Research Libraries – DigitalKoans

Paywall: "After the Big Deal: Data-Informed Management of Unbundled Journal Packages in a Consortial Environment"

Facing increasing costs for their Elsevier ScienceDirect bundled subscription, the 60 libraries of the State University of New York (SUNY) System restructured their large package in favor of a smaller curated list of titles and adopted a data informed approach to assess the new package. . . . Based on the experience of other consortia, the authors expected an increase in usage of subscription alternatives such as open access content, interlibrary loan, post-termination access requests, and individual article purchases. Preliminary review showed usage of Elsevier content initially dropped 50% after unbundling and then increased annually at a marginal rate. While consortia staff attempted to use a data-informed approach to evaluate titles for yearly subscription reviews and yearly package adjustments, this approach was not sustainable post-unbundling.

https://doi.org/10.1080/0361526X.2024.2435429

"How Has the Field Changed in the Last 10 Years? An Excerpt from the 2024 Library Publishing Directory"

In this year’s edition of the Directory, we received responses from 179 publishers in 18 countries, and 167 long-form responses are featured in the Directory. The number of respondents has grown gradually since the first Library Publishing Directory in 2014, when 116 library publishers completed the survey. We also see a much higher number in the unique institutions that have participated in the last decade: in the Directory‘s lifetime 383 library programs have responded to the call for entries. Most respondents (92%) represent academic libraries, which is consistent with previous years. Of the remaining respondents, 5% identified their institution type as consortia, 1% as member organizations, and 2% as other.

https://tinyurl.com/kf8w3fp5

"Beyond the Minimum: New Rule Requires Web Content (I’m Looking at You, LibGuides) to Meet WCAG 2.1 Level AA Standards "

In April 2024, the Department of Justice finalized a rule updating regulations for Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which requires that all state and local governments make their services, programs, and activities accessible, including those that are offered online and in mobile apps. The final rule dictates that public entities’ web content meet the technical standards of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) Version 2.1, level AA, an industry standard since its creation in 2018.

Libraries that receive federal funding will be required to follow this rule for any web content they create, including LibGuides. Springshare’s LibGuide platform is one of the most widely used among libraries for web content creation, from complete websites to pedagogical and research guides. While Springshare may develop plans to make sure its clients are in compliance with this new rule, there are more important questions that LibGuide creators need to consider to move beyond the bare minimum of following the rule. The authors explain what WCAG 2.1 AA compliance requires, how LibGuide authors can use accessibility principles to ensure compliance, and offer available tools to check existing guides, as well as discuss alternatives to LibGuides.

https://tinyurl.com/yc64vrjm

New Horizons in Artificial Intelligence in Libraries

This publication provides an opportunity to explore developing new library AI paradigms, including present use case practical implementation and opportunities on the horizon as well as current large ethics questions and needs for transparency, scenario planning, considerations and implications of bias as library AI systems are developed and implemented presently and for our collective future.

https://tinyurl.com/4b5juutm

"Cancelling the ‘Big Deal’ at a Public University: A Discussion of STEM Faculty Perceptions of Cancellation and Post-Cancellation Usage Data "

This article discusses how faculty, staff, and students at the University at Buffalo (UB), a public Carnegie R1 university, were impacted by the cancellation of the Elsevier ScienceDirect Big Deal package. After the cancellation, UB participated in a multi-site study which included interviewing faculty about the effect of the cancellation on their research and teaching. In general, the faculty were supportive of the cancellation. There was frustration expressed with the current structure of the publishing industry, particularly with the exorbitant pricing of journal subscriptions. Later analysis of usage data at UB post-cancellation was conducted; unsurprisingly, the data showed a decrease in usage on the ScienceDirect platform and increase in requests for unavailable articles. Although the cancellation of the ScienceDirect Big Deal package had a direct impact on UB, the initial outcome was not exceedingly harmful and could be addressed through mitigating measures such as the quick fulfilment of requests for unavailable articles.

https://tinyurl.com/4duy8k8f

"Embracing the Metaverse: A Survey of Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality Practices at the United States’ Top One Hundred University Libraries"

