Research Libraries – Page 7

Dean of University Libraries at University of Nebraska – Lincoln

Reporting directly to the Executive Vice Chancellor and Chief Academic Officer, the Dean of Libraries is a key member of the Executive Vice Chancellor’s leadership team, serving on the Deans’ Council. . . .

The Dean is supported by a seasoned administrative team of six direct reports and oversees 40 faculty librarians, 72 support staff, and 130 student employees and an annual budget of $16 million, including a collections budget of $8 million. This team is in the final stages of implementing a restructuring of the organization to better fulfill the strategic planning vision.

https://tinyurl.com/bb9at9vs

"The State of the Field: An Excerpt From the 2023 Library Publishing Directory"

The most common material types reported in 2023 were journals (89%), conference papers and proceedings (80%), theses and dissertations (75%), educational resources (66%), and monographs (60%). Under half of respondents (46%) reported publishing datasets. Other material types reported include gray literature, newsletters, multimedia, expansive digital publications, and databases. . . . Over 80% of respondents provide copyright support and DOI assignment. Over half provide metadata services (71%), author advisory services (66%), training (66%), ISSN registry (64%), hosting of supplemental content (60%), cataloging (56%), and analytics (55%). The decline in the number of library publishers providing digitization services holds steady with 49% of respondents in 2023 identifying it as one of their services.

https://tinyurl.com/yhwp4pph

Access the entire directory.

Boston University: "Appointment of Mark Newton as University Librarian"

Mark has been at BU since 2019 and he has served as University Librarian ad interim since July 2021. During this time, he has led several critical efforts at the University level and within the libraries. Most importantly, he has actively led or been involved in the consultative processes over the last four years to set the vision for the future of the BU libraries. . . . Prior to his appointment as University Librarian ad interim, Mark served as BU’s Associate University Librarian for Digital Strategies and Innovation, beginning in 2019. In this role, he directed efforts across the library’s technical services and platform support as well as its digital scholarship and open repository programming. . . . Prior to arriving at BU, Mark served as director of digital scholarship at Columbia University. He also previously worked as digital collections librarian and assistant professor of library science at Purdue University.

https://tinyurl.com/du8hsdkv

Open Science Services by Research Libraries: Organisational Perspectives — A LIBER and ADBU Report

Many research libraries in Europe deliver Open Science services in the field of RDM and OA. However, it is estimated that up to half of European research libraries deliver only limited services in these domains. LIBER and ADBU conducted a study to understand the organisational structures and competences needed to create, and sustain, these services.

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8060242

Video: "Dryad in the Community: New Data Sharing Mandates and the Role of Academic Libraries"

In this presentation, Dryad’s Head of Community Engagement, Sarah Lippincott is joined by fellow presenters Michael Casp, Head of Production Division at J&J Editorial, Emma Molls, Director of Open Research & Publishing at University of Minnesota Libraries, and Alberto Pepe, Director of Strategy and Innovation at Wiley and Co-founder of Authorea. Sarah reviews some pertinent highlights from the Nelson memo and NIH policies, two of the major developments that will impact data sharing over the next few years. and concludes with a discussion on how libraries can help researchers move from data sharing to data publishing.

https://tinyurl.com/bdfd7axh

Norman and Armena Powell University Librarian at University of California Los Angeles

As the chief executive officer of the UCLA library system, the UL provides strategic vision for and operational leadership of the libraries, which support UCLA’s research and instructional missions by providing access to and delivery of information resources; developing, organizing and preserving collections for optimal use; supporting the discovery of and access to remote information sources; encouraging innovation; and promoting excellence. Among the UL’s responsibilities are overseeing the appointment, promotion and advancement of approximately 122 librarians campuswide; working closely with faculty to advance teaching and learning by engaging new services to enhance the student experience and support the entire research lifecycle; leading an aggressive fundraising program, including an annual giving program and stewardship of significant collections as gifts-in-kind; and providing administrative leadership for the UCLA Library Senior Fellows Program. The UL will lead the continuing effort to build a library of the future by making knowledge accessible both in person and online, advancing digital innovations, preserving global cultural heritage as part of post-colonial collecting, establishing community partnerships that preserve Los Angeles history, and supporting open publishing and new forms of scholarly communications.

