Category: Reports and White Papers

The Future of Big Data

The Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project has released The Future of Big Data.

Here's an excerpt:

Imagine where we might be in 2020. The Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project and Elon University's Imagining the Internet Center asked digital stakeholders to weigh two scenarios for 2020, select the one most likely to evolve, and elaborate on the choice. One sketched out a relatively positive future where Big Data are drawn together in ways that will improve social, political, and economic intelligence. The other expressed the view that Big Data could cause more problems than it solves between now and 2020.

Respondents to our query rendered a decidedly split verdict.

| Digital Curation Bibliography: Preservation and Stewardship of Scholarly Works | Digital Scholarship |

Managing Research Data in Big Science

Norman Gray, Tobia Carozzi, and Graham Woan have self-archived Managing Research Data in Big Science in arXiv.org.

Here's an excerpt:

The project which led to this report was funded by JISC in 2010-2011 as part of its 'Managing Research Data' programme, to examine the way in which Big Science data is managed, and produce any recommendations which may be appropriate. . . .

This project has explored these differences using as a case-study Gravitational Wave data generated by the LSC [LIGO Scientific Collaboration], and has produced recommendations intended to be useful variously to JISC, the funding council (STFC) and the LSC community.

In Sect. 1 we define what we mean by 'big science', describe the overall data culture there, laying stress on how it necessarily or contingently differs from other disciplines.

In Sect. 2 we discuss the benefits of a formal data-preservation strategy, and the cases for open data and for well-preserved data that follow from that. . . .

In Sect. 3 we briefly discuss the LIGO data management plan, and pull together whatever information is available on the estimation of digital preservation costs.

| Digital Curation Bibliography: Preservation and Stewardship of Scholarly Works | Digital Scholarship |

The Rise of the "Connected Viewer"

The Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project has released The Rise of the "Connected Viewer".

Here's an excerpt:

Television's solitary screen is being supplemented by multi-screen interactivity. Half of all adult cell owners (52%) have used their phones recently for engagement, diversion, or interaction with other people while watching TV. The Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project measured the prevalence of these multi-screen viewing experiences by asking the 88% of American adults who are cell owners whether they had used their phone to engage in several different activities while watching television in the 30 days preceding an April 2012 survey.

| Scholarly Electronic Publishing Weblog | Digital Scholarship |

Open Access Status of Journal Articles from ERC-Funded Projects

The European Research Council has released Open Access Status of Journal Articles from ERC-Funded Projects.

Here's an excerpt:

The main objective of this analysis is to estimate the extent to which journal articles from ERC funded projects are available in an open access. . . .

The results show that 62 % of journal articles from ERC funded projects are available in open access. The share of articles in open access varies across research domains. It is close to 70 % in Life Sciences, 65 % in Physical Sciences and Engineering and nearer 50 % in Social Sciences and Humanities. A comparison with the data on open access status provided by the grant holders in their mid-term reports shows that self-reporting leads to an underestimation of the proportion of open access articles.

| Open Access Bibliography: Liberating Scholarly Literature with E-Prints and Open Access Journals | Digital Scholarship |

A Technical Review of Open Access Repository Registries: OpenDOAR and ROAR

JISC has released A Technical Review of Open Access Repository Registries: OpenDOAR and ROAR, which was written in 7/1/2011 and deposited on 7/5/2012.

Here's an excerpt:

This document provides a technical review of the capabilities, benefits and drawbacks of two leading Open Access Repository Registries (OARRs)—OpenDOAR and ROAR. Both systems are considered qualitatively and quantitatively with a view to identifying those facets which provide value for a repository registry service.

| Institutional Repository and ETD Bibliography 2011 | Digital Scholarship |

Going for Gold? The Costs and Benefits of Gold Open Access for UK Research Institutions: Further Economic Modelling

JISC has released Going for Gold? The Costs and Benefits of Gold Open Access for UK Research Institutions: Further Economic Modelling.