The purpose of this study is to learn more about virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) practices at the United States’ top one hundred university libraries, as well as how they are engaging with the metaverse. We conducted qualitative and descriptive analysis on the websites of the top one hundred university libraries in the United States to determine the application fields and application proportions of VR and AR technologies and found good practice examples of using VR and AR technologies in this field. The findings show that 86 percent of the top one hundred US university libraries have implemented VR and AR technologies, with practice areas focused on: VR/AR studio and VR/AR makerspace; immersive learning services and virtual exhibitions/conference services; visual geographic information system and VR navigation services; virtual reading services and visual retrieval services; and VR reference services. The study provides university library administrators and professionals with the most up-to-date information and best practices of VR and AR engagement areas and the proportion of use, which can aid in the development of strategies to leverage VR and AR technologies to improve patron service and embrace the metaverse for the communities they serve.

https://tinyurl.com/55u3hnf3

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign: "Research Data Service Extended Review"

Building upon the first 5-year review in 2019, this report presents an extended review of the Research Data Service at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign from 2018-2023, assessing its current efforts and future directions.

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/124781

University College Librarian at University of Toronto Libraries

The University of Toronto Libraries system is the largest academic library in Canada and is consistently ranked in the top ten among academic research libraries in North America. The system consists of 40 libraries located on three university campuses: St. George, Mississauga, and Scarborough. This array of college libraries, special collections, and specialized libraries and information centres supports the teaching and research requirements of over 300 graduate programs, more than 70 professional programs, and about 700 undergraduate degree programs. In addition to more than 12 million volumes in 341 languages, the library system currently provides access to millions of electronic resources in various forms and over 31,000 linear metres of archival material. More than 150,000 new print volumes are acquired each year. The Libraries’ data centre houses more than 600 servers with a storage capacity of 1.5 petabytes.

https://tinyurl.com/mwvsnyrb

"Leveraging Transformative Agreements for Research Integrity "

Specifically, publishers could incorporate clauses that require the institution to identify a designated contact to handle research integrity investigations, just as they would for access-related matters like login issues or security breaches. Likewise, institutions may wish to negotiate for parallel requirements from publishers.

For example, in cases of suspected misconduct or ethical concerns related to publications, publishers could rely on designated university personnel to respond and engage with these issues directly. Additional contractual clauses could include agreed-upon investigatory procedures, such as a mutual commitment to follow COPE’s guideline on “Cooperation between research institutions and journals on research integrity and publication misconduct cases,” and penalties for failure to respond.

https://tinyurl.com/4twzs2w

"The State of U.S. Academic Libraries: Findings from the ACRL 2023 Annual Survey"

The average full-time equivalent (FTE) library staff is 36.2 and the median is 15.7. Doctoral universities have much higher staffing levels than all other types. Associate’s colleges and two year institutions have the highest ratio of students to staff.

In 2023, total expenditures excluding fringe benefits reached an average of almost four million and the median reported was $1.1 million. Adjusted for inflation, this represents a slight increase from 2022, but expenditures remain below pre-pandemic levels.

Digital materials continue to account for a significant proportion of library circulation, at 98.4% of the total reported. These materials come at significant cost: ongoing commitments to subscriptions account for 34.9% of total library expenditures.

Library instruction shows signs of recovery from pandemic lows. The reported average number of annual presentations to groups and average total attendance at those presentations have increased over the last three years, though still lagging relative to pre-pandemic levels.

https://tinyurl.com/36rdszhj

The State of U.S. Academic Libraries: Findings from the ACRL 2023 Annual Survey

Dean of Libraries at University of Massachusetts Amherst

The next Dean will join UMass Amherst at a transformational moment. The University has recently welcomed a new Chancellor and Provost who join the vibrant community of dreamers, innovators, creators, and scholars. New leadership inspires new strategic direction, and a new strategic plan is being developed with the release set for Fall 2024 . . . .

The Dean will have the opportunity to build upon the Libraries’ excellent reputation for data management and preservation, its on-going development of open educational resources and software in collaboration with UMass Amherst faculty, its pioneering work on transformative licensing agreements for scholarly resources, its active national role in open science, its contributions to the international development of the open-source library services platform FOLIO, and the continued growth of the Robert S. Cox Special Collections and University Archives Research Center and the W. E. B. Du Bois Center.

https://tinyurl.com/yc3xdfzn

"SPARC Releases Second Vendor Privacy Report Urging Action to Address Concerns with SpringerLink Data Privacy Practices"

SpringerLink provides a case study in the encroachment of the broader surveillance-based data brokering economy into academic systems. Among other findings, the report documents risks related to the 200 named third parties that are allowed to collect information from users of the site (along with what appear to be additional unlisted companies found only in our public website analysis). . . .

