c/o Katina Strauch Post Office Box 799 Sullivan’s Island, SC 29482
ANNUAL REPORT, ACRL issue TM
volume 31, number 1 FEBRUARY 2019
ISSN: 1043-2094 “Linking Publishers, Vendors and Librarians” How Libraries Can Lead: An Introduction to Affordable Learning for Libraries and Publishers by Gwen Evans (Executive Director, OhioLINK)
ibraries have always been at the crux tuition and fees (often influenced by levels of getting their assigned of affordable learning. A collection state support for higher education), room and materials or textbooks for Lof content shared by many, over many board, personal expenses, transportation, and free, whether because the generations, means more people have access books and supplies. As Dave Ernst, Executive assigned material was already part of the li- to more and better content than they could ever Director of the Open Textbook Network, brary’s print or digital collection, the library put afford on their own. All libraries that serve often points out, when we ask ourselves what class materials on reserve, or consortial lending more than a single private individual share we can do, the only category where libraries arrangements mean that multiple students can this characteristic — public, academic, and in particular can have a direct impact is the borrow multiple copies from across the lending special. In institutions of higher education, last one.1 network. Delivering affordable learning is a libraries actively support learning and discov- Affordable learning is an integral part of core mission of libraries and explains why ery for students, instructors, and researchers by an academic library’s service model — so many academic libraries are widening their acquiring materials on their behalf which may integral that it is often invisible or unremark- scope of endeavor to include OER curation, be used for curricular purposes. able to administrators and faculty. However, promotion, and publishing; acquiring textbooks In the contemporary institutional context, it is extremely and viscerally appreciated by in packages in partnership with departments however, affordable learning usually means students when they can use the library to re- or divisions; and negotiating with textbook addressing the staggering jump in the cost of duce their textbook costs. Many librarians and publishers directly to lower prices for students. attending college, specifically the cost of com- consortial library leaders can tell you how often Libraries and library consortia, both in their re- mercial textbooks. Major student costs include students credit the library or consortium with continued on page 12
If Rumors Were Horses What To Look For In This Issue: Combating Copyrights for Artists...... 41 ow hear this! The theme for the 2019 Charleston Appropriation Art...... 42 Conference is — The Time has Come to Talk of Many Things... (Lewis Carroll). Many thanks to Heather Random Podcasts: An Earful for N Library Patrons...... 54 Staines for the suggestion! Speaking of the Charleston Conference, after nearly twenty Digitization Workflows...... 61 years, the Hotel Bennett (next to the Embassy Suites Historic Reports of Meetings District, overlooking Marion Square and across from the Francis Marion Hotel) has just opened! We tried to get sleeping and meeting rooms but, guess what, they are already booked. The viva- WikiCite 2018...... 45 ciously wonderful Shirley Davidson, our liaison with 2018 Charleston Conference...... 47 the hotels, has been working hard to make this happen 2018 Fiesole Retreat...... 58 in 2020. Did I tell you that Shirley was the first person who helped me with the conference back in 1980?! Interviews Congratulations to Kaetrena Davis Kendrick who Steve Potash...... 38 was named 2019 ACRL Academic/Research Librar- Anne Osterman...... 39 ian of the Year. Kaetrena is associate librarian at the University of South Carolina-Lancaster Medford Profiles Encouraged Library. The award, sponsored by GOBI Library People and Library Profiles...... 68 Solutions from EBSCO, recognizes an outstanding Plus more...... See inside member of the library profession who has made a Archaeologists, Mayanists, and Her- significant national or international contribution to ac- shey’s collaborated to reveal this ancient vessel’s secrets. See page 32 ademic/research librarianship and library development. to read more about this bowl and what Kendrick will receive a $5,000 award during the Middle it contained. continued on page 6 1043-2094(201902)31:1;1-Q
Against The Grain Against the Grain (ISSN: 1043-2094) (USPS: 012-618), TABLE OF CONTENTS Copyright 2017 by the name Against the Grain, LLC is pub- lished six times a year in February, April, June, September, v.31 #1 February 2019 © Katina Strauch November, and December/January by Against the Grain, LLC. Business and Editorial Offices: PO Box 799, 1712 ISSUES, NEWS, & GOINGS ON Thompson Ave., Sullivan’s Island, SC 29482. Accounting and Circulation Offices: same. Call (843-509-2848) to Rumors...... 1 Letters to the Editor...... 6 subscribe. Periodicals postage is paid at Charleston, SC. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Against the From Your Editor...... 6 Deadlines...... 6 Grain, LLC, PO Box 799, Sullivan’s Island, SC 29482. Editor: FEATURES Katina Strauch (College of Charleston) Associate Editors: How Libraries Can Lead: An Introduction to Affordable Learning for Cris Ferguson (Murray State) Libraries and Publishers — Guest Editor, Gwen Evans Tom Gilson (College of Charleston) John Riley (Consultant) How Libraries Can Lead: An No Limitations on the Use of eBooks: Research Editors: Introduction to Affordable Learning A Bold Move by Springer Nature..... 21 Judy Luther (Informed Strategies) for Libraries and Publishers...... 1 by Wouter van der Velde — Students should Assistants to the Editor: be able to download a textbook to their device Ileana Strauch by Gwen Evans — This issue presents a vari- Toni Nix (Just Right Group, LLC) ety of perspectives on textbooks and affordable or print it out to use it for their study, wherever, whenever. Editor At Large: learning. Dennis Brunning (Retired, Arizona State Univ.) Passion for Academic Freedom...... 14 An Idea of Openness...... 22 Contributing Editors: by Dan E. Krane — Despite assertions to the by Dean John Smith — We believe that what Glenda Alvin (Tennessee State University) has been called “the low-use monograph” was Rick Anderson (University of Utah) contrary, it has been possible to dramatically Sever Bordeianu (U. of New Mexico) reduce textbook costs in a relatively short simply undiscoverable and inaccessible. Open Todd Carpenter (NISO) time frame. or not, our digital monographs are being used Eleanor Cook (East Carolina University) around the world. Anne Doherty (Choice) Answering the Question of Ruth Fischer (SCS / OCLC) Affordability...... 16 A System-wide OER Initiative: The Michelle Flinchbaugh (U. of MD Baltimore County) by Bob Butterfield — The bottom line for SUNY OER Initiative...... 24 Joyce Dixon-Fyle (DePauw University) by Mark McBride — The 5Rs (Retain, Reuse, Laura Gasaway (Retired, UNC, Chapel Hill) affordability is that everything is on the table. Regina Gong (Lansing Community College) We are dedicated to continually searching for Revise, Remix, Redistribute) are what make Michael Gruenberg (Gruenberg Consulting, LLC) new ways to keep the cost of curricular content OER a powerful innovation. Chuck Hamaker (Retired, UNC, Charlotte) at the lowest possible point. Beyond Affordability...... 25 William M. Hannay (Schiff, Hardin & Waite) Mark Herring (Winthrop University) Ohio: The State of Affordable by Mark Cummings — If the goal is to Bob Holley (Retired, Wayne State University) Learning...... 17 promote OER as part of a larger educational Donna Jacobs (MUSC) How State Academic Library Consortium program, and not merely as an affordable Ramune Kubilius (Northwestern University) alternative to commercial products, we must Myer Kutz (Myer Kutz Associates, Inc.) OhioLINK Took the Lead, Securing Inclu- Tom Leonhardt sive Access Price Agreements Directly with do a better job demonstrating the possibilities Rick Lugg (SCS / OCLC) Commercial Textbook Publishers by Gwen such resources provide. Jack Montgomery (Western Kentucky University) Evans — OhioLINK recently negotiated state- Op Ed — Random Ramblings...... 26 Bob Nardini (ProQuest) Jim O’Donnell (Arizona State University) wide pricing agreements with six major textbook Confessions of an Open Access Heretic by Ann Okerson (Center for Research Libraries) publishers and embarked upon an ambitious Bob Holley — Based on Bob’s Library Trends Rita Ricketts (Blackwell’s) information campaign centering on the inclusive upcoming article, he concludes that academic Jared Seay (College of Charleston) access, or first day, model of digital textbooks. libraries had not benefitted from open access Lindsay Wertman (IGI Global) Librarians Provide a New Gateway to and that they should worry about the unintend- ATG Proofreader: ed consequences of its success. Rebecca Saunders (College of Charleston) Savings for Students...... 20 Graphics: by Jennifer Becker — We conducted a large Back Talk...... 70 Bowles & Carver, Old English Cuts & Illustrations. study that showed that students who had their Lessons Learned at the Cupcake Store by Grafton, More Silhouettes. Ehmcke, Graphic Trade course materials on the first day of class main- Ann Okerson — Ann talks about an annual Symbols By German Designers. Grafton, Ready-to-Use tained class averages some 20 points higher Old-Fashioned Illustrations. The Chap Book Style. sacred pilgrimage while she was in Charleston than those who bought them two weeks later. for the conference. Production & Ad Sales: Toni Nix, Just Right Group, LLC., P.O. Box 412, Cottageville, SC 29435, phone: 843-835-8604 ATG INTERVIEWS & PROFILES fax: 843-835-5892
TECHNOLOGY AND STANDARDS Considering Games in Libraries and Library Analytics: Shaping the Such...... 51 Future...... 56 Space Guardians: New Year’s Musings of What’s Next? by John McDonald and Kath- How Libraries of Old (Including but Not leen McEvoy — Kathleen and John take a Necessarily Old Librarians) Have Returned tour of past columns and ask for your input on Just in Time to Save Us from Digital Anxiety thoughts for future columns! by Jared Alexander Seay — Just you watch Let’s Get Technical...... 67 out, robots! Here come real print on paper books! Cataloging an Artists’ Book Collection by Cindi Sandridge and Julia Merkel — In Wandering the Web...... 54 2008, the James Madison University Li- Random Podcasts: An Earful for Library braries’ Special Collections began acquiring Patrons by Roxanne Spencer and Rebecca artists’ books with a modest purchase of fifteen L. Nimmo — This column looks at a variety titles. The collection grew incrementally after of random podcasts on topics of interest to inception with purchase funds contributed library patrons and staff. From comedy to from liaison librarian budgets and transfers pets, education to sports, and more, sit back, from stacks. Artists’ books are contemporary relax, adjust your earbuds, and enjoy these phenomena that are often playful in both their popular podcasts! context and format. Name ______Address ______City State Zip ______Company Phone ______Email ______
Against the Grain / February 2019
ope that 2019 is beginning smashingly directly with Commercial Textbook Publish- great books are on for everyone! Unfortunately I had a ers), Jennifer Becker (Librarians Provide a the list), Donna Hhuge smash (crash) of all my emails New Gateway to Savings for Students), Wout- Jacobs continues and lost everything! It was my fault, no one er van der Velde (No Limitations on the Use her search of Nobel else’s. I didn’t delete enough emails and ex- of eBooks: A Bold Move by Springer Nature), Prize authors and ceeded my storage limit. But Matt Branton, Dean John Smith (An Idea of Openness), this time picks a short the wizard techie who we all know recovered Mark McBride (A System-wide OER initia- story. Anne Doherty everything! Whew! tive: The SUNY OER Initiative), and Mark elects Mark Emmons to give us a timely look This issue is guest edited by the talk about Cummings (Beyond Affordability). at American Cinema Directors and Direc- smashing Gwen Evans of OhioLINK on Our Op Ed this time is by Bob Holley tions (did you see the Academy Awards?), the theme How Libraries Can Lead: An (Confessions of an Open Access Heretic) and John Riley talks about Susan Orlean’s The Introduction to Affordable Learning for Ann Okerson’s Back Talk tells us about Library Book (sadly we were unable to afford Libraries and Publishers. There are articles Lessons Learned at the Cupcake Store. (I’m to bring her to Charleston!). by Dan E. Crane (A Passion for Excellence), hungry). Our interviews are with Steve Potash In the Legal section, Anthony Paganelli Bob Butterfield (Answering questions of (OverDrive) and Anne Osterman (VIVA). talks about copyrights for artists and Bruce Affordability), Gwen Evans (Ohio: The State Corey Seeman has been collecting many Strauch gives us a case about Appropriation of Affordable Learning: How State Academic book reviews. I like his new ratings, what Art Subheadings. Lolly Gasaway has her Library Consortium OhioLINK Took the Lead, do y’all think? Rick Anderson’s new book usual relevant questions viz one about Re- Securing Inclusive Access Price Agreements (Scholarly Communication and several other searchGate. Myer Kutz (who has a place in these parts) gives us a small sliver history of sci- entific publishing, Corey Seeman (who also has a Charleston connection) and his squirrels Letters to the Editor (who never change or do they) are into change management, Mark Herring is fascinated by Send letters to
Keynote session on Thursday, April 11, at the AGAINST THE GRAIN DEADLINES ACRL 2019 Conference in Cleveland. “Kae- VOLUME 31 — 2019-2020 trena Davis Kendrick is a fully engaged and dedicated professional with her finger on the 2019 Events Issue Ad Reservation Camera-Ready pulse of some of the most relevant and signif- icant issues in academic librarianship today,” MLA, SLA, Book Expo April 2019 02/21/19 03/14/19 said Jennifer L. Fabbi, chair of the ACRL ALA Annual June 2019 04/04/19 04/25/19 Academic/Research Librarian of the Year Award Committee and dean of the California Reference Publishing September 2019 06/13/19 07/11/19 State University-San Marcos University Li- Charleston Conference November 2019 08/15/19 09/05/19 brary. “Her work in the areas of underserved and rural user populations, professional ethics, ALA Midwinter Dec. 2019-Jan. 2020 11/07/19 11/25/19 and morale in the profession are discussed FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT widely and used in graduate library programs. Kaetrena is framing discussions influencing Toni Nix
6 Against the Grain / February 2019
OSA Publishing’s journals account for 40% of total citations and 33% of all articles published in the field of optics and photonics (2017 JCR).
Visit osapublishing.org/library for information on how to acquire this high-quality content for your institution. Rumors from page 6
back to 1978, and recent award winners include David W. Lewis (2018); Loretta Parham ke a closer look at.... (2017); Susan K. Nutter (2016); Robert A. Ta Seal (2015); Tim Bucknall (2014); Patricia Iannuzzi (2013); Paula T. Kaufman (2012); Janice Welburn (2011); Maureen Sullivan (2010); Gloriana St. Clair (2009); Peter Hernon (2008); Lizabeth (Betsy) Wilson The CHARLESTON REPORT (2007); Ray English (2006); Ravindra Nath (R. N.) Sharma (2005); Tom Kirk (2004); Business Insights into the Library Market Ross Atkinson, (2003); and Shelley Phipps (2002). Watch for ATG’s interview with Kae- trena coming soon! You Need The Charleston Report... www.acrl.org if you are a publisher, vendor, product developer, merchandiser, gobi.ebsco.com consultant or wholesaler who is interested in improving David Parker has a great interview with Steven Bell in the upcoming (v.31#2, April and/or expanding your position in the U.S. library market. 2019) issue of ATG. It’s about – Open Edu- cational Resources: The Rise of the Library 00 and Navigating the “Spectrum of Afford- Subscribe today at our discounted rate of only $75. ability.” Very relevant to the subject of this (v.31#1, February 2019) guest edited issue by Gwen Evans of OhioLink. The Charleston Company Was poking around Linked in and saw that 6180 East Warren Avenue, Denver, CO 80222 John Dove has a new advisory role. Turns out Phone: 303-282-9706 • Fax: 303-282-9743 that the role is at Mapping Scholarly Com- munications Infrastructure which is an effort continued on page 15
Little Red Herrings — Patience and Fortitude by Mark Y. Herring (Dean of Library Services, Dacus Library, Winthrop University)
s there anything more glorious than the knowledge since 1911. (I felt an even greater NYPL may be responsible for more writers, Beaux-Arts New York Public Library? I sense of connection when I realized the lions’ critics, pundits, professors, and playwrights Idon’t mean just for librarians, but for any- marble is pink marble from Tennessee, home than any other facility in the country (though one. Stop and think for a moment what this to my family for more than thirty years). From there are sure to be disputants about that claim). grand edifice has done in such a short time. the NYPL’s Renaissance style to Edward One display I saw while there recently was Begun in 1897, the Stephen A. Schwarzman Laning’s Prometheus Bringing the Gift of a small one of more than two dozen books Building, or more typically, the Main Branch Fire in the Rotunda, to the magnificent main under a glass cloche, as it were. These were of the NYPL, is of course an iconic fixture reading room (also seen below), the NYPL the written contributions to which the NYPL in Midtown Manhattan with, as seen below, with its myriad programs is really more than provided their intellectual birth in the last Patience and Fortitude guarding the tree of a mere library when you think about it. twelve months alone. Not many large univer- For decades it was sities can claim as much, a point only rivaled home to just about by our national library. Moreover, writers such every culture and as Robert Caro, Stacy Schiff, Betty Friedan ethnicity seeking to and E. L Doctorow have nurtured their works advance their knowl- though the intellectual incubation of the New edge at a time when York Public Library and ultimately to the formal education may light of day. not have been possi- As I walked into the building again, I was ble. Legal immigrants struck by the dozens of names that grace the found a way to learn archways up to the Rose Reading Room. Ob- their new language viously many are well known, not the least of and understand their which are the founders, Samuel Tilden, John new culture. Aspiring Astor, and James Lennox, the last two, inci- writers found an intel- dentally, who originally named the lions after lectual respite for their themselves (fortunately Mayor LaGuardia writing and research. renamed them Patience and Fortitude). Now Would-be professors some will certainly complain that these names found a way to equip evoke the robber baron era of the early 1900s themselves for any (especially since Astor is considered one of task at hand. The continued on page 12
8 Against the Grain / February 2019
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Editor’s Note: Hey, are y’all reading this? If you know of an article that should be called to Against the Grain’s attention ... send an email to
Homestead Social Media Influencer OBITS OF NOTE Shaye Elliott is the “Gwyneth Paltrow of pioneer living.” Outside William Goldman (1931-2018) is known for pulling screenwriters Wenatchee, Wash., Faye and her husband and homeschooled children out of the chained-to-a-typewriter underclass when he received a record live with a pigpen, rabbit hutch, chicken coop, three gardens and a $400,000 for the wildly successful Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. pasture. He wrote 21 screenplays including The Stepford Wives, A Bridge Too A rebel against modern tech, she churns butter and does all the pio- Far, Misery. His favorite was from his own novel The Princess Bride. neer living things. But she does blog with 100,000 monthly followers. And “Deep Throat” never said “Follow the money.” Goldman wrote The “retro-agrarian” lifestyle is growing, and Shaye has one of the larger that for All the President’s Men. audiences. She’s had a Food Network pilot and four lushly illustrated See — “The Screenwriter Who Had All the Best Lines,” The Week, books sold in Target and Costco. Nov. 30, 2018, p.35. But it’s not all primitive domesticity. She sells essential oils for doTerra, a multilevel marketing company, which nets her a $500,000 annual income. Her blog is filled with oil use advice. Geranium oil Jane Maas (1932-2018). Amidst the 1960s Mad Men of Madison can heal a duck’s infected foot. Ave., Jane was a stand-out woman. At 5-foot-zero, she was tough and relentlessly cheerful. She smoked two packs of cigs a day, knocked See — Bianca Bosker, “The Homesteader,” The Atlantic, Nov. back drinks with the men and fended off sexual harassment before it 2018, p.22. had a name. She moved from Ogilvy & Mather, to Senior VP at Wells Rich Green, to President of Muller Jordan Weiss. Her “husband-pleasing strategy” held the best way to sell to women was to persuade them Lit Burritos their husbands would like it. Feminists hated her Maxim Coffee ads, Dating to 1718, the Old Corner Bookstore is Boston’s oldest com- but they worked. mercial building. It originally housed publisher Ticknor and Fields Her worst client was the “Queen of Mean” Leona Helmsley, NY and the Atlantic Monthly. In the 19th century, it published classics hotel owner who went to prison for tax fraud. Leona lambasted Jane’s like Walden, The Scarlet Letter and Paul Revere’s Ride. It was a time ad strategies, clothing choice and hair style. Jane dropped the account. of books becoming associated with a national identity, and the Corner “Don’t believe everything you’ve read about Leona,” she said. “She Bookstore did its part. was worse than that.” Now it’s a Chipotle. Where Dickens, See — James R. Hagerty, “Plucky Woman in Emerson and Thoreau once hung out feeds Advertising Thrived in ‘Mad Men’ Era,” The Wall the multitudes. Street Journal, Dec. 1-3, 2018, p.A9. The building owner, nonprofit His- toric Boston, is under pressure from the Nathaniel Hawthorne Society and Penny Marshall (1943-2018). The Bronx whine other literary purists to turn it into a accent turned into an asset when Penny Marshall museum. But of course, museums don’t became a star in sitcom Laverne & Shirley. It ran make money. And Historic Boston is from 1976-83. bent on preserving buildings. Then she directed Big (1998) and A League of How about a taco? Their Own (1992) — the first woman director to make movies that earned more than $100 million. See — Jennifer Levitz, “Boston Offers Tacos With Its History,” The Wall Street Journal, Dec. 1-2, 2018, pA1. Mind you, she came from a showbiz family. Her older brother Garry created Happy Days and directed Pretty Woman. She professed to liking corny. “I like what moves me.” See — “The sitcom star who became a big-name director,” The Week, Jan. 11, 2019, p.35. From Buncombe to Bunk Bunkum, later shortened to bunk, actually comes from Buncombe County, NC. In 1820, a Congressman from there made a long, irrelevant Mary Oliver (1935-2019). What could be more rare than a best-sell- speech. He said he was not talking to the House, but to Buncombe. ing modern American poet? Mary Oliver had an abused childhood and From pointless oratory, it came to mean claptrap. Humorist Finley did not graduate from Vassar. She took refuge in nature and dead poets. Peter Dunne shortened it to bunk in 1893. And a 1923 novel Bunk by In 1963, she made her debut with No Voyage and Other Poems, won William Woodward gave us the word “de-bunker.” “De-bunking is the Pulitzer in 1983 for American Primitive. She composed during simply an intellectual deflation,” says the protagonist. shoreline walks near her home in Provinceton, Mass. Woodward did some debunking himself in his 1926 George Wash- “When it’s over, I want to say all my life / I was a bride married to ington: The Image and the Man when he dispelled the myth of George amazement.” chopping down the cherry tree. See — “The popular poet who found refuge in nature,” The Week, See — Ben Zimmer, “A 1923 Novel Gave Rise to a Modern Buzz- Feb. 1, 2019, p.35. word,” Wall Street Journal, Jan. 5-6, 2019, p.C2.
