DPE Briefing Paper: The Myths and Fallacies of Digital Photographs and Their Preservation

DigitalPreservationEurope has released The Myths and Fallacies of Digital Photographs and Their Preservation

Here's an excerpt:

Digital photographs offer fasciniating new possibilities and seem to be easier to store and preserve for the future than their analog counterpart, promising incredibly valuable, massive photo archives available at your fingertips. However, securely storing massive amounts of data, as well as ensuring that the file formats produced by professional cameras can be read in the near and longterm future, is a significant endeavour. This briefing paper reviews some of the core challenges in preserving digital photographs to make sure that the value of a digital photo archive remains and grows for the benefit of the photographer.

E-Journals: Their Use, Value and Impact

The Research Information Network has released E-Journals: Their Use, Value and Impact.

Here's an excerpt from the announcement:

The report was undertaken by the Centre for Information Behaviour and the Evaluation of Research (CIBER) at University College London for the RIN to provide a detailed analysis of how academic researchers in the UK have responded to the provision of e-journals, and how this has shaped their information seeking behaviour and their usage of e-journals. The project looked at:

  • investigating researchers behaviour: looking at levels and patterns of use, the content viewed and how they navigate to it
  • finding out how researchers' behaviours may vary by subjects and disciplines, and the type of university they study at
  • gathering and analysing evidence of relationships between researchers' behaviour and institutional spending on e-journals, and
  • gathering and analysing evidence of relations between researchers' behaviour and research productivity, outputs, including number of publications produced, citations attracted and the results of research evaluation.

Library IT Jobs: Head of Library Systems and Information Transfer Services

Muhlenberg College's Trexler Library is recruiting a Head of Library Systems and Information Transfer Services.

Here's an excerpt from the ad:

Muhlenberg College, Trexler Library is seeking a dynamic manager for the LSITS team providing services for access, linking, and automation services. A Master's degree from an ALA-accredited program OR Master's degree in an appropriate computer and information science field, and four years of professional systems (III Millennium preferred) experience in an academic library, or equivalent, required. Experience managing personnel, and providing direct automation and web design services is crucial to success. Knowledge of library functions, product integration, industry standards, and policy planning development is essential.

“Using OAI-ORE to Transform Digital Repositories into Interoperable Storage and Services Applications”

The latest issue of The Code4Lib Journal includes "Using OAI-ORE to Transform Digital Repositories into Interoperable Storage and Services Applications."

Here's an excerpt:

In the digital age libraries are required to manage large numbers of diverse objects. One advantage of digital objects over fixed physical objects is the flexibility of ‘binding’ them into publications or other useful aggregated intellectual entities while retaining the ability to reuse them independently in other contexts. An emerging framework for managing flexible aggregations of digital objects is provided by the Open Archives Initiative (OAI) with its work on Object Reuse and Exchange (ORE). This paper will show how OAI-ORE is being used to manage content in digital repositories, in particular institutional repositories, and has the potential ultimately to transform the conception of digital repositories.

Special Issue of Library Trends on Institutional Repositories

The latest issue of Library Trends (57, no. 2, Fall 2008) is about institutional repositories.

Here are the articles (links are to article preprints):

  • "Introduction: Institutional Repositories: Current State and Future"
  • "Innkeeper at the Roach Motel"
  • "Institutional Repositories in the UK: The JISC Approach"
  • "Strategies for Institutional Repository Development: A Case Study of Three Evolving Initiatives"
  • "Perceptions and Experiences of Staff in the Planning and Implementation of Institutional Repositories"
  • "Institutional Repositories and Research Data Curation in a Distributed Environment"
  • "At the Watershed: Preparing for Research Data Management and Stewardship at the University of Minnesota Libraries"
  • "Case Study in Data Curation at Johns Hopkins University"
  • "Describing Scholarly Works with Dublin Core: A Functional Approach"
  • "The 'Wealth of Networks' and Institutional Repositories: MIT, DSpace, and the Future of the Scholarly Commons"
  • "Leveraging Short-term Opportunities to Address Long-term Obligations: A Perspective on Institutional Repositories and Digital Preservation Programs"
  • "Shedding Light on the Dark Data in the Long Tail of Science"

Digital Library Jobs: Systems Analyst at Kingston University

Kingston University Information Services is recruiting a Systems Analyst.

