Month: August 2009

Programmer Analyst 2 at Yale

The Yale University Library's Library Access Integration Services unit is recruiting a Programmer Analyst 2.

Here's an excerpt from the ad (STARS Requisition number 7826BR):

Reporting to the Programmer Analyst III in Library Access Integration Services, the Programmer Analyst is responsible for the design, development, testing, installation, and maintenance of Library web and database applications and analyzes the technical needs of staff, faculty and readers, and develops proposals to acquire or develop the tools to answer those needs.

National Science Library of the Chinese Academy of Sciences Adopted Open Access Mandate in February

The National Science Library of the Chinese Academy of Sciences adopted an open access mandate this February.

Here's an excerpt from the library's home page that describes it:

NSLC functions as the key library nationally for collecting information resources and providing information services in natural sciences, inter-disciplinary fields, and high tech fields, for the researchers and students of CAS and for the researchers around the country. It also conducts services such as information analysis, digital library system development, scientific publication (with its 14 journals), and promotion of sciences. It also operates the Archives of CAS.

NSLC has a staff over 470, building areas more than 80,000m2 [square meters], and a collection about 11.5 million items

Read more about it at "Open Access Mandate in the National Science Library (NSL), Chinese Academy of Science (CAS)" and "Open Access Practice in National Science Library, Chinese Academy of Science."

U.S. Department of Justice Supports $1.92 Million Statutory Damages for Illegally Sharing 24 Songs

The U.S. Department of Justice has submitted a brief to the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota supporting the $1.92 million statutory damages award that Jammie Thomas-Rasset must pay for illegally sharing 24 songs ($80,000 per song).

Read more about it at "DOJ Doesn't Believe $80,000 per Song Unconstitutional or Oppressive," "Justice Department Defends Massive File-Swapping Fine," and "US Govt Says $1.92M P2P Damage Award Totally Fair."

Presentations from the Council of Science Editors 2009 Meeting

Presentations from the Council of Science Editors 2009 meeting are now available.

Some sessions of interest include:

  • D2. The Evidence on Open Access
  • D3. Copyright, Open Access, Subscriptions, and Permissions: What Editors Need to Know in the New Digital Publishing Environment
  • E2. How to Deal with Funding Mandates
  • G2. Challenges of Creating Digital Libraries: Digitizing, Organizing, Storing, and Accessing Content

OAI-PMH: MOAI 1.0.6 Released

MOAI 1.0.6 has been released.

Here's an excerpt from the MOAI Web page:

MOAI has some interesting features not found in most OAI servers. Besides serving OAI, it can also harvest OAI. This makes it possible for MOAI to work as a pipe, where the OAI data can be reconfigured, cached, and enriched while it passes through the MOAI processing.

More specifically MOAI has the ability to:

  • Harvest data from different kinds of sources
  • Serve many OAI feeds from one MOAI server, each with their own configuration
  • Turn metadata values into OAI sets on the fly, creating new collections
  • Use OAI sets to filter records shown in a feed, configurable for each feed
  • Work easily with relational data (e.g. if an author changes, the publication should also change)
  • Simple and robust authentication through integration with the Apache webserver
  • Serve assets via Apache while still using configurable authentication rules

University of California Faculty Bodies Comment on Goggle Book Search Settlement

Members of the University of California's Academic Council and the chair of the Academic Senate’s Committee on Libraries and Scholarly Communication have submitted a letter about the Google Book Search Copyright Class Action Settlement to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Here's an excerpt:

We have three main concerns about the proposed settlement agreement. First, to maximize access to knowledge, prices should be reasonable. Unfortunately, the proposed settlement agreement contains inadequate checks and balances to prevent price gouging and unduly restrictive terms for purchasers of books and institutional subscribers. Second, the agreement does not contemplate or make provision for open access choices that have in recent years become common among academic authorial communities, especially with regard to out of print books. The settlement agreement only contemplates that authors would monetize their books and related metadata through the Book Rights Registry (BRR). This is especially worrisome as to the millions of out of print, and likely orphan, books. Third, the agreement contemplates some monitoring of user queries and uses of books in the Book Search corpus that negatively impinge on significant privacy interests of authors and readers and undermine fundamental academic freedom principles.

