E-Journal Archiving for UK HE Libraries: A Draft White Paper

JISC has released E-Journal Archiving for UK HE Libraries: A Draft White Paper for comment.

Here's an excerpt from the announcement:

Libraries are facing increasing space pressures and funding constraints. There is a growing interest in wherever possible moving more rapidly to e-only provision to help alleviate these pressures as well as to provide new electronic services to users. One of the most cited barriers and concerns both from library and faculty staff to moving to e-only has been sustaining and assuring long-term access to electronic content.

The aim of this white paper is to help universities and libraries implement policies and procedures in relation to e-journal archiving which can help support the move towards e-only provision of scholarly journals across the HE sector. The white paper is also contributing to complementary work JISC and other funders are commissioning on moving towards e-only provision of Journals.

Prog/Analyst III at Cornell University

Cornell University Library Information Technologies is recruiting a Prog/Analyst III. Two-year appointment with possible extension dependent upon funding.

Here's an excerpt from the ad:

Cornell University Library Information Technologies (CUL-IT) is responsible for several repositories including arXiv.org (http://arxiv.org), Project Euclid (http://projecteuclid.org), our eCommons institutional repository (http://ecommons.cornell.edu), and the CUL Archival Repository, which is in early development stages. The repository developer will work with the rest of the repositories group on all of these systems and related projects. At least initially, the primary responsibility will be to develop and maintain the arXiv.org repository.

The arXiv.org e-print repository has transformed scholarly communication in multiple fields. It contains over 600k articles, sees >30M downloads/year, and has >100k registered submitters. The repository developer will work to maintain and extend arXiv. They will be involved with planning and implementation of significant changes to the access platform (Python), an upgrade to the alerting system (we send about 20k emails to subscribers each day), development of reporting facilities to support arXiv's new business model (http://arxiv.org/help/support), and maintaining the newly developed submission system (Perl/Catalyst).

Impact Factor: "Nefarious Numbers"

Douglas N. Arnold and Kristine K. Fowler have self-archived "Nefarious Numbers" in arXiv.org.

Here's an excerpt:

Despite numerous flaws, the impact factor has been widely used as a measure of quality for journals, and even for papers and authors. This has created a strong incentive to manipulate it. As we have demonstrated, it is possible to vastly increase impact factor without increasing journal quality at all. The actions of a few interested individuals can make a huge difference, yet require considerable digging to reveal. The cumulative result is that impact factor gives a very inaccurate view of journal quality. We primarily discussed one extreme example, but there is little reason to doubt that such techniques are being used to a lesser degree by many journals.

Daily Tweets 2010-10-05

Metadata Librarians (2) at Cornell University

The Cornell University Library is recruiting two Metadata Librarians.

Here's an excerpt from the ad (requisition ID 13419):

The successful candidates will work at the intersection of many user-focused services and projects, which may include technical services, archives, data curation, and digital libraries. One librarian will primarily work on projects related to the humanities and special collections, and the other position will include responsibilities related to e-science and research data. The successful candidates will be comfortable in exploring emerging technologies and standards for description and access, and they will welcome working in a collegial and collaborative environment. The positions will be an integral part of the newly merged Cataloging and Metadata Services division, a team evolving and expanding to meet users' needs for the discovery and delivery of resources. . . .

  • Participate in Cornell University Library initiatives related to the discovery of digital resources.
  • Consult with Cornell's faculty, staff, and community partners on a variety of metadata and information organization and access needs.
  • Recommend, design, and implement appropriate metadata schemes for digital library projects.
  • Draft metadata components of grant proposals.
  • Assist Cornell researchers in the preparation of data management plans.
  • Establish workflows for metadata creation or capture.
  • Suggest methods for streamlining or automating metadata creation and management, using various tools for metadata manipulation and scripting.
  • Collaborate with database management staff on batch processing projects.
  • Assess and work to improve access to resources such as e-books, CUL web sites, and locally-created digital collections.
  • Advise on digital preservation strategies, including metadata used for CUL digital repositories.
  • Serve as a resource to departments and staff on issues related to metadata and digital initiatives.
  • Create and maintain local documentation on metadata standards and metadata application guidelines.
  • Train cataloging and metadata staff to use tools and standards required for projects.
  • Actively participate in Central Library Operations, library-wide, 2CUL (partnership with Columbia University), and national working groups, task forces, and committees.
  • Monitor and contribute to the development of local, national, and international metadata standards and trends.
  • Actively seek to participate in library's role in digital humanities and/or research data projects when possible.

