Month: April 2010

Web Services Librarian at University of Alabama

The University of Alabama Libraries are recruiting a Web Services Librarian.

Here's an excerpt from the ad:

This faculty position reports to the Head of the Web Services Department and works in a team environment with other faculty and staff. The position has numerous responsibilities that include developing interactive web pages that enhance access to collections, providing seamless user services, and facilitating the work of library employees; maintaining existing, and developing new, web applications and software tools; supporting the Drupal Content Management System. The successful candidate will gather, report, and evaluate web statistics and data as well as facilitate the use of assessment and other tools; maintain currency with cutting edge web and mobile technologies, software, tools, and solutions and participate in evaluation and assessment efforts. This position will also provide training and technical support to content providers for Drupal and other web-based software.

NDIIPP Podcast: Babak Hamidzadeh Discusses the Library of Congress' Digital Repository

The National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program has released a podcast (MP3 file) of Babak Hamidzadeh discussing the Library of Congress' digital repository.

Here's an excerpt from the announcement:

Mike Ashenfelder from the Library of Congress talks with Babak Hamidzadeh, Director of Repository Development at the Library of Congress, about the challenges of building an efficient, scalable digital repository. Hamidzadeh describes how the Library's repository works, future plans for the repository and its tools and what will be expected of IT professionals and digital librarians as their roles grow increasingly interdependent.

Web Content Manager at Johnson County Library

The Johnson County Library is recruiting a Web Content Manager. Salary: $44,897-$64,851.

Here's an excerpt from the ad:

Do you love designing effective, elegant, user-friendly Web sites and online experiences? Does the idea of launching a new interface without usability testing make you cringe? Do you often find yourself discussing interaction design and information architecture philosophies at dinner parties?

Do words like Kindle, Nook, and iPad cause your heart to thump at the excitement of possibility?

Would you jump at the chance to lead a team of clever and talented Web Content Developers and Designers in developing the next generation of fully integrated and engaging Library Web sites?

Johnson County Library, a vibrant, award-winning public library, seeks a dynamic, creative, committed individual to serve as Web Content Manager to provide vision and leadership for the Library’s entire public Web enterprise and guide the work of the Web Content Team. 

OCLC Adds Records for Google Books Library Project and HathiTrust Digital Library to WorldCat

OCLC is adding bibliographic records for digitized works from the Google Books Library Project and the HathiTrust Digital Library to WorldCat.

Here's an excerpt from the press release:

OCLC is working with libraries, Google and the HathiTrust to derive new MARC records that represent these digital collections based on the rich collection of print records contributed to WorldCat by the OCLC membership over the last 40 years. Searchers will begin seeing these records in WorldCat immediately. OCLC will continue to add records for these collections to WorldCat on an ongoing basis.

WorldCat searchers will be able to locate digitized books from these collections and link to the associated book landing page, and in some cases can access the full text of eBooks available through these significant initiatives.

"As part of its mission to make the world's information universally accessible and useful, Google is excited to be surfacing its digitized books through WorldCat," said Jon Orwant, Engineering Manager, Google Books. "We've scanned over 12 million books to date, and look forward to the time when every book in the world is discoverable online. Our partnership with OCLC is an important step toward that goal."

"HathiTrust is enthusiastic about the partnership with OCLC to build our catalog," said John Wilkin, Executive Director of the HathiTrust. "Simultaneously, HathiTrust is striving for greater comprehensiveness in its digital collection, while increasing our attention to coordinating the building of the digital collection with management of our associated print collections. The ability to situate our holdings in the world's most comprehensive and reliable catalog of library materials is a tremendous boon in those endeavors."

As a digital repository for the nation's great research libraries, the HathiTrust Digital Library brings together the immense collections of partner institutions. HathiTrust was conceived as a collaboration of the 13 universities of the Committee on Institutional Cooperation and the University of California system to establish a repository for these universities to archive and share their digitized collections. More about HathiTrust is at www.hathitrust.org/.

OCLC and the HathiTrust are working together to implement a public interface for the HathiTrust catalog through a WorldCat Local interface, to be introduced later this year.

Digital Scholarship 2009 Available from Amazon.com

Digital Scholarship 2009, a 504-page, 6" by 9" paperback, is now available for purchase from Amazon.com.

The book includes four bibliographies: the Scholarly Electronic Publishing Bibliography: 2009 Annual Edition, the Institutional Repository Bibliography, the Electronic Theses and Dissertations Bibliography, and the Google Book Search Bibliography.

The longest bibliography in the book, the Scholarly Electronic Publishing Bibliography: 2009 Annual Edition, presents over 3,620 selected English-language articles, books, and other printed and electronic sources that are useful in understanding scholarly electronic publishing efforts on the Internet. Most sources have been published between 1990 and 2009; however, a limited number of key sources published prior to 1990 are also included.

