Charles W. Bailey, Jr. – DigitalKoans

DigitalKoans Posts Resume on 5/22/2025

DigitalKoans posts will resume on 5/22/2025.

OATP: “A Living Archive of the Open Access Movement Approaches Its Next Chapter”

The Open Access Tracking Project offers a real-time alert system for open access news and information. With its founder contemplating retirement, now is the time to strengthen its infrastructure, improve its user experience, and secure its long-term future. . . .

Previously funded by Arcadia (2011–2016) and the Arnold Foundation (2016–2018), OATP and TT are currently operating without dedicated funding, though Suber has described them as “eminently fundable” due to their critical contributions to the OA infrastructure (Suber, 2025). As Suber anticipates his eventual retirement, he is seeking to transfer both OATP and TT into a nonprofit or coalition-led model, with the aim of securing their long-term sustainability.

https://tinyurl.com/y53hsabs

“Enhancing Library Discovery: An Approach to Understanding User Access to Electronic Resources”

The exponential increase in electronic resources in parallel with the development of discovery systems has expanded the research environment for library users well beyond the traditional library catalog. In response, a large public university library grapples with the best ways to deploy research tools to provide access to the many electronic resources it licenses for its users. Library staff seek to direct users most efficiently to needed resources, to save staff time, and to contain costs. The authors used a variety of methods to gather data to support their decision making, including search log analysis, surveys of other institutions, interviews with students, and cross-departmental discussion within the institution. The library made improvements to the website and search tool interfaces as well as developed a new approach to loading MARC records for electronic resources to the library catalog, which resulted in a slimmed down catalog paired with a newly promoted discovery system. This analysis is intended to inspire other libraries to develop a more deliberate approach to providing access to electronic resources.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acalib.2025.103064

“For Silicon Valley, AI Isn’t Just About Replacing Some Jobs. It’s About Replacing All of Them ”

Replacing all human labour with AI sounds like the stuff of science fiction. . . .

This is generally an aim that’s only admitted to behind closed doors. . . . But a company called Mechanize last month bucked the trend and said the quiet part out loud. Their vision is “the full automation of the economy”, a vision they’ve convinced some of the biggest names in Silicon Valley to fund. . . .

Up until very recently, AI researchers thought that artificial general intelligence (AGI). . . was a long way off. Not any more. Demis Hassabis, the head of Google DeepMind, now thinks “it’s coming very soon” – less than five to 10 years wouldn’t surprise him.

https://tinyurl.com/4xxe3wpb

Paywall: “The Citation Catastrophe: Propagation of AI-Generated Counterfeit Citations in Scholarship”

[T]he authors of this paper document examples of “counterfeit citations”, almost certainly created by Large Language Models. . . . The authors track the propagation of these example counterfeit citations in the literature and discuss the damage they cause, means of measuring comparative value in affected citation databases, and potential remediation of this problem moving forward.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acalib.2025.103065

Archivist at University of La Verne

(General archivist duties omitted.)

Digital Initiatives: Lead efforts to digitize collections and implement digital archival practices to enhance accessibility and support the university’s commitment to innovation. . . .

Oversee and manage the University’s digital library system and Institutional Repository

https://tinyurl.com/3d3pmnbn

Library Resources & Systems Manager at Wilmington University

Provide collaborative leadership in the implementation, support, maintenance, and troubleshooting of both emerging and existing library systems and applications. These include, but are not limited to, SIRSI, Discovery, ILLiad, EZProxy, and other systems as needed or requested. . . .

Maintain electronic resource licenses. . . .

Develop strategies relating to electronic discovery through library content cataloging and user discovery. Evaluate the quality of open-access resources.

Ensure quality control and maintain the integrity of library metadata and resource-sharing operations across all systems, including SIRSI, OCLC, ILLiad, ContentDM, and Knowledge Base.

https://tinyurl.com/4fhdtctu

Digital Preservation Librarian at University of Houston

Reporting to the Head of Preservation and Reformatting, the Digital Preservation Librarian will develop and execute policies and workflows, and manage the Libraries’ digital preservation system, Archivematica.

At a broader level, the successful candidate is expected to collaborate with librarians, archivists, and external partners, such as the Texas Digital Library and the National Digital Stewardship Alliance (NDSA), to provide guidance on digital preservation best practices.

https://tinyurl.com/mrxrzzpj

Digital Library Analyst at College of Charleston

The Digital Library Analyst plays a crucial role in supporting the operations of the Lowcountry Digital Library (LCDL) and other Library web properties and initiatives. Reporting to the Digital Services Coordinator, this position collaborates with the Digital Projects Librarian and LCDL partners to digitize, describe, and publish collections that enhance research on the Lowcountry region of South Carolina and interrelated historical sites in the Atlantic World. Utilizing strong technical skills and a commitment to continuous learning, the Analyst also works closely with the Digital Services Coordinator to maintain and support Library web properties, including Library-hosted websites, repositories, and server environments.

https://jobs.cofc.edu/postings/16647

“ARL Supports Senator Wyden’s Call for FTC Action on Digital Ownership Rights”

The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) joined a letter by Public Knowledge supporting US Senator Ron Wyden’s February 25, 2025, request for Federal Trade Commission (FTC) intervention to protect consumer rights in digital marketplaces. . . .

