Category: Electronic Resources

"Consortial RightsStatements.org Implementation and Faceted Search for Reuse Rights in Digital Library Materials"

Wilhelmina Randtke, Randy Fischer, and Gail Lewis have published "Consortial RightsStatements.org Implementation and Faceted Search for Reuse Rights in Digital Library Materials" in the Code4Lib Journal.

Here's an excerpt:

The Florida Academic Library Services Cooperative (FALSC) makes available digital library hosting free-of-charge to all institutions of Florida public higher education. 21 institutions participate in the Islandora digital library platform hosted through FALSC. Centralized digital library hosting through FALSC, or its predecessor consortium, has been available since 1994. Meanwhile, the RightsStatements.org standard, which provides a controlled vocabulary for indicating the copyright status of digital library material, was released in 2016. After the standard was released, participating libraries expressed interest in implementing RightsStatements.org for existing digital content. During Fall 2018 and Spring 2019, FALSC implemented RightsStatements.org values on Islandora sites. This article describes the process undertaken by FALSC, the lessons learned, and recommendations for libraries looking to implement RightsStatements.org values.

Research Data Curation Bibliography, Version 10 | Digital Curation and Digital Preservation Works | Open Access Works | Digital Scholarship | Digital Scholarship Sitemap

2019 LYRASIS Accessibility Survey Report: Understanding the Landscape of Library Accessibility for Online Materials

LYRASIS has released the 2019 LYRASIS Accessibility Survey Report: Understanding the Landscape of Library Accessibility for Online Materials.

Here's an excerpt from the announcement:

The LYRASIS accessibility survey was conducted in early 2019 as a mechanism to better understand how (primarily academic) libraries within the United States are handling accessibility for their online content, and more specifically, where they stand in terms of policy and implementation.

Research Data Curation Bibliography, Version 10 | Digital Curation and Digital Preservation Works | Open Access Works | Digital Scholarship | Digital Scholarship Sitemap

COUNTER Code of Practice, Release 5

COUNTER has released "COUNTER Code of Practice, Release 5 ."

Here's an excerpt:

Release 4 is the current Code of Practice and the requirement for COUNTER-compliance. The effective date for compliance with Release 5 is January 2019. The Transition Timeline and Transition Options graphics explains the detail.

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"E-Data Quality: How Publishers and Libraries are Working Together to Improve Data Quality"

Carlen Ruschoff et al. have published "Data Quality: How Publishers and Libraries are Working Together to Improve Data Quality " in Collaborative librarianship.

Here's an excerpt:

High quality data is essential for discovery and access of e-resources, but in many cases low quality, inaccurate information leads to low usage and a poor return on library investment dollars. In this article, publishers, aggregators, librarians, and knowledge base providers talk about how they are working together to improve access to e-resources.

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

"Evaluating the Consortia Purchase: Journal Usage in a Multi-Institution Setting"

Elsa K. Anderson, Stephen Maher, and Bill Maltarich have published "Evaluating the Consortia Purchase: Journal Usage in a Multi-Institution Setting" in Collaborative Librarianship.

Here's an excerpt:

When two or more institutions share a license, how do they measure use and value? For over a decade, the Levy Library at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, the Sid and Ruth Lapidus Library at the New York University School of Medicine, and New York University Libraries at New York University have shared several publisher packages and journal title subscriptions. In this paper, we present our analysis of usage data to assess the value of some of these consortial arrangements in their totality and to each library. Based on this analysis, we were able to adjust how each institution contributes to consortial arrangements. The paper will discuss challenges in analyzing consortial arrangements based on usage data and offer suggestions for how consortia-based acquisitions can be an effective allocation of library funds and strengthen support for the library in its institution.

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"E-book Use and Value in the Humanities: Scholars’ Practices and Expectations"

Tina E. Chrzastowski and Lynn N. Wiley have published "E-book Use and Value in the Humanities: Scholars' Practices and Expectations" in Library Resources & Technical Services.

Here's an excerpt:

The data showed a split in acceptance of electronic versus print. The data also show that although humanists may lag behind other disciplines in incorporating e-books into their research, they believe e-book availability and use will increase. . . . The e-book format is appreciated, but scholars may also want the full text along with the print because of the varied types of reading employed by humanities scholars.

