Month: June 2014

Digital Curation News (6/30/2014) #digitalpreservation

Digital Scholarship | Digital Curation News | Digital Curation, Digital Preservation, and Research Data Management Works

Senior Systems/Software Engineer at Carnegie Mellon University

Carnegie Mellon University is recruiting a Senior Systems/Software Engineer.

Here's an excerpt from the ad:

This temporary, full-time one-year position is responsible for designing systems and software, and coding, integrating, and maintaining new and existing software and scripts for the University Libraries’ UNIX-based information retrieval systems using standard protocols and programming interfaces. Duties include working with the Head of Research and Development to design distributed systems and modular software architectures to handle information in multiple formats; creating technical specifications; analyzing systems problems and devising practical and feasible solutions to them, including troubleshooting, fixing bugs, and improving functionality; implementing, integrating and maintaining client-server applications; writing Java and/or C/C++ code to agreed upon specifications (including code comments and documentation); and submitting regular status reports.

Digital Scholarship | Digital Library Jobs | Library IT Jobs | Sitemap

Open Discovery Initiative: Promoting Transparency in Discovery

NISO has released Open Discovery Initiative: Promoting Transparency in Discovery.

Here's an excerpt:

Based on the input from a survey done early in the project (see 2.7), the ODI group agreed to develop recommended practices in the following areas:

Technical recommendations for data format and data transfer, including method of delivery and ongoing updates.

  1. Recommendations for the communication (automated or through reporting) of libraries' rights to distribute or display specific content (e.g., restricted to subscribers versus open to all users). These recommendations are to include technical specifications on how data will be exchanged and procedural specifications regarding update frequency and other logistical details.
  2. Clear descriptors regarding the level of indexing performed for each item or collection of content and the level of availability of the content.
  3. Definition of fair linking from discovery service to the published content.
  4. Determination of what usage statistics should be collected, for whom, and how these data should
  5. be disseminated.

Digital Scholarship | Digital Scholarship Publications Overview | Sitemap

DevOps Engineer/Systems Administrator at DuraSpace

DuraSpace is recruiting a DevOps Engineer/Systems Administrator.

Here's an excerpt from the ad:

DuraSpace, a not-for-profit serving the needs of hundreds of academic and cultural heritage institutions worldwide, is seeking an experienced operations specialist to manage the administration and automation of technical infrastructure and software systems used by the DuraSpace organization and the teams that are creating open source systems such as DSpace, Fedora, VIVO, and DuraCloud.

Digital Scholarship | Digital Library Jobs | Library IT Jobs | Sitemap

"Measuring the Broader Impact of Research: The Potential of Altmetrics"

Lutz Bornmann has self-archived "Measuring the Broader Impact of Research: The Potential of Altmetrics."

Here's an excerpt:

Today, it is not clear how the impact of research on other areas of society than science should be measured. While peer review and bibliometrics have become standard methods for measuring the impact of research in science, there is not yet an accepted framework within which to measure societal impact. Alternative metrics (called altmetrics to distinguish them from bibliometrics) are considered an interesting option for assessing the societal impact of research, as they offer new ways to measure (public) engagement with research output. Altmetrics is a term to describe web-based metrics for the impact of publications and other scholarly material by using data from social media platforms (e.g. Twitter or Mendeley). This overview of studies explores the potential of altmetrics for measuring societal impact. It deals with the definition and classification of altmetrics. Furthermore, their benefits and disadvantages for measuring impact are discussed.

Digital Scholarship | Digital Scholarship Publications Overview | Sitemap

Digital Curation News (6/27/2014) #digitalpreservation

Digital Scholarship | Digital Curation News | Digital Curation, Digital Preservation, and Research Data Management Works

Scholarly Communications and Faculty Services Librarian at Penn State Dickinson School of Law

The Penn State Dickinson School of Law is recruiting a Scholarly Communications and Faculty Services Librarian.

Here's an excerpt from the ad:

Specifically, the SCFSL, in concert with other members of the Law Library's professional team, will be responsible for the development and leadership of creative scholarly support programs that are custom fit to provide the type of research assistance needed by individual faculty members. In providing this level of scholarly support, it is expected that the SCFSL will maintain enhanced expertise in all aspects of legal and law-related publishing, regardless of format, and will develop strategies for keeping the faculty abreast of developments and trends that increase the likelihood of placing their works in prestigious and highly-visible print and electronic publications. Additionally, the SCFSL will serve as the lead administrator of the Law Library's digital Institutional Repository—the Penn State Law eLibrary, (elibrary.law.psu.edu), working with authors, student journal editors, and publishers to populate our eLibrary with current and archival scholarly publications published by our law faculty and student journals.

