August 4, 2011
Biology Library news, 8/2011
The new 2011-2012 academic year is upon us, so I’d like to welcome new and returning graduate students and faculty. For you old-timers, I’d like to remind you that the Biology Library has closed. Most of our books and journals have been sent to the Funk ACES Library, and you will no longer be able to drop off or pick up material from the Burrill Hall facility. We have changed the old Biology Library website into a new Biology portal (http://www.library.illinois.edu/bix/) to reflect this change. Our closing FAQ at http://www.library.illinois.edu/bix/closingfaq.html will provide more information on how to get library services without a physical Biology Library.
I will continue to have an office in Burrill Hall although the location and specific office hours are still to be determined. For now, call me at 3-0281 or email me at dcschmid@illinois.edu if you have any questions. I am available to answer questions, do in-class training sessions, and more.
For new students and faculty, we have prepared guides for new faculty, grad students, and undergraduates. Check them out at http://www.library.illinois.edu/bix/resources/guides/orientation.html.
Diane Schmidt
Biology Librarian
Posted by dcschmid at 2:48 PM
June 4, 2009
New Exhibit in Biology Library
The Biology Library has a new exhibit, "Medicinal Plants and Indigenous Medicinal
Plant Knowledge." Displayed are selected titles received thanks due to a 2009 collection development grant from the Consortium of Academic & Research Libraries in Illinois (CARLI).
Four libraries participated in the collection theme “Impact of the Environment in Health & Wellness:” Chicago State University Library, Columbia College Library, Northern Illinois U. Founders Memorial Library, and University of Illinois Biology Library.
Enjoy!
Melody Allison
Assistant Biology Librarian and Associate Professor of Library Administration
Biology Library
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
101 Burrill Hall, 407 South Goodwin
Urbana, IL 61801
mmalliso@illinois.edu
(217) 333-7461; 3654
Posted by mmalliso at 4:34 PM
April 28, 2009
President Obama Addresses the National Academy of Science
On April 27th, 2009 President Obama addressed the assembled US National Academies members. The National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, Institute of Medicine, and National Research Council make up the National Academies. They are private, nonprofit institutions that provide science, technology, and health policy advice under a 1863 congressional charter.
From the NAS Press Release:
"President Barack Obama announced new initiatives and investments in scientific research, innovation, and education, declaring once again to restore science to its rightful place. "The days of science taking a back seat to ideology are over," he said.
Calling science "more essential for our prosperity, our security, our health, and our environment than it has ever been," Obama said he is going to make major investments -- 3 percent of the gross domestic product -- in research and innovation. This exceeds the amount invested in 1964 at the height of the space race. He emphasized the importance of using funds to encourage high-risk, high-return research and to support researchers at the beginning of their careers."
,,,
"The president committed to doubling the budgets of three key science agencies -- the National Science Foundation, the Department of Energy's Office of Science, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology. He also announced the launch of the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy, a new Department of Energy organization modeled after the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. And Obama said he would triple the number of NSF graduate research fellowships."
Video:
http://edg1.vcall.com/video/nas/launch.asp
Audio only:
http://nationalacademies.org/podcast/20090427.mp3
Still photos:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nationalacademyofsciences/sets/72157617300994183/
Text:
http://www.sciencedebate2008.com/www/index.php?id=65
Press Release from the NAS:
http://www8.nationalacademies.org/onpinews/newsitem.aspx?RecordID=20090427
Posted by florador at 12:05 PM
April 23, 2009
Library merger meeting
I'd like to remind everyone of the meeting tomorrow, Friday the 24th, to
discuss the library new service model report, which I sent out earlier.
This is the last time for you to comment before the library administration
writes a report that will be sent to the Provost.
As a reminder, on p. 4 of that report, it is recommended that the Biology
Library merge with the ACES library in the spring of 2010.
If you can't make it to the meeting, please send your comments to Paula
Kaufman, ptk@illinois.edu, and/or Scott Walter, swalter@illinois.edu. They
will be revising the report and sending it to the Provost very quickly, so
the sooner you respond the more likely they'll be able to consider your
issues.
