Open Access (OA) Initiatives in Scholarly Communication
Attend a lecture on open access (OA) initiatives in scholarly communication.
Carleton University Library invites you to attend a lecture by Andrew Waller on open access (OA) initiatives. Mr. Waller is the serials librarian in the Libraries and Cultural Resources at the University of Calgary
Date: Monday, May 25, 2009
Time: 9:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.
(Coffee, tea and light refreshments will be served at 8:30 a.m.)
Place: Library Staff lounge (Room 153), Carleton University Library
Over the past few years, staff at the Libraries and Cultural Resources at the University of Calgary have been increasingly engaged in activities supporting open access (OA). These activities include installing and populating an institutional repository, now the second largest university repository in Canada; establishing an open access authors fund, which is designed to pay some submission fees for University of Calgary authors who publish in open access journals that charge such fees; and, most recently, creating a OA mandate for academic staff (librarians, archivists, and curators).
Mr. Waller will be discussing the background and implementation of open access projects at the university as well as the challenges associated with these initiatives.
Andrew Waller regularly writes and speaks on topics such as open access, licensing, e-journals, the effects of the U.S.A. Patriot Act and similar legislation on Canadian libraries and researchers, electronic resource management systems, and systematic downloading. He is the convener of the Canadian Library Association Collection Development and Management Interest Group, the Licensing & Access editor for the journal The Serials Librarian, and is part of the team that produces the OA Librarian blog.
For questions about this event, please contact Anita Hui, Head of Collection Development, Carleton University Library, at anita_hui@carleton.ca.
Napping for Knowledge
In our modern world of 9-5 jobs and demanding school schedules where work often spills over into overtime hours and weekends a nap can seem like some to be the ultimate indulgence. However, a recently released study suggests that taking time out for this can have some very rewarding benefits.
It has been revealed that napping is instrumental in boosting sophisticated memory and can even help make it easier to learn new skills and extrapolate information. In their study scientists focused on the state of sleep normally reached during napping called “slow-wave sleep”, a stage that comes before the better known REM sleep. It was suggested that our brains are capable of working during this stage to solve problems and come up with new ideas. To examine this theory a test was devised where two groups of English-speaking students were asked to remember a series of Chinese characters they were taught, one group was then allowed to nap after their lesson. Upon awakening both groups took a multiple-choice test of Chinese words they’d never seen before. As suspected those who benefited from a nap performed much better than those who did not as they were better able to make connections between the new characters and the one’s they had previously been taught.
In the experiment the students were allowed a 90 minute nap which for some is unfortunately a luxury not likely to fit into most daily routines. It is however suggested that even a nap as short as nine minutes could produce some of the desired results. With that in mind, take some time out and hit the hay, it could be just what you need.
via Napping Boosts Sophisticated Memory, Study Shows [Lifehacker]
via Nap without guilt: It boosts sophisticated memory [Physorg]
Brain Controlled Computer
If you were told about a computer that you could control using only your brain and your thoughts you would likely think it would be the product of the latest sci fi movie. However, as revealed in a story presented on CBS’ 60 Minutes this technology already exists and has been successfully employed for human use.
Brain Power Video via 60 Minutes [via Lifehacker]
The story focuses primarily on the plight of Scott Makler, a man who at age 40 was capable of running a marathon but is now confined to a wheelchair, paralyzed after the devastating effects of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. It is shown however that thanks to a radical new invention he has regained his ability to communicate with the world around him. In the segment it is shown that a system has been invented called the brain computer interface or “BCI” in which the user wears wears a cap that picks up the electrical activity of their brain and allows the user to select letters simply by thinking about them. The computer system is then able to take these letters and turn them into spoken language. Mr. Makler is shown to be able to effectively communicate using this device and although it’s slow, with it taking about 20 seconds to select each letter, it has nonetheless opened up a world of possibilities and opportunity which had previously been unavailable.
