Month: November 2009

Shakespeare Quartos Archive Launched

The Folger Shakespeare Library has announced the launch of the Shakespeare Quartos Archive.

Here's an excerpt from the press release:

For the first time, digitized copies of rare early editions of William Shakespeare’s Hamlet have been compiled into a single online collection. The Shakespeare Quartos Archive (www.quartos.org) makes digitized versions of the play drawn from libraries in the US and the UK freely available to researchers worldwide.

"The Shakespeare Quartos Archive presents new and innovative opportunities that were simply not possible before for scholars, teachers, and students to explore Hamlet," said Folger Director Gail Kern Paster.

"We are confident that the Shakespeare Quartos Archive will become an indispensable online resource for the worldwide community of scholars, teachers, and students with an interest in Shakespeare, enabling them to access and compare these important texts," said Richard Ovenden, Associate Director of the Bodleian Library.

In the absence of surviving manuscripts, the quartos—Shakespeare's earliest printed editions—offer the closest known evidence to what Shakespeare might actually have written, and what appeared on the early modern English stage. Print copies of the Hamlet quartos are of immense interest to scholars, editors, educators, and theater directors, yet due to their rarity and fragility, are not readily available for study. The Shakespeare Quartos Archive offers freely-accessible, high-resolution digital editions of quarto editions of Hamlet, enabling users to compare texts side-by-side, search full-text transcriptions of each quarto, and annotate and tag passages for future reference. Users can also create personal collections of page images and annotations and share these collections with other researchers. . . .

The Shakespeare Quartos Archive contains texts drawn from holdings at the British Library, the Bodleian Library, the University of Edinburgh Library, the Huntington Library, and the National Library of Scotland, in addition to the Folger. These six institutions worked in conjunction with the Maryland Institute for Technology in the Humanities at the University of Maryland and the Shakespeare Institute at Birmingham University to digitize and transcribe 32 copies of Hamlet. The British Library's companion project, "Shakespeare in Quarto," is the first online collection to provide access to at least one copy of every pre-1642 Shakespeare play that was printed in a quarto edition and can be accessed at www.bl.uk.

The Shakespeare Quartos Archive was one of the first projects awarded funding through JISC/NEH Transatlantic Digitization Collaboration Grants in 2008. The grants support the innovative use of digitization technology to advance the humanities and are administered through joint collaboration between the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) in the United States and the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) in the United Kingdom.

Proceedings of the 155th ARL Membership Meeting

ARL has released the Proceedings of the 155th ARL Membership Meeting. Presentations are in digital audio, PowerPoint, and/or PDF formats.

Here's a selection:

  • "A Scientist’s View of Open Access," Bernard Schutz (PowerPoint, audio available)
  • "A River Runs Through It," Sayeed Choudhury (PowerPoint, audio available)
  • "Leading from the Middle: Open Access at KU," Lorraine J. Haricombe (PowerPoint, audio available)
  • "The Changing Role of Special Collections in Scholarly Communications," Donald J. Waters (PDF)
  • "Library Options for Publishing Support," October Ivins and Judy Luther (PowerPoint, audio available)

OAI-PMH: MOAI 1.0.7 Released

Infrae has released MOAI 1.0.7, a standalone OAI-PMH server that can “can be used in combination with any repository software that comes with an OAI feed.”

Here's an excerpt from the announcement:

MOAI is a platform for aggregating content from different sources, and publishing it through the Open Archive Initiatives protocol for metadata harvesting. It's been built for academic institutional repositories dealing with relational metadata and asset files. . . .

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

Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research Will Commit 5 Million Euros to Open Access Publication

According to a news article by the SURFfoundation, the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research, which "funds thousands of top researchers at universities and institutes and steers the course of Dutch science by means of subsidies and research programmes," will commit five million Euros to support the open access publication of its funded research results.

ARL Releases E-Science Survey Preliminary Results and Resources

The Association of Research Libraries has released preliminary results and resources from an e-science survey of its members.

Here's an excerpt from the press release:

The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) E-Science Working Group surveyed ARL member libraries in the fall of 2009 to gather data on the state of engagement with e-science issues. An overview of initial survey findings was presented by E-Science Working Group Chair Wendy Lougee, University Librarian, McKnight Presidential Professor, University of Minnesota Libraries, at the October ARL Membership Meeting. Lougee's briefing explored contrasting approaches among research institutions, particularly in regard to data management. The briefing also summarized survey findings on topics such as library services, organizational structures, staffing patterns and staff development, and involvement in research grants, along with perspectives on pressure points for service development. To better explicate the findings, Lougee reviewed specific cases of activities at six research institutions. . . .