10 Against the Grain / February 2019
How Libraries Can Lead: An Introduction ... from page 1 What is OER? While definitions vary, at their core, Open Educational Re- lationships with publishers and their relationships on campus, are ideally sources are freely accessible, openly licensed text, media, and placed to spearhead efforts to relieve financial pressure on students. A other digital assets that are useful for teaching, learning, and recent survey of university and community college students found 36% assessing as well as for research purposes. — Creative Commons to 46% percent suffered basic needs insecurity (food or housing).2 In Open Education “...is the simple and powerful idea that another widespread survey, 66% of student respondents said they didn’t the world’s knowledge is a public good and that technology buy required texts at least once due to cost, and just under 50% said the in general and the Web in particular provide an extraordinary cost of textbooks caused them to take fewer courses or not register for a opportunity for everyone to share, use, and reuse knowledge.” specific course. Adverse effects on grades or completion were also tied — The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation to prohibitive cost.3 This is a critical issue for our students, and one in which libraries are actively addressing in leadership roles on campus. What goes into the cost of a textbook? What’s driving the cost of solutions. At OhioLINK, we often say “Students first.” We take our textbooks? How do publishers approach textbooks (or potential “course role in affordable learning seriously and we are appreciative of the adopted” monographs) when they are pricing eBook packages? What’s opportunity to bring more information to the readers of Against The the role for open access monographs from established presses? What’s Grain. This special issue purposefully presents a variety of perspectives the business model for open textbook publishing houses or library pub- on textbooks and affordable learning; we sincerely hope you find it lishing initiatives? How can commercial textbook costs be mitigated on helpful to your own strategies and efforts. campus in a sustainable manner? How do libraries help faculty find and assess options, either library materials or initiatives designed to promote OER? What’s the faculty opinion on these initiatives? It’s important we all begin to ask these questions, and look closely at how academic Endnotes libraries can assist in discovering, and in many cases, providing, the 1. David Ernst, “Open Education: A Commitment to Mission,” Presen- tation at the OER Implementation and Policy Summit for MHEC States, Chicago IL November 28, 2018. https://www.mhec.org/sites/default/ files/resources/201811OERSummit_presentations_1.pdf What is Inclusive Access? 2. Goldrick-Rab, S., Richardson, J., Schneider, J., Hernandez, A., • Digital-only course materials from commercial publishers & Cady, C. (2018) Still Hungry and Homeless in College. Wisconsin • Access of the first day of class HOPE Lab. Madison, WI. https://hope4college.com/wp-content/ • All enrolled students (with an opt out process) uploads/2018/09/Wisconsin-HOPE-Lab-Still-Hungry-and-Homeless.pdf 3. Florida Virtual Campus. (2012). 2012 Florida Student Textbook • Integrated in Course Management System and billed Survey. Tallahassee, FL. http://www.openaccesstextbooks.org/ automatically to students through the bursar pdf/2012_Florida_Student_Textbook_Survey.pdf
The philanthropists who Little Red Herrings built the NYPL have left from page 8 it to a generation that no longer understands why the original big four robber barons). While the we need libraries when you evilfare of robber barons on the whole cannot can carry (an ersatz) one be gainsaid, we can recognize at least some of in the palm of your hand. the good some of them did. What’s more, they have no As my eyes lingered over the names of the stomach for their continued, original donors, I marveled at the foresight and admittedly expensive, and generosity of so many of them. Samuel upkeep. This leaves me Tilden deserves, of course, singular notice, be- with a melancholy sense queathing his estate and, through the brilliance of loss. In some ways, just of one of his trustees, John Bigelow, the rescue as medieval scribes poured of the Astor and Lennox libraries and their their souls into illustrated absorption into the NYPL. While Tilden’s manuscripts, giving their estate (almost $70 million in today’s dollars) lives, literally, to preserve assured the success of NYPL, future donors and prescribe knowledge, so made certain its perpetuation. According to the also those philanthropists at library’s website, the building cost $9 million the turn of the last century did the same in their do: open to all its patrons worlds they never to complete, or nearly $260 million in today’s own way: poured their fortunes into mag- dreamed of, until they dreamed them there. nificent libraries which now, more than 100 dollars. Even with our billionaires — Gates, Sources Zuckerberg, Buffet, years later, are still serving millions — more Ellison, Page, Koch, than 30 million at NYPL alone — every year. https://www.nypl.org/help/about-nypl/ history Waltons, and Bezos, to Patience and Fortitude are name only a few — is perfect symbols for what has https://www.6sqft.com/reading-between- there any confidence become one of the most glo- the-lions-a-history-of-the-new-york-public- we could count on them rious libraries in the world. library/ — any of them — to un- And as I think about it, may- https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-cul- dertake such a structure be the NYPL really is “only” ture/wondrous-complexity-new-york-public-li- today? I think it highly that, a library, because it brary-one-americas-largest-180965131/ doubtful. does what any library must
12 Against the Grain / February 2019
Passion for Academic Freedom by Dan E. Krane (Professor of Biological Sciences and Faculty Vice President, Wright State University; Chair, Ohio Faculty Council)
cademic freedom means many things to meetings in the fall 2017 semester.3 A very billing and establishing mechanisms by which many people but few are as passionate similar proposal4 was unanimously approved students could opt-out of inclusive access fees) Aabout it as faculty in higher education. by the Ohio Faculty Council at its October and negotiating lower prices with publishers. To them it is a broad concept that entails a 2017 meeting. It was also tangible proof to policymakers that conviction that they should have the freedom When fully implemented across the entire faculty could be considered serious partners to conduct research into areas even if they are system of public higher education in Ohio (contrary to less flattering stereotypes) in the unpopular or controversial. It also includes the four initiatives together promise to save identification of solutions to pressing problems a firm belief that the mission of the academy students on the order of $300 million every in higher education. That realization, in turn, itself depends upon scholars alone determining year — savings on a par with the total oper- has led to faculty in Ohio being engaged in how to teach in a way that is most appropriate ating budgets of many of the State’s four-year discussions on other matters that faculty are for their students. The choice of course mate- universities. But, of those four initiatives, the passionate about such as the value and role rials (e.g., textbooks) is something about which one that moves the needle the most in terms of of tenure. faculty have very strong feelings. reducing the cost of textbooks is the develop- Wright State and other institutions in Faculty have recognized for many years ment and widespread utilization of inclusive Ohio have been quick to act on the imple- that the rising cost of textbooks (at more than access programs. mentation of inclusive access programs. Pilot four times the rate of inflation since 2006) was As the Wright State and Ohio Faculty programs have born impressive fruit in a very a problem. They appreciated that those costs, Council initiatives were being debated many short time. In just nine courses with a total of averaging 26% of the cost of tuition at state faculty expressed concerns about the possibil- 1,029 students at Wright State in the spring universities, have a significant impact on the ity of policy makers or administrators using 2018 semester more than $102,400 in savings 1 cost of higher education. They know that the the discussions as an opportunity to impose were realized — an average reduction in cost price of textbooks has undesirable effects on policies that would limit if not outright elim- of 48% because of inclusive access alone. A the behavior (such as delaying or avoiding the inate the right of instructors to select course fall 2018 expansion of Wright State’s pilot to purchase of course materials) of as much as materials for their students. Talk of such 39 courses touched almost 6,000 students and 2 85% of their students. When policy makers policies by legislators and the development resulted in savings of approximately $600,000. began to explore means of addressing the of system-wide learning objectives for core Students in more than 100 courses in the spring problem they became very concerned that their classes certainly contributed to that fear. It 2019 semester are anticipated to save a total ability to choose materials for their courses became clear that as a necessary first step facul- of more than $1 million and annual savings would be diminished. ty needed to forcefully going forward are like- In February 2017, Ohio’s Governor, John assert the fundamental ly to be on the order of Kasich, proposed that public two- and four- premise that “No law, $2 million because of year institutions be required to provide each policy or administra- inclusive access alone. of their students all course materials for an tive action should in Faculty engagement academic year in exchange for an annual fee any way impinge upon in the roll out of these of $300 to recover their costs. The budgetary an individual instruc- pilots in terms of iden- and the selection implications of that proposal tor’s ability to choose tifying high enrollment prompted the Ohio Faculty Council (which whatever textbooks and classes with particu- speaks on behalf of all 14 of Ohio’s public other teaching mate- larly expensive course four-year universities) to support lobbying rials (e.g., software, materials has continued efforts aimed at delaying the implementation course notes, etc.) they to be instrumental to of such a policy. Legislators were persuaded have determined to be their success. to give faculty a chance over the course of most appropriate for Advantages be- that calendar year to address the problem the classes that they yond cost savings are directly before constraints were imposed on are assigned to teach.” also being realized in them legislatively. Faculty were happy to Wright State’s in- By May 2017 Faculty Senates like that at explore means of mak- clusive access pilots. Wright State University charged commit- ing higher education Students know (and tees with the task of identifying strategies to more affordable to their students but support studies have shown) that they do better if they significantly reduce student textbook costs. for the adoption of inclusive access and the have the materials that instructors had chosen The Student Success committee of Wright other initiatives became noticeably more for them. They also enjoy the convenience of State’s Faculty Senate established a “textbook enthusiastic in the context of that declaration. being able to pay for their tuition and course affordability working group” that used a Lean It is worth noting that the principle seems to materials at the same time. Freedom from Six Sigma approach over the course of the have been tacitly accepted without question by dealing with access codes and trial periods are summer. While many cost saving approaches legislators and administrators in hearings and other features of inclusive access that students were identified, four (inclusive access, a text- discussions where it has been stated. appreciate. book auto-adopt policy, expansion of the use It is hard to overstate the importance of From a faculty perspective, including one of of open education resources, and supporting faculty engagement in the development of their classes in an inclusive access program has efforts to make textbook sales exempt from inclusive access programs in Ohio. Participa- required relatively little additional effort. At state sales tax) were determined to meet three tion in the development of the program from Wright State the bookstore invites interested criteria the best: 1) reduce costs, 2) preserve its very inception helped with the crafting of faculty to consider a set of materials that pub- the right of individual faculty to determine a clear articulation of an important aspect of lishers are willing to provide for their classes at the materials that would be most appropriate academic freedom. It also went a long way prices that are lower than what students could for their students, and 3) maintain or enhance toward minimizing significant concerns on obtain in any other way. If the instructor feels quality of instruction. Those four initiatives the part of administrators who were otherwise that one of the options would be suitable for were proposed and later endorsed unanimously reluctant to invest the resources that were need- their students they select it and can expect all by Wright State’s full Faculty Senate at its first ed to address administrative challenges (like continued on page 15
14 Against the Grain / February 2019
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fiercely protective attitude about the quality of Passion for Academic Freedom courses and of certificate/degree programs. All Rumors from page 14 four of the initiatives endorsed by the Wright from page 8 State University Faculty Senate and, subse- students in the class to have course materials quently by the Ohio Faculty Council, make to study the current state of digital scholarship in hand at the first meeting of the class. If they a college education more affordable without infrastructure in the U.S. and to help envision do not think any of the inclusive access options compromising quality — not by intangible a more modernized and sustainable system are suitable they are under no obligation to use “improved efficiencies” but by actual savings that would enhance scholarly communication any of them and can continue requiring their to students. at colleges, universities, and research libraries students to purchase materials as they had been across the country. With a recent grant from doing in the past. The Andrew Mellon Foundation over the There have been pleasant surprises along next 18 months, this project will focus its the way. It was easier than expected to modify efforts on mapping out the range of infrastruc- Wright State’s learning management system ture that comprises the system of scholarly (Banner) to allow students to opt-out of paying communication, and surveying colleges and Endnotes universities to understand their current invest- inclusive access fees (as is required by federal 1. https://uspirg.org/news/usp/stu- 5 ment practices in this infrastructure. Principal regulation ). Less than 1% of students taking dent-group-releases-new-report-text- classes that are participating in the inclusive book-prices Investigators: Mike Roy (Middlebury), David Lewis (x-IUPUI) with help from Edu- access program have chosen to opt-out so 2. https://www.insidehighered.com/quick- far. Many instructors report that they had not takes/2017/09/20/study-high-textbook-pric- copia, and The Andrew Mellon Foundation. realized how much time they would be saving es-lead- poor-grades https://educopia.org/category/blog/ at the start of the classes that they teach when 3. https://www.wright.edu/sites/www. https://educopia.org/mapping-scholarly-com- all students have course materials in hand the wright.edu/files/uploads/2017/Dec/meeting/ munications-infrastructure/ very first time that they meet. TextbookAffordabilityResolution-Approved. pdf. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. has announced Perhaps the best surprise of all though is a countrywide partnership agreement with that, despite assertions that it could not be 4. https://www.ohiofacultycouncil.org/sites/ ohiofacultycouncil.wright.edu/files/page/ Projekt DEAL, a representative of nearly 700 done, it has been possible to dramatically attachments/TextbookAffordabilityResolu- academic institutions in Germany. Under an reduce textbook costs in a relatively short tionOFC.pdf annual fee, this three-year agreement provides time frame without sacrificing quality of 5. https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx- all Projekt DEAL institutions with access to instruction. In addition to being passionate ?SID=f26563f69fbe76d894166903c- read Wiley’s academic journals back to the about academic freedom, faculty also proudly 246601c&mc=true&node=se34.3.668_11 year 1997, and researchers at Projekt DEAL consider themselves to be “guardians of the 64&rgn=div8 institutions can publish articles open access in curriculum.” Entailed in that guardianship is a continued on page 22
Against the Grain / February 2019
lot of debate has occurred about how platforms, and a variety of other digital content partments of the Uni- best to provide affordable curricular was added to the Stout affordability program. versity Library. Its Acontent for students in higher education. Using many of the hard-learned lessons from a mission is to acquire The argument has raged over how, or even century of providing affordable content has led and support content whether, institutions should involve themselves to increasing access to these resources without throughout the curriculum, whether as library in providing textbooks at the lowest possible significantly increasing the cost to students. material or direct course material. A student or cost. The questions are many. What is a text- One of the ways we limit cost is by promoting faculty member can now visit one location to book? Whose responsibility is it to provide a vibrant open educational resource (OER) receive assistance for content needs. Reviews curricular content? Is it the student, the library program. We have no delusions that OER will have been very positive about our ability to and/or the bookstore? Are open educational soon be the only way we provide content. It improve service to our stakeholders. It is our resources the answer? Who will manage them? is, however, one method we have embraced to attempt to use efficiency and collaboration as The list of questions continues. One question mitigate the cost of our program. one more tool to support affordability. has a solid black and white answer: Whether The Stout Open for Learning and Value in The bottom line for affordability at the Uni- institutions should have a part in curricular con- Education (SOLVE) Program was born in 2015 versity of Wisconsin-Stout is that everything tent affordability efforts is an unequivocal yes. through a grant received from the University is on the table. We are dedicated to continually We can look at the “big picture” as proof. of Wisconsin System. The grant allowed us searching for new ways to keep the cost of Most everywhere, state funding for higher to establish an OER program through joining curricular content at the lowest possible point. education is in decline while cost continues to the Open Textbook Network, incentivizing In that vein, we will close with a few of many rise. Almost every student is leaving higher the review and adoption of open material and lessons we have learned over the years. education with significant debt. And if any ar- providing training through staff training. Our First, you may have noticed that I have gument remains as to the importance of saving medium-range goal for this program is to con- tried very hard not to use the word “text- students a few hundred or few thousand dollars vert between five and ten percent of all content book.” It feels that concentrating on that word per year, remind doubters of the food pantries we utilize at Stout to open. This will allow us when discussing affordability tends to cloud and other aid services provided on most of our to realize tens of thousands of dollars in savings the picture. The word “textbook” comes with campuses to help sustain our students through for our students. Our emphasis is in supporting several preconceived notions about what it their academic careers and the importance a faculty and students in the adoption and use of may or may not mean. Concentrating on text- few hundred dollars can have. open content in a comprehensive, sustainable book only, in my view, sets us up for the same The other questions can be answered with manner. As with all content in our program, problem as we continue to move away from one word: commitment. It doesn’t matter who it is about assisting the faculty member in the more traditional examples of textbooks. “owns” affordability, as long as someone does matching the best tools for their courses with Using curricular content, course resources or and has the authority to act on it. Affordability their needs. We strongly support the faculty some other term allows more latitude and an isn’t about providing a bargain, it’s about pro- member’s academic freedom to choose what open mind toward the future. moting student recruitment, academic success, they feel is the best resource. We support In more than 100 years of supporting and retention. This is in the best interest of the those choices along the way by assisting with affordability at UW-Stout, we have not university and why we have dedicated our- providing the best quality, accessibility and found one single way to provide affordable selves at the University of Wisconsin-Stout cost-effectiveness possible. content for our students. We are always to “find affordability wherever it lives.” The way we provide content has continued interested in what is working elsewhere and UW-Stout has a long tradition of providing to evolve over the decades. The pace and applying what makes sense for us. At one affordable curricular content. It began over 120 scope have accelerated over the last ten years. institution, all-inclusive access may be “the years ago with the creation of the first iteration Advent of digital materials, OERs, homework way,” while at another it is OER all the way. of our textbook rental program. The university platforms, all-inclusive programs and many Generally, we believe that some combination of library has been responsible for providing text- others continually cause us to consider how and methods will be most effective. Our program books for our students for decades. Textbooks what we provide. It is daunting in that we are has always been adapting, evolving and finding were originally purchased with collection always forced to reevaluate our offerings and affordability wherever it lives. development funds. Library records long services, but this also allows us the opportunity There is no rush to find the solution. Our bemoan the impact textbook purchases had on to grow and stay relevant for our students and success comes as much from our commitment collection development efforts. In more recent faculty. One of our newest attempts to reduce to affordability as it does to any method we times, a library unit called the Instructional cost while improving service comes in com- have implemented. Content, services and Resources Service (IRS) was created to oversee bining new content with an old library tenant: needs all change, but our determination to the procurement and distribution of curricular collection development. support our students through affordability has content. Today, Instructional Resources is a While conducting workflow analysis, we never wavered. library unit funded by student fees that pro- determined that there were many areas of Whether you are a librarian, publisher, vides most of the required curricular content overlap between what the curricular content faculty member, student, administrator or and is definitely not the print-only version of staff and collection development staff were have some other role in higher education, its earlier self. doing. Both were purchasing, circulating, you have a role to play in curricular con- Commitment has certainly been the key to invoicing and supporting content in many ways tent affordability. This is not a trivial issue. our success. Our program continues to grow that mirrored each other. Revenue sources and Providing quality, cost-effective curricular and change to meet the needs of both our fac- methods may be different, but, the overall gen- content is a necessary endeavor to support ulty and students. It is equally important that eral mission of both groups is similar. It was student success, in and out of the classroom. we stay cost-effective and relevant. The first determined that efficiencies could be found by Affordability is not solely and economic issue. test to this theory came in 2012 when we began a closer working relationship between the two It is a social justice issue. An accessibility to provide digital resources in addition to print. groups. A merger was implemented and the issue. An equality issue. We have seen many The digital resources program came in response new Library Access, Materials Management methods to achieve affordability not pan out. to increasing requests from faculty to increase and Procurement (LAMMP) unit was born. Some methods are certainly more effective than the number of tools available to support their LAMMP is composed of the Instructional others—but the surest way to fail our students courses. eBooks, access codes for homework Resources and Collection Development de- would be to do nothing at all.
