Category: ARL Libraries

"BC Digitized Collections: Towards a Microservices-based Solution to an Intractable Repository Problem"

Chris Mayo et al. have published "BC Digitized Collections: Towards a Microservices-based Solution to an Intractable Repository Problem" in the Code4Lib Journal.

Here's an excerpt:

Our Digital Repository Services department faced a crisis point in late 2017. Our vendor discontinued support for our digital repository software, and an intensive, multi-department, six-month field survey had not turned up any potential replacements that fully met our needs. We began to experiment with a model that, rather than migrating to a new monolithic system, would more closely integrate multiple systems that we had already implemented—ArchivesSpace, Alma, Primo, and MetaArchive—and introduce only one new component, namely Mirador. We determined that this was the quickest way to meet our needs, and began a full migration in spring of 2018. The primary benefit of a microservices-based solution for our collections was the potential for customization; we therefore present our experiences in building and migrating to this system not as a blueprint but as a case study with lessons learned. Our hope is that in sharing our experience, we can help institutions in similar situations determine 1) whether a microservices-based solution is a feasible approach to their problem, 2) which services could and should be integrated and how, and 3) whether the trade-offs inherent in this architectural approach are worth the flexibility it offers.

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Research Library Issues, no. 297 (2019): The Current Privacy Landscape

ARL has released Research Library Issues, no. 297 (2019): The Current Privacy Landscape.

Here's an excerpt from the "Introduction" by Mary Lee Kennedy:

In this first issue of Research Library Issues (RLI) in 2019, the authors explore privacy from a legal, digital, and applied perspective, with a focus on the implications and opportunities for research libraries. The current privacy landscape highlights the need for a nuanced understanding of the complicated nature of privacy today. Research libraries need to collaborate with other privacy-related constituents within institutions and in the public policy and legislative arenas, and act as trusted institutions within a democratic society.

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"ARL White Paper on Wikidata Highlights Use of Open Knowledge in Scholarly Communication, Special Collections"

ARL has released "ARL White Paper on Wikidata Highlights Use of Open Knowledge in Scholarly Communication, Special Collections."

Here's an excerpt:

Librarians are using Wikidata's structured data about people, topics, concepts, and objects to populate open source faculty profiling systems, to enhance bibliographic records in online catalogs, and to collaborate with communities on meaningful, culturally relevant, descriptive metadata for special collections and archives. The white paper, circulated for public comment in fall 2018, contains examples of Wikidata applications, screenshots, and recommendations for involvement on an individual or organizational level.

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

"Purdue Appoints New Dean for Libraries and School of Information Studies"

Purdue University has released Purdue Appoints New Dean for Libraries and School of Information Studies.

Here's an excerpt:

Beth McNeil, dean of library services and professor at Iowa State University, will join Purdue on July 1. . . .

Previously, McNeil was Purdue's associate dean for academic affairs and a professor of Purdue Libraries. Before her initial appointment at Purdue, McNeil was assistant, and then associate, dean of libraries for the University of Nebraska. She also has held positions in the libraries at Bradley University and the University of Illinois.

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

MIT: "Open Access Task Force Releases Draft Recommendations"

The MIT News Office has released "Open Access Task Force Releases Draft Recommendations."

Here's an excerpt:

The Ad Hoc Task Force on Open Access to MIT's Research has released a set of draft recommendations that aim to support and increase the open sharing of MIT publications, data, software, and educational materials. . . .

The recommendations include ratifying an Institute-wide set of principles for open science; broadening the MIT Faculty Open Access Policy to cover all MIT authors; adopting an open access (OA) policy for monographs; and asking department heads to develop discipline-specific plans to encourage and support open sharing from their faculty, students, and staff.

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

Vice President for Information Technology and Dean of Libraries at Colorado State University

Colorado State University is recruiting a Vice President for Information Technology and Dean of Libraries.

Here's an excerpt from the ad:

The individual in this position oversees a collaborative division that includes the CSU Libraries and its associated units; Academic Computing and Network Services (ACNS); Telecommunications; and Information Systems (IS). The CSU Libraries support the academic mission of the University by providing access to information and research assistance for students, faculty and staff in support of research, teaching and learning.

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"The Ecosystem of Repository Migration"

Juliet L. Hardesty and Nicholas Homenda have published "The Ecosystem of Repository Migration" in Publications.

