Canada Institute for Scientific and Technical Information

CANADA INSTITUTE FOR SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL INFORMATION

Annual Report for 2003-2004

Prepared for the 2004 General Assembly of the International Council for Scientific and Technical Information

Bernard Dumouchel, Director General

11 May 2004

INTRODUCTION

As a key element in NRC’s support to the Canadian innovation system, CISTI continues to succeed in today’s challenging environment. This Report for 2003-2004 to the Advisory Board for CISTI reviews the key achievements for this period and illustrates the alignment of CISTI’s activities within the five Pillars of the NRCVision 2006.

Pillar 1. Outstanding people – outstanding employer

A New Strategic Planning Process

Significant transformational changes have occurred in the ‘e-world’ since CISTI's last Strategic Plan was launched in 2000. The Internet, the rise of e-journals, and organization-changing technological advances are powerful forces that must be addressed. CISTI is constructing its Strategic Plan 2006 - 2010 to meet these challenges head-on.

The process guiding the development of CISTI’s strategic plan has already been used successfully elsewhere at NRC. We aim to create a Strategic Plan that:

• Reflects the new realities of STM information dissemination and publication, especially electronic technologies.
• Responds to the needs of our clients, stakeholders and the priorities of the Government of Canada.
• Is based on a realistic assessment of CISTI strengths and weaknesses, our capabilities and our resources. It will be both visionary and achievable.

Under the direction of a Core Strategy Team, a governance structure has been established and teams have been assembled to carry this process forward.

CISTI values the input of its staff to the development of the Strategic Plan. A key opportunity will be a workshop open to all staff that is planned for June. A number of CISTI staff members are assisting the ongoing Analysis and Opportunities teams in their research and evaluation. In addition, focus group sessions for the directors, and one-on-one interviews with CISTI staff have been conducted in February 2004 as part of the Capability Assessment.

Could you add a short comment on the consultation with external stakeholders in Saskatoon, Toronto, Montreal, Victoria and with our own NRC community.

The advice of external experts, users, and stakeholders is also critical to the relevance and success of CISTI’s Strategic Plan. Their input will be gathered through a series of consultations to be held in Saskatoon, Montreal, Toronto, and Victoria. NRC researchers are important CISTI clients and their valued input will be sought at a session in May. As well CISTI is using collaborative web-based software to reach stakeholders, clients, and peer organizations within Canada and around the world.

New positions at CISTI

In 2003-2004, CISTI reaffirmed the strategic importance of the position of Director of Publisher Relations, by confirming this as a continuing role. Cameron Macdonald held the post until his recent appointment as Director, Publishing (NRC Research Press). The position will be posted and filled in the near future.

To advance the work of the Research and Development Program, CISTI is seeking a Research Officer, with expertise in information science. The position will be supported by the NRC New Horizons Program, New Opportunities initiative which provides financial support to institutes to engage outstanding researchers, particularly young scientists and engineers with the potential to become world leaders in their field.

Pillar 2. Excellence and leadership in R&D

Federal Science eLibrary

Following the June 2002 launch of the business case for the Federal Science eLibrary, CISTI, together with the other members of the Strategic Alliance of Federal Science and Technology Libraries, focused efforts on promoting and seeking government funding for this initiative. In September 2003, the Strategic Alliance released a feasibility study on the Federal Science eLibrary funded by the Chief Scientist Office, Health Canada. It included results froma web survey ofover 2600 researchers from the six STM departments, data from interviews with department librarians,a detailed costing model, and a survey of best practices.The study'smainrecommendations to the federal S&TADM Committee(Assistant Deputy Ministers of the Science and Technology departments and agencies)were to:

• Approve the creation of the Federal Science eLibrary consortium to acquire and deliver ejournals to federal researchers.
• Sponsor a funding submission to the federal government requesting $42M in transition funds over five years.

In October 2003, the S&T ADM Committee accepted the study andapproved the preparation ofa submission to seek funding. In January 2004, in a meeting between Health Canada, NRC and the Strategic Alliance of Federal Science and Technology Libraries, Dr. Raymont confirmed that NRC would take the lead in preparing a Memorandum to Cabinet to seek funding. Two other S&T departments will also work with NRCon the submission. The Memorandum to Cabinet is expected to be completed bySummer 2004.

The Federal Science eLibrary is also being promoted by a federal S&T working group as part of a larger initiative to strengthen the infrastructure for science information in Canada.