A full report of the survey findings is being prepared and will be published in 2010 by ARL through its Occasional Papers series.

Open Science at Web-Scale: Optimising Participation and Predictive Potential

JISC has released Open Science at Web-Scale: Optimising Participation and Predictive Potential.

Here's an excerpt:

This Report has attempted to draw together and synthesise evidence and opinion from a wide range of sources. Examples of data intensive science at extremes of scale and complexity which enable forecasting and predictive assertions, have been described together with compelling exemplars where an open and participative culture is transforming science practice. It is perhaps worth noting that the pace of change in this area is such, that it has been a challenging piece to compose and at best, it can only serve as a subjective snapshot of a very dynamic data space. . . .

The perspective of openness as a continuum is helpful in positioning the range of behaviours and practices observed in different disciplines and contexts. By separating the twin aspects of openness (access and participation), we can begin to understand the full scope and potential of the open science vision. Whilst a listing of the perceived values and benefits of open science is given, further work is required to provide substantive and tangible evidence to justify and support these assertions. Available evidence suggests that transparent data sharing and data re-use are far from commonplace. The peer production approaches to data curation which have been described, are really in their infancy but offer considerable promise as scaleable models which could be migrated to other disciplines. The more radical open notebook science methodologies are currently on the "fringe" and it is not clear whether uptake and adoption will grow in other disciplines and contexts.

International Copyright: Why It Matters to Libraries

The Library Copyright Alliance has released International Copyright: Why It Matters to Libraries.

Here's an excerpt:

One of the most important issues for libraries at the present time is the need to reinforce copyright limitations and exceptions. Limitations and exceptions that enable uses of works without prior consent of or payment to the copyright holder or payment, for purposes such as research, scholarship and teaching, library preservation, and interlibrary loan, are a fundamental part of the copyright system, but they have not expanded at an equal pace with enhanced rights and protections in recent years. Internationally higher standards of protection and enforcement have been mandated by TRIPS, the WIPO Copyright Treaty, and the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty. In many nations including the U.S., extension of copyright terms, anticircumvention legislation, and a steadily increasing culture of enforcement have created additional restrictions to use of information. There has been no expansion of limitations and exceptions.

Associate Dean for Scholarly Resources at Northeastern University Libraries

The Northeastern University Libraries are recruiting an Associate Dean for Scholarly Resources.

Here's an excerpt from the ad:

Responsibilities include the direction, co-ordination, and development of the University Libraries collections and information resources, including digital initiatives, and of the Libraries' technical services activities, in order to ensure their overall operational effectiveness. In these areas the Associate Dean takes the leading role in planning, policy, and budget development and administration, fiscal management, the recruitment and supervision of staff, and consortial activity. She or he also has key leadership responsibility for development of the Libraries' scholarly communications and publishing initiatives. The Associate Dean works in a collaborative mode with a team-centered approach to problem-solving. As a member of the senior Administrative Group, the Associate Dean shares responsibility for developing and implementing the mission, goals, and broad policy directions of the University Libraries and coordinating initiatives with other University and Library senior administrators and managers. The Associate Dean also participates in leading the dynamic process of change in the transition to the hybrid print/digital library in a rapidly evolving research environment.

Digitization Activities: Project Planning and Management Outline

The Federal Agencies Digitization Guidelines Initiative has released Digitization Activities: Project Planning and Management Outline.

Here's an excerpt from the announcement:

The aim of this document is to define activities relating to the digitization of original cultural materials, and to outline general steps for planning and management of this process. The activities described in this document address library/archival issues, imaging and conversion work, and IT infrastructure issues in particular, and were identified using project management outlines from several organizations with significant experience working with cultural materials. This document defines "digitization" as a complete process, and covers all project components from content selection through delivery of digitized objects into a repository environment.

Open Library Environment (OLE) Becomes Kuali Foundation Project

The Open Library Environment (OLE) project has become a Kuali Foundation project.

Here's an excerpt from the press release:

The Kuali Foundation, Inc., is pleased to announce that a group of leading academic research libraries is partnering in the Kuali Open Library Environment (OLE) (pronounced Oh-LAY) project to develop software created specifically for the complex business management and workflow operations of academic and research libraries. . . .

More than 300 libraries, educational institutions, professional organizations, and businesses participated in some phase of planning for the OLE project, which was supported by a planning grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and led by Duke University. Based on that broad insight, OLE will create a next-generation library system that breaks away from print-based workflows and reflects the changing nature of library materials and new approaches to scholarly work. The project is designed to work well with other enterprise systems and to be easily modified to suit the needs of different institutions.

