Category: ALA

ACRL: "2022 Academic Library Trends and Statistics Data Now Available"


Key findings include:

  • Of the libraries that have sought to hire new employees in the past year, 56% report that the candidate pool is smaller than pre-Covid levels, while only 30% say it is the same size or larger.
  • 60.7% of library employees have the option to work remotely in some capacity, whether it be full-time, hybrid, a compressed work week or flexible hours and locations.
  • Since 2017, the average number of digital/electronic book titles in library collections has changed from 315,213 to 619,805, an increase of 96.6%.
  • The average number of FTE libraries has remained steady in the last three years. In both 2020 and 2021 the average was 11, while the 2022 average is 12.

https://tinyurl.com/53a6pw6v

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| Digital Scholarship |

State of America’s Libraries 2023


In 2022, the global COVID-19 pandemic entered its third year; political, economic and digital divides grew; and book challenges and bans surged across the country. ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom tracked a record 1,269 book challenges, the highest number of demands to ban books reported since they began compiling data about censorship in libraries. But despite all these challenges, libraries thrived, pivoting to offer new and updated services to their communities. Adaptation and innovation shined in 2022, proving that there truly is "more to the story" at libraries.

https://bit.ly/40wXRy1

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| Digital Scholarship |

"Core’s Library Resources & Technical Services Journal Goes Fully Open Access"


Previously, the most recent six issues of LRTS were embargoed behind a login for subscribers and Core members, which has been removed. This change makes the complete contents of the journal from 1996 to the present freely available on the LRTS site.

bit.ly/3DqHwSK

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

"Charles McClure Wins 2019 LITA/OCLC Kilgour Research Award"

ALA has released Charles McClure Wins 2019 LITA/OCLC Kilgour Research Award.

Here's an excerpt:

Charles McClure has been selected as the recipient of the 2019 Frederick G. Kilgour Award for Research in Library and Information Technology, sponsored by OCLC and the Library and Information Technology Association (LITA). He is the Francis Eppes Professor of Information Studies in the School of Information at Florida State University and the Director of the Information Use Management and Policy Institute at FSU. Previously he was a Distinguished Professor at the iSchool at Syracuse University and Associate Professor at the University of Oklahoma.

Research Data Curation Bibliography, Version 9 | Digital Curation and Digital Preservation Works | Open Access Works | Digital Scholarship | Digital Scholarship Sitemap

John Wilkin Given Hugh C. Atkinson Memorial Award: "University Librarian Recognized for Achievements in Library Automation"

The Illinois News Bureau has released "University Librarian Recognized for Achievements in Library Automation."

Here's an excerpt:

"He managed the partnership with Google to digitize the University of Michigan's collection, eventually leading to the foundation of the HathiTrust. As executive director of the HathiTrust, John established a model for shared governance and large-scale collaboration that secured sharing provisions for member libraries," [Bruce] Johnson said. "In his current role as university librarian at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, John continues to lead innovation efforts, particularly in the area of research data curation. All of these achievements have had far-reaching impact in the library profession and beyond, providing a foundation for transformation in publishing, research and unprecedented access to digital content."

Research Data Curation Bibliography, Version 9 | Digital Curation and Digital Preservation Works | Open Access Works | Digital Scholarship | Digital Scholarship Sitemap

Big Deal Cancellation Tracking

SPARC has released Big Deal Cancellation Tracking.

Here's an excerpt:

The "big deal" has often been compared to a cable or satellite TV package, an apt analogy insofar as the customer cannot choose to pass on content that is of no interest, with initial price breaks quickly giving way to locked-in increases. Much like the millions of consumers who have chosen to "cut the cord", a growing number of libraries are electing to critically appraise these big deals by assessing their collections, the value for money they are receiving from these packages, and how they might more strategically spend their finite collections resources. . . .

Among the institutions that have cancelled big deals are the following. This list is by no means comprehensive.

