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I N B R I E F
May/June 2016
Table of Contents
Revealing Visual Culture: Digitizing Modern Illustrated Periodical Tear Sheets in the Walt Reed Illustration Archive
Contributed by
Skye Lacerte
Modern Graphic History Library Curator
Washington University in St. Louis
St Louis, Missouri, USA
slacerte [at] wustl.edu
In 2015, the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) announced a new initiative for funding projects digitizing collections of rare and unique content in cultural memory institutions. The Washington University project, Revealing Visual Culture, was one of eighteen projects selected out of 167 proposals. CLIR pledged $250,000 to complete the project within a two-year period.
The Revealing Visual Culture project will create digital images and supporting metadata for 150,000 modern periodical illustration tear sheets contained in the Walt Reed Illustration Archive. The archive reflects the New York-based Illustration House, a gallery specializing in the resale of original works of illustration including pulp fiction covers, magazine illustrations, advertisements, comic strips and more, founded by Walt Reed. In 2012, Washington University Libraries acquired the archive, which includes approximately:
- 8,000 periodicals
- 1,200 illustrated books
- 250,000 magazine tear sheets
- and 140 pieces of original art
The tear sheets – from over 200 illustrated periodical publications dating from the 1860s to the 1990s – represent the largest known collection in the world. Featuring illustrations from magazine covers, fiction stories, advertisements, news and information articles, the tear sheets offer a rich resource for scholarly investigation in multiple fields.
During the two-year project, an outside vendor will create digital files. WU library staff and student assistants will create and enhance the metadata and perform quality control. The resulting image database will be searchable by illustrator, publication title, subject matter, date and content. Washington University Libraries will provide complete public access to high-resolution images and metadata online.
The process of sorting, foldering, boxing, and packing items began in January 2016. Staff and student volunteers from Special Collections removed files from the cabinets. The contents were re-foldered and labeled, and the folders were rehoused in boxes to be sent to the digitization vendor. Six pallets were filled and shipped to the digitization vendor in Atlanta, Georgia, HeritageWerks.
Hard drives with the digital files will be returned quarterly over the next two years. Staff and student workers will catalog and add descriptive metadata to the high resolution files. All 150,000 images will be available in ArtStor's Shared Shelf Commons. This management system combines image collections of unique holdings and will provide full public access to the images in the Walt Reed Illustration Archive. Users may browse image collections, search using relevant terms, view thumbnails and zoom into high-resolution images. Images published in Shared Shelf Commons can also be accessed via Google search.
Modern Graphic History Library website: http://library.wustl.edu/spec/mghl/
Blog: http://library.wustl.edu/category/special-collections/modern-graphic-history-library-special-collections/
Review Opportunity: ETDplus Guidance Briefs
Contributed by
Katherine Skinner
Executive Director
Educopia Institute
Atlanta, Georgia, USA
katherine [at] educopia.org
The ETDplus project (http://educopia.org/research/grants/etdplus) invites Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETD) program staff, librarians, faculty advisors, and graduate students to participate in a public review of the Guidance Briefs for Preserving & Curating ETD Research Data & Complex Digital Objects.
About the ETD Guidance Briefs
Interested ETD stakeholders can download copies of the Guidance Briefs at the following website, http://educopia.org/deliverables/etdplus-guidance-briefs.
The Guidance Briefs are short (3-4 page) "how-to" oriented briefs designed to help ETD programs build and nurture supportive relationships with student researchers. These briefs will assist student researchers in understanding how their approaches to data and content management impact credibility, replicable research, and general long-term accessibility: knowledge and skills that will impact the health of their careers for years to come.
We are releasing these Guidance Briefs as openly editable documents so that institutions may use and reuse these in whatever ways work best for their local audiences. Topics covered include: Copyright, Data Structures, File Formats, Metadata, Storage, and Version Control. Each Brief includes generally applicable information about its topic, and also includes a "Local Practices" section that an institution may use to call attention to what's happening on its own campus.
We invite you to help us refine these documents by drawing our project team's attention to any components that need to be edited, revised, broadened, or narrowed. Please send us an email with your suggestions and/or track your changes within the documents and email those back to our team (katherine [at] educopia.org) by or before June 30, 2016. We plan to integrate the community's feedback before formally issuing these Briefs under a CC BY 4.0 license later this summer.
