Customized Services for the Department of Energy Research Communityby Debbie Nuchols 16 Jul, 2009 in Products and Content While the majority of the Office of Scientific and Technical Information's (OSTI) activities are focused on making the Department of Energy's (DOE) scientific and technical information widely accessible, OSTI also provides special services to the Department and its contractor community. For example, in instances where it is important to protect certain types of information while at the same time ensuring that qualified members of the DOE research community are able to access the data, OSTI provides specialized databases and information services. Using a variety of capabilities and search options, qualified patrons can access approximately 4.5 million domestic and international energy-related bibliographic records as well as over 200,000 full-text documents spanning more than six decades of DOE research. When researchers locate a report and need electronic access to a document that is available only in hard copy, they can request that OSTI scan the document and make it available electronically. OSTI will perform this service for eligible requesters without charge to them. In this fashion, OSTI is able to expand its collection of electronically available documents based on the immediate needs (requests) of the Department's research scientists. If you work for DOE or are a DOE contractor, you may benefit from this specialized service. For more information and to take advantage of these services, please visit www.osti.gov/src. Debbie Nuchols OSTI Related Topics: doe, doe contractor, electronic access, information services, osti Read more... |
Surfing the Internet Gets Deepby Stacy Kish 15 Jul, 2009 in Science Communications WorldWideScience provides a one-stop search engine to mine global scientific databases in the deep web The internet has revolutionized society by changing the way people communicate, find information, and enjoy entertainment. But a standard internet search misses at least 90 percent of the information available. The internet is separated into two unequal pools of information. The surface web contains pages of information that are utilized by popular search engines. The second pool of information is locked away in the deep web, which consists of countless databases world wide. According to Walt Warnick, Director of the DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI), "The deep web is huge." Common browsers like Google and Yahoo crawl across the thousands of internet pages on the surface web, but are unable to dig into the databases to retrieve information from the deep web. "Asking a scientist, engineer, or educator to find information in their field using common web browsers is like asking a doctor to diagnose disease without X-rays, MRI, or any other piece of diagnostic equipment" said Warnick. Information in the deep web can only be mined for data using search engines designed for that particular database. Many of the search engines that are available to mine databases often do not use relevance ranking, making filtering through the information a crap shoot. "Under the current system, finding information in the deep web is a series of practical impossibilities, placing internet users, especially scientists and science educators, at a severe disadvantage" said Warnick. To address the global science need, OSTI has launched WorldWideScience.org, a science gateway that accelerates the search for data in national and international scientific databases and portals... Related Topics: china, doe, osti, WorldWideScience.org (WWS) Read more... |
Tool Supports OSTI Mashupsby Mary Schorn 14 Jul, 2009 in Products and Content Did you know that science information is available via web "mashups"? Web "mashups" combine multiple products/services into a single application for the purpose of consolidating information with an easy-to-use interface. The Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI) uses "mashups" to return search results from Science Accelerator, Science.gov, and WorldWideScience.org. These "mashups" include external sources of information, in these cases from Wikipedia and EurekAlert!, that are provided as a service to the user for help with additional background information or with the ability to further study their topic. These "mashups" are made possible by OSTI's use of a federated search to perform all-encompassing searches of important databases and collections. Science Accelerator searches U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) databases of scientific and technical information representing billions of dollars of DOE research. Science.gov searches U.S. government agency scientific databases and web pages. WorldWideScience.org searches national and international scientific databases and portals. Federated searching provides each of the three products with one-stop simultaneous searching of multiple networked data resources via a single query. When a query is entered, it is sent to selected databases, collections, and/or web portals that are available for searching. The individual data resources send back results, which are ranked in relevance order and are provided to the user as "mashups". Users can examine these "mashups" to find specific results that contain information that is useful to... Related Topics: doe, mashup, osti, Science Accelerator, Science.gov, WorldWideScience.org (WWS) Read more... |
Impact of Basic Research on Innovationby Kristin Bingham 01 Jun, 2009 in Personal Perspectives
The development of MP3 technologies illustrates the unexpected benefits of basic research. In 1965, a hand-sized storage and playback device that would hold 15,000 recorded songs was the stuff of science fiction. Even simple hand-held calculators were rare and expensive at that time. Research funded by the Department of Defense, the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Energy, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology contributed to the breakthrough technologies of magnetic storage drives, lithium-ion batteries, and the liquid crystal display, which came together in the development of MP3 devices. The device itself is innovative, but it built upon a broad platform of component technologies, each derived from fundamental studies in physical science, mathematics, and engineering. Related Topics: dod, doe, nih, nist, nsf, research Read more... |
What's in the OSTI Legacy Collection?by Tim Byrne 20 Mar, 2009 in Products and Content The DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information legacy collection contains an estimated one million technical reports representing six decades of energy research that is, for the most part, unavailable in electronic format. On average, OSTI receives close to two hundred requests each month to digitize specific reports, with the vast majority of the requests coming from DOE employees and contractors. The legacy collection represents an enormous investment in research and development from the Atomic Energy Commission, Energy Research and Development Administration and Department of Energy. With the growing tendency of many researchers to rely solely on research information available electronically, this incredibly valuable resource collection is often ignored. By not having electronic access to previous research, scientific advancement may be diminished and funds wasted duplicating what has already been done.
