October 2024 – DigitalKoans

Digital Archivist at CUNY (Term)

Reporting to the University Archivist, the Digital Archivist will oversee and support the transfer of born-digital files, oversee the creation of metadata and the ingest of digital collections to ensure preservation and access, act as the resource person for OLS and CUNY campus libraries regarding best practices for managing donated digital materials and metadata management for digital objects to enable search and discovery of collections. The Digital Archivist will also oversee the processing of archival collections of digital and/or hybrid format types as well as the arrangement, preservation, and creation of comprehensive descriptions for those collections

https://tinyurl.com/5an43p8z

Forthcoming: Publishing Beyond the Market: Open Access, Care, and the Commons

Publishing Beyond the Market argues that the move to open access should focus less on the free accessibility of research outputs and more on who controls the publications and infrastructures for scholarly communication. . . . Through critical engagement with the open access landscape, the book reveals the shortcomings of market-centric and policy-based approaches to open access book and journal publishing, particularly their tendency to reinforce conservatism, commercialism, and private control of publishing. . . .

It suggests that developing a commons-based, scholar-led publishing landscape through a series of presses that are each managed by working academics could offer a productive counterpoint to marketised systems of open access and subscription publishing. . . . By illustrating how these projects build towards a commons-based publishing future, and how they may complement other approaches to publishing within university presses and libraries, the book culminates in an argument for the infrastructures, policies, and forms of governance needed to nurture such a collective vision.

Samuel A. Moore [the author] is the Scholarly Communication Specialist at Cambridge University Libraries and a College Research Associate at King’s College Cambridge.

https://tinyurl.com/3wp4z5s5

Digital Archive Officer at Historic Environment Scotland

You will support the work of the HES Archives Digital Repository, which will include assisting with the transfer, accessioning, appraisal and cataloguing of born-digital and digitised archive material to our catalogue and digital preservation infrastructure, contributing to internal digital preservation research and development, and supporting the co-ordination of external digitisation projects.

https://tinyurl.com/4wp3bfya

"The State of U.S. Academic Libraries: Findings from the ACRL 2023 Annual Survey"

The average full-time equivalent (FTE) library staff is 36.2 and the median is 15.7. Doctoral universities have much higher staffing levels than all other types. Associate’s colleges and two year institutions have the highest ratio of students to staff.

In 2023, total expenditures excluding fringe benefits reached an average of almost four million and the median reported was $1.1 million. Adjusted for inflation, this represents a slight increase from 2022, but expenditures remain below pre-pandemic levels.

Digital materials continue to account for a significant proportion of library circulation, at 98.4% of the total reported. These materials come at significant cost: ongoing commitments to subscriptions account for 34.9% of total library expenditures.

Library instruction shows signs of recovery from pandemic lows. The reported average number of annual presentations to groups and average total attendance at those presentations have increased over the last three years, though still lagging relative to pre-pandemic levels.

https://tinyurl.com/36rdszhj

The State of U.S. Academic Libraries: Findings from the ACRL 2023 Annual Survey

Dean of Libraries at University of Massachusetts Amherst

The next Dean will join UMass Amherst at a transformational moment. The University has recently welcomed a new Chancellor and Provost who join the vibrant community of dreamers, innovators, creators, and scholars. New leadership inspires new strategic direction, and a new strategic plan is being developed with the release set for Fall 2024 . . . .

The Dean will have the opportunity to build upon the Libraries’ excellent reputation for data management and preservation, its on-going development of open educational resources and software in collaboration with UMass Amherst faculty, its pioneering work on transformative licensing agreements for scholarly resources, its active national role in open science, its contributions to the international development of the open-source library services platform FOLIO, and the continued growth of the Robert S. Cox Special Collections and University Archives Research Center and the W. E. B. Du Bois Center.

https://tinyurl.com/yc3xdfzn

"SPARC Releases Second Vendor Privacy Report Urging Action to Address Concerns with SpringerLink Data Privacy Practices"

SpringerLink provides a case study in the encroachment of the broader surveillance-based data brokering economy into academic systems. Among other findings, the report documents risks related to the 200 named third parties that are allowed to collect information from users of the site (along with what appear to be additional unlisted companies found only in our public website analysis). . . .

To fully understand how data may be used, librarians would need to read the 200 additional privacy policies from third parties that would likely stretch into the thousands of pages, a task complicated by numerous broken links to these policies at the time of publication.

https://tinyurl.com/wdkmha3z

Navigating Risk in Vendor Data Privacy Practices: An Analysis of Springer Nature’s SpringerLink

Digital Engagement Archivist at University of Westminster

Lead the preservation and cataloguing of our archive using recognised professional standards and innovative digital methods to ensure it remains accessible for generations to come.