16 Against the Grain / February 2019
eeking to lower textbook costs for the college and university stu- consortial membership and had been interested in their Engage prod- dents of Ohio, OhioLINK recently negotiated statewide pricing uct, which is their inclusive access textbook delivery platform. I had Sagreements with six major textbook publishers and embarked upon attended the annual Regional Scholarly Publishing Forums organized an ambitious information campaign centering on the inclusive access, or by Gillian Berchowitz of the Ohio University Press, where I was first day, model of digital textbooks. The publishers involved stated the fortunate to be able to talk with university press and library publish- scale and statewide coverage of this initiative is unmatched in the U.S. ers like Tony Sanfilippo, Leila Salisbury, Elizabeth Scarpelli, and Charles Watkinson about the costs and challenges of non-profit pub- How and Why Did We Take This On, lishing, including open access monographs and textbooks. Somewhat and Where Do We Go From Here? ironically, it was OhioLINK’s direct support of our parent agency’s OhioLINK, one of the nation’s largest academic library consortium, $1.3 million grant for an OER initiative now known as the Ohio is a state agency under the Ohio Department of Higher Education Open Ed Collaborative that convinced us that commercial textbooks (ODHE). We manage the shared print and electronic library resources should be part of a comprehensive statewide textbook affordability of all public higher education institutions in Ohio, from universities strategy. We began our work with the Collaborative in June of 2017, to the many two-year and technical colleges, as well as almost all and I was asked by the Department of Higher Education to attend independent colleges and universities of any size — 89 institutions of an event co-sponsored by the Association of American Publishers higher education in all. In practical terms, this covers all non-profit and the Ohio InterUniversity Council about Digital Course Materials higher education of any size in the state of Ohio. in August. Many stakeholders at that meeting — provosts, faculty, Ohio’s state government, like many states, was increasingly con- legislators, state administrators, the major textbook publishers — held cerned with college affordability including textbook costs. In early a very active discussion about commercial textbooks and inclusive 2017, legislation was proposed for a $300 cap on textbook costs to access, and we were further convinced that libraries and OhioLINK students, requiring Ohio public institutions to cover the rest of the cost. had relevant experience and knowledge to contribute. It was ultimately shelved, but it had the positive effect of focusing We considered that OhioLINK might be able to provide a state- the attention of the Ohio higher education community on the issue of wide inclusive access eTextbook platform that all our members could textbook affordability. As a trusted unit of the Ohio Department of use, very similar to our statewide Electronic Theses and Dissertation Higher Education, with some knowledge in this space, we were increas- Center (etd.ohiolink.edu). However, after demonstrations from the ingly called upon to provide advice and ultimately, leadership and action. major commercial textbook publishers (Pearson, John Wiley & Sons, Many different experiences, assets, and background knowledge led McGraw Hill Education, Macmillan, and Sage), inclusive access to OhioLINK’s approach. We had been engaged in discussions with platform providers (Unizin, RedShelf, and VitalSource), and Barnes the sales team at Wiley, with which we have both a journal and an eb- and Noble, it became apparent that model wasn’t viable, at least at ook package, about possible eTextbook acquisitions on the traditional this time. Campus bookstores — chain and independent — have library package model, but we just couldn’t make it work for either of legal contracts and/or revenue sharing arrangements that would have us at consortial scale. I had been involved in discussions with Unizin, prohibited or discouraged widespread institutional participation. In the non-profit higher education technology consortium, about possible addition, it was clear that OhioLINK would have to commit more staff and resources to such an entirely new service endeavor, also not possible at the time. We eventually settled on the model of negotiating for price agree- Gwen Evans, Executive Director, OhioLINK ments for digital course materials (etextbooks and courseware) in the Evans is the Executive Director of Ohi- inclusive access model with the “Big Five” commercial publishers, oLINK, Ohio’s academic library consortium along with publishers where we already had agreements (Sage fits in this and one of the top academic library consortia category). In return for lowered pricing in the inclusive access model in the nation. She has served as Executive statewide, OhioLINK would use our formidable organizing and commu- Director since October of 2012. Previously, nication advantages to present information about inclusive access at scale Evans was the Director of Special Projects across the state, but let institutions decide on their desire, willingness, at the Ohio Technology Consortium (OH- and readiness to implement inclusive access on their campuses. Some TECH). She came to OH-TECH from key messages in our approach have been “no mandate, but an opportu- her position as Associate Professor and Coordinator of Library nity” and the protection of academic freedom for faculty. In addition, Information and Emerging Technology at Bowling Green State OhioLINK has taken a hybrid approach to textbook affordability, and University. Evans’s 18 years of experience working in libraries we strategically use our inclusive access initiative, our OER initiatives, includes the John Crerar Science Library at the University of and our libraries’ provision of traditional library materials (like ebook Chicago, Mt. Holyoke College Library, and Washtenaw Com- packages), in parallel and combined communication venues to present munity College in Ann Arbor. She has presented nationally on a options to our institutions.1 variety of topics, including library consortia, affordable learning, There were, and are, two major challenges for us in stepping into and library technology. Presentations and authorships include: commercial textbook negotiations: Charleston Conference, ALA, LITA, Educause, the Journal of Library Administration, Library Resources and Technical Getting the Data Services, The Charleston Advisor, Public Services Quarterly, One was data gathering from disparate and unfamiliar sources, held and Music Reference Services Quarterly. by communities with which we had no existing relationships, to enable Evans received a Master of Science in Library and Informa- us to assess potential strategies in the same way that library consortia tion Science from the University of Illinois Urbana-Cham- traditionally assess potential multi-institutional deals. We needed to paign and a master’s degree in cultural anthropology from the know what was actually being assigned on our campuses, and from University of Chicago, during which she conducted ethnograph- which publishers. Getting that information directly from institutions ic research on the island of Flores, Indonesia for two years. and their bookstores turned out to be too much staff time and data nor- continued on page 18
Against the Grain / February 2019
18 Against the Grain / February 2019
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ast year, OhioLINK became the first the education community has comprehensive, in March 2018, a limited number of Ohio state-wide entity, as well as library reliable instructional resources is of upmost colleges and universities had implemented Lconsortium, to work with McGraw-Hill importance to us. But, it must be done at a inclusive access. and other publishers to negotiate the reduction price that students can afford.” “When meeting with institutions to discuss of the cost of course materials throughout an “I truly never thought about a library system inclusive access, we would hear ‘I don’t know entire state’s higher education system through championing this,” continues Becker, who if we can do this’ or ‘I don’t know if we can inclusive access. typically works with academic departments include course materials as a fee along with McGraw-Hill’s inclusive access ensures and campus bookstores. “I knew they were the tuition,’” says Becker. “There was a lot that each student in a class automatically has an the owners of institutional content, but I never of uncertainty.” knew they had influence on individual course electronic version of their course materials on OhioLINK, she says, removed barriers. materials for students. The sense I get from day one, at a price that is up to 75 to 80 percent “They really are getting out there and promot- some librarians I’ve spoken to is that they less than a traditional print textbook. Most ing, saying ‘This is ok, the Ohio Board of are excited to be part of the state, system or often in inclusive access a fee is automatically Higher Education wants institutions to take institution’s affordability initiative in this way. assessed upon enrollment in the class, which advantage of this this model,’” Becker says. They’ve really embraced it.” is paid alongside tuition through the bursar’s “We’ve since seen a pick-up in not only the office or bookstore. Students who decide to OhioLINK and McGraw-Hill first joined number of institutions who have implemented drop the course on or before the institution’s forces on lowering the cost of course materials it but the number of professors who have opted designated add/drop date are not charged or re- through inclusive access following the library in to do inclusive access with their course.” funded. Also, there’s an “opt-out” institutions consortium’s request for information (RFI) to In 2018 alone through inclusive access, Mc- can make available to students who wish not to publishers, eBook platforms providers, whole- Graw-Hill was able to save Ohio students purchase. McGraw-Hill also makes available salers and distributors in November of 2017. $2.7 million on course materials over what was a very low-cost print upgrade option for those OhioLINK looked at capabilities to imple- spent the previous year for the same materials. who aren’t ready to go all digital. ment, distribute and manage course materials via an inclusive access Business programs have led the way, “We conducted a large study Becker says, followed by science, engineering that showed that students who had model as well as pricing for content, platforms and services. and math courses. Humanities have been a bit their course materials on the first slower to adopt. day of class maintained class av- Following presentations and erages some 20 points higher negotiations, OhioLINK “We now know that libraries are playing than those who bought chose four large publishers, a critical role,” says Becker. “An academic them two weeks later,” including McGraw-Hill, library consortium has a stake in the ground says Jennifer Becker, to offer the significant- when it comes to the affordability of course executive director of ly-reduced pricing to all materials, as much as your procurement, aux- partnerships at Mc- 91 of its member col- iliary services or academic departments do. Graw-Hill Educa- leges and universities, We’re excited that OhioLINK has opened tion. “As a company Becker says. their door to us.” we recognized there Prior to Ohio- McGraw-Hill has also partnered with was a need to go back LINK negotiating OhioLINK in educating the academic to basics. Ensuring the deal announced continued on page 21
services, including eTutoring, statewide Affordable Learning textbook Ohio: The State of Affordable Learning initiatives, and Open Educational Resources. A member of the Ohio from page 18 Technology Consortium of the Ohio Department of Higher Educa- tion, OhioLINK creates a competitive advantage for its members and the table for the discussion. The library was invited from the outset supports student and researcher success in the state of Ohio. Learn because word of what OhioLINK had accomplished had reached the more at www.ohiolink.edu. stakeholders involved. That’s the type of success we hope to see spread nationwide — where the power of libraries and their ability to lead in affordable learning is recognized and employed to its full potential. About OhioLINK Endnotes Connecting libraries, learning and discovery. Established in 1992, 1. For more information on OhioLINK’s rationale for a hybrid strat- egy, see my guest post on the Scholarly Kitchen “Affordable Learning the Ohio Library and Information Network (OhioLINK) is Ohio’s Requires a Diverse Approach, Part 1: Playing the Short Game (and the statewide academic library consortium serving 118 libraries, 89 insti- Long One) to Secure Savings for Students” https://scholarlykitchen. tutions of higher education, the State Library of Ohio and more than sspnet.org/2018/10/30/affordable-learning-requires-a-diverse-ap- 570,000 end users. Delivering both IT infrastructure and content proach-part-1-playing-the-short-game-and-the-long-one-to-secure- negotiation, OhioLINK provides students, researchers, faculty and savings-for-students/. staff with access to digital research collections rivaling top university 2. Materials and recordings from the event are available here: https:// libraries in the United States and internationally — at a fraction of affordablelearning.ohiolink.edu/blog/textbook-affordability-and-in- the cost. OhioLINK also connects library services, print and digital clusive-access-immersion-post-conference-materials-now-available. collections among its member institutions and manages collaborative
20 Against the Grain / February 2019
In 2006, it launched an eBook program not having to download and try five different remunerated for their work by legally sold with the end users’ best interests in mind — versions of the same song, where four out of copies, but also for our (library) customers, a program that stands apart in publishing, five were recorded in bad quality. who invest in the content to serve their pa- even today. So, taking a cue from Apple, Springer trons. Therefore, Springer Nature has a made a bold decision in publishing: It made global anti-piracy team, dedicated to fight hen Springer, now part of the all its books available as an eBook and bundled piracy actively by scanning the Internet for Springer Nature company, launched them into subject collections. Basically, not a illegally distributed copies. As soon as piracy its eBook program back in 2006, a lot single book was excluded from the collections, is detected, (legal) action is taken ensuring W the continued success of our authors and of research and consultation had gone into the so all textbooks, monographs, and major ref- big question: How do we protect intellectual erence works would have to be included as Springer Nature eBooks’ DRM-free policy. property and at the same time make research eBooks in the subject collections, and without Our philosophy has always been to think content easily accessible for librarians, re- any DRM protection or limitation on the usage from a user perspective: If a teacher wants searchers and students? of the content. to use a textbook in their curriculum, all Our library advisory board members This strategy of “no limitations to the use students in that particular class should be strongly advised us to not wrap the books in of eBooks” indeed imposes a risk of piracy, able to access the textbook at the same time. Digital Rights Management (DRM), which was illegal downloading and distribution of ille- Students should be able to download it to their perceived as one of the biggest annoyances gal copies. But, bearing in mind the music device or print it out to use it for their study, by their patrons. The second largest inconve- industry’s failure, the decision was made to wherever, whenever. A researcher should be nience with eBook offerings was that not every include all book types, and not protect them able to print out the exact pages he needs in book would be available as an eBook, leaving with DRM and invest a lot of money in such the laboratory or on her/his tablet while on still a lot of administrative work and additional a mechanism that would only irritate users. the road to a conference, and/or easily share cost to the library, students and researchers. Also, such protection would it with his colleague. Also, Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s the be counter-productive the librarian should be able music industry invested billions in protecting and would even en- to count on the fact that the the most popular music carrier so that Com- courage piracy — and Springer-eBook (or other pact Discs could not be copied. However, that would not take the of the imprints belonging after each release of new security algorithms, rights of our authors to the Springer Nature it was a matter of days before the “code was seriously. publishing group) is broken,” and music was distributed illegally Regardless of the available for their pa- anyway. Apple actually understood the user’s existence or lack of trons. When we priori- problems: Many people don’t necessarily want DRM, there are al- tize the needs and expe- to buy a full album of music, CD-singles were ways risks of illegally riences of those that are too expensive and the convenience of just distributed copies of interacting with — and downloading the MP3 anywhere is evident. copyrighted content. depending upon — our At the time of the launch of iTunes in 2001, When this happens, eBook content, the end one could finally purchase a single song at a it’s not only an em- result outlasts whatever reasonable price, it would work, the quality was barrassment towards trends might be present guaranteed and it saved the consumer time by our authors, who are in publishing.
tiums across the country to open a dialogue and didn’t think it was absolutely imperative to Librarians Provide a New Gateway ... begin to include institutions’ librarians into the your course grade,” says Becker. With inclu- from page 20 conversations happening amongst the individ- sive access, all students enrolled in the class ual campuses. “Now we know they also have have immediate access to the book through an community about the benefits of inclusive an interest in making course materials more institution’s learning management system — at access. “McGraw-Hill Education is proud to be affordable to students,” says Becker. “We a price of approximately $45. working with OhioLINK and appreciates their want to make sure we are not overlooking them “Not only are the students saving money,” partnership throughout this learning experience,” but instead starting to collaborate on various says Becker, “they are getting access on day says Becker. She adds that OhioLINK’s Gwen ways to meet the students’ needs. We would one, which helps to improve retention and Evans, Amy Pawlowski and Holly Davis “have be thrilled for the opportunity to work more outcomes.” been amazing to work with.” closely with the library community.” According to NACS the estimated annual “They’ve really come at this with an McGraw-Hill has inclusive access agree- student spend on course materials has fallen open-minded approach and been truly inter- ments with over 400 college campuses nation- from $701 per student in 2007-2008 to $484 ested to learn what we’ve done in the past wide, and with its significantly-reduced pricing per student. (2017-2018 edition of Student with other institutions to make this program has saved students more than $40 million in Watch: Attitudes and Behaviors toward Course successful,” she says, “and making sure I’m 2018 over the same products purchased by Materials from the National Association of aware of any challenges and needs they have these institutions in 2017. For example, the College Stores.) so I can address them up front.” retail cost of a new chemistry book is roughly The partnership has led McGraw-Hill $195. “And maybe you would wait to buy the Education to reach out to other library consor- book three weeks into the course because you
Against the Grain / February 2019
“The diffusion of culture — knowledge, an appreciation of the beautiful, enlightenment on a democratic basis. A read- perhaps wisdom — to the common man…is declared to be a new factor in er’s comment on Amazon states, “[The book] history which should be viewed optimistically.” — Patrick Brantlinger, shows the clear path to how we are inclined to Bread & Circuses: Theories of Mass Culture as Social Decay (1983) embrace toxic media.” These OA texts compliment general interest books that are helping to effect positive change ornell University Press began with an We stressed that an idea of openness for in the world such as Wounds of War about why idea of openness in 1869. President classic texts extends to the classroom. For our all of us should be concerned about the pri- CAndrew Dickson White believed in second NEH grant, entitled a “Celebration of vatization of veteran’s healthcare and Deadly the diffusion of learning and in the vision of a the Humanities,” we emphasized the use of our River revealing the UN’s role in the cover up university press as an “intellectual organ” that literary theory titles in courses and engaged of the cholera epidemic in Haiti. University would provide a publication outlet for scholarly Caroline Levine, Chair of Presses represent a wealth of achievements. Cornell University had been English Department at Cornell reliable, peer-reviewed knowl- founded four years before as an institution and Cornell President Hunter edge in an age where truth is where “any person can find instruction in any R. Rawlings. We also contact- being challenged every day. course of study.” Ezra Cornell and A.D. ed global consortia including Cornell University librarian White designed a place where students without Lyrasis and ICOLC members Gerald Beasley and I regularly means could pay their tuition through labor, to drive course use. discuss ideas for openness. We where practical pursuits were ranked equally We applied an idea of open- talk about having an access with studying the classics, where women and ness to our frontlist titles as well option for our titles and about African Americans could also earn a degree, and we currently participate in giving back to the world. All and where a university press would be estab- TOME and Knowledge Un- publishers have claimed that the lished — the first university press in the United dissemination and discovery of 1 latched. We’ve opened access States. As we celebrate our 150th year, our to the Press’s vast repository of knowledge is a major objective. experiments with open access have generated knowledge on the way to digi- This goal is now achievable on exciting results. tizing our entire backlist through partnerships a global scale and the revolution will not be I arrived at Cornell with an idea of open- with NEH and The Internet Archive. We televised — but accessed. ness in the Spring of 2015. I’d worked on believe that what has been called “the low- Our marketing department published our OA initiatives in prior professional lives and use monograph” was simply undiscoverable first OA catalog last month for the Modern discovered a Sage House staff with a willing- and inaccessible. Open or not, our digital Language Association Meeting featuring ness to experiment on a deep and rich backlist monographs are being used around the world. 40 titles in literary theory. On social media, of 6,000 titles. There were new grants avail- We discovered that an idea of openness is information about this catalog and a link to able from the National Endowment for the a critical core value for university presses in the titles reached 80,000 individuals, recorded Humanities Open Book Program to digitize the age of fake news. Openness leads to the 12,000 engagements and was shared 800 times. classic texts and we had published several discovery and access of peer-reviewed schol- The books were downloaded in 6,000 times groundbreaking works in our history. Cornell arship published by university presses. Some in PDF form and 1,500 in EPUB in five days. Library quickly became a valuable partner of the most heavily downloaded classic titles Readers in the Philippines topped all countries. as we used circulation statistics, subject area — Proletarian Peasants, Revolution of the Fostering ideas of openness and access to selectors and faculty to determine the books we Mind and Revolutionary Acts — from our NEH knowledge are, we believe, why universities wanted to bring back. We’ve republished more experience focus on life in Russia during the and their presses exist. than 100 open access books in Anthropology, time of the Bolshevik Revolution. We noticed Classics, German Studies, Literary Theory, a surge in Kindle full book downloads after the Medieval Studies, Political Science, and Slavic 2016 Presidential election. Dean Smith is the director of Cornell Studies. We’ve recorded more than 200,000 Our recent frontlist open access book, University Press and has recently made his article downloads in 150 countries on Cornell book of poems American Boy open to all on Open, Project MUSE and JSTOR. We’ve Communicating Climate Change is the num- The Internet Archive. seen more than 30,000 full book downloads ber one downloaded title from the Cornell from Kindle and we’ve reopened lines of com- Open site. Brantlinger’s Bread & Circuses munication at home and abroad — re-engaging is the most heavily accessed OA title across Endnotes all platforms. authors, scholars, librarians, faculty, presidents, 1. Laun, Karen, Cornell University Press, provosts and the next generation of students The book discusses how the media can Est. 1869, (Ithaca, Cornell, 2019), 1. around the world. best be used to help achieve freedom and
institutions in Germany such as universities, nership. First is a new flagship open access Rumors universities of applied sciences, research journal. This interdisciplinary journal will from page 15 institutions and state and regional libraries. publish top-tier scholarship from the global As part of the project, national licensing research community and will serve as a unique Wiley’s journals. Projekt DEAL was set up agreements are to be implemented for the forum for the development of new open access by the Alliance of Science Organisations entire portfolio of electronic journals of large publishing models. In another key aspect of in Germany representing the vast majority academic publishers. To support the overall the agreement, Wiley and Projekt DEAL will of the most important science and research advancement of scholarly research, Wiley and establish an open science and author services organisations there. The consortium includes Projekt DEAL are together launching three development group focused on innovating and nearly 700 mostly publicly funded academic important new initiatives as part of the part- continued on page 28
22 Against the Grain / February 2019
A System-wide OER Initiative: The SUNY OER Initiative by Mark McBride (Library Senior Strategist, SUNY Office of Library and Information Services)
