DigitalKoans – What Is the Sound of One E-Print Downloading?

Associate Dean for Collections, Systems and Digital Strategies at California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo

The Associate Dean acts as the collection development officer for the library, and with the Dean of Library Services, is ultimately responsible for the overall quality, diversity, and balance of the library’s digital and physical collection; manages the disbursement of funds for information resources ($1.8 million); and provides strategic leadership to leverage consortia managed resources. . . .

The Associate Dean is also responsible for the administration and oversight of library systems and information technology and plays a key role in ensuring that students and faculty are connected to information and information technologies critical to their learning, teaching and research.

https://tinyurl.com/bh5nm9cm

"What Have We Learned from Subscribe to Open?"

As we enter the 2025 renewal season, which marks the sixth year since the first S2O journals were launched, we come together here as two early S2O publishers to share our different applications of and experiences with the model: In 2020, Berghahn, of which Vivian is managing director, followed in Annual Reviews’ footsteps to become the second publisher to implement the Subscribe to Open model with their Berghahn Open Anthro initiative. EDP Sciences, of which Charlotte is director of marketing and communications, was another early adopter of the model in 2021 for several of their journals across astronomy, mathematics, and radioprotection. . . .

As of 2024, thanks to the Subscribe to Open model, over 180 journals have been able to publish entire volumes in open access, which would never have been possible otherwise because of the shortcomings of the APC models for these journals and their respective disciplines. The S2O model continues to grow, with more publishers set to launch their S2O offerings in 2025. The model is supported by a thriving cross-stakeholder S2O Community of Practice (CoP) that was formed in August 2020 by Annual Reviews and some of the earliest S2O publishers (including Berghahn and EDP Sciences), supporting libraries, funders, subscription agents, and other interested stakeholders. The CoP now has nearly 100 members (individuals and organizations alike) and meets on a monthly basis to discuss experiences, achievements, and concerns, share advice, and pool feedback.

https://tinyurl.com/mvavvvw3

Metadata Systems Librarian at Columbia University

The successful candidate will play a crucial role in advancing our library’s metadata discovery initiatives, with a strong emphasis on open-source systems and open data. This position will primarily support the implementation and utilization of FOLIO and other related library services.

https://tinyurl.com/y5a4345k

"How Librarians are Advancing Open Book Publishing at the Lever Press"

At an October 2010 meeting of the Oberlin Group, a consortium of over 80 liberal arts college libraries in the United States, one of us (BG) made an audacious proposal: that the Oberlin Group establish an open access press, devoted to the production of peer-reviewed books, rigorously edited and distributed in electronic form without fees. . . .

Fourteen years later, the Lever Press is thriving as the publisher of digital-first diamond open-access monographs on topics of interest to the liberal arts. Lever presents a unique model for how libraries, especially those from smaller institutions, can help transform the open-access landscape.

https://tinyurl.com/9hwpa2bp

Research Data Librarian at University of Kansas

In this position, the librarian will work with researchers at all levels to address their data-related needs throughout the research data lifecycle, primarily through teaching and consulting. The librarian will expand capacity in data management planning and implementation and will work with colleagues to develop capacity in data visualization, analysis, and curation. In this position, the librarian will have opportunities to collaborate on data, data management, and computing literacies for undergraduate and graduate students. The librarian also works with colleagues to develop and maintain the libraries’ awareness of federal, funder, and regulatory requirements that affect KU’s researchers. KU Research and KU Information Technology are key partners in providing data services to KU’s researchers.

https://tinyurl.com/3ssvh6hc

"Harvard Is Releasing a Massive Free AI Training Dataset Funded by OpenAI and Microsoft"

Harvard University announced Thursday it’s releasing a high-quality dataset of nearly 1 million public-domain books that could be used by anyone to train large language models and other AI tools. The dataset was created by Harvard’s newly formed Institutional Data Initiative with funding from both Microsoft and OpenAI. It contains books scanned as part of the Google Books project that are no longer protected by copyright.

https://tinyurl.com/ymen65js

Assistant Director for Research and Data Education at Indiana University School of Medicine

