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Easy and Affordable State-Based Research From RAND
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by Barbie E. Keiser
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RAND State Statistics is too sophisticated to think that it was developed in response to our April 11, 2011 NewsBreak, "Got Government Data? Not Anymore," but we'll be happy to take the credit for it. RAND State Statistics features more than 70 databases for the 50 states—California and Texas were the first to be created, so their coverage is greater than other states, but we are told by RAND that the goal is to increase coverage of others, adding another 30 or so within the next year. Joe Nation, director of RAND State Statistics, says that a local government employee pension database is expected to be launched in a week or so.
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Elsevier and Molecular Connections Develop Two New Applications on SciVerse Applications
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Elsevier announced two new applications from Molecular Connections, a life science informatics company, on SciVerse Applications beta. Ask Extractor is an app based on Molecular Connections XTractor, a platform for discovery, analysis, and modeling of biomedical information. The app provides search suggestions for life sciences terms entered into SciVerse Hub and SciVerse ScienceDirect. The second app, Journal Trends, enables users to discover top journals as a result of a given search query.
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HighBeam Business Launches New Business Blog
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HighBeam Business, part of Cengage Learning, announced the launch of its new business blog, "Arrive Prepared," which features a steady stream of dialogue on news coverage of the latest industry trends, Fortune 100 companies, business articles, and how-to guides. It aims to be the one-stop blog for those in the sales, marketing, finance, and legal professions who need breaking insights to effectively communicate with their clients.
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EPA Releases Two New Databases With Chemical Toxicity and Exposure Data
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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the release of two databases that make it easier to find data about chemicals. These include ToxCastDB, the Toxicity Forecaster database, and ExpoCastDB, a database of chemical exposure studies.
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Sources for Free Ebooks and Ereader Software
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by Paula J. Hane
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In late May, BookExpo America week kicked off with IDPF's annual Digital Book 2011 conference. Judging from the product announcements and buzz from the events, ebooks are hot, hot, hot! Kobo, which partners with Borders, announced that its new $130 E-ink touchscreen reading device would be available in June. Barnes & Noble announced a $139 black-and-white E-Ink touchscreen e-reader. Amazon dropped the price of its $189 3G Kindle with Special Offers to $164. Amazon also reportedly told U.S. publishers that it will begin accepting files in EPUB format in the near future, and these files will be readable on the Kindle. With the acceleration of sales of ebook readers and so much interest in ebooks, it seems as if it's a good time to look at good sources to get free ebooks. I will also discuss free ereader software as an alternative to buying dedicated devices.
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