Presentations from the recent Repositories and the Cloud meeting, which was sponsored by Eduserv and JISC, and are now available.
Presentations included "Cloud-Based Projects at Belfast e-Science Centre," "Cloud Services for Repositories", "DuraCloud—Open Technologies and Services for Managing Durable Data in the Cloud," and "EPrints and the Cloud."
Read more about it at "Slides and Observations from “Repositories in the Cloud” London."
The A. Frank Smith, Jr. Library Center at Southwestern University is recruiting a Head, Library Systems and Web Services
Here's an excerpt from the ad:
This position serves as the system administrator for the library’s integrated library system (ILS), and also as webmaster for the library’s website. Responsible for library technology planning, support, and communication. Provides support for technology applications in all library departments as needed. Maintains an in-depth understanding of technological trends and developments affecting academic libraries through a commitment to ongoing professional development. Works collaboratively and creatively with librarians, library staff, Audiovisual Services, ITS, NITLE, and the university webmaster.
Sonia Katyal, Professor of Law at the Fordham University School of Law, has self-archived "Filtering, Piracy Surveillance, and Disobedience" in SSRN.
Here's an excerpt:
There has always been a cyclical relationship between the prevention of piracy and the protection of civil liberties. While civil liberties advocates previously warned about the aggressive nature of copyright protection initiatives, more recently, a number of major players in the music industry have eventually ceded to less direct forms of control over consumer behavior. As more aggressive forms of consumer control, like litigation, have receded, we have also seen a rise in more passive forms of consumer surveillance. Moreover, even as technology has developed more perfect means for filtering and surveillance over online piracy, a number of major players have opted in favor of “tolerated use,” a term coined by Professor Tim Wu to denote the allowance of uses that may be otherwise infringing, but that are allowed to exist for public use and enjoyment. Thus, while the eventual specter of copyright enforcement and monitoring remains a pervasive digital reality, the market may fuel a broad degree of consumer freedom through the toleration or taxation of certain kinds of activities.
This Article is meant largely to address and to evaluate these shifts by drawing attention to the unique confluence of these two important moments: the growth of tolerated uses, coupled with an increasing trend towards more passive forms of piracy surveillance in light of the balance between copyright enforcement and civil liberties. The content industries may draw upon a broad definition of disobedience in their campaigns to educate the public about copyright law, but the market’s allowance of DRM-free content suggests an altogether different definition. The divide in turn between copyright enforcement and civil liberties results in a perfect storm of uncertainty, suggesting the development of an even further division between the role of the law and the role of the marketplace in copyright enforcement and innovation, respectively.
The Appalachian College Association is recruiting a Digital Library of Appalachia Project Director (two-year contract consultant position).
Here's an excerpt from the ad:
The Digital Library of Appalachia Project Director is a two-year grant-funded position working within the Appalachian College Association (ACA) that is responsible for upgrading and enhancing the Digital Library of Appalachia (DLA). The ACA is a consortium of 36 private institutions serving the Appalachian regions of Kentucky, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. The DLA provides online access to archival and historical materials related to the culture of the southern and central Appalachian region. The contents of the DLA are drawn from special collections of ACA member institutions.
OCLC Research has released Over, Under, Around, and Through: Getting Around Barriers to EAD Implementation.
Here's an excerpt from the announcement:
This report frames obstacles that archivists have experienced adopting Encoded Archival Description (EAD). It also suggests pathways to help archivists get out of the ruts, around the roadblocks and on the road to success.
Written by Michele Combs from Syracuse University, Mark A. Matienzo from Yale University, Lisa Spiro from Rice University and Merrilee Proffitt from OCLC Research, the objective of the report is to communicate EAD's value as a key element of successful archival information systems and help archivists overcome potential barriers to its implementation. This work is an output of the Barriers to Using EAD project undertaken by OCLC Research and the RLG Partnership.
The Berkman Center for Internet & Society has released Next Generation Connectivity: A Review of Broadband Internet Transitions and Policy from Around the World.
