Library and Information Science Commons^™

Modeling Object Relationships In Fedora Commons Using Rdf, Graham Hukill

Library Scholarly Publications

Modeling digital object relationships with RDF statements is perhaps the single most important thing we do in creating our digital collections infrastructure. This presentation provides a brief overview of RDF, "triples", how they are utilized in Fedora Commons for modeling relationships between objects, and some future goals.

Uelma: The Uniform Electronic Legal Material Act, Marlene Coir, Virginia C. Thomas

Library Scholarly Publications

At the federal, state, and local levels, primary legal materials are increasingly being made available to the public in electronic format. It is a matter of great concern to attorneys and legal researchers that these electronic resources routinely include caveats and disclaimers regarding their authenticity and official status. Until recently, however, state and local governments have seldom guaranteed that these resources would be updated, maintained, and securely archived for the benefit of their citizens. In July 2011, the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws approved the text of the Uniform Electronic Legal Material Act (UELMA). As drafted, this …

Researching Environmental Justice: A Conversation, Virginia C. Thomas, William W. Lefevre

Library Scholarly Publications

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency defines environmental justice as “the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies.” The concerns that arise in this complex environmental context extend beyond the scope of traditional legal research resources to include historical, social, scientific, and governmental documents that reside in unique archival collections.

Through the conversation that follows, senior archivist William LeFevre of the Walter P. Reuther Library shares his experience and insights on how archival resources can provide essential support …

Wayne State University Libraries Digital Collections Platform: A New Home For Research On Detroit, Amelia Mowry, Joshua Neds-Fox, Cole Hudson, Graham Hukill

Library Scholarly Publications

The Wayne State University Libraries have recently developed a new Digital Collections platform for our growing set of images, publications, and manuscripts, many of which relate to the Detroit area. Based on the Fedora digital object repository, with an Apache SOLR search layer and a lightweight PHP front-end, the platform represents a solid technological and content infrastructure for research and innovation in Detroit-related Digital Humanities.

Driven by technology, metadata, and rich content from Detroit and beyond, the platform can serve as a workspace for Digital Humanities projects. The architecture and metadata allow for parsing, faceting, and curating across collections. And …

Fishing With The Crowd: Catch And Release?, Jan B. Bissett, Margi Heinen

Library Scholarly Publications

No abstract provided.

Hacking Dc: Using Dc's Native Features In Unintended Ways, Michael Priehs, Joshua Neds-Fox

Library Scholarly Publications

The Digital Commons software is relatively feature-rich, but as repository managers we often find ourselves thinking, "I wish I could..." This presentation, delivers at the Digital Commons Great Lakes User Group annual meeting at Valparaiso University, IN, outlines two relatively easy extensions of Digital Commons that use its native features in novel ways. One ("Preserving and Tracking Permissions in Digital Commons") takes advantage of the system to manage permissions recordkeeping, and the other ("Paper of the Day Emails") exploits the quarterly archive for an automatic marketing program. Attendees will discover sustainable ways to keep themselves in copyright compliance and their …

The Structure And Evolution Of The Academic Discipline Of Law In The United States: Generation And Validation Of Course-Subject Co-Occurrence (Csco) Maps, Peter A. Hook

School of Information Sciences Faculty Research Publications

This dissertation proposes, exemplifies, and validates the usage of course-subject co-occurrence (CSCO) data to generate topic maps of an academic discipline. CSCO is defined as course-subjects taught in the same academic year by the same teacher. This work is premised on the assumption that in the aggregate and for reasons of efficiency, faculty members teach course-subjects that are topically similar to one another. To exemplify and validate CSCO, more than 112,000 CSCO events were extracted from the annual directories of the American Association of Law Schools covering nearly eighty years of law school teaching in the United States. The CSCO …

Visualizing Our Book Shelves: How We Took Harvard’S Stack View And Made It Our Own, Cole Hudson

Library Scholarly Publications

This presentation covers WSU's efforts to develop a virtual book shelf viewer modifying and adding to the Harvard Library's Stack View project. Code referenced was developed by Cole Hudson and Axa Liauw and can be found on Github.

Wayne State University’S Digital Collections Infrastructure, Graham Hukill

Library Scholarly Publications

At Wayne State University, we are in the process of building a digital collections infrastructure using Fedora Commons to store our digital objects, Solr as our primary search mechanism, and a combination of HTML / CSS / Javascript for the front-end user interface. These components are “glued” together with a Python based server that handles search, limited management of objects, and other specific functions. The missing piece in our digital collections infrastructure is a robust, reliable, sustainable, and easy-to-use tool for managing our digital collections and objects in Fedora Commons and Solr. This lightning outlined and demonstrated a python based …

Adapting To The Academic Environment: 5 Lessons From The Yogi, James E. Van Loon

Library Scholarly Publications

Observations on the differences between academic and corporate environments, and on adaptations that can ease the transition from corporate to academic worlds.