Table of Contents

Scholarly Electronic Publishing Bibliography: 2009 Annual Edition
Dedication
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 and User Authentication
9 Repositories, E-Prints, and OAI
Appendix A. Related Bibliographies
Appendix B. About the Author

Institutional Repository Bibliography
1 General
2 Country and Regional Institutional Repository Surveys
3 Multiple-Institution Repositories
4 Specific Institutional Repositories
4.1 eScholarship
4.2 MIT
4.3 OSU Knowledge Bank
4.4 Other
5 Institutional Repository Digital Preservation Issues
6 Institutional Repository Library Issues
7 Institutional Repository Metadata Issues
8 Institutional Repository Open Access Policies
9 Institutional Repository R&D Projects
9.1 ARROW
9.2 DAEDALUS
9.3 DARE
9.4 DRIVER
9.5 FAIR Programme
9.6 Hydra/REMAP/RepoMMan
9.7 SHERPA
9.8 Other
10 Institutional Repository Research Studies
11 Institutional Repository Software
11.1 General
11.2 DSpace
11.3 Fedora
11.4 Other

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Bibliography

Google Book Search Bibliography

Digital Scholarship 2009

"The Short-Term Influence of Free Digital Versions of Books on Print Sales"

John Hilton III and David Wiley have published "The Short-Term Influence of Free Digital Versions of Books on Print Sales" in the latest issue of The Journal of Electronic Publishing.

Here's an excerpt:

Increasingly, authors and publishers are freely distributing their books electronically to increase the visibility of their work. A vital question for those with a commercial stake in selling books is, "What happens to book sales if digital versions are given away?" We used BookScan sales data for four categories of books (a total of 41 books) for which we could identify the date when the free digital versions of the books were made available to determine whether the free version affected print sales. We analyzed the data on book sales for the eight weeks before and after the free versions were available. Three of the four categories of books had increased sales after the free books were distributed. We discuss the implications and limitations of these results.

Digital Services Librarian at Schreiner University

The Logan Library at Schreiner University is recruiting a Digital Services Librarian. Salary: $35,000 to $40,000

Here's an excerpt from the ad:

Under the direction of the Library Director, the candidate must be able to work with library staff and community stakeholders to plan, implement, integrate, and maintain digital systems including the Ex Libris Voyager System, Logan Library’s Website, the Library's Lanham Digital Library of Texas Hill Country History, and a number of third-party vendor online resources. He/she must be willing to implement appropriate Web 2.0+ technologies and maintain a practical knowledge of emerging technologies related to the design and delivery of library services, for example, blogs, wikis, media-casting, RSS, and other digital applications. The successful candidate will assist library users, faculty, and staff in the use of the library's digital systems and, like all full-time librarians at Schreiner, will participate in reference service, instruction, collection development, and liaison with academic departments.

Recommendations for Independent Scholarly Publication of Data Sets

The Creative Commons has released Recommendations for Independent Scholarly Publication of Data Sets. This is a working paper.

Here's an excerpt:

In an ideal world, any data collected by a research study would be available to anyone interested in validating or building on that data, just as is the documentation describing the study itself. Some data has value that goes beyond the study for which it is generated, and getting the data to those who can use it for reanalysis, meta-analysis, and other applications unimagined by the study authors is to everyone's benefit. Data reuse failure is receiving growing recognition as a problem for the research community and the general public. The road to reuse is perilous, involving as it does a series of difficult steps:

  1. The author must be professionally motivated to publish the data
  2. The effort and economic burden of publication must be acceptable
  3. The data must become accessible to potential users
  4. The data must remain accessible over time
  5. The data must be discoverable by potential users
  6. The users use of the data must be permitted
  7. The user must be able to understand what was measured and how (materials and methods)
  8. The user must be able to understand all computations that were applied and their inputs
  9. The user must be able to apply standard tools to all file formats
  10. The user must be able to understand the data in detail (units, symbols)

This report considers how the genre of the data paper, suitably construed, might be used to help a data set survive these trials.

Web Services Librarian at McGill University

The McGill University Library is recruiting a Web Services Librarian. Salary minimum: $50,000.

Here's an excerpt from the ad:

Duties and responsibilities:

  1. Lead and manage the development of the Library web site and other non-ILS web-based services
  2. Liaise with the branch libraries and sections on web-based content and presentation and provide training, documentation and support as appropriate to ensure effective access to information resources and services.
  3. Liaise with the technical staff and designers in the Web Services Group and other IT staff as required.
  4. Coordinate content development associated with the library web site.
  5. Monitor, analyze, and report on use of the web site and related services and respond to user needs and client use.
  6. Coordinate content organization and population of the staff intranet.
  7. Lead and manage the use of large public display screens to display information about the library events and services in the branch libraries
  8. Monitor developments in information resource discovery, web site design, interface analysis, HTML, XML, content management systems and other software enhancements, and make appropriate responses.
  9. As Leader of the Website Team, oversee the work of other library staff in designated areas and work as a member of a team.
  10. Advise clients on discovering, accessing and using effectively the full range of library and information resources available to meet teaching, learning and research needs.

