Category: Research Libraries

"Evaluating an Open Access Publishing Fund at a Comprehensive University"

Sarah Beaubien, Julie Garrison, and Doug Way have published "Evaluating an Open Access Publishing Fund at a Comprehensive University" in the Journal of Librarianship and Scholarly Communication.

Here's an excerpt:

Wanting to learn how faculty have benefitted from an open access publishing fund, Grand Valley State University Libraries surveyed recipients of the fund. The survey asked authors why they chose an open access publishing option and whether the fund influenced this decision. Authors were also asked whether they perceived that selecting an open access option broadened exposure to their work and about their likelihood of choosing open access in the future.

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"ARL Libraries and Research: Correlates of Grant Funding"

Ryan P. Womack has self-archived "ARL Libraries and Research: Correlates of Grant Funding."

Here's an excerpt:

This study focuses on U.S. members of the ARL, the Association for Research Libraries. Research success is measured by the total grant funding received by the University, creating an ordered set of categories. Combining data from the NSF National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, ARL Statistics, and IPEDS, the primary explanatory factors for research success are examined. Using linear regression, logistic regression, and the cumulative logit model, the best-fitting models generated by ARL data, NSF data, and the combined data set for both nominal and per capita funding are compared. These models produce the most relevant explanatory variables for research funding, which do not include library-related variables in most cases.

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Dean and Director of the University Libraries at University of Denver

The University of Denver is recruiting a Dean and Director of the University Libraries .

Here's an excerpt from the ad:

The University of Denver (DU) seeks an innovative and inspired leader to serve as the Dean and Director of the University Libraries. We are seeking a visionary who will advance the institution's research and educational missions, commitment to diversity, and development initiatives. The ideal candidate will be a thoughtful strategic leader who can facilitate.

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"NYPL Shows Academic Libraries What ‘Public Domain’ Means"

Rick Anderson has published "NYPL Shows Academic Libraries What ‘Public Domain’ Means" in The Scholarly Kitchen.

Here's an excerpt:

In far too many libraries, public-domain documents and images are treated as if they were under copyright—and, even worse, in many cases the policies in question are written as if the holding libraries were themselves the copyright holders. Sometimes this is because the librarians who control access to those images genuinely don't understand copyright law: they believe that simply digitizing an image results in a copyrightable document (it doesn't), or that owning the physical item gives one legal say over how its intellectual content can be used (also untrue). The result is that in many academic libraries, intellectual content that the public has a right to access, copy, adapt, and generally reuse in any way we wish is being locked down and restricted by—ironically enough—librarians.

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"Publishing as Pedagogy: Connecting Library Services and Technology"

Laurie Alexander et al. have published "Publishing as Pedagogy: Connecting Library Services and Technology" in EDUCAUSE Review.

Here's an excerpt:

In the following three case studies we profile three student publishing outputs (a journal, a book, and an exhibit) from the University of Michigan Library. Beyond describing the products themselves, we identify the opportunities that the librarians involved found to emphasize particular learning experiences during the creation process.

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Dean of Libraries at University of Massachusetts Amherst

The University of Massachusetts Amherst is recruiting a Dean of Libraries.

Here's an excerpt from the ad:

The University of Massachusetts Amherst invites nominations and applications for the position of Dean of Libraries. This is an outstanding opportunity for a transformational leader to define the blueprint for the academic library of the future, building on the solid foundations of our current library system, which has been a trendsetter in the adoption of new services, new technologies, and new concepts of library space utilization.

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Dean of Libraries at University of Virginia

The University of Virginia is recruiting a Dean of Libraries.

Here's an excerpt from the ad:

The University Library includes twelve facilities, in addition to specialized libraries serving the Darden School, the Health Sciences, and Law. Additionally, the Library offers digital resources, specialized labs, and other services to support research and scholarship at all levels. These services include: Collections; Data Services; Digitization & Computing; Reference, Consultations, & Classes; Rooms, Equipment, & Reservations; and Scholarly Communication Services. The Dean of Libraries is the chief administrator of the Library and oversees 212 staff members and a $33 million budget.

