June 2024 – Page 2 – DigitalKoans

Digital Projects Coordinator at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

This position supports the handling and digitization of a wide variety of special collections materials for the North Carolina Digital Heritage Center. They coordinate the drop off and pick up of batches of materials from the Center’s partner organizations, assess the materials and determine the appropriate workflow, review finished images for quality and accuracy, and write blog posts related to the historical context of the materials. This position will supervise and train digitization staff.

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Paywall: "Toward Measuring Data Literacy for Higher Education: Developing and Validating a Data Literacy Self-Efficacy Scale"

This study aims to develop and validate a scale designed for measuring self-efficacy in data literacy within the context of higher education. Both exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted to determine construct validity and reliability. The resulting data literacy self-efficacy scale comprises 31 items organized into three factors: data identification, data processing, and data management and sharing. These factors represent distinct yet interconnected dimensions, highlighting the multifaceted nature of data literacy.

https://doi.org/10.1002/asi.24934

Project Digitization Archivist at St. Olaf College [Term]

The Project Imaging Archivist is a full-time project-based position working with the Norwegian-American Historical Association (NAHA) archivist to digitize and describe World War II archival materials, including the records of American Relief for Norway, Camp Little Norway Association, Campbell Norsgaard, Hermana Rye Haugen, and Jacob Stefferud. The three-year project is funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

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Paywall: "Social Media Archiving in Practice: A Troubled Landscape in Review"

This article looks at several notable examples of major social media data loss that have already taken place in recent history and examines one of the largest institutional attempts to preserve social media thus far in the Library of Congress’ Twitter Archive. By exploring some of the key challenges that arose during this attempt which ultimately grounded the project, this article aims to better understand what continues to keep the practice of social media archiving at bay, and what large scale changes might be necessary to make any further progress in the field.

https://doi.org/10.1080/0361526X.2024.2367405

Open Knowledge and Research Impact Librarian at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

The Open Knowledge and Research Impact Librarian will have knowledge of open access, scholarly communications, copyright law, and collection development. They will gather, analyze, and interpret publication data on UNC authors and will analyze publishing costs and compare models. The librarian will develop and maintain a deep understanding of author, publishing, and collecting trends, and will advise on how to align library collection development and scholarly communications priorities within those trends.

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"Internet Archive Forced to Remove 500,000 Books after Publishers’ Court Win"

As a result of book publishers successfully suing the Internet Archive (IA) last year, the free online library that strives to keep growing online access to books recently shrank by about 500,000 titles. . . .

To restore access, IA is now appealing, hoping to reverse the prior court’s decision by convincing the US Court of Appeals in the Second Circuit that IA’s controlled digital lending of its physical books should be considered fair use under copyright law. An April court filing shows that IA intends to argue that the publishers have no evidence that the e-book market has been harmed by the open library’s lending, and copyright law is better served by allowing IA’s lending than by preventing it. . . ./p>

Freeland [Chris Freeland, IA’s director of library service] told Ars it could take months or even more than a year before a decision is reached in the case.

While IA fights to end the injunction, its other library services continue growing, IA has said. IA "may still digitize books for preservation purposes" and "provide access to our digital collections" through interlibrary loan and other means. IA can also continue lending out-of-print and public domain books.

https://tinyurl.com/47aws7z7

Paywall: "AI Is Exhausting the Power Grid. Tech Firms Are Seeking a Miracle Solution."

In addition to fusion, tech giants are hoping to generate power through such futuristic schemes as small nuclear reactors hooked to individual computing centers and machinery that taps geothermal energy by boring 10,000 feet into the Earth’s crust. . . .

