Month: April 2009

Infrastructure Planning and Data Curation: A Comparative Study of International Approaches to Enabling the Sharing of Research Data

JISC has released Infrastructure Planning and Data Curation: A Comparative Study of International Approaches to Enabling the Sharing of Research Data.

Here's an excerpt from the announcement:

The current methods of storing research data are as diverse as the disciplines that generate them and are necessarily driven by the myriad ways in which researchers need to subsequently access and exploit the information they contain. Institutional repositories, data centres and all other methods of storing data have to exist within an infrastructure that enables researchers to access ad exploit the data, and variant models for this infrastructure can be conceptualised. Discussion of effective infrastructures for curating data is taking place a all levels, wherever research is reliant on the longterm stewardship of digital material. JISC has commissioned this study to survey the different national agendas that are addressing variant infrastructure models, to inform developments within the UK and for facilitating an internationally integrated approach to data curation.

The study of data sharing initiatives in the OECD countries confirmed the traditional perception that the policy instruments are clustered more in the upper end of the stakeholder taxonomy – i.e. at the level of national and research funding organisations whereas the services and practical tools are being developed by organisations at the lower end of the taxonomy. Despite the differences that exist between countries in terms of the models used for research funding, as well as the levels at which decisions are taken, there is agreement on the expected strata of responsibility for applying the instruments of data sharing. This supports the structure of stakeholder taxonomy used in the study.

The Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine Rebooted

The Internet Archive's Wayback Machine is now running on a Sun Modular Datacenter.

Here's an excerpt from the "Wayback Machine Comes to Life in New Home":

The Wayback Machine is a 150 billion page web archive with a front end to serve it through the archive.org website.

Today the new machine came to life, so if you using the service, you are using a 20' by 8' by 8' "machine" that sits in Santa Clara, courtesy of Sun Microcomputer. It serves about 500 queries per second from the approximately 4.5 Petabytes (4.5 million gigabytes) of archived web data. We think of the cluster of computers and the Modular Datacenter as a single machine because it acts like one and looks like one. If that is true, then it might be one of the largest current computers.

Read more about Sun and the Internet Archive at "The Internet in a Box."

Library IT Jobs: Digital Services Librarian at Rollins College

Rollins College's Olin Library is recruiting a Digital Services Librarian.

Here's an excerpt from the ad:

Under the direction of the Head of Digital Services & Systems, the Digital Services Librarian will work with the Digital Services & Systems department and the rest of the library to plan, implement, integrate, and maintain digital systems including the SirsiDynix Symphony ILS, the Serials Solutions Knowledge base, and 360 Suite, the library's web presence, EZProxy, ILLiad, RefWorks, ContentDM, and a number of third-party vendor online resources. The successful candidate will also assist library users, faculty, and staff in the use of the library's digital systems and, like all full time librarians at Rollins, will participate in reference service, instruction, and liaison with academic departments.

Harvard University Library’s Dale Flecker to Retire

The Harvard University Library's Office for Information Systems has announced that Dale Flecker, Associate Director for Planning and Systems, will retire on June 30.

Here's an excerpt:

Flecker served the Library for nearly 31 years as an expert in information technology and libraries. He came to Harvard as a systems librarian in 1978, directed the Office for Systems Planning and Research from 1979 to 1985, and became an Associate Director of HUL in 1985.

Dale did more than anyone to guide the Library into the digital age. He understood the possibilities and the problems of e-journals, e-books, and e-catalogues as soon as they appeared on the horizon. At the turn of the century, there were no models for creating a library digital infrastructure that would store and preserve digital objects. Thanks to Dale, Harvard took the lead in this crucial area with its Digital Repository Service, and it pioneered in other aspects of online teaching and research through the Library Digital Initiative. Dale's advice determined library policy at many critical junctures. We will badly miss him.

Special Section in Economics Analysis and Policy on the Economics of Open Access

The latest issue of Economics Analysis and Policy has a special section devoted to the economics of open access (thanks to Christian Zimmermann).

