Category: Research Libraries

Utah State University Press Merges with Library, Goes Open Access

The Utah State University Press will merge with the Merrill-Cazier Library, and it will "adopt a new publication model, with open access as a central component."

Here's an excerpt from the press release

Joining a growing national trend, Utah State University Press will merge with the administrative structure of Merrill-Cazier Library at Utah State University. The transition has begun, with the arrangement officially taking effect at the start of fiscal year 2010-11. . . .

"Many university presses are moving toward open access, often under the administration of the library,” Clement [Richard Clement, Dean of USU Libraries] said. “The most conspicuous example in the recent past is the University of Michigan Press which moved into the library and is now focusing on OA and other forms of digital publication. We propose to move the USU Press along the same path." . . .

While the decision to move USU Press to Merrill-Cazier Library was not completely budget-driven, it will result in significant savings, Clement said. With a larger staff in place, the library will assume a number of support activities for the press, including accounting, IT support, graphic design and public relations. . . .

USU Press will adopt a new publication model, with open access as a central component and will move toward increased digital delivery of books. The library’s position will be enhanced as well, as academic libraries nationally take on a stronger role in the evolution of scholarly publishing.

Read more about it at "Survival—Through Open Access" and "USU Press merging with Merrill-Cazier Library."

Stanford University to Implement Electronic Dissertations

Stanford University will implement an electronic dissertation program this month.

Here's an excerpt from the press release:

Speaking at the Oct. 22 Faculty Senate meeting, University Librarian Michael Keller said the digital world offers a "much greater palette of expression" to graduate students, because they will be able to include more graphics, color and character sets in their dissertations than in paper copies.

"[There will be] more opportunities to link to online resources and to have those links live," Keller said during a joint presentation on the program with University Registrar Thomas Black.

The program is the result of a yearlong collaboration between Stanford University Libraries & Academic Information Resources and the Registrar's Office.

Under the program, digital dissertations will be stored in the Stanford Digital Repository, which provides preservation services for scholarly resources, helping to ensure their integrity, authenticity and usability over time.

Keller said the documents will be available to the Stanford community through Socrates, the university's online library catalog, and "available to the world" through Google, which will serve as a third-party distributor. He said the library will print one copy of each work and store it in the Stanford University Archives.

Making the Case for European Research Libraries: LIBER Strategic Plan 2009-2012

The Ligue des Bibliothèques Européennes de Recherche (LIBER) has released Making the Case for European Research Libraries: LIBER Strategic Plan 2009-2012.

Here's an excerpt:

In 2009-2012 LIBER will give priority to the following areas:

  • Scholarly communication
  • Digitisation and resource discovery
  • Heritage collections and preservation
  • Organisation and human resources
  • LIBER Services

Concordia University Launches Spectrum: Concordia University Research Repository

Concordia University has launched Spectrum: Concordia University Research Repository.

Here's an excerpt from the announcement

Concordia University Libraries is proud to mark international Open Access Week (October 19-23) with the launch of Spectrum: Concordia University Research Repository. Spectrum is a new digital resource which, in keeping with the university's strategic plan to develop community engagement and social responsibility, can make Concordia scholarship freely accessible to everyone via the internet.

Spectrum currently contains the full text of over 6000 theses and dissertations produced at the university from 1967 to 2003. It also offers Concordia faculty and researchers an additional venue for sharing their research using a simple process of self-submission. The name Spectrum reflects the variety of original research and creative activity that characterizes the scholarly output of Concordia University. The database, in development since 2007, is an initiative of the Concordia University Libraries supported by the Office of the Vice-President, Research & Graduate Studies.

"I am delighted to see the launch of this significant new resource," said Louise Dandurand, Vice-President, Research and Graduate Studies. "The creation of a Research Repository speaks to Concordia's commitment to increase its contribution to world knowledge and promote public access to the results of publicly funded research."