A recent Goldman Sachs analysis of energy that will power the AI boom into 2030. . . found data centers will account for 8 percent of total electricity use in the United States by 2030, a near tripling of their share today. New solar and wind energy will meet about 40 percent of that new power demand from data centers, the forecast said, while the rest will come from a vast expansion in the burning of natural gas. The new emissions created would be comparable to that of putting 15.7 million additional gas-powered cars on the road.

https://tinyurl.com/5fhwpc36

Digital Humanities Research Facilitator at University of California Santa Barbara

Reporting to the Director of Research Data Services, the Digital Humanities Research Facilitator is responsible for the planning and implementation of scholarly initiatives in support of data-intensive research and digital scholarship in the humanities on campus with the goal of ensuring the high functionality, discoverability, and preservability of digital research data throughout its lifecycle. . . . The successful candidate will join a team that is re-envisioning the Library’s role within the research data lifecycle and who can respond to and support new research methods being used by researchers as well as lead the adoption of new methods. Research Data Services is also actively engaged with using, and informing development of, the digital asset platforms that are increasingly a core component of the toolset of the modern research university.

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"Copyright, the Right to Research and Open Science: About Time to Connect the Dots"

In this contribution, we highlight the necessity to design a research-enabling copyright framework that provides researchers with access to the necessary knowledge, information and data, and to tackle the challenges of the future.

For that purpose, we examine copyright through the prism of the Open Science movement and in the light of a "right to research " and connect both to a larger, constitutional argument which suggests that enabling research through copyright law is a pressing constitutional imperative. Based on this theoretical framework, we suggest substantive and institutional modifications to copyright law, through legislative interventions and judicial interpretations that would remove significant barriers towards open science as envisaged by European and international institutions. The conflict between the proprietary interests of rightholders and the societal interests in unhindered, purpose-bound research should, in case of doubt, be decided in favour of research and open science as crucial enablers for innovation and progress. For authors, remuneration is most of the time not the primary motivation or incentive to produce research; they can often rely on other revenues (e.g. through institutional employment) and other interest prevail, such as the broadest possible dissemination of their works that will secure them reputation and career advancement. The incentive mechanisms therefore are entirely different in the research field compared to other creative sectors, an aspect that must be taken into account when designing a research-friendly copyright system.

https://ssrn.com/abstract=4857765

Scholarly Communications and Research Librarian at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

The Scholarly Communication and Research Librarian is responsible for assisting in managing the university’s institutional repository and ensuring the proper handling and dissemination of scholarly works, datasets, and special collections. Collaborates with university and campus stakeholders to develop and enhance digital collections, advising on best practices for data management and copyright compliance, and promoting and advocating for open access publishing. Provides expertise in the administration of research information systems and supports researchers in creating data management plans, organizing and preserving data, and improving metadata for discoverability. Assists with copyright issues, analyzes scholarly metrics, and supports faculty in managing their research profiles. Develops outreach programs and engages with the academic community.

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"To Share or Not to Share? Image Data Sharing in the Social Sciences and Humanities"

Introduction. The paper aims to investigate image data sharing within social science and humanities. While data sharing is encouraged as a part of the open science movement, little is known about the approaches and factors influencing the sharing of image data. This information is evident as the use of image data in these fields of research is increasing, and data sharing is context dependent. . . .

Results. The findings show that image data sharing is not an established research practice, and when it happens it is mostly done via informal means by sharing data through personal contacts. Supporting the scientific community, the open science agenda and fulfilling research funders’ requirements motivate scholars to share their data. Impeding factors relate to the qualities of data, ownership of data, data stewardship, and research integrity.

https://tinyurl.com/nt8md9cj

Open Science, Research & Engagement Librarian at University of California Santa Barbara

The Open Science, Research & Engagement Librarian will contribute to the advancement of open science in the campus’ research ecosystem, serving as an expert and advocate for open science principles, tools, and practices. The incumbent will be actively involved in envisioning and shaping new approaches to how the Library supports scientific disciplines and communities at UCSB in collaboration with other Library departments and staff. They will help accelerate Library support in the data-driven STEM disciplines by identifying strategic campus-wide opportunities, such as with the Office of Research and Information Technology Services, for the development of new initiatives and services. . . . The librarian will be actively involved in service and tool development and promotion of key pieces of open science infrastructure, such as ORCID, DataCite, eScholarship, Research Organization Registry (RoR), and Open Science Framework (OSF).

