New & Noteworthy

New & Noteworthy

Article Type: New & Noteworthy From: Library Hi Tech News, Volume 32, Issue 10

National Library of Scotland launches major plans to digitize collections

Centuries of knowledge and learning are to be made available online under major plans to turn Scotland’s premier library into a global digital destination. The National Library of Scotland plans to put a third of its renowned collection of 24 million items online in the next 10 years in one of the biggest programs of its kind anywhere in Europe.

It will be a gateway to information on Scottish culture and history that will allow millions of people to view unique documents including manuscripts of major Scottish writers such as Robert Burns and Walter Scott, fascinating official reports on many subjects, thousands of films on life in Scotland, and – bringing things up to date – memorabilia from past year’s referendum on Scottish independence, among many others.

The plans have been welcomed by Fiona Hyslop, Cabinet Secretary for Culture, Europe and External Affairs. “The National Library’s new strategy 2015-2020 highlights the key role that the Library plays in educating and supporting research and innovation, and enhancing Scotland’s profile here at home and abroad. I am pleased to see that it is firmly committed to improving access to its impressive collection of 24 million items by developing further its online presence to make its collections more widely available and engage with new and more diverse audiences worldwide”, she said.

The Library is committed to making as much material digitally available as possible, subject to restrictions imposed by copyright or conditions set by publishers. This includes not only precious manuscripts, rare books, maps, sound archives, e-books and journals, but business information, databases and other content that will contribute to economic growth and social well-being.

“The Internet has created a revolution in how people expect to be able to access information”, said National Librarian Dr John Scally. “We want people to be able to connect to our collections from wherever they are, rather than having to consult material in the Library as has been the case for most of our existence. We are committed to removing as many barriers as possible that prevent people accessing our collections and services”.

He added: “Our role is to be the guardian of the published and recorded memory of Scotland for current and future generations. Our aim is to make the knowledge held within our collections as widely available as possible”.

Although digital developments present many opportunities, Dr Scally stressed that the physical book and the Library as a physical destination will continue to play a central role in its plans. Supporting research and improving traditional library services will remain a key priority.

The Library already has a strong online presence and has digitized a number of its iconic items including the last letter of Mary Queen of Scots, the Order for the Massacre of Glencoe, the first books printed in Scotland in the sixteenth century, the first atlas of Scotland and First World War official photographs.

It has seen traffic to its Web site double in the past five years to more than three million visits annually. The digital shift to take place over the next decade will add to the rich content available online and attract even more visitors. It will also mean that fragile items that can be damaged through physical contact can be viewed safely with the original being preserved.

It is part of an ambitious strategy entitled “The way forward: Library Strategy 2015-2020”, agreed by the Library Board, to improve access to the collections and ensure the Library’s services support education, research and learning, thereby contributing to a successful Scotland.

“At no time in our history has it been easier to share the story of Scotland with a global audience”, said Dr Scally. “At no time has it been as possible to reach out beyond our buildings to provide services to people living in every part of Scotland. This new strategy seeks to harness technological developments to achieve the central aim of the National Library – to provide access to knowledge that is inspiring, accessible and relevant to anyone, whether living in or interested in Scotland”.

Strategy 2015 PDF and video introduction: http://www.nls.uk/the-way-forward

Download The Way Forward: Library strategy 2015-2020: http://www.nls.uk/media/1194639/2015-strategy-2.pdf

British Library outlines intentions to preserve the UK’s radio heritage

The British Library has outlined its ambitions to work with the radio industry to explore how to preserve a representative sample of the UK’s vast radio output. The British Library already has a valuable archive of some 200,000 hours of radio going back to the 1920s, from pre-war Radio Luxembourg to commercial stations such as Capital Radio, and a full decade’s output by the radical London arts station Resonance FM. This resource is used by historians, academics and the creative industries to offer a unique, living portrait of what the nation is talking about – and what they listened to – at any given point in time.

However, this represents only a tiny fraction of the extensive output of the more than 600 public service, commercial and community stations currently broadcasting across the country. Sound archivists at the British Library estimate that 92 per cent of UK radio is currently not subject to long term preservation or access, and thus will be lost to future generations of researchers.

This gap in the national collections has been identified as a key part of the British Library’s major preservation program, Save our Sounds, which sets out to protect both the Library’s existing historic collection of more than 6.5 million recordings, and to safeguard the acquisition of future sound production in the UK, including the national collection of radio and published music.

Speaking at the 2015 Radio Festival, Roly Keating, Chief Executive at the British Library, said: “Unlike television, newspapers or the UK web domain, there is currently no institutional support to ensure that the nation’s vibrant radio output is fully preserved for future generations. As outlined in our Living Knowledge vision published earlier this year, a key goal for the British Library is to preserve as much as possible of the UK’s sound heritage. We want to work with the radio industry to explore ways in which radio can be captured permanently in the future, and be made available for research, enjoyment and inspiration”.