To fully understand how data may be used, librarians would need to read the 200 additional privacy policies from third parties that would likely stretch into the thousands of pages, a task complicated by numerous broken links to these policies at the time of publication.

https://tinyurl.com/wdkmha3z

Navigating Risk in Vendor Data Privacy Practices: An Analysis of Springer Nature’s SpringerLink

Virginia Tech and UC Riverside: "University Libraries Receives Grant to Create Generative Artificial Intelligence Incubator Program"

University Libraries at Virginia Tech and the University of California, Riverside, received a $115,398 Institute of Museum and Library Services grant to create a generative artificial intelligence incubator program (GenAI) to increase the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) in the library profession and academic libraries. . . .

[Yinlin] Chen [assistant director for the Center for Digital Research and Scholarship at Virginia Tech] will use his expertise in advanced GenAI techniques and multidisciplinary AI research in his collaboration with Edward Fox, co-principal investigator and director of the digital library research laboratory at Virginia Tech and computer science professor, and Zhiwu Xie, co-principal investigator and assistant university librarian for research and technology at the University of California, Riverside, to create the generative artificial intelligence incubator program. They will build training materials, workshops, and projects to assist librarians in becoming AI practitioners.

https://tinyurl.com/3sysn284

"National Archives Updates Digital Preservation Framework"

Last week the National Archives released a major update to its Digital Preservation Framework, an open resource and data set on GitHub that provides guidance and risk assessments for digital file formats. refer to caption Enlarge NASA Computers, September 12, 1986. Photo by Martin Brown. National Archives, Records of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. View in National Archives Catalog The release marks a significant update to the Framework, adding new and revised questions to address additional risk factors to digital formats that have emerged since its initial release four years ago. The updated Framework is more user friendly and more transparent about the National Archives’ digital preservation process and its electronic holdings. . . .

The update comes after months of collaborative work with other digital formats specialists. The National Archives shared a draft of the updated Framework for public comment this past May, and this latest release incorporates feedback from colleagues throughout the agency and federal government, as well as international colleagues.

Since its debut, the Framework has become a widely consulted resource for the digital preservation community around the globe. The Framework was additionally released as Linked Open Data in 2022.

https://tinyurl.com/bdehy8yj

University Librarian at California Institute of Technology

The Sherman Fairchild Library is the main library on campus. SFL is complemented by three branch libraries: Humanities and Social Sciences (Dabney), Astrophysics (Cahill), and Geology (North Mudd). Caltech Hall also houses additional collections, including archives and digital repositories. Reporting to the Vice Provost, and as a member of the faculty, the University Librarian (“UL”) will work with the senior leadership team to support Caltech’s mission. The UL oversees an operating budget of approximately $8.1 million and a staff of approximately 45 individuals.

https://rebrand.ly/222873

" It Takes a Village A Distributed Training Model for AI-Based Chatbots "

The introduction of Large Language Models (LLM) to the chatbot landscape has opened intriguing possibilities for academic libraries to offer more responsive and institutionally contextualized support to users, especially outside of regular service hours. While a few academic libraries currently employ AI-based chatbots on their websites, this service has not yet become the norm and there are no best practices in place for how academic libraries should launch, train, and assess the usefulness of a chatbot. In summer 2023, staff from the University of Delaware’s Morris Library information technology (IT) and reference departments came together in a unique partnership to pilot a low-cost AI-powered chatbot called UDStax. The goals of the pilot were to learn more about the campus community’s interest in engaging with this tool and to better understand the labor required on the staff side to maintain the bot. After researching six different options, the team selected Chatbase, a subscription-model product based on ChatGPT 3.5 that provides user-friendly training methods for an AI model using website URLs and uploaded source material. Chatbase removed the need to utilize the OpenAI API directly to code processes for submitting information to the AI engine to train the model, cutting down the amount of work for library information technology and making it possible to leverage the expertise of reference librarians and other public-facing staff, including student workers, to distribute the work of developing, refining, and reviewing training materials. This article will discuss the development of prompts, leveraging of existing data sources for training materials, and workflows involved in the pilot. It will argue that, when implementing AI-based tools in the academic library, involving staff from across the organization is essential to ensure buy-in and success. Although chatbots are designed to hide the effort of the people behind them, that labor is substantial and needs to be recognized.

