Reminder: Submit your 2009 grant proposal to the Elsevier Foundation by August 1

The Elsevier Foundation is accepting new grant proposals for its 2009 Innovative Libraries in Developing Countries and New Scholars programs through August 1st.

These programs are designed to support efforts of libraries in developing countries and scholars in the early stages of their careers.

The grants for the two programs will be awarded in December 2009 and provide one, two and three year awards between US$5,000 to US$50,000 per year.

For more information on the program requirements and details of how to submit a 2009 proposal please visit The Elsevier Foundation.

~Posted by Jessica Meindertsma, Library Marketing Intern, Elsevier, San Diego

Stock up on Scopus know-how from TrainingDesk

Are you new to Scopus, or familiarizing patrons with the services available from Scopus? See the new TrainingDesk screencast (July 2009), "Intro to Scopus."

This on-line tutorial provides background on what Scopus is, what it offers, and demonstrates how to use its tools including basic search, citation tracker, author identifier, affiliation search, and more.

TrainingDesk uses screencasting as an effective tool for their tutorials, enabling users to see a demonstration of each step or feature with an accompanying audio narrative to supply further explanation.

The "Intro to Scopus" tutorial also features practice exercises and a menu allowing users to navigate between sections.

See the full "Intro to Scopus" tutorial here: http://www.trainingdesk.elsevier.com/scopus/files/tutorials/Introduction%20to%20Scopus/Introduction%20to%20Scopus.htm

~Posted by Jessica Meindertsma, Library Marketing Intern, Elsevier, San Diego

Study shows developing world's dramatic increase in research output

A new research impact analysis has identified a dramatic rise since 2002 in research output by scientists in the developing world. By comparing growth in published research before (1996–2002) and after (2002-2008) the advent of the Research4Life programs, the analysis revealed a 194% or6.4-fold increase in articles published in peer-reviewed journals.

Get more details and see graphs: www.elsevier.com/wps/find/authored_newsitem.cws_home/companynews05_01269

Get the back story in the Library Connect Newsletter, 6:3 (July 2008): http://libraryconnect.elsevier.com/lcn/0603/lcn060318.html

New Research4Life website offers case studies showing real-life impacts of HINARI, AGORA, OARE

Research4Life is now the name for HINARI, AGORA and OARE. These three public-private partnership programs are supported by WHO, FAO, UNEP, Cornell University, Yale University and the International Association of Scientific, Technical and Medical Publishers.


Participating publishers now number 155 and include Elsevier, Springer, Wiley-Blackwell and Oxford University Press, along with many university and learned society presses. Together with technology partner Microsoft, Research4Life seeks to help achieve the UN’s Millennium Development Goals by providing the developing world with access to critical up-to-date scientific research.

On the new Research4Life site you can read case studies discussing real-life impacts of HINARI, AGORA and OARE. Case studies now on the site include stories about how Research4Life is helping:

• Researchers in Kenya create sustainable watersheds
• Researchers in Kenya unlock the farming potential of arid and semiarid lands
• HIV/AIDS sufferers in Uganda benefit from better treatment options

Visit the new Research4Life website: www.research4life.org

Read Dr. Moturi's story and learn how OARE is helping better our global environment

Over 1,000 institutions in 90 countries are participating in OARE, the Online Access to Research in the Environment program, but more are eligible to participate. So help is needed to get the word out about OARE.

The newest of the Research4Life programs, OARE launched in 2007. All three Research4Life programs - HINARI, AGORA and OARE - provide developing nations with access to scholarly materials online. Elsevier is among the publishers contributing about 1,300 journals to OARE.

In Kenya, OARE has proven to be an indispensable tool for Dr. Wilkista Nyaora Moturi. She's used OARE while earning her PhD, teaching graduate classes and helping provide medical services to area residents.

Find more about Dr. Moturi's story in Daviess Menefee's article in the latest Library Connect Newsletter (7:2, April 2009):
http://libraryconnect.elsevier.com/lcn/0702/lcn070215.html

See which nations and types of institutions are eligible for OARE by visiting its website: www.oaresciences.org/eligibility/en/index.html

Ladies and gentlemen, start your engines

Tired of wading through irrelevant 'hits' in your search results?

PC World's list of "Five slick search engines you should know about" suggests a handful of search engines well suited to specialized research:

• Scirus is the go-to site for science related searches, returning hits only for web pages with scientific content.


• Hunch asks the user questions to generate personalized solutions to the original query.


• Exalead is a funky, user friendly alternative to Google with lots of options for search customization.


• Scour combines social networking with web searching, encouraging users to offer feedback on search results.


• Indeed collects job postings from industry sites and corporate job boards in one location, and makes it easy for users to narrow down their search with factors such as location and salary.

~Posted by Jessica Meindertsma, Library Marketing Intern, Elsevier, San Diego

Why go to the library when "everything is on the internet"?

The answer? Expertise.

In her Library Connect 7:2 (April 2009) article, "Communicating the value of libraries and librarians: Take a leadership role in the academic enterprise," Denise Pan identifies "information seeking and knowledge management" expertise as academic libraries' defining strength in today's information saturated environment.

She argues that librarians can make a unique, valuable contribution to the academic enterprise by taking the initiative to teach comprehensive information literacy skills.

Read the full Library Connect article at: http://libraryconnect.elsevier.com/lcn/0702/lcn070212.html

~Posted by Jessica Meindertsma, Library Marketing Intern, Elsevier, San Diego