Accessible Interlibrary Loan For Users With Disabilities: An Open Discussion, Michael Priehs

Library Scholarly Publications

At its core, interlibrary loan is about access to information. But are we succeeding for our patrons with disabilities? Are our systems, practices, and deliverables meeting the needs of all of our users? While much has been written and explored concerning obtaining special format materials, less has been written concerning the usability of our resource sharing systems for disabled persons. Assistive, or mainstream, technologies and Universal Design are popular discussions among disability and web design specialists. Likewise, in a discipline where accessibility and technology often guide our progress, resource sharing librarians should be aware of these issues in regards to …

Random Ramblings — “You Can’T Always Get What You Want”: When Academic Libraries Say No, Robert P. Holley

School of Information Sciences Faculty Research Publications

Does focusing on perceived needs lead to negative consequences?

Self-Publishing: A New Challenge For Universal Bibliographic Control, Robert P. Holley

School of Information Sciences Faculty Research Publications

Self-publishing in the United States has increased to between 50-75% of book titles published annually, facilitated by the popularity of ebooks and print-on-demand. Amazon.com and other companies have encouraged the trend by paying royalties and providing support to authors. This increase in self-published materials poses a new challenge for Universal Bibliographic Control (UBC). Today, UBC is much different in the age of information overload compared with the relative information scarcity before the arrival of the Internet. Libraries have nonetheless retained an interest in bibliographically controlling traditional books. Self-published books can be indistinguishable from trade publications but fall outside many of …

Engaging Faculty In Information Literacy, Judith M. Arnold, Veronica E. Bielat

Library Scholarly Publications

How can librarians engage faculty in information literacy? This session demonstrates how a faculty workshop can be used as a strategy to motivate change in how faculty design research assignments. We will discuss using current research to draw faculty into the information literacy conversation, perform assignment analysis to illuminate the “burdens” placed on the student, and illustrate how assignment re-design can mitigate the subsequent student struggles that may lead to patchwork papers or plagiarism.

Cleared For Deposit! Tool For Reviewing Faculty Cv's And Depositing Articles In An Institutional Repository, Graham Hukill

Library Scholarly Publications

This poster will focus on a tool we have made to streamline the process of reviewing faculty publications, most often via their CV, for deposit and self-archiving in a Institutional Repository. The tool uses an HTML/CSS webpage for the front-end, a MySQL backend, and pulls in publisher self-archiving policies via the SHERPA/RoMEO API.

Many libraries are beginning to review faculty CVs for publications that can be deposited in their Open Access Institutional Repository. SHERPA/RoMEO, "...a searchable database of publisher's policies regarding the self- archiving of journal articles on the web and in Open Access repositories," is primarily how librarians decide …

Re-Emagining Library Guides For Independent E-Learning, Judith Arnold, Veronica E. Bielat

Library Scholarly Publications

E-magine the learning possibilities in a library guide! Learning theory tells us that learners need more than one way of interacting with content. Potential lies in the multimedia and design capabilities available in the apps and platforms used to host library guides. This presentation will take a fresh approach to guide design that re-envisions the guide as an e-learning tool that enhances learning as it supports the goals of a specific assignment.

E-Volving Information Literacy Tutorials With E-Maginative And E-Ngaging Design, Damecia Donahue, Axa Liauw, Rebeca Peacock, Jill Wurm

Library Scholarly Publications

Presentation on May 22nd, 2014, at The Workshop for Instruction in Library Use (WILU), at Western University, Ontario, Canada.

Copyright Awareness, Partnerships, And Training Issues In Academic Libraries, Deborah H. Charbonneau, Michael Priehs

School of Information Sciences Faculty Research Publications

This article reports on the results of a national survey of academic librarians and library staff (N = 226) in the United States about their awareness of various copyright policies, partnerships with campus groups to address copyright issues, and training needs. A majority of the survey respondents reported that they have answered copyright-related questions in the workplace, yet only 49% (n = 98) of the respondents perceived they were prepared to provide copyright information to library users. Awareness of various copyright policies among librarians and staff members varied, including a reported minimal awareness of the T.E.A.C.H. Act. In addition, survey …

Preparing For Preservation, Cole Hudson, Graham Hukill

Library Scholarly Publications

In this preservation, we explored the access/preservation dichotomy found in preservation work, and presented on how our work with access interfaces in Fedora Commons has lead to some unexpected preservation benefits.