Digital Scholarship | Digital Library Jobs | Library IT Jobs | Sitemap

"Can Libraries Help Stop this Madness?"

Kevin L. Smith has published "Can Libraries Help Stop this Madness?" in Library Journal.

Here's an excerpt:

If university presses can make a successful transition to less-expensive digital publishing, we should support that transition as fully as we can, but we should withhold funds where the digital product reflects the high prices and other inefficiencies mandated by print.

Digital Scholarship | Digital Scholarship Publications Overview | Sitemap

Emerging Technology and Digital Research Librarian at Penn State Dickinson School of Law

The Penn State Dickinson School of Law is recruiting an Emerging Technology and Digital Research Librarian.

Here's an excerpt from the ad:

Specifically, the ETDRL will evaluate digital information products, track emerging trends in their use as research and publishing resources in an academic environment, and make recommendations of digital works that would enhance the Law Library's research collection quality. For those digital products chosen for the collection, the ETDRL will take a lead role in the process of licensing and maintaining licenses for those digital works. Additionally, the ETDRL will develop tools and training programs designed to increase faculty and student awareness and effective use of digital collections, and will draft policies related to the acquisition, use, and retention of electronic resources and online information. The ETDRL will also assist the Law Library's Scholarly Communications and Faculty Services Librarian with the maintenance of the digital Institutional Repository—the Penn State Law eLibrary (elibrary.law.psu.edu).

Digital Scholarship | Digital Library Jobs | Library IT Jobs | Sitemap

Economic Impacts of Adapting Certain Limitations and Exceptions to Copyright and Related Rights

The European Commission has released Economic Impacts of Adapting Certain Limitations and Exceptions to Copyright and Related Rights.

Here's an excerpt from the summary:

The first part of the study is the report by Charles River Associates "Assessing the economic impacts of adapting certain limitations and exceptions to copyright and related rights in the EU" (Langus et al., 2013, henceforth "CRA Methodology Report"), which establishes a methodology to assess exceptions and limitations to copyright. . . .

In turn, the present report uses the aforementioned methodology to assess the economic impacts of specific policy options in several topics of interest, in view of providing policy guidance on these topics. This report focuses on the following topics:

  • Digital preservation by cultural heritage and educational institutions;
  • The provision of remote access by cultural heritage and educational institutions to their collections for the benefit of their patrons;
  • E-lending by publicly accessible libraries;
  • Text and data mining for the purpose of scientific research;
  • Reproductions made by natural persons for private uses.

Digital Scholarship | Digital Scholarship Publications Overview | Sitemap

Digital Curation News (6/26/2014) #digitalpreservation

Digital Scholarship | Digital Curation News | Digital Curation, Digital Preservation, and Research Data Management Works

Web Application Developer at University of Illinois at Chicago

The University of Illinois at Chicago is recruiting a Web Application Developer.

Here's an excerpt from the ad:

This position will provide technical and programming expertise to build the administrative and public interfaces of the Chicago Collections Consortium (CCC) Portal using the Django Web application framework. The Web Application Developer will write code, develop unit tests, and write documentation for both user interfaces; participate in testing throughout the development process and work to ensure that development is completed successfully within project deadlines.

Digital Scholarship | Digital Library Jobs | Library IT Jobs | Sitemap

"The Determinants of Open Access Publishing: Survey Evidence from Countries in the Mediterranean Open Access Network (MedOANet)"

Thomas Eger et al. have self-archived "The Determinants of Open Access Publishing: Survey Evidence from Countries in the Mediterranean Open Access Network (MedOANet)."

Here's an excerpt:

We discuss the results of a survey conducted between April 2013 and May 2014 in six Mediterranean countries and covering 2,528 researchers from Spain (1,291), Portugal (142), France (380), Italy (596), Turkey (131) and Greece (130). We compare the results to our German survey with 1,913 respondents. We show that there are significant differences between the scientific disciplines with respect to researcher's awareness of and experience with both open access (OA) journals and self-archiving. Accordingly, the publishing culture (e.g. reputation, publishing language) but also other issues like age and certain policies (MedOANet) may explain why researchers make more frequent use of OA publishing in some countries and disciplines.

