ARL Libraries – DigitalKoans

"Big Ten Academic Alliance + Next Generation Library Publishing Announce the Launch of a Pilot Project"

The Big Ten Academic Alliance (BTAA) is excited to announce a partnership with the Next Generation Library Publishing (NGLP) project. This collaboration aims to test and enhance infrastructure solutions for academy-owned scholarly publishing programs that are open source, community-led, and rooted in academic values. The pilot project will create a unified discovery layer for the diverse publishing platforms of participating libraries, presenting them as a single, shared collection of open access materials.

Through this BTAA-funded initiative, Penn State University Libraries and Indiana University Libraries will work with the NGLP team to implement the Meru display layer, enhancing infrastructure and service models specifically for the BTAA. The project will involve migrating select content from the partners’ catalogs into the NGLP ecosystem, improving interface design, and expanding the types of content displayed. The goal is to support and strengthen academy-owned scholarly publishers with scalable solutions.

https://tinyurl.com/ychk5hc2

Associate Vice Provost for Collections & Scholarly Communications at University of Pennsylvania

The University of Pennsylvania Libraries invites applications for the position of Gershwind & Bennett Family Associate Vice Provost for Collections & Scholarly Communications. This senior strategic leadership role, reporting directly to the H. Carton Rogers III Vice Provost and Director of Libraries, is pivotal in overseeing a wide array of outward-facing services. These encompass academic and student engagement, research services, community engagement, collection strategy, scholarly communications, and the administration of eleven departmental libraries and centers that serve professional schools and specific subject areas.

Job Ad

"ARL & CNI Release Deluxe Edition of AI-Influenced Future Scenarios for Research Environment"

This Deluxe Edition of the ARL/CNI AI Scenarios includes:

The Final Scenario Set: This final scenario set explores potential futures where AI plays a pivotal role, providing critical insights into the evolving challenges and opportunities for the research environment.

The Strategic Context Report: This report summarizes community feedback gathered through focus groups and interviews about an AI-influenced future for the research environment that were held in winter 2023–24 and spring 2024.

The Provocateur Interview Report: Featuring forward-thinking dialogues with industry leaders, these interviews challenge conventional wisdom and stimulate stretch thinking with regards to an AI-influenced future.

https://tinyurl.com/5n7xwc8c

University Librarian and Dean, University Library at University of Saskatchewan

Reporting to the Provost and Vice-President Academic, and as one of the senior leaders in the university, the University Librarian and Dean plays a central role in setting strategy and overall direction; advises the President, the Provost, and other Vice Presidents; works collaboratively with and supports other leaders to achieve university goals; uses influence to align the University Library with university priorities; and models institutional values and competencies. With six locations across campus, the University Library is essential to students and researchers’ success. The University Library operates in an environment where its services and resources are multi-faceted, technologically rich, and continuously changing. The successful candidate will lead a team of approximately 115 faculty and staff members to meet and exceed the needs of a university that is a member of the U15 group of major research-intensive universities in Canada, one that welcomes more than 26,000 students from over 130 countries..

Job Ad

"Kara Whatley Appointed Mu Vice Provost and University Librarian"

Whatley is currently the university librarian at California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and serves as the chief executive of the Caltech Library system.

Whatley’s previous roles include positions of increasing leadership at Texas Tech University Libraries and New York University Libraries.

https://tinyurl.com/42nxuvpd

"Rob Ross Named Dean of University Libraries for Ohio University"

Ross currently serves as the executive director for NC LIVE for the NC State University Libraries. In this position, he serves as the chief administrative officer for the 209-member library cooperative that provides electronic resources, library software, and professional development to all UNC System universities, private colleges, community colleges, and public libraries in North Carolina. . . .