Read more about it at "U.C. Professors Seek Changes to Google Books Deal."

Early Open Access Journal, the PACS Review, Established 20 Years Ago Today

On August 16, 1989, I announced the establishment of The Public-Access Computer Systems Review. If it was published today, this e-journal would be called a "libre" open access journal since it was freely available, allowed authors to retain their copyrights, and had special copyright provisions for noncommercial use.

Here's the announcement:

Thanks to everyone who sent me messages regarding the possibility of starting an electronic journal. There was a very favorable response to this idea, and I am willing to give it a try.

The Public-Access Computer Systems Review will contain short articles (1 to 7 single-spaced pages), columns, and reviews. PACS Review will cover all computer systems that libraries make available to their patrons, including CAI and ICAI programs, CD-ROM databases, expert systems, hypermedia systems, information delivery systems, local databases, online catalogs, and remote end-user search systems. All types of short communications dealing with these subjects are welcome. Articles that present innovative projects in libraries, even those at an early stage of their development, are especially welcome. Proposals for regular (or irregular) columns will be considered on an ongoing basis. There will be a section for reviews of books, journal articles, reports, and software. As a style guide, use Kate L. Turabian's A Manual for Writers (5th edition). If you are in doubt about whether your topic falls in the purview of PACS Review, consult my article: "Public-Access Computer Systems: The Next Generation of Library Automation Systems." Information Technology and Libraries 8 (June 1989): 178-185.

The initial editorial staff of the PACS Review will be as follows:

Editor: Charles W. Bailey, Jr., University of Houston

Editoral Board: Nancy Evans, Carnegie Mellon University
David R. McDonald, University of Michigan
Mike Ridley, McMaster University
R. Bruce Miller, University of California, San Diego

The PACS Review will come out on a regular schedule. I will determine the schedule based on the interest you show in submitting articles. If desired, authors can retain copyright to their works by notifying the editor. The logistics of distribution of the Review will be worked out at the release of the first issue. Either individual articles will be sent as PACS-L messages [PACS-L was a LISTSERV mailing list] or a table of contents will be sent and users will retrieve articles from the file server (at this point we do not have full documentation for the file server aspect of PACS-L). The PACS Review will have a volume and issue enumeration. It will be paginated.

I hope PACS Review will be timely, lively, and thought provoking. I hope that it will complement the PACS-L conference, potentially resulting in a unique interaction between formal and informal electronic communications. I welcome your contributions to this experimental electronic journal. Please send all articles to me at LIB3@UHUPVM1. Your contributions will determine whether this journal gets off the ground or not. Let's see if electronic publishing of library journals has a future!

The first issue of the PACS Review was published in 1990 and the last in 1998, for a total of 42 issues.

The following articles discuss the PACS Review:

  • Bailey, Charles W., Jr. "Electronic (Online) Publishing in Action . . . The Public-Access Computer Systems Review and Other Electronic Serials." ONLINE 15 (January 1991): 28-35. (Preprint)
  • Ensor, Pat, and Thomas Wilson. "Public-Access Computer Systems Review: Testing the Promise." The Journal of Electronic Publishing 3, no. 1 (1997).

Also see my "A Look Back at Twenty Years as an Internet Open Access Publisher."

7 Things You Should Know About Cloud Computing

EDUCAUSE has released 7 Things You Should Know About Cloud Computing.

Here's the abstract:

Cloud computing is the delivery of scalable IT resources over the Internet, as opposed to hosting and operating those resources locally, such as on a college or university network. Those resources can include applications and services, as well as the infrastructure on which they operate. By deploying IT infrastructure and services over the network, an organization can purchase these resources on an as-needed basis and avoid the capital costs of software and hardware. With cloud computing, IT capacity can be adjusted quickly and easily to accommodate changes in demand. Cloud computing also allows IT providers to make IT costs transparent and thus match consumption of IT services to those who pay for such services. Operating in a cloud environment requires IT leaders and staff to develop different skills, such as managing contracts, overseeing integration between in-house and outsourced services, and mastering a different model of IT budgets.

