I N   B R I E F

September/October 2013
Table of Contents

Assessing the Impact of Library Discovery Technology on Content Usage

Contributed by:
Claire Creaser & Valérie Spezi
LISU, Loughborough University, United Kingdom
Ann O'Brien
Centre for Information Management, Loughborough University, United Kingdom
Angela Conyers
EvidenceBase, Birmingham City University, United Kingdom

New library resource discovery technologies have transformed the way in which students and scholars search for and access electronic library resources. Research has been carried out to explore the operation of these technologies, to improve their efficiency, and to establish the foundations for new discovery services, enabling a much richer and improved user experience in relation to access to information across the landscape of UK education and research. Evidence from libraries' annual statistical returns to the Society of College, National and University Libraries (SCONUL) suggests that changes in the usage of e-resources have been observed to coincide with the introduction of new Resource Discovery Systems (RDS). To date there has been little formal research into these changes.

Assessing the Impact of Library Discovery Technology on Content Usage is a research project commissioned by UKSG, with the support of Jisc, which seeks to examine in depth the outcomes for libraries, and in particular to quantify changes in the use of library resources, brought about when new RDS tools are introduced, and what this means for individual libraries, for publishers and resource providers, and for the wider library sector as a whole.

The project has three main strands:

• Survey of libraries:
  We have conducted a brief survey of HE libraries in the UK to scope the project. With responses from 62 libraries, preliminary analysis shows that 11 per cent had chosen not to implement RDS at this stage, 11 per cent were in the process of implementing a system, and the remainder had systems in place, some dating back to 2007. The most common systems used are Summon, Primo and Ebsco Discovery Services.
• Library case studies:
  We are conducting case studies with a small number of libraries using different RDS tools, all of whom have two years' experience and usage data available. Detailed analysis of aggregated usage data both before and after implementation will be supplemented by in-depth interviews with staff to obtain a rounded picture of the impact of RDS on resource usage from the library's point of view.
• Publisher case studies and stakeholder interviews:
  We will also undertake a small number of case studies of individual publishers, analysing their usage data for the case study libraries, and interviewing relevant staff to obtain the publishers' perspective on the issues. Interviews are also planned with RDS suppliers and other stakeholders.

All the evidence gathered will be synthesised (anonymously) into a final report, with preliminary results presented at the UKSG Global Forum on 15th November 2013 in London.

A New Way to Follow the Research Trail

Contributed by:
Balviar Notay
Programme Manager
JISC
United Kingdom

The need to find good quality research has probably never been greater. Researchers need to find collaborators, research managers want to develop commercial partnerships, and funders have to demonstrate the value of their investments.

Discovering and tracking research outputs across different scholarly systems, however, is more difficult than it should be. The key to finding a solution to this problem is the systematic collection and use of good, standardised metadata – information about the books, papers and articles that researchers produce.

Over the years, various metadata schemas and models for scholarly outputs have emerged, but they have led to a very fragmented metadata landscape. Repositories have taken different approaches to metadata implementation – some have gone down the tailor-made route, customising metadata fields to suit their own particular requirements or preferences, while others have simply adopted the default option with their software or applied known metadata schemas. This difference of approach has made interoperability between scholarly systems within institutions and those held by funders hard to achieve.

So, in April 2013, Jisc and UKOLN launched the first release of a new Metadata Application Profile and associated guidelines. Known as RIOXX, it will enable the efficient tracking of research outputs across scholarly systems. Crucially, RIOXX mandates the collection of metadata describing funder names and unique project identifiers. Reliably linking funding information with research outputs will benefit anyone needing to track research across scholarly systems.

RIOXX takes into account the increasing use of Current Research Information Systems (CRIS) within universities and the use of funders' systems – for example, Research Councils UK's Research Outcomes System (ROS). These various systems aim to capture a richer (but inevitably more complex) picture of how projects, people and outputs connect, and they increase the need for efficient data exchange and interoperability between systems.

