Étiquette : USA

Copyright and the Progress of Science: Why Text and Data Mining Is Lawful

Author : Michael W. Carroll

This Article argues that U.S. copyright law provides a competitive advantage in the global race for innovation policy because it permits researchers to conduct computational analysis — text and data mining — on any materials to which they have access.

Amendments to copyright law in Japan, and the European Union’s recent addition of limitations on copyright to legalize some TDM research, implicitly acknowledge the competitive benefits provided by the fair use provision of U.S. copyright law.

Focusing only on U.S. law, this Article makes two general contributions to the literature on fair use: (1) in cases involving archiving, the user’s security precautions are relevant under the first fair use factor and should not be treated as an unenumerated factor or as part of the market harm analysis; and (2) good faith should not be a factor in fair use analysis, but even if courts do consider good faith, TDM research conducted on infringing sources, such as Sci-Hub, is still lawful because the research provides transformative benefits without causing harm to the markets that matter.

This Article also revisits the issue of temporary copies to argue that certain steps in TDM research do not make copies that “count” under U.S. law and that it is possible to design cloud-based TDM research that does not implicate U.S. copyright law at all.

This Article addresses the needs of many audiences including policymakers, courts, university counsel, research libraries, and legal scholars who seek a thorough legal analysis to support this argument.

URL : https://lawreview.law.ucdavis.edu/issues/53/2/articles/53-2_carroll.html

Data Curation for Big Interdisciplinary Science: The Pulley Ridge Experience

Authors : Timothy B. Norris, Christopher C. Mader

The curation and preservation of scientific data has long been recognized as an essential activity for the reproducibility of science and the advancement of knowledge. While investment into data curation for specific disciplines and at individual research institutions has advanced the ability to preserve research data products, data curation for big interdisciplinary science remains relatively unexplored terrain.

To fill this lacunae, this article presents a case study of the data curation for the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) funded project “Understanding Coral Ecosystem Connectivity in the Gulf of Mexico-Pulley Ridge to the Florida Keys” undertaken from 2011 to 2018 by more than 30 researchers at several research institutions.

The data curation process is described and a discussion of strengths, weaknesses and lessons learned is presented. Major conclusions from this case study include: the reimplementation of data repository infrastructure builds valuable institutional data curation knowledge but may not meet data curation standards and best practices; data from big interdisciplinary science can be considered as a special collection with the implication that metadata takes the form of a finding aid or catalog of datasets within the larger project context; and there are opportunities for data curators and librarians to synthesize and integrate results across disciplines and to create exhibits as stories that emerge from interdisciplinary big science.

URL : Data Curation for Big Interdisciplinary Science: The Pulley Ridge Experience

Alternative location : https://escholarship.umassmed.edu/jeslib/vol8/iss2/8/

Peer Review of Research Data Submissions to ScholarsArchive@OSU: How can we improve the curation of research datasets to enhance reusability?

Authors : Clara Llebot, Steven Van Tuyl

Objective

Best practices such as the FAIR Principles (Findability, Accessibility, Interoperability, Reusability) were developed to ensure that published datasets are reusable. While we employ best practices in the curation of datasets, we want to learn how domain experts view the reusability of datasets in our institutional repository, ScholarsArchive@OSU.

Curation workflows are designed by data curators based on their own recommendations, but research data is extremely specialized, and such workflows are rarely evaluated by researchers.

In this project we used peer-review by domain experts to evaluate the reusability of the datasets in our institutional repository, with the goal of informing our curation methods and ensure that the limited resources of our library are maximizing the reusability of research data.

Methods

We asked all researchers who have datasets submitted in Oregon State University’s repository to refer us to domain experts who could review the reusability of their data sets. Two data curators who are non-experts also reviewed the same datasets.

We gave both groups review guidelines based on the guidelines of several journals. Eleven domain experts and two data curators reviewed eight datasets.

The review included the quality of the repository record, the quality of the documentation, and the quality of the data. We then compared the comments given by the two groups.

Results

Domain experts and non-expert data curators largely converged on similar scores for reviewed datasets, but the focus of critique by domain experts was somewhat divergent.

A few broad issues common across reviews were: insufficient documentation, the use of links to journal articles in the place of documentation, and concerns about duplication of effort in creating documentation and metadata. Reviews also reflected the background and skills of the reviewer.

Domain experts expressed a lack of expertise in data curation practices and data curators expressed their lack of expertise in the research domain.

Conclusions

The results of this investigation could help guide future research data curation activities and align domain expert and data curator expectations for reusability of datasets.

We recommend further exploration of these common issues and additional domain expert peer-review project to further refine and align expectations for research data reusability.

URL : Peer Review of Research Data Submissions to ScholarsArchive@OSU: How can we improve the curation of research datasets to enhance reusability?

DOI : https://doi.org/10.7191/jeslib.2019.1166

From Meow to ROAR: Expanding Open Access Repository Services at the University of Houston Libraries

Authors : Annie Wu, Taylor Davis-Van Atta, Santi Thompson, Bethany Scott, Anne Washington, Xiping Liu

INTRODUCTION

The rapidly changing scholarly communication ecosystem is placing a growing premium on research data and scholarship that is openly available. It also places a growing pressure on universities and research organizations to expand their publishing infrastructures and related services.

