NEWS AND NOTES / NOUVELLES ET NOTES

Compiled by Teresa Lee

<table><tr><td>ARL publishes the ARL Academic Health Sciences Library Statistics 2004–2005</td><td>39</td></tr><tr><td>UK PubMed Central launched today</td><td>39</td></tr><tr><td>Open-access journal will publish first, judge later</td><td>40</td></tr><tr><td>Directory of Open Access Journals reaches an important milestone</td><td>40</td></tr><tr><td>NIH launches dbGaP — a database of genome wide association studies</td><td>40</td></tr><tr><td>Cambridge Information Group announces agreement to acquire ProQuest Information and Learning</td><td>41</td></tr><tr><td>ALA Library launches Web tools to access professional information</td><td>41</td></tr><tr><td>Microsoft book search released in beta</td><td>41</td></tr><tr><td>New Journal of Web Librarianship</td><td>42</td></tr><tr><td>LC working group established to discuss future of bibliographic control – newly formed group to make recommendations by November 2007</td><td>42</td></tr><tr><td>MEDLINE data changes 2007</td><td>42</td></tr><tr><td>CHLA / ABSC Annual Conference 2007 – Capitalizing on Health Partnerships</td><td>43</td></tr><tr><td>Association of College & Research Libraries (ACRL) 2007 Annual Conference – Sailing into the Future: Charting Our Destiny</td><td>43</td></tr><tr><td>Rethinking North America: Higher Education, Regional Identities and Global Challenges</td><td>43</td></tr><tr><td>4th International Conference on Evidence Based Library & Information Practice</td><td>44</td></tr><tr><td>14th Annual How to Teach Evidence-Based Clinical Practice Workshop</td><td>44</td></tr><tr><td>Medical Library Association (MLA) 2007 Annual Conference – Information Revolution: Change is in the Air</td><td>44</td></tr><tr><td>Canadian Library Association (CLA) 2007 Annual Conference: Retain – Recruit – Restructure: Regenerating the Library Community</td><td>45</td></tr><tr><td>Special Libraries Association (SLA) 2007 Annual Conference</td><td>45</td></tr><tr><td>First International PKP Scholarly Publishing Conference</td><td>45</td></tr><tr><td>FIS Professional Learning Centre – The information professional as educator</td><td>46</td></tr><tr><td>FIS Professional Learning Centre – Information architecture</td><td>46</td></tr><tr><td>Health Science Information Consortium of Toronto – Consortium Professional Practice Day</td><td>46</td></tr></table>
NEWS AND NOTES / NOUVELLES ET NOTES

ARL publishes the ARL Academic Health Sciences Library Statistics 2004–2005

The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) announced the availability of the *ARL Academic Health Sciences Library Statistics 2004–2005*. This publication presents compilations and rankings of data that describe collections, expenditures, personnel, and services in 67 medical libraries at ARL member institutions throughout North America. For more information about the ARL Academic Health Sciences Library Statistics or to download the data files or a PDF of the publication, please visit http://www.arl.org/stats/annualsurveys/arlstats/.

UK PubMed Central launched today

http://www.jisc.ac.uk/news/stories/2007/01/news_ukpubmedcentral.aspx

Starting on 8 January 2007, scientists will be able to access a vast collection of biomedical research and to submit their own published results for inclusion in a new online resource. Based on a model currently used by the US National Institute of Health, UK PubMed Central (UKPMC) will provide free access to a permanent online archive of peer-reviewed research papers in the medical and life sciences.
Open-access journal will publish first, judge later

Giles J. Nature. 2007 January 4;445(9). doi:10.1038/445009a.
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v445/n7123/full/445009a.html

A radical project from the Public Library of Science (PLoS), the most prominent publisher in the open-access movement, is setting out to challenge academia's obsession with journal status and impact factors. PLoS One will publish any paper that is methodologically sound. Supporters say the approach will remove some of the inefficiencies associated with current peer-review systems — but critics question whether a journal that eschews impact factors will manage to attract papers.

Directory of Open Access Journals reaches an important milestone

http://www.doaj.org

As of 13 January 2006, the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) contains 2000 open-access journals, i.e., quality controlled scientific and scholarly electronic journals that are freely available on the Web.

NIH launches dbGaP — a database of genome wide association studies

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/news/press_releases/dbgap_launchPR06.html

The National Library of Medicine (NLM), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), announces the introduction of dbGaP, a new database designed to archive and distribute data from genome wide association (GWA) studies. GWA studies explore the association between specific genes (genotype information) and observable traits, such as blood pressure and weight, or the presence or absence of a disease or condition (phenotype information). Connecting phenotype and genotype data provides information about the genes that may be involved in a disease process or condition, which can be critical for better understanding the disease and for developing new diagnostic methods and treatments.
## Cambridge Information Group announces agreement to acquire ProQuest Information and Learning

http://info.csa.com/enews/CIGAcquiresProQuestPR.shtml

Cambridge Information Group announced it has entered into an agreement to acquire ProQuest Information and Learning, a segment of ProQuest Company (NYSE: PQE), for approximately $222 million.

## ALA Library launches Web tools to access professional information

http://www.ala.org/ala/pressreleases2006/debember2006/ALALibraryWebtools.htm

The Library of the American Library Association (ALA) has announced the launch of two new Web tools to aid ALA members, librarians, and library workers in accessing professional information online. The Librarian's E-Library (http://www.ala.org/librariantools) uses tools from Google Co-Op to create a customized search engine. The ALA Professional Tips wiki (http://wikis.ala.org/professionaltips/) provides a pathfinder to using the rich resources of ALA's Web site; compiles the ALA Library's responses to questions received from the field; and, perhaps most importantly, enables the library community to share new resources for advancing the practice of librarianship.