About the ETDplus Project
The ETDplus project is helping institutions ensure the longevity and availability of ETD research data and complex digital objects (e.g., software, multimedia files) that comprise an integral component of student theses and dissertations.
The project is generously funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) and led by the Educopia Institute, in collaboration with the NDLTD, HBCU Alliance, bepress, ProQuest, and the libraries of Carnegie Mellon, Indiana State, Morehouse, Oregon State, Penn State, Purdue, University of Louisville, University of Tennessee, the University of North Texas, and Virginia Tech. Please see http://educopia.org/research/grants/etdplus for more information about this grant-funded project and its deliverables.
Organization and Structure of Cataloging Units in Academic Libraries Research Project
Contributed by
Liz Woolcott, Head of Cataloging and Metadata Services, Utah State University
liz.woolcott [at] usu.edu
Jeremy Myntti, Head of Digital Library Services, University of Utah
jeremy.myntti [at] utah.edu
The roles and responsibilities within academic library cataloging units have gradually been shifting over the past several years. To deal with these changes, catalogers on both the librarian/faculty levels as well as professional or paraprofessional staff have had to respond by shifting workloads to ensure that necessary cataloging tasks are carried out. With many of these new and upcoming tasks and workflows that academic library cataloging units are completing comes change to the organizational structure of these units.
This research project has been designed to gather information about the past, current, and future organizational structures of academic library cataloging units. As part of the study, a survey was widely distributed in March and April 2016 requesting academic librarians and staff members to offer information about the cataloging units at their organizations. The survey response deadline was April 30, 2016, and data is currently being analyzed to be made available through publications, presentations, and on a website.
The survey data revealed several compelling trends about the recent changes in cataloging staffing models used by academic libraries with disparate sizes and funding levels. Trends include how the organizational structure of cataloging units have changed over the past decade, future plans for restructuring cataloging, and shifting responsibilities while assuming new iterations of traditional cataloging and metadata related roles.
In addition to discovering how cataloging units have changed in response to needs and trends in academic libraries, special attention is being paid to the type of work that is completed both inside and outside of the cataloging unit along with new responsibilities that have been shouldered in the recent past or will be acquired in the future. These roles and responsibilities can be directly related to the size of the library (both collection size and staffing), the overall structure of the cataloging unit, and the unit's place within the institution.
Preliminary findings can be found on the following website, with more content being added periodically: https://catalogingunitorg.wordpress.com/.
I N T H E N E W S
veraPDF 0.14 PDF/A validator released with launch of demo website
May 6, 2016 announcement from Becky McGuinness, Open Preservation Foundation — "We are pleased to announce the latest release of veraPDF. Version 0.14 features Transparency and Unicode character map validation in PDF/A-2 levels B and U..."
"Download veraPDF 0.14:
http://downloads.verapdf.org/rel/verapdf-installer.zip"
"Release notes:
https://github.com/veraPDF/veraPDF-library/releases/tag/v0.14.2"
"This is the first release of the final design phase which began on 19 April following the PREFORMA Project EC review at their Open Source Workshop (http://opensourceworkshop.preforma-project.eu/programme/)."
"Keep up to date with the latest developments of veraPDF by subscribing to the veraPDF consortium's newsletter (http://verapdf.org/subscribe/)".
Rare Orson Welles recordings to be preserved and shared through Indiana University Libraries and the National Recording Preservation Foundation
May 3, 2016 — "With the assistance of a $25,000 grant from the National Recording Preservation Foundation to Indiana University Libraries, the university will preserve rare, original recordings of 'The Orson Welles Show.' The live radio series produced by its iconic host and namesake debuted Sept. 15, 1941."
"Previously, internet sites and books have stated that only eight of the 19 'Orson Welles Show' broadcasts have survived."
"An IU-led preservation and digitization project, titled 'Orson Welles on the Air,' will reveal the truth: Original lacquer discs containing 14 of the broadcasts, as well as other supposedly lost recordings, had been secured by Indiana University Libraries' Lilly Library, one of the nation's premier rare book and special collection libraries...."
"...Together, the 'Orson Welles on the Air' materials represent the most complete original source of audio for Welles' radio work during the late 1930s and 1940s, with the highest extant sound quality."