The meeting will be from 10-11AM, Friday, April 24 in Room 66 of the Mail
Library. That's down in the basement if you haven't been there before. I
hope to see you there.
Diane Schmidt
Biology Librarian
Posted by mmalliso at 4:26 PM
April 14, 2009
Biology Library closure, part 2
Hello, everyone,
Here is the latest "New Service Model" proposal from the University
Library. As you'll see in the proposal, they still plan on closing the
Biology Library, merging it with the agriculture library. According to the
proposal as written, the Biology Library would close May 2010, although
our books and journals might not be moved to ACES until as late as
December 2010. The timing and details of the proposal are subject to
change, but the major actions are probably going to take place.
There will be another open session for comments held Friday, April 24th,
from 10:00 - 11:00 am in Room 66 in the basement of the Main Library.
Please plan on attending if you possibly can, and if not send your
comments by then to Paula Kaufman, ptk@illinois.edu, and Scott Walter,
swalter@illinois.edu.
Diane Schmidt
Biology Librarian
Posted by mmalliso at 10:04 AM
March 31, 2009
Biology Library closure meeting/input
There will be an open meeting this Friday, April 3, at 8:00-9:00AM in the
Grainger Engineering Library Commons (room 235), to discuss changes in the
science libraries, which includes closing the Biology Library. Despite the
late notice and early hour, I encourage you to attend and/or send your
comments to Scott Walter, swalter@illinois.edu, or Paula Kaufman,
ptk@illinois.edu. Please copy me as well, if you send in comments.
As you may remember, back in January the University Library was asked by
Provost Katehi to accelerate its movement towards departmental library
consolidations as part of the “New Services Models” program. In late
January I sent out a message to the department chairs and school heads
informing them of the proposal included in the Provost’s letter to close
the Biology Library and merge its collections and services into the Funk
ACES Library. After lengthy discussions between the librarians who serve
other life sciences libraries we agreed that if the Biology Library was to
be closed, then consolidating it with the Funk ACES library and creating a
life sciences library containing all or parts of the collections and
services pertaining to the Applied Health Sciences, ACES, and Biology
libraries, as well as Veterinary Medicine at a later date, was the best
solution. Under this model, the Biology Library collection would need to
shrink to no more than half its current size. As you will see in the
attached proposal from the University Library administration, this
proposal was not accepted. Instead, they propose that the Biology Library
materials and services would be split between the Chemistry Library, the
Funk ACES Library, and perhaps the Library of the Health Sciences.
I do not support the proposal to split the Biology Library collections and
services. There is no bright line between the collections and services
used by the two schools, but in this proposed split it would roughly be
MCB going to the Chemistry and Health Sciences libraries and IB going to
the ACES library. The Chemistry Library has room for only about 6,000
volumes, which amounts to half of the Biology Library books that have
circulated recently and only a very few journal volumes.
As a separate but related issue, Melody Allison, the Assistant Biology
Librarian, will be moving this summer to the ACES library as Assistant
ACES Librarian due to staffing cuts at the ACES Library. This will leave
only one librarian serving SIB and SMCB.
A final report will be sent to the Provost at the end of April. I
encourage you to provide your input on the proposed library mergers and
consolidations before then.
Diane Schmidt
Biology Librarian
Posted by mmalliso at 1:15 PM
February 12, 2009
Digitized Hymenoptera books
The latest entry in the University Library's Digitized Book of the Week
blog at http://www.library.uiuc.edu/blog/digitizedbotw/ highlights a grant
that I received to digitize books on bees, wasps, and ants from UIUC and
the Field Museum. Please check it out! It's particularly nice that these
materials will be included in the Biodiversity Heritage Library
(http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/).
Only about half of the 175 volumes covered by the grant have been
digitized up to now, so stay tuned for many more strange and wonderful
materials. Also, if the money holds out we may be able to digitize a few
more hymenoptera-related titles. Let me know if you have any suggestions
for out-of-copyright books that I might have missed.