## Microsoft book search released in beta

http://news.com.com/Microsoft+releasing+book+search+in+beta/2100-1038_3-6141162.html?tag=nefd.top

In December Microsoft released a beta version of Live Search Books, its competitor to Google Book Search. Microsoft's new tool is similar in nature to Google Book Search in that it also allows full texts of public domain works to be viewed, searched, or printed. Like Google, Microsoft has chosen to use PDF files for the full-text downloads of books.
New Journal of Web Librarianship

http://www.lib.jmu.edu/org/jwl/

Haworth Press is planning a new serial, the *Journal of Web Librarianship*, for publication in Spring 2007. Edited by Jody Condit Fagan, the international, peer-reviewed journal covers material related to all aspects of librarianship as practiced on the World Wide Web, including both existing and emerging roles and activities of information professionals in the Web environment. See the journal Web site for more information, including author guidelines.

LC working group established to discuss future of bibliographic control – newly formed group to make recommendations by November 2007

http://www.loc.gov/today/pr/2006/06-222.html

Advances in search-engine technology, the popularity of the Internet, and the influx of electronic information resources have greatly changed the way libraries do their work. To address those changes, the Library of Congress has convened a Working Group on the Future of Bibliographic Control to examine the future of bibliographic description in the 21st century.

MEDLINE data changes 2007

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/pubs/techbull/nd06/nd06_medline_data_change

The National Library of Medicine (NLM) has posted information on changes made to MEDLINE during annual NLM maintenance known as Year-End Processing. For details, see the Web page listed above.
# Meetings, conferences, and workshops

## CHLA / ABSC Annual Conference 2007 – Capitalizing on Health Partnerships

The 2007 CHLA / ABSC Annual Conference will take place in Ottawa, Ontario, 28 May – 1 June. Further details on the program and registration are available on the conference Web site at http://www.chla-absc.ca/2007/index_e.htm. Contact information is available at chla-absc2007.cisti@nrc-cnrc.gc.ca.

## Association of College & Research Libraries (ACRL) 2007 Annual Conference –
Sailing into the Future: Charting Our Destiny

The annual meeting of ACRL will take place 29 March – 1 April 2007, in Baltimore, Maryland. The conference is open for registration and full details are available at http://www.acrl.org/ala/acrl/acrlevents/baltimore/baltimore.htm.

## Rethinking North America: Higher Education, Regional Identities and Global Challenges

http://www.conahec.org/conahec/Conferences/Quebec2007/english/EN Description.html

The 11th North American Higher Education Conference will be held 25–27 April 2007 in Québec City. Topics will include student and faculty mobility, the integration of higher education and economic development, and sharing best practices in efforts to internationalize institutions. For details, check the conference Web site listed above.
4th International Conference on Evidence Based Library & Information Practice

The 4th Evidence Based Library & Information Practice Conference (EBLIP4) will be held 6-9 May 2007, in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The meeting will be followed by 2 days of CE. Additional information may be found at www.eblip4.unc.edu.

14th Annual How to Teach Evidence-Based Clinical Practice Workshop

The 14th Annual How to Teach Evidence-Based Clinical Practice Workshop will be held 24-29 June 2007 at McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada. For details, check the conference Web site at http://clarity.mcmaster.ca/index.php.

Medical Library Association (MLA) 2007 Annual Conference – Information Revolution: Change is in the Air

The MLA's annual meeting will take place 18-23 May 2007 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. For details, check the conference Web site at http://www.mlanet.org.
**Canadian Library Association (CLA) 2007 Annual Conference: Retain – Recruit – Restructure: Regenerating the Library Community**

The CLA's annual conference will take place in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, 23-27 May 2007. For details, check the conference Web site at http://www.cla.ca.

**Special Libraries Association (SLA) 2007 Annual Conference**

The SLA will hold its annual conference in Denver, Colorado, 3-6 June 2007. For details, check the conference Web site at http://www.sla.org.

**First International PKP Scholarly Publishing Conference**

The Public Knowledge Project (PKP) is pleased to announce that the first international PKP conference will be held 11-13 July 2007 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The conference will promote and celebrate the quality use of the PKP open source software suite: Open Journal Systems (OJS), Open Conference Systems (OCS), and the Open Archives Harvester. For details, check the conference Web site at http://pkp.sfu.ca/.
# Professional development

## FIS Professional Learning Centre – The information professional as educator

This 7-week, Web-based course, scheduled for 26 March – 7 May 2007, will assist participants in assessing the learning needs of their organizations and show how to design an effective training program, whether it be based on a delivery method that is face-to-face, e-learning, or blended learning. For details see http://plc.fis.utoronto.ca/coursedescription.asp?courseid=34.

## FIS Professional Learning Centre – Information architecture

This course, scheduled for 21 April – 30 May 2007, is designed to give a thorough overview of current information architecture methodologies and content management practices. Students will be encouraged to take a hands-on approach and redesign Web sites of their own choosing. For details see http://plc.fis.utoronto.ca/coursedescription.asp?courseid=87.

## Health Science Information Consortium of Toronto – Consortium Professional Practice Day

The Professional Practice Subcommittee of the Health Science Information Consortium of Toronto will be holding a professional practice day on 21 June 2007. Join colleagues for a day devoted to sharing your library's marketing resources and lessons learned at the year's conferences such as CHLA, MLA and SLA. For details see http://www.library.utoronto.ca/hsict/continuing-education.htm.