Here's an excerpt:

Based on this analysis, the main findings are:

  • so long as research funders commit to paying publication costs for the research they fund, and
  • publication charges fall to the reprint author's home institution,
  • all research-intensive universities would see the greatest savings, and universities would see savings from (worldwide) Gold OA when article-processing charges are at the current averages,
  • in a transition period, providing Open Access through the Green route offers the greatest economic benefits to individual universities, unless additional funds are made available to cover Gold OA costs

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

The Preservation of Complex Objects. Volume 1, Visualisations and Simulations

The POCOS project has released The Preservation of Complex Objects. Volume 1, Visualisations and Simulations.

Here's an excerpt:

Let us say that there is an implication that an atomic digital object is a single file, and that this is synonymous with the notion of simplicity. But is that really the case? A single PDF file is often put forward as an exemplar of such a straightforward file, but the recent PDF 2.0 version can contain embedded 3D objects, so can it really be considered as atomic and 'simple'? So it might be a somewhat daunting task to rigidly categorize digital material past, present and future as either atomic or complex? During the symposia, the POCOS strategy was not to seek to impose definitions or standards on the proceedings, but rather to see whether any consensus emerged during the talks and breakout sessions

| Digital Curation Bibliography: Preservation and Stewardship of Scholarly Works | Digital Scholarship |

Survey Report on Digitisation in European Cultural Heritage Institutions 2012

The ENUMERATE project has released Survey Report on Digitisation in European Cultural Heritage Institutions 2012.

Here's an excerpt:

The ENUMERATE Survey Report on Digitisation in Cultural Heritage Institutions 2012 represents the first major study into the current state of digitisation in Europe. It is the result of a survey carried out by the ENUMERATE Thematic Network, with the help of national coordinators, in 29 European countries. About 2000 institutions answered the open call to participate between January and March 2012.

| Reviews of Digital Scholarship Publications | Digital Scholarship |

A Portrait of Today’s Tablet User

The Online Publishers Association has released A Portrait of Today's Tablet User.

Here's an excerpt from the press release:

Key findings from "A Portrait of Today's Tablet User" include:

  • Today's tablet users represent 12% of the US internet population ages 8-64; that number is projected to grow to 23% by early 2012—a group that represents an estimated 54 million people
  • 87% of tablet users are accessing content and information, the dominant activity for this device
  • 93% of tablet users have downloaded apps; the average tablet user has downloaded 20 apps

See also the OPA's recent A Portrait of Today's Tablet User Wave II study.

| Digital Scholarship |

TechWatch: Preparing for Data-driven Infrastructure (Draft)

The JISC Observatory has released a draft for public comment of TechWatch: Preparing for Data-driven Infrastructure.

Here's an excerpt :

This report provides an overview of some concepts and approaches as well as tools, and can be used to help organisational planning. Specifically, this report:

  • describes data-centric architectures;
  • gives some examples of how data are already shared between organisations and discusses this from a datacentric perspective;
  • introduces some of the key tools and technologies that can support data-centric architectures as well as some new models of data management, including opportunities to use "cloud" services;
  • concludes with a look at the direction of travel and lists the sources cited in a References section.

| Research Data Curation Bibliography | Digital Scholarship |

League of European Research Universities Releases The LERU Roadmap towards Open Access

The League of European Research Universities has released The LERU Roadmap towards Open Access.

Here's an excerpt:

  • The idea of Open Access is not new; the first major international statement on Open Access was set out in the Declaration of the Budapest Open Access Initiative in 2002.4 However, 'the pathway' to Open Access is not a smooth one. Many parties are involved and there are many competing interests. There are costs and there are advocates, agnostics and critics. There are gains and impacts which need to be carefully assessed.
  • This Roadmap traverses some of this landscape and aims to assist LERU members who wish to put in place structures, policies and practices to facilitate Open Access. Whilst the Roadmap is primarily intended for LERU members, other European universities may find it useful.

| Open Access Bibliography: Liberating Scholarly Literature with E-Prints and Open Access Journals | Digital Scholarship |

Open Data Dialogue: Final Report

Research Councils UK has released Open Data Dialogue: Final Report.

Here's an excerpt:

Undertaken on the behalf of the Research Councils UK in partnership with JISC, the Royal Society and Sciencewise-ERC, this public dialogue explored views on open data, data reuse and data management policies within research.