DESCRIPTION OF PROGRAM

To embrace the change and meet local demands, University of Houston (UH) Libraries formed a cross-departmental open access implementation team in 2017 to expand our open access repository services to accommodate a broad range of research products beyond electronic theses and dissertations (ETDs).

The result of this effort was the Cougar Research Open Access Repositories (Cougar ROAR), a rebranded and expanded portal to the UH Institutional Repository, and the UH Dataverse, which disseminates the full range of scholarly outputs generated at the University of Houston.

This article describes the team’s phased activities, including internal preparation, a campus pilot, rebranding, and a robust outreach program. It also details the team’s specific tasks, such as building the Cougar ROAR portal, developing ROAR policies and guidelines, enhancing institutional repository functionality, conducting campus promotional activities, and piloting and scaling a campus-wide open access program.

NEXT STEPS

Based on the pilot project findings and the resulting recommendations, the team outlined key next steps for sustainability of the UH Libraries’ open access services: continuation of the campus CV service, establishment of campus-wide OA policy, further promotion of Cougar ROAR and assessment of OA programs and services, and investment in long-term storage and preservation of scholarly output in Cougar ROAR.

URL : From Meow to ROAR: Expanding Open Access Repository Services at the University of Houston Libraries

DOI : https://doi.org/10.7710/2162-3309.2309

Scholarly Publishing Literacy at the University of South Florida Libraries: From Advising to Active Involvement

Authors : Chelsea Johnston, Jason Boczar

INTRODUCTION

Successful open access (OA) publishing in libraries requires careful guidance and organization. Support and services offered vary depending on available resources as well as the robustness of a library’s publishing program.

DESCRIPTION OF PROGRAM

This article describes the connection between publishing services and scholarly publishing literacy through examples from the University of South Florida (USF) Libraries.

The USF Libraries’ OA publishing program includes journals, textbooks, conference proceedings, and more. Our program balances advocating for open access with advising for actions that serve our partners’ goals. This invites trust, sustainable relationships, and opportunities for new work.

NEXT STEPS

At the USF Libraries, more work must be done to formally assess our efforts. Our program will also explore new ways to support the ethical standards expected of libraries by pursuing stronger policies on diversity and inclusion.

Using everyday work to demonstrate best practices is a manageable way to strengthen scholarly publishing efforts. We hope to continue growing our services, empowering our partners, and exploring our roles as advisors and advocates.

URL : Scholarly Publishing Literacy at the University of South Florida Libraries: From Advising to Active Involvement

DOI : https://doi.org/10.7710/2162-3309.2310

A Team Approach: Library Publishing Partnerships with Scholarly Societies

Author : Suzanne Cady Stapleton

INTRODUCTION

The journal publishing service at the University of Florida George A. Smathers Libraries is structured to use a team-based approach that integrates subject specialists across the library.

DESCRIPTION OF PROGRAM

Since 2012, the UF Libraries have worked in partnership with a number of scholarly societies to publish their research. The focus, to date, of academic library publishing on institutional publications belies potential partnerships with scholarly societies and organizations external to the library’s institution.

Services provided, challenges faced, and examples of successful publishing partnerships with UF Libraries are described. The team approach enables the library to be innovative and nimble in response to publishing opportunities.

Scholarly societies most interested in entering publishing contracts with the Libraries publishing program are those that share aspects of the library mission such as accessibility and innovation.

NEXT STEPS

Academic library publishing offers unique partnership opportunities for scholarly societies and external organizations that are mutually beneficial and that complement library publishing of institutional material.

URL : A Team Approach: Library Publishing Partnerships with Scholarly Societies

DOI : https://doi.org/10.7710/2162-3309.2326

Collaborating Across Campus to Advance Open Access Policy Compliance

Authors : Andrew Johnson, Melissa Cantrell, Ryan Caillet

In 2018, the Data and Scholarly Communication Services Unit (DSCS) at the University of Colorado Boulder began implementing two open access (OA) policy workflows with the aim of increasing content in the institutional repository CU Scholar, expanding awareness of the campus OA policy that was passed in 2015, and decreasing the burden on researchers for participation in the policy.

DSCS leveraged collaborative relationships with other library departments and campus units in order to mobilize the data, infrastructure, procedures, and documentation to execute these workflows.

The Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) workflow identifies existing open access publications by CU Boulder faculty and mediates deposit in order to make them available in CU Scholar. The liaison outreach workflow partners with liaison librarians to request from faculty preprints and author’s final manuscripts of publications in which the publisher version may have copyright restrictions.

At present, the DOAJ workflow has resulted in 754 articles deposited in CU Scholar, and the liaison outreach workflow has resulted in 91 articles deposited. Each of these workflows pose challenges that have required flexibility, experimentation, and clear communication between stakeholders.

This case study, which includes detailed descriptions of both open access policy workflows, initial results, and plans for future implementation, may serve as a guide for other institutions wishing to adopt and/or adapt institutional repository workflows and forge collaborative relationships to further open access initiatives in their local context.

URL : Collaborating Across Campus to Advance Open Access Policy Compliance

Alternative location : https://digitalcommons.du.edu/collaborativelibrarianship/vol11/iss3/7