Month: April 2014

Digital Curation News (4/9/2014) #digitalpreservation

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IT Specialist II at University of Oklahoma Libraries,

The University of Oklahoma Libraries, are recruiting an IT Specialist II.

Here's an excerpt from the ad:

Reporting to the Director of Library Technology Platforms, the IT Support Specialist II is responsible for managing the servers and other infrastructure, including cloud-computing suppliers, used by library personnel and patrons in pursuit of their goals. This position will work closely with other system administrators, support technicians and developers to provide the tools and services that University Libraries needs to fulfill its mission to the University.

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"More Inheritable Rights for Digital Assets"

Charles Phelps has published "More Inheritable Rights for Digital Assets" in the Rutgers Law Record.

Here's an excerpt:

Death, as uncomfortable of a subject as it is for some, is a guaranteed component of human existence. . . . There is no denying the psychological and emotional attachment that is affixed with objects that hold memories of loved ones who have passed on before us.

Within this frame work, lawyers use legal tools of wills, trusts and estate laws to carry out grantors or inheritors desire on how to bestow certain possessions. However, within all the complexities of bestowing property, lawyers are now increasingly being confronted with how to pass on digital assets.

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Applications Developer at NYPL

The NYPL is recruiting an Applications Developer.

Here's an excerpt from the ad:

Be a part of the technology team which builds and maintains THE PUBLIC WEBSITE along with digital library applications for one of the largest and leading public libraries in the world. The NYPL Technology team is seeking a talented web developer who can help us build an amazing online presence for millions of library users and translate our vision into maintainable, high performing, and scalable software solutions through the use of stellar software engineering practices.

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How to Discover Requirements for Research Data Management Services

The DCC and DataONE have released How to Discover Requirements for Research Data Management Services.

Here's an excerpt:

This guide is meant for people whose role involves developing services or tools to support research data management (RDM) and digital curation, whether in a Higher Education Institution or a project working across institutions. Your RDM development role might be embedded with the research groups concerned, or at a more centralised level, such as a library or computing service. You will need a methodical approach to plan, elicit, analyse, document and prioritise a range of users' requirements.

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Digital Curation News (4/8/2014) #digitalpreservation

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Supervisory Information Technology Specialist at Library of Congress

The Library of Congress is recruiting a Supervisory Information Technology Specialist.

Here's an excerpt from the ad:

The Supervisory Information Technology specialist will be responsible for establishing and ensuring compliance with technical approaches to digital conversion and digital conversion workflows to meet the preservation and access needs of the Library, especially for materials that can be reproduced as still images. Specific duties include (I) serving as the Library's authority for technical conversion practices to be followed by Library staff and contractors, (2) coordinating the Still Image Group of the Federal Agencies Digitization Guidelines Initiative (www.digitizationguidelines.gov) (3) ensuring that conversion policies and practices are consistent across the Library, and compatible with emerging standards in the national and international communities (4) providing authoritative guidance in the formulation of best practices for the life cycle management of converted materials and the resolution of complex problems or issues related to conversion of analog Library materials, (5) promoting exploration of promising approaches to the conversion of analog materials and the management of the resulting digital objects, and (6) coordinating with stakeholders within and outside of the Library of Congress to ensure the timely and successful execution of projects.

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Born-Digital U.S. Federal Government Information: Preservation And Access

The Center for Research Libraries has released Born-Digital U.S. Federal Government Information: Preservation And Access.

Here's an excerpt:

But the migration of government information from print to digital has introduced new problems into the challenge of preserving government information. Very little government information is being deposited in FDLP libraries. In 2013 the Government Printing Office (GPO) estimated that 97% of federal government information was born-digital and current GPO policy limits FDLP deposit of digital information to so-called "tangible" objects such as CD-ROMs and DVDs (GPO 2006), which create their own preservation problems (Gano). While libraries played an essential role in preservation of government information in the print era, most born-digital government information is not held, managed, organized, served, or preserved by libraries.

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Head, Information Technology at NCSU Libraries

The NCSU Libraries are recruiting a Head, Information Technology.

Here's an excerpt from the ad:

The Head, IT, as the library's chief technology strategist, plays a leadership role in enabling Hunt to realize fully its potential as an overarching model of innovation and to extend this vision into the future throughout the NCSU Libraries.

The Information Technology department includes 22 staff across four units: Discovery Systems and Applications; Academic Technology; Technology Services; and Enterprise Operations.

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"How Well Developed Are Altmetrics? A Cross-Disciplinary Analysis of the Presence of ‘Alternative Metrics’ in Scientific Publications"

Zohreh Zahedi, Rodrigo Costas, and Paul Wouters have self-archived "How Well Developed Are Altmetrics? A Cross-Disciplinary Analysis of the Presence of 'Alternative Metrics' in Scientific Publications."