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"What Cost and Usage Data Reveals About E-Book Acquisitions: Ramifications for Collection Development"

Steven B. Carrico et al. have published "What Cost and Usage Data Reveals About E-Book Acquisitions: Ramifications for Collection Development" in Library Resources & Technical Services.

Here's an excerpt:

To better determine how e-book acquisitions might affect future collection development decisions, a team of librarians from the University of Florida (UF) launched a project to assess cost and usage of e-books purchased using three different acquisitions methods: e-books acquired in large publisher packages; single-title e-books selected through firm orders; and e-books purchased through two patron-driven acquisitions (PDA) plans. . . . The authors compared the cost-usage data of e-books acquired by the acquisitions methods across the three subject areas and describe how the findings are affecting current and future acquisitions, traditional collection management, and budgeting at UF.

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SUSHI-Lite: Deploying SUSHI as a Lightweight Protocol for Exchanging Usage via Web Services (Draft for Comment)

NISO has released SUSHI-Lite: Deploying SUSHI as a Lightweight Protocol for Exchanging Usage via Web Services, a draft for comment.

Here's an excerpt:

ANSI/NISO Z39.93-2014, also known as the SUSHI (Standardized Usage Statistics Harvesting Initiative) standard, is the key to automating the harvesting of COUNTER (Counting Online Usage of NeTworked Electronic Resources) usage statistics. SUSHI is a critical standard for librarians charged with measuring and monitoring the use of their online collections by eliminating hours of painstaking effort that would otherwise be spent locating, retrieving and loading usage reports. However, environmental requirements evolve and standards like SUSHI need to update to serve these requirements. The introduction of various applications into the marketplace which offer alternative metrics, the development of the COUNTER Journal Usage Factor, the flourishing of institutional repositories and need to capture usage from them, and continued progress towards open and integrated systems in general, have all made an impact on how usage is consumed and exchanged. There is now a need for more lightweight technologies that will allow smaller sets of usage data to be exchanged in real-time.

Digital Scholarship | Digital Scholarship Sitemap

New LIBLICENSE Model License Agreement

The Center for Research Libraries and others have released a new LIBLICENSE Model License Agreement.

Here's an excerpt from the announcement:

The model license outlines the main provisions a good library e-resources content license should contain, highlighting as well key points for decisions and negotiations with publishers. The document is expected to support libraries' efforts to serve their users and achieve the core mission of preserving intellectual heritage in the digital age by negotiating the best terms of use. The original LIBLICENSE model license, released in 2001, has supported long-term access and stewardship goals; the new revision will help librarians address a new generation of issues and challenges.

Digital Scholarship | "A Quarter-Century as an Open Access Publisher"

Discovery Services: A White Paper for the Texas State Library & Archives Commission

The Texas State Library and Archives Commission has released Discovery Services: A White Paper for the Texas State Library & Archives Commission.

Here's an excerpt:

Discussions among libraries that have recently implemented discovery services are likely to result in agreement that implementation was challenging. However, once implemented, librarians are generally happy with their decisions to offer discovery services to their patrons. Based on librarian experiences of both the challenges and rewards of implementing a discovery service, the Texas State Library and Archives Commission (TSLAC) contracted with Amigos Library Services to write a white paper that would include basic information concerning discovery services, as well as an overview of the major discovery vendors.

Digital Scholarship | "A Quarter-Century as an Open Access Publisher"

Does Discovery Still Happen in the Library? Roles and Strategies for a Shifting Reality

ITHAKA S+R. has released Does Discovery Still Happen in the Library? Roles and Strategies for a Shifting Reality.

Here's an excerpt from the announcement:

In this Issue Brief, Roger Schonfeld explores how the vision that the library should be the starting point for research-a vision many library directors hold-is often in conflict with the practices of faculty and students. As users migrate to other starting points, librarians could invest in ways to bring them back. But there is also an opportunity for librarians to re-think their role and perhaps pursue a different vision altogether.

