Library systems call - thanks for proposals
Thanks to everyone who has put in a proposal under Call 12/09 on enhancing library management systems for all their time and effort.
Proposals are now with markers. As you know from the Call, we hope to get back to proposers with outcomes during week beginning March 22 (the intervening time is to allow for marking and then for the marks to be collated and the Evaluation Panel to meet etc.).
An update on PIRUS2 and article level usage statistics
The PIRUS2 (Publisher and Insitutional Repository Usage Statistics) project - which I blogged about briefly in September and which is exploring technical, organisational and economic issues in collecting and aggregating article usage statistics from repositories and publishers - has now been underway for a few months.
The project plan is available from the JISC Web site, with further information available from the project Web site. The primary partners in this project are MIMAS, Cranfield University, COUNTER, CrossRef and Oxford University Press - which means that it is well placed to consider the many issues to which the collection, aggregation and use of article level statistics gives rise.
PIRUS2 is not alone in considering these issues and is in contact with the Open Access Statistik and SURFSure projects in Germany and the Netherlands respectively which are also working on collecting article level usage data from repositories. The projects are taking similar technical approaches. One key decision - which is in line with a recommendation of the JISC usage statistics review of 2008 - has been to format log data as OpenURL context objects. One explanation of OpenURL context objects can be found on the SURF Web site. Other standards being used are OAI-PMH and SUSHI for harvesting the usage data.
PIRUS2 continues to the end of 2010.
Library systems Call not affected by funding announcement of January 5
Please note that JISC Call 12/09 on enhancing library management systems (and the associated ITT) are NOT affected by the JISC funding announcement of January 5. This is because they are funded from JISC’s core budget for 2009/10 and not from JISC’s capital funding allocation.
Some supporting information for Call 12/09 on library management systems
This Call is NOT affected by the temporary freeze on new JISC capital funding commitments announced on January 5 as it is funded from JISC’s core budget for 2009/10.
We’ve brought some supporting information together here on call 12/09 on enhancing library management systems.
Read the call and post a query about specific section(s) using WRITE TO REPLY.
The ‘official’ text of the Call is available on the JISC WEB SITE.
View PRESENTATION (11 minutes) outlining the Call (hosted on Screentoaster).
The following ‘Frequently Asked Questions’ highlight specific parts of the call.
Information specific to this call
Who’s eligible? - paragraphs 5-6
What are the priority areas? – Overview in paragraph 1; detail in paragraphs 24-64
What kind of deliverables are we looking for? - This depends on which area you are addressing. See paragraphs 29, 43, 51 & 62
What user engagement do I need to include in my bid? – see the paragraphs on deliverables above
What are the deadlines for submitting bids and getting feedback? – paragraphs 103 and 115
What are the project timescales? - paragraph 3
Who do I contact for further information? - paragraph 4
Standard bidding information
How do I structure a bid? - paragraph 70
How do I format and submit a bid? - paragraphs 102-113
Is there a checklist for submitting a bid? - paragraph 122
When will I hear about my bid? - paragraph 119
What about staff recruitment? - paragraph 65
What about partnerships and consortia? – paragraphs 6 and 68
How does this relate to other JISC work? - paragraphs 21-22
What other projects and work do we need to be aware of? - paragraphs 11-19 in general and, then for specific areas, paragraphs 30, 44, 53
What about software licences? - paragraphs 77-78
Where can I find out more about fEC and TRAC? – paragraphs 86-91, Appendix C
Do I need to worry about FoI? - paragraphs 92-94
What are the terms and conditions attached to the funding? – paragraphs 95-97
Will I need to attend lots of meetings? – paragraph 71 and note paragraphs 29, 43, 51, 62 for the individual areas
What are the IPR conditions? - paragraphs 77, 78, 98-100
These are just the points we came up with, Twitter or post a comment on this blog if you have other suggestions that we should add here.
Remember to tag any tweets and blogs with jisclms
More information on the forthcoming ‘library systems’ call
We’ve now agreed the broad outline of the ‘library systems’ call which we hope to publish before Christmas.
This call will invite proposals for case studies/projects in four different areas:
Use of new library resource discovery interfaces
Case studies of implementing and using one of the ‘newish’ library resource discovery interfaces (such as Primo, VuFind or Summon). Case studies must include an evaluation of the system and usability testing with users.
Enhancing existing Web catalogue interfaces
Projects which enhance existing Web catalogue interfaces through adding user ratings, resource recommendations etc. The best known UK example here is probably HUDDERSFIELD.
Making library resources and services visible beyond library Web environments
Projects which create widgets and/or portlets to provide access to library resources and services from within institutional and/or social Web environments, such as VLEs or Facebook respectively. The LSE LIBRARY is one existing example.
