Yumma Darruwa Ngunnawal

SIS begins by acknowledging that our services are delivered from Ngunnawal and Ngambri country.

We acknowledge and celebrate the First Australians on whose traditional lands we meet and pay our respect to the elders past and present.

NEXT SIS talk:

Dr Olivia Evans, Indigenous Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Research School of Psychology, will talk about the Indigenous psychology course she has developed for students at ANU.

When? 12pm on Wednesday the 17th April

Where? Graneek Room and Online (https://anu.zoom.us/s/84656888903)

ANU COVID-19

COVID inspections are no longer required. If you see supplies of hand sanitiser or masks are running low, please let the relevant people know in your building.

Please read all the messages from the University about COVID 19.

All COVID updates will be communicated to staff and students via the ANU On Campus email newsletter. You can find previous staff On Campus and student On Campus editions online.

WHS

Thanks to everyone who is updating the key list of personnel for the SIS WHS page.

People & Culture Division invite feedback on a review of Contractor Safety Engagement which can be accessed here Contractor safety engagement - Revised documentation. You can submit feedback to be included in the consultation log in the Teams site or email whs@anu.edu.au by CoB Friday 26 April 2024. If responding by email, please insert into the email subject title: “Contractor safety engagement feedback”. If required, you are welcome to contact Manager, Work Health and Safety to discuss aspects of the review or to invite to a team/management meeting to discuss the review in more detail.

The ANU WHS website has very useful information on injury prevention. The Injury Prevention Information Sheets are very helpful. The Ergonomics ones include:

• Ergonomics Resources at ANU
• Setting up your Computer Workstation
• Laboratory Ergonomics
• Laptops and Mobile Devices
• Office Chair Selection and Sitting Well
• Sit/Stand Workstation
• General Working from Home
• Setting up a Home based Workstation
• Workstation set-up during pregnancy 

SIS Staff meeting

We will have a special meeting on Wednesday 10th April 10-11am to talk about changes in the COO portfolio that affect us.

Details of the special meeting:

DATE:  Wednesday 10 April

TIME: 10-11am

LOCATION:  China in the World Auditorium and Zoom

The next regular meeting is:

#2 Tuesday 4 June 9.30-11am

Location: China in the World Auditorium

The remaining meetings are:

#3 Tuesday 3 September at China in the World Auditorium

9.30-11am

#4 Tuesday 3 December at China in the World Auditorium

9.30-11am

Buildings

So much has happened!

Symonston

A big thank you to Maria and Brian for their oversight, patience and decision making. Many thanks to the records and Archives staff for all the work they are doing to ensure that material in successfully installed.

Work is well under way, noting there is much, much more to happen. It is an extraordinarily complex lot of work to unpack and manage the Symonston storage set up.

Progress in G wing and clearing of E wing.

Law Library

Whoo hoo! We are very excited that the Law Library level 2 roofing work is now complete. The library is once again water-tight, and we have a new ceiling and lighting.

We were pleased to reopen this space in time for the long weekend and mid-semester break, which we know is an intense time of study and research.

A huge thank you to everyone involved in this process. In particular, the contractors for their hard work and dedication; the College of Law community for your support during this long process; and all library users for your patience. 

Normal access to the physical collections has been restored. 2-Day loan items will be kept downstairs, as the new location has been well-received by our patrons.

Hancock Library

Hancock Library levels 2 and 3 East have fully reopened following roofing works.

We are very pleased to have these spaces operational again. Thank you to everyone involved, and to all our library users for your patience during this process.

Menzies Library

Final works are progressing well, and the new copper roofing looks great.

The lower roof was handed over last week.

All internal works are now completed.

The final roofing area (along the oval side) will require about 1.5 weeks of noisy works, then the copper will be finalised.

Thanks in particular to Archives staff for their patience with the noisy works.