Here are the articles:

Research Councils UK Releases Open Access to Research Outputs

Research Councils UK has released Open Access to Research Outputs (annexes).

Here's an excerpt from the announcement:

RCUK published today an independent study commissioned by the Research Councils into open access to research outputs. The purpose of the study was to identify the effects and impacts of open access on publishing models and institutional repositories in light of national and international trends. This included the impact of open access on the quality and efficiency of scholarly outputs, specifically journal articles. The report presents options for the Research Councils to consider, such as maintaining the current variation in Research Councils' mandates, or moving towards increased open access, eventually leading to Gold Standard.

A Win for Musicians, a Loss for the Public Domain: EU Parliament Extends Copyright Term for Music Recordings

By a vote of 377 to 178 (with 37 abstentions), the European Parliament has extended the copyright term for music recordings to 70 years from the first publication or performance of the work.

Here's an excerpt from the press release:

The European Commission had previously proposed an extension of the copyright protection up to 95 years. According to Mr Crowley, the compromise reached by the Parliament on 70 years takes into account Council's resistance and would facilitate an agreement with national governments. . . .

A dedicated fund for session musicians was also supported by the Parliament. This fund would be financed by contributions from producers, who would be obliged to set aside for this purpose, at least once a year, at least 20% of the revenues gained from the proposed extension of copyright term. This fund will reward those session musicians who gave up their rights when signing the contract for their performance. . . .

The Parliament also asks the Commission to launch an impact assessment of the situation in the European audiovisual sector by January 2010, with a view to deciding whether a similar copyright extension would benefit the audiovisual world.

DRAFT: TEI Text Encoding in Libraries: Guidelines for Best Encoding Practices

DRAFT: TEI Text Encoding in Libraries: Guidelines for Best Encoding Practices is now available for comment until May 6, 2009.

Here's an excerpt from the comment survey:

The revised "TEI Text Encoding in Libraries: Guidelines for Best Encoding Practices," currently in draft form, contain updated versions of the widely adopted encoding 'levels'—from fully automated conversion to content analysis and scholarly encoding. They also contain a substantially revised section on the TEI Header, designed to support interoperability between text collections and the use of complementary metadata schemas such as MARC and METS. The new Guidelines also reflect an organizational shift. Originally authored by the DLF-sponsored TEI Task Force, the current revision work is a partnership between members of the Task Force and the TEI Libraries SIG. As a result of this partnership, responsibility for the Guidelines will migrate to the SIG, allowing closer work with the TEI Consortium as a whole and a stronger basis for advocating for the needs of libraries in future TEI releases.

Blended Research and Learning Object Repository: JISC Final Report—CIRCLE

The Oxford Brookes University's Common Institutional Repositories for Collaborative Learning Environments (CIRCLE) project has released JISC Final Report—CIRCLE.

Here's an excerpt:

The university has established a pilot repository system, linked to the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) that can be used for storing both teaching and research objects. The project has allowed us to look in depth at the needs of a wide range of stakeholders, including schools, researchers, Library staff, central IT staff and students. . . .

The software chosen for the project (Intralibrary) was developed as a learning object repository, and so a large part of our work involved configuring the software to deal with research outputs. Although Intralibrary can be adapted to deal with research, the project found that further work was needed for the software to meet all the requirements of the pilot groups. The university has an urgent need to establish a research archive and has therefore decided to pilot an alternative repository solution called Equella from The Learning Edge International. This follow-up project is called RADAR (Research Archive and Digital Asset Repository).

We feel that the knowledge and experience gained during the CIRCLE project have been extremely valuable and have paved the way for the development and rollout of the university’s repository. We have also explored the wider relationship between the repository and content management systems already in use in schools, ranging from Intranet to bespoke systems. The project has made a start on a co-ordinated approach to managing digital assets that will have clear benefits for schools and the university as a whole.