Researchers however say that this is just the first step in exploring the possibilities of this amazing new technology. It is said that the next step is to insert a chip directly into the brain which they suggest would allow for much clearer reception of the brains signals. This is then shown to have already been effectively employed for use in both monkey and human test subjects. Though still very much in the early stages of development this technology’s ultimate goal is to enable amputees to use BCIs to control robotic arms, and to allow those with paralysis to be able to move their own arms and legs again.
Check out The Wadsworth Center Brain-Computer Interface System website.
- Monkey’s brain controls robot arm via BBC
- Monkeys control robotic arm with their thoughts via CTV
- Mind-Computer Interface with NI LabVIEW
For your next paper, make it an EazyPaper
So, you’ve spent three days writing a Psych paper, and you’re finally done! But, wait, not quite: You still have those two-dozen (or more!) required references to do that will eventually be sprinkled throughout your pages, requiring just the right style, formatting and citation conventions that your departmental style guide lays out. This could take hours…
Luckily, there’s a great solution being offered to students and instructors alike for their academic citation and bibliographic needs. Born through the fine wits of a former Carleton Student, “EazyPaper” is a Microsoft Word add-on that will keep the cap on your pain-killers and save you valuable time in order to meet that next deadline. Do it on the fly, as you go, and this time actually finish the paper when you reach the end of the last sentence.
The Carleton University Alumni Association, in partnership with EazyPaper, Inc., is offering a free, one-year EazyPaper subscription that will save students valuable cash and give them all the tools they need to generate in-text and bibliographic references for essays and dissertations. (Use your connect or carleton.ca email address upon registration, or else you won’t be credited the 100% discount.) The Word add-on supports AMA, APA, MLA, and Turabian / Chicago Manual of Style. In addition to the paper format or citation style, you can choose whether you’re writing a term paper, masters thesis, PhD dissertation, or journal article. But this is only the beginning.
The powerful attribute that follows, we thought, is the predictive default settings (based on the citation style you choose initially), and the customization options that follow. This means that, based on the type of paper you’re writing, EazyPaper automatically offers a number of preset options conventional to that type of paper. 
Still, your document layout is all customizable; choose whether, on top of References, you need such additions as a Table of Contents, an Appendix, Footnotes, and others. Finally, enter the running title of your paper, your name as the author, and the institution in which the paper is being submitted. Click OK, and that’s it! A new template for your paper has been created, and it’s time start writing. Click the Insert Citation button every time a parenthetical citation is needed, and EasyPaper will guide you through all of the citation information needed.
To some, EazyPaper will be somewhat reminiscent of EndNote, which is a cross-platform program geared towards bibliographic citations and many of the same features put forth by EazyPaper. It supports a multitude of academic styles, boasts PDF import functionality, and can also import saved references from RefWorks, an online reference tool for keeping track of references from various online databases (primarily accessible through the Carleton University Library’s journal catalogue).
EazyPaper Inc. also offers other useful products such as “EazyResume”, available through their website, which is available to Carleton students 25% off. Again, be sure to use your connect or carleton.ca email address upon registration in order to be credited the discount.
For Carleton students interested in a free EazyPaper license, click here.
For Carleton instructors interested in a free EazyPaper license, click here.
Check out our previous post on a similar app Zotero.
Pulse Smartpen, “a pen which talk to you and listen for you!”
Have you ever been sitting in a class or meeting, taking some important notes, trying your best to not miss anything? Are you tired of taking your laptop to the meetings or classes to take notes? If you are one of these people the Pulse Smartpen will be helpful for you. You may have seen our previous post on Capturx, but this “pen” seems to be an improvement.
Smartpen is actually a pen and a computer. There are two microphones built in a pen which work together to capture the audio. So you never miss a word because it records audio while you write, because the Pulse Smartpen records audio and links it with what you write. Then you just tap on your notes or drawing in your special designed notebook with the tip of your Smartpen to hear what was said while you were writing. You can speed up or slow down, using built in controls in the special notebook.