Here's an excerpt:

Indiana University was an early adopter of the Fedora repository, developing it as a home for heterogeneous digital library content from a variety of collections with unique content models. After joining the Hydra Project, now known as Samvera, in 2012, development progressed on a variety of applications that formed the foundation for digital library services using the Fedora 4 repository. These experiences have shaped migration planning to move from Fedora 3 to Fedora 4 for this large and inclusive set of digital content. Moving to Fedora 4 is not just a repository change; it is an ecosystem shift. End user interfaces for access, management systems for collection managers, and data structures are all impacted. This article shares what Indiana University has learned about migrating to Fedora 4 to help others work through their own migration considerations. This article is also meant to inspire the Fedora repository development community to offer ways to further ease migration work, sustaining Fedora users moving forward, and inviting new Fedora users to try the software and become involved in the community.

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

More Coverage of the University of California’s Cancellation of Its Elsevier Subscriptions

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"University of California Academic Council Statement on the University’s Negotiations with Elsevier Publishing"

The Academic Council of the Academic Senate of the University of California has released "University of California Academic Council Statement on the University's Negotiations with Elsevier Publishing."

Here's an excerpt:

The Academic Council of the Academic Senate of the University of California (UC), hereby signals its collective and resolute commitment to support UC's negotiating position with Elsevier in order to advance UC's mission as a public institution, make the products of our research and scholarship as freely and widely available as possible, and ensure that UC spends taxpayer money in the most ethically, morally, and socially-responsible way when entering into agreements with commercial publishers. . . .

At the present time, UC and Elsevier have reached an impasse in their negotiations and our contract has lapsed. Nonetheless, the Academic Council of the Academic Senate stands firm in its conviction that a comprehensive transformative agreement that covers all Elsevier titles is required to achieve the aspirations embodied in the Academic Senate's Open Access Policy, and articulated by the University Committee on Library and Scholarly Communication (UCOLASC) in its Declaration of Rights and Principles, and by the Systemwide Library and Scholarly Information Committee (SLASIAC) in its Call to Action. We support the unified strategies of the UC libraries to ameliorate the negative effects of the impasse on faculty, researchers, and students, and applaud their efforts to closely monitor alternative access along with the impacts it may have on research and teaching. . . .

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"UC Terminates Subscriptions with World’s Largest Scientific Publisher in Push for Open Access to Publicly Funded Research"

The University of California has released "UC Terminates Subscriptions with World's Largest Scientific Publisher in Push for Open Access to Publicly Funded Research."

Here's an excerpt:

As a leader in the global movement toward open access to publicly funded research, the University of California is taking a firm stand by deciding not to renew its subscriptions with Elsevier. Despite months of contract negotiations, Elsevier was unwilling to meet UC's key goal: securing universal open access to UC research while containing the rapidly escalating costs associated with for-profit journals.

In negotiating with Elsevier, UC aimed to accelerate the pace of scientific discovery by ensuring that research produced by UC's 10 campuses — which accounts for nearly 10 percent of all U.S. publishing output — would be immediately available to the world, without cost to the reader. Under Elsevier's proposed terms, the publisher would have charged UC authors large publishing fees on top of the university's multi-million dollar subscription, resulting in much greater cost to the university and much higher profits for Elsevier. . . .

Elsevier was unwilling to meet UC's reasonable contract terms, which would integrate subscription charges and open access publishing fees, making open access the default for any article by a UC scholar and stabilizing journal costs for the university.

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"Memorial: William Gosling, 1943–2019"

ARL has released "Memorial: William Gosling, 1943–2019."

Here's an excerpt:

At University of Michigan (U-M), Gosling served as university librarian from 1997 to 2005. Under his leadership, U-M became one of the initial partners in the Google Books Project, which grew into the HathiTrust Digital Library. Before becoming university librarian, Gosling was assistant director for technical services and library systems at U-M from 1986 to 1997. Prior to that, he served as head of technical services at Duke University Libraries from 1976 to 1986.

Complete obituary from the Ann Arbor News.

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

ARL Annual Salary Survey 2017–2018

ARL has released ARL Annual Salary Survey 2017–2018.

Here's an excerpt:

This report analyzes salary data for all professional staff working in the 123 ARL member libraries during FY2017–2018. Data for 10,518 professional staff members were reported this year for the 114 ARL university libraries, including their law and medical libraries (862 staff members reported by 72 medical libraries and 715 staff members reported by 74 law libraries).

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"New Leader for Harvard Library"

Harvard University has released "New Leader for Harvard Library" by Alvin Powell.

Here's an excerpt:

Martha Whitehead, who has led the library at Queen's University in Ontario, has been named to lead Harvard Library, the largest academic library in the world and the nation’s oldest.

Whitehead had been Queen's University librarian since 2011 and vice provost since 2014.

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