"Research deposited in Spectrum is highly visible, because the site will be searchable using popular search engines such as Google and Google Scholar," added Jocelyn Godolphin, Associate University Librarian for Collection Services. "Concordia University now joins some 1200 other repositories round the world in providing a university-wide open access repository which will increase accessibility and preserve the scholarship produced by Concordia University researchers."

Patricia A. Steele Named Dean of the University of Maryland Libraries

Patricia A. Steele has been named Dean of the University of Maryland Libraries.

Here's an excerpt from the press release:

The University of Maryland has named as its new dean of university libraries, Patricia A. Steele—a national leader in the Google Project and other efforts to digitize collections creating wider access to universities' information resources. Steele, described as a visionary and dynamic leader, currently directs the libraries at Indiana University Bloomington. She begins at Maryland on Sept. 1.

"Librarians offer an important voice in this emerging technology environment and Maryland is an especially exciting place to work right now," says Steele. "The University has a dynamic vision for the future and appreciates the role libraries can play in achieving it. We'll be able to collaborate with top researchers on campus, and our enviable proximity to the nation's capital will give great access to the many leadership organizations." . . .

Among Steele's national leadership activities:

  • Member of the top-level academic library team renegotiating with Google in the project to digitize and make freely available on the Web millions of books;
  • As member of the Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC), a group of academic libraries working to incorporate academic collections in the Google Project, leads the effort to digitize project's first "collection of distinction";
  • Co-founded the HathiTrust, a shared digital library of leading research libraries;
  • Founding board member of CLOCKSS—a joint venture between scholarly publishers and research libraries to preserve Web-based scholarly publications.

"Pat Steele is a major appointment for Maryland that will keep us at the leading edge of information," says University of Maryland president C.D. Mote, Jr. "Her name is magic among librarians because she has led academic libraries through the changing technological landscape. She's at the forefront while simultaneously honoring the essential role that keeps libraries at the center of the research enterprise."

Read more about it at "Dean Patricia Steele to Depart."

Stanford University Libraries Have Laid Off 32 Employees, Will Close Physics Library

The Stanford University Libraries and Academic Information Resources have laid off 32 employees, eliminated 26 vacant positions, and plan to close the Physics Library in 2010.

Here's an excerpt from the announcement:

University Libraries announced Wednesday that it has laid off 32 employees. It also offered nine other staff members the option of being laid off and receiving severance benefits instead of staying in revamped positions at reduced pay or reduced hours.

The unit also announced plans to permanently close the Physics Library in the summer of 2010 and transfer its holdings to other locations. . . .

"This has been a challenging process and layoffs have been undertaken only after careful assessment of all budget options," said University Librarian Michael Keller.

"We greatly regret the need to lay off staff who have been dedicated to the library and its mission. However, the elimination of these positions will enable us to balance our budget. I am confident that we can weather the crisis, and we begin immediately the important task of revamping and rebuilding our organization."

All told, more than 60 library positions have been affected by layoffs, reassignments and other cost-cutting measures to meet the 2010 budget reduction mandated by the university.

University Libraries has also eliminated 26 vacant positions.

In addition to trimming its workforce, University Libraries has cut expenses by reducing the purchase of books, journals and online subscriptions; closing Green Library at 1 a.m.; eliminating patron outreach programs, including the semi-annual magazine Imprint; and eliminating most staff travel.

In Stanford Provost John Etchemendy's "2009-2010 Stanford University Budget Plan" presentation on 05/28/09 to the Faculty Senate, it was stated that the Libraries face a 13.5% general funds budget reduction.

In "University Budget Announced," Etchemendy is reported as saying that the Stanford Auxiliary Libraries project must proceed, noting that:

"If we don’t build that soon, Mike’s going to have to start burning books," Etchemendy said, referring to University Librarian Michael Keller.