RIOXX has also taken into consideration widely used metadata schemas such as the Electronic Theses Online System (EThOS) and Open Access Infrastructure for Research in Europe (OpenAIRE) metadata guidelines. And at Jisc, we are working to ensure that the RIOXX application profile can be expressed in CERIF, to support data exchange between repositories and CRISs.

The launch of RIOXX coincided with the implementation of RCUK's revised policy on open access (OA), which requires publicly funded research to be disseminated via OA routes. In support of this policy Jisc's Vocabularies for Open Access (V4OA) project is collaborating with a number of stakeholders such as the National Information Standards Organisation (NISO), Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association (OASPA), Society of College, National and University Libraries (SCONUL) and United Kingdom Council of Research Repositories (UKCoRR) to seek a common understanding of the OA terms required to support the efficient sharing of information.

The V4OA expert advisory panel is soon to conclude its work: public consultation will follow in mid September. The recommendations of the V4OA should be useful to stakeholders across the scholarly communications landscape, and they will be incorporated into future releases of the RIOXX application profile and guidelines. This will support compliance monitoring with the Research Councils' policy. It is expected that the next release of RIOXX will be towards the end of November 2013 – as with the first release, plug-ins for EPrints and DSpace repository software will be provided to support implementation.

For more information please contact Jisc programme manager Balviar Notay (email:bnotay@jisc.ac.uk or twitter:@b_notay).

For technical queries please email admin@rioxx.net.

GreyGuide – Guide to Good Practice in Grey Literature: A Community Driven Open Resource Project

Contributed by:
Stefania Biagioni and Carlo Carlesi, ISTI-CNR, Italy
Joachim Schöpfel, University of Lille, France
Dominic Farace and Jerry Frantzen, GreyNet International, Netherlands

The goal of this project is to develop an open source repository of good practices in the field of grey literature. That which originated in monographic form¹ will now open and expand to include content from the global grey literature community. Such practices will range from the production and processing of grey literature through to its distribution, uses, and preservation. The repository will contain guidelines such as those in handling theses and dissertations, how to write research reports, metadata required for working papers as well as good practices in the subject areas of agriculture, health, education, energy, environment, et cetera. The purpose of an online repository of good practice in grey literature will provide the many stakeholders in government, academics, business and industry with the benefits of experience, sustained management, and proven results.

The procedure initially applied in this project deals with the design and development of a template that will capture data and information about published as well as proposed good practices within a standard format. While the metadata captured in the template are indeed standardized, their accompanying full-text documents need not be. Furthermore, the template seeks to identify intended users of a good practice, as well as metadata that will facilitate the search and retrieval of records in the repository.

[1] Farace, D. and J. Schöpfel (eds.), Grey Literature in Library and Information Studies. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter|Saur, 2010, 282 pp., ISBN 978-3-598-11793-0.

Digital Preservation Business Case Toolkit

Contributed by:
Paul Wheatley
SPRUCE Project Manager
University of Leeds
Leeds, West Yorkshire, United Kingdom
p.r.wheatley (at) leeds.ac.uk

SPRUCE is a JISC funded project aiming to support digital preservation and make it sustainable via community approaches. Much of the resource behind digital preservation activities is project based and there are obvious difficulties associated with long term work that is supported with a finite or intermittent funding stream. Organisations with growing digital collections but no preservation infrastructure can struggle to make the leap that is necessary to secure their digital assets. A key aim for SPRUCE has been to support practitioners and middle managers in making the case within their organisations to adequately fund digital preservation.

It's typical for senior management to request that a business case is prepared, if an organisation would like to change, adapt or expand its activities in a way that requires additional resources. It will outline what resources are required, what the resource will be used to achieve, and how this new investment will benefit the organisation. But making the case to prioritise work that may not have obvious or immediate benefits can be challenging.

