The death of the academic book and the path to Open Access

Roxanne Missingham discusses Is publishing academic books a dying trade? And if so, are free e-books from universities likely to deal the final blow?The future of book publishing in general is hotly contested, but particularly so for university presses.
  

Read more at http://theconversation.com/the-death-of-the-academic-book-and-the-path-to-open-access-19153

Gift of The Linnaeus Apostles to the ANU library

The Australian National University Library is delighted to receive the gift of The Linnaeus Apostles.

During the 18th century, the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778) was to inspire 17 of his scholars to travel to distant corners of the world to document local nature and culture. They travelled on their own or with expeditions across land and sea - their travels covered every continent between the years 1745 and 1799.They were referred to as the Linnaeus Apostles (or disciples).

The publication is a major international series of eight volumes - in all 11 books and over 5,500 pages - which has been in preparation since the late 1990s under the overall title of The Linnaeus Apostles - Global Science & Adventure. All the accounts of the apostles' journeys to every continent have been published for the first time in English; those of the apostles who left no travel journals are described through their correspondence or other sources. In the introductory and concluding volumes world experts in various subject fields will provide accounts of the 18th century, of Linnaeus, of travelling and the hardships of field work, together with biographies and an index covering approximately 5,500 indexed printed pages, resulting in around 150,000 specific search terms and a considerable number of cross references or references to modern biological nomenclature.

Roxanne Missingham

University  Librarian

Australian National Universtiy

URL Seminars and ALIA Events

1)      Impressions from IFLA (Wed Sept 4 – 12:30pm)

As I am sure many of you know, 3500 librarians and other delegates from all around the world congregated in Singapore last week for the International Federation of Library Associations Congress. It was an excellent conference with many high calibre and forward-thinking presentations.  Several of us at the National Library were fortunate to attend and we invite you to come along and hear our impressions of this prestigious event.  Feel free to bring a ‘brown bag’ lunch or visit bookplate to pick up a sandwich/coffee before heading upstairs.

When:              Wednesday Sept 4

12:15pm for 12:30pm start

Where:            National Library of Australia

Ferguson Room (Level 1)

2)      National Advisory Congress – IFLA Trends Report and “Future of the Profession” (Tues Sept 10 – 5:30pm)

Many of you will know that ALIA holds an annual NAC in each State/Territory to help shape the forthcoming agenda for the Association.  This year, the focus of discussion is the future of our profession in a rapidly evolving world – just a minor issue J!  To kick start the discussion, ALIA developed a report available on the ALIA Futures wiki and, as it turns out, IFLA also launched its comprehensive Trends Report at the conference last week.  Don’t worry, you don’t have to read these comprehensive documents to participate.  Just come along, share some refreshments and have a chat.  There are big issues ahead – ebooks, copyright, ‘big data’, open access – and we’d love to hear your thoughts on how we best position ourselves to keep librarians ahead of the game.  It be great if you could RSVP, but also happy if you just turn up on the day.

When:                  Tuesday Sept 10    

                                5pm for 5:30pm start

Where:            National Library of Australia

Ferguson Room (Level 1)

3)      And finally, make sure you sign up for our Social Media workshop on Friday September 20.  We’ve got a great program of speakers lined up so you won’t want to miss this very affordable seminar.

Taxonomy Development and Knowledge Audit workshops with Patrick Lambe

Thursday, 17 October 2013 at 8:30 AM - Tuesday, 22 October 2013 at 4:00 PM (EST)Barton, ACTThe Brassey of Canberra Macquarie Street Barton, ACT 2600

http://www.eventbrite.com.au/event/8049286633/efblike

ACTKM is proud to bring Patrick Lambe to Canberra to present 2 outstanding workshops.  Numbers are capped at 20 to ensure optimal benefit to the particiapnts. Building taxonomies and conducting knowledge audits are two of the most important - and difficult - activities that a knowledge management (KM) team may be responsible for. From one of the most experienced KM consulting teams in the world, we bring two workshops to share step by step methodologies and a set of tools for both activities - based on over a decade of practice and solid research.

Using interactive techniques and practical exercises, you will learn how to plan and conduct taxonomy and knowledge audit initiatives. We use case examples to illustrate the methodologies taught, and you will have an opportunity - both during and after the workshops - to think about how to apply them to your own organisation.

Each workshop stands alone, but you can also take them together, at a discounted package price. For example, one of the most reliable ways to collect evidence for a corporate taxonomy is to conduct a knowledge audit.  

