Month: July 2010

Serials Crisis: "California against Nature"

Peter Suber has published "California against Nature" in the SPARC Open Access Newsletter.

Here's an excerpt:

* If publishers have been accelerating into a brick wall for decades, and libraries have been warning about the inevitable collision for decades, then why hasn't there been a collision before now?

There are two answers. First, many collisions have already occurred, even if they came and went without the same media attention. Universities have been canceling titles by the hundreds—and in the case of big-deal cancellations, by the thousands—for years. Even when collisions are incremental and cumulative rather than sudden and explosive, they have the same finality. And they have the same catastrophic effect on access to the portion of new research that is metered out to paying customers.

Second, when universities renewed more titles than they could realistically afford, it's not because found previously undiscovered or undisclosed pots of money. It's because they made painful cuts in order to find the money. Most of these cuts came from their book budgets, extending a serials crisis in the sciences to a monograph crisis in the humanities. The long series of small collisions is a measure of the pain universities have endured to postpone a wider and larger one.

At some point there really isn't any money left, or the money can only be found through cuts more painful than journal cancellations. After several decades of hyperinflationary price increases, followed by a severe recession, continuing business as usual will bring a critical mass of universities to that critical point. Publishers aren't just witnesses to this impending crunch. Those that continue to charge hyperinflationary price increases are accelerating it. Those that won't survive the resulting shake-out, even if their own prices had been moderate and affordable, will be co-victims with researchers and research institutions.

Senior Software Developer at Northwestern University

The Northwestern University Library is recruiting a Senior Software Developer.

Here's an excerpt from the ad:

This position works in a highly collaborative environment with Library colleagues and external partners on the analysis, design, coding and testing of software in support of the Library's enterprise applications. The position also explores, adapts, and implements emerging digital repository technologies—particularly in the areas of digital preservation, metadata, collections, discovery, and repository services.

Institutional Repository Deposit: SWORD v2.0: Deposit Lifecycle

JISC has released SWORD v2.0: Deposit Lifecycle.

Here's an excerpt:

SWORD is a hugely successful JISC project which has kindled repository interoperability and built a community around the software and the problem space. It explicitly deals only with creating new repository resources by package deposit a simple case which is at the root of its success but also its key limitation. This next version of SWORD will push the standard towards supporting full repository deposit lifecycles by using update, retrieve and delete extensions to the specification. This will enable the repository to be integrated into a broader range of systems in the scholarly environment, by supporting an increased range of behaviours and use cases.

"Asking for Permission: A Survey of Copyright Workflows for Institutional Repositories"

Ann Hanlon and Marisa Ramirez have self-archived their presentation "Asking for Permission: A Survey of Copyright Workflows for Institutional Repositories" in DigitalCommons@CalPoly.

Here's an excerpt:

Most survey respondents reported providing mediated deposit (material is deposited on behalf of the author by a third party, usually someone associated with the IR), whether it is completely mediated by the library or whether the author, in partnership with the library, deposits their work. The only respondents to report author self-deposit as the primary method of IR deposit were in Australia and Europe.

Digital Services Specialist at Palm Beach Atlantic University

The Warren Library at Palm Beach Atlantic University is recruiting a Digital Services Specialist.

Here's an excerpt from the ad:

The Digital Services Specialist is responsible for the development and maintenance of the electronic environment in the library, including technical issues pertaining to deployment of digital resources, services, and systems (public access and staff computers, library website, IL'S, printing services, etc.). As a service-oriented practitioner, this person provides technical support for the learning activities of students and operational needs of library staff with respect to the use of computer software and hardware, and works collaboratively with other campus departments to provide an optimum technical environment.

THATCamp "Manifesto for the Digital Humanities"

THATCamp Paris 2010 issued a "Manifesto for the Digital Humanities." THATCamp is a "a user-generated 'unconference' on digital humanities."

Here's an excerpt:

9. We call for open access to data and metadata, which must be documented and interoperable, both technically and conceptually.

10. We support the dissemination, exchange and free modification of methods, code, formats and research findings.

11. We call for the integration of digital humanities education within social science and humanities curricula. We also wish to see the creation of diplomas specific to the digital humanities, and the development of dedicated professional education. Finally, we want such expertise to be considered in recruitment and career development.

12. We commit to building a collective expertise based upon a common vocabulary, a collective expertise proceeding from the work of all the actors involved. This collective expertise is to become a common good. It is a scientific opportunity, but also an opportunity for professional insertion in all sectors.

13. We want to help define and propagate best practices, corresponding to needs identified within or across disciplines, which should derive and evolve from debate and consensus within the communities concerned. The fundamental openness of the digital humanities nevertheless assures a pragmatic approach to protocols and visions, which maintains the right to coexistence of different and competing methods, to the benefit of both thought and practice.

14. We call for the creation of scalable digital infrastructures responding to real needs. These digital infrastructures will be built iteratively, based upon methods and approaches that prove successful in research communities.

Digital Repository Services Librarian at Georgia State University

The Georgia State University Library is recruiting a Digital Repository Services Librarian. Minimum salary: $45,000.

