MIT Libraries News

If you use Google Scholar, you already know it’s a great tool for finding citations to literature in your research area. It’s a massive index of articles, books and other publications of a scholarly nature. (It doesn’t cover ALL the scholarly literature in any discipline, however, so be sure to include the Libraries’ databases in Vera in your literature search.)

Many of the articles in Google Scholar are licensed by the MIT Libraries through our subscriptions, so – in many cases – the full text is available to you. If you are on campus, you’ll see this link in your results list:

Are you working off campus?   To take advantage of this feature, click on Settings and then Library Links.

Type MIT in the search window; select it; click Save.  You should now see the full text link in your results list for articles in any of MIT’s paid subscriptions.

Have you tried Scopus, one of our citation databases in Vera?  Scopus’ main focus is in the sciences but it also includes strong coverage of the social sciences.  Use Scopus to look for journal articles, conference papers and other materials.  Once you find relevant articles Scopus can link you to other related articles in the database and show you other articles (published since 1996) that have cited the article you are looking at.

To focus your Scopus search in the social sciences literature click the Social Science and Humanities button on the search screen:

Start searching Scopus now.

As a graduate student in Chemical Engineering, MIT’s Patrick Heider is very familiar with variables of time and pressure. And as this year’s winner of the Knovel University Challenge, Patrick will use his new iPad to optimize these just in time for the holidays.

Each year Knovel invites engineering students worldwide to enter a competition designed to show the content and powerful search functions of this collection of sci/tech handbooks. One example is Patrick’s favorite feature, the Equation Plotter. “[This] … is a great way to quickly get property information without having to dig through the text to figure out the functional form used for a specific correlation,” he writes. Users can also input names of properties and ranges of data values to search for compounds that fit these bounds. At your fingertips is a digital library that, thanks to the MIT Libraries, will bring you specific answers as well as full texts to use in coursework or research.

Where do you turn for a reliable snapshot or update of what’s happening on Capitol Hill or elsewhere in the world of energy? The MIT Libraries are pleased to announce the addition of Energywire to the family of products purchased from E & E Publishing: Greenwire, Climatewire, E & E Daily, Land Letter and more. Energywire now joins this group to summarize Congressional and other energy sector news.

The stories and headlines in Energywire can be searched by keyword or delivered to you through its alerting service. The top story in one recent alert highlighted MIT’s research on methane emissions and natural gas. Updates on oil shale, energy in the Arctic, geopolitics, water and energy, and business developments are all popular topics, along with many others.

As it says at the bottom of each daily alert, “Get all of the stories in today’s Energywire!”

Find it here: http://libraries.mit.edu/get/ew

Collier, A.J. 167. Williams coal mine 90 miles below Nulato, on Yukon River.

Two MIT School of Humanities, Arts, & Social Sciences faculty members have won awards for their work. Economist Anna Mikusheva received the 2012 Elaine Bennett Research Prize from the American Economic Association. The prize honors outstanding women researchers at the beginning of their careers. Mikusheva, who has PhDs in both economics and mathematics, studies econometrics theory.

Anthropologist Stefan Helmreich has won the 2012 Rachel Carson Prize for his book Alien Ocean. The prize recognizes works of social or political relevance in science and technology. Helmreich’s book, which has won several awards, explores marine biologists’ study of microbes.

Explore Professor Mikusheva’s research and Professor Helmreich’s research in the Open Access Articles collection in DSpace@MIT, where it is openly accessible to the world.

Since the MIT faculty established their Open Access Policy in March 2009 they have made thousands of research papers freely available to the world via DSpace@MIT. To highlight that research, we’re offering a series of blog posts that link news stories about scholars’ work to their open access papers in DSpace.

Detailed computer simulation shows how a patch of nutrients gets distributed in turbulent water. Image courtesy of Roman Stocker and John Taylor

Scientists have long believed that ocean-dwelling microorganisms need not move to gather food because turbulence distributes nutrients uniformly. Using a computer model that simulates a turbulent sea, Civil and Environmental Engineering associate professor Roman Stocker and colleague John R. Taylor have shown that some bacteria swim for food and others don’t, and that there are advantages and disadvantages to both. The study, published in the journal Science last week, is the first to show how the ocean environment affects feeding strategy. “We’re working at the interface between microbiology and fluid dynamics,” Stocker told the MIT News.

Explore Professor Stocker’s research in the Open Access Articles collection in DSpace@MIT, where it is openly accessible to the world.

Since the MIT faculty established their Open Access Policy in March 2009 they have made thousands of research papers freely available to the world viaDSpace@MIT. To highlight that research, we’re offering a series of blog posts that link news stories about scholars’ work to their open access papers in DSpace.