Organizations from across the radio industry including the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation), Radioplayer, Community Media Association, Radio Academy and Radio Independents Group have all expressed support for a radio archive, and will join a working group led by the British Library to explore possible models for the radio archive proposal.

Full press release: http://www.bl.uk/press-releases/2015/september/save-our-sounds-radio-archive

Save Our Sounds project: http://www.bl.uk/projects/save-our-sounds

University ranking and researcher reputation: outputs available from OCLC research meeting

Increased attention is being paid to managing information about the research process, driven by reputation needs, assessment needs and reporting needs. As the research process and its outputs are increasingly compared and ranked, how does the library advance university goals? How can the library improve the reputation of its institution and researchers? What new capacities and partnerships are required?

The OCLC Research Library Partnership Rep, Rank and Role meeting, focused on the library’s contribution to university ranking and researcher reputation, was held in San Francisco, California, on June 3-4, 2015. Ten distinguished speakers shared their perspectives on the impact of research on the reputations of both the researchers and their institutions – and how libraries can help to improve them. Attendance at the meeting was open to OCLC Research Library Partners, but the videos and slide presentations are now available to all.

The OCLC Research Library Partnership Rep, Rank and Role meeting event page provides links to videos, slides and photos from the meeting. The video playlist is also available on the OCLC Research YouTube Channel. A short series of blog posts that recap the meeting are on HangingTogether.org, the OCLC Research blog:

• University reputation and ranking – another way that Europe is not like USA: http://hangingtogether.org/?p=5212

• University reputation and ranking – getting the researchers on board: http://hangingtogether.org/?p=5251

• To buy or not to buy and the importance of identifiers: http://hangingtogether.org/?p=5310

• The impact of branding and communication on university reputation: http://hangingtogether.org/?p=5362

Rep, Rank and Role event page: http://www.oclc.org/research/events/2015/06-03.html

Video playlist from Rep, Rank and Role meeting: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLB61wwipFoafk8yjLsfhEXW_uCI7FZZ1

American libraries at the crossroads: new report from Pew Research Center

American libraries are buffeted by cross currents. Citizens believe that libraries are important community institutions and profess interest in libraries offering a range of new program possibilities. Yet, even as the public expresses interest in additional library services, there are signs that the share of Americans visiting libraries has edged downward over the past three years, although it is too soon to know whether this is a trend.

A new survey from Pew Research Center brings this complex situation into stark relief. Many Americans say they want public libraries to:

• support local education;

• serve special constituents such as veterans, active-duty military personnel and immigrants;

• help local businesses, job seekers and those upgrading their work skills; and

• embrace new technologies such as 3D printers and provide services to help patrons learn about high-tech gadgetry.

Additionally, two-thirds of Americans (65 per cent), ages 16 and older, say that closing their local public library would have a major impact on their community. Low-income Americans, Hispanics and African Americans are more likely than others to say that a library closing would impact their lives and communities.

At the same time, the survey finds that the share of Americans who report using a library has ebbed somewhat over the past several years, although it is too early to identify a definitive national trend. Compared with Pew Research Center surveys from recent years, the current survey finds those 16 and older a bit less likely to say they have visited a library or bookmobile in-person in the past 12 months, visited a library Web site or used a library’s computers and Internet access:

• 46 per cent of all Americans ages 16 and over say they visited a library or a bookmobile in-person in the prior year. This is roughly comparable with the 48 per cent who said this in 2013, but down from 53 per cent in 2012.

• 22 per cent of those 16 years and older have used library Web sites in the past year, compared with 30 per cent who said this in 2013 and 25 per cent in 2012.

• 27 per cent of those who have visited a public library have used its computers, internet connection or WiFi signal to go online in the past 12 months. This compares with 31 per cent who said this in 2012.

A trend in the other direction is that mobile access to library resources has taken on more prominence. Among those who have used a public library Web site, 50 per cent accessed it in the past 12 months using a mobile device such as a tablet computer or smartphone – up from 39 per cent in 2012.

These findings highlight how this is a crossroads moment for libraries. The data paint a complex portrait of disruption and aspiration. There are relatively active constituents who hope libraries will maintain valuable legacy functions such as lending printed books. At the same time, there are those who support the idea that libraries should adapt to a world where more and more information lives in digital form, accessible anytime and anywhere.

The big questions: What should happen to the books? What should happen to the buildings?

These two key questions highlight the challenge library leaders face. First, what should libraries do with their books? Some 30 per cent of those aged 16 years and over think libraries should “definitely” move some print books and stacks out of public locations to free up more space for such things as tech centers, reading rooms, meeting rooms and cultural events; 40 per cent say libraries should “maybe” do that; and 25 per cent say libraries should “definitely not” do that.

Since 2012, there has been an uptick of 10 percentage points in those saying libraries should “definitely” move some books and stacks (20 per cent v. 30 per cent) and an 11-point downtick in those saying that should “definitely not” be done (36 per cent v. 25 per cent).

