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CURRENT SUBSCRIBERS: 395
I don't know about you folks, but the academic year is getting off to a very hectic start here at USC. We finally made our decision on a new ILS (HORIZON), but I'm not at all sure where we're going to find the time to get the thing up and running. Meanwhile I think we somehow managed to find a way to budget the whopping price increases for European journals, but I still can't quite figure out how we did it. Miscalculation is a distinct possibility. Needless to say, the place is overrun with eager new students, who have not yet learned that Suggested Readings are a harmless fiction of academic life. And it looks like it's going to be a stinking hot September.
But, then again, things look as bright as always on the journal publishing scene. Oxford University Press has come up with a new journal, NEUROCASE, that promises to be an answered prayer for authors who can't get published elsewhere (an astonishing feat given the bazillion neuroscience journals out there). "If you have tried to publish a case study recently, you may have found that many of the major journals have begun to discourage such reports, as individual results are seen as offering limited information. When looked at in conjunction with other single case studies though it is possible to draw vital conclusions from the information gathered; this is why NEUROCASE has been launched". This title in itself offers a case study in why existing journals continue to publish more and more papers, i.e., to preempt the startup of competing journals like this one.
And Wiley is launching what looks an awful lot like a new journal (JOURNAL OF INFLAMMATION) as if it were a continuation of the ailing CIRCULATORY SHOCK. "The change in name reflects a radical broadening of the journal's scope, from a specialty periodical to one covering all aspects of the field." Radical indeed, and just a little bit sneaky.
I know that we have BLAB readers at both Wiley and Oxford, so they should feel free to take me to task for these dyspeptic musings of an overworked librarian who just gave a tour to a bunch of new students who were managing the neat trick of falling asleep while standing.
Please take special note of Melanie Wilson's query (at the end of this issue) concerning phone solicitations from publishers. There's got to be some way of dealing with this problem that is fair to all concerned. What's your solution?
Keep in touch,
DAVID
43.2 NEWS: NEW REGISTRY FOR LICENSING OF ELECTRONIC PUBLICATION
RIGHTS
From: Dave Anderson, U.C. Center for Animal Alternatives <dcanderson@ucdavis.edu>
This is a forwarded announcement of the Author's Guild Registry, a counterpart to the Copyright Clearance Center. I think that collection developers should be aware of this.
[The announcement below has been edited for length -- The Editor.]
AUTHORS & AGENTS LAUNCH ASCAP ORGANIZATION FOR WRITERS TO ADDRESS ELECTRONIC RIGHTS ISSUES
Authors Registry to Simplify Payment for On-Line, Multimedia Rights, Provide Quick Access to Electronic, Film & Foreign Rightsholders
NEW YORK--A host of influential authors and agents have joined the Authors Guild, the American Society of Journalists and Authors, Association of Authors' Representatives, and the Dramatists Guild in forming an organization that does for writers and other copyright holders what ASCAP does for the music world, the Guild, ASJA, and AAR announced today. The new organization, The Authors Registry, Inc., provides a central directory of authors and will provide a simple accounting system for paying royalties to registered authors.
"It's an idea whose time has come," said Authors Guild President Mary Pope Osborne. "If the Information Age is to live up to its potential, then we have to provide a means to simply and accurately reward authors for the use of their works, no matter what the medium. The Registry's royalty payment service does that, while the Registry's directory allows prospective rights buyers ready access to authors and their agents."
"Publishers have told me they want this service," said ASJA President Janice Hopkins Tanne. "It will solve their problem of paying writers for electronic uses."
The Registry's database will be managed by Courier New Media, Inc., a subsidiary of the Courier Corporation of Lowell, Massachusetts. Individual authors will be charged a registration fee, but agents and organizations electronically registering 100 or more writers or artists will be able to enroll their clients and members at no charge for the next 30 days. Agencies representing fewer than 100 authors are encouraged to submit their lists collectively. Membership in a founding organization is not required for registration.
The Authors Guild's 7,000 authors, the ASJA's 1,000 authors, and the Dramatists Guild's 6,500 authors will be the first listed with Courier in the Registry's directory.
"Publishers that are seeking to put their magazines on databases or otherwise re-use material from their magazines in electronic form have been telling us that sharing the proceeds on a per-retrieval basis isn't practical since they would have to pay hundreds of writers small amounts of money," said Authors Guild Vice President Scott Turow. "The Registry's royalty accounting and payment service lifts that burden from the publisher."
