Month: May 2014

"The Number of Scholarly Documents on the Public Web"

Madian Khabsa and C. Lee Giles mail have published "The Number of Scholarly Documents on the Public Web" in PLOS ONE.

Here's an excerpt:

The number of scholarly documents available on the web is estimated using capture/recapture methods by studying the coverage of two major academic search engines: Google Scholar and Microsoft Academic Search. Our estimates show that at least 114 million English-language scholarly documents are accessible on the web, of which Google Scholar has nearly 100 million. Of these, we estimate that at least 27 million (24%) are freely available since they do not require a subscription or payment of any kind. In addition, at a finer scale, we also estimate the number of scholarly documents on the web for fifteen fields: Agricultural Science, Arts and Humanities, Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Economics and Business, Engineering, Environmental Sciences, Geosciences, Material Science, Mathematics, Medicine, Physics, Social Sciences, and Multidisciplinary, as defined by Microsoft Academic Search. In addition, we show that among these fields the percentage of documents defined as freely available varies significantly, i.e., from 12 to 50%.

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Digital Curation News (5/9/2014) #digitalpreservation

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Digital Archivist/Librarian at Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America

The Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America is recruiting a Digital Archivist/Librarian .

Here's an excerpt from the ad:

Reporting to the Executive Director, the Digital Archivist has shared responsibility for technical program management, digitization, and digital forensics, including but not limited to planning and oversight of digital programs and workflows, the enabling of data integration across local and external data sources. Acts as liaison to library departments and participates in work groups to improve programs and services. Maintains budgets, statistics, and writes reports for internal and external sources, works efficiently and with follow-through, in a fast-paced, scholarly, research-library environment.

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ResourceSync Framework Specification (ANSI/NISO Z39.99-2014)

NISO has released the ResourceSync Framework Specification (ANSI/NISO Z39.99-2014).

Here's an excerpt:

The National Information Standards Organization (NISO) and the Open Archives Initiative (OAI) announce the publication of the ResourceSync Framework Specification (ANSI/NISO Z39.99-2014)—a new American National Standard for the Web detailing various capabilities that a server can implement to allow third-party systems to remain synchronized with its evolving resources. The ResourceSync joint project, funded with support from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and Jisc, was initiated to develop a new open standard on the real-time synchronization of web resources.

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Data Services Librarian at Carnegie Mellon University Libraries

The Carnegie Mellon University Libraries are recruiting a Data Services Librarian.

Here's an excerpt from the ad:

The Data Services Librarian, a library faculty position, conducts outreach and engagement efforts to members of the campus community and offers strategies, best practices and services to manage their data throughout the research life cycle with an eye to ensuring that the university complies with federal mandates. Some of the responsibilities include:

  • Works with library personnel to implement data curation systems in current and future data preservation infrastructures (e.g. ArchivalWare, Research Showcase)
  • Provides support for the creation, review, cleaning, and publication of data products and associated metadata products
  • Provides technical support for data and content owners using data preservation infrastructures
  • Leads the development of policies and procedures for data curation and management on campus

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Digital Curation News (5/8/2014) #digitalpreservation

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Digital Project Manager at University of Oregon Libraries

The University of Oregon Libraries are recruiting a Digital Project Manager.

Here's an excerpt from the ad:

The Digital Project Manager plans, executes, and finalizes DSC digital media projects. Projects include instruction applications, digital scholarship, and digital cultural collections. The Digital Project Manager defines the project's objectives, coordinates with team members and clients, and oversees quality control. This position is responsible for designing communication and project workflows, assessing staff requirements and sustainability, tracking milestones and deliverables, developing reports and documentation, supervising a staff of 3.0 FTE design and development professionals, student assistants and/or interns, and managing project budgets. This position also collaborates with Library and academic faculty to plan projects and makes recommendations regarding technology, policy, and best practices. This position reports to the Head, Digital Scholarship Center.

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"Inter-Rater Reliability and Convergent Validity of F1000Prime Peer Review"

Lutz Bornmann has self-archived "Inter-Rater Reliability and Convergent Validity of F1000Prime Peer Review."