Research and Development Program

CISTI Research Unit (CRU)

The Research Advisory Committee of CISTI was established in November 2003 to guide the development and direction of the CISTI Research Unit (CRU). The CRU mandate is to initiate, foster, promote, coordinate and lead research in areas of interest to CISTI and the STM library community, to disseminate information from the research, and to engage in collaborative inter- and multi-disciplinary research projects and programs with other institutions and agencies in the public and private sectors. CRU spearheads innovation at CISTI, in cooperation with the other CISTI Directorates.

The CRU developed its plan by drawing on information gained from completing the Advisory Board-recommended Inventory of Information Science Research Activities in Canada. They have begun work to establish a suitable research network infrastructure, including a virtual private network and substantial storage. They completed a report with recommendations regarding possible research interests and opportunities before the end of 2003.

Other projects are also progressing. The inventory of information sciences activities in Canada was completed in October 2003. Three other projects are currently on hold: trends in scholarly communication in a digital environment; meta-analysis of the scientific literature; and information needs of researchers and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

National Consultation on Access to Scientific Research Data (NCASRD)

Dr. David Strong, former president of the University of Victoria and an authority in the earth sciences, has accepted an appointment to chair the Task Force responsible for overseeing the forthcoming National Consultation on Access to Scientific Research Data (NCASRD). The objective of the NCASRD is to help Canada maximize the value received from its publicly funded natural and medical sciences research by recommending an appropriate framework and guidelines, which will facilitate open and long-term access to data coming from that research.

Data sharing is still in its infancy as a policy issue, but most research organizations understand that access to, and sharing of, research data is becoming an increasingly important concern. The pressures around the preservation and archiving of scientific and technical data are mounting. Lack of concerted action could result in the loss of many potentially significant collections of data.

It was this growing awareness that led NRC to take the lead on the issue, and Dr. Gordon Wood, Head of CISTI Research, assisted in convening a seminar on Access to Publicly Funded Scientific Data in May 2003. The seminar participants recommended that a comprehensive study be conducted, and that it be complementary to the National Data Archive Consultation completed for the social sciences by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and the National Archives.

The NCASRD will consist of a National Forum whose objective will be to make recommendations on the objectives stated above. Consisting of 30-40 Canadian scientists in the natural and medical sciences, the two-day Forum is planned for the fall of 2004. Its recommendations will form the basis of a report to be submitted to the granting agencies and the Government of Canada. NRC and CISTI are working in partnership with the Canada Foundation for Innovation, Canadian Institutes of Health Research, and Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council on the NCASRD.

NRC Web Projects

For a second year CISTI staff led the implementation of enhancements to NRC’s Web presence and utilization. NRC has acquired CSIRO's (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation) Panoptic Search Engine. The NRC Web Projects Office provides system administration and application support, including the creation of customized templates and search results forms for NRC’s Institutes, Branches and Programs (IBPs). The search engine was deployed initially as the search tool for CISTI's NRC Research Press full-text journals,followed by the corporate Web sites (external web site and Zone, the NRC intranet), andmost of NRC'sIBPs, where therewas an interest in adopting NRC's official search tool.
As part of this collaboration initiative, the Web Projects Office has established a joint research project with the Panoptic research and development team led by Dr. David Hawking, Leader of CSIRO's Enterprise Search Group.This arrangement with CSIRO has allowed NRC to purchase a state-of-the art search engine at a considerably reduced cost, while facilitating a collaborative approach to future enhancements and potential customization. Preliminary discussions are currently under way for a possible research collaboration between CISTI's Research Group and CSIRO's Panoptic development team.

Pillar 3. Technology Clusters

CISTI’s expanding role in the regions

CISTI’s reach extends to all regions of Canada through a network of NRC Information Centres (NICs), co-located with regional NRC institutes. The staff in these NICs provide scientific, technical, medical and business-related information to NRC researchers, companies located onsite, and external clients in the region.

As NRC expands its presence across the country with the development of community-based technology clusters, CISTI is also growing as part of this initiative.

• The NIC staff in Charlottetown is fully integrated into all relevant aspects of planning for the newly announced Institute for Nutrisciences and Health in Charlottetown.
• A new NIC is being constructed was opened in Ville Saguenay at NRC’s Aluminum Technologies Centre. The staff at the Saguenay NIC is building relationships with Alcan, Université du Québec àChicoutimi (UQAC) and Centre québécois de recherche et de développement de l'aluminium (CQRDA) in the region.
• Staff of the St. John’s NIC were recognized by the Institute for Ocean Technology for their involvement in the opening of the new Industrial Partnership Facility.
• A special collaboration with IRAP has led to increased information service provision to SMEs across Canada
• The Maritimes pilot project in competitive technical intelligence was officially launched in January 2004 with the completion of staffing for three Information Specialists and two Technical Business Analysts to support this activity
• NRC Information Services has developed expertise in patent analysis to address the needs of internal and external clients. Working with Focust, a patent analysis and visualization software tool, a study was completed for the Canadian Biomass Innovation Network. This demonstration of CISTI’s capabilities has generated interest from other government departments.