Read more about the Stanford University budget situation at "Cuts to Hiring Will Affect Growth, Composition of Faculty"; "Provost Announces Salary Freeze, Additional Cuts for FY 10"; "Provost Outlines Next Year's Budget"; "Recession Leads to Strategic Shift"; and "University Suspends $1.3 Billion in Capital Projects."

Wikimedia Commons Gets 250,000 Creative Commons Licensed Images from Saxony-State and University Library Dresden

The Land Library of Saxony-State and University Library Dresden has agreed to make 250,000 image files available on the Wikimedia Commons under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike license.

Here's an excerpt from the announcement:

As the first German library, the Land Library of Saxony-State and University Library Dresden (SLUB) has concluded a cooperation agreement with Wikimedia Germany e.V. In a first step, the German Photo Collection of the SLUB makes available ca. 250,000 image files from its repository for free use to Wikimedia Commons, a sister project of Wikipedia.

The photos, the corresponding captions and further meta data will be uploaded to Commons during the coming months by voluntary helpers of Wikimedia, then connected step-by-step with personal identification data and the relevant Wikipedia articles. Apart from that, the metadata supplied by the German Photo Collection can be enriched, commented on and supplied with geographical detail by Wikipedia users. All results of this work are flowing back to the database of the German Photo Collection. In this way, the SLUB too directly profits from the new collaboration.

No rights of third parties concerning the image material supplied are standing in the way of using it under the free license "Creative Commons BY-SA 3.0". The cooperation will, in the words of Dr Jens Bove, the director of the German Photo Collection, "enhance the publicity and reach of the photographic treasures of the German Photo Collection". At the same time, the SLUB is a clear testament to the support of the international Open Access Initiative, which seeks open access to scientific information.

RIN Briefing Note: Scholarly Books and Journals at Risk: Responding to the Challenges of a Changing Economy

The Research Information Network has released Scholarly Books and Journals at Risk: Responding to the Challenges of a Changing Economy

Here's an excerpt from the announcement:

The current economic difficulties across the globe bring serious risks to scholarly books and journals. In the UK, the recent dramatic fall in the value of sterling has seriously damaged university library purchasing budgets.

This briefing note aims to inform and motivate all key stakeholders—universities, funding bodies, researchers, librarians, and publishers—to work together to find creative, practical and sustainable solutions to this serious (and unforeseen) challenge to the vitality of the UK’s research base.

David W. Lewis Named Assistant Vice President for Digital Scholarly Communications at Indiana

David W. Lewis, Dean of the University Library at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, has been named Assistant Vice President for Digital Scholarly Communications in the Indiana University Office of the Vice President for Information Technology. Lewis will serve for two years in this capacity while retaining his duties as Dean of IUPUI's University Library.

Here's an excerpt from the press release:

In his new role, Lewis will provide university-wide leadership for Recommendation 12, "Recapturing the Scholarly Record," which is described as a grand challenge in Empowering People, IU’s strategic IT plan.

Recommendation 12 envisions a set of actions for IU to "pursue a position of leadership in the development (with partners) of new, sustainable models for scholarly publication, dissemination, and curation that enable scholars—and their collective communities—to re-assert control over rights to the scholarly record and its institutional preservation."

The plan, developed with the involvement of more than 140 members of the university community in response to a charge from President McRobbie, was endorsed by the IU Trustees in December 2008.

In announcing the appointment, IU Vice President for IT Brad Wheeler said, "The complexities and challenges for economically sustaining scholarly communications are great, and this is a timely opportunity for IU to assess a full range of options for the future. David's appointment assures the focused effort we need to help coalesce many ideas into actionable plans."

As assistant vice president, Lewis will engage in extensive dialogue with IU's faculty and research scholars, librarians, faculty council committees, the IU Press, UITS, and other research universities.

"Libraries are at the center of the many complex issues regarding scholarly publication and dissemination," said Patricia Steele, Ruth Lilly Dean of University Libraries. "We've worked diligently help find solutions. Having David in a leadership role leverages his knowledge of these issues and the critical understanding he brings as a librarian."