https://www.arl.org/jobs/job-listings/a0I6T00000aKGJqUAO/

"It Takes a Researcher to Know a Researcher: Academic Librarian Perspectives Regarding Skills and Training for Research Data Support in Canada "

This study demonstrates that an in-depth qualitative portrait of data-related librarians within a national academic ecosystem provides valuable new insights regarding the perceived importance of conducting original empirical research to succeed in these roles.

https://doi.org/10.18438/eblip30297

ACRL: "2022 Academic Library Trends and Statistics Data Now Available"

Key findings include:

Of the libraries that have sought to hire new employees in the past year, 56% report that the candidate pool is smaller than pre-Covid levels, while only 30% say it is the same size or larger.

60.7% of library employees have the option to work remotely in some capacity, whether it be full-time, hybrid, a compressed work week or flexible hours and locations.

Since 2017, the average number of digital/electronic book titles in library collections has changed from 315,213 to 619,805, an increase of 96.6%.

The average number of FTE libraries has remained steady in the last three years. In both 2020 and 2021 the average was 11, while the 2022 average is 12.

https://tinyurl.com/53a6pw6v

"Should Academic Libraries Worry about Futureproofing?"

The what and how are at the heart of a new question we introduced in the latest cycle of the 2022 Ithaka S+R Library Survey. Nestled among questions about value proposition and strategic prioritization, we asked library deans and directors to indicate their level of agreement with the statement that their "library has a clear vision for futureproofing that takes into account technological and socio-political trends."

Sixteen percent of respondents indicated a high level of agreement with this statement (ratings 8-10). Sixty-four percent neither strongly agreed or disagreed (ratings of 4-7), and 20 percent strongly disagreed (ratings of 1-3). Figures 1 and 2 below show that there aren’t any particularly stark differences across Carnegie class, or sector.

https://tinyurl.com/229wsnvs

"New UVM Press Breaks Down Barriers to Scholarly Publishing"

The University of Vermont has launched an open-access academic press aimed at removing the financial barrier between peer-reviewed research and audiences worldwide. Fully funded by the university and overseen by UVM Libraries, the UVM Press operates under a "diamond open access model"— meaning that authors pay no fees to publish with the press, and readers pay no fees to access the press’s published materials. . . .

Bryn Geffert, UVM’s dean of libraries, has experience with open-access publishing having launched the Amherst College Press in 2013. Geffert also led a consortium of libraries in establishing the open-access Lever Press in 2016. Geffert believes that the role of a library is to connect patrons to information, making UVM Libraries a logical partner for managing the UVM Press.

https://tinyurl.com/bdfa8msf

"Transformative Agreements and Their Practical Impact: A Librarian Perspective"

This case study aims at describing how transformative agreements (TAs) have affected our profession with new tasks and workflows at two university libraries in Sweden, namely Karolinska Institutet University Library and Södertörn University Library. TAs are one of the mechanisms by which scientific publications are made open access; they involve moving libraries’ contracts with publishers from payment to read toward payment to publish. We will summarize the status and progress of open access in Sweden, in particular the significant growth of TAs over a short time span. We will then focus on describing how TAs have affected our everyday work and what new tasks they have imposed. We will share our experiences and point out things we find challenging, for example, we will explore questions about eligibility, the verification process, publication types and title changes during the contract period. We will also give some recommendations on how we would prefer the workflows surrounding the TAs to be. Finally, we will share our conclusions and comments about the impact of TAs on the publishing landscape and speculate about what will happen next.

https://doi.org/10.1629/uksg.612

Digital Scholarship Has Released the Academic Libraries and Research Data Management Bibliography

The Academic Libraries and Research Data Management Bibliography includes over 345 selected English-language articles and books that are useful in understanding how academic libraries plan for, implement, provide, evaluate, and conduct studies about research data management (RDM) services. Most sources have been published from 2012 through 2023. It includes full abstracts for works under certain Creative Commons Licenses. It is available as a website and a website PDF with live links.

Digital Scholarship’s other bibliographies about research data curation include the Research Data Curation and Management Bibliography (over 800 works), the Research Data Publication and Citation Bibliography (over 225 works), and the Research Data Sharing and Reuse Bibliography (over 200 works).