Research Data Curation Bibliography, Version 8 | Digital Curation and Digital Preservation Works | Open Access Works | Digital Scholarship | Digital Scholarship Sitemap

"Leading by Example? ALA Division Publications, Open Access, and Sustainability"

Nathan Hall et al. have published "Leading by Example? ALA Division Publications, Open Access, and Sustainability" in College & Research Libraries.

Here's an excerpt:

This investigation explores scholarly communication business models in American Library Association (ALA) division peer-reviewed academic journals. . . . Through an analysis of documented procedures, policies, and finances of five ALA division journals, we compare business and access models. We conclude that some ALA divisions prioritize the costs associated with changing business models, including hard-to-estimate costs such as the labor of volunteers. For other divisions, the financial aspects are less important than maintaining core values, such as those defined in ALA's Core Values in Librarianship.

Digital Curation and Digital Preservation Works | Open Access Works | Digital Scholarship | Digital Scholarship Sitemap

David Walker Wins 2015 LITA/Library Hi Tech Award for Outstanding Communication in Library and Information Technology

David Walker has won the 2015 LITA/Library Hi Tech Award for Outstanding Communication in Library and Information Technology.

Here's an excerpt from the announcement:

Walker is being recognized for his dedication and commitment in developing open source library portal application Xerxes over the past decade. Originally designed as an improved interface to the Ex Libris Metalib federated search system in 2004, Xerxes now supports a variety of back-end search engines, including commercial library discovery systems, such as Primo, EDS, Summon, non-cost web service (EBSCO Integration Toolkit, Worldcat API), and other search engines (Solr, Google Appliance). Through this effort, Walker has worked with a variety of vendors to develop and test their application programming interfaces, and has been recognized by OCLC and Ex Libris for innovative uses of their services. In 2007 Walker released the system under an open source license, and today, Xerxes platform is implemented by over 40 institutions around the globe, with some also contributing code back to the project.

Digital Scholarship | Digital Scholarship Sitemap

Ed Summers Wins 2015 Frederick G. Kilgour Award for Research in Library and Information Technology

Ed Summers has won the 2015 Frederick G. Kilgour Award for Research in Library and Information Technology

Here's an excerpt from the announcement:

Ed Summers is Lead Developer at the Maryland Institute for Technology in the Humanities (MITH), University of Maryland. Ed has been working for two decades helping to build connections between libraries and archives and the larger communities of the World Wide Web. During that time Ed has worked in academia, start-ups, corporations and the government. He is interested in the role of open source software, community development, and open access to enable digital curation. Ed has a MS in Library and Information Science and a BA in English and American Literature from Rutgers University.

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Anne Kenney Given 2014 Hugh C. Atkinson Memorial Award

Anne Kenney has been given the 2014 Hugh C. Atkinson Memorial Award.

Here's an excerpt from the announcement:

Anne R. Kenney, the Carl A. Kroch University Librarian at Cornell University, has been named the 2014 winner of the Hugh C. Atkinson Memorial Award. The American Library Association (ALA) will present the award to Kenney at the ALA Annual Conference in Las Vegas this summer. Kenney is being honored for her innovative achievements and service to the profession, especially her leadership on such projects as 2CUL, arXiv, Project Euclid, and Making of America; her work on large-scale digitization and digital preservation standards; and her global contributions in Myanmar, Cuba, China, and elsewhere.

See also: "Anne R. Kenney Wins 2014 Hugh C. Atkinson Memorial Award."

Digital Scholarship | Digital Scholarship Publications Overview | Sitemap

Net Neutrality: ALA Issues Statement on U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit Verizon v. FCC Ruling

ALA has issued a statement by Barbara Stripling on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit Verizon v. FCC ruling.

Here's an excerpt:

The court's decision gives commercial companies the astounding legal authority to block Internet traffic, give preferential treatment to certain Internet services or applications, and steer users to or away from certain web sites based on their own commercial interests. This ruling, if it stands, will adversely affect the daily lives of Americans and fundamentally change the open nature of the Internet, where uncensored access to information has been a hallmark of the communication medium since its inception.

