Mois : octobre 2014

Publishing the British National Bibliography as Linked Open Data

Statut

“This paper describes the development of a linked data instance of the British National Bibliography (BNB) by the British Library. The focus is on the development of an RDF (Resource Description Framework) data model and the technical process to convert MARC 21 Bibliographic Data to Linked Data using existing resources. BNB was launched as linked open data in 2011 on a Talis platform. In 2013 it was migrated to a new platform, hosted by TSO. The paper discusses issues arising from the development, implementation and running of a linked data service. It also looks ahead to plans for future developments”

URL : Publishing the British National Bibliography as Linked Open Data

Alternative URL : http://www.bl.uk/bibliographic/pdfs/publishing_bnb_as_lod.pdf

The ‘total cost of publication’ in a hybrid open-access environment: Institutional approaches to funding journal article-processing charges in combination with subscriptions

Statut

“As open-access (OA) publishing funded by article-processing charges (APCs) becomes more widely accepted, academic institutions need to be aware of the ‘total cost of publication’, comprising subscription costs plus APCs and additional administration costs. This study analyses data from 23 UK institutions covering the period 2007 to 2014 modelling the total cost of publication (TCP). It shows a clear rise in centrally-managed APC payments from 2012 onwards, with payments projected to increase further. As well as evidencing the growing availability and acceptance of OA publishing, these trends reflect particular UK policy developments and funding arrangements intended to accelerate the move towards OA publishing (‘Gold’ OA). Whilst the mean value of APCs has been relatively stable, there was considerable variation in APC prices paid by institutions since 2007. In particular, ‘hybrid’ subscription/OA journals were consistently more expensive than fully-OA journals. Most APCs were paid to large ‘traditional’ commercial publishers who also received considerable subscription income. New administrative costs reported by institutions varied considerably. The total cost of publication modelling shows that APCs are now a significant part of the TCP for academic institutions, in 2013 already constituting an average of 10% of the TCP (excluding administrative costs).”

URL : http://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/81227/

The Dawn of Open Access to Phylogenetic Data

Statut

“The scientific enterprise depends critically on the preservation of and open access to published data. This basic tenet applies acutely to phylogenies (estimates of evolutionary relationships among species). Increasingly, phylogenies are estimated from increasingly large, genome-scale datasets using increasingly complex statistical methods that require increasing levels of expertise and computational investment. Moreover, the resulting phylogenetic data provide an explicit historical perspective that critically informs research in a vast and growing number of scientific disciplines. One such use is the study of changes in rates of lineage diversification (speciation – extinction) through time. As part of a meta-analysis in this area, we sought to collect phylogenetic data (comprising nucleotide sequence alignment and tree files) from 217 studies published in 46 journals over a 13-year period. We document our attempts to procure those data (from online archives and by direct request to corresponding authors), and report results of analyses (using Bayesian logistic regression) to assess the impact of various factors on the success of our efforts. Overall, complete phylogenetic data for of these studies are effectively lost to science. Our study indicates that phylogenetic data are more likely to be deposited in online archives and/or shared upon request when: (1) the publishing journal has a strong data-sharing policy; (2) the publishing journal has a higher impact factor, and; (3) the data are requested from faculty rather than students. Importantly, our survey spans recent policy initiatives and infrastructural changes; our analyses indicate that the positive impact of these community initiatives has been both dramatic and immediate. Although the results of our study indicate that the situation is dire, our findings also reveal tremendous recent progress in the sharing and preservation of phylogenetic data.”