The new Digital Preservation Business Case Toolkit provides an array of helpful information to assist in the construction of a business case, from planning and preparation all the way through to polishing and communicating the finished case. No two business cases are alike, and there is no magic formula for creating one. The aim, stakeholders and context will vary significantly from one situation to another. The Toolkit therefore aims to ask all the right questions and assist a practitioner in thinking about what should go into their own business case.

The Toolkit is freely available and can be found on the Digital Preservation Coalition's wiki: http://wiki.dpconline.org.

I N   T H E   N E W S

NISO and UKSG Release Draft Revised Recommendations for Knowledge Bases and Related Tools (KBART) for Public Comment

September 5, 2013 — "The National Information Standards Organization and UKSG announce the release of a draft for public comment of a revision to the Knowledge Bases and Related Tools (KBART) Recommended Practice. Issued in 2010, the original recommended practice provided all parties in the information supply chain with straightforward guidance about metadata formatting to ensure the exchange of accurate metadata between content providers and knowledge base developers. Building on the initial recommendations, the draft revision focuses on the more granular, complex issues that cause problems in metadata supply, including consortia-specific metadata transfer, metadata transfer for open access publications, and metadata transfer for e-books and conference proceedings...."

"...The KBART Phase II draft is open for public comment through October 4, 2013. To download the draft or submit online comments, visit the KBART Information Hub at: http://www.niso.org/workrooms/kbart."

For more information please see the full press release.

APARSEN invites opinions about DRM and Data Policies

September 5, 2013 announcement from the European Network of Excellence for digital preservation, APARSEN — "The European Network of Excellence for digital preservation, APARSEN, is currently conducting two separate but complementary surveys which need your help. They cover the topics Digital Rights and Access Management, and Data Policies and Governance."

"Digital Rights and Access Management
The goal of this activity is to find out how you deal with DRM protected digital objects and their associated digital rights. As a memory- and a research institution or a data center we are strongly interested in what you do to preserving these kind of objects and what you undertake to guarantee digital rights now and, of course, in the future. You will find the survey here: http://tiny.cc/aparsen-drm."

"Data Policies and Governance Structures
The goal of this activity is devising a methodology for implementing governance structures and data policies based on current best practice regarding digital preservation. We are strongly interested in your opinion, in your data repository, on data policies and governance structures. You will find the survey here: http://tiny.cc/aparsen-data-policies."

National Archives Issues Guidance for Managing Billions of Federal Emails

August 29, 2013 — "The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) has issued guidance for Federal agencies on a simplified approach to managing email. NARA Bulletin 2013-02: Guidance on a New Approach to Managing Email Records introduces a new approach to managing the billions of email messages that are sent or received in Federal agencies. The approach is called 'Capstone.'..."

"...The Bulletin is a culmination of two years of research with input from Federal agencies. It is designed to preserve permanently valuable email and provide a pathway to dispose of temporary email. It allows agencies to manage email without having to use 'print and file' or 'click and drag' methods for each email message."

For more information please see the full press release.

IMLS Announces Grant for National Forum on the Role of Public Libraries in Local Open Government

August 28, 2013 — "The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) announced today a $99,713 grant to the Center for Technology in Government at the University at Albany for a national forum that will lead to a better understanding of how public libraries help citizens engage with local governments."

"More and more local governments are investing in open government initiatives. Public libraries are integral partners in these local open government 'ecosystems.' The ecosystems feature relationships of mutual interdependence with community organizations like social service nonprofits, civil society organizations, businesses, and libraries. As the public increasingly accesses government information and services at libraries, it is important for libraries and local governments to understand how best to work together to meet public needs. The project will include a concept paper, use of online tools to solicit input from stakeholders, a face-to-face workshop, and a widely distributed report."

"'Public libraries have always helped citizens find information about local government programs and services,' said IMLS Director Susan Hildreth. 'As government agencies provide more services online, public libraries are taking on an ever greater role in connecting the public to these services. We are pleased to be supporting a project that explores ways libraries and local government can collaboratively partner to enhance civic engagement.'"

For more information please see the full press release.

