Open Access, Privacy, and Ethics

Open access is generally touted as a beneficial good. It enables communities, especially those with the least resources, to access literature that they often would otherwise not be able to afford. It brings publicly funded studies and ensuing publications out from behind a paywall for the public good. Open data sets allow for the aggregation of studies, leading to higher statistical power and generalizability. Open data sets can also be utilized to address replication concerns. Despite these tremendous benefits, there are existing and valid concerns about open access in a networked world. As increased quantities of materials are digitized, especially when the contents mention and refer to individuals still alive, open access and institutional repository professionals will need to address privacy concerns and interrogate their moral and ethical values. San Jose State University (SJSU) Library recently uploaded over 80 years of the Spartan Daily, the student campus newspaper, to its campus institutional repository (IR). Former SJSU students have contacted the IR managers to request that whole issues be taken down or redacted because of unflattering news reports on their activities as SJSU undergraduates. These concerns of privacy and managing one’s online identity are generally not seen favorably by the IR managers; their perspective is that the Spartan Daily is an official University publication. To modify the content is tantamount to censorship. This session will grapple with privacy and ethical concerns that intersect with open access

Privacy and Anonymity in a Reference Librarianship Digital Archive

This poster will discuss the ethical concerns with the processing, digitizing, and organizing of the Pacific Library Partnership’s System Reference Center (SRC) reference question archive, which contains material artifacts of complex reference questions from 1972-2004. Reference services, a core librarian responsibility, centers on connecting users with answers, materials, and the information that will satisfy their research needs. With the proliferation of online materials and ubiquity of search engines, the nature of reference services has changed dramatically over the last decades. The archive is comprised of questions submitted for reference librarian review by other reference librarians who had exhausted local resources and capabilities. Thus, these questions offer a unique perspective on the nature of the questions that required expert searchers with extensive resources. Included in this collection’s documentation are the originating librarian-patron consultation and SRC librarian answer, providing a detailed view of the intellectual approach and type(s) and quantity of resources consulted. This poster will consider the privacy concerns for this particular archive, reference services, and librarians

Modernized Collaborations: Technologies Affecting Librarian Research Connections

There is no doubt that now, more than ever, technologies have made it easier for library researchers to connect and collaborate with one another. The increase in adoption and use of cloud-based products that support group work in higher education (such as the G Suite for Education) have also encouraged the collaborative nature of library and information science (LIS) research and publications.In our presentation, we will present the results of our study in identifying the methods by which librarians find collaborators for research projects. Employing a mixed methods study, we collected survey data from librarians on the tools and methods they use in finding potential collaborators. We correlated self-identified methods to demographic data (e.g., length of time in the field, need/requirement to publish as part of one’s job responsibilities, change in the number of employers, and formal mentoring relationship experience). In addition, we analyzed 2013-2017 author affiliation data from selected LIS publications to ascertain trends in collaboration.The results of this study will provide a greater understanding of librarians’ collaborative research and publication behaviors, facilitating improved opportunities for making connections. This study could also assist professional organizations, conference organizers, and LIS professionals in sponsoring and promoting research acumen opportunities for aspiring researchers

In-Person to Virtual in Six Weeks: Moving a Conference Online due to COVID-19

The Scholarly Communication Assessment Forum (SCAF) was planned to be held on the Sacramento State campus on May 4 & 5, 2020. When pandemic-related shelter-in-place restrictions were imposed in mid-March and it became clear an in-person event would be impossible, the project team had to quickly shift to a virtual event. While quickly changing the format of the event was challenging, there were also unexpected benefits. The project team was able to collect much richer data by recording all sessions and breakout discussions. Extending the timeline for the project also allowed for more in depth analysis of forum transcripts and considered writing time to create the white paper and rubric. This session will provide conference attendees with the lessons learned from the process of reimagining a long-planned event in the context of the unique challenges posed early on in the COVID-19 pandemic, along with the broader implications for keeping these types of events virtual in the future. In addition, the presenters will share themes discussed during the forum, as well as the SCAF whitepaper and rubrics expected to be released in December 2021

Building Ethnically Diverse Digital Collections

Building ethnically diverse collections has always been challenging -- either because minority communities do not see traditional institutions as keepers of their histories or librarians/archivists are not embedded sufficiently in the communities to recognize the value of their materials. And lastly, when communities do donate physical materials, processing and enabling access to these collections can often be slow, due to a myriad of reasons. The perception of a lack of public interest may lead to low processing priority, which only increases the potential for loss. Minority communities\u27 motivation may be negatively impacted, furthering mistrust of traditional institutions and harming any potential momentum in acquiring materials. Open access platforms provide libraries and librarians with new opportunities to develop ethnically diverse collections without donors having to donate and gift items. It also allows the nonspecial collection library from needing the required archival space and requirements to properly house physical materials. At the Cultural Heritage Center at San Jose State University (SJSU), we have been digitizing community and university materials from our race/ethnic communities. SJSU faculty, students, and alumni have been pleased with the discoveries of these collections, which include graduation programs and student publications. Most libraries have access to the common hardware and software that can offer a more inclusive perspective than the traditional Special Collections archives. We will demonstrate how a team of individuals can make libraries\u27 digital collections more inclusive and ethnically rich and diverse

A Tail’s Tale: Biomechanical Roles Of Dorsal Thoracic Spine Of Barnacle Nauplii

Many marine invertebrates have complex life histories that begin with a planktonic larval stage. Similar to other plankton, these larval invertebrates often possess protruding body extensions, but their function beyond predator deterrence is not well-documented. For example, the planktonic nauplii of crustaceans have spines. Using the epibiotic pedunculate barnacle Octolasmis spp., we investigated how the dorsal thoracic spine affects swimming and fluid disturbance by comparing nauplii with their spines partially removed against those with intact spines. Our motion analysis showed that amputated Octolasmis spp. swam slower, in jerkier trajectories, and were less efficient per stroke cycle than those with intact spines. Amputees showed alterations in limb beat pattern: larger beat amplitude, increased phase lag, and reduced contralateral symmetry. These changes might partially help increase propulsive force generation and streamline the flow, but were insufficient to restore full function. Particle image velocimetry further showed that amputees had a larger relative area of influence, implying elevated risk by rheotactic predator. Body extensions and their interactions with limb motion play important biomechanical roles in shaping larval performance, which likely influences the evolution of form

Assessing scholarly communication programs

Do you have issues quantifying the success of your scholarly communication programs? Many CSUs not only struggle with how to properly fund and staff scholarly communication programs, but also how to show their value. Sacramento State and San Jose State received an IMLS National Forum grant in 2019 to determine how similar public institutions were assessing their scholarly communication programs. In our multi-phased grant project, we used the University of Central Florida’s Research Lifecycle (https://library.ucf.edu/about/departments/scholarly-communication/overview-research-lifecycle/ ) as a framing document for all the multi-faceted services that scholarly communication encompasses. Within this presentation, we will share an assessment rubric created to measure impact of services to preserve and disseminate research, including repository services. We hope to elicit feedback from the group and gauge interest in implementing similar rubrics at your campus