This position oversees our research team (Scholarly Communications Librarian, Data Services Librarian, and Research Metrics Librarian) which supports and tracks research efforts across IUSM (Indiana University School of Medicine) such as assisting with grant proposals, electronic lab notebooks, scholarly communication, artificial intelligence initiatives, and data management plan requirements. This position also coordinates with Research Affairs to support research initiatives within IUSM.

https://tinyurl.com/r777cdwj

"The Open Monograph Distribution and Acquisitions Gap: A Look at TOME (Toward an Open Monograph Ecosystem) Titles"

The Toward an Open Monograph Ecosystem (TOME) network of universities, and the open access (OA) monographs that have been funded and published through this program, provide a unique opportunity to study the work done by university presses and academic libraries to distribute and acquire this content. TOME is a program that supports university presses’ publication of OA monographs through locally funded subventions. Though the works have been published by universities, and the subvention programs that make them OA have largely involved the funding institution libraries in the process, the resulting OA works are not easily discoverable or accessible through library systems. Because it is so highly distributed across many academic institutions, the TOME collection of OA monograph titles offers the opportunity for libraries and publishers to more closely examine the process of creating OA content and provides the chance to study how we collectively make these works discoverable and accessible to our communities and more broadly in the world as well. The analysis presented in this paper offers insights into developing and refining procedures and management strategies at libraries participating in TOME. These recommendations provide insights into discovery of and access to OA monographs in general.

https://doi.org/10.31274/jlsc.15492

Digital Publishing Librarian at Florida State University

Manage and grow FSU Libraries’ publishing program, Florida State Open Publishing (FSOP).

Manage and grow FSU Libraries’ academic web-hosting service, CreateFSU. . . .

Evaluate open publishing and website hosting needs across campus.

Provide consulting and instruction on digital publishing and web hosting to researchers at all levels.

https://tinyurl.com/2p9mhxym

"From Black Open Access to Open Access of Color: Accepting the Diversity of Approaches towards Free Science"

The aim of this article is to shed some light on ‘black open access’ model, that still remains poorly understood and largely neglected in the literature, despite being widely adopted in practice. I give an overview of the historical development of black OA and its most important projects: Sci-Hub and Library Genesis. Arguments are provided for why the term ‘black OA’ is misleading and the term ‘RGB OA’ (red, green and blue) would better describe a diverse landscape of open access projects that emerged after 2001. While practical approaches towards OA evolved dramatically in the past 20 years, theoretical discussion is still operating the same two-color scheme of ‘green’ and ‘gold’ open access from BOAI declaration of 2001: novel approaches are either not recognized as OA at all or are neglected as ‘black’. A new and more inclusive OA declaration might be needed to account for greater diversity of approaches.

https://tinyurl.com/nha7tsxd

Open Source Programs Specialist at University of California, Santa Barbara

The successful candidate will join the Department of Research Data Services at the Library, collaborating closely with campus faculty on a project dedicated to cataloging and assessing open-source software projects and paving strategies for ongoing support and sustainability. This initiative is part of a newly funded UC OSPO Network, sponsored by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, which aims to strengthen open source efforts across the University of California system.

https://tinyurl.com/4u5my2py

New Horizons in Artificial Intelligence in Libraries

This publication provides an opportunity to explore developing new library AI paradigms, including present use case practical implementation and opportunities on the horizon as well as current large ethics questions and needs for transparency, scenario planning, considerations and implications of bias as library AI systems are developed and implemented presently and for our collective future.

https://tinyurl.com/4b5juutm

Library Systems Administrator at University of Rhode Island Libraries

Lead the development and management of library systems and applications, focusing on user-centered services and sustainable information ecosystems. Oversee system configurations, programming, and technology stacks across various platforms. Collaborate with stakeholders to analyze requirements, solve issues, and guide projects to successful completion. Supervise staff and student employees while engaging with the university community to support evolving research library roles.

https://tinyurl.com/2r379x7x

"Intelligent Summaries: Will Artificial Intelligence Mark the Finale for Biomedical Literature Reviews?"

