"Data Curation Issues in the Chemical Sciences"

Colin L. Bird, Cerys Willoughby, Simon J. Coles, and Jeremy G. Frey have published "Data Curation Issues in the Chemical Sciences" in a special issue of Information Standards Quarterly on data curation.

Here's an excerpt:

In this article, the authors investigate the extent to which chemists respect the importance of curation in their day-to-day activities in the laboratory or, nowadays, frequently at the computer. They emphasize that an essential ingredient in the curation process is metadata, especially for capturing context, which critical for reproducibility. They also consider the potential roles for librarians and information specialists in assisting with scientific curation, both directly and in training scientists. They assert that curation practice will increasingly emphasize the capture of metadata at the time data and information are created, described as curation at source. Innovative and automated methods for curation will be needed to overcome the perceived burden of curation.

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Project Manager, Oregon Digital Newspaper Program Library at University of Oregon Libraries

The University of Oregon Libraries are recruiting a Project Manager, Oregon Digital Newspaper Program Library.

Here's an excerpt from the ad:

This is a grant-funded, limited duration position, expected to last for two years, pending funding availability. The position is anticipated at .90 FTE, or 36 hours/week. There is a possibility that the position may increase to full-time in the future, depending on needs, funding, and performance. . . .

The ODNP Project Manager will: manage day-to-day workflow of the Oregon National Digital Newspaper Program grant (from the National Endowment for the Humanities); promote and provide outreach by developing education packages and presentations using Oregon digital newspapers, promoting resources at regional educational, library and historic association conferences and meetings, making site visits to local K-12 schools, historical societies, and public libraries; prepare interim and final grant reports with the Project Director, manage vendor invoices and grant budget reports, and conduct assessment and evaluation, including user studies. The position will supervise 1.0 classified employee and several student workers. Reports to the Head, Digital Scholarship Center and Project Director.

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"Research Data Management at the University of Warwick: Recent Steps towards a Joined-up Approach at a UK University"

Jenny Delasalle has published "Research Data Management at the University of Warwick: Recent Steps towards a Joined-up Approach at a UK University" in LIBREAS. Library Ideas.

Here's an excerpt:

This paper charts the steps taken and possible ways forward for the University of Warwick in its approach to research data management, providing a typical example of a UK research university's approach in two strands: requirements and support. The UK government approach and funding landscape in relation to research data management provided drivers for the University of Warwick to set requirements and provide support, and examples of good practice at other institutions, support from a central national body (the UK Digital Curation Centre) and learning from other universities' experiences all proved valuable to the University of Warwick. Through interviews with researchers at Warwick, various issues and challenges are revealed: perhaps the biggest immediate challenges for Warwick going forward are overcoming scepticism amongst researchers, overcoming costs, and understanding the implications of involving third party companies in research data management. Building technical infrastructure could sit alongside and beyond those immediate steps and beyond the challenges that face one University are those that affect academia as a whole.

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Library Web Manager at Brown University Library

Brown University Library is recruiting a Library Web Manager.

Here's an excerpt from the ad:

Brown University Library seeks a Library Web Manager to oversee and manage content and software tools to support the Library's web presence. The Library Web Manager will coordinate with stakeholders across the Library to administer the Library's content management system and ensure consistency and accuracy of information on the Library's public websites, intranet, and social media. S/he will work to improve the integration of the Library's web-based discovery systems, and assist in the assessment, testing and implementation of new or improved services.

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"Mandates and the Contributions of Open Genomic Data"

Jingfeng Xia has published "Mandates and the Contributions of Open Genomic Data" in Publications.

Here's an excerpt:

This research attempts to seek changing patterns of raw data availability and their correlations with implementations of open mandate policies. With a list of 13,785 journal articles whose authors archived datasets in a popular biomedical data repository after these articles were published in journals, this research uses regression analysis to test the correlations between data contributions and mandate implementations. It finds that both funder-based and publisher-based mandates have a strong impact on scholars' likelihood to contribute to open data repositories. Evidence also suggests that like policies have changed the habit of authors in selecting publishing venues: open access journals have been apparently preferred by those authors whose projects are sponsored by the federal government agencies, and these journals are also highly ranked in the biomedical fields. Various stakeholders, particularly institutional administrators and open access professionals, may find the findings of this research helpful for adjusting data management policies to increase the number of quality free datasets and enhance data usability.