Lewis joined Indiana University in 1993 as the head of public services at IUPUI University Library and has served as dean since 2000. He has a bachelor's degree in history from Carleton College, a master's of library science degree from Columbia University, and certificates of advanced study in librarianship from the University of Chicago and Columbia University.

California Digital Library Update on Mass Digitization Activities

In "Mass Digitization Projects Update," Heather Christenson, the California Digital Library's Mass Digitization Project Manager, overviews UC's 2008 mass digitization efforts.

Here's an excerpt:

2008 was a busy year for our UC Libraries’ book digitization activities. We continue digitizing tens of thousands of books from our print collections from many libraries across UC. In the latter half of 2008, our mass digitization projects have responded to significant changes and developments in the scholarly and commercial world: Microsoft decided to end its Live Search Books program which funded a portion of UC book digitization, Google announced a Settlement with authors and publishers, and UC allied with the University of Michigan, Indiana University, and the Committee on Institutional Cooperation, or CIC (a consortium of Big Ten Plus universities in the Midwest) to anchor the new HathiTrust digital repository. Throughout, we have continued to steadily digitize books in partnership with the Internet Archive and Google.

ARL Releases Transformational Times: An Environmental Scan Prepared for the ARL Strategic Plan Review Task Force

ARL has released Transformational Times: An Environmental Scan Prepared for the ARL Strategic Plan Review Task Force.

Here's an excerpt:

In looking across the key trends that are described below, some common threads recur.

  • Libraries need to change their practices for managing traditional content and develop new capabilities for dealing with digital materials of all types, but especially new forms of scholarship, teaching and learning resources, special collections (particularly hidden collections), and research data.
  • Content industries inevitably seek to extend control over the copyright regime and over content, in general, while libraries, authors, and research institutions endeavor to provide more access to and active management of the intellectual assets produced by the academy.
  • Accountability and assessment are essential for data-driven decision making within libraries, on campus, and with funders and policy makers.
  • Collaborative approaches are being applied to new activities both with regard to traditional operations as well as emerging functions.
  • Radical reconfiguration of research library organizations and services is needed coupled with an increasingly diverse and talented staff to provide needed leadership and technical skills to respond to the rapidly changing environment.
  • New relationships must be formed with library users to support rapid shifts in research and teaching practices.
  • ARL and its member libraries must cultivate alliances and partnerships to advance all strategic arenas identified as important for the Association.

ARL Releases The Research Library's Role in Digital Repository Services

The Association of Research Libraries Digital Repository Issues Task Force has released The Research Library's Role in Digital Repository Services.

Here's an excerpt from the press release:

The report, "The Research Library's Role in Digital Repository Services," identifies key issues surrounding repository development, explores common strategies that libraries are using, analyzes relevant environmental trends, discusses issues where ARL and its member libraries should focus attention, and recommends the following actions for research libraries to undertake:

  • Build a range of new kinds of partnerships and alliances, both within institutions and between institutions.
  • Base service-development strategies on substantive assessment of local needs rather than blindly replicating work done at another institution.
  • Engage with key local policy issues and stakeholders to encourage institutional engagement with national and international policy issues.
  • Develop outreach and marketing strategies that assist "early adopters" of repositories to connect with the developing repository-related service system.
  • Define a scope of responsibility to guide the development of repository services for varied forms of content.

The report focuses on repository services generally, rather than concentrating on repository technologies or content. Repository services include services to authors, contributors, and users, particularly of university-created content. Some examples of repository services provided by research libraries include long-term archiving and migration of content, dissemination and access management, metadata and format management, search and discovery tools, publishing, data mining, etc. Illustrations drawn from a variety of digital repositories are used throughout the report.