URL : The Dawn of Open Access to Phylogenetic Data

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0110268

Co-construire les collections avec les usagers

Statut

“La co-construction des collections avec les usagers intéresse de nombreuses bibliothèques de lecture publique, d’une part pour augmenter la proximité de l’institution avec les citoyens et d’autre part dans le but de proposer des collections mieux adaptées aux besoins des lecteurs. Mais elle soulève également des réticences, notamment parce que la collection relève du domaine du professionnel et que l’idée de déléguer ces tâches aux usagers suscite des résistances. Ce mémoire a pour but de délimiter les contours de la co-construction, une notion très discutée mais encore peu définie, d’explorer et d’analyser les enjeux de son application au domaine des collections, et enfin de servir de guide pratique en donnant des lignes directrices et des conseils aux bibliothèques qui souhaitent mettre en place de tels projets.”

URL : Co-construire les collections avec les usagers

Alternative URL : http://www.enssib.fr/bibliotheque-numerique/notices/64143-co-construire-les-collections-avec-les-usagers

The 1:1 Principle in the Age of Linked Data

Statut

“This paper explores the origins of the 1:1 Principle within Dublin Core Metadata Initiative (DCMI). It finds that the need for the 1:1 Principle emerged from prior work among cultural heritage professionals responsible for describing reproductions and surrogate resources using traditional cataloging methods. As the solutions to these problems encountered new ways to model semantic data that emerged outside of libraries, archives, and museums, tensions arose within DCMI community. This paper aims to fill the gaps in our understanding of the 1:1 Principle by outlining the conceptual foundations that led to its inclusion in DCMI documentation, how the Principle has been (mis)understood in practice, how violations of the Principle have been operationalized, and how the fundamental issues raised by the Principle continue to challenge us today. This discussion situates the 1:1 Principle within larger discussions about cataloging practice and emerging Linked Data approaches.”

URL : http://diginole.lib.fsu.edu/slis_faculty_publications/25/

Estimating Open Access Mandate Effectiveness : I. The MELIBEA Score

Statut

“MELIBEA is a Spanish database that uses a composite formula with eight weighted conditions to estimate the effectiveness of Open Access mandates (registered in ROARMAP). We analyzed 68 mandated institutions for publication years 2011-2013 to determine how well the MELIBEA score and its individual conditions predict what percentage of published articles indexed by Web of Knowledge is deposited in each institution’s OA repository, and when. We found a small but significant positive correlation (0.18) between MELIBEA score and deposit percentage. We also found that for three of the eight MELIBEA conditions (deposit timing, internal use, and opt-outs), one value of each was strongly associated with deposit percentage or deposit latency (immediate deposit required, deposit required for performance evaluation, unconditional opt-out allowed for the OA requirement but no opt-out for deposit requirement). When we updated the initial values and weights of the MELIBEA formula for mandate effectiveness to reflect the empirical association we had found, the score’s predictive power doubled (.36). There are not yet enough OA mandates to test further mandate conditions that might contribute to mandate effectiveness, but these findings already suggest that it would be useful for future mandates to adopt these three conditions so as to maximize their effectiveness, and thereby the growth of OA.”

URL : http://arxiv.org/abs/1410.2926op

Exposing the predators. Methods to stop predatory journals

Statut

“The internet is greatly improving the impact of scholarly journals, but also poses new threats to their quality. Publishers have arisen that abuse the Gold Open Access model, in which the author pays a fee to get his article published, to make money with so-called predatory journals. These publishers falsely claim to conduct peer review, which makes them more prone to publish fraudulent and plagiarised research. This thesis looks at three possible methods to stop predatory journals: black- and white-lists, open peer review systems and new metrics. Black- and whitelists have set up rules and regulations that credible publishers and journals should follow. Open peer review systems should make it harder for predatory publishers to make false claims about their peer review process. Metrics should measure more aspects of research impact and become less liable to gaming. The question is, which of these three methods is the best candidate to stop predatory journals. As all three methods have their drawbacks, especially for new but high quality journals, none of them stop predatory journals on its own can. Rather, we need a system in which researchers, publishers and reviewers communicate more openly about the research they create, disseminate and read. But above all, we need to find a way to take away incentives for researchers and publishers to engage in fraudulent practices.”

URL : http://hdl.handle.net/1887/28943