September 2023 – Page 5

Data Informationist at Johns Hopkins University

We are seeking a Research Data Informationist who will work with researchers and stakeholders to cultivate data literacy, support responsible data practices, and collaborate with other data support units at Hopkins to offer scalable and sustainable research data services, with a particular focus on services that support accessing and using clinical data for research. The Research Data Informationist will have knowledge of funder policies and mandates that affect acquiring, storing, and sharing research data. The successful candidate will work closely with other informationists at Welch to develop and deliver library instruction and services. The position reports to the Associate Director of Informationist Services.

https://tinyurl.com/4rn9cne8

"Engaging with Researchers and Raising Awareness of FAIR and Open Science through the FAIR+ Implementation Survey Tool (FAIRIST)"

Seven years after the seminal paper on FAIR was published, that introduced the concept of making research outputs Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable, researchers still struggle to understand how to implement the principles. For many researchers, FAIR promises long-term benefits for near-term effort, requires skills not yet acquired, and is one more thing in a long list of unfunded mandates and onerous requirements for scientists. Even for those required to, or who are convinced that they must make time for FAIR research practices, their preference is for just-in-time advice properly sized to the scientific artifacts and process. Because of the generality of most FAIR implementation guidance, it is difficult for a researcher to adjust to the advice according to their situation. Technological advances, especially in the area of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), complicate FAIR adoption, as researchers and data stewards ponder how to make software, workflows, and models FAIR and reproducible. The FAIR+ Implementation Survey Tool (FAIRIST) mitigates the problem by integrating research requirements with research proposals in a systematic way. FAIRIST factors in new scholarly outputs, such as nanopublications and notebooks, and the various research artifacts related to AI research (data, models, workflows, and benchmarks). Researchers step through a self-serve survey process and receive a table ready for use in their data management plan (DMP) and/or work plan. while gaining awareness of the FAIR Principles and Open Science concepts. FAIRIST is a model that uses part of the proposal process as a way to do outreach, raise awareness of FAIR dimensions and considerations, while providing timely assistance for competitive proposals.

https://doi.org/10.5334/dsj-2023-032

Assistant Research Support Librarian at University of Bristol

Assisting in the planning and development of Library research services, with a focus on research data management

Providing support and assistance to researchers on best practice, policies and procedures linked to open research

Organising and assisting in the creation and delivery of advocacy and training activities to research and professional services staff, students and the public . . . .

Reviewing research datasets submitted to the University research data repository, and assessing suitability for publication

https://tinyurl.com/6htw8m83

"Appeals Court Rules That Library of Congress Can No Longer Require Deposit of Published Works"

The bottom line now seems to be that CO [Copyright Office] can no longer require the deposit of two copies of all published works. Deposit can, it appears, continue to be a condition of copyright registration, but in light of this ruling it seems only a matter of time before that requirement is challenged as well. . . .

The implications of this ruling for the Library of Congress are potentially significant — if for no other reason than it will now have to purchase many of the books it once could rely on publishers and authors providing gratis.

https://tinyurl.com/zt23ksh8

Preservation Digital Imaging Librarian at Yale University

Reporting to the Head of Digital Reformatting & Media Services (DRMS), the Preservation Digital Imaging Librarian will manage a suite of imaging services designed to meet the Library’s preservation goals and increase online access to collections. As a member of DRMS, the position will contribute to the efforts of a nationally and internationally recognized program for the preservation of library and archives collections. The incumbent will keep abreast of key trends in preservation, digital imaging practice/technology and will work with a wide range of staff stakeholders and experts to build sustainable digital collections for users now and in the future. The role oversees services that include both inhouse scanning and digital photography, and work accomplished through commercial vendors.

https://bit.ly/3EsNFy8

"Finding the Right Platform: A Crosswalk of Academy-Owned and Open-Source Digital Publishing Platforms"

