Index to Library Trends Volume 33

published or submitted for publicatio

Transformative Effects of NDIIPP, the Case of the Henry A. Murray Archive

This article comprises reflections on the changes to the Henry A. Murray Research Archive, catalyzed by involvement with the National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program (NDIIPP) partnership, and the accompanying introduction of next generation digital library software. Founded in 1976 at Radcliffe, the Henry A. Murray Research Archive is the endowed, permanent repository for quantitative and qualitative research data at the Institute for Quantitative Social Science, in Harvard University. The Murray preserves in perpetuity all types of data of interest to the research community, including numerical, video, audio, interview notes, and other types. The center is unique among data archives in the United States in the extent of its holdings in quantitative, qualitative, and mixed quantitativequalitative research. The Murray took part in an NDIIPP-funded collaboration with four other archival partners, Data-PASS, for the purpose of the identification and acquisition of data at risk, and the joint development of best practices with respect to shared stewardship, preservation, and exchange of these data. During this time, the Dataverse Network (DVN) software was introduced, facilitating the creation of virtual archives. The combination of institutional collaboration and new technology lead the Murray to re-engineer its entire acquisition process; completely rewrite its ingest, dissemination, and other licensing agreements; and adopt a new model for ingest, discovery, access, and presentation of its collections. Through the Data-PASS project, the Murray has acquired a number of important data collections. The resulting changes within the Murray have been dramatic, including increasing its overall rate of acquisitions by fourfold; and disseminating acquisitions far more rapidly. Furthermore, the new licensing and processing procedures allow a previously undreamed of level of interoperability and collaboration with partner archives, facilitating integrated discovery and presentation services, and joint stewardship of collections.published or submitted for publicatio

Ventures in Social Media

Academic libraries are actively involved in social media platforms as part of their campus communities. They have moved past the debate of whether to participate in social media and are focusing on strategies to develop engaging content and assessment of their efforts. Social media use in the campus classroom continues to grow with more faculty using social media in academic context. Given the widespread adoption of social media on the University of San Diego campus Copley Library formed a Social Media Committee (SMC) to manage the library’s social media presence with a mission to promoting the library’s services and events. After establishing Facebook and Twitter accounts the committee looked to expand their presence on other platforms. To determine which social media platforms undergraduates were using, the committee designed and administered a survey in the fall of 2013. The survey confirmed that USD undergraduates were still using Facebook and showed 56% now use multiple social media sites: Twitter, Pinterest, Tumblr, and Instagram. The SMC diversified onto Instagram and Pinterest platforms to interact with students on visual platforms.Ye

Shifting sands: the changing nature of the early stage venture capital market in the UK

The UK early-stage venture capital market is currently experiencing major changes. With private funds - once the bedrock of start-up investment for entrepreneurs - moving away from the early stage, it is not just entrepreneurs but the economy as a whole that will be affected. The shift comes at a time when there is real pressure for the UK to build great global companies to match those of the US, India and China as well as a harsher environment in which to start a new business. But as long as investors continue drifting away from the smaller deals that new firms depend upon, many businesses will struggle to get a foothold

Christian Librarians and the Library Bill of Rights: A Survey of Opinions and Professional Practice

This study used a survey methodology to discover how Christian librarians working in academic libraries responded to the American Library Association’s (ALA) ethical standards as embodied in the Library Bill of Rights (LBR). The results showed that while the Christian librarians surveyed largely support the LBR and adhere to it professionally, their interpretation of its sometimes ambiguous language is made through the lens of a Christian worldview and can conflict with the ALA’s interpretation. Of particular concern to the respondents were issues of collection development and access to content like pornography, violence, or other similar material that conflicts with Christian morality

Impact Factor: outdated artefact or stepping-stone to journal certification?

A review of Garfield's journal impact factor and its specific implementation as the Thomson Reuters Impact Factor reveals several weaknesses in this commonly-used indicator of journal standing. Key limitations include the mismatch between citing and cited documents, the deceptive display of three decimals that belies the real precision, and the absence of confidence intervals. These are minor issues that are easily amended and should be corrected, but more substantive improvements are needed. There are indications that the scientific community seeks and needs better certification of journal procedures to improve the quality of published science. Comprehensive certification of editorial and review procedures could help ensure adequate procedures to detect duplicate and fraudulent submissions.Comment: 25 pages, 12 figures, 6 table

Automated computation of materials properties

Materials informatics offers a promising pathway towards rational materials design, replacing the current trial-and-error approach and accelerating the development of new functional materials. Through the use of sophisticated data analysis techniques, underlying property trends can be identified, facilitating the formulation of new design rules. Such methods require large sets of consistently generated, programmatically accessible materials data. Computational materials design frameworks using standardized parameter sets are the ideal tools for producing such data. This work reviews the state-of-the-art in computational materials design, with a focus on these automated $\textit{ab-initio}$ frameworks. Features such as structural prototyping and automated error correction that enable rapid generation of large datasets are discussed, and the way in which integrated workflows can simplify the calculation of complex properties, such as thermal conductivity and mechanical stability, is demonstrated. The organization of large datasets composed of $\textit{ab-initio}$ calculations, and the tools that render them programmatically accessible for use in statistical learning applications, are also described. Finally, recent advances in leveraging existing data to predict novel functional materials, such as entropy stabilized ceramics, bulk metallic glasses, thermoelectrics, superalloys, and magnets, are surveyed.Comment: 25 pages, 7 figures, chapter in a boo

Global Trends in Mobile Technology and Their Impact on Your Library

Contrary to the impression of many Americans, some less technologically developed countries are more actively using mobile technology than we are. As mobile technology is exploding in both our personal and professional lives, this is impacting our libraries and our users as they reach out to us with their mobile devices. This article will examine some of these trends and discuss ways that libraries can begin to institute mobile services even if they do not have a lot of funds or technical expertise. Results of a survey of how ACL libraries are using mobile services in their libraries are discussed