The second key question is: Should bricks-and-mortar libraries have a smaller physical footprint in their communities? A majority do not think so. Nearly two-thirds (64 per cent) of those aged 16 years and over say libraries should “definitely” have more comfortable spaces for reading, working and relaxing. This represents a modest increase in this view since 2012, and it suggests that libraries still occupy a prominent spot in people’s minds as a place to go.

Large majorities of Americans see libraries as part of the educational ecosystem and as resources for promoting digital and information literacy. Those 16 years and older are quite clear that libraries should address the educational needs of their communities at many levels:

• 85 per cent of Americans say that libraries should “definitely” coordinate with schools in providing resources for children.

• 85 per cent also say that libraries should “definitely” offer free literacy programs to help kids prepare for school.

• 78 per cent believe that libraries are effective at promoting literacy and love of reading.

• 65 per cent maintain that libraries contribute to helping people decide what information they can trust.

People also believe that libraries should offer services to help them master digital technologies:

• 78 per cent of those 16 years and older say libraries should “definitely” offer programs to teach people how to use digital tools such as computers, smartphones and apps.

• 75 per cent say libraries have been effective at helping people learn how to use new technologies.

People’s view on the important role of libraries in education translates into some user behavior at public libraries. Among those who have used a public library Web site or mobile app in the past 12 months, 42 per cent have used it for research or homework help. For those who have used a public library’s computers or WiFi signal to go online, 60 per cent have used those tools for research or school work.

The results reported here come from a nationally representative telephone survey of 2004 Americans aged 16 years and older, conducted from March 17 to April 12, 2015 by the Pew Research Center.

Read/download the full report: http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/09/15/libraries-at-the-crossroads/

Learning in Libraries focus report from Institute of Museum and Library Services

Through the collections, services and spaces they provide, libraries offer us a lifelong opportunity to gain the knowledge, skills and experiences that will enrich our lives. With the increased availability of online resources, libraries are now positioned to re-imagine services and spaces, to increase their reach to and impact on the communities they serve.

The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) has funded diverse learning-based projects, from ones that explore new hands-on tools such as those in makerspaces, to ones that strive to meet the literacy needs of families with young children, to ones that help adults develop the job skills that will make them competitive in today’s economy. This work has been funded from both the practitioner and researcher perspectives, with a goal to improve individual and community outcomes. The agency’s most recent investments have aimed to build and sustain the capacity for libraries to adopt research-based practices and to encourage the formation of sustainable partnerships with organizations at the local, state, regional and national levels.

In May 2015, IMLS convened public and state library practitioners, library and information science school representatives, researchers, service providers and allied organizations at Kansas City Public Library for a daylong forum on learning in libraries. Representatives of recent IMLS investments in participatory learning, early learning, adult learning, digitally inclusive communities, research and continuing education gathered to share their challenges, outcomes and suggestions for future focus.

The IMLS focus report, Learning in Libraries, is now available on the IMLS UpNext blog. The report summarizes the day’s presentations and discussions, and documents for both IMLS and the community the themes and recommendations that emerged for funding priorities to advance learning in libraries. These recommendations are summarized at the end of the report; the agenda and participant list are included as appendices.

Read/download the Learning in Libraries focus report: http://www.imls.gov/sites/default/files/imls_focus_learning_in_libraries_final_report.pdf

ProQuest acquires Ex Libris; companies bring complementary assets together

ProQuest, an information solutions provider, central to global research, has signed an agreement to acquire Ex Libris Group, a leading global provider of library automation solutions. The capabilities of ProQuest and Ex Libris span expertise in print, electronic and digital content, as well as solutions for library management, discovery and research workflows.

Bringing these complementary assets together will enable ProQuest and Ex Libris to enhance existing products and accelerate innovation of new services to quickly address some of libraries’ most pressing challenges: disparate workflows for print, electronic and digital resources and navigation of complex and rapidly changing technology, content and user environments. The acquisition is expected to close in the coming months.

“We are excited to have Ex Libris join ProQuest and welcome its proven track-record of innovation on behalf of libraries. One great example of their expertise in action is the success of Ex Libris’ Alma unified resource management solution in helping hundreds of institutions worldwide improve their libraries’ value to their users”, said Kurt Sanford, ProQuest CEO. “Together, the companies will build on and create more groundbreaking library services, bringing additional value to our customers and the broader industry”

“The acquisition of Ex Libris by ProQuest enriches our commitment to the global library community and will enhance our ability to carry out our product roadmaps and strategies”, said Matti Shem-Tov, Ex Libris CEO. “The combined talent and expertise of ProQuest and Ex Libris will enable more efficient development and support of our leading solutions, and will accelerate innovation in both current and new products. We will identify opportunities to deliver the best of what both companies have to offer by expanding key features in resource management, knowledge base capabilities and discovery services to enhance existing products”.

