Category Archives: oa.librarians

Applying Librarian Created Evaluation Tools to Determine Quality and Credibility of Open Access Library Science Journals

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Abstract:  This article explores the application of journal quality and credibility evaluation tools to library science publications. The researchers investigate quality and credibility attributes of forty eight peer-reviewed library science journals with open access components using two evaluative tools developed and published by librarians. The results identify common positive and negative attributes of library science journals, compare the results of the two evaluation tools, and discuss their ease of use and limitations. Overall, the results show that while library science journals do not fall prey to the same concerning characteristics that librarians use to caution other researchers, there are several areas in which publishers can improve the quality and credibility of their journals.

 

ACRL Online Learning Call for Proposals – December 15 Deadline

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“ACRL invites proposal submissions for our ACRL Online Learning program. Submit a proposal for a live webcast or asynchronous online course and share your knowledge and innovative developments with your colleagues. Friday, December 15, 2023, is the submission deadline. ACRL has identified five key areas in our Plan for Excellence. ACRL welcomes proposal submissions on all types of academic and research librarianship, and especially encourages proposals related to the following key areas:…

Research and Scholarly Environment – scholarly communication; data management, library publishing; open access; digital scholarship
New Roles and Changing Landscapes – open educational resources; leadership and management; transformational change…”

Open Access Ethic | Theological Librarianship

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“Open [access] should play a significant role in ensuring equity among researchers from developed and developing countries, enabling fair and reciprocal sharing of [academic] inputs and outputs and equal access to […] knowledge to both producers and consumers of knowledge regardless of location, nationality, race, age, gender, income, socio-economic circumstances, career stage, discipline, language, religion, disability, ethnicity or migratory status or any other grounds. (UNESCO 2021) If this principle is agreed upon, the question becomes, who is best placed to implement the ethic of open access mentioned? For the Western world, that ethic goes back to England and its Public Libraries Act of 1850, which allowed many boroughs to finance public libraries (Spartacus Educational 2020). In so doing, access to knowledge was no longer confined only to those who could afford it. So, while librarians’ ethic of access was initially implemented at least 200 years ago, the positive crusading for and implementation of that ethic across global boundaries had to await the advent of the Internet. With that resource now available, it is imperative that librarians, whether working in the smallest public library or the most extensive university research library, arm themselves with their historic open access ethic and step into their role as advocates for global change.”

Dr. Adriene Lim to retire as dean of the University of Maryland Libraries, June 2024 | University Libraries

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“Today, the University of Maryland announced the upcoming retirement of Dr. Adriene Lim, dean of University of Maryland Libraries….

Dr. Lim has led important initiatives to achieve more open, equitable, and sustainable models for the creation and sharing of knowledge. She initiated and co-led UMD PACT, a cross-campus group working to advance sustainable, equitable publishing models and promote open scholarship and shared infrastructure, a movement that culminated in the passage of UMD’s equitable access policy approved by the University Senate in 2022. Characterized as a “champion for open research” by Provost Rice, Dr. Lim was appointed to serve as UMD’s designated lead for the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) Higher Education Leadership Initiative for Open Scholarship (HELIOS).

Dr. Lim led the initiation and improvement of several new service models and programs, including those in collaboration with the Big Ten Academic Alliance’s library deans. She initiated the Libraries’ new Open Scholarship Services program, the Affordable Course Content @ UMD project, the pilot of TOME@UMD (Toward an Open Monographs Ecosystem), and the new Fisher Family Library Fellowship program. A strong commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion has been evident in her career-long practice of librarianship scholarship, and research….”

New Expansions of Open Access to Benefit Research and Researchers | 3 November | Barbara M. Pope | Brick & Click 2023

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“This presentation will emphasize the importance of open access journals and discuss new developments, including federal policy and transformative agreements that aim to expand open access. … With the number of open access journals continually increasing, academic librarians are challenged to evaluate them and create access to them. In addition, librarians must educate researchers about open access journals’ benefits and pitfalls. Come hear about recent expansions of open access, utilizing usage data to benefit students, faculty, and researchers, and predictions for the future of open access journals….”

