New & Noteworthy

Citation

(2011), "New & Noteworthy", Library Hi Tech News, Vol. 28 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/lhtn.2011.23928daa.001

New & Noteworthy

Article Type: New & Noteworthy From: Library Hi Tech News, Volume 28, Issue 4

Indiana University and University of Illinois launch HathiTrust Research Center

The world’s great libraries and archives use specially designed rooms, cases and vaults to protect and organize books and records so they may continue to be studied and understood for years to come. As an ever-increasing amount of our cultural record is created and stored digitally, we face the new challenge of how to ensure our digital cultural archives are easily accessible – both to contemporary researchers and those working long in the future.

A new collaborative research center launched jointly by Indiana University and the University of Illinois, along with the HathiTrust Digital Repository, will help to meet this challenge by developing cutting-edge software tools and cyberinfrastructure to enable advanced computational access to the growing digital record of human knowledge.

The HathiTrust Research Center (HTRC) will enable open access for nonprofit and educational users to published works in the public domain (as well as limited access to works under copyright) stored within HathiTrust, an extensive collaborative digital library of more than eight million volumes and two billion pages of archived material maintained by major research institutions and libraries worldwide.

Leveraging data storage infrastructure at Indiana University and computational resources at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the HTRC will provision a secure computational and data environment for scholars to perform research using the HathiTrust Digital Repository. The center will break new ground in the areas of text mining and non-consumptive research, allowing scholars to fully utilize content of the HathiTrust Library while preventing intellectual property misuse within the confines of current US copyright law.

“The HTRC partnership combines expertise and resources of two of the nation’s foremost research universities to build a first-of-its-kind center for advanced analysis of the HathiTrust corpus,” says John Wilkin, executive director of HathiTrust:

Prior to this collaboration, computational analysis over the vast HathiTrust collection has been difficult. HTRC promises to ease computational analysis of the texts and promote new algorithmic development and discovery.

Contributing partners in HTRC at Indiana University include: the Pervasive Technology Institute – Data to Insight Center (D2I); Office of the Vice-President for Information Technology; Office of the Vice Provost for Research; and IU Libraries. At University of Illinois contributing partners include: the Illinois Center for Computing in the Humanities, Arts, and Social Science (I-CHASS); Illinois Informatics Institute; and National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA). Each of the founding partners in the HTRC team brings extensive and highly regarded expertise in the areas of applied cyberinfrastructure, digital humanities, computer science, informatics, library science, and virtual organizations:

In sponsoring this important research utility, Indiana University and the University of Illinois are furthering the important collaborative research activities that have been enabled through the creation of the HathiTrust, an organization now over 50 member libraries strong (Brenda Johnson, Ruth Lilly Dean of Libraries at Indiana University).

Providing outreach and engagement for the digitally engaged scholar will be of prime importance to the HTRC and will further enrich collection building and enhance access methodologies for the HathiTrust Digital Library.

NCSA is excited to play a role in this project. We believe that bringing information technology and cyberinfrastructure, as well as the expertise of information technology specialists, to bear on challenges in the humanities will yield important advances (NCSA Director Thom Dunning).

The HTRC project will be led by an executive committee that includes principal investigators Beth Plale, D2I director and professor in the School of Informatics and Computing at Indiana University; and Scott Poole, I-CHASS director and professor in the Department of Communication; along with Robert McDonald, Indiana University associate dean of libraries; and John Unsworth, interim director of the Illinois Informatics Institute and dean of the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at the University of Illinois.

For more information about the HathiTrust: www.hathitrust.org

Text Creation Partnership makes eighteenth-century texts freely available to the public

The University of Michigan Library has announced the opening to the public of 2,231 searchable keyed-text editions of books from Eighteenth Century Collections Online (ECCO). ECCO is an important research database that includes every significant English-language and foreign-language title printed in the UK during the eighteenth century, along with thousands of important works from the Americas. ECCO contains more than 32 million pages of text and over 205,000 individual volumes, all fully searchable. ECCO is published by Gale, part of Cengage Learning.