The task force notes that, due to repository services' powerful potential to enable key work and enhance the effectiveness of functions across the research enterprise, research institutions cannot afford to do without such services, even in difficult economic times. Researchers and scholars with access to a spectrum of repository services possess a substantial advantage in conducting cutting-edge research, delivering high-quality teaching, and contributing valuable services to society. Libraries have key strengths and missions requiring them to undertake various roles in repository service development. This report presents a fresh perspective on the digital repository environment and is intended to inspire ARL member libraries and others to assess their views and plans for service development.

OCLC and HathiTrust to Collaborate on Enhancing Access to Digital Repository Materials

OCLC and HathiTrust, a shared digital repository for research libraries, will collaborate on improving access to materials in HathiTrust's repository.

Here's an excerpt from the press release:

HathiTrust, a group of some of the largest research libraries in the United States collaborating to create a repository of their vast digital collections, and OCLC will work together to increase visibility of and access to items in the HathiTrust’s shared digital repository.

Launched jointly by the 12-university consortium known as the Committee on Institutional Cooperation and the 11 university libraries of the University of California system, HathiTrust leverages the time-honored commitment to preservation and access to information that university libraries have valued for centuries. The group's digital collections, including millions of books, will be archived and preserved in a single repository hosted by HathiTrust. Materials in the public domain and those where rightsholders have given permission will be available for reading online.

OCLC and HathiTrust will work together to increase online visibility and accessibility of the digital collections by creating WorldCat records describing the content and linking to the collections via WorldCat.org and WorldCat Local. The organizations will launch a project in the coming months to develop specifications and determine next steps.

Anne Jarvis Named University Librarian at Cambridge

Anne Jarvis, currently Deputy Librarian at Cambridge University Library, has been named Cambridge's University Librarian.

Here's an excerpt from the press release:

Anne, aged 46, said: "Cambridge is already one of the world's great research libraries. I look forward both to building on this success and to an exciting future in which the University Library will play a leading role in providing innovative services in a rapidly changing information landscape."

Anne has been Deputy Librarian at Cambridge University Library since 2000. Her main professional interests include emerging information technologies, succession planning, change management and digital preservation.

As Deputy Librarian her role has been to ensure that future information trends are identified, future service needs are anticipated and the highest quality service standards are delivered. Key to this, she believes, is nurturing and developing a highly motivated, knowledgeable and skilled staff.

A graduate in history of Trinity College Dublin, Anne's library career began in special libraries and included posts at FÁS, the Training and Employment Authority in Dublin, Ireland, and Coopers and Lybrand in London, England.

Her career in academic libraries began at Dublin City University, (DCU) in Ireland. She then moved to Trinity College Dublin where she took up the post of Sub-Librarian, Collection Management, before returning to the UK to take up her current post at Cambridge. During this period she also served for two years as Vice-President at Wolfson College, where she has been a Fellow since 2000.

Campus-based Publishing Partnerships: A Guide to Critical Issues

SPARC has published Campus-based Publishing Partnerships: A Guide to Critical Issues.

Here's an excerpt from the report's Web page:

SPARC’s Campus-based Publishing Partnerships: A Guide to Critical Issues addresses issues relevant to building sound and balanced partnerships, including:

  • Establishing governance and administrative structures;
  • Identifying funding models that accommodate the objectives of both libraries and presses;
  • Defining a partnership’s objectives to align the missions of the library and the press;
  • Determining what services to provide; and
  • Demonstrating the value of the collaboration.

Also see SPARC's new Campus-based Publishing Resource Center.

Scholarly Information Practices in the Online Environment: Themes from the Literature and Implications for Library Service Development

OCLC Research has released Scholarly Information Practices in the Online Environment: Themes from the Literature and Implications for Library Service Development

Here's an excerpt:

Research libraries exist to support scholarly work. In recent years, the literature on scholarly practices and information use has been growing, and research libraries should be prospering from this increased base of knowledge. Unfortunately, the profession has no effective means for systematically monitoring or synthesizing the published results. This review begins to address the problem by reporting on the state of knowledge on scholarly information behavior, focusing on the information activities involved in the research process and how they differ among disciplines. It provides an empirical basis for identifying promising directions and setting priorities for development of digital information services to support and advance scholarship.

