Rhodes University Library is on Facebook

ResearchGate - warning re copyright issues

Please note: (This was sent to staff and postgrads by the Research Office :

 

The ResearchGate (RG) network https://www.researchgate.net was founded in 2008 and currently has over 3 million researchers registered. 450 Rhodes University affiliated researchers are amongst these.  It is possible to upload the full-text of articles to an RG profile and many researchers have done this.

This is problematic if authors make available the published version of journal articles in infringement of publishers’ copyright regulations. To ascertain whether an article may  legally be deposited in RG it is essential that authors check publisher copyright policies.  This can be done on the Sherpa/Romeo website which summarises permissions that are normally given as part of each publisher's copyright transfer agreement. http://www.sherpa.ac.uk/romeo/

The Rhodes Research Office has recently heard that authors may be sued by publishers if their uploads to RG are in breach of copyright.

Please share this information with your postgraduate students, many of whom have RG profiles.

Please remember that your research (articles, conference papers, etc.) can be shared with others via the Rhodes Institutional Repository http://eprints.ru.ac.za/.

For more information on RG read the following:

https://www.researchgate.net/post/Does_ResearchGates_promotion_of_user_author_self-archiving_help_or_harm_the_cause_of_open_access_publishing

https://www.researchgate.net/post/How_is_ResearchGate_dealing_with_copyright_issues_when_posting_our_papers

Apple Found Guilty of eBook Price Fixing; Amazon Cackles, Twirls Moustache

Apple Found Guilty of eBook Price Fixing; Amazon Cackles, Twirls Moustache
Why the Apple Ebook Verdict Could Make You Love Libraries Again

Why open access makes no sense (????)

Guardian article: "There can be no such thing as free access to academic research, says Robin Osborne in Debating Open Access essays – research is a process that universities teach and charge for."

Let’s hide our research from unworthy people ("The Guardian recently published an article by Professor Robin Osborne under the controversial title “Why open access makes no sense”. The author sets out to prove that there is no such thing as free access to academic research, and having caused quite a stir, I think it is worth commenting.")

Students Prefer Print but Not Books for Serious Academic Reading

The study, “Student Reading Practices in Print and Electronic Media,” to be published in September 2014 in the journal College & Research Libraries, tracked the reading habits of 17 CUNY students through diary entries, interviews, and discussion groups over the course of two weeks.

The research found that they almost always used e-book readers, mobile devices, and tablet computers for nonacademic reading but relied on paper printouts for academic reading.

Book Allocations in a University Library: An Evaluation of Multiple Formulas

This article describes an academic library's process of running multiple allocation models in order to find one that best suits the needs of the institution. The authors employed four methods: percentage-based, factor analysis, weighted multiple-variable, and circulation-based in order to inform the redistribution of book (print and electronic) funds. A comparison of the models revealed very different results. The final consensus of Hofstra University's Reference and Collection Development Department was to employ a circulation-based allocation model to redistribute funds, while also using subject specialist experience to adjust this redistribution

Making It Their Own: Creating Meaningful Opportunities for Student Employees in Academic Library Services

Making It Their Own: Creating Meaningful Opportunities for Student Employees in Academic Library Services

Library patrons have many requests for library services and resources. With limited budgets and library staff who are already stretched thin, how can academic libraries ever hope to understand and meet the growing variety of patron needs and desires? This article will outline a successful strategy of utilizing students to pitch, pilot, and implement academic library services as well as gather feedback from fellow students about their expectations for the academic library.

Tablet prices are plunging

Tablet prices are plunging amid a flood of new devices and cutthroat competition for market share. 

http://www.iol.co.za/scitech/technology/hardware/tablet-prices-are-plunging-1.1545248#.Ud6DVqw7aVo