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Digital Curation News (10/17/2013) #digitalpreservation

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Current News: DigitalKoans Twitter Updates for 10/17/2013

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Head, Beinecke Library Digital Services Unit at Yale University Library

The Yale University Library is recruiting a Head, Beinecke Library Digital Services Unit.

Here's an excerpt from the ad:

Under the direction of the Head of Technical Services and working in close collaboration with units across the Beinecke Library and the Yale University Library, the Head of Beinecke Digital Services leads and coordinates the Beinecke Library's digitization program, digital projects, and user experience initiatives that enhance access to and use of Beinecke Library and its collections, including the Beinecke Digital Library, collection web pages, and online exhibits. The Head leads and provides technical expertise in the investigation, development, and application of interfaces and tools that affect the user experience, as well as metadata and digitization workflows and standards.

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"A Cross Disciplinary Study of Link Decay and the Effectiveness of Mitigation Techniques"

Jason Hennessey and Steven Xijin Ge have published "A Cross Disciplinary Study of Link Decay and the Effectiveness of Mitigation Techniques" in BMC Bioinformatics.

Here's an excerp:

We accessed 14,489 unique web pages found in the abstracts within Thomson Reuters' Web of Science citation index that were published between 1996 and 2010 and found that the median lifespan of these web pages was 9.3 years with 62% of them being archived. Survival analysis and logistic regression were used to find significant predictors of URL lifespan. The availability of a web page is most dependent on the time it is published and the top-level domain names. Similar statistical analysis revealed biases in current solutions: the Internet Archive favors web pages with fewer layers in the Universal Resource Locator (URL) while WebCite is significantly influenced by the source of publication. We also created a prototype for a process to submit web pages to the archives and increased coverage of our list of scientific webpages in the Internet Archive and WebCite by 22% and 255%, respectively.

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Librarian, Web Services at Yale University Medical Library

The Yale University Medical Library is recruiting a Librarian, Web Services.

Here's an excerpt from the ad:

Reporting to the Head, Library Technology Services & Support, this position is responsible for developing, testing, implementing and maintaining Medical Library websites and other technology initiatives in support of the educational, research and clinical needs of Yale Schools of Medicine, Public Health, Nursing, the Yale-New Haven Hospital and other affiliated institutions of the Yale-New Haven Medical Center . The Web Services Librarian works closely with fellow Medical Library staff, others within the Medical Center community and the larger Yale Library to create the best digital environment for library users.

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Digital Curation News (10/16/2013) #digitalpreservation

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Current News: DigitalKoans Twitter Updates for 10/16/2013

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Research/Scholarship Initiatives Manager at Columbia University Libraries/Information Services

Columbia University Libraries/Information Services are recruiting a Research/Scholarship Initiatives Manager.

Here's an excerpt from the ad:

Reporting to CDRS' director, this newly created position will be responsible for devising, implementing, and leading outreach activities promoting CDRS' digital projects, the institutional repository, and scholarly communication initiatives on campus, helping to position CDRS and CUL/IS as key partners in the understanding, creation, and adoption of new modes of scholarly communication. In particular, the Research/Scholarship Initiatives Manager will be expected to advance access to locally created online publications, conference proceedings, electronic theses and dissertations, Columbia-produced journals, data sets, born-digital research output, and other digital content and to strengthen the linchpin role of the institutional repository, Academic Commons, as a research platform.

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Web Content Strategist at University of Arizona Libraries

The University of Arizona Libraries are recruiting a Web Content Strategist.

Here's an excerpt from the ad:

You will work with project members and stakeholders to re-write, re-think, and re-organize content across the website, as well as workflows related to the lifecycle of web content. There are also many smaller websites and tools that require sensible workflows more usable content and other adjustments to achieve a consistent voice.

The Web Content Strategist advises on issues related to content, working on all aspects of the project and contributes to developing a strategy across other channels as needed, such as email notifications and communications, videos, tutorials, and other websites and tools managed by the Libraries.

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"Metadata is a Love Note to the Future—UK Higher Education Research Data Management (RDM) Survey"

Martin Hamilton has released "Metadata is a Love Note to the Future—UK Higher Education Research Data Management (RDM) Survey."

