DigitalKoans – Page 2 – What Is the Sound of One E-Print Downloading?

AI Watch — “Q2 2025 UPDATE: 125% Surge in Data Center Opposition”

In just three months [Q2, 2025], 20 projects were blocked or delayed amid local opposition, affecting $98 billion in potential investment—more than all disruptions tracked since 2023. . . .

The rollback of tax abatements is emerging as a critical political risk for hyperscale data centers. . . .

Community opposition continues to grow, with 53 active groups across 17 states targeting 30 data center projects in Q2 alone, bringing the total to 188 groups nationwide. During this period, 66% of the tracked protested projects were blocked or delayed.

https://www.datacenterwatch.org/q22025

“The Future of e-Book Copyright Control: On Finding a Technological Balance Between Authorized Use of e-Books, Reader’s Experience, and Privacy”

Readers value convenient, user-centered experiences for e-books and publishers seek robust safeguards against unauthorized copying. But high-profile incidents—such as remote deletions of purchased titles—have eroded reader trust and revealed the fragility of digital ownership. Rapidly evolving technologies, including artificial intelligence, add new layers of complexity for copyright protection and user freedom, sometimes driving consumers to unauthorized alternatives. Therefore, this paper examines various strategies—from traditional digital locks to more reader-friendly solutions like watermarks, blockchain applications, and non-restrictive licensing.

https://doi.org/10.1007/s12109-025-10048-2

Research Librarian at University of Worcester

You will work closely with academic staff, researchers, and professional services to provide expert advice on research support, copyright, rights retention, and open access. You will also lead the development of researcher skills training, manage the institutional repository (WRaP), and contribute to the strategic direction of research services.

https://jobs.worcester.ac.uk/Vacancy.aspx?ref=ILS2510

Paywall: AI Watch —“Debt Has Entered the A.I. Boom”

According to McKinsey, $7 trillion in data center investment will be required by 2030 to keep up with projected demand. Google, Meta, Microsoft and Amazon have together spent $112 billion on capital expenditures in the past three months alone. . . .

Now, the tech giants are turning to financing maneuvers that may add to the risk. To obtain the capital they need, hyperscalers have leveraged a growing list of complex debt-financing options, including corporate debt, securitization markets, private financing and off-balance-sheet vehicles. That shift is fueling speculation that A.I. investments are turning into a game of musical chairs whose financial instruments are reminiscent of the 2008 financial crisis. . . .

While Meta, Microsoft, Amazon and Google previously relied on their own cash flow to invest in data centers, more recently they’ve turned to loans. To diversify their debt, they’re repackaging much of it as asset-backed securities (A.B.S.). About $13.3 billion in A.B.S. backed by data centers has been issued across 27 transactions this year, a 55 percent increase over 2024. . . .

Are murky financial instruments spreading the risk of the A.I. spending frenzy? According to Menlo Ventures, only 3 percent of consumers pay for A.I.-related services, amounting to about $12 billion per year. If hyperscalers are unable to generate enough profit to offset the costs related to capital expenditures, systemic risk could enter credit markets.

https://tinyurl.com/256sf87j

Scholarly Communications Librarian at University of North Alabama

This position is responsible for developing, coordinating, and promoting scholarly communication services and initiatives. This position focuses on advancing open access, managing institutional repositories, and supporting faculty and researchers in publishing and preserving their work.

https://tinyurl.com/y9bjc95j

Reparative Description and Metadata Remediation Planning at the University of Michigan Deep Blue Institutional Repositories

This report shares ongoing metadata remediation work on The University of Michigan Library’s Deep Blue Repositories, or the “Deep Blues,” primarily focused on Deep Blue Documents. Deep Blue Documents is a repository that has been accepting research outputs since 2006. Currently, it contains about 160,000 deposits of items from 1863 to the present, with hundreds of thousands of downloads per month. Deep Blue Data launched in 2016, and as of Fall 2025 has approximately 2,000 deposits.

https://tinyurl.com/mtkh3f7m

Developer (ArchivesSpace) at Lyrasis

The ArchivesSpace Developer is primarily responsible for implementing features and fixing bugs identified and prioritized by the ArchivesSpace community of users, with modest responsibility for monitoring the application stack for possible updating to new technologies. They will work in collaboration with others including the ArchivesSpace Technical Lead and others on the Program Team, code committers, the Technical Advisory Council (TAC), and Lyrasis IT staff.

