Video Presentations from the Ebook Transition: Collaborations and Innovations behind Open-Access Monographs Forum

SPARC has released video presentations from the Ebook Transition: Collaborations and Innovations behind Open-Access Monographs SPARC-ACRL forum.

Here's an excerpt from the announcement:

The market-based business model for scholarly monographs, long under pressure due to decreased library purchasing, must now accommodate a transition to ebooks. Many non-profit publishers, including university presses, are actively exploring new publishing models to support scholarly monographs, including open-access distribution and collaborative initiatives with university libraries. This SPARC-ACRL forum featured three pioneering initiatives to deliver free online access to scholarly monographs, and highlighted opportunities for libraries to support innovations in this important area.

Head, Carolina Digital Library & Archives at UNC-CH

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Libraries are recruiting a Head, Carolina Digital Library & Archives.

Here's an excerpt from the ad:

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill seeks an energetic, innovative, and collegial individual to serve as Head of the Carolina Digital Library and Archives (CDLA). The person in this position has the opportunity to build on a distinguished record of digital library accomplishments at UNC and to develop new programs and services for the Library and the campus community. Currently the CDLA has 6 permanent staff members and numerous project-funded staff and students. The CDLA coordinates and provides digital library and preservation services in support of research and teaching at UNC. Working with faculty, students, and library staff, the CDLA develops, manages, and publishes digital content in curated scholarly collections, in focused library collections and exhibits, and in large digital repositories. The CDLA coordinates the development of policies and workflows for preservation of digital content across the campus and serves as the Carolina Digital Repository's point of contact with its contributors and users. The CDLA maintains a broad array of digital conversion and ingest capabilities and equipment and provides production services for CDLA-managed and other projects. In support of scholarly and teaching use of digital materials, the CDLA maintains an active role in the development and support of tools used to explore, analyze, and interpret digital content. The CDLA also facilitates awareness and analysis of developments in the scholarly use of digital technologies and their application to library collections and services.

Challenges for Academic Libraries in Difficult Economic Times: A Guide for Senior Institutional Managers and Policy Makers

The Research Information Network has released Challenges for Academic Libraries in Difficult Economic Times: A Guide for Senior Institutional Managers and Policy Makers.

Here's an excerpt from the announcement:

Based upon data gathered in the UK and internationally, and focus groups with senior librarians during late 2009, the guide looks at the financial position of libraries, their strategies for dealing with challenging economic circumstances, and the value of libraries.

After a decade of growth in budgets and services, academic librarians now expect a sustained period of cuts over the next three to five years. The scale of these cuts means librarians are having to reconsider the kinds and levels of service they can provide in support of their universities missions.

This guide shows how librarians are responding to the issues of balancing expenditure between information resources and staffing and how they plan to sustain levels of service, as well as developing new services to meet new needs. It demonstrates that library directors need the support of senior managers across the higher education sector, as well as from publishers and other information providers, to help address the challenges, as well as the opportunities, faced.

Read more about it at the briefing document.

Barbara I. Dewey Named Penn State Dean of University Libraries and Scholarly Communications

Contingent on approval by the University Board of Trustees, Barbara I. Dewey has been named Dean of University Libraries and Scholarly Communications at the Pennsylvania State University.

Here's an excerpt from the press release:

She [Dewey] will succeed Nancy Eaton, who has held the position since 1997 and will continue her ties with the University in retirement as dean emerita.

"The remarkable expansion of digital content and patrons' growing expectation of online access to scholarly publications have made university libraries an exceptionally complex and integral part of today's intellectual endeavors," said Penn State President Graham Spanier. "I welcome Barbara's leadership as the Penn State University Libraries continues to evolve to serve the academic and research pursuits of our students, faculty and staff."

"I am honored to lead Penn State's library enterprise, building on the tremendous success of its expert faculty and staff in this exciting period of change and transformation," said Dewey. "I look forward to working with Penn State's outstanding academic and alumni communities bringing Penn State scholarship to the world and the world's scholarship to Penn State."