Here's an excerpt from the ad:

The Infrastructure Team is seeking an additional Systems Analyst to assist with the management of existing services (particularly Linux/Unix) and to take responsibility for the technical development of new services, specifically our E-Prints Research Repository and our Federated Access solutions based on Shibboleth. You will be an excellent communicator, liaising with colleagues both across Kingston University as well as with external organisations.

Carolina Digital Library and Archives Fall-Winter 08/09 Newsletter

The Carolina Digital Library and Archives at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Library has sent its Carolina Digital Library and Archives Fall-Winter 08/09 Newsletter out as an e-mail message on the DIGLIB list. It is not possible to directly link to this message; however, you can access the DIGLIB archive, and, after clicking the "I am not a spammer button," find the message "CDLA's Fall-Winter 08/09 Newsletter announcement."

Here's an excerpt:

1. CDLA'S FIRST-YEAR HIGHLIGHTS

Carolina Digital Library and Archives (http://cdla.unc.edu) is the UNC Library's major new department established to improve Web access to the Library's rich collections and to help faculty with new digital projects, services, and tools, with the common goal of advancing scholarship. Among major highlights of our first year are establishment of three new units—the Digital Publishing Group, which includes the award-winning digital publishing program Documenting the American South (DocSouth); the Digital Production Center; and the Research and Development Group–as well as investigation of opportunities in large-scale digitization and implementation of the Scribe program. Most importantly, from our perspective, is that the initial organizational and technological infrastructure was built which now provides increasing digital support to UNC faculty, the Library, and other cultural institutions in North Carolina. We plan to keep friends informed about new digital collections, services, and opportunities through this newsletter, our renovated Web site (coming this spring), and other channels.

“Repository Software Survey, March 2009”

The Repositories Support Project has released the "Repository Software Survey, March 2009," which analyzes the CONTENTdm, Digital Commons, DigiTool, DSpace, EPrints, EQUELLA, Fedora, intraLibrary, Research-Output Repository Platform, Open Repository, and VITAL digital repository systems.

Library IT Jobs: Systems Librarian/Technologist at Union Institute & University

The Union Institute & University Gary Library is recruiting a Systems Librarian/Technologist.

Here's an excerpt from the ad:

Union Institute & University, a national university for adult learners offering programs of study leading to bachelor’s, master's and doctoral degrees is seeking an experienced individual for a combination Systems Librarian / Technologist position vacancy at its Montpelier Vermont academic center. Primary responsibilities include management and maintenance of library automation technologies, including proxy server, EOS integrated library system, research database web links, link resolver tools, and other electronic resources and utilities. This person will also share in the design and maintenance of the library website and will troubleshoot library software and network/server problems. S/he will work to bring new technologies to library users and will provide training in same. S/he will also serve as our university’s Computer Services staff liaison for its three Vermont academic centers by maintaining/updating computer lab pcs, staff and faculty office pcs, and related office productivity equipment.

DSpace Statistics Add-on Version 2.1 Released

The RepositóriUM team at Minho University has released version 2.1 of the DSpace Statistics Add-on.

Here's an excerpt from the announcement:

The Statistics System is an add-on to the DSpace platform that allows gathering, processing and presenting usage, content and administrative statistics. Despite the fact that its development was done to meet the specific needs of RepositóriUM, the system is completely adjustable to other environments as its components can easily be configured, changed or extended, to respond to different information needs.

With the release of the current version 2.1 of the Stats System the main focus was solving some architectural issues of version 2.0, primarily:

  • Adapting the add-on to the new build and deploy mechanism of DSpace 1.5.1;
  • New mechanism for gathering the events on DSpace, avoiding DSpace logging mechanism and log4j JDBC Appender (replaced by Mark H. Wood UsageEvent plug-in);
  • New mechanism for aggregating the stats. Ported from pl/pgsql to Java;
  • Eliminate the pl/java language as a requirement;
  • Improvements on spider detection mechanism.

Karen A. Coombs Named Mover & Shaker by Library Journal

Congratulations to Karen Coombs, Head of Libraries Web Services Department at the University of Houston Libraries, on being named in Library Journal's Movers & Shakers 2009: The People Shaping the Future of Libraries.

An open source software and Web 2.0 expert, Coombs is the coauthor of Library Blogging, the author of over 15 articles, and a very active speaker and workshop presenter.

Coombs is also well-known for her work on innovative Web-based projects such as Five Weeks to a Social Library and the Your BIGWIG Social Software Showcase 2008 as well as for her participation in the LITA Top Tech Trends expert panel.