imilar to other colleges and universities, In June 2016, five SUNY community col- For example, there are studies on the impact for students at the State University of leges were awarded a grant through Achieving OER has had on student grades and class SNew York (SUNY), cost of textbooks the Dream to develop OER degree programs on completion (Hilton III, J. L., Gaudet, D., Clark, can be expensive. SUNY is the largest com- their campus. Building off the momentum and P., Robinson, J., & Wiley, D. 2013; Allen, G., prehensive university system in the United effort of many of our community colleges, and Guzman-Alvarez, A., Smith, A., Gamage, A., States. With 64 institutions, including research the work of the Open SUNY Textbook Project Molinaro, M., & Larsen, D. S. 2015; Fischer, universities, academic medical centers, liberal at Geneseo, the Provost Office at SUNY Sys- Hilton, Robinson, & Wiley, 2015). This was arts colleges, community colleges, colleges of tem Administration established a shared ser- mentioned as an experience some of our SUNY technology, and an online learning network, vice, the SUNY OER Services (SOS). Through faculty found in their own classes. Many con- SUNY serves a diverse student demographic a partnership with the Lumen Learning, clude that the reason for these improvements is of over 430,000 undergraduates and gradu- SUNY launched SOS as a vehicle to support due to the fact that all students now have access ates: 57% White, 13% Hispanic, 11% Black/ the growing demand for OER in SUNY. SOS to their course materials. That may be true, African American, 6% Asian/Pacific Islander, was built to support OER adoption, adaptation but it seems unlikely that the only reason for 5% non-resident alien, 3% multi-race, 5% and creation. SUNY OER Services provides these improvement is due to access to course unknown, and less than 1% other. mentoring, technical support, and access to a materials. In fact, many of our SUNY faculty To help reduce the costs of education, sever- broad catalog of OE at oer.suny.edu. have commented that the real benefit of OER al SUNY community colleges began to explore The early adopters of OER in SUNY, par- is that it allows the faculty member to easily the use of Open Educational Resources (OER) ticularly our faculty, instructional designers, make changes to the materials, allowing them as a replacement to traditional course materials. and librarians, advocated for OER adoption at to individualize the learning experience for the OER are typically licensed using a license their campuses, and while the initial message students in their classes. This level of faculty model from the Creative Commons. These was mainly focused on saving students money, engagement with the materials must translate to licenses legally allow anyone to customize several faculty commented on witnessing an deeper engagement with their students. and change the content for their own teaching overall improvement in students’ academic Much of the educational materials used in and learning situation. An education resource performance in their classes. Particularly, they teaching and learning have been copyrighted is considered OER if the con- spoke of modest improvement in grades and publishers traditionally hold the rights to tent has an appropriate license and in the overall retention in their classes the materials. OER have been licensed which that permits reuse, alteration, where they implemented OER. Not gives them distinctive attributes that are re- redistribution and is freely surprisingly, this caught the attention of ferred to as the 5Rs (Wiley, 2015; Duse, Duse, accessible. This is distinctive many SUNY campuses. & Bonnano, 2017). to content that is just free. Further, it became apparent in • Retain Creators retain the rights to Content that is free and that SUNY that the libraries were go- the OER and with these rights they has not been openly licensed ing to stand up and provide lead- make it acceptable for people to is considered copyrighted. ership on many of our campuses take and control copies of the OER, Copyrighted materials can not and across the system. Similar to provided they give proper attribution be customized or changed. students, libraries felt they have to the creator. OER usage in SUNY became been priced out of the market- • Reuse Anyone has the right to use mostly apparent through SUNY’s place by many of the commercial the OER, and how the OER is used Innovative Instruction Technology Grants vendors. Libraries have also for years tried to is not determined by the creator but (IITG), a competitive grant program designed supplement student textbook needs by standing determined by the users of the OER to encourage the development of innovative up reserve programs where the materials could because the license grants permis- projects in the college classroom. In addition be borrowed for a specific amount of time (2-4 sions for anyone to use. hours) for use within our libraries. Textbook to incubating promising, innovative projects, • Revise Anyone has the right to adapt, reserve programs are incredibly popular with IITG required all projects coming out of the adjust, modify, or alter the OER to students, but the question remains how effec- grant program to be openly licensed, with the suit their needs. hope that the openness would foster sharing and tive of a service are textbook reserves if we collaboration among SUNY faculty and staff. can only provide access to a small number • Remix Anyone has the right to com- bine existing OER content with other In 2012, SUNY IITG funded the creation of people at one time. OER was a welcome solution most SUNY libraries embraced. existing OER content leading to the of Open SUNY Textbook Project. This open creation of a new OER. publishing initiative, established by SUNY In 2017, New York State announced a $4 Geneseo’s Milne Library and involving sev- million investment in OER which helped to • Redistribute Creators license their eral SUNY libraries, provided faculty with the expand SUNY’s OER efforts. In response, work to share, allowing the users’ to vehicle to create open textbooks. The initial SUNY issued a call to institutions to commit to make revisions and remix with other response from SUNY faculty was encouraging the adoption of OER. With the goal of saving OER. An OER that has been created because the number of requests that came in to students money, and the hope of improving is redistributed to the community create open textbooks surpassed the capacity the overall academic performance of SUNY with the understanding that the OER of the project team. What was truly inspira- students, many of our campuses agreed to adopt they created could be revised and tional, were the number of college instructors OER in their high enrollment, general education remixed by other users. that reached out to the project team, seeking courses. The funding for OER was restored The 5Rs are what make OER powerfully existing OER. At the time, SUNY had no real again for 2018, and to date, SUNY institutions innovative. response but to direct faculty to the myriad of have saved more than 153,000 students in NYS, There is research on the impact that OER OER repositories available on the web. But more than $15.8 million in two years. adoption has had on student retention. A 2015 a seed had been planted and some began to Some research suggests that OER could study on the impact of OER indicated that believe OER could be an innovation that could have a positive impact when used as a re- students who used OER instead of traditional be scaled across the system. placement for traditional course materials. continued on page 25 24 Against the Grain / February 2019
standard argument for the use of OER in mind that it comes with high switching costs for envision. If undergraduate classrooms goes some- instructors, many of whom also worry that the the goal is Athing like this: spiraling commercial quality of these new resources, and thus of their to promote textbook costs are forcing students to forego teaching, may decline if they adopt noncom- OER as part their purchase altogether, use second-hand, out- mercial resources. By and large, commercial of a larger edu- of-date editions, borrow from classmates, or textbooks are accurate, well written, metic- cational program, rely on scant library copies (where available), ulously edited, and handsomely produced. and not merely as an affordable alternative to with predictable effects on student outcomes When the publisher of a known and respected commercial products, we must do a better job and retention. In extreme cases, these costs textbook lowers its prices in response to chal- demonstrating the possibilities such resources have priced a college education beyond the lenges to its affordability, it offers instructors provide. Thoughtful reviews of OER, written means of many. The use of free or low-cost an immediate, powerful incentive to adopt it. to a standardized format designed to expose open educational resources can remove these Under such conditions, appeals to affordability these elements, can be an important factor in pernicious barriers, improve outcomes, and by themselves cannot win the day for OER. this process. put a college education within the reach of Only the quality of these materials can do that. Critical reviews are not always easy to more students. Quality and an understanding of how to use come by, and I hope it is not going too far to Thus phrased, affordability is the most them to their maximum advantage. In other suggest that one area for librarians to contribute frequently used and until now most effective words, for OER to achieve their promise, the to this effort is to enlist reviewers for works strategy for OER advocacy. The notion of free decision to adopt them must be based not on either contemplated or already in use on their or low-cost course materials is so appealing on cost but on their pedagogical superiority. But campuses or to provide interested faculty with the face of it, and so morally attractive from the how do we demonstrate that? a template against which to evaluate them on standpoint of social justice, that it is tempting Historically, one method of demonstrating their own. Choice has created such a template, to regard affordability in-and-of-itself as suf- a work’s fitness, or otherwise, has been peer available at https://www.choice360.org/con- ficient reason for OER adoption. The problem review, the focus of which has been assessment tent/1-openchoice/choice-oer-review-template. with this approach is that it is looking at only of such content-centered elements as prove- pdf. The template elicits evaluation in twelve one side of the issue. nance, accuracy, lack of hidden bias, cultural areas: format and source, provenance, subject, At the end of the day, adopting OER, or any relevance, internal consistency, comprehen- target audience, licensing, accessibility, adapt- new textbook for that matter, means redesign- siveness, acknowledgement of sources, and so ability, content quality, pedagogy, interface de- ing one’s entire course. The selection processes forth. These elements are no less important to a sign, ancillary materials, and competing works. for the new texts alone are time-consuming, review of OER, yet the requirements that define Another good source, written by SUNY’s particularly given that open resources are not an open educational resource require that its Mark McBride, can be found at https://www. readily discoverable. Then come the associ- review consider additional issues. Ultimately, rcampus.com/rubricshowc.cfm?code=L9W- ated problems of finding new and congruent what makes an OER “open” is not its cost but C6X&sp=true&. Both of these explicitly call ancillary resources, reworking homework the rights profile pertaining to ownership and out those elements that make for a serviceable and research assignments, finding or creating use of the work and, following on that, the open educational resource. new problem sets, and, ultimately, recasting ability of the instructor, and even the student, The real promise of open educational the entire array of assessment tools. Adjuncts to modify its content, combine it with other resources lies not in their affordability but in (assuming there are any) need to be retrained, works, and reuse it in other contexts. In the their potential to change teaching and learning. libraries put on notice as to new reserve read- absence of these elements of open education, Ensuring that the works we use conform to this ings, and new materials loaded into the LMS. an OER is just an inexpensive textbook, and goal in all respects, and are of a quality equal to So while adoption of open educational while there is nothing wrong with this, OER or better than their commercial counterparts, is resources is something of a cause for many used in this way are unlikely to precipitate vital to the success of the enterprise. academic librarians, it is important to keep in the educational transformation its adherents
A System-wide OER Initiative ... Further, if the ability to customize OER is to make the necessary changes to course mate- the real benefit of OER in the eyes of many rials they want their students to engage with. from page 24 faculty, and these faculty take full advantage For years faculty have done this, but OER of their ability to customize these resources, simplifies the process and provides a license materials tended to have higher grades, and the result will be deeper engagement with that makes the ability to alter resources legally fewer students withdrew from the class com- their students. I believe this could lead to an acceptable. Many faculty are using OER as a pared to students in courses that did not have increase in retention. The more engaged a vehicle to change the way their students in- access to OER. Similar results were found in faculty member, the more engaged the students. teract with the content, even by creating OER another research study conducted that com- for the course. pared students in two biology classes (Fisher Many traditional commercial publishers et al, 2015). The students who were assigned have made a pivot to offer OER, but most have More research is needed to truly understand OER earned better grades and were more likely dramatically decreased their costs and have the advantages to using OER, but many faculty to persist through the entirety of the class than started to offer a package they call inclusive are beginning to believe the real advantage to students who were given the traditional course access. They are banking on lowering prices using OER may not just be the student savings. materials. One could conclude that grades to compete with OER, but the materials are still The benefits may be the ability to customize increasing and student persistence are indi- copyrighted and therefore, can not be custom- these resources (i.e., engage with the 5Rs), cators that OER may have a direct impact on ized by instructors. They lower the price and resulting in deeper engagement for our faculty student academic achievement, but this should that’s a wonderful thing, but a skeptic may say, with their students and improving the overall be tracked over several semesters. None the “what took you so long?” OER is more than a learning experience for our learners. less, very promising. cost savings solution. OER empowers faculty
Against the Grain / February 2019
cess into three steps and examine where the officialannouncementsappear. being argued and hashed out, long before are developments tomorrow’s where networks communications informal the also recognize that I don’t have access to I years, many for er-leveladministrator retired faculty member who was a high- a As arguments. my in incorporated pieces of information that I should have everything, I may have read missed important having Not friends. few a with talking and lists, discussion releases, comments are based upon articles, news blindsided. late. Being prepared is better than being than rather early done if effective more is future the for planning and about ing think- that contend also I but survive; likely most will libraries academic that believe I accurate, be to out turn tions predic- my if even end, the In faculty. for holdings physical of importance the reduced has library digital the that fact the Finally,on commented already I’ve of the superiority of the library answers. because questions reference ready for with compete to able be would cles from the 2000s about how libraries arti- several read I column, this for preparation level of staff. In and number the in reductions significant with decades quent - subse in ing catalog- affect so wouldradically had no inkling how doing Yaleimplement helped I when Similarly, Sav-A-Lot. like grocers discount from pooh-poohed the competitive challenges initially supermarkets Grocery azon. the threat from online retailers like anticipate didn’t stores physical many world, corporate the In consequences. unexpected to led that changes braced em often have organizations, other like just libraries, that indicates history Past community. academic the within importance their lose or disappear they where future a want don’t and libraries it clear that I strongly support academic make to want I detail, greater in points to justifythecost. enough it use didn’t colleagues faculty canceling I’m going to divide the research pro - I also wish to caution readers that my Before I comment on these and other since he and his and he since PsychINFO in the 1970s, I 1970s, the in OCLC Aldi and Google Am- -
increases. As with paying APCs for select access, libraries might still be forced to con- Op Ed — Random Ramblings faculty, some librarians have questioned the tinue buying journals as they are published from page 26 amount of resources required to create an because of the importance of immediate access effective repository. One obstacle is the vari- to key content. Second, if a journal is 90% library to make resources accessible to its wider ations in publisher agreements on the rules immediate open access, the remaining 10% community and uses these resources instead for making any version of a paywalled paper paywalled content might nonetheless require a to favor the research of select individuals. open access. If the library requires the faculty subscription. In other words, 80% of articles One speaker at the Charleston Conference member to discover the rules, the worry is that does not necessarily mean 80% of journals. commented on how many more resources they won’t consider it worth their time to add Another explanation is how many of the 100% could have been made available to everyone the paper to the repository. If the library takes open access journals are additional titles that if these fees for the select few were eliminat- on the task, faculty are more likely to submit did not make it possible to cancel paywalled ed. A more serious issue is the fact that the their papers but the library faces increased subscriptions. Even with the vast increase in top research-intensive institutions produce so staffing requirements to discover the rules. In open access articles, very little seems to have much research that paying the APCs would fact, if the deposit process doesn’t function occurred to modify the current model except approach or surpass the cost of purchasing well and has significant delays in adding fac- that publishers have the additional revenue current serials subscriptions. These subsidies ulty materials, faculty members may feel less stream of APCs. I confess that this result sad- also raise issues of equity between disciplines kindly toward the academic library than if it dens me if all the efforts and high hopes for a where grants pay the APCs and those that don’t. had done nothing at all. In any case, as with revolution in scholarly communication have The biggest beneficiaries of this increase in funding APCs, the institutional repository will only reaffirmed the status quo with only slight open access materials are smaller institutions not benefit all faculty. differences around the edges. and those in the Third World who don’t have To conclude this section, most if not all fac- I’ve decided not to speculate at length on the resources to purchase large collections of ulty are involved in research for their teaching other possible changes from 80% availability paywalled articles. and research. Only some will find it beneficial of articles from open access. Subject databases For the third area, the library-sponsored for the library to fund APCs and to make their could still provide the links to articles though institutional repository has a role in dissem- papers available in an institutional repository. the faculty comments about their lessened inating faculty research. Repositories are Even for those faculty, their contact with the use of PsychINFO contradict this assertion. often able to include “unofficial” versions of library will also be sporadic, based upon a spe- Perhaps the library catalog or a special serials paywalled papers as well as any papers whose cific need, rather than the consistent library use finding tool could provide the links to the open access isn’t restricted by copyright agreements. formerly required to complete most research. access content. The stated advantages of making these open I will now turn to the practicalities and eco- With this heretical position, perhaps I’ll be access publications available is an increase in nomics of open access as it affects my hypoth- called before an Open Access Inquisition at the readership and citations. The research cited esis. All the research for my article including 2019 Charleston Conference. I’d welcome in my Library Trends article was inconclusive asking for comments by postings to the main any questioning, as long as it doesn’t include about whether open access increased citations university and college libraries discussion lists torture, about how open access has benefitted with various studies coming to differing con- did not uncover any firm evidence that libraries academic libraries. I’d also be quite willing clusions. Perhaps the research habits of the were saving money from open access. Perhaps to convert if the judges can convince me that subject discipline make a difference. On a part of the answer to this question depends my worries are unfounded that open access more fundamental level, I encountered those upon what 80% of articles being open access will lessen faculty loyalty to and support of who questioned the value of citation counts means. First, if a high percentage of journals academic libraries. for achieving tenure, promotion, and salary include an embargo period for eventual open
The University of Oklahoma Libraries mation technology for the advancement of Rumors invites higher education institutions to share scholarly communication and the enrichment from page 22 their artificial intelligence (AI) projects in a of intellectual productivity.” Following the new online registry. Projects in Artificial presentation, three universities have joined accelerating new publishing approaches. The Intelligence Registry (PAIR), is an online the OU Libraries registry to share their AI partners will also create and host a new annual database to support collaboration and grant research. Some examples of AI research symposium for early-career German research- funding across higher education insitutions include: At the University of Utah’s J. ers focused on surfacing cutting-edge ideas exploring AI research. “PAIR is designed Willard Marriott Library, researchers are on the future of research communications. to be an international registry of AI projects applying machine learning techniques to ex- In order to enable the signing of the Projekt being developed in higher education that tract information from digital images to assist DEAL contract with Wiley, the Max Planck will help foster collaboration, cooperation in metadata creation. Researchers at both the Society is involved, as a member of the Al- and partnerships, as well as helping to OU Libraries and the library at the Universi- liance of Science Organisations behind the find grant funding,” interim dean of OU ty of California, Irvine are creating chatbots, Projekt DEAL Consortium, founded MPDL Libraries Carl Grant said. “Registering computer applications that imitate human Services GmbH. a project is easy, requiring only a project personality to interface with online library www.projekt-deal.de name, keywords, and area of specialization. patrons. Supported in part by a grant from https://www.projekt-deal.de/wiley-contract/ Additional options can indicate if they are the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the seeking collaborators and if they’re seeking Indiana University Libraries are working This agreement was announced during grant funding. All those fields can also be to build and test an open-source Audiovisual the APE (Academic Publishing in Europe) searched to find information and then provide Metadata Platform (AMP). According to IU Conference in Berlin in February 2019. the capability to contact the project owner.” Libraries’ press release, AMP will “gener- The focused and learned Arnoud de Kemp OU Libraries announced the registry during ate searchable, time-stamped descripitions has been the APE Initiator & Organizer the December 2018 meeting of the Coalition for audiovisual content,” with the end goal since 2006. for Networked Information (CNI). Accord- of making available hundred of millions of www.ape2019.eu ing to its website, CNI is an organization hours of audiovisual content. The AI registry Watch for Anthony Watkinson’s report comprising nearly 250 institutions supporting can be viewed at pair.libraries.ou.edu. from APE in our next issue v.31#2, April 2019! “the transformative promise of digital infor- continued on page 32
28 Against the Grain / February 2019
Column Editor’s Note: Third time is the charm right? Very excited situation. Anderson’s connections in both publishing and libraries lend to have my third Monographic Musings column in Against the Grain. credibility to his views. This is once again an interesting mix of titles that cover a variety of Anderson has presented a useful overview of facts and factors driv- librarian topics. You will find works here on scholarly communica- ing scholarly communication today and adopts a question-and-answer tion, instruction, electronic resource management, and service design. format (“What is demand-driven acquisition?”) to break down large But if there is a common thread throughout these works (and a nice topics such as copyright, metrics, and the work of university presses. tie in with my other column), it is the role and importance of The result is a credible handbook to which any change. This can be challenging as we work with different intelligent reader can turn to address specific communities, generations and resources that are both situations. The format and writing also invite modern and antiquated. browsing and discovery. Thanks to my great reviewers for getting items His perspective here is intentionally descrip- for my third column. Thanks to Michelle Polchow, tive, not polemical: summarizing where we are Katharine Swart, and my two colleagues from (and how we got here), sparing in speculation Michigan State University, Jane Meland and about what comes next, and not trying to pick Steven W. Sowards. any fights. As he states in his introduction, As a reminder, I have introduced a stan- “there is one thing the author has tried very hard not to include in this book, and that is issue dard rating reference. Being a big fan of Ebert advocacy” despite the obvious temptation to and Siskel (may they both rest in peace), I land a punch while looking at publisher pricing, loved the way that they presented a clear way copyright law, open access costs, and more. Of course, Anderson is to show if something was worth watching. Roger Ebert used four well able to offer an opinion when he chooses. One might usefully stars (for his newspaper reviews in the Chicago Sun Times) to let complement this book with regular attention to Scholarly Kitchen, to find you know quickly if this is something worth the time and money. So some sharper responses to recent developments (read for example his to that end, I have created the ATG Reviewer Rating that would be post of November 26, 2018, “Do You Have Concerns about Plan S? Then used from book to book. I came up with this rating to reflect our You Must be an Irresponsible, Privileged, Conspiratorial Hypocrite”).2 collaborative collections and resource sharing means. I think it Anderson is broadly informed and articulate, and casts a wide helps classify the importance of these books. net: the origin of scholarly communication in the 1600s; the purpose • I need this book on my nightstand. (This book is so good, and elaboration of copyright law (especially in the United States); the that I want a copy close at hand when I am in bed.) interplay between scholars, publishers and libraries; global estimates • I need this on my desk. (This book is so valuable, that I of the number of scholarly journals and spending for scholarly content; want my own copy at my desk that I will share with no one.) publishing as an element in faculty tenure and promotion; and the “se- • I need this in my library. (I want to be able to get up from rials crisis” and the “Big Deal” as factors in library decision-making. my desk and grab this book off the shelf, if it’s not checked He speaks often about scholars as authors; peer review; the varieties out.) of publishing, and the new problem of predatory publishers; copyright and open access; and digital realities from eBooks to impact factors. • I need this available somewhere in my shared network. (I If this is a book for “everyone,” who might benefit from reading? probably do not need this book, but it would be nice to get These pages could orient librarians learning to work inside the collection it with three to five days via my network catalog.) building, acquisitions and publishing ecosystem; faculty researchers • I’ll use my money elsewhere. (Just not sure this is a useful and their administrators; funding bodies and grant makers; and ad- book for my library or my network.) visors to trustees, legislators and billionaire thinkers. For publishers If you would like to be a reviewer for Against the Grain, please and professors, Anderson’s summary will clarify how the 21st century write me at
Against the Grain / February 2019
30 Against the Grain / February 2019
De Gruyter isn’t a megapublisher, but we do know what we’re doing – you’d think so after 270 years of publishing. But just because we’ve been around for a long time doesn’t mean we’re stu y – how could we be when we publish Humor, the international journal of humor research?
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degruyter.com As a reader, I considered these case studies using the Strengths, Book Reviews Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) analysis. Many threats from page 30 and weaknesses are touched upon, but the book offers little to rectify looming issues such as: libraries’ collective struggle to convey their need a manual for reference while you’re conducting projects, then the value to their institution and stakeholders; a research environment workbook is an asset. If you’re new to Service Design, I recommend where users no longer use the library catalog as a primary access point Marquez’s and Downey’s 2016 book and then deciding whether you for e-resources; and slow adoption to data mine the technology systems need their 2017 book, which reiterates pretty much the same advice. to monitor user satisfaction and gain market strength by adaptation, as is ATG Reviewer Rating: I need this available somewhere in my the modern business practice in virtual environments. Using the SWOT shared network. (I probably do not need this book, but it would be nice analysis, it seems a missed opportunity that few case studies optimize to get it with three to five days via my network catalog.) libraries’ unique privileges granted through copyright law. From a different angle, the book is an excellent retrospective review of cooperation achieved by libraries, publishers, and technology pro- Stachokas, George. Reengineering the Library: Issues in Elec- viders over the last 10 years, deploying information standards such as tronic Resources Management. Chicago: ALA Editions, 2018. COUNTER, DOI, OpenURL, SERU, and SUSHI. It’s well-deserved 978-0-8389-1621-6, 320 pages. $79.00 (ALA Members $71.10) acknowledgement for the work that has propelled libraries’ evolution from the linear processing of print and physical resources to complex Reviewed by Michelle Polchow (Electronic Resources Librarian, and dynamic management of e-resources, often under staff reduction University of California, Davis)
daily life. It was currency, a ritual ingredient, Hershey’s collaborated to reveal this ancient Rumors and a pleasurable drink. But until recently, vessels secrets,” by Anne Ewbank. from page 28 the details of Maya life were fairly opaque, UVA Library, UVA Press Partner largely due to the destruction wrought by To Make Original Scholarship Freely Who doesn’t like chocolate? Not me and the conquering Spanish. In the 1980s, after Available (February 11, 2019) by Anne E. not Ann Okerson or IGI Global based in intense effort by Mayanist scholars, there Bromley,
32 Against the Grain / February 2019