Here's an excerpt:

In this paper an analysis of the presence and possibilities of altmetrics for bibliometric and performance analysis is carried out. Using the web based tool Impact Story, we collected metrics for 20,000 random publications from the Web of Science. We studied both the presence and distribution of altmetrics in the set of publications, across fields, document types and over publication years, as well as the extent to which altmetrics correlate with citation indicators. The main result of the study is that the altmetrics source that provides the most metrics is Mendeley, with metrics on readerships for 62.6% of all the publications studied, other sources only provide marginal information. In terms of relation with citations, a moderate spearman correlation (r=0.49) has been found between Mendeley readership counts and citation indicators.

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Digital Curation News (4/7/2014) #digitalpreservation

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Head of Metadata and Digitization, Medical School Library at LSU Health Shreveport

LSU Health Shreveport is recruiting a Head of Metadata and Digitization, Medical School Library.

Here's an excerpt from the ad:

The person in this position serves as the Head of Metadata and Digitization. Responsibilities include using knowledge of classification systems, subject thesauri, and cataloging rules to catalog print and electronic materials in the library. The person in this position establishes policies and procedures for the section, sets priorities and workflow for the section, supervises 2 FTE, and establishes bibliographic control for all library materials. Additionally, this person is responsible for development and maintenance of the LSUHSC-S Archives as well as the History of Medicine Collection, including content development of the library's web pages associated with historical collections. The incumbent also establishes procedures and workflows for digital initiatives of the library.

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"Internet Publicity of Data Problems in the Bioscience Literature Correlates with Enhanced Corrective Action"

Paul S. Brookes has published "Internet Publicity of Data Problems in the Bioscience Literature Correlates with Enhanced Corrective Action" in PeerJ.

Here's an excerpt:

Several online forums exist to facilitate open and/or anonymous discussion of the peer-reviewed scientific literature. Data integrity is a common discussion topic, and it is widely assumed that publicity surrounding such matters will accelerate correction of the scientific record. This study aimed to test this assumption by examining a collection of 497 papers for which data integrity had been questioned either in public or in private. As such, the papers were divided into two sub-sets: a public set of 274 papers discussed online, and the remainder a private set of 223 papers not publicized. The sources of alleged data problems, as well as criteria for defining problem data, and communication of problems to journals and appropriate institutions, were similar between the sets. The number of laboratory groups represented in each set was also similar (75 in public, 62 in private), as was the number of problem papers per laboratory group (3.65 in public, 3.54 in private). Over a study period of 18 months, public papers were retracted 6.5-fold more, and corrected 7.7-fold more, than those in the private set. Parsing the results by laboratory group, 28 laboratory groups in the public set had papers which received corrective action, versus 6 laboratory groups in the private set. For those laboratory groups in the public set with corrected/retracted papers, the fraction of their papers acted on was 62% of those initially flagged, whereas in the private set this fraction was 27%. Such clustering of actions suggests a pattern in which correction/retraction of one paper from a group correlates with more corrections/retractions from the same group, with this pattern being stronger in the public set. It is therefore concluded that online discussion enhances levels of corrective action in the scientific literature. Nevertheless, anecdotal discussion reveals substantial room for improvement in handling of such matters.

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Director and University Librarian at University of Chicago Library

The University of Chicago Library is recruiting a Director and University Librarian.

Here's an excerpt from the ad:

The Director will oversee a professional and support staff of 302 and will manage in a large and complex academic environment, engaging effectively with other university leaders and constituencies to advance the overall University mission. The Director oversees an annual operating budget of over $35M with over $18M in expenditures for acquisitions.

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"A Comparison of E-book and Print Book Discovery, Preferences, and Usage by Science and Engineering Faculty and Graduate Students at the University of Kansas"

Julie Waters et al. have published "A Comparison of E-book and Print Book Discovery, Preferences, and Usage by Science and Engineering Faculty and Graduate Students at the University of Kansas" in Issues in Science and Technology Librarianship.

Here's an excerpt:

The availability of science and technology e-books through the University of Kansas Libraries is growing rapidly through approval plans, e-book packages, and electronic demand-driven acquisitions. Based on informal conversations with faculty, questions still lingered as to the acceptance of books in the electronic format by faculty and graduate students in the STEM disciplines. To learn more about book format preferences, a survey was distributed via e-mail to 1,898 faculty and graduate students in science and technology at the University of Kansas. The survey included questions focused on print book use, e-book use, format preferences, and demographics. A majority of the 357 respondents indicated a preference for print books indicating many of the oft-repeated comments about the disadvantages of reading books on a computer. Patrons using tablets were more inclined to access e-books. The survey indicated a continuing need to purchase books in both print and electronic formats, and to market the availability of e-books to University of Kansas patrons.

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Digital Curation News (4/4/2014) #digitalpreservation

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Digital Archivist at University of Texas at San Antonio Libraries

The University of Texas at San Antonio Libraries are recruiting a Digital Archivist.

