UCSF Library News
News Archive
UCSF Library News
RAND California: Statistical Information for the Golden State
California is the most populous state in America and one of the most diverse societies on the globe. For the health policy researcher, this means that California generates a trove of statistics that can be plumbed in order to develop and answer research questions.
Produced by the influential RAND Corporation, RAND California provides access to almost 150 statistical databases. These databases are updated at varying intervals and contain information from employment data to “quality of life” measures to government expenditures at the local, state, and federal level in California. Anyone in need of statistical information about the Golden State should visit RAND California before going anywhere else.
Photo by ElektraCute, available under a Creative Commons Attribution license.
Enhanced eScholarship: Open Access Publishing for UC
UCSF researchers looking to start a new journal should look no further than the University of California’s new and improved eScholarship. Designed to maximize access for readers and to increase citations for authors, eScholarship is entirely free. Authors maintain their copyright, and can freely distribute work in eScholarship as much as they would like. As Dr. Keith Yamamoto of UCSF says, “eScholarship can be seen as a call to action, challenging scholars to use its services to regain control over the distribution of their work.”
For more information about eScholarship, check out the 1 minute video on the eScholarship home page.
PubMed Has a New Look
PubMed has recently redesigned its interface. The functionalities are the same, but the layout is very different:
New Methods for Analyzing Citation Data
On November 9, simulcast to the Rock Hall Auditorium from 12-1:30 pm, Peter Binfield of the Public Library of Science will give a lecture about “article-level metrics.”
It is now possible to measure the worth of an individual article via "article-level metrics" (metrics which include citations, usage, bookmarks, blog coverage, and post publication commentary for a single article). At this time the Public Library of Science (PLoS) leads the world in providing the data to allow this analysis. The ubiquitous “impact factor” for a journal only works at the journal level, and does not measure the impact of an individual article.
In this lecture sponsored by the UCSF and UC Berkeley libraries, Dr. Binfield will discuss Article Level Metrics: What They Are and Why You Should Care.
Photo by dullhunk, available under a Creative Commons Attribution license.
Research Software: Fast, Cheap, and Easy
The Library's Research Software Licensing will simplify your purchase of annual research software. We offer discount licenses for SAS, PASW (formerly SPSS), JMP, NVivo, and SUDAAN. Our services are:
Fast:
- Electronic software delivery
Cheap:
- Significant cost savings through the Library
- Flat fee
Easy:
- Online order form
- Payment by recharge
- We manage license purchasing
- Annual licenses provide upgrades at no additional cost
Place an order or find out more about Research Software Licensing (RSL).
Image created in Wordle.
UCSF Library Marks First Annual Open Access Week
Building on the success of past Open Access Days, 2009 features the first ever Open Access Week from October 19-23, to highlight the benefits of removing barriers to scholarly research.
October 19, 2009 also marks the fifth birthday for Public Library of Science (PloS) Medicine, one of the world’s premiere open access journals. Open access journals are peer reviewed, and available online at no cost to anyone. Open access offers one alternative to traditional subscription-based journals, which become harder for libraries to afford with every passing year. This is especially true during this year's UC budget crisis.
At UCSF we'll have information tables over lunch hour in Saunders Court on October 20, and at Genentech Hall on October 22. So stop by, grab a cookie, take a flyer, and talk about how to change scholarly publishing.
Ingenuity Pathways Analysis: Funding Partners Needed
The Library has extended the trial period for access to Ingenuity Pathways Analysis (IPA) until June 2010.
IPA is a software application that allows researchers to compare pathways for common or unique biological molecules and to identify potential biomarkers. Users have been enthusiastic about how IPA can help facilitate their research.
The Library is seeking additional funding partners in order to continue to finance access to IPA. Please contact Collections for more information. Funding partners currently include the UCSF Library, the Ernest Gallo Clinic & Research Center, and the David Erle Lab.
Access is limited to two concurrent users through December 2009, and one concurrent user beginning January 1, 2010. Please log off when finished to free up the database for another user.
New Teaching & Learning Center Back on Track
The construction project to create a new Teaching and Learning Center on the 2nd floor of the Parnassus Library building is back in full swing after a nine-month delay due to the California state budget deficits.
The new Teaching and Learning Center (TLC) will expand UCSF’s educational facilities and provide a state-of-the-art clinical skills, simulation, and telemedicine training center. Technology-enhanced classrooms will be part of the facility, and it will also contain updated student computing space to replace the Library’s existing lab. The TLC has been planned by a cross-campus team, including representatives from each of the schools and the campus leadership.
Stay informed:
Library Toolbars: Access Research Tools from Your Browser
The Library is pleased to offer two new browser toolbars: a general Library Toolbar and the Clinician's Toolbar.
Use library toolbars to search key resources -- including PubMed@UCSF, Cross-Database Search, Library Quick Search, and the UCSF catalog -- from anywhere on the web. Get news feeds from UCSF Library News, as well as the University's News and Publications. Easily ask for help with library research and resources from any web page. The Clinician's Toolbar also features instant access to UpToDate and drug information.
View and download the Library Toolbar and Clinician's Toolbar. Please note that if you have an old library toolbar installed, you should uninstall it first.