“Combining our companies enables us to create even more opportunities and choices for libraries – especially our existing customers”, said Oren Beit-Arie, Ex Libris Chief Strategy Officer. “Both ProQuest and Ex Libris are deeply engaged with the global library community and benefit from active, collaborative and forward thinking customers and user groups. Continuing our tradition of cooperation, we are committed to working with our user communities to get input and guidance as we enhance current solutions and create new ones”.

Both companies will continue their longstanding commitment to openness and collaborations with other organizations in the industry, including OCLC, Google, Gale Cengage, HARRASSOWITZ and YBP/EBSCO, for the benefit of customers.

After closing, ProQuest and Ex Libris will form a distinct business unit called Ex Libris, a ProQuest Company. This unit will be led by Mr Shem-Tov, and supported by the Ex Libris management team along with ProQuest Workflow Solutions management. ProQuest and Ex Libris will continue to support the broad selection of products their customers depend on and will enhance each company’s offerings, including Alma, Aleph, bX, Intota, Primo, Rosetta, SFX, SIPX, Summon, 360 Link, Voyager and the newly launched Leganto reading list solution and campusM mobile campus solution.

Read more on the ProQuest blog: http://bit.ly/ProQuestOct6

Bibliotheca announces purchase of 3M Library Systems

Bibliotheca has announced that their shareholders, One Equity Partners (OEP), have completed the purchase of 3M Library Systems North American business, and entered into agreements to purchase the assets of 3M’s remaining global Library Systems business. The new Bibliotheca Group will combine the best of both worlds to help libraries captivate their communities, providing innovative library-focused solutions that connect with people at home, at the library and on the go.

Going forward, Bibliotheca will combine with the former 3M Library Systems business and will transition it to a single Bibliotheca brand. The new Bibliotheca Group is committed to continued investment in products and staff and will continue to expand into new regions with innovation-led products.

The completed sale transfers 3M’s former North America Library business, including the security (EM), productivity (RFID & AMH) and cloud (eBooks) solutions, all of which will be joined with the existing Bibliotheca product set to create the single largest “best of breed” solution set globally.

Dr Simon Plankenhorn, Managing Director Bibliotheca Group commented: “Ever since the incorporation of the Bibliotheca Group in 2011 we have been focused on assembling the greatest team of people and the most innovative product set within the library industry. The news today brings together two strong businesses in the industry and makes Bibliotheca the most experienced and dedicated library company in the world. We are delighted to have concluded the deal and extremely excited to kick off the North America integration as soon as possible”.

Matt Tempelis, who joins Bibliotheca from 3M and was previously the 3M Library Systems business leader added, “We’re excited for the opportunity to create a company that can continue to deliver innovative, high quality products to libraries across the globe. The combined company has the scale needed to accelerate our product development pipeline. As before, we will continue to listen to the needs of our library customers while delivering the highest possible levels of service and quality that customers have expected”.

Bibliotheca: http://www.bibliotheca.com/

Demco acquires Boopsie

Demco, Inc., a leading library supplier, has announced the acquisition of Boopsie Inc., the leading mobile platform-as-a-service provider for libraries worldwide.

“We’re excited to add the Boopsie team and software platform to our global organization because their people, technology and user-centric approach are designed to deliver a superior experience for librarians and their patrons. Librarians want to engage more users and increase usage of digital resources and an app from Boopsie can help do both”, said Mike Grasee, Global Growth Officer of Demco. “Demco has served libraries for over 100 years, and we are pleased to help our customers innovate and reach more of their communities via a mobile platform loved and trusted by public libraries and corporations alike”.

“Demco’s resources, relationships and reach allow Boopsie to rapidly expand in large and small public library systems, as well as help fuel Boopsie’s recent successes in the academic, corporate and law library industries”, said Tony Medrano, President of Boopsie. “Our team is inspired to help Demco expand and serve libraries and citizens worldwide in the pursuit of lifelong learning and enrichment”.

Mobile apps are more critical than ever with research showing that 69 per cent of library patrons use them to access information. In addition, mobile device users tend to spend five times more time using apps than mobile browsers. Boopsie customers have seen that library apps have increased their digital resource usage by over 30 per cent, indicating that Boopsie library-branded apps can increase both access and usage of online materials and services.

Boopsie offers libraries mobile application tools (apps) that quickly and easily allow patrons access to all of the library’s online resources from their smartphone or tablet. In addition to catalogued data and resources, 60 per cent of the information provided is non-catalogued data such as library locations, programs, calendars, online third-party databases, access to social media sites and more. All of this information can be customized to fit the branding of each library and offers seamless integration to the library’s ILS system and all of their e-content platforms.

Because many libraries continue to deal with growing diversity within their communities, Boopsie apps have a multi-lingual feature. Users can simply toggle between languages allowing them to engage with their library resources in their native language. Boopsie has made it simple for libraries to measure the utilization of their Web applications through available statistics that identify the services that their customers are using.

