Category: Research Libraries

"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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The Once and Future Publishing Library

The Council on Library and Information Resources has released The Once and Future Publishing Library .

Here's an excerpt from the announcement:

The report explores the revitalization of library publishing and its possible future, and examines elements that influence the success and sustainability of library publishing initiatives.

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"What Cost and Usage Data Reveals About E-Book Acquisitions: Ramifications for Collection Development"

Steven B. Carrico et al. have published "What Cost and Usage Data Reveals About E-Book Acquisitions: Ramifications for Collection Development" in Library Resources & Technical Services.

Here's an excerpt:

To better determine how e-book acquisitions might affect future collection development decisions, a team of librarians from the University of Florida (UF) launched a project to assess cost and usage of e-books purchased using three different acquisitions methods: e-books acquired in large publisher packages; single-title e-books selected through firm orders; and e-books purchased through two patron-driven acquisitions (PDA) plans. . . . The authors compared the cost-usage data of e-books acquired by the acquisitions methods across the three subject areas and describe how the findings are affecting current and future acquisitions, traditional collection management, and budgeting at UF.

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"’Total Cost of Ownership’ of Scholarly Communication: Managing Subscription and APC Payments Together"

Stuart Lawson has self-archived "'Total Cost of Ownership' of Scholarly Communication: Managing Subscription and APC Payments Together."

Here's an excerpt:

Managing subscription journals and open access charges together has created challenges which may in part be dealt with by offsetting the two revenue streams against each other. In order to do this, it is necessary to have reliable financial data about the extent of the two interacting markets. Jisc Collections has been undertaking data collection regarding universities' article publication charge (APC) expenditure. This process is difficult without a standardized way of recording data, so Jisc Collections has developed a standard data collection template and is helping institutions to release data openly. If available data become more comprehensive and transparent, then all parties (libraries, publishers, research funders, and intermediaries) will have better knowledge of the APC market and can more accurately predict the effects of offsetting.

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"A Library in the Palm of Your Hand: Mobile Services in Top 100 University Libraries"

Yan Quan Liu and Sarah Briggs have published "A Library in the Palm of Your Hand: Mobile Services in Top 100 University Libraries" in Information Technology and Libraries.

Here's an excerpt:

What is the current state of mobile services among academic libraries of the country's top 100 universities, and what are the best practices for librarians implementing mobile services at the university level? Through in-depth website visits and survey questionnaires, the authors studied each of the top 100 universities' libraries' experiences with mobile services. Results showed that all of these libraries offered at least one mobile service, and the majority offered multiple services. The most common mobile services offered were mobile sites, text messaging services, e-books, and mobile access to databases and the catalog. In addition, chat/IM services, social media accounts and apps were very popular. Survey responses also indicated a trend towards responsive design for websites so that patrons can access the library's full site on any mobile device. Respondents recommend that libraries considering offering mobile services begin as soon as possible as patron demand for these services is expected to increase.

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"NIH Approves Strategic Vision to Transform National Library of Medicine"

National Institutes of Health Director Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D., today approved a federal report (PDF – 163KB) that lays out the long-term scientific vision for the NIH’s National Library of Medicine (NLM), the world’s largest biomedical library. This vision, presented today at the 110th meeting of the Advisory Committee to the Director (ACD), calls for NIH to position the NLM as a unifying force in biomedicine that promotes and accelerates knowledge generation, dissemination and understanding in the United States and internationally. The report also cites the need to make NLM the epicenter for biomedical data science, not just at NIH, but across the biomedical research enterprise. In addition, the report recommends dramatically expanding NLM’s activities to include research conducted beyond NIH’s walls to funded institutions, enabling it to have a greater and wider impact on data science than ever before. NIH plans to work with Congress to implement the necessary infrastructure changes to move this vision forward.

"Bigger on the Inside: Building Research Data Services at the University of Virginia"

Michele Claibourn has published "Bigger on the Inside: Building Research Data Services at the University of Virginia" in Insights: the UKSG Journal.

Here's an excerpt:

Every story has a beginning, where the narrator chooses to start, though this is rarely the genesis. This story begins with the launch of the University of Virginia Library's new Research Data Services unit in October 2013. Born from the conjoining of a data management team and a data analysis team, Research Data Services expanded to encompass data discovery and acquisitions, research software support, and new expertise in the use of restricted data. Our purpose is to respond to the challenges created by the growing ubiquity and scale of data by helping researchers acquire, analyze, manage, and archive these resources. We have made serious strides toward becoming 'the face of data services at U.Va.' This article tells a bit of our story so far, relays some early challenges and how we've responded to them, outlines several initial successes, and summarizes a few lessons going forward.

| New: Research Data Curation Bibliography, Version 5 | Digital Scholarship | Digital Scholarship Sitemap

"Barriers to Initiation of Open Source Software Projects in Libraries"

Curtis Thacker and Charles Knutson have published "Barriers to Initiation of Open Source Software Projects in Libraries" in the Code4Lib Journal.

