CrossRef, California Digital Library agreement extends discoverability of scholarly publications

CrossRef and the California Digital Library (CDL) have signed an agreement that opens a route for library publishers to participate in the scholarly communication hub created by CrossRef. Through the agreement, publishers using CDL’s EZID digital identifier service now may choose to deposit the metadata for their content in the CrossRef system. Participants may use the full range of CrossRef services, including search and discovery, persistent linking, tracking of funding and licensing information, text and data mining, and more. As a CrossRef Sponsoring Publisher, EZID will handle the technical and administrative processes for its client publishers, reducing barriers to their CrossRef participation.

CDL is a founding member of the DataCite consortium, which, like CrossRef, is one of nine Digital Object Identifier (DOI) Registration Agencies (RAs). CrossRef assigns DOIs to multiple content types, including articles, books and book chapters, data, and many others. DataCite also assigns DOIs to data. A key difference between the two organizations is the primary communities they work with. DataCite assigns DOIs mainly for institutional and subject repositories, while CrossRef is a membership organization of scholarly publishers. While both enable persistent identifiers for scholarly content, the two RAs provide different types of applications and services for that content. CrossRef is online at www.crossref.org and CDL at www.cdlib.org/.

Altmetric for Institutions launches

Alternative metrics provider Altmetric recently announced the release of Altmetric for Institutions, a web-based software application that enables higher educational institutions to track and evaluate the online dissemination and impact of their authored research. Altmetric collates mentions of scholarly articles across traditional and social media, blog posts, reference management tools, and post-publication peer review sites. In addition to these established sources, the data will now also reflect if an article has been cited or mentioned in public policy documents, offering a much-needed insight into the real-life application of research.

Incorporating advanced search and filtering functionality, Altmetric for Institutions offers librarians, research administrators, communication officers, and faculty themselves an easy and intuitive way of monitoring and reporting on the online attention surrounding individual articles. More information is available at www.altmetric.com/institutional-edition.php.

Standards for Distance Learning Library Services draft revision

The ACRL Distance Learning Section (DLS) Standards Committee has prepared a draft revision of the 2008 Standards for Distance Learning Library Services and is seeking comments before completing final revisions and submitting the standards for approval. The draft of the standard is available on the section website at http://bit.ly/dlsstandards. Please submit comments through the website or directly to DLS Standards Committee Chair Harvey Gover (E-mail: ) by November 1, 2014.

ProQuest digitizes historical Statistical Abstracts

ProQuest has announced a new statistical archive, Historical Statistical Abstracts of the United States. The product digitizes more than 130 years of The Statistical Abstracts of the United States, extracts the tabular content, and converts it into an Excel format, making these annual collections of data on the United States and its people easy to search and access. Published since 1878, The Statistical Abstract of the United States has long been one of researchers’ most valued reference tools—the premier guide to an extraordinary array of key social and economic statistics that shape the United States. The “Stat Ab” is renowned for its ability to gather what could be a confusing mass of content and present it in a way that makes it simple for users to connect with just the right nugget of information. The archive will streamline access to this data further, combining all editions in a single digital database. It will be released in three annual installments from 2014 to 2016. The initial release includes all content from 1970 to 2012. The 2015 release will cover 1929 to 1969, and the 2016 release will cover 1878 to 1928.

EBSCO eBooks offers content from Hachette Book Group

Popular fiction and nonfiction e-books published by Hachette Book Group are now available from EBSCO Information Services (EBSCO). Hachette, a “Big 5” trade and educational publisher, has partnered with EBSCO to give customers of EBSCO eBooks access to titles from authors like David Baldacci, Michael Connelly, Elin Hilderbrand, Anne River Siddons, and more. The e-books from Hachette Book Group are now part of the more than 600,000 e-books available from EBSCO eBooks. The partnership will help librarians acquire high-demand titles in a cost-effective way, since there are no markups or fees of any kind on EBSCO eBooks titles. Library patrons will be able to download e-books to mobile devices, including the Kindle Fire. Additionally, patrons will be using the well-known EBSCOhost research platform. More information is available at www.ebscohost.com/ebooks.

Gale expands Digital Collections program

Gale, part of Cengage Learning, has added millions of pages of content to its Gale Digital Collections program with the launch of ten resources, including new periodical collections and the next installments of Smithsonian Collections Online, Nineteenth Century Collections Online, and The Chatham House Online Archive. Researchers now have access to digitized versions of venerated materials, such as recordings and transcripts of speeches from Winston Churchill and Henry Kissinger, and photos and exhibition catalogs of World’s Fairs, among others.

