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President Bush has signed into law the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2007 (H.R. 2764). This law includes a provision that directs the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to provide the public with open online access to findings from its funded research. For more information, please see http://www.taxpayeraccess.org/media/release07-1226.html.
It's the end of the year and I've been perusing numerous Top 10 lists on the Web. I thought it would be instructive to compile a Top 10 list from the posts of Science Resources. The resources on this list would be the best of the best. So, I asked the Science Resources staff to review all 2007 entries, and nominate the best for our Top 10. The staff was very enthusiastic and nominated 30 resources. I reviewed the list, and in an effort to not offend any staff member or segment of our audience, I decided that all nominations would be on our list. Therefore, I present our 2007 Top 10 Science Resources in the chronological order that they appeared:
Indian Academy of Sciences Journals [become open access] (1/16/07)
Editorial Board of Topology to Start New Journal (1/17/07)
Project Prospect from RSC Publishing (2/1/07)
Safari Tech Books Online (3/20/07)
Protocol Online: Your Lab's Reference Book (4/28/07)
Computer Science Directory (4/30/07)
The OpenScience Project (5/4/07)
Mathematics in Movies (5/8/07)
ChemBioGrid: Chemistry Databases on the Web (5/11/07)
WorldWideScience.org (6/25/07)
Metamath Proof Explorer (8/27/07)
DNATube (9/10/07)
National Academy of Sciences: Biographical Memoirs (9/11/07)
Lecture Notes in Computer Science (10/31/07)
Catalogue of Scientific Papers (11/5/07)
Videos from Annenberg Media:
The World of Chemistry (12/17/07)
The Mechanical Universe ... and Beyond (12/18/07)
Against All Odd: Inside Statistics (12/19/07)
Best wishes for a safe and happy new year from Science Resources!
Produced by the Consortium for Mathematics and Its Applications and Chedd-Angier, and made available by Annenberg Media, Against All Odd: Inside Statistics is a collection of 26 half-hour videos that cover important concepts in mathematical statistics. Some of the topics covered are distributions, time series, correlation, causation, experimental design, sampling, probability, significance tests, inference, and case study. Although access to these videos is free, registration is required.
Produced by the California Institute of Technology and Intelecom, and made available by Annenberg Media, The Mechanical Universe ... and Beyond is a collection of 52 half-hour videos covering many important topics in physics. The purpose of the this video series is to help teachers demystify physics using "field trips" and computer graphics to illustrate abstract concepts. Some of the topics covered are falling bodies, vectors, forces, the conservation of energy, resonance, angular momentum, electric circuits, magnetism, Maxwell's equations, optics, Lorentz transformation, entropy, and quantum mechanics. Although access to these videos is free, registration is required.
Produced by the University of Maryland and the Educational Film Center and made available by Annenberg Media, The World of Chemistry is collection of 26 half-hour programs covering both introductory and advanced topics. Topics include atoms, the periodic table, molecules, electrons, protons, metals, polymers, proteins, and the genetic code. Although access to these videos is free, registration is required.
Oxford University Press has announced that papers from the first issue of the Journal of Topology have been published on behalf of the London Mathematical Society (LMS), and are now freely available online. The Journal "will publish papers of significance in topology, geometry, and adjacent areas of mathematics."
The National Technical Information Service (NTIS) maintains and disseminates a large collection of scientific, technical, engineering, and business-related information produced for and by U.S. government agencies. The NTIS database contains the records of millions of publications along with audiovisual materials, computer data files, and software. Nearly 1,000 new items are added weekly, many only available through NTIS. Recently, the Web-based database was extended back to 1964, and its search capabilities have been enhanced. Over 3 million items are in the NTIS database.
All World Scientific and Imperial College Press journals to offer an open access option. Authors have the option to pay $2,500 for their articles to be open access. Please see http://www.worldscinet.com/authors/openaccess.shtml for more information.
Chemical Blogspace is an aggregation of chemistry blogs. Readers can peruse numerous science-oriented blogs, learn about new papers and books, read conference papers and original research, and browse the contents by chemistry discipline. The contents of Chemical Blogspace are also searchable.
Physics 24/7 contains resources to help students learn physics. It provides access to a glossary that defines and explains important terms; a tutorial that teaches physics concepts by explaining every day events or phenomena; study skill tips; and a collection of self-correcting physics quizzes. Most of the resources on Physics 24/7 are free, however, customized assistance from a physics tutor is fee-based.
A Computational Introduction to Number Theory and Algebra by Victor Shoup has been selected as the Electronic Book of the Month for December. It "introduces basic concepts from computational number theory and algebra, including all the necessary mathematical background." The Electronic Book of the Month Archive has been updated. Please note that this book will be the last selection in this series.
On January 2, 2008 CAS, will be retiring the following versions of SciFinder Scholar (SFS):
• SciFinder Scholar 2004.2 for Windows and MAC (OS 9 version)
• SciFinder Scholar MAC OS X 1.0 for MAC (OS X version)
If you are using these versions, you will need to upgrade to the latest version of SFS. Please email me if you need download instructions for the latest version.
The American Physical Society recently announced in a Physical Review Letters editorial that they will offer authors with Chinese, Japanese, and Korean names the option to include their names in their own language in parentheses after the transliterated name. This program will cover all Physical Review journals including Physical Review Letters. Instructions for authors who want to try this program are available here.
Elsevier launches of 2collab, a free online platform for scientific collaboration. "2collab provides the platform and tools needed for researchers to connect with their peers, enhancing the way they work together and offering an open and accessible space that will foster collaboration." Users can add and share bookmarks, tag resources, comment, and create groups. For a quick demo of 2collab, see this video on YouTube.