Column Editor’s Note: The “Collecting director is important because making a film a tendency than a theory, more a mystique to the Core” column highlights monographic is a collaborative effort often restricted by than a methodology, more an editorial policy works that are essential to the academic li- the commercial nature of the movie industry. than an aesthetic procedure.”12 The bulk of brary within a particular discipline, inspired “The auteur theory values the personality of his book consists of a hierarchical ranking of by the Resources for College Libraries bib- a director precisely because of the barriers to (mostly) American directors and their works, liography (online at http://www.rclweb.net). its expression.”6 a chronological list of films, and a directorial In each essay, subject specialists introduce Pauline Kael, a movie reviewer for The index. His flamboyantly named categories and explain the classic titles and topics that New Yorker based in San Francisco, was included directors in and just outside of the continue to remain relevant to the undergrad- highly critical of Sarris and auteur theory. pantheon, directors whose works were too uate curriculum and library collection. Dis- In a 1963 article originally published in Film esoteric or ephemeral for them to be consid- ciplinary trends may shift, but some classics Quarterly (reprinted in her collection I Lost ered great, directors who were too serious or never go out of style. — AD It at the Movies), “Circles and Squares: Sar- merely likable, comedic directors, and direc- ris and Joy,” she addressed each of the three tors who were too early in their careers to be premises of the auteur theory expounded by thoroughly evaluated (see Figure 1). Each ifty years ago, Andrew Sarris published Sarris in his original article.7 She argued category described what makes the directors The American Cinema: Directors and that expression and style are more important auteurs and lists their films, highlighting the 1 FDirections, 1929-1968. The book was than technical competence, that the fact that a most worthy. an expansion of an article he had written for viewer can distinguish the personality of the The auteur theory was widely embraced by the journal Film Culture entitled “Notes on director is secondary to the value of an indi- many. For many a movie lover and film student, 2 the Auteur Theory in 1962.” Sarris claimed vidual film, and that cinema is not at all about The American Cinema served as a canon and a that directors are authors of the films they interior meaning and the tension between viewing guide. Cinephiles sought opportunities make, that they should be evaluated on the the director’s personality and material. As a to watch listed movies. Art houses screened entire body of their work, and that judgment result of these premises, Kael maintained that films. Critics analyzed filmmakers and films should rest on their technical competence, auteur critics often glorified trash. She then with an auteur lens. Film schools taught classes distinguishable personality, and the personal explained her own views as a film critic. She on auteur theory and on directors. University style that emerges from the tension between believed that “art is an expression of the hu- and popular presses published academic books their personality and material. man experience.”8 Disparaging of formulaic about directors. Conversations abounded. Crit- Sarris did not originate the idea of the critics who applied a single approach such as icism of Sarris within these circles accepted auteur. He spent some formative years in auteur theory, she considered herself a “plu- the basic premise of directors as authors and Paris in the early 1960s and was inspired by ralist” drawing eclectically and judiciously instead focused on niceties, nitpicking who the ideas of a loose alliance of French film from “the best standards and principles from belonged in the pantheon and complaining that critics and filmmakers writing in Cahiers du various systems of ideas.”9 In contrast to Sar- he included too many commercial directors and Cinéma that included André Bazin and Jean ris, Kael wanted critics to judge the individ- virtually no women. Luc Godard. He was particularly influenced ual movie rather than consider the director’s The auteur theory was also rejected by by the French director François Truffaut who entire corpus. Her riposte was the beginning many. One major criticism was that auteur introduced the idea of politique des auteur of a series of ongoing debates in print and in theory unfairly privileged the director over with his “polemical stance” behind the term person that attracted followers other creative artists. Detractors argued that auteur.3-4 The polemic behind the politique who identified as Paulettes or movie making is a collaborative art, with mean- des auteur was to favor some directors Sarristes. ingful contributions from studios, producers, and to disapprove of others Sarris doubled down when writers, cinematographers, sound designers, based on the style of their he published The American set designers, editors, actors, and more. C. films. As a film critic in New Cinema in 1968. In his intro- Paul Sellors, in his book Film Authorship: York City for Film Culture duction, he briefly explained Auteurs and Other Myths, made a typical and a movie reviewer for the that he compiled the book argument, proposing that his book’s purpose Village Voice, Sarris used his to guide film students and was to “provide further reasons to question the platform to popularize the idea then expounded at length automatic assignment of authorship to a film’s of the director as auteur in the on “the absence of the most director.”13 He traced the idea of the director United States. elementary academic tra- as author back to romantic French notions of At the root of the auteur the- dition in cinema.”10 To help authorship and explored theoretical concepts ory is the idea that the personality fill this void, he delved more of authorship around narrator and narrative of the best directors shine through deeply into the idea of the auteur to derive his definition of “film authorship as in their films. The result is that the audience in his introductory chapter “Toward a Theo- collective intentional action.”14 Modern auteur will recognize directors’ styles by the recur- ry of Film History.” In his afterword, “The theory has evolved to assign creative responsi- ring plots, themes, motifs, and images in their Auteur Theory Revisited,” first added to the bility to filmmakers other than the director, but films. WhileSarris also focused on technical 1977 edition, Sarris addressed the criticism: still focuses on individuals most responsible for competence in his original article, he centered “Still, if I had to do it all over again, I would the style and expression in a film rather than his arguments almost exclusively on person- reformulate the auteur theory with a greater upon a collective author. ality in The American Cinema: “The strong emphasis on the tantalizing mystery of style The auteur theory was also seen as irrel- director imposes his own personality on a than on the romantic agony of the artists.”11 evant by many. Instead of focusing on the film; the weak director allows the personality He concluded his afterword by conceding author and the value of the work, film theorists 5 of others to run rampant.” The strength of a that “auteurism is and always has been more continued on page 34 Against the Grain / February 2019
Endnotes 1. Sarris, Andrew. The American Cinema: Directors and Directions, 1929-1968. 1st Da Capo Press edition. New York: Da Capo Press, 1996.* 2. Sarris, Andrew. “Notes on the Auteur Theory in 1962.” Film Culture 27 (Winter 1962/63): 1-8. 3. Truffaut, François. “A Certain Tenden- cy of the French Cinema.” [1954] In Movies and Methods. Edited by Bill Nichols. Berke- ley: University of California Press, 1976. 4. Sarris, The American Cinema, 27. 5. Sarris, The American Cinema, 31. 6. Sarris, The American Cinema, 31. quiring and collecting content and making it 7. Kael, Pauline. “Circles and Squares: Rumors available locally to partnering with scholars to Sarris and Joy.” In I Lost It at the Movies. from page 32 Boston: Little Brown, 1965.* produce and widely disseminate their work.” https://news.virginia.edu/content/uva-library- 8. Kael, “Circles and Squares,” 308. the latest technology to produce what’s called 9. Kael, “Circles and Squares,” 308. uva-press-partner-make-original-scholar- “open access” to research, scholarship and ship-freely-available 10. Sarris, The American Cinema, 27. other educational materials — eventually 11. Sarris, The American Cinema, 272. including textbooks. (“Aperio” is a Latin This is exiting! (Taken from Elsevier 12. Sarris, The American Cinema, 278. word meaning “to uncover, to open, to make Connect, February 15, 2019 by Tom Reller 13. Sellors, C. Paul. Film Authorship: Au- public.”) The library is offering a platform and Ian Evans). Kumsal Bayazit takes over teurs and Other Myths. London: Wallflower for academic journals, both new ones and today as Elsevier’s Chief Executive Officer, Press, 2010, 16.* possibly those transferred from costly private replacing Ron Mobed, who joined Elsevier 14. Sellors, Film Authorship, 130. publishers, and the University Press is pub- in 2011. Kumsal becomes the first female *Editor’s note: An asterisk (*) denotes a title lishing eBooks. “This is a historical turning CEO in the company’s close-to-140-year selected for Resources for College Libraries. point for libraries,” UVA Open Publishing history. Born and raised in Turkey, Kumsal Librarian Dave Ghamandi said, “from ac- continued on page 53
34 Against the Grain / February 2019
The Library Book by Susan Orlean. (ISBN: 978-1-4767-40188, Simon & Schuster out to be based on mere conjecture, such as Publishers, 2018. HB $28.00.) thinking that a fire burns most intensely where it originated. It turns out that there are many other variables that influence the intensity of usan Orlean is well known as a journalist her encyclopedic knowledge of the collection. a fire. In the case of theLAPL fire, Marshals and has been on the staff of the New York- However, when her father began to prosper in knew where the fire started because fire fight- Ser since 1992. She is the author of seven the business world, the library board felt her ers arrived early enough to observe it. But, as books including Rin Tin Tin and the Orchid father could then support her. In their thinking, mentioned before, the structure of the library Thief. In The Library Book Orlean tells the since she didn’t need the job, she was replaced accelerated the small fire that was burning story of the 1986 fire that nearly destroyed the by an older librarian, Lydia Prescott. Library when first responders showed up. Another Los Angeles Public Library (LAPL from paternalism turned to outright misogyny fire that was raging at the same time was the now on) but in her attempt to be thorough she however when Mary Jones, a popular and Chernobyl reactor meltdown. That disaster tries to cover too much material and the book accomplished librarian, was replaced by a man, claimed all the headlines for weeks and many comes up short, lacking in any real focus or Charles Lummis, simply because the people outside of Los Angeles were depth of coverage. Orlean’s style has been library board felt that a man should be unaware of how serious the library called “immersive journalism,” which must the administrator of library affairs. fire had been. mean that she tries to be personally involved However colorful and eccentric the One particular detail of Or- in all parts of her story. She did spend many story of Charles Loomis is, it will lean’s explanation of the fire rung hours at the LAPL documenting the immense always be tarnished by his insider particularly untrue to me. To prove fire of April 29, 1986 that is the largest library rise to power. Orleans continues her point that books were a type fire in U.S. history. The blaze destroyed over to dwell on the vagaries of library of incendiary device just waiting four hundred thousand items, twenty percent personnel and administration, but to burst into flames she took a of the collection, with most of the remaining even her personal relationships paperback copy of Fahrenheit 451 books suffering from smoke and water damage. with the librarians couldn’t sustain into her back yard and when she To the detriment of her story and narrative the same drama or interest that the touched it with a match the book trajectory, she tries to tell the entire history of early days held. lit up like a torch that burned in the library’s public services, technical services Some other digressions are par- “…a nearly instantaneous combus- and reference services at the same time that ticularly interesting, for example, tion-and the entire book was gone she is recounting a detective story, hence the the story of the construction of the in seconds.” I have never had that title: The Library Book. These “behind the building that houses the library. The experience of a book burning so scenes” vignettes are too short and perfunctory LAPL Central Library was de- easily. As Ray Bradbury himself and seem to serve as filler for a mystery story signed by the noted architect Bertram observed, it is only at a sustained that never arrives at a solution. Goodhue who incorporated Moorish, temperature of 451 degrees that Orleans spends nearly half the book track- Spanish, and Modernistic details into books begin to burn. The books in ing down relatives, friends, and acquaintances all parts of the library. He sought to his novel were hit with flame throw- of Harry Peak, the central figure in her story. create a gesamtwerk or total art piece which ers, rather than just a match. In fact, the tem- He was suspected of being a disgruntled patron incorporated beautiful murals, sculptures and peratures in the LAPL fire reached over 2,500 who, when turned away from the library be- bas reliefs, woodwork, immense chandeliers, degrees! The fire burned out of control for over fore opening time, went on to ignite the fire in and expansive gardens. Goodhue had been seven hours in what is known as a “flashover.” retaliation. But in the end, the only evidence a lead architect of the 1915 World’s Fair in Among the items lost in the conflagration were detectives could track down was circumstantial San Diego that celebrated the opening of the a quarter million photographs of Los Angeles at best and Peaks avoided prosecution. Harry Panama Canal. There he created an exuberant dating back to the 1850s, five and a half million Peak was a totally lackluster character, a hang- celebration of early California history which American patent listings dating from 1799 with er-on around Hollywood and a gofer for several gave rise to the fashion for Spanish revival drawings and descriptions, three quarters of LA lawyers. Trying to drape the whole story architecture that took California by storm. the library’s microfilm holdings, a book by of the fire around him was not compelling in Much of the Fair’s architecture can still be seen Andrea Palladio from 1500, every single art the least. In the end the book is a meandering in Balboa Park in San Diego. book printed on glossy paper (which turned to and failed detective story that simply promised What were initially forward-looking de- goo when exposed to water), and the largest too much. The reader is dragged on by myriad sign features in the library turned out to be collection of books on food and cooking in details hoping that in the end there would be dangerous fire hazards. The construction of the country, not to mention a large collection some resolution to the mystery of the fire, but four “silos” of seven stories each allowed of books on citrus cultivation. that hope fizzles out as the story goes up in the library to compact more shelving into the Interestingly, Orlean takes us on a detour smoke with no solution to the crime. structure and allowed air to circulate around to explore many other library fires, especially As with many other books, the digressions the books, but in the end the stacks acted as the phenomenon known as “libricide,” or the in The Library Book end up being the most wind tunnels and smoke stacks for a fire that intentional burning of book collections. The interesting part of the narrative. The LAPL had gotten started slowly. The Fire Marshals Nazis were the most infamous practitioners has a fascinating history going back to 1872, a never did figure what started the fire, but the of this cultural destruction. They knew how more rugged time when the Wild West was just library had notoriously bad electrical wiring, precious books were to the Jewish people, dying out. In her retelling, Orlean recounts a faulty alarm system, and it contained twice their heritage and their very identity. Books how women were initially leaders in the library as many books as it had been designed for. It were targeted for destruction by bands known administration, but then were pushed aside as also lacked fire doors between floors. as “Brenn-Kommandos” who were tasked the jobs were professionalized and men began Another interesting digression that Orlean with torching synagogues and libraries. to make up a larger percentage of the staff. takes us on is the debunking of many so-called Goebbels made use of “Feuerspuche” or “Fire One of the earliest library directors was Mary scientific theories of arson. Most of the evi- Incantations” where books were “sentenced Foy, an eighteen-year old who was known for dence presented in court up to that time turned continued on page 36
Against the Grain / February 2019
36 Against the Grain / February 2019
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[email protected] - www.brepolis.net Brepols Online Databases ATG Interviews Steve Potash Founder, OverDrive by Nancy Herther (Sociology Librarian, University of Minnesota)
Steve Potash founded OverDrive in 1986 should not assume any terms will be the only to serve the needs of mostly public libraries option in the future. for distribution and service. This was at ATG: Public library needs are different a time when few foresaw the revolution in from those of academics/research libraries. technology that was to up-end the publish- How do you see eBook publishing and ac- ing industry. For OverDrive, the rise of quisition shaking out in the coming years? the internet and digital books in the 1990s SP: With a flood of content available from caused the company to refocus their service so many sources, publishers and authors need mission, and launch their content distribu- to compete for attention and mindshare from tion service in 2000. Today, “along with the users looking for quality content. Books and industry’s leading digital reading platform, long-form reading need champions to keep the OverDrive now offers the largest digital long-term interests of book publishers healthy content catalog in the world to more than and growing. There are no better advocates for 40,000 libraries and schools in 70 countries reading and discovery of books than librarians and the highest-rated apps that are built to and the institutions committed to promoting create reading happiness.” With the pur- reading and access to information from books. chase of OverDrive by Rakuten in 2015, the I expect that outcomes from the Panorama company changed its brand name to Rakuten Recent announcements from Penguin Project will help provide data that impacts OverDrive and the infusion of resources only Random House and TOR (Macmillan) are publisher and author appreciation for the values furthers OverDrive’s dominance, especially another step forward in fine-tuning the avail- that libraries offer for their brand and titles. All for public libraries across North America. able models. I expect these terms to continue commercial publishers are facing an increasing Steve shares some of his experience, vision to evolve as more data is uncovered on how challenge to have their books discovered and and perspectives with ATG. readers discover and embrace new authors and appreciated from an increasing universe of free series, and purchase books. The Panorama digital books and a myriad of digital content in other media formats. I expect to see premium ATG: In the past two months we have had Project has several research efforts underway to determine how libraries, both in their 16,000 eBook content continue to evolve and grow in announcements on new eBook terms from value to readers and the institutions that supply both PRH and Macmillan/TOR, as well the locations in the U.S. and online through their OPACs, apps, and discovery services, promote access to them. We are moving quite quickly new Panorama Project. Are publishers still where mobile and digital formats for books so unsure of the role of libraries, or is this books for readers to discover, and, in many cas- es, buy. The Panorama Project will be the first are becoming the norm for many categories one of the few channels they feel they can still of books. control? Do you see the Panorama Project as wide-scale data project seeking to understand making a difference? I know that OverDrive the impact libraries have on book discovery ATG: You clearly have good contacts with is one of the sponsors. and retail sales outside of the library. other book jobbers. How are they faring in this environment? They have little power or SP: OverDrive introduced public libraries ATG: Pricing in the academic environ- ment has been particularly difficult. Some control and in an increasingly eBook-only and institutional lending for popular trade environment (if this were to dominate), how eBooks and audiobooks 16 years ago. eBook pricing is far higher than print (one university press charges $28 for a print and could they survive? Are jobbers trusted by Since then we have seen an ongoing evolu- $750 for unlimited eBook access). Some publishers any more than libraries? tion of access models offered and adopted by textbooks are reportedly going for nearly SP: OverDrive promotes reading in all publishers to balance their commercial interests $1,000 as eBooks. The PRH plan would formats and encourages the discovery and to promote retail sales for print and digital, require a subscription system, which would appreciation for print. Physical books will while still providing libraries broad public ultimately cost libraries thousands of dollars never go away and are a preferable format for access to popular titles. Changes over the years over time for ongoing access. Will academic/ millions of readers. This will provide book have included HarperCollins’ 26 circulation research libraries be able to work with these jobbers an ongoing role for all institutions and limit policy per unit and term limitations from models? libraries. The momentum and more significant Simon & Schuster and others. SP: We expect academic libraries to curate growth opportunities for book sales are in the I am delighted to report that the majority of and offer PRH titles that their readers want un- digital realm. Authors and publishers have en- changes to library lending models have actually der the new pricing and access model. It may joyed a print sale, royalty reporting partnership increased options for libraries and schools. To- result in collections becoming more selective with retail bookstore and book jobbers for 200 day more trade publishers offer their titles for from authors and genres that align with the years. This is a trusted channel that provides libraries to promote and lend as simultaneous readership of the institution. OverDrive has consistent reporting and royalties to agents access models. We also have had a surge of consistently advised all authors, agents, and and authors. The newer digital book channels publishers and authors promoting their titles publishers that their economic interests are are evolving and will gain more support from for simultaneous access as part of digital book lifted by offering flexible and reasonable terms authors going forward. clubs and city read programs. to enable every library to acquire rights to not OverDrive is working with authors There is another recent option for libraries only frontlist titles but backlist and complete and publishers to provide transparency on to add popular titles with no wait list under series of titles as well. As the new model library buying patterns for their titles to a “cost per checkout” model. We are now rolls out to the market, we will learn how it share information on where, how many, and offering schools short-term lease terms for impacts institutional buying patterns which use for their eBook and audiobook titles. classroom sets of eBooks for students. All of may ultimately impact the publisher’s model We expect this new transparency for library these access models complement the principle going forward. The terms for library lending and institution investment into digital books “one-copy, one-user” model. of digital books will continue to evolve so we continued on page 40
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ATG: Anne, you have been the Director of ATG: As part of the program, VIVA has the Virtual Library of Virginia (VIVA) since negotiated the right for VIVA institutions to May 2015. What drew you to this position? lend whole eBooks via Interlibrary Loan with- What unique experiences and skills did you out the use of restrictive software. How does bring to the job? that work? Can you elaborate? How were AO: I started with VIVA as the Associate you able to convince your four publishing Director in 2012, and the original appeal of a partners to agree? consortial job was the work I had done with the AO: Yes, our libraries can lend the DRM- Washington Research Library Consortium free, whole eBooks as a single file, either one (WRLC) while I was at American University. available from the platform or one created by Library consortia seemed like a great way to the lending library from the chapter pdfs that do more together. I had worked at many of the comprise a given title. They can send the file institution types found within VIVA — a two in the same, secure way they would usually year community college, large public doctoral send an individual chapter or journal article. university, and mid-sized private university — This does not mean that it is an easy or intu- so VIVA in particular seemed like a good fit. I itive process; we have a task force focused had also worked in a variety of librarian roles on making these titles more discoverable and on the public and technical services sides of on best practices for borrowing and lending those libraries, and I thought that breadth of whole eBooks. I think the two key factors in experience would be helpful in understanding convincing our publishing partners to agree the needs of a consortium. were our determination to have these rights ATG: For those unfamiliar with VIVA, (our RFP was written in such a way that re- can you tell us about its mission, services, and spondents would have to respond negatively to collections? Is there anything else we should the whole eBook lending rather than describe know about VIVA? their interlibrary loan rights) and our ability to AO: VIVA is the consortium of nonprofit throughout the state. We also have a new but acquire new eBook collections with new funds. academic libraries within the Commonwealth increasingly important open and affordable We had recently completed a monographic of Virginia. Our 72 members include the 39 course content program created through fund- analysis that informed our collection develop- public colleges and universities, 32 of the ing that began in 2018. This program works ment strategy with eBooks, and based on this independent institutions, and the Library of to make open and affordable course content analysis the General Assembly provided VIVA Virginia. VIVA builds a shared collection available in order to lower overall costs, pro- with funds to select eBooks in a data-driven, of electronic materials, has a robust resource mote student success, and empower Virginia statewide way. This new funding was critical sharing program, and is implementing a new faculty to redesign their curricula. to encouraging publishers to come to the table. open and affordable course content program. ATG: VIVA’s whole ebook lending pro- ATG: Can you tell us more about the We work to level the academic playing field for gram, in particular, has created some buzz monographic analysis that you conducted? Virginia students and faculty by ensuring that in library circles. What is it and what is so How did it work? What were the results? the same core educational resources are avail- unique about it? What strategies did you use to convince the able, whether you attend a small community AO: Beginning in 2016, VIVA gained General Assembly to provide new funding college or large research institution. This is whole eBook lending rights with four pub- based on your findings? the goal we keep at the forefront of all of our lishers: Brill, Oxford University Press (and initiatives. Through shared projects, collec- AO: We partnered with Sustainable by extension, the presses in its University tions, and programs that streamline services, Collection Services from 2013-2015 to con- Press Scholarship Online collection), Taylor VIVA has saved the state incredible amounts duct a Monographic Collection Analysis that & Francis, and Wiley. These are DRM-free, of money and staff time over the years. included around six million records from the PDF eBooks, so the user experience via a loan main libraries at twelve institutions across ATG: If you were to rank them, which is the same as if they had access to it at their VIVA. The project goals included using the VIVA services would be at the top of your list? own library. These rights are foundational to data and analysis to inform future, collabo- What would you say are VIVA’s collection our long-term vision of a distributed, shared rative collection development (our starting strengths? collection of books within the state. Within point, which seems fairly unique among these AO: The heart of VIVA is certainly our Taylor & Francis evidence-based plan, kinds of projects), identifying scarcely-held its shared collection of databases, eBooks, for example, the titles we purchase are held by titles in need of protection, and beginning a ejournals, and streaming media. We focus individual libraries, but the statewide benefit discussion about the possibility of reducing on STEM-H resources to support Virginia’s remains because of the whole eBook lending unnecessary duplication and saving local interest in higher education in these areas, but rights. There are also benefits for the publish- space through strategic weeding. Ultimately, we hope to provide a broad enough collection ers, from the goodwill of their customers to this analysis was used as the foundation for a to support all disciplines at a foundational level. the added exposure of the materials requested memorandum of understanding for the rare Our robust resource sharing program, powered by users that libraries may decide to translate and unique materials found in the main stacks by a tight-knit, passionate community of ILL into additional purchases. I would love if these of the participating libraries, a memorandum practitioners, is also deeply important to VIVA rights were not so unique — we were hoping of understanding for 3.5 million widely held and has allowed our institutions to embark that it would be a tipping point in the industry materials at eight research institutions, and a on shared print analysis and the development — but I am not aware of any other programs recommended threshold of four print copies of a distributed print and eBook collection as broad as ours. continued on page 40 Against the Grain / February 2019