These collections will be available on the Gale Artemis: Primary Sources platform, giving researchers access to graphing and search visualization tools that will help them explore this historical content in new ways. For complete information on new Gale resources, visit www.gale.cengage.com.

Penn Libraries announce 2014 Seltzer Family Digital Media Awards

Thanks to the generosity of alumnus Jeff Seltzer and his wife Annie, the University of Pennsylvania Libraries recently announced the six winners of the 2014 Seltzer Family Digital Media Awards: Leah Davidson, Kerry Huang, Rafiat Kasumu, Nilesh Kavthekar, Jose Romero, and Andre Rosario.

The annual Seltzer Awards recognize and support creative use of new media technologies by Penn undergraduate students for academic research projects. Each student will have exclusive use of $1,000 worth of technology for one year to cover equipment such as video cameras, still cameras, and audio recorders.

This is the seventh year that the Seltzer Family Digital Media Awards have supported specific student projects. The awards are managed by the Penn Libraries in collaboration with the Center for Undergraduate Research and Fellowships. Award details are available at http://wic.library.upenn.edu/wicideas/seltzeraward.html.

Reference librarian wins National Family History Writing Contest

Leslie Anderson, reference librarian at the Alexandria Library Special Collections Branch, won the 2014 National Genealogical Society Family History Writing Contest with her entry, “Tabitha's Story: Survival, Struggle, and Success.” She received the award at the Society’s Annual Banquet in Richmond, Virginia, in May. “Tabitha’s Story” followed four generations of her mother’s family, which originated in Mecklenburg County and eventually settled in Norfolk, Virginia. The article will be published this December in the peer-reviewed journal National Genealogical Society Quarterly.

ACRL 2015 keynote speakers announced

ACRL announces its celebrated lineup of keynote speakers for the ACRL 2015 conference, “Creating Sustainable Community,” to be held March 25–28, 2015, in Portland, Oregon.

Be challenged and entertained by these three distinguished speakers, who also double as comic writers, journalists, radio hosts, producers, and political activists.

Opening Keynote Session, March 25, 2015: G. Willow Wilson, comics writer, prose author, essayist, and journalist. Wilson is a gifted author whose writing explores, across multiple genres, the most pressing issues of our time. An American convert to Islam, her articles, graphic novels, and books reflect her extraordinary crosscultural experiences with remarkable originality and courage. Earlier this year, Marvel Comics released Ms. Marvel, the first-ever American comic book series to feature a Muslim superhero. Wilson is the creator and writer of this groundbreaking series, which features Kamala Khan, a young female superhero unlike anything the comic book world has ever known.

G. Willow Wilson

Middle Keynote Session, March 26, 2015: Jad Abumrad, radio host and producer. Abumrad is the host and creator of “Radiolab,” a public radio program broadcast on 437 stations across the nation and downloaded more than 4 million times a month as a podcast. In 2002, Abumrad began tinkering with an idea for a new kind of radio program, an open-ended radio “laboratory.” Radiolab has since evolved into one of public radio’s most popular programs. Abumrad hosts the program with Robert Krulwich and also serves as its lead producer, composer, and managing editor.

Jad Abumrad

Closing Keynote Session, March 28, 2015: Lawrence Lessig, academic and political activist. Lessig is the Roy L. Furman Professor of Law and Leadership at Harvard Law School, director of the Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics at Harvard University, and founder of Rootstrikers, a network of activists leading the fight against government corruption. He has authored numerous books, including Republic, Lost: How Money Corrupts Our Congress—and a Plan to Stop It, Code and Other Laws of Cyberspace, Free Culture, and Remix.

Lawrence Lessig

Additional details about ACRL 2015 are available on the conference website at http://conference.acrl.org. Registration and housing are currently available.

Putting the User First

ACRL announces the publication of Putting the User First: 30 Strategies for Transforming Library Services by Courtney Greene McDonald.

User experience is everywhere. From a library’s website to the signage by the elevators, everything contributes to the overall experience of library patrons. Just one simple idea can transform libraries: put the user first. But just because an idea is simple doesn’t mean it’s easy. How can libraries best identify, implement, and evaluate user-driven changes in order to improve physical and virtual services?

The good news is that even small changes can make big headway. Putting the User First provides 30 hands-on strategies, activities, and practical suggestions to enable the transformation of libraries and library services, along with individual approaches and practices, to a more responsive, effective, and user-centered model. These practical strategies are coded for cost, technology, physical space, personal practice, and organizational culture to easily identify areas of impact. MacDonald’s work is essential reading for all librarians interested in improving overall user experience.

Putting the User First is available for purchase in print through the ALA Online Store and Amazon.com; and by telephone order at (866) 746-7252 in the United States or (770) 442-8633 for international customers.

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