The April 2008 issue of Proceedings of the IEEE (v.96, no.4) covers the main aspects of multimedia information retrieval research and upcoming challenges in the field. Multimedia information retrieval refers to a set of theories, algorithms and systems that aim at extracting pertinent descriptors or metadata related to multimedia content and allowing search, retrieval and other user functions. In recent years, the tremendous interest of users in multimedia information retrieval has driven a significant amount of research in the field. Primarily, research objectives in information retrieval have been to develop technology breakthroughs that enable fast, natural, intuitive and personalized access to a vast number of multimedia data collections.

This special issue of Proceedings of the IEEE, entitled “Advances in Multimedia Information Retrieval,” begins by outlining specific approaches for multimedia retrieval and looking at the progress to date in the field. Papers have been carefully selected to cover the main aspects of the multimedia information retrieval research, highlight successes, critically analyze the achievements made so far and assess the applicability of information retrieval results in real-life scenarios. The issue provides insights into the current possibilities for building automated and semi-automated methods as well as algorithms for segmenting, abstracting, indexing, representing, browsing and retrieving multimedia content in various contexts. Additionally, future challenges that are likely to drive the research in the multimedia information retrieval field for years to come are also discussed. To learn more, please visit the Proceedings of the IEEE website.

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From LiveScience:
“Humans have altered Earth so much that scientists say a new epoch in the planet’s geologic history has begun.

Say goodbye to the 10,000-year-old Holocene Epoch and hello to the Anthropocene.”

From The Chronicle of Higher Education:
The influential journal Science has reversed course and rejoined JSTOR, The Chronicle has learned. The journal and the popular online archive of scholarly publications reached an agreement this morning, said a spokesperson for Science. The journal’s decision to withdraw last summer was the subject of much criticism by librarians and others.

Neither Science nor JSTOR would describe the terms of the new license, but Alan I. Leshner, chief executive officer of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, which publishes the journal, said the changes had to do with price and with linking of articles within JSTOR to other articles. “We’re very pleased about it,” he said.

Michael P. Spinella, executive director of JSTOR, echoed Mr. Leshner’s cheer. “I think it’s very good for everyone,” he said.

[from Knowledgespeak Newsletter, Dec 11 2007]

Scientific publisher Nature Publishing Group (NPG) <http://npg.nature.com/> , UK, has announced that is introducing a Creative Commons licence for original research articles publishing the primary sequence of an organism’s genome for the first time in any of the Nature journals. The Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported licence will enable researchers to freely share and adapt the work, provided the original is attributed and not used for commercial purposes, and that any resulting work is distributed under a similar licence. No publication fees will be applicable, and the articles will be available free of charge.

Nature Publishing Group has published first reports on many significant publicly-funded genome sequencing and analysis projects, most notably the human genome, published in Nature in February 2001. Wherever possible, NPG will apply the Creative Commons Attribution-Non- Commercial-Share Alike licence retrospectively to original research articles reporting novel primary genome-wide sequences that have previously been published in Nature journals. Only original research articles publishing the primary sequence of an organism’s genome for the first time will be offered to users under the Creative Commons licence.

Molecular Systems Biology, an open access journal published jointly by NPG and the European Molecular Biology Organisation (EMBO), announced in October that it will offer all authors the option of publishing articles under the Creative Commons Attribution -Non-Commercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported licence.

All other articles published by the Nature journals will remain under NPG’s existing licensing and copyright agreements. Under these agreements authors of original research articles retain their copyright, giving NPG an exclusive licence-to publish.

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