Entries for September 2006

September 29, 2006

New Collection at KSL

A new partnership for Case brings together the Cleveland Public Library (CPL) and the Kelvin Smith Library for a new satellite CPL collection on campus. CPL@Case-KSL is a new browsing collection that brings bestsellers, audio books, popular magazines, and more to campus for Case faculty, staff, and students. The new collection also has a CPL self-checkout machine for patrons to use their CPL Greater Access library card to check out the materials. KSL staff can issue a new CPL library card to Case individuals, and they also will checkout the CPL items on a live link to the CPL system. For more details, refer to the CPL@CASE-KSL web page.

September 28, 2006

New Case Publication: Staggered Passive Micromixers with Fractal Surface Patterning

Staggered Passive Micromixers with Fractal Surface Patterning
Marco Camesasca, Miron Kaufman, and Ica Manas-Zloczower
Department of Macromolecular Science, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio 44106
Physics Department, Cleveland State University, Cleveland, Ohio 44115

Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering
Vol: 16, Issue: 11, November 2006, pp. 2298-2311

Abstract

We present a procedure for inducing chaotic mixing based on a non-periodic patterning of the walls making use of the Weierstrass fractal function to generate the locations for the grooves. We show the numerical analysis of flow in three different geometries generated with the Weierstrass function and compare the results with a fourth geometry, quite similar to the staggered herringbone mixer (SHM) of Stroock et al (2002 Science 295 647), for which the patterning is periodic. We evaluate the Lyapunov exponents for massless and non-interacting particles advected by the flow and traced along the channels. We also compute the entropy of mixing for binary mixtures. Finally, we compute generalized (fractal) dimensions associated with the interface of the two fluids. The results show consistently substantial enhancement in mixing efficiency for two of the Weierstrass channels compared to the SHM.

Availability for Case Faculty, Staff, & Students:

• Directly from Publisher
• OhioLINK Electronic Journal Center

September 27, 2006

CaseLearns Workshop - Understanding RSS Feeds

CaseLearns Workshop - Understanding RSS Feeds
September 28, 2006, 11:30am-12:30pm
Kelvin Smith Library (KSL) 215
Registration required at: http://library.case.edu/caselearns/

Learn about RSS and how it has changed the information world. We will explore what options are available to access RSS feeds (readers or aggregators), how KSL and CASE are using RSS feeds, and look at various RSS feeds and other resources available for free on the Internet or within our Library databases.

This course is NOT technical in nature, and will not explore the creation of RSS feeds or blogs. Blogs are not covered by this session, since they are not the same as RSS feeds, as some people mistakenly think. If you can surf the Internet, you are prepared to participate in the class and utilize RSS feeds in your daily life.

If you use RSS already, please share this with your colleagues that do not enjoy the benefits of RSS delivery of information.

Contact me if you have questions:
Brian C. Gray, MLIS
Librarian - Engineering, Math, & Statistics
Email: brian.c.gray@case.edu
Blog: http://blog.case.edu/bcg8/
Engineering Reading Room: http://library.case.edu/ksl/engineering/

Phone: (216) 368-8685

BMC - Summary of Biomedical Funding Agency Policies on Open Access

BioMed Central has compiled a summary of the open access policies of different biomedical funders, linking to official policy statements from those funders where available.

September 26, 2006

CALL FOR PAPERS - Advanced Mining & Use of Life Science Information

CALL FOR PAPERS - Advanced mining and use of life science information, ACS Chicago, March 2007

You are invited to submit abstracts for a session entitled "Advanced mining and use of life science information" in the division of Chemical Information (CINF), co-sponsored with the CSA Trust, at the 233rd American Chemical Society meeting in Chicago, March 25-29, 2007

We are particularly interested in papers that address the mining of large volumes and diverse sources of chemical and life science information to aid in decision making in the drug discovery process. Potential topics include (but are not limited to):

• Development or application of data mining techniques
• Knowledge discovery on large chemical databases such as PubChem
• Integrating textual and structural information
• Design of interfaces and interaction tools for complex, diverse kinds of information
• Database querying tools and interfaces

The presentation should last about 30 minutes, including time for questions. To submit an abstract, go to http://oasys.acs.org/acs/233nm/cinf/papers/index.cgi and select the "Advanced mining and use of life science information" session. Abstracts should be submitted no later than November 17th, 2006.