Before joining the NC State University Libraries, Ross served as the director of implementation programs for OCLC, Inc., in Dublin, Ohio; as interlibrary loan supervisor for Bentley University in Waltham, Massachusetts; and as library associate for the University of New Orleans.

https://tinyurl.com/f8kr8v4w

Paywall: "Top IT Challenges in ARL Libraries"

This study presents the results of an online survey of Association of Research Libraries (ARL) academic library members to identify the biggest challenges they perceive in the area of information technology organization and management. This article compares their responses with challenges reported in earlier studies to identify new and changing trends as well as ongoing challenges that remain.

https://doi.org/10.1080/01930826.2024.2351245

ARL Poll: "AI and Libraries: Strengths in a Digital Tomorrow"

The poll results from the ARL/CNI 2035 Scenarios exploration reveal diverse strengths that research libraries can harness as they navigate AI-influenced futures. These strengths underscore libraries’ vital role in maintaining information integrity and ensuring equitable access amidst the challenges posed by AI advancements. For libraries, these insights emphasize the importance of continuing to build on these core competencies while staying adaptive and responsive to emerging technological trends. Leveraging the ARL/CNI 2035 Scenarios and continued attention to the broader strategic landscape will enable libraries to be proactive and remain relevant and effective as custodians of knowledge in an increasingly digital and AI-driven world.

https://tinyurl.com/38mmuxnb

UC Davis: "William Garrity Named University Librarian and Vice Provost of Digital Scholarship"

William Garrity, deputy university librarian and the library’s chief operating officer, has been selected as the next university librarian and vice provost of digital scholarship for UC Davis. Garrity, who has served as interim university librarian since July 2023, will officially start on May 15. . . .

Garrity, who joined UC Davis in 2014, has decades of experience elevating the role of libraries in the research, teaching, healthcare, and service missions of higher education. As deputy university librarian and the chief operating officer, he oversaw most of the library’s 160 academic and non-academic employees and held broad responsibility for divisions focused on faculty and researcher support, student learning and success, space and capital projects, and communications, human resources, and administrative operations.

https://tinyurl.com/mtkhxv67

"The Prevalence of Textbook Affordability and OER Initiatives at ARL Libraries"

Textbook affordability programs and the promotion of OER are well-established priorities for many academic libraries, but few studies have examined the prevalence of such programs either in general or across institution types. This paper presents the results of a study designed to gather information about textbook affordability initiatives at university libraries that are members Association of Research Libraries. It uses information from the publicly available websites of ARL libraries in the United States to determine how many of those institutions maintain textbook affordability programs, with those figures further broken down by status (public/private) and membership in the Open Education Network. In addition, the findings reveal some notable characteristics of textbook affordability programs, including an overall lack of visibility on institutional websites, a marked variety in financial incentives, and evidence of programs that have been discontinued.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acalib.2024.102884

"Association of Research Libraries and Coalition for Networked Information Publish AI-Influenced Scenarios for Research Environment"

The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) and the Coalition for Networked Information (CNI) are pleased to announce the publication of The ARL/CNI 2035 Scenarios: AI-Influenced Futures in the Research Environment. These scenarios explore potential futures shaped by the rapid growth of artificial intelligence (AI) and its integration within the research environment.

Developed through a robust, member-driven process, these scenarios serve as a strategic resource to aid leaders in the research environment in navigating the complex landscape of AI technologies. Library directors, IT leaders, funding agencies, academic presidents and provosts, and those working in scholarly publishing are among the many individuals who will find these scenarios useful. By examining diverse futures, ARL and CNI aim to equip their members with the foresight needed to proactively address the challenges and opportunities that AI presents.

https://tinyurl.com/24c7s7wn

"Are Transformative Agreements Worth It? An Analysis of Open Access Publication Data at the University of Kentucky"

Open access publishing is continuing to grow as funders such as cOAlition S, National Institutes of Health, and the White House implement mandates and requirements that publicly funded research be made immediately available for public consumption. Publishers have adopted open access as a business model through transformative agreements that combine subscription and publishing fees. However, it is unclear whether these agreements are beneficial for libraries. This article discusses a project by the University of Kentucky Libraries to gather and analyze open access publication data to aid in the evaluation of transformative agreement proposals. This article also discusses how the University of Kentucky compares to peer institutions in the Southeastern Conference and other benchmark institutions regarding open access publishing output. Additionally, this article discusses downsides of transformative agreements and highlights promising alternatives.

https://doi.org/10.5860/lrts.68n1.8211

"Navigating Open Access and Transformative Agreements: A Case Study of the University of Maryland"

"What should we be doing as a public institution when it comes to open access and transformative publishing agreements"” Most large US research institutions are facing this question, including the University of Maryland, College Park. This article explores this issue by looking at the University’s publishing landscape from a high level. It then dives deeper into three recent transformative agreements the University library has entered, investigating pricing, usage, and publishing data for a nonprofit society publisher, a for-profit commercial publisher, and, finally, a university press. The goal is to better understand how these agreements intersect with university-sponsored scholarship, library budgets, and the implications for the academic publishing landscape.

