Digital Library Jobs: Systems and Digitization Librarian at Jewish Theological Seminary

The Jewish Theological Seminary Library is recruiting a Systems and Digitization Librarian.

Here's an excerpt from the ad:

Working with ExLibirs products (ALEPH and DigiTool) to resolve problems, answer questions and communicate solutions. Implementation of new features and applications to support library services; perform system analysis and application development to facilitate the use of technology in the library; manages the Integrated Library System and digital assets management system in line with the priorities set by the Library management. This position plans, develops and implements improvements to, or expansions of the ILS, digital assets management system and its related applications in order to support library users and staff.

Open Access Scholarly Information Sourcebook Launched

The Open Access Scholarly Information Sourcebook has been launched.

Here's an excerpt from the home page:

OASIS aims to provide an authoritative ‘sourcebook’ on Open Access, covering the concept, principles, advantages, approaches and means to achieving it. The site highlights developments and initiatives from around the world, with links to diverse additional resources and case studies. As such, it is a community-building as much as a resource building exercise. Users are encouraged to share and download the resources provided, and to modify and customize them for local use. Open Access is evolving, and we invite the growing world-wide community to take part in this exciting global movement.

Melissa Hagemann OASIS Introduction on YouTube

Podcast: “Library 2.0 Gang 06/09: Library System Suppliers View of OCLC Web-Scale”

In the "Library 2.0 Gang 06/09: Library System Suppliers View of OCLC Web-Scale" podcast, vendor representatives from Axiell, Ex Libris, and LibLime discuss OCLC's Web-Scale Management Services.

Here's an excerpt from the post:

The initial reactions to hearing the announcement included "why did they take so long" and guarded "uh-ho." There were several aspects of, and reactions to, the announcement in the conversation—from welcoming the initiative, the inevitable move of library functionality to the cloud, questions about the size of library that would use it, the cost model, and of course issues about data and API availability.

Library IT Jobs: Information Systems Librarian at Queen’s University Library

The Queen's University Library is recruiting an Information Systems Librarian.

Here's an excerpt from the ad:

The Information Systems Librarian furthers the development, delivery, assessment and support of information systems and data stores for which the Library is responsible. This position reports to the Head of Library Systems and works under the guidance of an Associate University Librarian in a team-based environment.

Curating Atmospheric Data for Long Term Use: Infrastructure and Preservation Issues for the Atmospheric Sciences Community

The Digital Curation Centre has released Curating Atmospheric Data for Long Term Use: Infrastructure and Preservation Issues for the Atmospheric Sciences Community, SCARP Case Study No. 2.

Here's an excerpt:

DCC SCARP aims to understand disciplinary approaches to data curation by substantial case studies based on an immersive approach. As part of the SCARP project we engaged with a number of archives, including the British Atmospheric Data Centre, the World Data Centre Archive at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory and the European Incoherent Scatter Scientific Association (EISCAT). We developed a preservation analysis methodology which is discipline independent in application but none the less capable of identifying and drawing out discipline specific preservation requirements and issues. In this case study report we present the methodology along with its application to the Mesospheric Stratospheric Tropospheric (MST) radar dataset, which is currently supported by and accessed through the British Atmospheric Data Centre. We suggest strategies for the long term preservation of the MST data and make recommendations for the wider community.

Foundation Grants for Preservation in Libraries, Archives, and Museums, 2009 Edition

The Library of Congress and the Foundation Center have released Foundation Grants for Preservation in Libraries, Archives, and Museums, 2009 Edition.

Here's an excerpt from the announcement:

This publication lists 1,944 grants of $5,000 or more awarded by 488 foundations, from 2004 through the publication date of this guide. It covers grants to public, academic, research, school, and special libraries, and to archives and museums for activities related to conservation and preservation. This publication includes:

  • an introduction that explains the book's coverage, arrangement, entries, and how to research using the volume. Note: This PDF file contains hotlinks to free online tutorials that cover grant writing and provide an insight into the world of U.S. foundation giving offered by the Foundation Center, as well as to some other widely used non-profit guidance on preservation grants found on the Conservation Online web site.
  • a statistical analysis of grant funding in the area of preservation by foundation, recipient location, subject, recipient type (e.g., Library), grant size, and foundation generosity nationwide.
  • state-by-state descriptions of projects funded in preservation nationwide including the foundation's name, limitations on giving, recipient(s), size of grants, and purpose of the grant described. Note: This section is hot linked in the PDF version directly to more detailed descriptions of the foundations.
  • indexes by recipient, geographic area of the recipient, and subject. Note: If you do not find what you are looking for in the indices, use the find feature to search the text for your term.
  • a list of all foundations that have donated to preservation and conservation with their contact information and limitations on giving.