Case studies exploring problem areas with existing library management systems
The ‘problem areas’ with many existing library management systems are well known and include management of electronic information resources and no or little integration with other institutional systems. The purpose of these case studies would be to document specific difficulties encountered in these problem areas by individual libraries and also any ‘work arounds’ which people have found to overcome them.
These case studies will then feed into a series of workshops to explore each of the problem areas. This process is intended to (a) facilitate information sharing on the practical difficulties which libraries are encountering and any work arounds found to help overcome them; (b) inform thinking on libraries’ future systems needs by illustrating and documenting specific problems with current systems.
As you can see, most of this call is focussed on the ‘here and now’ of library management systems rather than the really big question. What sort of systems do library need to compete in the digital environment and where they are going to come from?
There are a few reasons for this ‘here and now’ focus:
Firstly, the funding available (and funding period which applies) means that projects need to be short (six months) and, therefore, not too ambitious.
Secondly, the longer term picture is being addressed elsewhere:
- SCONUL is currently conducting a FEASIBILITY STUDY into UK university libraries sharing systems in the future and this will report in the near future (to HEFCE as this work was funded by HEFCE as part of its shared services initiative). While future decisions and funding in this area are unknown, this study has identified potential for shared systems. This study could, therefore, be significant for the shape of the UK university library systems environment in the future;
- a JISC/RLUK ‘Resource Discovery Task Force’ is reviewing what national resource discovery services are needed for the future. This will report in early 2010;
- the OLE PROJECT in the United States is currently seeking funding to build an entirely new, open source library system based on a technical model which it has drawn up;
- some library systems vendors are also working on new ‘technical architectures’ for library systems.
Thirdly, developing new systems will take considereable time and effort, be that by systems vendors or the open source community. In the meantime, libraries need to make the most of the systems they have.
However, the case studies exploring problem areas are relevant to the SCONUL shared services initiative and it is hoped that they will support that process.
Finally, you may be familiar with the work of the MOSAIC PROJECT which has been working on aggregating ‘activity data’ from library systems to form the basis of resource recommendations (Economics students who borrowed this item also borrowed x, y, z item, for example). This call does not include further work on aggregating such data because such a process requires central co-ordination and management and this does not lend itself to a call for proposals of this kind. However, development of resource recommender systems by individual libraries is in scope under ‘Enhancing existing Web catalogues’ above.
The outline timescales for the call are:
- publish mid-December
- deadline for proposals in early February
- projects start in mid-April
- projects end in mid-October
Please note that these timescales could change.
Because these projects/case studies will be short, project staff must already be in place at the start of the work. Consortial bids are not expected or encouraged due to the short timescales and the nature of the work areas.
When the call is published it will be available from the FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES area of the JISC Web site and advertised on the JISC ANNOUNCE mailing list.
We are not planning to have a ‘town meeting’ for this call. However, we will be making additional information about the call available online, together with ways for people to post queries about specific parts of the call.
The tag to use for online discussion about the call is ‘jisclms’
Forthcoming call for projects on library systems
We are currently scoping a call for short projects in the area of library management systems to start in April 2010. For some further information, please visit the JISC Funding Roadmap. We are aiming to publish this call in mid-December with a deadline for proposals in early February. Please note that these timescales could change.
For any Twitter/other online conversations about this call as things develop, please use the tag #jisclms
EC Digital Libraries and Digital Preservation Call
I went to a meeting in Peter Mandelson’s basement the other day, otherwise known as the Department for Business Innovation and Skills just next to Westminster Abbey. Lord Mandelson (if you go up about 17 levels of management) is my boss, so it’s good to know where the orders are coming from.
Anyway … the meeting was a briefing day and a chance for the European Commission to explain a bit about the priorities and procedures that people should think about if they want to apply for funding for projects in the Digital Libraries and Preservation area (Formally referred to as FP7 ICT Call 6). The presentations are now available online at http://bit.ly/3oPGFe.
The headline issues that I took away from the meeting were …
The whole funding decision-making process takes nearly a year and is extremely competitive. If you are a small organisation that is simply looking for money … it probably isn’t for you! The commission will be evaluating proposals according to 3 main criteria:
1. Are they proposing something that is useful and is technically robust?
2. Will they be able to achieve their objectives?
3. What impact will the work have?
They are looking for effective collaborations. Consortiums must have a lead and at least 3 other partners. How many partners and where they come from is - contrary to popular belief - not that important! There have been rumours in the past that people needed to hook up with Eastern European partners, or Southern European partners, in order to get funding. This is a fallacy. You just need to demonstrate that your consortium will be effective. In fact, once you have your core group of at least 4 EU partners, additional partners (with appropriate expertise) can come from anywhere in the world.
It is not generally the job of a research organisation to know about marketing and exploiting products that are created as part of a research programme. Join up with an organisation who knows about this stuff! It’s important to get it right and sustainability is EXTREMELY important.