Digital Image Collections and Services, SPEC Kit 335, Published by ARL

August 26, 2013 — "ARL has published Digital Image Collections and Services, SPEC Kit 335, which examines how research libraries and their parent institutions have responded to the transition from analog to digital images and the growth of digital images available from commercial vendors and/or created within institutions or their libraries. The survey gathers information about current practices relating to the development and management of institutional digital image collections and the acquisition and use of licensed image databases."

"This SPEC Kit explores the infrastructure and support provided by research libraries and/or their institutions for the creation and use of digital images in teaching, learning, and research, including systems and platforms, cataloging and metadata, access and training, services and service points, and copyright and other rights issues. The publication also identifies collaborative strategies among ARL member institutions for providing digital images."

For more information please see the full press release.

Host Institutions Sought: CLIR/DLF Fellowships in Data Curation

August 22, 2013 — "CLIR, in cooperation with its Digital Library Federation (DLF) program, is now seeking academic libraries, data centers, or other research institutions interested in hosting a 2014-2016 CLIR/DLF Postdoctoral Fellow in Data Curation for the Sciences and Social Sciences."

"These two-year fellowships will provide recent science and social science Ph.D.s with professional development, education, and training opportunities in research data curation. The fellows' work must draw upon their disciplinary expertise in order to advance research data practices and services at their host institutions."

For more information please see the full press release.

Carnegie Mellon Announces New Dean of Libraries

August 21, 2013 — "Carnegie Mellon University has named Keith G. Webster its new dean of libraries, succeeding Gloriana St. Clair, who stepped down June 30. Webster holds the rank of principal librarian and has a courtesy academic appointment at the H. John Heinz III College of Public Policy and Management."

"His prior work experience includes:

• Vice president and director of academic relations and strategy for the global publishing company John Wiley and Sons;
• Dean of libraries and university librarian at The University of Queensland in Australia;
• University librarian at Victoria University in New Zealand; and
• Head of information rights at HM Treasury, London, United Kingdom."

"Webster has a compelling vision for the future as he seeks to reinforce the library's role as a vital part of learning."

For more information please see the full press release.

Research Libraries UK Joins The European Library

August 19, 2013 — "The UK consortium of scholarly libraries, Research Libraries UK (RLUK), has recently joined The European Library, a membership organisation that provides services to researchers, with access to more than 200 million records and digital items from all of Europe's national libraries and a growing number of research libraries."

"RLUK's vision is to provide the best research library support in the world and to work with members and partners, nationally and internationally, in order to shape and realise the vision of the modern research library – a vision importantly shared by The European Library. One of the founding principles of RLUK is recognition of the value that arises from cooperation amongst libraries and the sharing of resources and data. This agreement is a natural extension of that founding principle."

"The new cooperation will allow for the ingestion of data from RLUK's member libraries into The European Library portal, providing researchers across the globe with greater access to digital items and bibliographic records held by these libraries. The data provided by RLUK will also be disseminated via The European Library's API and developers will be able to create applications to search and display this data."

"The data provided by RLUK will additionally be made available as Linked Open Data. This is part of The European Library's aim of working with its members to expose a set of their combined bibliographic metadata as a CC0 dataset – a dataset openly available for any type of reuse. RLUK's valuable data will now be integrated into the larger European Library set, thereby providing a rich source of reusable knowledge from Europe's most prestigious libraries."

For more information please see the full press release.

ALA President Barbara Stripling unveils 'Declaration for the Right to Libraries'

August 8, 2013 — "Today, American Library Association (ALA) President Barbara Stripling unveiled the 'Declaration for the Right to Libraries' during a signing ceremony at Nashville Public Library. The Declaration is the cornerstone document of Stripling's presidential initiative, Libraries Change Lives, which is designed to build the public will and sustained support for America's right to libraries of all types – academic, special, school and public. Stripling's initiative will focus on transformative library practices in literacy, innovation and community engagement."