MementoFox Add-on for FireFox Released

Herbert Van de Sompel. Michael L. Nelson, and Robert Sanderson have announced the release of the MementoFox Add-on.

Here's an excerpt from the announcement:

We are excited to share some news about the Memento (Time Travel for the Web) effort. Memento proposes to extend HTTP with datetime content negotiation as a means to better integrate the present and past Web. The Memento effort is partly funded by the Library of Congress.

=>The MementoFox add-on for FireFox browsers has been released. It allows time travel on the Web in a manner compliant with the Memento framework.

(*) The MementoFox add-on can be downloaded at https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/100298.

(*) Suggested Web time travels that can be undertaken using the add-on are described at http://www.mementoweb.org/demo/. They involve navigations for both the document Web and the Linked Data cloud.

=> There is also a Memento plug-in available for the MediaWiki platform. The plug-in provides support for Memento-style navigation of a Wiki's history pages.

(*) The MediaWiki plug-in can be downloaded at http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:Memento.

(*) If you run a MediaWiki platform, please install this plug-in and let us know the URI of your Wiki.

See also: Memento project website.

"University Supports for Open Access: A Canadian National Survey"

Devon Greyson, Kumiko Vezina, Heather Morrison, Donald Taylor, and Charlyn Black have published "University Supports for Open Access: A Canadian National Survey" in the Canadian Journal of Higher Education.

Here's an excerpt:

The advent of policies at research-funding organizations requiring grantees to make their funded research openly accessible alters the life cycle of scholarly research. This survey-based study explores the approaches that libraries and research administration offices at the major Canadian universities are employing to support the research-production cycle in an open access era and, in particular, to support researcher adherence to funder open-access requirements. Responses from 21 universities indicated that librarians feel a strong sense of mandate to carry out open access-related activities and provide research supports, while research administrators have a lower sense of mandate and awareness and instead focus largely on assisting researchers with securing grant funding. Canadian research universities already contain infrastructure that could be leveraged to support open access, but maximizing these opportunities requires that research administration offices and university libraries work together more synergistically than they have done traditionally.

Digital Projects Coordinator at Library of Congress

The Library of Congress is recruiting a Digital Projects Coordinator. Salary: $105,211-$136,771.

Here's an excerpt from the ad:

Analyzes and participates in the development of appropriate guidelines, standards and mechanisms for setting program priorities. Creates innovative approaches to software implementation within the broad framework of program strategies and goals using high level programming languages and other tools.

Works collaboratively inside and outside the project team and program areas to facilitate and encourage the development and implementation of institution-wide and national best practices and standards. Attends conferences/meetings to make presentations or for professional development to keep abreast of current trends in technology.

Directs studies and testing of digital library best practices and standards. Researches hardware and software to meet existing and anticipated needs. Develops cost estimates and makes recommendations for purchases of specialized hardware and associated software.

DSpace 1.6.0 Demonstration Repositories

DSpace has released DSpace 1.6.0 demonstration repositories.

Here's an excerpt from the announcement:

The DSpace team announced today that an updated DSpace Demonstration Repository running DSpace 1.6.0 is now available for the community to use. The DSpace Demonstration Repository is a good place to run demonstrations, or to use as a sandbox for testing DSpace software before installing it. . . .

This demonstration site provides a sample repository with new DSpace 1.6.0 features enabled. This demonstration site also includes all DSpace interfaces (JSPUI, XMLUI, SWORD, OAI-PMH, LNI), connected to the same underlying database (so items created via XMLUI will also appear under JSPUI).

Also of interest: "screencast showing DSpace 1.6 authority control for author names and publishers from @mire.

Scholarly Communications Librarian at University of Florida

The University of Florida's Smathers Libraries are recruiting a Scholarly Communications Librarian. Salary: $52,000 minimum.

Here's an excerpt from the ad:

The Scholarly Communications Librarian will lead the UF Libraries outreach efforts to build a scholarly communications program in support of scholarly publication reform and Open Access (OA) activities at UF. This role includes educating the university community about OA resources and services at UF, scholarly publication modes and reform, and intellectual property issues and their impact on scholarly inquiry and instruction. In this endeavor, the incumbent will coordinate efforts to recruit, collect, showcase, and preserve the scholarly output of the University of Florida.

Clipping Our Own Wings Copyright and Creativity in Communication Research

The Center for Social Media at American University has released Clipping Our Own Wings Copyright and Creativity in Communication Research.