EPrints + Web 2.0: SNEEP 0.3.2 Released

SNEEP 0.3.2 has been released. (See the project page for more information on the Social Networking Extensions for EPrints.)

Here's an excerpt from the announcement:

SNEEP is a set of EPrints plugins that provide "Web 2.0-ish" features such as the ability for users to annotate eprint abstracts with shared Comments or personal Notes, and to categorise them with Tags.

SNEEP 0.3.2 adds out-of-the-box support for version 3.1.2.1 of EPrints, but the main change is that, for the first time, SNEEP is now distributed with an automagic install script. Where previous releases required a rather lengthy manual process, in the majority of cases installation should now be quick and painless.

French Constitutional Council on Création et Internet Law: Three Strikes and You’re Not Out

On the basis that “every man is presumed innocent until he has been proven guilty,” the French Constitutional Council has rejected the provision in the Création et Internet law that would have allowed the HADOPI to disconnect alleged copyright infringers from the Internet.

Read more about it at “France Suspends Three Strikes“; “French Court Defangs Plan to Crack Down on Internet Piracy“; "French Court Savages ‘Three-Strikes’ Law, Tosses It Out."

AAP/PSP Endorses IPA/IFLA “Enhancing the Debate on Open Access” Statement

The Professional and Scholarly Publishing Division of the Association of American Publishers has endorsed the IPA/IFLA "Enhancing the Debate on Open Access" statement.

Here's an excerpt from the press release:

The Professional and Scholarly Publishing Division of the Association of American Publishers (AAP/PSP) today expressed its support and endorsement of a joint statement on the open access debate issued by two prestigious international organizations representing publishers and librarians. Designed to bring more light and less heat to the often contentious debate surrounding open access, the statement, entitled "Enhancing the Debate on Open Access," was issued on May 20 by the International Publishers Association (IPA) and the International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA). They were joined in releasing the statement by the International Association of Scientific, Technical and Medical Publishers.

Although the debate over open access presents a unique and important opportunity for the international publishing and library communities to explore the use of technology and new business models to meet the challenges of growing scholarly publishing output, the debate has too often been hobbled "by unnecessary polarisations and sweeping generalized statements." The IPA/IFLA statement attempts to lay out common ground for both communities so that future debate is conducted "in an open-minded way, encouraging experimentation and arguments based on empirical facts. . ."

Michael Hays (McGraw-Hill Education), chairman of the AAP/PSP Executive Council, said: "By acknowledging common ground and shared values and agreeing, among other things, that 'all assumptions surrounding open access and scholarly communications should be open to scientific scrutiny and academic debate,' this statement represents an important step forward in bringing a civility and rationality to this debate which has too often been absent. We applaud the efforts of IFLA and the IPA, and join in the spirit of open inquiry and mutual respect embodied by the statement."

DPC What’s New in Digital Preservation, No. 20

DPC What's New in Digital Preservation number 20 has been published.

Here’s a description of the publication:

This is a summary of selected recent activity in the field of digital preservation compiled from a number of resources including the digital-preservation and padiforum-l mailing lists. Additional or related items of interest may also be included.

Public Perceptions of Copyright and the Creative Commons: Bunnyfoot User Testing Report: OPSI—Crown Copyright

The UK Office of Public Sector Information has released the Bunnyfoot User Testing Report: OPSI—Crown Copyright.

Here's an excerpt:

75% of respondents did not recognise this image [Creative Commons Attribution License symbol].

Lack of recognition was highest amongst the "general public"—87%. And lowest amongst respondents from the OPSI website—55% did not recognise the image.

The majority did not understand the meaning of the image. Understanding was highest amongst the OPSI website respondents—35%.

This is not surprising as this group was also the group in which the most had heard of Creative Commons licences before—47% (vs 10% of the "general public" and 29% of the OPSI database).

Only those likely to be more familiar with copyright (inferred from their route to the survey) are likely to have a previous understanding of Creative Commons terminology and imagery. One might argue that if these are used moving forward, more people will become more familiar with these, however, the benefits at this stage of shared/added meaning would only really apply to a minority—a minority who are likely to have a strong understanding of Crown copyright already.