Coombs holds an M.S. in Information Management from Syracuse University, an MLS from Syracuse University, and a B.A. in Anthropology and Music from Beloit College. Prior to working at Houston, she served as the Electronic Services Librarian and the Information Technology and Instruction Librarian at SUNY Coltland's Memorial Library. She was the LITA BIGWIG (Blogs, Interactive Groupware Wikis Interest Group) chair in 2007-2008.

Her Weblog is Library Web Chic.

Library IT Jobs: Associate University Librarian Information Systems & Technical Services at University of Lethbridge

The University of Lethbridge Library is recruiting an Associate University Librarian Information Systems & Technical Services.

Here's an excerpt from the ad:

In consultation with the UL, leads the development of Information Systems, and Technical Services.

  • Works closely with the AUL Client Services and Facilities to: ensure design, support and delivery of services that support client needs such as Web and OPAC development, and digitization priorities; create cross-divisional task groups and teams.
  • Responsible for managing, planning and leading the development of systems, staff and resources that support the access and delivery of content.
  • Responsible for the development of assessment and management information systems.
  • Coordinates and manages acquisitions budgets.
  • Evaluates ISTS librarians and assists supervisors in the evaluation of staff and resolution of personnel related issues.
  • Develops internal and external relationships and partnerships.
  • Participates in the overall management of the Library and is a member of the Leadership team.

JISC Briefing Paper: Preservation of Web Resources

JISC has released Preservation of Web Resources.

Here's an excerpt:

There are institutional benefits to preserving web resources. Considerable time and money has been invested in the creation of digital outputs and content, and in their storage and maintenance. Although there are costs associated with launching a web preservation programme, it’s also money wasted if resources aren’t preserved. Institutions have responsibilities to: students and staff, who may make serious choices about their academic careers based on website information; and researchers and scholars, who may need to use the university’s resources in the future. Ensuring that the wider community has long-term access to research materials will be broadly beneficial.

There is also the matter of protecting institutions. Many risks are faced by organisations that choose to ignore web preservation. An institutional record may be required for the checking of strategic, legal, financial and contractual information, or simply for the day to day continued efficient running of the organisation. But there are external threats too. These include: data loss; loss of records and loss of resources; a failure to be information compliant (through not meeting Freedom of Information requests); risks of breaching copyright; and even risk of litigation from students or the public. Consider if a legal action were brought against an institution as a result of certain information that was exposed two years ago, and has since been taken down. Could the institution provide evidence, such as an audit trail, in court?

eXtensible Catalog (XC) OAI Toolkit Released

The eXtensible Catalog project has released the eXtensible Catalog (XC) OAI Toolkit.

Here's an excerpt from the announcement:

The OAI Toolkit is used to make data stored in an institution's ILS or other repository available for harvesting via OAI-PMH, including other eXtensible Catalog applications. For an ILS, this is accomplished by exporting ILS metadata, converting it from MARC to MARCXML, and loading it into an OAI-PMH compliant repository. The repository (embedded in the OAI Toolkit) makes the data available for harvesting by other XC components.

The OAI Toolkit can be used as part of the XC system, or on its own to enable OAI-PMH harvestability of an existing repository. It is a server application written in Java and is only needed for ILS's and other repositories that do not already have the ability to be act as OAI-PMH Repositories (OAI Servers).

Over 100 Million Creative Commons Licensed Images on Flickr

There are now over 100 million Creative Commons licensed images on Flickr.

The post "Analysis of 100M CC-Licensed Images on Flickr" examines what types of licenses are used for those images. Here's a brief breakdown:

  • Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works: 33%
  • Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike: 29%
  • Attribution Non-Commercial: 14%
  • Attribution: 12%
  • Attribution-Share Alike: 8%
  • Attribution-No Derivatives: 4%

In light of these results, the author states:

Thus it would seem that the bulk of photos are licensed rather restrictively. That basically means authors rarely tend to release their works with creative and commercial freedoms. 76% of all photos bar commercial use. At the same time, it means that 24%, or 24 million photos, do allow for commercial use with minimal restrictions. For example, over 12 millions photos are completely free to use, as long as the author of the image is attributed.

Library IT Jobs: Integrated Library System Systems Librarian at Idaho State

The Eli M. Oboler Library at Idaho State University is recruiting an Integrated Library System Systems Librarian.

Here's an excerpt from the ad:

Administers the Library's Integrated Library System (ILS) and web site. Advises and collaborates with colleagues concerning effective use of theses library systems. Works in a collegial environment to provide expertise in the application of emerging information technologies to the library environment.