https://tinyurl.com/5n7k4jpu

“Preprint Policies Across Journals and Publishers in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology”

Preprints have the potential to accelerate knowledge dissemination and promote transparency in ecology and evolutionary biology. However, concerns about journal policies regarding prior publication may discourage researchers from preprinting their manuscripts. Therefore, we identified 230 eligible ecology and evolutionary biology journals, published by 69 different publishers, and assessed both their journal- and publisher-level preprint policies. At the journal level, 119 (51.7%) of the 230 journals included preprint policies in their author guidelines—either through journal-specific policies (109, 47.4%) or by directly referencing their publisher’s preprint policies (10, 4.3%). Overall, 116 (97.5%) of these journals were supportive of considering preprints for publication. At the publisher level, 26 (37.7%) of the 69 publishers had explicit preprint policies, all of which supported considering preprints for publication. There were 38 (16.5%) journals without journal- or publisher-level preprint policies. While most journals and publishers were supportive of considering preprints for publication, instructions for authors, such as acceptable locations for posting preprints, timing of preprint posting relative to manuscript submission and requirements to link preprints to final published articles, were lacking. These findings highlight opportunities for ecology and evolutionary biology journals, along with their publishers, to clarify and refine their preprint policies and instructions for authors.

https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2025.0524

Repository Team Leader (Enlighten Services) at University of Glasgow

In this role you will ensure delivery of all operational aspects of the University of Glasgow’s open repositories, notably ‘Enlighten: Publications’, ‘Enlighten: Theses’, ‘Enlighten: Dissertations’, and ‘EdShare’, Glasgow’s open educational resources repository. Your oversight of these services and their adherence to quality research output description will support essential operational research functions at the institution and play a key role in contributing to a culture of continuous improvement within the Team.

https://tinyurl.com/mrayvczm

Paywall: “The Geospatial Data User Experience: Examining Approaches and Challenges in Canadian Academic Libraries”

In the summer of 2024, the researchers conducted six semi-structured interviews with library staff members at six Canadian institutions. . . about their geospatial data management practices and priorities. This research outlines the systems, strategies, and approaches taken at these institutions related to the tasks of curating, managing, distributing, or supporting the use of geospatial data. Analysis of the interview transcripts revealed common challenges among the institutions, such as accounting for a variety of expertise levels among users, as well as insufficient data discovery infrastructure, funding, and staff capacity.

https://doi.org/10.1080/15420353.2025.2572683

Electronic Resources Access Librarian at University of Chicago

Reporting to the Head of Electronic Resources Management, the Electronic Resources Access Librarian will play a critical role in overseeing and supporting the discovery, access, and management of electronic resources by creating and maintaining intuitive, accurate, and stable access to extensive online collections across library discovery systems.

https://apply.interfolio.com/177490

“Elicitation Of Requirements and Development of Production Workflows for Accessible Diamond Open Access Publications”

As accessibility requirements impact scholarly communication, Diamond Open Access (DOA) publishing faces specific challenges in meeting compliance and technical standards while having limited budgets. This article examines how accessibility can be integrated into DOA workflows through the use of single-source publishing. Drawing on a requirements analysis conducted within the OS-APS, this paper outlines a framework for embedding accessibility features, from metadata handling and alt-text integration to responsive output formats, into a streamlined publication suite. Legal mandates (e.g., European Accessibility Act), technical standards (e.g., PDF/UA, WCAG), and stakeholder feedback shaped the design of OS-APS. The project identified and implemented key accessibility functions such as structural tagging, language detection, and an accessible reader. OS-APS exports now support PDF/UA, HTML, EPUB, and XML outputs. While some limitations remain, particularly in AI-assisted alt-text generation, this paper presents a viable and promising model for integrating accessibility “by design” into DOA publishing workflows.

https://tinyurl.com/2kmuwpfj

Project Archivist at RIT (Term)

The DSA Project Archivist will use archival standards, best practices, and knowledge of Deaf history to arrange, describe, and digitize key collections in the Deaf Studies, Culture, and History Archives (DSA), addressing a backlog of significant Deaf history and culture materials accumulated over the past five years. The position enhances access to Deaf-related archival collections, supports pilot digitization initiatives, and contributes to inclusive archival description. The DSA Project Archivist will work closely with the University Archivist and NTID/Education Librarian/Deaf Studies Archives Liaison to ensure collections are discoverable and accurately represented.

https://tinyurl.com/5cd8k4mm

“Can Academic Libraries Lead the Quantum Revolution?”

