Category: Research Libraries

Libraries as Publishers in the Early 1990s

In recent years, there has been an upsurge in interest in academic and other types libraries acting as publishers and considerable discussion about how this will transform them.

What is sometimes lost in the excitement over the library publishing movement is historical context: this trend started over a quarter century ago at the dawn of the Internet age. While most e-journals published in the early 1990s were produced by scholars acting as digital publishers, at least two academic libraries established formal digital publishing programs in this period: the University of Houston Libraries and the Virginia Tech Libraries.

In August 1989, the Director of the University of Houston Libraries, Robin N. Downes, authorized the establishment and announcement of The Public-Access Computer Systems Review (PACS Review), the first open access journal in the field of library and information science. The journal began publication in January 1990, became refereed in November 1991, and ceased publication in August 2000. Authors retained the copyright to PACS Review articles. Unrestricted copying of PACS Review articles was permitted for educational, noncommercial use by academic computer centers, individual scholars, and libraries.

Only partial use statistics are available for the journal. It was initially distributed using the LISTSERV software, and LISTSERV use statistics were not tallied. From 1994 through 1996, the journal received over 81,000 Gopher requests. From March 1995 through 2005, the journal received over 3.5 file requests via the Web.

In October 1996, Robin N. Downes authorized the establishment of the Scholarly Electronic Publishing Bibliography, an open access, updated electronic book that provided references to new works related to scholarly electronic publishing, such as books, journal articles, magazine articles, technical reports, and white papers.

Between October 1996 and October 2006, 64 versions of the e-book were published by the University of Houston Libraries. There were over six million file requests for it during this period.

In the fall of 1989, Virginia Tech's Vice President for Information Systems, Dr. Robert Heterick, established the Scholarly Communications Project. The project was subsequently moved to the University Libraries, and it was directed by Lon Savage until December 1993, when Gail McMillan took over.

Since 1990, the Virginia Tech Libraries have published a number of e-journals, some of which were previously published by other entities prior to being migrated to the Libraries. Notably, the Scholarly Communications Project published the first issue of The Journal of the International Academy of Hospitality Research in November 1990. The journal was published in cooperation with Virginia Tech's Department of Hotel, Restaurant, and Institutional Management. It ceased publication in 1998. It is described in "The Journal of the International Academy of Hospitality Research."

The Virginia Tech Libraries' Scholarly Communication department currently publishes e-journals, conference proceedings, and open educational resources.

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"Open Access, Innovation, and Research Infrastructure"

Benedikt Fecher and Gert G. Wagner have published "Open Access, Innovation, and Research Infrastructure" in Publications.

Here's an excerpt:

In this article we argue that the current endeavors to achieve open access in scientific literature require a discussion about innovation in scholarly publishing and research infrastructure. Drawing on path dependence theory and addressing different open access (OA) models and recent political endeavors, we argue that academia is once again running the risk of outsourcing the organization of its content.

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"Scholarly Communication and the Dilemma of Collective Action: Why Academic Journals Cost Too Much"

College & Research Libraries has released an e-print of "Scholarly Communication and the Dilemma of Collective Action: Why Academic Journals Cost Too Much" by John Wenzler.

Here's an excerpt:

Why has the rise of the Internet—which drastically reduces the cost of distributing information—coincided with drastic increases in the prices that academic libraries pay for access to scholarly journals?This study argues that libraries are trapped in a collective action dilemma as defined by economist Mancur Olson in The Logic of Collective Action: Public Goods and the Theory of Groups. To truly reduce their costs, librarians would have to build a shared online collection of scholarly resources jointly managed by the academic community as a whole, but individual academic institutions lack the private incentives necessary to invest in a shared collection. Thus, the management of online scholarly journals has been largely outsourced to publishers who have developed monopoly powers that allow them to increase subscription prices faster than the rate of inflation. Many librarians consider the Open Access Movement the best response to increased subscription costs, but the current strategies employed to achieve Open Access also are undermined by collective action dilemmas. In conclusion, some alternative strategies are proposed.

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Hillman University Librarian and Director, University Library System at University of Pittsburgh

The University of Pittsburgh is recruiting a Hillman University Librarian and Director, University Library System.

Here's an excerpt from the ad:

A member of the Association of American Universities, current enrollment in Pitt's 16 undergraduate and graduate schools and 4 regional campuses is 34,934 (25,074 undergraduate and 9,860 graduate students).

In 2015, the University's federally funded research summed to almost $600 million. . . .