For more information, please see the full press release.
Research Library Associations Endorse Open Data Accord
April 29, 2016 — "The International Alliance of Research Library Associations (IARLA) – a global coalition of major research and academic library associations in Australia, Canada, Europe, and the United States – recognizes the importance of working towards a common vision for open data. We firmly believe that open data holds the key to addressing many societal challenges worldwide."
"IARLA views the Science International accord on 'Open Data in a Big Data World' as an important step towards creating and enabling this common vision of the importance of open data. In setting out principles for open data that are derived from emerging practices within the scientific community, the accord lends the voice of a key stakeholder to the case for open data and provides a practical road map for the implementation of open data at the global level...."
"...By signing this accord we declare our commitment to working with the scientific community in making publicly funded research data open by default. Data are the building blocks of knowledge. Therefore libraries, which exist to ensure access to knowledge, are key stakeholders in the open data environment. Libraries have a responsibility to make data discoverable, accessible, intelligible, assessable, and usable. It is of the utmost importance that the library community engage with the global scientific and research community on this issue in venues such as the Research Data Alliance. We look forward to engaging in the dialogue initiated by this accord and to working with the global community of stakeholders to implement the principles the accord promotes."
For more information, please see the full press release.
Neal wins 2017 - 2018 ALA presidency
April 29, 2016 — "James G. (Jim) Neal, university librarian emeritus at Columbia University, New York, has been elected president-elect of the American Library Association (ALA)."
"Neal received 3,479 votes, while his opponents, Christine Lind Hage, director of the Rochester Hills (Michigan) Public Library, received 3,248 votes; and Lisa Janicke Hinchliffe, professor and coordinator for Information Literacy Services and Instruction at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, received 3,317 votes."
"As ALA president, Neal will be the chief elected officer for the oldest and largest library association in the world. He will serve as president-elect for one year before stepping into his role as president at the close of the 2017 ALA Annual Conference in Chicago."
"Neal served as the vice president for information services and university librarian at Columbia from 2001-14. He holds an MSLS and an MA in history from Columbia and a BA in Russian studies from Rutgers University. He also holds a certificate in advanced librarianship from Columbia."
For more information, please see the full press release.
White House Historical Association Announces New Digital Library
April 28, 2016 — "The White House Historical Association in partnership with the White House, Office of the Curator, launched a new Digital Library of the history of the White House. This premiere online resource currently includes more than 2,500 high-quality images of the White House, each with detailed descriptions including references, and offers user-friendly tools to search and find images quickly and easily...."
"...The Digital Library offers a comprehensive set of images of both the interior and exterior of the White House dating from the 1700s through the present day. Every image has detailed descriptions, and interactive features allow registered users to easily search, save and share photographs and data. Additionally, the database technology allows the Association to quickly create features about newsworthy events, themed presentations, and materials that promote other organizational initiatives and activities. Over the next two years, the Digital Library will grow to hold over 50,000 unique images, including newly digitized material from the White House collection, and will also provide scholarly research, articles, lesson plans and other educational resources."
For more information, please see the full press release.
THOMAS.gov to Retire July 5
Data Transition to Congress.gov Complete; Legacy System Can Take a Bow
April 28, 2016 — "THOMAS.gov, the online legislative information system, will officially retire July 5, completing the multi-year transition to Congress.gov."
"'The Library is well-positioned for the future with Congress.gov,' said Acting Librarian of Congress David S. Mao. 'Free access to legislative information that anyone can search for and read is central to an informed democracy. I applaud the visionary leaders who launched THOMAS two decades ago, and I congratulate and thank the many talented individuals at the Library and throughout the legislative branch who have transitioned that resource into the 21st century with Congress.gov. Finally, I invite and encourage everyone to use this resource. It is here for you to learn about, to connect with, to better understand your representative government.'"
"THOMAS, named for Thomas Jefferson, was a pioneering site when it was launched by the Library in 1995 as a bipartisan initiative of Congress. The system has been updated over the years, but its foundation can no longer support the capabilities that today's Internet users have come to expect."
"The Congress.gov system, initially launched in beta form in September, 2012, applies modern design and infrastructure to the robust legislative data sets, with mobile-friendly access, faceted search and other features."