Diane Schmidt
Biology Librarian
Posted by mmalliso at 5:08 PM
October 15, 2008
New Biology Library Web site has gone live !
As promised earlier this term, the new Biology Library Web site is now up and running on the University Library's Content Management System (CMS) platform. The site has a been revamped with a totally new look and designed to provide access to our resources front and center. The CMS has allowed much greater flexibility in how we organize and navigate the information about our resources and services. Check out our new site and let us know what you think!
Melody Allison
Assistant Biology Librarian and Associate Professor of Library Administration
Biology Library
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
101 Burrill Hall, 407 South Goodwin
Urbana, IL 61801
mmalliso@illinois.edu
(217) 333-7461; 3654
Posted by mmalliso at 5:14 PM
September 12, 2008
New Biology Library Web site coming soon!
The Biology Library is very pleased to announce that in the next few weeks we will be transitioning our Web site to the University Library’s Content Management System (CMS) platform. The CMS provides more versatility in how our Web site content is organized and navigated. We think you will find this new Biology Library Web site a welcome change! For more information about Biology Library resources, resource instruction, and other services go to the Biology Library Web site , or contact us at 333-3654 or biolib@illinois.edu.
Biology Library Guides converted to LibGuides
The Biology Library subject guides are being changed from a pdf format to a Web 2.0 content management and information sharing system called LibGuides. LibGuides allows the content to be organized in many different ways utilizing tabular structure, modules, and other editorial features to provide a very usable frame to hang our content on. Additionally there are many Web 2.0 opportunities to take advantage of such as integration of the guides into Web sites, blogs, courseware systems, Facebook, Twitter, and Del.icio.us and more. Most subject guides are converted but there are still a few to go, and other guides are being considered for conversion. Check out our newly converted subject guides. If you have an interest in any of these possibilities for using our LibGuides, just let us know.
Easy Search now has Life Sciences subset.
The University Easy Search search tool is proving to be a very popular destination to locate information from Library resources as well as resources outside the Library. The default Easy Search searches multi-topic article databases, the Library Online Library Catalog, the state I-Share Library Catalog, our Springer E-Books subscription, Google books, Amazon books, Google, MS Live Web, Google Scholar, and Scirus Academic Web Search – all at once!
The new Life Sciences subset searches the subject article databases Biological Abstracts, MEDLINE (via Web of Knowledge), CAB Abstracts, Food & Technology Abstracts, Zoological Abstracts, Environmental Sciences & Pollution Management, Academic Search Elite (EBSCO), Web of Science, Scopus, and Academic OneFile (InfoTrac) plus the same catalogs and Web sites as the default search.
There is also a Health Sciences subset that searches MEDLINE (via Web of Knowledge), Biological Abstracts, PsycInfo, Toxicology Abstracts, Health and Safety Science Abstracts, Physical Education Index, Social Services Abstracts, AgeLine, Alt HealthWatch, CINAHL Nursing Literature, SPORTDiscus, Web of Science, Scopus, and Academic Search Elite (EBSCO) plus the same catalogs and Web sites as the default search.
Caveat: Searching multiple databases at once (federated searches) cannot take advantage of many of the individual database’s features such as subject or field searching – yet – so to best take advantage of these sophisticated options, direct searches in the individual database is still the place to do this. Easy Search is available from the University Library homepage or the Easy Search homepage .
NIH Funded Research Policy
The NIH Public Access Policy requires that "all investigators funded by the NIH submit or have submitted for them to the National Library of Medicine’s PubMed Central an electronic version of their final, peer-reviewed manuscripts upon acceptance for publication, to be made publicly available no later than 12 months after the official date of publication: Provided, That the NIH shall implement the public access policy in a manner consistent with copyright law." (See the NIH Public Access Web site for an overview of this policy, how to comply, and other details.) The Library can assist you with copyright issues and the article submission process as well as depositing your manuscript in Illinois Digital Environment for Access to Learning and Scholarship (IDEALS) , the institutional repository for the research and scholarship of faculty, staff, and students at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. See the University Library’s NIH Public Access Mandate information and Guide to the NIH Public Access Mandate for details. For continuing developments in scholarly communication issues, be sure to check out to the University Library's Scholarly Communication Blog or subscribe to its RSS feed.
