Year: 2009

ARL Releases "Establish a Universal, Open Library or Digital Data Commons"

The Association of Research Libraries has released "Establish a Universal, Open Library or Digital Data Commons."

Here's an excerpt:

Deepening our understanding of our Nation and its culture and history, advancing scientific discovery, tackling environmental, economic issues and more, all depend on scientists, researchers, students, scholars, and members of the public accessing our Nation's cultural, historical and scientific assets. A large-scale initiative to digitize and preserve the public domain collections of library, governmental, and cultural memory organizations will support research, teaching and learning at all levels, will help stem the current economic crisis by equipping and employing workers in every state with 21st Century skills, and it will lay a foundation for innovation and national competitiveness in the decades ahead. The goal is to establish a universal, open library or a digital data commons.

Pew Internet & American Life Project Releases "Adults and Social Network Websites"

The Pew Internet & American Life Project has released "Adults and Social Network Websites."

Here's an excerpt:

The share of adult internet users who have a profile on an online social network site has more than quadrupled in the past four years—from 8% in 2005 to 35% now, according to the Pew Internet & American Life Project’s December 2008 tracking survey.

While media coverage and policy attention focus heavily on how children and young adults use social network sites, adults still make up the bulk of the users of these websites. Adults make up a larger portion of the US population than teens, which is why the 35% number represents a larger number of users than the 65% of online teens who also use online social networks.

Still, younger online adults are much more likely than their older counterparts to use social networks, with 75% of adults 18-24 using these networks, compared to just 7% of adults 65 and older. At its core, use of online social networks is still a phenomenon of the young.

Digital Library Jobs: Repository Software Programmer at CARL

The Colorado Alliance of Research Libraries is recruiting a Repository Software Programmer.

Here's an excerpt from the ad:

The Alliance Digital Repository (ADR) [http://adr.coalliance.org] is a consortial digital repository service currently in production release with continued development activities at the Colorado Alliance of Research Libraries. The repository actively develops and maintains a set of services built on open source software and tools to support ingest, search and discovery; digital object delivery and presentation; and preservation of digital content (i.e. digital images, text, audio files, video, and other content). . . .

The ADR Software Programmer works to support consortial digital repository initiatives by designing, developing, implementing, and maintaining tools and applications for use in support of the Fedora-based repository [http://www.fedora-commons.org/].

Tasks include, but are not limited to, designing, coding and testing software; assisting in defining technical requirements for tools to support delivery of image, text, and other media file formats; evaluating and integrating open source solutions; and defining and implementing interface strategies with other software systems in use at locally and at member institutions. Position also maintains relevant documentation, attends project meetings as needed, and may represent the Alliance at technically-oriented conferences and meetings.

Library of Congress to Scan 25,000th Book in Digitizing American Imprints Program

The Library of Congress will scan the 25,000th brittle book in its Digitizing American Imprints Program, which is supported by a $2 million grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.

Here's an excerpt from the press release:

The Library, which has contracted with the Internet Archive for digitization services, is combining its efforts with other libraries as part of the open content movement. The movement, which includes over 100 libraries, universities and cultural institutions, aims to digitize and make freely available public-domain books in a wide variety of subject areas.

Books scanned in this pilot project come primarily from the Library’s local history and genealogy sections of the General Collections. For many of these titles, only a few copies exist anywhere in the world, and a reader would need to travel to Washington to view the Library’s copy. . . .

All scanning operations are housed in the Library’s John Adams Building on Capitol Hill. Internet Archive staff work two shifts each day on 10 "Scribe" scanning stations. The operation can digitize up to 1,000 volumes each week. Shortly after scanning is complete, the books are available online at www.archive.org. Books can be read online or downloaded for more intensive study. The Library of Congress is actively working with the Internet Archive on the development of a full-featured, open-source page turner. A beta version, called the Flip Book, is currently available on the Internet Archive site.

Updated ACRL Scholarly Communication Toolkit Released

The Association of College and Research Libraries has released an updated version of its Scholarly Communication Toolkit. It has been released under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

Here's an excerpt from the press release:

The toolkit continues to provide context and background by summarizing key issues to offer quick, basic information on scholarly communication topics. It also links to examples of specific tools, including handouts, presentations and videos for libraries to adapt and use on their own campuses. . . .

