How libraries can support society publishers to accelerate their transition to full and immediate OA and Plan S

Authors : Alicia Wise, Lorraine Estelle

The relationship between libraries and society publishers has not previously been a close one. While transactions have in the past been mediated by third parties, larger commercial publishers or agents, there is now an opportunity for strategic new collaborations as societies seek to transition to open access (OA) and deploy business models compliant with Plan S.

Wellcome, UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and the Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers (ALPSP) commissioned Information Power Ltd to undertake to support society publishers in accelerating their transition to OA in alignment with Plan S.

Outcomes demonstrate support in principle from library consortia and their members to repurpose existing expenditure to help society publishers to successfully make a full transition to OA.

Principles to inform the short- and medium-term development of OA transformative agreements have been co-developed by consortium representatives and publishers to inform development of an OA transformative agreement toolkit.

URL : How libraries can support society publishers to accelerate their transition to full and immediate OA and Plan S

DOI : http://doi.org/10.1629/uksg.477

Raising Visibility in the Digital Humanities Landscape: Academic Engagement and the Question of the Library’s Role

Authors : Kathleen Kasten-Mutkus, Laura Costello, Darren Chase

Academic libraries have an important role to play in supporting digital humanities projects in their communities. Librarians at Stony Brook University Libraries host Open Mic events for digital humanities researchers, teachers, and students on campus.

 Inspired by a desire to better serve digital humanists with existing projects, this event was initially organized to increase the visibility of scholars and students with nascent projects and connect these digital humanists to library supported resources and to one another.

For the Libraries, the Open Mic was an opportunity to understand the scope and practices of the digital humanities community at Stony Brook, and to identify ways to make meaningful interventions.

An open mic is a uniquely suitable event format in that it embodies a dynamic, permissive, multidisciplinary presentation space that is as much for exercising new and ongoing research (and technologies) as it is for making discoveries and connections.

The success of these events can be measured in the establishment of the University Libraries as a nexus for digital humanities work, consultations, instruction, workshops, and community on a campus without a designated digital humanities center.

The digital humanities Open Mic event at Stony Brook University locates the digital humanities within the library’s repertoire, while signaling that the library is — in a number of essential ways — open.

URL : http://www.digitalhumanities.org/dhq/vol/13/2/000420/000420.html

Roles and jobs in the open research scholarly communications environment: analysing job descriptions to predict future trends

Author : Nancy Pontika

During the past two-decades academic libraries updated current staff job responsibilities or created brand new roles. This allowed them to adapt to scholarly communication developments and consequently enabled them to offer efficient services to their users.

The global calls for openly accessible research results has shifted the institutional, national and international focus and their constant evolvement has required the creation of new research positions in academic libraries.

This study reports on the findings of an analysis of job descriptions in the open research services as advertised by UK academic libraries.

METHOD

From March 2015 to March 2017, job advertisements relating to open access, repositories and research data management were collected.

RESULTS

The analysis of the data showed that the primary responsibilities of the open research support staff were: to ensure and facilitate compliance with funders’ open access policies, maintain the tools that enable compliance, create reports and collect statistics that measure compliance rates and commit to continuous liaising activities with research stakeholders.

DISCUSSION

It is clear that the open research services is a complex environment, requiring a variety of general and subject specific skill sets, while often a role may involve more than one area of expertise.

CONCLUSION

The results of this study could benefit prospective employees and universities that wish to embed open research skills in their curriculum.

URL : Roles and jobs in the open research scholarly communications environment: analysing job descriptions to predict future trends

Alternative location : https://www.liberquarterly.eu/articles/10282/

Motivations for textbook and learning resource publishing: Do academics want to publish OA textbooks?

Authors : Ellen Collins, Graham Stone

The affordability of textbooks and unsustainable commercial models are issues that many libraries face. As an alternative, there is a growing movement in the United States around open and affordable textbooks.

However, to date there has been less activity in the UK despite the introduction of a range of policies that encourage or mandate open access publication of research outputs such as journal articles or monographs.

These policy changes have affected academics’ attitudes to open access, but it is not yet clear whether the opportunity to publish in open access would affect researchers’ propensity to create non-research outputs such as textbooks and learning materials.

In 2017, Jisc Collections proposed a study into author incentives for textbook publishing in order to understand whether open access would motivate authors to publish learning materials and thereby support a transition to open access for e-textbooks.