ILS as SaaS (Software as a Service): OCLC Announces Web-Scale Management Services

OCLC has announced web-scale management services.

Here's an excerpt from the press release:

Libraries that subscribe to FirstSearch WorldCat will get the WorldCat Local "quick start" service as part of their subscription at no additional charge. WorldCat Local "quick start" offers libraries a locally branded catalog interface and simple search box that presents localized search results for print and electronic content along with the ability to search the entire WorldCat database and other resources via the Web.

OCLC plans to release Web-scale delivery and circulation, print and electronic acquisitions, and license management components to WorldCat Local, continuing the integration of library management services to create the Web-scale, cooperative library service. OCLC will begin piloting the Web-scale management service components this year.

This new library service design will support library management for print, electronic and licensed materials built on a new, Web-scale architecture that provides streamlined workflows and cooperative solutions. This Web-scale solution will not only include the functionality of disparate systems, it will interoperate with third-party business process systems, such as finance and human resources, and will reduce the total cost of ownership for libraries. The cooperative nature of the platform will create network effects for libraries with enhanced discovery, resource sharing, and metadata management, and through sharing collection management information, identity management, and collective intelligence fueled by data shared through the cooperative and with partners. . . .

OCLC will work with the more than 1,000 libraries and partners that are currently using OCLC library management systems in Europe and Asia Pacific to help build this service. OCLC will continue to develop and support its existing systems in Europe and Asia Pacific. OCLC will accelerate efforts to create robust data-exchange capabilities between OCLC library management systems and the WorldCat platform. Libraries and partners using current OCLC library management systems will be able to participate in this new development by add

In July 2009, libraries will be able to start using WorldCat.org as their user interface for the OCLC FirstSearch service, providing integrated access through a single search box to NetLibrary eBooks and eAudiobooks, Electronic Collections Online eJournals, OCLC FirstSearch databases, ArchiveGrid archival collection descriptions and CAMIO (the Catalog of Art Museum Images Online). At the same time, OCLC will add an enhanced, comprehensive search capability to WorldCat Local, which will return all print, electronic and licensed content available to the library from any location. OCLC will pilot WorldCat Local circulation and acquisitions services later this year.

Copyright, Content and Class Action Lawsuits: A Debate on the Google Book Search Settlement

In "ALA Participates in ITIF Google Book Settlement Panel at Library of Congress," District Dispatch describes an ITIF meeting on "Copyright, Content and Class Action Lawsuits: A Debate on the Google Book Search Settlement" at the Library of Congress.

Here's an excerpt:

Yesterday, Dr. Alan Inouye, Director of the American Library Association’s Office for Information Technology Policy, participated in a panel called Copyright, Content and Class Action Lawsuits: A Debate on the Google Book Search Settlement. The talk was sponsored by the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF), and held at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. Dr. Inouye offered remarks on the proposed Google Book Settlement from the library and public interest perspective. Also contributing to the panel were Dr. Daniel Clancy, Engineering Director for Google Book Search, Allan Adler, VP of Government Affairs for the Association of American Publishers, and Peter Brantley, Director of Access for the Internet Archive. Daniel Castro, Senior Analyst at ITIF, moderated the panel discussion.

A digital video of the debate is available at the meeting web site.

OCLC Releases Online Catalogs: What Users and Librarians Want

OCLC has released Online Catalogs: What Users and Librarians Want.

Here's an excerpt from the Executive Summary:

  • The end user's experience of the delivery of wanted items is as important, if not more important, than his or her discovery experience.
  • End users rely on and expect enhanced content including summaries/abstracts and tables of contents.
  • An advanced search option (supporting fielded searching) and facets help end users refine searches, navigate, browse and manage large result sets.
  • Important differences exist between the catalog data quality priorities of end users and those who work in libraries.
  • Librarians and library staff, like end users, approach catalogs and catalog data purposefully. End users generally want to find and obtain needed information; librarians and library staff generally have work responsibilities to carry out. The work roles of librarians and staff influence their data quality preferences.
  • Librarians' choice of data quality enhancements reflects their understanding of the importance of accurate, structured data in the catalog.