Preserving Virtual Worlds II Gets $785,898 IMLS Grant

The Preserving Virtual Worlds II project has been awarded a $785,898 National Leadership Grant by the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

Here's an excerpt from the press release:

Preserving Virtual Worlds II: Methods for Evaluating and Preserving Significant Properties of Educational Games and Complex Interactive Environments (PVW2) is led by GSLIS Assistant Professor Jerome McDonough in partnership with the Rochester Institute of Technology, the University of Maryland, and Stanford University. PVW2 plans to help improve the capacity of libraries, museums, and archives to preserve computer games, video games, and interactive fiction.

The original Preserving Virtual Worlds project, funded by the Library of Congress’s National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program (NDIIP), investigated what preservation issues arose with computer games and interactive fiction, and how existing metadata and packaging standards might be employed for the long-term preservation of these materials. PVW2 will focus on determining properties for a variety of educational games and game franchises in order to provide a set of best practices for preserving the materials through virtualization technologies and migration, as well as provide an analysis of how the preservation process is documented. PVW2 is a two-year project, to be conducted between October 2010 and September 2012.

Read more about it at "Preserving Virtual Worlds 2 Funded."

Head of Digital Scholarship at the British Library

The British Library is recruiting a Head of Digital Scholarship. Salary: £67,998 (more may be available for an exceptional candidate).

Here's an excerpt from the ad:

This is a unique role in one of the world's leading national research libraries. At a time of rapid change in scholarly communication, you'll be shaping the British Library's digital scholarship strategy to ensure that we offer the same high-quality support for researchers using digital resources as we do for those using traditional media. You will also be developing innovative ways to maximise access to our priceless collections for future generations of researchers. This includes resource discovery and delivery and integrating digital and digitised formats.

You'll lead the digital curator team and the Library's collections digitisation strategy, developing sustainable models for providing digital content and services to scholars and enhancing our provision across visual arts, music, sound and moving image, e-manuscripts and cartographic and topographic materials. We'll also expect you to raise our profile on the international stage by contributing to the global debate on digital scholarship in the arts and humanities and social sciences.

Duke University Signs Compact for Open-Access Publishing Equity

Duke University has signed the Compact for Open-Access Publishing Equity (COPE). There are now 11 institutions that have signed COPE, including Cornell University, Dartmouth College, Harvard University, MIT, the University of California at Berkeley, the University of Ottawa, Columbia University, the University of Michigan, the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, and the Universitat de Barcelona.

Here's an excerpt from the announcement:

As part of its commitment to COPE, Duke has created a special fund to help pay for article processing fees. Beginning this month, any Duke faculty member, post-doctoral researcher, graduate or professional student whose article is accepted for publication in a peer-reviewed, open-access journal can apply to have associated article processing fees reimbursed. The fund, which will be administered by the Libraries' Office of Scholarly Communications, is supported by the Duke University Libraries and the Office of the Provost. . . .

According to Provost Peter Lange, the aims of COPE are in keeping with Duke's continued emphasis on knowledge in the service of society. "By establishing this fund, we hope to support the university's commitment to promoting openness as an important value in scholarship," Lange said. "Increased open access means more opportunities for the research of our faculty and researchers to reach a wide audience and have a meaningful impact on the world."