Competitive Technical Intelligence

As part of its support to innovation in Canada, CISTI is developing competitive technical intelligence products and services. The goal of this activity is to provide decision-makers in technology-based small businesses with the best analysis available of technological trends to position them to maximize their results and return on investment in research and development.

CISTI's efforts to implement CTI services have progressed significantly over the past year.

Based on a results-oriented approach targeted at CISTI's mission and business goals, task forces on the CTI process, CTI related tools and technologies and training needs have been set to direct the development of CISTI's capabilities to deliver value-added information services. A 2-year pilot project with IRAP Maritimes, Newfoundland and Nunavut region has been initiated. The project was successfully launched in January. Three Information Specialists and two Technical Business Analysts are currently serving the ITAs and their SMEclients' needs in supporting successful innovation projects. Efforts to develop CISTI's best practices will continue and new proposals for CTI pilot projects with IRAP, IPF facilities and partners are in progress.

Pillar 4. Value for Canada

CISTI Collection

The challenge of financing the collection continued through 2003. As a result of NRC spending constraints, $1 million was cut from the collection acquisitions budget. To address this, and the shift in worldwide information markets, CISTI’s collection strategy is shifting from a focus on a paper-based collection to electronic resources. The information market is moving to an e-business model, and CISTI has made significant changes to its operations over the past few years, putting the necessary hardware, software and agreements into place to make that a reality here. Examples of this movement include the Web-based Catalogue, electronic ordering, the Virtual Library, the e-business project, CISTI Signal (access to metadata and full text e-journals) and Secure Desktop Delivery.

Staying competitive in a global marketplace, CISTI has been working to provide seamless access to information, no matter where the information is located, or in what format. The Catalogue will integrate paper-based and electronic resources with Link partners’ holdings, and make it easier to provide seamless access to these combined resources. Clients still benefit from CISTI’s excellent turnaround time and client service.

Document Delivery

In December 2003, CISTI launched its Secure Desktop Delivery (SDD) method, enabling electronic delivery of documents directly to end-users’ desktops.

Secure Desktop Delivery (SDD) makes it possible to deliver copyright-cleared documents to CISTI’s customers in electronic format. The customized system effectively prevents redistribution, copying and storage of documents through the use of a customized plug-in that works with Acrobat Reader, allowing the customer to view and print their documents once, using a simple Web interface.

A key element in the successful launch of this new delivery method was the negotiation of agreements with major STM publishers, such as Elsevier, to deliver their documents electronically. CISTI must charge copyright fees set by rights-holders for all documents sent by Secure Desktop Delivery. Further agreements with copyright collectives made it possible to expand SDD delivery to the entire collection in February 2004.

The new document delivery business models provide balance between the need to protect publishers’ intellectual property holdings and CISTI’s ability to ensure the reliable delivery of documents in formats and within timeframes that meet their clients’ expectations.

Publishing

Journals Program

Eight of Research Press' fifteen scientific journals have implemented online submission and peer review, enabling fast, worldwide submission and peer review of manuscripts.With the new online manuscript submission and peer review system (dubbed “OSPRey”), NRC Research Press will be positioned at the forefront of electronic manuscript submission and processing. The system is being developed in collaboration with the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), NRC’s Australian counterpart. This partnership allows NRC Research Press and CSIRO to benefit from both publishers’ experiences and requirements in developing the software.

Peer review, or the critique of journal manuscripts by other experts in the field, is at the heart of scholarly publishing. In the competition to secure manuscripts for publication, a key challenge for publishers is how to get the articles through the peer review process in an efficient manner.

Many publishers are moving to Web-based submission and peer review systems in order to streamline and coordinate the work of authors, editors, and reviewers around the world. This distributed approach will help them to publish papers more rapidly than ever. OSPRey is the Web-enabled software that will make it possible for NRC Research Press to achieve this goal.

The software is scheduled for completion at the end of May 2004. Implementation of the system to NRC's editorial office will follow over the next several months.

Publishing Services

The NRC Research Press' Publishing Services program offers not-for-profit scholarly societies the opportunity to benefit from the infrastructure and expertise at the Press to produce and disseminate their journals electronically. In2003, the Canadian Health Libraries Association and theCanadian Water ResourcesAssociationsigned agreements with the Press toprovide publishing services for their journals.Three client journals currently published through the services of the Press launched Web sites for their journals: the Canadian Entomologist, the Canadian Aeronautics and Space Journal, and the Canadian Journal of Remote Sensing.