Ann Thornton Named as Interim Director of the New York Public Library

Library Journal reports that Ann Thornton, NYPL's Director for Reference and Research Services, has been named as the interim Director of the New York Public Library effective in November.

Congratulations to Ann, who has worked at NYPL since 1996. She began her career as a Systems Librarian at the University of Houston Libraries during the period I served as Assistant Director for Systems there.

Web Services and Repositories: Report from an EThOSnet Project Workshop

Electronic Theses Online Service (EThOS) has released Web Services and Repositories: Report from an EThOSnet project workshop, British Library, 2nd June 2009.

Here's an excerpt:

One of the areas highlighted for potential investigation was the use of Web Services in supporting the delivery of EThOS. Due to staff changes following the start of the project it was not possible to carry out this investigation on the technical level that had been originally hoped. Nevertheless, an initial investigation was carried out to assess options. In considering the role of Web Services in supporting EThOS, it was concluded that it was not possible for the most part to consider the needs of EThOS alone, as using Web Services is primarily about communication between systems. EThOS has been developed on a model of ongoing interaction with institutional repositories, and as such the role of Web Services in supporting these local repository instances is key to the success of EThOS making use of them. Furthermore, given the development of local repositories as systems that need to interact with other systems, either within an institution or outside it, it seemed timely to address this issue to provide guidance to the community as a whole.

A workshop to investigate the potential value and use of Web Services to digital repositories was thus organised to both disseminate and capture information on the possibilities. This report summarises much of the information and conclusions from the workshop, and accompanies the full resources from the day available at http://www.ethos.ac.uk/0031_Web_Services_Day.html.

Google Books Adds Creative Commons Licence Options

In "Bringing the Power of Creative Commons to Google Books," Xian Ke, Associate Product Manager of Google Books, describes Google's new Creative Commons license options for rights holders, and indicates that, in the future, users will be able to restrict searches to works that have such licenses. Users will be able to download complete Creative Commons licensed books, and if the license permits, modify them.

Mass Digitization Project Specialist at California Digital Library

The California Digital Library is recruiting a Mass Digitization Project Specialist.

Here's an excerpt from the ad (Requisition Number: 20090258):

Reporting to the Mass Digitization Project Manager, the Mass Digitization Project Specialist will provide planning, coordination, analysis and communications support for mass digitization projects, including Google Books Library projects, Internet Archive digitization projects, and print-on-demand partnerships. In addition, this position may provide support to other projects for the Collection Development and Management Program, as needed.

Confederation of Open Access Repositories to Launch During Open Access Week 2009

In a press release posted to the American-Scientist-Open-Access-Forum, D. Peters announced that the Confederation of Open Access Repositories (COAR) will launch during Open Access Week 2009. Supported by DRIVER, COAR "aims to promote greater visibility and application of research outputs through global networks of Open Access digital repositories."

OCLC Presentations on Digital Curation and Web-scale Management Services

Below are streaming video OCLC presentations from ALA Annual 2009 on digital curation and Web-scale Management Services.

  • Integrating Technical Services and Preservation Workflows: "Mainstreaming Digital Resources. After an introduction from Geri Bunker Ingram of OCLC, Amy Rudersdorf (Director, Digital Information Management Program, The State Library of North Carolina) discusses integrating a whole host of systems into a digital curation workflow, including OCLC's Connexion tools, Digital Archive, WorldCat, Digital Collection Gateway and CONTENTdm."
  • OCLC Web-scale Management Services: "Presentation by Andrew Pace, OCLC Executive Director for Networked Library Services, ALA Annual 2009. Web-scale cooperative library management services, network-level tools for managing library collections through circulation and delivery, print and licensed acquisitions, and license management. These services complement existing OCLC Web-scale services, such as cataloging, resource sharing, and integrated discovery."

"The Google Book Settlement and the Fair Use Counterfactual"

Matthew Sag, Associate Professor at the DePaul University College of Law, has self-archived "The Google Book Settlement and the Fair Use Counterfactual" in SSRN.