Here's an excerpt from the ad:

Georgia State University Library seeks an enthusiastic, collegial, self-starter to serve as the manager of the Digital Archive @ Georgia State University, the University’s institutional repository, which highlights the research and scholarly productivity of members of the University community. The University Library administers the archive to collect, organize, disseminate, and preserve the digital scholarly output of Georgia State University faculty, students and staff. The repository is hosted on the Digital Commons platform and currently includes ETDs, conference materials and journals.

DuraSpace Announces Registered Service Provider Program

DuraSpace has announced its new Registered Service Provider Program.

Here's an excerpt from the announcement:

Today, the DuraSpace not-for-profit organization announced its new Registered Service Provider Program to establish partnerships with companies that provide support services to institutions using the DSpace and Fedora digital repository software.

The new program will establish an network of service providers offering a range of services including customer support, technical consulting, software development, and systems integration. The program will benefit universities, libraries, museums, research institutions, and others that require support in building or maintaining repository-based systems built with DSpace, Fedora, and related open source and commercial technologies.

Registered Service Providers will be easily identified. They will be featured on the DuraSpace web site (duraspace.org) and relevant project websites, with contact information and a profile of their service offerings. Providers will also exhibit their affiliation with DuraSpace by displaying the special DuraSpace Service Provider Logo on their marketing materials and websites.

Registered Service Providers share the DuraSpace commitment to ensuring that current and future generations have access to our collective digital heritage. Service Providers are active participants in open source software communities and are committed to providing expertise and technical consulting to enable customers to achieve their goals with open technologies.

Last Week’s DigitalKoans Tweets 2010-07-04

Institutional Repositories: BibApp 1.0

The BibApp development team has released BibApp 1.0.

Here's an excerpt from the announcement:

BibApp is a campus research gateway and expert finder. It matches researchers on your campus or research center with their publication data and mines that data to see collaborations, create visualizations of areas of research, and find experts in research areas. With BibApp, it is easy to see what publications can be placed on the Web for greater access and impact. BibApp can push those publications directly into an institutional repository.

BibApp allows researchers and research groups to promote research, find collaborators on campus, and make research more accessible. It also allows libraries to better understand research happening in local departments, facilitate conversations about author rights with researchers, and ease the population of the institutional repository. Finally, BibApp allows campus administrators to achieve a clearer picture of collaboration and scholarly publishing trends on campus.

BibApp is the result of a collaboration between the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The Illinois Informatics Institute at the University of Illinois (https://www.informatics.illinois.edu/icubed/) provided generous funding for the development of the 1.0 release of BibApp.

BibApp is a Ruby on Rails application, coupled with the Solr/Lucene search engine, and either MySQL or PostgreSQL as its datastore. It uses open standards and protocols such as OpenURL and SWORD and automatically pulls in data from third party sources such as Google Books and the Sherpa/Romeo publisher policy database. BibApp imports publication data in RIS, MEDLINE and Refworks XML bibliography formats and exports data in several citation formats (APA, Chicago, IEEE, MLA, more) via CiteProc. BibApp also provides a web services API for delivering data as XML, YML, JSON, and RDF. BibApp is released under a University of Illinois/NCSA Open Source License (http://www.opensource.org/licenses/UoI-NCSA.php).

Digital Media Librarian at University of Maryland, Baltimore County

The Albin O. Kuhn Library & Gallery at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County is recruiting a Digital Media Librarian. Minimum salary: $51,000.

Here's an excerpt from the ad:

Under the direction of the Acting Head of Access Services, this position will work closely with faculty, staff, librarians and students to lead media services, explore new technologies and provide innovative ways to offer digital materials in support of the teaching and research mission of the university. This position will be responsible for the effective and efficient administration of the Media Department and Slide Library. This position will work with librarians and staff responsible for online resource collection development, acquisition, maintenance and user discovery, and participate in library-wide explorations new technologies and services. Also, this position will provide reference, instruction, liaison assistance and other services as needed, for the visual and performing arts departments, and work on projects and perform other duties as assigned.

Digital Video Presentations from the University of North Texas’ Open Access Symposium

The University of North Texas has released digital videos of the presentations at its 5/18/10 Open Access Symposium.

Here's a representative sample of the presentations:

Library Systems Specialist at Western University of Health Sciences

The Western University of Health Sciences Library is recruiting a Library Systems Specialist.

Here's an excerpt from the ad:

Under the direction of the Associate Director of Information & Electronic Services, the Library Systems Specialist will oversee the administration and maintenance of the library automation systems including installation and configuration of software applications; and to analyze library automation needs and recommend appropriate solutions.

Digital Video: "How Copyright Threatens Democracy: A Conversation With Cory Doctorow"

Public Knowledge has released a digital video of Cory Doctorow discussing copyright issues.

Here's an excerpt from the About Cory Doctorow:

Cory Doctorow (craphound.com) is a science fiction novelist, blogger and technology activist. He is the co-editor of the popular weblog Boing Boing (boingboing.net), and a contributor to The Guardian, the New York Times, Publishers Weekly, Wired, and many other newspapers, magazines and websites. He was formerly Director of European Affairs for the Electronic Frontier Foundation (eff.org), a non-profit civil liberties group that defends freedom in technology law, policy, standards and treaties. He is a Visiting Senior Lecturer at Open University (UK); in 2007, he served as the Fulbright Chair at the Annenberg Center for Public Diplomacy at the University of Southern California.