Senator Wyden highlighted a critical issue: consumers who “purchase” digital materials like ebooks are actually only acquiring temporary access licenses, often with significant usage restrictions. Libraries must accept these restrictions when licensing essential databases and digital resources for education and scholarship. For instance, in some cases publishers have retroactively banned AI research applications through impromptu contract addendums—even after the library and publisher signed license agreements.

ARL joins the American Library Association (ALA), Software Preservation Network (SPN), University Information Policy Offers (UIPO), Public Knowledge (PK), and other library and civil society groups in signing the letter supporting Senator Wyden’s request.

https://tinyurl.com/ywbambsx

Library Technology Developer at Villanova University

Reporting to the Director of Library Technology, the Library Technology Developer will join a team of programmers and librarians in working to continually improve the library’s web presence and its support for staff and public technology needs. They will also actively participate in global open source communities working to improve the library technology landscape through such projects as VuFind, Fedora Commons, the Universal Viewer, and FOLIO.

https://tinyurl.com/ymrae7xf

“Guest Post: Eight Hypotheses Why Librarians Don’t Like Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG)”

Content providers are starting to silo their collections in order to restrict other RAG-based tools from accessing their content.

An example: in the case of Primo Research Assistant, collections from APA (and others such as Elsevier and JSTOR) are excluded from result generation. This would need to be explained to students and faculty using the tool, which adds considerably to the time and energy put into the communication needed to make these tools worth their licensing cost. It can reasonably be assumed that almost all content providers are going to invest in their own AI assistants or make licensing deals with existing ones. How many of these can and should we license and maintain? Librarians working on discovery layers should start making plans now for identifying the tools that best serve their community and how their workflows need to change.

https://tinyurl.com/2fe6hdnw

Open Research Manager (RDM & Metrics) at King’s College London

The purpose of the Open Research Manager (RDM & Metrics) is to provide operational management of research data management (RDM) services, developing and delivering researcher-focused services to support the effective management of research data and increase its impact across the university and externally. The role will also explore the responsible use of metrics and open research indicators to inform the work of the team.

https://tinyurl.com/5n7xezhc

“Wiley and Perplexity Announce New AI Search Partnership”

This new collaboration will allow Perplexity users, including college students, educators and researchers at institutions that subscribe to Perplexity’s Enterprise Pro to access purchased Wiley educational collections and resources in areas such as nursing, business, and engineering. This includes streamlined access to specialized Wiley collections, giving users a new pathway to discover and interact with authoritative resources across many academic domains. Students will also gain tools for responsible AI usage, reinforcing Wiley’s commitment to supporting academic integrity. . . .

Perplexity provides live web access and Wiley collections content with sourced citations, ensuring users receive up-to-date information with proper attribution. Students, educators, and researchers can get answers sourced across Wiley and web sources, combining the authoritative nature of Wiley with the most recent developments from the web.

Among the pilot users of this new offering are Texas A&M and Texas State University, with several universities in the United Kingdom poised to start soon.

https://tinyurl.com/yc8xy5cf

Product Manager, Scholarly eBooks (4 Years) at The New York Public Library

Reporting to the Director of Product, Scholarly eBooks, the Product Manager will support the NYPL’s institutional goal to increase the availability of digital content. The Scholarly eBooks initiative seeks to develop more equitable service to those researchers who may not be able to come in person to our reading rooms in New York City. We aim to enable researchers globally to discover and use digital content to create the next great works of scholarship and learning. The role will focus on identifying clearance opportunities and fostering strategic collaborations to make additional digital content discoverable and available.

https://tinyurl.com/c979tmd5

“Duke University Press to Publish Open Access Monographs through MIT Press’s Direct to Open (D2O)”

The MIT Press is proud to announce that beginning in 2026, Duke University Press will join our Direct to Open (D2O) program. This collaboration marks the first such partnership with another university press for the D2O program, and reaffirms our shared commitment to open access publishing that is ethical, equitable, and sustainable. . . .

Duke University Press brings their distinguished catalog in the humanities and social sciences to Direct to Open, providing open access to 20 frontlist titles annually alongside the MIT Press’s 80 scholarly books each year. Their participation in the D2O program—which will also include free term access to a paywalled collection of 250 key backlist titles—enhances the range of openly available academic content for D2O’s library partners. . . .

