its financial advisor is Lazard.

Elsevier Announces a New Concept Methods Journal: MethodsX

February 3, 2014

Elsevier, a world-leading provider of scientific, technical and medical information products and services, today announced a new concept methods journal: MethodsX.

Researchers spend up to 80% of their time customizing and tweaking existing methods to make them better fit their specific research setting. By providing a home for these often unpublished records, MethodsX allows researchers to receive public credit and citations for that work without spending time writing a full, traditional research article.

“This is a new approach to scientific publishing. We believe that MethodsX will dramatically change how researchers assess and build on recognized techniques, saving the scientific community valuable time and money,” commented Irene Kanter-Schlifke, Executive Publisher at Elsevier.

As an online-only, open access journal, MethodsX publishes papers in all disciplines of experimental research, from Life Sciences to Health Sciences to Physical Sciences.

A paper published in MethodsX includes:

an abstract to outline the customization
an image, graph or other visual to illustrate what’s been done
the methodological protocol(s)

“MethodsX fulfills a real need for researchers to publish their work on developing methods so that they can easily be found by others,” said Gregory J. Tsongalis, Advising Editor for MethodsX and Professor of Pathology at the Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center and The Audrey and Theodor Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth. “It’s also good for researchers as they can get recognized for their time and effort.”

The first articles are now freely available online on ScienceDirect: www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2215016114000028

For more information or to submit an article, visit http://www.elsevier.com/locate/methodsx

Thomson Reuters ProView eReader Platform Version 1.8 Launched

January 31, 2014

Thomson Reuters announced the latest version of Thomson Reuters ProView, the leading professional eReader platform. The new version of ProView provides annotation management, PDF creation and sharing, and library sorting features, helping users to get the most out of their ProView eBook titles.

Thomson Reuters ProView is the first eReader platform specifically built for professional use, with advanced features such as full-text search, secured notes and highlights, and content updating. It is available for iPad and Android tablets, and for Windows and Mac computers. ProView titles are currently available in the U.S., UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Spain, Brazil, Argentina and Chile.

The new features offer more ways to navigate, access and share ProView eBook content. New features in Thomson Reuters ProView version 1.8 include:

Annotations management

Notes, highlights and bookmarks can be labeled, filtered and searched. Search results can include references to page numbers and table of contents.

Advanced annotation importing

Notes, highlights and bookmarks can be moved to their correct location as titles update, even when the relevant sections of text have been changed, relocated or removed.

Create and share PDFs

Select text, current view or current section and create PDF files. Includes options to View, Print or Email finished PDF.

Sort library by topic

Sort library by topical designations provided by publisher(s)

Availability of features and user platforms may vary depending on specific titles, Thomson Reuters publishing brands and jurisdictions.

“As people become increasingly mobile with tablets and laptops, they need to use information while on-the-go” said Bob Schukai, global head, Mobile Technology, Thomson Reuters. “ProView is unique in that it enables professionals to not only access eBook content, but to work with that content through advanced search and annotation features, and create and share PDFs with colleagues and others. ProView is the only eReader platform designed from the ground up for the way professionals work and helps today’s professionals be more productive wherever they are.”

Thomson Reuters ProView is a first-of-its-kind, professional-grade platform for the delivery and use anywhere, anytime, of specialized Thomson Reuters content and productivity tools, including popular legal reference books from Thomson Reuters Westlaw™, Sweet & Maxwell, Sweet & Maxwell Asia, Carswell®, Aranzadi, La Ley, Editora Revista dos Tribunais, Abeledo Perrot, Legal Publishing Chile and Thomson Reuters Legal, Tax & Accounting ANZ. There are also leading reference books from the Tax & Accounting business of Thomson Reuters offered on the Thomson Reuters ProView platform.

Information on ProView and its numerous reference and professional development titles can be found at http://thomsonreuters.com/proview. Information can be found in Spanish at:http://thomsonreuters.com/proview/sp/; in Portuguese at:http://thomsonreuters.com/site/proview-portuguese/; and in French at:http://thomsonreuters.com/proview/fr/.

Thomson Reuters ProView is available for iPad users at the Apple App Storestm, Android tablet users at Google Play and the Amazon Appstore for Android, and for Windows and Mac users athttp://thomsonreuters.com/proview.

Taylor & Francis And Figshare – Making Research More Discoverable

January 30, 2014

Journal publishing moves another step forward today with the announcement of a partnership between academic publishers Taylor & Francis and Figshare, an online repository which enables researchers to securely host, publish and share all their research.