If you have questions, please feel free to contact David Wild at djwild @ indiana.edu. You can find out more information about the CSA Trust at http://www.csa-trust.org/.

David Wild
Session organizer

___________________________________________

Dr. David J. Wild, djwild @ indiana.edu
Assistant Professor

Indiana University School of Informatics

ph (812) 856-1848 - fax (812) 856-1995

1900 E. 10th St. Rm. 1128, Bloomington, IN 47406

web http://www.informatics.indiana.edu/djwild

Chemistry Central Journal - New Open Access, Peer-Reviewed, Online Journal

Chemistry Central Journal (ISSN 1752-153X) is an open access, peer-reviewed, online journal recently launched by Chemistry Central. Chemistry Central, developed by the same team who created BioMed Central, the leading biomedical open access publisher, is committed to ensuring peer-reviewed chemical research is immediately and permanently available online without charge or any other barriers to access.

Chemistry Central Journal encompasses all aspects of research in chemistry, broken down into discipline-specific sections.

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Chemistry Central is a new service publishing peer-reviewed open access research in chemistry from BioMed Central, the leading biomedical open access publisher. The Chemistry Central website currently features chemistry-related articles published in BioMed Central journals and independent journals utilizing BioMed Central's open access publishing services. Chemistry Central is planning to launch further chemistry-specific journals in the near future.

September 25, 2006

Blog Rebirth - On a Personal Level

I have not posted in a couple months following the end of the ALA Library 2.0 collaboration, but my Web 2.0 experiences have not ended though. I have volunteered to be the Library Administration & Management Association (ALA LAMA) web coordinator and am working closely with Lorraine Olley, Executive Director of LAMA and another ALA Library 2.0 participant, to bring Web 2.0 concepts and tools to LAMA's membership. Expect some announcements in the very near future, especially as we celebrate LAMA's 50th anniversary.

The Northern Ohio Chapter of the American Society for Information Science and Technology has asked me to present at their October meeting about Web 2.0/Library 2.0. Details to follow.

I am also working on a workshop for the Kent State University of School of Library and Information Science on Web 2.0 in libraries. The 2-day workshop will focus on what libraries are already doing and what our users are doing that we should be aware of. More details will be offered soon, as I am trying to get the information submitted to be on the Spring workshop schedule.

I plan to use this blog to continue my exploration into Web 2.0 and libraries.

ICIS Chemical Business Americas - Update

I am glad to see Randy Reichardt at the University of Alberta got a little further with a response towards why the publication (Chemical Market Reporter) was drastically changed with no feedback or warning to academia. I only received a standard response from several people at ICIS that basically already told me the obvious - "we are only covering about 100 prices and focusing more on news". I made it clear to ICIS that the strength, and what made them unique to academic libraries, was that they covered such a large amount of chemical prices. The current price coverage was much weaker than they were promoting and probably of minimal value for engineering students. Chemical industry news had many publications and organizations that focused in this realm and they were leaving a niche market (chemical prices) that academia relied heavily on CMR for.

Randy Reichardt received another response from Penny Wilson, ICIS Global Editorial Director, that reaffirmed a commitment to students. I hope this statement is not just an attempt to keep current subscribers. Their past efforts have not shown that students were considered much in their decisions, or they did not truely understand their subscibers or future subscriber needs. I am hoping it is the later, and they just did not understand how much academia needed chemical prices before they dropped the prices from the print CMR, rigged together a clunky online access with no IP recognition, and finally slashed hundreds of prices from their inventory.

The Art of Engineering

National Science Foundation (NSF) Press Release 06-127
The Art of Engineering
September 11, 2006

On a college campus, it would be difficult to find two subjects more different from each other than art and engineering.Yet on the campus of the University of South Florida, one engineering professor responsible for teaching classes about differential equations and electromagnetism has created a popular course that merges his research world with the world of fine art.

More EPA Libraries Close

Earlier I shared that EPA Libraries were suffering severe budget cuts and that the EPA workforce was protesting such closings.

