Category: Reports and White Papers

Making Good on the Promise of ERM: A Standards and Best Practices Discussion Paper

NISO has released Making Good on the Promise of ERM: A Standards and Best Practices Discussion Paper.

Here's an excerpt from the press release:

"Our standards review and findings focused on five categories: link resolvers and knowledge bases; the work, manifestations, and access points; cost and usage-related data; license terms; and data exchange using institutional identifiers," states Tim Jewell, Director, Information Resources and Scholarly Communications, University of Washington, and Chair of the ERM Data Standards and Best Practices Review Steering Committee. "We did a more extensive review of fourteen of the most relevant standards and mapped the data elements for each to the elements defined in the ERMI report. We also looked at how ERM systems could improve their workflow support-a shortcoming in most existing systems-and we include a detailed workflow best practices bibliography and a list of illustrative workflow diagrams."

"Our final analysis showed that there is value to updating and maintaining a data dictionary that encompasses ERM functions and evolves with technologies and business models," maintains Ivy Anderson, Director of Collections, California Digital Library and member of the ERM Data Standards and Best Practices Review Steering Committee. "However, for practical considerations, we did not recommend that NISO pursue such a project at this time. Instead we identified a number of narrower initiatives targeting specific ERM functional needs and strategies aimed at furthering interoperability."

| Scholarly Electronic Publishing Bibliography 2010 | Digital Scholarship |

Rendering Matters—Report on the Results of Research into Digital Object Rendering

Archives New Zealand has released Rendering Matters—Report on the Results of Research into Digital Object Rendering.

Here's an excerpt from the report:

Maintaining the ability of an organisation or user to be able to "open" or "render" a file or set of files is one of the core digital preservation challenges. This report outlines the results of research investigating whether changes are introduced to the information that is presented to users when files are rendered in different hardware and software environments. The report concludes with a set of observations about the impact of the research and provides some recommendations for future research in this area.

| Digital Curation and Preservation Bibliography 2010 | Digital Scholarship Publications Overview |

Open Access: Online Survey on Scientific Information in the Digital Age

The European Commission has released the Online Survey on Scientific Information in the Digital Age.

Here's an excerpt:

Respondents were asked if there is no access problem to scientific publications in Europe: 84 % disagreed or disagreed strongly with the statement. The high prices of journals/subscriptions (89%) and limited library budgets (85%) were signalled as the most important barriers to accessing scientific publications. More than 1,000 respondents (90%) supported the idea that publications resulting from publicly funded research should, as a matter of principle, be in open access (OA) mode. An even higher number of respondents (91%) agreed or agreed strongly that OA increased access to and dissemination of scientific publications. Self-archiving ("green OA") or a combination of self-archiving and OA publishing ("gold OA") were identified as the preferred ways that public research policy should facilitate in order to increase the number and share of scientific publications available in OA. Respondents were asked, in the case of self-archiving ("green OA"), what the desirable embargo period is (period of time during which publication is not yet open access): a six-month period was favoured by 56% of respondents (although 25% disagree with this option).

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

Digital Preservation: The Digital Dilemma 2: Perspectives from Independent Filmmakers, Documentarians and Nonprofit Audiovisual Archives

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has released The Digital Dilemma 2: Perspectives from Independent Filmmakers, Documentarians and Nonprofit Audiovisual Archives (registration required).

The Academy’s first report, The Digital Dilemma: Strategic Issues in Archiving and Accessing Digital Motion Picture Materials (registration required), is also available.

| Digital Curation and Preservation Bibliography 2010 | Digital Scholarship |

Digital Preservation: Report on Decision Factors and Their Influence on Planning

The Scalable Preservation Environments project has released the Report on Decision Factors and Their Influence on Planning.

Here's an excerpt:

This report sheds light on the actual decision criteria and influence factors to be considered when choosing digital preservation actions. It is based on an extensive evaluation of case studies on preservation planning for a range of different types of objects with partners from different institutional backgrounds. We analyse objective trees from a number of real-world decision making instances and classify the objectives and decision criteria. We analyse the measurability and required information for decision criteria, and the objectives and decision factors contained in objective trees. We further discuss the mapping of different quality models and map decision criteria to standardised models for decision factors in the areas of software quality, format assessment, and object properties.

| Digital Scholarship's Digital Bibliographies | Digital Scholarship |

Survey on Open Access in FP7

The European Commission has released Survey on Open Access in FP7

Here's an excerpt:

In May 2011, the Commission identified the 811 projects designated at the time with Special Clause 39 in their grant agreement and sent a questionnaire to all project coordinators in order to collect feedback on experiences of both the implementation of the pilot and the reimbursement of open access publishing costs. The objective was to provide input for the future of the open access policy and practices in Horizon 2020, which is the future EU framework programme for research and innovation, and for the preparation of a communication from the Commission and a recommendation to Member States on scientific publications in the digital age.