Here's an excerpt:

In the wake of the proposed Settlement, the Google Book debate has shifted away from the merits of book digitization, and refocused on questions of commoditization and control. This Article highlights four critical areas in which the Settlement differs sharply from the predicted fair use ruling. First, the Settlement permits Google to engage in a significant range of uses including the complete electronic distribution of books that go well beyond fair use. Second, the Settlement provides for initial cash payments by Google to the copyright owners and a fairly generous revenue sharing agreement, neither of which would have been required under a fair use ruling. Third, the agreement creates a new set of institutional arrangements that will govern the relationship between Google and the copyright owners covered by the Settlement. The foundations of this new institutional framework are the Settlement agreement itself, the creation of a collective rights management organization called the "Book Rights Registry" and the "Author Publisher Procedures." The fourth area in which the Settlement differs from the likely fair use outcome relates to the accessibility, commoditization and control of orphan works.

"TCO and ROI: Assessing and Evaluating an Institutional Repository"

Pamela Bluh has self-archived her presentation "TCO and ROI: Assessing and Evaluating an Institutional Repository," which was given at the at the American Association of Law Libraries 2009, in DigitalCommons@UM Law ("TCO" means Total Cost of Ownership and "ROI" means Return on Investment).

Here's an excerpt:

On the surface, a TCO analysis would seem to be a fairly straightforward process. After all, isn't it just a matter of getting prices for hardware and software and determining the cost of staffing? While TCO can be used to determine the financial implications associated with the implementation of an IR and, at a minimum, should examine the direct cost of hardware and software and of personnel it should also take into consideration the indirect or "hidden" costs for ongoing operations such as training, system upgrades, licenses, technical support, and loss of accessibility due to system downtime. While not specifically part of TCO, a thorough analysis should also take into account intangibles such as the complexity of the implementation, the timely delivery of the product, and the availability of an effective exit strategy or a clearly delineated migration path for software and hardware upgrades.

Analysis of The Internet Freedom Preservation Act of 2009

In "Close Reading: The Internet Freedom Preservation Act of 2009," Public Knowledge Policy Analyst Mehan Jayasuriya analyzes the Internet Freedom Preservation Act of 2009.

Here's an excerpt:

All in all, the Internet Freedom Protection Act of 2009 seems like a great first step toward the goal of enshrining net neutrality in U.S. law. It finally extends Carterfone rules to broadband providers, addresses the long-standing questions surrounding reasonable network management and ensures a number of much-needed protections for consumers. What remains to be seen is how the language of the bill will change as it works its way through Congress, how the FCC will choose to implement and enforce the provisions of the bill and whether or not the bill will be taken up by Congress at all. Only one thing is certain: those few, powerful opponents of net neutrality are not going to let this bill through without a fight.

Gideon Burton on the "The Open Scholar"

In "The Open Scholar," Gideon Burton says that open access is "great for archival purposes, but this is not the next real destination for scholarly discourse." Instead we need a new model: the "open scholar."

Here's an excerpt:

The Open Scholar, as I'm defining this person, is not simply someone who agrees to allow free access and reuse of his or her traditional scholarly articles and books; no, the Open Scholar is someone who makes their intellectual projects and processes digitally visible and who invites and encourages ongoing criticism of their work and secondary uses of any or all parts of it—at any stage of its development.

Public Access Policies, SPEC Kit 311

The Association of Research Libraries has released Public Access Policies, SPEC Kit 311. The table of contents and executive summary are freely available.

Here's an excerpt from the press release:

The concept of a public access policy for research results is based on the premise that government-funded research results should be freely available without barriers to taxpayers, who provide support for the funding. With the recent enactment of the US National Institutes of Health Public Access Policy and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research Policy on Access to Research Outputs, much attention has been devoted to public access policies. Many academic and research libraries have taken the lead in developing resources and services to support authors who are required to comply with these policies.

This survey was distributed to the 123 ARL member libraries in February 2009. Respondents were asked to provide information on staffing, partnerships, and resources and services developed for public access policy (PAP) compliance support, and the challenges related to providing such support. Seventy libraries (57%) from sixty-seven institutions responded to the survey. Of the respondents, sixty-three were at libraries located within the United States (90%) and seven were at libraries located in Canada (10%).