"Stripling was joined by Kent Oliver, director, Nashville Public Library; Nashville library leaders and community members. All were among the first to sign the Declaration, which will serve as a strong public statement about the value of libraries as institutions that empower individuals, strengthen families, build communities and protect our right to know. Signings are being organized at libraries and other locations throughout the nation. The petitions will be presented to Congress by library supporters during National Library Legislative Day activities from May 5 - 6, 2014. Online signing of the Declaration will be made available later this summer."

"As many families continue to struggle to make ends meet, public libraries are positioned to play a critical role. According to the ALA's 'Public Library Funding and Technology Access Study (PDF),' job seekers use public libraries to access the Internet to seek and apply for employment. Each day an estimated 300,000 people receive job-seeking help at public libraries. The report also shows that more than 62 percent of libraries report that they are the only source of free public access to computers and the Internet in their communities."

For more information please see the full press release.

ALA gears up for national Digital Inclusion Survey

August 7, 2013 — "Starting this September, the American Library Association (ALA) Office for Research & Statistics and the University of Maryland Information Policy & Access Center will begin capturing information about the vital roles public libraries play in supporting digital inclusion."

"The Digital Inclusion Survey will take the pulse of public library service in the areas of digital literacy, economic and workforce development, civic engagement, educational support, health information and public access to the internet...."

"...Funded by a three-year, National Leadership Grant award from the Institute for Museum & Library Services (IMLS), the study builds on the long-running Public Library Funding & Technology Access Study, which provided a 'state of the library' report on the technology resources brokered by libraries and the funding that enables free public access to these resources. The International City/County Management Association (ICMA) and the ALA Office for Information Technology Policy (OITP) serve as partners on the grant...."

"...The survey will provide national and state estimates, but more importantly, will interactively show public libraries in context with community-level data (e.g., graduation and unemployment rates). Survey participants will be able to identify community impacts of library public computer and Internet access; identify gaps in technology services based on community needs and demographics; and demonstrate library contributions to community digital inclusion efforts."

For more information please see the full press release.

Connecting with People and Institutions at Digital Preservation 2013

August 5, 2013 blog posting by Erin Engle, Digital Archivist, National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program (NDIIPP) — "How do people outside of our community think about digital preservation? In her opening, Hilary Mason, chief scientist at bit.ly and the first speaker at Digital Preservation 2013, posed this question, framing her talk from the perspective of computer engineers and those working in start-up businesses. She went on to talk about the evolution of bit.ly and data archiving, noting that preservation without access is useless. Her thoughtful keynote set an excellent stage for the next few days of presentations and discussions."

"Hilary was one of of two dozen speakers, including Lisa Green of Common Crawl, Emily Gore of DPLA and Rodrigo Davies of the MIT Center for Civic Media Labs, invited to share their views and work during our annual summer meeting. Some of the speakers were not directly involved in the preservation or long-term access to cultural heritage, scholarly or scientific digital materials. But we like to invite speakers who expose our audience to the perspectives of those organizations creating, consuming and accessing digital information. Why?"

"One of the goals of our annual meeting is to support the development of expertise for digital preservation through education and training of working professionals and students. Hearing from a community of data producers and researchers as well practitioners and stewards of digital information, we can better understand together the current challenges and potential collaborative solutions of stewarding digital materials for future use and research value. People getting together in person to discuss issues, share ideas and work together on solving shared problems is an activity we find invaluable and a core benefit to our work...."

"...Aside from the great presentations, a couple of highlights for us at the meeting included:"

"The release of the 2014 National Agenda for Digital Stewardship. Micah Altman, director of research, libraries, MIT, rolled out the agenda, noting that the document integrates the perspective of dozens of experts and hundreds of institutions to provide funders and other executive decision-makers with insight into emerging technological trends, gaps in digital stewardship capacity, and key areas for development."

"Presentation of the NDSA Innovation Awards. The awards winners were officially recognized during the meeting. Each of the winners talked briefly about their work and projects, and we find that it's a nice way to mark achievements by organizations and individuals in the field."

