Google Book Settlement: Cause and Effect

One of the most significant developments in the history of publishing could be co-opted by the settlement of a class action lawsuit that creates an unprecedented monopoly and price fixing cartel.

The proposed settlement between Google, the Association of American Publishers (AAP) and the Authors Guild, threatens to monopolise distribution, pricing and access to the largest digital database of books in the world.

The Open Book Alliance is a consortium of organisations contributing to the mass-digitisation of books and texts, but claims that the ramifications of the proposed settlement will ultimately be detrimental to consumers, libraries, schools, authors and publishers, and will also set dangerous precedents regarding copyright and anti-competitive laws.

Want to know the impact of the proposed deal? See the Open Book Alliance Website for full details.

The hidden impact of the global financial crisis

Women account for up to 80 percent of Australia’s hidden unemployed, according to this report and budget papers suggest hidden unemployment is likely to rise significantly in the next 12 months. This Australian Institute report highlights the labour market consequences of inadequate child care arrangements, especially out of school hours and vacation care. Text adapted from AustralianPolicyOnline. Read the full report here

The New York Times is reporting that Wikipedia, the free online dictionary that anyone can contribute to, is about to enforce an 'editorial review' process on any changes or submissions made about a living person.

The editorial review processed, labelled 'flagged revisions' by Wikipedia, will require a senior, volunteer editor to approve any changes before they are able to be viewed by the public.

A similar policy has been enforced on the German-language version of Wikipedia over the past 12 months, with the English-language version to implement the changes within weeks.

Jimmy Wales, a founder of Wikipedia says that the changes reflect the standing of the company within the community, "We have really become part of the infrastructure of how people get information, there is a serious responsibility we have."

To read the full report, see The New York Times.

CBCA Book of the Year 2009

It is Children's Book Week and the Book of the Year winners have been announced, you can find most of them within CSU Library's collection.

Book of the Year - Older Readers

Winner: Tales from Outer Suburbia by Shaun Tan

Honours:

• Into White Silence by Anthony Eaton
• A Rose for the Anzac Boys by Jackie French
  

Book of the Year - Younger Readers

Winner: Perry Angel's Suitcase by Glenda Millard

Honours:

• The Wish Pony by Catherine Bateson
• Then by Morris Gleitzman

Book of the Year - Early Childhood

Winner: How to Heal a Broken Wing by Bob Graham

Honours:

• Leaf by Stephen Michael King
• Tom Tom by Rosemary Sullivan

Book of the Year - Picture Book

Winner: Collecting Colour illustrated by Kylie Dunstan

Honours:

• Home and Away illustrated by Matt Ottley
• The Big Little Book of Happy Sadness illustrated by Colin Thompson

Book of the Year - Eve Pownall Award

Winner: Alive in the Death Zone by Lincoln Hall

Honours:

• The Word Spy by Ursula Dubosarsky
• Simpson and his Donkey by Mark Greenwood
  

Click on the title of the book for holding details.

To celebrate Children's Book Week, the staff at CSU Library Thurgoona Campus have set up a great book display.

Mobile version of JRSE

The Journal of renewable and sustainable energy is now available in a mobile version as well as the online.

Dear Colleague:
... with smartphones and the like, the web is back at your fingertips wherever you go, and JRSE can be there with you as well, through a new website we've created, optimized for display on mobile devices.I think you'll find the JRSE mobile version to be an excellent traveling companion. It has a clean, streamlined design that loads quickly.

Now, rather than having to search issues individually, you can perform searches directly from the JRSE homepage. We've also made sweeping changes to the table of contents pages that will aid discoverability and save you time. We've brought more information to the forefront and created functionality that allows you to work with ToCs and journal data in new ways.

We're very excited about our newest journal and, from the reaction it's received since its launch earlier this year, the renewable and sustainable energy community appears to be excited as well. I hope you'll visit JRSE soon to check out the new features I mention above, and that you make a special point to access JRSE's new mobile view.

Mark Caesar Publisher
AIP

Collection Services team

Collection Development Policy

The library has completed a review of the Collection Development Policy and posted it onto the library web pages at http://www.csu.edu.au/division/library/about/policies/ .

This policy covers the purchase of textbooks and multiple copies through to online journals instead of print. If you have any comments or queries please contact acq@csu.edu.au or ievans@csu.edu.au to pass on your thoughts.

The policy will be reviewed in 2010 and your contributions would be appreciated.

Irene Evans
Collection Services

Ovid database maintenance

OvidSP databases are scheduled for maintenance this Tuesday 25th August from 12am AEST (see TimeandDate.com for the time in your area) to upload the following enhancements to the Browse Journals and Full-Text display areas:

Journal A-Z page

• Search bar for quickly searching a list of all Ovid journals or journals your institution subscribes to on Ovid
• Four navigational “widgets” - Filter by Availability, Filter by Title, Filter by Subject, and My Favorites - which can be collapsed or rearranged

Table of Contents page

• Search bar for searching articles in the current issue or all issues of a journal; keyword and Advanced Search options are available
• “Breadcrumb trail” will allow for easier navigation
• Two navigational “widgets”: Journal Information and Issue List, which can be collapsed or rearranged
  

Full-text display of a specific journal article

• Standardized screen resolution size for enhanced readability
• “Breadcrumb trail” for easier navigation
• Collapsible text sections and back-to-top links
• Thumbnail images (when images are available) that enlarge in a pop-up window will appear together in an Image Gallery
• Images can be exported to PowerPoint
• Article Tools section that will include all your work functions, such as Jumpstart and PDF display links
• Outline section which will allow you to quickly navigate to different areas of the article

Users who are logged in when maintenance begins will be able to continue using OvidSP databases, until they log-out or are timed out.

Any inconvenience caused by this down time is regretted.

The Australian Bushfires Royal Commission Interim Report 2009

'The 2009 Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission was established on 16 February to investigate the causes and responses to the bushfires which swept through parts of Victoria in late January and February 2009. One hundred and seventy-three people died in the fires'. Text adapted from AustralianPolicyOnline. Read the full report here

Shut Out: The experience of people with disabilities and their families in Australia.

'Today many people with disabilities still find themselves shut out - shut out of buildings, homes, schools, businesses, sports and community groups. They find themselves shut out of our way of life'. Text adapted from the National Disability Strategy Consultation report. Read the full report here

Books@Ovid - UPDATE

Thanks to a mammoth effort by our Collection Services staff, all links to Books@Ovid from the CSU Library catalogue have been repaired.

If you happen to come across any links that aren't working properly, please let us know.

New Database trial - BioOne

CSU Library is currently trialling a new database until Friday 30th October.

The BioOne database includes full text access to over 150 journal titles covering many aspects of Biological, Ecological and Environmental Sciences.

BioOne is a not-for-profit collaboration between scientific societies, libraries, academia and the private sector.

Any feedback on BioOne is highly appreciated, and can be submitted using the Trial eResource Web Form.

Books@Ovid

Books@Ovid is a fantastic eBook resource, featuring over 300 titles from Nursing, Dentistry, Pharmacy and other health disciplines.

Unfortunately, there have been a few changes behind the scenes, and some of the links to these eBooks from the Catalogue have been left inactive. The good news is, that while the Library Staff are working to identify, and fix all these links, you can still access eBook titles from Books@Ovid.

Simply access Books@Ovid from the CSU Library eBook Collections page, and search for the required title. Follow the 'Ovid Full Text' link to view the eBook.

The right to belong: Family Homelessness and Citizenship

This interesting report discusses research findings which investigated how homelessness affects the everyday experiences of women with children. (Text adapted from Australian Policy Online). Read the full report here