--
Melody Allison
Assistant Biology Librarian and Associate Professor of Library Administration
Biology Library
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
101 Burrill Hall, 407 South Goodwin
Urbana, IL 61801
mmalliso@illinois.edu
(217) 333-7461; 3654
Posted by mmalliso at 1:43 PM
July 15, 2008
New UIUC Support Site about the NIH Public Access Mandate
The Library has a new guide about the NIH Public Access Mandate to assist University of Illinois authors comply. It includes information about copyright and grant considerations, submitting papers for publication, how the Library can assist you, and more. For more information contact:
Katie Newman
Biotechnology Librarian and Scholarly Communication Officer
florador@uiuc.edu
217-265-5386
Sarah Shreeves
IDEALS Coordinator
sshreeve@uiuc.edu
217-244-3877
*******************************************
Melody Allison
Assistant Biology Librarian and Associate Professor of Library Administration
Biology Library
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
101 Burrill Hall, 407 South Goodwin
Urbana, IL 61801
mmalliso@illinois.edu
(217) 333-7461; 3654
Posted by mmalliso at 2:18 PM
January 31, 2008
ISI Web of Knowledge platform update
A new platform update for ISI Web of Knowledge is scheduled for February 3, at which point we will lose access to the older version.
Highlights include:
* More intuitive, streamlined design
* New tabular approach to accessing databases and database resources
* Search all databases that we subscribe to at the same time or individually
* PR describes a new multi-database search capability that uses "one common vocabulary that recognizes the varying terms used by different databases and maps them to a unified subject classification. Which means that a search with ISI Web of Knowledge will find all relevant items that may have originally been categorized differently. Newer terms recognize older terms. And specialized terms from one database recognize specialized terms from another."
* General Search now has 3 search boxes with database field options to select from -- you can add additional ones (I have not found a maximum yet!)
* Database indexes, such as Author, Publication Names, etc., easily accessible via small icon directly to the right of the field index box (when that field is selected)
* Searches can easily be refined by various categories via check boxes from Results page
* Search terms are highlighted (yellow) in Full Record
* Marked List functionality for all WOK search results
Biology Library database guides for Biological Abstracts, Science Citation Index, and Zoological Records have been updated.
For more see information from Thomson Scientific at http://isiwebofknowledge.com/currentuser_wokhome/cu_new/newface/.
If you have any questions, please let us know.
Melody Allison
Assistant Biology Librarian and Assistant Professor of Library Administration
Biology Library
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
101 Burrill Hall, 407 South Goodwin
Urbana, IL 61801
(217) 333-7461; 3654
"If men were angels, no government would be necessary."
-- James Madison
Posted by mmalliso at 11:17 AM
January 30, 2008
New Field Guide Resource
Hello everyone,
You may remember that a year or so ago I sent out a message saying that I
was working on a database listing field guides from around the world. I'm
pleased to report that the U of I News Bureau just sent out a news item on
the database. If you need or use field guides please take a look, and as
always send suggestions for guides to add!
Diane Schmidt
Biology Librarian
Today's News From the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Jan. 29, 2008
U. OF I. LIBRARIAN LAUNCHES COMPREHENSIVE WEB DATABASE OF FIELD GUIDES
Diane Schmidt, the biology librarian at the U. of I. has built and
launched the most complete database of field guides to date. The
International Field Guides Web Site merges Schmidt’s own book, “A
Guide to Field Guides: Identifying the Natural History of North
America” (Libraries Unlimited, 1999), and its companion Web site,
International Field Guides, plus 2,000 new titles.
http://www.news.uiuc.edu/news/08/0129fieldguides.html
Visit the News Bureau for more news.