The Text Creation Partnership (TCP) produced the 2,231 keyed texts in collaboration with Gale, which provided page images for keying and is permitting the release of the keyed texts in support of the library’s commitment to the creation of open access cultural heritage archives. Gale has been a generous partner, according to Maria Bonn, Associate University Librarian for Publishing: “Gale’s support for the TCP’s ECCO project will enhance the research experience for eighteenth century scholars and students around the world.”

This announcement marks another milestone for the TCP, a partnership between the University of Michigan and Oxford University, which since 1999 has collaborated with scholars, commercial publishers, and university libraries to produce scholar-ready (that is, TEI-compliant, SGML/XML enhanced) text editions of works from digital image collections, including ECCO, Early English Books Online (EEBO) from ProQuest, and Evans Early American Imprint from Readex. More than 125 libraries participate in the TCP, as does the Joint Information Systems (JISC), which represents many British libraries and educational institutions.

The TCP has also just published 4,180 texts from the second phase of its EEBO project, having already converted 25,355 books in its first phase, leaving 39,000 yet to be keyed and encoded. For a limited period, the EEBO-TCP digital editions are available only to subscribers –ten years from their initial release –as per TCP’s agreement with the publisher. Eventually, all TCP-created titles will be freely available to scholars, researchers, and readers everywhere under the Creative Commons Public Domain Mark.

Paul Courant, University Librarian and Dean of Libraries, says that large projects such as those undertaken by the TCP are only possible when the full range of library, scholarly, and publishing resources are brought together. “The TCP illustrates the dynamic role played by today’s academic research library in encouraging library collaboration, forging public/private partnerships, and ensuring open access to our shared cultural and scholarly record.”

To learn more about the TCP, visit: www.lib.umich.edu/tcp

JHOVE2 version 2.0.0 released

The JHOVE2 project team has released the 2.0.0 version of the open source software on the project’s Mercurial source code repository at BitBucket. JHOVE2 is open source software for format-aware characterization of digital objects.

JHOVE2 analyzes digital objects with these questions: what is it? (identification); What about it? (feature extraction); what is it, really? (validation); and so what? (assessment).

The original JHOVE characterization framework is widely used by international digital library programs and preservation repositories. During the course of its extensive use over the past four years, however, a number of limitations imposed by idiosyncrasies of design and implementation have been identified. With funding from the Library of Congress under its National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program, the California Digital Library, Portico, and Stanford University are collaborating on a two year project to develop and deploy a next-generation architecture providing enhanced performance, streamlined APIs, and significant new features. The JHOVE2 project generalizes the concept of format characterization to include identification, validation, feature extraction, and policy-based assessment. The target of this characterization is not a simple digital file, but a (potentially) complex digital object that may be instantiated in multiple files.

Release 2.0.0 supports, all the major technical objectives of the project, including a more sophisticated, modular architecture; signature-based file identification; policy-based assessment of objects; recursive characterization of objects comprising aggregate files and files arbitrarily nested in containers; and extensive configuration and reporting options. It provides a stabile interface against which developers can code new format modules.

Format modules included in this release are:

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  ICC color profiles.

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  SGML.

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  Shapefile.

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  TIFF.

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  UTF-8.

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  WAVE.

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  XML.

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  ZIP.

Please note that the ZIP module comprises a non-validating partial module, which accomplishes recursive JHOVE2 descent on the contents of the ZIP file, but does not yet validate the ZIP file itself against the standard.

Modules to be delivered in future releases include:

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  ARC (developed by BnF/Atos).

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  Gzip (developed by BnF/Atos).

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  NetCDF (provided by Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research) PDF.

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  JPEG-2000.

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  PDF.

More information on JHOVE2: http://jhove2.org/

JHOVE2 project wiki: http://bitbucket.org/jhove2/main

VuDL: open source Digital Library Administration, alpha launch

In April 2011, the Technology Development team at Villanova University’s Falvey Memorial Library announced the official alpha launch of their open source digital library management software, VuDL. With VuDL, you can store, manipulate, display, and make discoverable your digital collections.