Public libraries have become leading providers of public Internet access, providing service to millions of students, elderly citizens, people seeking employment and many others every single day. Approximately 77 million people use public library Internet access every year. These users of libraries' Internet services, and people all across the country, deserve equal access to online information and services.

The ability of the Internet to spread and share ideas is only getting better. With modern technology, individuals and small groups can produce rich audio and video resources that used to be the exclusive domain of large companies. We must work to ensure that these resources are not relegated to second-class delivery on the Internet—or else the intellectual freedoms fostered by the Internet will be seriously constrained. ALA will work with policy-makers and explore every avenue possible to restore the long-standing principle of nondiscrimination to all forms of broadband access to the Internet.

Digital Scholarship | Digital Scholarship Publications Overview | Sitemap

ACRL Makes Entire College & Research Libraries Archive Freely Available

ACRL has made the entire College & Research Libraries archive freely available.

Here's an excerpt from the announcement:

"Digitizing the archives of the premier research journal for academic librarianship provides a tremendous new asset for our profession," said ACRL President Steven J. Bell of Temple University. "Creating and sharing this rich resource demonstrates ACRL's ongoing commitment to promote and deliver on the promise of open access. It is a treasure trove of content where the academic librarians of today and tomorrow will delve into our history, understand how we evolved and make new discoveries that could stimulate groundbreaking research and innovation of real benefit to academic librarianship."

C&RL archival contents from 1939 through 1996 were digitized through the generous volunteer efforts of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library. The library's Digital Content Creation department performed scanning and metadata creation for the approximately 340 back file issues of the journal in 2011 and 2012. The digitized files were added to the journal's online presence with the financial assistance of the ACRL Friends Fund.

Digital Scholarship | Digital Scholarship Publications Overview | Sitemap

ALA Joins Owners’ Rights Initiative

ALA has joined the Owners' Rights Initiative.

Here's an excerpt from the announcement:

Today, the American Library Association announced that it has joined—as a founding member—the Owners' Rights Initiative (ORI)—a coalition of retailers, libraries, educators, Internet companies and associations working to protect ownership rights in the United States.

The coalition was formed to champion "first-sale rights," or ownership rights, as the issue will be taken up by the U.S. Supreme Court in the case of Kirtsaeng vs. Wiley & Sons, Inc. on October 29, 2012. The Supreme Court's decision could have adverse consequences for libraries and call into question libraries' abilities to lend books and materials that were manufactured overseas.

| Reviews of Digital Scholarship Publications | Digital Scholarship |

ALA Action Alert: Cybersecurity Information Sharing and Protection Act of 2011

The American Library Association has issued an action alert regarding the Cybersecurity Information Sharing and Protection Act of 2011.

Here's an excerpt:

Please call and ask your U.S. Representative to OPPOSE H.R. 3523, The Cybersecurity Information Sharing and Protection Act of 2011 or CISPA, one of several bills to be considered in the U.S. House of Representatives during "Cybersecurity Week" starting April 23, 2012.

ALA is concerned that essentially all private electronic communications could be obtained by the government and used for many purposes—and not just for cybersecurity activities. H.R. 3523 would permit, even require ISPs and other entities to monitor all electronic communications and share personal information with the government without effective oversight just by claiming the sharing is for "cybersecurity purposes"

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Peter Suber Wins 2011 L. Ray Patterson Copyright Award

Peter Suber has been named as the winner of the 2011 L. Ray Patterson Copyright Award by ALA's Office for Information Technology Policy's Copyright Advisory Subcommittee.

Here's an excerpt from the press release:

The annual award recognizes contributions of an individual or group that pursues and supports the Constitutional purpose of the U.S. Copyright Law, fair use and the public domain. The award is named after L. Ray Patterson, a key legal figure who explained and justified the importance of the public domain and fair use. Fair use is a key exception of the copyright law that allows for the use of a copyright without prior authorization and helps to promote learning, new creativity, scholarship and criticism.

