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.