The online questionnaire was open between 29 June and 26 August 2011 and enabled the collection of a total of 194 responses (success rate: 24 %). Many respondents used the possibility to answer ‘no opinion’ to some questions, but this constitutes valuable information. The final report was prepared in October/November 2011. Annexes include tables of statistical results in each FP7 research area.

| Digital Scholarship's Digital Bibliographies | Digital Scholarship |

"Orphan Works: Definitional Issues"

David Robert Hansen has self-archived "Orphan Works: Definitional Issues" in SSRN. This is a white paper from the Berkeley Digital Library Copyright Project.

Here's an excerpt:

When discussing orphan works, two basic definitional questions arise: (1) exactly what is the "orphan works" problem?, and (2) what is the size of this problem? The answers to these two questions are central to understanding how proposed solutions work to remedy the situation. Though both questions have long been posed, the answer to the first (what is the "orphan works"; problem) can vary based on the type of work or the particular user, and the answer to the second (what is the size of the problem) remains difficult to state with precision. This paper explores both and identifies areas where further research is needed.

| Digital Scholarship's Digital Bibliographies | Digital Scholarship |

Tablet and E-book Reader Ownership Nearly Double Over the Holiday Gift-Giving Period

The Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project has released Tablet and E-book Reader Ownership Nearly Double Over the Holiday Gift-Giving Period.

Here's an excerpt:

The share of adults in the United States who own tablet computers nearly doubled from 10% to 19% between mid-December and early January and the same surge in growth also applied to e-book readers, which also jumped from 10% to 19% over the same time period.

The number of Americans owning at least one of these digital reading devices jumped from 18% in December to 29% in January.

| Digital Scholarship's Digital Bibliographies | Digital Scholarship |

Open Access: PEER Economics Report [Final Report]

PEER (Publishing and the Ecology of European Research) has released the final version of the PEER Economics Report.

Here's an excerpt:

This study considers the effect of large-scale deposit on scholarly research publication and dissemination (sharing of research outputs), beginning with the analysis of publishers and institutions managing repositories and their sustainability. The study associates costs with specific activities, performed by key actors involved in research registration, certification, dissemination and digital management: authors, the scholarly community, editors, publishers, libraries, readers and funding agencies. Contrary to most of the existing literature, the study analyses cost structures of individual organizations. The focus of this study is therefore to provide context for the costs to specific organizations and to their choices in terms of scale and scope. . . .

This study analyses 22 organizations involved with journal article publication and dissemination. Data were gathered via literature and public document analysis, as well as through individual in-depth interviews in order to assess the cost structure of publishers, OA journal publishers and institutions managing repositories and the conditions for their sustainability.

| Digital Scholarship's Digital Bibliographies | Digital Scholarship |

Social Metadata for Libraries, Archives, and Museums. Part 2: Survey Analysis

OCLC Research has released Social Metadata for Libraries, Archives, and Museums. Part 2: Survey Analysis.

Here's an excerpt from the press release:

In the first report, Social Metadata for Libraries, Archives, and Museums, Part 1: Site Reviews, the 21-member RLG Partners Social Metadata Working Group reviewed 76 sites relevant to libraries, archives, and museums that supported such social media features as tagging, comments, reviews, images, videos, ratings, recommendations, lists, links to related articles, etc. In this second report, we analyzed the results from a survey of site managers conducted in October-November 2009. Forty percent of the responses came from outside the United States. The survey focused on the motivations for creating a site, moderation policies, staffing and site management, technologies used, and criteria for assessing success. In our upcoming third report, we provide recommendations on social metadata features most relevant to libraries, archives, and museums as well as the factors contributing to success.

| Digital Scholarship's Digital Bibliographies | Digital Scholarship |

Survey of Academic Attitudes to Open Access and Institutional Repositories—An RSP and UKCoRR Initiative

The Repositories Support Project has released the Survey of Academic Attitudes to Open Access and Institutional Repositories—An RSP and UKCoRR Initiative.

Here's an excerpt:

Feelings about principles of OA: Participants were asked how they felt about the principles of OA. 1629 participants answered this question, and results showed that 63% (1026) were strongly in favour, 22% (358) were mildly in favour, 8% (132) were neutral, 3%(47) were mildly against, 2% (35) were strongly against, and 2% (31) did not know how they felt. . . .

