An Opportunity to Earn Our Keep: Summary of Corrall/Kennan/Afzal

Corrall, Kennan and Afzal discuss bibliometrics and research data management services in their 2013 article from Library Trends. Because of internet research and e-resources, university library services have changed though their mission remains the same--supporting learning and research activities. The authors paraphrase Ball and Tunger’s (2006, p.563) argument that “libraries need to cease resembling museums and become efficient ‘business enterprises.’” Typically, I resent notions of commercialized learning, but this smacks of Library 2.0 and “3.0,” and I do think that’s something that we need to keep working toward.

There is a gap and therefore, an opportunity, for academic libraries to offer services using bibliometrics and data management for trend analysis, publication strategies, faculty reviews, grant writing and job applications. As it turns out, bibliometrics is a home-grown research area and specialization, not something LIS has imported or borrowed from other fields, but even this study gives evidence that libraries need to get going on putting it into practice.

The survey used by the authors targeted academic libraries in Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and the UK. While many of these libraries had bibliometrics and RDM programs in place and/or plans for more, many of the librarians stated that they didn’t feel prepared with the knowledge, skills or confidence they need to implement them. There is a call for LIS curriculum for RDM, even in the form of electives and short courses on data curation, technical skills and ICT skills (information and communication technology? ...British vocab, I guess).

The authors point out that most MLS programs prepare their graduates with a “general education for all library sectors” (p. 664) and that such specialties may not be applicable to all. I can say that even after working in my field for six years, there are parts of my job that my first Master’s did a lousy job of preparing me for and I have had to do-it-myself--we can say that professional schools need to add X or Y to their curriculum, but there will always be something lacking. I’m glad that someone is paying attention to what academic libraries could do and prepare themselves for so that they stay viable. Actually, we all need to do that!

Research Data Services Article Summary

The need for data research, data curation/preservation, and data sharing has emerged at the forefront of research trends. The Association of College and Research Libraries (also, ACRL) is heeding this call for data management by carefully investigating, through surveys and other means, the trends in such data research efforts. Collectively, these needs of the research community for data is known as Research Data Services (RDS)

The Tenopir article, leads readers to believe there are several barriers currently existing between university and colleges' desires to provide RDS to their faculty and students and the reality of being able to provide such services. Many institutions simply do not have the funding necessary to provide RDS and the ones receiving funding have made it a priority to do so. Another barrier is a dissatisfaction over a lack of consensus with how to best share data!

According to the article, what is described as only a "few" universities in the United States and Canada are offering RDS (I Google searched and found out UW is one of those universities). Libraries/universities receiving NSF funding are more likely to provide RDS to their students and faculty. So, money is likely one of the biggest barriers in providing RDS. Another barrier, however, is the nascent state of such data services--not many best practices and standards exist yet.

One important aspect of understanding research data services is learning about the data life cycle. I found this part of the article particularly helpful in understanding exactly how data management works in each step of the process. The Data Life Cycle is illustrated on page 12 of the article and clearly illustrates how data can be managed in a way that researchers will be able to access it throughout the process. This illustration also clearly demonstrates the librarians as central to the data management process.

-E. Anthony

A Summary of Academic Libraries and Research Data Services

The Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) are concerned about managing large amounts of data, as well as, supporting the planning of that effort financially. Another issue that is important to members of the ACRL is data curation.  Many academic libraries are interested in making more research data services (RDS) available to their patrons. The authors say, “Libraries in larger or doctoral-granting institutions are more likely to offer a range of informational/consultative type services.” This is especially true for American and Canadian institutions.  I believe that smaller college and university libraries would like to offer RDS to their patrons; however, it is a challenge because they do not necessarily have the resources to do so.

There are several ways in which smaller academic libraries can overcome the challenges associated with providing RDS to their patrons. The authors suggest providing library staff with professional development so that they will obtain the necessary skills. Once librarians have learned how to work in RDS, they should be reassigned.  After librarians have gained experience, they should move into providing consulting services related to research data management and curation. Next, libraries could offer front-end data storage and curation. Lastly, academic libraries can help their librarians get involved in writing grant proposals.

Bibliometrics, RDM, and being out of my paygrade

This was a very long article which honestly felt quite above my pay grade. Halfway though the paper I realized it was bibliometrics not biometrics they were talking about. Basically the researchers did a cross country study examining the teaching of bibliometrics and RDM (Research Data Management) in LMS'.

Part of the context for the research was the subject librarian becoming extinct. As more of the research librarian's job moves online the functions they serve become invisible. Rather than seeking out a librarian, scholars rely more on online tools they don't associate directly with the librarian. At one point the others mentioned scholars don't want the support research librarians offer, nut still have research support needs. The authors believed that bibliometric and RDM could fit into this role.

The four counties studied were Australia, UK, Ireland, and New Zealand.

In regards to bibliometric skills; knowledge of bibliometric purposes / applications, quantitative methods, and knowledge of bibliometric tools and techniques were all over 80%. Interestingly, New Zealand was a outlier with 60% in regards to quantitative methods.