For more information, please see the full press release.
NIST Kicks Off Effort to Defend Encrypted Data from Quantum Computer Threat
April 28, 2016 — "If an exotic quantum computer is invented that could break the codes we depend on to protect confidential electronic information, what will we do to maintain our security and privacy? That's the overarching question posed by a new report from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), whose cryptography specialists are beginning the long journey toward effective answers."
"NIST Internal Report (NISTIR) 8105: Report on Post-Quantum Cryptography details the status of research into quantum computers, which would exploit the often counterintuitive world of quantum physics to solve problems that are intractable for conventional computers. If such devices are ever built, they will be able to defeat many of our modern cryptographic systems, such as the computer algorithms used to protect online bank transactions. NISTIR 8105 outlines a long-term approach for avoiding this vulnerability before it arises...."
"...The report shares NIST's current understanding of the status of quantum-resistant cryptography, and details what the agency is doing to mitigate risk in the future. One overall recommendation for the near term is that organizations focus on "crypto agility," or the rapid ability to switch out whatever algorithms they are using for new ones that are safer."
For more information, please see the full press release.
New Carnegie report calls on partnership working between academics and the third sector
April 26, 2016 — "A new report published today by the Carnegie UK Trust suggests that public policy outcomes could be improved if academics and the third sector were to work more closely together."
"The report, written by Carnegie Fellow Professor Mark Shucksmith OBE, challenges traditional views of universities as sole producers of knowledge and identifies opportunities for academics and charities to work together for the public's benefit."
"As well as drawing on existing research, the Trust has consulted with stakeholders from across the UK and held roundtable events in London, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Newcastle."
"Professor Mark Shucksmith OBE and author of the report explains, 'The notion that universities have a monopoly on knowledge production that must be transferred out to users is outdated. Both practitioners and academic institutions are knowledge creators. Universities and the third sector have a shared interest in achieving impact and have different types of knowledge and expertise that they can bring to the table. There are many mutual benefits which should encourage cooperation.'"
For more information, please see the full press release.
Grant will help Cornell University Library improve information access by scholars
New tools and methods will enrich scholarly research
April 25, 2016 — "Cornell University Library will develop new tools and methods to better describe libraries' scholarly information resources and share those descriptions among different institutions, thanks to a new grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation."
"In collaboration with the libraries of Harvard and Stanford universities and library researchers at the University of Iowa, Cornell has been awarded a $1.5 million, two-year grant to help libraries use linked data to improve the exchange and understanding of information about scholarly resources. The project team aims to have tools, services and solutions available that research libraries could use at their own institutions within the next three to five years...."
"...The new tools will improve descriptions of everything in the library's catalog, including books, journals and research datasets, as well as special collections such as hip-hop, maps, and works of art."
"Cornell is also participating in a companion project based at Stanford University Libraries, which seeks to transition the functions of library technical services to linked data, so libraries can use these new tools to produce information communally. While the two projects are separate, each is expected to advance the goals of the other."
"Linked Data is a way of expressing data in large networks of related information on the Internet so that computers can make connections among different collections with a minimum of prior agreement."
For more information, please see the full press release.
Broad public, library and educational sector support Hayden Nomination
More than 140 national nonprofit and library groups, schools, and academic libraries urge Dr. Carla Hayden's rapid confirmation as Librarian of Congress
April 21, 2016 — "'The Library of Congress has never more needed the unique combination of character, acumen and humanity that Dr. Carla Hayden is so professionally, intellectually and personally qualified to offer that great institution. We urge her earliest possible approval by the Rules Committee and rapid confirmation by the Senate,' said more than 20 leading national nonprofit organizations..."
"Nonprofit supporters were also joined by two dozen educational institutions (ranging from community colleges to the Big Ten and Ivy League); two dozen academic libraries from every corner of the country; more than a score of national library groups; and virtually all of the nation’s state library associations. Organized by the American Library Association (ALA), of which Dr. Hayden is a past-president, the letter was transmitted late yesterday to the members of the Senate Rules Committee which today holds its confirmation hearing on her nomination to become America’s 14th Librarian of Congress."
For more information and to read the letter forwarded to the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration, please see the full press release.
