tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24955000783060165142024-03-13T15:33:43.482-07:00UK Council of Research RepositoriesA blog by the <a href="http://www.ukcorr.org">UKCoRR Committee</a><br>
To record/report on our activity and developments in the UK open access sector.Dominic Tatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16810507522854441709noreply@blogger.comBlogger66125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2495500078306016514.post-22213823274367864642012-07-16T04:32:00.002-07:002012-07-16T04:33:57.968-07:00UKCoRR blog has movedPlease note that the UKCoRR blog is now part of our main web-site - <a href="http://ukcorr.org/activity/blog/" style="background-color: white;">http://ukcorr.org/activity/blog/</a><br />
<br />
<br />
This blog will not be updated; all content will remain but has also been migrated to the new site<span style="background-color: white;"></span><br />
<br />
<br class="Apple-interchange-newline" />Nick Sheppardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03386789324280845551noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2495500078306016514.post-10530707683727888492012-05-11T08:28:00.000-07:002012-05-11T08:34:07.666-07:00EThOS Update!<b style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Guest Post by EThOS Service Manager, Sara Gould:</span></b><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><b><br /></b></span>I’ve been following the
recent posts here with interest. The <u><a href="http://ukcorr.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/jimmy-wales-to-advise-government-on.html">open
access discussions</a></u> are fundamental to EThOS of course although theses
generally make up only a small portion of your repository content and are
unlikely to be anywhere near the most challenging content to manage.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />In many ways <u><a href="http://ethos.bl.uk/">EThOS</a> </u>is in a privileged position: it simply
needs to reflect your own policies and practice in making thesis metadata and
full-text content open to the world. If you want it in EThOS, we’ll do what we
can to get it in there. We’re so close to 60,000 theses and 300,000 records now
– watch out for that mini celebration.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />Interestingly <a href="http://www.opendoar.org/index.html">OpenDOAR</a> considers EThOS out of
scope because of its requirement for users to log in to access full-text
theses. True, the login process is a bit of a deterrent but it does provide
some reassurance for authors that we could track users if we ever needed to,
and it does give us a chance to look at user demographics.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />We’re about to send out a
summary of usage stats to all member institutions, and here’s an example. This
is a JISC Band C member institution that we’ve been harvesting from for some
months now. I’m watching the balance between clickthroughs to the
repository-held copy and downloads from EThOS with interest. We might expect
clickthroughs to quickly overtake, especially as the proportion of harvested content
that includes a link URL v. older digitised content in EThOS rises steadily.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoNormalTable" style="border-collapse: collapse; mso-padding-alt: 0cm 1.5pt 0cm 1.5pt; mso-table-layout-alt: fixed;">
<tbody>
<tr style="height: 14.65pt; mso-yfti-firstrow: yes; mso-yfti-irow: 0;">
<td style="height: 14.65pt; padding: 0cm 1.5pt 0cm 1.5pt; width: 51.0pt;" valign="top" width="68"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: right; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 14.65pt; padding: 0cm 1.5pt 0cm 1.5pt; width: 51.0pt;" valign="top" width="68"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: right; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 14.65pt; padding: 0cm 1.5pt 0cm 1.5pt; width: 51.0pt;" valign="top" width="68"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: right; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 14.65pt; padding: 0cm 1.5pt 0cm 1.5pt; width: 51.0pt;" valign="top" width="68"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: right; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 14.65pt; padding: 0cm 1.5pt 0cm 1.5pt; width: 51.0pt;" valign="top" width="68"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: right; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 14.65pt; padding: 0cm 1.5pt 0cm 1.5pt; width: 51.0pt;" valign="top" width="68"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: right; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 75.6pt; mso-yfti-irow: 1;">
<td style="background: silver; border: solid windowtext 1.5pt; height: 75.6pt; mso-pattern: solid silver; mso-shading: windowtext; padding: 0cm 1.5pt 0cm 1.5pt; width: 51.0pt;" valign="top" width="68"><div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 10pt;">Date<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</td>
<td style="background: silver; border-left: none; border: solid windowtext 1.5pt; height: 75.6pt; mso-pattern: solid silver; mso-shading: windowtext; padding: 0cm 1.5pt 0cm 1.5pt; width: 51.0pt;" valign="top" width="68"><div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 10pt;">Theses Harvested<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</td>
<td style="background: silver; border-left: none; border: solid windowtext 1.5pt; height: 75.6pt; mso-pattern: solid silver; mso-shading: windowtext; padding: 0cm 1.5pt 0cm 1.5pt; width: 51.0pt;" valign="top" width="68"><div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 10pt;">Digitisation Requests<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</td>
<td style="background: silver; border-left: none; border: solid windowtext 1.5pt; height: 75.6pt; mso-pattern: solid silver; mso-shading: windowtext; padding: 0cm 1.5pt 0cm 1.5pt; width: 51.0pt;" valign="top" width="68"><div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 10pt;">Records Created<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</td>
<td style="background: silver; border-left: none; border: solid windowtext 1.5pt; height: 75.6pt; mso-pattern: solid silver; mso-shading: windowtext; padding: 0cm 1.5pt 0cm 1.5pt; width: 51.0pt;" valign="top" width="68"><div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 10pt;">Referrals to
Organisation Repositories<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</td>
<td style="background: silver; border-left: none; border: solid windowtext 1.5pt; height: 75.6pt; mso-pattern: solid silver; mso-shading: windowtext; padding: 0cm 1.5pt 0cm 1.5pt; width: 51.0pt;" valign="top" width="68"><div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 10pt;">Theses downloaded<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 13.2pt; mso-yfti-irow: 2;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.5pt; height: 13.2pt; padding: 0cm 1.5pt 0cm 1.5pt; width: 51.0pt;" valign="top" width="68"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: right; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Sep-11<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.5pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.5pt; border-top: none; height: 13.2pt; padding: 0cm 1.5pt 0cm 1.5pt; width: 51.0pt;" valign="top" width="68"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: right; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">40<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.5pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.5pt; border-top: none; height: 13.2pt; padding: 0cm 1.5pt 0cm 1.5pt; width: 51.0pt;" valign="top" width="68"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: right; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">0<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.5pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.5pt; border-top: none; height: 13.2pt; padding: 0cm 1.5pt 0cm 1.5pt; width: 51.0pt;" valign="top" width="68"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: right; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">1<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.5pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.5pt; border-top: none; height: 13.2pt; padding: 0cm 1.5pt 0cm 1.5pt; width: 51.0pt;" valign="top" width="68"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: right; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">0<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.5pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.5pt; border-top: none; height: 13.2pt; padding: 0cm 1.5pt 0cm 1.5pt; width: 51.0pt;" valign="top" width="68"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: right; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">58<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 13.2pt; mso-yfti-irow: 3;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.5pt; height: 13.2pt; padding: 0cm 1.5pt 0cm 1.5pt; width: 51.0pt;" valign="top" width="68"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: right; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Oct-11<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.5pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.5pt; border-top: none; height: 13.2pt; padding: 0cm 1.5pt 0cm 1.5pt; width: 51.0pt;" valign="top" width="68"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: right; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">15<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.5pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.5pt; border-top: none; height: 13.2pt; padding: 0cm 1.5pt 0cm 1.5pt; width: 51.0pt;" valign="top" width="68"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: right; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">1<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.5pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.5pt; border-top: none; height: 13.2pt; padding: 0cm 1.5pt 0cm 1.5pt; width: 51.0pt;" valign="top" width="68"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: right; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">0<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.5pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.5pt; border-top: none; height: 13.2pt; padding: 0cm 1.5pt 0cm 1.5pt; width: 51.0pt;" valign="top" width="68"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: right; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">0<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.5pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.5pt; border-top: none; height: 13.2pt; padding: 0cm 1.5pt 0cm 1.5pt; width: 51.0pt;" valign="top" width="68"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: right; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">63<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 13.2pt; mso-yfti-irow: 4;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.5pt; height: 13.2pt; padding: 0cm 1.5pt 0cm 1.5pt; width: 51.0pt;" valign="top" width="68"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: right; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Nov-11<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.5pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.5pt; border-top: none; height: 13.2pt; padding: 0cm 1.5pt 0cm 1.5pt; width: 51.0pt;" valign="top" width="68"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: right; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">55<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.5pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.5pt; border-top: none; height: 13.2pt; padding: 0cm 1.5pt 0cm 1.5pt; width: 51.0pt;" valign="top" width="68"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: right; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">3<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.5pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.5pt; border-top: none; height: 13.2pt; padding: 0cm 1.5pt 0cm 1.5pt; width: 51.0pt;" valign="top" width="68"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: right; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">1<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.5pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.5pt; border-top: none; height: 13.2pt; padding: 0cm 1.5pt 0cm 1.5pt; width: 51.0pt;" valign="top" width="68"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: right; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">0<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.5pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.5pt; border-top: none; height: 13.2pt; padding: 0cm 1.5pt 0cm 1.5pt; width: 51.0pt;" valign="top" width="68"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: right; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">58<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 13.2pt; mso-yfti-irow: 5;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.5pt; height: 13.2pt; padding: 0cm 1.5pt 0cm 1.5pt; width: 51.0pt;" valign="top" width="68"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: right; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Dec-11<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.5pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.5pt; border-top: none; height: 13.2pt; padding: 0cm 1.5pt 0cm 1.5pt; width: 51.0pt;" valign="top" width="68"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: right; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">55<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.5pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.5pt; border-top: none; height: 13.2pt; padding: 0cm 1.5pt 0cm 1.5pt; width: 51.0pt;" valign="top" width="68"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: right; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">3<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.5pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.5pt; border-top: none; height: 13.2pt; padding: 0cm 1.5pt 0cm 1.5pt; width: 51.0pt;" valign="top" width="68"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: right; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">1<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.5pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.5pt; border-top: none; height: 13.2pt; padding: 0cm 1.5pt 0cm 1.5pt; width: 51.0pt;" valign="top" width="68"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: right; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">14<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.5pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.5pt; border-top: none; height: 13.2pt; padding: 0cm 1.5pt 0cm 1.5pt; width: 51.0pt;" valign="top" width="68"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: right; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">38<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 13.2pt; mso-yfti-irow: 6;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.5pt; height: 13.2pt; padding: 0cm 1.5pt 0cm 1.5pt; width: 51.0pt;" valign="top" width="68"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: right; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Jan-12<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.5pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.5pt; border-top: none; height: 13.2pt; padding: 0cm 1.5pt 0cm 1.5pt; width: 51.0pt;" valign="top" width="68"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: right; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">0<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.5pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.5pt; border-top: none; height: 13.2pt; padding: 0cm 1.5pt 0cm 1.5pt; width: 51.0pt;" valign="top" width="68"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: right; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">1<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.5pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.5pt; border-top: none; height: 13.2pt; padding: 0cm 1.5pt 0cm 1.5pt; width: 51.0pt;" valign="top" width="68"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: right; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">7<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.5pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.5pt; border-top: none; height: 13.2pt; padding: 0cm 1.5pt 0cm 1.5pt; width: 51.0pt;" valign="top" width="68"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: right; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">20<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.5pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.5pt; border-top: none; height: 13.2pt; padding: 0cm 1.5pt 0cm 1.5pt; width: 51.0pt;" valign="top" width="68"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: right; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">58<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 13.2pt; mso-yfti-irow: 7;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.5pt; height: 13.2pt; padding: 0cm 1.5pt 0cm 1.5pt; width: 51.0pt;" valign="top" width="68"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: right; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Feb-12<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.5pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.5pt; border-top: none; height: 13.2pt; padding: 0cm 1.5pt 0cm 1.5pt; width: 51.0pt;" valign="top" width="68"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: right; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">0<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.5pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.5pt; border-top: none; height: 13.2pt; padding: 0cm 1.5pt 0cm 1.5pt; width: 51.0pt;" valign="top" width="68"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: right; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">5<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.5pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.5pt; border-top: none; height: 13.2pt; padding: 0cm 1.5pt 0cm 1.5pt; width: 51.0pt;" valign="top" width="68"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: right; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">0<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.5pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.5pt; border-top: none; height: 13.2pt; padding: 0cm 1.5pt 0cm 1.5pt; width: 51.0pt;" valign="top" width="68"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: right; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">25<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.5pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.5pt; border-top: none; height: 13.2pt; padding: 0cm 1.5pt 0cm 1.5pt; width: 51.0pt;" valign="top" width="68"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: right; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">83<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 13.2pt; mso-yfti-irow: 8;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.5pt; height: 13.2pt; padding: 0cm 1.5pt 0cm 1.5pt; width: 51.0pt;" valign="top" width="68"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: right; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Mar-12<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.5pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.5pt; border-top: none; height: 13.2pt; padding: 0cm 1.5pt 0cm 1.5pt; width: 51.0pt;" valign="top" width="68"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: right; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">55<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.5pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.5pt; border-top: none; height: 13.2pt; padding: 0cm 1.5pt 0cm 1.5pt; width: 51.0pt;" valign="top" width="68"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: right; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">7<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.5pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.5pt; border-top: none; height: 13.2pt; padding: 0cm 1.5pt 0cm 1.5pt; width: 51.0pt;" valign="top" width="68"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: right; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">1<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.5pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.5pt; border-top: none; height: 13.2pt; padding: 0cm 1.5pt 0cm 1.5pt; width: 51.0pt;" valign="top" width="68"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: right; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">30<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.5pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.5pt; border-top: none; height: 13.2pt; padding: 0cm 1.5pt 0cm 1.5pt; width: 51.0pt;" valign="top" width="68"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: right; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">67<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 13.2pt; mso-yfti-irow: 9; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.5pt; height: 13.2pt; padding: 0cm 1.5pt 0cm 1.5pt; width: 51.0pt;" valign="top" width="68"><div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 10pt;">Total<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.5pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.5pt; border-top: none; height: 13.2pt; padding: 0cm 1.5pt 0cm 1.5pt; width: 51.0pt;" valign="top" width="68"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: right; text-autospace: none;">