Most digital library software packages are targeted at either small/specific collections or very large/very complicated collections. The former may not have the functionality to describe your objects properly; the latter, too many options, and therefore needless complexity. VuDL is designed to be somewhere in the middle: flexible enough to describe different ranges of objects, while small enough to diminish technical overhead.

The simple-to-use Digital Library Administration application is powered by all open source technologies, and provides a METS metadata editor, service image generation tools, XML database repository, and a built-in OAI server.

The core of VuDL’s application is powered by Orbeon Forms, a powerful XML/XForms processor. eXist (a native XML database) and the server’s file system combine to support the data and image repository. VuDL’s public interface is powered by VuFind (http://vufind.org), an open source discovery layer developed and managed by Villanova University. VuFind is currently in use in academic and research libraries in 12 countries, including the National Library of Australia and the London School of Economics.

VuDL is offered for free through the GPL open source license. For more information and to download the software, visit: www.vudl.org

Koha 3.4.0 released

Koha is the first free and open source software library automation package (ILS). Development is sponsored by libraries of varying types and sizes, volunteers, and support companies from around the world.

The Koha development team has announced the release of Koha 3.4.0. Koha 3.4.0 is a major feature release that contains major changes to underlying architecture (adoption of Template::Toolkit for templating) and performance enhancements (removal of item data from biblio records).

These changes, in addition to the inclusion of many new features, mean a lot of new strings for translators to translate. For these reasons, the development team recommends that people who are already running Koha in production delay their upgrade until 3.4.1, due May 22, 2011, to give the translators time to finish, and for the removing of item data to be streamlined. Those who do wish to upgrade are urged to read the UPGRADE section of the INSTALL document.

Release 3.4.0 includes improvements in many functional areas, including acquisitions, administration, cataloging, circulation, online catalog, reports, searching, serials management, staff interface, and more.

Koha project web site: http://koha-community.org/

Innovative announces Sierra $ervices Platform development

At the April 2011 Innovative Users Group Annual Conference, Neil Block, President of Innovative Interfaces, publicly announced a new strategic ILS direction for the company and the development of the Sierra Services Platform. Providing complete ILS functionality with the power and scale of modern software architecture and built on a foundation of “open services,” Sierra will provide all the benefits of proven, stable business logic and integrated resource management on which thousands of libraries rely. At the same time, Sierra is designed with flexibility built into meet changing needs of libraries and their users. Several fundamental aspects of the philosophy driving Sierra development include.

Open access: innovative is committed to providing open access to key workflow and data in Sierra. Open source tools like the PostgreSQL database and Lucene™ keyword engine give users and developers a familiar manner to interact with Sierra. In addition, Sierra will have a comprehensive library of APIs for third-party and library-developed applications, as well as tools to facilitate interaction with web properties and social networking sites.

Trusted workflow: innovative’s seamless information access and fully-functional workflow/business logic empowers better decisions and operational efficiencies. Sierra is built on a foundation of complete integrated resource management and offers enhanced e-resource/e-book support.

Library choice: Sierra gives libraries the freedom to decide how and when they implement new functionality. Libraries can choose from Innovative-developed products, write their own custom applications, or share software among other Sierra libraries. In a services-based approach, each library decides what works in its best interest.

Local or cloud-based deployment: services-based design provides flexibility in how to deploy Sierra. Options include private-cloud and locally sited implementations.

Accelerated device adoption: with Sierra, libraries can quickly connect with technologies more easily than ever before. With discrete software layers for application logic and presentation processing, adding or updating applications becomes a much simpler task.

Response to changing demands: a certainty about libraries is that they will change in the coming years in response to changing demands. Users are increasingly looking for resources from their homes, dorms, or classrooms rather than simply going to the library. They want to interact with the library from their desktops, laptops, mobile phones, and now, tablets. While more and more patrons are moving to electronic media, many still prefer to utilize physical materials. In response, libraries are finding new ways to connect to their patrons and deliver services and materials in the manner patrons most need. Sierra is proof of innovative’s commitment to working alongside libraries.

