Science Library Blog
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April 27, 2005
Engineering Village2 Trials
The Libraries are conducting trials of several products on Engineering Village2. The trials will last for 30 days. Please contact Alesia McManus (amcmanus@binghamton.edu), Head of the Science Library, for additional information on the trials.
EI Backfile: The Engineering Index Backfile covers information from the printed Engineering Index (1884-1968).
INSPEC: Inspec provides access to scientific literature in electrical engineering, electronics, physics, control engineering, information technology, communications, computers, computing, and manufacturing and production engineering. Online coverage is from 1969 to the present.
Inspec Archive: The Inspec Archive provides access to historical scientific records in the fields of physics, electrical engineering, electronics computing and control engineering. Access to over 873,000 abstract records spanning the years 1898 through 1968.
Referex Engineering (eBooks) : Referex Engineering provides access to engineering reference titles in eBook format. Collections within engineering include the following topic areas: Materials and Mechanical, Electronics and Electrical, and Chemical, Petrochemical and Process. Over 300 titles are currently available.
NTIS : The National Technical Information Service (NTIS) database from the U.S. Department of Commerce is the premier source for accessing unclassified reports from influential U.S. and international government agencies.
Posted by erushton at 11:02 AM
Experimental power cable
From Wired News
NASA Funds 'Miracle Polymer'
The space agency is spending $11 million on one meter of power cable. But this ain't your ordinary electrical cord. By Amit Asaravala.
Posted by amcmanus at 08:30 AM
April 26, 2005
New IEEE Transactions
IEEE Transactions on Industrial Informatics Fulltext v1+ (2005+)
http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/servlet/opac?punumber=3D9424
ISSN: 1551-3203
Posted by amcmanus at 02:40 PM
April 25, 2005
Structure Searching available at the Journal of Heterocyclic Chemistry website
The Journal of Heterocyclic Chemistry is the first chemical journal to be fully structure searchable from its website.
All articles from 1964 to 2001 are now available through the website of the Journal of Heterocyclic Chemistry.
All articles can be searched by (sub)structure, author, key word and molecular formula.
The database, which contains more than 100,000 structures, can be searched via the Internet on exact structures or substructure.
Posted by ebrown at 02:53 PM
New Open Access Journals from BioMed Central
BioMed Central, the independent publishing house that provides free access to peer-reviewed biomedical research, has recently launched the following new Open Access journals:
Globalization and Health
From BioMed Central: Globalization and Health is an Open Access, peer-reviewed, online journal that provides a platform for research, knowledge sharing and debate on the topic of globalization and its effects on health, both positive and negative.
Behavioral and Brain Functions
From BioMed Central: Behavioral and Brain Functions is an Open Access, peer-reviewed, online journal that encompasses all aspects of neurobiology where the unifying theme is behavior or behavioral dysfunction.
Behavioral and Brain Functions is aimed at the scientific community interested in behavioral and cognitive neuroscience, investigating the psychological, computational, and neuroscientific bases of normal and abnormal behavior including the mind. The interdisciplinary nature of the field covers developments in human and animal behavioral science, neuroscience, neuropsychology, cognitive psychology, neurobiology, linguistics, computer science, and philosophy.
Posted by erushton at 09:54 AM
April 22, 2005
New Science Library Books
Looking for something interesting to read at the Science Library? Here are just a few examples of some books recently purchased.
On the Shores of the Unknown: A Short History of the Universe
Joseph Silk
Cambridge University Press 2005
Science Library Stacks QB981 .S5535 2005 -- REGULAR LOAN
From publisher: In this fascinating book, astronomer Joseph Silk explores the Universe from its beginnings to its ultimate fate. He shows how cosmologists study cosmic fossils and relics from the distant past to construct theories of the birth, evolution and future of the Universe. Stars, galaxies, dark matter and dark energy are described, as successive chapters detail the evolution of the Universe from a fraction of a microsecond after the Big Bang.
The Challenger Launch Decision: Risky Technology, Culture, and Deviance at NASA
Diane Vaughan
The University of Chicago Press
Science Library Stacks -- TL867 .C467 1996 -- REGULAR LOAN
From publisher: When the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded on January 28, 1986, millions of Americans became bound together in a single, historic moment. Many still vividly remember exactly where they were and what they were doing when they heard about the tragedy. In The Challenger Launch Decision, Diane Vaughan recreates the steps leading up to that fateful decision, contradicting conventional interpretations to prove that what occurred at NASA was not skulduggery or misconduct but a disastrous mistake.
Fear: A Cultural History
Joanna Bourke
Virago Press
Science Library Stacks BF575.F2 B687 2005 -- REGULAR LOAN
From publisher: Fear is one of the most basic and most powerful of all the human emotions. Sometimes it is hauntingly specific: flames searing patterns on the ceiling, a hydrogen bomb, a terrorist. More often, anxiety overwhelms us from some source within: there is an irrational panic about venturing outside, a dread of failure, a premonition of doom. In this astonishing book we encounter the fears and anxieties of hundreds of British and American men, women and children. From fear of the crowd to agoraphobia, from battle experiences to fear of nuclear attack, from cancer to AIDS, this is an utterly original insight into the mindset of the twentieth century from one of most brilliant historians and thinkers of our time.