Manuscripts that only flatly summarize knowledge in a field could become superfluous, as AI-powered systems will become better and better at generating more comprehensive and updated summaries automatically. Furthermore, the use of A.I. technologies in data analysis and synthesis will greatly reduce human tasks, enabling more efficient and timely production of preliminary findings. What kind of reviews will still find room in an academic journal? It is reasonable to believe that reviews that provide critical analysis, unique interpretations of existing literature, which connect different areas, shed novel light on available data, that are aware of their human partiality, will continue to be valuable in academic journals.

https://doi.org/10.1002/leap.1648

Digital Initiatives Program Manager and SUNY Library Services Support Specialist

Empire State University, Office of Library and Information Services (OLIS), seeks an innovative professional to lead and manage SUNY-wide transformative digital initiatives to support our libraries. The Digital Initiatives Program Manager and Support Specialist will develop and leverage digital technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI) tools, to improve library services and the user experience. This position will be instrumental in developing and advancing our strategic vision and direction for the services OLIS provides to our SUNY libraries and the tools we need to help our libraries succeed.

https://tinyurl.com/4bsjy9pd

"How ChatGPT Search (Mis)represents Publisher Content"

In total, we pulled two hundred quotes from twenty publications and asked ChatGPT to identify the sources of each quote. We observed a spectrum of accuracy in the responses: some answers were entirely correct (i.e., accurately returned the publisher, date, and URL of the block quote we shared), many were entirely wrong, and some fell somewhere in between. . . .

In total, ChatGPT returned partially or entirely incorrect responses on a hundred and fifty-three occasions, though it only acknowledged an inability to accurately respond to a query seven times. . . .

Our tests found that no publisher—regardless of degree of affiliation with OpenAI—was spared inaccurate representations of its content in ChatGPT.

https://tinyurl.com/3z9dxttv

Data Access Librarian at Johns Hopkins University

We are seeking a Data Access Librarian who will be responsible for the selection, discovery, and access of institutional, open-access, community, and purchased datasets serving Johns Hopkins researchers, faculty, students, and staff. As a member of the Digital Scholarship & Data Services team, the data access librarian promotes data literacy and the discovery and use of relevant datasets through providing individual consultations and developing and delivering workshops, training programs, and research guides. The data access librarian supports and collaborates with colleagues in data services, Academic Liaisons, Hopkins researchers and faculty, the larger academic data librarian and data services community, and especially the new Data Science and AI Institute at Johns Hopkins University.

https://tinyurl.com/2evt8szt

"PLOS Receives $3.3M Grant to Support Open Access Publishing & Business Model Transformation"

PLOS has been awarded a $3.3million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, underscoring its commitment to pioneer a shift away from traditional publishing models. The 3-year funding package from the Gates Foundation will support PLOS’ transition towards APC-free publishing by enabling authors, funded by the foundation, to publish with PLOS without facing APC barriers, and to contribute to open access publishing options for authors who do not have access to funding. This 3-year grant offers support while PLOS is actively working on new publishing models grounded in open science starting with an ongoing research & design project.

The grant will also support improvements to enhance the capture and dissemination of funding metadata and to experiment with the posting of peer reviews alongside preprints during the evaluation process, promoting greater transparency in scholarly communication.

https://tinyurl.com/3a79595s

Data Services Librarian at Texas A&M University

In this role you will curate research data from Texas A&M University, ensuring compliance with university, funding agency, and government requirements. You will provide expert guidance on data curation, management, and preservation, collaborate with faculty and students on research projects, and develop innovative data services to enhance our academic community. This includes cataloging data, assisting with data management plans, applying funding agency and governmental requirements, coordinating with departments to meet data needs, enhancing data quality, and ensuring compliance with privacy and security requirements. Additionally, you will ensure data quality, integrity, and security, maintain standards and protocols for data management, and provide training and support on data planning and best practices.

https://tinyurl.com/mrx4ckzj

Digital Projects Archivist at Northeastern University

Reporting to the Director of the Humanities Center, Boston, and working closely with colleagues in the Digital Scholarship Group, the NULab, NU’s Archives and Special Collections, and the Centers for Digital Scholarship, the Digital Projects Archivist will work across the digital archives projects affiliated with the Humanities Center to develop shared resources and approaches, such as metadata standards and best practices, project documentation, ethics guidelines, community partnership workflows, digitization plans, preservation and sustainability plans, and lab structures. This position will work across and within these digital archives, implementing the shared strategies as possible and facilitating increased collaborations and shared approaches. Some of the Digital Projects Archivist’s work will also be allocated to grant-funded projects. The Digital Projects Archivist will also advise Northeastern faculty who are considering creating digital archives.