<b><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 10pt;">220<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.5pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.5pt; border-top: none; height: 13.2pt; padding: 0cm 1.5pt 0cm 1.5pt; width: 51.0pt;" valign="top" width="68"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: right; text-autospace: none;">
<b><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 10pt;">20<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.5pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.5pt; border-top: none; height: 13.2pt; padding: 0cm 1.5pt 0cm 1.5pt; width: 51.0pt;" valign="top" width="68"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: right; text-autospace: none;">
<b><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 10pt;">11<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.5pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.5pt; border-top: none; height: 13.2pt; padding: 0cm 1.5pt 0cm 1.5pt; width: 51.0pt;" valign="top" width="68"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: right; text-autospace: none;">
<b><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 10pt;">89<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.5pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.5pt; border-top: none; height: 13.2pt; padding: 0cm 1.5pt 0cm 1.5pt; width: 51.0pt;" valign="top" width="68"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: right; text-autospace: none;">
<b><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 10pt;">425<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">This institution also
supports digitisation of its own older theses. 20 in-demand theses digitised in
the last 6 months: not bad at all. I love this part of the EThOS service –
creating a critical mass of digitised theses was one of its original aims and it’s
still a really neat function.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />Harvest and interoperability
– the subject of <u><a href="http://ukcorr.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/are-your-repository-policies-worth-html.html">Nick
Shepherd’s post</a></u> here – has been a little more challenging. But we’re
getting there. Last month we harvested 2600 theses from 33 institutions. Within
the BL, we’ve transferred the metadata harvest over to the metadata experts –
seems logical – and <a href="mailto:heather.rosie@bl.uk">Heather Rosie</a> will
be in touch with everyone waiting to be harvested over the next couple of
months. She’s also overseeing the upgrade of records by the cataloguing team
and trying to keep EThOS and the <u><a href="http://explore.bl.uk/">BL Primo
catalogue</a></u> consistent in their display of EThOS content. She’s desperate
to eliminate the many duplicate records on EThOS, and we have a plan for that
too.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />What about flows of records and
theses in the other direction? Heather’s responding to requests from resource
discovery services to share the metadata, and we’re expecting Primo Central to
announce that EThOS data is available via their services any day now. And a
reminder that the rather clunky EThOS Download Tool can be used to pull back
your own digitised theses from EThOS. Contact <a href="mailto:customer-services-ethos@bl.uk">Customer Services</a> for more info
on that.<br />But what we all want is full
OAI-PMH interoperability. The tech guys at the BL are aiming to crack that
challenge soon so everyone would be able to easily harvest the metadata without
intervention from us. We ask you to be OAI-PMH compliant so we can harvest from
you so it seems only fair we do what we can in the other direction.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />Finally, a quick trailer for
our EThOS workshop at <a href="http://or2012.ed.ac.uk/">Open Repositories 2012</a>
in July. Hope to see you in <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Edinburgh</st1:place></st1:city>.<br /><br />Sara Gould<br />11/5/12</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>Dominic Tatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16810507522854441709noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2495500078306016514.post-951891137399352722012-05-03T08:09:00.002-07:002012-05-03T08:11:15.974-07:00Jimmy Wales to advise government on open access to researchInteresting press coverage on the 2nd May 2012 that Jimmy Wales is to help the government ensure that all publically funded research is available freely online within two years. David Willetts made this announcement in a speech delivered to the Publishers Association on the evening of 2nd May.<br />
<br />
Reading the OA lists, there’s a range of opinion from scepticism to warm welcome for his involvement. He’s certainly high profile and long been a proponent of open access. Remember, the 24 hour closure of Wikipedia in protest at the proposed SOPA and PIPA legislation in the US. Celebrity involvement does guarantee that the press will take note.<br />
<br />
On balance, UKCoRR believes that we should welcome the plans put forward today but there is a need to ensure that the government also listens to those who have been working in UK academia to promote and extend open access. It would seem a sensible approach to work with that resource and experience that already exists than simply starting from scratch and that existing projects and infrastructure are built upon.<br />
<br />
According to the <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/may/01/wikipedia-research-jimmy-wales-online">Guardian</a>,<br />
<br />
“This initiative is most likely to result in a central repository that will host all research articles that result from public funding. The aim is that, even if an academic publishes their work in a traditional subscription journal, a version of their article would simultaneously appear on the freely available repository. The repository would also have built-in tools to share, comment and discuss articles.”<br />
<br />
There is a dearth of detail about implementation at the moment – understandably as the group convened by Dame Janet Finch won’t be reporting until June 2012. But it seems likely that the “central repository” won’t be a physical thing but will build on current infrastructure and projects. There has to be a pivotal role for Repository Junction which is “a standalone middleware tool for handling the deposit of research articles from a provider to multiple repositories” thus avoiding the thorny problem of duplicate deposit, which is understandably disliked by academics. See <a href="http://edina.ac.uk/cgi-bin/news.cgi?filename=2012-04-24-rjbroker-ori.txt">http://edina.ac.uk/cgi-bin/news.cgi?filename=2012-04-24-rjbroker-ori.txt</a><br />
<br />
However, the bigger stumbling block is that old chestnut copyright. Simultaneous traditional publication and availability in an open access repository of publically funded research is restricted depending on the publisher’s policy’s, which can change in an instant. We repository workers all know the minefield that is journal copyright policies and the care which our host organisations take to avoid breaching them. The solution is to replace a practice where the author signs away their copyright with one where they give the publisher a non-exclusive licence to publish the article. Let’s get that in the two year plan and we’d really be making progress!<br />
<br />
The text of <a href="http://www.bis.gov.uk/news/speeches/david-willetts-public-access-to-research">David Willetts speech</a> was published this morning and it makes interesting reading. He makes much reference to the gold road to open access but, given the context, this is not surprising. We might take issue with his definition of green: “Green means publishers are required to make research openly accessible within an agreed embargo period” but this is a minister telling the publishing industry that open access is here to stay. “Our starting point is very simple. The Coalition is committed to the principle of public access to publicly-funded research results. That is where both technology and contemporary culture are taking us. It is how we can maximise the value and impact generated by our excellent research base. As taxpayers put their money towards intellectual enquiry, they cannot be barred from then accessing it”.<br />
<br />
Right at the end of the speech, there was a reference to the REF which indicates that open access is being considered for inclusion in the criteria for assessment: “HEFCE is also considering the issue. Peer review and assessment of impact are crucial to their allocation of research funding. The debate on open access will inform HEFCE's planning for the research excellence process that succeeds the current one which concludes in 2014. Open access could be among the excellence criteria for qualifying articles in the future”. This is really exciting stuff – it would really change academic’s practice and behaviour. Let’s keep this on the<br />
agenda.<br />
<br />
All in all, a good day for open access.Nick Sheppardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03386789324280845551noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2495500078306016514.post-46083028306584652522012-04-03T03:20:00.001-07:002012-04-03T03:26:44.776-07:00UKCoRR Responds to RCUK's Revised Policy on Open AccessAs members will be aware over the past couple of weeks we have been collating feedback and comments from you all on the <a href="http://www.openscholarship.org/jcms/c_7297/new-stronger-uk-research-councils-policy-on-open-access" target="_blank">RCUK's revised policy on open access</a>. Many, many thanks to those members and Committee whom have contributed to the drafting of UKCoRR's response - which I can confirm has just been submitted to their communications officer. In the spirit of the openness that underlies everything UKCoRR does - the text of the communication follows. Naturally we'll share with you any and all response the Committee receives.<br />
----<br />
<em>UKCoRR, on behalf of its membership, wishes to respond to the RCUK’s proposed policy on access to research outputs, given that it is an area that directly impacts on the activities of our 250+ members across the UK’s research establishments.</em><br />
<br />
<em>At the outset, UKCoRR would like to commend the RCUK for a very clear, positive and explicit statement. In particular the restriction of support for embargoes longer than 6 months post-publication (12 for AHRC and ESRC funded work). UKCoRR are also delighted to note the tone of the policy in favouring more Open Access friendly journals and publishers for RCUK funded research outputs.</em><br />
<br />
<em>There are, however, several issues, concerns and clarifications that our membership would like us to flag up for your attention and consideration. </em><br />
<br />
<strong><em>Definition of Open Access</em></strong><br />
<em>UKCoRR would query the definition of Open Access to scholarly publications as digital journal articles. "The Research Councils define Open Access to mean unrestricted, on-line access to peer reviewed and published scholarly research papers." [p2] and likewise your classification of books or monographs as “grey’ literature” [p3]. There are many other types of authoritative research output besides pdfs of journal articles, especially in arts and humanities research. It is our belief that the OA movement needs to lobby for access to all research outputs, and that there is a need to ensure that RCUK’s policy does not exclude this significant portion of the scholarly literature. The contents of our members’ Open Access repositories clearly demonstrate the richness, value and readership of such scholarly works.</em><br />
<br />
<strong><em>Creative Commons</em></strong><br />
<em>The CC licence is a potentially contentious issue [p2] and one that UKCoRR believes may create more problems than it solves. </em><br />
<br />
<em>The current model of Green OA (i.e. self-archiving in an IR) as opposed to Gold (i.e. author-institution pays), is predicated on a pragmatic negotiation of copyright with academic publishers and, along with high profile initiatives like SHERPA RoMEO, has encouraged growth of the number of RoMEO green journals which allow self archiving, and therefore in the potential number of OA papers that can be self-archived in repositories. UKCoRR is concerned that the new policy will potentially impact on this strategy, and on repositories which will have to assert CC-BY on relevant papers after a maximum embargo period of 6 months.</em><br />
<em> </em><br />
<em>It is not clear what effect the policy may have on journals defined as ‘green’ by SHERPA RoMEO and on the application of embargoes. Journals may choose to become RCUK-compliant, to remain RoMEO green but not compliant, or to reject green and compliance altogether with individual publishers’ policy likely to be informed by the potential loss of revenue resulting from a universal 6 month embargo and by the extent to which other funders will follow RCUK's lead on CC-BY.</em><br />
<br />
<em>HE institutions are increasingly adopting policies on OA and self-archiving in their repositories and UKCoRR has some concerns that the policy should more explicitly consider implications to this Green route to Open Access </em><br />
<br />
<strong><em>Limitation on Publication Destination</em></strong><br />
<em>While UKCoRR acknowledges the value of this part of the policy, we note that it is likely to cause anxiety among academic stakeholders unless backed up by clear support mechanisms. If our members’ author stakeholders are made to feel more constrained on their choice of where to publish [p3] it could generate an adverse perception and consequent resistance towards the implementation of Open Access policies within their organisation; already an issue that many of our members encounter in the course of their work. However, we look forward with interest to the impact this may have on those publishers who to date have been reluctant to embrace more Open Access compliant author copyright licence agreements.</em><br />
<br />
<strong><em>Impact on Publisher Policy</em></strong><br />
<em>The policy would require a significant change in many publishers’ policies, and would limit the choice of journals to those that are recognised as compliant. Sources of funding for Open Access compliance will therefore become a more pressing issue across many institutions, where few currently have resources set aside to cope with such moves [p5]. We would encourage RCUK to be more proactive in ensuring that all researchers, especially PIs, and research administrators are made fully aware that this is part of the indirect costs allocated within the grant application and award. Clarity on RCUK’s stance in this regard would be especially welcomed by our membership.</em><br />
<br />
<strong><em>Access to Data Outputs</em></strong><br />
<em>The final paragraph in section 8 says "The underlying research materials do not necessarily have to be made Open Access" [p6]. While UKCoRR understands that mandating open data publication is out of the scope of this policy, we would welcome an approach that encourages this. There is an opportunity here to get more open data for use and reuse by the research community while respecting the normal provisos about commercial sensitivity, patient confidentiality etc.</em><br />
<br />
<strong><em>Compliance Mechanisms</em></strong><br />
<em>Our membership would also be interested in knowing more about how the “mechanisms to help ensure compliance” will operate [p6]. Given the time scales and workloads already placed upon our members, greater clarity in this regard and at the earliest opportunity will make such mechanisms more practicable for us to implement.</em><br />
<br />
<strong><em>OA Fields and ROS</em></strong><br />
<em>Given the timing of this, we would also query the lack of proper OA fields built in to the recently launched Research Outcomes System (ROS). There are fields for SHERPA/RoMEO data and preprint/postprint, but nothing to clarify if an OA version actually exists. While we are aware of discussions ongoing with the JISC that UKCoRR has also been party to, we would welcome this being highlighted in the policy.</em><br />
<br />
<strong><em>Final Comments</em></strong><br />
<em>Overall, as strong advocates of the cultural, economic and intellectual benefits of Open Access to the UK’s unique research outputs UKCoRR keenly supports this bold policy. </em><br />
<br />
<em>We welcome any opportunity to enter into a dialogue with the RCUK as to how this could be cascaded, both to our membership and our academic stakeholders.</em>llordllamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16369211139394861870noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2495500078306016514.post-18365730768938209942012-03-22T08:50:00.000-07:002012-03-23T01:57:38.609-07:00Using Google Analytics Statistics within DSpace<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Thank you to Claire Knowles of Edinburgh University who provides this overview of how they have been able to display statistics from Google Analytics in DSpace.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
----</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In 2009 Edinburgh University
Digital Library adopted Google Analytics (GA) to track usage statistics within
the DSpace Repositories it supports on behalf of the Scottish Digital Library
Consortium (SDLC). The GA statistics
have proven much more reliable than the existing plugins available for DSpace
previously with which we experienced lost statistics and inflated pageviews
resulting from robots.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Unfortunately the GA statistics
for sites being tracked are only viewable via the GA dashboard for which users
require a Google account and managed permissions. This limits the visibility of statistics to a
few people at each institution.