This acquisition comes at a time when many libraries are looking for new ways to increase services via information technology and better engage their communities. As technology becomes increasingly important to the future of libraries, the acquisition of Boopsie provides the opportunity for Demco to offer further services and improve existing offerings to their broad base of customers.

Tony Medrano will continue to lead Boopsie as President, with operations continuing from their offices in Sunnyvale and San Diego, CA. The acquisition, made via Demco’s parent organization, was completed September 30.

More about Demco, Inc.: http://ideas.demco.com/

More about Boopsie, Inc.: http://www.boopsie.com/

NavApp provides mobile navigation, collaborative content for the University of Oklahoma libraries system

Aruba Networks, an HP company, has announced that the University of Oklahoma (OU) has deployed Aruba Beacons and the Aruba Meridian Mobile App Platform to deliver a new mobile app that helps students, faculty and visitors navigate the OU Libraries, exhibits and other Norman Campus landmarks. The OU NavApp provides turn-by-turn directions and location-based and educational content for more than one million visits annually.

Following a successful proof of concept in the library’s Peggy V. Helmerich Collaborative Learning Center – a unique and popular technology space OU created – the University decided to expand its deployment to its entire seven-floor, 400,000 square foot OU Libraries system as well as other highly-visited attractions on campus including The National Weather Center, Fred Jones Museum and Sam Noble Natural History Museum.

The OU Libraries is the largest research library in the state of Oklahoma and is renowned for its rich portfolio of historical books and special history of science collections. In addition to providing traditional library services to students and faculty, OU’s Bizzell Memorial Library is the site of a Galileo’s World exhibit that begins August 2015 and runs through 2016. The OU Bizzell Library was chosen to host this exhibit because it possesses a complete and rare set of first edition Galileo publications from sixteenth-century Italy, some of which even contain Galileo’s own handwriting in the margins.

With its extensive collections including 17,000 linear feet of manuscripts and archives, more than one million photographs and more than a million maps, as well as its unique collaborative learning center, the OU Libraries is a popular destination for students, faculty and visitors. However, as Matthew Cook, Emerging Technologies Librarian for OU explained, it can be complicated to navigate.

“It’s an intimidating building, especially for first-time users, which include many of our incoming freshmen, and it’s a bit obscure. The resources and services are not immediately apparent when you walk in the front door”, Cook said. “With the beacons and mobile app, we can now leverage the technology that’s already in our freshmen’s pockets – their mobile devices – to combine the offline and online experience and guide them between resources. Essentially, these solutions let us tap into and better serve the needs of this growing #GenMobile generation of user”.

OU deployed Aruba Beacons and used the Meridian Mobile App Platform to design their interactive, feature-rich NavApp, which is available for both Android and iOS. Cook explained that when users who have downloaded the app enter the OU Libraries system, their experience is truly transformed. The app is organized by type of user – student, faculty or visitor – so that users can quickly and easily find the information and resources most relevant to them.

The app provides a map and turn-by-turn navigation for every publicly accessible area along with all of the physical resources, so users can easily find their way through the buildings and locate resources, gallery exhibits, restrooms and elevators. Cook noted that OU relies on the accessibility features built into the Meridian Mobile App Platform so they can provide users with disabilities the easiest route to elevators, for example, or during a storm, guide students using the library to the safest location. Said Cook, “Beyond the obvious convenience and efficiency the app brings our users, there’s a safety and security element as well”.

“We have the content in place and the navigation is working beautifully” said Cook. “Now we need to monitor the number of users downloading the app to determine how successful it is, ultimately, and how much further we can expand the deployment”.

OU libraries’ NavApp: https://libraries.ou.edu/NavApp

Watch a video of the NavApp in action: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTpuYP1of1I

To learn more about Aruba: http://www.arubanetworks.com

IMLS award to improve library E-Content and E-Book borrowing

A new investment of the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) will help libraries provide more e-books and make them more accessible to the public. With the IMLS award of $1,372,154, The New York Public Library, in close collaboration with the Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) and 19 partner libraries and library consortia from across the country, will further a project called Library E-content Access Project (LEAP). LEAP will expand and provide outreach for the Library Simplified e-content reader app and unify and improve the e-book borrowing and reading experience for library patrons across the country.

The project expands work begun in 2013 with an earlier IMLS grant for the development of the Library Simplified reader and resources. It also supports the Open eBooks initiative, an effort to make popular e-books from major publishers available at no-cost to children from low-income families.

With the IMLS award and additional matching funds of $1,372,154, the project partners will work to:

• expand the functionality of the Library Simplified e-content reader application, available soon on several platforms;

• share a remediated public domain library of e-books that can be served through Library Simplified or other existing interfaces;

• develop critical technology components needed to support the first year of Open eBooks including customization of the Library Simplified application so that it can be configured to support users of the Open eBooks collection; and

• create technical and sustainability plans for a library e-content exchange and the infrastructure to support of a future implementation of the exchange.

Funding for this project is part of the $5 million IMLS investment in support of the Open eBooks initiative, which supports the development of the e-reader app, as well as tools and services to help the public more easily access e-books and other digital content. The project directly supports technology development and implementation of Open eBooks.