Develop and implement a digital outreach strategy to engage a broad range of users, from researchers to the general public.

Leverage our digital content, processes and outputs to maximise our outreach activities and create interactive, user-friendly experiences that bring fashion history to life.

Optimise the AtoM archive collection management system to meet the evolving needs of our users.

https://tinyurl.com/5n8hs2xx

"Implementing Free Persistent Identifiers in a Scientific Journal Management System Alternatively to DOI "

The use and assignment of most persistent identifiers have an associated cost. Journals sometimes have difficulty covering this cost or transferring it to the authors of the articles, causing barriers to publishing scientific articles. This work aims to implement free persistent identifiers in a scientific journal management system. To accomplish this, software components for managing the persistent identifiers Archival Resource Key and Persistent Uniform Resource Locator are implemented for the Open Journal System. The results of implementing these persistent identifiers in a scientific journal are analyzed, as well as the implementation by the scientific community of 15 countries in 32 journals. Implementing free persistent identifiers in scientific journals allows for greater visibility and savings in publication costs.

https://tinyurl.com/2bsh2z6b

Heritage Science Data Service (7 Positions)

As a result of a successful £14.4m bid to the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), the Archaeology Data Service is expanding, and leading a consortium which is setting up a new Heritage Science Data Service (HSDS). The HSDS will provide core digital services for the Research Infrastructure for Conservation and Heritage Science (RICHeS), enabling RICHeS to transform heritage science and conservation research and its capacity to advance understanding, preservation, and management of the UK’s heritage.

HSDS Collections Development Manager

Digital Archives Supervisor

Training Officer

Data Standards Officer

HSDS Systems Manager

Applications Developer

Applications Developer (Linked Open Data Specialist)

https://tinyurl.com/mr2ytxfc

"Officially Launched! The New University-Based Publishing Futures Community Is Forming."

On Monday, September 30, the University Based Publishing Futures [UBPF] community officially launched with an open virtual meeting attended by 150 colleagues. UBPF is a new, multi-community coalition made up of the professionals who work at university presses, library publishers, and other academy-affiliated programs that support the infrastructure of scholarly publishing. The purpose of this “community of communities” is to share knowledge among university-based publishers and align our outreach and advocacy efforts for maximum impact. To learn more about this new community, watch the meeting recording, or visit the UBPF website on Knowledge Commons.

https://tinyurl.com/4b9eepr8

Research Data Management Librarian at Northwestern University

The Research Data Management Librarian assists researchers with data management planning, ?nding relevant datasets, data organization, curating and sharing their research data, and complying with relevant data management requirements and policies. This individual must have a strong commitment to making data as open as possible This support consists of teaching workshops, conducting individualized consultations, and providing services that advance research at Northwestern University.

https://tinyurl.com/yc35y2nv

"Trapped in Transformative Agreements? A Multifaceted Analysis of >1,000 Contracts"

Transformative agreements between academic publishers and research institutions are ubiquitous. The ‘Efficiency and Standards for Article Charges’ (ESAC) Initiative lists more than 1,000 contracts in its database. We make use of this unique dataset by web-scraping the details of every contract to substantially expand the overview spreadsheet provided by the ESAC Initiative. Based on that hitherto unused data source, we combine qualitative and quantitative methods to conduct an in-depth analysis of the contract characteristics and the TA landscape. Our analysis demonstrates that research institutions seem to be ‘trapped’ in transformative agreements. Instead of being a bridge towards a fully Open Access world, academia is stuck in the hybrid system. This endows the legacy (non-Open Access) publishing houses with substantial market power. It raises entry barriers, lowers competition, and increases costs for libraries and universities.

https://arxiv.org/abs/2409.20224

"Open Access and Transparency: EDP Sciences Releases 2024 Transparency Report for Mathematics Journals"

EDP Sciences and SMAI (Société de Mathématiques Appliquées et Industrielles) have just published their latest transparency report for 2024, marking the fourth consecutive year of open access (OA) publication under the Subscribe to Open (S2O) model – and the fourth transparency report. . . .

The 2024 report highlights several key achievements and ongoing developments:

Sustained Open Access: All six journals remain open access in 2024. . .

Moderate subscription price increases: Subscription prices for the journals increased by 2% in 2023 and 2024, a modest adjustment reflecting inflation while maintaining affordability.