Prompted by the presentation given by Graham Triggs (then working for
BioMed Central) at the Open Repositories Conference 2010, we decided to write
some code to make the Google Analytics statistics visible to all users of the
DSpace installations.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The work has been broken into
phases:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>1. Capture of downloads in
DSpace by Google Analytics. <o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The basic GA tracking code within
DSpace is unable to capture the number of file downloads as these are not links
within pages. To address this we added
code to the two downloads on the item page to enable these download actions to
be measured. This captured all downloads
within Dspace but not those users coming directly from search engines to the
download file. To capture these
statistics we decided to reroute all users back through the item page. This
means that they now have two clicks instead of one to reach the download but it
enables us to capture these statistics and also raises the visibility of the
Repository to users. To reduce the
inconvenience to the users we moved the file downloads links on the item page
from the bottom to the top so that they do not have to scroll down to find the
download. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>2. Adding page views to each
item page within DSpace<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Secondly, we added the number of
page views within the last year to the item page. This was a proof of concept which showed that
we could connect to the Google Analytics API and pull back statistics into
DSpace. We decided to only include the
number of views for the past year to reduce any disparities between the the
number of pageviews between older and new items.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>3. Making statistics viewable
within the DSpace web pages. <o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We decided to make the GA
statistics available at three levels: item, collection and repository as this
provides most of the statistics which are requested by users. Using the Query Explorer provided by Google
we were able to test and refine our queries before starting development. The pages were developed using the Google
Analytics java API, jQuery and the Google Chart tools to draw graphs and maps. <o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2C1iI88QfsQ/T2w63AxHEsI/AAAAAAAABNM/RmVqN43MXh8/s1600/item-downloads.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="270" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2C1iI88QfsQ/T2w63AxHEsI/AAAAAAAABNM/RmVqN43MXh8/s320/item-downloads.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-McpcUegVRKk/T2w6pkm02QI/AAAAAAAABNE/7xsfWng0hNU/s1600/era-item-views.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="231" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-McpcUegVRKk/T2w6pkm02QI/AAAAAAAABNE/7xsfWng0hNU/s320/era-item-views.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As we complete the rollout of
Google Analytics to all the SDLC partners we are starting to look to what other
statistics we would like to make available both from Google Analytics and also
possible exposing statistical information about DSpace using Google's chart
tools. One statistic that would be of interest to researchers is collating and
presenting download figures for authors (rather than by
item/collection/community).<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We have encountered problems
separating the item, collection and community statistics within DSpace as all
of their urls are formatted in the same way, we therefore have to query DSpace
data to do this and cannot distinguish them using the statistics data
alone. If the requested item, file,
collection or community is not available in DSpace an error page is returned,
these were being recorded in the same way as successful page which has led to
invalid items being listed in the statistics top ten tables. To prevent this error pages are now recorded
as an error event within Google Analytics.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
These changes have given us much
greater understanding of how our repository is being used with the majority of
users coming directly from Google. The
URLrewrite change led to a double of our download statistics as we now capture
users who previously went straight to the download.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Thanks to: Scottish Digital
Library Consortium, Stuart Wood and Gareth Johnson of University of Leicester
for information on the URLrewrite, Graham Triggs formerly of BioMed Central and
now Sympletic.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The code to enable GA stats
within DSpace is freely available from github:
<a href="https://github.com/seesmith/Dspace-googleanalytics">https://github.com/seesmith/Dspace-googleanalytics</a><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
You can view our collection and item statistic changes at
<a href="http://www.era.lib.ed.ac.uk/">http://www.era.lib.ed.ac.uk</a><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Graham Trigg’s slides from
OR2010: <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/OpenRepository/enhancing-statistics-google-analytics-and-visualization-apis">http://www.slideshare.net/OpenRepository/enhancing-statistics-google-analytics-and-visualization-apis</a><o:p></o:p></div>Nick Sheppardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03386789324280845551noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2495500078306016514.post-13987069004053676172012-03-22T04:38:00.000-07:002012-03-22T04:42:55.787-07:00Are your repository policies worth the HTML they are written in?In Neil Stewart's recent guest post on this blog he lamented the <a href="http://ukcorr.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/unfulfilled-promise-of-aggregating.html">The Unfulfilled Promise of Aggregating Institutional Repository Content</a>; in the context of his work with the <a href="http://core-project.kmi.open.ac.uk/">CORE projects at the Open University</a> Owen Stephens (<a href="https://twitter.com/#!/ostephens">@ostephens</a>) commented on that post about "technological and policy barriers to a 3rd party aggregating content from UK HE IRs" and has subsequently posted in more detail over <a href="http://core-project.kmi.open.ac.uk/node/32">on the CORE blog</a>.<br />
<br />
Not to put too fine a point on it, I think Owen has identified issues that are fundamental to the potential value of our repository infrastructure in UK HE, at least in terms of responsible 3rd parties building services on top of that infrastructure - though Owen also asks in the title of his post "What does Google do?" for which the short answer is that it indexes (harvests) metadata and full text for (arguably) commercial re-use unless asked not to by robot.txt. This is not necessarily to suggest that Google is irresponsible, it may well be but that is a rather bigger discussion!<br />
<br />
For CORE, by comparison, it has understandably been important to establish individual repository policy on re-use of metadata and full text content; where such policies exist at all they are invariably designed to be human readable rather than machine readable which is obviously is not conducive to automated harvest, in spite of guidance being available on how to handle both record, set and repository level rights statements in OAI-PMH from <a href="http://www.openarchives.org/OAI/2.0/guidelines-rights.htm">http://www.openarchives.org/OAI/2.0/guidelines-rights.htm</a>.<br />
<br />
To quote Owen in his review of policies listed in OpenDOAR he found that<i> "Looking at the 'metadata' policy summaries that OpenDOAR has recorded for these 125 repositories the majority (57) say "Metadata re-use policy explicitly undefined" which seems to sometimes mean OpenDOAR doesn't have a record of a metadata re-use policy, and sometimes seems to mean that OpenDOAR knows that there is no explicit metadata re-use policy defined by the repository. Of the remaining repositories, for a large proportion (47) OpenDOAR records "Metadata re-use permitted for not-for-profit purposes", and for a further 18 "Commercial metadata re-use permitted"."</i><br />
<br />
It might be suggested that machine-readability is actually secondary to what is potentially misconceived policy in the first place - or which hasn't perhaps been fully thought through and at the very least is fatally fragmented across the sector - and that arguably is the result of lip-service rather than based on what actually happens in the real (virtual) world.<br />
<br />
For my own part, in my institutional role, I was very, er, green (no pun intended) when I defined <a href="http://repository.leedsmet.ac.uk/main/policies.php">our repository policies</a> back in 2008 using the OpenDOAR policy creation toolkit - <a href="http://www.opendoar.org/tools/en/policies.php">http://www.opendoar.org/tools/en/policies.php</a> - and to be frank I haven't really revisited them since. I suspect I'm not terribly unusual. To quote Owen once more, <i>"the situation is even less clear for fulltext content than it is for metadata. OpenDOAR lists 54 repositories with the policy summary "Full data item policies explicitly undefined", but after that the next most common (29 repositories) policy summary (as recorded by OpenDOAR) is "Rights vary for the re-use of full data items" - more on this in a moment. OpenDOAR records "Re-use of full data items permitted for not-for-profit purposes" for a further 20 repositories, and then (of particularly interest for CORE) 16 repositories as "Harvesting full data items by robots prohibited".</i><br />
<br />
The (reasonably unrestrictive) metadata and full-text policies I chose at Leeds Metropolitan University state that<i> "the metadata may be re-used in any medium without prior permission for not-for-profit purposes and re-sold commercially provided the OAI Identifier or a link to the original metadata record are given"</i> and <i>"copies of full items generally can be reproduced, displayed or performed, and given to third parties in any format or medium for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-profit purposes without prior permission or charge". </i>Even this, with the word "generally" implicitly recognises the fact that there may be different restrictions that apply to different items which to some extent reflects the complexity of negotiating copyright for green OA, not to mention the other types of records that repositories may hold (e.g. our repository also comprises a collection of Open Educational Resources [OER] which are in fact licensed at the record level with a Creative Commons URI in dc:rights as in this example - <a href="http://repository-intralibrary.leedsmet.ac.uk/IntraLibrary-OAI?verb=GetRecord&identifier=oai:com.intralibrary.leedsmet:2711&metadataPrefix=oai_dc">http://repository-intralibrary.leedsmet.ac.uk/IntraLibrary-OAI?verb=GetRecord&identifier=oai:com.intralibrary.leedsmet:2711&metadataPrefix=oai_dc</a>)<br />
<br />
Nor are my policies available in a machine readable form (which as we've established is typical across the sector) and I'm not actually sure how this could even be achieved without applying a standard license like Creative Commons?<br />
<br />
Owen goes on to consider "What does Google do?", if you haven't already it's certainly worth reading the <a href="http://core-project.kmi.open.ac.uk/node/32">post in full</a> but he concludes that <i>"Google, Google Scholar, and other web search engines do not rely on the repository specific mechanisms to index their content, and do not take any notice of repository policies". </i>Indeed, I think in common with many repository managers, I devote a lot of time and effort on SEO to ensure my repository is effectively indexed by Google et al and that full-text content can be discovered by these global search engines...which seems somewhat perverse when our own parochial mechanisms and fragmented institutional policies make it so difficult to build effective services of our own.Nick Sheppardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03386789324280845551noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2495500078306016514.post-14536315200876525552012-03-19T08:47:00.000-07:002012-03-19T08:47:16.481-07:00UKCoRR, RSP and DRF - Japan and the UK in AgreementAs you'll have probably seen last week on the lists UKCoRR, in collaboration with the <a href="http://www.rsp.ac.uk/" target="_blank">RSP</a> and Japan's <a href="http://drf.lib.hokudai.ac.jp/drf/index.php?Digital%20Repository%20Federation%20%28in%20English%29" target="_blank">DRF</a> (Digital Repository Federation) have signed a memorandum of understanding.<br />
<br />
<div> </div>The Memorandum includes a commitment to<br />
<ul><li>Sharing experience and expertise </li>
<li>Inviting and possibly sponsoring representatives from partners to participate in RSP and DRF events </li>
<li>Joint efforts to seek funding and/or support </li>
</ul><br />
<div>Obviously from UKCoRR's perspective (and being unfunded as we are) we're mostly about the first option in the agreement; but all the same it's the first time we've signed up to an international agreement and is something that all members can be proud of - the furtherance of recognition of the importance of the repository worker and manager around the world. </div><br />
<div> </div>You can read more about this, and view the memorandum <a href="http://rspproject.wordpress.com/2012/03/13/japan-and-uk-in-agreement/" target="_blank">on the RSP's pages</a>.llordllamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16369211139394861870noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2495500078306016514.post-8000472610549233332012-03-06T04:13:00.000-08:002012-03-06T04:13:52.693-08:00The Unfulfilled Promise of Aggregating Institutional Repository Content (Guest Post)Our thanks to Neil Stewart, Digital Repository Manager at City University London for the following guest post which raises some interesting questions for us all.<br />
----<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">A </span><a href="http://occamstypewriter.org/scurry/2012/02/21/an-open-letter-on-open-access-to-uk-research-councils/#comment-8502"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">very good question</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> was posed on Stephen Curry’s blog by Björn Brembs recently (Curry and Brembs are a couple of the more prominent figures supporting the Elsevier boycott): </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt 36pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I’ve always wondered why the institutional repositories aren’t working with, e.g. PubMed etc. to make sure a link to their version is displayed with the search results. I mean, how difficult can this be?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">This got me thinking, how difficult can it be? Aggregating and re-using institutional repository (IR) content at subject level is, after all, </span><a href="http://openaccess.eprints.org/index.php?/archives/414-guid.html"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">one of the promises of the Green road to Open Access</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The infrastructure is already in place, in the form of the many OAI-PMH compliant institutional repositories out there, and there is also the </span><a href="http://swordapp.org/"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">SWORD client</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">, which allows flexible transfer of repository content. Some examples do exist- for example the </span><a href="http://www.economistsonline.org/home"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Economists Online</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> service, which harvests material from selected economics research-intensive universities, then makes it available via a portal. But (to my knowledge) there has been no work done to provide a way of e.g. ensuring all a repository’s eligible physics content is automatically uploaded to </span><a href="http://arxiv.org/"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">ArXiv</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">, or all biomedical research to </span><a href="http://ukpmc.ac.uk/"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">UKPMC</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Subject repositories have gained critical mass in certain disciplines (to add to the examples above, see also </span><a href="http://repec.org/"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">RePEC</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> for economics, </span><a href="http://www.ssrn.com/"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">SSRN</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> for social sciences and </span><a href="http://www.informatik.uni-trier.de/~ley/db/"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">DBLP</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> for computer science), meaning that if a paper doesn’t appear there, it’s far less visible. This means that the incentive to post locally is greatly reduced- yes, your paper will appear in Google, but a paper in ArXiv will appear both in Google and in the native interface of the repository where everyone else in your discipline is depositing.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">So if the infrastructure is there and the rationale to create these links exists, why has it not been happening to any meaningful extent already? I suspect it’s because of the fact that the IR landscape is, by its very nature, a fragmented one. Those with responsibility for IRs (managers, IT people, and senior management) are understandably concerned with local issues: ensuring that IRs are properly managed and integrated with the university’s systems, as well as the usual open access and service awareness-raising and advocacy. Having time to think about the automatic population of ArXiv with papers from your home repository is probably pretty far down one’s to-do list.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">That’s not to say that repository managers are oblivious to these issues- but here another problem arises. Few individual repository managers, I would guess, would think that they individually could negotiate with and persuade ArXiv that<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>automatic harvesting of physics content from their repository, and their repository alone, would be worth ArXiv’s while. This is, perhaps, where UKCoRR (or other national bodies- JISC perhaps?) might come in. If ArXiv or similar subject repositories could be persuaded of the merits of harvesting IR content (whether full text or metadata pointing back to IR holdings), it would allow all repositories to plug in to this system, and offer it as a service to academics (two for one deposit- local IR and ArXiv at the same time!)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">So, what do people think? Is there any appetite for turning this into a project that UKCoRR members could take forward, perhaps with UKCoRR and/ or JISC oversight? Comments please!</span></div>llordllamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16369211139394861870noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2495500078306016514.post-12748788580301453902012-02-27T02:04:00.001-08:002012-04-02T08:47:34.334-07:00The COAR QuestionThose of you whom attended the <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/GazJJohnson/future-directions-sleeping-in-light-or-deconstruction-of-falling-stars" target="_blank">Portsmouth meeting last month</a>, and hopefully everyone on the list, should be aware of <a href="http://www.coar-repositories.org/" target="_blank">COAR</a>. As you know there have been some very tentative discussions going on behind the scenes relating to the question of should <a href="http://www.ukcorr.org/" target="_blank">UKCoRR</a> become a member of COAR. <br />
