Scholarly Communication – Page 3

"Ten Simple Rules for Recognizing Data and Software Contributions in Hiring, Promotion, and Tenure"

The ways in which promotion and tenure committees operate vary significantly across universities and departments. While committees often have the capability to evaluate the rigor and quality of articles and monographs in their scientific field, assessment with respect to practices concerning research data and software is a recent development and one that can be harder to implement, as there are few guidelines to facilitate the process. More specifically, the guidelines given to tenure and promotion committees often reference data and software in general terms, with some notable exceptions such as guidelines in [5] and are almost systematically trumped by other factors such as the number and perceived impact of journal publications. The core issue is that many colleges establish a scholarship versus service dichotomy: Peer-reviewed articles or monographs published by university presses are considered scholarship, while community service, teaching, and other categories are given less weight in the evaluation process. This dichotomy unfairly disadvantages digital scholarship and community-based scholarship, including data and software contributions [6]. In addition, there is a lack of resources for faculties to facilitate the inclusion of responsible data and software metrics into evaluation processes or to assess faculty’s expertise and competencies to create, manage, and use data and software as research objects. As a result, the outcome of the assessment by the tenure and promotion committee is as dependent on the guidelines provided as on the committee members’ background and proficiency in the data and software domains.

The presented guidelines aim to help alleviate these issues and align the academic evaluation processes to the principles of open science. We focus here on hiring, tenure, and promotion processes, but the same principles apply to other areas of academic evaluation at institutions. While these guidelines are by no means sufficient for handling the complexity of a multidimensional process that involves balancing a large set of nuanced and diverse information, we hope that they will support an increasing adoption of processes that recognize data and software as key research contributions.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1012296

Oxford University Press: "Commit to Open: A New Initiative to Support Open Access for Books"

We are pleased to announce a new initiative to support open access for books, Oxford Scholarship Online: Commit to Open. . . .

Commit to Open aims to secure funding from libraries and institutions for 30 monographs to be published open access, ensuring that their digital editions are freely available, globally and in perpetuity.

There are three collections of 10 books available for libraries to support:

Support new voices: The landscape of academic publishing can often present particular challenges for those just starting their career. To nurture this community, we have a collection available where every book is written by an early career researcher. The titles in this collection are diverse, feature several titles on topics relating to under-represented groups, and cover eight different academic disciplines.

Humanities: This showcases the vitality and variety of our publishing across the Humanities. These books cover topics including the cross-pollination of ideas via missionaries, the cultural influences on music and music genres, and the flow of religious ideas and identities around the Mediterranean in both the ancient and modern worlds.

Law & Social Sciences: This collection has a strong focus on marginalized groups, with books on current controversies in development studies, incarceration systems, and voters from ethnic minorities and the LGBT community. It also features titles on radical ideas such as what we owe to animals and how states can exist without armed forces. If we reach our funding targets by March 2025, we will publish all 30 titles open access. If we receive a proportion of our target, we will make the corresponding proportion of the titles open access, with the remaining titles made available for purchase.

Pricing:

The price for a single collection is £2,500 / $3,500. If you commit financially to all three collections, you will receive a 10% discount.

The goal for our two subject-based collections is to reach a total of £122,500 (the equivalent to 10x our standard book processing charge). For our collection of books supporting authors who are Early Career Researchers we have a smaller goal of £73,500 (the equivalent to 6x our standard book processing charge).

Books that publish open access within this pilot will be excluded from any of our Oxford Scholarship Online purchasable collections and subscriptions — meaning you won’t be paying twice.

https://tinyurl.com/3jbvem2y

Digital Archives Relocation (DAR) Project Support Officer at Parliamentary Archives (Term)

The scope of DAR includes the migration of collections data and digital collections to The National Archives (TNA) systems, the transfer of web archiving collections and functions to TNA, the review and transfer of Parliamentary Archives’ web content, and the establishment of future processes to enable the continuing transfer of digital records from Parliament to TNA.

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"Policies on Artificial Intelligence Chatbots among Academic Publishers: A Cross-Sectional Audit"

Methods This study performed a cross-sectional audit on the publicly available policies of 163 academic publishers, indexed as members of the International Association of the Scientific, Technical, and Medical Publishers (STM). . . .

