July 2023 – Page 4 – DigitalKoans

Technology and Reference Librarian at Brooklyn Law School

The Technology & Reference Librarian manages the day-to-day technical support as well as the lifecycle of the Library’s systems, applications, hardware and web services, and collections management applications; coordinates the planning, evaluation and implementation of the Library’s electronic resources; recommends, configures, and provides support for new and emerging technologies and processes, and evaluates new education technologies and provides training on its use.

https://tinyurl.com/3hyjj67x

Directions in Digital Scholarship: Support for Digital, Data-Intensive, and Computational Research in Academic Libraries

This report of a 2023 Coalition for Networked Information (CNI) initiative takes a broad look at library engagement with digital scholarship (DS) and examines connections with data-intensive and computational research over roughly the past five years and into the future. . . . To understand trends in DS programs, including attention to the impact of the pandemic, especially with reference to the importance of physical spaces and in-person programming, evidence was gathered from several sources, including online interviews with 12 library and DS leaders, profiles of 47 libraries’ DS programs, and conversations during two online forums representing a total of 24 institutions. Findings from these sources are analyzed and synthesized in this report.

https://tinyurl.com/398nzhcx

Library Programmer at Texas State University

Develop and implement FOLIO system and enhancements as well as design, code, test, implement, maintain, and support applications software for the University Library.

Work with vendors, librarians, and staff at the University Libraries to implement and support the new library systems platform.

https://jobs.hr.txstate.edu/postings/43406

The Anti-Ownership Ebook Economy: How Publishers and Platforms Have Reshaped the Way We Read in the Digital Age

This report explains that, while there is nothing new about publishers’ desire to seek novel ways to increase revenues, along with control and surveillance of readers, the new publisher-platform partnership creates a mechanism to align the ebook market with those goals. That new market alignment raises questions about whether these shifts are the best option for readers and institutional book buyers, particularly libraries. It also raises questions about how the newest players in the market — ebook distribution platforms — shape things to align with their own interests.

In order to fully understand the dynamics at play, we interviewed over 30 stakeholders that fill various essential roles in the ebook marketplace, from publishers to platform CEOs to literary agents, librarians, and lawyers. We discussed the priorities, concerns, and constraints that help shape their participation in the ebook marketplace. Our goal was to understand and document how this world looks through their eyes, and synthesize those views into broader conclusions.

https://tinyurl.com/4762bbyv

ScholarWorks Repository Specialist at California State University, Northridge

Under general supervision, the ScholarWorks Repository Specialist provides support for development and maintenance of collections in CSUN ScholarWorks, the university’s institutional repository, and receives and prepares documents and media objects for submission to ScholarWorks. The incumbent creates and edits Dublin Core Extended metadata records, and researches copyright ownership and publisher agreements on behalf of faculty.

https://tinyurl.com/mrt3fjpf

"Cite-Seeing and Reviewing: A Study on Citation Bias in Peer Review"

Citations play an important role in researchers’ careers as a key factor in evaluation of scientific impact. Many anecdotes advice authors to exploit this fact and cite prospective reviewers to try obtaining a more positive evaluation for their submission. In this work, we investigate if such a citation bias actually exists: Does the citation of a reviewer’s own work in a submission cause them to be positively biased towards the submission? In conjunction with the review process of two flagship conferences in machine learning and algorithmic economics, we execute an observational study to test for citation bias in peer review. In our analysis, we carefully account for various confounding factors such as paper quality and reviewer expertise, and apply different modeling techniques to alleviate concerns regarding the model mismatch. Overall, our analysis involves 1,314 papers and 1,717 reviewers and detects citation bias in both venues we consider. In terms of the effect size, by citing a reviewer’s work, a submission has a non-trivial chance of getting a higher score from the reviewer: an expected increase in the score is approximately 0.23 on a 5-point Likert item. For reference, a one-point increase of a score by a single reviewer improves the position of a submission by 11% on average.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0283980

| Research Data Publication and Citation Bibliography | Research Data Sharing and Reuse Bibliography | Research Data Curation and Management Bibliography | Digital Scholarship |