https://doi.org/10.5860/lrts.68n1.8219

"Exploring a Read and Publish Agreement: The Three-Year Taylor & Francis Pilot"

The Ohio State University Libraries (University Libraries) entered into a three-year read and publish pilot agreement with Taylor & Francis in 2020—the first read and publish agreement for The Ohio State University and the first such deal for Taylor & Francis in the Americas. This study provides an overview of University Libraries’ motivations behind the agreement, the lessons we learned implementing and supporting the agreement, and the open access publishing outcomes of the pilot agreement that ended December 2022.

https://doi.org/10.5860/lrts.68n1.8213

"Developing Open Access Resource Management Principles in a Consortial Environment: A University of California Model"

In the summer of 2021, the University of California (UC) migrated to a new integrated library system, called the Systemwide Integrated Library System project (SILS), which for the first time brought all ten UC campuses, two regional storage facilities, and the California Digital Library (CDL) together into one shared library system. With new potential for increased collaboration and cooperation, SILS leadership groups identified consortial open access (OA) resource management as a key opportunity in the new system, in alignment with UC’s priorities around discovery and access to library collections, as well as UC’s commitment to open access and transforming the scholarly communication landscape. This article discusses the formation of the UC Open Access Resource Management Task Force (OARMTF), a group charged to investigate what it would mean to consortially manage OA resources. Specifically, this article focuses on the OARMTF’s work setting out principles for OA resource management, which the authors hope may serve as a useful case study for other institutions or consortia interested in developing principles around OA resource management, as well as encourage more discussion and research into best practices for consortial management of OA resources.

https://doi.org/10.5860/lrts.68n1.8216

"Harvard Library is Launching Harvard Open Journals Program"

Harvard Library is launching a new initiative called the Harvard Open Journals Program (HOJP), which will help researchers advance scholarly publishing that is open access, sustainable, and equitable. HOJP will provide publishing services, resources, and seed funding to participating Harvard researchers for new academic journals. All journal articles will be entirely free for authors and readers, with no barriers to publish or to access.. . . Yuan Li, University Scholarly Communication Officer and Director of Open Scholarship and Research Data Services at Harvard Library, pointed out the innovative nature of the program, "It is new for an institution to support faculty in seeking out an academic press to publish a no-fee open access journal and to provide assistance in securing its long-term funding. And offering a repository overlay journal model provides an alternative that appeals to some editorial boards and is gaining traction through initiatives such as Episciences. As we implement and refine this program on our campus, we hope it will inspire other universities to adopt such approaches to supporting barrier-free scholarly publishing."

https://tinyurl.com/ymkhs4db

"Better Together: BTAA [Big Ten Academic Alliance Libraries] Libraries, CDL and Lyrasis Commit to Strengthen Diamond Open Access in the United States"

Representatives from the Big Ten Academic Alliance Libraries (BTAA Libraries), California Digital Library (CDL) and Lyrasis attended the Global Summit on Diamond Open Access in Toluca, Mexico in October 2023. The Summit convened the international community to engage in dialog about how to advance Diamond Open Access (OA) to secure scholarly research as a public good and ensure equitable access to both the publishing and reading of that research. You can learn more from the recently released Report of the 2nd Diamond Open Access Conference.

https://tinyurl.com/39emttzk

Paywall: "Changes in Digital Collections and Their Metadata: A Longitudinal Study of UIUC Digital Library"

This article showcases the evolution of digital collections and their metadata at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) Library in the last 20 years. It discusses the growth of its collections and their characteristics, examines historical changes in the use of metadata elements, and explores responses to the changing nature of digitized and born-digital materials. Based on a large-scale data analysis of the digital collections and their metadata housed in UIUC Digital Library, the paper also examines the challenges and opportunities of the curation and management of digital collections and digital libraries in the future.

https://doi.org/10.1080/19386389.2024.2338015

"Guest Post — Speak Finance: Gain University Support for Open Scholarship "

Over the past ten years, Carnegie Doctoral Institutions with Very High Research Activity (R1) have received a significant portion of federal grant dollars. Although the unusual infusion of COVID research dollars will skew trends for years, on average, university revenues from all funding sources, have increased over the past ten years.. . .