The ULS is comprised of 11 libraries and holdings of nearly 7.2 million volumes and employs a total FTE count of 180. The director oversees the ULS budget, which in 2015 was approximately $32 million.

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"After Copyright Win, GSU Seeks $3.3 Million from Publishers "

Andrew Albanese has published "After Copyright Win, GSU Seeks $3.3 Million from Publishers" in Publishers Weekly.

Here's an excerpt:

After winning a key copyright decision, attorneys for Georgia State University want the publishers who brought the suit to pay more than $3.3 million dollars in fees and costs.

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"Research Library Associations Endorse Open Data Accord"

ARL has released "Research Library Associations Endorse Open Data Accord."

Here's an excerpt:

IARLA [International Alliance of Research Library Associations] views the Science International accord on "Open Data in a Big Data World" as an important step towards creating and enabling this common vision of the importance of open data. In setting out principles for open data that are derived from emerging practices within the scientific community, the accord lends the voice of a key stakeholder to the case for open data and provides a practical road map for the implementation of open data at the global level.

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Simon Neame Named Dean of Libraries at University of Massachusetts Amherst

Simon Neame has been named the Dean of Libraries at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Here's an excerpt from the announcement:

At UBC, Neame oversees 33 professional librarians and 114 support staff as associate university librarian, learning and engagement. His budget responsibilities include the Barber Centre, the Walter C. Koerner Library for humanities and social sciences, the Woodard Library for health sciences, science and applied science, the Music, Art and Architecture Library, access services and the library's teaching, learning and community engagement programs. . . .

He holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Victoria and a master's of library and information studies from UBC.

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Valerie Hotchkiss Named as University Librarian at Vanderbilt University

Valerie Hotchkiss, Andrew S.G. Turyn Endowed Professor and Director of the Rare Book and Manuscript Library at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, has been named as the University Librarian at Vanderbilt University.

Here's an excerpt from the announcement:

At the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Hotchkiss built visibility for the collections and promoted the study of primary resources as an integral part of the school's curriculum. . . . In addition, she served as editor-in-chief of Women in Print, a digital humanities publishing project of the University of Illinois Press. . . .

From 1993 to 2005, Hotchkiss was the J.S. Bridwell Foundation Endowed Librarian and professor of medieval studies at Southern Methodist University, where she raised more than $16 million for the library's endowment and introduced many new community initiatives. . . .

She also served as library director for Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary and was employed by Yale University's Divinity School Library. She earned three degrees—master of arts, master of philosophy, and doctorate in medieval studies—all from Yale. In addition, she earned a master of library science from Southern Connecticut State University.

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John M. Unsworth Named as University of Virginia University Librarian and Dean of Libraries

John M. Unsworth, Vice Provost, University Librarian, Chief Information Officer, and Professor of English at Brandeis University, has been named as the new University Librarian and Dean of Libraries at the University of Virginia .

Here's an excerpt from the announcement:

He received his Ph.D. in English from UVA in 1988, and later in his career became a tenured associate professor of English at the University, as well the first director of UVA's Institute for Advanced Technology in the Humanities. Recognized as a pioneer in the field of digital humanities, he is the co-founder of the first peer-reviewed electronic journal in the humanities, Postmodern Culture.

Before going to Brandeis, Unsworth was dean of the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he also held faculty appointments in library and information science, English, and library administration. His first faculty appointment was as an assistant professor in English at North Carolina State University.

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Anne Jarvis Named as University Librarian at Princeton University

Anne Jarvis, University Librarian at the University of Cambridge, has been named as University Librarian at Princeton University.

Here's an excerpt from the announcement:

Jarvis has a bachelor's degree from Trinity College Dublin, a diploma in library and information studies from University College Dublin, a master's degree in communication and cultural studies from Dublin City University and a master of arts from Cambridge.

Her library career began in special libraries and included posts in Ireland and the United Kingdom. She began working in academic libraries in 1992 and spent some years at Dublin City University and Trinity College Dublin. In 2000 she was appointed deputy librarian at Cambridge.

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"Science and Technology Librarians: User Engagement and Outreach Activities in the Area of Scholarly Communication"

Lutishoor Salisbury and Julie Speer have published "Science and Technology Librarians: User Engagement and Outreach Activities in the Area of Scholarly Communication" in Issues in Science and Technology Librarianship.