A key responsibility for many library publishers is to collaborate with authors to determine the best mechanisms for sharing and publishing research. Librarians are often asked to assist with a wide range of research outputs and publication types, including eBooks, digital humanities (DH) projects, scholarly journals, archival and thematic collections, and community projects. These projects can exist on a variety of platforms both for profit and academy owned. Additionally, over the past decade, more and more academy owned platforms have been created to support both library publishing programs. Library publishers who wish to emphasize open access and open-source publishing can feel overwhelmed by the proliferation of available academy-owned or -affiliated publishing platforms. For many of these platforms, documentation exists but can be difficult to locate and interpret. While experienced users can usually find and evaluate the available resources for a particular platform, this kind of documentation is often less useful to authors and librarians who are just starting a new publishing project and want to determine if a given platform will work for them. Because of the challenges involved in identifying and evaluating the various platforms, we created this comparative crosswalk to help library publishers (and potentially authors) determine which platforms are right for their services and authors’ needs.

https://hcommons.org/deposits/item/hc:59231/

Assistant Director for Media Preservation at New York University

The Assistant Director for Media Preservation administers the Libraries’ motion picture film, video, and sound recording preservation program. They implement preservation strategies, develop procedures and policies for the long-term care of moving images and sound materials, and initiate and coordinate grant-funded media preservation projects. They collaborate with NYU Division of Libraries staff in the following departments: Special Collections, Archival Collections Management, Digital Library Technology Services, Avery Fisher Center for Music and Media, and NYU-TV & the Television Center. They hire, train, and supervise full-time and part-time staff to support these activities.

https://tinyurl.com/7f5ct7ba

Digital Scholarship Has Released the Artificial Intelligence and Libraries Bibliography

The Artificial Intelligence and Libraries Bibliography includes over 125 selected English-language articles and books that are useful in understanding how libraries are exploring and adopting modern artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. It covers works from January 2018 through August 2023. It includes a Google Translate link. The bibliography is available as a website and a website PDF with live links.

Libraries have been exploring AI technology for a long time. In particular, there was an active period of experimentation from the mid-1980s through the mid-1990s that primarily focused on the use of expert systems. Many projects used expert system shells, which simplified development; however, some projects also used AI languages, such as Prolog. This period produced a significant number of library-related AI papers.

Subsequently, library interest in AI diminished until around 2018, when research activity increased.

The public release of generative AI systems in late 2022, such as ChatGPT, sparked a strong upsurge of interest in them and a rush to utilize their capabilities. Since these systems are relatively easy to use, this development may result in a significant new wave of library-oriented AI activity.

https://digital-scholarship.org/ai/ai-libraries.htm

The DigitalKoans Website Now Has a Translation Option

The DigitalKoans Website now has a translation option. There is a translation pull-down menu in the upper right corner of the page.

Digital Scholarship’s web publications use Google Translate. The tool is at the bottom of the page.

Library Systems Coordinator at American University

The Library Systems Coordinator is responsible for maintaining a high level of engagement and development of technical expertise regarding the library systems and technology used by the University Library with particular focus on assisting with the maintenance and configuration of the Integrated Library System, and development of successful automation of workflows. Duties include optimizing workflows, monitoring and investigating enhancements, ensuring the continuity and connectivity of data between systems, promoting their full potential, and ensuring the quality and effectiveness of library software, applications, interfaces, and queries. . . . Additionally, the position leads quarterly testing of new Alma features and assists with or leads their implementation as appropriate.

http://tinyurl.com/4wxr6pc7

Paywall: "A Study on Copyright Issues of Different Controlled Digital Lending (CDL) Modes"

The paper will explore CDL modes by combing CDL practices and programs from research papers and official website documents of different library organizations. Then, based on legal frameworks of CDL in the US, Canada and the UK which are summarized, copyright issues of CDL modes are analyzed from perspectives of implementing institution, service resources, and usage mode. Finally, some copyright recommendations for sustainable development of CDL are proposed.

https://doi.org/10.1177/09610006231190654

Library Applications Developer at University of Alabama

The Library Applications Developer supports the Technology Development Librarian. Designs, develops, debugs, deploys, and maintains new customizations to specialized academic research library platforms used by the University research community. Manages open-source web platforms (ArchivesSpace, Open Journal System, DSpace, CONTENTdm, VuFind, OCLC Illiad, University Libraries Bento Search Box, Omeka S, and WordPress). Maintains the platforms by responding to user bug reports and identifying and correcting software faults and collaborating with stakeholders to enhance existing software functionality. Assists with performing user-centered needs assessments and developing desired software functionality enhancements. Assists in system integration projects between the multiple research platforms supported by University Libraries (SpringShare LibGuides to BlackBoard Ultra, SpringShare LibCal to AxisTV Conference, Aeon to DSpace and CONTENTdm, etc.). Serves as principal senior developer for select academic research projects managed by the University Libraries Alabama Digital Humanities Center.