Peter Hirtle on the Impact of the Google Book Settlement on Foreign Copyright Holders

In "Google Book Settlement, Orphan Works, and Foreign Works," Peter Hirtle discusses the impact of the Google Book Settlement on foreign copyright holders.

Here's an excerpt:

The scope of the foreign land grab could be considerable. Some initial estimates suggest that 7 million books could be included in the settlement. Of these it is estimated that 1 million are in the public domain. That would leave 6 million in-copyright but out-of-print books. Early efforts to try to understand the nature of the library collections that were being used to build the Google books database suggested that 50% of the works in the libraries were not in English, so it would be safe to say that at least 3 million of the books in the settlement will be foreign works. (Since Google added many European partners after this study was done, the number is likely to be much higher.) Some of these are going to be orphan works—but many more are going to have easily locatable rights holders that have chosen not to be active participants in the settlement. Their royalties are destined for the pockets of the Registry. I am willing to bet that a goodly percentage of the operating expenses of the Registry will come not from orphan works, but rather from foreign authors who do not understand the need to participate in the settlement.

UC Press and the California Digital Library Announce University of California Publishing Services

The University of California Press and the California Digital Library have announced their new University of California Publishing Services unit.

Here's an excerpt from the post:

This integrated system combines print distribution, sales, and marketing services offered by UC Press with the open access digital publishing services provided by the California Digital Library through eScholarship. UCPubS is part of the University of California's broader effort to ensure a sustainable scholarly publishing system in the service of research and teaching.

University of Florida Libraries Propose to Cut Budget by over $2.6 Million

The University of Florida George A. Smathers Libraries have posted a "2009-2010 Budget Reduction Proposal for the George A. Smathers Libraries, Including the Health Science Center Libraries" that details over $2.6 million in proposed budget cuts.

Read more about it at "2009-2010 Materials Budget Cuts by Circle," "2009-2010 Budget Reduction Proposal for the George A. Smathers Libraries, Including the Health Science Center Libraries," and "Budget Message to President Machen and Provost Glover."

Library IT Jobs: Systems/Reference Librarian at California Institute of Integral Studies

The California Institute of Integral Studies Library is recruiting a Systems/Reference Librarian.

Here's an excerpt from ad:

  • Serving as primary technical support for Library staff and patrons on research databases, online electronic journals, and library automation (including Library’s catalog and circulation system, z39.50 server and proxy server).
  • Maintaining, updating, developing and evaluating the Library's extensive Web site.
  • Serving as liaison with library software and online/electronic resource providers, gathering pertinent information, identifying opportunities and problems, and proposing solutions.
  • Providing individual and group research assistance to Library patrons, from bachelor’s completion through faculty level, at the reference desk, over the telephone and through email. As a member of the reference team, participate in designing instructional and informational programs.
  • Playing a key role in the process of acquiring and implementing a new library ILS.
  • On a day-to-day basis, serving as liaison to the Institute’s Information Technology Services unit; and serving as Library’s channel of communication on repairs and upkeep of computer equipment.
  • Staying current with advances in applicable library technology and online and electronic resources; advising colleagues and director on developments in these areas, and making recommendations for Library action when appropriate.

Historians’ Work Disrupted When Paper of Record Digital Archive Vanishes after Google Purchase

After Google purchased the Paper of Record digital archive, it brought the site down, upsetting historians that relied on the collection of older newspapers. Although the site will be temporarily restored with Google's permission, the incident raises issues about the permanence and reliability of scholarly digital archives.

Read more about it at "Digital Archives That Disappear" and "'Paper of Record' Disappears, Leaving Historians in the Lurch."

DSpace Sites: What Do You Want in Version 1.6?

The DSpace Committers Group is conducting a short survey about desired features in DSpace version 1.6.