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"Empowering Knowledge through AI: Open Scholarship Proactively Supporting Well Trained Generative AI"

Generative AI has taken the world by storm over the last few years, and the world of scholarly communications has not been immune to this. Most discussions in this area address how we can integrate these tools into our workflows, concerns about how researchers and students might misuse the technology or the unauthorised use of copyrighted work. This article argues for a novel viewpoint that librarians and publishers should be encouraging the use of their scholarly content in the training of AI algorithms. Inclusion of scholarly works would advance the reliability and accuracy of the information in training datasets and ensure that this content is included in new knowledge discovery platforms. The article also argues that inclusion can be achieved by improving linkage to content, and, by making sure that licences explicitly allow inclusion in AI training datasets, it advocates for a more collaborative approach to shaping the future of the information landscape in academia.

https://doi.org/10.1629/uksg.649

"Analyzing Research Data Repositories (RDR) from BRICS Nations: A Comprehensive Study"

As of March 2, 2024, re3data.org indexes a total of 3,192 Research Data Repositories (RDRs) worldwide, with BRICS nations contributing 195. China leads among BRICS nations, followed by India, Russia, and Brazil. . . . "House, tailor-made " software is widely used for creating RDRs, followed by Dataverse and DSpace. . . . Most repositories are disciplinary, followed by institutional ones. Most repositories specify data upload types, with "restricted " being the most common, followed by closed types. Open access is predominant in data access, followed by restricted access and embargo periods, while a small number restrict access entirely.

https://doi.org/10.1108/LM-04-2024-0040

IT Support Specialist at Georgetown University Library

The IT Support Specialist plays a critical role within the Digital Scholarship & Technology Services department and the Georgetown University Library as a whole by serving as a member of the support team responsible for approximately 250 computers used on a daily basis by Library staff, patrons, and students.

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Diamond OA 2024: The World of No-Fee Open Access Journals

The overall picture for 2023, the last year covered here:

422,941 articles in 2023—down a bit from 2022.
12,991 journals, of which 11,847 had 2023 articles when checked.
Diamond OA is about half humanities & social sciences (49%of articles and 63% of journals).
Diamond OA is almost entirely (97%) either published or funded by universities and societies and is mostly in small and medium-sized journals.

Systems Librarian at Marquette University

Reporting to the Head of Library Information Technology, this position collaborates across all library departments to ensure continuous, integrated access between the library services platform, Ex Libris Alma/Primo VE, and related digital platforms including OpenAthens, Springshare products, CONTENTdm, and the bepress institutional repository.

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"DMPs as Management Tool for Intellectual Assets by SMART-metrics"

Data Management Plans (DMPs) are vital components of effective research data management (RDM). They serve not only as organisational tools but also as a structured framework dictating the collection, processing, sharing/publishing, and management of data throughout the research data life cycle. This can include existing data curation standards, the establishment of data handling protocols, and the creation, when necessary, of community curation policies. Therefore, DMPs present a unique opportunity to harmonise project management efforts for optimising the formulation and execution of project objectives.

To harness the full potential of DMPs as project management tools, the SMART approach (i.e., Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound) emerges as a compelling methodology. During the initial stage of the project proposal, drafted SMART metrics can offer a systematic approach to map work packages (WPs) and deliverables to the overarching project objectives. Then, the Principal Investigators (PIs) can ensure the consortia that all the project potential intellectual assets (i.e., expected research results) were considered properly, as well as their necessary timelines, resources, and execution. It becomes imperative for data stewards (DSs) and governance policymakers to educate and provide guidelines to researchers on the advantages of developing well-curated DMPs that align results with SMART metrics. This alignment ensures that every intellectual asset intended as a research result (e.g., intellectual properties, publications, datasets, and software) within the project is subject to rigorous drafted planning, execution, and accountability.

Consequently, the risk of unforeseen setbacks and/or deviations from the original objectives is minimised, increasing the traceability and transparency of the research data life cycle. In addition, the integration of Technology Readiness Levels (TRLs) into this proposed enhanced DMP provides a systematic method to evaluate the maturity and readiness of technologies across scientific disciplines. Regular TRL assessments will allow PIs: (1) to monitor the WP progress, (2) to adapt research strategies if required, and (3) to ensure the projects remain in line with the drafted SMART metrics in the enhanced DMP before the project started. The TRLs can also help PIs maintain their focus on project milestones and specific tasks aligned with the original objectives, contributing to the overall success of their endeavours, while improving the transparency for the reporting and divulgation of the research results.

