International Association of Scientific and Technological University Libraries

IATUL News Alerts

Archive November 2011

Academic Libraries on Facebook: An Analysis of Users' Comments

Wednesday, 30 November 2011 10:41:28 a.m.

This paper examines users' comments on the Facebook pages of 20 American academic libraries and subdivides them into 22 categories. A total of 3,513 posts were examined and analyzed in various ways, including how many of the posts included user comments and how many had none; how many comments were included in each post; and what the percentage of user participation was on the library walls, in terms of "likes" and comments. The most significant findings are that approximately 91% of the posts do not include any comments, over 82% of user participation is expressed via the "like" functionality and most comments on academic libraries' Facebook pages are not uploaded by prospective users (i.e., college and university faculty and students) but rather by library personnel, employees affiliated with the same institution as the library, and alumni.

Go to source:
http://www.dlib.org/dlib/november11/gerolimos/11gerolimos.html

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Launch of ‘living’ books breaks barriers between humanities and science

Wednesday, 30 November 2011 10:41:28 a.m.

A series of 21 ‘living books’ has been launched online as part of a pioneering initiative designed to provide a bridge between the humanities and the sciences.

The Living Books About Life series is written and produced by humanities scholars from universities across the world – from the UK and America to Poland and Australia – and has re-packaged and re-presented science-related research material to make it more accessible to a humanities audience.

Funded by JISC and published by the Open Humanities Press (OHP), the books address a number of scientific topics whose unifying theme is life, including air, agriculture, bioethics, cosmetic surgery, energy, neurology and human cloning.

Alastair Dunning, programme manager at JISC, said: "By drawing only on Open Access material to create these ‘Living Books about Life’, the team is helping define a new era of scholarly communication – and thereby exploiting JISC’s vision to make the results of publicly funded research available to all."

Go to source:
http://www.jisc.ac.uk/news/stories/2011/11/livingbooks.aspx

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New generation library learners seminar, Melbourne 27 October 2011

Wednesday, 30 November 2011 10:15:02 a.m.

The presentations from the successful seminar held in Melbourne recently are now available athttp://www.iatul.org/conferences/workshops.asp

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Does Library Use Affect Student Attainment? A Preliminary Report on the Library Impact Data Project

Wednesday, 30 November 2011 10:15:02 a.m.

The current economic climate is placing pressure on UK Universities to maximise use of their resources and ensure value for money. In parallel, there is a continuing focus on the student experience and a desire that all students should achieve their full potential whilst studying at University.
Internal investigation at the University of Huddersfield suggests a strong correlation between library usage and degree results, and also significant under-usage of expensive library resources at both school and course level. Data from over 700 courses using three indicators of library usage; access to e-resources; book loans and access to the library were matched against the student record system and anonymised.

 

Go to source: 
http://liber.library.uu.nl/publish/issues/2011-1/index.html?000522

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Re-conceptualising and re-positioning Australian library and information science education for the 21st century

Wednesday, 30 November 2011 10:15:02 a.m.

How can Australian library and information science (LIS) education produce, in a sustainable manner, the diverse supply of graduates with the appropriate attributes to develop and maintain high quality professional practice in the rapidly changing 21st century? This report presents the key findings of a project that has examined this question through research into future directions for LIS education in Australia. Titled Re-conceptualising and re-positioning Australian library and information science education for the twenty-first century, the purpose of the project was to establish a consolidated and holistic picture of the Australian LIS profession, and identify how its future education and training can be mediated in a cohesive and sustainable manner.
The project was undertaken with a team of 12 university and vocational LIS educators from eleven institutions around Australia between November 2009 and December 2010. Collectively, these eleven institutions represented the broad spectrum and diversity of LIS education in Australia, and enabled the project to examine education for the information profession in a holistic and synergistic manner. Participating institutions in the project included Queensland University of Technology (Project Leader), Charles Sturt University, Curtin University, Edith Cowan University, Monash University, RMIT University, University of Canberra, University of South Australia, University of Tasmania, University of Technology, Sydney and Victoria University.