Here's an excerpt:

I'm delighted to be able to present here the results of our recent survey of the UK Higher Education community's plans for Research Data Management, along with a little initial analysis and an executive summary. To stay true to the spirit of openness, we have made a redacted version of the raw data available, along with our analysis, using the figshare cloud RDM service.

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Systems Engineer at Virginia Tech Libraries

The Virginia Tech Libraries are recruiting two Systems Engineers.

Here's an excerpt from the ad:

Incumbents will develop systems that: 1) enable data integration across distributed and heterogeneous local and external data sources to maximize data use and reuse in applications, and 2) support digital preservation strategies and repository systems research, development, and implementation. Primary responsibilities include leading technical contributions, such as data architecture design, data integration, system design and testing, and applications development, implementation, administration, and support, for data publishing and preservation projects (initial focus on VIVO and Fedora). Additional responsibilities include ensuring systems compatibility to meet project/program functionality, technical, and design specifications, and scheduling objectives; collaborating with colleagues in the Libraries and at other institutions in delivering system and web development projects; providing informed IT-related advice for Center for Digital Research and Scholarship (CDRS) projects; liaising with CDRS and Information Technologies and Services (ITS) personnel for planning and service development; participating in selected cross-Libraries working groups to improve systems and services; providing training to Libraries personnel (and library users where appropriate); participating in various systems engineering projects as a result of developments and changes in Library services.

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"The Seer of Science Publishing"

Tania Rabesandratana has published "The Seer of Science Publishing" in a special issue of Science on "Communication in Science: Pressures and Predators".

Here's an excerpt:

"Nobody reads journals," says science publisher Vitek Tracz, who has made a fortune from journals. "People read papers." Tracz sees a grim future for what has been the mainstay of scientific communication, the peer-reviewed print journal.

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Current News: DigitalKoans Twitter Updates for 10/15/2013

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MS Digital Library Coordinator at University of Southern Mississippi Libraries

The University of Southern Mississippi Libraries are recruiting a MS Digital Library Coordinator.

Here's an excerpt from the ad:

Under the direct supervision of the Manager for Finance and Technology, who also serves as the Director of the Mississippi Digital Library, the incumbent performs support functions for the Mississippi Digital Library. The incumbent also assists with digitizing the university Libraries' collections.

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2013 Study of Subscription Prices for Scholarly Society Journals

Allen Press has released the 2013 Study of Subscription Prices for Scholarly Society Journals.

Here's an excerpt:

This study aims to provide information to society and association publishers on pricing and library budget trends, strategies libraries use for cost containment, content selection and cancellation criteria, access preferences, and user behavior.

The Allen Press panel and several other studies done in 2012 highlight that librarians use a variety of strategies to work within budgets that are not improving significantly. The following is a review of scholarly journal price trends during the past year. The data presented in this study summarize historical prices of approximately 200 publications appearing in the Allen Press Buyer’s Guide to Scientific, Medical, and Scholarly Journals.

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Digital Projects Librarian at Kent State University Libraries

Kent State University Libraries are recruiting a Digital Projects Librarian.

Here's an excerpt from the ad:

Kent State University Libraries seeks an experienced and creative Digital Projects Librarian (DPL) who will be responsible for the research, planning, execution and management of digital projects throughout the University Libraries' environment. The DPL will work with programmers and applications in a complex production environment. S/he will work closely with Library and University-wide clients, colleagues and team members to understand and satisfy complex digital project requirements and provide quality technical solutions to the University community. The position is a 12-month, full-time, tenure-track faculty position that reports to the Head of Systems.

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"Fedora Commons with Apache Hadoop: A Research Study"

Mohamed Mohideen Abdul Rasheed have published "Fedora Commons with Apache Hadoop: A Research Study" in the latest issue of Code4Lib Journal.

Here's an excerpt:

The Digital Collections digital repository at the University of Maryland Libraries is growing and in need of a new backend storage system to replace the current filesystem storage. Though not a traditional storage management system, we chose to evaluate Apache Hadoop because of its large and growing community and software ecosystem. Additionally, Hadoop's capabilities for distributed computation could prove useful in providing new kinds of digital object services and maintenance for ever increasing amounts of data. We tested storage of Fedora Commons data in the Hadoop Distributed File System (HDFS) using an early development version of Akubra-HDFS interface created by Frank Asseg. This article examines the findings of our research study, which evaluated Fedora-Hadoop integration in the areas of performance, ease of access, security, disaster recovery, and costs.

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