ARL and CARL: Observations on Research Libraries’ Alignment with Institutional STEM Priorities

This report synthesizes the two associations’ joint exploration of the need for, and nature of, alignment of research libraries with their universities’ STEM priorities. The report notes the challenges to be overcome, and provides examples of the ways libraries are already working to strengthen and support STEM at their institutions. The report includes a summary of common themes as well as observations of each institution visited.

https://bit.ly/3qaF9Qq

UC System: "Re: UCOLASC [University Committee on Library and Scholarly Communication] Statement on Retention of Author Rights in License to Publish Agreements"

As discussed at our joint UCOLASC and Council of University Librarians (CoUL) meeting held on February 15, 2023, the Project Transform Negotiating Team (PTNT) and Project Transform Working Group (PTWG) have learned that many publishers are requiring University of California (UC) authors to sign "License to Publish" (LTP) agreements, which purport to grant exclusive rights to publishers and contravene the spirit of the open access (OA) policies and declarations strongly endorsed by UC faculty.We find this now-common practice to be unacceptable and therefore ask you to prioritize the issue of author rights and act on our behalf when you negotiate with publishers. . . .

UCOLASC urges the Project Transform Negotiating Team (PTNT) to negotiate transformative open access agreements with publishers stipulating that authors only grant "limited" or "nonexclusive" licenses to publishers. Liberal Creative Commons (CC) licenses (e.g., CC BY) should be applied as the default choice, and licenses that restrict commercial and derivative uses of the work (e.g., CC BY-NC, CC BY-ND, and CC BY-NC-ND) should function as originally intended with authors always free to do whatever they want with their own works.

https://bit.ly/43uzuDd

WorldFAIR Project (D13.2) Cultural Heritage Image Sharing Recommendations Report

Deliverable 13.2 aims to build on our understanding of what it means to support FAIR in the sharing of image data derived from GLAM collections. This report looks at previous efforts by the sector towards FAIR alignment and presents 5 recommendations designed to be implemented and tested at the DRI that are also broadly applicable to the work of the GLAMs. The recommendations are ultimately a roadmap for the Digital Repository of Ireland (DRI) to follow in improving repository services, as well as a call for continued dialogue around "what is FAIR?" within the cultural heritage research data landscape.

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7897243

"Research Libraries Advance Open Scholarship and Community Engagement"

The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) has published brief profiles of the eight institutions that participated in the 2021–2022 pilot program Accelerating the Social Impact of Research (ASIR). The pilot engaged small teams from eight ARL member libraries who wanted to share strategies to accelerate the adoption and implementation of open-science principles for social-impact and community-engaged research and scholarship.

https://bit.ly/3pZKqtU

"Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL) Releases the National Advocacy Framework for Open Educational Resources (OER)"

The Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL) is proud to announce the release of a comprehensive document, A National Advocacy Framework for Open Educational Resources in Canada, aimed at advancing the adoption and support of open educational resources (OER) across the country.

This framework is the result of collaborative efforts involving diverse stakeholders, including national student groups, provincial open education organizations, scholars, advocates in open education, and representatives from higher education institutions. Its purpose is to help advance and inform advocacy efforts directed at the Federal government. The ultimate goal is to provide guidance to stakeholders in advocating for federal involvement in OER.

https://bit.ly/3OvhBzL

"Open Access at a Crossroads: Library Publishing and Bibliodiversity"

The open access movement has gained momentum since the Budapest Open Access Initiative (BOAI) first launched twenty years ago. Notably, there has been a drastic increase in the number of open access articles. Concerns have been raised about equality and diversity issues, however, for researchers without an affiliation (e.g. independent, unemployed and retired researchers) and researchers on the "scientific periphery" who are excluded from the gold open access model. This article argues that the gold open access model is destructive to the knowledge production ecosystem by addressing the importance of bibliodiversity and the ways in which library publishing can contribute to sustainable and equitable knowledge production.

https://doi.org/10.1629/uksg.613

"Quick Poll Results: ARL Member Representatives on Generative AI in Libraries"

We conducted a quick poll of Association of Research Libraries (ARL) member representatives in April 2023 to gather insights into their current perspectives on generative AI adoption, its potential implications, and the role of libraries in AI-driven environments. In this blog post, we summarize, synthesize, and provide recommendations based on the survey responses, aiming to offer valuable insights for senior library directors navigating the AI landscape.