“Given the current economic climate, it's natural to ask if scholarly communication activities are a luxury or a distraction,” said Richard Fyffe, librarian of the college for Grinnell College and co-chair of ACRL’s Scholarly Communication Committee. “We define scholarly communications issues as central to the mission of virtually every kind of academic library because they are central to the mission of our institutions. We feel libraries need to maintain a commitment to awareness, understanding, ownership and activism.”

The updated toolkit serves as a resource for scholarly communication discussions inside the library, outreach programs to faculty and administrators and library school students seeking to incorporate these issues into their course work. The ACRL Scholarly Communication Committee, as part of its efforts to keep the toolkit current, encourages librarians to contribute tools and case studies on their local scholarly communication campaigns. Simply post a comment describing your tool and provide a link in the appropriate tab.

PDF Beats Microformats for Long-Term Document Storage

An AIIM report, Content Creation and Delivery—The On-Ramps and Off-Ramps of ECM, indicates that PDF has surpassed microformats for long-term document storage.

Here's an excerpt from the press release:

Recent AIIM research found that 90% of organizations are using the PDF file format for long-term storage of scanned documents, and 89% are converting Office files to PDF for distribution and archive. Not surprisingly, paper is currently used by 100% of organizations, but when asked to predict the situation in 5 years time, use of paper for long-term storage dropped to 77%, whereas PDF rose to 93%. . . .

Time-honored storage on microfilm or fiche is still used by 43% of organizations, but this is expected to drop to 28% over the next five years. At the other end of the media spectrum, 34% of organizations are archiving digital video, rising to a projected 47% in 5 years. Digital audio archiving will rise from 30% to 37%.

Digital Library Jobs: Digital Information Architect at Yale

Yale's Office of Digital Assets and Infrastructure is recruiting a Digital Information Architect.

Here's an excerpt from the ad:

Yale University has established the Office of Digital Assets and Infrastructure a new, permanent initiative, to provide strategic and operational leadership in creating a coherent and integrated campus-wide architecture to support Yale’s digital assets and in developing the University’s digital content infrastructure. The ODAI will guide collaboration among the Schools, libraries, museums and other campus units that are developing strategies and systems for digitization and digital asset management and will coordinate the development of a University-wide digital information management strategy.

As the ODAI Digital Information Architect (DIA), report to the Director of ODAI, and have a key leadership role in the development of Yale University’s campus-wide digital content management strategy, which includes defining the standards, policies and implementation plans. The DIA will be expected to help understand and articulate digital content issues within and outside the University.

LibWorld—Library Blogs Worldwide

Christian Hauschke, Nadine Ullmann, and Sarah Lohre have edited a book about the global blogging efforts of librarians, LibWorld—Library Blogs Worldwide. It is available in print form and as a free PDF download.

Here's the abstract:

On April, 23rd 2007 a series of postings started on Infobib.de, where guest authors from all over the world introduced the library and library related blogs of their own country. This book is a collection of 30 revised LibWorld articles, accompanied by a foreword by Walt Crawford. Included are articles about the blogosphere of: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, Iran, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Malawi, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Peru, Puerto Rico, Russia, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Trinidad & Tobago, USA.

Interview Podcasts from the Coalition for Networked Information's Fall 2008 Task Force Meeting

Gerry Bayne has made available podcast interviews with selected participants at the Coalition for Networked Information's Fall 2008 Task Force Meeting.

Here are three of podcasts of special interest:

Scholarly Electronic Publishing Weblog Update (1/14/09)

The latest update of the Scholarly Electronic Publishing Weblog (SEPW) is now available, which provides information about new works related to scholarly electronic publishing, such as books, e-prints, journal articles, magazine articles, technical reports, and white papers.

