Open source repositories: Implications for libraries

Software that is accepted as “Open source” should comply with 10 conditions which are itinerated in the paper. The paper subsequently describes the application of open source initiatives in the digital library context. Three open source digital library initiatives developed by the Digital Library Research Group at the Faculty of Computer Science and information Technology, University of Malaya are highlighted. These are; (a) MyManuskrip: digital library of Malay manuscripts; (b) MyAIS : Digital library of Malaysian scholarly journals and conference proceedings; and (d) DSpace@Um: a digital library of dissertations, theses and final year project reports. Other “free” systems such as EJUM: electronic journal of university of Malaya is also described to highlight the slight difference between open source and being free. The paper also describes the libraries involved in the initiatives and the changing eco-system which libraries must accept to embrace the open source culture

Anatomy of a Renovation

The seeds of innovation are changing how libraries use their space and plan for future remodels, renovations or expansions, especially post-COVID. Examples of this range from converting space from materials storage to user space needs along with technology enhancements. Technology driven initiatives that impact space usually start as small ideas or seeds of innovative initiatives, such as makerspaces, but are growing into digital media centers, video and imaging rooms, gaming labs and augmented reality spaces. This presentation shares a case study approach to a master space planning project but goes beyond the typical consultant led project into developing a boarder perspective on the factors related to addressing innovative changes and initiatives for both present needs and future developments. As part of renovation planning, an assembled team, representing a wide range of interests conducted site visits to selected academic libraries to visualize and discuss trends and initiatives impacting space planning. This information was shared with stakeholders in a focus group format to vet out potential seeds of expectation on how the use of library space can contribute to the success of individuals, groups and the larger institution. The drivers for creating goals in the planning effort went beyond the library walls to include community, digital scholarship and convening spaces. Research was conducted regarding the pedagogy that libraries can offer, in order to create environments that promote and support knowledge creation. The library should be considered the learning hub on campus and be integrated into each level of the educational mission to ensure student success and faculty research support. This paper/presentation breaks down how small seeds of ideas, new concepts or futuristic thinking can be incorporated into space design and renovation efforts. This anatomy of a renovation will be very visual and active in its deliver

Are we good digital stewards? : a proposal to create and implement digital preservation policies, practices, metrics, and educational outreach for the University of Missouri system

"Initially prepared by Sandy Rodriguez (University of Missouri--Kansas City) and presented to the University of Missouri Digital Library (UMDL) Working Group, May 6, 2015. Final version prepared, with revisions by UMDL Working Group and Anselm Huelsbergen, June 6, 2015. Presented to MDPC, June 18, 2015."--Page 5.Providing long-term access to digital materials presents unique challenges requiring active stewardship. The librarians and archivists of the University of Missouri System (UM System) collect, curate, describe, and provide access to digital materials using specialized skills and tools, but in order to properly preserve and provide long-term access to digital content, we need to develop and implement unifying digital preservation policies and practices. Active engagement with digital preservation efforts places librarians and archivists in a leadership role within their scholarly communities, allowing for the creation of new initiatives, grant projects, and faculty research endeavors. To this end, we strongly recommend the creation of a digital preservation program centered in the UM System’s libraries and archives to guide digital preservation activities across all UM System campuses.By University of Missouri Digital Library Working Group.Includes bibliographical references (page 4-5)

Evolution of Scholarly Communication: How Small and Medium-Sized Libraries are Adapting

For the transformation of scholarly publishing to succeed, it is imperative that small and medium-sized institutions are actively engaged in scholarly communication initiatives. This paper presents the results of a survey of scholarly communication initiatives at selected U.S institutions and discusses the influence of institutional variables on the approaches that are employed. The survey was designed to gather information comparable to a 2007 ARL (Association of Research Libraries) survey

Preserving Open Access Journals: A Literature Review

This literature review addresses certain questions concerning the preservation of free, born-digital scholarly materials. It covers recent thinking on the current state of preservation efforts of born-digital materials; the range of actors involved in significant preservation initiatives of these artefacts; the perceived barriers preventing open access materials from benefiting from existing preservation efforts; initiatives that may enable local, small-scale preservation efforts to be undertaken; the challenges and opportunities posed to preservation by new models of scholarship such as open access datasets, reference sharing and annotation, collaborative authoring and community peer review. The review identifies representative international collaborative preservation initiatives, describes their goals and results, their specific preservation strategie, and their applicability to the preservation of born digital open access materials