Think hard about what sort of project suits your proposal … The models on offer are:
IP’s = Integrating Projects. Large scale (Euros 6 - 12m … sometimes more). R&D work, concepts, methods, tools, systems, often many partners. Advancing the state of the art - producing solutions that are within 3-5 years of being marketable.
STREP’s = Small to Medium Targeted Research Projects. (Generally Euros 2-4m). Focusing on more specific research problems with outputs that might be 5-7 years away from being marketable solutions.
NoE’s = Networks of Excellence. Advancing knowledge and bridging technological domains
CA’s = Co-ordinating Actions. Helping to ensure synergy between EC funded work
SA’s = Supporting Actions. Helping to maximise the effectiveness and impact of EC funded work
Total funding available for this call - Euros 69m
IP’s and STREPS = Euros 56m
NoE’s and C/SA’s = Euros 13m
Strikes me that a lot of people will be thinking hard and talking to other people over the next 12 months to really try and grapple with some of the hard problems in the Digital Preservation area and that is going to have a marvellous impact on the amount and quality of proposals that might end up flowing towards JISC. I’m not saying we’ll mop up failed EC proposals!! … I’m simply saying this has to be good for generally raising our whole collective game in the relevant areas of research and development.
‘Article level’ usage statistics from publishers and repositories
Usage statistics for electronic journals are increasingly standardised and usable thanks to the collaborative efforts of publishers, other information providers and librarians in developing and implementing the COUNTER codes of practice.
But what do you do if you need usage statistics for individual articles by a particular author published across different journals and also held across different institutional or subject repositories? This question is increasingly relevant when considering how to measure the ‘impact’ of research, for example.
The PIRUS (Publisher and Institutional Repository Usage Statistics ) project explored how usage statistics for individual articles could be collected from repositories and publishers and then combined to produce consolidated usage reports. PIRUS proposed a number of ways in which this could be done. A report was published in January 2009.
Now this work is to continue with a follow-on project - PIRUS2 - which has the following main objectives. To:
• Develop a suite of free, open source programmes to support the generation and sharing of COUNTER compliant usage data and statistics that can be extended to cover any and all individual items in institutional and subject repositories
• Develop a prototype article level publisher/repository statistics service
• Define a core set of standard useful statistical reports that repositories could/should produce for internal and external consumption
The project formally starts on 1st October 2009 and finishes as the end of 2010.
There are a number of project partners, the main ones being: MIMAS, Cranfield University (Library & Information Services), COUNTER, CrossRef and Oxford University Press.
This post is just to alert you to the existence of the project. More information about the project will be made available on the JISC Web site in due course.
US Google Book Settlement – What are your views?
We have set up a Write to Reply site to gather views from the community on the Google book settlement and its implications for UK Higher and Further Education.
From the JISC site: The US Google Book Settlement represents a major watershed in the digitisation and access to millions of books, including in copyright publications and therefore the rediscovery of a huge proportion of the world’s knowledge. Effectively it enables democratisation of access to information by making books available digitally to new audiences supported by fully searchable tools. It also provides a solution for out-of-print works. The settlement is supported by a balanced revenue share model with authors and other rights holders.
However, the settlement and its potential ramifications have sparked not only global support, but also controversy and opposition. Recently, the US Justice Department has urged the US New Court to reject the settlement because of the anti-trust and copyright issues it raises – not least because it would give Google the sole authority for books whose copyright holder could not be found (‘orphan works’) and provide inadequate protection to foreign rights holders.
Rachel Bruce, programme director at JISC said: “We are interested in gathering views from colleges and universities in the UK in order to help inform JISC’s approach to these issues, both in relation to the Google Book Settlement itself and more broadly. We can assume, even if the current US Google Book Settlement is not accepted by the Court on 7 October 2009*, that we will see subsequent settlements that affect UK rights holders and have an impact on access to information for education and research.”
“This is your chance to share your views about the Google Book Settlement and your response will also help JISC understand any potential implications associated with any possible future European settlement. We are interested to not only hear about your opinions leading up to the hearing but also what you think about the verdict.”
To share your views please respond via the Write to Reply website by 26th October 2009.http://writetoreply.org/googlebooks/
Thanks to Joss Winn and the JISCPress project for setting this consultation up for us.
* This date may be subject to change due to a recent appeal to delay from Authors Guild and the Association of American Publishers
If you’re a developer interested in library services - AND you haven’t got anything to do this weekend…then read this:
The JISC MOSAIC project is holding a competition to discover what can be done with library usage data. It closes at 23.59 this coming Monday. They’re looking for compelling applications, interfaces and mash-ups that use the data in research, learning and libraries etc.
• First prize - £1000 sterling
• Second Prize - £250 sterling
• Third Prize - £100 sterling
The competition closes on Monday 14th September 2009
Further details about the competition:
http://www.sero.co.uk/jisc-mosaic-competition.html
Good Luck!!