Stable article output and usage: In 2023, the six journals published 449 articles, comparable to the previous year, with full-text downloads remaining steady at 436,655. . . .

Financial sustainability: The number of subscriptions continued to increase. Revenue from traditional subscriptions covered 51% of the publication costs in 2023, with additional funding from institutions and supporters. The average publication cost across the journals is €950 per article, and a concerted effort to reduce costs is ongoing. . . .

Impact of national agreements, partnerships, and additional funding: The French National Open Access Agreement, in place until 2026, alongside a renewed partnership with Knowledge Unlatched, continues to provide crucial financial support. Further backing from the French Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) and the Fonds National pour la Science Ouverte (FNSO) has played an essential role in securing the transition to open access.

https://tinyurl.com/yckm8fvz

Digital Collections Manager at Center for Puerto Rican Studies at CUNY

Oversee the development, management, and preservation of Centro’s digital archival holdings.

Provide leadership and promote innovation in the management, access, and storage of digital archival holdings.

Coordinate the archival digitization program, including overseeing selection, preparation of materials, digitization, post-processing, quality assurance, ingest, access and discovery of digital objects.

Administer CENTRO’s digital collections portal, including training staff, maintaining user documentation, performing system maintenance of metadata and user interface, encoding import and export templates, and liaising with IT staff.

Implement CENTRO’s digital preservation policy and collaborate with tech staff to enhance, improve, and scale digital preservation.

Run born-digital processing program, including producing or enhancing finding aids and developing access mechanisms for born-digital content.

https://tinyurl.com/5xttr7ys

"Taylor & Francis Announces Subscribe to Open Journals Pilot "

Taylor & Francis has today announced its first Subscribe to Open (S2O) pilot, one of several innovative options it is trialing to accelerate open access (OA) publishing. S2O enables a journal’s subscribers to support its conversion to OA, making new articles available to readers everywhere.

Taylor & Francis is inviting existing subscribers of the participating journals to renew their subscriptions for next year by March. If enough institutions support S2O in this way, all articles published in the 2025 volume will be open access. This process can then be repeated, one volume at a time, for the following years. If the required level of support is not achieved for any of the pilot titles, they will remain as subscription journals (with a hybrid OA option).

https://tinyurl.com/245857eu

User Experience Librarian at Illinois Institute of Technology

The User Experience Librarian collaborates closely with librarians and technical staff to promote new models for web development and design and implement best practices for digital content and services. As a liaison to academic units on campus, he/she also provides research and instructional services to a diverse community of faculty, staff, and student users of the Paul V. Galvin Library.

https://tinyurl.com/5n85x88x

"The Paradox of Competition: How Funding Models Could Undermine the Uptake of Data Sharing Practices"

Although beneficial to scientific development, data sharing is still uncommon in many research areas. Various organisations, including funding agencies that endorse open science, aim to increase its uptake. However, estimating the large-scale implications of different policy interventions on data sharing by funding agencies, especially in the context of intense competition among academics, is difficult empirically. Here, we built an agent-based model to simulate the effect of different funding schemes (i.e., highly competitive large grants vs. distributive small grants), and varying intensity of incentives for data sharing on the uptake of data sharing by academic teams strategically adapting to the context. Our results show that more competitive funding schemes may lead to higher rates of data sharing in the short term, but lower rates in the long-term, because the uncertainty associated with competitive funding negatively affects the cost/benefit ratio of data sharing. At the same time, more distributive grants do not allow academic teams to cover the costs and time required for data sharing, limiting uptake. Our findings suggest that without support services and infrastructure to minimise the costs of data sharing and other ancillary conditions (e.g., university policy support, reputational rewards and benefits of data sharing for academic teams), it is unlikely that funding agencies alone can play a leading role for the uptake of data sharing. Therefore, any attempt to reform reward and recognition systems towards open science principles should carefully consider the potential impact of their proposed policies and their long-term side effects.

https://doi.org/10.31222/osf.io/gb4v2

Supervisory Digital Collections Specialist at Library of Congress

DCW is responsible for providing digital acquisitions support to the Library Collections and Services Group, and for the lifecycle management of digital collections that are not otherwise under the care of a custodial division. DCW is also responsible for the management of the Library’s crowdsourced transcription program By the People and the emergent digital scholarship program or the work of the first Library’s first Digital Collections Data Librarian. DCW staff collaborate with other Library curatorial units, technical staff, and external organizations to establish best practices, implement new and streamline existing digital workflows, identify digital content management problems, and propose solutions for the content within the scope of the section and division.