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"How to Use Crowdsourcing Effectively: Guidelines and Examples"

Elena Simperl has published "How to Use Crowdsourcing Effectively: Guidelines and Examples" in LIBER Quarterly.

Here's an excerpt:

Crowdsourcing has become the mot du jour when it comes to resolving any types of problems, online or offline, that require sustained human involvement. We see it applied in order to motivate employees to engage with less rewarding daily routines, to attract the best possible ideas and approaches to boost innovation, or to complete data processing tasks that computing technology has yet to master quickly and accurately.

In this paper we look at its various forms and flavors, from gamification to human computation and grand challenges, and discuss how it could be used to turn conventional content management applications into social machines in which tasks are performed as optimal combinations of human and computational intelligence. We introduce a framework for the analysis of the most important building blocks of such systems, as well as design and participation best practices that should guide their development.

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Office of Scholarly Communication: Scope, Organizational Placement, and Planning in Ten Research Libraries

Ithaka S+R has released Office of Scholarly Communication: Scope, Organizational Placement, and Planning in Ten Research Libraries.

Here's an excerpt:

The project was designed to gather basic information about these issues at some of the largest research-intensive university libraries. It finds categorical differences in the vision for the scholarly communications unit and its organizational placement, as well as associated differences in staffing and budget.

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"The History and Future of Academic Library Collecting in Eleven Pictures"

David W. Lewis has self-archived "The History and Future of Academic Library Collecting in Eleven Pictures."

Here's an excerpt:

In the digital world and using the strategy I have outlined what we have is more like an open checkbook that will purchase the books an articles any library user wants. It is the difference between a public park and giving citizens free ticket s to Disney Land whenever they need recreation. Or, like the difference between a soup kitchen and food stamps.

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"ARL Fall Forum Explores Research Partnerships in Digital Scholarship for the Humanities and Social Sciences—Overview and Slides Online"

ARL has released "ARL Fall Forum Explores Research Partnerships in Digital Scholarship for the Humanities and Social Sciences—Overview and Slides Online."

Here's an excerpt:

More than 170 librarians, publishers, scholars, and others spent an invigorating day discussing research partnerships in digital scholarship for the humanities and social sciences at the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) Fall Forum in Washington, DC, on October 8, 2015. . . .

The 2015 recipient of the Julia C. Blixrud Scholarship is Liz Hamilton, permissions manager and assistant to the director at Northwestern University Press. As part of the scholarship, Hamilton wrote an overview of this year's forum, which includes links to presentation slides.

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"The Institution as E-Textbook Publisher"

Andrew Barker has published "The Institution as E-Textbook Publisher" in Insights: the UKSG Journal.

Here's an excerpt:

Providing students with sufficient copies of core textbooks is an increasing challenge in an age of ever higher fees, economic realities and heightened student expectations regarding provision of library resources. This article outlines the partnership between the University of Liverpool Library and Liverpool University Press (LUP), which has progressed from the creation of a library advisory board to the co-creation of two bespoke and open access (OA) e-textbooks as part of a Jisc-funded project. It tells the story of why we have gone down this route at Liverpool and what we hope to gain from the creation of these e-textbooks.

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"Research Data Management: A Case Study"

Gary Brewerton has published "Research Data Management: A Case Study" in Ariadne.

Here's an excerpt:

In April 2014 Loughborough University launched an innovative cloud-based platform [1] to deliver long-term archiving and discovery for its research data. The platform was based upon the Arkivum/100 [2] digital archiving service from Arkivum and the figshare for institutions solution from Figshare [3]. This article discusses the background and implementation of this new platform at the University.

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"Extra Extra! Chronicling America Posts its 10 Millionth Historic Newspaper Page"

Erin Engle has published "Extra Extra! Chronicling America Posts its 10 Millionth Historic Newspaper Page" in The Signal.