Scientists believe that global warming will lead to more intense rainfall around the world, but models have been at odds about the rate at which it will affect extreme precipitation in tropical regions. A new study by atmospheric science professor Paul O’Gorman uses observations and computer simulations to estimate that with each one-degree Celsius climb in temperature there will be 10 percent heavier rainfall extremes in the tropics. This “suggests a relatively high sensitivity of tropical precipitation extremes to global warming,” O’Gorman told the MIT News.

Explore Professor O’Gorman’s research in the Open Access Articles collection in DSpace@MIT, where it is openly accessible to the world.

Since the MIT faculty established their Open Access Policy in March 2009 they have made thousands of research papers freely available to the world via DSpace@MIT. To highlight that research, we’re offering a series of blog posts that link news stories about scholars’ work to their open access papers in DSpace.

Six years of global negotiation have paid off for the consortium that has a vision: to make the scholarly literature of high energy physics openly available to anyone in the world.

The Sponsoring Consortium for Open Access Publishing in Particle Physics (SCOAP3) has negotiated 3-year contracts with 12 journals “that would make 90% of high-energy-physics papers published from 2014 onwards free to read,” according to a report in Nature.

The SCOAP3 deal involves pledges of support from more than 1,000 libraries and other funders around the world, including the MIT libraries. Libraries’ payments will be used to pay the publishers an agreed-upon fee per paper, averaging $1550. In return, all 12 journals, including about 7,000 articles from journals such as the American Physical Society’s Physical Review C and D, Elsevier’s Physics Letters B and Nuclear Physics B, and Springer’s European Physical Journal C and Journal of High Energy Physics, will make their content openly accessible to all readers. Six of the journals will switch their business models from subscription to open access. For others, only the high-energy physics articles will be open access.

Salvatore Mele, the leader of the SCOAP3 project at CERN, the high-energy physics laboratory in Geneva, indicated to Nature that the goal of the project is “to open access without researchers noticing any effect on their grant funding or on the way they publish their papers.” Pledging libraries are expected to be able to repurpose funds that were being used for subscriptions to these journals to pay the SCOAP3 fees; publishers will reduce their subscription prices to reflect fees they will obtain through SCOAP3.

The details of those arrangements are expected to be worked out in late 2012 and into 2013. Only then will contracts actually be signed. Nevertheless, this week’s announcement of a list of journals with specific article processing charges takes the deal a significant step closer to the conclusion of what Peter Suber, philospher and a leader of the open access movement, has called “the most systematic attempt to convert all the journals in a given field to open access.”

More information:
Nature article
SCOAP3 website

It can be tough for doctors to predict which treatment will best improve the health of patients with social anxiety disorder, whose sufferers intensely fear social situations. A new paper coauthored by Brain and Cognitive Sciences professor John Gabrieli could help make doctors’ choice easier. In a paper published this month, researchers show that patients with more brain activity in visual processing areas benefited most from cognitive behavioral therapy. “This was a chance to ask if these brain measures, taken before treatment, would be informative in ways above and beyond what physicians can measure now,” Gabrieli told the MIT News.

Explore Professor Gabrieli’s research in the Open Access Articles collection in DSpace@MIT, where it is openly accessible to the world.

Since the MIT faculty established their Open Access Policy in March 2009 they have made thousands of research papers freely available to the world via DSpace@MIT. To highlight that research, we’re offering a series of blog posts that link news stories about scholars’ work to their open access papers in DSpace.

Assistant chemistry professor Mircea Dincă has been named one of Technology Review magazine’s 35 Innovators Under 35. Dincă was cited in the September/October issue for building intricate sponges that, though tiny, can store energy like hydrogen to more efficiently fuel a car. His group is also working on turning the sponges into materials to make batteries.

Explore Professor Dincă’s research in the Open Access Articles collection in DSpace@MIT, where it is openly accessible to the world.

Since the MIT faculty established their Open Access Policy in March 2009 they have made thousands of research papers freely available to the world via DSpace@MIT. To highlight that research, we’re offering a series of blog posts that link news stories about scholars’ work to their open access papers in DSpace.

Two physicists were among five MIT professors given Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers last month. The awards, named by President Obama, are the highest honor from the U.S. government to researchers “selected for their pursuit of innovative research … and their commitment to community service,” according to a White House statement. Professor Jarillo-Herrero was cited for his research on graphene and his community outreach. Professor Thaler was cited for research using experiments at the Large Hadron Collider and for developing tools to better use data from the collider.

Explore Professor Jarillo-Herrero’s research and Professor Thaler’s research in the Open Access Articles collection in DSpace@MIT, where it is openly accessible to the world.