Especially interesting are: "Attracted to Open Access Journals: A Bibliometric Author Analysis in the Field of Biology"; "Cultural Dimensions of Digital Library Development, Part I: Theory and Methodological Framework for a Comparative Study of the Cultures of Innovation in Five European National Libraries"; "Electronic Journals and Changes in Scholarly Article Seeking and Reading Patterns"; "The Gutenberg-e Project: Opportunities and Challenges in Publishing Born-Digital Monographs"; "The Integration of Open Access Journals in the Scholarly Communication System: Three Science Fields"; "Libraries and Repositories"; "Open Access in 2008"; "The Role and Future of the Monograph in Arts and Humanities Research"; "Scholarly E-Books: The Views of 16,000 Academics: Results from the JISC National E-Book Observatory"; and "Unbundling Fair Uses."

Here’s Why You Can’t Find That Online ALA Journal (and Other Tales of Journal Access Woes)

Apparently without warning, the American Library Association has changed the format for its journal URLs, and the old URLs are not redirected to the new ones.

Here's an example from version 73 of the Scholarly Electronic Publishing Bibliography ("Fair Use after CONFU" from College & Research Libraries):

  • Old URL:
    http://www.ala.org/ala/acrl/acrlpubs/crljournal/
    backissues1998b/may98/candrlmay1998editorial.cfm
  • New URL:
    http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/acrl/publications/
    crljournal/1998/may98/candrlmay1998editorial.cfm

ALA journal URLs were removed from version 74 of SEPB, and will be restored in version 75 (unless there are further changes). Since ALA does not include article page numbers in journal sites such as College & Research Libraries, they may be missing from some SEPB references, reflecting the time lag between issue publication and inclusion in standard indexing tools that I can access.

A similar issue has arisen with archived issues of RLG DigiNews, a ceased e-journal archived by OCLC.

Here's an example from version 73 of SEPB ("Benchmarking Conversion Costs: A Report from the Making of America IV Project"):

  • Old URL:
    http://digitalarchive.oclc.org/da/ViewObjectMain.jsp?fileid=0000070513:000006280584&reqid=5141#feature2
  • New URL:
    http://worldcat.org/arcviewer/1/OCC/2007/08/
    08/0000070519/viewer/file706.html#feature2

RLG DigiNews articles were removed from version 74 of SEPB, and they will be restored in a future version. (SEPB previously included virtually all articles published in this fine journal.)

Version 74, Scholarly Electronic Publishing Bibliography

Version 74 of the Scholarly Electronic Publishing Bibliography is now available from Digital Scholarship. This selective bibliography presents over 3,350 articles, books, and other digital and printed sources that are useful in understanding scholarly electronic publishing efforts on the Internet. Where possible, links are provided to works that are freely available on the Internet, including e-prints in disciplinary archives and institutional repositories.

The bibliography has the following sections (revised sections are in italics):

1 Economic Issues
2 Electronic Books and Texts
2.1 Case Studies and History
2.2 General Works
2.3 Library Issues
3 Electronic Serials
3.1 Case Studies and History
3.2 Critiques
3.3 Electronic Distribution of Printed Journals
3.4 General Works
3.5 Library Issues
3.6 Research
4 General Works
5 Legal Issues
5.1 Intellectual Property Rights
5.2 License Agreements
6 Library Issues
6.1 Cataloging, Identifiers, Linking, and Metadata
6.2 Digital Libraries
6.3 General Works
6.4 Information Integrity and Preservation
7 New Publishing Models
8 Publisher Issues
8.1 Digital Rights Management
9 Repositories, E-Prints, and OAI
Appendix A. Related Bibliographies
Appendix B. About the Author
Appendix C. SEPB Use Statistics

Scholarly Electronic Publishing Resources includes the following sections:

Cataloging, Identifiers, Linking, and Metadata
Digital Libraries
Electronic Books and Texts
Electronic Serials
General Electronic Publishing
Images
Legal
Preservation
Publishers
Repositories, E-Prints, and OAI
SGML and Related Standards

The 2006 and 2007 annual editions of the Scholarly Electronic Publishing Bibliography (PDF files designed for printing) are also available.

An article about the bibliography ("Evolution of an Electronic Book: The Scholarly Electronic Publishing Bibliography") has been published in The Journal of Electronic Publishing.