Here's an excerpt:

Chronicling America, an online searchable database of historic U.S. newspapers, has posted its 10 millionth page today. Way back in 2013, Chronicling America boasted 6 million pages available for access online.

The site makes digitized newspapers (of those published between 1836 and 1922) available through the National Digital Newspaper Program. It also includes a separate searchable directory of US newspaper records, describing more than 150,000 titles published between 1690 to the present and listing libraries that have physical copies in microfilm or original print. The site now features more than 74 terabytes of total data – from more than 1,900 newspapers in 38 states and territories and the District of Columbia.

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Director, University Library System at University of Pittsburgh

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

Here's an excerpt from the ad:

The director is responsible for the leadership and administration of the ULS, overseeing the innovation and development of the libraries in the areas of user services, collections and resources, management and infrastructure, cooperative initiatives and outreach, and support and funding. The new director will provide visionary leadership for the ULS and implement the libraries' strategic plan in support of the University's academic priorities, curricula, and research; keep the ULS collections vital and accessible for the University community; support and continue to develop open access initiative; increase awareness on campus of what the ULS has to offer; leverage and augment the resources of the ULS wisely; and lead and further develop a strong, service-oriented staff. The director reports to the provost of the University of Pittsburgh and sits on the Council of Deans.

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"Strategic Planning for a Data-Driven, Shared-Access Research Enterprise: Virginia Tech Research Data Assessment and Landscape Study"

College & Research Libraries has released an e-print of "Strategic Planning for a Data-Driven, Shared-Access Research Enterprise: Virginia Tech Research Data Assessment and Landscape Study."

Here's an excerpt:

The data landscape study at Virginia Tech addresses the changing modes of faculty scholarship and supports the development of a user-centric data infrastructure, management, and curation system. The study investigates faculty researchers' current practices in organizing, describing, and preserving data and the emerging needs for services and education. The results demonstrate the changing nature of faculty demands regarding data documentation, storage, and archiving and identify opportunities for libraries to develop a coherent service, research, and education system to address the evolving needs.

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"What Technology Skills Do Developers Need? A Text Analysis of Job Listings in Library and Information Science (LIS) from Jobs.code4lib.org"

Monica Maceli has published "What Technology Skills Do Developers Need? A Text Analysis of Job Listings in Library and Information Science (LIS) from Jobs.code4lib.org " in Information Technology and Libraries.

Here's an excerpt:

Technology plays an indisputably vital role in library and information science (LIS) work; this rapidly moving landscape can create challenges for practitioners and educators seeking to keep pace with such change. In pursuit of building our understanding of currently sought technology competencies in developer-oriented positions within LIS, this paper reports the results of a text analysis of a large collection of job listings culled from the Code4lib jobs website. Beginning over a decade ago as a popular mailing list covering the intersection of technology and library work, the Code4lib organization's current offerings include a website that collects and organizes LIS-related technology job listings. The results of the text analysis of this dataset suggest the currently vital technology skills and concepts that existing and aspiring practitioners may target in their continuing education as developers.

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"Do You Have an Institutional Data Policy? A Review of the Current Landscape of Library Data Services and Institutional Data Policies"

Kristin Briney et al. have published "Do You Have an Institutional Data Policy? A Review of the Current Landscape of Library Data Services and Institutional Data Policies" in the Journal of Librarianship and Scholarly Communication,.

Here's an excerpt:

This study reviewed library data services efforts and institutional data policies of 206 American universities, drawn from the July 2014 Carnegie list of universities with "Very High" or "High" research activity designation. Twenty-four different characteristics relating to university type, library data services, policy type, and policy contents were examined.

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"Campus Open Access Funds: Experiences of the KU ‘One University’ Open Access Author Fund"

Rachel Gyore et al. have published "Campus Open Access Funds: Experiences of the KU 'One University' Open Access Author Fund" in the Journal of Librarianship and Scholarly Communication.