Results A total of 56/163 (34.4%) STM academic publishers had a publicly available policy guiding the authors’ use of AI chatbots. No policy allowed authorship accreditations for AI chatbots (or other generative technology). Most (49/56 or 87.5%) required specific disclosure of AI chatbot use. Four policies/publishers placed a complete ban on the use of AI tools by authors.

https://tinyurl.com/y4xhwbhe

Digital Publishing and Repository Librarian at Indiana University Indianapolis

The Digital Publishing and Repository Librarian reports to the Director of the Center and works closely with colleagues within the Center and across the Library to support the open dissemination of research. The Center is a highly collaborative and motivated group of individuals focused on changing IU Indianapolis’s culture to adopt more open access knowledge practices through a variety of initiatives, services, and advocacy work.

Job Ad

Scholarly Communications Librarian at Stanford University (Term)

The Scholarly Communications Librarian will serve as the primary point of contact for scholarly communication issues, assisting Stanford researchers in navigating publishing and open access decisions, copyright and licensing concerns, and funder access requirements (including evolving needs for open and reproducible research in many disciplines). They will conduct outreach and create documentation and training that raises awareness of open access and Stanford’s Open Access Policy, deepens campus understanding of the scholarly publishing landscape, and promotes opportunities for Stanford researchers to maximize the reach and impact of their work. They will serve as a source of scholarly communication expertise for library colleagues and engage deeply in relevant cross-library projects, including the development and enhancement of tools, platforms, and workflows that support the dissemination of Stanford research.

Job Ad

Assistant Director for Library Technology at Temple University

Reporting to and working with the Director of Library Technology and Knowledge Management, the Assistant Director of Library Technology coordinates the planning, implementation, and maintenance of library systems and services. Directs acquisition and maintenance of all computer hardware & software across the Temple University library system including staff & public computing, public printers & copiers, kiosks, scanners, lockers, etc. Interacts with all units in the libraries, with other departments across campus, and with vendors to gather requirements, develop specifications, test, and deploy all library systems and services. Provides leadership, oversight, and management for projects, assesses stakeholder needs and interface usability, prepares project specifications in collaboration with developer’s team and other staff.

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"AI Is Complicating Plagiarism. How Should Scientists Respond?"

A central question is whether using unattributed content written entirely by a machine — rather than by a human — counts as plagiarism. Not necessarily, say many researchers. For example, the European Network for Academic Integrity, which includes universities and individuals, defines the prohibited or undeclared use of AI tools for writing as "unauthorized content generation" rather than as plagiarism as such.

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-02371-z

"Breach of Academic Values and Misconduct: The Case of Sci-Hub"

This paper investigates the growing evidence of research-related misconduct by developing and testing a theoretical framework. We study the deep causes of misconduct by asking whether the perception of an erosion of the core academic values, formally an ideology-based psychological contract breach, is associated with research-related misconduct. We test our framework by examining the use of Sci-Hub and providing empirical evidence that the loss of faith in scientific research sparkles research-related misconduct against publishers. Based on a stratified sample of 2849 academics working in 30 institutions in 6 European countries, we find that ideology-based psychological contract breach explains Sci-Hub usage, also when controlling for other possible motivations. The magnitude of the effect depends on contextual and demographic characteristics. Females, foreign, and tenured scholars are less likely to download papers illegally when experiencing a contract breach of academic values. Our results suggest that policies restoring academic values might also address research-related misconduct.

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11192-024-05046-8

Paywall: "Engagement Scenarios for Tomorrow’s Library Labs"

This article looks at ways that researchers engage with library [technology] labs and proposes a lab engagement pyramid to distinguish models for deploying trained staff and resources within the library lab space. A lab in an academic library requires the right mindset, skill set, tool set, programs, and staffing. The authors posit that a lab will be most successful if the library identifies the conditions that are desirable for the proposed lab space before it is designed and built. When a lab is already in existence but is underutilized, changing engagement strategies can lead to new growth.

https://doi.org/10.1353/pla.2024.a931768

"Considerations and Challenges for Collecting Digital Games in Academic Libraries"