University Presses Face Hard Times, University of Michigan Press Goes Digital

As university presses struggle with increasing financial challenges, the University of Michigan Press is merging with the University Library and it will emphasize an innovative new model of digital monograph publication.

Open Access Publishing in European Networks Launches Newsletter

OAPEN (Open Access Publishing in European Networks) has launched a newsletter, sending the first issue out as a message on the SPARC-OAForum list.

Here's an excerpt:

First meeting of the Scientific Board

The OAPEN project has installed two external bodies (External stakeholder Group and Scientific Board) to ensure that the needs of scholars, publishers, funders and universities are met by the project's findings and developments. The Scientific Board of OAPEN consists of several international renowned scholars known for their expertise in publishing. Among them are scholars promoting Open Access such as Jean Claude Guédon (University of Montreal) or Gerhard Lauer (University of Göttingen), publishers and editors making electronic publishing come true like Charles Henry (Rice University Press) or Siggi Jöttkandt (Open Humanities Press), but also representatives from funders and university associations like Sarah Porter (JISC) and Sijbolt Noorda (EUA).

The first meeting constituted the Scientific Board as an active part of OAPEN. The board members will serve as a consulting and inspiring body for OAPEN during the funding period and hopefully beyond. Conclusions from the first board meeting were for instance to account for widespread conservative publishing attitudes among HSS scholars and at the same time the need to promote new modes of publishing such as more fluid media forms. The board members emphasised the importance of publisher-organised quality control and Open Access experiments for the mentioned fields and encouraged the project partners to conduct OAPEN as planned

.

Repositories Support Project Podcasts Launched

The Repositories Support Project Podcasts has launched a podcast series.

Here are titles of the initial podcasts:

  • Digital Preservation: Are Repositories Doing Enough for Preservation?
  • DRIVER: Promoting Digital Repositories across Europe
  • EPrints: Repository Software of the Future or of the Past?
  • Fedora: Optimum Repository Software or Overkill?

DCC Standards Watch Papers: Information Security Management: The ISO 27000 (ISO 27K) Series

The Digital Curation Centre has released Information Security Management: The ISO 27000 (ISO 27K) Series.

Here's an excerpt:

The flexibility of digital information can be regarded as a great strength. As software and hardware develop, data can be created, accessed, edited, manipulated and shared with increasing ease, The corollary is that data is vulnerable to unauthorised access, alteration or manipulation, which without checks can easily go undetected, and undermine its authoritative nature. Successful digital curation ensures that data is managed and protected so that its authority is maintained and retained throughout the curation lifecycle. To be authoritative data needs to remain authentic, reliable and useable, while retaining its integrity. These characteristics of data can be preserved through the implementation of an effective Information Security Management Systems (ISMS). . . .

The ISO/IEC 27000 is a series of standards which, when used together, specify the complete implementation of an ISMS. The series is still under development, with four of the planned standards currently published. Work is progressing on the completion of the remainder of standards ISO/IEC 27000 to ISO/IEC 27010. These cover the fundamental requirements of an ISMS, are applicable to any domain, and can be applied to any organisation regardless of size, structure or aim. ISO/IEC numbers after this have been reserved for sector specific implementation guidelines, most of which are still at the planning or pre-draft stage. The appendix summarises the development of the series to date.

Digital Library Jobs: Assistant Director for Discovery Systems at Davidson College

The Davidson College Library is recruiting an Assistant Director for Discovery Systems.

Here's an excerpt from the ad:

Create a new department! Bring together areas of library systems, cataloging and metadata, and digitization of special collections! Unleash their synergies to energize users’ experience!

Sound intriguing? The Davidson College Library seeks a creative, visionary leader to join our management team. The successful candidate will develop a department of Discovery Systems, leading four librarians working in systems, cataloging, and archives. Responding to current needs and anticipating future possibilities, s/he will ensure that ¬the work of the department fosters student learning and faculty productivity. With the director and three other assistant directors, s/he will set direction for the library and measure achievement.

Virginia Tech Journal Cut: Almost $900,000

The Virginia Tech University Libraries will reduce journal subscriptions by almost $900,000 in the 2009-2010 budget year.

Here's an excerpt from "Library to Cut Nearly $1 Million":

Hitchingham [Dean of University Libraries] said that the university must cancel $500,000 worth of subscriptions to accommodate library budget cuts. They must also cover $400,000 worth of cuts to meet inflationary cost increases.