Here's an excerpt:

This report documents the group's experience in developing eligibility criteria and administering the OA Fund. Here we provide insight into our efforts implementing the project, funding results, and plans for continuation. We share the results of the first two years of the OA Author Fund pilot and the lessons learned about open access fund administration.

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University Librarian at Vanderbilt University

Vanderbilt University is recruiting a University Librarian.

Here's an excerpt from the ad:

Reporting to the Vice Provost for Learning and Residential Affairs, the University Librarian will oversee collection acquisition and development, budgeting, staff, fundraising, the maintenance and formation of state, regional, national, and international partnerships, library services, physical space, information technology adoption and development, website development, and strategic planning.

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Rapid Fabrication/Makerspace Services, SPEC Kit 348

ARL has released Rapid Fabrication/Makerspace Services, SPEC Kit 348.

Here's an excerpt from the announcement:

ARL has released Rapid Fabrication/Makerspace Services, SPEC Kit 348, an exploration of current ARL member library engagement with 3-D printing, rapid fabrication and digitization technologies, and makerspaces. This study covers the types of services libraries offer, the location of these services, the hardware and software that is available for users, service hours and staffing, user outreach and training, budget and funding, and evaluation of the services.

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Bernard A. Barton Jr. Named CIO of the Librarian of Congress

Bernard A. Barton Jr. has been named the Chief Information Officer of the Librarian of Congress.

Here's an excerpt from the announcement:

Barton most recently served as chief information officer and deputy administrator of the Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC), the largest central resource for Department of Defense and government-funded research, development, technical and engineering information. . . .

Barton joined DTIC in 2009 as deputy director of Information Technology Services. In 2010, he was named acting director of Information Technology Services and, in 2012, its director. Later that year, Barton was appointed DTIC's deputy administrator and chief information officer.

In that role, Barton managed the daily operations of DTIC; developed institutional strategies; directed the planning and implementation of long-range information-technology initiatives; led the development of unique, state-of-the-art systems and technology applications; established DTIC as the Department of Defense science and technology community "cloud," providing nearly real-time communication and collaboration infrastructure; and implemented Web 2.0 technologies within the institution, providing rapid prototyping of relevant and secure products and early adoption of new or improved technologies.

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NMC Horizon Report: 2015 Library Edition

The New Media Consortium has released the NMC Horizon Report: 2015 Library Edition.

Here's an excerpt from the announcement:

What is on the five-year horizon for academic and research libraries? The NMC Horizon Report: 2015 Library Edition examines key trends, significant challenges, and important developments in technology for their impact on academic and research libraries worldwide.

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"The Trending Academic Library Job Market: An Analysis of Library Position Announcements from 2011 with Comparisons to 1996 and 1988"

Therese F. Triumph and Penny M. Beile have published "The Trending Academic Library Job Market: An Analysis of Library Position Announcements from 2011 with Comparisons to 1996 and 1988" in College & Research Libraries.

Here's an excerpt:

The primary objective of the study was to describe the number, types and titles, requested qualifications and skills, salary information, and locations of positions advertised in 2011 on the ALA JobLIST and ARL Job Announcements websites and in the print version of the Chronicle of Higher Education for purposes of determining the current state of the academic library job market in the United States. To investigate changes in the academic library job market and identify emerging trends over a 23-year period, results also were compared to studies that analyzed position announcements from 1996 and 1988.

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"University Data Policies and Library Data Services: Who Owns Your Data?"

Lisa D. Zilinski, Abigail Goben and Kristin Briney have published "University Data Policies and Library Data Services: Who Owns Your Data?" in the Bulletin of the Association for Information Science and Technology.

Here's an excerpt:

A review of research data and library data services presented on the websites of 206 top research universities as of July 2014 provided insights into policies and practices. Limited to publicly accessible information, the review indicated about half of the surveyed libraries offer some type of data services beyond a resource guide, about four in 10 had a librarian fully or partly dedicated to data management support and about one in 10 had a dedicated data repository. Institutions are likely to have a specific data policy if they are more involved in research and have higher research spending, have larger faculties and offer data services or a data librarian.

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