UT Researcher Receives $500,000 to Study Rural Library "Hotspot Lending"
April 21, 2016 — "The Institute of Museum and Library Services, the federal agency spearheading grants to archives, museums and libraries, has awarded a $500,000 grant to a researcher at The University of Texas at Austin to study rural library 'hotspot lending programs,' where libraries loan out devices that connect patrons to cellular networks."
"Hotspot lending programs essentially move Internet connectivity into people's homes by loaning out devices that connect to 3G or 4G cellular networks, and then allow patrons subsidized access to the Internet from anywhere on that network."
"Sharon Strover, Philip G. Warner Regents Professor of Communication in the Moody College of Communication, will serve as lead investigator for the 20-month project: 'At the Edges of the National Digital Platform: Rural Library Hotspot Lending Programs.' A partnership with researchers at the University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State, the project will examine the success of programs that seek to address the lack of digital access that often face rural communities."
For more information, please see the full press release.
IMLS Hosts the Capitol Hill Maker Faire June 21
Save the Date to See Making in Action
April 20, 2016 — "The Maker Movement returns to Washington, D.C., this summer as the Institute of Museum and Library Services, in collaboration with the Congressional Maker Caucus, hosts a free celebration of making on Capitol Hill. The second annual IMLS Capitol Hill Maker Faire, on June 21, will explore trends and drivers of the Maker Movement. It is part of a citywide slate of activities that includes the White House National Week of Making, June 17-23, and the National Maker Faire, June 18-19...."
"...The day kicks off with a panel series featuring national Maker leaders, as well as representatives from the libraries, museums, academia, and the private sector on the cutting edge of the movement. A highlight of last year's event, the panels are again expected to draw standing-room-only crowds. Members of the public, members of Congress, and Congressional staff interested in attending should reserve their seats early."
"The evening faire will feature approximately 30-40 exhibitors with hands-on displays, such as robots, crafts, 3D printers, and other new manufacturing tools. It is free and open to families and the public, but registration is requested...."
For more information, please see the full press release.
NCSA Announces Blue Waters Graduate Fellows for 2016-17
April 20, 2016 Announcement from the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) at the University of Illinois's Blue Waters center — "Ten outstanding computational science PhD students from across the country have been selected to receive Blue Waters Graduate Fellowships for 2016-2017. The fellowship program, now in its third year, provides substantial support and the opportunity to leverage the petascale power of National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) at the University of Illinois's Blue Waters supercomputer to advance their research. The awards are made to outstanding PhD graduate students who have decided to incorporate high performance computing and data analysis into their research...."
"...Since inception, the fellowship program has been tracked and assessed by an independent evaluation team lead by Lizanne DeStefano the Executive Director at Georgia Tech's Center for Education Integrating Science, Mathematics and Computing. According to Dr. DeStefano, 'the impact data suggest that the Blue Waters Fellows program is transformational, producing a new generation of scientists who are experts in both their discipline and in the use of high performance computing. Their research not only offers significant contributions to the disciplinary knowledge base, but produces computational tools which elevate the research capacity of the files as a whole.'"
"THE 2016-2017 FELLOWS:
- Elizabeth Agee, University of Michigan, will examine the contributions of species-specific strategies to individual and community drought resilience in the Amazon Basin region.
- Iryna Butsky, University of Washington, plans to study the effects of cosmic rays on the galactic magnetic field evolution.
- August Guang, Brown University, will characterize HIV transmission networks through sensitivity analyses and simulations.
- Paul Hime, University of Kentucky, will investigate the deep branches in the tree of life with highly complex and highly parameterized Bayesian models of molecular evolution.
- Michael Howard, Princeton University, will develop a massively parallel multi-scale simulation method for designing complex fluids, like those in biomedical devices and consumer products, using graphics processing units.
- Andrew Kirby, University of Wyoming, will use a state-of-the-art, adaptive, high-order application called WwAaKE3D to simulate the most accurate calculations of wind farms to date.
- Sherwood Richers, California Institute of Technology, will use Blue Waters to carry out direct Monte Carlo simulations of the neutrino transport problems in 3-D core collapse supernova and neutron star merger simulations.
- Sean Seyler, Arizona State University, will develop a hybrid continuum-particle method for simulating large-scale heterogenous bimolecular systems.