American Libraries Online (September 15, 2006) has summarized the closings and other cuts through August and September. These cuts may be devastating to government-sponsored environmental research and protection.

September 24, 2006

New Executive Director for Education - Macromolecular Science & Engineering

LaRuth McAfee has joined the university community as the executive director for education in the macromolecular science and engineering department.

[VIA: Case Daily, September 22, 2006]

September 23, 2006

Case in the Top 100 in Biotechnology Research

A study released Wednesday by the Milken Institute, a nonprofit, independent economic think tank in Santa Monica, Calif., places Case in the top 100 of U.S. universities in biotechnology research and turning that research into commercial applications. As for Ohio universities specifically, Ohio State University ranked the highest, at 50th, followed by University of Cincinnati, 60th; University of Akron, 65th; and Case, 68th.

[VIA: Case Daily, September 21, 2006]

September 18, 2006

USPTO Bans Wikipedia

Business Week (9/4/2006 Issue 3999, p12) has reported that the United States Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) will no longer accept Wikipedia entries as "accepted sources of information". I am wondering why the practice was allowed in the first place.

The Patent Librarian conducted his own analysis to see how much the practice was utilized.

[VIA: The Patent Librarian's Notebook, September 10, 2006]

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The Case community can find various sources of the Business Week article from the E-Journal Portal.

September 15, 2006

Ohio Science and Engineering Alliance (OSEA) Academic Year Research Internship

Case students, SOURCE encourages underrepresented minority students in the STEM (sciences, technology, engineering, math) fields to apply for an Ohio Science and Engineering Alliance (OSEA) Academic Year Research Internship. Please complete an application before September 25 on the OSEA Web site. Contact sheila.pedigo@case.edu (Nord Hall, 304D) for questions and to pick up a supplemental Case application for the OSEA program.

[VIA: Case Daily, September 14, 2006]

September 14, 2006

Knovel: Take the University Challenge! - Win an iPod

Case students are eligible for this opportunity!

This contest is open to current students in all schools with trials and subscriptions to the Knovel Service. One entry per person. The contest starts 9/13/06. You have until (midnight) Monday, November 13 to submit your answers and contact information (full name, school, mailing address, email address, and time to complete) via the link at www.info.knovel.com/ipod.

All entries with a total of 5 correct answers will be placed into a random drawing for one of (6) 30G Video iPods and (8) iPod Shuffles and (1) $500 Visa Cash Card. The drawing will take place on November 10, 2006. The Prizes will be awarded to entrants in the US, Canada, Asia, Eastern Europe,Western Europe and all other regions. All winners must present correct answers to all 5 quiz questions. The winners will be contacted by Knovel Corporation.

The correct answers and winners of the contest will also be announced and featured in K-News on www.knovel.com. All entries become Knovel Corporation’s property and will not be returned. Each participant consents to the use of his or her name and picture on the Knovel Web site for informational and/or promotional purposes, without compensation.

September 13, 2006

Connecticut Legislators Are Fighting Back Against Textbook Publishers

This comes at no shock to anyone that has ever bought a textbook:

Government analysts say the price of textbooks has risen at twice the annual inflation rate since 1986.

Boston.com News has reported that Connecticut legislators are trying to fight back against textbook prices.

Legislators are considering legislation that will require publishers to inform professors of all books available on a particular subject, how long they will remain on the market and the wholesale price they charge to bookstores. It would also allow Connecticut students to purchase their books the first week, even if financial aid has not been finalized.

September 12, 2006

ICIS Chemical Business Americas - More News

Seems like ICIS Chemical Business Americas (Chemical Market Reporter) may be writing its own ending in academic libraries. Randy Reichardt has discovered that up to 75-80% of the prices that were historically tracked have been removed from the online price index.

I looked today (September 12, 2006) at the price index. Only 86 prices were listed for 51 unique compounds. Last year when we spent the EXTRA money over 500 entries were included. In addition, many of the items that are included rarely come up in a chemical engineering design project at my institution. For example, I have never helped a student look up the following items nor did I need them a couple of years ago when I worked on my own chemical engineering design projects: coconut oil (2 entries), clover leaf oil, cotton oil (2 entries), canola meal, fish oil (4 entries), etc.