The Registry will also focus on unauthorized photocopying of copyrighted materials and plans to work with the Copyright Clearance Center, the U.S. collective licensing organization for photocopying, to ensure compatibility with the CCC's system.
"We view the creation of the Authors Registry as highly promising," said CCC President Joseph S. Alen. "We stand ready to assist the Registry in any way we can to promote the licensing of photocopy and other rights."
"Unauthorized photocopying of books and magazines seems harmless, until you realize the scale of the infringement," said Ms. Osborne. "Reasonable estimates place the revenue lost to illegal photocopying at one to two billion dollars a year in the United States. At a time when an increasing number of freelance writers are finding that this career no longer pays a living wage, we cannot afford to continue to ignore that lost income."
"We've all known for some time that the electronic world was creating new challenges and dangers for those who care about intellectual property rights," said Mr. Gleick. "The Registry is our way of turning the power of new technologies to good use. I think it's going to show that it is possible, with some good will on all sides, to create new ways of not just guarding intellectual property rights, but putting them to work."
For more information contact:
Courier New Media
William Topaz
Vice President
(508) 458-6351.
The Author's Guild
Robin Davis Miller or Paul Aiken
Phone: (212) 563-5904
ASJA
Dan Carlinsky
(212) 861-2526
From: RANDALL BRINKHUIS 202-260-9854 <BRINKHUIS.RANDALL@epamail.epa.gov>
Announcing a New Series of Chemical Fact Sheets from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics -- Chemicals in the Environment: OPPT Chemical Fact Sheets
The OPPT Chemical Fact Sheets are produced by the Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics to provide a brief summary of information on selected chemicals. Each Fact Sheet covers a particular chemical's identity, production and use, environmental fate, and health and environmental effects. They also include a list of laws under which the chemical is regulated, phone numbers, and the names of EPA offices and other Agencies one can call or contact for more information. Each Fact Sheet is also accompanied by a Chemical Summary, a technical support document that provides detailed technical information on the chemical named in the Fact Sheet.
The initial goal of this project was to provide summaries that would supplement information on the environmental release of Toxics Release Inventory chemicals. The Fact Sheets are also intended to provide the public with information on other chemicals under assessment by the Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics.
Fact Sheets are currently available for the following chemicals:
| Acetaldehyde | Methanol |
| Acetonitrile | Methyl ethyl ketone |
| Acrylamide | Methyl isobutyl ketone |
| Acrylic acid | Methyl-tert-butyl ether |
| 1-Butanol | Methylchloroform (1,1,1-Trichloroethane) |
| Carbon disulfide | Methylene chloride (Dichloromethane) |
| Carbonyl sulfide | 2-Methoxyethanol |
| Chlorine | Perchloroethylene |
| Cyclohexane | Toluene |
| Freon 113 | 1,2,4-Trimethylbenzene |
The Fact Sheets are available through several access points. Electronically they are accessible through the Right-to-Know Network (RTK-NET) and the EPA Gopher. RTK NET can be accessed either by direct dial-up at (202) 234-8570 (8-N-1) or via the Internet (telnet to rtk.net--login as "public"--or use a Web browser to access it at http://rtk.net). [IMPORTANT: Your Web browser must be set up to access telnet. Some commercial services' Web browsers, for example, do NOT currently have access to telnet.] Note that you must sign up for an account, which is free, before accessing some of RTK NET's databases. The Fact Sheets and Chemical Summaries are presently located under:
Documents/Documents (Archives)/OPPT Chemical Fact Sheets and Chemical Summaries
For more information on RTK NET, call OMB Watch at (202) 234- 8494.
The Fact Sheets are also accessible on the EPA Gopher (gopher.epa.gov). They are currently located under:
EPA Offices and Regions/Office of Prevention, Pesticides and Toxic Substances/Toxic Substances/Chemicals in the Environment: OPPT Chemical Fact Sheets.
NOTE: EPA's World Wide Web server (http://www.epa.gov) mirrors everything from the EPA Gopher. The Fact Sheets files have not yet been converted to HTML format, however, so the formatting there may look strange. We are working on this problem and should have it corrected shortly.