CC notes that they understand that the works are disruptive and are working closely with F&S regarding strategies to minimise disruption. This project is complex as every bit of money and program needs to be reviewed and approved, hence why they can’t always cease works during the day.  This roof was scheduled to be completed in the month of January when it’s quiet, however, we raised concerns regarding a tree which dropped branches on various occasions as we were concerned this would cause a WHS risk to workers. It then took some time for Landscape and Conservation to review, provide their report and trim the branches to make the area safe. For the lower roof, they were anticipating to be completed a few months ago. Rain events and stolen copper which had to be re-ordered didn’t help.

Art & Music Library

Construction Control have advised that ceiling electricals in Art & Music branch space require replacement. Works will take four weeks.

For the period 1-12 April (teaching break) there will be no retrieval or access to the branch (urgent retrievals can be arranged via Alisha or Tom).

From 15 April retrievals can be undertaken. This will occur 3 days a week, for a maximum of 1 hour per day. Days and times TBC.

Construction Control will advise when work is complete.

CAUL & CONZUL

·       CAUL’s latest newsletter highlights concerns about Australia’s Chief Scientist, Dr Cathy Foley’s approach to open access in Australia as reported in the news.

Copyright

·       World Book and Copyright Day 2024 is on Tuesday 23 April

·       Copyright and Artificial Intelligence Reference Group – established by the Attorney-General’s Department includes CAUL, ALACC, ALIA and Universities Australia

·       Copyright Agency- Cultural Fund Grants and Fellowships: closing dates for 2024 are online here

·       The final version of the 2024 Universities Music Licence will shortly be sent to Vice Chancellors for agreement. In December 2023, UA entered into an interim agreement with the music collecting societies to extend the coverage of the previous agreement (which terminated on 31 December 2023) for the first few months of 2024 to ensure that universities were covered for use of music while we finalised the new agreement. The interim agreement was due to terminate on 31 March 2024 but has been extended to 30 April 2024.

Social media self-defence

On Tuesday, ANU Media and Communications ran a session on engaging with the media and social media as part of your role at ANU. The talk by Lyndal Byford from the Australian Science Media Centre included helpful information about what constitutes abusive behaviour or harassment online and a number of strategies for dealing with poor behaviour. Lyndal also provided some great tips for protecting your privacy and safety online, which are helpful for anyone using any online platform, not just those who engage in public discussions online.

If you need any support around engaging with the media or on social media as part of your role with SIS please contact the Library communications team as a first step, and we can get additional support from the ANU Media and Communications team if needed. You can find helpful tips for online safety and privacy on the Science Media Savvy website.

Library quiz – what can we remember?

Thanks to Vanessa for organising this event. There will be more later this year. The 80s were alive and well…

It was a huge success! There were 18 players - The Breakquiz Club won, with Sadia winning best dressed. 

News from the School of Cybernetics

Congratulations to Prof Katherine Daniell on being appointed Director of the School. Listen to this ‘The Scholars’ podcast with Professor Katherine Daniell – ‘Dismantling the Boundaries Between Ideas, Sectors & People: the future of problem-solving’.

Feedback

I just wanted to say a huge thanks for inviting us to explore the Menzies Library's Myanmar books collection yesterday. And a special shoutout to Dave for the reminder – didn’t want to miss it! The collection was beyond impressive, covering a broad range of subjects, with many items dating back to before my mum’s time. In fact, I sent her a photo of one of the magazine covers, and she was so excited to see it. She used to read that magazine monthly and was amazed to hear that it is now available in the library of the university I attend. Flipping through the pages, I was struck by the rich history and culture through the writings and ads.

(Well done Wan, Fonny, Jacky, Myuki)

----

Roxanne Missingham

Director, Scholarly Information Services

Coming events

RLUK ICIL - Traces of South Asia: Working with Hidden Collections

When? 19 April 2024 11:00am - 12:00pm BST

Where?  Online

More details. Inclusive Collections, Inclusive Libraries is an RLUK programme of events that aims to foster conversation around decolonisation and inclusive practice in collecting, describing, presenting, and engaging with content in research library collections. It seeks to raise awareness about the opportunities and challenges of dealing with, contextualising, and engaging with offensive collections while also identifying and sharing examples of good practice. More information is available on the website.