Daily Tweets 2010-10-04

Programmer/Analyst (Software Developer) at Penn State

Digital Library Technologies at The Pennsylvania State University is recruiting a Programmer/Analyst (Software Developer).

Here's an excerpt from the ad (job number: 33102):

The Software Developer will develop and integrate software and web applications for an institutional content stewardship program. This requires the ability to work collaboratively with content curators as well as fellow technologists. The Software Developer will be expected to: share advancements in standards, software development practices, and IT trends; constantly refine his or her skill set; and apply new knowledge and techniques. This is an opportunity to work with an innovative unit on building a sustainable, enterprise-level content stewardship program at a large, multi-campus institution recognized for its commitment to excellence.

The Copyright Principles Project: Directions for Reform

Pamela Samuelson and members of the Copyright Principles Project have released The Copyright Principles Project: Directions for Reform.

Here's an excerpt from the press release:

A group of leading experts on copyright law and policy released a report today that explores ideas for meaningful reforms to the U.S. copyright system. Crafted over three years by a group of legal academics, private practitioners, and corporate attorneys, the report examines several ways to improve and update the law in an era of rapid technological change.

The Copyright Principles Project: Directions for Reform (CPP) report attempts to ignite an informed debate about how to best balance the interests of copyright owners and users. The group reached consensus on a number of significant ideas, as well as guiding principles for copyright reform. The project was led by Berkeley Law distinguished professor Pamela Samuelson.

"The report intelligently informs the copyright debate, and the identification and discussion of issues is well done and important," said Marybeth Peters, the head of the U.S. Copyright Office. "The recommendations are thoughtful, and in many cases, I support them. This entire project significantly reinvigorates efforts to bring the copyright law up-to-date, either incrementally or as a major revision." . . .

One of the project's ideas would provide non-commercial uses of copyrighted works better shelter from liability, particularly as users lift parts of existing works to create new ones. The report also suggests a more efficient and technologically-driven approach to copyright registration, so that works can be freely reused if their authors agree.

Copyright law reform has been a challenging issue for stakeholders, many of whom have starkly different ideas about how to balance public and private interests. To its credit, the project team explored controversial subjects openly and with vigorous debate. In cases where the participants could not settle on a specific reform proposal, they were able to draft guiding principles for future reform efforts. . . .

One common problem the report addresses is peer-to-peer file-sharing of commercial movies and music. Although some file-sharing services have been shut down, the illegal practice has not abated. The report suggests the creation of a "safe harbor" to protect online service providers from excessive damage claims if they take reasonable, voluntary, measures to limit file-sharing—or other unlawful distributions of commercial works. Companies that comply would be shielded from liability for user infringements.

The report also suggests development of reasonable and consistent statutory guidelines for damage awards. Current law allows courts to award between $750 and $30,000 in damages per infringed work—and up to $150,000 per work if the infringement is willful. This has led to awards that seem arbitrary and capricious, inconsistent with awards in similar cases, and grossly excessive or disproportionate.

Other ideas include:

Modernize the Copyright Office: Instead of one registry for all copyrighted works, the office could certify third-party registries for different types of works, such as photos, films, and computer programs. The model is akin to the domain name registration system. Other suggestions include adopting a small claims procedure for small-scale disputes.

Reinvigorate copyright registration: Encourage copyright owners to register so that it's simple to find out who owns what. The idea is to make registration easy and worthwhile for copyright owners so that the public can have better information about protected works and their owners.

Refine exclusive rights for authors: Weigh commercial value and risk of harm to copyright markets when determining whether someone's exclusive right has been infringed; this shields non-harmful activity from the threat of highly punitive copyright claims.

Revise the common practice of automatic injunctions: Courts could consider whether a preliminary or permanent injunction is needed to prevent irreparable harm, as well as whether having access to the work is in the public’s best interest.

Limit Orphan Works liability: Enable libraries and others to preserve a part of our cultural heritage by using copyrighted materials whose owners cannot readily be found.