Sex And Intellectual Freedom, Robert P. Holley

School of Information Sciences Faculty Research Publications

No abstract provided.

Altmetrics: New Trends In Tracking And Measuring Scholarly Impact, Deborah H. Charbonneau, Alexandra Sarkozy

School of Information Sciences Faculty Research Publications

This invited presentation discusses the rising trend of altmetrics or "alternative metrics." The presentation introduces how altmetrics are shaping the scholarly landscape, their relationship to traditional metrics, and their potential uses for tracking scholarly influence. A diverse range of alternative tools for assessing scholarly impact and opportunities for library and information professionals are also described.

A Discussion And Suggestions On Ethical Barriers In Librarianship: Information Privacy, Controversial Materials, And Personal Beliefs, Spyros Tsompanakis

School of Information Sciences Faculty Research Publications

In this work, the author discusses three ethical issues that have become barriers in the library environment: information privacy, controversial materials, and personal beliefs. The specific issues are covered by the ALA Code of Ethics, which is a general but clear guideline. In the library’s everyday life, however, these guidelines are being challenged by the occasional or consistent behaviors of librarians, users, and administrators. The author has witnessed situations when the above mentioned ethical issues caused conflicts and threatened to challenge librarianship as a concept and the values that come with it. The author presents the LIS literature on the …

Prospecting For Digital Nuggets: Research Gems On The Web, Jan B. Bissett, Margi Heinen

Library Scholarly Publications

No abstract provided.

Connected Learning: Linking Academics, Popular Culture, And Digital Literacy In A Young Urban Scholars Book Club Program, Kafi D. Kumasi

School of Information Sciences Faculty Research Publications

No abstract provided.

Hiring And Training Work-Study Students: A Case Study, Laura Manley, Robert P. Holley

School of Information Sciences Faculty Research Publications

This paper describes the implementation of a comprehensive hiring and training program for library work-study students designed to reduce the time spent on individual training. After staff reductions, Marygrove College Library in Detroit, Michigan turned to an underutilized resource--work-study students. Formerly, training these students took so much permanent staff time that the library questioned investing so much effort on a contingent work force. With the cuts, the library reconsidered the value of work-study employees and devised a hiring and training program to choose the best candidates for the position and to reduce the effort full-time staff spent training new workers.

Random Ramblings - Mourning The Passing Of The Print Edition Of College & Research Libraries, Robert P. Holley

School of Information Sciences Faculty Research Publications

No abstract provided.

The Future Of Cloud-Based Library Systems, Steven K. Bowers, Elliot J. Polak

Library Scholarly Publications

The limits of the now-aging integrated library system (ILS) software model are constraining the presence of the library within the new reality of the Internet and interconnected World Wide Web. Whether they are called cloud-based ILS or library services platforms, developing and future systems will move beyond shared library resources on shelves to establishing a shared technological infrastructure for supporting all that libraries do. Cloud-based systems will provide means for management of all library systems, including circulation, cataloging, acquisitions, serials, electronic resources, authentication, the public interface, and analytics for data in the system. All this will allow for greater cooperation …

Information Literacy Skills As A Critical Thinking Framework In The Undergraduate Engineering Curriculum, James E. Van Loon, Heather L. Lai

Library Scholarly Publications

Information Literacy (IL) instruction embedded into the engineering design curriculum can provide a framework for the development of critical thinking skills which are essential for students to master to solve open-ended engineering problems. At Wayne State University, a lecturer in biomedical engineering (BME) and a science librarian are collaborating in an ongoing effort to integrate IL instruction into the BME undergraduate design curriculum. The paper will provide a vision and rationale for integrating IL instruction into the engineering design curriculum, and discuss aspects of the Wayne State effort to effect this integration. A review of the place of critical thinking …

The University Press: Trends, Initiatives, And Collaborations Over The Past Several Years, Clayton Hayes, Robert P. Holley

Library Scholarly Publications

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine recent trends that have affected University Presses. The increased reliance on digital resources and fiscal constraints within higher education has forced University Presses to re-evaluate their position with the scholarly communication system. Responses include an increased focus on partnerships, new forms of publication, changing business models, and better meeting customers’ needs.

Design/Methodology/Approach – The authors have reviewed publications on University Presses from the last five years and added their viewpoints on current and future trends.

Findings – University Presses must adapt to resource scarcity and current trends in scholarly communication …

Copyright: What Library Workers Should Know, Michael Priehs

Library Scholarly Publications

Michael Priehs, Coordinator for Scholarly Communications & Copyright at Wayne State University, provides library workers with an overview of copyright, including fair use and the public domain. Recent high-profile copyright cases will be discussed, along with implications for libraries. Suggestions for providing copyright assistance to library patrons will round out the talk.