Feelings about using OA repositories: Participants were also asked how they felt about using OA repositories. 1634 participants answered this question, and results showed that 56% (913) were strongly in favour, 24% (391) were mildly in favour,12% (197) were neutral, 3% (52) were mildly against, 2% (30) were strongly against, and 3% (51) did not know how they felt. . . .

If we collapse across those that responded they were strongly in favour with those that were mildly in favour, we find that the majority, 80% (1304), were in favour of using OA repositories.

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

Costs and Benefits of Data Provision: Report to the Australian National Data Service

The Australian National Data Service has released Costs and Benefits of Data Provision: Report to the Australian National Data Service by John Houghton.

Here's an excerpt:

This report presents case studies exploring the costs and benefits that PSI [Public Sector Information] producing agencies and their users experience in making information freely available, and preliminary estimates of the wider economic impacts of open access to PSI. In doing so, it outlines a possibly method for cost-benefit analysis at the agency level and explores the data requirements for such an analysis —recognising that few agencies will have all of the data required. . . .

What this study demonstrates is that the direct and measurable benefits of making PSI available freely and without restrictions on use typically outweigh the costs. When one adds the longerterm benefits that we cannot fully measure, and may not even foresee, the case for open access appears to be strong.

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

Scoping Study on Copyright and Related Rights and the Public Domain

The World Intellectual Property Organization has released Scoping Study on Copyright and Related Rights and the Public Domain.

Here's an excerpt from the announcement:

The scoping study includes an illustrative comparison of national legislations that directly, or indirectly, define the public domain; and a survey of initiatives and tools, which may affect access, use, identification and location of public domain material.

| Digital Scholarship |

A Surfboard for Riding the Wave—Towards a Four Country Action Programme on Research Data

The Knowledge Exchange has released A Surfboard for Riding the Wave—Towards a Four Country Action Programme on Research Data.

Here's an excerpt from the announcement:

The report not only offers an overview of the present activities and challenges in the field of research data in Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom but also outlines an action programme for the four countries in realising a collaborative data infrastructure. This report is a response to the Riding the Wave report which was published by the High Level Expert Group on Scientific Data. . . .

In the report four key drivers are addressed: incentives for researchers, training in relation to researchers in their role as data producers and users of information infrastructure, organisational and technical infrastructure and, finally, the funding of the infrastructure. The report offers recommendations for actions in each of these fields for the partners and others, not only in the four partner countries, but also beyond these borders.

Based on the overview of the present situation in the four Knowledge Exchange partner countries, the report formulates three long-term strategic goals:

  1. Data sharing will be part of the academic culture
  2. Data logistics will be an integral component of academic professional life
  3. Data infrastructure will be sound, both operationally and financially.

| Digital Curation and Preservation Bibliography 2010 | Digital Scholarship |

Report on Integration of Data and Publications

The Alliance for Permanent Access has released Report on Integration of Data and Publications.

Here's an excerpt:

This report sets out to identify examples of integration between datasets and publications. Findings from existing studies carried out by PARSE.Insight, RIN, SURF and various recent publications are synthesized and examined in relation to three distinct disciplinary groups in order to identify opportunities in the integration of data.

| Scholarly Electronic Publishing Bibliography 2010 | Digital Scholarship |

Report on the Data Curation Research Summit

Nicholas Weber et al. have self-archived Report on the Data Curation Research Summit in IDEALS.

Here's an excerpt:

The Data Curation Research Summit was a one-day meeting, sponsored by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). The objectives were to build awareness of current research projects and important research problems, foster stronger collaborations among researchers, and advance the Library and Information Science (LIS) research agenda in data curation. It was held in Chicago on December 9th, 2010, following the 6th International Digital Curation Conference (IDCC). The conference provided an excellent opportunity to bring together scholars and practitioners with a strong interest in advancing scholarship and practice in the curation of research data. The 35 invited participants, representing iSchools, research libraries, academic publishers, and funding agencies, are active in the growing research community and related areas of digital curation and archives.

| Digital Curation and Preservation Bibliography 2010 | Digital Scholarship |

Why Americans Use Social Media

The Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project has released Why Americans Use Social Media.