As the leader of Penn State's information resources enterprise, Dewey will serve as the official representative and advocate for the University Libraries and Penn State Press and oversee approximately 1,150 full- and part-time faculty and staff. The University Libraries comprise 14 libraries at the University Park campus and libraries at 22 other campuses, Media Technology Support Services and the University Records Management Program. Collections include more than 5.2 million volumes, 69,000 serial titles, 517 databases and more than 50,000 e-books, as well as extensive holdings of maps, microforms, government publications, archives and audio-visual materials. The University Libraries and the Penn State Press jointly operate the Office of Digital Scholarly Publishing and collaborate on the development of new modes of disseminating research and scholarship. . . .

Dean of Libraries at the University of Tennessee since 2000, Dewey garnered significant experience at several Big Ten universities. Previously, she served at the University of Iowa from 1987 to 2000 as assistant to the dean of libraries, director of administrative and access services, director of information and research services and interim university librarian, respectively. Prior to that she also was Indiana University's director of admissions and placement in the School of Library and Information Science from 1980 to 1987, and assistant interlibrary loan and reference librarian at Northwestern University from 1978 to 1980. She began her library science career with the Minnesota Valley Regional Library System.

Dewey received her master's degree in library science and her undergraduate degree in anthropology/sociology, both from the University of Minnesota. She also received a Graduate Public Management Certificate from Indiana University's School of Public and Environmental Affairs.

A member of the Association of Research Libraries board of directors from 2006 to 2009, Dewey continues service as chair of its Transforming Research Libraries Steering Committee and the Association of College and Research Libraries Publications Committee. She is in her final year of a six-year term on the Online Computer Library Center Global Council and is a member of the International Federation of Library Associations Standing Committee on Education and Training. She has published and presented on a wide range of research library topics including digital libraries, diversity, technology, user education, fundraising, organizational development and human resources.

Web Archiving

The Digital Curation Centre has released Web Archiving.

Here's an excerpt from the announcement:

The DCC has produced a report that provides a snapshot of the state of the art of Web archiving in early 2010, noting areas of contemporaneous research and development. It should be of interest to individuals and organisations concerned about the longevity of the Web resources to which they contribute or refer, and who wish to consider the issues and options in a broad context. The report begins by reviewing in more detail the motivations that lie behind Web archiving, both from an organisational and a research perspective. The most common challenges faced by Web archivists are discussed in section 3. The following two sections examine Web archiving at extremes of scale, with section 4 dealing with full-domain harvesting and the building of large-scale collections, and section 5 dealing with the ad hoc archiving of individual resources and small-scale collections. The challenges associated with particular types of difficult content are summarised in section 6, while methods for integrating archived material with the live Web are reviewed in section 7. Finally, some conclusions are drawn in section 8.

Update on White House OSTP Public Access Policy Forum

The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy has issued an update on its Public Access Policy Forum.

Here's an excerpt from "Public Access Policy Update":

Today we are posting two valuable resources that are direct products of the Public Access Policy Forum. While we continue the process of analyzing the literature and comments, below you will find all of the blog posts and their respective comments, as well as never-before-seen submissions that were sent directly to our publicaccess@ostp.gov inbox.

The past month-and-a-half has given OSTP staff the chance to sift through the mounds of fantastic input we received. We were very gratified by the amount of participation the forum generated and are diligently scouring through the data to find common themes, dissenting opinions, concerns, and suggestions that will ultimately help us craft policy recommendations. . . .

Original blog posts with attached comments:

PublicAccess@ostp.gov submissions:

Library Digital Services Manager at St. Edward's University

The Scarborough-Phillips Library at St. Edward's University is recruiting a Library Digital Services Manager. Salary: upper 50's to low 60's.

Here's an excerpt from the ad:

The Scarborough-Phillips Library at St. Edward's University seeks a creative, innovative individual to provide leadership in all things digital including but not limited to the library's web presence, digitization initiatives, integrated library systems, and cooperative ventures with other departments on campus and at other universities. This position reports to the Library Director.

Duke University Adopts Open Access Policy

Duke University has adopted an open access policy.

Here's an excerpt from "New Policy to Ease Access to Faculty Works ":

At the Academic Council meeting Thursday, faculty members passed the Duke Open Access policy proposed by the task force’s co-chairs, Cathy Davidson, Ruth F. Devarney Professor of English, and Paolo Mangiafico, director of digital information strategy. The proposal passed unanimously.

