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ICSTI: information from recent messages
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- Subject: ICSTI: information from recent messages
- From: Pete Strickland <ps@iucr.org>
- Date: Tue, 10 Jun 2003 09:32:29 +0100 (BST)
---------- Forwarded Message ---------- >From Peter Subers excellent Freedom Of Science weblog.... The Information Access Alliance, a consortium of six US library organizations, is urging the Justice Department to block Cinven and Candover's acquisition of BertelsmannSpringer. Quoting the press release: "The Alliance is concerned that this transaction will bring about a reduction in access to critical research information." Quoting James Neal, Vice President for Information Services and University Librarian at Columbia University: "History shows that when journal publishers merge, consumers suffer. The increased market power resulting from recent mergers has allowed publishers to boost prices. This has led to subscription cancellations, which deprive scientists of access to basic tools they need to conduct research." Quoting David Shulenburger, Provost at the University of Kansas: "The scientific research that journals support and document is a key contributor to the quality of life and economic well-being of our nation. The erosion of access to research not only poses a risk to tomorrow's discoveries, but because the U.S. government spends $100 billion annually on research, it reduces the American taxpayers' return on investment. It is a situation that urgently needs to be addressed" I am not sure if the US Justice Department can block the sale, as far as I know the deal is European in origin. Anyone any information on what the DoJ could do?? On the other hand the EU might step in, haven't seen any comment on that yet. Bye, Barry Mahon ------------------------------------------------------- >From Information Today, with apologies to those of who have already seen the information. The Special Libraries Association (SLA) announced that Janice R. Lachance has been selected to serve as its next executive director. She will assume the responsibilities on July 1, 2003. Bye, Barry ------------------------------------------------------- Dear All, An interesting article in the current (Vol 8, Number 21, May 26th, 2003, page 21) issue of Chemical and Engineering News (C&EN). It concerns a case on appeal to the US Supreme Court about the use of a patent protected Free Electron Laser (FEL) in an experimental situation in Duke University. Up to now scientists have believed that they were immune from infringment proceedings if their work was part of experimental use defined as "solely for amusement, to satisfy idle curiosity or for philosophical inquiry" The issue is clouded by the fact that the holder of the patents on FEL was on the staff at Duke but left following a difference of opinion about the use of his techniques there. Apart from the specific case there is also the question of its implications for Universities who actively encourage, and are funded to undertake, research work for commercial entities. Duke has defended itself by claiming experimental use and the fact that the University is a non-profit institution. One of the arguments by the patent holder was that this status is not commensurate with getting grants from commercial entities to undertake research leading to product development. These wider implications have caused other universities to join with the case as it goes before the Supreme Court. In particular the case may affect private universities because the court has already ruled that publicly funded institutions are exempted from patent infringement. However, even this ruling may now be effectively overturned by new legislation. A further complication, according to C&EN is that experimental investigation of patented processes is permitted outside the US and there is a fear that research will be 'driven offshore' if the case succeeds. Bye, Barry ------------------------------------------------------- This time from Managing Information:- Special Libraries Association Announce Conference Partnership Chemical Abstracts Service, a division of the American Chemical Society will serve as one of three Major Conference Partners at the Special Libraries Association's (SLA) 94th Annual Conference in New York. As a conference partner, CAS has pledged support for specific conference activities and events, including conference tote bags, conference lounge, the popular Hot Topic Series and the INFO-EXPO Ribbon Cutting Ceremony. The event takes place between June 7-12, 2003. "CAS is delighted to once again support the efforts of SLA," said CAS Marketing Director, Suzan A. Brown. "We are committed to maintaining a strong partnership with information professionals who depend on quality scientific and technical information to support their organizations' intellectual property and research activity. CAS recognizes the importance of the SLA to the success of information professionals." ------------------------------------------------------- -- Best wishes Peter Strickland Managing Editor IUCr Journals ---------------------------------------------------------------------- IUCr Editorial Office, 5 Abbey Square, Chester CH1 2HU, England Phone: 44 1244 342878 Fax: 44 1244 314888 Email: ps@iucr.org Ftp: ftp.iucr.org WWW: http://journals.iucr.org/ NEWSFLASH: Complete text of all IUCr journals back to 1948 now online! Visit Crystallography Journals Online for more details
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