<br />
There are a number of obstacles to membership in our way - not least of which is the question of how as a lightweight unfunded organisation we would afford to <a href="http://www.coar-repositories.org/member-and-partnership/membership-fee-regulations/" target="_blank">pay the annual membership fee</a>. There are also broader policy questions about whether membership of COAR would be in the best interests of UKCoRR's long term Independence of action, policy and governance. You only have to glance at the recent announcements from us both on the Elsevier question to see that while the two groups have for the most part allied goals that we are likely to come from two different angles on some issues.<br />
<br />
COAR is an organisational membership body funded by subscriptions pushing ahead the interests of open access and repositories. UKCoRR is a individual membership organisation unfunded and independent that pushes forward the representation and development of its members, as well as the role of repositories in the UK. There are other differences but I encourage you all to study the goals of <a href="http://www.coar-repositories.org/about-coar/aims-and-objectives/" target="_blank">both COAR</a> and <a href="http://ukcorr.org/mission/" target="_blank">UKCoRR</a> and come to your own conclusion on the compatibility or otherwise of the two organisations.<br />
<br />
As I said in Portsmouth, as Chair while I can see a certain simpatico in establishing strong lines of communication and liaison with COAR (or indeed any other similar body) I do have a number of concerns over formal membership for UKCoRR. <br />
<br />
Not least among these are these questions: <br />
<ul><li><strong>What does UKCoRR the organisation really get out of membership? </strong></li>
<li><strong>What do UKCoRR members get out of our membership?</strong></li>
<li><strong>How closely does membership tie us to COAR's agenda and policy?</strong></li>
<li><strong>Is it better to maintain our independence rather than interdependence?</strong></li>
</ul>As Chair I wouldn't like to be in circumstances where UKCoRR couldn't be seen to disagree with COAR's position on an issue where our membership felt strongly. COAR encourages participation of its membership in its governance, but as an unfunded body this would leave our Committee in the awkward position of requiring our employers to fund our travel to Europe to attend meetings on behalf of UKCoRR; something that in these budget conscious times I might anticipate would not be that easy a task to achieve<br />
Rather than UKCoRR becoming a member, would it not perhaps be a better idea for our host institutions to become members of COAR (UK membership is currently negligible)? Would this better suit the aims of both organisations, and our employers to boot?<br />
<br />
As such I am looking to you the membership to give the Committee a steer on this. Leaving aside the fee question, the core question is: <strong>Should UKCoRR explore routes to becoming a formal member of COAR?</strong><br />
<br />
Najla Rettberg of COAR has <a href="http://ukcorr.blogs.lincoln.ac.uk/files/2012/02/COAR.pdf" target="_blank">helpfully provided a bit more information</a> from their perspective that I'd encourage you all to read before responding.<br />
<br />
I await your thoughts with considerable interest - please feel free to comment here or if you prefer contact myself or any of the <a href="http://ukcorr.org/committee/" target="_blank">Committee</a> offline.<br />
<br />
[<em><strong>Update 2/April/2012</strong>: As UKCoRR members will know already; following the discussions on the list and inside the Committee it has been decided that membership within COAR is not something that will be pursued. As Chair I've written to COAR to inform them of our decision, and warmly welcomed them to consider entering into a memorandum of understanding and support with us; in much the same way as we have with the <a href="http://ukcorr.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/ukcorr-rsp-and-drf-japan-and-uk-in.html" target="_blank">RSP and the DRF.</a></em>]llordllamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16369211139394861870noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2495500078306016514.post-47506254890666817232012-02-17T03:13:00.000-08:002012-02-17T03:13:50.641-08:00Elsevier: The Big Bad or Walking with Dinosaurs?You can't help but have seen in the last few weeks <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2012/feb/02/academics-boycott-publisher-elsevier" target="_blank">all the press</a> <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/blog/2012/feb/10/parable-farmers-teleporting-duplicator" target="_blank">about Elsevier</a> <a href="http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2012/02/15/after-elsevier-boycott-green-open-access/" target="_blank">in the</a> <a href="http://www.michaeleisen.org/blog/?p=807" target="_blank">blogsphere</a> and <a href="http://scienceblogs.com/denialism/2012/01/eisen_busts_rep_carolyn_malone.php" target="_blank">news media</a>, especially <a href="http://thecostofknowledge.com/" target="_blank">The Cost of Knowledge Petition</a>. It's been hard to avoid, and it's been a matter of debate within the UKCoRR Community as well. One thing that raised my eyebrows more than their prices was the <a href="http://www.coar-repositories.org/news/coar-writes-open-letter-as-reaction-to-elseviers-practices/coar-open-letter-06-02-2012/" target="_blank">statement from COAR</a> urging them "...to reconsider its prohibitive approach to open access and revise its policies to allow the deposit of research articles with minimum delay." I think it's a brave move, although one fraught with political issues - coming down so heavily on the "anti" side of the debate.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PVAImJGSvbE/TrXfdH9Cj3I/AAAAAAAAAH0/ah4rnlfwVEQ/s1600/badguy_snidelywhiplash.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200px" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PVAImJGSvbE/TrXfdH9Cj3I/AAAAAAAAAH0/ah4rnlfwVEQ/s200/badguy_snidelywhiplash.jpg" width="146px" yda="true" /></a></div>UKCoRR certainly feels that the support of such retrograde ideas as the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Research_Works_Act" target="_blank">RWA</a> by the AAP, and chief among them <a href="http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/intro.cws_home/elsevierstatement" target="_blank">Elsevier</a>, is something that has the potential to have significantly deleterious long term effects on the cause of opening access for all to the treasures of human knowledge. As the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Bad" target="_blank">Big Bad</a> (it seems) for the RWA, we are not at all surprised that they are now reaping the whirlwind. Not to mention their continued muddying of the authors licenses and permissions which causes each and everyone of us a headache I'm quite sure. But they are not the only publisher to be guilty of these sins against open access, and part of me feels that singling them out for such a public barracking perhaps might let other issues or publishers slip back into the shadows. I think we all need to remain vigilant and sound the alarm just as loudly should any other organisation or stakeholder in the scholarly publishing domain make such similar policy moves.<br />
<br />
One thing UKCoRR has striven to do from our very earliest days is attempt to engage with publishers, along with other stakeholders, to seek a joined up future of scholarly communication. To date I will confess these giants in the playground have ignored the minnows in the corner (from their perspective at least). However, one only needs to point to the lessons of history and perhaps remind them that the massive and preeminent lifeforms that were the dinosaurs were once as all dominant while tiny rodents scampered around their feet. When the sea change came in the shape of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cretaceous%E2%80%93Tertiary_extinction_event" target="_blank">K-T extinction event</a> the dinosaurs were so locked into their evolutionary niche that they were unable to adapt, and their successors rose from beneath their claws.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.spacesafetymagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Chicxilub-crater-model.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="143px" src="http://www.spacesafetymagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Chicxilub-crater-model.jpg" width="200px" yda="true" /></a></div>Is open access the world killer for the publishing dinosaurs? Personally I hope not, but seeing this increasing reactionary inflexibility from the big boys of publishing does certainly ring one or two points of commonality in my head. The more they dig into their 19th/20th Century position as gatekeepers, guardians and protectors of the IP of the scholars of the world, and the more the 21st Century makes it easier, faster and simpler for others to fill the various roles, the more I think they're going to back themselves down into their very own Chicxulub crater.<br />
<br />
But it also means that we in the repository sector have to remain just as agile if we are to survived the impact. I often say to my team that what we do and how we work with repositories today is very much evolved from where we were when I entered the field in 2006. We've been evolving, and we need to keep evolving if we are to meet the needs of our academics as they, hopefully, finally wise us to the fact that they don't need publishers like they used to; and that the apparatus and expertise to help them share, curate and celebrate their knowledge output is just a short walk across the campus to the repository office.<br />
<br />
One thing I would charge all UKCoRR members with is going through the signatories on the petition to see if they can find any local authors and academics. It is without a doubt a golden opportunity to make use of these self-declared opponents of restrictive knowledge exchange paradigms. These fine people are willing to speak out, and up, about open access and should be approached as potential local champions of the cause. Cherish them, support them and above all make use of their insights from the academic perspective; because I often sense that we repository workers don't always quite manage to chime to right bells for academics. <br />
<br />
As some UKCoRR members have said to me - the press visibility in the academic sphere over the restrictions that publishers make on access to our shared knowledge has never been higher. If nothing else the Cost of Knowledge row is not going to go away quickly, and there will be more than a handful of previously unaware and perhaps uncaring academics who can be brought into the open access fold and the light of a new, better, more open tomorrow.llordllamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16369211139394861870noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2495500078306016514.post-24399883855648545282012-02-02T08:24:00.000-08:002012-02-02T08:27:19.331-08:00UKCoRR members' meeting, University of Portsmouth, 27 Jan 2012Here are some notes on the first event held for <a href="http://ukcorr.org/">UKCoRR</a> members this year:<div><a title="Four boats by Paul Stainthorp, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/pstainthorp/6772906209/"><img class="alignright" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7141/6772906209_c1be5c3f94_m.jpg" alt="Four boats" width="160" height="240" style="margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px; " /></a><br /><br />As you probably know, UKCoRR is an entirely unfunded organisation which relies heavily on the time and energy of its members, and on the generosity of universities to host our meetings – on this occasion our heartfelt thanks to the <strong><a href="http://port.ac.uk/library/">University of Portsmouth Library</a></strong>, and particularly to <a href="http://www.port.ac.uk/library/askus/librarians/barrow/">Andy Barrow</a> and (associate university librarian) Ken Dick, for very kindly putting us up and keeping us fed and coffee-ed, and for Ken's warm welcome at the start of the meeting.<br /><br />This was a very well-attended event: nearly 50 UKCoRR members and invited guests, from as far afield as Edinburgh (350+ miles away)… and a packed schedule. So packed, in fact, that we probably didn't leave enough breathing space. We'll build in more rest breaks and time for <del datetime="2012-01-31T15:56:40+00:00">gossip</del> professional networking at the next meeting!<br /><ol><li>Slides from all the presentations below will shortly be made available on UKCoRR's slideshare account, at: <strong><a href="http://www.slideshare.net/ukcorr">slideshare.net/ukcorr</a></strong></li><br /><li>Some of the speakers kindly agreed to be filmed, and videos will be made available at: <strong><a href="http://youtube.com/user/ukcorr">youtube.com/user/ukcorr</a></strong></li><br /></ol>After Ken had welcomed us to Portstmouth, UKCoRR chair <strong><a href="http://www2.le.ac.uk/library/about/staff/specialists/garethjohnson/gareth-j-johnson?searchterm=johnson">Gaz Johnson</a></strong> gave the first presentation of the day, with a science fiction gloss and a look at the possible future directions of UKCoRR. Gaz has <a href="http://ukcorr.blogspot.com/2012/02/it-was-year-of-fire.html">already blogged about his talk</a>. A few key points and questions:<br /><ul><li>The committee needs to consult with members, and these members' meetings are a good way of doing that!</li><br /><li>Our priorities (validated by the user survey, 2011) should be best practice exchange, lobbying, and advocacy;</li><br /><li>Is our lack of a membership fee our <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unique_selling_point">USP</a>? It means we're beholden to no-one, we don't have to serve anyone's agenda (other than our members'), and it makes it easier to avoid conflicts of interest…</li><br /><li>…but it's worth considering what we could do differently if we were funded;</li><br /><li>Should <em>membership</em> of UKCoRR bring with it certain responsibilities?</li><br /><li>Aren't repositories generally understaffed in the UK?</li></ul>Next up, <strong><a href="http://edina.ac.uk/about/personnel.html">Andrew Dorward</a></strong> of EDINA on the <strong><a href="http://edina.ac.uk/projects/ukrnplus_summary.html">UK RepositoryNet+</a></strong> project to build "a socio-technical infrastructure to support repositories". Andrew gave an overview of the <a href="http://www.jisc.ac.uk/publications/briefingpapers/2007/repositorynet.aspx">original RepositoryNet project</a>, and the ongoing aim to build shared services for repositories. Recently, the new project interviewed a range of UKCoRR members, Open Access publishers, <a href="http://www.arma.ac.uk/">members of ARMA</a>, and active researchers about the repository landscape — broadly, those interviews validated the current approach to services — but Andrew noted that in repository "<a href="http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue57/robertson-et-al/">ecology</a>", there is some room for drawing together the range of services (search, deposit statistics, <em>etc.</em>) into fewer but more comprehensive tools. He also talked about the growth in OA publishing since the launch of <em>PLoS</em> in 2003: see <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.1001235.t001">doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1001235.t001</a><br /><br />Last up before lunch, <strong><a href="http://www.research.ucreative.ac.uk/profile/60">Marie-Therese Gramstadt</a></strong> from the University of the Creative Arts gave us an update on the <a href="http://vads.ac.uk/kultivate/news/">Kultivate project</a>, the advocacy and decision-making toolkits, and the associated <a href="http://www.vads.ac.uk/kultur2group/projects/kultivate/index.html">Kultur II group</a>, sharing best practice in repository design for creative and visual arts research. Asked to show hands, about half the UKCoRR delegates had arts researchers 'at home' – about the same number of people also expressed an interest in continuing the work of Kultur II. Some Kultivate links:<br /><ul><li><a href="http://www.vads.ac.uk/kultur2group/toolkits/advocacy/">Kultivate advocacy toolkit</a></li><br /><li><a href="http://www.vads.ac.uk/kultur2group/toolkits/decision-making/">Kultivate decision-making toolkit</a></li><br /><li>The Kultivate plugin for EPrints will be added to the <a href="http://bazaar.eprints.org/">EPrints Bazaar</a> soon</li></ul>After lunch – the lightning talks!<br /><ul><li>Talking about a new strategic marketing project for <a href="http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/research/wrap/">WRAP</a> (the University of Warwick's repository) – <strong>Yvonne Budden</strong> explained the need to revamp the repo's image, and how WRAP piggybacked on a wider redesign project at Warwick and used an interesting <a href="https://my.sunderland.ac.uk/mod/file/download.php?file_guid=86866">methodology from the Kay Grieves at the University of Sunderland</a>, summarised as: (1) Match services to users (2) Transform services into benefits (3) Translate benefits into messages! Freebie materials (highlighter pens, <em>etc.</em>) are being used as bribes to encourage depositors to take the message of the repo back to their colleagues. A really striking new black-and-yellow colour scheme!