https://tinyurl.com/3y654j2r

" Responsible AI Practice in Libraries and Archives: A Review of the Literature "

Artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to positively impact library and archives collections and services—enhancing reference, instruction, metadata creation, recommendations, and more. However, AI also has ethical implications. This paper presents an extensive literature and review analysis that examines AI projects implemented in library and archives settings, asking the following research questions: RQ1: How is artificial intelligence being used in libraries and archives practice? RQ2: What ethical concerns are being identified and addressed during AI implementation in libraries and archives? The results of this literature review show that AI implementation is growing in libraries and archives and that practitioners are using AI for increasingly varied purposes. We found that AI implementation was most common in large, academic libraries. Materials used in AI projects usually involved digitized and born digital text and images, though materials also ranged to include web archives, electronic theses and dissertations (ETDs), and maps. AI was most often used for metadata extraction and reference and research services. Just over half of the papers included in the literature review mentioned ethics or values related issues in their discussions of AI implementation in libraries and archives, and only one-third of all resources discussed ethical issues beyond technical issues of accuracy and human-in-the-loop. Case studies relating to AI in libraries and archives are on the rise, and we expect subsequent discussions of relevant ethics and values to follow suit, particularly growing in the areas of cost considerations, transparency, reliability, policy and guidelines, bias, social justice, user communities, privacy, consent, accessibility, and access. As AI comes into more common usage, it will benefit the library and archives professions to not only consider ethics when implementing local projects, but to publicly discuss these ethical considerations in shared documentation and publications.

https://tinyurl.com/2t6ykuyv

"Early Access Customers Begin Testing the AI Metadata Assistant for Alma"

Ex Libris, part of Clarivate, is excited to announce that fourteen libraries are now Early Access testers of the new AI Metadata Assistant for the Alma library management platform. As Early Access testers library staff are taking an active role in the initial phase of development for the AI-powered solution which is being designed to help library catalogers in their work and save them time. . . .

The AI Metadata Assistant in the Alma Metadata Editor will reduce the work needed to research and search for information, freeing catalogers’ time to tackle more complex tasks, by suggesting metadata they can use when cataloging a resource. It’ll make record creation and enrichment easier, while keeping libraries and catalogers in full control of the data in their catalog. . . .

The AI Metadata Assistant development is being done in phases, to ensure it aligns with cataloguing standards, community needs, and metadata quality requirements. The initial phase is scheduled to be released to all Alma customers in the first quarter of 2025, with the possibility of an earlier release depending on the results of the Early Access phase.

https://tinyurl.com/3pkcashn

"New Open Access Agreement Between the University of California and Taylor & Francis"

The University of California (UC) and Taylor & Francis today announced a memorandum of understanding for a four-year read and publish agreement that will make it easier and more affordable for UC researchers to publish open access (OA) articles in nearly 2,500 Taylor & Francis journals. . . .

Under the agreement, the UC Libraries will automatically cover the OA fees in full for any UC corresponding author who chooses to publish OA in Taylor & Francis and Routledge journals. Authors of articles accepted for publication in a hybrid or full OA title will have the opportunity to choose OA at no cost to them. . . .

To maximize the number of UC researchers who can benefit from the newly signed agreement, authors of qualifying articles published since January 1, 2024, will be given the opportunity to retrospectively convert their article to open access, with the OA fees fully covered. Authors who have already published OA since January 1 will be offered refunds for OA fees already paid.

https://tinyurl.com/y8zutk9m

"CDL Decision Round Two: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly and Why There is Still Hope OR The Reports of CDL’s Death Have Been Greatly Exaggerated"

Let me be unequivocal: libraries do not need a license to loan books, whether physical or digital. Lending legally acquired books is not illegal. Libraries are entitled to share these works, with no obligation to enter into licensing agreements or contracts beforehand. Furthermore, libraries—and their patrons—are legally permitted to make various uses of these works, including interlibrary loan, reserves, preservation, and fair use, all without needing permission from rightsholders.

