June 2023 – Page 4 – DigitalKoans

Associate Head, Data & Visualization Services at NC State University

The Associate Head, Data & Visualization Services shares management responsibility for the department, helping to set departmental goals and objectives and to foster a collaborative, motivating, and creative work environment. They oversee, promote, and directly participate in the department’s instruction program and workshop series, including teaching sessions in collaboration with course faculty and Libraries colleagues. In addition, the Associate Head supervises at least one staff member, while also offering training and guidance to all members of the DVS team on relevant areas of expertise.

https://jobs.ncsu.edu/postings/185272

University of Hawaii at Manoa: Needs Assessment for Data Management and Sharing Training Courses

Data management is an increasingly fundamental skill for graduate students and researchers in the biomedical sciences, especially as National Institutes of Health (NIH) and other funding agencies are now beginning to require data management and sharing plans as part of research. Since the University of Hawaii at Manoa (UHM) Library provided little support for this area and existing data management and sharing instructional content are either out of date or fail to address the unique needs of the UHM research community, the UHM Library took steps to establish data management and sharing instruction services to meet the specific needs of the UHM research community.

https://hdl.handle.net/10125/104944

Director, Digital Libraries and Preservation at Virginia Tech

Under the general direction of the Assistant Dean & Director of IT, the Director of Digital Libraries and Preservation is responsible for the strategic management and development of Virginia Tech’s comprehensive digital libraries and preservation program. They work collaboratively with stakeholders to plan and design the future of digital libraries and preservation services. The Director ensures efficient execution of technology-based projects, considering emerging trends and advancements, including the impact of AI, to advance cutting-edge digital libraries and preservation services.

https://tinyurl.com/bdf85d6m

"Should Academic Libraries Worry about Futureproofing?"

The what and how are at the heart of a new question we introduced in the latest cycle of the 2022 Ithaka S+R Library Survey. Nestled among questions about value proposition and strategic prioritization, we asked library deans and directors to indicate their level of agreement with the statement that their "library has a clear vision for futureproofing that takes into account technological and socio-political trends."

Sixteen percent of respondents indicated a high level of agreement with this statement (ratings 8-10). Sixty-four percent neither strongly agreed or disagreed (ratings of 4-7), and 20 percent strongly disagreed (ratings of 1-3). Figures 1 and 2 below show that there aren’t any particularly stark differences across Carnegie class, or sector.

https://tinyurl.com/229wsnvs

"The Platformisation of Scholarly Information and How to Fight It"

The commercial control of academic publishing and research infrastructure by a few oligopolistic companies has crippled the development of open access movement and interfered with the ethical principles of information access and privacy. In recent years, vertical integration of publishers and other service providers throughout the research cycle has led to platformisation, characterized by datafication and commodification similar to practices on social media platforms. Scholarly publications are treated as user-generated contents for data tracking and surveillance, resulting in profitable data products and services for research assessment, benchmarking and reporting. Meanwhile, the bibliodiversity and equal open access are denied by the dominant gold open access model and the privacy of researchers is being compromised by spyware embedded in research infrastructure. This article proposes four actions to fight the platformisation of scholarly information after a brief overview of the market of academic journals and research assessments and their implications for bibliodiversity, information access, and privacy: (1) Educate researchers about commercial publishers and APCs; (2) Allocate library budget to support scholar-led and library publishing; (3) Engage in the development of public research infrastructures and copyright reform; and (4) Advocate for research assessment reforms.

https://doi.org/10.53377/lq.13561

Systems Administrator at Michigan State University

Reporting to the Library Systems Manager III, the Systems Administrator will be responsible for Linux server administration, which includes the provision, configuring and deployment of Linux server environments; application administration, which includes configuring, deployment, and maintaining of server-based applications, as well as providing support for and troubleshooting system hardware and software issues; and customer support.

https://tinyurl.com/3nftfs3k

"DataChat: Prototyping a Conversational Agent for Dataset Search and Visualization"