Here's an excerpt:
Our most prominent initial findings, confirmed and extended in this final draft, were that U.S. broadband performance in the past decade has declined relative to other countries and is no better than middling. Our study expanded the well known observation with regard to penetration per 100 inhabitants, and examined and found the same to be true of penetration per household; subscriptions for mobile broadband; availability of nomadic access; as well as advertised speeds and actually measured speeds; and pricing at most tiers of service. Our study further identified the great extent to which open access policies played a role in establishing competitive broadband markets during the first-generation broadband transition in Europe and Japan, and the large degree to which contemporary transpositions of that experience were being integrated into current plans to preserve and assure competitive markets during the next generation transition.
The Alliance Library System is recruiting a RSA System Administrator/Manager.
Here's an excerpt from the ad:
The Alliance Library System (ALS) seeks a Resource Sharing Alliance (RSA) System Administrator/Manager to maintain and back up Windows and Linux servers, troubleshoot problems associated with the Library Information System network, SirsiDynix Symphony and other system software, and adjust system and library parameters.
In 2010, new versions of the Scholarly Electronic Publishing Bibliography will be released in June and December. The Scholarly Electronic Publishing Weblog will be updated monthly.
The Evans Library of the Florida Institute of Technology is recruiting a Systems Librarian.
Here's an excerpt from the ad:
Reporting to the Director for Resources and Services, the Systems Librarian evaluates, recommends, implements, and manages a variety of applications for remote electronic access to information resources and services. . . .
Specific duties include: planning, budgeting, coordination, and implementation of technical projects, maintenance, and updates; assistance with development of web-based training and support products; staff and user training; participation in the design and maintenance of the Library Information Network (http://lib.fit.edu); assistance with development of communications for end users about the uses and benefits of tools and applications; integration of information from different systems into a single user interface; administrative reporting; work with technical and Library teams to implement complex applications; development of policies, procedures and documentation; system and database security and integrity; troubleshooting functional problems and provision of ongoing functional support.
JISC has released Modelling Scholarly Communication Options: Costs and Benefits for Universities.
Here's an excerpt from the announcement (announcement includes podcast):
The key findings from the report show
- The annual savings in research and library costs of a university repository model combined with subscription publishing could range from £100,000 to £1,320,000
- Moving from Open Access journals and subscription-funding to per-article Open Access journal funding has the potential to achieve savings for universities between £620,000 per year and £1,700,000 per year if the article-processing charge is set at £500 or less
- Savings from a change away from subscription-funding to per-article Open Access journal funding were estimated to be between £170,000 and £1,365,000 per year for three out of the four universities studied when the article-processing charge is £1000 per article or less
- For the remaining university in the study a move from subscription-funding to the per-article Open Access journal funding saw the university having to pay £1.86m more in this scenario
See also the related documents: How to Build a Case for University Policies and Practices in Support of Open Access and Publishing Research Papers Which Policy Will Deliver Best Value for Your University?.
JISC has released the Digital Repository infoKit, which was created in association with the Repository Support Project.
Here's an excerpt from the press release:
The Digital Repository infoKit is a practical 'how to' guide to setting up and running digital repositories. The kit contains information on a broad range of topics running from the initial idea of a digital repository and the planning process, via detailed sections on repository set up and promotion, through to the maintenance and ongoing management of the repository. The main focus is on institutional repositories and the kit reflects current repository community best practice. This resource has been written for repository administrators. It assumes no prior knowledge of repository matters and, more importantly, assumes no prior technical knowledge. The kit can be used by anyone who needs an introduction to any of the topics covered.
The Southwest Minnesota State University Library is recruiting a Technology/Instruction Librarian.
Here's an excerpt from the ad:
The faculty librarian will provide leadership and expertise as a team member in the Technical Services unit of the SMSU Library. Responsibilities include management of the library website, maintaining web interfaces and developing new web initiatives; management of and technical support for library software (Libdata, EZproxy, OCLC Link Manager, etc.); and work with the ILS (ALEPH). The Librarian will provide information literacy instruction sessions. Responsibilities will also include service at the Reference Desk during scheduled hours, including some evening hours and weekend days.
OCLC has released "Capture and Release": Digital Cameras in the Reading Room.