</li><br /><li><strong>Matthew Smith</strong> from the University of So'ton, on the <a href="http://www.eprints.org/tech.php/14010.html">EPrints Shelves</a> project. Building a tool to give users more control over how results from <a href="http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/">their repository</a> are displayed on author profile pages, <em>etc.</em>, by allowing people to log in and add/remove items from a 'shelf'. Those 'shelves' can then be exported using normal EPrints export tools. Shelves should be released to the <a href="http://bazaar.eprints.org/">EPrints Bazaar</a> soon. Lots of interest in the room about this plugin!</li><br /><li><strong>Tracey Kent</strong> on the use of a "request a copy" for e-theses at the University of Birmingham. Birmingham offer four options for access to e-theses: from [1] "full OA" through to [2] "request a copy" (with theses available through EThOS), [3] a more limited request (excerpts only; not on EThOS), and finally [4] fully-embargoed theses. They went from around 2,500 thesis requests per year to more than 250,000 requests/yr., with ~88% on some kind of Open Access (options [1] or [2]).</li><br /><li><strong>Margaret Feetham</strong> of Southampton Solent University talked about running their mixed-economy repository (research, student work, university publications) …with (very familiar to UKCoRR members!) little budget and few staff. SSU practice unmediated deposit, with academics given training on copyright and licensing issues. Margaret explained how they've still managed to get an impressive deposit rate by engaging keen users and advocates, and by working with the university's research services – with REF2014 as an attention-focuser!</li><br /><li>From the <a href="http://www.stfc.ac.uk/">STFC (Science and Technology Facilities Council)</a>, <strong>Catherine Jones</strong> explained how they are using <a href="http://www.crossref.org/">CrossRef</a> to create large numbers of (metadata-only) records in <a href="http://epubs.stfc.ac.uk/">epubs.stfc.ac.uk</a> – scientific authors like the ability to use that repository's quick & easy DOI import tool to deposit records, but are now pressing to be able to speed the process up even further. Challenges of recording articles with hundreds or even thousands of collaborators – not uncommon in some areas of physics!</li></ul>A quick breather, then straight on to the first of two invited speakers to wind the day up:<br /><br /><strong>Sarah Gould</strong> of the British Library on some of the changes in the pipeline for the <a href="http://ethos.bl.uk/">EThOS</a> service. There's general recognition that <em>some</em> of the features of EThOS (<em>e.g.</em> the "checkout" process for supplying PDF copies of theses) are a bit old hat, and too rooted in old document supply processes. The limited metadata applied to many items in EThOS is also a barrier. EThOS are engaging a new development to drag the service kicking and screaming into the 21st century, and are also engaging on a big programme (working with the BL's library systems vendors as well as with panels of librarians) to improve the quality and range of metadata. There was an interesting discussion at this point about the possibility of EThOS linking to copies of theses in institutional repositories, rather than/as well as holding digitised copies – what might that mean for the responsibilities of the BL and institutions to ensure preservation of access?<br /><br />Bravely accepting the final slot of the day, <a href="http://blogs.cetis.ac.uk/philb/"><strong>Phil Barker</strong> of JISC CETIS</a> on the world of Open Educational Resources (OERs). Another show of hands: fewer than 25% of UKCoRR members in the room have involvement with OERs (either through projects, or through working institutional OER repos). That's not too much of a surprise: the issues involved in storing and managing repositories of OERs can be much more complex (multiple complex objects, quality control, metadata requirements, copyright and licensed re-use, the sheer number of people involved!) and many institutions have shyed away.<br /><br />Phil talked about some of the motivators for universities to engage with OER, including the morals obligation of the university ("…charter to widen knowledge"), the role of OERs in marketing universities / acting as a shop window / leading to student recruitment, and the hope that the rigorous approach needed in creating of OERs will provide a beneficial 'trickle down' effect into the design and management of <em>all</em> educational materials. Some food-for-though OER links:<br /><ul><li>The <a href="http://capetowndeclaration.org/">Cape Town Open Education Declaration</a> of OER principles</li><br /><li><a href="http://blogs.cetis.ac.uk/philb/">Phil Barker's blog</a></li><br /><li><a href="http://www.ocwconsortium.org/">Open Courseware Consortium</a></li><br /><li>Current <a href="http://www.jisc.ac.uk/oer">JISC OER projects</a></li><br /><li><a href="http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/change">HEA Change Academy</a> (also funding some OER projects)</li></ul>As always, there was a breathtaking amount of 'stuff' for us to get stuck into — useful advice, supportive discussions, and news of exciting work going on — and the recognised benefit of UKCoRR members' meetings as being a refreshingly practical, non-threatening and safe place for repository staff to talk to people faced with the same problems every day. Keep your <a href="http://ukcorr.org/events/future-events/">eyes peeled for the next couple of UKCoRR events planned for this year</a>: looks like 2012's going to be one of our busiest yet.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2495500078306016514.post-271220017697883712012-02-01T01:45:00.000-08:002012-02-01T01:47:45.882-08:00It was the Year of Fire...Those of you in Portsmouth last week had the chance to hear my Babylon 5 themed talk thinking about the future direction of <a href="http://www.ukcorr.org/" target="_blank">UKCoRR</a>. The aim was to get not just the membership in the room talking and thinking about where we go next with UKCoRR, but also to give an idea of some of the obstacles and opportunities that currently exist. You can <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/GazJJohnson/future-directions-sleeping-in-light-or-deconstruction-of-falling-stars" target="_blank">view the slides here</a> and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGQ5DSzxsZU" target="_blank">view the quote that drove my thinking here</a>.<br />
<br />
<div></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://arch.413chan.net/kosh-(n1294192628058).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320px" sda="true" src="http://arch.413chan.net/kosh-(n1294192628058).jpg" width="252px" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">New look for Repository Managers?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>One of the reasons I picked the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babylon_5" target="_blank">Babylon 5</a>* is for the key questions that are asked that define a person I think perfectly transfer to help define or at least clarify what UKCoRR stands for, should be doing as well as aiming to do. For those of you not familiar with Babylon 5 lore here are the questions.<br />
<ul><li>Who are you? </li>
<li>What do you want?</li>
<li>Why are you here?</li>
<li>Do you have anything worth living for?**</li>
<li>Who do you serve? </li>
<li>Who do you trust? </li>
<li>Where are you going? </li>
</ul>Leaving aside one of those these neatly give us a guide with which to look to how the membership of UKCoRR is comprised, how we can serve the needs of our membership and our members' stakeholders along with the more tricky questions of interactions with those entities and organisations who lie beyond the rim...or at least outside of UKCoRR itself.<br />
<br />
Some of these questions I believe are easier to answer than others. Some though need continued and protracted thought and consideration. I can say, for example, the question of funding vs Independence is one that has vexed the Committee for some considerable time; and I suspect will continue to. As Chair I'm personally ethically opposed to the introduction of any fee for membership structure, but at the same time conflicted as there are opportunities that would be far easier for UKCoRR if we had some form of funding stream.<br />
<br />
Naturally there are those organisations out there whom might wish to provide us with an alternate funding stream - but with great funding comes great responsibilities (apologies, mixing my genres there) - to whit to accept a quid means there may a pro quo around the corner.<br />
<br />
Likewise there is the prospect of UKCoRR entering into arrangements of mutual benefit with external bodies that may well serve the interests of our members well; but at the same time once again these come with strings attached. Is it better to simply be in formal liaison with key players rather than partnership, or is loss of our Independence a small price to pay for advancing the cause of professional repository management and administration? I remain to be convinced but over 2012 we will continue to talk to a variety of other organisations that do overlap with our concerns to explore where mutual benefits do exist, whilst not giving away the home world at the same time. I'll be talking more about one of these in particular where I want you the membership's views in my next post!<br />
<br />
There are two major reasons why I raised all these questions in this post and the talk. Firstly because I believe that UKCoRR as an organisation, like open access and repositories, is a field that continues to evolve at a relatively cracking pace. As the professional membership body for repository practitioners we too must evolve likewise. And secondly because as part of the annual cycle which begins anew in April the Committee will be charged with drawing up a strategic and operational plan of action for the next year - and this is your opportunity to feed directly into the process.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://ukcorr.org/contacts/" target="_blank">So contact us</a>, comment on this or catch us at the various repository events around the Country over the coming couple of months because, as I never tire of saying, UKCoRR is the membership - we the Committee simply try and run it according to your desires and needs; not to mention enlightened best interests!<br />
<br />
Because if we don't, it may all end in fire but this could also be the year of rebirth just as easily.<br />
--<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">* Don't get me into who the Shadows, Vorlons and First Ones are in the repository world - that's a whole other talk!</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">** I think this one is a bit beyond us!</span>llordllamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16369211139394861870noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2495500078306016514.post-29386108938704011082012-01-09T08:13:00.000-08:002012-01-09T08:35:56.507-08:00SOPA and the AAP: Dumb and Dumber? Publishers seek to crush open access in US CongressHappy New Year all; and if you'll indulge me I'd like to share some personal opinion on some rather troubling news to come across the pond.<br />
<br />
As we all sidle into a new year, over in the States it seems that the season of goodwill to all men has faded faster than ever. As you can't help to have seen in the last week or so that once again publishers in the body of the Association of American Publishers (AAP) are rattling their sabres and doing their level best to get the US Congress to push through the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stop_Online_Piracy_Act" target="_blank">SOPA bill</a>. Bringing with it some of the worst aspects of our own lamentable <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Economy_Act_2010" target="_blank">Digital Economy Act 2010</a>, SOPA seeks to strengthen copyright in such a way that will (at worst) do pretty awful things to the Internet; along the way scuppering open access to publicly funded research.<br />
<br />
Hopefully you all had a chance to read the AAP's Christmas present "<a href="http://www.publishers.org/press/56/" target="_blank">Publishers Applaud Research Works Act, Bipartisan Legislation To End Government Mandates on Private-Sector Scholarly Publishing</a>"; and personally I'm thankful I avoid reading it to the new year, lest I have choked on my turkey with bitter disgust. As a (kinda) librarian I think the particular phrase that stuck in my craw was the following:<br />
<br />
<blockquote><em>Journal articles are widely available in major academic centers, public libraries, universities, interlibrary loan programs and online databases. Many academic, professional and business organizations provide staffs and members with access to such content.</em></blockquote>That is if you can afford their vastly inflated prices of course and I would be shocked to discover any public libraries in the UK whom had the fiscal ability to purchase research journals for their readers. On top of this once again we see the private sector, on whom so much of our economy hangs, ignored. They don't buy journals for the most part and rely heavily on open access repositories like those you and I run to provide access to the publicly funded research our taxes pay for. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.michaeleisen.org/blog/?p=807" target="_blank">And a Happy New Year to you too Elsevier!</a><br />
<br />
Publishers it seems seem to think we live in a dream pre-internet world, where the exchange of publications could be tightly controlled through subscriptions and licensed interlending. Repositories have actually respected the rights base of publishers for many years, seeking only to archive and share where permitted. One can almost sense that if this bill was to become law that open access advocates would push harder than ever for academics to disregard copyright law and start freely sharing and making available articles; not in controlled institutional repositories but on file sharing sites like the <em>Pirate Bay</em>. Let's see how long they would be able to defend their old world economic model then.<br />
<br />
I am naturally, not advocating the above, but it doesn't take a large suspension of disbelief to see the scholastic publishing world going down this route. Do we really want anarchy in the OA? Many of the academic evangelists of open access would probably be delighted to see such a move, as they feel that those of us in the repository community cleave too closely to respecting traditional understandings of author and publisher rights. <br />
<br />
My initial title to this post is sadly unprintable and doubtless those of us working to unlock the IP created by our scholars in open access can only roll our eyes in horror as yet another road block seems to be placed in our way. It does rather raise the spectre of a similar bill being brought to bear in our own Mother of All Parliaments as I'm sure we've all heard from various publishers just how important they are to the UK economy; forgetting as usual that HE and the research conducted within it is actually worth far more.<br />
<br />
Thankfully for those of you looking for a far more knowledgeable, less irascible and more detailed debate on the subject will find that other correspondents have written some eloquent demolitions of the bill and in particular the lamentable support that publishers seem to be throwing behind it. <br />
<br />
<ul><li><a href="http://cameronneylon.net/blog/the-stupidity-of-sopa-in-scholarly-publishing/" target="_blank">The stupidity of SOPA in Scholarly Publishing</a></li>
<li><a href="http://cameronneylon.net/blog/update-on-publishers-and-sopa-time-for-scholarly-publishers-to-disavow-the-aap/" target="_blank">Update on publishers and SOPA: Time for scholarly publishers to disavow the AAP</a></li>
<li><a href="http://openaccess.eprints.org/index.php?/archives/867-guid.html" target="_blank">Research Works Act H.R.3699: The Private Publishing Tail Trying To Wag The Public Research Dog, Yet Again</a></li>
</ul>Every one of you needs to make sure that you bring this potential bill and the moves by publishers to tighten their stranglehold on the intellectual publication market to the attention of the movers and shakers in your own organisation. The academics, the ProVCs for research and if you've got the metal the VCs as well. You might also bring it to the attention of your serials and periodical librairans, especially those with links to publisher backed bodies like UKSG. <br />
<br />
Frankly it's time we stopped letting the publishers have their own ways in this arena!<br />
<br />
As an organisation UKCoRR's voice may not be overly loud (yet), but we try hard for our members! Certainly we lack the multimillions and billions of the publishing corproations and their lobbying potential, but that doesn't mean we can't all make a noise. Publishers might not listen to those of use in <em>supporting</em> services but they need to listen to researchers; without whom they wouldn't have a publication to stand on.<br />
<br />
But as always UKCoRR members, the Committee welcome your take on this!<br />
<br />
<strong>UKCoRR: Opposes the SOPA and the APP's Position</strong><br />
(And now my offical hat back on)<br />
<br />
UKCoRR's not in the habit of making policy statements; which is perhaps something that will have to change this year (and a topic for debate at the January meeting) but I can say that with the full support of the Commitee and as the Chair of this organisation I have no hesitation in stating that UKCoRR is firmly in opposition to SOPA and the AAP's position with respect to it.llordllamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16369211139394861870noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2495500078306016514.post-71867385740693409042011-12-13T01:45:00.000-08:002011-12-13T01:47:16.452-08:00Jorum Steering Group<br />
<div style="background-color: transparent;">
