Over the next year, APA and the University of Akron's Archives of the History of American Psychology (AHAP) are collaborating to add several thousand works to APA's PsycBOOKS and PsycEXTRA databases—additions that will almost double the current collections. In return, AHAP will get copies of all the scanned materials, plus perpetual access to the database.

"This is a very big opportunity and a whole new venture for us by increasing the access to psychology materials," says David Baker, PhD, AHAP director.

The materials archived include any books published before 1923 and any later books and gray literature for which APA has acquired written permission. The books will be scanned and indexed in PsycINFO, and each book chapter will be added to PsycBOOKS. The full text of gray literature will be added to PsycEXTRA.

Cheryl Kern-Simirenko, dean of the university libraries at the University of Akron, said that this digitization partnership marks a significant milestone in access to the psychological literature.

"Gray literature has always represented unique challenges for long-term access. Digitizing the extensive AHAP gray holdings will make these readily available to a broad audience," she says.

Help for assessing school-based interventions

APA has developed a guide that will help researchers better evaluate the effectiveness of school-based interventions, such as new math curricula. Find out how the guide works by attending the APA Annual Convention session "Guide to Assessing Intervention Effects in Education—The Promise of Multiple Methods," on Friday Aug. 15, 1ם:50 p.m. at the Boston Convention Center.

Participants include Rena Subotnik, PhD, director of APA's Center for Psychology in Schools and Education; Martin Orland, director of Evaluation Research Programs, WestEd; Robert Pianta, PhD, of the University of Virginia Curry School of Education; and David Grissmer, principal scientist of the Center for Advanced Study of Teaching and Learning, University of Virginia.

Task force aims to protect teachers from violence

According to the most recent statistics, each year teachers are the victims of 65,000 violent crimes. To reduce those numbers, an APA task force has been charged with creating a resource to help K-12 teachers cope with and prevent violence in their classrooms. This resource will also inform education policy on school management, parent and community involvement, and classroom climate.

The task force will begin meeting in September and is staffed by APA's Center for Psychology in Schools and Education.

Nominate a colleague for the APA Fellows Committee

The APA Fellows Committee seeks a new member to serve a three-year term beginning Jan. 1.

The committee reviews nominations for APA Fellows and recommends candidates to APA's Board of Directors through its Membership Board.

Members must be available to meet twice a year at APA headquarters in Washington, D.C., and for one day during APA's Annual Convention. All expenses for both meetings will be covered or reimbursed by APA.

Committee members must be APA Fellows. They cannot serve on a Division Fellows Committee, nor can they endorse initial APA Fellow candidates during their terms.

The committee encourages nominations that reflect a diverse membership.

Submit nominations with a statement of interest and curriculum vitae. Self-nominations are welcome. Send nominations and supporting material to Sonja Wiggins, Membership Board and Fellows Committee liaison, at the APA address or to Sonja Wiggins. The deadline for receipt of all nominations is July 1.

NIH implements new public access policy

On April 7, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) instituted a new public access policy that affects publications that come out of research funded by the agency. The policy implements a provision in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2008, which requires that all NIH-funded investigators "submit or have submitted for them to the National Library of Medicine's PubMed Central an electronic version of their final, peer-reviewed manuscripts upon acceptance for publication, to be made publicly available no later than 12 months after the official date of publication."

The law goes on to state that this must be achieved "in a manner consistent with copyright law." In effect, this legislation transformed a voluntary NIH policy in place for the past three years into a mandatory one.

Further information about this new policy and APA's response to it will be provided in future Monitor articles.

—D. Schwartz

Students: Volunteer at convention Want to meet top psychologists and get an inside track to networking at the APA Annual Convention? Then sign up to be an ambassador for the American Psychological Association of Graduate Students (APAGS). These volunteers provide information to conference attendees, distribute APAGS promotional items and monitor APAGS programs. Visit www.apa.org/apags/convention/ambassador.html for details on the ambassador program, or contact Heather Dade.