Here's an excerpt:

Peer review is the backbone of modern science. F1000Prime is a post-publication peer review system of the biomedical literature (papers from medical and biological journals). This study is concerned with the inter-rater reliability and convergent validity of the peer recommendations formulated in the F1000Prime peer review system. The study is based on around 100,000 papers with recommendations from Faculty members. Even if intersubjectivity plays a fundamental role in science, the analyses of the reliability of the F1000Prime peer review system show a rather low level of agreement between Faculty members. This result is in agreement with most other studies which have been published on the journal peer review system. Logistic regression models are used to investigate the convergent validity of the F1000Prime peer review system. As the results show, the proportion of highly cited papers among those selected by the Faculty members is significantly higher than expected. In addition, better recommendation scores are also connected with better performance of the papers.

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Vice Provost and Director, UT Libraries at University of Texas at Austin

The University of Texas at Austin is recruiting a Vice Provost and Director, UT Libraries.

Here's an excerpt from the ad:

The Vice Provost (VP) is responsible for the leadership and administration of the UT Libraries, overseeing the innovation and development of the Libraries in the areas of user services, collections and resources, management and infrastructure, cooperative initiatives and outreach, support and funding. The VP articulates a clear vision for the role of the academic research library, develops and implements the Libraries' strategic plan in support of the University's academic priorities, curricula, and research, and represents the UT Libraries to campus administration and external audiences. The VP is expected to be deeply engaged in development opportunities and expanding donor support. The Vice Provost reports to the Provost of the University of Texas at Austin.

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"Four Facets of Privacy and Intellectual Freedom in Licensing Contracts for Electronic Journals"

College & Research Libraries has released an eprint of "Four Facets of Privacy and Intellectual Freedom in Licensing Contracts for Electronic Journals."

Here's an excerpt:

This is a study of the treatment of library patron privacy in licenses for electronic journals in academic libraries. We begin by distinguishing four facets of privacy and intellectual freedom based on the LIS and philosophical literature. Next, we perform a content analysis of 42 license agreements for electronic journals, focusing on terms for enforcing authorized use and collection and sharing of user data. We compare our findings to model licenses, to recommendations proposed in a recent treatise on licenses, and to our account of the four facets of intellectual freedom. We find important conflicts with each.

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Digital Curation News (5/7/2014) #digitalpreservation

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Associate Consultant at bepress Consulting Services

bepress Consulting Services is recruiting an Associate Consultant.

Here's an excerpt from the ad:

  • Collaborating with university faculty and librarians to launch new projects in their repositories, guide them in best practices, and troubleshoot unusual problems
  • Training clients over phone and email to help them use and customize our templated systems
  • Liaising with all teams at bepress to provide your clients with comprehensive, well-informed support for all their repository needs
  • Providing general assistance to the bepress team as needed. This may include, but is not limited to, filing feature requests, product testing, HTML editing, and providing feedback to help streamline or expand our services as our growing business requires.

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"Funding Open Access Journal Publishing Article Processing Charges"

Christine Fruin and Fred Rascoe have published "Funding Open Access Journal Publishing Article Processing Charges" in College & Research Libraries News.

Here's an excerpt:

Libraries are viewed as the primary resource at academic institutions for information on scholarly publishing issues, including OA. Faculty interest in OA publishing is increasing, and when recent federal mandates for OA are implemented, the interest from those doing federally funded research will grow quickly. As such, librarians should be prepared to answer questions from faculty and researchers on how they can cover the costs that are often attendant to publishing in OA journals. While librarians should advocate and educate their constituents on the availability of green OA and the cost-free options available with many gold OA journals, they should also be cognizant of the frequency at which faculty and researchers are publishing in gold OA publications that charge a fee and the available options for covering those costs.

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Digital Archivist at Princeton Theological Seminary Library

The Princeton Theological Seminary Library is recruiting a Digital Archivist.