The public dialogue was designed to:

  • Provide insight on the business issues that the dialogue will support, at the research councils and JISC
  • Build on prior work in the area and account for the wider policy framework
  • Engage people meaningfully around this complex area, enabling the public to frame issues and test out any principles emerging across a range of research contexts.

The research comprised a number of elements:

  • an initial literature and policy review of the area
  • two reconvened discussion groups in Swindon and Oldham
  • a workshop involving key stakeholders conducted between the first and second wave of the public dialogues.

Read more about it at Evaluation of Public Dialogue on Open Data: Report to Research Councils UK.

| Digital Curation Bibliography: Preservation and Stewardship of Scholarly Works | Digital Scholarship |

Libraries, Patrons, and E-books

The Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project has released Libraries, Patrons, and E-books .

Here's an excerpt:

Some 12% of Americans ages 16 and older who read e-books say they have borrowed an e-book from a library in the past year. . . .

But most in the broader public, not just e-book readers, are generally not aware they can borrow e-books from libraries. We asked all those ages 16 and older if they know whether they can borrow e-books from their library and 62% said they did not know if their library offered that service. Some 22% say they know that their library does lend out e-books, and 14% say they know their library does not lend out e-books.

| Digital Scholarship's Digital/Print Books | Digital Scholarship |

Science as an Open Enterprise

The Royal Society has released Science as an Open Enterprise.

Here's an excerpt:

This report analyses the impact of new and emerging technologies that are transforming the conduct and communication of research. The recommendations are designed to improve the conduct of science, respond to changing public expectations and political culture and enable researchers to maximise the impact of their research. They are designed to ensure that reproducibility and self-correction are maintained in an era of massive data volumes. They aim to stimulate the communication and collaboration where these are needed to maximise the value of data-intensive approaches to science. Action is needed to maximise the exploitation of science in business and in public policy. But not all data are of equal interest and importance. Some are rightly confidential for commercial, privacy, safety or security reasons. There are both opportunities and financial costs in the full presentation of data and metadata. The recommendations set out key principles. The main text explores how to judge their application and where accountability should lie.

| Research Data Curation Bibliography | Digital Scholarship |

Green Open Access: PEER: Final Report

The PEER (Publishing and the Ecology of European Research) project has released the PEER: Final Report.

Here's an excerpt:

PEER (Publishing and the Ecology of European Research), supported by the EC eContentplus programme2, has been investigating the potential effects of the large-scale, systematic depositing of authors' final peer-reviewed manuscripts (so called Green Open Access or stage-two research output) on reader access, author visibility, and journal viability, as well as on the broader ecology of European research. The project ran from 1 September 2008–31 May 2012. . . .

Collectively, the project has provided insights and evidence indicating:

  • How large-scale archiving may affect journals
  • Whether it increases access
  • How it will affect the broader ecology of European research
  • Which factors influence the readiness to deposit in institutional and disciplinary repositories
  • What the cost drivers are for publishers and repositories

The project also released PEER Usage Study—Descriptive Statistics for the Period March to August 2011 and PEER Usage Study—Randomised Controlled Trial Results.

| Open Access Bibliography: Liberating Scholarly Literature with E-Prints and Open Access Journals | Digital Scholarship |

"Finch Group" Open Access Report: Accessibility, Sustainability, Excellence: How to Expand Access to Research Publications

The Research Information Network has released Accessibility, Sustainability, Excellence: How to Expand Access to Research Publications. Report of the Working Group on Expanding Access to Published Research Findings. For background on the report, see "Working Group on Expanding Access to Published Research Findings."

Here's an excerpt:

This report tackles the important question of how to achieve better, faster access to research publications for anyone who wants to read or use them. It has been produced by an independent working group made up of representatives of universities, research funders, learned societies, publishers, and libraries. The group's remit has been to examine how to expand access to the peer-reviewed publications that arise from research undertaken both in the UK and in the rest of the world; and to propose a programme of action to that end.