Posted by mmalliso at 5:03 PM
January 29, 2008
Biological Abstracts and Zoological Records update
Biology Library is very pleased to announce that the Biological Abstracts AND Zoological Records databases each now goes back to volume 1 (B.A. 1926-present; Z.R. 1864-present).
Enjoy !
Melody Allison
Assistant Biology Librarian and Assistant Professor of Library Administration
Biology Library
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
101 Burrill Hall, 407 South Goodwin
Urbana, IL 61801
(217) 333-7461; 3654
Posted by mmalliso at 2:07 PM
August 22, 2007
Biology Library Fall 2006 News
New University Library Gateway coming soon ! Feedback welcome !
The University Library is evaluating a new design for its home page, which offers enhanced features and functionality. To access the test site, click http://www.library.uiuc.edu/new/ . Among the new features is a link to the search engine UIUC Library Search Assistant which performs searches across multiple Library and other electronic resources. Also departmental libraries can now be accessed by college and major via “LIBRARIES BY COLLEGE/MAJOR” as well as by departmental library name via “Find a Library”. Undergraduates, graduate students, faculty and other user groups can easily find resources and services useful to their particular needs under the “Resources For” section. Faculty, students, and staff are encouraged to view the test version to explore the new look and features. Feedback can be provided by clicking on 'Gateway conversion team' at the bottom of the page. Changes in the Biology Library Web page will be made once the new University Library Gateway development is completed.
Do you know where your students are ……
…. getting their information?? According to a report by the OCLC Online Computer Library Center, a cooperative of more than 54,000 libraries, browser search engines were the first choice for information by 72% of college students in the study (Part 1-26). Are you certain that your students are using the best sources of information for their course work and research? Are you confident that they know how to use information resources effectively? We can help make sure that your students are using the best resources for their course and research information needs by:
• Providing sessions on library use and services (Online Library Catalog, how to locate library materials, borrowing, interlibrary loan, etc.)
• Presenting workshops on how to use particular databases, how to set up current awareness services to keep up-to-date on the literature, etc.
• Providing sessions on the use of library resources for reading research papers
• Formulating course, project, or research related library instruction sessions
• Assisting with research assignment development
• Creating handouts, guides, Web pages, Web tutorials, and other library research or subject related information tools
• Compiling source selections for class assignments and curriculum
• Providing sessions on information sources that are useful to laboratory classes
• Designing customized print and Web resources for a specific class, project, or subject area
• Presenting new faculty workshops
• Presenting new graduate student workshops
Schedule an information resources instruction session today by filling out the Instruction Request Form , or contacting Melody Allison, Assistant Biology Librarian, at mmalliso@uiuc.edu.
Biology Library Guides
We have several Library orientation, database, subject, and other guides that will help you make the most of out resources. There is a wealth of information in these tools to help you make the most efficient and effective use of the Library’s great variety of information and research resources and services. The only way to get more details is through an information instruction session (see previous item)!
Our orientation guides provide basic information about the Biology Library and its resources and services. Guide to Campus Resources for New SOLS Faculty and Guide to Campus Resources for Students deliver information about the Biology Library and its resources and services; BioBlog; University Library; departmental libraries; the I-Go Library Toolbar; RefWorks; campus academic information; and general information useful for new (and not-so-new! ) faculty, students, and employees.
There are database guides for major life sciences bibliographic databases (Biological Abstracts, Current Contents, PubMed, Science Citation Index, and Zoological Record) with links to vendor guides and tutorials for further enlightenment. The Electronic Resources at the Biology Library guide gives a brief introduction to two dozen bibliographic databases which may be of interest to life sciences researchers.
There are general guides on several topics such as how to locate materials in the Biology Library; how to locate books, journals, and series; and how to locate dissertations and conference proceedings, along with links to information about RefWorks and the Library Discover tool. Our Web site Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) page provides detailed information on finding journals and journal articles, finding books and other materials, using and creating course reserves, and Biology Library services.
Subject guides provide titles of core reference titles, including indexes & abstracts, protocols & methods, and journal titles, for various topic areas.