The gaming industry is increasingly moving toward the digital distribution of games, making games available as digital downloads licensed to single end-user consumers from online storefronts rather than releasing games on physical media like discs or cartridges. Libraries have adapted to similar shifts in the distribution of books and audiovisual materials largely by licensing content from ebook and digital video vendors, but there are currently no such vendors or platforms set up to license digital games to libraries in ways comparable to these other kinds of electronic resources. This paper reports on findings from interviews with librarians at 13 academic libraries in the US who are beginning to explore digital game collecting efforts, presenting some of the key considerations for how libraries might approach digital game licenses as well as the major challenges, issues, and factors that will influence digital game collecting.

https://doi.org/10.1002/asi.24944

Processing and Digital Archivist – Tufts Archival Research Center

The Processing and Digital Archivist is focused on the processing and description of archival collections held within Tufts Archival Research Center at Tufts University.. . . . This work will include refining, implementing, and executing processes that enable effective acquisition, appraisal, description, preservation, access to and security of born-digital and hybrid archival collections acquired and stewarded by TARC.

The Processing and Digital Archivist will collaborate with TARC staff in developing new acquisitions and transfer models for managing born-digital content, including post-custodial approaches.

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Data Curation Librarian at Pennsylvania State University Libraries

This tenure-line library faculty position, based in the Research Informatics and Publishing Department’s Data Learning Center, involves developing and overseeing open data sharing services and workflows. The role includes providing guidance and support for curating, describing, sharing, and preserving research datasets.

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"Appeals Court Hears Internet Archive Copyright Case "

At a lengthy June 28 hearing in New York, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit heard oral arguments in the Internet Archive’s appeal of a March 2023 court decision finding its program to scan and lend print library books to be copyright infringement. And while the court clearly appeared skeptical of the Internet Archive’s arguments, the panel was deeply engaged and well-prepared, peppering both sides with a wide array of questions.

https://tinyurl.com/4nkf3cdp

Systems & Web Services Librarian at Carroll College

Serving as the technical expert for the Library’s Integrated Library System (ILS); maintaining and enhancing its operations as well as applications that support its services;

Providing leadership in solving problems associated with the ILS and other services;

Develop and document internal processes and procedures to support operations within Library Infrastructure Systems, including but not limited to the ILS, EZProxy, Worldshare Interlibrary Loan (OCLC), the Institutional Repository (Carroll Scholars), and the Carroll Digital Archives);

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Special Section of Against the Grain About AI and Libraries

https://tinyurl.com/yrpr9snb

"US News Releases 2024-2025 Best Global Universities Rankings"

The new edition includes universities from more than 100 countries. The following countries have the most schools in the overall rankings:

China: 396

United States: 283

Japan: 112

India: 109

United Kingdom: 96

[Top 10:]

Harvard University (U.S.)

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (U.S.)

Stanford University (U.S.)

University of Oxford (U.K.)

University of California Berkeley (U.S.)

University of Cambridge (U.K.)

University College London (U.K; tie)

University of Washington (U.S.; tie)

Columbia University (U.S.)

California Institute of Technology (U.S.)

https://tinyurl.com/3adh7adb

Search U.S. News Best Global Universities

Data Services Librarian at Wake Forest University

As a member of the library’s Digital Initiatives & Scholarly Communication department, the Data Services Librarian will shape the library’s data services, including collaborating with faculty and subject librarians to integrate data literacy into the classroom and course projects. They will develop instructional resources and workshops on locating, analyzing, and visualizing data. In addition to classroom instruction and engagement, this position will offer individual and small group consultations for students.

Job Ad

Open Science, Research & Engagement Librarian at University of California Santa Barbara

The Open Science, Research & Engagement Librarian will contribute to the advancement of open science in the campus’ research ecosystem, serving as an expert and advocate for open science principles, tools, and practices. The incumbent will be actively involved in envisioning and shaping new approaches to how the Library supports scientific disciplines and communities at UCSB in collaboration with other Library departments and staff. They will help accelerate Library support in the data-driven STEM disciplines by identifying strategic campus-wide opportunities, such as with the Office of Research and Information Technology Services, for the development of new initiatives and services. . . . The librarian will be actively involved in service and tool development and promotion of key pieces of open science infrastructure, such as ORCID, DataCite, eScholarship, Research Organization Registry (RoR), and Open Science Framework (OSF).