The Open Access policy provides Duke scholars with the choice of giving the University the legal basis to publish articles on a database called DukeSpace, which will be available to anyone who seeks them.

Read more about it at "Draft Discussion Document for Duke Open Access Policy" and "Open Access at Duke."

Last Week’s DigitalKoans Tweets 2010-03-21

Last Week’s DigitalKoans Tweets 2010-03-14

Last Week’s DigitalKoans Tweets 2010-03-07

HighWire Press 2009 Librarian eBook Survey

HighWire Press has released HighWire Press 2009 Librarian eBook Survey.

Here's an excerpt from the press release:

The survey was conducted as part of HighWire's ongoing exploration of the fast-growing scholarly ebook market. The results and accompanying analysis draw together the input of 138 librarians from 13 countries. The responses underscore the significant growth librarians expect in ebook acquisitions and point to their current preferences and possible trends in this evolving area.

The survey data was analyzed by Michael Newman, Stanford University’s Head Biology Librarian, and the report presents his perspective on what his librarian colleagues had to say about ebooks. The report espouses some familiar and consistent themes:

  • Simplicity and ease of use seem more important than sophisticated end-user features.
  • Users tend to discover ebooks through both the library catalog and search engines.
  • While users prefer PDFs, format preference will likely change as technology changes.
  • DRM seems to hinder ebook use for library patrons; ability to print is essential.
  • The most popular business model for librarians is purchase with perpetual access.

Librarian for Digital Technologies and Learning at NCSU

The North Carolina State University Libraries are recruiting a Librarian for Digital Technologies and Learning.

Here's an excerpt from the ad (position number: 03603):

The Librarian for Digital Technologies and Learning provides research and instructional support and reference service for the NCSU Libraries' clientele. He or she collaborates with faculty members, other librarians, and instructional technologists to explore, develop, promote, and assess innovative online tools and services, including those targeting off-campus learners. With the Instructional Services Librarian and others, this position supports the creation of course- and curriculum-integrated web resources and identifies new and creative ways to enhance student learning and research skills. He or she participates in departmental and library planning; and serves on library-wide committees, task forces, and teams. NCSU Librarians are expected to be active professionally and to contribute to developments in the field. Reports to the Principal Librarian for Digital Technologies and Learning.

"GBS March Madness: Paths Forward for the Google Books Settlement"

The American Library Association, the Association of Research Libraries, and the Association of College and Research Libraries have released "GBS March Madness: Paths Forward for the Google Books Settlement."

Here's an excerpt from the press release:

This diagram, developed by Jonathan Band, explores the many possible routes and outcomes of the Google Books Settlement, including avenues into the litigation and appeals process.

Now that the fairness hearing on the Google Books Settlement has occurred, it is up to Judge Chin to decide whether the amended settlement agreement (ASA), submitted to the Court by Google, the Authors Guild, and the Association of American Publishers, is "fair, reasonable, and adequate." As the diagram shows, however, Judge Chin’s decision is only the next step in a very complex legal proceeding that could take a dozen more turns before reaching resolution. Despite the complexity of the diagram, it does not reflect every possible twist in the case, nor does it address the substantive reasons why a certain outcome may occur or the impact of Congressional intervention through legislation. As Band states, "the precise way forward is more difficult to predict than the NCAA tournament. And although the next step in the GBS saga may occur this March, many more NCAA tournaments will come and go before the buzzer sounds on this dispute."

Systems and Electronic Services Librarian at Lebanon Valley College

The Lebanon Valley College Bishop Library is recruiting a Systems and Electronic Services Librarian.

Here's an excerpt from the ad:

Under direction of the Director of the Library, the Systems and Electronic Services Librarian provides oversight and leadership in the planning, implementation, integration, and maintenance of a broad range of library electronic services including the integrated library system (SirsiDynix Symphony), the Serials Solutions Knowledge base and 360 Suite, EZProxy, access to electronic databases, serials subscriptions and packages, and other third-party applications. The Systems and Electronic Services Librarian participates in the design and maintenance of the library web presence and also assists students, faculty, staff, and other library users with electronic systems and services and participates in reference service and library instruction.