<span id="internal-source-marker_0.20142851979471743" style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">O</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">n 17th October I attended the first meeting of the Jorum Steering Group at Mimas (excuse the delay in posting). The group has been convened to provide strategic input to <a href="http://www.jorum.ac.uk/">Jorum</a> during what is a transitional year for the service, with members asked to act as advocates and critical friends especially in regard to grassroots perspectives, market intelligence and user feedback. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">UKCoRR has been identified as a potential partner organisation to Jorum during this time and although the expertise within our organisation is primarily Open Access to research, which arguably has occupied a different space to Open Educational Resources (OER), both in terms of technical infrastructure and also, I think, national and institutional stakeholders there is nevertheless a degree of cross-over; Jorum runs on a modified DSpace repository and a minority of UKCoRR member institutions do manage OER in their repository alongside their research. Perhaps more importantly, however, I would argue that recent political and economic developments in UK HE, combined with a zeitgeist that had already moved a long way towards “open” dissemination of scholarly output (even before <a href="http://www.bis.gov.uk/assets/biscore/corporate/docs/s/10-1208-securing-sustainable-higher-education-browne-report.pdf">the Browne review</a>* was published) has brought OA and OER closer together, possibly a conflation in some respects (in the public mind) but also a real phenomenon as illustrated in this </span><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/higher-education-network/blog/2011/oct/25/open-access-higher-education"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">post in the Guardian</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and subsequent discussion during Open Access week:</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“arguably no other aspect of digital holds the promise of the open access (OA) philosophy and open educational resources (OER)</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">”</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">* The Browne review, of course, may make it less attractive for institutions (though perhaps not individuals?) to openly share teaching & learning resources if they perceive it as giving away a competitive asset which is, perhaps, in contrast to renewed drivers towards Open Access to (publicly funded) research exemplified most recently by the government white paper </span><a href="http://www.bis.gov.uk/assets/biscore/innovation/docs/i/11-1387-innovation-and-research-strategy-for-growth.pdf"><span style="background-color: white; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Innovation and Research Strategy for Growth</span></a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Against this background, it is extremely important that Jorum is both responsive to its existing users’ needs and is able to attract new users; in the changing landscape of HE what are likely to be the mainstream requirements; what do (potential) users need and want and how can this be evidenced? What is the evolving relationship between HE and FE and how can Jorum / ukoer support it?</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">User requirements have been discussed throughout </span><a href="http://www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/programmes/elearning/oer.aspx"><span style="background-color: white; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">phases 1 and 2 of the ukoer programme</span></a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> particularly on </span><a href="http://blogs.cetis.ac.uk/johnr/category/ukoer/"><span style="background-color: white; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">John</span></a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><a href="http://blogs.cetis.ac.uk/lmc/tag/ukoer/"><span style="background-color: white; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Lorna</span></a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and </span><a href="http://blogs.cetis.ac.uk/philb/category/ukoer/"><span style="background-color: white; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Phil’s</span></a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> CETIS blogs and on my own </span><a href="http://repositorynews.wordpress.com/tag/ukoer/"><span style="background-color: white; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">institutional blog</span></a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and the Jorum team are now blogging regularly at </span><a href="http://www.jorum.ac.uk/blog/"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://www.jorum.ac.uk/blog/</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Early priorities </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">include work on the existing user interface to make it easier to download resources, particularly when they comprise just a single file and improved metrics, with a “dashboard” for users to visualise, for example, how often their resources have been downloaded. Longer term, the plan is to redesign the user experience in a more fundamental way, in response to collated user feedback - so please, if you use or manage OER yourself, or are interested in ukoer in your institution and the wider sector, do get in touch.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>The full membership of the steering group is as follows: Margaret Coutts (Chair) (University of Leeds), <a href="https://twitter.com/#!/JackieCarter">Jackie Carter</a> (Mimas), Laura Shaw (Mimas), <a href="https://twitter.com/#!/LornaMCampbell">Lorna Campbell</a> (CETIS), <a href="https://twitter.com/#!/philbarker">Phil Barker</a> (CETIS), Joe Wilson (Scottish Qualifications Agency), Rachel Bruce (JISC), <a href="https://twitter.com/#!/ambrouk">Amber Thomas</a> (JISC), Hetesh Morar (JISC), Luis Carrasqueiro (British Universities Film & Video Council), <a href="https://twitter.com/#!/briankelly">Brian Kelly</a> (UKOLN), Antonio Martinez-Arboleda (University of Leeds), Simon Bains (University of Manchester), <a href="https://twitter.com/#!/dajbelshaw">Doug Belshaw</a> (Northumbria University), Jean Downey (The Higher Education Academy), Bob Strunz (University of Limerick), <a href="https://twitter.com/#!/mrnick">Nick Sheppard</a> (Leeds Metropolitan University & UKCoRR).</i></span></div>
<div style="background-color: transparent;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div style="background-color: transparent;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>Follow the <a href="https://twitter.com/#!/JorumTeam">Jorum Team on Twitter</a></i></span></div>Nick Sheppardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03386789324280845551noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2495500078306016514.post-43353672708987455212011-12-07T01:34:00.000-08:002011-12-07T01:34:40.424-08:00UKCoRR Wins Jason Farradane AwardOn November 30th Dominic Tate attended the Online Information conference at Olympia to represent the UKCoRR and collect the Jason Farradane award, presented by UKeIG. The award was presented at the CILIP stand in the exhibition hall. UKeIG Chair Martin White commended UKCoRR for its hard work and success in moving forward the Open Access agenda in the UK. Commenting after the award ceremony, Dominic Tate said “UKCoRR is all about its members – and this award is important in recognising the hard work, time and commitment that all the members have given over the last few years. UKCoRR’s success lies in its members’ willingness to share their experiences in this new and rapidly changing field. This award is for all UKCoRR members.” <br />
<br />
Pictured L-R: Peter Griffiths, Martin White, Dominic Tate, Simon Edwards.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5RGRtMb-Muw/Tt8zGNr-5HI/AAAAAAAAAxI/OcCmB6Qwrig/s1600/IMG_3307.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" mda="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5RGRtMb-Muw/Tt8zGNr-5HI/AAAAAAAAAxI/OcCmB6Qwrig/s320/IMG_3307.jpg" width="287" /></a></div>Dominic Tatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16810507522854441709noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2495500078306016514.post-30951210772545970192011-11-22T05:09:00.000-08:002011-11-22T05:14:05.020-08:00OAPEN-UK focus group at the British LibraryA couple of the UKCoRR committee members attended a focus group yesterday, aimed at repository managers, of the JISC/AHRC-funded <a href="http://oapen-uk.jiscebooks.org/">OAPEN-UK</a> project, which will run to 2015 and which aims to gather "evidence to help stakeholders make informed decisions on the future of <b>open access scholarly monograph publishing</b> in the humanities and social sciences".<div><br /></div><div>We were both there in a 'personal' capacity, rather than representing UKCoRR; however UKCoRR members may find my <a href="http://paulstainthorp.com/2011/11/21/oapen-uk-focus-group-at-the-british-library/">report from the focus group interesting</a>.</div><div><br /><i>———Paul Stainthorp, UKCoRR web & publicity officer</i></div><div><i><br /></i><div><p style="margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><a title="OAPEN-UK focus group 4 by Paul Stainthorp, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/pstainthorp/6377266591/" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; color: rgb(59, 89, 152); "><img src="http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6096/6377266591_15ea457248_m.jpg" alt="OAPEN-UK focus group 4" width="240" height="160" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 5px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 5px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; " /></a> <a title="OAPEN-UK focus group 3 by Paul Stainthorp, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/pstainthorp/6377259525/" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; color: rgb(59, 89, 152); text-decoration: none; "><img src="http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6019/6377259525_8b9b0ebc46_m.jpg" alt="OAPEN-UK focus group 3" width="240" height="160" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 5px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 5px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; " /></a></p><p style="margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><a title="OAPEN-UK focus group 2 by Paul Stainthorp, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/pstainthorp/6377257113/" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; color: rgb(59, 89, 152); text-decoration: none; "><img src="http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6230/6377257113_fbc05ac413_m.jpg" alt="OAPEN-UK focus group 2" width="240" height="160" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 5px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 5px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; " /></a> <a title="OAPEN-UK focus group 1 by Paul Stainthorp, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/pstainthorp/6377253985/" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; color: rgb(59, 89, 152); text-decoration: none; "><img src="http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6111/6377253985_476c3e7ab0_m.jpg" alt="OAPEN-UK focus group 1" width="240" height="160" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 5px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 5px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; " /></a></p><div><br /></div></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2495500078306016514.post-6740477783118647732011-11-21T08:30:00.000-08:002011-11-21T08:30:58.469-08:00We Are the Winners......of the <a href="http://www.ukeig.org.uk/news/2011-ukeig-jason-farradane-winner-announced" target="_blank">2011 UKeiG Jason Farradane award</a>. This is excellent news and the whole committee is delighted to accept this award on behalf of the wonderful UKCoRR members without whom...well there wouldn't be a UKCoRR. Our thanks to our nominators and all those who provided vox pops on the value UKCoRR adds to the LIS and research community.<br />
<br />
Those of you who are at the Online Exhibition and conference in December may well get the chance to see the award being presented in person to the External Liasion Officer (exact date and time TBC)llordllamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16369211139394861870noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2495500078306016514.post-23867595071205000782011-10-26T01:34:00.000-07:002011-10-26T07:11:30.798-07:00Exploring open access in higher education - Guardian live chat this fridayMost of you will have picked this up from the list, but this Friday as part of Open Access week the Guardian is <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/higher-education-network/blog/2011/oct/25/open-access-higher-education">hosting a live chat at 12-2pm</a> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">BST</span> on the topic. I'd certainly encourage as many <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">UKCoRR</span> members as possible to tune in, and more importantly chip in (and not just as I've been invited to be on the Panel representing <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">UKCoRR</span>). This is a golden opportunity to really raise the visibility and importance of open access to research, education and data but of course also the hard work we all do as repository staff.<br />
<br />
Promises to be lively I suspect!llordllamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16369211139394861870noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2495500078306016514.post-35124383278565155802011-10-24T02:15:00.000-07:002011-11-07T08:51:52.335-08:00UKCoRR Open Access Week Activities 2011This week is <a href="http://www.openaccessweek.org/">open access week</a>, and to celebrate UKCoRR hopes to collate together what our membership is up to. If you're a UKCoRR member and you have a news article or blog post online about your activities, <a href="mailto:gjj6@le.ac.uk?subject=Open">email the Chair</a> with the link and details, and we'll add it to the list below.<br />
<br />
<ul><li><strong>City University</strong>: Repository launch party [<a href="http://cityopenaccess.wordpress.com/2011/10/20/city-research-online-launch-event-for-open-access-week-2011/">News article</a>] [<a href="http://openaccessweek.org/events/city-research-online-launch-party">OA Week events</a>]</li>
<li><strong>Glyndŵr University: </strong>Travelling repository manager visiting academics to collect papers [<a href="http://glyndwrgraduateschool.edublogs.org/2011/10/28/glyndwr-university-repository-is-supporting-open-access-and-going-mobile-to-collect-work-from-authors/">Blog</a>]</li>
<li><strong>London School of Economics</strong>: LSE Research Online: In Your Office - visiting academics and research managers. Awards for the most downloaded/deposited items [<a href="http://www2.lse.ac.uk/library/collections/OAWeek2011.aspx">News article</a>]</li>
<li><strong>University of Edinburgh: </strong>Visiting, seminar and press release [<a href="http://www.ed.ac.uk/schools-departments/information-services/about/organisation/edl/news/open-access-week">News article</a>]</li>
<li><strong>University of Glasgow: </strong>OA deposit competition [<a href="http://www.lib.gla.ac.uk/enlighten/openaccessweek/">News article</a>]</li>
<li><strong>University of Northampton</strong>: OA competition and vox pox videos [<a href="http://www.northampton.ac.uk/info/20283/academic-research/552/researchers-in-the-library/16">News article</a>]</li>
<li><strong>University of Salford</strong>: Repository team comes to you drop in sessions! [<a href="http://staff.salford.ac.uk/news/details/2497">News article</a>]</li>
<li><strong>University of Sussex</strong>: Offering seminars on open access publishing [<a href="http://www.sussex.ac.uk/library/staff/research/seminarsandevents/openaccessweek2011">News article</a>]</li>
<li><strong>UWE Bristol</strong>: Lunchtime events, competition and interviews with academics [<a href="https://blogs.uwe.ac.uk/teams/research-repository/archive/2011/10/21/welcome-to-open-access-week-2011.aspx">Blog</a>] [<a href="https://blogs.uwe.ac.uk/teams/research-repository/archive/2011/10/24/open-access-in-the-faculty-of-arts-creative-industries-and-education.aspx">Interview 1</a>]</li>
<li><strong>Research Support Project</strong>: Facilitaing visits between repository managers [<a href="http://rspproject.wordpress.com/2011/10/19/rsp-and-international-open-access-week/">Blog</a>]</li>
</ul><br />
And a bit of background reading suggested by Seb Schmoller<br />
<br />
<ul><li><a href="http://repository.alt.ac.uk/887/">Journal tendering for societies: a brief guide</a></li>
<li><a href="http://repository.alt.ac.uk/2190/">Making 'Research in Learning Technology' Open Access</a></li>
</ul>In other news: Maney Publishing will be offering <a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_651301397">open access to all Archaeology & Heritage </a><br />