“This award helps pave the way for a fundamental advancement in access to library e-books and e-resources”, said IMLS Acting Director Maura Marx. “It also upholds the broader IMLS strategy priority of supporting a National Digital Platform by enhancing open source software tools for use by public library systems across the country”.

The library implementation partners that plan to implement the Library Simplified application at their institution and participate in convening activities are: Alameda County Library, Boston Public Library, Brooklyn Public Library, Chattanooga Public Library, Chicago Public Library, Cincinnati Public Library, Kent District Library, Nashville Public Library, Queens Library, and Twinsburg Public Library.

The consortia hosting partners that plan to pilot a Library Content Exchange at their library networks or consortia and participate in convening activities are: Amigos Library Services, representing more than 600 special, public and academic libraries in 21 states across the USA; Califa, representing more than 220 member libraries across California; Colorado Library Consortium (CLIC), providing services to more than 350 Colorado libraries; Contra Costa County Library, a system of 29 libraries in the San Francisco Bay area; Douglas County, a system of 7 libraries in Douglas County, Colorado; Marmot Library Network, representing 30 special, public, and academic libraries in Colorado; Massachusetts Library System, representing more than 1,700 libraries across Massachusetts; NC Live, a consortium of more than 200 North Carolina public and academic libraries; and Reaching Across Illinois Library System (RAILS), representing more than 1,300 private, public and academic library members in northern and western Illinois.

Full press release: http://www.imls.gov/news-events/news-releases/imls-award-improve-library-e-content-and-e-book-borrowing

More about Library Simplified: http://www.librarysimplified.org/

Electronic laboratory notebooks: project briefing from CNI Spring 2015 meeting

Alan Wolf, Assistant Chief Information Officer for Advanced Computing, and Jan Cheetham, Research and Instructional Technologies Consultant, University of Wisconsin-Madison presented the project briefing “Electronic laboratory notebooks: more than notes”, at the CNI Spring 2015 Membership Meeting, April 13-14, 2015.

After a number of years experimenting with and evaluating Electronic Lab Notebooks (ELN), the University of Wisconsin-Madison rolled out an ELN service to campus researchers in the fall of 2014. The ELN service is one of UW-Madison’s first enterprise tools that is specifically designed to manage data coming from research labs. The University’s implementation is firmly grounded in the campus data stewardship policy, which requires the full knowledge and control of data in the system by the principal investigator of the research. While this slows adoption rate, it has introduced many opportunities for educating researchers about data management practices and for gaining insight into how research data are recorded and documented in campus laboratories. The ELN represents a substantial step forward in stewardship of research data, but there is still much to be learned about the longevity of digital notebook records: which formats best preserve the record of discovery, how to archive attached data files and what approach will enable researchers to move seamlessly from active work on a project and its data to creating an archive of the work. As more institutions adopt ELNs as a part of their data management strategy, the presenters wish to begin a discussion of ELN implementation and preservation at a national level.

Electronic laboratory notebooks at UW-Madison: http://eln.wisc.edu

Watch video of the project briefing: http://www.cni.org/video-electronic-lab-notebooks-2/

NISO primer on research data management launches new primer series

The National Information Standards Organization (NISO) has launched a new Primer Series on information management technology issues with the publication of the first primer on the topic of Research Data Management. Two more primers on the topics of Understanding Metadata and Linked Data for Cultural Institutions will be released in coming months, with additional Primers to be published periodically.

The primer on Research Data Management provides an overview of how data management has changed in recent years, and outlines best practices for the collection, documentation and preservation of research data. The importance of creating a data management plan (DMP) before beginning a research data project is emphasized. Crucial questions regarding how the data will be managed are answered ahead of time in a DMP, thus making it easier for the researcher to collect and document the data properly for future use and reuse. Creating research data that are easily reproducible and transparent is the ultimate goal, and following the guidelines in this primer can help educate researchers to ensure their data are available for others. The differences between publishing papers and publishing datasets and the citation challenges the data community are working on solving are also discussed.

“Research in all domains is seeing an increasing prevalence of data-driven research and an influx of diverse data sources and analysis methods”, says Carly Strasser, author of this primer. “Data management is therefore an emerging concern for researchers. This primer provides a high-level overview of research data management, and is intended to be useful across domains”.

This primer on Research Data Management and the forthcoming primers on Understanding Metadata and Linked Data for Cultural Institutions are introductory documents on these important topics relating to information management for those new to our community or for those who just need a summary understanding of these issues. The NISO Primer series will be freely available and licensed for reuse under a Creative Commons-BY-NC 4.0 license.

“Meant to provide insight and instruction to researchers collecting data, these primers discuss the latest developments in research data and the new tools, best practices, and resources now available”, says Todd Carpenter, NISO Executive Director. “Providing basic information to the wider community about NISO’s activities is a critical component of our work as an organization. We seek to serve not only those who are deeply versed with technology in our community, but those who are starting out as well”.