Two other guides that are useful for any one doing research are the Journal Resources and Research Resources pages. The Journal Resources page links you to information about the Online Research Resources database, journal abbreviations and acronym tools, serials lists for major bibliographic databases, citation format resources, RefWorks and Endnote, and other information related to journal use. The Research Resources page links you to UIUC and other sources of information about academic integrity, intellectual freedom, copyright, ethics, plagiarism, research process, etc.
As our access to electronic resources grows, so do challenges in accessing them. This is true for our growing collection of e-books. Two new guides will help you in this endeavor. Electronic Book Resources at the Biology Library will inform you about various e-book collections our patrons have access to as well as several reference e-books of interest in the life sciences. Retrieving Articles at University Library will help you understand the ways that journal articles may be found using our various resources.
“Librarian Office Calls” for SOLS Faculty
Are there occasions when you would like to learn more about your favorite database, but just haven’t had the time to grapple with all the new nuances? Or maybe you would like to get out of your comfort zone and get acquainted with a bibliographic database that you are not familiar with? Or perhaps you want to begin to use a research tool, like RefWorks, that is new to you?
The Biology Library is piloting a new service for SOLS faculty called “Librarian Office Calls.” You can schedule a librarian to come to provide personalized instruction about library resources to enhance your course and research activities in the convenience of your own campus office (Burrill Hall or Chemical & Life Sciences Laboratory). Schedule a “Librarian Office Call” today by filling out the Instruction Request Form , or contacting Melody Allison, Assistant Biology Librarian, at mmalliso@uiuc.edu.
Illinois Digital Environment for Access to Learning and Scholarship (IDEALS)
The Illinois Digital Environment for Access to Learning and Scholarship (IDEALS) is a set of collections and related services that together constitute the campus institutional repository. IDEALS preserves and provides persistent and reliable access to the digital scholarship of faculty, staff, and students and aims to provide the greatest dissemination and recognition to these works as possible. Offered through the University Library and CITES under sponsorship of the Office of the Provost, IDEALS is now open for deposit! For more information, contact Sarah Shreeves, IDEALS Coordinator, at sshreeve@uiuc.edu.
UI Now has University Library News
Get the latest News from the University Library via UI Now, the place to get the news and feature stories on campus activities. You may subscribe to the Library news via a RSS feed (requires a reader) and get the news as soon as it is available. Learn more about RSS feeds at the Scholarly Communication blog and RSS on Wikipedia.
New ISI Web of Knowledge Interface Coming Soon
Thomson Scientific’s ISI Web of Knowledge interface is changing, and will formally be released sometime this fall. Until then, access to Science Citation Index (Web of Science), Biological Abstracts, Journal Citation Reports, and other databases we get through Thomson Scientific will remain with the current platform. You may access the new version in the current version through a link in the title bar.
Among the changes is the replacement of the “CrossSearch” by the “All Databases” search, which allows you to:
• Search across all ISI Web of Knowledge databases our institution subscribes to
• Retrieve up to 100,000 results, automatically sorted by the journal cover publication date
• Easily refine and analyze your search results
You will also see is a change in how your search terms are entered. The new version has three “Search for” boxes with search field options that can be combined with Boolean operators. Additional “Search for” boxes can be added with a simple click.
See http://isiwebofknowledge.com/currentuser_wokhome/cu_new/newface/ for more information about the new interface. For a short tutorial click see http://www.brainshark.com/thomsonscientific/newwokintro .
Current Protocols in Stem Cell Biology trial in progress
Trial access for Current Protocols in Stem Cell Biology (CPSC) will continue through 12/31/07. CPSC covers protocols and methods for embryonic stem cells and adult stem cells as swell as genetic manipulation of stem cells. CPSC is published in affiliation with the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR). Please email comments or questions using the form at http://www.library.uiuc.edu/mailform/mail.php?emailcode=ersupport.
For a short tutorial click see http://www.brainshark.com/thomsonscientific/newwokintro .
