Public Library of Science enters the mainstream

Been hesitant to publish your articles in open-access journals? Well, consider the Public Library of Science. PLOS Biology has a journal impact factor of 13.868 for 2004. That compares with Current Biology at 11.901, and is twice as high as the next journal listed in the biology category, FASEB Journal with 6.820.

You can check the impact factors of your favorite journals at Web of Science (access restricted to CSULB staff, faculty, and students). Use the pull-down menu at the top of the page to select Journal Citation Reports.

Other PLOS journals are also moving into the mainstream. You may have heard a story in the news on Monday about how cats can't taste sweetness? (It was featured on NPR Monday morning.) That article is published in the very first issue of PLOS Genetics.

Why are open access journals important? Why should you publish in open access journals?

Still don't have RSS?

Read these articles on the future of RSS:
Woot blog on RSS

Will RSS replace e-mail? :: AO

My current favorite feeds include Woot and New York Times Science. (And of course this blog, which you can add to your RSS reader with this URL: http://www.csulb.edu/~coutten/scifeed.xml )

Need more information about setting up your own RSS reader? Try Yahoo or XML.com or Feedster

E-STREAMS needs book reviewers!

E-STREAMS "E-STREAMS: Electronic reviews of Science & Technology References covering Engineering, Agriculture, Medicine and Science. E-STREAMS is a collaborative venture between H. Robert Malinowsky of the University of Illinois at Chicago and YBP Library Services. E-STREAMS is free of charge and is available only in electronic form. Current issues and a full archive of E-STREAMS are maintained on the e-streams.com web site."

E-STREAMS is currently looking for professors who would like to review books in their area. Click on "Reviewers" on the left side of the screen. You get to keep the books! (Search Outten to see the reviews I have written!)

NPR : House Fight Heats Up over Global Warming

A chilling effect? Listen to the following NPR story.

"Morning Edition, July 20, 2005 · The head of the House Energy and Science Committee is engaged in a nasty public fight over global warming. Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX) has called for an investigation into three climate scientists and their work on global warming. Science Committee chair Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY) called the investigation "misguided and illegitimate" and has demanded that Barton call off the probe."

NPR : House Fight Heats Up over Global Warming

Open-Access!! Read the new PLoS Biology

What do you know about the journal pricing crisis? Do you know why open-access journals are important? Check out SPARC.

What can you do?

Read the latest issue of PLoS Biology one of the leaders in the open-access movement:

"PLoS Biology is a peer-reviewed, open-access journal published by the Public Library of Science (PLoS), a non-profit organization committed to making scientific and medical literature a public resource."

Search for Chemistry Experiments!

The Journal of Chemical Education has an interesting tool on their website. The JCE Online: Project Chemlab allows you to search for lab experiments by level (H.S., college etc.) and various categories. This leads you to a list of articles from the journal. CSULB people have free online access to the journal, just go to Locate Journals, click on "title", and type in "Journal of chemical education".

Ever hear that song in your head over and over again?

Neuron Network Goes Awry, and Brain Becomes an IPod - New York Times

CSULB Library says Goodbye to Science Librarian

Kate Peterson, science and engineering librarian, has left Long Beach for a new opportunity in Minnesota. She will be greatly missed. In her absence, Cathy Outten will act as liason to all the departments of the College of Natural Science and Mathematics, as well as the departments of the College of Engineering. The department of Science Education will be taken care of by Karin Griffin, education librarian.

College of Natural Science and Mathematics @ CSULB Student Clubs

Did you know there are 11 different student clubs for CNSM students? Check out the list at Student Organizations and Clubs

On Target: NASA Rocket Slams Into Comet - Yahoo! News

On Target: NASA Rocket Slams Into Comet - Yahoo! News

Great Biology Teacher Resources!!!

Visit this incredible site for everything to need to teach biology!

BioEd Online: Biology Teacher Resources


"Ever since the early days of the Internet, various educational
organizations and foundations have sought to use the Web to disseminate important
pedagogical tools to fellow educators and interested parties. This very
fine site sponsored by the Baylor College of Medicine and Texas A&M University
does exactly that for the field of biology with great aplomb. First-time
visitors will want to start by perusing the homepage, which includes links
to "Hot Topics" in biology (such as flu prevention), a "Biology News"
section (which digests important news from the field), and a selection of
recent additions to the site. Educators will also want to take a look
through the slide sets offered here, in the PowerPoint format, which
include topics such as human body systems, ecosystems, and Mendelian genetics.
Additionally, the site also features a number of streaming video
presentations for classroom use on a wide range of biological topics."