Digital Scholarship | Digital Scholarship Publications Overview | Sitemap

Digital Initiatives Metadata Librarian at University of Miami

The University of Miami is recruiting a Digital Initiatives Metadata Librarian.

Here's an excerpt from the ad:

Under the direction of the Head of the Cataloging & Metadata Services Department, the Digital Initiatives Metadata Librarian supports the discovery of and access to the Libraries' digital content through metadata creation, analysis, enrichment, and maintenance according to local and national cataloging and metadata standards. Working closely with the Digital Projects team, the core mission of this position is to apply, steward, and preserve metadata for the Libraries' digital collections, as well as explore collaborations and partnerships with other library departments, university partners, and external collaborators. The position will participate in or lead projects to enhance intellectual access to and discoverability of both digital and physical resources.

Digital Scholarship | Digital Library Jobs | Library IT Jobs | Sitemap

Demand-Driven Acquisition (DDA) of Monographs

NISO has released Demand-Driven Acquisition (DDA) of Monographs.

Here's an excerpt from the announcement:

This is a new project to develop recommended practices for the Demand-Driven Acquisition (DDA) of Monographs. Many libraries have embraced DDA (also referred to as patron-driven acquisition) to present many more titles to their patrons for potential use and purchase than would ever be feasible under the traditional purchase model. If implemented correctly, DDA can make it possible to purchase only what is needed, allowing libraries to spend the same amount of money as they previously spent on monographs, but with a higher rate of use. However, this model requires libraries to develop and implement new procedures for adding titles to a "consideration pool", for keeping unowned titles available for purchase for some future period, often years after publication, for providing discovery methods of titles in the pool, establishing rules on when a title gets purchased or only temporarily leased, and how potential titles are discovered, and for handling of multiple formats of a title.

Digital Scholarship | Digital Scholarship Publications Overview | Sitemap

Integrated Digital Services Librarian at University of Baltimore

The University of Baltimore is recruiting an Integrated Digital Services Librarian.

Here's an excerpt from the ad:

Reporting to the Head of Integrated Digital Services, the Integrated Digital Services Librarian maintains and supports Langsdale and USM library systems, hardware and software. She/he will participate in collaborative design and development of new library technology services. The successful candidate will also work on USM library initiatives such as the implementation of the next-generation consortia integrated library system, discovery services and other new technologies.

Digital Scholarship | Digital Library Jobs | Library IT Jobs | Sitemap

Systems Librarian at University of Maryland

The University of Maryland is recruiting a Systems Librarian.

Here's an excerpt from the ad:

Reporting to the Manager, Digital Programs and Initiatives, the Systems Librarian supports all aspects of the work of the Digital Programs and Initiatives department. The Systems Librarian actively works with staff throughout the UMD Libraries to gather requirements for development of new digital initiatives and programs and provides support and instruction to UMD Libraries' staff in the installation, development, and use of digital applications. The Systems Librarian collaborates closely with staff in the Software Systems Development and Research department to implement new and upgraded applications, perform quality assurance testing, and to communicate issues clearly.

Digital Scholarship | Digital Library Jobs | Library IT Jobs | Sitemap

"The Price of Big Science: Saturation or Abundance in Scientific Publishing?"

Caroline S. Wagner and Dae Joong Kim have published "The Price of Big Science: Saturation or Abundance in Scientific Publishing?" in Policy and Complex Systems.

Here's an excerpt:

The rate of production of scientific publications appears to be continuing on an exponential growth curve against the prediction of Derek de Solla Price. (This article examines only publications, but it has been noted that scientific data (Borgman, Wallis, and Enyedy 2007) and e-Science (Hey and Trefethen 2005) are also growing phenomena, as well.) The growth of scientific publications has many possible causes, but the system itself appears to be operating efficiently. The networked nature of global science (Wagner and Leydesdorff 2005), the expansion of source materials and venues, the expansion of the practice of science to new places, the application of science to new problems (such as climate change), and the rise of China as a scientific power all may be contributing to the very rapid growth in output, increasing the complexity of the system.

Digital Scholarship | Digital Scholarship Publications Overview | Sitemap

Adriene Lim Named University of Oregon’s Philip H. Knight Dean of Libraries

The University of Oregon has named Adriene Lim as its Philip H. Knight Dean of Libraries.