In regard to RDM; data curration skills, technical skills, and knowledge of research processes were close to 80% or more. Ireland and New Zealand (both smaller samples) rated knowledge of research processes lower at about 60%.

A take away for me is even if we totally ignore the bibliometric and RDM criteria, technical and technology skills rated high. Most teachers I work with are still afraid to use the library catalog.

Recap & Reflection on Perpetual Access

Perpetual access is a subject of great importance to librarians who are invested in preserving copies of digitally licensed works. In the past when a librarian cancelled their subscription to a print journal, they still retained all the back issues of that journal from the period of their subscription. Perpetual access serves the same purpose but for electronic resources. Through clauses in licensing contracts, libraries work with publishers to ensure continued access to subscribed content, even after the subscription ends. The back-up copies are created through the process of digital archiving. Libraries, publishers, and third party organizations can all perform the digital archiving, depending on the terms of the license. 

Some of the most common digital archiving tools are LOCKSS, CLOCKSS, and Portico.  These tools serve different functions and are activated in different ways, meaning that some combination of them may be the most desirable for sustained perpetual access. The library’s ability to store back-up copies through digital archiving is always limited by the terms of the license agreement. Our exercise in searching for perpetual access provisions in real contracts was intended to reveal differences in the language and show that often there is ambiguity about what exactly the publisher agrees to in a perpetual access clause.

Although many libraries claim that preservation is still an important goal, a relatively small amount of libraries have actually been involved in securing perpetual access for their materials. Likely this is often due to budgetary constraints as getting perpetual access permission from a publisher may cost more. Adapting to the necessary technology may prove to be another obstacle. Admittedly, the preservation goal seems to be a concern for academic libraries more than public libraries. In the future, this may lead to further specialization among different kinds of libraries.

This raises questions about how committed librarians should be to perpetual access; while it seems ideal in theory, maybe there are sacrifices that should be made while transitioning to electronic formats. Storing electronic files creates unique challenges in ensuring continued compatibility for outdated file types, and even good file formats may deteriorate over time. Transitioning from print to digital will leave a large gap in the historical record if something ever happened to the electronic storage devices. Perhaps digital preservation may not be enough.

Reflection on PRM:

Reflection on PRM:

After Beth and Andy’s presentation I started to think about perpetual access management. There seems to be a considerable amount of motivation for an academic library to want perpetual access for their patrons and for the library itself. As we learned in class there seem to many pros and cons for a library to manage it on their own. However if a library is the one managing it do they also have to be concerned with digital rights management of that material as well? How would that be achieved? Could a library be sued if they allow someone access to information that wasn’t technically authorized user? After a brief internet search I couldn’t find any answers. However I did find a website for Springer which says they offer perpetual access without DRM. (http://www.springer.com/librarians/e-content/ebooks?SGWID=0-40791-0-0-0) It looks like perpetual access and DMR is an issue for some libraries.

 If I were the head of an academic library I would be cautious about handling my perpetual access management. I would think it would be better for a library to go through a third party even if it cost more. Hopefully any liability would fall on the third party and the library would be safe from any law suits concerning digital rights.

Reflection by Amanda

Reflection on TPM and DRM

In the article “Thinking Through a Strategy for Digital Rights Management” by Joseph Espostito, he explains several options that publishers can take with regards to DRM. They can fight every little infringement, which he calls the legal enforcement strategy. They can learn to abide by some infringement and target only big infringers which he calls the editorial strategy. They can lobby for their company to be seen as a civic structure and inquire and learn from their customers. He calls this the NPR strategy. Lastly he says that publishers can rethink their very product and the way they market. He calls this the innovation strategy.

                I think that most companies will follow the editorial strategy. I believe that most companies don’t have the time to track down every offender. However, they will go after people who they see as blatantly stealing.  I also agree with Joseph Espostito that most established companies don’t believe they can redo their company’s model or are too frighten too. Joseph Espostito says, “Few established publishers are in a position today to work with #4 (innovation), but start-up s may indeed begin there.” I can only hope that new publishers/companies will see new possibilities and will go with the innovation strategy.  

"Big Deal" Deconstruction--A Summary

In 2012 Mississippi State University's library system was faced with a $500,000.00 budget gap and only a short amount of time to decide how to proceed.

In the past years MSU encountered some "holes" in their metrics and analytic estimates--so it was more difficult to analyze user statistics than it should have been. In previous years MSU had filled these holes through estimation increases. However daunting, MSU librarians did find a way to estimate user statistics for every year by adding a 6% price increase to 2010 statistics in order to determine 2011 statistics (this seemed quite brilliant to me). The year this analysis was performed, MSU libraries did not cancel any "Big Deal" acquisitions.
In 2012, with the budget cut looming, it was impossible to keep every "Big Deal" acquisition in the library system.

