Scitopia.org Launches Updated Site
Scitopia.org, the free, federated search portal created by leading science and technology scholarly societies removed its beta label on 16 October, marking the launch of its official service. Scitopia.org Beta was opened in June 2007, allowing users to test the site and provide feedback for improving the search portal. Since the initial beta release, scitopia.org has refined the cross-file searching that occurs with multiple content partners and modified the interface based on user feedback. The result is a simple and flexible interface, capable of providing reliable retrievals from over three million documents – primarily peer-reviewed journal content and conference proceedings –spanning more than 150 years of scholarship.
Scitopia.org is a product of the imagination and collaboration of 15 leading science and technology societies: Acoustical Society of America, American Geophysical Union; American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics; American Institute of Physics; American Physical Society; American Society of Civil Engineers; American Society of Mechanical Engineers; AVS, ECS; IEEE; Institute of Physics Publishing; Optical Society of America; Society of Automotive Engineers; Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics; and SPIE. Learn more
Save the Date: IEEE Luncheon at London Online
Information professionals and their colleagues are invited to attend the annual IEEE Luncheon at London's International Online Information Conference this December. At the luncheon, IEEE will present new ideas in technical research, news about the IEEE collection, and updates about the IEEE Xplore® delivery platform. Both IEEE customers and those interested in obtaining access to IEEE online publications are welcome. The luncheon will be held 5 December 2007 in the Pembroke Suite of the Hilton London Olympia at 1:00 p.m., and registration is required. Please RSVP to Phyllis Buchta at p.buchta@ieee.org.
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IEEE Hosts 2007 UPP Leaders Summit
Student branch leaders from 13 U.S. universities met at the IEEE Operations Center, in Piscataway, N.J., USA, on 5 October to share recent accomplishments, challenges, and plans for the coming year at the IEEE 2007 Leaders Summit. Part of the University Partnership Program (UPP), the annual Leaders Summit allows representatives from across the country to build relationships with other student member leaders and brainstorm about membership growth and funding strategies. Participating students came from the California Institute of Technology; Columbia University; Dartmouth College; Drexel University; Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Stanford University; Texas A&M University; University of California’s Berkeley, Los Angeles and San Diego branches; University of Michigan; Virginia Tech; and Worcester Polytechnic Institute. The day-long summit started with a welcome from Kristen Fitzpatrick, manager of the IEEE University Partnership Program, and included a presentation by Spectrum Senior Editor Jean Kumagai and Photo Editor Randi Silberman entitled "Bill & Ed's Excellent Underwater Adventure." Drexel's "Engineering a Better World" and Berkeley's HOPE (Hands on Practical Electronics) were discussed as model outreach programs.
As a whole, the summit was considered a huge success, with one attendee saying the event was great “because it provided an opportunity for students to share ideas and discuss what things have made their chapter successful”. Another student representative said the event gave participants a chance to “learn a lot about IEEE and realize how multi-faceted the organization is.” Suggestions for next year’s conference included a request to hear more about how and why volunteers, like participant and IEEE Fellow Peter Staecker, became involved with IEEE. The attendees also suggested putting together a friendly intra-UPP membership competition.
For photos, visit
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Two IEEE Authors Win Nobel Prize in Physics
Two hard-disk pioneers, Albert Fert (France) and Peter Gruenberg (Germany) won the 2007 Nobel Prize in Physics for a breakthrough in nanotechnology that allows huge amounts of data to be stored in small spaces. Fert and Gruenberg were presented with the prize for their work in discovering giant magnetoresistance (GMR), considered "one of the first real applications of the promising field of nanotechnology," according to the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. Laptop computers, MP3 players, and even YouTube, would not be possible without this discovery, which allows anything requiring a large amount of data to function properly when stored in tiny spaces. Gruenberg most recently published with the IEEE in 2000, Fert in 2007 – both in IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices. Learn more
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Enhance Your Subscription with IEEE Xplore® Tips
IEEE has taken the most requested training topics and created short digital overviews to show users how to get the most out of IEEE Xplore. Whether you are new to the IEEE Xplore digital library or just looking for a refresher, these modules provide tips for using IEEE Xplore more efficiently. Topics for the overviews range from setting up email alerts and browsing content to advanced search techniques, creating complex searches from session histories and using the AbstractPlus page. All under five minutes, the instant training modules are perfect for catching up on useful pointers to help your research go smoothly. Learn more
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Marketing Your Collection: Best Practices Shop and Swap
Join IEEE at a "shop and swap" workshop for e-resources librarians to share marketing ideas and best practices, held in conjunction with the 2007 Annual Charleston Conference in Charleston, South Carolina, USA. Held on 8 November from 3-3:50 p.m. (concurrent session 2) in the Citadel Green Room of the Embassy Suites, speakers will include Barbara DeFelice, Director of Digital Resources, Dartmouth College; Karen Hawkins, Director of Publications and Information Marketing, IEEE; and Ruth Wolfish, Client Services Manager, IEEE. Best practices and tips for creating a successful e-resource event will be discussed – from creating flyers to managing the logistics of vendor fairs, library awareness campaigns and training sessions. This is a “shop and swap”, so please brings examples to share. If you have any questions, please email Ruth Wolfish at r.wolfish@ieee.org.