https://www.usajobs.gov/job/811164000

"Large Language Publishing: The Scholarly Publishing Oligopoly’s Bet on AI"

This article focuses on an offshoot of the big firms’ surveillance-publishing businesses: the post-ChatGPT imperative top profit from troves of proprietary “training data,” to make new AI products and—the essay predicts—to license academic papers and scholars’ tracked behavior to big technology companies.

https://tinyurl.com/ft2467my

Systems Librarian at Nevada State University

Reporting directly to the Dean of the Library, the ideal candidate will contribute to a forward-thinking team committed to redefining the role of the university library. The Systems Librarian oversees the implementation, maintenance, support, and enhancement of various library technologies, systems and integrations. This role is pivotal in delivering innovative library services and ensuring access to the Library’s comprehensive online information resources.

Virginia Tech and UC Riverside: "University Libraries Receives Grant to Create Generative Artificial Intelligence Incubator Program"

University Libraries at Virginia Tech and the University of California, Riverside, received a $115,398 Institute of Museum and Library Services grant to create a generative artificial intelligence incubator program (GenAI) to increase the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) in the library profession and academic libraries. . . .

[Yinlin] Chen [assistant director for the Center for Digital Research and Scholarship at Virginia Tech] will use his expertise in advanced GenAI techniques and multidisciplinary AI research in his collaboration with Edward Fox, co-principal investigator and director of the digital library research laboratory at Virginia Tech and computer science professor, and Zhiwu Xie, co-principal investigator and assistant university librarian for research and technology at the University of California, Riverside, to create the generative artificial intelligence incubator program. They will build training materials, workshops, and projects to assist librarians in becoming AI practitioners.

https://tinyurl.com/3sysn284

Online Learning Librarian at Old Dominion University

Reporting to the Head of Libraries’ Education and Assessment, the Online Learning Librarian will lead the strategic direction for the Libraries’ online learning presence and integration into ODU Global. The Online Learning Librarian is responsible for the development and assessment of the Libraries’ tutorials, videos, and guides that are aligned with the university’s information literacy and research-related learning outcomes and courses.

https://tinyurl.com/yc68cdms

"National Archives Updates Digital Preservation Framework"

Last week the National Archives released a major update to its Digital Preservation Framework, an open resource and data set on GitHub that provides guidance and risk assessments for digital file formats. refer to caption Enlarge NASA Computers, September 12, 1986. Photo by Martin Brown. National Archives, Records of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. View in National Archives Catalog The release marks a significant update to the Framework, adding new and revised questions to address additional risk factors to digital formats that have emerged since its initial release four years ago. The updated Framework is more user friendly and more transparent about the National Archives’ digital preservation process and its electronic holdings. . . .

The update comes after months of collaborative work with other digital formats specialists. The National Archives shared a draft of the updated Framework for public comment this past May, and this latest release incorporates feedback from colleagues throughout the agency and federal government, as well as international colleagues.

Since its debut, the Framework has become a widely consulted resource for the digital preservation community around the globe. The Framework was additionally released as Linked Open Data in 2022.

https://tinyurl.com/bdehy8yj

Emerging Technologies Librarian at Howard University

Oversee the organization, maintenance, and accessibility of the library’s digital resources through Digital Howard and future HUL digital platforms. . . .

Serves as the open access liaison librarian and leads and promotes and supports HUL’s open access. . . .

Develops, implements, and manages an institutional repository that collects, preserves, and provides access to the research output of Howard University faculty.

Maintains, envisions, and implements services aligned with the research and scholarship lifecycle, supporting digital humanities, data management, geospatial information, and other related areas.

https://tinyurl.com/38dwhcf7

2024 EDUCAUSE Horizon Report: Cybersecurity and Privacy Edition

These are, in many ways, tumultuous times. Global political movements and ideologies continue to erode social ties and disrupt state and national legislative processes. Wars in Eastern Europe and the Middle East threaten to destabilize the global order. And new AI-powered technologies are evolving at breakneck speed, offering the world both the promise of new utopian capabilities and the threat of dystopian collapse. Against this backdrop of seismic change, higher education cybersecurity and privacy professionals must navigate new questions around what needs to be done to keep our institutions and our students safe and secure. This report summarizes expert panelist discussions on these and other emerging trends and offers reflections on where the future of higher education may be headed.

https://tinyurl.com/3ynda58w