Head, Specialized Content & Services at MIT

The MIT Libraries are recruiting a Head, Specialized Content & Services. Salary: $90,000 minimum.

Here's an excerpt from the ad:

This is an exciting opportunity to provide leadership in the planning, coordination, implementation, delivery, administration, and assessment of an important array of 21st century library services and content which are used across multiple disciplines and communities. This position will oversee the coordination and delivery of a suite of robust and growing services focused around specialized, technology-intensive data types. Among the library services included in the current SCS portfolio are images, GIS, bioinformatics, science/engineering and social science data, community video sharing, classroom video capture, and music.

The Head of this new department will spearhead the development and execution of a shared vision and strategic plan for Specialized Content and Services. S/he will lead an entrepreneurial and service-focused staff in establishing and achieving customer-oriented goals and service standards for the work of SCS and will oversee the development of appropriate assessment activities that measure and ensure the effectiveness of the group’s operations. Within this staff of over two dozen library, IT, other professional and support staff, the Head will foster a working environment that promotes and supports productivity, creativity, innovation and collaboration. S/he will manage human, fiscal and technology resources to optimize support of current and future initiatives.

The SCS Department works synergistically with other units of the MIT Libraries including instruction and reference, digital preservation, research, technical development, and marketing to deliver an integrated portfolio of services to the MIT community. The Head of SCS will lead and support these internal partnerships and will work to cultivate and strengthen collaborative relationships with other MIT departments and appropriate external partners. The Head of SCS will also participate and contribute to professional networks of others engaged in similar work.

New Ruling in Georgia State University E-Reserves Copyright Case

U.S. District Judge Orinda Evans has issued a ruling about the defendants' and plaintiffs' motions for summary judgment in the Cambridge University Press et al. v. Patton et al. case.

Here's an excerpt:

Overall, the evidence presented does not indicate that Defendants "profited directly from" or "had a direct financial interest in" the infringement alleged by Plaintiffs. There is absolutely no evidence in the record showing that Georgia State benefitted financially from the alleged infringements. At most, if the Court takes the inferential steps suggested by Plaintiffs, any benefit the infringement provides to students constitutes "just an added benefit" rather than a clear "draw" to Georgia State. Therefore, the Court GRANTS Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment as to the third claim, vicarious copyright infringement and DENIES Plaintiffs' Motion for Summary Judgment as to the third claim. . . .

The record before the Court on the motions for summary judgment does not speak to the question of whether in practice the Current Policy is encouraging improper application of the fair use defense. The Court therefore DENIES both Defendants' and Plaintiffs' motions for summary judgment as to the contributory infringement claim. . . .

Going forward, in order to show that Defendants are responsible for the copyright infringements alleged in this case, Plaintiffs must show that the 2009 Copyright Policy resulted in ongoing and continuous misuse of the fair use defense. To do so, Plaintiffs must put forth evidence of a sufficient number of instances of infringement of Plaintiffs' copyrights to show such ongoing and continuous misuse. Defendants will have the burden of showing that each specified instance of 2009 Copyright Policy infringement was a fair use. Both sides will be limited to the list of claimed infringements produced in response to the Court's August 11, 2010 and August 12, 2010 orders. The parties are DIRECTED to confer and determine whether further discovery is needed before resolving the remaining contributory infringement claim. Within twenty (20) days, the parties shall present a proposed scheduling order.

Read more about it at "Going Forward with Georgia State Lawsuit."

Daily Tweets 2010-10-03

Daily Tweets 2010-10-01

Library Application Administrator (Systems Specialist) at University of Kansas

The University of Kansas Libraries are recruiting a Library Application Administrator (Systems Specialist).

Here's an excerpt from the ad:

This position reports to the Manager, Library Applications and works as part of a team of library technology professionals who manage foundational library and scholarly systems and accompanying application services within KU Libraries.