Data users need relevant context and research expertise to effectively search for and identify relevant datasets. Leading data providers, such as the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR), offer standardized metadata and search tools to support data search. Metadata standards emphasize the machine-readability of data and its documentation. There are opportunities to enhance dataset search by improving users’ ability to learn about, and make sense of, information about data. Prior research has shown that context and expertise are two main barriers users face in effectively searching for, evaluating, and deciding whether to reuse data. In this paper, we propose a novel chatbot-based search system, DataChat, that leverages a graph database and a large language model to provide novel ways for users to interact with and search for research data. DataChat complements data archives’ and institutional repositories’ ongoing efforts to curate, preserve, and share research data for reuse by making it easier for users to explore and learn about available research data.

https://arxiv.org/abs/2305.18358

Digital Preservation Archivist at Southern Methodist University

Reporting to the Digital Preservation Librarian/Institutional Repository Manager, the Digital Preservation Archivist will be responsible for processing and cataloging born-digital material that has been donated and/or acquired by SMU Libraries and its special collection subunits, as well as digital assets created by SMU Libraries’ Norwick Center for Digital Solutions and housed in SMU Scholar, SMU’s institutional repository and ContentDM, SMU’s digital collections repository. They will support the development and adoption of digital preservation workflows and technology.

https://tinyurl.com/25athxt3

"Is Googling Risky? A Study on Risk Perception and Experiences of Adverse Consequences in Web Search"

Search engines, such as Google, have a considerable impact on society. Therefore, undesirable consequences, such as retrieving incorrect search results, pose a risk to users. Although previous research has reported the adverse outcomes of web search, little is known about how search engine users evaluate those outcomes. In this study, we show which aspects of web search are perceived as risky using a sample (N = 3884) representative of the German Internet population. We found that many participants are often concerned with adverse consequences immediately appearing on the search engine result page. For example, 45.2% of respondents are concerned about retrieving incorrect information. In contrast, consequences with a delayed impact are rarely perceived as a risk. Moreover, participants’ experiences with adverse consequences are directly related to their risk perception. Our results demonstrate that people perceive risks related to web search. In addition to our study, there is a need for more independent research on the possible detrimental outcomes of web search to monitor and mitigate risks. Apart from risks for individuals, search engines with a massive number of users have an extraordinary impact on society; therefore, the acceptable risks of web search should be discussed.

https://doi.org/10.1002/asi.24802

Head of Technology Services, University Libraries at University at Buffalo

The Head of Technology Services will serve in a strategic planning and leadership capacity in directing the planning and development of the University at Buffalo Libraries’ digital collection and repository infrastructure. This includes supporting and overseeing information technology operations related to end user services, network operations, information security, library network monitoring, and library systems. The Head of Technology Services will also be responsible for the oversight of the core library operations such as the integrated library Alma-Primo system, the interlibrary loan application OCLC ILLiad, and customized applications for Discovery, Delivery and E-Resources.

https://www.ubjobs.buffalo.edu/postings/43204

"Open Access Books through Open Data Sources: Assessing Prevalence, Providers, and Preservation"

In total, 396,995 unique records were identified from the OA book bibliometric sources, of which 19% were found to be included in at least one of the preservation services. The results suggest reason for concern for the long tail of OA books distributed at thousands of different web domains as these include volatile cloud storage or sometimes no longer contained the files at all.

https://doi.org/10.1108/JD-02-2023-0016

Libraries Electronic Resources Access Coordinator at University of Tennessee, Knoxville

The Libraries Electronic Resources Access Coordinator focuses on establishing and maintaining access to electronic resources licensed by the University of Tennessee Libraries, including online journals, databases, streaming video, ebooks, and datasets. This position requires a thorough understanding of and experience in all aspects of activating, managing, problem reporting & resolving, and supporting ongoing access to electronic resources with current authentication and library system technologies, especially the library service platform, knowledge base, link resolver, proxy server, and article discovery service.