SPEC Kit 356 Diversity and Inclusion

Today, diversity is defined beyond racial and ethnic groups and includes gender, sexual orientation, ability, language, religious belief, national origin, age, and ideas. The increase of published literature about cultural competencies, microaggressions, and assessment of diversity issues, as well as the inclusion of social justice movements in libraries, suggests diversity-related activities have increased and evolved over the last seven years. Over this time span, several libraries have obtained funding to support strategies to increase the number of minority librarians on their staff and support their advancement within the organization. There also appears to be an increase in the number of diversity or multicultural groups at the local, state, and national levels. However, these changes have not been consistently documented. Therefore, it is important to re-examine this topic to evaluate the impact of evolving endeavors, to see if more ARL libraries are involved, to see how diversity plans have changed over the years, and to document the current practices of research libraries. The main purpose of this survey was to identify diversity trends and changes in managing diversity issues in ARL libraries through exploring the components of diversity plans and initiatives since 2010, acknowledge library efforts since the 1990s, provide evidence of best practices and future trends, and identify current strategies that increase the number of minority librarians in research libraries and the types of programs that foster a diverse workplace and climate. The survey was conducted between May 1 and June 5, 2017. Sixty-eight of the 124 ARL member institutions responded to the survey for a 55% response rate. Interestingly, only 22 of the respondents to the 2010 SPEC survey participated in this survey, but this provides an opportunity to explore the diversity and inclusion efforts of a new set of institutions in addition to seeing what changes those 22 institutions have made since 2010. The SPEC Survey on Diversity and Inclusion was designed by Toni Anaya, Instruction Coordinator, and Charlene Maxey-Harris, Research and Instructional Services Chair, at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. These results are based on responses from 68 of the 124 ARL member libraries (55%) by the deadline of June 12, 2017. The survey’s introductory text and questions are reproduced below, followed by the response data and selected comments from the respondents. The purpose of this survey is to explore the components of diversity plans created since 2010, identify current recruitment and retention strategies that aim to increase the number of minority librarians in research libraries, identify staff development programs that foster an inclusive workplace and climate, identify how diversity programs have changed, and gather information on how libraries assess these efforts

Impact of Digital Technology on Library Resource Sharing: Revisiting LABELNET in the Digital Age

The digital environment has facilitated resource sharing by breaking the time and distance barriers to efficient document delivery. However, for the librarians, this phenomenon has brought more challenging technical and technological issues demanding addition of more knowledge and skills to learn and new standards to develop. The overwhelming speed and growing volume of digital information is now becoming unable to acquire and manage by single libraries. Resource sharing, which used to be a side business in the librarianship trade, is now becoming the flagship operation in the library projects

Establishing a community-based approach to electronic journal archiving: the UK LOCKSS Pilot Programme

Lots of Copies Keep Stuff Safe (LOCKSS ) represents a sophisticated combination of technical and business-aware elements that can be deployed to ensure the long-term accessibility to electronic journal content even if the publisher ceases to exist, a subscription is terminated, or the already acquired content becomes damaged. Given the potential benefits of LOCKSS to the UK community, and in consideration of the implications of the NESLi2 licences, the Joint Information Systems Committee and the Consortium of University Research Libraries (JISC/CURL) co-funded a UK LOCKSS Pilot Programme to explore issues associated with the practical implementation of LOCKSS in UK Higher Education institutions. The pilot launched in March 2006 and concluded in July 2008. Following on from our experiences throughout the UK LOCKSS Pilot Programme, this paper discusses the organizational attributes of the LOCKSS approach that we expect to further develop in the UK, describes the types of journal content that the current generation of LOCKSS seems best suited to handle and as a result how LOCKSS may fit into the broader journal archiving environment, and it describes the steps we are taking to ensure both the LOCKSS software and Technical Support Service grow effectively to support library use and information management

Closing the Loop: Creating Deliverables That Add Value

As special collections librarians and liaison librarians work together to create in­novative experiences working with primary source material, it is important to remember students have much to offer in the collaborative design process. In this case study, Prudence Doherty, a special collections librarian, and Daniel DeSanto, an instruction librarian, describe a project they initiated and implemented with upper-level education majors at the University of Vermont (UVM). The students were pre-service teachers (student teachers working toward degree and licensure) enrolled in Social Education and Social Studies, a course that focuses on teaching methods, assessment alternatives, and resources used in the elementary (K–4) classroom. The project gave the pre-service teachers an opportunity to work with three digital collections in order to design lesson plans for elementary-aged stu­dents. The project closed the loop of learn, create, and teach by requiring students to learn evaluative approaches to working with historical material and then create lesson plans based on those approaches. By creating professional resources for other teachers, the students added value to the digital collections