Discovery Services Librarian at Texas A&M University

The Discovery Services Librarian will be responsible for the Libraries’ discovery systems, ensuring open and equitable access to the Libraries’ collections and services. The selected candidate will also collaborate with Digital Initiatives, TAMU Technology Services, Digital Collection Services, and other key stakeholders to ensure continuous improvement of the Libraries’ Discovery Layers and Libraries’ Discovery Technology Portfolio. Other duties will include providing service in usability and user experience testing to provide feedback to the design and development of the Libraries’ discovery layers and search strategies.

https://tinyurl.com/fjzpr2kv

Report on Standards for Best Publishing Practices and Technical Requirements in Light of the FAIR Principles

This report has provided an overview of the current state of scholarly publishing practices and technical requirements in the context of FAIR principles. The report highlights the importance of interoperability to enable discoverability, reuse, and reproducibility of research outputs. In addition to creating an initial connection between scholarly publishing practices and the technical requirements of the FAIR principles, this is (as far as we know) the first attempt to systematically collect and compare the different requirements set by the selected policies and services with each other. From the perspective of a publisher, it would be desirable for the requirements set by different actors to be aligned (so as not to be incompatible with each other), and offer some degree of progression in compliance and implementation so that it is not a matter of all or nothing. This is particularly relevant for the requirements set by DOAJ and cOAlition S, which are essential for most OA journals to fulfil. The requirements criteria set by both of these organisations include both basic and recommended levels. Based on our review, we found that they are well-aligned. If a journal fulfils the requirements of one, it will fulfil a number of requirements of the other.

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8112661

| Research Data Publication and Citation Bibliography | Research Data Sharing and Reuse Bibliography | Research Data Curation and Management Bibliography | Digital Scholarship |

Digital Projects Coordinator at Library of Congress

The incumbent coordinates and facilitates projects for digital conversion, production, and distribution of library materials to a constituency having specialized requirements. Individually and in collaboration with IT and digital media experts, the incumbent coordinates major program components that include internal communication strategies, a centralized archive, new digital content policies, metadata and standards for content development, and new models for access and delivery of digital content.

https://www.usajobs.gov/job/735079600

"The Perseus Digital Library and the Future of Libraries"

I write this piece both to offer my views about the future of digital libraries and to do so on the basis of my own past experiences and decisions. These experiences include 35 years of continuous development work on the Perseus Digital Library and 40 years of engagement in what might would now be called the Digital Humanities. The motivations behind the development of what is now Perseus began, however, 50 years ago when I began, in fall 1972, to study Ancient Greek. My experiences and frustrations in the subsequent 10 years as I pursued this subject within the limits of print culture shaped my goals from the earliest days when I embraced the digital turn in 1982 to present and still shape my aspirations for the future.

https://doi.org/10.1007/s00799-022-00333-2

| Research Data Publication and Citation Bibliography | Research Data Sharing and Reuse Bibliography | Research Data Curation and Management Bibliography | Digital Scholarship |

Publishing Technologies Librarian at Birkbeck, University of London

Joining our existing team of three developers we are looking for a staff member to help us with our outreach and support programme for Janeway, our open source publishing solution.

Your main role will be supporting people using the Janeway platform, which provides publication for scholarly articles online, from submission and review, to editing, production, and final publication.

https://tinyurl.com/yc24vnja

"Signing Data Citations Enables Data Verification and Citation Persistence"

Increasingly, digital datasets are being published with assigned identifiers, then cited in papers as the basis for repeatable experiments. To help future readers find and verify data, customary citations can be extended with content signatures, which can be introduced without having to replace existing identifier such as DOIs and ARKs. That is, signatures can be seen as complementary identifiers to help keep specific versions of cited data findable and identifiable as they evolve and change locations. For example, if a DOI identifies an evolving dataset, rather than a fixed version — i.e., content drift is expected — the DOI can safely be cited for the sake of attribution, metadata linking, and citation statistics (e.g., by Crossref (https://www.crossref.org) and DataCite (https://datacite.org)), while the content signature helps the reader find the exact content that was cited, possibly with assistance from metadata linked to the DOI. Additionally, a citation that includes both the DOI (for example) and content signature of a dataset creates a fixed mapping between the two identifiers. Then, unintentional content drift by the DOI can be detected and reported, and an alternative location may potentially be discovered by consulting public content signature registries.