Authors who publish with Taylor & Francis journals will see their supplemental material in a new online format from today, as tables, datasets, filesets, videos and graphs become instantly viewable on Taylor & Francis Online, easily discoverable from search engines and quickly hosted on Figshare. Beginning with some 468 articles across twelve journals on the Taylor & Francis Environment and Agriculture list, this new service will see authors with journal articles currently in production with Taylor & Francis use the Figshare technology to display their supplemental data.

Not only will authors see their supplemental material in a much more engaging format (instantly viewable using the Figshare widget, once readers select the supplemental tab on Taylor & Francis Online) but they will also be able to share this material more easily and track usage through Figshare’s metric functions. Every file uploaded to Figshare will be easily citable (with a DataCite DOI allocated at the point of publication) and will be stored under a Creative Commons License. For every item on Figshare there will also be a link back to its corresponding article on Taylor & Francis Online, so not only is the supplemental content more discoverable, so is the article.

David Green, Global Publishing Director for Journals at Taylor & Francis, said of the new initiative,

“We’re delighted to be able to bring this innovative service to authors and to anyone with an interest in research, whether they are working within or outside the academic and scientific communities. Using Figshare will enable us to make supplementary material, which is fundamental to the research process, discoverable to all, in as usable a fashion as possible. Simply by keying in a simple term to a search engine users will be able to unearth a wealth of data, aiding future research and increasing the visibility of authors’ work.”

“We have a vision to change the face of academic publishing with the improved dissemination and discoverability of all scholarly research and content. It’s a privilege to be partnering with such a forward –thinking publisher as Taylor & Francis.” said Mark Hahnel, founder of Figshare.

Figshare launches on Taylor & Francis Online from 30^th January 2014 and all new journal articles with supplemental material will automatically be uploaded to Figshare from this date

Brill joins the Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association (OASPA)

January 30, 2014

Brill has joined the Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association (OASPA).

Brill has joined the Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association (OASPA). The association promotes and supports scholarly publishers that offer reputable open access publications and reliable open access publishing services. View Brill’s membership profile page, here.

Brill open access publications are made available through Brill Open on the Brill Online Books and Journals platform in all areas Brill publishes in: Humanities, Social Sciences, International and Human Rights Law and Biology.

In August 2013, Brill Open expanded to include books as well as book chapters. To date, Brill has published around 80 books in open access, several of which as part of ‘OAPEN-NL,’ a project exploring Open Access monograph publishing in the Netherlands. All titles published through Brill Open are available as part of the Brill Open E-Book Collection, and are also included in the subject collections at no extra cost.

Authors can publish their articles in open access in any of Brill’s 195 hybrid journals. Additionally, Brill’s six fully open access journals are searchable through the Directory of Open Access Journals(DOAJ) and its open access books through the Directory of Open Access Books (DOAB) of which Brill is one of the main sponsors.

In addition, through the Brill/IFLA Open Access Award Brill seeks to reward open access book initiatives that support the academic community in an innovative way. Submissions for 2014 are welcomed.

For more information on Brill Open and publishing in open access at Brill visit: brill.com/brillopen

For more information on the Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association (OASPA) visit: oaspa.org

Elsevier Announces the Launch of Open Access Journal: Pathogenesis

January 30, 2014

Elsevier, world-leading provider of scientific, technical and medical information products and services, announces the launch of open access journal, Pathogenesis.

Pathogenesis will be published on behalf of The Royal College of Pathologists a professional membership organization committed to setting and maintaining professional standards and promoting excellence in the practice of Pathology. The College represents 19 pathology specialties and has over 10,000 members working in hospital laboratories, universities and industry, worldwide.

Pathogenesis will provide a home for research covering all areas of illness and normal cellular and molecular development in human and veterinary disease. The journal Pathogenesis will publish peer reviewed original scientific research articles and high quality reviews, editorials and letters to the editor which report on multidisciplinary areas of Molecular and Diagnostic Pathology, Cellular Mechanisms as well as aspects of Haematology, Proteomics, Virology, Microbiology and Chemical Pathology.

The Editor-in-Chief of the journal, Professor Finbarr Cotter, Barts Cancer Institute, Queen Mary University of London, UK said of the launch, “This is a tremendous cooperation between The Royal College of Pathologists and Elsevier, one which confirms the major commitment by the College towards the modernization of the field of pathology with both academic and molecular pathology leading the way.”