Posted by erushton at 12:34 PM
New Open Access Journal on Sustainability
From website: Sustainability: Science, Practice, & Policy is a new peer-reviewed, open access journal that provides a platform for the dissemination of new practices and for dialogue emerging out of the field of sustainability.
Read E.O. Wilson's editorial here
Posted by erushton at 11:33 AM
April 18, 2005
Molecular Systems Biology
Nature Publishing Group(NPG) and the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) have recently announced the launch of the online-only journal, Molecular Systems Biology. Access to the primary research is free of charge. Publication is supported in part by an author charge.
The journal covers all aspects of systems biology and hopes to attract quality research in the evolving areas of genomics, proteomics, metabolomics, bioinformatics, microbial systems, and the integration of cell signaling and regulatory networks.
Posted by erushton at 01:25 PM
LibraryLinks Newsletter Now Available Online
The Spring issue of LibraryLinks is now available in PDF and HTML formats. Read about our Information Commons prototype, RLG membership, new technology in the Libraries and more.
Posted by erushton at 10:48 AM
April 12, 2005
PLoS Community Journals
In the April 2005 issue of PLoS Biology, the Public Library of Science announced that they would be launching PLoS community journals. According to the editorial, "each PLoS community journal will cover a broad field of research - so the journals serve specific scientific communities. The journals are also run by the community—academic editors-in-chief and associate editors, supported by PLoS staff."
Read more here
Posted by erushton at 02:09 PM
PNAS experimenting with Open Access
PNAS and Open Access
By Nicholas R. Cozzarelli
As I announced in a recent Editorial, the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA (PNAS) has begun an Open Access (OA) option, whereby authors may pay a surcharge of US$1,000 to make their paper freely available on the PNAS and PubMed Central (PMC) websites immediately upon publication. The experiment will run until 31 December 2005. The PNAS will then consider ways to make the journal entirely OA, maintain the option in the same or modified form, or discontinue the option.
From Nature Web Focus: Access to the Literature: The Debate Continues
Posted by amcmanus at 10:14 AM
April 11, 2005
New Science Library Books
Looking for something interesting to read at the Science Library? Here are just a few examples of some books recently purchased.
Faraday: The Life
James Hamilton
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd 2005
Science Library Stacks QC16.F2 H36 2003 -- REGULAR LOAN
From publisher: Faraday’s life was truly inspirational. Son of a Yorkshire blacksmith who moved to London in 1789, he was a self-made, self-educated man whose public life was underpinned by his devotion to a minor Christian sect (the Sandemanians) and to his wife. He was also a fine writer and brilliant lecturer.
This book is a passionate exploration of his life, work and times (he was a pioneering scientific all-rounder who also experimented with electromagnetism, techniques for preserving meat and fish, optical glass, the safety lamp, and the identification of iodine as a new element).
The Architecture and Design of Man and Woman
Alexander Tsiaras and Barry Werth
Doubleday
Science Library Stacks QM25 .T748 2004 -- REGULAR LOAN
From publisher: The Architecture and Design of Man and Woman is a milestone in science, art, and technology. As Werth writes in the Introduction, “For the first time we see the body not like something, or represented by human hands, or as a grainy negative or video, but very nearly as it is.”
The Red Ape: Orangutans and Human Origins, Revised and Updated
Jeffrey Schwartz
Published by Basic Books
Science Library Stacks GN281 .S33 2005 -- REGULAR LOAN
From publisher: We've all heard that chimpanzees are our closest relatives - that, in fact, they share 98% of their genes with us. But what evidence supports these often-repeated commonplaces? Very little, concludes physical anthropologist Jeffrey Schwartz. In his keenly insightful demolition of conventional wisdom on the family relationships between apes and humans, Schwartz provides a fresh examination of fossil evidence, modern anatomy and physiology, and DNA. He argues that it is not chimpanzees or other African apes that are humankind's closest cousins, but Asian orangutans. The result is a compelling challenge to what we think we know about the origins of humans, and about the pursuit of science. In this thoroughly revised edition of The Red Ape, Schwartz analyzes the myriad fossil discoveries made since the publication of the first edition. He reveals the embarrassing fact that orangutan and human teeth are so similar that they have commonly been misidentified for each other in the fossil record, even by experts. New material provocatively addresses whether molecules (DNA) are more reliable than fossils and anatomy in assessing evolutionary relationships. Numerous new plates and drawings illustrate the text.
Posted by erushton at 12:45 PM
April 07, 2005
Satellite and Aerial Images on Google Maps and Google Local
Google Maps and Google Local now provide satellite and and aerial images of locations.
These interactive satellite views allow you to explore locations by zooming in, zooming out, or panning in any direction . Google claims, "it's just really cool".
To access this view, click "Satellite" at the top right corner of the Google Maps page. Your locations will appear as aerial images until you click “Maps” to toggle the view back.
Two disclaimers from Google:
1. Image resolution varies by distance. At the lowest resolution/farthest distance, you can identify large landmarks like mountains and lakes. At the highest resolution/closest distance, you can locate specific cars and buildings.
2. Satellite images are current, but not real-time.
Posted by erushton at 12:52 PM
April 05, 2005
Free Access Articles from APS Journals
The American Phytopathological Society (APS) is making research published in Phytopathology, Plant Disease, and Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions (MPMI) freely accessible after 24 months of subscriber-only access. For each journal, a two-year-old issue gains free-access status when the current month’s issue is published on the web.
Read more here...
Posted by erushton at 04:29 PM