With Duke University Press’s involvement in 2026, D2O will feature multiple package options, combining content from both the MIT Press and Duke University Press. Participating institutions will have the opportunity to support each press individually, providing flexibility for libraries while fostering collective impact.

https://tinyurl.com/46ecywyr

Systems & Access Librarian at Adler University

The Systems & Access Librarian is responsible for the management and support of all library systems, including Alma/Primo, OpenAthens, and ILLiad. This role also supports patron access to library resources through electronic resource life-cycle management and troubleshooting, coordination of interlibrary loan and circulation functions, and cataloging.

https://tinyurl.com/3fscaed4

Paywall: “Open Education Resources for Higher Education: A Bibliometric Analysis With Scopus Database 2004–2023”

This study employs bibliometric analysis to examine scientific literature on Open Educational Resources (OER) in higher education, utilizing data collected from the Scopus database from 2004 to 2023. The analysis. . . identifies a total of 866 scientific publications. . . . The findings reveal a significant surge in OER-related publications in 2020, with 124 publications. . . . The United States leads in publication volume, collaboration networks, and citation impact.

https://doi.org/10.1080/15424065.2025.2496616

Social Media Manager at The New York Public Library

The Communications and Marketing Department is responsible for advancing The New York Public Library’s mission and priorities through the promotion of its services, resources, locations, collections, programs, events, and exhibitions to a broad array of audiences and communities. . . .

The New York Public Library (NYPL) has a global audience of more than 3.5 million followers across every major social media platform. The Social Media Manager plays a critical role in creating the voice and identity of NYPL on social media channels, amplifying our offerings and services through the development of creative social media content, collaborating with partners, and leading the strategy for engaging audiences through various social media channels.

https://tinyurl.com/yfknwe35

“Recommendations on Open Science Rewards and Incentives: Guidance for Multiple Stakeholders in Research”

Open Science contributes to the collective building of scientific knowledge and societal progress. However, academic research currently fails to recognise and reward efforts to share research outputs. Yet it is crucial that such activities be valued, as they require considerable time, energy, and expertise to make scientific outputs usable by others, as stated by the FAIR principles. To address this challenge, several bottom-up and top-down initiatives have emerged to explore ways to assess and credit Open Science activities (e.g., Research Data Alliance, RDA) and to promote the assessment of a broad spectrum of research outputs, including datasets and software (e.g., Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment, CoARA). As part of the RDA-SHARC (SHAring Rewards and Credit) interest group, we have developed a set of recommendations to help implement various rewarding schemes at different levels. The recommendations target a broad range of stakeholders. For instance, institutions are encouraged to provide digital services and infrastructure, organise training and cover expenses associated with making data available for the community. Funders should establish policies requiring Open Access to data produced by funded research and provide corresponding support. Publishers should favour open peer-review models and Open Access to articles, data, and software. Government policymakers should set up a comprehensive Open Science strategy, as recommended by UNESCO and followed by a growing number of countries. The present work details different measures that are proposed to the stakeholders. The need to include sharing activities in research evaluation schemes as an overarching mechanism to promote Open Science practices is specifically emphasised.

https://doi.org/10.5334/dsj-2025-015

Emerging Technologies Librarian at Daytona State College

Maintain and develop the library’s website and coordinate development of Libguides and other digital library resources.. . .

Explore emerging technological trends in librarianship and make recommendations for adoption.. . .

Coordinate the library’s social media presence.

https://tinyurl.com/bdzfzupu

“Wiley Announces Collaboration With Amazon Web Services (AWS) to Integrate Scientific Content into Life Sciences AI Agents”

The new Wiley literature search agent is available as part of an open source toolkit for healthcare and life sciences agents that has been assembled by AWS. The toolkit offers a catalog of starter agents and an orchestration framework for organizations to build and customize their agentic systems, supporting use cases from biomarker discovery to clinical trial protocol generation. The new AI agent currently includes AI searchable access to articles under the creative commons license, such as Cancer Medicine, delivering reliable and cited insights in minutes rather than the current hours- to days-long manual process of discovering and perusing dozens of articles for relevant information.

https://tinyurl.com/mr6t8fu2

Digital Development Librarian at University of Sussex

This role will take a lead on the optimisation and implementation of our digital systems and support Senior Managers developing innovative solutions within the Division.

https://tinyurl.com/3zt4x4rf

Paywall: “AI-Integrated Literature Discovery Tools: A Guide to Reviewing for Institution Wide Use”

[The article] analyzes how AI-enabled tools are altering the ways researchers interact with scholarly literature, providing new approaches for discovery, analysis, and synthesis. The article outlines the advantages and limitations of various AI-integrated platforms. . . . The study offers insights into the evaluation and implementation of AI literature review tools within academic institutions. . . .

https://doi.org/10.1080/1941126X.2025.2497736

Digital Humanities Librarian at Texas A&M University

Guide and assist with data curation, processing, analysis, and visualization in humanities projects.

Help develop digital humanities collections and exhibits.

Promote advanced use of library resources like text mining, artificial intelligence, algorithms, and digital platforms.

Provide training and workshops on digital humanities research methods and tools.

https://tinyurl.com/4zxj34t7