Here's an excerpt from the ad:

Reporting to the Curator of Special Collections and Archivist, the Digital Archivist leads efforts to implement digital archives, digital special collections and works with others to plan, develop and implement an electronic records program. Responsibilities include applying archival best practices to collecting, organizing, describing, preserving and making available for access digitized, born-digital and traditional archival and special collections materials; working with others to develop and implement a program for acquisition, arrangement, description, preservation and access of electronic records of permanent value; and providing technical programming and operational support for archival digital content and electronic records management.

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WIPO Talks Collapse on Copyright Exceptions for Libraries Issue

World Intellectual Property Organization talks on copyright exceptions for libraries have collapsed over EU concerns.

Here's an excerpt from the press release:

Discussions by the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) Standing Committee on Copyright & Related Rights (SCCR) broke down in the early hours of Saturday morning 3 May, after the European Union (EU) attempted to block future discussion of copyright laws to aid libraries and archives fulfill their missions in the digital environment. . . .

The meeting ended in disarray at 1:30am on Saturday morning, after the EU tried to have crucial references to “text-based” work on copyright exceptions removed from the meeting conclusions—a move viewed by other Member States and library and archive NGOs present as an attempt to delay, if not derail, any progress on copyright exceptions at WIPO.

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Digital Curation News (5/6/2014) #digitalpreservation

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"Green Open Access Policies of Scholarly Journal Publishers: A Study of What, When, and Where Self-Archiving Is Allowed"

Mikael Laakso has self-archived "Green Open Access Policies of Scholarly Journal Publishers: A Study of What, When, and Where Self-Archiving Is Allowed"

Here's an excerpt:

The degree to which scholarly journal articles published in subscription-based journals could be provided open access (OA) through publisher-permitted uploading to freely accessible web locations, so called green OA, is an underexplored area of research. This study combines article volume data originating from the Scopus bibliographic database with manually coded publisher policies of the 100 largest journal publishers measured by article output volume for the year 2010. Of the 1,1 million articles included in the analysis, 80.4% could be uploaded either as an accepted manuscript or publisher version to an institutional or subject repository after one year of publication. Publishers were found to be substantially more permissive with allowing accepted manuscripts on personal webpages (78.1% of articles) or in institutional repositories (79.9%) compared to subject repositories (32.8%). With previous studies suggesting realized green OA to be around 12% of total annual articles the results highlight the substantial unused potential for green OA.

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Emerging Technologies and Systems Librarian at St. Cloud State University Library

The St. Cloud State University Library is recruiting a Emerging Technologies and Systems Librarian.

Here's an excerpt from the ad:

Reporting to the Dean of Learning Resources Services, the successful candidate will:

  • Support and provide leadership for the integrated library system (in a consortial environment), open source initiatives, archives and repository management systems, and library integrative technologies.
  • Provide vision and leadership to investigate, evaluate, and incorporate emerging technologies into library systems and services.
  • Manage multiple library-related systems and technology projects.

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Big Data: Seizing Opportunities, Preserving Values

The Executive Office of the President has released Big Data: Seizing Opportunities, Preserving Values.

Here's an excerpt:

On January 17, in a speech at the Justice Department about reforming the United States' signals intelligence practices, President Obama tasked his Counselor John Podesta with leading a comprehensive review of the impact big data technologies are having, and will have, on a range of economic, social, and government activities. Podesta was joined in this effort by Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker, Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz, the President's Science Advisor John Holdren, the President's Economic Advisor Jeffrey Zients, and other senior government officials. The President's Council of Advisors for Science & Technology conducted a parallel report to take measure of the underlying technologies. Their findings underpin many of the technological assertions in this report.

This review was conceived as fundamentally a scoping exercise. Over 90 days, the review group engaged with academic experts, industry representatives, privacy advocates, civil rights groups, law enforcement agents, and other government agencies. The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy jointly organized three university conferences, at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, New York University, and the University of California, Berkeley. The White House Office of Science & Technology Policy also issued a "Request for Information" seeking public comment on issues of big data and privacy and received more than 70 responses. In addition, the WhiteHouse.gov platform was used to conduct an unscientific survey of public attitudes about different uses of big data and various big data technologies. A list of the working group's activities can be found in the Appendix.