For more information please see the full meeting report at the Library of Congress blog, The Signal.

The Paul G. Allen Family Foundation's New $6.87 Million Grant Cycle Lends Strong Support to Scientific Research

August 5, 2013 announcement from Joani Jones on behalf of the Paul G. Allen Foundation — "Today, the Paul G. Allen Foundation announced its latest round of grants, which includes more than $1 million towards library reading programs. These include a program through Pierce County Library District to introduce STEM subjects to young people, and funding to allow the North Central Regional Library to offer Spanish-language programming for children for the first time."

"Since 1990, the Foundation has provided more than $30 million in funding for library services, much of which has been "risk capital" to experiment with new models of library service and relationship building with patrons."

For more information about the latest grants please see this press release.

ARL Selects Leadership Fellows for 2013-2015

August 2, 2013 — "ARL has selected 26 individuals to participate in the 2013-2015 ARL Leadership Fellows program – formerly the Research Library Leadership Fellows (RLLF) Program. This executive leadership program meets the increasing demands for succession planning for research libraries with a new approach to preparing the next generation of deans and directors. Library directors are seeking a cohort of well-trained and sophisticated candidates who possess the necessary experience and perspective to succeed in premier leadership positions in large, complex institutions. The ARL Leadership Fellows program provides such a cohort."

"This fifth offering of the program is being designed and sponsored by six ARL member libraries: University of Guelph Library, North Carolina State University Libraries, Purdue University Libraries, University of Toronto Libraries, Vanderbilt University Library, and University of Waterloo Library. The program begins in October 2013 with an orientation at the ARL Membership Meeting. The orientation provides an introduction to an in-depth 360-degree assessment designed to provide feedback to experienced library managers. The 2013-15 fellows will subsequently attend a Strategic Issues Institute at Vanderbilt University in November 2013."

"The 2013-15 ARL Leadership Fellows applicant pool was highly competitive. The selection committee, composed of the ARL directors sponsoring the program, chose 26 fellows representing a broad array of backgrounds and experiences and from multiple ARL and non-ARL institutions."

For more information, including the list of selected fellows, please see the full press release.

Partnership brings new approach to sharing mobile content

August 1, 2013 — "Lecturers, learners and researchers across the UK now have access to over 14,000 additional full text e-books and thousands of pages of primary source material on their tablets and mobile devices thanks to a new partnership agreement between Jisc Collections and BiblioLabs."

"The partnership, which is rooted in pushing forward the Digital Humanities, will also empower subscribing institutions to make digital content from their internal repositories available to scholars and enthusiasts around the world."

"The offer, called BiblioBoard, is available for subscription for education and research organisations. It offers two platforms to university libraries:"

"BiblioBoard Library is an award-winning content ecosystem that connects library patrons with digital archives from around the world. It includes over 14,000 e-books and consists of millions of pages of high-quality primary source content covering literature, philosophy, history, geography, science and more. In addition to the web version, BiblioBoard Library is available as a native application on a variety of popular tablets (iPad, Kindle Fire HD, Nook, Nexus 7 and Samsung Galaxy). Through a highly visual and intuitive interface it provides library patrons with curated multimedia collections that incorporate books, articles, images, audio and video."

"BiblioBoard Creator is an easy-to-use authoring tool that enables libraries to make available valuable digital assets in their internal repositories to others either for free or for sale via Biblio."

For more information please see the full press release.

ASIS&T Makes Key Editorial Appointment

August 1, 2013 — "The Association of Information Science & Technology (ASIS&T) in cooperation with Information Today, Inc. (ITI) has announced the appointment of Dr. Gerald Benoît as Editor of the ASIS&T Monograph Series. In this role, Benoît will acquire and develop print and digital monographs covering a range of practical and theoretical topics in information science and technology and allied disciplines."

"The ASIS&T Monograph Series is a leading series of books and ebooks for students, scholars, and practitioners in the field of information science and technology. The series has been published by ITI on behalf of ASIS&T since 1991."