Open Content Alliance Releases New Version of E-Book Reader

The Open Content Alliance has released a new version of its e-book reader (GnuBook Book Reader).

Here's an excerpt from the announcement:

In addition to a new theme and user interface, the reader has the following special features:

  • the reader includes unique (and simple to understand) URLs for each page, which update as you move through a book. These URLs can be used in citations and bookmarks, making it easier and more legible when referring to a particular page of a book.
  • books can be viewed in one or two-page mode.
  • in one-page mode, images can be zoomed up to 100% of the original scans. Because the Internet Archive scans are in color, this is an especially nice feature with illustrated books.
  • it has the capability of accommodating books that read right-to-left, such as those books in our Yiddish collection.
  • the reader is supported by all browsers (but IE 6).
  • there is an auto-play feature, so that you can set the pages to turn automatically.
  • As always, the reader is open source. If you have suggestions or bug reports, please add them to the book reader’s launchpad page so the engineers will see and prioritize them.

PLoS Progress Report: June 2009

The Public Library of Science has released the PLoS Progress Report: June 2009.

Here's an excerpt from the announcement:

Reading it will tell you more about our story, our success and our vision for the future through the voices of many people who have helped us to get where we are today. In it you will find:

Discussions about important questions such as:

  • Five years after entering the publishing arena, what does the PLoS financial picture tell us? How will PLoS and OA affect STM (science, technology and medical) publishing in the future?
  • Examples of PLoS articles that have really changed outcomes on the ground: for example some that have improved global health, liberated research, helped scientists advance their careers, protected privacy, unearthed fossils, accelerated science or even changed policy.
  • Many personal messages from our supporters: "The innovation of PLoS was high-quality; open-access science. The innovation of PLoS ONE in some ways, is even larger because it allows radical reorganizations of scientific knowledge, which can enable new discoveries." Dr Jesse Ausubel, Director, Program for the Human Environment, The Rockefeller University.
  • Impressive statistics about the size of the PLoS community: 13,000 peer-reviewers. 26,000 authors, 1,400 board members and millions of unique visitors in 2008.
  • Information about our diverse portfolio of journals: why each exists and what they do for the organization and the audiences that they serve.
  • The reasons why PLoS still needs the financial support of our donors: to fuel OA advocacy and fund innovation in new online tools and how you can help us.
  • Our current financial statement: posted here ahead of our 990 filing on Guidestar, a commonly used resource for financial information about non profits.
  • The team: Board of Directors, Senior Staff and Editorial Boards.

“Summary and Conclusions. Final Chapter of Scholarly Communication for Librarians“

Heather Morrison has self-archived "Summary and Conclusions. Final Chapter of Scholarly Communication for Librarians" in E-LIS.

Scholarly Communication for Librarians is written from the perspective of a passionate advocate for Open Access and transformative change in scholarly communication, and is based on a course first taught at the University of British Columbia's School of Library, Archival and Information Studies. Topics covered include perspectives from the different groups involved in scholarly communication, including the scholars themselves, journals, publishers, and librarians. There are chapters devoted to Author’s Rights and Intellectual Property, Economics, Open Access, and Emerging Trends and Formats. The following summary highlights the major points of each chapter.

Justice Department Sends Civil Investigative Demands to Google about Google Book Search Settlement

The Justice Department has sent civil investigative demands to Google about the Google Book Search Settlement Agreement. Various state attorneys generals are also looking into the settlement.

Read more about it at "Google Book Deal Faces Growing Scrutiny," "Probe of Google Book Deal Heats Up," and "U.S. Presses Antitrust Inquiry Into Google Book Settlement."

Library IT Jobs: Technology Coordinator at Washington and Lee University

The Washington and Lee University's Leyburn Library is recruiting a Technology Coordinator.

Here's an excerpt from the ad:

Reporting to the Head of Public Services, the Technology Coordinator will manage the content and design of the library's expanding Web presence, promote Web standards and coordinate usability assessment. The position works closely with other members of the Public Services staff and colleagues in the Academic Technologies Department to integrate library information systems with campus systems. This includes responsibility for the library Web server, the ILLiad interlibrary loan system, the campus blogging system, and EZProxy, as well as participation in the administration of W&L's Sakai course management system. This position also works with the Innovative Interfaces coordinator in developing the library's OPAC. The Technology Coordinator will assist in implementing W&L's institutional repository and other opportunities for developing campus digital asset management systems. The successful candidate will collaborate with subject librarians and faculty to plan and promote library instruction, serve on library and college committees, and benefit from numerous continuing education and professional development opportunities. He or she may also participate in reference services and collection development.