<a href="http://info.maney.co.uk/_act/link.php?mId=P8828745496965297418386473820&tId=12618006&subjId=36346">content</a><http: _act="" info.maney.co.uk="" link.php?mid="P8828745496965297418386473820&tId=12618006&subjId=36346"> from 24th October until 4th November.llordllamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16369211139394861870noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2495500078306016514.post-16877773395567765032011-10-12T02:51:00.000-07:002011-10-12T03:21:14.242-07:00Fire and Forget: The Publication Deletion QuandaryWhat's the biggest challenge in acheiving open access today? Publisher's changing their rules? CRISes? Lack of visibility of the repository in the academic community? Insufficent staff?<br /><br />No, I think it's the following commonly heard statement<br /><br />‘<em>I do not have the final accepted version of the paper. Once published, I delete such materials</em>’<br /><br />How many times have you heard that from an academic? It seems no matter how much we advocate or mandate deposit in our repositories that there seems to be a common mindset that earlier versions of articles aren't worth keeping. I keep all the itteractions of mine but then I'm a paranoid kinda author whose been burned in the past with data loss.<br /><br />I’ve often tried to fathom the reason why so many researchers delete earlier versions of their works. One of them I spoke with recently commented that he was worried about using up disk space, but I’d be surprised that given the average hard drive can contain 1000s of articles I say this is just a bit of a hangover from smaller computers. <br /><br />Personally I’m keen for academics to start thinking along the lines of “submit to publish –> submit to archive –> promote” as the modern scholarly publishing , given that with so many articles being published globally today ensuring that yours are read and become as impactful as possible needs every possible competitive advantage we can bring to bear. Naturally though given the restrictive nature of most publishers Copyright Transfer Agreements (CTAs) in terms of what repositories and authors can do with the published version, it’s key in order to archive that researchers get into the habit of retaining pre-publication versions of publications. Not to mention of course that many of us have mandates requiring the deposit anyway.<br /><br />But back to the crux - how do we stop academics from the fire and forget publication paradigm (publish->delete)? <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Education</span> and <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">advocacy</span> are certainly key here, but you'll forgive me if I'm a little cynical about how much we can change <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">academics</span> time worn publication habits. All of us know there's a serious <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">inertia</span> that requires an almighty and sharp stick actively waved in their faces (a mandate with teeth or Princeton's new policy <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">perhaps</span>) before they change. <br /><br />I'd be especially interested if anyone has any good ideas in this area of practical steps we can take to shift them from this. Even if they're not depositing knowing that the <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">acceptable</span> versions of the papers are there to be harvested at least makes the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">OA</span> mountain a little less steep to climb.<br /><br />And to finish on a positive note it's not everyone. I met with two academics a week or so ago. One of them said the classic quote at the top. And the other.<br /><br />"<em>Oh I keep every version of my papers</em>"<br /><br />The difference? It was the age - the one whom retained them was a younger researcher, whom had grown up like me with large disk spaces as a matter of course. The one whom didn't was older. So perhaps over time we may find it gets easier as younger researchers not <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">accustomed</span> to clearing their disk space ever come on stream. We can, perhaps, hope!llordllamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16369211139394861870noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2495500078306016514.post-21816127616253447002011-10-05T07:15:00.000-07:002011-10-06T03:09:31.209-07:00Cultivating Sustainability down at KultivateLast week I had the pleasure of being an invited speaker at a <a href="http://www.vads.ac.uk/kultur2group/projects/kultivate/"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Kultivate</span></span></a> workshop in London (my first <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">official</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">UKCoRR</span></span> Chair public gig!). <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Kultivate's</span></span> been one of those projects that I'm somewhat ashamed to say I've not been following too <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">closley</span></span>, given my own institutions lack of arts and media type <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">repository</span> content. Hence the trip was as much about me finding out more about where they are as it was offering <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Kultivate</span></span> my facilitation of their discussion group.<br /><br />Of all the various talks it was the one by Mark <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Hahnel</span></span> of <a href="http://figshare.com/"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">FigShare</span></span></a> that was of especial interest. It's not a project I'd heard of either. The idea behind it was to make the sharing of scientists raw data (e.g. lab note books and the like) easier - hence Figure Share or <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">FigShare</span></span>. One especially interesting fact was that people publish positive results, not negative ones. And where 20 <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">separate</span> teams run an experiment it <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">could</span> be that the 19 whom are correct to discover a negative result don't publish an article, but the one that is in error is published giving a false positive. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">FigShare</span></span> aimed to allow people to more readily see where <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">experimental</span> results are indeed negative.<br /><br />The session I'd gone to run was on the back of the (soon to be available on the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">UKCoRR</span></span> site) membership survey. My discussions with the group were on the focus of sustaining the UK repository community. It's been my impression that we're a diverse bunch - you only need to look at the split between our <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">experiences</span> with different <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">CRISes</span></span> for example, or for those where a focus on fine arts and performance outweighs text research publications.<br /><br />What was clear from the discussions is all of us working on repositories, in whatever flavour, are working against an ever changing background. Look at Princeton's policy or the ever changing whims of publisher licenses. Keeping up to date with all these developments is a challenge for any one person, which is why we have <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">UKCoRR</span></span> to share, <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_18">dissemination</span> and comment on such things. One comment raised from the floor was that it was desirable to see <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_19"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">UKCoRR</span></span> make position statements on issues, such as <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_20"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">Elsevier's</span></span> policy shift. I think that is an interesting point that I'd like to explore more with the members; we Committee people are here to provide you with a louder voice after all. Should we do this? It wasn't something that came out strongly in the membership survey results, although you do all want us to make approaches to stakeholders and see if can't get some dialogues going.<br /><br />I did raise the issue of the OER community too. My perception was that they're not broadly members of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_21"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">UKCoRR</span></span> for the most part but then the OER people I meet are researchers not practitioners. Again the suggestion from the floor came that they are a <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_22">separate</span> community or rather they aren't working as <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_23">closely</span> together as we <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_24"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">UKCoRR</span></span> repository types.<br /><br />I closed the session by trying to get the three key things that <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_25"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">UKCoRR</span></span> does or could do to sustain the repository community in the long term. The suggestions were:<br />-To provide emotional and practical support through the list and meetings.<br />-To work with everyone, even our <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_26"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17">frenemies</span></span>, towards the goal of open access<br />-To <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_27">capitalise</span> on events or circumstance, where we can, to the furtherance of the community<br /><br />All in all an enjoyable and informative day and my thanks specially to Marie-Therese <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_18">Gramstadt</span> for <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_19">facilitating</span> my visit! <a href="http://www.vads.ac.uk/kultur2group/downloads/">Slides from all of the day's talks can be found here</a>.<br /><br />[Edit: A far more comprehensive <a href="http://vads.ac.uk/kultivate/news/?p=107">review of the day from Kultivate is available</a>]llordllamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16369211139394861870noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2495500078306016514.post-65556405358715941482011-09-28T03:58:00.000-07:002011-09-28T04:16:57.981-07:00Princeton bans transfer of academic copyrightAs you'll have seen from the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">UKCoRR</span> discussion list <a href="http://theconversation.edu.au/princeton-bans-academics-from-handing-all-copyright-to-journal-publishers-3596">Princeton University in the US has taken the dramatic step of banning academics from handing over all copyright to publishers</a>. I think this is an interesting development, and perhaps is the next step on from institutional mandates. While I can only applaud the bravery of the faculty of the institution and wish them every success, I do think that just like mandates that a note of caution must be sounded.<br /><br />Mandates, if you listen to some <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">proponents</span>, are the cure-all of the open access world. Those of us in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">UKCoRR</span> know the practical truth though, that while they are indeed powerful statements of commitment to open access from an <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">institution's</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">SMT</span> getting academics to comply with them can be a struggle. Mandates are the stick when contrasted with the carrot of open access benefits that most of us <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">advocate</span> to our academics. However, they are a toothless stick (if I may mix my <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">metaphors</span>) in most cases - I've yet to hear from any UK institution where an academic whom has ignored a institutional mandate has ended up in hot water over it. <br /><br />They're also a stick that we repository managers and administrators can't <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">wield</span> - the image of the reaction I'd get from telling an academic to they HAVE to deposit or else...well it ends with me being <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">unceremoniously</span> tossed out of their office to <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">derisory</span> laughter. Mandates only really work for the vast <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">majority</span> of staff when they are applied and enforced - a role for far more senior staff to engage with.<br /><br />And that's where I wonder how the <a href="http://www.cs.princeton.edu/~appel/open-access-report.pdf">Princeton policy</a> will be applied. Will we hear of an academic, whom wanting to publish in a prestigious journal that requires the standard rights transfer flaunting the policy getting into hot water, being suspended or sacked as a result? I seriously doubt it. No institution worth its research salt is going to want to damage it's reputation in this way.<br /><br />Although it seems in the case of Princeton that this policy has come from the faculty themselves, so perhaps each and everyone of them is indeed highly enlightened and switched onto the broad benefits of open access. If so, someone send me details of how to apply for a job there as it sounds like a place I want to work!<br /><br />Years ago I remember Bill Hubbard quoting me a factoid that the UK <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">HEI</span> sector was worth more to the UK <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">economy</span> by billions of pounds that the UK academic publishing industry. I suspect the same may be true in the states, so perhaps this is the rousing of the sleeping giant, no longer willing to <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">passively</span> accede to the publishers' dominion over them. Will Yale or Harvard or other Ivy League institutions follow suit? If they do, then perhaps this trickle of affirmative open access action will become a tidal wave that may spread to Europe.<br /><br />What happens over the coming months will be interesting. Will publishers, in fear of offending one of the US' most prestigious <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">institutions</span> bend to their will? I try to think of what would happen if <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">Oxbridge</span> went down the same route in the UK - I think some smaller publishers <em>would</em> change their policies, but the big multinationals? Doubt it, I really do.<br /><br />At the end of the day as the article says, chances are the path to open access will continue to be complicated by publishers as they defend their established economic model. But at least that means for us <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">repository</span> types that the world we work in will continue to be a complex and engaging, if not a little frustrating, one.llordllamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16369211139394861870noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2495500078306016514.post-46500135677296014322011-09-22T02:21:00.000-07:002011-09-22T02:21:59.976-07:00LSE Library and a REF call-out: lessonsIn the second of his two guest posts, Neil Stewart identifies lessons from managing a call-out for publications for REF assessment at the London School of Economics.<br />
<br />
If you would like to contribute a guest-post to the UKCoRR blog, please contact a member of the <a href="http://www.ukcorr.org/committee.php">committee</a>.<br />
___________________________________________________________<br />
<br />
At the recent <a href="http://www.rsp.ac.uk/events/readiness-for-ref/">RSP event on Readiness for REF</a> (which I <a href="http://ukcorr.blogspot.com/2011/09/in-first-of-two-guest-posts-neil.html">blogged about on this blog</a>), my former LSE colleague <a href="http://lselibrarydigidev.blogspot.com/">Dave Puplett</a> and I presented on our experience of managing a call-out for publications for REF assessment. The presentation was qualitatively different from the other presentations at the event, because it was on the managerial and organisational issues surrounding management of publications for REF purposes.<br />
<br />
The slides from the presentation, which detail LSE Library's experience (full disclosure: I have now moved on to City University London, where I manage <a href="http://openaccess.city.ac.uk/">City Research Online</a>) of managing the call-out and subsequent influx of publications, can be <a href="http://www.rsp.ac.uk/documents/get-uploaded-file/?file=Puplett_Stewart_%20RSP%205th%20Sept%20(v3).ppt">downloaded from the RSP site</a> (Powerpoint link). Instead of re-hashing the whole presentation, I thought I would take the opportunity to detail some of the lessons learnt, which are hopefully of general applicability to repository people.<br />
<br />
<b>Lesson 1: dealing with REF matters puts you at the heart of things</b><br />
When <a href="http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/">LSE Research Online</a> (LSERO) was chosen as the de facto method of managing REF data, LSERO became a much higher strategic priority for the School. This is of course excellent for the service, and it had been the case that the LSERO team and Library management had been plugging away to make this happen for a very long time. However, it's also an opportunity that must be seized, because missing it could have meant that the repository would have been side-lined, and new methods to manage this process would have been found. At LSE, this meant that resources to adequately manage things had to be found, which meant diverting resources from elsewhere to allow this to happen. The REF is too important to ignore: get it right, by allocating adequate resource and managerial effort, and the repository gains profile and prestige; but getting it wrong could be disastrous.<br />
<br />
<b>Lesson 2: if you didn't talk to the Research Office before, you soon will</b><br />
The REF call-out at LSE was instigated by the Research Office. While that team had been close allies during the RAE in 2008, the call-out meant that we really had to start working with them more closely well in advance of the REF. This soon fostered a productive relationship, and allowed us to use the Research Office's channels of communications with which to talk to departments. It also gave us the authority to standardise the way in which publications data was reported upon, since the combined weight of the LSERO team and Research Office left departments with little choice!<br />
<br />
<b>Lesson 3: it's possible to use the ePrints (and presumably DSpace) back-end to perform database query magic</b><br />
If you're lucky enough to have a friendly IT person who can run SQL database queries (or if you have that skill yourself) then get in touch with them when you have to start thinking about REF matters. Being able to access then manipulate data direct from the repository's database is invaluable, because it allows you to create customised reporting data based upon any criteria you might wish to include.<br />
<br />
<b>Lesson 4: issues of disambiguation get thrown into sharp relief</b><br />
Dealing with REF publications data brought up those old librarianship questions which are probably familiar to all of us. Two in particular came into relief particularly strongly:<br />
<ul>
<li>Which department do academics really live in? Academics can have multiple allegiances, to their department(s), research centre(s) and other parts of the university (e.g. the senior management team). Where, for REF purposes, should an academic be placed? If "units of assessment" do not correlate with departments, how does the repository map this? These are of course as much questions for the Research Office as they are for repository teams, but nevertheless they must be tackled.</li>
<li>When do academics start (and finish) their careers with parent institutions? How much data from before (and after) these dates should the repository hold, for REF purposes?</li>
</ul>
The above points (and I'm sure other people can think of others) points to the need to have a CERIF-ied repository system, which links into other university-wide systems, and which may be able to solve these problems of ambiguity.<br />