Here's an excerpt from the press release:
Digital cameras and other mobile capture devices are revolutionizing special collections reading rooms and the research process, but at the same time are being wrongly framed as a threat or a challenge for some repositories to remain relevant. While some librarians and archivists have resisted digital cameras, others have embraced them—and rightfully so. Researchers, repositories, and collection materials can reap undeniable benefits from using digital cameras. In addition, digital cameras can help librarians and archivists achieve their fundamental goals of improving conditions for their collections materials, facilitating greater research economically and efficiently, and resolving competing demands for resources and maximizing the productivity of their staff.
To synthesize a core of suggested practices for using digital cameras in reading rooms, members of the RLG Partnership Working Group on Streamlining Photography and Scanning surveyed policies, practices and experiences providing surrogates of original research materials, including the current policies of thirty-five repositories comprised of academic libraries, independent research libraries, historical societies, government archives, and public libraries. This report includes the most commonly shared elements for using digital cameras in reading rooms, arranged in categories for administration and handling of collection materials.
The Sojourner Truth Library at SUNY New Paltz is recruiting an Associate Librarian for Information Systems/Collection Access.
Here's an excerpt from the ad:
Duties: Responsible for planning, implementing and maintaining library systems and overseeing circulation, reserves and interlibrary loan operations. This is a 12-month tenure track position.
The MetaArchive Cooperative has released A Guide to Distributed Digital Preservation.
Here's an excerpt from the announcement:
This volume is devoted to the broad topic of distributed digital preservation, a still-emerging field of practice for the cultural memory arena. Replication and distribution hold out the promise of indefinite preservation of materials without degradation, but establishing effective organizational and technical processes to enable this form of digital preservation is daunting. Institutions need practical examples of how this task can be accomplished in manageable, low-cost ways.
This guide is written with a broad audience in mind that includes librarians, archivists, scholars, curators, technologists, lawyers, and administrators. Readers may use this guide to gain both a philosophical and practical understanding of the emerging field of distributed digital preservation, including how to establish or join a network.
The latest update of the Scholarly Electronic Publishing Weblog (SEPW) is now available. It provides information about new works related to scholarly electronic publishing, such as books, e-prints, journal articles, magazine articles, technical reports, and white papers.
Eric Jansson has self-archived "DSpace Manakin UI: Case Study of Value and Costs" in the National Institute for Technology in Liberal Education's repository.
Here's an excerpt from:
Our experience in this project pointed towards three main ideas:
- Many smaller institutions are staffed sufficiently to use the Manakin technology for branding and interface tweaking, as they can leverage web development skills, providing that system administration support for maintaining a development DSpace is available.
- Development of advanced Manakin themes (defined as development that significantly alters, removes, or rearranges interface components, or that integrates new functionality into the interfaces) is comparable to web-application development in terms of complexity. As such, more advanced development is only likely to succeed for institutions whose staffing includes a dedicated expert in web application development, and one who is familiar with XML technologies (i.e. XML, XPath, XSL), and possibly AJAX, and Javascript.
- Smaller institutions with more advanced goals should consider working together and using outside expertise in theme development. Outside expertise could be supplied through partnering with other institutions pursuing Manakin development projects or through vendors.
Read more about it at "Using Manakin to Expand the Capabilities of DSpace Repositories."
The Lamson Library and Learning Commons at Plymouth State University is recruiting a Digital Projects Librarian.
Here's an excerpt from the ad (posting number: #0900140):
The main purpose of this position is to play a leading role in the migration of image and print to digital formats at Plymouth State University. The position reports to the Dean of Library and Academic Support Services.
Reed Elsevier has announced its 2009 financial results.
Here's an excerpt from the press release:
Elsevier (44% of adjusted operating profits)
- Revenue growth +4%, adjusted operating profit +9%, at constant currency
- Strong growth in electronic clinical reference, clinical decision support and nursing and health professional education; continued weakness in pharma promotion
- Solid science journal subscription renewals from 2008 supported 2009 revenue growth
Read more about it at "Robust Year for Reed Elsevier."
The Falvey Library at Villanova University is recruiting a Senior Web Specialist for Library Services & Scholarly Applications.
