Survey of Researchers' Reliance on Open Access

A major survey of UK Academics released today examines the attitudes of researchers and practitioners working within higher education. It sheds light on their behaviours, including their reliance on digital technologies, the Internet and open access.
The survey, funded and guided by Jisc and RLUK and conducted on their behalf by the not-for-profit research organisation Ithaka S+R, received 3,498 responses, (a response rate of 7.9%). The survey covers a range of areas from how academics discover and stay abreast of research, to their teaching of undergraduates. How they choose research topics and publication channels, to their views on learned societies and university libraries, and their collections.

Overarching themes are an increasing reliance on the Internet for their research and publishing activities, and the strong role that openness is playing in their work. Key findings include:
Access limitations– While 86% of respondents report relying on their college or university library collections and subscriptions, 49% indicated that they would often like to use journal articles that are not in those collections.
Use of open resources - If researchers can’t find the resources or information they need through their university library, 90% of respondents often or occasionally look online for a freely available version.
The Internet as starting point – 40% of researchers surveyed said that when beginning a project they start by searching the internet for relevant materials, with only 2% visiting the physical library as a first port of call.
Following one’s peers– The findings suggest that the majority of researchers track the work of colleagues and leading researchers as a way of keeping up to date with developments in their field.
Emergence of e-publications– The findings show that e-journals have largely replaced physical usage for research, but that contrasting views exist on replacement of print by e-publications, where print still holds importance within the Humanities and Social Sciences and for in-depth reading in general.
Rachel Bruce, Innovation Director for Digital Infrastructure, Jisc, explains: “Across the findings, this survey confirms that the open web is the first port of call for academics starting research. If an article is not available through the library the majority of academics will go straight to the web to look for a free copy, suggesting that open access is becoming a critical component of the research process. It also confirms our expectation that libraries have an important role to play in both surfacing open content on the web and ensuring open content is accessible through library systems.”
Chair of RLUK, Stella Butler, commented: “University libraries have long ceased to be passive repositories of information. Our role as gateways to research findings and as curators of knowledge, including data, is clearly expanding. The results of this survey will help all libraries explore the changing needs of one of our key customer groups and help RLUK re-define the research library model.”

An overview of recent urban climate resilience resources

There is a critical need for a flexible and dynamic approach to building disaster resilience that goes beyond risk mitigation. More than 50% of the world’s population currently lives in cities. By 2050, this figure is expected to increase to 70%, or 6.4 billion people. Climate change impacts, including rising sea level, more frequent and severe storms, coastal erosion and declining freshwater sources will likely exacerbate urban issues, in particular in poor and vulnerable communities that lack adequate infrastructure and services.
Building Urban Resilience: Principles, Tools, and Practice is a practical resource designed to give planners and practitioners an intuitive way to build elements of resilience into urban governance and planning. The report is available at:
 http://www.seachangecop.org/sites/default/files/documents/2013%2002%20WB%20Building%20Urban%20Resilience.pdf

Oral Examinations for PhD

Moseki Motsholapheko and Nqobizitha Siziba presented their thesis and were awarded PhD degrees at Okavango Research Institute, Maun on the 23rd and 24th April 2013. The occassion was presided over by a team of board of examiners (Prof Dube, Prof Gavin Fraser-external examiner, Prof Chanda-internal examiner, Dean, School of Graduate Studies), experts in the respective fields and senior management at ORI. The presentations also attracted quite a healthy audience who were invited to participate in the oral examination. Motsholapheko's thesis was entitled: Rural  livelihoods and household adaptation to flood variability in the Okavango Delta, Botswana. ORI Community congratulate and wish them success in their new assignments!

Digital Rubbish: A natural history of electronics

The rapidity of technological progress leads to enduring and toxic electronic materials. Electronic waste gives rise to a distinctly electronic version of garbology, a digital rubbish theory. The research that follows considers how remainders - and dirt - may be the most compelling devices for registering the transience of electronic technologies.

If you dig down beneath the thin surface crust of Silicon Valley, you will find deep strata of earth and water percolating with errant chemicals. Xylene, trichloroethylene, Freon 113, and sulfuric acid saturate these subterranean landscapes undergirding Silicon Valley. Since the 1980s, 29 of these sites have registered sufficient levels of contamination to be marked by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as Superfund priority locations, placing them among the worst hazardous waste sites in the country.  What is perhaps so unexpected about these sites is that the pollution is not a product of heavy industry but, rather, stems from the manufacture of those seemingly immaterial information technologies. The manufacture of components for such technologies as computers, mobile devices, microwaves, and digital cameras has contributed to the accumulation of chemicals underground.

This research is available at:

http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=dcbooks;idno=9380304.0001.001;rgn=full%20text;view=toc;cc=dcbooks;xc=1;g=dculture

State of the Science of Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals

This document is an update of the scientific knowledge, including main conclusions and key issues, on endocrine disruptors. It address concerns about the potential adverse health effects of chemicals on humans and wildlife.

The article is available at:

http://www.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/78101/1/9789241505031_eng.pdf

Access to Water

As the world observes World Water Day (March 22) and the International Year of Water Cooperation, IDRC asked researchers: How do we ensure fair and equitable access to water?

Water will play a significant role in the next millennium due to fresh water shortages. To ensure fair and equitable access to water, we must protect our watersheds, the basic building blocks of the environment on which people, plants, and animals depend.

These contributions can be accessed at:

http://www.idrc.ca/EN/Resources/Publications/Pages/ArticleDetails.aspx?PublicationID=1176

Climate change adaptation

This topic guide focuses on adaptation to climate change in developing countries from a governance and social development perspective. It explores how climate change is likely to impact on the poorest and most vulnerable, and some of the response measures which might be adopted.

It is recognised that an understanding of the relationship between adaptation and mitigation is key to assessing the synergies and trade-offs among different policy options. A brief introduction to these issues is presented in the context of low carbon and climate resilient development.

The guide was written by Andrew McDevitt (GSDRC) in November 2010, in collaboration with Andrew Clayton (DFID), Tom Mitchell (Overseas Development Institute), Blessings Chinsinga (University of Malawi), and Mozaharul Alam (United Nations Environment Programme).

This guide can be accessed at: http://www.gsdrc.org/docs/open/CC112.pdf