In the top of smart pen, there is an infrared camera which takes 72 pictures every second, so it does not miss any thing when you write or draw. Once you have captured your notes, you can transfer them to your computer. Then you can organize them and even search for specific words within your notes. Once you store your notes in your computer you can easily share them online with your peers and colleagues. You can email or post them to other sites such as facebook.
You can choose between a smartpen with 1 GB of memory which can hold over 100 hours audio, or 2 GB of memory. The prices are $149.95 verses $199.95 and each notebook costs approximately $19.95, which must be used with the pen.
The Pulse Smartpen allows you to record all the sound you ears can here, capture your handwritings, upload and even share them with others. So it has a great potential to be used as an educational tool especially for large conferences or lecture halls.
Searching for Plagiarism – Part 2 of 2
Cartoon Via bLaugh
Professors and administration have both told students not to plagiarize, but papers still get handed in with parts that seem suspicious of plagiarism. This can take on various forms: submitting original work from a previous class without the professor’s approval, submitting other people’s work in part or full, using other people’s research data or findings or simply not citing resources properly. If you suspect an assignment may be plagiarized, there are a few different tools you can use to investigate. When conducting your search, you should let two things lead you:
1. The suspected sections of text in the paper.
2. The general topic of the paper.
This allows you to find directly copied sections of text as well as areas which have been paraphrased. The most valuable tool for detecting plagiarism is a search engine, such as Google.
Example of how to search for plagiarism
If you come across a suspicious sentence (shown below) in an essay on African American Women and Music and would like to check it for plagiarism, follow the steps below.
“Like blues, jazz began to shape during slavery, and in the years after the civil war. The end of slavery meant the end of an isolation period that prevented blacks from sharing ideas and art forms such as music.”
1. Enter some of the suspected text in quotations as well as the topic of the essay. For the example above, entering the following would be affective:
“African American Women and Music “Like blues, jazz began to shape during slavery, and in the years after the civil war”
2. The search engine will give you a list of matches corresponding to the sentence you have entered. You can then look though the links to see if there are any that are similar. You will have to use your best judgment to determine if a sentence or idea has been lifted without citation or if it is merely a similar sentence.
Places to Search
The Web
The easiest and most effective way to search for plagiarism is to enter your query into a search engine. Since that is where most articles would have been found in the first place, they are most likely going to come up in your search as well. Although there are many search engines and resources you can use, each one will yield fairly similar results. Below is a list of some of the most popular:
Books or Journal Articles:
Other Plagiarism Detection Tools
- TurnItIn. A online tool that allows you to upload your student’s work and check it against other student’s work and the web (http://turnitin.com/static/plagiarism.html).
- The Plagiarism Resource Site. A tool created by the University of Virgina to compare many of your student’s work (http://www.plagiarism.phys.virginia.edu/).
Capturx – Digital Pen
Capturx is a digital pen created by ADPAX that allows you to write on real paper and then automatically transfer the writing to your computer. The pen works better than previous attempts at similar tools and will capture your handwritten notes very accurately.
How it works is quite simple. You write your notes on specially treated paper with the digital pen and then connect the pen to a computer using its dock. The pen will then transfer the information captured to a Microsoft notebook utility.
The drawbacks to this product are the price and the fact that the pen can only transfer to Microsoft One Note. The pen itself costs $350 and each notebook costs approximately $21, this can make using the pen quite an investment. It is also frustrating that you must have One Note to use the product, but this may soon change. The producers of Capturx are looking at extending to other Microsoft Office products, such as Power Point, Word, Visio, etc. They are also considering expanding to make this pen able to work with maps and other graphs.
Some of the applications that the pen is being suggested for are use in out door environments such as in construction sites, military communication, utility work sites, industrial explorations, and government emergency workers. Another possible aplpication for this technology is for engineers who work in the field and regularly need to take notes.
GottaBeMobile’s Warner Crocker has created a great in-depth video demo fro Capturx.