Taxonomy development workshop 17 - 18 October 2013

Taxonomies are powerful instruments for breaking down siloes and fostering collaboration and learning - not just for information accessibility and navigation. This unique two day programme is focused on helping participants to develop and implement a taxonomy to support the knowledge management objectives and programmes in their organisation. It exposes participants to the range of different ways that taxonomies can be used to support organisation effectiveness, and imparts key design principles for a usable, maintainable and effective taxonomy. We teach an approach to taxonomy development that takes into account different stakeholder needs to ensure maximum adoption and it stresses the importance of a taxonomy as a living system with an active governance and evaluation process around it.

The workshop approach combines presentation of frameworks and proven methods with interactive exercises and opportunities to relate the content back to participants' own organisations. A secure online blog is available for up to three months after the workshop to share queries and follow up questions. Our goal is to equip you with the knowledge and skills to develop and deploy taxonomies effectively in your organisation.

 Knowledge audit workshop 21 - 22 October 2013
Performing a knowledge audit is probably the most important foundational piece of work you can do in Knowledge Management. It forms the basis for identifying what knowledge assets exist and where they are, identifies knowledge flows, knowledge gaps, and improvement opportunities to support the business. This one and a half day workshop is based on ten years of knowledge audit practice around the world, and gives a robust methodology and toolset to help knowledge and information management practitioners focus on practical interventions that will get buy-in and support across the organisation.

The workshop approach introduces the methodology through practical exercises with feedback and analysis, and is accompanied by a set of diagnostic tools. A secure online blog is available for up to three months after the workshop to share queries and follow up questions. Our goal is to equip you with the knowledge and skills to conduct a knowledge audit in your organisation, and work with the results to design helpful interventions.

Copyright: Progress in Australian Law Reform Commission’s inquiry

Background

The ALRC was asked by the Government to consider whether exceptions and statutory licences in the Copyright Act 1968 are adequate and appropriate in the digital environment and whether further exceptions should be recommended on 29 June 2012. The Commission-in-charge is Professor Jill McKeough, who has been seconded from her position as Dean of Law at the University of Technology, Sydney.

The issue of the principles of the nation’s approach to copyright (fair use vs fair dealing) and exceptions and statutory licence provisions are very significant to Australian libraries and organisations.

Changes in technology, education and the economy provide an important context for the report. The ALRC notes that “Policy makers around the world are actively reconsidering the relationship between copyright exceptions and innovation, research, and economic growth, with a view to ensuring that their economies are capable of fully utilising digital technology to remain competitive in a global market”.

The discussion paper released on 31 May is the second discussion paper issued as part of the inquiry. It frames in detail the issues that are expected to appear in the final report which is due to be released by 30 November 2013.

ALIA, ALCC, ADA and many other organisations, provided comments on the first discussion paper and have prepared submissions to this discussion paper. Very broadly they welcome the report as a means of obtaining a copyright regime which better balances the needs of creators and users. If the proposals become recommendations and are accepted one major result would be a change from a concept of “fair dealing” to the “fair use” concept embodied in US legislation and that of many other countries.  There are a number of organisations which do not support this change.

Discussion paper: summary

The ALRC discussion paper is very detailed and comprehensive, containing over 380 pages It is available online http://www.alrc.gov.au/sites/default/files/pdfs/publications/dp79_whole_pdf_.pdf. 46 proposals and 8 questions have been developed in the paper from the detailed analysis undertaken for the inquiry.

A framework for considering copyright is developed by the inquiry based on the following principles:

Principle 1: Acknowledging and respecting authorship and creation

Principle 2: Maintaining incentives for creation of works and other subject matter

Principle 3: Promoting fair access to and wide dissemination of content

Principle 4: Providing rules that are flexible and adaptive to new technologies

Principle 5: Providing rules consistent with Australia’s international obligations

Some key issues are summarised below.

Fair use

In taking consideration the submissions, the fundamental basis for use of material in copyright has been analysed, not for the first time by a copyright review in Australia. Universities Australia argued:

The shortcomings of a purpose-based fair dealing regime are such that reform efforts should be directed to replacing this regime with a more flexible regime rather than tweaking or simplifying the existing fair dealing exceptions. While there may be a continuing role for some specific exceptions, these should operate as prescribed minimum standards that may be exceeded if the use in question satisfies a fairness test. As a general rule, purpose-based exceptions are unlikely to be sufficiently future-proofed to be appropriate in a rapidly developing technological environment. (Universities Australia, 2012 p. 2)

In considering “fair use” the inquiry notes that

There were four main arguments advanced in support of fair use in submissions,

that it:

• provides flexibility to respond to changing conditions as it is principles-based and technology neutral;

• assists innovation;

• restores balance to the copyright system; and

• assists with meeting consumer expectations. (ALRC, 2013, p. 59)