SPARC: Campus-Based Open-Access Publishing Funds

SPARC has released Campus-Based Open-Access Publishing Funds.

Here's an excerpt from the press release:

SPARC (the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition) has released a new guide and supporting Web resource exploring campus-based open-access publishing funds. Authored by SPARC Consultant Greg Tananbaum, these timely new resources survey the current North American landscape of open-access funds and explore key emerging questions on how such funds are considered and developed on college and university campuses.

Open-access funds are resources created to address article-processing fees (APCs) that may be associated with publishing in an open-access journal. These fees are a source of revenue for many open-access publishers (including the Public Library of Science, Hindawi, and the Optical Society of America), as well as for subscription-based publishers experimenting with "open choice" or "hybrid" options, where individual articles are made freely available with the upon payment of an APC.

The new guide, "Open-access publishing funds: A practical guide to design and implementation," and Web resource contain a wealth of background information to inform libraries, authors, administrators and interested others on the practical considerations surrounding open-access funds. The site features up-to-date information on:

  • Active open-access funds (at the University of California at Berkeley, University of Calgary, and several other institutions);
  • FAQ for authors, administrators, and publishers;
  • Considerations in evaluating the launch of a fund;
  • Key policy decisions;
  • Implementation tools;
  • Resource allocation;
  • Fund promotion and reporting and more.

To ensure that this resource stays current, readers are invited to contribute their experiences through the online commenting and discussion features that are available.

Applications Programmer/Analyst Associate at University of Michigan

The University of Michigan Library is recruiting an Applications Programmer/Analyst Associate (or Applications Programmer/Analyst Intermediate depending on qualifications). Salary range: $40,000-$60,000. Three-year term appointment (with the possibility of renewal).

Here's an excerpt from the ad:

DLPS [Digital Library Production Service] is looking for a talented, resourceful programmer to develop, maintain, document, and monitor software systems. Primary focus will be placed on developing highly reliable software tools for routine data processing on a large scale. Specific processing tasks include file format conversion, metadata insertion, transformation, validation, and transfer. Work includes assessing needs and specifying software requirements. Development of web interfaces for process management may be needed as well. Other tasks will vary but include, for example, preparing documentation and the development of digital library access systems, for example, DLXS (http://www.dlxs.org).

Unintended Consequences: 12 Years Under the DMCA

The Electronic Frontier Foundation has released Unintended Consequences: 12 Years Under the DMCA.

Here's an excerpt from the announcement:

EFF today released Unintended Consequences: 12 Years Under the DMCA. This is the sixth update to the report, which aims to catalog all the reported instances where the DMCA's ban on tampering with DRM have been abused to stymie fair use, free speech, and competition, rather than to attack "piracy."

Congress enacted the DMCA's ban on bypassing DRM at the urging of entertainment industry lobbyists who argued that DRM backed by law would quell digital copyright infringement. Of course, 12 years later, that exactly hasn't worked out. Nor is it likely to ever work out. But lots of industries have recognized that these provisions of the DMCA are good for other things—like impeding scientific research and legitimate competition. The Unintended Consequences report collects these stories, including oldies like Lexmark's effort to block toner cartridge refilling and new cases like the lawsuit against RealDVD.

Other new additions to the report include Apple's use of the DMCA to lock iPhone owners to Apple's own App Store for software, Apple's DMCA threats against Bluwiki for hosting discussions about iPod interoperability, and Texas Instruments' use of the DMCA to threaten calculator hobbyists trying to write their own operating systems.

Programmer/Analyst, Digital Library Tools at Indiana University

The Indiana University Libraries are recruiting a Programmer/Analyst, Digital Library Tools.

Here's an excerpt from the ad:

Participates in the development and management of IU’s digital repository system (based on the Fedora open source software platform) and associated software tools for ingestion, management, and delivery of digital library content. Designs, evaluates, programs, and implements Web-based software tools supporting access to and ingestion of digital library collections. Works with other Digital Library Programs and IU staff to define requirements for tools to support delivery of image, text, audio, video, and data collections; evaluates potential commercial and open-source solutions; designs and tests user interfaces; designs, codes, and tests software; and defines and implements interfaces with other IU systems.

DSpace 1.6 Released

DuraSpace has released DSpace 1.6.