40 Against the Grain / February 2019
Section Editors: Bruce Strauch (The Citadel)
n the United States, copyright laws were either directly or with the aid of a machine or the copyrighted work as a whole; and “effect established in 1790 by the constitution. device.” Therefore, artists have control over of the use on the potential for the market for ISince the U.S. Constitution has allowed how the work is reproduced, adapted, distrib- or value of the copyrighted work.” Congress to enact copyright laws, music uted, displayed, licensed, or sold. Overall, the Two examples for fair use in art include publishers and industry leaders have been artist has ownership of the work as the work is parodies and appropriations. Parody is a work strong public advocates for musicians, song- being created and once the work is completed. that can make use of some original artwork writers, and performers, which is noted by the The only exceptions to ownership is whether “for comic effect or ridicule.” This fair use is efforts of the performing rights organizations the work was a “work for hire” by an artist difficult because it does contain a portion of the American Society of Composers, Authors, that works within an organization or as an original, yet it is not a derivative of the work. and Publishers (ASCAP), Broadcast Music, independent artist working for a commission. A common example of an original artwork used Inc. (BMI), and Society of European Stage Even though the artist’s work is basically for parody is Grant Wood’s 1930 painting Authors and Composers (SESAC). Further copyrighted from the process of creation to the America Gothic, which pop culture icons have contribution towards assisting musicians was completion, artists have the option to register replaced the faces of the iconic farmer and his the recently passed Music Modernization Act their copyright with the U.S. Copyright Office daughter to represent a parody. Appropriations that provides better financial support for artists, in order to obtain the full protection of the have become common due to the technology an open accessible database of copyrighted copyright law. Of course, this can be costly available to take an original image and use it works, and updates to the copyright laws for with fees and time, but it does give the artist to create other works of art. streaming digital works. Yet, visual artists; full protection should an issue of copyright A recent account of appropriations and especially those that that have images online, infringement occur and enter the legal system. copyright infringement is the case Cariou v. have very little assistance available for them Artists may also struggle to understand Prince 714 F.3d 694 (2d Cir. 2013). Author to hinder copyright infringement and recoup the concept of copyright laws regarding their and photographer, Patrick Cariou published lost income. works that includes several issues that con- the book Yes Rasta in 2000, that included pho- Visual artists such as photographers, paint- stitute copyright and copyright infringement. tographs of people and landscape in Jamaica. ers, sculptors, etc. struggle with obtaining Further struggles for artists can include locat- In 2008, artist Richard Prince utilized several legal support and assistance with protecting ing an attorney to represent their works and of Cariou’s photographs to create a series of their works and securing finances. While this interests, not to mention expensive legal fees. paintings and collages for a gallery exhibit at reason for a lack of outside support could be Not only obtaining an attorney to represent the Gagosian Gallery in New York City titled mainly stated in terms that art an artist can be difficult, but Canal Zone. Cariou sued Prince for copyright work sales can be commis- securing an attorney that is infringement in 2009 against, as well as Gago- sioned or through direct sales. knowledgeable of art. While sian Gallery, Inc., Lawerence Gagosian, and Also, art can also be licensed, law schools have recently the Rizzoli International Publications, Inc. which has recently become begun to offer art law within In 2011, the U.S. District Court for the a major trend for manufac- their curriculum, artists will Southern District of New York determined that turers to license images for have limitations and access Prince infringed on Cariou’s work. The court their products to increase to an attorney that would be first decided that Cariou’s work qualified for revenue. In order to license able to understand the com- copyright protection, Prince’s works were not their work, artists have the plexities of art business. transformative nor parody, the gallery acted on option to license their own As images continue to be bad faith by knowing that the works utilized work themselves or obtain reproduced and distributed Cariou’s photographs, and Prince used a an agent or publisher to assist electronically, artists have to large portion of Cariou’s work. The fourth with licensing agreements contend with their works be- aspect of fair use that the court examined was with manufacturers, which U.S. ing altered or changed to mis- the potential for market value. Cariou was artists have the Licensing Industry represent the original creation denied an opportunity to place an exhibit at the Merchandisers Association to provide a of the work. This is an issue that has become Gagosian Gallery because Prince’s exhibit directory of resources. In addition, artists can very common since the 1980s as technology had preceded it, thus the court decided that secure financial support and the protection of has given the ability to easily copy and alter the Cariou’s potential market was damaged. their works is through copyright protection. artworks, which mainly includes images. In The court also ordered Prince to discon- In regards to art and copyright, the U.S. regards to this misuse of copyrighted images in tinue any use of Cariou’s works. Prince and Copyright Office states loosely that “pictorial, terms of fair use, works can be copied for four the Gallery also had ten days of the order to graphic, and sculptural works are considered reasons that includes “purpose and character of destroy any works that had Cariou’s photo- art that can be copyrighted.” According to the use, including whether such use is of a com- graphs, which included the gallery’s exhibition the U.S. Copyright Office, an original work mercial nature or is for nonprofit educational catalog books. Cariou opposed the destruction is copyrighted “the moment it is created and purposes; nature of the copyrighted work; and the term was reserved for litigation. In fixed in a tangible form that is perceptible amount and substantiality used in relation to continued on page 42
Against the Grain / February 2019
Cases of Note — Copyright Appropriation Art Column Editor: Bruce Strauch (The Citadel, Emeritus)
PATRICK CARIOU v. RICHARD Enter Richard Prince who did precisely telephone. Jasper Johns and Robert Raus- PRINCE 714 F.3d 694 (2d Cir. 2013) that. Prince is an “appropriation artist,” which chenberg made use of objets trouvés which is Our superb new legal intellect Anthony just kind of cries out copyright piracy but to say rubbish found while dumpster diving. Paganelli cites this case in his current article, isn’t necessarily. These “artists” use existing But it became much more like copying in so let’s go deeper. images and objects with little to no alteration. the 1980s particularly with Jeff Koons and Patrick Cariou spent six years among the London’s Tate Gallery defines it as “the more his reproduction of banal objects. Koons has Rastafarians of Jamaica and in 2000 published or less direct taking over into a work of art a paid some fairly hefty damages in three French Yes Rasta, a book of portraits and landscape real object or even an existing work of art.” lawsuits. To me, the most recent, Fait d’Hiver, photographs. He considered it “extreme clas- One might say it began with Marcel Du- seems awfully transformational which is key sical photography and portraiture” and did not champ’s 1915 Fountain — a men’s urinal to our Cariou case. want it turned into pop culture. he had signed. Salvador Dali did a lobster continued on page 43
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Questions & Answers — Copyright Column Column Editor: Laura N. Gasaway (Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill School of Law, Chapel Hill, NC 27599; Phone: 919-962-2295; Fax: 919-962-1193)
QUESTION: A public librarian asks why the license agreement. If the right to print a for works published between 1923 and 1964 libraries are allowing publishers to determine reading copy for a single use is important to a from 75 to 95 years. These works received an the reproduction parameters for eBooks. Why library’s users, librarians should negotiate with initial term of 28 years and could be renewed cannot a user print a copy for purposes of publishers to have the right included in the next for an additional 47 years. If not renewed for reading it in a more comfortable environment license agreement. Most libraries lend eBooks copyright, these works entered the public do- than at a computer station? to read and enjoy at the users’ home or office. main. The Term Extension Act added another ANSWER: Publishers own the rights to QUESTION: A university librarian 19 years to the renewal term, giving them a the eBooks that they make available to li- asks why there have been so many articles total of 67 years renewal plus the initial 28 braries through license agreements. A license concerning copyrighted works entering the years for a total of 95 years. The works from agreement is a contract that the library signs public domain on January 1, 2019, and why 1923 for which the copyright was not renewed to acquire access to eBooks for its users, and it is important. expired at the end of 2018 and entered the libraries are bound by the contracts they sign. ANSWER: When the Copyright Act of public domain on January 1, 2019. (See 17 U.S.C. § 108(f)(4) (2012). It is critical 1976 was enacted, one change was to make Because the Disney Company lobbied so to publishers that eBooks not be copied and all works for which the copyright term expired hard for the Term Extension Act, it is often re- shared since publishers’ income depends on in a particular year to enter the public domain ferred to as the Mickey Mouse act. Why copy- selling licenses. on January 1 of that year. In 1998, the Sonny right protection in the Disney characters is so Some licenses may permit printing of a Bono Term Extension Act, an amendment to important is somewhat of a mystery since these single copy for a single use, but it depends on the Copyright Act, extended the copyright term continued on page 44
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44 Against the Grain / February 2019
WikiCite 2018 — Theme: possibility/posibilidad/possibilité — These data collections also provide opportunities to ask new questions November 27-29, 2018 — Berkeley, CA and new mechanisms to support knowledge production. Dario Taraborelli, Director of Research for the Wikimedia Foun- Reported by Laura Soito (University of New Mexico) dation, set the stage for WikiCite 2018 with the opening keynote. He shared examples of the important role citations play in verifying infor- WikiCite 2018 was held in Berkeley, California November 27-29, mation, contrasted with the challenges current citation systems face in 2018. Sponsored by the Wikimedia Foundation and the Sloan Foun- providing the context and reliable access needed to perform verification. dation, this third meeting of the WikiCite initiative brought together In providing a brief history of the project, he explained that a vision 115 participants to work towards the vision of a community-built, for this project was originally proposed in 2005, but only recently has open citation database to serve free knowledge projects both within technical and social capacity made it feasible to begin tangible develop- and beyond the Wikimedia community. The three-day event featured ment. While the bibliographic data content added to Wikidata has been a conference highlighting work with existing data collections, tools, impressive, Dario concluded by identifying gaps, including missing data and content gaps; a summit to work through three possible scenarios models for sources like TV programs or oral sources, missing tools for for the future of WikiCite; and a Do-a-thon for individuals and teams large-scale curation and disambiguation, research needed to understand to engage and actively participate in making citation data more open. source quality and bias, and solutions for using these data to annotate While this effort intersects many different stakeholder groups other projects like Wikipedia. and information needs, from my perspective, this meeting presented Moving into the conference, the first session focused on corpora opportunities to imagine library collections beyond the boundaries of and databases. Alicia Fagerving of Wikimedia Sverige presented an traditional cataloging and authority control. The goal of free, open, and example of how the National Library of Sweden, the first national linked bibliographic data is important to libraries as they seek to improve library to implement BIBFRAME 2.0, is working to create Wikidata for access, discoverability, and interoperability of collections and works. continued on page 46
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46 Against the Grain / February 2019
Column Editor’s Note: Thanks to all of the Charleston Confer- WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2018 ence attendees who agreed to write short reports highlighting sessions they attended at the 2018 Charleston Conference. Attempts were MORNING PLENARY SESSIONS made to provide a broad coverage of sessions, but there are always more sessions than there are reporters. Some presenters posted their Opening Keynote – The Future of Research Information: slides and handouts in the online conference schedule. Please visit Open, Connected, Seamless — Presented by Annette Thomas the conference site, http://www.charlestonlibraryconference.com/, (Clarivate Analytics) and Anthony Watkinson (CIBER and link to selected videos, interviews, as well as to blog reports Research, moderator) — https://sched.co/G65r written by Charleston Conference blogger, Donald Hawkins. The 2018 Charleston Conference Proceedings will be published in 2019, Reported by Ramune K. Kubilius (Northwestern University in partnership with Purdue University Press: http://www.thepress. Feinberg School of Medicine, Galter Health Sciences Library & purdue.edu/series/charleston. Learning Center)
48 Against the Grain / February 2019
Note: Co-author Georgie Donovan (William and Mary Adapting Library Workflows to Accommodate Transferred Libraries) was unable to attend the conference. Journals — Presented by Christine Davidian (Rowan University) and Jennifer Matthews (Rowan University) — Reported by Janice Adlington (McMaster University) https://sched.co/GB3R
Reported by Angel Clemons (University of Louisville)
Note: Daniel Hook joined the session remotely from Germany. The take-aways from this session were: if you have the money, Green- glass is a great product from OCLC that can analyze your collection and Reported by Ramune K. Kubilius (Northwestern University compare holdings between institutions. Also, it enables you to set criteria Feinberg School of Medicine, Galter Health Sciences Library & for autoweed and autokeep: not to include Faculty Pubs, dissertations, Learning Center)
ric Proskauer was a prime example had adjoining homes at a lake in Peekskill, could put the full text of journals online, but of Hitler’s gifts to American scientific a town north of New York City. But as the online access to journals was nothing like it is Epublishing, in sociologist and publisher men reached their late fifties and early sixties, now. And while there were many complaints Irving Horowitz’s mordant formulation. To- their relationship had become frayed, due, as in those days from many quarters about gether with Maurits Dekker, Eric founded Edelman explains, to personality, stylistic, journal prices and journal publishers’ profits, Interscience Publishing in 1940. (Grune and cultural differences. When Interscience publishers’ adversaries didn’t have today’s and Stratton was founded in 1941, Aca- merged with Wiley in early 1962, there was wherewithal to attempt to disrupt journal pub- demic Press in 1942.) The two men, then in a permanent rupture between the two men. lishers’ business models and other aspects of their thirties, were both a complementary and Proskauer joined Wiley, becoming senior their operations. an unlikely pair. Their relationship is well vice-president, while Dekker joined his son’s The publishing environment these men described in Hendrick Edelman’s chapter, eponymous company, Marcel Dekker (now operated in — as publishers, editors, and Maurits Dekker and Eric Proskauer: A Synergy part of Taylor & Francis), as chairman and authors — was of course very different from of Talent in Exile, in the book, Immigrant Pub- editor-in-chief. They both thrived, it would the one that exists today. In pre-online days, lishers, The Impact of Expatriate Publishers seem. At his seventieth birthday party in 1973, major universities and other organizations with in Britain and America in the 20th Century, Eric Proskauer joked that he had started his sprawling campuses and facilities would have edited by Richard Abel and Gordon Graham, career by bringing German chemistry to the had to buy more than one copy of a major work, and first published byIrving Horowitz’s firm, U.S. and finished it by bringing American like Kirk-Othmer. It’s just not the way things Transaction Publishers, in 2009. “Mau” chemistry to German universities. are anymore. Pre-online, of course, there was Dekker had his Dutch connections, while Eric I didn’t know about Eric or about pre-1962 no Wikipedia or other information sources Proskauer retained his pre-war contacts with Interscience when I published an engineering that readers consider adequate substitutes for members of both the German and American monograph with Wiley-Interscience in 1968 reference works that carry publishers’ impri- scientific communities, so he, according to nor when I became an acquisitions editor for maturs, once universally considered guarantees Immigrant Publishers, was considered the professional-level mechanical and industrial of credibility and accuracy. And then there are reserved scholar and his partner the enterpris- engineering books in 1976. But over time, the journals. After World War II, publishers, like ing extrovert. Years later, Andy Neilly, put power of the chemistry books and journals that Interscience, Robert Maxwell, and Elsevier, the relationship this way: Mau was the money Interscience had brought to the merger with started core journals in major fields, like poly- man, while Eric was the editorial guy, an ideal Wiley became evident to me, although I didn’t mer science. Then came the research explosion combination in a publishing company. realize until much later that it was the Inter- that led to the journal paper explosion and to One of their first star authors was polymer science people’s knowledge of international the expansion of numbers of pages in core chemist Herman Mark, who was also an marketing and sales that made Wiley so much and other journals, which were accompanied expert in x-ray diffraction. Born to a Jewish stronger than it had been pre-merger. by rising prices per title and strains on library father in Vienna in 1895, Mark, a professor I did get to know Eric when he was in budgets, eventually considered by university of physical chemistry at the University of his eighties and I was then running Wiley’s administrators cost centers, whose budgets Vienna, was in trouble after Hitler’s annex- scientific and technical publishing. Every had to be restrained. For a time, the only way ation of Austria. In 1938, he and his family so often we would get together for lunch at you could steal a journal paper was by photo- made a daring escape across the Swiss border; the Chemists’ Club, which was then in a copying it, which was attacked successfully by eventually, he would land at Brooklyn Poly, gray fortress-like building, designed in the publishers. The Internet changed everything, where he developed the Polymer Research early 1900s by architects York and Sawyer, of course, including the perception among so Institute in 1946. at 52 East 41st Street in Manhattan, a short many researchers and others of how much The Interscience/Mark relationship started walk from Wiley’s offices, which were then value publishers really add to journal publish- with books. But in 1945 a periodical called on Third Avenue and 40th Street. Eric al- ing. While Eric Proskauer and his cohorts the Polymer Bulletin was founded. ways ordered what he called the were alive, there was moralizing about journal The following year, it evolved chopped steak. His judgments publishers’ profits, but there was no moralis- into the Journal of Polymer were always delivered with a tic Alexandra Elbakyan, who managed to Science, which remains a pow- grin. His explanation of the develop and popularize SCI-HUB. Back in erhouse to this day. In 1947 difference between a pile of the quaint pre-Internet days, when publishers two other Brooklyn Poly books and a pile of journals considered themselves gatekeepers, did anyone professors, chemist Ray- was memorable. Here’s the even dream of an author pays, open access mond Kirk and chemical gist of it: a pile of books business model for journal publishing, even engineer Donald Othmer, sits quietly, not demanding a successful one like PLOS (although PLOS worked with Interscience that you get to them right is taking some financial hits, according to re- on the first volumes of the away. Take your time with ports I’ve seen). And then there is European Encyclopedia of Chemical us, they say. Journals are a research funding agencies’ Plan S, which has Technology. Kirk-Oth- different story. When you more than a whiff of authoritarianism. How mer, as it became known, is another power- get a new issue, you immediately think, Have would Eric Proskauer and his cohorts have house. (Othmer is credited with more than I read the issue that’s been sitting in a pile for reacted to these threats to the independence of 150 U.S. patents, but much of the $750 million one month or three months, etc? And if the researchers and to the business model under fortune he accumulated during his long life issues begin to accumulate without having been which they thrived and provided valuable was due to the $25,000 he and his second read, I’ll feel more and more guilty. knowledge and information to readers? Would wife invested in a Warren Buffet partnership All of these men led full and long lives. they have fought these threats or would they in the early sixties. Thanks to Wikipedia for Eric Proskauer and Herman Mark both died have found ways to accommodate their work this tidbit.) in 1992, aged 89 and 97. Mau Dekker and to them? I wonder how these men would have Eric Proskauer and Mau Dekker re- Don Othmer both died in 1995 at the ages reacted to this environment. I wish we still had mained close for some time. They even of 96 and 91. At the time of their deaths, you their guidance.
50 Against the Grain / February 2019
Column Editor’s Note: Due to the senti- two weeks before during the holiday break. confirms the trends I have talked about ad mentality inducing effect of the holidays upon Hope sprang eternal not long after. nauseam before. It feels good to be trendy (it my usual stoic brain functions, the following The holidays usually fill me with a combi- helps with the nausea). narrative mostly waxes philosophical and nation of gloom and thoughtful pensiveness. In his book Present Shock Douglas Rus- contains little of the hard hitting technical Some might interpret this as depression, and hkoff observes that Alvin Toffler’s Future information historically associated with my it certainly suggests sadness. But, I would Shock is now here full blown and describes written accounts. Regular readers are en- describe this particular feeling this year as mel- the condition he calls digiphrenia — digitally couraged to interpret this article in this light ancholy… a good melancholy. It was a time provoked mental chaos. and to imagine that past columns actually of reflection and memory and more reflection. “We live in a continuous ‘now’ enabled contained hard hitting technical informa- This is a good thing to be sure I think, for I by Twitter, email, and a so-called re- tion. — JAS often find during these times of mental reflec- al-time technological shift. Yet this ‘now’ tion that I can be quite physically productive is an elusive goal that we can never quite really love it when I actually get to be a real in mundane activities such as sorting my sock reach. And the dissonance between our librarian. My first week back to work in drawer and going through my closet to throw digital selves and our analog bodies has the new year involved real librarian work. out clothes I have not worn in more than two thrown us into a new state of anxiety: I presidential administrations. My house gets present shock.” (from the cover) It involved touching real books. Really. You remember books — those things with sensual cleaned up at least… mostly. The resurgence of board games, indeed the spines and paper with words printed on them? While it is a good idea to stay away from whole movement back to analog (think turnta- I actually got to immerse myself in touching digital media in such productive times of deep bles, vinyl records, and mixed cassette tapes) and interacting with them like a librarian of reflection, the melancholy is eased — or even is a direct response to the whole information old — if only for an hour or two. It was a bitter positively enhanced — by listening to mind overload and immersion (drowning) in infor- sweet experience though, because my librarian soothing music or banter. Thus it was that mation and digital social media: digiphrenia. colleagues and I had assembled to rummage while contemplating differential sock colors, It is clear that the whole thing with libraries as through our print reference collection to weed I found myself listening to a thoughtful and new centers for community and new gathering out 90% of it. Alas, it was to be banished to the stimulating podcast. Since we are now over places for human interaction is part of this trend regular circulating collection. It seems that stu- three paragraphs into this article and I have yet as well. Golly, are librarians actually becoming dents and faculty of the 21st century rarely use to mention the word games, it may now come relevant and trendy? this rich source of reference material anymore. as little surprise to you that this was a podcast In the final paragraph of his bookRushkoff I could be cynical here and lament about how about games. To be precise it was a podcast suggests that one significant thing we can do no one uses print reference sources anymore and that reviewed board games. It is called “Shut as a society as a solution to our condition of Googles everything. But, while true, the fact is Up and Sit Down” and is hosted by three British digiphrenia is to “stop the demands on our that there exist many good online sources that lads from London. Because, where else would attention” and “create a safe space for unin- cover much of the material previously covered they be? In my opinion it is the best podcast terrupted contemplation” (p, 265). Rushkoff by our paper reference collection. While not about board games out there today bar none. was speaking metaphorically, but we certainly as tactilely satisfying as thumbing through a Anyway, this is not really an advert for that know such a real physical place that is fast multi-volume set of subject encyclopedias to podcast (though I do highly recommend it). becoming just such a “safe space.” Coffee be sure, these online sources of course allow Binge listening to these guys humorously and board game cafés have sprung up to satisfy quicker and more searchable access. Also, these and methodically reviewing and dissecting the social longing for analog contemplations great sources are only available via our library board games hour after hour over several and activities. But, we librarians have a three databases. So, take THAT, Google! days calmed me somehow. It was downright thousand year head start on these upstarts on But, while we have gained efficient access, soothing. Ok, call me retro, but the vision of providing the public a safe and comforting we have given up the soothing book aroma cross-table, face-to-face interaction and manip- gathering place for analog ruminations. As generated by gentle browsing… along with ulation of wooden blocks and rolling dice was we stock our libraries with board games and the whole concept of browsing itself it would actually soothing. I think that in my break from makerspaces to satisfy the social longing for seem. I was at least comforted by the fact that digital drowning, it satisfied a yearning for such things, I think it possible that our histori- our giant atlases have no peer in the digital tactile stimulation. But, even more it satisfied cal role as the guardians of books will serve us realm. Still, those rows of noble books des- a longing for the tactile interaction of fellow well into the future. Indeed, we shall become tined for even greater obscurity brought a tear humans. Ok, chalk this up to holiday nostalgia the guardians of analog. To be sure, if analog to my eye. I don’t think it was just the kicked and my overworked sense of sentimentality... games are enjoying such a resurging trend, can up book dust either. So, I ran my hands along and my analog obsession. After all, I still the resurgence of analog books be far behind? the spines of those titles and occasionally write paper checks. But, my epiphany merely Combine these two trends and — Great Guten- picked up a bulky volume that creaked in my berg’s ghost — we have the making of a mega hand as I teased open the pages. I had never trend! (Apologies to John Naisbitt.) Now I contemplated how satisfying was the act think I will go curl up with a good book, of slowly turning pages as I scanned the put on a mixed tape, and light my candles printed words. Great Gutenberg’s ghost, for the night. Maybe I shall even seek out I really am old school! To be fair this the company of real fellow human beings. hyper nostalgia and longing had started How positively retro.