<br />
<b>Lesson 5: in-press and submitted publications are hard to deal with</b><br />
Be very careful about how forthcoming publications are dealt with. The problem here is one of recording this data in a non-public forum, which can still be reported back to departments in a useful fashion. Many academics will feel that you are jeopardising their chances of publication by including a citation to an in press item in the live repository without their say-so.<br />
<br />
<b>Lesson 6: don't let Open Access be forgotten about!</b><br />
All of the above sounds like work that could usefully be done by a CRIS, and makes no mention of the primary goal of (most) repositories, which is providing openly accessible research. There is a great danger, in my view, that open access can be overwhelmed by the needs of REF reporting, particularly if the repository team has to devote extra resource to dealing with this. How to balance open access and REF is an open question, and one that the LSERO team are still pondering. One benefit of the REF exercise is that it has made LSERO "complete" (regarding citations, at least), which might be a way of further pushing the open access agenda from a position of strength.<br />
<br />
I'm sure there are plenty of other lessons that people could add to this list, judging by discussions at this event and elsewhere- please add them (or any other comments) in the comments section below.Nick Sheppardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03386789324280845551noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2495500078306016514.post-10742757957981662602011-09-09T01:47:00.000-07:002011-09-09T01:50:50.959-07:00RSP Readiness for REF (R4R) workshop, 5th September 2011<br />
In the first of two guest posts, Neil Stewart reflects on the RSP Readiness for REF workshop.<br />
<br />
If you would like to contribute a guest-post to the UKCoRR blog, please contact a member of the <a href="http://www.ukcorr.org/committee.php">committee</a>.<br />
___________________________________________________________<br />
<br />
My name is Neil Stewart, and I'm the repository manager for the newly minted <a href="http://openaccess.city.ac.uk/">City Research Online</a> repository, at <a href="http://www.city.ac.uk/">City University London</a>. I normally blog at <a href="http://cityopenaccess.wordpress.com/">City Open Access</a>, if you want to keep an eye on developments of a repository which is still on a project footing, rather than a fully-fledged service.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The reason you find me writing here is because I was recently the recipient of two invitations: to present at the <a href="http://www.rsp.ac.uk/events/readiness-for-ref/">RSP Readiness for REF (R4R) workshop</a>, held on Monday 5th September in London, and to blog about that event here at UKCORR's blog. I was happy to take up both invitations. What follows summarises some thoughts about the workshop, and on the <a href="http://www.hefce.ac.uk/research/ref/">Research Excellence Framework (REF)</a> as it relates to repositories in general. It should be noted that the opinions below are my own, and do not necessarily reflect those of UKCORR. I'll be writing another post soon, which outlines the R4R workshop presentation which I delivered with my former LSE colleague <a href="http://lselibrarydigidev.blogspot.com/">Dave Puplett</a>.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The event's emphasis (apart from the presentation which Dave & I delivered) can fairly be characterised as macro-level, since it discussed REF data submission in very general terms, and with specific reference to the <a href="http://www.eurocris.org/Index.php?page=CERIFreleases&t=1">CERIF metadata standard</a>. CERIF is a flexible, extensible model for metadata about research-producing institutions, including (but not limited to) publications data. It is possible, using the CERIF schema, to model an institution's structure, then show how researchers and research outputs relate to that structure. This has obvious benefits for an exercise like the REF, which will (amongst other things) require submission of data on "REF-able" (i.e. high quality) publications at a department (or at least department-like "unit of assessment") level.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The morning sessions dealt with laying out the details of how CERIF and CERIF-compliant repositories could assist with REF submissions. The first session was an overview of the JISC-sponsored <a href="http://www.kcl.ac.uk/innovation/groups/cerch/research/projects/completed/r4r.aspx">Readiness4REF (R4R) Project</a>, and was delivered by Richard Gartner of Kings College London. R4R, just in the process of closing, has looked at the way in which repositories and other data management tools can provide CERIF-compliant data for REF submission purposes. Second was Keith Jeffery from <a href="http://www.eurocris.org/Index.php?page=homepage&t=1">euroCRIS</a>, who gave the bigger picture as to how CERIF was developed and what it can do. This was followed by a panel discussion on the <a href="http://www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/projects/mice.aspx">Measuring Impact Under CERIF (MICE) project</a>, which is attempting to build in research impact data into the CERIF schema, and hence make it readily submissible for REF.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
After Dave & my presentation and lunch, there were demonstrations of R4R plug-ins for the three major repository software types (Fedora, DSpace and ePrints). As an ePrints user, I was interested to see a demonstration of ePrints v. 3.3, which is to be released in the next few weeks, and contains some "CRIS-like" functionality. This is a kind of CERIF-lite approach, by which it is easy to create associations between researchers, research grants, research centres etc. to express CERIF-like linkages between them. These linkages can then be exposed in useful ways using ePrints web pages, but also exported as CERIF data to be re-used in other systems, or for a REF submission. This seems to me an interesting development, and one we may have to look at here at City.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The final session featured the obligatory break-out groups. I was assigned to a group which discussed the question: "Do you think CERIF is now a more viable option for your institution to use for its REF submission?" A variety of subjects were covered, as ever with these type of discussions. The two main points I took from it were the fact that CERIF provides the opportunity to provide an "open" citation model by modelling linkages (including positive and negative citations) between publications, outside of the "walled gardens" provided by Scopus and Web of Science; and that, for CERIF to work within my institution, there is the somewhat intractable problem of knowing to whom to speak to find out if, for example, the HR database can be plugged into the repository to transfer CERIF-formatted data between the two systems.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
All in all, an interesting and timely event. Keep an eye out for my post on LSE Library's experiences of conducting a mini-REF, coming soon!</div>
Nick Sheppardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03386789324280845551noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2495500078306016514.post-46510711111861359982011-08-24T01:35:00.000-07:002011-08-27T06:15:53.891-07:00CRIS + Repositories at UK Universities<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height:115%;font-family: "Georgia","serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-Times New Roman";mso-fareast-language:EN-GBfont-family:";font-size:12.0pt;color:black;" >On the back of <a href="http://ukcorr.blogspot.com/2011/06/cris-repositoryfull-text-onlyor.html">this recent post</a> </span><span style="line-height:115%;font-family:"Georgia","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language:EN-GBfont-family:";font-size:12.0pt;color:black;" >I've been invited to speak at the </span><a href="http://www.rsp.ac.uk/events/autumn-school/"><span style="line-height:115%;font-family:"Georgia","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language:EN-GBfont-family:";font-size:12.0pt;" >RSP Autumn School</span></a><span style="line-height:115%;font-family:"Georgia","serif";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-bidi-Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language:EN-GBfont-family:";font-size:12.0pt;color:black;" > about whether the developing CRIS / repositories landscape at UK Universities might present an opportunity to re-focus on Open Access.
<br />
<br />Since the RAE2008, the uptake of integrated electronic research administration systems (CRIS, ERA, RMAS...choose your favourite acronym / abbreviation) has been dramatic with the primary driver being to oil the administrative wheels of the REF in 2013.
<br />
<br />As the ever-growing UKCoRR membership attests (currently 254 members) Institutional Repositories are now well established across the HE sector and there are several approaches that institutions are taking to utilise this existing repository infrastructure for research administration and/or embed their repository as a component of a broader research administration infrastructure with many either implementing additional commercial software or developing a bespoke solution in-house.
<br />
<br />A significant initiative in this area is the JISC funded </span><span style=" line-height:115%;font-family:"Georgia","serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-Times New Roman";mso-fareast-language:EN-GBfont-family:";font-size:12.0pt;" ><a href="http://jiscreposit.blogspot.com/">RePosit</a> project</span><span style="line-height:115%;font-family:"Georgia","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language:EN-GBfont-family:";font-size:12.0pt;color:black;" > (final report due in October 2011) which aims to "increase uptake of a web-based repository deposit tool embedded in a researcher-facing publications management system" and comprises a consortium of 5 institutions (University of Leeds , Keele University, Queen Mary University of London, University of Exeter and University of Plymouth) in partnership with Symplectic Ltd as a commercial partner. The project runs a Google group at </span><span style=" line-height:115%;font-family:"Georgia","serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-Times New Roman";mso-fareast-language:EN-GBfont-family:";font-size:12.0pt;" ><a href="http://groups.google.com/group/reposit">http://groups.google.com/group/reposit</a> </span><span style="line-height:115%;font-family:"Georgia","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language:EN-GBfont-family:";font-size:12.0pt;color:black;" >where there has been a very active thread recently discussing this developing environment; I have used the thread to collate a list of CRIS + repositories at UK institutions and set up a public Google doc if anyone would like to add their institution (I won't post the link here but it's already been shared via the RePosit and UKCoRR mailing lists.)<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height:115%;font-family: "Georgia","serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-Times New Roman";mso-fareast-language:EN-GBfont-family:";font-size:12.0pt;color:black;" >As can be seen from the list so far, the most common solutions are commercial software implementations of <a href="http://atira.dk/en/pure/">Atira Pure</a> (11 instances) and <a href="http://www.symplectic.co.uk/">Symplectic Elements</a> (16 instances) [+4 instances of <a href="http://www.avedas.com/en/converis.html">Avedas Converis</a> and 1 bespoke]. Though this hastily compiled document almost certainly reflects the membership of the RePosit Google group* with only 32 institutions so far represented out of 142 Institutional Repositories in the UK listed on <a href="http://www.opendoar.org/find.php?search=&clID=&ctID=&rtID=2&cID=224&lID=&rSoftWareName=&submit=Search&format=summary&step=20&sort=r.rName&rID=&ctrl=new&p=1">OpenDoar</a> I think it's still a big enough sample to be significant, especially as Symplectic, Atira and Avedas are arguably the only real options currently in the market-place (notwithstanding the ongoing development of CRIS-like functionality into EPrints itself which is by far the most popular repository platform in the UK (run by 71 UK institutions listed on OpenDoar - exactly half of the total.) <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height:115%;font-family: "Georgia","serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-Times New Roman";mso-fareast-language:EN-GBfont-family:";font-size:12.0pt;color:black;" >* Similar information is also being captured on the new RSP wiki -</span><a href="http://www.rsp.ac.uk/pmwiki/index.php?n=Institutions.HomePage"><span style="line-height:115%;font-family:"Georgia","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language:EN-GBfont-family:";font-size:12.0pt;" >http://www.rsp.ac.uk/pmwiki/index.php?n=Institutions.HomePage</span></a><span style="line-height:115%;font-family:"Georgia","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language:EN-GBfont-family:";font-size:12.0pt;color:black;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height:115%;font-family: "Georgia","serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-Times New Roman";mso-fareast-language:EN-GBfont-family:";font-size:12.0pt;color:black;" >Both Symplectic and Pure are designed to enable research staff to manage their research profile both manually and by pulling data from online databases via their APIs (Web of Science, SCOPUS, Mendeley etc) but one observation that is worth commenting upon is the different core functionality of the two systems with Symplectic providing a modular solution designed to integrate with an existing repository whereas Pure is arguably more fully featured software, capable of managing full-text and with full version control, functionality to manage embargo, visibility of items based on business rules, and fully indexable by search engines. Indeed, the comprehensive nature of Atira Pure raises the intriguing possibility that it could effectively replace a repository altogether; at this stage, however, I believe the majority of institutions running the software have chosen to integrate with an existing repository in the Symplectic model – a good example is the University of St Andrews who are running Pure – <a href="https://risweb.st-andrews.ac.uk/portal/">research portal here</a> - alongside their DSpace repository - </span><span style=" line-height:115%;Arial","sans-serif"font-family:";font-size:12.0pt;" ><a href="http://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/">http://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/</a></span><span style="line-height:115%;font-family:"Georgia","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language:EN-GBfont-family:";font-size:12.0pt;color:black;" > <span> </span>- which is just used for full-text.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height:115%;font-family: "Georgia","serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-Times New Roman";mso-fareast-language:EN-GBfont-family:";font-size:12.0pt;color:black;" >There are some very interesting perspectives on the RePosit thread on why we should or should not maintain two systems (CRIS + repository) and it is clear that the decision will depend to a large extent on the particular systems at a given institution and their <span> </span>specific configuration. Janet Aucock of St Andrews suggests that the integration of the best features of both CRIS and IR will evolve over time going on to say that an important consideration should be "not to lose flexibility and options. Teams across research offices and libraries can be well coordinated, communicate well and have regular contact and debate"..."But even then...there can be differences in emphasis in what the CRIS is about and what service it offers. The Library tends to emphasise open access and discovery. Research office is undoubtedly more focused on research assessment. (Also see <a href="http://ukcorr.blogspot.com/201of1/06/cris-repositoryfull-text-onlyor.html?showComment=1308691461134#c6807014532927840568">James Toon’s comment on this blog</a>). <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height:115%;font-family: "Georgia","serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-Times New Roman";mso-fareast-language:EN-GBfont-family:";font-size:12.0pt;color:black;" >Arguments in favour of retaining repositories include the issue of creative arts research outputs and Jackie Wickham of the RSP (and now UKCoRR secretary) points out that “there has been considerable investment in developing repositories (focused on EPrints, KULTUR plug in) to enable them to showcase this type of research e.g. UAL - <a href="http://ualresearchonline.arts.ac.uk/" target="_blank">http://ualresearchonline.arts.ac.uk/</a>. The visual impact of the repository is critical to arts researchers and many institutions are using the KULTUR plug in – and not just the specialist arts ones”.<span> </span>I think this is a persuasive argument, also for those using their repositories for "non-REF" output / grey literature / Open Educational Resources (though I have posted elsewhere that I’d actually like to investigate the <a href="http://repositorynews.wordpress.com/2011/04/21/linking-from-a-research-paper-to-associated-oer-and-thoughts-on-extending-the-cris-model-to-oer/">CRIS model for managing OER</a> as there seems no fundamental reason why such a system could not be used to support the workflow for both OA research and OER. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height:115%;font-family: "Georgia","serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-Times New Roman";mso-fareast-language:EN-GBfont-family:";font-size:12.0pt;color:black;" >As to whether all of this does indeed present an opportunity to re-focus on Open Access I think is still a moot point. There is perhaps a danger that the administrative burden of the REF will overshadow the objective of providing Open Access to research but there is also the opportunity to integrate the various infrastructural components in such a way to facilitate what are ultimately complementary objectives; to increase visibility of institutional research, improve awareness and advocacy initiatives around OA (and OER) and to more effectively link institutional research administration with access to the actual research outputs.<o:p></o:p></span></p><div>
<br /><div>
<br /></div></div>Nick Sheppardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03386789324280845551noreply@blogger.com4