Planned migration path: careful consideration has been given to planning the migration of existing millennium libraries. Jerry Kline, Chairman of Innovative Interfaces, states:

We’ve been working very hard to ensure that the transition to Sierra will be as trouble-free as possible. Most importantly, 100% of Millennium functionality will be available to Sierra libraries, so Millennium libraries will see no loss of functionality when they migrate.

For libraries using other ILS systems, innovative’s professional services team will design, deploy, and scale a solution that fits the specific needs of the library including new services and training programs tailored to Sierra.

Neil Block, President of Innovative Interfaces, comments that “Sierra development has been underway for some time with many of the technical underpinnings already in place.” Each release will offer a combination of open services and enhanced staff functionality. The initial release – scheduled for late 2011 – will be a major foundational release that includes exposure of the industry-compliant PostgreSQL database and Lucene index structures, as well as a new integrated staff application that simplifies the routine functions and provides a single interface from which critical library functions can be managed. The new application has an easy to use, attractive user interface optimized for library staff.

Subsequent releases will include enhanced e-workflow functionality, continued API development, and the release of a thin web application.

In conjunction with the functionality and services development that is underway, Sierra will also provide opportunities to engage library-developers in new ways. The Sierra roadmap includes specific deliverables to address opportunities to engage library-developers such as a Developer Sandbox and Developer’s Community.

Innovative Interfaces Inc.: www.iii.com

Bibliotheca Inc. and Integrated Technology Group (ITG) announce merger

Bibliotheca Inc., based in Huntsville, AL, and ITG, headquartered in Norcross, Georgia will join forces to develop and supply flow management technology solutions for library materials. The new company, Bibliotheca ITG, will be backed financially by one equity partners, a division of JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Operations in the USA and Canada, where both companies are well established, as well as Latin America, where ITG has recently undertaken initiatives, will be based in Atlanta and directed by Shai Robkin, Bibliotheca ITG’s Managing Director:

The combination of these two experienced and innovative companies brings to their existing and future customers an unparalleled depth and breadth of product development and support. As a result, libraries will reap tremendous benefits from the synergies that the merger creates (Robkin).

Matthias Joos, CEO of Bibliotheca Group, adds:

The merger with ITG now establishes us as the premier RFID solutions provider here in America and further strengthens our international footprint. Our customers will benefit from this merger through even wider choices of great products and solutions that enable them to run an innovative, efficient and modern library.

Bibliotheca ITG provides self-checkout, media security, RFID, and automated materials handling solutions for libraries of all sizes. Current Bibliotheca and ITG products will continue to be developed and supported. Over the course of the coming months, new features will be incorporated into the current solutions as well as altogether new products that will be available for the first time to both Bibliotheca and ITG customers.

For more information, visit: www.bibliotheca-itg.com/

Ingram and O’Reilly Media create total inventory management publishing model

Ingram Content Group Inc. and O’Reilly Media have announced a groundbreaking total inventory management initiative that integrates O’Reilly Media’s technology content with Ingram’s worldwide print, distribution, and inventory management solutions.

Through the use of real-time consumer demand, retail inventory requirements and demand forecasting, the new initiative will allow O’Reilly to take advantage of Ingram’s total distribution solution, which combines print-on-demand and a worldwide distribution network.

The program enables O’Reilly to shift from a traditional inventory and capital intensive business model to an on-demand program that selects the most timely and cost effective method to print and distribute books, allowing consumers full and immediate access to all of O’Reilly’s titles. O’Reilly is now able to increase their title and channel availability, substantially reduce inventory, free up resources to invest in content development and increase revision speed, keeping the most relevant content available in the market.

“Working with Ingram, we are one step closer to our vision of always available, always relevant, and always in stock,” said Laura Baldwin, President, O’Reilly Media:

With the enormous change we are experiencing in the industry, the traditional models of publishing no longer make financial sense. To be able to grow our publishing program while at the same time lowering our costs is a huge leap forward.