I will be updating my chemical engineering research guide to include other alternative resources and tricks for students to find chemical prices, as the value of this resource may no longer be a luxury academic libraries can afford.

Timeline of events:

• Chemical prices are removed from print edition
  
• Case spends the money to add online prices with an initial price of $415 for over 500 chemicals
  
• Announced name change
  
• Entry about poorly timed updated
  
• Today less than 100 entries exist

Microsoft Helps Design High School of the Future

On September 7, 2006, CNN.com reported on the Microsoft designed high school. Philadelphia asked Microsoft for their expertise in designing a school that increased competitiveness of its graduates.

Beyond the obvious technology upgrades, such as smart boards for teachers, laptops for students, and smart cards for attendance and locker access, new philosophies or policies were implemented to mirror a typical work day. School runs from 9:15am-4:19pm. Students and teachers schedule appointments on online calendars. Skills such as organizing, planning, and negotiating will be taught. Software on the laptops will constantly measure student comprehension, thus allowing for further remedial help or extra content.

No traditional library exists, but instead a "interactive learning center" with digital resources staffed by a "multimedia specialist" supports student needs.

Are we seeing the next wave of changes in our education system?

4th Annual Inventor's Forum Speaker Series at Case

Case's Technology Transfer Office will present the first installment of the fourth annual Inventor's Forum speaker series. This year's series will kickoff at 4 p.m. Thursday, September 14, in the Wolstein Auditorium in the Wolstein Research Building. The topic will be "Technology Transfer 101." Speakers are Michael Haag, director of biomedical licensing, and Mark Smith, professor of pathology. For additional information or to RSVP, call 368-6104 or go to the Inventor's Forum Web site at http://ora.ra.cwru.edu/techtransfer/pages/forum.htm.

September 11, 2006

CMR Now Called ICIS Chemical Business Americas

UPDATE to my earlier posting and formal annoucement from publisher:

CMR is now ICIS Chemical Business Americas. As of the 4th September CMR has been reborn as ICIS Chemical Business Americas. As part of ICIS, we aim to leverage our strengths and reflect this in our branding. With our global and extensive resources from around the world we can present our readers with the most comprehensive publication in the sector.

ICIS Chemical Business Americas will continue to provide our readers with all the content that they have grown to rely upon at CMR, from news of the week to expert coverage of key markets. And we are sure our readers we love our new fresh design and our regular new sections.

The Case Community can continue to gain access from the Library Catalog under "Chemical Market Reporter", until the name and links have all been changed.

Chemical Market Reporter Publisher Again Shows No Respect for Academia

As you may recall previously, I worked with the publisher of Chemical Market Reporter to establish electronic access for the Case community. This came after many librarians expressed great concern to the publisher for not considering the needs of their users.

CMR was one of the few resources available for students to establish chemical prices for their many projects. The publisher switched to online-only without asking academic users what they needed the most. They tried to make things better by offering an online subscription, but many libraries were still left in the dark as they required a single password login and wanted more money. This publisher forgot that the future purchasers of CMR would be the very students they were ignoring now.

ICIS has again decided to ignore academic subscribers. They are changing CMR to another publication, but shut down operations right when many academic librarians were directing students to this resource. A "coming soon" message does not help students complete their assignments.

September 10, 2006

Technology and Engineering Career Fair in Cleveland

Meet with local, regional and national hi-tech companies that are looking for candidates with hi-tech and engineering backgrounds.

Mark your calendars for the upcoming Technology & Engineering Career Fair sponsored by the Cleveland Engineering Society, DICE.com job board, and NEOSA!

October 31, 2006
11:00 AM - 3:00 PM
Holiday Inn Cleveland-Independence
6001 Rockside Rd.
Independence, OH 44131
More information and registration online.

September 09, 2006

Nanopolymers 2007 - First International Conference

Nanopolymers 2007 - First International Conference
12th–13th June 2007, Germany

Rapra Technology is pleased to announce the first international Nanopolymers Conference, to be held in Germany, from 12th–13th June 2007. Nanotechnology is already making a major impact on new product introductions throughout the world, in many industry sectors. Many of these new products are based on the material property changes that may be achieved by incorporation of ingredients, at the nanoscale, into polymeric systems.