Here's an excerpt:

Libraries share a number of core values with the Open Source Software (OSS) movement, suggesting there should be a natural tendency toward library participation in OSS projects. However Dale Askey's 2008 Code4Lib column entitled "We Love Open Source Software. No, You Can't Have Our Code," claims that while libraries are strong proponents of OSS, they are unlikely to actually contribute to OSS projects. He identifies, but does not empirically substantiate, six barriers that he believes contribute to this apparent inconsistency. In this study we empirically investigate not only Askey's central claim but also the six barriers he proposes. In contrast to Askey's assertion, we find that initiation of and contribution to OSS projects are, in fact, common practices in libraries. However, we also find that these practices are far from ubiquitous; as Askey suggests, many libraries do have opportunities to initiate OSS projects, but choose not to do so. Further, we find support for only four of Askey's six OSS barriers. Thus, our results confirm many, but not all, of Askey's assertions.

| New: Research Data Curation Bibliography, Version 5 | Digital Scholarship | Digital Scholarship Sitemap

"Scholarly Communication as a Core Competency: Prevalence, Activities, and Concepts of Scholarly Communication Librarianship as Shown through Job Advertisements"

Craig Finlay et al. have published "Scholarly Communication as a Core Competency: Prevalence, Activities, and Concepts of Scholarly Communication Librarianship as Shown through Job Advertisements" in the Journal of Librarianship and Scholarly Communication.

Here's an excerpt:

INTRODUCTION The dynamic nature of the scholarly communication landscape has produced a need for the creation of positions specifically focused on these issues. Yet, no clear title or job description for scholarly communication librarianship has emerged. The lack of standardization in this area is problematic for educators, professionals, and prospective professionals. METHODS Analyzing 13,869 job advertisements published between 2006 and 2014, this study attempts to examine the prevalence of scholarly communication terms and activities and the types of positions in which these terms and activities appear. RESULTS This study finds an increase in the use of the term "scholarly communication" in the title or text of job advertisements over the last nine years, with more than 7% of positions in the most recent year containing the term. CONCLUSIONS An analysis of the levels of engagement with scholarly communication demonstrates that jobs with substantial levels of engagement are increasing; whereas those requiring passive knowledge or awareness of scholarly communication issues are decreasing. Jobs with scholarly communication as a primary job responsibility are differentiated by a focus on repositories, open access, copyright, authors' rights, and intellectual property differentiate core scholarly communication positions.

| New: Research Data Curation Bibliography, Version 5 | Digital Scholarship | Digital Scholarship Sitemap

"The Impact of Open Access on Collection Management"

Adelia Grabowsky has published "The Impact of Open Access on Collection Management" in Virginia Libraries.

Here's an excerpt:

This article examines if and how the integration of OA materials has changed collection and/or access management activities within academic libraries.

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Dean of Libraries at University of Alabama

The University of Alabama is recruiting a Dean of Libraries.

Here's an excerpt from the ad:

The University of Alabama invites applications from, and nominations of, creative and dynamic candidates for the position of Dean of the University Libraries. As chief advocate for a library system with robust institutional support and proactive donor engagement, the Dean has overall responsibility for the collections, programs, and services of the libraries, as well as for planning and developing external sources of funding. Ultimately, the successful candidate will demonstrate a 21st-century vision for leadership in a thriving university library system.

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Andrew W. Mellon Director of the Research Libraries at New York Public Library

The New York Public Library is recruiting an Andrew W. Mellon Director of the Research Libraries.

Here's an excerpt from the ad:

NYPL seeks a leader for one of the most prestigious positions in the research library community—the Andrew W. Mellon Director. The leader will ensure that the most democratically accessible of collections thrives and is well preserved, added to and curated, providing the best physical experiences and services for research, and developing innovative ways to increase our digital impact through curated and open collections, committed to access to and expansion of our expertise through community engagement to maximize use by writers, readers, students and creators throughout the world. The Mellon Director reports to the Chief Library Officer and is a member of the President's senior management team. He/she has oversight of the collections and staff of the iconic Schwarzman Building on 42nd street and Fifth Avenue, and the unparalleled collections and staff of the Library for Performing Arts, Schomburg Center for African American Studies, and the Science, Industry and Business Library, as well as the Cullman Center for Writers and other affiliated centers, for a total of 460+ staff and budget of $50M.

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