JISC Collections Licensing Workshops

A short report summarising the main findings and recommendations gathered at these workshops is now available from JISC [Word document].

JIBS Scopus Enhancement Group

Minutes of 11 November 2006 meeting
Have been agreed and will be available on the JIBS web site shortly.

Useful information emerging at or since the meeting includes:

1 Customer support
UK free phone number now available Tel: 0800 357 384 37
Other contact points are Fax: +31 20 485 3432 , E-mail: nlinfo@scopus.com

2 Currency
JIBS had noted that Scopus coverage is often lagging behind PubMed. Elsevier’s response was that PubMed often leads the field in terms of currency because
i) it includes Articles in Press (AiP)
ii) it does not have to capture, index and match citation information.

Elsevier is examining ways to include articles in press (AiP) in a future Scopus release.

3 Scopus and Discovery Gate integration
DiscoveryGate customers are able to configure their own link options. For assistance with setting up links from DiscoveryGate, please contact support@mdl.com

4 Institutional repositories and Scopus Selected Sources tab
If you would like your institutional repository indexed by Scirus and available to display on the Selected Sources tab, please contact Elsevier.

Federated Searching Workshop

Powerpoint presentations from the recent JIBS workshop on federated searching are now available on the website:
http://www.jibs.ac.uk/meetings/federated.htm#programme

SUNCAT Newsletter

The latest issue of the SUNCAT newsletter is now available at http://www.suncat.ac.uk/news/newsletters.html

This issue includes news about
- New libraries on SUNCAT, bringing the total to 61 contributing libraries
- Z39.50 target information
- Links to library websites
- Update on downloading MARC records for contributing libraries.

Copac: trial of new interface

There is a new Copac interface available for testing. You can access this by selecting the Copac v3 link below the 'Enter Copac' button on the Home Page:
http://copac.ac.uk/

Note that the interface is still under development and not all the usual features are available. The colour of the interface will change before the live version is released.

Please send comments on the new interface to the Copac Helpdesk: copac@mimas.ac.uk
- tell us what you like and don't like about it. If you have any difficulties using the interface can you email us details of the problem, plus the name of the web browser you are using (and the version number if possible).

The new interface is accessing the new XML database. This database is still growing so may be slow at times as it is very active. You may find more record duplication than normal, this will disappear as the database is completed. Not all the usual library catalogues are available, the 'Libraries' list on the search screens shows the catalogues that are currently included on the new database. Libraries are being added to the list as their data is loaded.

All feedback appreciated.

JIBS meeting with Intute

At the JIBS USer Group Committee meeting on 16th November we met with Intute (http://www.intute.ac.uk)
Caroline Williams, Executive Director of Intute and Jackie Wickham, Intute: Health & Life Sciences Manager gave an overview of past and present Intute activity and future plans. Specifically they described current services including the Intute harvester and embedding tools. Work on the Leeds University embedding case study was articulated by Jackie. In addition, Caroline highlighted the results of the Intute Survey of Academic Use of the Internet: a published account to the survey will be made available in due course.

JIBS expressed significant interest in: embedding Intute in library websites and portals, in the potential for cross-searching/federated search, in lessons that could be learnt from functionality available in Google Scholar e.g. openURL resolver, and including different materials and associated search functionality e.g. images. The Group raised a number of issues associated with the existing service: duplication of records, currency of records, ability to distinguish between free and subscription resources easily, potential to extend e-journal listings, repeated entries in the harvester, resources appearing in subject areas that might be unexpected, gaps in the subject coverage and uneven spread of resources across subject areas.

Intute welcomed this feedback and intends to use it to inform service development. JIBS and Intute are currently in discussion about setting up an Enhancement Group.

JIBS Scopus enhancement group

The first meeting was 10 November 2006 in Manchester.

Scopus coverage
Will be extended considerably during 2007, with "5 million records from multiple publishers at no extra charge" and will include more social science material. JIBS pointed out the need to for better coverage of sociology, social psychology, nursing and allied health material and extended retrospective coverage of chemistry, earth sciences and oceanography.
Elsevier are working on improving currency. JIBS noted that Scopus often lags behind PubMed at present.

Searching
JIBS queried the value of the advanced search option and whether citation searching could be made more obvious. Agreed to discuss in more detail at a future meeting.

Reference management software
JIBS asked for improvements to the screens covering this. The inclusion of RefWorks direct export was welcomed. JIBS asked for other products eg Endnote web to be added in due course.

Support
A UK phone number to contact the Scopus helpdesk is now available, Elsevier will confirm details shortly.
Scopus Live Chat an online technical support service available 24 hours a day, Monday to Friday via the live chat button (towards the top right of the screen). This can be customised for local use.
Inside Scopus magazine for librarians is available from http://info.scopus.com/is/

Minutes of the meeting and a presentation from Elsevierwill be posted on the JIBS web site when available.

Next meeting scheduled for April 2007. There is a vacancy for an additional JIBS member.

JIBS BSOL Enhancement Group

BSI have just informed us that the delivery of a test version of the new British Standards Online software is now scheduled for mid-February 2007 and they expect to be doing testing throughout March. The main corporate website will be going live before that (hopefully December/Jan) which will give us a chance to see the Endeca search engine in action.

The enhancement group will be meeting with BSI at the end of February when I expect that we will get sight of the test version and make some immediate comments and also discuss how the academic community can get involved in the test process.

Roger Hines

British Library Sound Archive

The British Library, in association with JISC, is in the process of launching its Archival Sound Recordings service, which is free to members of the UK HE and FE community. Access will be via ATHENS ID, once the home institution has completed a licence agreement. For further information, please see: http://www.bl.uk/nsa and http://sounds.bl.uk/
Details may also be obtained from:

The British LibrarySound Archive
96 Euston Road
London NW1 2DB

Tel: +44 (0)20 7412 7676
Fax: +44 (0)20 7412 7441
Email: sound-archive@bl.uk

Researchers' use of discovery services

The RIN study on Researchers' use of discovery services has been published:

http://www.rin.ac.uk/researchers-discovery-services

A workshop is being held in London on the 18th December to present and explain the conclusions of the study; to consider the implications of its findings, from the point of view of librarians as well as researchers; and to discuss ideas about what steps might be taken next:

http://www.rin.ac.uk/discovery-services-workshop