Although nanoparticulate carbon black has been used in car tyres for decades, it is only recently that other nanoparticulate ingredients have been dispersed in plastics to provide exciting new materials that are lighter weight and as strong as metals. The automotive industry has championed the use of nanocomposites, exploiting other properties, such as smoother surfaces, easier processing and even cheaper materials, which can be gained as well as providing lighter weight products. In addition, nanoscale ingredients are being added to polymeric thin films, thereby providing properties such as anti-scratch, anti-microbial and anti-reflective surfaces. It is also possible to obtain special visual effects through nano-coatings. The textiles industry and the sporting goods industry are also introducing nanotechnology based products, and it is estimated that there are now over 700 nano-based products on the market.

The main ‘nano’ ingredients being dispersed in polymeric systems are especially organoclays, nanoparticulate inorganics, and carbon nanotubes.

This conference provides an opportunity and a platform to present your research, product or process developments in this area to an influential and informed audience.

Presenting authors at Nanopolymers 2007 will be entitled to free registration on both days of the conference including meals, refreshments and a copy of the proceedings.

Papers are now being invited for submission on any of the following areas:

• Aspects and impact of nanopolymers on specific industry sectors (automotive, aerospace, marine, energy, healthcare, packaging, leisure, etc.)
• Production challenges to incorporation and use of nanoclays, nanoparticles, carbon nanotubes, or fullerenes in composites and thin film coatings
• Property improvements achievable with nano-scale ingredients such as lighter weight, improved barrier properties, scratch resistance, anti-microbial, anti-reflective, conducting properties
• Characterisation aspects of incorporating nano-scale ingredients into nanopolymers
• Market data on growth of nanopolymers
• New research and development in the field of nanopolymers

If you are interested in presenting a paper at this event, please send a title, short summary, speaker name(s) and company name(s) to Alix Yates email ayates@rapra.net or Fax +44(0)1939-252416 by the deadline of 22nd December 2006.

Register before 12 April 2007 to take advantage of the special Early Bird Discount registration fee.

September 08, 2006

Movable Type Owner Acquires Rojo Networks

September 9, 2006 - Six Apart the company that developed and supports Movable Type, which is Case's blogging platform, has announced they have acquired Rojo Networks. Rojo runs a web-based RSS feed reader. Maybe Case will end up with a recommended feed reader as a companion to the blog system?

See the full Six Apart - Press.

OAIster - Digital Collections from Hundreds of Institutions

OAIster is a project of the University of Michigan Digital Library Production Service. Their goal is to create a collection of previously difficult-to-access, academically-oriented digital resources that are easily searchable by anyone.

As of September 2, 2006, OAIster contained 8,995,140 records from 670 institutions. Users can search these records by keyword, title, author, subject, or language, while limiting by media type. Users can also browse by institution.

September 07, 2006

Materials, Medicine, and Nanotechnology Summit in Cleveland

Innovators in medical devices, clinical practice, and biomedical research will gather at Cleveland Clinic Oct. 2-5 to discuss the latest materials advances and nanotechnology discoveries and how they are resulting in new medical applications.

The Materials, Medicine, and Nanotechnology Summit will be hosted by Cleveland Clinic, ASM International, and the Nano-Network as the anchor event of Nano-Week™ 2006, a five-day exploration of how nanotechnology is changing our world. The Summit is comprised of the biennial Cleveland Clinic NanoMedicine Summit and ASM's Materials & Processes for Medical Devices (MPMD) Conference and Exposition.

Advance registration closes September 24.

September 06, 2006

More Open Access Books from Caltech

Caltech has offered more open access books since my initial post. Thanks to Dana Roth (Caltech, Chemistry Librarian) for the update.

Caltech has started a depository of open access books by Caltech authors. Subjects include chemistry, economics, geological & planetary sciences, mathematics, and mechanical engineering. The books range from 1959 to 2005.