Against the Grain / February 2019
nless you’re living under a rock and are each party before either side arrives at the victory and the buyer has not. This not aware of U.S. current events, may I table. I remember that when I had to review situation will cause bad feelings and Ube the first to tell you that we are in the contracts in my capacity as VP of Sales, I tried mistrust which is an outcome with midst of a government shutdown. This is due to to work out the details with the customer prior unpleasant overtones for both sides a stalemate occurring because neither political to sending it to legal counsel for final approval. and will be a pervasive presence for party seemingly wants to collaborate with one For example, every order form that the com- the near future. Not a good outcome. another to achieve a compromise solution to pany wanted the client to authorize had on the 3. Lose-Win which means that the an issue affecting our country. back of the form a full page of small print legal vendor has sold a product for much My column here at ATG is not a political items that the customer was inherently agreeing less money than they should have or one, so I will not take a stance with either side to when they authorized the order form. The accepted terms of the agreement that on their opinions, goals or strategies. I will one item that was an easy one for me to rectify will promise features of the product however, take exception to both sides for not in case of a customer question was the one that that are impossible to deliver. This quickly finding a solution spoke about the state in the occurs when the salesperson is far to the current dilemma U.S. where any future too liberal in granting discounts and/ that has 800,000 gov- lawsuits would be heard. or overselling the features/benefits of ernment employees The company wanted it the product in question. unable to meet their to be in the state of our 4. Lose-Lose which means that neither day-to-day expenses headquarters whereas side wins. A product was sold that due to a shutdown of the clients inevitably was ultimately not needed for a the government. In wanted any such legal price that didn’t make sense for both addition to the feder- matters to be decided parties. For everyone to walk away al employees who are in the courts of their dissatisfied is a terrible outcome. wondering when and if they can put food on state’s headquarters. The possibility of a law- When both sides lose, nobody wins the table, pay their rent/mortgage or heat their suit by a library over data presentation was a and that is not an outcome that nei- house, scores of contractors and shopkeepers long shot at best which is why when pressed, ther side should be willing to accept. that depend on the government workers to I usually gave in to the customers’ desire to So it really comes down to understanding spend their money at their establishments are change the state of possible litigation to theirs. the other person who is seated across from now suddenly short of cash, unable to meet By doing so, I gave them a minor victory on you at the negotiating table. In my opinion, their business expenses. the road to a final deal. If I had to, later on humanizing the process is a key element in the in the process I could point to that victory as Before any serious negotiation can begin, process. The questions that must be posed to a “win” for them proving my willingness to both sides need to subscribe to the concept of oneself prior to the meeting are: bargaining in good faith. Both sides obviously compromise as we negotiated for another part have goals that may be comprised of a mon- of the agreement that I needed to win. After all, • Who this person (or persons) I am etary amount needed to undertake a project negotiations mean a “win-win” for both sides. about to meet with and how did their or a date of completion of that project or any The reality is that there are only four out- professional path get them here? number of additional objectives. Both sides comes to every negotiation. • What are their business and personal also need to realize that they probably will 1. Win-Win which means that both goals? If you don’t know those not get all the items they want to accomplish. sides will come away with what goals, simply ask them. With that in mind, each one needs to come to they perceive of as a victory for • What backgrounds do they come the table completely prepared for good faith their side. In other words, both sides here with? Because after all, we all bargaining with the realization that each side win H. No matter the organization, are products of our environment, will have to give in a little. we all have someone to answer to. which means who our parents were, Preparation includes assembling a team of There will be someone or a group where we grew up and how we experts to provide facts and figures to plead of people who will either approve pursued our education make us the their case to the other party. Preparation also or disapprove of our work. Both person we are today. All of us are includes knowing and understanding what the sides need to go to their respective unique individuals with our own, best possible goals could be. Realistically, in organizations with the negotiated personal DNA. We may think the a serious negotiation, a secondary and perhaps deal and present the outcome as a other person seated across from us is tertiary fallback position must be planned for win for their side. not worthy of our efforts to hammer and that eventual outcome that will be amena- 2. Win-Lose which means that the out an agreement, but the reality is ble is required. To go into any negotiation with vendor has won because they sold that the organization has chosen the no fallback positions is foolhardy and most a product for far more money than person we must work with, so get assuredly will diminish the odds of coming they had anticipated. The buyer over it. As one of my favorite sales to a mutually acceptable agreement or any loses by eventually realizing that guys on my team used to say “get agreement at all. they are committing to spend more over yourself!” It’s not about you. Sometimes, however, the negotiations in- money than they actually had to. It’s about coming to an agreement. volve a contract of obligations. Usually, there This situation will be rectified when • What do I think I can do that will are many parts to the document under review. the oversold product comes up for ingratiate myself to this person? In virtually every negotiation of this type, the renewal in the following year, but for Everyone has interests that they document in question has been reviewed by the moment the vendor has gained a continued on page 53
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like to speak about. Part of the process is not speaking about oneself, but listening to the other person speaking about themselves and their goals. It’s better to listen than to monopolize the conversa- tion when trying to find common ground to build upon. • How can I keep myself from be- ing negative? To me, the most important part of any negotiation is not buying into a negative tone. Rhetoric aside, no one wins if you have to defend yourself from negative comments made by your counterpart. It’s easy to fall into dredging up the past or blaming others or being uncooperative due to the pressures of the moment, but these attitudes never work. Always be positive and know who you are dealing with. When I managed sales teams, I often asked the reps to communicate with their peers working for our competitors. Rather than tear down the competition, try to find out how their products and services differ from ours and always take the high road when speaking about similar products to customers. I instituted the “take a competitor to lunch” program which instructed my salespeople to interact with other salespeople at our compet- itors. The knowledge gained at those lunches was immeasurable as well as built a degree of camaraderie. I did the same, often dining improving negotiation skills for librarians available on Amazon, Information Today with VPs of other information companies and salespeople. His book, “Buying in print and eBook, Amazon Kindle, B&N which were our competition. My opening and Selling Information: A Guide for Nook, Kobo, Apple iBooks, OverDrive, 3M line was always, “can you give me some ad- Information Professionals and Salespeople Cloud Library, Gale (GVRL), MyiLibrary, vice….?” Eliciting someone’s advice helps to Build Mutual Success” has become the ebrary, EBSCO, Blio, and Chegg. www. to lower barriers and creates a cooperative definitive book on negotiation skills and is gruenbergconsulting.com tone. At the negotiating table, asking the other person’s advice indicates a strong desire to come to a mutually acceptable agreement. The bottom line is that both parties need to be well prepared, have their facts straight and realize that they must be willing to take less than expected as an outcome. More new stuff! The ATG team of Leah Rumors Hinds and Tom Gilson attended ALA As usual, I will end this column with a from page 34 Midwinter in Seattle. Were you there? If song quote. This one comes from the hit you missed it, see the report at https://www. musical “Hamilton” written by Lin-Man- joined RELX Group, Elsevier’s parent com- against-the-grain.com/2019/01/atg-news- uel Miranda. The title is “The Election pany, in 2004 as part of Legal and Risk & announcements-from-ala-midwinter-1-29-19/. of 1800.” The lyrics are most appropriate Business Analytics, where she held several for the subject matter at hand. “Well I’ll be senior strategy and operational roles. In 2012, damned; you won in a landslide. Congrats she was appointed Chief Strategy Officer of on a race well run. I did give you a fight uh RELX Group, with Elsevier as the group’s CORRECTION: The Rumor about huh; I look forward to our partnership.” largest business. Following her childhood Prenax that was published in the Dec. 2018- in Turkey, Kumsal attended university in Jan. 2019 issue of ATG (v.30#6, p.65) was the United States. She holds an MBA from inaccurate. We retract it and apologize. Mike is currently the Managing Partner Harvard Business School and is a graduate of Gruenberg Consulting, LLC, a firm he of the University of California at Berkeley. founded in January 2012 after a successful France is her adopted country as she is married career as a senior sales executive in to a Frenchman. Currently, she lives in the the information industry. His firm is UK with her husband and two children and is devoted to provide clients with sales staff a dual citizen of Turkey and France. analysis, market research, executive https://www.elsevier.com/connect/elsevi- coaching, trade show preparedness, product er-welcomes-a-new-ceo placement and best practices advice for
Against the Grain / February 2019
Column Editor: Jack G. Montgomery (Professor, Coordinator, Collection Services, Western Kentucky University Libraries)
Column Editor’s Note: Podcasts are to “Making” in 2018 opened up the podcast to Getting Curious with Jonathan Van the early 21st century what radio and early creative professionals of all types. Ness — https://www.earwolf.com/show/ TV was to our mid-20th-century grandparents. The Stranded Podcast — https://www. getting-curious-with-jonathan-van-ness/ — We can access them anywhere, anytime, and youtube.com/user/amyflorence14. Amy Flor- Jonathan Van Ness, the flamboyant groom- on virtually any subject. We can subscribe to ence is a 28-year-old self-employed yarn dyer ing guru from the Netflix reality show Queer podcasts on iTunes and Google Play through living on the south coast of England. On her Eye, has always been curious about how the our mobile phones, or we can listen online via weekly video podcast, she discusses knitting, world works. In this entertaining and diverse our laptops, tablets, or smart speakers. Most crocheting, spinning, and running her own series, Van Ness brings in experts to discuss podcasts are audio only, although some have business out of her garage. a wide variety of topics, with titles such as video versions or are video only. “Who Was the Beyoncé of Renaissance Art?” Education and “What’s The Cutest Way to Fight Climate Traditional media — radio and TV — has The Cult of Pedagogy — https://www. Change?” adapted to mobile access by developing cultofpedagogy.com/pod/. Jennifer Gon- Nerdificent — https://www.nerdificent. podcasts from popular programs. Popular zalez, educator, blogger, and creator of the podcast apps include Apple Podcasts/iTunes, com/ — Comedians Dani Fernandez and web resource Cult of Pedagogy, speaks to Ify Nwadiwe take deep dives into all things Google Play, Podbean, iHeartRadio, Player students, teachers, parents, and administrators FM, Stitcher, and more. “nerdy” in the podcast Nerdificent. With “about psychological and social dynamics of topics ranging from Comic Con to bitcoin Podcasts continue to grow in popularity school, trade secrets, and other juicy things to queer representation in geek culture, Fer- along with smart speakers, according to a you’ll never learn in a textbook.” This savvy nandez and Nwadiwe present information in 2018 Infinite Dial study from Edison Re- podcast is well worth listening to for a variety a manner that is entertaining and informative search and Triton Digital — https://www. of views and discussions on the ever-evolving for nerds and non-nerds alike. edisonresearch.com/infinite-dial-2018/. world of education. Data shows that 44% of Americans aged 12 The Allusionist — https://www.theallu- Family and over have listened to a podcast, a gain sionist.org/. Helen Zaltzman, an award-win- One Bad Mother — https://www.maxi- of 4% over 2017. ning podcaster located in London, UK, mumfun.org/shows/one-bad-mother — Biz This Wandering the Web column looks discusses the growth and development of the Ellis and Theresa Thorn are mothers who at a variety of random podcasts on topics of English language. Selected as iTunes’ best new aren’t afraid to dig down to the nitty-gritty. interest to library patrons and staff. From podcast in the year 2015, Zaltzman reveals They focus on frankness in discussing parent- comedy to pets, education to sports, and more, how England’s colonialist history, combined ing trials and tribulations, striving to shift the sit back, relax, adjust your earbuds, and enjoy with “tiny idiosyncratic decisions” from the conversation about motherhood from a place these popular podcasts! There are lots of top language’s speakers have shaped English into of judgment to one of camaraderie. podcast of the year lists on various topics, too, the messy amalgam of grammar and syntax that it is today. Zen Parenting Radio — https://zenparent- so start making up your own lists with these ingradio.com/ — Separately, Cathy Adams is as a possible starting point. — JM The House of #EdTech — https://chris- a licensed clinical social worker, therapist, and nesi.com/ — Chris Nesi explores how tech- sociology instructor at Dominican University nology impacts education. Topics include and Elmhurst College and Todd Adams is Crafts discussion of good teaching, early childhood a certified life coach focused on supporting Craft-ish with Vickie Howell — https:// and technology, pre-service teachers’ need for work/life balance for men. Together, they are vickiehowell.com/craftish/. Author, designer, more exposure to ed tech tools, creativity and a married couple with three daughters, and and television personality Vickie Howell is critical thinking, and tips for growing ed tech co-hosts of the Zen Parenting Radio podcast. best known for her knitting television pro- skills over long summer breaks. The two use their personal and professional grams on DIY Network and PBS. On her Entertainment experience to build a community through independent podcast Craft-ish, Howell speaks You Must Remember This — http://www. this podcast focused on ideals of peaceful to crafters and designers in many fields about youmustrememberthispodcast.com/ — You parenting. their motivations and histories in crafting, as Must Remember This, as the tagline states Mom and Dad Are Fighting — https:// well as how they balance crafting with other at the beginning and end of every episode, is slate.com/human-interest/mom-and-dad-are- parts of life. a podcast about “the secret and/or forgotten fighting — Rebecca LaVoie, Gabriel Roth, Making — https://makingzine.com/. history of Hollywood’s first century.” Host and Carvell Wallace of Slate present this Formerly the Woolful Podcast, host Ashley Karina Longworth focuses on accuracy when podcast where they discuss parenting triumphs Yousling meets with creative professionals approaching topics on the behind-the-scenes and fails, as well as pertinent interviews and and “makers” to discuss their personal jour- world that shaped cinema in the 20th Century. news items. Topics hit across the parenting neys with creation. The podcast was formerly The podcast is released in seasons that focus spectrum, including topics such as board limited to fiber arts so the back catalog is full on a single topic or era of Hollywood’s histo- games, the teenage boy obsession with the of knitters, spinners, quilters, and even sheep ry, making it easy for new listeners to find a “friend zone,” and daycare. farmers, but the change from “Woolful” to starting point. continued on page 55
54 Against the Grain / February 2019
Library Analytics: Shaping the Future — What’s Next Column Editors: John McDonald (EBSCO Information Services)
hen we began this column just over present the now-un-siloed information the assumptions, better understand user behavior a year ago, we were interested in library provides to students and researchers and make decisions that were easy to test Wlooking at analytics and how they through its discovery service. Common issues because they never represented a wholescale were impacting, or would impact, the future of surrounding privacy prevailed, but librarians change but rather an iteration of the Bento libraries. We looked at the information we had spun up a cross-departmental research team Box presentation. about user behavior and how people searched, to bring together librarians and programmers In April, Kristen Tepfer, Senior Marketing the results of our user research studies and to address assumptions and the status quo. Manager from SAGE Publishing, wrote about the information we gleaned from our search Using a Bento Box approach, the research the Customer Value Reports that SAGE creates systems. We endeavored to be mindful of the team experimented with guerilla testing to for customers. These CVRs present multiple issues inherent in analytics, including privacy. reach students outside the library space and metrics to customers so they can make deci- In the past year we have showcased colleges played with the language and terminology sions based on data including usage, turnaways and universities doing research related to their being displayed. Researchers found some sur- and faculty reactions. The goal is to help li- own users as they introduce new technology, prises that challenged their assumptions about braries show the value of their investments with publishers providing information to help librar- the information that should be presented, the publisher. One of the benefits to libraries is ies make decisions, how libraries and service but with analytics to back up those findings, that these reports can be prepared for them and providers balance the need for information with decisions were easier to make. Iteration was do not draw from library staff resources while the need for privacy, consortial considerations a common theme as the Smith College Li- providing a useful tool that librarians can use to around usage data for shared collections, how brary research team determined that whether indicate how users are engaging with their con- libraries use data and analytics to influence addressing the language used, the databases tent and by showcasing areas of high usage and institutional decision makers and how libraries being recognized (or not being recognized), or areas where usage may need encouragement. can build an analytics culture. In the future, we the optimal amount of content to be presented The reports also provide librarians with insight plan to address the ways additional librarians on the homepage, an iterative approach was into their faculty members by showing faculty and providers approach analytics and the issues determined to be better than continuing to contributions to journals in library collections. surrounding them with the goal of continuing to force redesigns en masse. Another common While the CVRs are an important offering to answer the questions, and highlight the issues theme was understanding the user. By intro- librarians looking to make collection decisions, surrounding the future of libraries and analytics. ducing new ideas (e.g., searching by subject SAGE also leverages the information for its We initially interviewed Rob O’Connell area rather than by database name) and by own product management decision making as from Smith College Libraries. Smith Col- observing what did and didn’t work (e.g., it prioritizes the enhancements the company lege uses EBSCO Discovery Service and did drop down menus that users ignored), the makes to its platform and offerings. extensive user testing to determine how to best research team was able to challenge its own continued on page 57 56 Against the Grain / February 2019
Column Editor’s Note: Because of space limitations, this is an abridged version of the report on this conference. You can read the full article at https://www.against-the-grain.com/2018/05/2018-fie- sole-collection-development-retreat/. — DTH
eautiful Barcelona was the site for the 2018 Fiesole Collection Development Retreat, sponsored by The Charleston Company Band Against the Grain, and hosted by the Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF) and Casalini Libri. 2018 marked the 20th anniversary of the retreat series. Its aim is to host talks about the future of libraries, publishing, collections, and scholarship. The small group size, around 80 attendees, paired with a schedule that is structured to allow time for thoughtful discussion and rumination on the topics, gives Fiesole an Glòria Pérez-Salmerón, President of IFLA (L), being environment unlike any other industry event. introduced by Ann Okerson, Senior Advisor to the The Retreat began with a preconference session on Digital Human- Center for Research Libraries (R). ities and Digital Scholarship convened by Dr. Andreas Degwitz from the Library of Humboldt University, Berlin. Preconference presentations: Session One: Special and Cultural Collections. • Marian Lefferts, Consortium of European Research Li- Ramon Abad Hiraldo, Universidad de Zaragoza — Thinking braries: Europe’s cultural heritage in print and manuscript about Library Collections in Spain in the 21st century supporting Digital Humanities. • His library has moved in just a few years from a print library • Peter Foster, GALE: “How GALE is supporting Digital to an electronic library, spending 80% of the budget on e-re- Humanities, some case studies.” sources and only 20% on print. • Laurent Romary, INRIA – DARIAH: “Fine tuning the • Challenges and Directions: disruption caused by changes in interface between research and libraries: the data re-use acquisition models and licensing vs. purchasing. Librarians charter.” are not comfortable with the new “big deal.” The eBook • Núria Bel, University Pompeu Fabra – Barcelona: “Natural market in Spain is uncertain; there is a distrust of publishers language processing for Digital Humanities.” despite eBook production increase by 26% of published titles. • Susanne Dalsgaard Krag, University of Aarhus: “Open • A dichotomy between patron-driven models vs. a curatorial Science and Digital Scholarship – Libraries’ role and staff approach results in the unavailability of eBooks for student use skills required.” (recommended readings are often not offered electronically). • Lluís Anglada, Consortium of University Services of Angela Carreno, New York University — Evolving Strategies Catalonia, and Ángel Borrego, University of Barcelona: for Area Studies and Foreign Language Collecting in the 21st Century “Developing Digital Scholarship in Spanish libraries.” • The Manhattan Research Library Initiative (MaRLI) is a joint • Julien Roche, University of Science and Technology – Lille: borrowing program between the New York Public Library, “Towards a copyright exception of text and data mining for NYU and Columbia University.2 public research in Europe.” • “Our shared collection will be a research resource greater A common theme throughout the presentations was the number of than the sum of its parts.” (quote from Carol Mandel, NYU challenges faced across the different countries and institution types. Dean of Libraries) Some of the challenges were internal, such as budget cutbacks, staff • Joint licensing agreements that help expand the breadth of our resistance to change, bringing in new staff, management issues, etc. collecting efforts = 3 electronic + 1 print copy (3 e + 1 p) More often the challenges were external, such as government directives Michael Levine-Clark, University of Denver — Reflections on and funding issues. Primary Sources and Special Collections in the 21st century Keynote Address • “Special Collections are more important than they ever have The keynote presentation was an update by Glòria Pérez-Salmerón, been, and we need to think about them differently than we Diputació de Barcelona, IFLA President, and Presidenta de have before.” FESABID on the IFLA Global Vision • 4 trends: increased investment in special collections, rede- Report Summary. IFLA conducted fining special collections, growth of digital primary source a survey and received 21,772 votes collections, and interplay between traditional and digital. from 190 UN member states across • “Digital collections are homogeneous collections.” Most all generations and library types. libraries in North America have the same databases, and every- The key findings of the survey one has access to Google and Wikipedia. Special collections were, “We are united globally in add diversity, make collections stand out, and give students a our goals and values,” and, “We special experience. must connect global and local • Does the widespread availability of digital primary source col- actions effectively.” The top 10 lections make special collections less special? Or not special highlights and challenges are at all? Or does it change the emphasis of special collections? available as a PDF download.1 continued on page 59
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Against the Grain / February 2019
• ORCID and Metadata 2020 are both examples of collaboration across the industry, in addition to many more. • ORCID launch partners included not-for-profits and commer- cial companies of various sizes, as well as several colleges and universities. Board members are similarly spread across the spectrum. • Metadata 2020 is “a collaboration that advocates richer, connected, and reusable, open metadata for all research out- puts, which will advance scholarly pursuits for the benefit of society.” Excerpt of closing session slides from Stephen Rhind-Tutt. Bob Boissy, Springer Nature — Cooperative Marketing: Case Studies in Collaboration to Drive Usage of Scholarly Content The 2018 program, speaker biographies, and slides are all available 9 • Differences between cooperative and traditional marketing: on the Fiesole Retreats repository. The 21st Fiesole Retreat will be held in Fiesole, Italy from April 3-5, 2019. Its theme is “Our Shared Open Future: Building from Tradition.” The preliminary program and more information is available now on the Fiesole Retreats website.10
Donald T. Hawkins is an information industry freelance writer based in Pennsylvania. In addition to blogging and writing about conferences for Against the Grain, he blogs the Computers in Libraries and Internet Librarian conferences for Information To- day, Inc. (ITI) and maintains the Conference Calendar on the ITI Website (http://www.infotoday.com/calendar.asp). He is the Editor of Personal Archiving: Preserving Our Digital Heritage, (Informa- tion Today, 2013) and Co-Editor of Public Knowledge: Access and Benefits (Information Today, 2016). He holds a Ph.D. degree from the University of California, Berkeley and has worked in the online information industry for over 45 years. Leah H. Hinds was appointed Executive Director of the Charleston • Examples of cooperative marketing: Conference in 2017, and has served in various roles with the Charles- ° Library branding, including notations embedded in re- ton Information Group, LLC since 2004. Prior to working for the sources that indicate “...access to this content is enabled by conference, she was Assistant Director of Graduate Admissions for Northwestern University Libraries.” the College of Charleston for four years. She lives in a small town near Columbia, SC with her husband and two kids where they raise ° Sustainable Marketing tackles known issues, follows up by email and in person at conferences (i.e., the Charlotte a menagerie of farm animals. Initiative) ° Helping to get people into the library with special events, etc.
Endnotes 1. https://www.ifla.org/files/assets/GVMultimedia/publications/gv-re- port-summary.pdf 2. https://www.nypl.org/help/research-services/MaRLI 3. https://www.jisc.ac.uk/guides/code-of-practice-for-learning-analytics 4. https://www.library.manchester.ac.uk/using-the-library/students/ library-it-services/digilab/ 5. https://www.library.manchester.ac.uk/using-the-library/students/ training-and-skills-support/my-learning-essentials/ 6. https://scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2018/04/19/ask-chefs-what-writ- ing-5-years-from-now/ 7. http://dx.doi.org/10.17613/M6156F 8. http://atgthepodcast.libsyn.com/atgthepodcast-060-interview-with- stephen-rhind-tutt-and-2018-fiesole-retreat-recap 9. http://www.casalini.it/retreat/retreat_2018.asp 10. https://www.casalini.it/retreat/retreat_2019.asp
Closing Session presented by Stephen Rhind-Tutt, founder of Al- exander Street Press, a ProQuest company, and President of Fairfax House, a consultancy in electronic information product development. Stephen graciously agreed to recap his presentation for ATG: The Podcast,8 so listen to episode 60 for details on this as well as Virtual Reality, ProQuest and Alexander Street, and more.