The study consisted of a survey, focus groups and interviews. This article discusses the results of the research and provides several key insights and future opportunities for those wishing to explore open and affordable textbooks.

URL : Motivations for textbook and learning resource publishing: Do academics want to publish OA textbooks?

DOI : http://doi.org/10.18352/lq.10266

Embracing New Trends in Scholarly Communication: From Competency Requirements in the Workplace to LIS Curriculum Presence

Author : Jaya Raju

INTRODUCTION

Scholarly communication has undergone dramatic change in the digital era as a result of rapidly evolving digital technology. It is within this context of evolving scholarly communication that this paper reports on an inquiry into (1) the extent to which university libraries in South Africa are actively embracing new and emerging trends in scholarly communication; and (2), the extent to which LIS school curricula in South Africa are responding to new and emerging scholarly communication competencies required in university libraries.

METHODS

This qualitative study, located within an interpretivist epistemological worldview, was informed by the Operational Elements of Scientific Communication aspect of Khosrowjerdi’s (2011) Viable Scientific Communication Model.

Data was collected using summative content analysis of university library job advertisements over a four-year period; South African university libraries’ organizational organograms; and course descriptions available on the websites of South Africa’s LIS schools.

RESULTS & DISCUSSION

A review of job advertisements and organograms shows that on the whole university libraries in South Africa are embracing the new and emerging trends in scholarly communication, but some university libraries are performing better than others in adopting emerging scholarly communication services such as RDM, digital humanities, or research landscape analysis.

Course description analysis provides evidence that LIS schools’ curricula, as per global trend reported in the literature, do not seem to be keeping pace with developments in scholarly communication.

CONCLUSION

The ambivalent nature of an evolving scholarly communications field with unclear definitions and boundaries necessitates professional practitioners who are adaptable and open to change as well as an LIS education curriculum that is in constant review to seamlessly embrace an evolving field propelled by advancing digital technologies.

URL : Embracing New Trends in Scholarly Communication: From Competency Requirements in the Workplace to LIS Curriculum Presence

DOI : https://doi.org/10.7710/2162-3309.2291

Bibliothèques universitaires et intégrité scientifique : quels apports, quelles limites ?

Auteur/Author : Mélissa Defond

L’intégrité scientifique est au coeur de la validité et de la qualité des productions scientifiques. Il s’agit d’un enjeu majeur du monde de la recherche, et un nombre croissant de dispositifs sont en place dans les universités françaises pour répondre aux défis qu’il pose.

Quelle est la place des bibliothèques universitaires dans ce monde de l’intégrité, qui semble si lié aux opérateurs de la recherche ? Que peuvent-elles apporter à la question de l’intégrité scientifique, et quelles sont les limites de leur intervention ?

Nous sommes actuellement à un moment crucial, avec de nombreuses occasions à saisir pour les bibliothèques universitaires afin de se faire une place dans une culture de l’intégrité.

URL : Bibliothèques universitaires et intégrité scientifique : quels apports, quelles limites ?

Alternative location : https://www.enssib.fr/bibliotheque-numerique/notices/68906-bibliotheques-universitaires-et-integrite-scientifique-quels-apports-quelles-limites

L’open data au prisme des Communs : enjeux éthiques et professionnels en bibliothèque

Author : Paul Villa

Depuis octobre 2018, la loi pour une République numérique a inscrit dans le marbre une politique d’open data. L’open data est fondé sur trois pilier : la citoyenneté, l’économie et l’innovation technologique.

Or, les pratiques et les initiatives autour de l’ouverture des données possèdent une proximité certaine avec la philosophie des Communs. Réfléchir à l’open data à la lumière des Communs, c’est mettre en avant les points de convergence entre ces deux concepts et montrer comment les enjeux concernant les données, qu’elles soient publiques ou de recherche, sont impactés.

De plus, l’open data transforme radicalement l’éthique et les missions de la fonction publique. Les bibliothèques, tant publiques qu’universitaires, possèdent une expertise et une expérience concernant les données : elles peuvent donc être l’un des acteurs principaux de ce changement.

Ces questions permettent de réfléchir aux enjeux stratégiques, aux nouveaux services et aux nouvelles compétences professionnelles des bibliothécaires.

URL : L’open data au prisme des Communs : enjeux éthiques et professionnels en bibliothèque

Alternative location : https://www.enssib.fr/bibliotheque-numerique/notices/68915-l-open-data-au-prisme-des-communs-enjeux-ethiques-et-professionnels-en-bibliotheque