https://careers.ua.edu/jobs/09d38ef8-e2ab-4c40-8586-d47deb00b42d

"The Effects of Research Data Management Services: Associating the Data Curation Lifecycle with Open Research Output"

This study seeks to understand the relationship between research data management (RDM) services framed in the data curation life cycle and the production of open data. An electronic questionnaire was distributed to US researchers and RDM specialists, and the results were analyzed using Chi-Square tests for association. The data curation life cycle does associate with the production of open data and shareable research, but tasks like data management plans have stronger associations with the production of open data. The findings analyze the intersection of these concepts and provide insight into RDM services that facilitate the production of open data and shareable research.

https://doi.org/10.5860/crl.84.5.751

Data Curator Librarian at University of Rochester

A key member of the Data services team, the data curator will work with researchers to prepare and enhance their data and metadata for deposit within UR’s data repository and/or relevant disciplinary repositories. In consultation with other library and campus colleagues, especially the data, reproducibility, and scholarly communication librarians, the curator will develop and revise minimum data and metadata standards for data deposits from all disciplines. They will collaborate on creating data workflows and regularly perform assessment on current practices to identify areas for iterative improvement.

http://tinyurl.com/8ffyrk2n

"Citation Beneficiaries of Discipline-Specific Mega-Journals: Who and How Much"

The emergence of mega-journals (MJs) has influenced scholarly communication. One concrete manifestation of this impact is that more citations have been generated. Citations are the foundation of many evaluation metrics to assess the scientific impact of journals, disciplines, and regions. We focused on searching for citation beneficiaries and quantifying the relative benefit at the journal, discipline and region levels. More specifically, we examined the distribution and contribution to citation-based metrics of citations generated by the five discipline-specific mega-journals (DSMJs) categorized as Environmental Sciences (ES) on Web of Science (WoS) from Clarivate Analytics in 2021: Sustainability, International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, Environmental Science and Pollution Research, Journal of Cleaner Production and Science of the Total Environment. Analysis of the distribution of citing data of the five DSMJs shows a pattern with wide coverage but skewness by region and the WoS category; that is, papers in the five DSMJs contributed 26.66% of their citations in 2021 to Mainland China and 22.48% to the ES. Moreover, 15 journals within the ES had their JIFs boosted by more than 20%, benefitting from the high citing rates of the five DSMJs. More importantly, the analysis provides clear evidence that DSMJs can contribute to JIF scores throughout a discipline through their volume of references. Overall, DSMJs can widely impact scholarly evaluation because they contribute citation benefits and improve the evaluation index performance of different scientific entities at different levels. Considering the important application of citation indicators in the academic evaluation system and the increase in citations, it is important to reconsider the real research impact that citations can reflect.

https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-023-02050-w

Data Publication Specialist at Virginia Tech

Under the direction of the Associate Director of Data Management and Curation Services, the Data Publication Specialist will provide data publication and curation support to Virginia Tech researchers including publishing research datasets and code (abbreviated as ‘data’ throughout) in our research data repository, assisting Virginia Tech researchers in finding other appropriate repositories for their research data, and enhancing the documentation and reuse of research data. They will also be responsible for maintenance of data publication workflows, managing communications and relationships with researchers, including faculty, staff, and students, and developing guidance on data publication, sharing and curation.

https://tinyurl.com/bdz6by33

Publishing Librarian at University of Minnesota

The Publishing Librarian will champion open access publishing across a diverse range of scholarly outputs, including open access journals, open monographs, open textbooks, and open access digital projects. They will collaborate with authors at the University of Minnesota to facilitate the creation and publication of their research outputs in accessible and impactful ways. Additionally, they will partner with national scholarly societies to promote open access practices and support the publication of their journals.

https://tinyurl.com/47uayxz6

Digital Archivist at Archives and Rare Book Library at University of Cincinnati

Full-time tenure-track faculty appointment responsible for developing and implementing digital workflows including, but not limited to, born-digital archives, the digitization of existing hard copy materials, and the digital preservation of established electronic records. Coordinates and provides technological support for ARB staff including the ARB website, discovery of digital content, and maintenance of digital collections and exhibitions.

https://tinyurl.com/mrhutc5y