OSTI has recently implemented the Adopt-a-Doc program that allows the general public to pay for the digitization of a document of their choosing. Documents in need of digitization can be identified by searching the Energy Citations Database and clicking on the Materials available for digitization box on the Fielded Search window. This is proving to be a popular service. Unfortunately, with the level of digitization that OSTI can currently handle, it will take a very long time to digitize the entire legacy collection.
The birth of the OSTI legacy collection really began with the declassification and distribution of reports from the Manhattan Project. Following the end of World War II, our nation was inquisitive and interested in the government's hitherto top-secret program on... Related Topics: Adopt-A-Doc, AEC, digitization, doe, Energy Citations Database (ECD), erda, legacy collection, Nobel Prize, osti Read more... |
OSTI is Committed to Facilitating Science Researchby Karen Spence 04 Dec, 2008 in Technology
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China Joins the WorldWideScience Alliance: Why This is Importantby Brian Hitson 29 Oct, 2008 in Products and Content
On October 14, OSTI announced that the People's Republic of China had joined the WorldWideScience Alliance. The press release making the announcement described, and hinted at, the importance of China's contribution: China, a major producer of journals and conference proceedings, is offering searches of key Chinese English-language scientific literature through WorldWideScience.org. The Chinese resource enables searching of over 6,000 journals. WorldWideScience.org, the global science gateway managed by the WorldWideScience Alliance, is intended to enhance scientific communication in order to accelerate international scientific progress by serving as a single, sophisticated point of access for diverse scientific resources and expertise from nations around the world.
The Importance of China's Participation The addition of China is a notable milestone for a number of reasons. China is a major global contributor to scientific knowledge. Thomson Reuters makes the point clearly: According to citation analysis based on data from Web of Science, China is ranked second in the world by number of scientific papers published in 2007. Scientific's World IP Today Report on Global Patent Activity 2007 reported that China almost doubled its volume of patents from 2003 to 2007, and... Related Topics: doe, osti, WorldWideScience.org (WWS) Read more... |
Join the discussion on important DOE researchby Michelle Turpin 07 Oct, 2008 in Products and Content Our team is excited to announce that you can now join in or start discussions on important DOE research and development in the Information Bridge collection. Our new social networking feature, Document Discussion, has been added to the Information Bridge to provide a forum for moderated, substantive commentary on DOE research and development. Users may perform a search at the Information Bridge site and then begin a discussion or add to a discussion about any of the documents in the results list returned. Authors of the research documents will be notified so that they may view and contribute to the discussion. The Information Bridge is a core OSTI product featuring approximately 190,000 fully searchable DOE technical reports. Information Bridge serves over 3 million user transactions per month. We look forward to your contributions and to many dynamic discussions on your science topics of interest. Michelle Turpin Product Manager Related Topics: doe, Information Bridge (IB), technical reports Read more... |
Dr. Bob Marianelli: A Catalyst for Accelerating Chemical Scienceby Sol Lederman 05 Sep, 2008 in Personal Perspectives OSTI is founded on the principle that science advances only if knowledge is shared. The OSTI Corollary takes this concept to a new level. It holds that accelerating the spread of knowledge accelerates the advance of science. The advance of science can also be accelerated by funding more bright scientists. In the following blog article, Dr. Bob Marianelli reminisces and gives his perspectives about advancing science throughout his remarkable career. Dr. Marianelli led a distinguished career as a DOE Program Manager and Director of the Chemistry Division. He had the privilege to shape and manage the process by which the Department of Energy identifies bright chemists and follows their progress. Along the way, he fostered the work of many truly extraordinary scientists, including six who went on to win the Nobel Prize, perhaps the top honor a scientist can receive. In addition to fostering the work of top scientists, Dr. Marianelli played a key role in the construction of a huge facility at Pacific Northwest National Lab, and he positively influenced the direction of other major research facilities.
Love of science and learning from an early age SL: What inspired you to pursue a science career? BM: Well, I was very much interested in mathematics and science from my earliest recollection even before I started school. And, my siblings - my older brother and sister - encouraged me when I was very young because they could see that I was very good with numbers. Since they were six and eight years older they would give me all kinds of help and interesting challenges....Read more... |
OSTI and Reference Linkingby Daphne Evans 13 May, 2008 in Technology OSTI actively supports the practice of Reference Linking. Also referred to as citation linking, reference linking adds value to technical reports and journal articles by hyperlinking the references at the end of the document. Authors frequently cite numerous supporting reports and articles. However, locating these cited works can be difficult. If these references can be hyperlinked to online full text, or availability information, that opens up all kinds of possibilities for the discovery and reuse of related research. When authors submit technical reports to OSTI, they can request that their references be hyperlinked. We will identify hyperlinks for as many of the references as possible, and create an enhanced file. The authors review the new document, and once approved it is made available per their specifications. This greatly enhances the technical report and the accessibility of the references. This service is provided at no cost to the author or their organization. Another great benefit for the author is that DOE technical reports referenced in journal articles can also be hyperlinked. In 2005, OSTI entered into an agreement with CrossRef, a nationally recognized reference-linking service. Now OSTI and CrossRef use Digital Object Idenitifers (DOIs) to facilitate access to DOE's vast collection of science research reports. DOIs are persistent links,... Related Topics: CrossRef, doe, hyperlinking, reference linking
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Accelerating Science Discovery - Join the Discussion
