NRC-CISTI, Canada's national science library supports and promotes initiatives that will expand access to digital scientific, technical and medical (STM) information essential to Canada's research, innovation and health communities. The following highlights three main areas of strategic focus and collaboration.

Developing and fostering information infrastructure that enables the access, use and preservation of Canadian research outputs

PubMed Central Canada (PMC Canada)

• An NRC-CISTI partnership with the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and the US National Library of Medicine, PMC Canada provides free access to an on-line archive of peer-reviewed health and life sciences research. It serves as an important part of Canada’s research infrastructure, creating a permanent archive for Canadian health research that helps researchers build on one another’s work and speed up the discovery and innovation process to address important health challenges. PMC Canada also includes a manuscript submission system for CIHR researchers to deposit their peer-reviewed publications. NRC-CISTI contributed its technological expertise to build the infrastructure and manages the repository.

The NRC Publications Archive

• The National Research Council Publications Archive provides NRC researchers, collaborators and the public with comprehensive, on-line access to NRC-authored research articles, technical reports, conference proceedings and other publications. NRC Publications Archive showcases NRC's record of science and demonstrates the many ways NRC researchers translate science and technology into value for Canada. With more than 50,000 publication records, including 8,000 full-text publications, the NRC Publications Archiveis one of Canada’s largest institutional repositories.

Accelerating discovery and innovation

WorldWideScience.org

• Sharing knowledge on a global scale — NRC-CISTI is a founding member of this multi-nation alliance to create a single searchable gateway to global scientific databases that will speed up the innovation process.

CISTI Lab

• Collaborating to develop knowledge discovery tools — CISTI Lab is an online lab that enables collaborative development and testing of software and services for next-generation digital library applications and electronic publishing.
• It provides a place where NRC-CISTI and collaborators from other NRC institutes, universities, libraries and the private sector can work together to develop tools that will search, analyze and present information in new and innovative ways to uncover new knowledge and speed innovation.
• To bring even more ideas to fruition, CISTI Lab makes the tools and data at its disposal available to anyone who wishes to contribute to the innovation process.

Collaborating to expand access to digital STM research information and data

Research Data Strategy Working Group

• Ensuring Canada's research data is accessible and usable for current and future generations of researchers — This national, multi-disciplinary initiative is addressing the challenges and issues surrounding the access and preservation of data arising from Canadian research. With broad access to this wealth of data, researchers will have a powerful tool that will enhance their ability to collaborate across disciplines and sectors and accelerate the innovation process.
• NRC-CISTI is playing a coordination role and will contribute to this larger initiative by leveraging its metadata expertise and developing a gateway Web site that will provide access to Canadian scientific data sets and other important data repositories.

DataCite

• NRC-CISTI is a founding member of DataCite, an international collaboration of libraries to improve access to research data by enabling organizations to register research data sets and assign digital object identifiers (DOIs) to them. The goal is to help researchers locate, identify and cite research data sets over the long term.
• News (September 2010) NRC-CISTI takes first steps to become data registration agency for Canada
• Update (December 2010) NRC-CISTI establishes DataCite Canada web presence
• Update (June 2011) DataCite Canada pilot participants announced

Federal Science eLibrary (FSeL)

• A collaboration of the six major federal science-based departments/agencies, the FSeL aims to transform the S&T information infrastructure that underpins federal research and innovation by providing immediate cost-effective access to STM information at the desktops of all federal researchers, policy analysts and decision makers.
• The strategy — Integrate seamless access across all departments to eliminate existing inequalities between government departments; and negotiate government-wide site licences for desktop access to STM information. The combined purchasing clout will mean stronger negotiating positions with publishers leading to the best possible price. It will also eliminate duplication of systems and resources across departments.

Canadian Virtual Health Library

• A collaboration with the Canadian Health Libraries Association to link digital health networks to ensure that all health care providers in Canada have equal access to the best information for patient care.
• Status (January 2010): The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) has awarded three-year funding to implement the CVHL structure. Additional funding from public funds and participating organizations will be identified for national licensing of electronic health resources, with a goal of self-sustainability within 3 years.

Canadian National Committee for CODATA (CNC/CODATA)

• Sponsored by NRC-CISTI, CNC/CODATA aims to improve the quality and accessibility of scientific data, as well as promote and share knowledge about the importance of collecting, organizing and using data to advance S&T. CNC/CODATA also plays a significant role in NRC-CISTI’s Gateway to Scientific Data, making scientific data sets available on the site and enlisting subject-area experts to provide advice on data sets and data management activities.