Go to source: http://www.liseducation.org.au/resources/PP9-1326%20QUT%20Partridge%20Final_Report.pdf

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Benefits to the Private Sector of Open Access to Higher Education and Scholarly Research

Wednesday, 30 November 2011 10:15:02 a.m.

HOST Policy Research (HOST) has recently concluded an intensive and pioneering study for JISC on the benefits to UK industry and commerce of Open Access (OA) to higher education research outputs. The UK study was commissioned by JISC on behalf of the UK and home nation stakeholders to the UK’s Open Access Implementation Group (OAIG). The report and its findings are the responsibility of HOST, but include some extended discussion and analysis following JISC and partners’ comments on an earlier draft.

Go to source: http://open-access.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/OAIG_Benefits_OA_PrivateSector.pdf

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Leading North American institutions endorse the Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge

Wednesday, 30 November 2011 10:15:02 a.m.

Thirty-three research institutions, associations, and foundations in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico have made a commitment to Open Access to research by signing the Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities. These top private, public, and non-profit organizations join nearly 300 more from around the world in another clear sign of the growing demand for change in the way scientific and scholarly research results are communicated and maximized. The announcement is made in conjunction with the ninth Berlin conference, at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, which opened today.

The Berlin Declaration promotes the Internet as a medium for disseminating global knowledge. Its goal is to make scientific and scholarly research more accessible to the broader public by taking full advantage of the possibilities offered by digital electronic communication. Signatories support actions that ensure the future Web is sustainable, interactive, and transparent – and that content is openly accessible – in order to realize the vision of a global and accessible representation of knowledge. The leaders of research institutions, libraries, archives, museums, funding agencies, and governments from around the world have signed the Declaration – including CERN, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Academia Europaea, and the German Max Planck Society (co-initiator and custodian).

More information on the Berlin Declaration is available at http://oa.mpg.de/lang/en-uk/berlin-prozess/berliner-erklarung/

Go to source: http://www.berlin9.org/news/11-1109.shtml

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Almost Halfway There: An Analysis of the Open Access Behaviors of Academic Librarians

Tuesday, 1 November 2011 9:32:23 a.m.

Academic librarians are increasingly expected to advocate for scholarly communications reforms such as open access to scholarly publications, yet librarians do not always practice what they preach. Previous research examined librarian attitudes toward open access, whereas this article presents results of a study of open access publishing and self-archiving behaviors of academic librarians. Following an analysis of open access to library and information science literature in 2008, several strategies to encourage academic librarians to continue to embrace open access behaviors are discussed.
 
Go to source: http://crl.acrl.org/content/72/5/443.full.pdf+html

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PEER Behavioural Research: Authors and users vis--vis journals and repositories

Tuesday, 1 November 2011 9:32:23 a.m.

The behavioural research project is one of three independent research projects commissioned and managed by PEER as part of the PEER Observatory. The aim of the behavioural research project was to address the role of the stage two manuscript repositories in the scholarly and scientific communication system be exploring perceptions, motivations and behaviours of authors and readers. The research was carried out between April 2009 and August 2011 be the Department of Information Science and LISU at Loughborough University, UK.

Go to source:
http://www.peerproject.eu/fileadmin/media/reports/PEER_D4_final_report_29SEPT11.pdf

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How can universities support economic growth and innovation? Take the open road

Tuesday, 1 November 2011 9:32:23 a.m.

JISC welcomes the UK Open Access Implementation Group’s (OAIG) reports and new repositories resource pack released today. 

The 'Benefits to the private sector of open access to higher education and scholarly research report' and the 'Open access fees report' show the outcomes of research into the benefits of open access to commercial companies and findings from a consultation on the practicalities of paying for open access publication. 

Taken together, these present a major step towards releasing UK research to underpin the nation’s prospects for growth both now, via direct innovation, and into the future, via a more efficient and effective research infrastructure.

Professor Martin Hall vice-chancellor at the University of Salford and chair of the OAIG says, “The report 'Benefits to the private sector of open access to higher education and scholarly research' shows how commercial companies would benefit from reduced costs, less time wasting, and shortened development cycles by having greater access to UK research outputs. 

Go to source: http://www.jisc.ac.uk/news/stories/2011/10/open.aspx

 

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