Consistent with the values of the Kuali Foundation, the resulting software will be made freely available to libraries around the world, which will then also contribute their expertise and enhancements through community processes that work for the library community. The project will build on the far-reaching expertise of its current and future partners. . . .

Integrated library systems, composed of relational databases and the application software to support them, are used to track materials within library collections, from ordering and paying for them to loaning them to library patrons. Because large academic research libraries are responsible for managing and providing access to millions of items, the need to be more proactive in software development is especially acute in light of the workflow needed to manage and curate a varied digital collection that includes leased electronic journal content and owned special collections. . . .

Kuali OLE partners include Indiana University (lead); Florida Consortium (University of Florida representing Florida International University, Florida State University, New College of Florida, Rollins College, University of Central Florida, University of Miami, University of South Florida, the Florida Center for Library Automation); Lehigh University; Triangle Research Libraries Network, represented by Duke University and North Carolina State University; University of Chicago; University of Maryland; University of Michigan; and the University of Pennsylvania.

Online Catalogue and Repository Interoperability Study (OCRIS): Final Report

JISC has released the Online Catalogue and Repository Interoperability Study (OCRIS): Final Report.

Here's an excerpt:

The aims and objectives of OCRIS were to:

  • Survey the extent to which repository content is in scope for institutional library OPACs, and the extent to which it is already recorded there;
  • Examine the interoperability of OPAC and repository software for the exchange of metadata and other information;
  • List the various services to institutional managers, researchers, teachers and learners offered respectively by OPACs and repositories;
  • Identify the potential for improvements in the links (e.g. using link resolver technology) from repositories and/or OPACs to other institutional services, such as finance or research administration;
  • Make recommendations for the development of possible further links between library OPACs and institutional repositories, identifying the benefits to relevant stakeholder groups.

Copyright Watch Launched

An international group of copyright experts have launched Copyright Watch, which is hosted by the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

Here's an excerpt from the announcement:

A single country's copyright law can be truly byzantine (the United States' seems to be the longest at around 130,000 words, although we're pretty sure Afghanistan has the shortest, lacking as it does any copyright regulations at all). And right now, every one of the 184 countries in Copyright Watch's database is struggling to reform their regulations to fit the difficulties and opportunities of the digital age.

It's a real challenge to map all of these laws, and all of these changes. But it's vital that we do so. Every shift in any of those countries might spread: whether it's for good or ill, maximalist or reforming. Lawmakers eagerly look for track records in other nations, or are obliged to adopt another's bad laws through treaty or trade agreement. Japan decides to model their new law's exceptions on the United State's broad fair use principles; politicians see France's three strikes laws, and decide to import them wholesale. We're hoping Copyright Watch will give the public as powerful a tool for monitoring the global copyright outlook as any private interest.

Web and Digital Library Specialist at the Center for Research Libraries

The Center for Research Libraries is recruiting a Web and Digital Library Specialist.

Here's an excerpt from the ad:

Essential Duties:

  • Conduct development and system administration on the Drupal content management system: evaluate and implement modules, implement and monitor work flows, develop site wide theming, templates, content types, etc.
  • Develop and update web applications with database driven and/or XML based dynamic content
  • Conduct interface design, integration and customization of Web applications and products acquired from third parties, including open source products
  • Develop and implement applications to integrate web contents from multiple servers, including internal CRL web servers and those from partner institutions

Harvard Provost Issues Report of the Task Force on University Libraries

Harvard Provost Steven E. Hyman has issued the Report of the Task Force on University Libraries.

Here's an excerpt from the announcement:

In March 2009 I appointed a University-wide Task Force to examine our library system and make recommendations that would put it on a footing that could sustain and ideally enhance its excellence long into the future. Today, I am pleased to share with you the Task Force’s findings and recommendations. A link to the report’s text can be found below.

The report of the Task Force on University Libraries is a very thoughtful document about an extraordinary system. But it is also a stark rendering of a structure in need of reform. Our collections are superlative, and our knowledgeable library staff are central to the success of the University’s mission. The way the system operates, however, is placing terrible strain on the libraries and the people who work within them.

Over time, a lack of coordination has led to a fragmented collection of collections that is not optimally positioned to respond to the 21st century information needs of faculty and students. The libraries’ organizational chart is truly labyrinthine in its complexity, and in practice this complexity impedes effective collective decision-making.

