A View from the Top: Library Leaders’ Predictions for the Future of Science Liaison Librarianship

Authors : Laura Bolton Palumbo, Jeffra D Bussmann, Barbara Kern

Library leaders at academic institutions in the United States at the level of University Librarians, Library Directors, and Library Deans were surveyed about their predictions for the future of science liaison librarianship and the importance of science subject specialization.

Responses from 71 library leaders at institutions ranging from community colleges through large, research intensive universities provide insight into evolving roles for academic science librarians.

Key findings include that library leaders perceive functional roles such as data management and scholarly communication growing in importance, yet they are rarely seen as replacing traditional subject-based ones. Subject specialization is still seen by many as a desirable qualification for science librarians, even though smaller institutional size and budget constraints may necessitate a more generalist approach.

While there was no consensus on the necessity of science subject specialization, and whether or not science liaison librarianship would retain this characteristic in the future, there was a widespread acknowledgement of the value of liaison relationships with science faculty and others at their institutions.

URL : A View from the Top: Library Leaders’ Predictions for the Future of Science Liaison Librarianship

Original location : https://journals.tdl.org/llm/index.php/llm/article/view/7511

Integrative data reuse at scientifically significant sites: Case studies at Yellowstone National Park and the La Brea Tar Pits

Author : Andrea K. Thomer

Scientifically significant sites are the source of, and long-term repository for, considerable amounts of data—particularly in the natural sciences. However, the unique data practices of the researchers and resource managers at these sites have been relatively understudied.

Through case studies of two scientifically significant sites (the hot springs at Yellowstone National Park and the fossil deposits at the La Brea Tar Pits), I developed rich descriptions of site-based research and data curation, and high-level data models of information classes needed to support integrative data reuse.

Each framework treats the geospatial site and its changing natural characteristics as a distinct class of information; more commonly considered information classes such as observational and sampling data, and project metadata, are defined in relation to the site itself.

This work contributes (a) case studies of the values and data needs for researchers and resource managers at scientifically significant sites, (b) an information framework to support integrative reuse at these sites, and (c) a discussion of data practices at scientifically significant sites.

URL : Integrative data reuse at scientifically significant sites: Case studies at Yellowstone National Park and the La Brea Tar Pits

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1002/asi.24620

Bringing All the Stakeholders to the Table: A Collaborative Approach to Data Sharing

Authors : Megan N. O’Donnell, Curtis Brundy

Objective

This paper examines a unique data set disclosure process at a medium sized, land grant, research university and the campus collaboration that led to its creation.

Methods

The authors utilized a single case study methodology, reviewing relevant documents and workflows. As first-hand participants in the collaboration and disclosure process development, their own accounts and experiences also were utilized.

Results

A collaborative approach to enhancing research data sharing is essential, considering the wide array of stakeholders involved across the life cycle of research data. A transparent, inclusive data set disclosure process is a viable route to ensuring research data can be appropriately shared.

Conclusions

Successful sharing of research data impacts a range of university units and individuals. The establishment of productive working relationships and trust between these stakeholders is critical to expanding the sharing of research data and to establishing shared workflows.

URL : Bringing All the Stakeholders to the Table: A Collaborative Approach to Data Sharing

DOI : https://doi.org/10.7191/jeslib.2022.1224

Library Publishing Programs at Capacity: Addressing Issues of Sustainability and Scalability

Authors : Johanna Meetz, Jason Boczar

Introduction

This article discusses the changes to overall goals, direction, and services that were made to two library publishing programs at Pacific University and the University of South Florida when they were no longer able to grow their programs due to an inability to hire additional staff and COVID-19-instigated staff reassignments.

Description of Programs

Pacific University’s publishing program grew out of its institutional repository and, at its peak, published seven open access journals. In addition, Pacific University Libraries founded a University Press in 2016, which has published six books as of 2021. The University of South Florida’s publishing program began publishing open access journals in 2008, and it has grown to include over 20 journals.