Professor Suber is being recognized for his work in the open access movement that began in academia in response to increasing costs of scholarly journals. His goal is to provide free, public access to scientific information for the public good as well as provide an alternative venue for scientific publishing, one outside of the price-inflated research journal marketplace. Suber is a professor of philosophy at Earlham College, a senior researcher at Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition (SPARC), and a Fellow at Harvard University Library’s Office for Scholarly Communication. He also is member of the Board of Enabling Open Scholarshipand serves as Open Access Project Director at Public Knowledge.

Among his colleagues in our nation's capital, Suber is regarded as a leader in the quest to protect open access.

"There is no greater champion for open access than Peter Suber," Gigi B. Sohn, president and co-founder of Public Knowledge, said."The open access concept — that the public should have access to research that is paid for with tax dollars — may seem to be common sense, but it is not widely accepted in Washington. Peter has led a multi-year crusade to implement the idea, often in the face of determined corporate opposition. The American Library Association chose well in selecting Peter for this splendid award."

| Digital Scholarship | Digital Scholarship Publications Overview | Transforming Scholarly Publishing through Open Access: A Bibliography |

Daniel J. Cohen Wins 2011 Frederick G. Kilgour Award

Daniel J. Cohen, Director of the Center for History and New Media at George Mason University, has won the 2011 Frederick G. Kilgour Award for Research in Library and Information Technology.

Here's an excerpt from the press release:

With support from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, Dr. Cohen leads the development of the free, open-source Zotero (http://zotero.org) software for managing and sharing research sources. Zotero is currently implemented as a set of Web browser and word processor plug-ins that can synchronize citations and other information with a public server, which also serves as a social network and discovery platform for fellow researchers. Work is currently underway to develop a stand-alone implementation of Zotero for Windows, Linux and Macintosh operating systems as well as plug-ins for a broader range of Web browsers.

Cohen's scholarship includes the exploration of digital humanities and pursuing new ways to collect and preserve history on the Web. He has directed several archival projects, including the September 11 Digital Archive, ECHO: Exploring & Collecting History Online, and the Hurricane Digital Memory Bank: Preserving the Stories of Katrina, Rita, and Wilma. Cohen is the author of four books and has delivered dozens of papers and featured presentations at venues of interest to library technologists.

The Kilgour award, which is jointly sponsored by LITA and OCLC, is given for research relevant to the development of information technologies, especially work which shows promise of having a positive and substantive impact on any aspect(s) of the publication, storage, retrieval and dissemination of information, or the processes by which information and data are manipulated and managed.

| Digital Scholarship | Digital Scholarship Publications Overview | Reviews of Digital Scholarship Publications |

ALA Issues Urgent Call to Action about Museum and Library Services Act

ALA has issued a urgent call to action about the reauthorization of the Museum and Library Services Act.

Here's an excerpt from the press release:

Please call the U.S. Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121 and ask to be transferred to your representative’s office. Tell their staffs that passing S. 3984, the Museum and Library Services Act (MLSA), is imperative to ensuring libraries can continue providing critical resources to their constituents, particularly in this tough economy. Specifically highlighting programs or resources your library provides to the member’s constituents will make your message stronger.

MLSA will ensure that the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) funds are secured and the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) is equipped to lead America’s libraries. This bill received bipartisan support from both Senate Republicans and Democrats, especially Senator Jack Reed (D-RI), who is a longtime supporter of libraries in this country. Other Senate sponsors of this bill include Sens. Richard Burr (R-NC), Thad Cochran (R-MS), Susan Collins (R-ME), Michael Enzi (R-WY), and Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Jon Tester (D-MT). To access the full text of this bill, click here.

The U.S. Senate passed MLSA Reauthorization under unanimous consent late Tuesday night, bringing the bill one step closer to reauthorization before the end of the 111th Congress.

