Research Data Management and the Canadian Academic Library: An Organizational Consideration of Data Management and Data Stewardship

Research data management (RDM) has become a professional imperative for Canada’s academic librarians. Recent policy considerations by our national research funding agencies that address the ability of Canadian universities to effectively manage the massive amounts of research data they now create has helped library and university administrators recognize this gap in the research enterprise and identify RDM as a solution. RDM is not new to libraries, though. Rather, it draws on existing and evolving organizational functions in order to improve data collection, access, use, and preservation. A successful research data management service requires the skills and knowledge found in a library’s research liaisons, collections experts, policy analysts, IT experts, archivists and preservationists. Like the library, research data management is not singular but multi-faceted. It requires collaboration, technology and policy analysis skills, and project management acumen. This paper examines research data management as a vital information, technical, and policy service in academic libraries today. It situates RDM not only as actions and services but also as a suite of responsibilities that require a high level of planning, collaboration, and judgment, thereby binding people to practice. It shows how RDM aligns with the skill sets and competencies of librarianship and illustrates how RDM spans the library’s organizational structure and intersects with campus stakeholders allied in the research enterprise

Digital age: challenges for libraries

Information technology and globalization are the two most influential forces of the modern times. IT has given new meanings to the transmission, dissemination and storage of information; whereas globalisation is reducing the importance of geographical boundaries. Libraries as an important social institution have been affected by these changes. Information retrieval, information storage and information transmission are the core competencies of the libraries. Digital age characterized by efficient graphic user interface, digital imaging, efficient transfer and storage of texts, is presenting important challenges for the libraries. Information privacy, copyrights, and information security are some of the challenging issues faced by the libraries in digital age. This paper is an attempt to present as well as to discuss the implications of these issues so that strategies can be devised to address them effectively and efficiently

Managing access to the internet in public libraries in the UK: the findings of the MAIPLE project

One of the key purposes of the public library is to provide access to information (UNESCO, 1994). In the UK, information is provided in printed formats and for the last decade via public access Internet workstations installed as part of the People’s Network initiative. Recent figures reveal that UK public libraries provide approximately 40,000 computer terminals offering users around 80,000 hours across more than 4,000 service points (CIPFA, 2012). In addition, increasing numbers of public libraries allow users to connect devices such as tablets or smart phones to the Internet via a wireless network access point (Wi-Fi). How do public library staff manage this? What about users viewing harmful or illegal content? And what are the implications for a profession committed to freedom of access to information and opposition to censorship? MAIPLE, a two-year project funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council has been investigating this issue as little was known about how UK public libraries manage Internet content control including illegal material. MAIPLE has drawn on an extensive review of the literature, an online survey to which all UK public library services were invited to participate (39 per cent response rate) and case studies with five services (two in England, one in Scotland, one in Wales and one in Northern Ireland) to examine the ways these issues are managed and their implications for staff. This presentation will explore the prevalence of tools such as filtering software, Acceptable Use Policies, user authentication, booking software and visual monitoring by staff and consider their efficacy and desirability in the provision of public Internet access. It will consider the professional dilemmas inherent within managing content and access. Finally, it will highlight some of the more important themes emerging from the findings and their implications for practitioners and policy makers

Serving the Needs of Homeless Library Patrons: Legal Issues, Ethical Concerns, and Practical Approaches

While cognizant of their social mission, public libraries often still have found it challenging to serve one of their most marginalized constituencies - the homeless. However, bound by legal mandate as well as American Library Association (ALA) core values of access, democracy, and serving the public, libraries must find ways to serve the needs of poor and homeless patrons. This paper describes the demographics and characteristics of homelessness, explores legal and ethical issues with regard to library services, identifies selected model library programs that serve this population effectively, and provides practical guidance and recommendations to public libraries and librarians struggling with this matter, including how to draft patron codes of behavior that are consistent with legal guidelines. Serving the poor and homeless is both a challenge and an opportunity to put the American Library Association’s core values into practice. In so doing, public libraries model the democratic principles they would have their patrons emulate, not only demonstrating but creating the kind of society for which they stand

Warriors, allies or spectators: a look at stakeholders’ perception of the role of libraries and librarians in the fake news phenomenon

The recent debate on fake news and critical thinking is invading the national and international scene. Strategies to counterfeit the phenomenon are issued everywhere: IFLA (International Federation of Library Associations) built a campaign around its infographic tool; at the same time, the Internet giants are beginning to change their attitude and position with respect to fake news as a result of public pressure – e.g. Facebook and the scandal of Cambridge Analytica. Libraries and librarians think they could play an important role, being their job about knowledge and information management, but does anyone else think along the same lines? An article published on Science with the explicit goal of starting a "science of fake news", advocated an interdisciplinary approach, yet hardly any reference was made to Library and Information studies. The same happened in the recent EU Public consultation on fake news and online disinformation - neither libraries nor schools were counted among the stakeholders. Someone may argue that news is outside the scope of the library mission; yet preserving documentation and helping people to find and evaluate information effectively definitely is: the actions undertaken by EBLIDA (European Bureau of Library, Information and Documentation) advocate for a role for libraries. Based on this scenario, the present paper will reflect on the concept of fake news in the light of library and information science – thus defining the field and its limits. Subsequently, it will analyse policy documents addressing the issue, to verify whether libraries and library studies are considered stakeholders by external observers. Method: documents on Fake News will be scanned looking for mentions of libraries on the websites of European Union, USA, Canada, Great Britain and Italy. An overall scan will also be carried out on the role of libraries in relation to fake news in research articles

Four Facets of Privacy and Intellectual Freedom in Licensing Contracts for Electronic Journals

This is a study of the treatment of library patron privacy in licenses for electronic journals in academic libraries. We begin by distinguishing four facets of privacy and intellectual freedom based on the LIS and philosophical literature. Next, we perform a content analysis of 42 license agreements for electronic journals, focusing on terms for enforcing authorized use and collection and sharing of user data. We compare our findings to model licenses, to recommendations proposed in a recent treatise on licenses, and to our account of the four facets of intellectual freedom. We find important conflicts with each

Libraries in Switzerland

Ausgehend von einem historischen Überblick schildert der Beitrag die Entwicklung der Schweizer Bibliotheken in der Zeit von 1970 bis 2010: soziopolitischer Kontext, Struktur des Bibliothekswesen, technischer Wandel, wichtigste Akteure und aktuelle Herausforderungen. Starting with a brief history of libraries in Switzerland, this report focusses on the development of Swiss libraries from 1970 to 2010: socio-political context, structure of the Swiss library sector, change driven by technology, main actors, and challenges at the beginning of the new millennium. Suite à un aperçu historique, l'article décrit le développement des bibliothèques suisses dans la période de 1970 à 2010: le contexte socio-politique, la structure du secteur des bibliothèques, les changements technologiques, les principaux acteurs et les défis actuels

Special Libraries, December 1970

Volume 61, Issue 10https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/sla_sl_1970/1009/thumbnail.jp