ALIA national conference

When? 6-9 May 2024

Where?  Adelaide

More details. Conference Theme: Truth and Dare. With this theme, we extend an invitation for First Nations Truth Telling, we showcase the battle against disinformation, and we dare ourselves to push our work forward to continue to bring vibrant, relevant services to library users and communities. More information is available on the website.

IFLA Presidents meeting

When? 9 September and 2 October 2024.

Where?  Brisbane

More details. Early notice is available on the website.

Australian Society of Archivists (ASA, Archives & Records Association of NZ Te Huinga Mahara (ARANZ) and the Pacific Regional Branch of the International Council of Archives (PARBICA) conference

When? 22-25 October 2024.

Where?  Christchurch, NZ

More details. The theme is: Opening the Archives. Early notice is available on the website.

International Conference on AI for Libraries, Archives, and Museums (AI4LAM)

When? 15–18 October 2024.

Where?  Canberra

More details. Information is available on the website.

ANU Press and open access

Updates to the Gates Foundation Open Access Policy for 2025

“Announcing our expanded policy for open access to scientific research, after a decade of experiences and learnings… For over a decade, our foundation has championed transparency, access, and equity in scholarly publishing by working with publishers and journals to develop more open and accessible research publishing practices. But our quest for a truly equitable and inclusive scholarly publishing ecosystem remains incomplete. Today, we’re announcing a refreshed policy for our grantees that we hope will help foundation-supported breakthroughs reach the field in the fastest and fairest way possible.

At its core, the policy will:

• End the foundation’s payment of individual article publishing fees such as APCs—paving the way for more equitable publishing models
• Require grantees to share preprints of their articles—breaking free from journal constraints while prioritising access to research and preserving grantee publishing choices

YES!!!

Open Access Charges – Continued Consolidation and Increases

Dan Pollock and Heather Stains analyse APCs and find “The latest analysis of list prices suggests prices in general are increasing, although averages for some publishers have fallen.” Key findings:

·       Two years ago, high-impact journals began to offer OA options, which led to above-average price increases. This year, like last year, sees overall price increases following their underlying averages.

·       The highest price point for fully OA journals remains at $8,900.

·       The highest price for a hybrid journal is now $11,690, up from $11,390 last year.

·       Outliers aside, fully OA journal APCs are less expensive than hybrid, averaging around 59% of hybrid average APCs. Last year it was 57%; the year before 58%.

·       The average hybrid APC has increased by 4.2%, compared with an average 3.5% increase last year.

·       The average fully OA APC has increased by 4.3%, compared with an average 4.1% increase last year.

Open Access Australasia Response to Chief Scientist’s Proposal

“Open Access Australasia supports a diversity of approaches to making research open… It is unclear how the current plan proposed by the Chief Scientist will allow for equity of access for the reader, limiting it to Australians registered with the government MyGov application. It is also unclear how equity for authors will be supported … We urge the release of the Chief Scientist’s proposal for public consultation so that these and other approaches can be discussed”. Read more here.

New titles

Political and Social Control in China: The Consolidation of Single-Party Rule

Edited by: Ben Hillman, Chien-wen Kou

Uneven Connections: A Partial History of the Mobile Phone in Papua New Guinea.

Authored by: Robert J. Foster 

Open repository

Open Access Week 2024

The theme is “Community over Commercialization”. It is October 21 - 27, 2024.

New research resources

·       Anthocyanin and Flavonol Glycoside Metabolic Pathways Underpin Floral Color Mimicry and Contrast in a Sexually Deceptive Orchid

·       Drakolide Structure-activity Relationships for Sexual Attraction of Zeleboria Wasp Pollinator

·       Appraising widespread resprouting but variable levels of postfire seeding in Australian ecosystems: the effect of phylogeny, fire regime and productivity

·       Competition and geography underlie speciation and morphological evolution in Indo-Australasian monitor lizards

·       A smaller habenula is associated with increasing intensity of sexual selection

Keeping up to date

Censorship and Academic Freedom in the Public University Library

This new report from IthakaS+R finds:

·       Academic library collections are not being directly censored by policy or subject to large-scale, systematic content challenges.