Digital Scholarship | "A Quarter-Century as an Open Access Publisher"

Open Discovery Initiative: Promoting Transparency in Discovery

NISO has released Open Discovery Initiative: Promoting Transparency in Discovery.

Here's an excerpt:

Based on the input from a survey done early in the project (see 2.7), the ODI group agreed to develop recommended practices in the following areas:

Technical recommendations for data format and data transfer, including method of delivery and ongoing updates.

  1. Recommendations for the communication (automated or through reporting) of libraries' rights to distribute or display specific content (e.g., restricted to subscribers versus open to all users). These recommendations are to include technical specifications on how data will be exchanged and procedural specifications regarding update frequency and other logistical details.
  2. Clear descriptors regarding the level of indexing performed for each item or collection of content and the level of availability of the content.
  3. Definition of fair linking from discovery service to the published content.
  4. Determination of what usage statistics should be collected, for whom, and how these data should
  5. be disseminated.

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"Four Facets of Privacy and Intellectual Freedom in Licensing Contracts for Electronic Journals"

College & Research Libraries has released an eprint of "Four Facets of Privacy and Intellectual Freedom in Licensing Contracts for Electronic Journals."

Here's an excerpt:

This is a study of the treatment of library patron privacy in licenses for electronic journals in academic libraries. We begin by distinguishing four facets of privacy and intellectual freedom based on the LIS and philosophical literature. Next, we perform a content analysis of 42 license agreements for electronic journals, focusing on terms for enforcing authorized use and collection and sharing of user data. We compare our findings to model licenses, to recommendations proposed in a recent treatise on licenses, and to our account of the four facets of intellectual freedom. We find important conflicts with each.

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"A Comparison of E-book and Print Book Discovery, Preferences, and Usage by Science and Engineering Faculty and Graduate Students at the University of Kansas"

Julie Waters et al. have published "A Comparison of E-book and Print Book Discovery, Preferences, and Usage by Science and Engineering Faculty and Graduate Students at the University of Kansas" in Issues in Science and Technology Librarianship.

Here's an excerpt:

The availability of science and technology e-books through the University of Kansas Libraries is growing rapidly through approval plans, e-book packages, and electronic demand-driven acquisitions. Based on informal conversations with faculty, questions still lingered as to the acceptance of books in the electronic format by faculty and graduate students in the STEM disciplines. To learn more about book format preferences, a survey was distributed via e-mail to 1,898 faculty and graduate students in science and technology at the University of Kansas. The survey included questions focused on print book use, e-book use, format preferences, and demographics. A majority of the 357 respondents indicated a preference for print books indicating many of the oft-repeated comments about the disadvantages of reading books on a computer. Patrons using tablets were more inclined to access e-books. The survey indicated a continuing need to purchase books in both print and electronic formats, and to market the availability of e-books to University of Kansas patrons.

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"Unwrapping the Bundle: An Examination of Research Libraries and the ‘Big Deal’"

Karla L. Strieb and Julia C. Blixrud have self-archived "Unwrapping the Bundle: An Examination of Research Libraries and the 'Big Deal'."

Here's an excerpt:

This study presents and analyzes the findings of a 2012 survey of member libraries belonging to the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) on publishers' large journal bundles and compares the results to earlier surveys. The data illuminate five research questions: market penetration, journal bundle construction, collection format shifts, pricing models, and license terms. The structure of the product is still immature, particularly in defining content and developing sustainable pricing models. The typical "bundle" is something less than the full publishers list. Neither market studies nor market forces have produced a sustainable new strategy for pricing and selling e-journals. Finally, a complex history of managing license terms is revealed in the data.

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E-Reading Rises as Device Ownership Jumps

The Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project has released E-Reading Rises as Device Ownership Jumps.

Here's an excerpt:

The percentage of adults who read an e-book in the past year has risen to 28%, up from 23% at the end of 2012. At the same time, about seven in ten Americans reported reading a book in print, up four percentage points after a slight dip in 2012, and 14% of adults listened to an audiobook.

Though e-books are rising in popularity, print remains the foundation of Americans' reading habits. Most people who read e-books also read print books, and just 4% of readers are "e-book only." Audiobook listeners have the most diverse reading habits overall, while fewer print readers consume books in other formats.

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