- Ronald Stenz, University of North Dakota, will study how to improve the realism of tornado simulations and provide further insights into the dynamical processes occurring within tornadoes.
- Erin Teich, University of Michigan, will work to shed light on the physics of glass formation by examining the role that entropy plays during vitrification.
"The fellows will receive a year of support to advance their research, including a tuition allowance and a substantial stipend, an allocation on Blue Waters, and funds to support travel to the annual Blue Waters Symposium. In three years, this fellowship program will have awarded more than $1.3 million and over 50 million core equivalent hours to support graduate research."
The next call for applications for the Blue Waters Graduate Fellowship program will be in the fall of 2016. For more information about the program and the current fellows, visit https://bluewaters.ncsa.illinois.edu/fellowships.
PLA 2016 draws more than 8,000 to Denver for nation's largest public library conference
April 13, 2016 — "More than 8,000 public library professionals, exhibitors, speakers and supporters gathered in Denver and online from April 5 - 9 for the Public Library Association (PLA) 2016 Conference. As the nation's largest public library conference, PLA 2016 explored the library's evolving role in support of their communities and provided attendees with tools and best practices they need to help people thrive in the digital age. The conference offered more than 100 educational programs; special events showcasing bestselling authors and innovators; and more than 600 exhibitors that featured the latest technology and services vital to today's public libraries, librarians and their users."
"Its theme, 'Be Extraordinary,' was a common thread that joined many of the conference programs and served as a challenge to attendees, during the conference and back in their libraries. PLA teamed up with bestselling author Kari Chapin to present 'Make It Extraordinary' sessions and a workbook to help attendees optimize their time, adapt ideas and unleash creativity and imagination. To increase the impact of the conference, the workbook included a PLA 30-Day Challenge to keep the momentum once attendees returned home to their libraries...."
"...Those who could not travel to Denver for the conference participated virtually. There were 110 total registrations for the PLA 2016 Virtual Conference, which presented many elements of the live conference, including high-quality educational programming, networking opportunities and author events. Live programming consisted of five hour-long programs each day – the same available to face-to-face conference attendees."
For more information, please see the full press release.
ALA launches Public Policy Advisory Council
April 13, 2016 — "As part of its National Policy Convening, the American Library Association (ALA) today announces the establishment of a Public Policy Advisory Council (PPAC) to strengthen the engagement of the library community in national public policy. The Council will be made up of members from a broad range of non-library sectors – including technology, publishing, telecommunications, trade associations, government, foundations and other non-profits, health, financial services, and think tanks – reflecting the diverse range of policy areas of relevance to the library community...."
"...The Council will provide vision, creativity, innovation, and energy to guide the ALA and U.S. libraries toward effective policy advocacy and outcomes. 'Working within their own communities and networks, Council members seek out opportunities to leverage library strengths and resources to advance shared priorities,' said Alan S. Inouye, director of ALA's Office for Information Technology Policy (OITP). 'We look forward to the Council's guidance on advancing the National Policy Agenda for Libraries.'(pdf)"
"Members of the ALA Public Policy Advisory Council were selected through a rigorous vetting process and will serve two-year terms."
For more information, please see the full press release.
IMLS Awards $13 Million to Prepare Future Librarians and Advance Library Field
April 12, 2016 — "The Institute of Museum and Library Services today announced 40 grants to institutions totaling $13,016,100. The grants were awarded through the first cycle of the National Leadership Grants for Libraries Program and the Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program...."
"...National Leadership Grants for Libraries support projects that address challenges faced by the library and archive fields and that have the potential to advance library and archival practice with new tools, research findings, models, services, or alliances that can be widely replicated. More than $31 million was requested, and $6,339,441 was awarded for 20 projects. Grantees will provide $3.7 million in cost share...."
"...The Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program supports projects to recruit and educate the next generation of librarians, faculty, and library leaders. IMLS is awarding $6,676,659 of the $39 million requested. For the 20 funded projects, grantees are providing $2.7 million in cost share."
For more information, please see the full press release.
'State of America's Libraries 2016' shows service transformation to meet tech demands of library patrons
April 11, 2016 — "Libraries are not just about what they have for people, but what they do for and with people. With communities still recovering from the Great Recession, academic, school and public libraries continue to transform and shift resources and services to meet the needs of tech-savvy patrons."