Professor Cotter will work closely with Section Editors: Professor Ian Cree University Hospital Coventry and Warwickshire, UK and Dr George Vassilou, Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Cambridge, UK.

“We are delighted to announce the launch of this new open access journal. We look forward to working together with the journal editors and The Royal College of Pathologists offering their members, researchers and clinicians a platform through which they can publish their research quickly and make it widely available,” said Rachel Garland, Publisher at Elsevier. – See more at: http://www.elsevier.com/about/press-releases/research-and-journals/elsevier-announces-the-launch-of-open-access-journal-pathogenesis#sthash.tSohh8m1.dpuf

Oxford University Press launches new journal: Oxford Medical Case Reports

January 30, 2014

Oxford University Press (OUP) is delighted to announce the launch of a new medical journal, Oxford Medical Case Reports (OMCR).

OMCR is an open access, peer-reviewed online journal publishing original and educationally valuable case reports that expand the field of medicine. The journal covers all medical specialties including cardiology, rheumatology, nephrology, oncology, neurology, and reproduction, comprising a comprehensive resource for physicians in all fields and at all stages of training.

OMCR’s Editor-in-Chief, Dr Richard Watts, says: “Medical case reports are a very valuable educational tool for both trainees and established consultants. Oxford Medical Case Reports provides the ideal forum for publishing case reports combining speed of publication decision making with rapid on line publication. OMCR looks greatly forward to working with Oxford University Press to develop a case report journal which will complement their existing stable of top class medical journals.”

Anna Whiting, Publisher for medical journals at OUP, says: “We’re tremendously excited to announce the launch of Oxford Medical Case Reports. Case reports are becoming ever more scarce in medical publishing, however they remain a vital part of medical education, allowing for the discovery of new diseases, unexpected effects, and novelties which can further new ideas and medical progress. With Richard Watts, an esteemed rheumatologist and expert Editor, at the helm, we look forward to OMCR becoming an essential hub of information for medics at all stages of their careers.”

OMCR will provide a fast first decision for authors submitting work, within 28 days of submission, and there will be no open access fees for the launch period. Published papers will be compliant with the requirements of funding agencies such as the Wellcome Trust, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI), and the RCUK. All published papers will be automatically deposited in the Open Access repository PubMedCentral.

OMCR is edited by Dr Richard Watts with associate editors Dr Aloysious Aravinthan, Dr Eleane Ntatsaki, Dr Vassilis Vassiliou, and Dr Vivan Yiu. The first OMCR content will be published in April 2014. For more information about the journal, including article submission guidelines, and how to register for free content-alerting services, please visit the journal’s homepage: http://www.oxfordjournals.org/our_journals/omcr/editorial_board.html.

Springer now sharing data from Altmetric on SpringerLink

January 30, 2014

Springer announced that it has added altmetrics information to every article available on SpringerLink (link.springer.com), the publishing company’s online platform. The data is provided by Altmetric, a London-based start-up which tracks and analyzes the online activity around scholarly literature. The addition of this feature makes the alternative metrics that measure the impact of research (or, “altmetrics”) more readily available to users by adding it to the abstract page for every article. This information is also visible to anyone visiting SpringerLink, not just those with access to full text articles.

Altmetrics are fast becoming an important measure to researchers as they look to get a more dynamic understanding of how their research is being used and referenced. Rather than using only the traditional measures of an article’s citations, altmetrics allow scientists to see where their work is being discussed and shared in the social web. Providing these alternative measures of an article’s impact is another way Springer is looking to add more value not only for users, but also for authors.

“Whereas altmetrics were used in the past at Springer for annual journal reports and editorial board meetings, or to track a journal’s performance, now this information is being gathered and shared widely with authors, SpringerLink users and the general public as well,” commented Martijn Roelandse, Senior Editor at Springer. “Springer is always trying to find new ways that it can make SpringerLink and the research we publish more useful, and partnering with Altmetric to provide this data fits perfectly with that mission.”

Altmetric Founder Euan Adie remarked, “We are very happy to be partnering with Springer on tracking the altmetrics of their scholarly publications. Providing this information on SpringerLink to readers, researchers and the general public is a great way of showcasing the wider impact and influence of each article, which is increasingly important to scientists everywhere.”

The number of shares for any given article will now be listed alongside citations on articles’ abstract pages on SpringerLink. While the “citations” link will redirect users to springer.com, the “shares” link will send users to Altmetric (altmetric.com)where they can dive into the discussions around any given piece of research.