Currently, IBM, Microsoft, Google, and Amazon Bracket all sell cloud access to quantum computing resources by the hour, by the task, or in credits. In the current environment, where quantum is limited to research computing, individual departments might strike separate deals with these platforms. But libraries, which have experience negotiating licensing, managing access, and ensuring equity for their community, could instead diffuse quantum across the university by buying a block of credits, or create a framework for allocation, setting a price point for each project and assigning funding accordingly, much like an internal grant application process or early approaches to APCs. I call this Quantum-Computing-as-a-Library-Service (QCAALS).

https://tinyurl.com/yt79vdmr

Information Technology Manager at Boston Athenaeum

The Information Technology Manager oversees the small but dynamic Information Technology Department that manages and maintains the Athenaeum’s computers, networks, servers, and cloud-based systems. The Information Technology Manager also keeps abreast of new technologies and implements those to ensure better and more secure systems.

https://tinyurl.com/3wtm2ww6

“Are You Ready? An Investigation of Factors Affecting Artificial Intelligence Readiness of College Students”

Artificial Intelligence (AI) brings substantial convenience to individuals’ daily lives and redefines the knowledge and skills college students need. Enhancing the AI readiness (AIR) of college students will help them adapt to the advent of the AI era as early as possible. Little is known about college students’ AIR and it is unclear what factors influence college students’ AIR. Inspired by the social cognitive theory, a theoretical framework, that is “Environment – Cognition – AIR”, is proposed to examine the factors affecting college students’ AIR and uncover the mechanisms that underlie the effect of these factors on college students’ AIR.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lisr.2025.101381

Repository Developer at University of Wisconsin-Madison

Reporting to the Software Development Manager, the incumbent in this role will lead the design, development, and implementation of software and systems that strengthen repository services—enhancing workflows, data management, search and discovery, and system integration. They will collaborate closely with repository and data services teams, as well as stakeholder communities, to assess needs and strategically prioritize development initiatives.

https://tinyurl.com/5frv9mcz

Advancing Equity and Inclusion in Scholarly Communication: Findings from the Consultation on a Global Diamond Open Access Framework

This report presents the results of the survey “Consultation on a Global Diamond Open Access Framework,” conducted online between September 2024 and January 2025 by UNESCO. This survey received nearly 2,900 responses from across 90 Countries. It aimed to understand current practices, structural challenges, and future aspirations regarding community-led, non-commercial scholarly publishing. The process was open, multilingual, and voluntary. Although not statistically representative, the responses reflect the real-world experiences and values of a broad spectrum of stakeholders.

Findings demonstrate widespread support for Diamond Open Access as a viable, values-driven model of scholarly communication. Respondents associated it with principles such as equity, inclusion, multilingualism, and the public good. However, the survey also revealed persistent obstacles, including limited funding, inadequate infrastructure, lack of institutional recognition, and barriers to multilingual participation. Many of these challenges are structural, reflecting broader imbalances in knowledge production and access.

https://tinyurl.com/mpreznnd

Web Services Team Lead at Iowa State University

The Team Lead will develop and maintain code, build shared frameworks, and help ensure platforms are reliable and accessible. They will supervise web development staff and student employees, lead user experience projects informed by testing, analytics, and audits, and serve as a technical liaison with vendors to coordinate front-end changes, integrations, and accessibility improvements.

https://tinyurl.com/2zfapemv

“Untangling the Future of Diamond Access: Discussing Quality Standards for the Re-Communalization of Scholarly Publishing”

This paper examines the future of Diamond Open Access as a non-commercial, community-driven model for scholarly publishing that challenges the growing marketization of research dissemination. Drawing on recent initiatives such as DIAMAS, Craft-OA, and the Diamond Future project, it analyzes tensions between academic autonomy and the heteronomy imposed by commercial publishers. The study reviews existing definitions and standards for diamond journals, highlighting efforts in Europe and Latin America to establish common criteria for quality, sustainability, and visibility. It emphasizes the need to move beyond universal rankings and impact factors toward context-sensitive, federated indexing systems-such as Latindex, SciELO, Redalyc, Biblat, and DOAJ-that reflect the diversity of academic communities. The paper argues for a re-communalization of scholarly publishing through institutional support, reliable indexation, and recognition of multi-indexed journals as legitimate indicators of quality. Ultimately, it proposes reclaiming academic control from corporate infrastructures by reinforcing autonomy, multilingualism, and bibliodiversity in global research evaluation and publication practices.