The NISO Primer on Research Data Management is available as a free download from the NISO website at: http://www.niso.org/publications/press/researchdata/

Building expertise to support digital scholarship: new study report from CLIR

A new report from the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) sheds light on the expertise required to support a robust and sustainable digital scholarship (DS) program. The authors of this report, Vivian Lewis, Lisa Spiro, Xuemao Wang, and Jon E. Cawthorne, focus first on defining and describing the key domain knowledge, skills, competencies and mindsets at some of the world’s most prominent digital scholarship programs. The report then identifies the main strategies used to build this expertise, both formally and informally. The work is set in a global context, examining 16 leading digital scholarship organizations in China, India, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, Germany, Mexico, Canada and the USA. The report provides recommendations to help those currently involved in or considering embarking on a digital scholarship program.

Building Expertise to Support Digital Scholarship: A Global Perspective is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. This is a Web-only report – it is not available in print.

Download the full report: http://www.clir.org/pubs/reports/pub168/pub168

New PatentsView tool allows exploration of 40 years of patent data

The US Department of Commerce’s US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has launched PatentsView, a new patent data visualization platform. The PatentsView beta search tool allows members of the public to interact with nearly 40 years of data on patenting activity in the USA.

PatentsView allows users explore technological, regional and individual-level patent trends via search filters with multiple viewing options. The database links inventors, their organizations, locations and overall patenting activity using enhanced 1976-2014 data from public USPTO bulk data files.

“As America’s Innovation Agency, the USPTO is the public steward of a tremendous treasure trove of data of great value to present and future innovators, business leaders and policy makers”, said Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO Michelle K. Lee. “We are always working to improve the discoverability, accessibility, and usability of the USPTO’s valuable patent and trademark information”.

PatentsView is a critical element of the President’s Memorandum on Transparency and Open Government. Anyone can use PatentsView to examine the dynamics of inventor patenting activity over time and space while exploring patent technologies, assignees, citation patterns and co-inventor networks. The visualization platform encourages the study and understanding of the intellectual property (IP) and innovation system; serves as a fundamental function of the government in creating “public good” platforms in these data; and eliminates wasteful and redundant cleaning, converting and matching of data by many individual researchers. PatentsView frees up researcher time to allow them to focus on what they do best – studying IP, innovation and technological change.

Development of PatentsView began in 2012 as collaboration between the USPTO, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Center for the Science of Science and Innovation Policy, the University of California at Berkeley, Twin Arch Technologies, the American Institutes for Research (AIR) and Periscopic. The beta platform will continue to evolve and expand, with public input encouraged as development moves forward.

PatentsView: http://www.patentsview.org/

New release of open-source document image viewer: Diva.js 4.0, with IIIF support

Andrew Hankinson, Project lead, has announced a new version of the open-source document image viewer, Diva.js. Diva is especially suited for use in archival book digitization initiatives where viewing high-resolution images is a crucial part of the user experience. Using Diva, libraries, archives and museums can present high-resolution document page images in a user-friendly “instant-on” interface that has been optimized for speed and flexibility.

The new version 4.0 introduces support for the International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF). Through IIIF, Diva becomes part of a larger movement to enhance archival image collections through promoting sharing of these resources.

Version 4.0 also introduces the “Book Layout” view, presenting document images as openings or facing pages. This will provide users with a valuable way of visualizing document openings, providing more tools for viewing and understanding the structure of a digitized document.

Other improvements in 4.0 include:

• Improved integration with existing web applications.

• New plugins: Autoscroll (animated page scrolling), Page Alias (pages may have multiple identifiers), IIIF Metadata (displays document metadata from IIIF manifest), IIIF Highlight (displays annotations from a IIIF manifest).

• Improved build system with Gulp.

• Support for switching documents without reloading the viewer.

• Numerous bug fixes and optimizations.

Diva.js is developed by the Distributed Digital Music Archives and Libraries laboratory, part of the Music Technology Area of the Schulich School of Music at McGill University, and is funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

Several demos of Diva.js are available at: http://ddmal.github.io/diva.js/try/

For more information and documentation: https://github.com/ddmal/diva.js/wiki

Alliance for Open Media established to deliver next-generation open media formats

Seven leading Internet companies have announced formation of the Alliance for Open Media, an open-source project that will develop next-generation media formats, codecs and technologies in the public interest. The Alliance’s founding members are Amazon, Cisco, Google, Intel Corporation, Microsoft, Mozilla and Netflix. The new Alliance is committing its collective technology and expertise to meet growing Internet demand for top-quality video, audio, imagery and streaming across devices of all kinds and for users worldwide.

Among the Alliance’s goals is the creation of a new, high-quality open video format that improves core media experiences for all. The initial focus is to deliver a next-generation video format that is:

• interoperable and open;

• optimized for the Web;

• scalable to any modern device at any bandwidth;

• designed with a low computational footprint and optimized for hardware;

• capable of consistent, highest-quality, real-time video delivery; and

• flexible for both commercial and non-commercial content, including user-generated content.