https://tinyurl.com/46ppu4r4

Paywall: "Toward a Potential Solution of the Crisis in Scholarly Publishing: An Academic Research Community Alliance Model"

The academic research community alliance model suggested is based on the scholarly community taking on the responsibilities of peer review, article production, and knowledge dissemination while acting in an altruistic way of doing so. The proposed approach is described in detail, and both challenges and potential solutions to the impediments to implementing this model are explored. Finally, the authors report on initial efforts to build support for the proposed model, which suggests that meaningful progress on this difficult problem is possible.

https://tinyurl.com/4dznxau6

GIS and Geospatial Data Coordinator at University of Texas at Austin

Within that context, this strategic position is intended to develop, promote, and provide leadership for GIS and geospatial data services for faculty, staff, and students by providing tools and resources to facilitate the discovery, access, management, and analysis of geospatial data across all disciplines at UT.

https://tinyurl.com/4jew8v5f

Congressional Research Service: Generative Artificial Intelligence: Overview, Issues, and Questions for Congress

The recent public release of many GenAI tools, and the race by companies to develop ever-more powerful models, have generated widespread discussion of their capabilities, potential concerns with their use, and debates about their governance and regulation. This CRS InFocus describes the development and uses of GenAI, concerns raised by the use of GenAI tools, and considerations for Congress. For additional considerations related to data privacy, see CRS Report R47569, Generative Artificial Intelligence and Data Privacy: A Primer, by Kristen E. Busch.

https://tinyurl.com/bdrpkzcj

Data and Digital Scholarship Librarian at Reed College

In this position, you will work closely with students, faculty, and library staff to provide in-depth data support, from introductory courses to the required senior thesis. This is a dynamic and established research data role at Reed with the additional opportunity to identify strategic digital initiatives development in areas such as scholarly communication, institutional repositories, and open educational resources. This position is one of 5 liaison librarians in the Research Services department, a team of highly collaborative colleagues focused on outreach and instruction.

https://apply.interfolio.com/126666

Videos from the Library Publishing Coalition’s 2023 Library Publishing Forum

The Library Publishing Forum is an annual conference bringing together representatives from libraries engaged in (or considering) publishing initiatives to define and address major questions and challenges; to identify and document collaborative opportunities; and to strengthen and promote this community of practice. The Forum includes representatives from a broad, international spectrum of academic library backgrounds, as well as groups that collaborate with libraries to publish scholarly works, including publishing vendors, university presses, and scholars.

https://tinyurl.com/mresrts7

Systems Manager at Boston Library Consortium

This role is responsible for working closely with staff at members’ libraries, relevant BLC Communities, and the BLC staff team to improve the technological capacities and opportunities of the consortium. The position reports to BLC’s Executive Director.

https://blc.org/page/hiring-systems-manager

"CORE: A Global Aggregation Service for Open Access Papers"

This paper introduces CORE, a widely used scholarly service, which provides access to the world’s largest collection of open access research publications, acquired from a global network of repositories and journals. CORE was created with the goal of enabling text and data mining of scientific literature and thus supporting scientific discovery, but it is now used in a wide range of use cases within higher education, industry, not-for-profit organisations, as well as by the general public. Through the provided services, CORE powers innovative use cases, such as plagiarism detection, in market-leading third-party organisations. CORE has played a pivotal role in the global move towards universal open access by making scientific knowledge more easily and freely discoverable. In this paper, we describe CORE’s continuously growing dataset and the motivation behind its creation, present the challenges associated with systematically gathering research papers from thousands of data providers worldwide at scale, and introduce the novel solutions that were developed to overcome these challenges. The paper then provides an in-depth discussion of the services and tools built on top of the aggregated data and finally examines several use cases that have leveraged the CORE dataset and services.