Here's an excerpt from the announcement:

A survey of communication scholars' practices, conducted by the Ad Hoc Committee on Fair Use and Academic Freedom in the International Communication Association (ICA), reveals that copyright ignorance and misunderstanding hamper distribution of finished work, derail work in progress, and most seriously, lead communication researchers simply to avoid certain kinds of research altogether.

Nearly half the respondents express a lack of confidence about their copyright knowledge in relation to their research. Nearly a third avoided research subjects or questions and a full fifth abandoned research already under way because of copyright concerns. In addition, many ICA members have faced resistance from publishers, editors, and university administrators when seeking to include copyrighted works in their research. Scholars are sometimes forced to seek copyright holders' permission to discuss or criticize copyrighted works. Such permission seeking puts copyright holders in a position to exercise veto power over the publication of research, especially research that deals with contemporary or popular media.

Last Week’s DigitalKoans Tweets 2010-04-04

"Free Speech Unmoored in Copyright's Safe Harbor: Chilling Effects of the DMCA on the First Amendment"

Wendy Seltzer has self-archived "Free Speech Unmoored in Copyright's Safe Harbor: Chilling Effects of the DMCA on the First Amendment" in SSRN.

Here's an excerpt:

Each week, more blog posts are redacted, more videos deleted, and more web pages removed from Internet search results based on private claims of copyright infringement. Under the safe harbors of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), Internet service providers are encouraged to respond to copyright complaints with content takedowns, assuring their immunity from liability while diminishing the rights of their subscribers and users. Paradoxically, the law's shield for service providers becomes a sword against the public who depend upon these providers as platforms for speech. . . .

Part I surveys the legal, economic, and architectural sources of the DMCA's chilling effects on speech. Part II then examines the First Amendment doctrines that should guide lawmaking, with critique of copyright's place in speech law. Part III reviews the history and mechanics of the DMCA and provides examples of chilled speech and a few instances of limited warming. Finally, Part IV engages current policy debates and proposes reform to protect online speech better.

Librarian, Digital Projects at University of British Columbia

University of British Columbia Library is recruiting a Librarian, Digital Projects (two-year term).

Here's an excerpt from the ad:

We are seeking a two-year term professional librarian to provide operational oversight for Library digitization projects. This new position will support The UBC Library Strategic Plan 2010–2015 which has identified that a key strategic goal is the implementation of a comprehensive digitization program to provide unlimited online access to materials of research and teaching value. The Librarian, Digital Projects will assist with the development and management of the Library's locally created digital collections. In consultation with other members of the Library, this position will be responsible for planning digitization projects by coordinating and managing contracts, staff, services and projects as required. Additionally, we are seeking a candidate who is flexible and willing to assume a variety of assignments and priorities as the responsibilities and duties evolve in the two year term. This position will report to the Director, Library Digital Initiatives.

Digital Video: Who Pays for Open Access?

Columbia University's Scholarly Communication Program has released a digital video of its Who Pays for Open Access? meeting, which had the following panelists; Mike Rossner, Executive Director of the Rockefeller University Press; Ivy Anderson, Director of Collection Development and Management at the California Digital Library; and Bettina Goerner, Manager, Open Access for Springer.

Here's an excerpt from the announcement:

Is publishing an open-access journal good business? And for whom? Many in the academic community agree that the goal of open access—increasing the availability and usability of the results of research and scholarship—is laudable. Yet there is great uncertainty about the financial viability of open-access journals. Will authors have to pay publication fees out of their own pockets? Can universities afford to support open-access journals? Can respected journals convert to open access and survive? The panelists will consider which models hold the most promise for sustainable open-access publishing.

Digital Library Collections Interface Developer at Princeton University

The Princeton University Library is recruiting a Digital Library Collections Interface Developer.

Here's an excerpt from the ad:

Princeton University Library seeks an Interface Developer to join its Library Digital Initiatives group as we design and build a new, state-of-the-art digital library system. This system is being developed in a native XML database environment and will serve a broad range of library users. The person in this position, in consultation with colleagues and users, will help build the search and discovery component, incorporate and extend the image viewing functionality, and add library specific functions for viewing books, manuscripts, and images. This position will also be assigned other digital library and library web services projects as the need arises.

"Open Access Publishing: A Viable Solution for Society Publishers"

Sarah Cooney-Mcquat, Stefan Busch and Deborah Kahn have published "Open Access Publishing: A Viable Solution for Society Publishers" in the latest issue of Learned Publishing. The paper is open access.

Here's an excerpt:

The open access (OA) business model has established itself as a viable alternative to traditional subscription-based publishing and is an option that societies should now realistically consider for their journals. This paper outlines how the OA model can work for societies, and presents a number of case studies that demonstrate how it is already working in practice.