Here's an excerpt:

This paper highlights the findings of a survey completed by ACRL/STS members on scholarly communication issues. In particular it identifies the percentage of their daily activities that are spent in support of scholarly communication activities; extent of change of job responsibilities in the last five years; roles engaged in relating to scholarly communication including those that are formal responsibilities, those they are informally engaged in, or those with which they have no engagement. It highlights areas in the area of scholarly communication that STS members need to know more about or want to know more about. It presents the status of open access policies at members' institutions and the needs expressed by members about activities that STS or ACRL could undertake to help advance their work in the areas of scholarly communication.

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Cambridge Press v. Georgia State University: "Here We Go Again: Latest GSU Ruling an Odd Victory for Libraries"

Kevin Smith has published "Here We Go Again: Latest GSU Ruling an Odd Victory for Libraries" in Scholarly Communications @ Duke.

Here's an excerpt:

So this ruling, like each ruling in the case, is clearly a disaster for the plaintiff publishers. Once again it establishes that there is significant space for fair use in higher education, even when that use is not transformative. Nevertheless, it is a difficult victory for libraries, in the sense that the analysis it uses is not one we can replicate; we simply do not have access to the extensive data about revenue, of which Judge Evans makes such complex use.

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Ithaka S+R US Faculty Survey 2015

Ithaka S+R has released the Ithaka S+R US Faculty Survey 2015 .

Here's an excerpt:

Ithaka S+R's survey of US faculty members has been fielded regularly since 2000. This project provides a periodic snapshot of practices and perceptions related to scholarly communications and information usage. The scholar-centric nature of the questionnaire ensures that potential changes in research and teaching inform our thinking, not only about academic libraries and scholarly publishing, but about changes in the educational enterprise more broadly.

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Trevor A. Dawes Named May Morris Librarian and Vice Provost for Libraries and Museums at the University of Delaware

Trevor A. Dawes, Associate University Librarian at Washington University, has been named as the May Morris Librarian and Vice Provost for Libraries snd Museums at the University of Delaware.

Here's an excerpt from the announcement:

At Washington University, Dawes has provided leadership, direction and guidance for scholarly services, diversity and outreach, scholarly communication, and collections and acquisitions.

Prior to joining the staff at Washington University, Dawes served as circulation services director of the Princeton University Library from 2004-13 and as head of the circulation and support services department of the Columbia University Libraries from 1999-2004.

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"Transforming Roles: Canadian Academic Librarians Embedded in Faculty Research Projects"

College & Research Libraries has released an e-print of "Transforming Roles: Canadian Academic Librarians Embedded in Faculty Research Projects."

Here's an excerpt:

This article describes how a selected sample of Canadian academic librarians became embedded in faculty research projects and describes their experiences of participating in research teams. Conducted as a series of semi-structured interviews, this qualitative study illustrates the emerging opportunities and challenges of the librarian-researcher role and how it is transforming the Canadian university library.

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How Readers Discover Content in Scholarly Publications

Simon Inger Consulting Ltd has released How Readers Discover Content in Scholarly Publications.

Here's an excerpt:

This report is the output of a large-scale survey of readers of scholarly publications (n=40439) and their behaviour in the discovery of journal articles and online books. The survey was conducted during October, November, and December of 2015. While usage statistics and analytics gathered by publishers, libraries and intermediaries can give us a partial view of discovery behaviour, there are many gaps in the knowledge that these can provide which we have endeavoured to fill by aski ng readers what tools they use in discovery.

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"Library Leadership for the Digital Age"

Ithaka S+R has released "Library Leadership for the Digital Age."

Here's an excerpt:

Users think libraries are—or at least should be—digital. And yet, we in academic libraries are still counting how many of everything we have in our local collections. We brag about how big we are or how specialized we are. We advertise our job openings with language suggesting that our size is an indicator of greatness. But as libraries become digital, the language about size or subject strength seems slightly ridiculous.

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A Day in the Life of a (Serious) Researcher: Envisioning the Future of the Research Library

Ithaka S+R has released A Day in the Life of a (Serious) Researcher: Envisioning the Future of the Research Library .

Here's an excerpt:

Beyond this, the library is not even the best starting point for envisioning the library. A better starting point is to develop an understanding about the lives and information practices of the scholars and students who depend on the library in all its shapes and forms. Therefore, in this Cornell project, we looked at what academic researchers do day-to-day and how they acquire, use, and share information in the course of their daily activities. From our interpretations of these data we imagined new models.

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"Making OA Monographs Happen: Library-Press Collaboration at the University of Ottawa, Canada"

Tony Horava has published "Making OA Monographs Happen: Library-Press Collaboration at the University of Ottawa, Canada" in Insights: The UKSG Journal.

