Curtis Cooper of the University of Central Missouri has uncovered the largest prime number currently known. The new number has 17,425,170 digits. You can read about it here in Slate.
Episciences Project to launch series of community-run, open-access journals
February 5, 2013 By
Mathematicians aim to create a researcher-run publishing system by creating a platform which will make it easy to set up arXiv overlay journals.
Retaining Copyright
November 16, 2012 By
A common misconception when it comes to publishing papers in academic journals is that it is necessary to cede the exclusive rights of your work to the publisher. This article in CAUT’s Intellectual Property Advisory outlines how you can publish your work and continue to hold onto the copyright. When hold the copyright to your own work you can post your paper on your website, share the paper electronically with colleagues and/or post the paper in Blackboard for your students to access.
Here is a link to the SPARC Canadian Author’s Addendum explained and a PDF of the Addendum itself.
SHERPA RoMEO is a database of publisher copyright policies and self-archiving.
Preliminary data items now available on MathSciNet
November 16, 2012 By
Press release from the AMS:
Finding the most up-to-date information on publications in mathematics just got simpler. MathSciNet now includes Preliminary Data items, which are created from bibliographic data received directly from publishers. This data allows users to view early information about new papers in mathematics while full processing,including author identification and editorial decisions, is ongoing.
Preliminary Data items are marked as such until processing is complete. The initial group of publishers who have agreed to provide preliminary data feeds includes the American Mathematical Society, the Canadian Mathematical Society, the EuropeanMathematical Society, the Mathematical Association of America, SIAM, Elsevier, and Springer. Publishers interested in participating in the Preliminary Data program are invited to contact: mr-librarian@ams.org.
In addition, new MathSciNet item tags allow users to instantly assess at what stage an item is in the review process. The seven tags are: Preliminary Data, Pending, Reviewed, Expansion, DML, Indexed, and Thesis. For more information and detailed descriptions of each item tag, please visit:
October brings book sales to U of T
October 12, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Over the upcoming days sales of used books will be featured on the St. George Campus. The 34th annual University College Book Sale starts on October 12th and runs through until Tuesday, October 16th. If your thirst for book buying is not quenched by then, OISE is having its own two day sale event starting on the 16th with all proceeds going toward supporting projects and activities of the OISE Library
Open Access could be ‘catastrophic’
September 25, 2012 By Leave a Comment
The UK government has come to view publisher pay walls to research as unhealthy and has let academic publishers know that they will make freely available online the publicly-funded research the publishers currently charge for. This has led some to suggest that this move could affect Elsevier’s profits by as much as 60%.
Is there a book you think the library should have?
March 27, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Can’t find a book in our collection?
You can locate the book in our catalogue but it’s always on loan or seems to have gone missing?
Let us know and we will order it - whether it’s a new title, a replacement for a lost volume, or an additional copy of the book you need. You can either drop in on us in person or send us your suggestion.
Past Exams
January 31, 2012 By Leave a Comment
If you are looking for past exams in Mathematics, or for any other subjects, this link will lead you to the Central Library’s repository of old exams.
“One fed-up mathematician”
January 31, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Just minutes after posting A call to stop volunteering, this post popped up in the MSL mailbox. Fields Medal winner Timothy Gowers calling for a boycott of Elsevier. So far, over 1900 academics agree.
A call to stop volunteering
January 31, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Having grown aggravated at the giant publishing house Elsevier and at the ever increasing cost-per-page of their academic journals, George Washington University’s Henry Farrell, in the Crooked Timbers blog, gives a run down on his reasons for faculty to stop working for Elsevier journals for free.
For a better understanding of how prices of Elsevier journals have increased over the past few years, take a look at this table created by Ulf Rehmann, Fakultät für Mathematik of the Universität Bielefeld in Germany.