To compete in today’s market where consumers demand content when, where, and how they want it, publishers are facing resource decisions unlike any before. By offering complementary and integrated services that cover traditional book distribution, digital distribution, inventory management, and a full range of printing services, Ingram offers publishers like O’Reilly, a competitive advantage and the tools to better serve their customers:

As Ingram Content Group has transformed from a traditional wholesaler to a publisher services provider, we’ve demonstrated that by combining our key competencies – print on demand and physical and digital distribution – we can literally change the financial model for a publisher (David “Skip” Prichard, President, and CEO, Ingram Content Group).

Through strategic discussions, we are creating new models with forward thinking publishers like O’Reilly, who realize they can benefit from Ingram’s continued investment in the newest print and distribution technologies to better focus on content creation and repositioning their businesses for the future.

O’Reilly Media: http://oreilly.com/

Ingram Content Group Inc.: www.ingramcontent.com/

Amazon announces library lending for Kindle books

Amazon has announced Kindle Library Lending, a new feature launching later this year that will allow Kindle customers to borrow Kindle books from over 11,000 libraries in the USA. Kindle Library Lending will be available for all generations of Kindle devices and free Kindle reading apps.

“We’re excited that millions of Kindle customers will be able to borrow Kindle books from their local libraries,” said Jay Marine, Director, Amazon Kindle:

Customers tell us they love Kindle for its Pearl e-ink display that is easy to read even in bright sunlight, up to a month of battery life, and Whispersync technology that synchronizes notes, highlights and last page read between their Kindle and free Kindle apps.

Customers will be able to check out a Kindle book from their local library and start reading on any Kindle device or free Kindle app for Android, iPad, iPod touch, iPhone, PC, Mac, BlackBerry, or Windows Phone. If a Kindle book is checked out again or that book is purchased from Amazon, all of a customer’s annotations and bookmarks will be preserved.

“We’re doing a little something extra here,” Marine continued:

We’re extending our Whispersync technology so that you can highlight and add margin notes to Kindle books you check out from your local library. Your notes will not show up when the next patron checks out the book. But if you check out the book again, or subsequently buy it, your notes will be there just as you left them, perfectly Whispersynced.

With Kindle Library Lending, customers can take advantage of all of the unique features of Kindle and Kindle books, including:

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  paper-like Pearl electronic-ink display;

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  no glare even in bright sunlight;

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  lighter than a paperback – weighs just 8.5 ounces and holds up to 3,500 books;

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  up to one month of battery life with wireless off;

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  read everywhere with free Kindle apps for Android, iPad, iPod touch, iPhone, PC, Mac, BlackBerry, and Windows Phone;

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  whispersync technology wirelessly sync your books, notes, highlights, and last page read across Kindle and free Kindle reading apps; and

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  real page numbers – easily reference passages with page numbers that correspond to actual print editions.

Amazon is working with OverDrive, a provider of digital content solutions for over 11,000 public and educational libraries in the USA, to bring a seamless library borrowing experience to Kindle customers. “We are excited to be working with Amazon to offer Kindle Library Lending to the millions of customers who read on Kindle and Kindle apps,” said Steve Potash, CEO, OverDrive. “We hear librarians and patrons rave about Kindle, so we are thrilled that we can be part of bringing library books to the unparalleled experience of reading on Kindle.”

Kindle Library Lending will be available later this year for Kindle and free Kindle app users.

Learn more about Kindle: www.amazon.com/kindle

BlackBerry app from overdrive enables direct library ebook downloads

Public, school, and college libraries now provide direct EPUB eBook downloads on BlackBerry^® mobile devices with the free OverDrive^® Media Console™ app for BlackBerry. Users at more than 13,000 libraries worldwide can wirelessly download and enjoy EPUB eBooks, as well as MP3 audiobooks, on their BlackBerry devices. Libraries offer best-selling titles, such as “The Social Animal” by David Brooks and “The Help” by Kathryn Stockett, which can be borrowed and enjoyed using OverDrive’s app for BlackBerry. Popular business eBooks and audiobooks, as well as titles in virtually any subject, are also available from the library using the BlackBerry app.