Here's an excerpt from the "DSpace 1.6: You Decide!":

As you'll have seen from recent emails, the DSpace community has now released version 1.5.2 of the DSpace software. It has many new features, some enhancements to current features, and some bug fixes. Many of you will also know that a small team of developers have been working on DSpace version 2.0 which will bring with it many essential architectural enhancements to ensure that DSpace continues to fulfil the needs of the user community over the coming years. DSpace 2.0 is likely to be released early in 2010.

n the mean time, the DSpace committers have decided to start working on DSpace version 1.6. By moving to 1.6 (rather than 1.5.3) we can add new features that require changes to underlying DSpace database. We can’t tell you just yet what new features will be in version 1.6 because we haven’t decided! And that is where you come in . . .

Randy J. Olsen Wins Inaugural Howard Goldstein Award to Advance Scholarly Communication

Randy J. Olsen, University Librarian for the Harold B. Lee Library at Brigham Young University, has won the first BioOne/SPARC Howard Goldstein Award to Advance Scholarly Communication.

Here's an excerpt from the press release:

Randy J. Olsen has held leadership positions in the Utah Library Association, the American Library Association, Research Libraries Group, Greater Western Libraries Association, Mountain Plains Library Association, and Utah Academic Library Council. He currently chairs the Library and Scholarly Communications Advisory Council at Brigham Young University and currently serves as a member of the Steering committee for SPARC. . . .

A pragmatist, Olsen initiated a series of concrete steps that have since provided sustainable models for a growing number of important campus publications. These solutions have likewise served as a direction for others to follow. It was Olsen's idea, for example, to hire Jeff Billiston as the Scholarly Communications Librarian to identify and provide publication services and programs. In 2006, Olsen encouraged Billiston to develop an institutional repository that now hosts the legacy issues for 12 publications, with several more to come. In 2007, Olsen became aware of several campus journals in danger of extinction as print-only publications. Careful review of each journal's situation resulted in a variety of solutions that range from a library-sponsored investment in the development of Open Journal Systems software for peer-review and content management, to customized varieties of Open Access publication.

It was Olsen's suggestion that four faculty members attend the Association of Research Library's Institute on Scholarly Communication in 2007. Knowledge about publishing options gained at this event enabled one of BioOne's newest journals, the Western North American Naturalist, to identify a solution to its critical need to modernize. Now in its second year in the BioOne.2 collection, WNAN has increased its distribution and begun to earn important revenue to help sustain its program.

Challenged once again by Olsen, WNAN's publisher the Monte L. Bean Life Science Museum at BYU concluded that because their companion, Monographs of the Western North American Naturalist, is not their main revenue-producing publication, the best way to enhance its distribution was to add it to BioOne's Open Access collection. The two publications are now seamlessly available to users and their editorial staff is better able to manage both products. According to WNAM's grateful editor Mark Belk, Olsen has thus helped his publications meet their mission to communicate science broadly. Olsen's efforts to engage University leaders in this conversation have helped Belk strengthen his argument for the support necessary to ensure production for the good of the entire research community.

Library IT Jobs: Head, Library Systems Support Department at University of Delaware

The University of Delaware Library is recruiting a Head, Library Systems Support Department.

Here's an excerpt from the ad:

Reporting to the Assistant Director for Library Computing Systems, the successful candidate will be involved in challenging information technology activities in a rapidly evolving environment. As one of 9.5 FTE in the Library Computing Systems Division, will oversee the maintenance and support of the ALEPH 500 integrated library system and the maintenance and support of end-user computing systems. Will work closely with the Coordinator, Library Data and Server Support, in the provision and support of electronic library resources. Responsibilities include supervision of 3 professional and 2 support staff. The Department has responsibility for maintenance and support of over 400 PC's installed in Library, support of DELCAT and WorldCat Local, and maintenance and development of Library website (http://www.udel.edu/library). Collection development responsibilities with faculty liaison in a subject area may be assigned.