Chicago Manual of Style Online
Good news from the spring is worth repeating. The Chicago Manual of Style is available electronically. We look forward to electronic versions of other format style manuals as they become available. Will keep you posted.
Please feel free to contact me with any questions at mmalliso@uiuc.edu.
Have great Fall semester.
--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Melody Allison
Assistant Biology Librarian and Assistant Professor of Library Administration
Biology Library
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
101 Burrill Hall, 407 South Goodwin
Urbana, IL 61801
(217) 333-7461; 3654
Posted by mmalliso at 4:31 PM
April 11, 2007
Catalogue of living species reaches 1 million mark
The Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life, a worldwide scientific effort to catalog all living species, has reportedly reached the 1 million milestone. Six years into the program, the total has reached 1,009,000 researchers report. The list, likely to be completed by 2011, is expected to reach a total of nearly 1.75 million species. The final catalog will include all known living organisms - from plants and animals to fungi and microorganisms such as bacteria, protozoa and viruses. The catalog does not include fossil species from the past.
The Catalogue of Life partnership
In June 2001 the Species 2000 and ITIS organizations decided to work together to create the Catalogue of Life. They declared a target for completing coverage for all 1.75 million known species by 2011. The two organizations remain separate and different in structure. However, by working together in creating a common product, the partnership has enabled them to reduce duplication of effort, make better use of resources, and to accelerate production. T
About ITIS
The Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) is a partnership of federal agencies and other organisations from the United States, Canada, and Mexico, with data stewards and experts from around the world (see http://www.itis.gov). The ITIS database is an automated reference of scientific and common names of biota of interest to North America. It contains more than 535,000 names for species in all kingdoms, and is accessible via the World Wide Web in English, French, Spanish, and Portuguese (http://itis.gbif.net). ITIS is part of the US National Biological Information Infrastructure (http://www.nbii.gov) and an associate member of GBIF.
About Species 2000
Species 2000 (http://www.sp2000.org) is an autonomous federation of taxonomic database custodians, involving taxonomists throughout the world. Its goal is to collate a uniform and validated index to the world's known species. It is a not-for-profit company limited by guarantee (registered in England No. 3479405) with six directors and taxonomic database organisations from around the world as members. It is sponsored by CODATA, IUBS and IUMS; is an associate participant in GBIF; and is recognised by UNEP and the CBD. There are two regional programmes: Species 2000 europa (http://www.sp2000europa.org), funded by the European Commission, working with global and regional databases based in Europe and Species 2000 Asia-Oceania (www.sp2000asiaoceania.org) working to promote taxonomy and taxonomic databasing in that region. The Phase II Programme is establising a number of regional/national hubs of which the European Hub, the Species 2000 China Node (http://www.sp2000.cn), and the N America Hub are the first to appear.
from: Knowledgespeak 4/11/07 and from the IFIS / Species 2000 web site.
Posted by florador at 10:36 AM
March 27, 2007
Proposed: Federal Digital Data Respository
The March 22nd issue of Nature is reporting that an interdepartmental government group, the Interagency Working Group on Digital Data (IWGDD) has recommended that the government set up a freely accessible repository for the massive quantities of data that are generated by research sponsored by many government agencies. Currently such a repository exists for gene and protein data -- Genbank -- and for astronomers. But this proposal, which it is felt WILL HAPPEN, has a much broader reach. The IWGDD represents 22 agencies including the National Science Foundation (NSF), NASA, the Departments of Energy, Agriculture, and Health and Human Services, and other government branches including the Office of Science and Technology Policy.
A draft strategic plan for this proposal will be drawn up by the Fall of 2007. According to the Nature article,
The group’s first step is to set up a robust public infrastructure so all researchers have a permanent home for their data. One option is to create a national network of online data repositories, funded by the government and staffed by dedicated computing and archiving professionals. It would extend to all communities a model similar to the Arabidopsis Information Resource, in which 20 staff serve 13,000 registered users and 5,000 labs. The IWGDD is considering making submission of well-documented data sets to archives a requirement of getting a grant.
Posted by florador at 12:01 PM