Lessons Learned

Both the Pacific University and the University of South Florida publishing programs have faced scalability and sustainability issues, which were further exacerbated by COVID-19. The focus of our library publishing programs, as well as many others, has been on continual growth, which is not sustainable without the ability to hire additional staff or allocate staff time differently.

We argue that standardizing services as well as creating a business plan can help ensure that publishing programs are sustainable and scalable.

Next Steps

We hope to begin a conversation among library publishers about acknowledging limits and creating achievable definitions of success outside of continual growth.

URL : Library Publishing Programs at Capacity: Addressing Issues of Sustainability and Scalability

DOI : https://doi.org/10.31274/jlsc.12909

Faculty Use of Open-Access Journals: A Case Study of Faculty Publications and Cited References at a California University

Author : Kendall Faulkner

Many in the library world see open-access (OA) publishing as the way of the future, necessary to combat ever-rising costs, expand knowledge and information production, and level the playing field for researchers and students across the world.

However, ingrained notions of the publishing process in academia, and concerns over OA journals’ quality and costs often make researchers less enthusiastic. This study takes a close look at faculty habits at the college-department level by reviewing faculty publishing habits and cited references in those publications.

Results show that the faculty in the Psychology Department at California State University, Los Angeles regularly publish at all OA levels, but utilize formal self-archiving less than what is found in their cited references. Furthermore, the department faculty cite fully OA (Gold) journals less than they publish in them.

URL : Faculty Use of Open-Access Journals: A Case Study of Faculty Publications and Cited References at a California University

DOI : https://doi.org/10.3390/publications9030039

Manuscript Accepted!: Collaborating on a scholarly publishing symposium for graduate students and early career academic faculty

Authors : Teresa Auch Schultz, Rosalind Bucy, Amy Hunsaker, Amy Shannon, Chrissy Klenke, Iñaki Arrieta Baro

INTRODUCTION

As academic libraries expand their scholarly communication support, they also need to find ways to help educate graduate students about this area as well as market themselves.

DESCRIPTION OF PROGRAM

The University of Nevada, Reno Libraries created a one-day symposium, called Manuscript Accepted!, aimed at graduate students and early career faculty that would use faculty and library expertise to lead panels and workshops.

This article discusses planning for the event, including collaborating with other on-campus groups, working with publishers for financial support, and planning a program that would meet a variety of needs. Assessment of the first two symposiums, held in 2019 and 2020, shows that attendees valued the event while also highlighting the need for more targeted support for specific areas, such as the humanities.

NEXT STEPS

The Libraries plans to continue Manuscript Accepted! as a one-day symposium, although it will also look to ways to expand attendance. Finally, the Libraries is investigating ways to create smaller events that could be tied into the Manuscript Acceptance! brand but that help meet other needs of our attendees.

URL : Manuscript Accepted!: Collaborating on a scholarly publishing symposium for graduate students and early career academic faculty

DOI : https://doi.org/10.7710/2162-3309.2385

Institutional Data Repository Development, a Moving Target

Authors : Colleen Fallaw, Genevieve Schmitt, Hoa Luong, Jason Colwell, Jason Strutz

At the end of 2019, the Research Data Service (RDS) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) completed its fifth year as a campus-wide service. In order to gauge the effectiveness of the RDS in meeting the needs of Illinois researchers, RDS staff developed a five-year review consisting of a survey and a series of in-depth focus group interviews.

As a result, our institutional data repository developed in-house by University Library IT staff, Illinois Data Bank, was recognized as the most useful service offering by our unit. When launched in 2016, storage resources and web servers for Illinois Data Bank and supporting systems were hosted on-premises at UIUC.

As anticipated, researchers increasingly need to share large, and complex datasets. In a responsive effort to leverage the potentially more reliable, highly available, cost-effective, and scalable storage accessible to computation resources, we migrated our item bitstreams and web services to the cloud. Our efforts have met with success, but also with painful bumps along the way.

This article describes how we supported data curation workflows through transitioning from on-premises to cloud resource hosting. It details our approaches to ingesting, curating, and offering access to dataset files up to 2TB in size–which may be archive type files (e.g., .zip or .tar) containing complex directory structures.

URL : https://journal.code4lib.org/articles/15821