Job Ad

Systems Librarian at Marquette University

Reporting to the Head of Library Information Technology, this position collaborates across all library departments to ensure continuous, integrated access between the library services platform, Ex Libris Alma/Primo VE, and related digital platforms including OpenAthens, Springshare products, CONTENTdm, and the bepress institutional repository.

Job Ad

UI/UX Designer at Boston College

Lead the technical development and design of the Libraries’ primary discovery interfaces including the Libraries’ website, Primo VE, ArchivesSpace PUI, and related user-facing web content management systems.

Coordinate changes and updates to the Libraries’ user-facing discovery platforms to ensure adherence to established standards for usability, accessibility, style guidelines, accuracy, and timeliness.

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"A Framework for Measuring Relevancy in Discovery Environments: Increasing Scalability and Reproducibility"

Institutional discovery environments now serve as central resource databases for researchers in the academic environment. Over the last several decades, there have been numerous discovery layer research inquiries centering primarily on user satisfaction measures of discovery system effectiveness. This study focuses on the creation of a largely automated method for evaluating discovery layer quality, utilizing the bibliographic sources from student research projects. Building on past research, the current study replaces a semiautomated Excel Fuzzy Lookup Add-In process witha fully scripted R-based approach, which employs the stringdist R package and applies the Jaro-Winkler distance metric as the matching evaluator. The researchers consider the error rate incurred by relying solely on an automated matching metric. They also use Open Refine for normalization processes and package the tools together on an OSF site for other institutions to use. Since the R-based approach does not require special processing or time and can be reproduced with minimal effort, it will allow future studies and users of our method to capture larger sample sizes, boosting validity. While the assessment process has been streamlined and shows promise, there remain issues in establishing solid connections between research paper bibliographies and discovery layer use. Subsequent research will focus on creating alternatives to paper titles as search proxies that better resemble genuine information-seeking behavior and comparing undergraduate and graduate student interactions within discovery environments.

https://tinyurl.com/3k4s7s96

Program Specialist, NNLM National Center for Data Services at NYU Health Sciences Library

Responsibilities for this position include serving as a director for courses offered by the NCDS, project managing NCDS undertakings such as codeathons and symposia, collaborating on the development of online educational resources. The Program Specialist will collaborate with other NCDS and NNLM personnel to develop and deliver classes to a national audience of information professionals in a range of data topics, including research data management, data standards, and/or coding.

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"Developing and Improving the Capability of Scientific Communities in Open Research Data: A Maturity Continuum Model: Concepts, Elements, and Applications"

This article presents a new tool developed to assess and increase the maturity level of a research community in terms of Open Research Data (ORD) practices and culture. This model, called the Maturity Continuum Model, is divided into four successive steps, starting from the awareness and initiation of the community to its full maturity in ORD, through the building and strengthening of this community. Each step has its own intermediate objectives, and each benefits from tools and means to support the process of gaining maturity. The steps are separated by evaluation boundaries that are used to assess whether the process can move to the next step. Key stakeholders are diverse and contribute at different stages of the process. The Maturity Continuum Model was inspired by the Data Curation Continuum Model (Treloar et al., 2007; Treloar and Klump, 2019). Considering the aspects in which these two tools differ, they can be seen as complementary tools in the broad field of research data management. Our model may be used at the level of a specific research community, with several possible purposes, such as assessing, developing, and monitoring its maturity. It can also be used to compare the maturity level of several communities at the same time and to identify the success factors of more advanced research communities in order to transfer them to less advanced ones. We have designed and created this model primarily to get an overview of a complicated topic, to find a common language, to provide a common basis for discussion, and to enable implementation over a long period of time. Successful implementation of the model would also allow for consolidation of scientific communities in terms of ORD, provide standards, and allow for evaluation.

https://doi.org/10.31274/jlsc.16320

"EBSCO FOLIO Celebrates the Implementation of More Than 200 Libraries and Library Systems Using Folio LSP"

Current EBSCO FOLIO sites represent more than 200 libraries, including academic research libraries, consortia, shared systems, universities of all sizes, community colleges, and public institutions. Some sites share the open source LSP across multiple libraries, such as the University of Missouri Libraries sharing FOLIO across six libraries, GALILEO sharing the system with 27 libraries, and MOBUIS with 62 libraries. EBSCO FOLIO Services consultants are located worldwide and provide services in multiple languages.

https://tinyurl.com/2kf2xad8