The majority of the responding libraries provide, or plan to provide, resources and services that help authors affiliated with their institution (and/or the author’s support staff) to comply with public access policies. Thirty-seven respondents (53%) indicated that more than one library within their system provides PAP compliance support; eleven (16%) indicated that just one library within their institution is providing this support. Four other institutions (6%) are planning to support PAP compliance. Of the libraries that do not provide such support, eight (11%) indicated that another department or unit within their institution provides compliance support. Eight others (11%) responded that their institution offers no PAP compliance support.

This SPEC Kit includes documentation from respondents in the form of PAP Web sites, compliance FAQs and flowcharts, handouts and slides from presentations to faculty and library staff, and sample letters to publishers.

Library Systems Manager at University of Maine

Maine InfoNet and the University of Maine System Libraries are recruiting a Library Systems Manager.

Here's an excerpt from the ad:

The Library Systems Manager will oversee the implementation, operation, configuration and support of the integrated library system (URSUS) that supports the seven campus libraries of the University of Maine System. This position will also work collaboratively with rest of the Maine InfoNet staff to provide comprehensive, hands-on support for MaineCat, Minerva, SOLAR, MARVEL! and other Maine InfoNet services and projects, including direct technical support for rapid response to system support requests. The successful candidate will have integrated library system (ILS) experience, an understanding of the vital importance of communication and public service in a multi-type library environment, and demonstrated experience realizing the full potential of technology to serve library staff and patrons. This position will be based out of the Maine InfoNet offices at the University of Maine in Orono and will report to the Executive Director of Maine InfoNet.

Carolyn Walters Named Interim Dean of Indiana University Libraries

Carolyn Walters has been named Interim Dean of the Indiana University Libraries. Previously, she served as Executive Associate Dean of the Libraries.

Here's an excerpt from the press release:

In her role as associate dean of the University Libraries, Walters was responsible for public services, technical services, collection development and scholarly communication initiatives, and University Archives. She has led the planning for the proposed Research Commons in the Herman B Wells Library and the proposed renovation of the Business/SPEA Information Commons.

In her 22 years with the IU Bloomington Libraries, Walters has also served as head of the Journalism Library, acting director of Collection Development, head of the Undergraduate Library, head of Information Commons/Undergraduate Library Services and director of public services. In 2002, she became the first librarian to receive the Michael Gordon Faculty Award presented by IU's Division of Student Affairs.

Walters was a fellow in the Academic Leadership Program of the Committee on Institutional Cooperation (2006) and was selected to participate in the Frye Leadership Institute (2005), sponsored by the Council on Library and Information Resources, EDUCAUSE and Emory University. She was a member of the inaugural group of IU's LEaD Program, a year-long leadership development program. In her positions at IU, Walters has distinguished herself in areas including undergraduate services, space planning, and scholarly communications.

The dean of University Libraries provides administrative leadership for a system of libraries on IU eight campuses. On the Bloomington campus, the dean provides strategic planning and policy direction in the areas of collection development, public and technical services, facilities planning and personnel policies.

ARL Webcast: Reaching Out to Leaders of Scholarly Societies at Research Institutions

The Association of Research Libraries has released its archived "Reaching Out to Leaders of Scholarly Societies at Research Institutions" webcast. Access is free, but registration is required.

Here's an excerpt from the press release :

On August 6, 2009, the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) hosted a Web conference on “Reaching Out to Leaders of Scholarly Societies at Research Institutions,” August 6, 2009, from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. (EDT) as part of an ongoing initiative to enhance library outreach.

Complementing the recently released guide on outreach to scholarly society leaders, the 60-minute webcast will introduce the goals and key talking points for campus outreach to leaders, editors, and members of academic scholarly societies. It will support development of faculty outreach programs at ARL member libraries by offering strategy and tactics for increasing engagement with association leaders at the institution.

Successful campus outreach should encourage and support society leaders to engage in positive change that advances the scholarly communication system, promotes new research modes, and offers a path forward in a time of paradigm shift.