We have concentrated on journals which publish research results and findings. Virtually all are now published online, and they increasingly include sophisticated navigation, linking and interactive services. Making them freely accessible at the point of use, with minimal if any limitations on how they can be used, offers the potential

Our aim has been to identify key goals and guiding principles in a period of transition towards wider access. We have sought ways both to accelerate that transition and also to sustain what is valuable in a complex ecology with many different agents and stakeholders.

In "Finch Group report on OA in the UK," Peter Suber said of the report:

Bottom line: On the plus side, the Finch group wants a massive shift to OA. It prefers immediate to embargoed OA, and it prefers libre to gratis OA. Some of its reasons for preferring gold to green OA are based on real virtues of gold. On the minus side, most of its reasons for preferring gold to green OA are based on a distorted and jaundiced view of green. The group implies that green cannot be libre (8.9, 8.28), which is false. It implies that green cannot be peer reviewed (8.26) which is false. It implies that green cannot be immediate or must be embargoed (8.28), which is false. It virtually disregards the role of green OA in disseminating peer-reviewed research and values green primarily for providing access to data, and access to grey literature, and preservation. One can see the effect of publisher lobbying on the group's misinformed disparagement of green OA and the group's high priority to save incumbent publishers from risk.

Read more about it at "U.K. Panel Backs Open Access for All Publicly Funded Research Papers."

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

Digital Book Publishing in the AAUP Community Survey Report: Spring 2012

The Association of American University Presses has released Digital Book Publishing in the AAUP Community Survey Report: Spring 2012

Here's an excerpt:

In addition to gathering data about e-book revenue, digital marketing and discovery strategies, and format and channel availability, we also asked respondents to share their opinions about major concerns or hurdles they are facing, and to tell us more about their presses' e-book goals.

| Digital Scholarship |

EPUB for Archival Preservation

The Koninklijke Bibliotheek has released EPUB for Archival Preservation.

Here's an excerpt:

Over the last few years, the EPUB format has become increasingly popular in the consumer market. A number of publishers have indicated their wish to use EPUB for supplying their electronic publications to the KB. In response to this, the KB's Departments of Collection and Collection Care requested an initial study to investigate the suitability of the format for archival preservation. The main questions were:

  • What are the main characteristics of EPUB?
  • What functionality does EPUB provide, and is this sufficient for representing e.g. content with sophisticated layout and typography requirements?
  • How well is the EPUB supported by software tools that are used in (pre-)ingest workflows?
  • How suitable is EPUB for archival preservation? What are the main risks?

| Digital Curation Bibliography: Preservation and Stewardship of Scholarly Works | Digital Scholarship |

Research Data Management: Review of DCC Tools and Guidance

The REDm-MED Project has released the Review of DCC Tools and Guidance.

Here's an excerpt:

In the course of its work, the REDm-MED Project has used various tools and guidance produced by the DCC, most notably CARDIO and DMP Online, the latter in both its checklist and software forms. The Project team found CARDIO to be promising but in need of further development before being used widely. The process of setting up a DMP Online template was relatively straightforward, but unfortunately there was no opportunity to solicit feedback from researchers on using it in the context of the tool.

| Research Data Curation Bibliography | Digital Scholarship |

Network Neutrality and Quality of Service: What a Non-Discrimination Rule Should Look Like

The Center for Internet and Society at Stanford Law School has released Network Neutrality and Quality of Service: What a Non-Discrimination Rule Should Look Like.

Here's an excerpt from the announcement:

This paper proposes a framework that policy makers and others can use to choose among different options for network neutrality rules and uses this framework to evaluate existing proposals for non-discrimination rules and the non-discrimination rule adopted by the FCC in its Open Internet Order. In the process, it explains how the different non-discrimination rules affect network providers' ability to offer Quality of Service and which forms of Quality of Service, if any, a non-discrimination rule should allow.

| Reviews of Digital Scholarship Publications | Digital Scholarship |

One Culture. Computationally Intensive Research in the Humanities and Social Sciences: A Report on the Experiences of First Respondents to the Digging Into Data Challenge

The Council on Library and Information Resources. has released One Culture. Computationally Intensive Research in the Humanities and Social Sciences: A Report on the Experiences of First Respondents to the Digging Into Data Challenge.