Here's an excerpt:

Two-thirds of online adults (66%) use social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, MySpace or LinkedIn. These internet users say that connections with family members and friends (both new and old) are a primary consideration in their adoption of social media tools. Roughly two thirds of social media users say that staying in touch with current friends and family members is a major reason they use these sites, while half say that connecting with old friends they've lost touch with is a major reason behind their use of these technologies.

| Google Books Bibliography | Digital Scholarship |

Research Infrastructures in the Digital Humanities

The European Science Foundation has released Research Infrastructures in the Digital Humanities.

Here's an excerpt:

This peer reviewed document reflects on the centrality of Research Infrastructures (RIs) to the Humanities. It argues that without RIs such as archives, libraries, academies, museums and galleries (and the sources that they identify, order, preserve and make accessible) significant strands of Humanities research would not be possible. After proposing a wide-ranging definition of digital RIs—with the aim of reflecting on the meaning of infrastructure in the Humanities rather than on those parts common to other domains of science—it attempts to relate physical RIs to digital ones. By drawing on a number of case studies—chosen to showcase the variety of research around existing or emerging infrastructures—it demonstrates that digital RIs offer Humanities scholars new and productive ways to explore old questions and develop new ones.

| Scholarly Electronic Publishing Bibliography, Version 80 | Digital Scholarship |

Library Publishing Services: Strategies for Success: Research Report, Version 1.0

SPARC and the Academic Resources Coalition have released Library Publishing Services: Strategies for Success: Research Report, Version 1.0.

Here's an excerpt from the press release:

Key findings of the project include:
  • Approximately half (55%) of all respondents to the survey indicated having or developing library publishing services. Interest in such services varied by institution size, with over three-quarters of ARLs being interested, compared to 30% of Oberlin Group institutions. Most libraries with existing programs anticipated increasing the program's scale or scope in the next year.
  • About three-quarters of the programs publish between one and six journals, the majority of which are only distributed electronically and are less than three-years old. About half of the programs publish conference proceedings, technical reports, or monographs; most often electronically, but with some print-on-demand distribution.
  • The vast majority of library publishing programs (almost 90%) were launched in order to contribute to change in the scholarly publishing system, supplemented by a variety of other mission-related motivations. The prevalence of mission-driven rationale aligns with the funding sources reported for library publishing programs, including library budget reallocations (97%), temporary funding from the institution (67%), and grant support (57%). However, many respondents expect a greater percentage of future publishing program funding to come from service fees, product revenue, charge-backs, royalties, and other program-generated income.
  • Almost two-thirds of the programs collaborate with one or more other campus units—including departmental faculty, university press, and campus computing—and two-thirds collaborate with individuals or organizations outside of the institution. Over half of the respondents expect collaborations to increase in the next year.
  • About half of responding institutions centralize management of their publishing activities within one library unit. The number of staff allocated to publishing activities is modest—averaging 2.4 FTE for ARLs and 0.9 FTE for Oberlin Group institutions—with older programs typically being larger. Staff dedicated exclusively to publishing service programs are relatively rare, with responsibility for such services typically fragmented across multiple staff members.
  • The perceived relevance of publishing services to the library's mission, and the integration of such services into the library's budget, helps explain the relative lack of emphasis on sustainability planning. Few institutions (15%) have a documented sustainability plan for their publishing services, and only a fifth have evaluated the value or effectiveness of their publishing services.
  • The most prevalent journal publishing platforms reported were Open Journal Systems (57%), DSpace (36%), and Berkeley Electronic Press's Digital Commons (25%).

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

Digital Scholarship |

Legal Issues in Mass Digitization: A Preliminary Analysis and Discussion Document

The U.S. Office of the Register of Copyrights has released Legal Issues in Mass Digitization: A Preliminary Analysis and Discussion Document .

Here's the announcement:

The Copyright Office has published a Preliminary Analysis and Discussion Document that addresses the issues raised by the intersection between copyright law and the mass digitization of books. The purpose of the Analysis is to facilitate further discussions among the affected parties and the public discussions that may encompass a number of possible approaches, including voluntary initiatives, legislative options, or both. The Analysis also identifies questions to consider in determining an appropriate policy for the mass digitization of books.

Public discourse on mass digitization is particularly timely. On March 22, 2011, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York rejected a proposed settlement in the copyright infringement litigation regarding Google's mass book digitization project. The court found that the settlement would have redefined the relationship between copyright law and new technology, and it would have encroached upon Congress's ability to set copyright policy with respect to orphan works. Since then, a group of authors has filed a lawsuit against five university libraries that participated in Google's mass digitization project. These developments have sparked a public debate on the risks and opportunities that mass book digitization may create for authors, publishers, libraries, technology companies, and the general public. The Office's Analysis will serve as a basis for further policy discussions on this issue.

| Google Books Bibliography | Digital Scholarship |

A Bibliographic Framework for the Digital Age

The Library of Congress has released A Bibliographic Framework for the Digital Age.