Since the MIT faculty established their Open Access Policy in March 2009 they have made thousands of research papers freely available to the world via DSpace@MIT.To highlight that research, we’re offering a series of blog posts that link news stories about scholars’ work to their open access papers in DSpace.

Pablo Jarillo-Herrero

Jesse Thaler

Biology Professor Chris Kaiser started his job as provost last week, succeeding MIT’s new president, Rafael Reif. Kaiser, a cell biologist who studies protein folding, served most recently as chair of the biology department, which he joined in 1991. “At MIT, innovation is the norm, and as provost I plan not only to build upon our already-strong programs, but also to continue to foster inventive new directions in education and research,” Kaiser told the MIT News.

Explore Professor Kaiser’s research in the Open Access Articles collection in DSpace@MIT, where it is openly accessible to the world.

Since the MIT faculty established their Open Access Policy in March 2009 they have made thousands of research papers freely available to the world via DSpace@MIT. To highlight that research, we’re offering a series of blog posts that link news stories about scholars’ work to their open access papers in DSpace.

Researchers led by biologist Hazel Sive are using zebrafish to help learn about the biological mechanisms behind human brain disorders like autism. In a recent paper published in the open access journal Disease Models and Mechanisms, Sive and her colleagues describe looking at a set of genes that are the same across species; deletions and duplications of the genes in humans have been associated with autism. When they silenced the genes in the fish, they found abnormal brain development. “That’s really the goal — to go from an animal that shares molecular pathways, but doesn’t get autistic behaviors, into humans who have the same pathways and do show these behaviors,” Sive told the MIT News.

Explore Professor Sive’s research in the Open Access Articles collection in DSpace@MIT, where it is openly accessible to the world.

Since the MIT faculty established their Open Access Policy in March 2009 they have made thousands of research papers freely available to the world via DSpace@MIT. To highlight that research, we’re offering a series of blog posts that link news stories about scholars’ work to their open access papers in DSpace.

MIT researchers tackle big data

MIT will host an Intel-sponsored research center to look at ways of handling “big data,” collections of data so immense and complex they cannot be processed by tools that currently exist. The center will be led by Electrical Engineering and Computer Science professor Samuel Madden and adjunct professor Michael Stonebraker. In addition to the Intel center, the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab launched a new industry-sponsored initiative called bigdata@CSAIL. As a part of the center and initiative, faculty and scientists at CSAIL will collaborate with corporate and university researchers beyond MIT to work on projects like analyzing biological data in search of more accurate diagnostic techniques or increasing the security and privacy of financial information.

Explore Professor Madden’s research in the Open Access Articles collection in DSpace@MIT, where it is openly accessible to the world.

Since the MIT faculty established their Open Access Policy in March 2009 they have made thousands of research papers freely available to the world via DSpace@MIT. To highlight that research, we’re offering a series of blog posts that link news stories about scholars’ work to their open access papers in DSpace.

MIT researchers bid adieu to sticky condiments

It is a problem familiar to most of us: The last ounces of ketchup just won’t shake free from the bottle, so we throw it out, wasting food and money. In May, the architects of a solution won the audience choice award at MIT’s $100K Entrepreneurship Competition. Scientists from the lab of mechanical engineering professor Kripa Varanasi invented a plant-based coating they call LiquiGlide, a slippery material that helps any condiment—from honey to mayonnaise—slide easily out of glass or plastic. “We’ve talked to various folks in the supply chain, from equipment makers to bottle makers to food companies, and they all love it and want it in their bottles,” Varanasi told the Boston Globe. Varanasi’s lab has also created surfaces and coatings that keep frost off planes and allow water to flow more efficiently through pipes.

Explore Professor Varanasi’s research in the Open Access Articles collection in DSpace@MIT, where it is openly accessible to the world.

Since the MIT faculty established their Open Access Policy in March 2009 they have made thousands of research papers freely available to the world via DSpace@MIT. To highlight that research, we’re offering a series of blog posts that link news stories about scholars’ work to their open access papers in DSpace.

CSAIL professor celebrated as outstanding woman in computer science

In April, CSAIL professor Nancy Lynch was named the Athena Lecturer, an annual award from the Association for Computing Machinery that celebrates women who have made fundamental contributions to computer science. Lynch will give a talk at an ACM conference and receive a $10,000 prize from Google. “We’d certainly like to attract more attention to the success of women researchers,” said Lynch in a Boston Globe interview, “so we can get more women inspired to get into the field.”

Explore Professor Lynch’s research in the Open Access Articles collection in DSpace@MIT, where it is openly accessible to the world.