"This and other library trends of the past year are detailed in the ALA's 2016 State of America's Libraries report, released today in recognition of National Library Week, April 10 - 16, 2016."
"The report shows that libraries of all types add value in five key areas - education, employment, entrepreneurship, empowerment and engagement. Local and national studies cited within the report show that libraries are advancing multiple literacies and fostering a digitally inclusive society...."
"...The full text of the 2016 State of America's Libraries report is available at http://bit.ly/americas-libraries."
For more information, please see the full press release.
Preservation vocabularies updated
April 7, 2016 Announcement from Peter McKinney, Peter McKinney, Digital Preservation Policy Analyst, Information and Knowledge Services, National Library of New Zealand — "The PREMIS Editorial Committee is pleased to announce a new revision of the digital preservation vocabularies held at the Library of Congress Linked Data Service."
"The revised and new vocabularies can be found here:
http://id.loc.gov/vocabulary/preservation.html"
"This work has been done in order to bring existing vocabularies up to date with Version 3 of PREMIS. In addition, some new vocabularies have been created to cover new elements introduced in Version 3."
"Please note that preservation events are not part of this revision. These are being handled separately and we have just completed initial community feedback phase of that work."
Please send any comments to the PREMIS Implementers List [PIG [at] LISTSERV.LOC.GOV]. Specific questions on the work should be sent to Peter McKinney [Peter.McKinney [at] dia.govt.nz].
PLA premieres library advocacy video series at national conference
April 6, 2016 — "At the intersection of practice and advocacy is the story of libraries' and library staff's positive impacts on individuals and communities. Better understanding and capturing these impacts drives the work of Project Outcome and a new video series featuring library users – both of which are being featured at the Public Library Association (PLA) conference in Denver."
"The series showcases the impact that today's public library has on the community, with subject matter that intersects with the National Policy Agenda for Libraries, including how libraries support education, employment and entrepreneurship. The videos were developed in concert with PLA President-Elect Felton Thomas and American Library Association (ALA) President Sari Feldman, as well as with PLA, the ALA Office for Information Technology Policy and the ALA Office for Library Advocacy as tools that the library community, allies and decision-makers can use to show how Libraries Transform...."
"...All of the videos will be available for download and use from the ALA YouTube channel, and additional tips and examples for ways to leverage the videos will be developed and shared."
For more information, please see the full press release.
400 Artists, Songwriters, Managers, and Music Organizations Call For Reforms of Broken DMCA
March 31, 2016 — "Hundreds of artists, songwriters, managers and music organizations today are calling for reforms of the broken Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). Nearly 400 individual artists, songwriters, managers, and music organizations have joined together to argue for reforms to federal laws to strengthen the music economy and create a healthier, more stable music ecosystem for the next generation of singers, songwriters, and musicians."
"Artists spanning a variety of genres and generations are submitting comments to the federal government's U.S. Copyright Office today and tomorrow demanding reforms to the antiquated DMCA which forces creators to police the entire Internet for instances of theft, placing an undue burden on these artists and unfairly favoring technology companies and rogue pirate sites...."
For more information, please see the full blog posting at the RIAA web site.
Participants selected for Libraries, Archives and Museums Conference Exchange
March 23, 2016 — "The Coalition to Advance Learning in Archives, Libraries and Museums has selected participants to form a learning cohort that will strengthen connections across sectors by attending three major sector conferences and engaging in virtual activities together throughout 2016."
"The Collective Wisdom: Libraries, Archives, and Museums (LAM) Conference Exchange, which is sponsored by the Coalition, will offer a unique experience and opportunity to break down barriers and support connections across libraries, archives and museums. The goal is to devise and strengthen sustainable continuing education and professional development programs that will transform the workforce in ways that lead to measurable impact on communities."
"The Coalition to Advance Learning in Archives, Libraries and Museums is funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), and administered by OCLC. OCLC is also a participating organization in the Coalition."
For more information, please see the full press release.
Results of community engagement initiative shared in Libraries Transforming Communities case studies
March 21, 2016 — "The American Library Association (ALA) has released five case studies detailing the experiences of the Libraries Transforming Communities (LTC) Public Innovators Cohort, a group of public libraries that spent 18 months engaging their communities and taking a leadership role in driving community change."
