The future for licensing: an academic publisher’s viewpoint

Considers the factors affecting licensing policy, both for translations and for English–language reprints, and the copyright implications, in various countries.     

Distance learning for MLA’s centennial!

In celebration of the Medical Library Association’s Centennial, their Continuing Education Committee developed a year of distance learning opportunities concerning evidence-based health care. The Centennial Distance Learning Program, as it became known, strove to reach as many members as possible by offering a wide variety of formats, including a teleconference, Web resources, journal clubs, and a suite of traditional CE courses at the annual meeting. This was the first time that MLA had attempted a multi-level distance learning project and it proved to be a rousing success! For more details, visit the ‘EBHC in Action’ Web page on MLANET at: http://www.mlanet.org/education/telecon/index.html .     

The research process: a beginner’s guide

The introduction of evidence-based health care and the importance of library services in supporting this trend mean that librarians should at the very least understand the research process. The research process is often misunderstood and feared. This paper explains the research process step by step, giving examples. The major research designs, experimental, quasi-experimental, survey and action research are described. This paper is deliberately practical rather than academically focused. Its structure could be used to structure a small-scale research project, with the help of the literature in the annotated bibliography.     

Writing medical papers: a practitioner’s view

Considers the numbers of specialist medical papers published; checks on their accuracy; motives for writing and for selection for publication; and suggests guidelines for writers of papers.     

叶德辉的阅读活动及阅读思想

叶德辉是晚清民国时期我国著名的学者,其阅读活动及思想主张既有传统国学学者的共性,又有其个性.在早年的阅读中,叶德辉超越于举业之外,注重儒学原典、清儒经学著述、近人文集等的阅读;成年之后,叶德辉超越于藏书家之外,藏而能读,为读而藏,构建起自己的知识世界;晚年为传承经学,总结经书阅读方法,提供经书求书目录,引导后学趋于经学之正途.这些阅读活动与思想为叶德辉的学术成就奠定了基础.     

Spreading the digital word: ISI’s Electronic Library Project

Describes the process behind – and the progress of – a unique project designed to explore many of the technical and economic issues pertaining to the implementation and use of an electronic library.     

The Metropolitan Museum of Art as an Adjunct of Factory: Richard F. Bach and the Resolution Between Gilman’s Temple and Dana’s Department Store

Abstract This article examines the metaphors used by museum leaders in the early twentieth century. Richard F. Bach’s metaphor for the Metropolitan Museum of Art as an adjunct of factory is positioned as a philosophical resolution between those of two prominent contemporaries: Benjamin Ives Gilman’s metaphor of the art museum as a temple and John Cotton Dana’s metaphor of the museum as a department store, which are often viewed by historians in a dichotomy of unresolved tension. While examining differences in institutional agendas suggested by these metaphors, this article illuminates the common goal among them: Museums explicitly saw themselves as serving an essential role in American society to refine public taste and the aesthetic sophistication of their audiences. A close analysis of the metaphors reveals three historical models that offered varying visitor experiences for exercising good taste.     

From gentleman’s club to the marketplace: the library experience

In March this year I retired after a library career spent almost entirely in one institution. From this limited experience I hope to draw examples of changes in the library world, and their consequences, which I believe have general application.     

Closing the PDF gap: ReadCube’s experiments in reader‐focused design

Key points

• Twenty years ago, a fraction of articles were paired with supplements; now, one in five research stories go beyond PDF.
• Why has the evolution of research content's delivery vehicles lagged behind the evolution of the research story?
• Hyperlinked in‐line references are the most used feature of the Enhanced PDF – exposing faster, easier ways to follow the path of research.
• Discovery need not start and end with the search engine – it can start within the PDF itself.
• Discovery is not a solitary process; therefore, content platforms must support collaboration to drive readership.

     

“It’s Time to Pause and Reflect”: Museums and Human Rights

Abstract As museum professionals become more aware of their institutional ability to promote the realization of human rights, so too are the missions, exhibitions, and programming initiatives of many museums around the globe responding to an evolving human rights culture. Here, we will briefly discuss the museum institution’s past relationship with the concept of rights, and identify some of its challenges in taking up a more activist role.     

Building a digital library: a technology manager’s point of view

The Historic Pittsburgh project at the University of Pittsburgh can be instructive to others embarking upon digital library projects, and deciphering their own environmental opportunities and constraints.     

The Museum Visit: It’s an Experience,Not a Lesson

Abstract Museums offer visitors direct experiences—such as visual experiences—that are not available elsewhere in daily life. Learning through verbal information is part of it, yet the aesthetic experience is always outside of the “right‐answer paradigm.” Cognitive development occurs when perceptions inform thinking, thoughts are expressed in language, and expressed thoughts invite reconsideration of the material at hand. Both science and art require the development of these skills. Science and art museum educators can and should advocate the value of looking, thinking, wondering about complexity, and discussing the results.     

Who pays for journal publishing? The user’s point of view

Scientists are users of science journals in two senses—to enter their own work and to learn of others—but are rarely the direct purchaser of them. The health of research is inextricably bound up with the learned journal. Muck is contributed by scientists to their journals in invisible ways, such as refereeing and editing. The creation of an archive of information is the primary service the journal supplies. Libraries pay for its entry into the system; research organizations and university faculties must recognize that this cost has to be met. The views expressed here are those of a publisher as well as of a user.     

Vietnam: Challenges and Opportunities for Publishers

Little is known about the publishing industry and the cultural complexities of Vietnam and, therefore, this article provides a summary of the essential information and related data on the demographics of the country. The development of the publishing industry is traced from 1945 before the unification of North and South Vietnam in 1975 to the present status. The role of the book publishing industry is examined in relation to television and radio media. A review of the reading culture is presented to understand the current status and potential for printed books as well as E-books in Vietnam.     

Role of Gender in Reviewers’ Appraisals of Quality in Political Science Books: A Content Analysis

This study examines the changing roles for women in academia from 1991 to 2001 through a content analysis of quality characteristics in 626 American Political Science Review book reviews. Results revealed increases for women over men in quantity of books and reviews published, as well as quality appraisals of books written.     

Information and communication: a library’s local response to HIV/AIDS in Zambia

Objective: To document and describe the University of Zambia Medical library’s responses to the fight against HIV/AIDS in Zambia. Methods: The methodology adopted was a case study approach combined with an analysis of the literature such as annual reports and official documents. This was augmented by personal reflections of the author having worked at the Medical Library. Results: The University of Zambia Medical library has over the years instituted and implemented HIV/AIDS information provision programmes that include the provision of information in various formats ‐‐ print or electronic and, in addition, capacity building in HIV/AIDS information literacy skills. Conclusion: A library’s social responsibility calls for it to be part of national responses to crises that arise in society. As HIV/AIDS has affected every aspect of Zambian society prevention, treatment, care and support there is an understanding that the library’s role should be using the cri tical and strategic resource at its disposal – information ‐‐ as part of their contribution to the fight against HIV/AIDS. In this context, libraries should source, collect, organize and disseminate information on HIV/AIDS in a way that is easily accessible to researchers, HIV/AIDS programme implementation agencies and the ordinary public.