Bodies arguing against fair use put the position that:

• is unnecessary and no case is made out for it;

• would create uncertainty and expense;

• originated in a different legal environment; and

• may not comply with the three-step test. (ALRC, 2013, p. 59)

The ALRCs view in summary is that enactment of a fair use exception in Australia:

• is suitable for the digital economy and will assist innovation;

• provides a flexible standard;

• is coherent and predictable;

• is suitable for the Australian environment; and

• is consistent with the three-step test. (ALRC, 2013, p. 79)

A number of organisations appears to have commenced publically opposing this approach – see  http://www.copyright.com.au/news-items/2013/copyright-news/alrc-discussion-paper-released and https://asauthors.org/bulletin-june-2013 :

Statutory licences

Statutory licences are part of the current Copyright Act. They are compulsory licences that require payment  for certain types of use. The ALRC notes that rights holders cannot choose not to license their material.  The discussion paper proposes the repeal of the statutory licences for educational and other institutions and the statutory licence for the Crown. They argue that “the digital environment appears to call for a new way for these licences to be negotiated and settled. Like most other licences for use of copyright material in Australia and abroad, these licences should be negotiated voluntarily. Voluntary licences—whether direct or collective—are less prescriptive, more efficient and better suited to a digital age.” (ALRC, 2013, p 109).

Universities Australia argued that the licence approach:

·         impedes new technologies and educational uses

·         does not reflect modern teaching methods

·         removes incentives for rights holders to develop innovative and competitive licensing models for educational content

·         has created a false market: Australian universities are paying to copy works that no one ever wanted or expected to be paid for

·         has removed any scope for fair dealing and has led to an unintended shift in the copyright balance

·         is economically inefficient. 

Dr Matthew Rimmer from ANU gave very convincing arguments as to how the scheme disadvantaged those with disabilities.

Again those receiving payments from this scheme are expected to conduct a very strong campaign opposing the proposed change.

Moving to a non statutory licence approach would be more equitable. It will enable Creative Commons and other licencing approaches to be fully realised and will better support teaching and research in universities.

Libraries, archives and digitisation

Chapter 11 addresses the issue of digitisation, in particular section 200AB copying. Only a small number of libraries have been able to use this provision and the ALRC finds that it is “not working”. A more flexible approach is proposed using fair use. The sections on mass digitisation and preservation copying provide a useful summary of international experiences.

The section on “Document supply for research and study” is one that has been identified by ALCC, ADA and ALIA as not well reflecting the Australian environment and needs. Submissions to the discussion paper will address in detail the questions posed in this section.

Summary

The discussion paper’s draft proposals and approach seems to strikes a very fair balance between the interests of creators and users of copyright.

Watch this space – ALIA has produced a submission to the discussion paper which can be found from http://www.alia.org.au/information-and-resources/copyright . The comments focus particularly of inter library lending/document supply and copying for members of parliament.

The major next step will be the issuing of the ALRC report by 30 November 2013.

References

Australian Law Reform Commission (2013) Copyright and the Digital Economy. DISCUSSION PAPER. Sydney: ALRC. http://www.alrc.gov.au/sites/default/files/pdfs/publications/dp79_whole_pdf_.pdf

Universities Australia (2012) Response to the ALRC Issues Paper: Copyright and the Digital Economy November 2012. Canberra: Universities Australia. http://www.universitiesaustralia.edu.au/resources/777/1509

Roxanne Missingham

University Librarian (Chief Scholarly Information Services)

The Australian National University

Winter Dinner July 2013

The Winter dinner was held on  4 July 2013 at the Scholar Restaurant in Dickson. For a winter night we had a good turnout of 25. This dinner gathers librarians across all industry sectors and ALIA groups in the ACT region and judging by the buzz of chatter, all enjoyed catching up with colleagues and friends. For many of us it is the only opportunity to see others from beyond our usual field of work. The food was  delicious too.  

Three awards were presented on the night.

The ACTive  ALIA award for sustained contribution was presented to Gaik Khong for her many years of dedicated volunteering for ALIA and the library profession. Gaik is a quiet achiever who has contributed to ALIA both locally and nationally. Gaik has been the ACTive ALIA treasurer for over five years and has drafted budgets to ALIA headquarters on time with excellent documentation. Gaik has also been involved in organising events and seminars for our local group. 

Gaik was a member of the ALIA Special Libraries Advisory Committee which worked successfully  to improve the visibility of special libraries within the broader ALIA community.  This committee collaborated with the Australian Government Library and Information Network (AGLIN) in a joint exercise to provide a Special Libraries stream for the ALIA 2010 Conference in Brisbane. Gaik played an important role in the planning, implementation and management of this stream program for the conference.  She has also been involved in arranging a variety of joint AGLIN/ALIA seminars in Canberra for librarians and others across all sectors. Gaik was awarded a certificate and a book. 

