In the latest UBC Library Friends newsletter, you can read about our colleague Dean Giustini, Librarian at the Biomedical Branch Library at VGH who was identifed as a 2009 Mover & Shaker by Library Journal.

Dean is well known for his Search Principle blog and UBC Health Library wiki.

Congratulations Dean!

On Monday, July 20, Tony Clement, Minister of Industry and James Moore, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages launched nationwide consultations to solicit Canadians’ opinions on the issue of copyright.

The current copyright legislation was enacted in 2001, and new legislation which will stand the test of time, and also reflect the current technological realities is definitely in order.

The Government of Canada is encouraging Canadians to participate in the discussions and express their views over the coming weeks. The consultation period extends from July 20 to September 13, 2009. The consultation website http://copyright.econsultation.ca/ provides opportunities for submissions to the discussions.

Five questions have been posed to generate discussion:
1) Based upon Canadian values and interests, how should copyright changes be made in order to withstand the test of time?
2) How do Canada’s copyright laws affect you? How should existing laws be modernized?
3) What sorts of copyright changes do you believe would best foster innovation and creativity in Canada?
4) What sorts of copyright changes do you believe would best foster competition and investment in Canada?
5) What kind of changes would best position Canada as a leader in the global, digital economy?

Copyright is an issue of considerable importance to those of us who work in academic/research settings, so please voice your thoughts!

(posting adapted from message by Marlene Dorgan, President of the Canadian Health Libraries Association)

CAB Direct, a key database for agriculture, animal science, conservation, forestry, global health and nutrition has a snazzy new look. The new interface, which is available now and will replace the existing version on September 1, offers a more intuitive search experience. Features include:

• Simple and advanced search screens.
• Suggestions for spelling variations.
• The ability to refine search results by subject, year, journal, author, geographic location and language.
• Abstract snippet views at the results level.
• Links to full text articles using the View Full Text and UBC eLink icons.
• MyCABDirect, a personal account where you can set-up email alerts and RSS feeds based on saved searches.

A heads-up about RefWorks: The Direct Export feature is not available in the new interface. Instead you can download the results and save them as an .RIS file, and then Import the file into RefWorks using the .RIS filter.

For help with the new interface, please contact Sally Taylor or Katherine Miller at Woodward Library.