The Scholarly Communication Notebook | OER Commons

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“Welcome to the Scholarly Communication Notebook (SCN), an in-development repository of community-designed and curated open resources for teaching about scholarly communication and for doing scholarly communication work in libraries. We intend the SCN to be the locus of an active, inclusive, empowered community of practice for teaching scholarly communications to emerging librarians, where practitioners, LIS educators, and library students work together to increase knowledge and skills on topics of growing importance in librarianship and beyond; topics such as copyright, open access, open education, and library publishing (see Collections below for more topic areas). We hope these resources will be regularly refreshed by librarians and allies as well as by LIS faculty and by students completing coursework on these topics, and that mutually beneficial relationships and bridges are built between users. The SCN, and the resources collected here, complement an open book that is in production, Introduction to Scholarly Communication Librarianship: Law, Economics, and Culture.

The SCN is explicitly intended to support, educate and represent a diversifying workforce of LIS professionals. It intends to extend social justice values to all participants by intentionally and thoughtfully reflecting the broad range of people, institution types, and service models engaged in scholarly communication work. For more background see the OER + Scholarly Communication project site. We’re also reachable via email and on Twitter.

Anyone is welcome to use and contribute openly licensed content to the SCN. For more information, see Getting Started below. The SCN is in a phase of active development and evolution, so your content and feedback is very welcome.”

Masterclass: How To Optimize OA Management – ChronosHub

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“Yet another skill training resource, this time specifically for you, a librarian. Want to learn more about how you educate researchers in OA? We got you covered! Or maybe you’d like to pick up tools and tips on how to manage OA via a platform? In which case, this masterclass will walk you through how the ChronosHub platform supports this journey.  

There’s a few “need to know’s” before signing up:  

This is for librarians only. You’ll need to fill out a form, and after doing so, we’ll provide you with a link.  
Of course, you’ll receive training material after the class, but we would love to be acknowledged for the hard work we put in. We operate under an open license….”

Don’t Blame Copyright for Declining Revenue. It Won’t Help Authors | Canadian Federation of Library Associations

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“Libraries and librarians support education in colleges and universities across Canada and they support authors through their purchases.

That important message is being drowned out by the barrage of accusations from author groups and publisher organizations that libraries are threatening the economic viability of authors. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Those hundreds of millions of dollars in access and subscription fees, paid by libraries, should be going to authors of the licensed works. Copyright is not part of that transaction and tweaking the Copyright Act won’t change the economic plight of Canadian authors….

There has been a digital revolution in the educational publishing sector. Access to most course materials is now digital, not print, and governed by licences negotiated directly with publishers. While some of these electronic books and journal articles are openly licensed (at no cost to the user), most are subject to terms and conditions that provide students and educators with the right to reproduce the content for educational purposes. As such, the fair dealing and reprographic licences are not in demand as they once were.   

This isn’t because students and educators are stealing content. The educational right to reproduce most commercially available course materials is paid directly by libraries to publishers or aggregate content providers. Continuing to attack libraries and educators for their lawful use of course materials won’t solve the issue of authors’ income….”

ARL Executive Director

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“The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) seeks a highly strategic and innovative thoughtful leader, who will effectively collaborate with the ARL membership to advance the Association’s aspirations, strategic goals, and commitments in line with its mission, vision, and values….

[One qualification sought:] Demonstrated understanding of the trends in scholarship and scholarly communication, particularly within open scholarship; and familiarity with copyright and the intellectual property environment.”

Exploring faculty perspectives on open access at a medium-sized, American doctoral university – Insights

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Abstract:  Faculty hold widely varying perspectives on the benefits and challenges afforded by open access (OA) publishing. In the United States, conversations on OA models and strategy have been dominated by scholars affiliated with Carnegie R1 institutions. This article reports findings from interviews conducted with faculty at a Carnegie R2 institution, highlighting disciplinary and individual perspectives on the high costs and rich rewards afforded by OA. The results reiterate the persistence of a high degree of skepticism regarding the quality of peer review and business models associated with OA publishing. By exploring scholars’ perceptions of and experiences with OA publishing and their comfort using or sharing unpublished, publicly available content, the authors highlight the degree to which OA approaches must remain flexible, iterative and multifaceted – no single solution can begin to accommodate the rich and varying needs of individual stakeholders.