Here's an excerpt from the ad:

In strong collaboration with Library Systems, the University Archivist, and Manuscripts Curator, the Digital Archivist will develop processes, procedures, and specifications for collecting, preserving, and providing access to born-digital records and hybrid collections; investigate, plan, and manage format conversions and migrations; plan, coordinate, and implement workflows for digital content creation, including quality control procedures, prioritization of production to develop high levels of productivity; provide training in processes and specifications for digital collection creation; coordinate and supervise special projects; and collaborate with the Web developer and other staff for online exhibits and other discovery tools, including social media services.

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Digital Public Library of America Gets $594,000 Grant

The Digital Public Library of America Gets received a $594,000 grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Here's an excerpt from the announcement:

The Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) announced today $594,000 in new funding from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to research potential sustainability models and to pursue the most promising option (or options). This two-year grant will allow DPLA to expand its staff to target opportunities for further development and revenue, without compromising its mission of open access to the riches of America's libraries, archives, and museums.

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Programmer/Analyst I (Web and API Programmer) at Utah State University Libraries

Utah State University Libraries are recruiting a Programmer/Analyst I (Web and API Programmer).

Here's an excerpt from the ad:

This professional entry-level position reports to the Director of Library Digital and Information Technology Services and is responsible for a broad range of services and duties related to the libraries' programming needs. The successful candidate will assist in the planning, development, testing, and documentation of applications and systems. Specific projects may include designing new sites and using web services technologies to improve the user experience in discovering, searching, finding, or acquiring library materials and content. The successful candidate will also work to create mobile ready versions of library web sites and services. Projects may require implementation of open source code, using various API's made available by library vendors. This position will manage the Libraries' web servers and support digital library projects as needed.

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The Value and Impact of Data Sharing and Curation: A Synthesis of Three Recent Studies of UK Research Data Centres

JISC has released The Value and Impact of Data Sharing and Curation: A Synthesis of Three Recent Studies of UK Research Data Centres.

Here's an excerpt from the announcement:

The data centre studies combined quantitative and qualitative approaches in order to quantify value in economic terms and present other, non-economic, impacts and benefits. Uniquely, the studies cover both users and depositors of data, and we believe the surveys of depositors undertaken are the first of their kind. All three studies show a similar pattern of findings, with data sharing via the data centres having a large measurable impact on research efficiency and on return on investment in the data and services. These findings are important for funders, both for making the economic case for investment in data curation and sharing and research data infrastructure, and for ensuring the sustainability of such research data centres.

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Digital Curation News (4/3/2014) #digitalpreservation

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Library Fellow for Digital Archives 2014-2016 at MIT Libraries

The MIT Libraries are recruiting a Library Fellow for Digital Archives 2014-2016.

Here's an excerpt from the ad:

Reporting to the Digital Archivist, the activities of this position will expand and build upon already established foundations of our digital archives program. Work will provide opportunities to collaborate with Curation and Preservation Services; the Office of Scholarly Publishing, Copyright and Licensing; Information Technology and Discovery Services; Digital Library Application Development; Collections Strategy and Management; as well as the Digital Sustainability Lab.

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"Developing Digital Scholarship Services on a Shoestring: Facilities, Events, Tools, and Projects"

Heather McCullough has published "Developing Digital Scholarship Services on a Shoestring: Facilities, Events, Tools, and Projects" in College & Research Libraries News.

Here's an excerpt:

Libraries and academic technology divisions are increasingly developing and offering digital scholarship services. Yet, the term digital scholarship itself is quite fluid and seems to offer many interpretations depending on a particular university's culture, institutional organization, and environment. This article will outline how one university addressed a need for digital scholarship services at its campus.

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Metadata Coordinator at Digital Public Library of America

The Digital Public Library of America is recruiting a Metadata Coordinator.

Here's an excerpt from the ad:

  • serves as DPLA's metadata expert, responsible for DPLA MAP data model creation and maintenance and international standards compliance
  • is the staff expert for DPLA in best practices for metadata, metadata analysis and improvements,
  • will work to establish a best practices with our partners for data corrections and data sharing
  • works closely with technical staff to design/utilize community sourcing activities and tools around metadata improvement and enhancement
  • leads Linked Open Data (LOD) implementation for DPLA and our partners

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"Ethics and Access 2: The So-Called Sting"

Walt Crawford has published "Ethics and Access 2: The So-Called Sting" in Cites & Insights: Crawford at Large.

Here's an excerpt from the announcement:

John Bohannon wrote a news article in Science that either shows that many open access journals with APC charges have sloppy (or no) peer review…or shows almost nothing at all. This story discusses the article itself, offers a number of responses to it—and then adds something I don't believe you'll find anywhere else: A journal-by-journal test of whether the journals involved would pass a naive three-minute sniff test as to whether they were plausible targets for article submissions without lots of additional checking. Is this really a problem involving a majority of hundreds of journals—or maybe one involving 27% (that is, 17) of 62 journals? Read the story; make up your own mind.

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