Persons interested in retrieving all the Fact Sheets electronically can do so through anonymous ftp from EPA's FTP server (ftp.epa.gov). Log on the ftp server as anonymous. A description of the Fact Sheets and a list of the chemicals for which they have been prepared can be found in the directory pub/gopher/chemfact (metadata.txt and chemlist.txt). The Fact Sheets and Chemical Summaries are found in the directory pub/gopher/chemfact/chemical. Use the mget command to retrieve f*.txt for the Fact Sheets and s*.txt for the Chemical Summaries. The files are in ASCII. (IMPORTANT: The Fact Sheets average 6 or 7 kbytes in size, while the Chemical Summaries can vary in size from 20 to 40 kbytes.)
For more information on the Fact Sheets, or if you have comments or suggestions about the Fact Sheets, please e-mail Randall Brinkhuis at brinkhuis.randall@epamail.epa.gov or write him at the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics
Information Management Division (7407)
Information Access Branch
401 M St., SW
Washington, DC 20460.
43.4 NEWS: BACKMED SIMPLIFIES EXCHANGE OF MEDICAL DUPLICATES
From: Alice Bodtke-Roberts, Genentech <egg@gene.com>
This just came across my screen. Excuse me if BLAB has already dealt with this recently...
From: Ronald E Schultz <43.5 JOB OPENING: MEDICAL COLLEGE OF GEORGIA
From: Donna Trainor, Medical College of Georgia <43.6 REPLY: CHINESE MEDICAL DICTIONARY
From: Judie Malamud, Albert Einstein College of Medicine <malamud@aecom.yu.edu>
In reply to the query for a Chinese medical dictionary I would suggest Library Journal, July 1995, p.46. there are a number of Chinese dictionaries (unfortunately no medical ones). We have a large Chinese graduate student group and they requested some basic dictionaries in addition to a medical/scientific one. We ordered a 1992 dictionary entitled English-Chinese Dictionary of Life Science. Chen-Chi-sheng chu pien. Got it from a distributor in California.
43.7 REVIEW: ELECTRONIC PAIN CONTROL
[Correspondent's name withheld upon request.]
Another in the annals of expensive books that aren't worth it, especially when they are imports. Electric Pain Control, by Jenker, F.L., 1995, Springer-Verlag, $49.00, 233pp, ISBN 321182622X. This book on TENS pain control is by a neurologist and for neurologists. The intellectual content may very well be valid, but I couldn't get past the physical presentation. The font is tiny and old fashioned, making it difficult to read. The visual style may be European, but I believe even Europeans want to be able to read the print. What really annoyed me is the notation of the verso of the title page proudly proclaiming "Typesetting: Camera ready by author." If the author is so computer literate, why couldn't he have changed the font size on his manuscript? The illustrations are nothing special. The photographs in particular are grainy and poor. If you are striving for a comprehensive TENS collection, be prepared for complaints.
43.8 REVIEW: DICTIONARY OF MODERN MEDICINE
From: Dolores Judkins, Oregon Health Sciences University <judkinsd@ohsu.edu>
The following is not a new book, but one that I'm so pleased with, that I like to make sure that other people know about it.
The Dictionary of Modern Medicine. Compiled and edited by JC Segen. New Jersey: Parthenon Publishing Group, 1992. ISBN: 1-85070-321-3
This dictionary is not like any other medical dictionary. It has terms in that I've not been able to find anyplace else, and besides that, it is fun to browse, since the entries are so different (e.g. catchment area, Harvard fraud case, sick building syndrome).
A sample entry:
" 'Three-piece suits' A colloquial and non-specific term for any businessman, which in the health care industry, includes 'medicrats' (MD/MPHs, ie physicians with a master's degree in public health, hospital administrators), financial officers, pharmaceutical representatives ('detail men'), and 'bean counters', who function within a medical center's bureacracy." (this is typed exactly as in the book, so there are spelling and grammar errors)
In the introduction the author says:
"This work is not designed to replace traditional dictionaries, but rather to complement them. This is a compilation of terms, many of recent vintage that are integral to the language of modern medicine, a language replete with acronyms, jargon, neologisms and the argot of new disciplines, diseases, their diagnosis and therapies. The Dictionary of Modern Medicine has categorically avoided terms from classic anatomy and biochemistry, common usage terms (eg hand, teeth), eponyms and pronunciation guidelines, have as its major raisond'etre, the provision of details that complement and supplement the information available in standard references."
43.9 REVIEW: CRANIOMAXILLOFACIAL TRAUMA
From: Meera Rajendran, Liverpool Health Service <M.Rajendran@unsw.EDU.AU>
Following is a review of a book, which you may wish to include in the next issue of BLAB.