Here's an excerpt from the announcement:

Lim has served as Oakland University's chief administrative officer for the school's main Kresge Library and Medical Library since 2011. Before that, she was at Portland State University since 2005, holding positions that included interim university librarian, associate university librarian and head of library technologies.

Lim earned a bachelor of fine arts degree and a master's degree in library and information science from Wayne State University in Detroit, Mich. She received a doctorate in library and information science from Simmons College in Boston, Mass., where she was in the managerial leadership in the information professions program.

Digital Scholarship | Digital Scholarship Publications Overview | Sitemap

Library Systems and Data Strategist at University of Wisconsin—Madison

The University of Wisconsin—Madison is recruiting a Library Systems and Data Strategist.

Here's an excerpt from the ad:

The Data Strategist will work closely with library and technical staff, integrated library system vendors, application developers, researchers and campus partners to further the discovery and delivery of Library and other data. The Data Strategist will leverage deep knowledge of Library and other data to develop strategies for organizing and integrating many disparate data types. The Data Strategist will develop and maintain a thorough understanding of the functional, operational, and service needs of the Library as well as a provide a creative, dynamic perspective on provisioning data and services through other systems.

Digital Scholarship | Digital Library Jobs | Library IT Jobs | Sitemap

"The Multidimensional Assessment of Scholarly Research Impact"

Henk F. Moed and Gali Halevi have self-archived "The Multidimensional Assessment of Scholarly Research Impact."

Here's an excerpt:

This article introduces the Multidimensional Research Assessment Matrix of scientific output. Its base notion holds that the choice of metrics to be applied in a research assessment process depends upon the unit of assessment, the research dimension to be assessed, and the purposes and policy context of the assessment. An indicator may by highly useful within one assessment process, but less so in another. For instance, publication counts are useful tools to help discriminating between those staff members who are research active, and those who are not, but are of little value if active scientists are to be compared one another according to their research performance. This paper gives a systematic account of the potential usefulness and limitations of a set of 10 important metrics including altmetrics, applied at the level of individual articles, individual researchers, research groups and institutions. It presents a typology of research impact dimensions, and indicates which metrics are the most appropriate to measure each dimension. It introduces the concept of a meta-analysis of the units under assessment in which metrics are not used as tools to evaluate individual units, but to reach policy inferences regarding the objectives and general setup of an assessment process.

Digital Scholarship | Digital Scholarship Publications Overview | Sitemap

Scholarly Communications Outreach Coordinator at Grand Valley State University

Grand Valley State University is recruiting a Scholarly Communications Outreach Coordinator.

Here's an excerpt from the ad:

The Scholarly Communications Outreach Coordinator is responsible for the overall management and direction of the Libraries' scholarly communication program and repository services. The person in this position provides outreach to GVSU community on scholarly communications issues and services and leads the Libraries' efforts to support new models of scholarly communication. Responsibilities include advocating for alternatives to traditional publishing models, working with faculty and liaison librarians in identifying and adding materials to the repository, serving as a primary point of contact on copyright issues, and developing and providing University-wide educational opportunities for sharing information about scholarly communications, open access, copyright and institutional repositories. Promotes and administers the Libraries' Open Access Publishing Support Fund.

Digital Scholarship | Digital Library Jobs | Library IT Jobs | Sitemap

Library of Congress Recommended Format Specifications 2014-2015

The Library of Congress has released the Library of Congress Recommended Format Specifications 2014-2015.

Here's an excerpt:

The creation and publication of these recommended format specifications is not intended to serve as an answer to all the questions raised in preserving and providing long-term access to creative content. They do not provide instructions for receiving this material into repositories, managing that content or undertaking the many ongoing tasks which will be necessary to maintain this content so that it may be used well into the future. Tackling each of those aspects is a project in and of itself as each form of content has a unique set of facets and nuances. These specifications provide guidance on identifying sets of formats which are not drawn so narrowly as to discourage creators from working within them, but will instead encourage creators to use them to produce works in formats which will make preserving them and making them accessible simpler. Following these specifications helps make it realistic to build, grow and save creative output for our individual and collective benefit for generations to come.

Digital Scholarship | Digital Scholarship Publications Overview | Sitemap

Digital Curation News (6/24/2014) #digitalpreservation

Digital Scholarship | Digital Curation News | Digital Curation, Digital Preservation, and Research Data Management Works