Screen-Capture Video & Self-Assessment Workshop on the Local Production of Effective Learning Resources

18th March 2009, University of the West of England

This workshop is being conducted as part of the Royal Society of Chemistry ‘Chemistry For Our Future’ project and being organised by Graham Currell and Dilys Thornton of the University of the West of England.

It is now possible, with very little effort and practice, to produce effective video-based learning materials that are extremely well received by the students. These can vary from little more than a video ‘email’ to a more sophisticated interactive learning package.

The fact that these materials can be produced quickly in-house can permit the development of many small learning objects, some of which could evolve to be extremely useful in building support (as per Lego) for learning in other institutions. It is also possible to produce these videos in a core format which can then be further edited by a recipient university to produce a locally customised version.

The aims of this workshop are to develop skills and consider mechanisms by which such locally produced learning objects can be shared more widely.

For more information see the website:
http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/physsci/events/detail/2009/screen_capture_workshop

Edikt2009: Using Computing in your Research

29th April, 2009 09:30 - 17:00
WestPark Conference Centre, Dundee

Following the successful edikt2008 symposium, this year's event will bring together Scottish researchers who make heavy use of computer simulations, models or analysis to do research, allowing them to swap ideas and see how other scientists use the resources to maximum benefit. There is no similar activity in Scotland.

The day will be arranged into four sessions covering a wide range of computational research; including cell biology, computational chemistry, brain imaging and bioinformatics.

A poster session will also be held in the coffee and lunch breaks.

The symposium is free of charge and lunch is provided. Please register your interest by emailing Jon Hill (j.hill@ epcc.ed.ac.uk).

For more information on the edikt2 project or the symposium, please see the webpage (http://www.epcc.ed.ac.uk/research/activities/edikt/) or contact Jon Hill (j.hill@ epcc.ed.ac.uk).

CambridgeSoft Conference & User Meeting in London on March 9th, 2009

This free event will consist of customer presentations, product demonstrations and discussion of future product initiatives.

Monday, March 9th, 2009, at the Holiday Inn Kensington Forum, London, UK

http://www.cambridgesoft.com/direct/index.cfm?did=8355&userid=1483545

The conference will include presentations by well-known pharmaceutical companies and CambridgeSoft management and development staff.

There is also paid training on some of our most popular application on Tuesday, March 10th — taught by members of the CambridgeSoft Development Team. For more information on the training sessions, please click on the following links:

Inventory: http://www.cambridgesoft.com/direct/index.cfm?did=8356&userid=1483545
E-Notebook: http://www.cambridgesoft.com/direct/index.cfm?did=8357&userid=1483545
ChemBioViz: http://www.cambridgesoft.com/direct/index.cfm?did=8358&userid=1483545

CONFERENCE REGISTRATION
Participation in the Conference & User Group Meeting is FREE, but you must REGISTER early as space is limited. You may register online at:
http://www.cambridgesoft.com/direct/index.cfm?did=8355&userid=1483545

Maximising the effectiveness of virtual worlds in teaching and learning

This joint event organised by JISC CETIS and Eduserv provided a range of perspectives on the use of virtual worlds in HE from experienced practitioners.

More, including presentations from:

http://wiki.cetis.ac.uk/CETIS-Eduserv-VW2009

Research-Teaching Links in the Physical Sciences: Politics and Practice, Wednesday 18th March 2009, The Reinvention Centre, University of Warwick

Undergraduate Research and the Research Teaching Link are currently hot topics. Autumn 2008 saw the publication of three major reports, from the Scottish QAA and from Professors Nigel Thrift and Paul Ramsden to the Minister, John Denham, that provide a clear political framework for 2009 onwards.

The purpose of this workshop will be to explore what this proposed framework means for practitioners in the Physical Sciences in UK Higher Education through case studies that highlight what is actually happening in Physical Science Departments around the country, brief presentations around the Reports and plenty of opportunity for discussion.

If you would like to contribute a 10 minute case study presentation to the workshop, please Ruth Wellock, r.wellock@hull.ac.uk, with details of what you would like to present.

There is no registration fee for this meeting for those working in UK HE and lunch and refreshments will be provided. For more details and to register online:

http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/physsci/events/detail/2009/rtl_mar_2009

Discontinuation of SciFinder Scholar 2006

On 30th January, the following client desktop editions of SciFinder will stop working:

1) SciFinder Scholar 2006 for MicrosoftR Windows
2) SciFinder Scholar 2006 for MAC OS X

If you are using one of these, please upgrade. For information about downloading the 2007 version and about web access go to http://www.lib.ed.ac.uk/resbysub/scifinder.shtml

The UoEdinburgh open access computer labs are running SciFinder Scholar 2007.

[To see which version you're using: select Help from the top menu then About SciFinder Scholar. The version is given just above the copyright notice on the box which displays.]

CAS registry numbers on "certain" Elsevier databases

From publisher, Elsevier's website at http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/authored_newsitem.cws_home/companynews05_01105

Academic publishing company, Elsevier is providing enhanced electronic versions of its journal articles to CAS SciFinder publisher, and CAS in turn is helping Elsevier identify additional CAS Registry Numbers in certain of its databases.

The CAS Registry Number identification aspect of the agreement is being carried out periodically through an automated, first level, "machine comparison". That method is neither comprehensive nor detailed relative to many chemical structure conventions, and so this resulting addition of Registry numbers does not represent a complete comparison of Elsevier resources with the CAS Registry, the most comprehensive substance collection...From time to time more CAS Registry Numbers will be added.