Craniomaxillofacial trauma : a system of multidisciplinary management by members of the Australian Craniofacial Unit edited by D.J. David and D.A. Simpson, Churchill Livingstone, 1995, 723 pages. ISBN 0443044147
The Australian Craniofacial Unit treats about 400 Australian victims of craniomaxillofacial trauma every year and acts as a referral centre of the management of complex problems arising from injuries sustained elsewhere in the world.
The first few chapters deal with general aspects of CMF trauma, such as the historical perspectives, anatomy, epidemiological and aetiological studies, pathology of injury and repair, systematic clinical examination, diagnostic imaging, emergency management and anaesthesia and postoperative care.
Further chapters delve into the management of special types of CMF trauma such as facial fractures, dental injuries, craniocerebral injuries, ocular injuries, burns, bites, massive tissue loss, etc.
An excellent feature of the book is that there are a couple of chapters on CMF trauma management in children and in old people, as well as in trauma victims who have serious antecedent illnesses.
The book includes the management of deformities, impairment and disabilities resulting from trauma.
This book was recommended to us by one of our plastic surgeons and it certainly is a good book to consider when buying books on craniomaxillofacial trauma or injury. Although all photographs are in black and white, the book is certainly well illustrated with clear diagrams and photographs.
43.10 QUERY: ONLINE JOURNAL OF KNOWLEDGE SYNTHESIS FOR
NURSING
From: Frederick C. Pond, Dartmouth <Frederick.C.Pond@Dartmouth.EDU>
We're seriously considering a subscription to the OCLC electronic journal, _Online Journal of Knowledge Synthesis for Nursing_ after perusing a demonstration copy on the Internet via Netscape [http://www.ref.oclc.org:2000/html/ejo_homepage.htm]. Has anyone bought any of the six other journals available from OCLC in this format, including the _Online Journal of Current Clinical Trials_? I'm particularly concerned about support, since I initially had troubles printing a complete article [with the tables] off the demo, and did not receive a response from OCLC, even going through Sigma Theta Tau [the Honor Society for Nursing, the sponsoring organization for OJKSN]. Final question: anybody using the Guidon software to access these journals, and does it provide anything more than the Netscape access? I would be happy to correspond with selectors interested in these issues. Thanks.
43.ll QUERY: HOW DO YOU COPE WITH TELEMARKETING?
From: Melanie Wilson, University of Iowa <melanie-wilson@uiowa.edu>
In the past year especially I have received an increasing number of telemarketing calls from publishers. These sales folks are, I assure you, much less welcome than the aluminum siding people that call during the dinner hour at home. At least the siding people give up when I tell them I'm not interested--thank you and goodbye. (I live in a brick building, for heaven's sake!)
The publishing telemarketers invariably ring my office during a faculty consultation or interrupt me at the Information Desk. I have tried stating politely that I do not have time for these types of calls and asking point blank to be removed from their telemarketing list. Gee, guess what--it doesn't work. (I have now asked one publisher three times.) I have tried the "reality therapy" approach wherein I explain that disturbing me in this way actually leaves such a bad impression that it is counter-productive, figuring that the publishers will decide it's preferable to use marketing strategies that actually WORK. (Now THERE's an idea....). I've managed to avoid some calls through the miracle of voice mail, but this is inconsistent.
I don't doubt that sometimes publishers have information for me that is of interest--I just want to receive it in print form so I can go through it at my convenience.
Is anyone else sick and tired of these nuisance calls, or am I just being cranky? Has anyone found a truly effective yet humane way of fending them off?
| The BIOMEDICAL LIBRARY ACQUISITIONS BULLETIN (ISSN: 1064-699X) is published
by
the Medical Library Association's Collection Development Section with the
cooperation of the University of Southern California Norris Medical Library.
BLAB is published more or less monthly, and includes items of news and opinion
contributed by its readers concerning biomedical library acquisitions.
Editor: David H. Morse: dmorse@hsc.usc.edu. Paper mail: USC Norris Medical Library, 2003 Zonal Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90033. Telephone: (213) 342-1134. The BULLETIN is distributed free of charge, in electronic form only. Back issues of BLAB are available at http://colldev.mlanet.org/BLAB/.
Requests for subscriptions and all editorial correspondence should be sent to the editor <dmorse@hsc.usc.edu>. | |