Catherine Jordan, librarian at the Australian Botanic Gardens, was voted most popular librarian of the ACT as part of the National Year of Reading 2012. Catherine was nominated over ten times, with all of her nominators discussing her extensive knowledge of her specialist library collection and the amazing service she provides for everyone who enters her library. Catherine was presented with a book to mark this achievement. Her winning poll does much to bring the work of dedicated librarians to the notice of the public and colleagues.

Karna O’Dea was presented with a Silver Pin for five years’ service to ALIA committees.  Karna has been an outstanding contributor to ALIA over many years, the ACT Group Convenor for more than five years and she has worked tirelessly and enthusiastically to ensure a range of programs are offered to meet the needs of members.  Karna is a passionate advocate for the profession, sharing information and ideas.  She was a major force behind the Value of Libraries symposium in 2012 as well as library visits, meetings and publicity.  She manages the ALIA ACTive blog, taking us into social media with gusto.

All who attended enjoyed the  fellowship and conviviality of the evening.  We thank Roxanne Missingham and Vanessa Little for presenting the awards, and the National Library for donating the books presented:  A steady hand; Governor Hunter and his First Fleet sketchbook, by Linda Groom (National Library of Australia 2012), and Collecting ladies; Ferdinand von Mueller and women botanical artists, by Penny Olsen (NLA Publishing, 2013). 

Our next social event will be an end of the year gathering at the new Arboretum.

Silver Pin presentation:

Award winners, Catherine, Karna and Gaik,  standing and at right:

Libraries and Ebooks Summary

On the 3 July 2013, 45 librarians from the Canberra region met at Gungahlin Library to discuss the current limitations around ebooks. The two presenters were Margarita Moreno (NLA) and Vanessa Little (Libraries ACT), who also led the discussions.  

The session began with Vanessa speaking passionately about how libraries are at a crossroads in regards to epublications.  Vanessa stated that we need to fight publishers to provide our customers with the access and flexibility they expect as well as being able to receive any epublication we feel belongs in our library’s collections.   Vanessa went into more detail with “Setting the scene: the E-book landscape” - a presentation from Margaret Allen.  (http://www.alia.org.au/sites/default/files/documents/advocacy/Margaret%20Allen%20ALIA%20ebooks%20think%20tank%2028%20May%202013.pdf).  Afterwards everyone briefly introduced themselves and broke into smaller groups to discuss their ebook experiences and issues that arose in their libraries (http://www.scribd.com/doc/152860054/Collated-notes-from-Libraries-and-Ebooks-03-07-2013-docx - pages 1-3).

The second presentation, from Margarita, looked at Inter Library Loans (ILL), Document Delivery (DD) and ebooks (http://www.scribd.com/doc/152860419/E-books-and-ILL-July-2013-ppt).  This was followed by a second discussion session where the focus was on ALIA’s draft principles (http://www.alia.org.au/sites/default/files/documents/advocacy/ALIAebooksandelendingposition130522.pdf 
and collated notes at http://www.scribd.com/doc/152860054/Collated-notes-from-Libraries-and-Ebooks-03-07-2013-docx - pages 4-5).

In between the two presentations attendees had the opportunity to see behind the scenes at Gungahlin Library and visit the Digital Hub.

Thank you once again to Vanessa Little for leading the discussion and Margarita Moreno for her presentation on the ILL and DD perspective.

Also a big thank you to all the Libraries ACT staff who helped make this afternoon possible – Sharon, Adrian, Shruti, Billie, Halina, Matthew and Debbie.

Additional resources:

http://www.alia.org.au/advocacy-and-campaigns/advocacy-campaigns/ebooks-and-elending

http://m.digitaltrends.com/mobile/e-book-library-lending-broken-difficult/

http://www.ifla.org/e-lending

http://www.plconnect.slq.qld.gov.au/manage/21st-century-public-libraries/ebooks

http://www.ala.org/transforminglibraries/a4le

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/may/14/pay-us-for-library-ebook-loans

http://lj.libraryjournal.com/2013/05/technology/ebooks/overdrive-and-sourcebooks-to-launch-ambitious-ebook-data-experiment/

http://lj.libraryjournal.com/2012/10/opinion/random-house-says-libraries-own-their-ebooks-lj-insider/

http://www.infodocket.com/2012/12/20/ebooks-e-approval-plans-in-research-libraries-preprint/

http://ebookadvocacy.wordpress.com/