bX Recommender – Scholarly article recommendations based on usage statistics

Ex Libris is in beta with a new e-serials service called bX:

“a first-of-its-kind service to provide library users with article-level recommendations based on collective usage data amassed from research communities around the world.”

The new application, which harvests usage data from Ex Libris’ link resolver SFX software, is in testing in sixteen institutions worldwide.

It’s very exciting that usage data will work directly to help researchers discover sources in addition to its use in collection development planning.

Follow the buzz at:  http://bxbeta.blogspot.com/

See the press release at:  http://www.exlibrisgroup.com/category/bXOverview

Post removed per request from IGeLU

The post “Ex Libris URM – IGeLU’s proposals for ‘New CKB’” was removed per request from IGeLU.

The user group is not ready to have drafts of its proposal in the public domain.

I apologize for any confusion caused by the post, which simply sought to expand discussion of the URM product(s) in development by Ex Libris.

Ex Libris’ URM – What do you know?!

I’m trying to dig up any information I can about what was revealed at ELUNA 2008 about Ex Libris’ new project, the

Unified Resource Management (URM) System.

Our consortium uses SFX/MARCit! and Verde, and I’m exicted by the prospect of a system that would bridge the divide (read: redundant data entry) between ERM systems like these and the traditional ILS we utilize.

This is why I’m excited, courtesy of JRochkind:

“This is indeed a vision for an ILS that makes sense…. supporting staff workflow in an integrated way that actually makes sense, modular and componentized, full of APIs and opportunities for customer-written plugins, talking to various third-party software (from vendors (of various classes) to ERP software etc.), etc etc.”

Also, the vision of network-level metadata control, as JRochkind points out, comes as a timely challenge to OCLC’s new Policy on the Use and Transfer of WorldCat Records.  Has the gauntlet been thrown?

Also, what does this mean for the OLE (Open Library Environment) Project?

Please, add comments with links to new information!

Scholarly Blogs as Serials?

Ithaka Strategic Services and the Association of Research Libraries recently released their latest joint venture, Current Models of Digital Scholarly Communication.  This project was led by a field team of librarians who worked with faculty at research institutions to identify “new digital scholarly resources;” resources which are both born-digital and are produced by and for the scholarly community.

The report

“identifies eight principal types of digital scholarly resources:

• E-only journals
• Reviews
• Preprints and working papers
• Encyclopedias, dictionaries, and annotated content
• Data
• Blogs
• Discussion forums
• Professional and scholarly hubs“.

In talking about e-only journals, faculty members named

“speedy access to new work, the open access model, and the benefits of being part of a network or online community of scholars“

as the primary reasons for using e-only journals on a regular basis.  Many e-journals allow features such as reader comments and peer commentary on digitally published content.  While the definition of an e-journal created by Ithaka/ARL required “editorial guidelines, peer review, and a well-defined scholarly mission”, I would argue that the features of e-only journals that faculty in the digital environment appreciate are functionalities born of the blogosphere.

Blogs are used by faculty across the three major disciplines (humanties, social sciences, sciences) on a frequent (daily or weekly basis) to keep abreast of changes and discoveries in their disciplines and fields of study.  Faculty members cited resources like blogs as digital loci where “‘exchanges among scholars’ is a primary function.”  Blogs also exist as supplemental content alongside e-only journals, digital “professional and academic hubs” and other electronic forms of reference material.

In many cases, the scholarly blogs discussed are open access resources for reading and commenting but require account privileges for posting new content.  In this sense,

“blogs tend to be a more ‘controlled’ form of informal scholarly communication, allowing a limited number of authors to post work to a much wider audience“.

Because “digital publishing is shaped powerfully by the traditions of scholarly culture”, and because scholarly blogs gain legitimary through traditional processes like “credentialing, peer review, and citation metrics,” I think serials librarians should begin to view scholarly blogs as serial resources worthy of cataloging and inclusion in the library OPAC.

Librarians have a role in distributing cutting-edge, born-digital content to patrons, and in helping content creators work towards digital preservation best-practices.

The Association for Library Collections & Technical Services (ALCTS) is currently conducting an e-forum ‘on Collecting Free Web Resources: Selection, Archiving, Metadata, Access‘.  I encourage you to register and participate in this discussion forum, and to take part in the wider conversation about how libraries incorporate new media and forms of knowledge creation into their collections and services.

Another Perspective on the Google Deal

David Carr’s New York Times article offers a reconsideration of the Google Deal.

With long-standing print publications like the Christian Science Monitor announcing they will cease print operations, and other major publishing companies like Time Inc. cutting payroll, Carr asserts that

“the sky is falling. The question now is how many people will be left to cover it.”

Because readers are accustomed to accessing electronic news content for free, whether directly through the established news publication channels or through the vast network of hyperlinks that is the blogosphere, the transition from paid print subscriptions to paid online subscriptions will be a difficult and heavily contested one.  Furthermore, online ads do not drive the same revenues as print ads, and advertisement funds have experienced a dramatic contraction as the three major reliable advertising sectors,

“car industry, retail business and financial services”,

are reaping the rotten fruits of their risky financial labors.

But the crucial question that Carr poses is,

What will happen to the content and quality of online journalism and commentary if the vetted print publications, and their electronic versions, were to disappear?

Google to Offer Institutional Subscriptions to ‘Millions of Books Online’

In its settlement with the Authors Guild and the Association of American Publishers (AAP), Google agreed to terms for

“Institutional Subscriptions to Millions of Books Online — Offering a means for U.S. colleges, universities and other organizations to obtain subscriptions for online access to collections from some of the world’s most renowned libraries”.

While acknowledging and protecting the rights of copyright holders, this agreement significantly expands Google’s digitization and electronic distribution projects in a way that is hailed as a ‘win-win’ scenario for authors, publishers, and readers alike.

In addition to offering institutional subscriptions for institutions of higher education and other organizations, U.S. public libraries will have free access for viewing out-of-print books from designated on-site computers.

Furthermore, the $125 million that Google agreed to pay in the settlement will be used to create the Books Rights Registry.  The Registry will enable U.S. copyright holders from all over the globe to register their works in order to

“receive compensation from institutional subscriptions, book sales, ad revenues and other possible revenue models, as well as a cash payment if their works have already been digitized”.

Read more about the agreement, which still needs approval from the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, at PRNewswire and Wired.