The paper presents the overall framework for enhancing DMPs as project management tools for any intellectual assets using SMART metrics and TRLs, as well as introducing suggested support services for data stewardship teams to assist PIs when implementing this novel framework effectively.

https://tinyurl.com/25ymtyyk

Digital Content Manager at University of St Andrews

The postholder will work to manage and develop the digitisation service, managing projects and processes, working with senior managers to input to the strategic development of the service.

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"Contracts in Publishing: A Toolkit for Authors and Publishers"

A toolkit for authors and publishers provides information on copyright-related aspects and contractual options in the publishing sector. With a balanced approach considering the interests of both authors and publishers, the publication offers guidance to building basic knowledge and skills for successful publishing, co-publishing and licensing deals, targeting an audience of authors, visual artists, translators and publishers, especially in developing countries.

https://tinyurl.com/bdea9cp8

Data Curation Officers at he Science and Technology Facilities Council

Liaise with DAFNI [Data & Analytics Facility for National Infrastructure] Project stakeholders nationally and internationally to identify data and modelling needs within their use cases.

Identify datasets and models with a potential high utility for DAFNI’s infrastructure research community and make them available via the DAFNI platform.

Maintain a catalogue of models and datasets on the DAFNI platform, identifying under-provisioned areas for infrastructure research.

Populate appropriate metadata for assets to improve the quality of annotation for search, discovery and reuse.

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"Why Does AI Hallucinate?"

But none of these techniques will stop hallucinations fully. As long as large language models are probabilistic, there is an element of chance in what they produce. Roll 100 dice and you’ll get a pattern. Roll them again and you’ll get another. Even if the dice are, like large language models, weighted to produce some patterns far more often than others, the results still won’t be identical every time. Even one error in 1,000—or 100,000—adds up to a lot of errors when you consider how many times a day this technology gets used.

https://tinyurl.com/2w2y3d94

UI/UX Designer at Boston College

Lead the technical development and design of the Libraries’ primary discovery interfaces including the Libraries’ website, Primo VE, ArchivesSpace PUI, and related user-facing web content management systems.

Coordinate changes and updates to the Libraries’ user-facing discovery platforms to ensure adherence to established standards for usability, accessibility, style guidelines, accuracy, and timeliness.

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"Evaluating Open Access Advantages for Citations and Altmetrics (2011-21): A Dynamic and Evolving Relationship"

Differences between the impacts of Open Access (OA) and non-OA research have been observed over a wide range of citation and altmetric indicators, usually finding an Open Access Advantage (OAA) within specific fields. However, science-wide analyses covering multiple years, indicators and disciplines are lacking. Using citation counts and six altmetrics for 38.7M articles published 2011-21, we compare OA and non-OA papers. The results show that there is no universal OAA across all disciplines or impact indicators: the OAA for citations tends to be lower for more recent papers, whereas the OAAs for news, blogs and Twitter are consistent across years and unrelated to volume of OA publications, whereas the OAAs for Wikipedia, patents and policy citations are more complex. These results support different hypotheses for different subjects and indicators. The evidence is consistent with OA accelerating research impact in the Medical & Health Sciences, Life Sciences and the Humanities; that increased visibility or discoverability is a factor in promoting the translation of research into socio-economic impact; and that OA is a factor in growing online engagement with research in some disciplines. . . .

Furthermore, the advantages of OA are not evenly distributed: while there is evidence that some fields (Medical & Health Science, Life Sciences, Humanities) are being strengthened by OA adoption, there is the possibility that others (Social Sciences) are being weakened. Additionally, it is notable that while some fields appear to have their visibility and socio-economic impact boosted by their OA status, others (Humanities, Social Sciences) are not similarly benefited.

https://arxiv.org/abs/2406.10535

Librarian – Electronic Resources at Samuel Merritt University

Primarily responsible for managing key e-resource information systems and will be responsible for the production and collection of statistics related to resource (both print and electronic) acquisition, licensing, and usage. Responsible for instruction, reference, and outreach services.

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