Since the MIT faculty established their Open Access Policy in March 2009 they have made thousands of research papers freely available to the world via DSpace@MIT. To highlight that research, we’re offering a series of blog posts that link news stories about scholars’ work to their open access papers in DSpace.

eLife, a new collaborative initiative backed by Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the Max Planck Society, and the Wellcome Trust, announced the board of reviewing editors today for its new open access journal, eLife. Of the 175 editors, five are faculty from MIT: Barbara Imperiali (Biology), Nancy Kanwisher (Brain & Cognitive Sciences), Michael Laub (Biology), Aviv Regev (Biology), and David Sabatini (Biology).

According to the news release, eLife’s “first aim is to publish an open-access journal for the most important discoveries that is also a platform for experimentation and showcasing innovation in research communication.” The eLife journal, focused on life and biomedical science, is intended to offer “a top-tier open-access journal covering basic biological research through to applied, translational and clinical studies.”

eLife‘s goal is to “accelerate scientific advancement by promoting modes of communication whereby new results are made available quickly, openly, and in a way that helps others to build upon them.” Toward that end, eLife plans to “make decisions quickly; deliver a fair, transparent, and supportive author experience; and create maximum potential exposure for published works.”

eLife will launch toward the end of 2012.

For more information on eLife and other open access journals:

• New York Times article about eLife
• Open Access FAQ

Since the MIT faculty established their Open Access Policy in March 2009 they have made thousands of research papers freely available to the world via DSpace@MIT. To highlight that research, we’re offering a new series of blog posts that link news stories about scholars’ work to their open access papers in DSpace.

New climate circulation model shows Southern Ocean’s importance

As reported in the MIT News, Oceanography professor John Marshall and colleague Kevin Speer offer an updated ocean circulation model that emphasizes the Southern Ocean’s influence on the earth’s climate and climate change. Previous research has focused on the North Atlantic, but Marshall and Speer’s recent paper, a review of past observations and research, pinpoints the water circling Antarctica as a key player in the global circulation system.

Explore Professor Marshall’s research in the Open Access Articles collection in DSpace@MIT, where it is openly accessible to the world.

The Elsevier boycott started by mathematician Timothy Gowers has grown to over 8,900 names, with 81 signatories from MIT, 12 of whom list affiliations with the MIT Mathematics department. Adjunct MIT Professor of Mathematics Henry Cohn, one of the boycott signatories, is co-author of a new article “Mathematicians Take A Stand” that explains the reasoning behind the boycott.

The article, which has been accepted for publication in the Notices of the American Mathematical Society, argues that Elsevier “has aggressively pushed bundling arrangements that result in libraries paying for journals they do not want and that obscure actual costs,” has “fought transparency of pricing,” and has “imposed restrictions on dissemination by authors.” For example, Cohn and co-author Douglas Arnold of University of Minnesota point out that “if your institution mandates posting the accepted author manuscript in its repository, then Elsevier stipulates that you may not–although they permit such posting when there is no mandate!”

The authors report that push-back on Elsevier’s practices has had a real impact. Following the boycott, Elsevier publicly withdrew its support for the Research Works Act (RWA), which would have prohibited the government from establishing open access mandates for research it funds. Elsevier’s withdrawal of support came just hours before its sponsors declared the bill dead. “This victory,” Arnold and Cohn note, “confirmed the boycott’s success in delivering a message where we were never able to get through before.”

In addition to reversing position on the Research Works Act, Elsevier issued a “Letter to the Mathematics Community,” announcing a “target price” for core mathematics titles, and promising to address concerns about “large discounted agreements,” as well as opening access to the archives of 14 core mathematics journals from 1995 up to four years prior to the present day. Arnold and Cohn call for “expansion to the full set of mathematical journals and the period before 1995,” as well as a “binding commitment” to the changes Elsevier has made. They also want Elsevier to “allow authors to post accepted manuscripts to any [noncommercial subject] repository, as well as to university repositories, regardless of whether there is a posting mandate,” and to include this in their publishing agreement with authors.

More broadly, the authors reflect that “it is too early to predict” what mix of publishing models will “emerge as the most successful” but that “any publisher that wants to be part of this mix must convince the community that they oversee peer review with integrity, that they aid dissemination rather than hinder it, and that they work to make high-quality mathematical literature widely available at a reasonable price.”

For more information:

• Statement of Purpose for the Elsevier boycott (signed by 34 mathematicians)
• Why Scientists are Boycotting a Publisher: Gareth Cook’s editorial in the Boston Globe
• Interview with Elsevier about the boycott, RWA, and more
• Elsevier Fact Sheet
  
• Elsevier statement in reversing support for the RWA including that they will still “continue to oppose government mandates in this area.”