Widely varying information technology systems present barriers to communication among libraries and stymie collaboration with institutions beyond our campus gates. Our funding mechanisms have created incentives to collect or subscribe in ways that diminish the vitality of the overall collection.

Libraries the world over are undergoing a challenging transition into the digital age, and Harvard’s libraries are no exception. The Task Force report points us toward a future in which our libraries must be able to work together far more effectively than is the case today as well as to collaborate with other great libraries to maximize access to the materials needed by our scholars.

Google Book Search Settlement Amended

An amended version of the Google Book Search Settlement has been filed by the AAP, the Authors Guild, and Google with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

The complete amended agreement is available from Google as a Zip file.

Exhibit 1 provides the primary text of the amended settlement agreement.

An overview of the amended settlement agreement is available, as is an FAQ.

Read more about it at "Google Books Settlement Sets Geographic, Business Limits"; "Is the Google Books Settlement Worth the Wait?"; and "Terms of Digital Book Deal with Google Revised."

Manager of Digital Lab at Harvard Law Library

The Harvard Law Library is recruiting a Manager of Digital Lab.

Here's an excerpt from the ad:

The Harvard Law Library is seeking a creative and experienced innovator to provide strategic and operational leadership as the Manager of our Digital Lab. The Digital Lab is the Library's focal point for a wide range of activities, including developing internet tools to promote and enhance access to legal information and coordinating the library's digitization efforts. Reporting to the Associate Director for Collection Development and Digitization, the Manager of the Digital Lab leads the design, creation, and distribution of technological tools for delivering content and services in support of learning and research at the Harvard Law School and beyond; manages the Library's digitization projects, including those produced onsite and those outsourced to the University's Digital Imaging Group or other external entities; develops and implements division policies, plans, goals, and procedures; ensures appropriate staffing levels, staff skills, and output. The Manager will supervise a current full time staff of five; two Development Programmers, a Web Development Librarian, a Digital Preservation Librarian, and a Digital Projects Assistant, as well as project fellows.

Academic Journal Publisher Brill Launches Brill Open

Brill, an international academic publisher located in Leiden and Boston, has launched Brill Open.

Here's an excerpt from the press release:

This new author service offers the option of making articles freely available upon publication. Brill Open enables authors to comply with research funding bodies and institutions which require open access.

The Brill Open option will be available for all 135 journals published under the imprints Brill, Martinus Nijhoff and VSP. Articles will be put in online open access in exchange for an article publishing fee to be arranged by the author.

Sam Bruinsma, Brill's Business Development Director, explains:"We are launching this new service in answer to a growing number of research funding bodies and universities announcing their compliance with the open access model. With Brill Open our journals are ready to meet the expected increase in contributions under this model."

In order to ensure that authors' funder requirements have no influence on the editorial peer review and decision-making, Brill Open will be made available to authors only upon acceptance of their paper for publication. Those authors who do not wish to use this service will be under no pressure to do so, and their accepted article will be published in the usual manner.

Brill's strategic intent is to adjust the future subscription price of a journal to reflect an increase in Brill Open fees. Sam Bruinsma comments: "Our view on open access developments is positive. We accept that over time an increasing part of our revenues will come through this new model. This will have an impact on the revenues from our library subscription service. The combination of these two business models will continue to support a healthy and sustainable journal program attractive to the best authors in the field."

"Economies of Desire: Fair Use and Marketplace Assumptions"

Rebecca Tushnet has self-archived the "Economies of Desire: Fair Use and Marketplace Assumptions" in SSRN.

Here's the abstract:

At the moment that "incentives" for creation meet "preferences" for the same, the economic account of copyright loses its explanatory power. This piece explores the ways in which the desire to create can be excessive, beyond rationality, and free from the need for economic incentive. Psychological and sociological concepts can do more to explain creative impulses than classical economics. As a result, a copyright law that treats creative activity as a product of economic incentives can miss the mark and harm what it aims to promote. The idea of abundance—even overabundance—in creativity can help define the proper scope of copyright law, especially in fair use. I explore these ideas by examining how creators think about what they do. As it turns out, commercially and critically successful creators resemble creators who avoid the general marketplace and create unauthorized derivative works (fanworks). The role of love, desire, and other passions in creation has lessons for the proper aims of copyright, the meaning of fair use, and conceptions of exploitation in markets.

Information Economy Report 2009: Trends and Outlook in Turbulent Times

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development has released Information Economy Report 2009: Trends and Outlook in Turbulent Times.