This is because various exceptions in the law, including Section 108 for Libraries and Archives, ad Section 109 known as the first sale doctrine. We know that Section 109 preserves the balance between rightsholders and libraries. When a library purchases a book, it has the right to loan that work freely, without requiring additional permissions or payments to the copyright holder. A digitized version of a legally acquired book simply replaces the physical copy, not an unpurchased one in the marketplace. Any “market harm” is already factored into the initial sale, for which both the authors and publishers have been compensated.

https://tinyurl.com/3exh96bu

Paywall: "Ephemeral Geodata: An Impending Digital Dark Age"

Despite the unprecedented rate of geospatial data (“geodata”) generation, we are paradoxically creating a potential “dark age” in geospatial knowledge due to a failure to archive it. In the twentieth century, map libraries systematically collected and preserved government-issued maps. However, many have not expanded to include digital formats, which have replaced paper maps in most domains. Compounding this issue is the prevailing practice among government data providers to continuously update public data without adequately preserving previous iterations, thus overwriting the historical record.

https://doi.org/10.1080/15420353.2024.2398542

Paywall: "Reshaping Academic Library Information Literacy Programs in the Advent of ChatGPT and Other Generative AI Technologies"

This article reports on three digital information literacy initiatives created by instruction librarians to support students’ use of generative AI technologies, namely ChatGPT, in academic library research. The cumulative and formative data gathered from the initiatives reveals a continuing need for academic libraries to provide information literacy instruction that guides students toward the ethical use of information and awareness of using generative AI tools in library research.

https://doi.org/10.1080/10875301.2024.2400132

"eBooks, Interlibrary Loan and an Uncertain Future"

Important advancements are underway, but ILL for ebooks is hampered by restrictive licensing models, resource sharing systems, and current practices. This study provides an environmental scan of the current acquisitions and ILL practices of academic libraries. This paper guides academic libraries through these conversations so that they can support the borrowing and lending of ebooks into the future.

https://doi.org/10.1080/0361526X.2024.2391735

"Clarivate Report Unveils the Transformative Role of Artificial Intelligence on Shaping the Future of the Library"

The report combines feedback from a survey of more than 1,500 librarians from across the world with qualitative interviews, covering academic, national and public libraries. In addition to the downloadable report, the accompanying microsite’s dynamic and interactive data visualizations enable rapid comparative analyses according to regions and library types. . . .

Key findings of the report include:

Most libraries have an AI plan in place, or one in progress: Over 60% of respondents are evaluating or planning for AI integration.

AI adoption is the top tech priority: AI-powered tools for library users and patrons top the list of technology priorities for the next 12 months, according to 43% of respondents.

AI is advancing library missions: Key goals for those evaluating or implementing AI include supporting student learning (52%), research excellence (47%) and content discoverability (45%), aligning closely with the mission of libraries.

Librarians see promise and pitfalls in AI adoption: 42% believe AI can automate routine tasks, freeing librarians for strategic and creative activities. Levels of optimism vary regionally.

AI skills gaps and shrinking budgets are top concerns. Lack of expertise and budget constraints are seen as greater challenges than privacy and security issues: — Shrinking budgets: Almost half (47%) cite shrinking budgets as their greatest challenge. — Skills gap: 52% of respondents see upskilling as AI’s biggest impact on employment, yet nearly a third (32%) state that no training is available.

AI advancement will be led by IT: By combining the expertise of heads of IT with strategic investment and direction from senior leadership, libraries can move from consideration to implementation of AI in the coming years.

Regional priorities differ: Librarians’ views on other key topics such as sustainability, diversity, open access and open science show notable regional diversity.

https://tinyurl.com/9azeessa

Pulse of the Library report

"Director of University of Texas Libraries and Open Access Champion Lorraine Haricombe Announces Retirement"

Lorraine J. Haricombe, an innovating leader in academic libraries, has announced her retirement as Director and Vice Provost of the University of Texas Libraries, marking the conclusion of a distinguished career spanning decades. . . .

Among her many achievements, she expanded the development of Texas ScholarWorks, the university’s digital repository, which has significantly enhanced the accessibility and impact of the university’s scholarly output. Haricombe also championed the implementation of advanced data management services, providing critical support for the university’s research community in managing, preserving, and sharing their data. . . . .

One of Haricombe’s most notable accomplishments as a library leader was her advocacy in advancing open access initiatives. She played a key role in the establishment of the Open Educational Resources (OER) Working Group, which has been instrumental in reducing the cost of educational materials for students and promoting the adoption of OER across the campus. . . .

Before her tenure at The University of Texas at Austin, Haricombe served as the Dean of Libraries at the University of Kansas from 2006 to 2015. At Kansas, she was a driving force behind the implementation of the university’s open access policy, making it one of the first public universities in the United States to adopt such a policy.

https://tinyurl.com/2296efah