Here's an excerpt from the ad (posting number: 2008217):
Supports design and development of online environment for Villanova's 21st century library. In collaboration with Library Technology Development Team and the library director, responsible for identifying, exploring, planning, & managing implementation of new methods, tools and resources to extend and enhance digitally delivered library services, including applications that extend the library's reach on the social Web. Applies evolving user-centered design principles to all aspects (visual, information architecture, site structure, navigational features etc.) of the library Web environment. Supports new initiatives in the digital scholarship arena, including implementation and support for online publishing tools and associated services. Supports & collaborates with the Digital Library Team Leader to refine and extend power & functionality of the Villanova University Digital Library. Collaborates with the Systems Support Librarians to plan and manage the transition of library management systems to state-of-the- art open source technologies. Advocates for and advances the library technology agenda on the local, regional, and national levels by means of cooperative projects and inter-library collaboration. Convenes and coordinates activities of cross-functional teams for project implementation. Works with library director, library technology staff, and Unit to develop and revise mid- and long-term library technology plans. Collaborates with Instructional Design librarian and Center for Instructional Technology to integrate new library technologies into library educational services. Collaborates with Library Assessment Team to measure success of new technology projects.
The JISC UX2.0 project has released Usability Inspection of Digital Libraries.
Here's an excerpt:
The JISC funded project, UX2.0 aims to contribute to this general body of works by enhancing a digital library through a development and evaluation framework centered on usability and contemporary user experience. User-centred design (UCD) forms the overall approach of UX2.0. Technological developments will be implemented in tandem with research, usability studies and evaluation.
This report relates to an UX2.0 objective to undertake usability inspection. It presents the findings of a general usability inspection (work package 2—WP2.1) done through heuristics evaluation on a selection of digital libraries. . . .
The report will detail the heuristic methodology chosen to conduct the report, followed by an introduction to the design patterns identified in Section 3 and 4 respectively. Following this the results of usability inspection are presented in three sections; resource discovery (Section 5), navigation (Section 6) and enhancing user experience (Section 7). Resource discovery deals with the search and browse aspects of each digital library, referencing the design patterns used where appropriate. Navigation discusses specific types of navigation including faceted navigation and pagination. It also inspects the orientation through the DL and how the labeling helps or hinders user expectations. Finally the third part of the results (enhancing user experience) discusses the provision of value-added services of the DLs. Each the results section includes a discussion. The overall conclusions of the inspection in general are given in Section 8.
The Oliver Ocasek Regional Medical Information Center at the Northeastern Ohio Universities Colleges of Medicine and Pharmacy is recruiting a Technology Librarian.
Here's an excerpt from the ad:
This position reports to the Director, Ocasek Medical Library. The Technology Librarian manages the library server and software so that the NEOUCOM faculty, staff, and students, the consortium hospital libraries and affiliated health professionals at those hospitals, have reliable access to all appropriate print and electronic resources. The Technology Librarian educates NEOUCOM faculty, staff, and students on information technology. In addition, the Technology Librarian identifies and implements new ways to use technology in information delivery.
A transcript of the 2/18/10 Google Book Search Settlement hearing is now available.
Read more about the hearing at "GBS: Fairness Hearing Report"; "GBS: Fairness Hearing Report Part II"; "Google Settlement Fairness Hearing, Part Two: DOJ Expresses Opposition; Parties Mount Vigorous Defense"; and "Objectors Outnumber Supporters in First Half of Google Settlement Fairness Hearing."
Also see: "Google Book Search Settlement: Updating the Numbers, Part 1."
Brian D. Edgar and John Willinsky have self-archived "A Survey of the Scholarly Journals Using Open Journal Systems" on the Public Knowledge Project website.
Here's an excerpt:
A survey of 998 scholarly journals that use Open Journal Systems (OJS), an open source journal software platform, captures the characteristics of an emerging class of scholar-publisher open access journals (with some representation from more traditional scholarly society and print-based titles). The journals in the sample follow traditional norms for peer-reviewing, acceptance rates, and disciplinary focus, but are distinguished by the number that offer open access to their content, the growth rates in new titles, the participation rates from developing countries, and the extremely low operating budgets. The survey also documents the limited degree to which open source software can alter a field of communication, as OJS appears to have created a third path, dedicated to maximizing access to research and scholarship, as an alternative to traditional scholarly society and commercial publishing routes.