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-023-02230-y

Digital China Project Manager at Harvard University (Term)

Oversee the strategy, coordination, and implementation of projects related to the digital transformation of China studies at the Fairbank Center. Oversee strategy, in consultation with the two Principal Investigators, to ensure the Fairbank Center’s leadership position in the field of digital China studies. Manage international collaboration between researchers to create a broad set of state-of-the-art Research Computing systems, tools, and software to enhance productivity in the pursuit of historical and contemporary China research. Coordinate and direct researchers to co-create and co-learn research activities and relevant advanced computing and data capabilities both locally and internationally. This job is a full-time position with full benefits for a five-year term.

https://tinyurl.com/yn9paj52

CNRS: "Publication Costs — ‘We Are on the Edge of the Abyss’"

Alain Schuhl, the Deputy CEO for Science at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS):

A recent prospective study in France run by the French Ministry of Higher Education and Research reported that France paid almost €30 million in APCs in 2020. The same study suggests that at this rate of increase France could be paying €50 million in APCs by 2030 or even nearly €200 million [about $219,907,000] if all scientific publications have switched to the author-pays model by then. This amount is far higher than the budget of the subscription-based model which is already excessively expensive.

https://tinyurl.com/3xfkz79h

Digital Initiatives Coordinator at Harvard University

The Digital Initiatives Coordinator performs tasks required to produce authoritative, open, and persistent digital resources that support teaching, learning, and the practice of law.

The Digital Initiatives Coordinator works to prepare and transfer materials for digitization, perform quality assurance of digital images, produce metadata essential for managing and discovering digital resources, and track and maintain inventories of digital objects. The Digital Initiatives Coordinator also assists with long-term management, preservation, and delivery of born digital content.

https://tinyurl.com/yck2k8fd

Less Than 50% Have Web Usability PSGs: "Web Usability Practice at ARL Academic Libraries "

Expanding on previous research, the authors applied quantitative and qualitative methods to investigate Web usability policies, standards, and guidelines (PSGs); resources; and usability testing, including mobile testing and usability laboratories, at the academic members of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL). Survey results indicated that less than 50 percent of the libraries have Web usability PSGs. The perceived importance of usability testing has a significantly positive correlation with the testing performed, ARL ranking, mobile website testing, and availability of usability laboratories. Limited resources hindered initiatives aimed at improving usability.

https://muse.jhu.edu/article/901567

Scholarly Communications Manager at University of East London

A member of the Content and Digital Environments team, you will manage and promote the university’s scholarly content and research data, including developing our institutional repository. You will champion open research across the university, developing and leading training of researchers to ensure compliance with funder policies and reporting on repository activity to relevant committees. You will have line management responsibility for a small team and work with other LALS team members to deliver outstanding services to our diverse community of students and staff.

https://tinyurl.com/2mxk6ud7

"Open Access Author Contracts and Alignment with the Open Ethos: A Global Study"

Author contracts in scholarly publishing serve to outline the rights and permissions for each party in the use and redistribution of a work throughout the life of its copyright term. Although rights and licensing expectations for open access publishing—the “open access ethos”—have been detailed in the Budapest Declaration, Plan S Principles, and other documentation, studies that explore the implementation of these ideals in contracts between authors and publishers have been limited in focus and scope. This study seeks to initiate a holistic approach toward evaluating open access journal agreements that is not limited by region or discipline, with the aim of discerning best practices as well as delineating common points of deviation. The authors distributed a survey to contacts from journals in the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), including both journals with and without a DOAJ Seal. The results suggest that DOAJ Seal status is central to alignment with the open access ethos and that there is more misunderstanding about the importance of copyright and licensing terms than shown in previous research. This research contributes to discussions pursuing a future of open access publishing that supports authors’ rights as a central tenet.

https://doi.org/10.5860/crl.84.4.605

Business and Data Services Librarian at University of South Dakota

Joins the University Libraries’ Digital Scholarship and Research Services initiative to develop and offer workshops in one or more of the following areas: data analysis, data visualization, and data management.

Serves on the University Libraries’ Reference, Research and Instruction Services team to teach information literacy sessions that support the University’s General Education curriculum and provide reference services delivered from I.D. Weeks Library. . . .