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-023-02208-w

Digital Humanities Research Programmer at Carnegie Mellon University

With funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities, Carnegie Mellon University’s Freedom and the Press before Freedom of the Press project is seeking a highly motivated Digital Humanities Research Programmer to join an interdisciplinary team. The successful candidate will work collaboratively to streamline bash code, develop front-end interfaces, and build and maintain data pipelines. The DH Research Programmer will implement warehousing solutions for extremely large collections of images of individual character imprints from historical books, large collections of images of whole pages, and complex metadata from libraries and other institutions.

https://tinyurl.com/acxk6cy6

"New UVM Press Breaks Down Barriers to Scholarly Publishing"

The University of Vermont has launched an open-access academic press aimed at removing the financial barrier between peer-reviewed research and audiences worldwide. Fully funded by the university and overseen by UVM Libraries, the UVM Press operates under a "diamond open access model"— meaning that authors pay no fees to publish with the press, and readers pay no fees to access the press’s published materials. . . .

Bryn Geffert, UVM’s dean of libraries, has experience with open-access publishing having launched the Amherst College Press in 2013. Geffert also led a consortium of libraries in establishing the open-access Lever Press in 2016. Geffert believes that the role of a library is to connect patrons to information, making UVM Libraries a logical partner for managing the UVM Press.

https://tinyurl.com/bdfa8msf

Library Specialist – Digital Scholarship Center at University of Wyoming

Facilitate the day-to-day operations of the Digital Scholarship Center. Under the direction of the Digital Scholarship Librarian, assist in planning and delivery of workshops and other educational programming in the center. Develop educational materials and provide direct assistance to patrons. Train and supervise hourly staff to provide assistance to patrons.

https://tinyurl.com/2vc6bhwb

Shifting Tides: The Open Movement at a Turning Point

At the turn of 2022 and 2023, we conducted a series of interviews with leading voices in the open movement. We spoke with professional activists who address openness from varied perspectives and work in different fields of open. Some have been engaged in activism for decades, while others are looking at it with a fresh set of eyes. Many of our interviewees lead organizations advancing openness, and we were particularly interested in talking with those who have been exploring new approaches and strategies.

Our research aims to understand the current state of the open movement, as seen through the eyes of people actively involved in its endeavors and leading organizations within the movement. We want to make sense of shared positions and understand whether there are any clear division lines. We are particularly interested in identifying trends that transform the movement and understanding the challenges and needs of activists and organizations as these changes occur. The report signals a shift to what can be best described as a post-copyright approach to openness. However, while our focus is on how the movement is changing, this does not mean that the whole movement is subject to that shift. There still exists a need for copyright advocacy work in the movement, and many organizations maintain the course developed at the outset. Nonetheless, we hope that they, too, will find this report’s insights worth examining.

https://openfuture.eu/publication/shifting-tides/

Digital Resources Co-Creator at University of Sheffield

We have an exciting opportunity within the Library Learning & Teaching Services Team for a collaborative and digitally agile individual. We are looking for someone with experience of screen-casting, online learning tutorial software and video production software, to contribute to the work of the University Library. . . . We welcome applications from those with a flair for design and experience in creating learning objects, video and audio production, photo editing and web page creation.

https://tinyurl.com/3tbjthk2

"Transformative Agreements and Their Practical Impact: A Librarian Perspective"

This case study aims at describing how transformative agreements (TAs) have affected our profession with new tasks and workflows at two university libraries in Sweden, namely Karolinska Institutet University Library and Södertörn University Library. TAs are one of the mechanisms by which scientific publications are made open access; they involve moving libraries’ contracts with publishers from payment to read toward payment to publish. We will summarize the status and progress of open access in Sweden, in particular the significant growth of TAs over a short time span. We will then focus on describing how TAs have affected our everyday work and what new tasks they have imposed. We will share our experiences and point out things we find challenging, for example, we will explore questions about eligibility, the verification process, publication types and title changes during the contract period. We will also give some recommendations on how we would prefer the workflows surrounding the TAs to be. Finally, we will share our conclusions and comments about the impact of TAs on the publishing landscape and speculate about what will happen next.

https://doi.org/10.1629/uksg.612