 

Eight Things to Know About the New Dean of Libraries | J. Willard Marriott Library Blog

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“I am a long-time advocate for openness: open access, open data, open science, open educational resources, the list goes on. While there are some national policies moving us in the right direction, I continue to be concerned by an environment where we give away control over our research products only to buy it back at very high prices.

This also is – as is so often the case – a time for real opportunity. I believe strongly that libraries can and should be essential partners to the research enterprise. Beyond providing easy and ready access to information resources, we are bringing our expertise and knowledge in areas like data management and access and publishing to our research community early in the research process….”

Position Statement on Open Access for University of Alberta Librarians – UofA Library

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“Librarians at the University of Alberta recognize the importance of open access to content creators and researchers in fostering new ideas and creating knowledge. In keeping with our long-standing support of the Open Access movement, University of Alberta librarians have adopted a statement to communicate our commitment to disseminating our scholarly and other work as widely as possible, and to making these contributions available in perpetuity through deposit in an open access repository or through other acceptable means. It should be read and interpreted consistently with University of Alberta policies and other agreements related to academic freedom and intellectual property.

Position Statement

Academic librarians at the University of Alberta commit to making a reasonable effort to publish and share in venues providing unrestricted public access to their works. When appropriate, they will assign a Creative Commons licence to their works, endeavour to publish in open access venues, and/or to secure the right to self-archive their published materials, and deposit these works in an open access repository….”

University of Alberta Librarians Take Position on Open Access Publishing  — news.library.ualberta.ca

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“On April 19th, librarians at the University of Alberta endorsed a Position Statement on Open Access for University of Alberta Librarians, which demonstrates their commitment to open scholarship through their own professional practice and research….”

job: Publishing Librarian I/II | Digital Publishing House, Wayne State University | Feb 2023

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“…The Publishing Librarian works within the Discovery Services Unit under the supervision of the Assistant Dean. The Library Publishing team is focused on sustainable open publishing, with a pedagogical focus on new practitioners and a commitment to supporting our campus in its engagement with the scholarly communication ecosystem. The successful candidate will work in collaboration with scholars from a variety of backgrounds, including faculty, librarians, students, and the broader community to conceive, enact, advance, and sustain digital, open, library-centered publishing and scholarship. This position has broad latitude to collaborate with partners within and outside the university to pursue advancements in areas including but not limited to new conceptions and outputs of library publishing, publishing workflows and competencies, digital publishing platforms, publishing pedagogy, and digital humanities. Publishing librarians often team with liaison librarian colleagues to support scholarly communication and copyright initiatives in the university. This position also supports Wayne State University library’s institutional repository (currently Bepress’s Digital Commons) in collaboration with the Library Publishing team, including ETD management, journal publishing, and outreach to students and faculty for projects appropriate to the IR. Essential Job Functions: Collaborate with partners inside and outside the library to conceive and support open scholarship, repository services, and other publishing-related initiatives. Translate ideas developed in collaboration with partners into actionable workflows and infrastructure in the library, with an emphasis on open digital models….”

Lindsay Cronk named Tulane University’s new Dean of Libraries | Tulane News

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“An internationally recognized expert in scholarly communication strategies, Cronk’s library leadership has delivered impactful and highly valued services for researchers across the globe. Her colleagues applaud her ability to operationalize a vision with her signature alchemy of optimism, creativity and pragmatism.

Cronk comes to Tulane from the University of Rochester, where she worked for the past six years, including the last two as the assistant dean for scholarly resources and curation. She also held the positions of director for collection strategies and head of collection strategies.

While at Rochester, Cronk oversaw seven departments, including digital initiatives, scholarly communication, metadata and rare books, special collections and preservation. She successfully implemented a variety of campus-wide initiatives and community partnerships, including establishing the libraries as the licensing clearinghouse of the university, initiating the campus affordability Access to Course Textbooks Commitment, co-authoring the university’s open access and copyright policies and supporting multiple web and system migrations. 

Cronk established the Open Educational Resource Grant Program, a course material program for instructors and students, and sponsored library support for the Rochester Education Justice Initiative prison education program….”