Creating Catalogues: Bibliographic Records in a Networked World

The Research Information Network has released Creating Catalogues: Bibliographic Records in a Networked World .

Here's an excerpt from the announcement:

Against this background the RIN report: Creating Catalogues: bibliographic records in a networked world, is a very timely overview of the whole process of bibliographic record production for printed and electronic books, and for scholarly journals and journal articles. This report follows the production of these data from publisher through a range of intermediaries to the end user. Whilst there are pressures to make these data more freely available, each player in the process has its own motivations and business models in creating, adding to, using or re-using bibliographic data, all of which need to be considered.

We find that there would be considerable benefits if libraries, along with other organisations in the supply chain, were to operate more at the network level but that there are significant barriers in the way of making significant moves in that direction.

Creating Catalogues cannot attempt to solve all the problems in the way of making bibliographic data more freely available for re-use and innovation, or of eliminating wasteful duplication of effort. Our objective is to clarify the key issues and to stimulate debate on possible ways forward. Creating Catalogues provides a number of key recommendations and the RIN will work with the academic library community and other key stakeholders in the supply chain to raise awareness and understanding of the issues raised in this report, of the benefits to be achieved by moving to new models, and of how we might overcome the barriers to achieving them.

Scholarly Electronic Publishing Weblog Update (6/10/09)

The latest update of the Scholarly Electronic Publishing Weblog (SEPW) is now available. It provides information about new works related to scholarly electronic publishing, such as books, e-prints, journal articles, magazine articles, technical reports, and white papers.

Especially interesting are: "Choosing a Digital Asset Management System That's Right for You"; "Customized Mapping and Metadata Transfer from DSpace to OCLC to Improve ETD Work Flow"; "EThOS: From Project to Service"; E-Journals: Their Use, Value and Impact; "E-Theses and Indian Academia: A Case Study of Nine ETD Digital Libraries and Formulation of Policies for a National Service"; "Evaluation of Digital Repository Software at the National Library of Medicine"; Journal Authors' Rights: Perception and Reality; "The KB e-Depot: Building and Managing a Safe Place for e-Journals"; "Publish and Cherish with Non-Proprietary Peer Review Systems"; "Planting Seeds for a Successful Institutional Repository: Role of the Archivist as Manager, Designer, and Policymaker"; "Putting the Public in the Public Domain: The Public Library's Role in the Re-Conceptualization of the Public Domain"; and "Towards a Repository-Enabled Scholar's Workbench: RepoMMan, REMAP and Hydra."

In from the Cold: An Assessment of the Scope of ‘Orphan Works’ and Its Impact on the Delivery of Services to the Public

JISC has released In from the Cold: An Assessment of the Scope of 'Orphan Works' and Its Impact on the Delivery of Services to the Public.

Here's an excerpt from the announcement:

The scale and impact of Orphan Works across the public sector confirms that the presence of Orphan Works is in essence locking up culture and other public sector content and preventing organisations from serving the public interest. Works of little and/or variable commercial value but high academic and cultural significance are languishing unused. Access to an immense amount of this material, essential for education and scholarship, is consequently badly constrained, whilst scarce public sector resources are being used up on complex and unreliable 'due diligence' compliance. Without any kind of UK or European Union-wide legal certainty, there will remain a major risk for all users of Orphan Works. The quantity of Orphan Works and their impact is only accelerating as content is being created and digitised without adherence to any single internationally recognised standard for capturing provenance information.

The data and anecdotal feedback suggests that many public sector organisations are themselves unsure as to the extent of the problem, and that staff awareness and understanding are often limited.

There are also suggestions that often works are selected for digitisation based on the fact that they do not pose any copyright issues, thus creating a black hole of 20th century content. These issues stress the need for an informed and skilled public sector to deal with all the issues associated with copyright-related materials, the necessity for access to resources to deal with Orphan Works, and an informed and proportionate understanding of the nature of the risks associated with the use of these works.

Digital Library Jobs: Oregon Digital Newspaper Project Manager

The University of Oregon Libraries' Metadata Services and Digital Projects Department is recruiting an Oregon Digital Newspaper Project Manager (one-year position with renewal "pending funding availability").