This initial project will create a new, open royalty-free video codec specification based on the contributions of members, along with binding specifications for media format, content encryption and adaptive streaming, thereby creating opportunities for next-generation media experiences.

“Customer expectations for media delivery continue to grow, and fulfilling their expectations requires the concerted energy of the entire ecosystem”, said Gabe Frost, the Alliance for Open Media’s Executive Director. “The Alliance for Open Media brings together the leading experts in the entire video stack to work together in pursuit of open, royalty-free and interoperable solutions for the next generation of video delivery”.

Additional information on the Alliance, including how to join, will be available later in 2015.

The Alliance for Open Media is a project of the Joint Development Foundation, an independent non-profit organization that provides the corporate and legal infrastructure to enable groups to establish and operate standards and source code development collaborations.

Alliance for Open Media: http://aomedia.org/

VRA Core RDF ontology available for review

The VRA Core is a data standard for the description of works of visual culture as well as the images that document them. The standard is hosted by the Network Development and MARC Standards Office of the Library of Congress (LC) in partnership with the Visual Resources Association (VRA). A taskforce set up through the VRA Core Oversight Committee (Core OC) has released an initial draft of a VRA Core RDF (Resource Description Framework) Ontology. Comments and questions are welcomed.

The RDF Ontology is based on the Core 4.0 XML Schema and is available along with an XLST stylesheet that will convert VRA Core 4.0 compliant XML in RDF. Representing a VRA Core description in RDF allows for exposing rich VRA Core metadata as Linked Data, so that the descriptions may be widely shared and interact with other Linked Data resources on the Web, such as the ongoing project to release the Getty Vocabularies as linked open data. Together, these tools will allow museums, libraries and archives to increase exposure of their content online, allowing people to more easily find relevant images of cultural heritage objects, sites and subjects.

Taskforce members are: Jeff Mixter, Software Engineer, OCLC; Rebecca Guenther, Metadata Specialist at Rebecca Guenther Consulting; Trish Rose-Sandler, Data Analyst, Center for Biodiversity Informatics, Missouri Botanical Garden; Michael Dulock, Metadata Librarian, University of Colorado Boulder Libraries; and Esme Cowles, Software Engineer, UC San Diego Libraries.

The Ontology, XSLT conversion stylesheet, and example records can be found on GitHub at: https://github.com/mixterj/VRA-RDF-Project

The ontology can be viewed at: http://purl.org/vra/

VRA Core Schemas and Documentation (Library of Congress Official Site): http://www.loc.gov/standards/vracore/

Google Analytics in digital libraries: DLF Assessment Interest Group releases white paper

The Digital Library Federation (DLF) Assessment Interest Group (AIG) Analytics working group first formed in the fall of 2014 following the successful launch of the larger DLF AIG and the DLF Fall forum. In December 2014, the DLF AIG Analytics working group set out to draft recommendations for using Web analytics for assessment in digital libraries. The group eventually decided to scope their efforts around a subset of the metrics in the widely adopted Google Analytics service.

Over the past year, the Analytics working group of the DLF Assessment Interest Group has been at work researching and authoring the white paper, “Best Practices for Google Analytics in Digital Libraries”. The purpose of this white paper is to provide digital libraries with guidelines that maximize the effectiveness and relevance of data collected through the Google Analytics service for assessment purposes. The guidelines open with a literature review, and include theoretical and structural methods for approaching analytics data gathering, examples of platform specific implementation considerations, Google Analytics set-up tips and terminology, as well as recommended resources for learning more about Web analytics. The paper recommends tracking 14 specific metrics within Google Analytics, and provides library-centric examples of how to employ the resulting data in making decisions and setting institutional goals and priorities.

The final draft of the white paper is now available, linked from the Analytics working group wiki page. The DLF Assessment Interest Group Analytics working group looks forward to receiving feedback and additional examples of using the recommended metrics for digital library assessment activities.

The white paper was authored by:

• Molly Bragg (Co-coordinator of the Analytics Working Group), Duke University Libraries.

• Joyce Chapman (Co-coordinator of the Analytics Working Group), Duke University Libraries.

• Jody DeRidder, University of Alabama Libraries.

• Rita Johnston, University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

• Ranti Junus, Michigan State University.

• Martha Kyrillidou, Association of Research Libraries.

• Eric Stedfeld, New York University.

The white paper research will be presented at the DLF Forum 2015 session: “Collaborative Efforts to Develop Best Practices in Assessment: A Progress Report” on October 26, 2015.

Read “Best Practices for Google Analytics in Digital Libraries” on Google docs: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1QmiLJEZXGAY-s7BG_nyF6EUAqcyH0mhQ7j2VPpLpxCQ/

DLF AIG Analytics working group wiki: http://wiki.diglib.org/Assessment:Analytics