For more information please see the full press release.

IMLS Announces Second Heritage Health Index

July 19, 2013 — "Heritage Preservation, working in cooperation with IMLS, will conduct a second Heritage Health Index. The original survey, conducted nearly 10 years ago, was the first comprehensive study to assess the condition of U.S. collections. It examined the state of preservation across the entire spectrum of collecting institutions, large and small, from internationally renowned art museums and research libraries to local historical societies and specialized archives. The results were published in the groundbreaking A Public Trust at Risk: The Heritage Health Index Report on the State of America's Collections and reported that 4.8 billion artifacts held in public trust were at risk and that 190 million were in need of immediate care...."

"...The new Heritage Health Index, HHI II, will use a similar instrument and methodology to the 2004 study to see what changes have taken place in collections care in the U.S. during the last ten years. HHI II will examine the extent and effectiveness of preservation activities and initiatives during that time and will recommend actions to improve the care of collections and ensure that they will be available for public access now and in the future."

"Since the Heritage Health Index was first conducted, there has been a significant increase in museums and libraries collecting digital material or digitizing collections. HHI II will address this by including questions asking how institutions are caring for digital artifacts. It will also determine how creating digital surrogates may be improving access to paper, photograph, audiovisual, and other collections, while protecting them from damage due to handling."

For more information please see the full press release.

ALA, IMLS Detail E-Health Resources for Library Staff

July 18, 2013 — "With the enrollment for the Affordable Care Act beginning on October 1, the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) and ALA announce new resources available to libraries."

"An IMLS cooperative agreement with OCLC's WebJunction will result in online educational webinars, tip sheets, and other resources to help library staff members respond to increased patron information needs related to the Health Insurance Marketplace...."

"...American Library Association (ALA) President Barbara Stripling and IMLS Director Susan Hildreth issued the following joint statement:

'Providing resources that help librarians answer patron requests for health insurance information furthers the long-standing commitment of both IMLS and ALA to make information more widely available to the public. We are delighted to help connect libraries to these resources so they can provide timely information to their customers.'

'While libraries provide information in a way that best suits their own communities, IMLS and ALA stand ready to help all libraries prepare for the anticipated increased demand for health-related information.'

For more information please see the full press release.

FundRef funder identification service from CrossRef to help connect funding and publications to improve public access

July 18, 2013 — "CrossRef announced today that it supports the use of its funder identification service, FundRef, to enable the transparent tracking of funding and publications by organizations responding to government public access policies. FundRef includes several components:

1. A registry of 4000 worldwide funder names, an extension of CrossRef's metadata schema to support funder and grant numbers;
2. A user interface and open application programming interfaces (API) to allow funders, researchers, publishers, and the general public to locate articles and other scholarly documents funded by particular agencies or private funding bodies; and
3. The distribution of this funding metadata through CrossRef's regular channels to providers of discovery services and others."

"CrossRef has already made the FundRef Registry (the taxonomy of funder names) available for open use via a Creative Commons Zero (CC0) license. CrossRef has now announced plans to extend the FundRef service to meet the needs of organizations working to respond to new public access requirements."

For more information please see the full press release.

Grant Awards Announcement: 2013 Sparks! Ignition Grants

July 16, 2013 — "The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) today announced 21 awards totaling $496,978 matched with $408,150 of non-federal funds for Sparks! Ignition Grants. IMLS received 99 applications requesting just over $2.3 million."

"Sparks! Ignition Grants for Libraries and Museums are small grants that encourage libraries and museums to test and evaluate innovations in the ways they operate and the services they provide. Sparks! grantees demonstrate innovation and broad potential impact, often turning turn small investments of funds into nationally significant projects."

"Click here here to view the list of funded projects. For more information about this funding opportunity including program guidelines and contacts, visit one of the following pages:
Sparks! Ignition Grants for Libraries
Sparks! Ignition Grants for Museums."

For more information please see the full press release.

Copyright © 2013 Corporation for National Research Initiatives