Here's an excerpt from the ad:

Under the guidance of the Digital Collections Coordinator (Project Director), manages the day-to-day workflow of the Oregon LSTA grant. This includes evaluating outgoing microfilm for compliance with technical standards set by the National Digital Newspaper Program; monitoring the processing progress at the vendor; testing delivered content for quality assurance; coordinating ingest into digital asset management system with the System Administrator; and organizing regular Advisory Board meetings. Promotion and educational responsibilities include creation of lesson plans utilizing Oregon digital newspaper content for the K-12 audience, which comply with the Oregon Department of Education standards; developing education packages and presentations using Oregon digital newspapers; promoting the resource at regional educational, library and historic association conferences and meetings; and making site visits to local K-12 schools and public libraries to promote the resource. Grant administration consists of preparing interim and final reports with the Project Director, and conducting assessment and evaluation of the project. The successful candidate will support and enhance a diverse learning and working environment. Reports to the Digital Collections Coordinator.

ARL Board Passes Resolution against Nondisclosure or Confidentiality Clauses in Publisher/Vendor Agreements

The Association of Research Libraries Board of Directors has passed a resolution asking members to not sign publisher/vendor agreements that include nondisclosure or confidentiality clauses.

Here's an excerpt from the press release:

The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) Board of Directors voted in support of a resolution introduced by its Scholarly Communication Steering Committee to strongly encourage ARL member libraries to refrain from signing agreements with publishers or vendors, either individually or through consortia, that include nondisclosure or confidentiality clauses. In addition, the Board encourages ARL members to share upon request from other libraries information contained in these agreements (save for trade secrets or proprietary technical details) for licensing content, licensing software or other tools, and for digitization contracts with third-party vendors. . . .

The resolution was prepared in response to the concerns of membership that, as the amount of licensed content has increased, especially through packages of publications, nondisclosure or confidentiality clauses have had a negative impact on effective negotiations. The Scholarly Communication Steering Committee took the position that an open market will result in better licensing terms. In their discussions, the committee also noted the value of encouraging research projects and other efforts to gather information about the current market and licensing terms, such as an initiative being undertaken by Ted Bergstrom, University of California, Santa Barbara, Paul Courant, University of Michigan, and Preston McAfee, Cal Tech, to acquire information on bundled site-license contracts.

Digital Repository for the Arts: Kultur: Final Report

JISC has released Kultur: Final Report.

Here's an excerpt:

The Kultur project has developed a model for repository start-up that addresses the needs of the UK Higher Education Arts Sector. Institutional repositories have traditionally been tailored towards text-based outputs and have been less proficient at accommodating the more complex multimedia outputs associated with practice-led research. The project has addressed the need for IRs to expand their capacity to manage non-text outputs effectively. At the same time, it has also responded to a disciplinary need for a more robust information infrastructure for practice-led research, which is particularly important for art and design as a relatively new but expanding research discipline. . . .

Using EPrints software, the project developed a demonstrator repository tailored to these needs. The demo was populated with over 300 records of events and artefacts, and was continually refined in response to community feedback. This formed the basis of two new institutional repositories for University of the Arts London and University for the Creative Arts, and enhanced the University of Southampton’s existing institutional repository. The project also investigated policy for the effective management and population of a repository specialising in creative material, with particular attention to rights issues. As well as local benefits to the project partners, the outcomes of the project have a broader application for other institutions seeking a framework for the management of practice-led research outputs.

Read more about it at "Creative Repositories for the Arts."

Position Statement From University Press Directors on Free Access to Scholarly Journal Articles

Ten university press directors have issued a statement about free access to scholarly journal articles.

Here's an excerpt:

  1. The undersigned university press directors support the dissemination of scholarly research as broadly as possible.
  2. We support the free access to scientific, technical, and medical journal articles no later than 12 months after publication. We understand that the length of time before free release of journal articles will by necessity vary for other disciplines.
  3. We support the principle that scholarly research fully funded by governmental entities is a public good and should be treated as such. We support legislation that strengthens this principle and oppose legislation designed to weaken it.
  4. We support the archiving and free release of the final, published version of scholarly journal articles to ensure accuracy and citation reliability.
  5. We will work directly with academic libraries, governmental entities, scholarly societies, and faculty to determine appropriate strategies concerning dissemination options, including institutional repositories and national scholarly archives.

Read more about it at "10 University-Press Directors Back Free Access to Scholarly Articles."