Here's an excerpt from the announcement, which includes links to additional case studies:

This report culminates two years of work by CLIR staff involving extensive interviews and site visits with scholars engaged in international research collaborations involving computational analysis of large data corpora. These scholars were the first recipients of grants through the Digging into Data program, led by the NEH, who partnered with JISC in the UK, SSHRC in Canada, and the NSF to fund the first eight initiatives. The report introduces the eight projects and discusses the importance of these cases as models for the future of research in the academy.

| Digital Curation Bibliography: Preservation and Stewardship of Scholarly Works | Digital Scholarship |

Repositories for Visual Arts Research Data: Kaptur Technical Report

The KAPTUR project has released the Kaptur Technical Report.

Here's an excerpt:

This report is framed around the research question: which technical system is most suitable for managing visual arts research data? . . . .

The Technical Manager selected 17 systems to compare with the user requirement document (Appendix B). Five of the systems had similar scores so these were short-listed. The Technical Manager created an online form into which the Project Officers entered priority scores for each of the user requirements in order to calculate a more accurate score for each of the five short-listed systems (Appendix C) and this resulted in the choice of EPrints as the software for the KAPTUR project.

| Digital Curation Bibliography: Preservation and Stewardship of Scholarly Works | Digital Scholarship |

"Issue Brief: 21st-Century Collections: Calibration of Investment and Collaborative Action"

The Association of Research Libraries has released "Issue Brief: 21st-Century Collections: Calibration of Investment and Collaborative Action."

Here's an excerpt from the announcement:

Carton Rogers, Vice Provost and Director of Libraries at the University of Pennsylvania, chairs the ARL Transforming Research Libraries Steering Committee, which originally requested the issue brief. According to Rogers, this paper provides directors with an excellent overview of emerging and horizon issues and the challenges of building 21st-century collections. "The paper's emphasis on networked resources, teamwork, and cross-institutional collaboration underscores the need for new roles and new competencies for our workforce, which is currently a key focus of the committee's agenda. We encourage discussions of the shared future projected in the report, its implications for library staff, and for the ongoing support of research, teaching, and learning on our campuses."

| Scholarly Electronic Publishing Bibliography 2010 | Digital Scholarship |

DCEP Final Report; Centuries of Knowledge: Graduate School of Library and Information Science Data Curation Education Program

Melissa H. Cragin et al. have self-archived the DCEP Final Report; Centuries of Knowledge: Graduate School of Library and Information Science Data Curation Education Program in IDEALS.

Here's an excerpt:

The Centuries of Knowledge grant was designed to increase educational and research capacity in data curation at the Graduate School of Library and Information Science (GSLIS) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. We developed the Data Curation Education Program, a specialization within our Master of Science degree program, graduating 38 students to date. New courses developed for the specialization include Foundations of Data Curation, a survey course on the emerging field, and Digital Preservation. We developed the Summer Institute on Data Curation for practicing information professionals, facilitating the development of a community of practice across U.S. and Canadian academic and research organizations. Our outreach and service activities have led to a range of new partnerships that have resulted in student fieldwork opportunities, as well as new collaborative research and education activities resulting in 4 successful grant proposals.

| Digital Curation and Preservation Bibliography 2010 | Digital Scholarship |

Lasting Impact: Sustainability of Disciplinary Repositories

OCLC Research has released Lasting Impact: Sustainability of Disciplinary Repositories.

Here's an excerpt from the press release:

This report offers a quick environmental scan of the repository landscape and then focuses on disciplinary repositories—those subject-based, often researcher-initiated loci for research information.

Written by Senior Program Officer Ricky Erway, Lasting Impact: Sustainability of Disciplinary Repositories is intended to help librarians support researchers in accessing and disseminating research information. The report includes profiles of seven repositories with a focus on their varied business models. It concludes with a discussion of sustainability, including funding models, factors that contribute to a repository's success, and ways to bring in additional revenue.

| Institutional Repository and ETD Bibliography 2011 | Digital Scholarship |