Here's an excerpt from the announcement:

Community-requested features in the new release include an enhanced statistics package which provides more information about how your repository is being used, an embargo facility so items can be kept dark for a period of time, and a batch metadata editing tool which can be used to change, add, find/replace metadata as well as facilitate mass moves, re-order values or add new items in bulk. And there’s more such as authority control which contains an integration with the Sherpa Romeo Service for publisher names, as well as the Library of Congress Nameservice. Other new features include:

  • Delegated administration
  • OpenSearch
  • Command launcher
  • OAI-PMH harvesting of items from remote repositories
  • Configurable OAI-PMH dublin core output
  • Move item functionality in XMLUI
  • If-Modified-Since / Last-Modified header support in XMLUI
  • Change to logging behaviour to ensure better log retention and management
  • Update to the latest handle server library
  • Ability to perform batch imports and exports from zip files of items
  • New test scripts to test database and email settings
  • Ability to set legal jurisdiction in creative commons licensing

Duke University Draft Open Access Policy

Duke University's Digital Futures Task Force has written a "Draft Discussion Document for Duke Open Access Policy" for consideration.

Here's an excerpt:

Each Faculty member grants to Duke University permission to make available his or her scholarly articles and to reproduce and distribute those articles for the purpose of open dissemination. In legal terms, each Faculty member grants to Duke University a nonexclusive, irrevocable, royalty-free, worldwide license to exercise any and all rights under copyright relating to each of his or her scholarly articles, in any medium, and to authorize others to do so, provided that the articles are not sold. The Duke faculty author remains the copyright owner unless that author chooses to transfer the copyright to a publisher.

The policy will apply to all scholarly articles authored or co-authored while the person is a member of the Faculty except for any articles completed before the adoption of this policy and any articles for which the Faculty member entered into an incompatible licensing or assignment agreement before the adoption of this policy. The Provost or Provost's designate will waive application of the license for a particular article or delay access for a specified period of time upon written request by a Faculty member.

To assist the University in distributing the scholarly articles, each faculty member will make available, as of the date of publication or upon request, an electronic copy of the final author’s version of the article at no charge to a designated representative of the Provost’s Office in an appropriate format (such as PDF) specified by the Provost's Office. The Provost's Office will make the article available to the public in Duke’s open-access repository. In cases where the Duke license has been waived or an embargo period has been mutually agreed, the article may be archived in a Duke repository without open access for the period of the embargo, or permanently in cases of waiver.

Read more about it at "Information Wants to Be Sustainable."

Digital Services Specialist at University of Bridgeport

The University of Bridgeport is recruiting a Digital Services Specialist.

Here's an excerpt from the ad:

This position resides within a combined Wahlstrom Library, Office of Information Technology, Projects Office, and Media Services organization that reports to the AVP Information Technology and CIO. The Associate University Librarian provides key direction on library matters. The Digital Services Specialist collaborates closely with academic faculty and administrative staff to manage lifecycle development, storage and use of digital content.

Responsibilities include researching emergent applications, implementing technologies, assessment, and instruction for University students, faculty and staff in new technology, tools and resources for digitally-mediated or digitally-delivered content services. This includes working with the ExLibris software suite of Primo, Metalib, sfx; maintaining the Library Web interfaces; working with the University Web Manager to develop content management schema for the University Web, Datatel Portal, Datatel Active Admissions, digital signage; technology support for Information Literacy initiatives, including use of the Blackboard CMS, podcasting, and Wimba; developing a new institutional repository service; the integration of handheld devices into the library service environment; overall Web content management; collaborating with the Library metadata specialist on online knowledge base development, will also work closely with library staff, and support library functions as needed.

"The Amended Google Books Settlement is Still Exclusive"

James Grimmelmann has self-archived "The Amended Google Books Settlement is Still Exclusive" in SSRN.

Here's an excerpt:

This brief essay argues that the proposed settlement in the Google Books case, although formally non-exclusive, would have the practical effect of giving Google an exclusive license to a large number of books. The settlement itself does not create mechanisms for Google's competitors to obtain licenses to orphan books and competitors are unlikely to be able to obtain similar settlements of their own. Recent amendments to the settlement do not change this conclusion.