https://bit.ly/3M9yVc2

"OA and the Academy: Evaluating an OA Fund with Authors’ Input"

The University Libraries at Virginia Tech established an Open Access Subvention Fund (OASF) in August 2012. Although it began as a two-year pilot project, the Fund has continued to the present. Anyone at Virginia Tech is eligible to apply for funding to offset the cost of an article processing charge to publish in an open access journal. To learn more about user perceptions of the OASF and open access in general, we surveyed everyone who had requested support. The survey, conducted during the fall of 2019, provided a means to gauge the needs of our users, seek feedback on the request and award process, and gather input on the fund guidelines. In this article, we review our findings in the hope that the lessons learned will be useful to other libraries in assessing similar open access subvention funds.

https://bit.ly/3nxjUHs

"For Thousands of Texas Professors Seeking Tenure, a Bill Banning the Benefit Could Be a Turning Point in Their Careers"

Republican lawmakers, led by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, have pledged this legislative session to end in Texas the nearly century-old practice used by universities across the country to give faculty an additional safeguard to pursue long-term, independent research — which, in turn, helps schools attract and retain sought-after talent. . . .

Under a bill that the Texas Senate already sent to the House, if a university system’s board of regents has not approved a professor for tenure by Jan. 1, 2024, they would no longer be able to earn that position in Texas. The move would not only make it hard for schools to recruit new faculty, it would throw the careers of nearly 5,000 Texas professors who are seeking the benefit into chaos, abruptly eliminating a benefit they have been working for years to earn and were hired with the understanding they could obtain.

https://bit.ly/3LXegb9

"LSU Libraries Announces New Government Publications and Open Scholarship Department"

In the latter half of 2022, the Government Documents and Open Scholarship & Affordable Learning departments combined into a new LSU Libraries department named Open Scholarship & Government Publications. This new department aims to combine the uncopyrighted materials in Government Publications with openly licensed resources available via Open Scholarship to provide students and faculty with free access to research materials.

Open Scholarship & amp;Affordable Learning saved students and their families more than $4.1 million in the 2022 fiscal year through LSU Libraries’ e-Textbook Initiative, which provides free access to library-licensed eBooks that are used in courses. Since its inception in 2014, it has saved more than $11.6 million.

https://bit.ly/3nrhLwZ

Elizabeth Kiscaden: "Dean and University Librarian Named to Lead University of Cincinnati Libraries"

Elizabeth Kiscaden, MLIS, AHIP, has been named dean and university librarian of the University of Cincinnati Libraries, effective Aug. 14, pending approval by the UC Board of Trustees.

Kiscaden currently serves as university librarian and assistant vice provost of library services at Creighton University. While at Creighton, she has worked to modernize legacy library systems and infrastructure to support an anytime, anywhere, any device philosophy and is overseeing the development of a single library enterprise, bringing together campus and health sciences libraries.

https://bit.ly/3oMzD5B

"Strategies for Digital Library Migration"

A migration of the datastore and data model for Stanford Digital Repository’s digital object metadata was recently completed. This paper describes the motivations for this work and some of the strategies used to accomplish the migration. Strategies include: adopting a validatable data model, abstracting the datastore behind an API, separating concerns, testing metadata mappings against real digital objects, using reports to understand the data, templating unit tests, performing a rolling migration, and incorporating the migration into ongoing project work. These strategies may be useful to other repository or digital library application migrations.

https://journal.code4lib.org/articles/17290

"Building a Large-Scale Digital Library Search Interface Using the Libraries Online Catalog"

The Kentucky Digital Newspaper Program (KDNP) was born out of the University of Kentucky Libraries’ (UKL) work in the National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP) that began in 2005. In early 2021, a team of specialists at UKL from library systems, digital archives, and metadata management was formed to explore a new approach to searching this content by leveraging the power of the library services platform (Alma) and discovery system (Primo VE) licensed from Ex Libris. The result was the creation of a dedicated Primo VE search interface that would include KDNP content as well as all Kentucky newspapers held on microfilm in the UKL system. This article will describe the journey from the question of whether we could harness the power of Alma and Primo VE to display KDNP content, to the methodology used in creating a new dedicated search interface that can be replicated to create custom search interfaces of your own.

https://journal.code4lib.org/articles/17257