New chemistry books include:

• Carl J. Ballhausen and Harry B. Gray, Molecular orbital theory: an introductory lecture note and reprint volume, 1965
• Roberts, John D. and Stewart, Ross and Caserio, Marjorie C., Organic chemistry: methane to macromolecules, 1971

CASE's Abramson Joins NorTech Fellows Program

CLEVELAND, Aug. 30 /PRNewswire/ -- NorTech, Northeast Ohio's technology- based economic development leader, announced today that Alexis R. Abramson, Ph.D., an assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at Case Western Reserve University and a nationally-known leader in nanotechnology research, will join the NorTech Fellows Program effective September 1. Read full press release.

Read NorTech's original press release.

September 05, 2006

Center for Statistics and Geospatial Data Offers Training

The Center for Statistics and Geospatial Data (CSGD) coordinates training for various GIS and statistical software used on campus.

Free on-campus training classes available Fall 2006 through CaseLearns:

• Introduction to SPSS - Thursday, October 26th 1:00-4:00PM

For full course descriptions or to register, go to the CaseLearns website.

NEW!!
The Kelvin Smith Library is now offering a certificate course in using ArcGIS 9 software. This ESRI certified training course covers fundamental GIS concepts including how to query a database, manipulate tabular data, edit spatial and attribute data, and present data clearly and effectively using maps and charts.

• Introduction to ArcGIS I
• Fridays, September 29th, October 6th, 13th, & 20th 1:00-5:00PM
• Note - registration deadline is September 12th

More course information available at the CSGD On Campus Training website.

Library of Congress - Call for Feedback

The Library of Congress wants to gain a better understanding of who its patrons are, what services they use, and the quality and value of those services. If you are a user of the Library of Congress, either on site or via the Web, we invite you to take a few minutes to give us your feedback using the online survey at:

http://osincsurvey.com/run/osl03loc

This user survey is being conducted by Outsell, Inc. on behalf of the Library. All responses will be kept confidential. Only grouped data will be reported; your responses will not be singled out in the analysis. Thank you very much for using the Library of Congress. We apologize for multiple postings.

Patent Granted to Blackboard Will Face Challenges

Blackboard Inc. has been awarded a patent making claims that it created some of the basic features of the software that powers online education. Others argue that the patent covers principles that were obvious to everyone. Will virtual education or Blackboard be rattled by this development?

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United States Patent: 6,988,138 (PDF Download)
January 17, 2006
Internet-based Education Support System and Methods

Abstract:
A system and methods for implementing education online by providing institutions with the means for allowing the creation of courses to be taken by students online, the courses including assignments, announcements, course materials, chat and whiteboard facilities, and the like, all of which are available to the students over a network such as the Internet. Various levels of functionality are provided through a three-tiered licensing program that suits the needs of the institution offering the program. In addition, an open platform system is provided such that anyone with access to the Internet can create, manage, and offer a course to anyone else with access to the Internet without the need for an affiliation with an institution, thus enabling the virtual classroom to extend worldwide.

Inventors:
Alcorn; Robert L. (Arlington, VA), Cane; Daniel E. (Washington, DC), Chasen; Michael L. (Washington, DC), Chi; Timothy R. (Fairfax, VA), Gilfus; Stephen R. (Woodbridge, VA), Perian; Scott (Washington, DC), Pittinsky; Matthew L. (Washington, DC)

Assignee: Blackboard Inc. (Washington, DC)

Appl. No.: 09/608,208

Filed: June 30, 2000

September 04, 2006

SOURCE Seminar for Students

Sheila Pedigo, director of the Support of Undergraduate Research & Creative Endeavors (SOURCE), is presenting a student seminar, "Finding Research & Creative Endeavor Opportunities in the STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) fields and Social Sciences." Join her at 5:30 p.m. on September 6 in Nord Hall, Room 304 conference room. Please RSVP via e-mail to source@case.edu.

[VIA: Case Daily - September 01, 2006]

September 03, 2006

Grant Money Reinstated for Evolutionary Biology

WASHINGTON, Aug. 31 (UPI) -- The U.S. Department of Education has reinstated evolutionary biology to a federal grant list for undergraduate studies.

"There are well-funded efforts in this country that have been inappropriately attempting to attack the teaching of evolutionary biology on what appear to be religious grounds," physicist Lawrence Krauss of Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland wrote to the Department of Education.

[VIA: Case Daily - September 01, 2006]