November 2009 – Page 3

Final Report on the Provision of Usage Data and Manuscript Deposit Procedures for Publishers and Repository Managers

The PEER (Publishing and the Ecology of European Research) project has released: Final Report on the Provision of Usage Data and Manuscript Deposit Procedures for Publishers and Repository Managers.

Here's an excerpt:

This report concludes the development of an overall framework for depositing stage-two outputs in and for harvesting log files from repositories. An innovative workflow has been devised to describe and standardise the deposit from publishers to repositories that demonstrates, in a core group of interoperable European repositories, the capability of accepting material deposited from third party publishers and authors beyond the project duration.

The development of an appropriate workflow for author deposits has proved challenging, as the author response is unpredictable, and cannot readily be standardised. The guiding principle adopted is that authors are encouraged to follow their established practice of deposit in an institutional or subject-specific repository. Failing such practice, a central deposit in the PEER Depot for distribution to designated PEER repositories is recommended.

Bills Introduced in House and Senate to Block FCC Net Neutrality Regulations

Senator John McCain has introduced the "The Internet Freedom Act of 2009" in the U.S. Senate and Rep. Marsha Blackburn has introduced the "Real Stimulus Act of 2009" in the U.S. House of Representatives. Both bills are aimed at preventing the FCC from imposing net neutrality regulations, saying: "The Federal Communications Commission shall not propose, promulgate, or issue any regulations regarding the Internet or IP-enabled services."

Nine Software Design/Development/Usability Jobs at the VIVOweb Project at Cornell

The VIVOweb Project based in Cornell's Mann Library is recruiting nine software design/development/usability specialists.

Here's an excerpt from the ad:

The VIVOweb Project is a two-year $12 million project funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to build a national network of distributed Resource Description Framework (RDF) databases facilitating discovery of scientists and their research and encouraging interdisciplinary collaboration and scientific exchange. The VIVO (http://vivo.cornell.edu) experts and resources network has been under development in Mann Library at Cornell since 2003 and is currently in use at Cornell and at the University of Florida. The latter is the lead institution in this multi-institution project.

"Internet Archive Dishes up BookServer as Digital Books Market Heats Up"

In "Internet Archive Dishes up BookServer as Digital Books Market Heats Up," Nancy Herther discusses the recent BookServer announcement and its implications.

Here's an excerpt:

Using an open architecture and open ebook formats, Kahle and his team intend to see that ebooks are available—for free or a fee—that will work on any device—whether a laptop, PC, smartphone, game console, or dedicated ebook reader. While it is still in development and probably years from completion, the BookServer project is intended to allow users to search book indexes across the web—whether it be on publishers' sites, libraries, bookstores, universities, or other sources—to identify content, compare vendor offerings, and easily download titles.

UK Intellectual Property Office: © The Way Ahead: A Strategy for Copyright in the Digital Age

The UK Intellectual Property Office has released © The Way Ahead: A Strategy for Copyright in the Digital Age.

Here's an excerpt:

Based on the findings, the Government's reported intentions are:

for authors of copyright works; to support fair treatment through new model contracts and clauses and fair returns for use of their work by improving education about and enforcement of rights;

for rights holders; to help secure a viable future by encouraging the development of new business models, modernising the licensing process and maintaining support for education about and enforcement of rights;

for consumers; to allow them to benefit from the digital age by seeking to legitimise noncommercial use of legitimately-purchased copyright works and improving access to 'orphan works' such as out-of-print books;

for educators and researchers; to support them by improving access to works, resolving issues around copyright and contract and ensuring exceptions to copyright are right for the digital age; and

for businesses and other users; to work towards a simpler copyright system by, improving the copyright licensing process and encouraging the development of new business models.

This means:

UK action to improve access to orphan works, enable extended collective licensing, encourage the development of model contracts and clauses, and tackle P2P file-sharing; and

A willingness on the Government's part to consider European action that provides commonsense rules for private, non-commercial use of copyright material that will give consumers much more freedom to do what they want (such as creating mash-ups) and make clear what they cannot do.

Making the Case for European Research Libraries: LIBER Strategic Plan 2009-2012

The Ligue des Bibliothèques Européennes de Recherche (LIBER) has released Making the Case for European Research Libraries: LIBER Strategic Plan 2009-2012.

Here's an excerpt:

In 2009-2012 LIBER will give priority to the following areas:

Scholarly communication

Digitisation and resource discovery

Heritage collections and preservation

Organisation and human resources

LIBER Services

"Why Plaintiffs Should Have to Prove Irreparable Harm in Copyright Preliminary Injunction Cases"

Pamela Samuelson and Krzysztof Bebenek have self-archived "Why Plaintiffs Should Have to Prove Irreparable Harm in Copyright Preliminary Injunction Cases" in SSRN.

Here's an excerpt:

It has become lamentably common for courts to issue preliminary injunctions in copyright cases once rights holders have shown a reasonable likelihood of success on the merits without going on to require them to prove that they will suffer irreparable harm unless the injunction issues. Harm is too often presumed to be irreparable if plaintiffs have made out a prima facie case of infringement. This presumption cannot be squared with traditional principles of equity, as interpreted in numerous Supreme Court decisions, particularly eBay, Inc. v. MercExchange LLC, 547 U.S. 388 (2006).

While a presumption of irreparable harm is inappropriate in all copyright cases, it is particularly troublesome in cases involving transformative uses of existing works, such as parodies and remixes and mashups, because free expression and free speech interests of creative users are at stake and transformative uses cases often raise plausible non-infringement defenses. Indeed, if any presumption about harm is appropriate in transformative use cases, it should probably run in favor of irreparability of harm to the defendants' free expression and speech interests under First Amendment case law which treats preliminary injunctions as presumptively unconstitutional prior restraints on speech.