KU Libraries' management and scholarly applications are built on both vendor and open source products that include Voyager, ILLiad, Luna Insight, DSpace, Open Journal Systems, XTF (the Extensible Text Framework), EZProxy, the CNRI Handles Server, web servers, and various applications developed in-house. These systems are core to the mission of KU Libraries and provide services to support teaching, learning and research at the university. Application support underpins a variety of services that our faculty, staff, and students depend on every day: the library catalog, interlibrary loan and document delivery services, KU ScholarWorks as our open access institutional repository, digital publishing and data services, and access to rich visual resources, online collections, and physical materials.

Application administration responsibilities include oversight for all aspects of application administration including systems planning, application upgrades, configuration, maintenance, integration, quality assurance and testing, and support for library staff responsible for service delivery. Teamwork is required. In some cases, this position will work closely with the other technology specialists in KU Libraries or campus IT staff to manage technology services effectively for KU Libraries.

Self-Archiving Study: PEER Annual Report—Year 2

The PEER (Publishing and the Ecology of European Research) project has released PEER Annual Report—Year 2.

Here's an excerpt from the press release:

Reporting on the past 12 months of activity in this ground breaking collaboration between publishers, repositories and the research community investigating the effects of Green Open Access, the PEER Annual Report highlights the complexity of the infrastructure required for PEER and the substantial progress achieved towards the project’s objectives.

To simulate the large-scale, systematic depositing of authors’ final peer-reviewed manuscripts accepted for journal publication, 12 participating publishers are providing content and associated metadata from 241 participating journals. Half of the manuscripts are being submitted directly to PEER, while for the other half, authors are invited by publishers to self-deposit into the project.

All submitted content is being received by the PEER Depot, a central repository created specifically for the project by INRIA, which undertakes filtering for EU research content, metadata matching and transformations, and embargo management prior to distribution to participating repositories.

By the end of year 2 (August 2010), almost 25,000 unique publisher provided manuscripts had been processed by the PEER Depot, resulting in 10,000 EU manuscripts after processing (some still under embargo), with embargo expired manuscripts distributed to participating repositories.

The three areas of usage, economic and behavioural research commissioned by PEER are well underway, with the Baseline Behavioural Report already publicly available from the PEER website.

New Shared Support Membership Option from BioMed Central

BioMed Central now offers a Shared Support Membership option.

Here's an excerpt from the press release:

Today, BioMed Central officially announced the launch of Shared Support Membership — a new and innovative Membership package for institutions that want to provide financial support for their researchers open access publications, but at the same time manage their expenditure.

Whilst many institutes encourage their researchers to publish in open access journals, with limited publication budgets, it is often a complicated process to apportion the right amount of funds to cover Article Processing Charges (APC’s). To alleviate some of the financial burdens, Shared Support combines the best of BioMed Central’s other Membership types (Prepay and Supporter) and splits the costs of publishing with BioMed Central down the middle — the institute pays 50% and the submitting author pays the remaining 50%.

This new Membership type therefore offers a more balanced, easier way to handle the cost associated with open access publication. It also allows both parties to benefit from significant discounts of between 5-15% depending on how much funding the institute decides to pre-pay into their Membership account.

There is no joining fee for Shared Support Membership. Members can also immediately benefit from the supply of automated repository feeds using SWORD, which ensure that any articles published in BioMed Central journals will be automatically deposited into their institutional repositories.

ARL and Ithaka S+R Get $464,286 IMLS Grant for Digitized Special Collections Research

ARL and Ithaka S+R have received a $464,286 grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services National Leadership Grants Program “to study how libraries, archives, and museums are sustaining digitized special collections.”

Here's an excerpt from the press release:

"Our examination of digital resources through our case studies work showed us that project leaders need practical tools to help them ensure their project's long-term sustainability," says Laura Brown, Managing Director, Ithaka S+R. "This collaborative study will respond to that need by providing actionable recommendations, best practices, and planning tools to help project leaders in higher education, public libraries, museums, historical societies, and other organizations plan for sustaining their own special collections digitization projects."