Here's an excerpt from the announcement:

Contents:

  • Global and regional trends in the diffusion of ICTs such as fixed and mobile telecommunications, Internet, and broadband
  • Ranking of the most dynamic economies in terms of increased ICT connectivity between 2003 and 2008
  • Monitoring of the “digital divide”
  • Survey of national statistical offices on the use of ICT in the business sector
  • A review of the changing patterns in the trade of ICT goods
  • A mapping of the new geography in the offshoring of IT and ICT-enabled services.
  • Policy recommendations on how developing countries can reap greater benefits from ICT
  • A statistical annex with global ICT data.

Utah State University Press Merges with Library, Goes Open Access

The Utah State University Press will merge with the Merrill-Cazier Library, and it will "adopt a new publication model, with open access as a central component."

Here's an excerpt from the press release

Joining a growing national trend, Utah State University Press will merge with the administrative structure of Merrill-Cazier Library at Utah State University. The transition has begun, with the arrangement officially taking effect at the start of fiscal year 2010-11. . . .

"Many university presses are moving toward open access, often under the administration of the library,” Clement [Richard Clement, Dean of USU Libraries] said. “The most conspicuous example in the recent past is the University of Michigan Press which moved into the library and is now focusing on OA and other forms of digital publication. We propose to move the USU Press along the same path." . . .

While the decision to move USU Press to Merrill-Cazier Library was not completely budget-driven, it will result in significant savings, Clement said. With a larger staff in place, the library will assume a number of support activities for the press, including accounting, IT support, graphic design and public relations. . . .

USU Press will adopt a new publication model, with open access as a central component and will move toward increased digital delivery of books. The library’s position will be enhanced as well, as academic libraries nationally take on a stronger role in the evolution of scholarly publishing.

Read more about it at "Survival—Through Open Access" and "USU Press merging with Merrill-Cazier Library."

Cloud Computing and Repositories: Fedorazon: Final Report

JISC has released Fedorazon: Final Report.

Here's an excerpt:

The Fedorazon project is first and foremost the experiences of a small HE/FE team running and maintaining a Repository in the Cloud for one year. Being early adopters we provide both technical, fiscal and practical advice for both our successes and failures in this endeavour. We hope this report provides insight for other institutions wishing to utilise the Cloud for their Repository instance which we wholeheartedly recommend given they read this report first and prepare accordingly.

The Fedorazon project has discovered that a 'Repository in the Cloud' is easy to get up and running (both figuratively and literally); after that, all the complexity of hardware management, political costings and human resource allocation are still right where you left them. None the less we think there are significant cost savings in the Cloud that will only increase over time. We also believe that utilising the 'network effect' of the Cloud institutions can relieve the burden of having a local hardware expert to manage the repository instance. Finally, we believe that Cloud will lead to a significant change in the way we view repository architectures, especially in regards to how a 'preservation architecture' is achieved.

Web Developer at Harvard Law Library

The Harvard Law Library is recruiting a Web Developer.

Here's an excerpt from the ad:

The Harvard Law Library is seeking an energetic and creative web developer to join our newly created Digital Lab team. The Digital Lab is the Library's focal point for a wide range of activities including developing internet tools to promote and enhance access to legal information. The Web Developer manages the full life cycle of development projects. Reporting to the Manager of the Digital Lab, the Web Developer will design, develop, test and deploy new applications and extensions to existing applications; research coding and infrastructure technologies in connection with application design and implementation; identify integration requirements between applications; review and modify systems programs as needed to correct utility or application programs; install or customize modules and features for open source and proprietary software packages; develop and maintain documentation, participate in third party tool and product evaluations as needed, and take on other related duties as assigned. Works closely with librarian, unit director and other programmers.

Stanford University to Implement Electronic Dissertations

Stanford University will implement an electronic dissertation program this month.

Here's an excerpt from the press release:

Speaking at the Oct. 22 Faculty Senate meeting, University Librarian Michael Keller said the digital world offers a "much greater palette of expression" to graduate students, because they will be able to include more graphics, color and character sets in their dissertations than in paper copies.

"[There will be] more opportunities to link to online resources and to have those links live," Keller said during a joint presentation on the program with University Registrar Thomas Black.

The program is the result of a yearlong collaboration between Stanford University Libraries & Academic Information Resources and the Registrar's Office.

Under the program, digital dissertations will be stored in the Stanford Digital Repository, which provides preservation services for scholarly resources, helping to ensure their integrity, authenticity and usability over time.

Keller said the documents will be available to the Stanford community through Socrates, the university's online library catalog, and "available to the world" through Google, which will serve as a third-party distributor. He said the library will print one copy of each work and store it in the Stanford University Archives.