Promoting services that advance and support Open Access (OA) publishing and Open Data initiatives.

https://yourfuture.sdbor.edu/postings/35342

"Archiving Website-Based References in Academic Papers: Problems Caused by Reference Rot, Potential Solutions and Limitations"

With this background in mind, this paper has three objectives. First, it provides several examples of studies that have attempted to quantify or characterize reference rot of web-based references, and consequences of this phenomenon. Second, we provide a short practical ‘manual’ that would allow academics or editors to manually archive web-based references at the Internet Archive. Third, we assess some technical and practical suggestions for improving the landscape of digital information preservation while taking into account human and technological limitations.

https://doi.org/10.1002/leap.1560

Digital Archivist at University of California San Francisco

The Digital Archivist is responsible for the continued development and leadership of the Digital Archives Program that covers born-digital and digitized holdings; the development and implementation of UCSF-wide policies, procedures, and workflows for processing and preserving digital collections; and the management of born-digital and hybrid collections. The Digital Archivist facilitates appraisal, acquisition, and transfer of born- digital materials to the A&SC in support of the Archives’ wider collecting initiatives, and lead preservation, arrangement, description, and access workflows for born-digital and digitized materials. The Digital Archivist also performs outreach and education activities across UCSF, the UC System, and the wider user community to facilitate engagement with the A&SC collections and build donor and user relationships.

https://aprecruit.ucsf.edu/JPF04547

"Article Processing Charges for Open Access Journal Publishing: A Review"

This paper reviews literature on article processing charges (APCs) that has been published since 2000. Despite praise for diamond OA journals, which charge no fees, most OA articles are published by commercial publishers that charge APCs. Publishers fix APCs depending on the reputation assigned to journals by peers. Evidence shows a relationship between high impact metrics and higher, faster rising APCs. Authors express reluctance about APCs, although this varies by discipline depending on previous experience of paying publication fees and the availability of research grants to cover them. Authors rely on a mix of research grants, library funds and personal assets to pay the charges. Two major concerns have been raised in relation to APCs: the inability of poorly funded authors to publish research and their impact on journal quality. Waivers have not solved the first issue. Research shows little extension of waiver use, unintended side effects on co-author networks and concerns regarding criteria to qualify for them. Bibliometric studies concur that journals that charge APCs have a similar citation impact to journals that rely on other income sources.

https://doi.org/10.1002/leap.1558

Digitization Services Coordinator at University of Maryland College Park

The Digital Collections unit performs digitization operations for the University of Maryland, College Park Libraries, and seeks to be a leader in the region and professional community for process development, special format digitization, and peer education. In support of these goals, the Digitization Services Coordinator manages outsourced digitization operations at the University of Maryland Libraries. The Coordinator manages projects, vendor deliverables, and estimates, and maintains relationships with collections managers. The Coordinator solicits and plans external digitization projects with relevant library staff, in collaboration with the Head of Digital Collections. The individual manages and prioritizes short-term, user-initiated requests, and balances these with managing long-term projects. The Coordinator establishes quality assurance standards and manages quality control for all digital files and associated metadata records uploaded to all digital repositories.

https://ejobs.umd.edu/postings/108614

Vice-Provost & Chief Librarian at Western University

Western Libraries is the fourth-largest academic library system in Canada and is dedicated to supporting research, teaching, and learning at Western. Western Libraries comprises five libraries and three centres distributed across the University campus and is a member of the Ontario Council of University Libraries, the Canadian Association of Research Libraries, and the Association of Research Libraries. Recognized for the quality of its staff, the access and services provided, and its outstanding collections — which include over eleven million items in print, microform, and various other formats, as well as online access to tens of thousands of digital resources — Western Libraries supports the University’s mission of providing the best student experience among Canada’s leading research-intensive universities.

https://tinyurl.com/uptyhsvh

Metadata Projects Librarian at University of Rochester

The Metadata Projects Librarian leads the development of creative, sustainable, and interoperable metadata solutions in support of the preservation, discovery, and access of RCL’s rich and unique collections, which includes historical manuscripts, born-digital and digitized archival collections, digital projects, and digital exhibits. Under the direction of the Director, they are responsible for creating, enhancing, and adjusting metadata in a variety of online environments and within a variety of metadata workflows.

https://tinyurl.com/5fw5p5yc