"The cohort, selected in 2014 through a competitive, peer-reviewed application process, was part of ALA's LTC initiative, a national plan to help librarians strengthen their role as core community leaders and change-agents."
"View the reports and comment online at http://www.ala.org/LTC. Download the complete set of case studies here [PDF]."
For more information, please see the full press release.
UC Davis, CDL to Lead Major Project to Build Open Access Financial Model
March 20, 2016 — "The University of California, Davis and the California Digital Library (CDL) will lead a major new project, with an $800,000 grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, to help define the future of Open Access to scholarship. Pay It Forward: Investigating a Sustainable Model of Open Access Article Processing Charges for Large North American Research Institutions is a year-long effort to study the implications of new funding models for scholarly communications, particularly the use of article processing charges, and determine their sustainability for research universities in the U.S. and Canada. The project partnership includes three major research libraries (Harvard University, Ohio State University and the University of British Columbia) as well as the ten University of California campuses. The project will create a detailed, flexible, and publicly available financial model to help university administrators and librarians develop Open Access policies and strategies...."
"...The project brings together a group of scholarly communications experts, including Greg Tananbaum (ScholarNext), Dr. David Solomon (Michigan State University), Dr. Bo-Christer Björk (Hanken School of Economics, Helsinki, Finland), Dr. Mark McCabe (University of Michigan and Boston University), and Dr. Carol Tenopir (University of Tennessee, Knoxville). The team will create both an in-depth qualitative analysis of authors' attitudes towards Open Access publishing fees and a detailed financial model of these fees relative to current library journal budgets and additional funding sources. The project will also collaborate with information providers Elsevier (Scopus) and Thomson Reuters (Web of Science) as well as the Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers, whose membership includes several hundred scholarly and professional publishers. The team will build a series of models depicting the social and financial impact of a largely APC-funded publishing landscape on the institutions participating in the study under a variety of assumptions and across different academic disciplines...."
"...The project came out of a 2013 planning effort that looked at the institutional costs of converting scholarly communications, particularly scholarly journals, to an entirely Article Processing Charge business model, often referred to as 'Gold Open Access.' In that funding model, researchers – generally with support from their institutions or funders – pay in advance to publish, enabling readers to access published articles for free from the publisher's web site or another scholarly repository."
For more information, please see the full press release.
2013 Public Libraries Survey Shows Libraries Responding to Changing 21st Century Needs
March 15, 2016 — "Research by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) found shifts in Americans' interaction with public libraries' materials, programs and services in Fiscal Year 2013. Public Libraries in the United States Survey: Fiscal Year 2013 reveals key indicators of investments and library usage at public libraries in the United States. The survey report, which had a 97 percent response rate, describes findings from public libraries in the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. With the available survey data, the report provides aggregated local, state and national information about the nation's 9,000 public libraries and their 16,500 branches and bookmobiles."
"The survey shows that 96 percent of the total U.S. population, or 304.8 million people, lived within a public library service area in 2013, and Americans made an average of almost four million visits each day to public libraries that year. While this is an 8.2 percent decrease since a peak in visitation in 2009, it is a 17.6 percent increase over 10 years. Similar to retailers and businesses, public libraries are increasing their online presence, and library patrons can access more materials, resources and services online."
"Access to public computers and the Internet continue to be important library offerings, though the survey shows shifting usage. Sessions on public access computers have decreased since 2010. While use of public library Wi-Fi by patrons who bring their own devices to the library is not measured, the survey may indicate a decline in public library computer use due to growth in this behavior."
"Libraries are offering more programs and the public's participation in those programs is increasing. For many communities, public programs fulfill critical K-12 learning as well as lifelong informational needs related to digital and financial literacy, employment and job training and healthcare and wellness. Libraries increasingly enhance their learning programs by linking them to community support services. There is also a long-term increase in the number of children and young adults attending library programs. In addition to story hours and summer reading programs, children's libraries provide an increasing number of programs to foster early learning, school readiness and Science Technology Engineering and Math (STEM) learning. Many libraries are now creating learning spaces where young adults can be both consumers and creators of content."
For more information, please see the full press release.
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