Status Report on UC’s Next Generation Melvyl Pilot Based on WorldCat Local

The California Digital Library has released Next Generation Melvyl Pilot: Update to the University Librarians, November 20, 2008, which describes the progress made in testing OCLC's WorldCat Local as a replacement for the existing Melvyl Catalog.

Here's an excerpt:

In the six months that the Next Generation Melvyl Pilot has been live, we have gathered information on the user experience, identified the strengths and remaining challenges of the system, and compared the pilot with UC’s goals as outlined in the 2005 Bibliographic Services Task Force (BSTF) Report. Users value the breadth of the service, the integration of journal articles, and the ease of use. Users find challenging the lack of Request integration, difficulties in emailing and printing, and problems in accessing materials, all of which are on OCLC’s roadmap for improvements in the coming year. The pilot is meeting many of the goals outlined in the BSTF report and OCLC has demonstrated the ability to make rapid improvements to the system.

Based on these data, we believe that the pilot shows sufficient promise that we should transition the project into a pre-production phase, in which both UC and OCLC will engage in the planning and preparation needed to position us for going to production in mid-2009 if we continue to see successful progress.

Laine Farley Named as Executive Director of the California Digital Library

Laine Farley has been named as the Executive Director of the California Digital Library. Farley has served as the Interim Executive Director since July 2006.

Here's an excerpt from the press release:

"What we needed was not just a great leader for the CDL, but also a strategy for building the next generation of digital libraries," said Daniel Greenstein, UC vice provost for academic information and strategic services. "It was equally clear that the best way forward in envisioning this new world would be to draw upon the creativity, leadership and talent already within UC and the CDL, and to ramp up our planning efforts. Laine's vision and leadership, which she has demonstrated during challenging times, will take the CDL in new and exciting directions."

As part of ongoing planning with the University of California libraries, Farley will work closely with the university librarians on the 10 campuses and others throughout the UC system to ensure that systemwide library services continue to evolve to better support libraries and scholars.

Previously, Farley's roles at the CDL have included positions as director of digital library services and deputy university librarian. In addition, she was the user services coordinator and the coordinator of bibliographic policy and services at the UC Division of Library Automation. She has also been a reference librarian and coordinator of bibliographic instruction at UC Riverside, and head of the humanities department at the Steen Library at Stephen F. Austin State University. Farley holds a B.A. in liberal arts (Plan II) and an M.L.S. from the University of Texas at Austin.

ARL Annual Salary Survey 2007–08 Published

The Association of Research Libraries has published the ARL Annual Salary Survey 2007–08.

Here's an excerpt from the press release:

The 2007–08 data show that ARL librarians’ salaries outperformed inflation for the fourth consecutive year. The combined median professional salary in US and Canadian ARL university libraries was $61,833—a 3.7% increase from the previous year. Over the same period, the Consumer Price Index rose 2.4% in the US and 2.5% in Canada.

The ARL Annual Salary Survey 2007–08 analyzes salary data from a number of different perspectives, including race, ethnicity, and gender. Minority librarians make up 14.1% of the professional staff in US ARL university libraries; the percentage of minorities in managerial or administrative positions is lower. Women comprise 69.4% of minority staff members.

Gender-based salary differentials persist in ARL libraries in 2007–08. The overall salary for women in the 113 ARL university libraries is 95.4% of that paid to men; this figure compares to 95.7% in 2006–07. While the data show a marked closure of the gender gap in ARL libraries over the long term—in 1980–81, women in ARL libraries were paid roughly 87% of what men were paid—the data also raise the possibility that the closure has peaked, and that a 5% gap between men’s and women’s salaries may persist.