For more information on the 2007 Annual Charleston Conference, please visit the conference website.
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Register for IEEE Online Training Seminars
Don’t forget to register for IEEE’s online training seminar, “Searching with IEEE Xplore®”, scheduled for 29 November 2007 at 10 A.M. (EST). The online tutorial provides existing and potential customers with free demonstrations, including tips on how to search in the IEEE Xplore digital library. Advance registration is required and space is limited, so please sign up early. Customized tutorials are also available. Please contact training@ieee.org for more information on designing a training seminar to fit your needs.
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In Brief: New Issues Now Available in the IEEE Xplore® Digital Library
Over 70 new journal issues and conference proceedings have been added to the IEEE Xplore Digital Library in October. You can view the full list of additions on the content update webpage, or check out some of the highlights below.
Sign up for email alerts to learn whenever new titles are posted to IEEE Xplore.
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New IET Power Electronics Journal Announced for 2008; IET Renewable Power Generation Journal Now Available in IEEE Xplore®
A new quarterly journal, IET Power Electronics, will be published next year. The journal will focus on the most significant and current international research regarding power electronics. Five main areas will be highlighted: Applications of power semiconductor technology for the control and conversion of electric power; Circuits commonly used, including all types of converters, inverters, active filters, switched mode power and uninterruptible power supplies; Devices used in power electronic applications; Techniques for controlling, analyzing, modeling and/or simulation of power electronics circuits and complete power electronic systems; and Performance management of power electronic systems. For more information about this upcoming periodical, or other journal titles currently available, please visit IEEE Xplore.
IET Renewable Power Generation is a quarterly journal bringing together the topics of renewable energy technology, power generation and systems integration. Specific technology areas covered by the journal include: wind power technology and systems; photovoltaics; solar thermal power generation; geothermal energy; fuel cells; wave power; marine current energy; and biomass conversion. Other technologies having a direct role in sustainable power generation such as energy storage will also be covered, along with system control approaches. The first three issues of the journal are currently available in IEEE Xplore. Learn more
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U.S. Naval Research Laboratory’s Research Library Celebrates 80th Anniversary
The Ruth H. Hooker Research Library at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) is commemorating 80 years of service to Navy engineers and other technical professionals. Opened in 1927, the Research Library has been a binding element across the research and development efforts for the U.S. Navy – especially as those needs evolve in response to the changing defense needs of the United States. The creation of the NRL Library was first championed by Thomas Alva Edison, founding member of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers, a predecessor society of today’s IEEE. Edison advocated that the government “should maintain a great research laboratory” to support “the technique of military and naval progression without any vast expense.” The Naval Research Library was renamed the Ruth H. Hooker Research Library in 1975, in honor of the Library’s first librarian. The IEEE is extremely pleased to have been associated with the Naval Research Library for many years, connected by the vast intellectual property currently available to the NRL Library through the IEEE Digital library, and the contributions of the NRL researchers to this body of knowledge. Learn more
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Three Ways to Keep Up with IEEE
IEEE offers a variety of ways to keep up with what’s happening in the IEEE community.
IEEE.tv is an Internet-based television network presenting targeted programming on technology and engineering produced by IEEE members. The network features programs available to the general public, along with special programming that can only be viewed by IEEE members. Current programming includes videos about recycling computers and electronics, the Group on Earth Observations (GEOSS), new wind power technology and career choices in information technology and biomedical engineering. Visit IEEE.tv
IEEE is also on YouTube, with hundreds of videos from IEEE members about the evolution of IEEE, the history of engineering, recordings from IEEE conferences or competitions and much more. See videos
Additionally, you can keep up-to-date with the University Partnership Program’s (UPP) recent events by checking out its Flickr photo page – updated regularly with pictures from UPP events around the country.
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