The OverDrive app for BlackBerry is available from OverDrive’s web site and the MobiHand Superstore. The app will also appear in BlackBerry App World™ in the coming weeks.

OverDrive’s BlackBerry app provides untethered access to EPUB eBooks and MP3 audiobooks from the library. The app’s “Get Books” feature makes it easy to find a local library, and then browse for titles, check them out with a library card, and download directly to BlackBerry. Digital books from the library will automatically expire in the app, so there are never late fees. Users will also benefit from enhancements, such as an orientation lock and custom bookmarks.

The free eBook app from OverDrive can be installed on BlackBerry touch-screen devices running BlackBerry OS v4.7 (or newer) and non-touch-screen devices running BlackBerry OS v4.5 (or newer). The BlackBerry app joins the previously released OverDrive apps for iPhone^®, iPad^®, and Android™, which have been installed nearly one million times.

OverDrive provides digital distribution services for more than 13,000 libraries, retailers, and schools worldwide with support for Windows^®, Mac^®, iPod^®, iPhone, iPad, Sony^® Reader, NOOK™, Android, and BlackBerry.

To see if your library is a member of the OverDrive network, visit OverDrive Search: http://search.overdrive.com/

Download the app at the OverDrive Media Console: http://overdrive.com/software/omc/

OverDrive home: http://overdrive.com/

Boopsie launches BookCheck™ mobile check-out for libraries

Boopsie, the leading mobile solution for universities and libraries worldwide, has announced the availability of BookCheck™, a new feature that allows library patrons to check out books and other materials using a mobile phone. Cuyahoga County (Ohio) Public Library is the first to offer Boopsie BookCheck™ to its more than 787,000 active registered cardholders. Cuyahoga County Public Library (CCPL) launches their new mobile application in April.

“BookCheck™ delivers a whole new level of efficiency for both library staff and patrons,” notes Greg Carpenter, CEO of Boopsie. “With a quick scan of the library barcode using a mobile phone, patrons can access useful information about a book, CD or DVD and immediately check-out those materials from anywhere in the library.”

Boopsie is the currently, the only mobile solution provider to offer mobile checkout capability. Leveraging barcode-scanning technology, the new feature allows library patrons to retrieve basic catalog information (real-time access from the library’s ILS system) and content from third-party sources such as book reviews, plot summaries, and author bios from anywhere in the library using their mobile phone. Library cardholders can then check out the book with one click of a button. BookCheck is immediately available for Android device users. Support for iPhone and select Blackberry devices will follow shortly.

“We are very excited to be the first library to offer the convenience of mobile check-out to our customers,” said Jim Haprian, Information Technology Director of CCPL:

At CCPL we are committed to innovative service that meets and exceeds expectations and this app will help us better connect our customers to the excellent resources we have to offer.

Built to take advantage of the most advanced device technology, Boopsie applications offer real-time ILS integration with popular systems such as Innovative Interfaces, SirsiDynix, ExLibris, among others and provide full support for non-catalog content and services such as GPS-aware library location finder and access to reading lists, event calendars, and social networking channels.

Additional information on Boopsie for libraries at: www.boopsie.com/libraries.html

OCLC acquires BOND, expands services for public libraries in Europe

OCLC has acquired the assets of German library system provider, BOND GmbH & Co. KG. BOND, based in Böhl-Iggelheim, near Mannheim, is a leading integrated system provider for public libraries in German speaking countries.

The addition of BOND services will enhance and expand OCLC services for German libraries. OCLC serves the academic library community in Germany with a variety of library services including the SISIS-SunRise, CBS, and LBS solutions. Together, OCLC and BOND combine to bring more than 50 years of experience in the development of library management solutions for libraries of all types.