MLSA has moved to the U.S. House of Representatives where it must receive a vote before the end of the calendar year. Please call your representative and urge him or her to press House leadership for a vote on the Senate-passed version of MLSA and to support the bill.

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Fred von Lohmann Wins ALA's L. Ray Patterson Copyright Award

Fred von Lohmann has won ALA's L. Ray Patterson Copyright Award.

Here's an excerpt from the press release:

The American Library Association (ALA) Office for Information Technology Policy (OITP) and its Copyright Advisory Subcommittee have named Fred von Lohmann, a senior staff attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) specializing in intellectual property matters, this year’s winner of the L. Ray Patterson Copyright Award.

The annual award recognizes contributions of an individual or group that pursues and supports the Constitutional purpose of the U.S. Copyright Law, fair use and the public domain. The award is named after L. Ray Patterson, a key legal figure who explained and justified the importance of the public domain and fair use. Fair use is a key exception of the copyright law that allows for the use of a copyright without prior authorization and helps to promote learning, new creativity, scholarship and criticism.

In his role at EFF, von Lohmann has represented programmers, technology innovators, and individuals in a variety of copyright and trademark litigation, including MGM v. Grokster, decided by the Supreme Court in 2005. He is also involved in EFF’s efforts to educate policy-makers regarding the proper balance between intellectual property protection and the public interest in fair use, free expression, and innovation. . . .

An overview of von Lohmann’s work is available on EFF's Web site.

ALA and ACRL Support Open Access in Comments to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy

ALA and ACRL have submitted comments to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) calling for greater open access to federally funded research.

Here's an excerpt from the press release:

The ALA and ACRL have long believed that ensuring public access to the fruits of federally funded research is a logical, feasible, and widely beneficial goal. They provided information and evidence as the Executive Branch considers expanding public access policies, like that implemented by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), to other federal agencies. Specifically, the ALA and ACRL recommend: which agencies should be covered, that policies should be mandatory, that earlier access is better, version and format recommendations, how to keep implementation costs reasonable, and the importance of supporting emerging scholarly practice.

While greater access to publicly funded research has long been a high priority issue for academic libraries, ACRL President Lori Goetsch, Dean of Libraries at Kansas State University, emphasized that now is the time for public and school librarians to tell their stories.

"What would it mean for members of your community to have better access to scholarly, scientific, and technical articles—paid with their own tax dollars through grants from agencies like NASA or the EPA?" Goetsch said. "How would it help small business owners starting up green technology companies? How would it help enhance teaching and learning in high schools?"

In the past, the ALA and ACRL have supported NIH Public Access Policy and endorsed "The Federal Research Public Access Act of 2009" (S. 1373) noting the latter, "reflects ALA policy regarding access to Federal government information by providing for the long-term preservation of, and no-fee public access to, government-sponsored, tax-payer funded published research findings."

The ALA and ACRL encourage all members to consider making comments, no later than January 21, to OSTP as individuals or libraries. More information is available on the OSTP Public Access Policy blog at http://blog.ostp.gov/category/public-access-policy. Comments can also be posted on OSTP’s blog. Comments e-mailed to publicaccess@ostp.gov are also accepted, but may be posted to the blog by the moderator. General comments, addressing any part of the Request for Information, may be submitted. See the full notice Federal Register notice at http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2009/E9-30725.htm for details.

ALA, ACRL, and ARL Submit Supplemental Filing about Google Book Search Settlement

The American Library Association, the Association of College and Research Libraries, and the Association of Research Libraries have submitted a supplemental filing regarding the Google Book Search Settlement.

Here's an excerpt from the announcement:

While the library associations' position has not changed since their initial filing, the groups believe that recent activity, such as an amended agreement reached between Google and the University of Michigan, the University of Texas-Austin and the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Google's recent public statement regarding privacy, and the library associations' communication with the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) should be brought to the court's attention. In their supplemental filing, the library associations call upon the court to address concerns with pricing review, to direct Google to provide more detail on privacy issues, and to broaden representation on the Books Rights Registry.