https://tinyurl.com/4edmtrc6

Paywall: "Preserving Digital Humanities Projects Using Principles of Digital Longevity"

This chapter reports on a large, global survey undertaken by the Endings Project and introduces the “Endings compliance” toolbox, guiding librarians and archivists in assisting DH scholars to frame their work for cost-effective preservation. The chapter argues that collaboration among technologists, scholars, librarians, and archivists throughout the project lifecycle is essential to address longevity challenges in DH work, particularly for preserving complex web applications. Clear indicators of project completion are necessary, along with contingency plans for potential disruptions. Libraries and archives can avoid the pitfalls of complex software stacks through such collaboration, and by adhering to known preservation principles.

https://tinyurl.com/rta7scyd

"Publishers are Selling Papers to Train AIs — and Making Millions of Dollars"

[Roger] Schonfeld [VP of Ithaka S+R] and his colleagues launched the Generative AI Licensing Agreement Tracker in October. It includes information about licensing deals — confirmed and forthcoming — between technology companies and six major academic publishers, including Wiley, Sage and Taylor & Francis. Schonfeld says that the list documents only public agreements, and that there are probably several others that remain undisclosed. . . .

Some scholars have been apprehensive about deals being made without their knowledge on content they produced. To address this issue, a few publishers have taken steps to involve authors in the process.

https://tinyurl.com/56zwe54p

Metadata Manager [ICPSR] LEO-GLAM at University of Michigan

The Senior Associate Librarian joins ICPSR’s Metadata and Preservation unit to manage and oversee the ICPSR metadata catalog. You will play a key role in shaping the digital library catalog’s metadata records, ensuring high standards of metadata quality, discoverability, interoperability, and re-use. Working with teams across ICPSR, you will develop cataloging and metadata policies, review and update metadata with an eye to quality, optimize metadata workflows, and support discoverability, interoperability, and access to ICPSR’s extensive data collections. You will work collaboratively with the Senior Associate Librarian managing standards enhancement; you will report directly to the Unit Director.

https://tinyurl.com/4vywzbee

India: "One Nation One Subscription: Boon and Bane?"

A single-window purchasing entity, INFLIBNET, has been tasked with negotiating with the top 30 publishers out of a pool of 70+ originally identified publishers. The balance 40+ are expected to be closed in due course. . .

In Phase1, approximately 6,300 institutions and 18 million students will gain access to all the resources of the 30 publishers, at no cost. . . .

There is a budgetary allocation of around US$ 750 million for three years.

https://tinyurl.com/376k2dsa

See also: “Can ONOS Transform Indian Research?“

Vice Provost and Director of the University of Texas Libraries at The University of Texas at Austin

The University of Texas Libraries, with nine campus locations, is one of the greatest libraries worldwide. A member of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL), UT Libraries’ collections are the 14th largest among ARL institutions, with more than 24 million total library materials, including physical volumes, electronic resources, and other items, and the UT Libraries have been ranked 14th in the ARL Library Investment Index. UT Libraries’ excellence reflects 140 years of dedication by librarians, staff, faculty, students, and donors to build a top academic research library by assembling distinctive and comprehensive collections, offering exceptional services, and creating dynamic spaces to support and inspire students and scholars.

The next Vice Provost and Director will join UT at a time when the University aspires to become the world’s highest-impact public research university. The University’s strategic plan aims to make UT the best place to learn, grow, and work; prioritize community impact through partnerships; and change the world through transformative learning, research, and experiences for students, faculty, and staff. UT Libraries is a critical contributor to and driver for the success of this plan. Working with colleagues across the University and within UT Libraries, the next VP and Director will extend the extraordinary record of the UT Libraries, championing and advancing the work of the organization and UT writ large.

https://tinyurl.com/4sft4v5x