Info via GottaBeMoblie and Lifehacker
eLearning Blog
When I sat down this morning to work on the blog, I got a bit of a rude wake-up call: it turns out the topic I’d decided to write on had actually already been blogged on! So much for spreading the word about Zotero – a really awesome online bibliography tool (Check out the zotero post here).
And so I’m forced to break out my back-up subject, which might prove to be even more useful. Over the weekend I discovered a blog written by Tony Karrer, the CEO/CTO of TechEmpower – a software, web and eLearning development firm in Los Angeles. Tony maintains an eLearning Blog on educational technology which has an astounding number of resources as well as practical tips. Judging from the caliber of his posts, as well as his extensive number of years in the biz (and the classroom), he obviously knows his stuff. Apparently someone else agrees because last year his blog won best elearning blog at the edublog awards.
Although the blog can be a bit business oriented, there are some really good ideas for your personal (re: research/organization) as well as teaching needs (re: presentation/teaching resources). Recent posts directly reflect this, including a bit on electronic flash cards as well as his thoughts on the application BrowseMyStuff.
Educational Gaming (Oxymoron?) Quote
J.C. Herz was interviewed along with several other experts in the expanding field of the use of gaming for higher learning by Joel Foreman in the Educause Review article of 2004 entitled Game-Based Learning: How to Delight and Instruct in the 21st Century. You guessed it; I am doing research on the use of gaming in education and have been putting together a document on it. At any rate, I came across this very interesting quote by J.C. Herz and thought I would share:
What games allow you to do that lectures don’t is to explore the solution space and ask, “What if I did this?” or “What happens in that event?” You can do that in an online or a computer-based environment. Ultimately, what you want are models that you can push and test and explore—truly interactive systems. When I was in college, I was fortunate enough to have a faculty advisor who was a biologist, and I had a one-on-one tutorial about tropical rainforest ecology. He asked me questions based on what he thought I knew, and he’d push me to the limits of my knowledge. But absent a one-on-one tutorial, it’s very difficult to do that. You get into small groups, and you have active discussions, but once you scale the group up, it becomes very difficult because you can’t push sixty people individually to the limits of their knowledge. But you can create an online environment where those sixty people can push against the limits of their knowledge. And that becomes something different and very important. That’s what simulations are good for.
Developing a 21st Century Research System: Zotero + Google Books
I have been finding some web research tools that are built to harness the interactivity, searchability and flexibility of doing research online.
1. Zotero (screenshot from the official site): A flexible and connective Endnote competitor. Oh, the admiration I have for this app – it seems too good to be true! It requires you to use Firefox since it is an extension of the browser. It takes a bit of getting used to – helped by video screencasts to walk you through the basics. And what does it not do?
- Automates the tedious process of saving references. By clicking one button it will generate a full bibliographic reference in its interface (and store full PDFs or webpage “screenshots” locally). If the abstract is available, it stores that as well. See image above for an indication of that process.
- Out of date websites become a thing of the past since whenever you save a website Zotero takes a snapshot stored as a local copy which you can then highlight and annotate for your own use.
- All notes and annotations stored in Zotero about each reference are taggable and searchable.
- Organize references into folders and collections. References can be in more than one collection.
- Integrates with your word processor. Here’s a short, eye-opening video for how it works with Word.
- Automatically generates properly formatted bibliographies in major formats.
- Free and open source.
- For easy portability: install Portable Firefox on a USB drive with Zotero installed so that you can have a speedy research-ready browser with all of your local stored research wherever you happen to be.
2. Google Books‘ My Library: Google Books recently came out with My Library, a way to personalize your profile on Google Books with all of the books you own. Search for books in your personal collection, add them to Google Books, and there you have it. Your personal, available physical book collection – now searchable. Meaning that instead of having to plough physically through all of your books for one reference, you can search easily and virtually through Google’s system first.
Oh, and of course Zotero has found a way to work with Google Books and other Google Tools.