Committee on Institutional Cooperation and University of California Launch HathiTrust, Shared Digital Repository

The Committee on Institutional Cooperation and the University of California System's university libraries have launched the HathiTrust, a shared digital repository.

Here's an excerpt from the press release:

A group of the nation’s largest research libraries are collaborating to create a repository of their vast digital collections, including millions of books, organizers announced today. These holdings will be archived and preserved in a single repository called the HathiTrust. Materials in the public domain will be available for reading online. . . .

Launched jointly by the 12-university consortium known as the Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC) and the 11 university libraries of the University of California system, the HathiTrust leverages the time-honored commitment to preservation and access to information that university libraries have valued for centuries. UC’s participation will be coordinated by the California Digital Library (CDL), which brings its deep and innovative experience in digital curation and online scholarship to the HathiTrust.

"This effort combines the expertise and resources of some of the nation’s foremost research libraries and holds even greater promise as it seeks to grow beyond the initial partners," says John Wilkin, associate university librarian of the University of Michigan and the newly named executive director of HathiTrust. Hathi (pronounced hah-TEE), the Hindi word for elephant incorporated into the repository’s name, underscores the immensity of this undertaking, Wilkin says. Elephants also evoke memory, wisdom, and strength.

As of today, HathiTrust contains more than 2 million volumes and approximately ¾ of a billion pages, about 16 percent of which are in the public domain. Public domain materials will be available for reading online. Materials protected by copyright, although not available for reading online, are given the full range of digital archiving services, thereby offering member libraries a reliable means to preserve their collections. Organizers also expect to use those materials in the research and development of the Trust.

Volumes are added to the repository daily, and content will grow rapidly as the University of California, CIC member libraries, and other prospective partners contribute their digitized content. Also today, the founding partners announce that the University of Virginia is joining the initiative.

Each of the founding partners brings extensive and highly regarded expertise in the areas of information technology, digital libraries, and project management to this endeavor. Creation of the HathiTrust supports the digitization efforts of the CIC and the University of California, each of which has entered into collective agreements with Google to digitize portions of the collections of their libraries, more than 10 million volumes in total, as part of the Google Book Search project. Materials digitized through other means will also be made available through HathiTrust.

Read more about it at "University Libraries in Google Project to Offer Backup Digital Library."

Beyond the Silos of the LAMs: Collaboration Among Libraries, Archives and Museums

OCLC Programs and Research has published Beyond the Silos of the LAMs: Collaboration Among Libraries, Archives and Museums.

Here's an excerpt:

The project that forms the basis of this report began in 2007, when RLG Programs initiated work on the program, Library, Archive and Museum Collaboration. The goal of the program was threefold: to explore the nature of library, archive and museum (LAM) collaborations, to help LAMs collaborate on common services and thus yield greater productivity within their institutions, and to assist them in creating research environments better aligned with user expectations—or, to reference this report’s title, to move beyond the often-mentioned silos of LAM resources which divide content into piecemeal offerings.

At the heart of the program was a series of workshops designed to be both exploratory and outcome-oriented. Workshop participants were asked to identify motivations and obstacles in the collaborative process and plan new collaborative projects and programs that addressed needs at their own institutions.

Five RLG Programs partner sites were selected to participate in the workshops: the University of Edinburgh, Princeton University, the Smithsonian Institution, the Victoria and Albert Museum, and Yale University.

British Library Releases Its "Digitisation Strategy 2008-2011"

The British Library has released its "Digitisation Strategy 2008-2011."

Here's an excerpt:

Over the next 3 years we will build on our existing digitisation programme. Current projects include the digitisation of:

  • 20 million pages of 19th century literature [approximately 80,000 books];
  • 1 million pages of historic newspapers in addition to the 3m already digitised;
  • 4,000 hours of Archival Sound Recordings in addition to the 4,000 hours already digitised;
  • 100,000 pages of Greek manuscripts.

Our top priority digitisation programme in support of the Library's corporate strategy 2008-2011 is the digitisation of newspapers.