To make a long story short, since that is the point of a summary, MSU presented all the statistical findings to the Library Administrative Council. The decision was made to cancel "Big Deal" packages from Wiley-Blackwell and Springer. Once these packages were cancelled, the library then purchased individual subscriptions to the 200 journals with the best user statistics/most downloads/etc.

This decision saved the library about $400,000.00 for the year, but many of the losses to the library's electronic collection were significant.

The most important part of this article provides insight about the impact of cutting the "Big Deal" packages based on user statistics, instead of using a broader scope for examining the different journals and resources included in each deal.

As a result of cancelling the subscriptions for these packages, "Current access to over 2,800 journals was lost. Many disciplines, especially in the Social Sciences, lost all of their titles from Springer and Wiley-Blackwell. Some small departments on campus that have fewer students and faculty

than large departments have been most affected. The library did retain perpetual access to some paid subscriptions and consortia titles, but only for older materials. Old perpetual access rights do not help with access to the current material that is typically the material in high demand by the students and faculty."

 

 Librarians at MSU would like to involve faculty, students, and other involved parties next time they have to make such a large decision about cancelling resources. 

The user statistics certainly tell an important part of the story, but they do not tell the whole story. 

I hope we can discuss in class how other students in LIS 755 would measure the necessity of different online resources!

-E. Anthony

Breaking Up and Moving On: Summaries of Emery/Stone’s Chapter 7 & 8

On Breaking Up:

As a follow-up to their chapter on annual reviews, Jill Emery and Graham Stone offer advice to librarians who have decided that they need to cancel some of their electronic resources. Cancellation cannot be a decision that you make on your own (nor can you keep it to yourself). It is important to communicate with stakeholders and help them understand the repercussions of the change. For example, I would imagine that sometimes when budgets are cut, the budget “cutters” may not always realize what is being lost. Meeting with the faculty to help them understand what needs to be done may help them prioritize and puts the onus of a difficult decision on them. Stakeholders may also shed some light on reasons for underperformance of a resource.

Even if you are ending a relationship with a vendor, you shouldn’t burn any bridges. After all, you never know if that representative you just yelled at for raising your subscription rates will decide to move and become your new representative with a different vendor. Or, your funding may return in a couple of years, and you might want to take them back--who wants to go back with their tail between their legs. Instead, it’s best to approach cancellation with the attitude that feedback helps the market. Regardless of your reason for leaving, letting the vendor know why might help them improve their service or someday help you again.

Of course, your patrons will also need to be notified--the more notice, the better. Change is hard for folks and the transition will be smoother if they know it’s coming or if you can give them some time to get used to the replacement. It’s a good too to keep notes on your reasons and plans for canceling for your staff. You wouldn’t want someone to accidentally re-order something that you just tried to cancel. Also, down the road, that stinker of a cancelled database might be on the table to be purchased again and we wouldn’t want to repeat a mistake just because you didn’t communicate the problem with them.

Moving On:

Emery and Stone suggest that the state of e-books is in the same mess that e-journals were in about 10 years ago. Here’s hoping that vendors, librarians and researchers figure out what they want and how to use them soon. There’s some disagreement on the best format for e-books in libraries, so like a lot of things, they feel like a risky place in which to sink a lot of money. Traditional publishing may look different in the future and scholarly content delivery may come from sources we wouldn’t expect. The trick is to be on the cutting edge, but not the bleeding edge.

In my opinion, the most exciting prospect for electronic resource management is the refinement of the workflows in ILS and ERM Systems. Like Ken Chad says, ILSs are “ripe for disruption.” As electronic resources have taken their place in libraries and we’ve need ERMS to keep track of them, it only makes sense that the ERMS and the ILS start working together. Why not look for a consolidation that saves time and keeps us from duplicating information? New systems will help us work smarter, not harder. To get better, we’ll need to keep looking at TERMS and understand the frustrations, needs and wants of the information professionals on the front lines.

Summarizing Shapiro's Database Cancellation: the How's and Whys

On the surface, cancelling a database may seem like a fairly straight forward process. However, Shapiro believes that cancelling a database “is one of the most difficult tasks performed by a librarian.”  Most librarians put a lot of time and effort into selecting the best resources for their patrons. It can be disappointing and librarians may be chagrined when they are forced to eliminate carefully selected electronic resources. It is an unfortunate reality, libraries must make cuts when there are budget shortfalls and declining use of materials. 

In order to make an informed decision, librarians must carefully study usage stats; consult with faculty, students, as well as vendors. There is also a huge bureaucracy to contend with when deciding which databases to cancel. 

As an alternative to canceling database subscriptions, Shapiro argues that libraries could negotiate with vendors to “downgrade databases subscriptions.” He suggests removing high end products with fancy features to more basic packages. This would be a win-win for libraries because it will reduce cost and still provide resources to library patrons. Another option available to libraries would be to “change licensing terms for a given product where possible from unlimited access to single user access.” These are great ideas that I was completely unaware of until now. I hope that libraries are using these and other creative ideas to serve their patrons even in the midst of financial challenges.