During the same period of growth in university revenues, much attributed to R&D dollars, university investments in their libraries has remained around 1% of revenue. In good news, through unpredictable fluctuations in university revenues, an ARL library budget remains consistent. Unfortunately, with continuing cost increases, a flat library budget is an erosion in purchasing power. Without new investments, or substantial resource redistribution, we cannot make progress on new mandates for open data and scholarship.

https://tinyurl.com/25y6xh4d

UT Libraries Residency Program (Two Positions; 3 Year)

The UT Libraries is pleased to offer two positions in our three-year residency program for early career librarians and archivists. We seek prospective applicants looking to deepen their experience in the field of academic libraries and/or archives. The residency program will provide specialized training, continuing education, and mentorship based on the resident’s professional interests and goals.

https://guides.lib.utexas.edu/residency-program

Valuing OER in the Tenure, Promotion, and Reappointment Process

This book of case studies is meant to aid faculty, librarians, administrators, and staff members as they attempt to make their work or others’ work on Open Educational Resources (OER) matter in the tenure, promotion, and reappointment process at their institutions.

Example case study: "Demonstrating the Impact of OER Work for Promotion to Full Librarian"

https://pressbooks.cuny.edu/tenureandpromotioncasestudies/

"Evolving AI Strategies in Libraries: Insights from Two Polls of ARL Member Representatives over Nine Months—Report Published"

To effectively chart this [AI] transition, two quick polls were conducted among members of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) to capture changing perspectives on the potential impact of AI, assess the extent of AI exploration and implementation within libraries, and identify AI applications relevant to the current library environment.

Today, ARL has released the results of the two polls—analyzing and juxtaposing the outcomes of these two surveys to better understand how library leaders are managing the complexities of integrating AI into their operations and services. The report also includes recommendations for ARL research libraries.

https://tinyurl.com/2t9nywcv

Report

"Publicly Shared Data: A Gap Analysis of Researcher Actions and Institutional Support throughout the Data Life Cycle"

[This report] examines research data management and sharing practices at six research-intensive academic institutions: Cornell University, Duke University, University of Michigan, University of Minnesota, Virginia Tech, and Washington University in St. Louis. Sponsored by the US National Science Foundation (grant #2135874) and part of ARL’s Realities of Academic Data Sharing (RADS) Initiative, this report highlights where service gaps may exist between researchers’ needs and the services and support provided by institutions.

https://tinyurl.com/mtdjvecu

"Developing Text and Data Mining (TDM) Support within a University Research Library"

The introduction of the text and data mining (TDM) exception in 2014 led to researchers asking for support from staff within Library Services at the University of Birmingham. An initial involvement with a funded corpus linguistics project fostered an effective partnership between the Copyright and Licensing Team and the University’s Research Infrastructure Team. This case study traces the TDM journey that Library Services has subsequently undertaken. The article will look at how staff in Copyright and Licensing and the Research Skills Team identified the original service gap. It will also look at issues impacting on supporting TDM and the results of a TDM survey that was sent to researchers. It concludes with a reflection on how the service might evolve in the future — from the creation and availability of TDM datasets, to the skills development of both librarians and the university communities they support, and the impact artificial intelligence (AI) developments might have on TDM practices.

https://doi.org/10.1629/uksg.646

University Librarian and Dean of Libraries at Simon Fraser University

In alignment with What’s Next: The SFU Strategy (https://tinyurl.com/yc3z9k87) and SFU Library’s Strategic Plan (https://tinyurl.com/mr33r3fk) the Dean will lead the continued transformation of the library; will sustain, support and grow library initiatives; and will be committed to furthering decolonization and reconciliation (per the statement at (https://tinyurl.com/55284ns4), diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. As an accomplished librarian with strong experience in post-secondary and academic environments, the Dean will lead through collaboration and relationship building to advance the mission and mandate of SFU and SFU Library. Reporting to the Provost and Vice-President Academic and working closely with the Office of the Vice-President Research and International as an active partner in the life cycle of research and scholarship, the successful candidate serves as a member of SFU’s senior administration with shared responsibility for the overall strategic leadership and management of the institution. Building on the strong foundation that SFU has established in academic and research excellence,

https://tinyurl.com/mryakkd9