BOND staff of 60 employees will continue to manage and serve libraries from the offices in Böhl-Iggelheim. OCLC also operates a technology and service location in Oberhaching, Germany. OCLC will continue to maintain and advance the BOND BIBLIOTHECA suite of library system solutions.

“In the rapidly changing library environment, it is increasingly important to fulfill the expectations and meet the high demands of the libraries we serve,” said Michael König, Managing Director and owner of BOND, who will continue his work under the new organization. “Our users will benefit significantly from the development and service expertise of OCLC.”

The addition of the products, services and extensive expertise of the BOND organization provides an important complement to our current library services and support in Germany. BOND has built a strong presence and has earned an excellent reputation in libraries in Germany and German-speaking countries. We are very pleased to be able to work with BOND to offer strong solutions to both the academic and public library communities (Eric van Lubeek, Managing Director of OCLC EMEA).

BOND: www.bond-online.de/

Defining quality in public technology access: national coalition to establish benchmarks

An unprecedented national coalition has formed to design and pilot a series of public access technology benchmarks for public libraries, with $2.8 million in funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The coalition – which represents library and local government leaders – will develop guidelines that define quality technology services at libraries and how to continuously improve them to motivate local re-investment in public technology access at libraries.

Public libraries are increasingly critical community providers of free public access to computers and the internet. A recent national research report from the University of Washington Information School and the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), Opportunity for All: How the American Public Benefits from Internet Access at US Libraries, shows that approximately one-third of Americans utilize free computer and internet access at a public library to find work, apply for college, secure government benefits, get important health information, and connect with their communities. Local demand for online access at libraries continues to grow as more people turn to their local library to get information online, and to get help using online tools, from library staff. However, the quality and level of access that libraries provide varies significantly throughout the country:

As the public institution that provides computer and internet access to people from all walks of life, libraries must ensure that their technology services continuously advance to enable users to meet 21st century opportunities available through technology, (Susan Benton, president of the Urban Libraries Council).

We believe that benchmarks will help local leaders understand the value of public access technology and ensure that those services meet the needs of all community members. Urban Libraries Council is proud to lead and facilitate the work of the benchmarks coalition, which includes outstanding leaders from the library and local government fields.

The benchmarks will be developed by a coalition of organizations that bring diverse perspectives and expertise to the effort, including:

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  Library support organizations, American Library Association Office for Information Technology Policy and Public Library Association, LYRASIS, Urban Libraries Council, and WebJunction-OCLC.

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  The State Libraries of California, Oklahoma and Texas.

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  Two university-based research groups from the University of Maryland and University of Washington.

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  Local government support organization, International City/County Management Association.

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  TechSoup Global, an organization that provides technology support throughout the nonprofit sector.

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  The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

The development of the benchmarks will include three phases. To begin, the coalition will draft prototype benchmarks and will collect feedback from the library field and local government leaders to ensure the benchmarks will be meaningful and useful to libraries and communities across the country. Next, the group will test an initial set of benchmarks in communities in California, Oklahoma, and Texas, beginning in fall 2011. The prototype benchmarks will be refined with feedback from the pilot communities and the library field. They will be launched for broad use by the library community in spring 2012.

“This initiative is the next critical step in the library field’s successful effort to bring information and opportunity to communities, through public access technology,” said Jill Nishi, deputy director of US Libraries and Special Initiatives for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. “We are tremendously proud to support this coalition and their collective vision for the public access technology benchmarks.”

National policy makers have recently underscored the valuable role libraries play in providing public access technology for communities. Libraries were acknowledged as vital internet access providers in the National Broadband Plan released by the Federal Communications Commission in 2010. The plan also called for the development of guidelines that identify the critical elements needed to support digital inclusion in all communities, so all people have access to technology and digital information. As a result, the IMLS is currently leading the creation of a framework for digitally inclusive communities.

The public access technology benchmarks for libraries will dovetail with IMLS’s broader framework, but will focus exclusively on meaningful, achievable public technology access guidelines for libraries.