60 Against the Grain / February 2019
Overview Appendix 1 (see p.64) provides sample statistics and attempts to With thousands of archival collections prioritized for digitization and quantify some of the past large-scale digitization initiatives completed numerous grant opportunities for external funding, large-scale digitiza- on the Phase One Rapid Capture system. tion is on the rise. That’s an exciting trend — from users’ perspective, The Technology it makes rare, fragile, historical, local and research-significant materials readily available online. Users nowadays want to find all their research The UNLV Digital Collections staff utilizes the innovative technol- materials on the web, and digital librarians are working hard to meet the ogy Phase One Rapid Capture system (https://dtculturalheritage.com/ demand for digitization and to provide access to archival collections. flat-art-loose-material) for the majority of digitization projects. The system is comprised of an 80 megapixel digital back, a reprographic copy Large-scale digitization is a great initiative; however, it brings stand with lights, a film kit with a lightbox and holders, and integrated challenges to the digital librarians. The main question that emerges is: software specially designed for cultural heritage institutions (see Figures “How do we streamline the process to make it efficient and optimal?” 1-4). It is a powerful tool in large-scale capturing of various archival It also brings a subset of other questions that cause some anxiety: “What materials. This set-up digitizes materials in sizes as large as 30” x 40” technology should be used? What’s the best workflow? How do we down to 35 mm sized images and captures both reflective and trans- troubleshoot issues and address challenges?” and so on. missive materials. The camera is equipped with two Schneider lenses: This article is far from being comprehensive on the topic; it’s rather a 72 mm lens used for the digitization of reflective materials, with a a case study based on one librarian’s experience that shares some of the scanning resolution ranging from 300 to 600 ppi, and a 120 mm lens practices, issues, challenges and tips related to making the digitization used for the digitization of transparencies, with a scanning resolution process more robust. They are universal and equally helpful for large- from 600 to 3,000 ppi. scale and smaller scale projects. UNLV Digital Collections and Digitization Stats UNLV Digital Collections (http://digital.library.unlv.edu) is a de- partment in UNLV Libraries Special Collections & Archives division (https://www.library.unlv.edu/speccol). The internationally renowned UNLV Libraries Special Collections & Archives houses over 11,000 linear feet of unique archival collections, over 32,000 rare books and periodicals, and over 1,800 maps. It is located in the main campus library — Lied Library (https://www.library.unlv.edu/about/quick-facts- about-unlv-libraries). The Digital Collections department has 5 full-time permanent staff (faculty and professional), 6 part-time student assistants, 1 full-time visiting faculty and 3 full-time temporary professional staff. Each digitization project is unique and requires different team configurations. Sometimes, there is a project manager and 1 to 3 student assistants; other projects are entirely run by students and managed by a student supervisor; still others are digitized by faculty or professional staff as proof-of-concept and workflow improvement projects. Digital Collections is a very collaborative department and staff not directly involved in digitization still contribute with their expertise — the metadata librarian and the visual materials curator are always Figure 1: Phase One Capture Station, Set Up for Loose available to share their knowledge, consult on project workflows and Manuscript Digitization at 300 Dpi provide help if needed. UNLV Digital Collections is frequently awarded various digitization The capture station is powered by the mighty Phase One Capture grants and external funding. The grant-funded digitization projects are One Cultural Heritage edition software (https://dtculturalheritage.com/ usually comprised of professional level project managers and specially capture-one-ch). With unique features like auto crop, auto rotation, and hired project technician or student assistants. LAB color readouts, the software allows for instant capture of materials It is hard to quantify the digitization turnover per year — it depends placed under the camera, quick global editing, and final output, produc- on the number of active digitization projects and available funding, as ing digital surrogates of finest quality. Images are saved on an external well as the digitization speed, which directly relates to the condition SSD drive and seamlessly backed up on a separate large hard drive. of the materials and the level of processing of the archival collections. continued on page 62
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Figure 3: Phase One Set Up for Film Capturing
Figure 2: Phase One Camera Set Up with 72Mm Schneider Lens
Furthermore, UNLV Digital Collections has two separate editing stations allowing for continuous capturing, even while other staff are preparing and outputting their final archival tiffs. Types of Archival Materials and Major Peculiarities in Their Digitization The Phase One Cultural Heritage capture station has vast possibil- ities for digitizing a variety of materials. The ease of use and the speed of capturing have turned it into the preferred digitization technology in our department. The Phase One is so universal and suitable for multiple formats that we have made it our top choice for most projects, and we keep an availability calendar, because it is in such high demand! UNLV Special Collections and Archives has unique archival col- lections that are a blend of multiple formats and sizes. The Phase One allows us to rapidly digitize most collections regardless of the format and the size of the materials. Rarely, for oversized items that go beyond Figure 4: Magnetic Holders for Digitalization the table surface and cannot be captured at 300 ppi, we use a special large-format scanner. of Transparencies Some archival material types and their peculiarities are outlined below. During capturing flat reflective materials, bound reflective ma- Bound materials are typed or handwritten books, manuscripts, photo terials and transmissive materials patterns emerge and twist the general albums, and scrapbooks with various content (anything from photos to digitization workflow. newspaper clippings and 3D objects). Usually the smoothest digitization process is capturing flat reflec- • Reflective materials tive materials. When all materials are properly arranged and named, Reflective materials fall in two main categories: flat and bound. capturing happens rapidly. Unexpected issues are generally easy to Flat materials are photographs and loose manuscripts such as cor- troubleshoot. Some challenges include flattening out folded or curled respondences, scripts, drafts, sketches. They vary in color, from black manuscripts, taking photographs out of protective sleeves, capturing and white to full color prints. They also range in size from thumbnails faded ink, or handling items with torn edges, etc. to large posters. continued on page 63
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have long thought about change manage- forecast the weather Saginaw River. The ment in libraries, especially after I navi- a bit more credence lone rower on that still I gated my own operation from a traditional given my admiration morning — May 28th, library a few years ago to one that is virtually of all members of 2015 — provided the virtual (I think I like that phrase). We have 20 the Sciuridae family. perfect setting for a books — reference books that we need. We Second, on the other great picture. You used to have 150,000 volumes. You proably hand, the work that could see the amazing do not want to hear me talk about it again. But the groundhog does reflection of the boat, what I do feel that I want to talk about is how can be done by just oars and the sculler we got there. If there is one primary job that about any other ani- in the perfectly still an academic library director has, it is managing mal — or a stick. I water. That picture and navigating change as our libraries evolve. think squirrels would remains one of my I have broken down change management do a fine job, as evidenced by the picture favorites and it does a good job in illustrating into six key terms that I will be exploring: with this column. All you have to do is cast change management as we would like to see. inevitability, rapidity, flexibility, hospitality, a shadow. Actually, you can just look up and The sculler is moving over open water with the accountability, and empathy — especially in see if the sun is out. Done. And third, we are only ripples coming from her own actions. The the context of institutional culture and identity. not using Groundhog Day as a way to see IF still water does nothing but reflect her effort Through these six terms, we can explore how change is coming, but WHEN. and there are no obstacles in her way. There to best manage your operation in even less than This is the part that actually ties to the theme seemed to be very few external factors at play optimal conditions. of this column, dealing with change. Or more in that photo. For this column, I am going to write about directly, managing change when it arrives. The While the conference was excellent, two inevitability of change and what it all means. groundhog is not telling you the direction or things stick with me. First, the city itself But first, two diversions. the likelihood of change, but really just talking seems to be stuck in the 19th Century. While about the speed with which it is coming. I do that can be quaint and wonderful to look at, it Our Most Famous Sciuridae not believe that indicating that Spring is not also struct me that it was not right. There are Last weekend, we celebrated one of our coming is part of the superstition. The only few other vibrant cities in Michigan that look most time honored traditions involving a question might be how long do I need to keep like they did 100 years ago. It was almost as if member of the squirrel family and the weather. my sweaters out. progress and change was avoided by all costs. That’s right, you guessed it. Groundhog’s Day. I started thinking about how many cities have A very strange annual occurrence when the at- A Visit to Bay City lost many of their older buildings to newer tention of everyone in the States seems to look In thinking about change, I am also drawn to ones. A reason for this might be the desire to towards Western Pennsylvania for a prediction two memories that I have from my visit to Bay have newer or larger buildings in the downtown on the rest of the winter. Are we in store for City, Michigan. Back in 2015, I attended the area. This could be driven by many things, but an early Spring, or will Winter linger on and on Michigan Library Association’s Academic typically it seems that it is driven by the result and on? This seems to be a popular tradition Libraries Conference in Bay City, Michigan. of a community growing. And that might be celebrated by the two countries of North Amer- Bay City is considered part of Michigan’s the case in Bay City, where the population has ica who feel that a wall between them would Tri-cities area with Saginaw and Midland been steadily falling since the 1960s. You can just be stupid: United States and Canada. The and is located around two hours northwest of see that with empty storefronts and buildings tradition comes from the Pennsylvania Dutch Detroit near the Thumb. (Have someone from that are not utilized to their fullest. While you community who surmise that if a groundhog Michigan explain that to you someday). I had might be love the fact that it looks like you are “...sees its shadow due to clear weather, it will never been to Bay City before and relished the walking back in history, it could reflect stag- retreat to its den and winter will persist for six opportunity to visit. I had some time to walk nation and an economy that is not poised for more weeks, and if it does not see its shadow around and what struck me was how many growth. So in this regard, while we have not because of cloudiness, spring will arrive early.”1 older buildings are still standing there. Center been asked to change might be seen as a plus, To be honest, I am not sure if the ground- Avenue is adorned with beautiful older build- the reality is that with a shrinking population hog in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania (the most ings that take you back to when the city had a and vacant real estate, your proposects might famous of all the groundhogs) saw his shadow booming economy back in the 19th Century. not be all that great. or not. For that matter, I am not even sure that Walking in downtown near the river gave the Second, we like to think of change like a Punxsutawney Phil impression of a city sculler operating on the waters on a beautiful is a male or female that looks more simi- still morning. This is not realistic. We do not groundhog, but I am lar the way it did 100 function in a vacuum and are often responding sure of a few things years ago than many to the other stimuli and factors. Especially in related to this event. other cities. For a his- libraries, we are forced to manage through First, groundhogs are tory geek, this seemed change that is being thrust upon us. There part of the squirrel like a perfect place to might be a variety of factors here, but we are family (or Sciuridae talk and take pictures. rarely in control of our own destiny. There if we are being tech- I even had a op- are practically no academic libraries I know of nical). So in that re- portunity while I was where the administration has not moved into gard, I am going to there to see some- their space a new office or group. We do not give its abilities to one sculling on the continued on page 66
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challenges and clog the pipeline. Collection materials differ in size Biz of Digital and format, technologies bring challenges, and some archival materials from page 64 have more issues and require more attention than others. The team factor plays an important role as well — staff training, staff turnover, familiarity with archival materials types promotes better planning and and equipment scheduling to maximize efficiency. collection assessment to customize general workflows as needed. Although for some projects we have achieved a high rate of pro- Iteration plays a key role in constantly improving digitization work- ductivity and speed, we need to remain flexible and remember that the flows and achieving products of the highest quality. It also reduces the same approach may not perform so well on another project even after time for completion and optimizes the team size to conclude the project. careful tailoring. We aim to be efficient and productive but we should It includes testing new methods, trying new strategies on various types of always remain open to the unexpected and embrace every challenge materials, learning from past mistakes, and documenting best practices. as a learning opportunity; it will enhance our future performance and No process will ever be perfectly streamlined as we all know there will equip us with more troubleshooting tools and problem-resolution is no “one size fits all.” As digital librarians, we strive for efficiency techniques. and boosted productivity, yet there are so many variables that bring continued on page 69 66 Against the Grain / February 2019
Introduction the Victoria & Albert Museum. She also has In & Out: A Marble Book required further James Madison University Libraries’ curated exhibitions such as Science and the study. Additional information turned up in a Special Collections acquired a large and Artists’ Book for the Smithsonian Institution. traveling exhibition catalog, Books & Book- ends: Sculptural Approaches, 1989-1991, important collection of artists’ books in the The Process Fall of 2015. The influx of unprocessed and by Barton and Henry Barrow. The patent unique items created an immediate backlog After two separate trips to Barton’s Mary- McClintock took as inspiration was Raymond with multiple challenges: gaining intellectual land farmhouse, gaining intellectual control Crawford’s “Marble raceway design no. control with a customized inventory while over the collection was paramount. The many 256,811,” and this information was included still making the items available to researchers, boxes of books were unpacked, cleaned, sorted as a note in the record. Another exciting find prepping the books for cataloging with student alphabetically by artist/author, and placed in a in the collection was Yum cone: One Offset assistants unfamiliar with metadata standards, folder with a control number assigned to each Book by Marisha Simons. The packaging for fabricating custom housings for books with item. A year later, the books were prepped for this little gem led us to believe that it was de- non-traditional shapes and sizes, and creating cataloging with a spreadsheet. The spreadsheet signed for consumption via vending machine, searchable catalog records. identified: possibly “Art-o-mat” (artomat.org) sponsored • Control number (i.e., CB-AB-0001) by Artists in Cellophane (AIC). Background • Title James Madison University Libraries’ • Artist/author Special Collections began acquiring artists’ books in 2008 with a modest purchase of fifteen • Dimensions titles from the Women’s Studio Workshop • Publisher featured in an exhibit in the campus Art Gal- • Description lery. The collection grew incrementally after • Format inception with purchase funds contributed • Subject areas from liaison librarian budgets and transfers from stacks. In the Fall of 2015, Carol Bar- Specifically, format was ton’s personal collection of artists’ books was described according to Allison acquired which increased our holdings from Jai’s Artists’ Book Thesaurus roughly 100 titles to over 400. The timing created for the Art Libraries was fortuitous because Spring 2015 marked Society of North America the official launch of the cross-disciplinary (ARLIS/NA). To be most effi- Book Arts Minor AND the opening of the Book cient, a tag team approach was Arts Lab in the School of Art, Design & Art used with one person handling History’s Studio Center. the book and another typing directly into the spreadsheet. Artists’ books are contemporary phenom- In addition to the Thesaurus, an ena that are often playful in both their context illustrated glossary of 183 terms In & Out: A Marble Book and format. They are incredible teaching tools was developed in-house to assist by Richard McClintock for tackling complex social issues such as with local descriptions. race, environmental studies, and feminism in Lessons Learned innovative ways. Humor and double entendre Collaboration between staff from Metadata are used effectively to jar us from complacency Strategies, Special Collections, and Preserva- Originally, we thought that the automatic and the status quo. Artists’ books can be many tion began with a series of emails and meetings entry of records versus singular record creation things: one of a kind objects, small hand let- regarding bibliographic record fields with sam- would be possible based on the level of detail terpress editions, larger commercially-printed ple records created for review. The workflow in the spreadsheet. However, there were too works, and sculptural objects that push the began to take shape: a box of artists’ books was many variables within the metadata entries. boundaries of what a book is. brought to Sandridge’s office; those that had For example: subjects were not always con- copy records were cataloged first, and the box sistent with Library of Congress standards The acquisition of Barton’s collection was then secured in Preservation at the end (student created vs. cataloger supplied using was particularly meaningful to JMU. Barton of each day. A list of the cataloged records OCLC database); LC call numbers were used was the university’s first visiting Wampler was sent to Merkel (curator of artists’ books) rather than inventory control numbers; 264 Professor of Fine Art in 1992 and has been a and the Special Collections Librarian, Kate fields contained multiple entries for publisher, guest artist and lecturer on multiple occasions Morris, for review, and modifications to the printing, etc., and occasionally metadata was since then. She is a book artist and educator records were made by Sandridge based on found that was not listed on the spreadsheet who has taught at prestigious art schools such their feedback. Artists’ books that required (such as a copy number or signature tucked in as the University of the Arts in Philadelphia original record creation were tackled after the an obscure spot). and the Corcoran in Washington, DC. She ex- known entities. hibits her work internationally and is included Bibliographic fields were created with in major collections, such as the Library of Some cataloging was enhanced by outside input from both Special Collections and Pres- sources; for example, Richard McClintock’s Congress, the Museum of Modern Art and continued on page 69 Against the Grain / February 2019
Anne C. Osterman Family: Husband (also a librarian!) and one lovable, trickster, 3-year-old Director daughter. VIVA In my spare time: Reading, yoga, crosswords, movies. George Mason University Favorite books: I mostly read literary fiction with some biographies 4400 University Drive, MSN 2FL sprinkled in, but for fun I’ll give favorite books that I am reading to my Fairfax, VA 22030 daughter now: Feathers for Lunch by Lois Ehlert (thanks to John Tom- Phone: (703) 993-4652 barge at W&L for recommending this gem), Good Night Owl by Greg Piz-
LIBRARY PROFILES ENCOURAGED
VIVA (The Virtual Types of materials you buy: Databases, eBooks, eJournals, and Library of Virginia) streaming media. George Mason University What technologies does your Consortium use to serve 4400 University Drive, MSN mobile users? This is not a central service for VIVA. 2FL, Fairfax, VA 22030 Does your Consortium have an ILS or are you part of a Phone: (703) 993-4652 We do not maintain a shared ILS. Fax: (703) 993-4662 collaborative ILS? https://vivalib.org/ Do you have a discovery system? We maintain a central instance of WorldCat Discovery and have access to a central instance of EBSCO Background/history: VIVA, Virginia’s academic library consortium, Discovery Service, but those are primarily for internal use. was established in 1994 to create a stronger resource sharing infrastruc- ture in Virginia. Soon after its formation, VIVA began to license and acquire Does your Consortium have a collection development We have a Collections Committee made electronic resources and build a shared collection throughout the state. or similar department? up of representatives from our institutions that recommends new products, Key Products and Services: VIVA acquires electronic resourc- renewals, and cancellations to our Steering Committee. es and maintains a foundational collection that is shared by all 39 of our public institutions. We also have a strong resource sharing program and If so, what is your budget and what types of materials We a new open and affordable course content program. VIVA provides proj- are you purchasing? Print or electronic or both? only purchase electronic resources, and it is the majority of our operating ect management support for statewide initiatives across Virginia that are budget. focused on the electronic collection development needs of the state and educational and training opportunities for member libraries. What proportion of your materials are leased and not owned? We support a number of acquisition models, including sub- Core Markets/Clientele: The 72 nonprofit academic libraries of scription, evidence-based, and perpetual access. Virginia, public and private. What do you think your Consortium will be like in five For many years, we Number of staff and responsibilities: years? Affordability in higher education is important to our state and have had a Director, Associate/Deputy Director, Budget/Operations Man- member institutions, so I anticipate significant growth in support of the ager, and part time person who does usage statistics and technical sup- adoption, adaptation, and creation of Open Educational Resources. Col- port at our central office at George Mason University, as well as a Procure- laborative collection development and resource sharing will continue to ment Officer and Contract Administrator at James Madison University’s be important to our members, and they may even lean on the consortial Procurement Office. In 2018, we added a part time person to focus on the resources more as local resources diminish. Sustainability in licensing and development of usage statistics visualizations, and in 2019 we are adding acquisition models for libraries, both fiscally and philosophically, will con- a new Open and Sustainable Learning Coordinator and an Assessment tinue to evolve, as will shared initiatives across the state, from rethinking re- and E-Resources Program Analyst. source sharing and discovery services, to the opportunities of linked data Overall Consortium budget: $19 million, including member cost and surfacing specialized, local collections. shares. continued on page 69 68 Against the Grain / February 2019
What excites or frightens you about the next five guard who’s also encouraged to be helpful probably has a better and years? I see the need for recalibration that causes Big Deal breaks, but more interesting job than the one who stands around glowering. it feels like a giant step backwards, as users lose tremendous amounts of So, what have I learned from my retail adventures? Well, for one access for what are usually small financial gains. I hope we can develop thing, libraries do many things right. But the experience emphasized the truly sustainable and flexible solutions that maintain broad access to for me that we should be thinking of our libraries as, first of all, places content for our users, and that will take creative thinking and bold, collab- where people are encouraged to come for their needs, not just to serve orative actions. our idea of what we’re there for. Second, we should work hard on those discovery systems and the metadata that users require. Third, if a Target Is there anything else you think our readers should security guard can be that helpful, we should be supporting every last know? I am grateful every day to work with such engaged and thought- library employee to be potentially the answer to a patron’s question ful people at every level of our member libraries. Virginia has phenomenal about where to find a book about Whatchamacallits — and with a smile. libraries – come visit us! OK, this day I need to go to Liuzzi’s, Connecticut’s best little Italian grocery. Hmm, I wonder if a library should be putting out those great samples of sliced breads and imported cheeses for everybody who comes in. That could do wonders for our gate counts...
the records so student as- Collections. Class visits Let’s Get Technical sistants could easily list happen multiple times a from page 67 the entries in the master semester from Photog- spreadsheet, but this still raphy, Graphic Design, ervation. A series (490) field “Carol Barton required double-check- Art Education, and Book Collection” was inserted. The local description ing for usage (singular Arts classes seeking to (500) field would be taken directly from the versus plural, being one jumpstart ideas for proj- spreadsheet when applicable. For Duz: Maga- example). ects based on structures zine #2, the local description reads: “Shoe box Other collaborative decisions were made and printing processes, etc. We have hosted printed inside and outside in black ink; inside after cataloging started. Two examples were classes as varied as high school students at a gold shoe wrapped in tissue paper (original 1) the identification of miniature books and 2) the Shenandoah Valley Governor’s School tissue paper replaced); Color printed map of modifications of metadata in the records based in Fishersville, Virginia to K-12 Art Educators Brazil with a narrative text printed on the back; on curatorial expertise. Miniature books are 3” attending JMU’s Content Teaching Academy Small wire-bound book with illustrations on x 3” or less and were separated from “regular” for “Art & Media Literacy on Growing In- how to dance the cha-cha printed over with sized works into smaller housings to save space clusivity” to a geometry professor teaching narrative text by the artist, white clay-coated and to keep them from shifting in larger folders. “Research Experience for Undergraduates” pages printed in black, red, blue, and grey ink; For these, an “S” was added to the control through the Institute for Visual Studies here Halftone and offset printing; Narrative text is number ex. “CB-AB-S-0108.” A modification on campus. JMU Libraries continues to col- about a mother writing a letter to Lawrence to the description based on curatorial expertise lect artists’ books in support of the curriculum, Welk asking him if her daughter could play included the change from “coldpressed” to and the Carol Barton Collection is still being piano on his show and the daughter not want- “cold-press” paper for the book Small Oddities. processed with over 700 pop-up or “movable” ing to; DUZ Magazine information printed (Cold and hot-press refers to the finish on a books in the queue for cataloging, and sev- on the bottom of the shoe box: — from local paper. Cold has more texture or “tooth” and hot eral boxes and portfolios of Carol Barton’s description.” The Local Note (590) field was has a smooth finish.) On another work, Short papers awaiting manuscript processing. The inserted as: “Forms part of the Carol Barton + Story, the students doing the initial inventory occasional artists’ book continues to turn up in Collection (CB-AB-0001).” The Subject labeled the process as “intaglio” when closer her papers, but we expect a final tally in 2019. Heading (650): “Artists’ books” was always inspection under magnification could only used with additional topical headings. The Resources determine that the work was a line drawing — http://allisonjai.com/abt/vocab/index.php Genre/Form Subject Heading (655) contained perhaps a reproduction of an intaglio print but “Artists’ books (delimiter 2) rbgenr.” In addi- not an actual print. https://omeka.lib.jmu.edu/specialcollec- tion, the Allison Jai thesaurus was consulted, tions/exhibits/show/carol-barton and more specific form/genre headings were The Results https://omeka.lib.jmu.edu/specialcollec- included when applicable. Agreement on use Today, the Artists’ Books Collection is the tions/collections/show/4 of the thesaurus was made prior to cataloging most heavily requested resource in Special
Carrie Gaxiola, Nevada Digital Newspaper Project Coordinator, Biz of Digital University of Nevada – Las Vegas from page 66 Cory Lampert, Professor and Head, Digital Collections, Uni- versity of Nevada – Las Vegas Acknowledgements Emily Lapworth, Digital Special Collections and Archives Special thanks to my wonderful colleagues for taking time to peer Librarian, University of Nevada – Las Vegas review and proofread an earlier version of the manuscript. Kelsey Lupo, Library Technician II, Digitization Lab Manager Aaron Mayes, Visual Materials Curator, University of Nevada & Student Supervisor, University of Nevada – Las Vegas – Las Vegas
Against the Grain / February 2019
uring this past Charleston Conference, pretty much have to that this weekend I made my annual sacred pilgrimage to be eating cupcakes. when I realized that DCupcake DownSouth on King Street, At Starbucks (or in order to go to “the a little way north of the Francis Marion the Panera near my grocery store” in my Hotel. While I was making my choices and home), you can be neighborhood now, photographing my beanies, I heard another starting a business, I actually have to go conference-goer remark, “Well, this isn’t a planning a wedding, to three or four dif- library, is it?” seeking the meaning ferent places, and of As I walked back to the conference, cup- of life, or catching a course one of them is cakes and beanies securely tucked away, I cup of coffee or a bite the Amazon store — began to wonder what they could have meant. to eat. They certainly yes, I mean “Whole Were they sure? There’s that famous Harvard want to “push prod- Paycheck.” Mobbed, Business Review article from 50-some years uct” as we say now- absolutely mobbed. ago, “Marketing Myopia” by Ted Levitt, adays, but they’ve I don’t know if Am- who wrote that if the passenger railroads of learned that letting the prospective users define azon buying the chain had something to do the 1950s had known they were in the trans- their needs for the space is better than requir- with that, but what’s clear is that even the portation business, they might have stayed in ing a tight connection between finishing your company that defined Internet-only retailing is business longer. Are we sure we know what coffee and rushing out. now working very hard to have these physical points of presence in neighborhoods where business we’re in? Then I thought about my cell phone. I’m a people who are willing to pay more than they sad person these days, because my wonderful Take the cupcake store, for example. They do at Safeway or ShopRite can easily be palm-sized Blackberry is getting old and tired. have a small, carefully curated collection, found. But Amazon, of course, has its flaws. I’ve also got an iPhone, which I detest (as near expert advisors, patron-friendly seating for Grocery stores have lousy customer metadata as I can tell, nobody can type on one), and I’m examining the collection, and even a us- and cataloging. All customers have to go by experimenting with a new Blackberry about the er-friendly catalog of the necessary metadata are rough “subject” categories, like “cereal” size of the first-grade reading book we used in on the wall to tell you which flavors will be and “cheese,” sometimes found in more than school a long time ago. So, I’ve had to go to available on which days of the week. There’s one place in the store. Even in those categories the phone store — and the phone store, I think, enough similarity that perhaps we could learn one may have to rummage around a while. And is really missing a beat from not understanding a few things. Their metadata, for example, are what if you need something that doesn’t fit libraries. Getting your phone right is a funda- clear, comprehensive, and easy to use in the those categories so easily? Next grocery store mental need today, but the phone store is all discovery process and the interface (sign on you go into, ask yourself where you’d find a stand-up transactional, with long waits for an the wall) is very easy to use. jar of taramosalata, the Greek fish-egg spread, available representative, nothing else you can Since then I’ve been ambling about in halfway between caviar and hummus. I happen do there, and always an edge of anxiety about my usual way, thinking about what business to know you can often find it at aWhole Foods whether you’re going to get what you really libraries are in by looking at other businesses store, but there’s no telling where — and in my need. The people there might or might not be for guidance. Coffee isn’t my passion, but experience, even if you find a store employee, it knowledgeable, but I did stick my head can lead to a long circuitous wander. Metadata, they will surely be into a Starbucks metadata, metadata, Mr. Bezos: study up on pushing hard for what for an inspection, the subject — it could take your mind off your their bosses want the and what struck me personal troubles. customer to do, not there was that their Last stop on the weekend’s shopping was “reading room” was for what you think you’re there for. Target — I needed a slightly specialized kind much more like a li- of household cleaner for stainless steel cook- brary than the one Hmm. Then, of ware: something called Barkeeper’s Friend. I at the cupcake shop. course, I had to think have a lot of confidence inTarget , even though To spend time in a about Amazon. I their metadata leave a lot to be desired as well. cupcake shop, you had a chance to do I became a Target fan for life the time I went looking for something for the kitchen and was having trouble finding it. Just then, a man in a security guard outfit came up to me and said, ADVERTISERS’ INDEX “Can I help you?” Now it’s a truth universal- ly known nowadays that when a fellow in a uniform asks if he can help you, what he may 23 accessible Archives 8 the Charleston Report 27 INFORMS mean is, “What are you riffraff doing and I’m 71 acS Publications 11 cold Spring Harbor Lab Press 72 Midwest Library Service about an inch away from rousting you out of here!” Oh, I said defensively, I’m looking for 5 atG 31 de Gruyter 19 the MIT Press the Whatchamacallit. At this point, the guard 13 atG Media 45 emery-Pratt 7 the Optical Society speaks into the mike of his radio — not a good 37 brepols Publishers 3 GOBI Library Solutions 2 Project MUSE sign — and says, “Priscilla, where do we keep the Whatchamacallits?” And “Priscilla” says 15 the Charleston Advisor 9 IGI Global 53 University of California Press something back to him into his earpiece, and next thing you know the security guard — the For Advertising Information Contact: Toni Nix, Ads Manager, security guard! — is leading me right to the
70 Against the Grain / February 2019
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