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17552531

Elsevier: Researcher of the Future* — a Confidence in Research Report*

This report reflects the voices of more than 3,000 researchers worldwide. Their insights reveal resilience, collaboration across borders and an unwavering commitment to integrity, even under growing pressure. They also show optimism about how AI can accelerate discovery — provided researchers have the right support, and tools that are built on quality, transparency and trust. . . .

Most (58%) say AI tools save them time, but are selective about where they see greatest impact. Researchers currently use AI tools to:

Find and summarize the latest research (61%)

Perform literature reviews (51%)

Analyze research data (38%)

Draft grant proposals (41%)

Draft research papers or reports (38%). . . .

Despite the challenges, peer review remains the cornerstone of research integrity. Researchers emphasize the need for trust markers to strengthen confidence in research and AI tools alike:

Transparency and clear citations (59%)

Recency of data and inclusion of up-to-date literature (55%)

Training on high-quality, peer-reviewed content (55%)

Regular human validation of AI outputs (49%)

https://tinyurl.com/3jfcvvv7

Head, Data Services at Emory University

Reporting to the Director of Collections and Open Strategies within the Research, Engagement, and Scholarly Communications (RESC) division and overseeing a new team of experienced data specialists, the Head of Data Services provides strategic leadership and operational oversight for the Libraries’ data-related services. This highly collaborative position advances the library’s mission to support research, teaching, and learning by developing, managing, delivering and promoting scalable and aligned services in such areas as research data management, data literacy, data visualization, geospatial data, and computational research support.

https://tinyurl.com/3uuhb9pn

University Librarian at University of British Columbia

The University Librarian serves as a key member of UBC’s senior academic leadership and provides strategic oversight of one of Canada’s most comprehensive and advanced academic library systems. With responsibility for the Vancouver and Okanagan campuses, the University Librarian leads a multifaceted portfolio encompassing digital scholarship, research and teaching support, collections strategy, and library operations. This role is pivotal in aligning library services with UBC’s academic mission, enhancing institutional research capacity, and stewarding physical and digital infrastructure in support of open access, equity, and innovation.

https://tinyurl.com/js2n28wt

Springer Nature: “Strong Business Performance in the First Nine Months of 2025. Full Year 2025 Guidance Reiterated”

Research, the company’s largest segment, reported revenue of €1,112.6 million (9M 2024: €1,044.4 million) with underlying growth of 7.0% driven by the Journals portfolio, with particular strength in Full Open Access (FOA). The number of published articles rose by more than 10% across the whole portfolio and over 25% in FOA journals.

In the first nine months, Springer Nature completed its 2025 contract renewals and the new contract renewal season, which began in September, is progressing as expected. During the first nine months of 2025, Springer Nature has signed 18 transformative agreements to further accelerate the shift to open access, with one new agreement signed in Q3, bringing the total of transformative agreements in place to 84.

Book revenues grew in the first nine months in both digital and print book formats. Print growth reflects the comparison against a weaker performance last year and positive phasing of distributor orders in the third quarter of 2025. Digital continues to represent around 70% of book sales. Services revenues benefited from good growth in text and data mining (TDM) solutions for corporate customers, offset by a more challenging market for talent-related services in the US.

The company continued to invest in a range of initiatives to support growth and ensure research integrity. It also maintained a focus on developing AI tools to transform the publication process, provide more value to our communities and create new revenue streams. Nature Research Assistant, an AI tool designed to speed up some of the most time-consuming parts of the research process, has been well received and is now being used by more than 8,000 beta users.

Adjusted operating profit in Research grew 8.2% in underlying terms to €351.5 million, exceeding the growth in revenue during the period.

https://tinyurl.com/2s3nm2t4

Digital Ingest Conservator at Victoria and Albert Museum

The Digital Ingest Conservator role supports the Removable Asset Migration Project (RAMP), a time-limited project to locate, assess, and migrate at-risk digital collections stored on obsolete removable media (USB drives, CDs/DVDs, hard drives, floppy disks, tapes) into the Digital Conservation Studio’s preservation storage and enterprise systems.

https://tinyurl.com/2773njvj