Here's an excerpt:

Although the MARC-based infrastructure is extensive, and MARC has been adapted to changing technologies, a major effort to create a comparable exchange vehicle that is grounded in the current and expected future shape of data interchange is needed. To assure a new environment will allow reuse of valuable data and remain supportive of the current one, in addition to advancing it, the following requirements provide a basis for this work. Discussion with colleagues in the community has informed these requirements for beginning the transition to a "new bibliographic framework". Bibliographic framework is intended to indicate an environment rather than a "format".

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

Linked Data for Libraries, Museums, and Archives: Survey and Workshop Report

The Council on Library and Information Resources has released Linked Data for Libraries, Museums, and Archives: Survey and Workshop Report.

Here's an excerpt:

In June 2011, Stanford University hosted a group of librarians and technologists to examine issues and challenges surrounding the use of linked data for library applications. This report summarizes the activities and discussions that took place during the workshop, describes what came out of the workshop, outlines next steps identified by the participants, and provides contextual and background information, including preliminary reports and biographies of workshop participants. The workshop report was produced and edited by the participants and staff at Stanford University Libraries.

As background for workshop participants, CLIR commissioned Jerry Persons, technology analyst at Knowledge Motifs and Chief Information Architect emeritus at Stanford, to produce a survey of the linked-data landscape, and the projects and individuals associated with it. The survey focuses on the practical aspects of understanding and applying linked data practices and technologies to the metadata and content of libraries, museums, and archives. There are numerous links in the report and the survey that lead readers to many other sources and examples regarding the use of linked data methods.

| Digital Curation and Preservation Bibliography 2010 | Digital Scholarship |

Library Linked Data Incubator Group Final Report

The W3C Incubator Group has released Library Linked Data Incubator Group Final Report.

Here's an excerpt:

Key recommendations of the report are:

  • That library leaders identify sets of data as possible candidates for early exposure as Linked Data and foster a discussion about Open Data and rights;
  • That library standards bodies increase library participation in Semantic Web standardization, develop library data standards that are compatible with Linked Data, and disseminate best-practice design patterns tailored to library Linked Data;
  • That data and systems designers design enhanced user services based on Linked Data capabilities, create URIs for the items in library datasets, develop policies for managing RDF vocabularies and their URIs, and express library data by re-using or mapping to existing Linked Data vocabularies;
  • That librarians and archivists preserve Linked Data element sets and value vocabularies and apply library experience in curation and long-term preservation to Linked Data datasets.

See also the related reports: Library Linked Data Incubator Group: Datasets, Value Vocabularies, and Metadata Element Sets and Library Linked Data Incubator Group: Use Cases.

| Scholarly Electronic Publishing Bibliography 2010 | Digital Scholarship |

JISC Collections Open Access Fees Project: Final Report

JISC has released the JISC Collections Open Access Fees Project: Final Report.

Here's an excerpt:

The focus of this third phase was around the so-called hybrid model of OA publishing and the extent to which this can be seen as an optional model offered by publishers or a transitional one as part of the move away from subscription-based to fully Gold OA.

It began with a series of in-depth one-to-one interviews with stakeholders within the Research Councils, other funding bodies, publishers and representatives from universities including librarians, institutional repository managers and research management. Interviewees were invited to answer a series of questions about the principles of the hybrid journal model, their attitudes towards it, the management of open-access fees at their organisation and their policy. . . .

The results of the interviews were used to develop a workshop for stakeholders to ensure that presentations and discussions were focused on the key issues identified in the interviews. The workshop was held in May 2011 and was the final part of the project.

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

Digital Scholarship |

Benefits to the Private Sector of Open Access to Higher Education and Scholarly Research

JISC has released Benefits to the Private Sector of Open Access to Higher Education and Scholarly Research.

Here's an excerpt:

The focus of the current study is not on assessing private sector demand, but on identifying, mapping and reviewing practical illustrations of benefits. In particular, the study was asked to look at:

  • Identifying and, where possible, quantifying tangible and attributable benefits in Open Access engagement to university research outputs.
  • Identifying success factors and recurrent enablers to realising these benefits.
  • Establishing illustrations of what and how benefits were realised, the timescale for realisation and transferability of that experience.

The study was also asked to review the quality of available evidence, how this might be addressed and to propose an evidence-based typology of Open Access engagement and benefit realisation over the short, medium and longer-term.

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