Project activities under this cooperative agreement will include a survey of digitized special collections and focused interviews with leaders and project staff in selected cultural heritage organizations who manage those collections. The study’s final report of lessons learned, recommendations, and case studies will be freely shared through the partners’ websites, through a webcast, and conference presentations.

Daily Tweets 2010-09-30

"The Google Book Settlement as Copyright Reform"

Pamela Samuelson has self-archived "The Google Book Settlement as Copyright Reform" in SSRN.

Here's an excerpt:

This Article explains why certain features of U.S. law, particularly copyright law, may have contributed to Google’s willingness to undertake the GBS project in the first place and later to its motivation to settle the Authors Guild lawsuit. It then demonstrates that the proposed settlement would indeed achieve a measure of copyright reform that Congress would find difficult to accomplish. Some of this reform may be in the public interest. It also considers whether the quasi-legislative nature of the GBS settlement is merely an interesting side effect of the agreement or an additional reason in favor or against approval of this settlement.

JISC e-Content Programme Grants Announced

The JISC has announced the availability of up to £840,000 in 2011 e-Content Programme grant funds.

Here's an excerpt from the announcement:

Funding of up to £840,000 is available within two strands:

Strand A–Enriching via Collaboration
Using collaboration to cluster, repackage and re-present existing digital content.
Total funding available £400,000. Up to 5 projects will be funded. Maximum funding for any one project is £100,000

Strand B–Developing Community Content
To develop new content and communities for educational and social purposes.
Total funding available £440,000. Up to 6 projects will be funded. Maximum funding for any one project is £100,000,

The deadline for receipt of proposals in response to this call is 12:00 noon UK time on Friday 10 December 2010. Projects should start by 1 March 2011 and may run for up to 7 months. All projects must be complete by 30 September 2011.

Read more about it at "Grant Funding 11/10: JISC e-Content Programme."

Daily Tweets 2010-09-29

Visiting Metadata & Illinois Harvest Portal Librarian at University of Illinois

The University of Illinois Library is recruiting a Visiting Metadata & Illinois Harvest Portal Librarian (one-year term).

Here's an excerpt from the ad:

The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library seeks an innovative individual to provide expertise and guidance in metadata schemas and standards and to assist in their implementation within the Library. The Metadata Librarian is responsible for helping to plan and manage metadata production, harvesting, and presentation for digitization projects such as the Illinois Harvest Project. The Metadata Librarian is a visiting faculty position reporting to the Digital Content Access (DCA) Lead and Head of Content Access Management (CAM).

Responsibilities include:

  • Lead, manage, and coordinate activities relating to metadata harvesting and production for description, access and preservation of digitized material from the UIUC Libraries. Work with other Library personnel involved in digitization, metadata harvesting and production including providing training and technical assistance to other department and library staff.
  • Work with the Digital Content Access Lead and Head of Content Access Management and faculty and staff in Digital Content Creation (DCC) and Content Access Management (CAM) who are involved in planning and implementation of metadata provision for digital resources, including the selection of metadata schema, data elements, thesauri, and development of crosswalks.
  • Formulate, document, and implement the Library's policies, procedures, and best practices for use of descriptive metadata schemas (such as MARC, MODS, Dublin Core, and other applicable schemas), preservation metadata schemas (such as PREMIS), content standards (such as AACR2 and CCO), controlled vocabularies (such as LCSH, TGN, AAT and other applicable vocabularies) and transmission standards such as METS.
  • Participate in the development of the Library’s digital content access strategy, for example the long-term planning for the Illinois Harvest Portal and strategies for collection level splash pages.
  • Participate in metadata remediation, transformation, and creation using appropriate schemas to support the Illinois Harvest Portal and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library's growing digital collections.
  • Create collection level records for the Library's digital collections.
  • Assist in metadata harvesting using the Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting (OAI-PMH).