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Manager, Desktop Systems at Columbia University Library Information Technology Office

The Columbia University Library Information Technology Office is recruiting a Manager, Desktop Systems.

Here's an excerpt from the ad:

The Columbia University Library Information Technology Office (LITO) seeks an experienced professional for the position of Manager of Desktop Systems. Reporting to the Director of the Library Information Technology Office, the Manager of Desktop Systems is responsible for all aspects of both public and staff facing desktop, laptop, and mobile computers and servers. Responsibilities include but are not limited to: system architecture and design, backup, security, storage, server and desktop virtualization, compliance, and disaster recovery for Columbia Libraries' Digital Centers, staff and other public computing platforms. The Manger of Desktop Systems is a senior leader within LITO with the responsibility for making purchase decisions for hardware, software, and servers in support of 900 staff and public desktop systems and related servers. The incumbent has direct supervisory responsibility over four systems engineers, ensuring an effective and productive team to serve the needs of the Libraries/Information Services.

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Digital Curation News (5/5/2014) #digitalpreservation

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Analyst/Programmer at San Francisco State University Library

The San Francisco State University Library is recruiting an Analyst/Programmer.

Here's an excerpt from the ad:

Develop and maintain innovative and effective websites, applications, interfaces, and tools that support the Library's mission. Assist in supporting the Library webserver(s) and related services. Provide direct technical support for patrons in the large computer-enhanced study areas in the Library. Assist with other Library IT tasks and projects as determined by the supervisor.

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Guarding Against Abuse: Restoring Constitutional Copyright

R Street has released Guarding Against Abuse: Restoring Constitutional Copyright.

Here's an excerpt:

Conservatives who care about the original public meaning of the Constitution must not abandon our constitutional obligation. Conservatives believe that the words of the Constitution mean something. If the words mean something, if they mean anything, then copyright must expire. . . .

Overall, we can be supporters of a copyright regime that protects and compensates creators, a noble goal, while recognizing that the current system has gone haywire. It's time to restore our founding principles and recognize that constitutional copyright would unleash new creativity and economic growth.

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Digital Scholarship Librarians at Boston College Libraries

Boston College Libraries are recruiting Digital Scholarship Librarians.

Here's an excerpt from the ad:

Boston College Libraries seeks TWO creative, knowledgeable, and intellectually curious Digital Scholarship Librarians (Arts & Humanities, and Sciences & Social Sciences) to advance digital scholarship initiatives at Boston College by providing consultation, technical support, and project management for faculty, librarians, staff, and students engaged in technology-rich scholarly projects, Under the direction of the Associate University Librarian for Digital Initiatives & Public Programs, and in conjunction with subject and instruction liaisons, systems and digital library staff, scholarly communications and repository librarians, and others, s/he works directly with clients (faculty, students, staff) in identifying and deploying appropriate tools and technologies to meet research or publication needs. In addition to direct support at the project level, s/he will deliver training, group instruction, and workshops on Digital Scholarship topics with an emphasis on data visualization, text mining and encoding, mapping, and data analysis, and will maintain project documentation for a growing corpus of digital scholarly production.

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Richard W. Clement Named Dean of University of New Mexico’s College of University Libraries & Learning Sciences

The University of New Mexico has named Richard W. Clement as the Dean of the College of University Libraries & Learning Science.

Here's an excerpt:

Clement has served as dean at Utah State University since 2008. At USU he transformed library services to provide digital content to six campuses and numerous centers across the state. At the same time, he has insured the preservation of the unique and rare materials that constitute the collective cultural heritage. Clement has devoted his energies to balancing the digital transformation that is changing libraries and universities with the traditional values of preserving the diverse cultural heritage for all citizens and all time. Before coming to Utah in 2008, Clement was head of the department of special collections at the University of Kansas, where he also taught a course in the History of the Book as a courtesy professor of English.

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