Digital Archivist at Stanford University

The Stanford University Libraries are recruiting a Digital Archivist.

Here's an excerpt from the ad (Job ID: 36243):

Reporting to the Principal Manuscripts Processing Librarian, the Digital Archivist will help define and apply the methodology and standards of traditional archival best practice to born-digital collections. This work will be done as part of a grant project, Born Digital Collections: An Inter-Institutional Model for Stewardship (AIMS), funded by the Mellon Foundation and led by the University of Virginia.

OCLC to Offer Free OAIster-Only Database View in 2010 to Complement Integrated WorldCat Access

The transfer of the OAIster database to OCLC's WorldCat is now complete, and OCLC will offer a free OAIster-only database view in 2010 to complement integrated WorldCat Access.

Here's an excerpt from the press release:

The University of Michigan and OCLC today announced that they have successfully transitioned the OAIster database to OCLC to ensure continued public access to open-archive collections, and to expand the visibility of these collections to millions of information seekers through OCLC services.

OAIster records are now fully accessible through WorldCat.org, and will be included in WorldCat.org search results along with records from thousands of libraries worldwide that add their holdings to WorldCat. OCLC plans to release a freely accessible, discrete view of the OAIster records in January 2010 through a URL specific to OAIster. OAIster records will also continue to be available on the OCLC FirstSearch service to Base Package subscribers, providing another valuable access point for this rich database and a complement to other FirstSearch databases. OCLC will continue to develop and enhance access to open archive content.

"Adding records for open archive collections is a natural complement to WorldCat and will drive discovery and access of these collections for a broader community of scholars," said Chip Nilges, OCLC Vice President, Business Development. "OCLC is committed to building on the success of OAIster by identifying open archive collections of interest to researchers and libraries, and ensuring that open archive collections will be freely discoverable and accessible to information seekers worldwide."

"Integration of OAIster inside WorldCat.org is the result of many years of looking for a better home for OAIster, where its resources can be searched alongside other valuable, scholarly resources," said Kat Hagedorn, OAIster/Metadata Harvesting Librarian at the University of Michigan. "I am eagerly looking forward to its increased usefulness in the world of search and discovery."

OAIster is a union catalog of digital resources hosted at the University of Michigan since 2002. Launched with grant support from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, OAIster was developed to test the feasibility of building a portal to open archive collections using the Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting (OAI-PMH). OAIster has grown to become one of the world's largest aggregations of records pointing to open archive collections with more than 23 million records contributed by over 1,100 organizations worldwide.

"The University of Michigan approached OCLC about managing future operations for the OAIster project to ensure its long-term viability," said John Wilkin, Associate University Librarian, University of Michigan Library, when the partnership was announced earlier this year. "OCLC plays a pivotal role in the business of metadata creation and distribution. Situating OAIster with OCLC helps to create an increasingly comprehensive discovery resource for users."

OCLC plans to release a freely accessible, discrete view of the OAIster database in 2010 that will be updated regularly. This will allow WorldCat.org searchers to view only items harvested through OAIster.

"OCLC has been very responsive to issues and needs brought up by the OAI community," said Ms. Hagedorn. "The creation of a free, separately accessible view of OAIster within OCLC is an example of their recognition of the value of OAIster in the world of metadata management."

Now that all OAIster records are accessible through WorldCat.org, the oaister.org Web site has been redirected to a new OAIster Web site at OCLC. For more information, visit the new OAIster Web site.

"Removing All Restrictions: Cornell's New Policy on Use of Public Domain Reproductions"

Peter Hirtle, Cornell University Library's Senior Policy Advisor, is interviewed in "Removing All Restrictions: Cornell's New Policy on Use of Public Domain Reproductions," which has been published in the latest issue of Research Library Issues.

Here's an excerpt:

Restrictions on the use of public domain work, sometimes labeled "copyfraud," are generating increasing criticism from the scholarly community. With significant collections of public domain materials in their collections, research libraries are faced with the question of what restrictions, if any, to place on those who seek to scan or otherwise reproduce these resources with the intention of publication.

Cornell University Library has responded by adopting new permissions guidelines that open access by no longer requiring users to seek permission to publish public domain items duplicated from its collections. Users planning to scan and publish public domain material are still expected to determine that works are in the public domain where they live (since public domain determinations can vary internationally). Users must also respect noncopyright rights, such as the rights of privacy, publicity, and trademark. The Library will continue to charge service fees associated with the reproduction of analog material or the provision of versions of files different than what is freely available on the Web. The new guidelines are found at http://cdl.library.cornell.edu/guidelines.html.

Internet Domain Names to Contain Non-Latin Characters

ICANN has appoved the use of non-Latin characters in Internet domain names.

Here's an excerpt from the press release:

The first Internet addresses containing non-Latin characters from start to finish will soon be online thanks to today's approval of the new Internationalized Domain Name Fast Track Process by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers board.

"The coming introduction of non-Latin characters represents the biggest technical change to the Internet since it was created four decades ago," said ICANN chairman Peter Dengate Thrush. "Right now Internet address endings are limited to Latin characters—A to Z. But the Fast Track Process is the first step in bringing the 100,000 characters of the languages of the world online for domain names."

ICANN's Fast Track Process launches on 16 November 2009. It will allow nations and territories to apply for Internet extensions reflecting their name—and made up of characters from their national language. If the applications meet criteria that includes government and community support and a stability evaluation, the applicants will be approved to start accepting registrations.

"This is only the first step, but it is an incredibly big one and an historic move toward the internationalization of the Internet," said Rod Beckstrom, ICANN's President and CEO. "The first countries that participate will not only be providing valuable information of the operation of IDNs in the domain name system, they are also going to help to bring the first of billions more people online – people who never use Roman characters in their daily lives."