Here's an excerpt:

At the University of Ottawa, Canada, the UO Press and the UO Library have developed a strategic partnership to publish and disseminate selected new monographs as gold open access (OA). Starting in 2013, the Library agreed to fund three books at C$10,000 per book (a total of C$30,000 per year) in order to remove barriers to accessing scholarship and to align with scholarly communication goals of the University. In 2015 this agreement was renewed for another three years and the funding was increased to cover four books (a total of C$40,000 per year). Ten titles have so far been published under this model. The data reveals that there have been 12,629 downloads as well as 16,584 page views of these titles, as of September 2015. There have been over 4,700 copies (print and EPUB) sold in spite of the free availability of the PDF version.

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Webinar Recording: "VIVO plus SHARE: Closing the Loop on Tracking Scholarly Activity"

DuraSpace has released "VIVO plus SHARE: Closing the Loop on Tracking Scholarly Activity."

Here's an excerpt from the announcement:

On February 24, 2016, Rick Johnson (Program Co-Director, Digital Initiatives and Scholarship Head, Data Curation and Digital Library Solutions Hesburgh Libraries, University of Notre Dame; Visiting Program Officer for SHARE at the Association of Research Libraries) and Mike Conlon (VIVO Project Director, DuraSpace; Professor Emeritus, University of Florida) presented, "VIVO plus SHARE: Closing the Loop on Tracking Scholarly Activity."

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"A Library-Publisher Partnership for Open Access: Building an Innovative Relationship between Scholarly Publishers and Academic Libraries"

Monica Ward and Joanie Lavoie have published "A Library-Publisher Partnership for Open Access: Building an Innovative Relationship between Scholarly Publishers and Academic Libraries" in LIBER Quarterly.

Here's an excerpt:

This article presents an overview of a strategic partnership undertaken by the Canadian Research Knowledge Network (CRKN) and the Érudit Consortium (Érudit) to support the move towards open access for Canadian francophone scholarly journals.

CRKN and Érudithave had a relationship through a traditional commercial subscription model since 2008. In 2014, the two organizations recognized the need for a new relationship that would address two major challenges: the fragility of the Canadian not-for-profit scholarly publishing environment and the increasing pressure from libraries and funding agencies for scholarly journals to move towards open access. Érudit and CRKN have worked collaboratively to create an innovative partnership, which provides a framework for a new relationship between publishers and libraries, and helps to provide financial support to Canadian publishers during the transition to a fully open access model.

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Damon Jaggars Now Vice Provost and Director of Ohio State University Libraries

Damon Jaggars became the Vice Provost and Director of Ohio State University Libraries on 2/1/2016.

Here's an excerpt from the announcement:

Jaggars was interim vice provost and university librarian at Columbia and has significant, successful leadership experience supporting the evolving academic enterprise in the libraries both at Columbia and another top-tier research-intensive university, the University of Texas (UT) at Austin. His administrative work has included service planning, collection development and management, facilities planning and design, budgetary management and human resources.

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"OA in the Library Collection: The Challenges of Identifying and Maintaining Open Access Resources"

Nathan Hosburgh and Chris Bulock have self-archived "OA in the Library Collection: The Challenges of Identifying and Maintaining Open Access Resources."

Here's an excerpt:

At this session, they [the authors] shared survey results, reflected on OA workflows at their own libraries, and updated audience members on relevant standards and initiatives. Survey respondents reported challenges related to hybrid OA, inaccurate metadata, and inconsistent communication along the serials supply chain. Recommended solutions included the creation of consistent, centralized article-level metadata and the development of OA collection development principles for libraries.

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Filling the Digital Preservation Gap: A Jisc Research Data Spring Project Phase Two Report—February 2016

Jenny Mitcham et al. have released Filling the Digital Preservation Gap: A Jisc Research Data Spring Project Phase Two Report—February 2016.

Here's an excerpt:

Phase 1 of the project investigated the need for digital preservation as part of a wider infrastructure for research data management and looked specifically at how the open source digital preservation system Archivematica could fulfil this function. . . .

Work in phase 2 had the following aims:

  • Work with Artefactual Systems to develop Archivematica in a number of areas (highlighted in our phase 1 report) in order to make the system more suitable for fitting into our infrastructures for research data management
  • Develop our own detailed implementation plans for Hull and York to establish how Archivematica will be incorporated into our local infrastructures for research data
  • Consider how Archivematica could work as an above campus installation
  • Consider how digital preservation is addressed by the projects in phase 2 of Research Data Spring

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