“Public libraries provide unique and critical support to communities, ensuring that all residents in a community have access to essential technology,” said Ron Carlee, COO of ICMA:

In this time of limited resources, libraries, and their funders, especially local governments, need clear guidelines for how to deliver high-quality online access. Local decision makers want to understand how to achieve the best standard of service for communities and ensure that taxpayers get the best return on technology investments.

Read more at the Urban Libraries Council web site: http://urbanlibraries.org/

Piloting an e-journals preservation registry service (PEPRS) Beta now available

EDINA and the ISSN International Centre are pleased to announce the Beta release of PEPRS, the e-journals preservation registry service. This is the product of JISC-funded project activity, and provides freely available means to discover which e-journals are being preserved by the leading archival organisations – highlighting those e-journals for which no arrangement is on record.

The ISSN Governing Board met in Paris on April 28, 2011 to formally launch the PEPRS Beta service and to confirm its wholehearted and continuing support for the PEPRS project and the new service. The board were very pleased with the work that has been done and wished us all success. Members of the board will be circulating this announcement to colleagues worldwide. PEPRS is expected to have international appeal and anticipated usage from both national and university libraries and all parts of the serials world.

PEPRS was initially funded as a two-year project to scope, design, and build a prototype, during which user requirements were gathered from librarians and preservation agencies. The present funding, until July 2012, is geared towards implementation of a service-quality system.

The idea for the registry was mooted in various literature since 2003 and the findings of a JISC-commissioned report carried out by the University of Loughborough and Rightscom were published in 2008. The five archiving agencies that have been participating in the project and have made metadata available to the PEPRS Beta service include:

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  British Library.

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  CLOCKSS Archive.

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  e-Depot at the Konjinklijke Bibliotheek.

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  Global LOCKSS Network.

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  Portico.

It is planned to extend the scope of the service by including metadata from other archiving agencies. Additional functionality will also be added to the service throughout 2011 – details of which are set out in the FAQ section of the PEPRS service beta site.

The PEPRS Beta service is available at: www.peprs.org/

Further background information on the project and details of relevant reports are available on the PEPRS project web site: http://edina.ac.uk/projects/peprs/

Logi Insight: new library data reporting technology for academic librarians

LogiXML, a leading provider of business intelligence and reporting software, released in January a resource utilization reporting product, Logi Insight for libraries, that is designed to help libraries track and analyze the usage of library resources that universities spend millions of dollars each year to maintain. Prior to this technology, most libraries have struggled to access valuable operational data which is spread out across multiple isolated data silos:

There isn’t a single library in the country that isn’t feeling pressure on its budget, and the only way forward is to get access to data that clearly shows which library resources are most valuable to faculty and students (Kevin Kidd, the Manager of Libraries for Boston College, which was the first university library to work with LogiXML on this solution).

We have been thrilled to help guide the evolution of Logi Insight, and we will rely on this system as we write our budget each year.

Logi Insight was created in collaboration with three university “Charter Partners” – Boston College, Texas Tech, and New York University, and as of March 2011, Purdue University Libraries has joined in adopting Logi Insight for Libraries. “Using Logi Insight puts us in a position where we can understand how patrons are utilizing e-resources, as well as physical resources,” said Paul Bracke, the director of technology for Purdue Libraries:

Like all academic libraries, we’ve seen demand for e-resources skyrocket in recent years, and we’re at a point where e-resources represent more than 80 percent of our budget. Getting insight into library utilization data is one of our top priorities.

“Libraries recognize the need to understand who is using their resources, and where they should focus their budget,” said Brett Jackson, CEO of LogiXML. “However, to date, they have lacked an effective way of analyzing utilization data to support decision making. LogiXML now provides this capability.”

Logi Insight for libraries makes sophisticated data reporting possible for librarians and administrators, specifically enabling libraries to measure patron utilization of library resources, circulation data, e-resources, budget data, as well as other information that is unique to libraries. The solution allows librarians to better justify their budget requests based on what is being used by students, staff and other patrons.

For more information, visit: www.logixml.com/libraryinsight/