·       Decisions around collection building are, however, being influenced by state and university policy and politics.

·       University academic freedom policies continue to serve as a defence against content challenges.

·       University and library leadership require an extensive amount of political savvy, balancing commitments to different groups with sometimes differing values or perspectives.

·       Diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, programs, and units in universities and their libraries are being eliminated, renamed and/or reorganized in a number of states.

·       Library directors in certain states feel it has become more difficult to recruit and retain top talent, especially when prospective employees or their family members are LGBTQ+.

·       Library directors are seeking opportunities to speak to others at peer institutions about these issues without drawing public attention.

Evolving AI Strategies in Libraries: Insights from Two Polls of ARL Member Representatives over Nine Months

ARL has released the results of the two polls—analysing and juxtaposing the outcomes of these two surveys to better understand how library leaders are managing the complexities of integrating AI into their operations and services. A strong call for AI literacy.

IFLA Newsletter, March 2024

The Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Issue is out now.

Realities of Academic Data Sharing (RADS) Initiative Releases Gap Analysis of Researcher Actions and Institutional Support

The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) has released Publicly Shared Data: A Gap Analysis of Researcher Actions and Institutional Support throughout the Data Life Cycle, a report from the Realities of Academic Data Sharing (RADS) Initiative.

A Methodology for Surveying Indigenous Collections at an Australian Academic Library

An article has been published open access in the New Review of Academic Librarianship that may be of interest to CAUL member libraries working with First Nations collections. Authored by Antonia Mocatta, Ryan Stoker and Lisa McIntosh of the University of Sydney Library, A Methodology for Surveying Indigenous Collections at an Australian Academic Library examines the University of Sydney Library’s development and piloting of a methodology to survey its Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural collections. The purpose of the survey was to enhance catalogue metadata and allow culturally sensitive material to be identified and protected. The pilot survey was conducted using a qualitative, collection-based approach of Direct Collection Analysis. The findings surface the benefits and shortcomings of the initial methodology, and recommendations are made for a future approach.

The Impact of Transformative Agreements on scholarly publishing and future directions.

De Gruyter’s digital event on this topic covered a broad range of issues. The speakers were Dr. Amy Devenney, Research Strategic Lead at Jisc and Wilhelm Widmark, Director and Senior Adviser for Open Science at Stockholm University. The recording is online here. Dr Devenney’s Powerpoint slides are here and Mr Widmark’s are here.

ARDC

Workshop Addresses Wildlife Camera Trap, Ecoacoustic and Drone Data Challenges

A workshop gathered researchers, government, industry, NGOs and research infrastructure experts to co-design a new Planet Research Data Commons program to address machine observation data challenges. Read more here

ARDC and DataCite Announce Partnership to Deliver the RAiD Service

The ARDC and DataCite have joined forces to deliver RAiD, a fast and reliable service for identifying and tracking research projects and activities. Read more here

From HR

VC AWARD FOR RECONCILIATION

Nominations for the Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Reconciliation are currently open, with closing date Monday 29 April 2024. Please encourage nominations from your area.

The Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Reconciliation aims to encourage and recognise ANU staff members for initiatives and activities that support the pursuit of reconciliation, within the University or beyond.

For further information and how to apply visit the website. Please direct any queries about this award to awards@anu.edu.au.

CARERS’ CAREER DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE FUND (CCDAF)

The Carers' Career Development Assistance Fund (CCDAF) Round 1, 2024 is currently open, with closing date Friday 5 April 2024.

The CCDAF is for individual academic and professional staff with caring responsibilities who require support to participate in significant national or international conferences, workshops or symposia that contribute to their careers.

Grants of up to $2,000 are available for reasonable costs relating to care of dependants where existing care arrangements are not available.

Types of costs covered may include:

• child care costs
• care costs for dependants other than children
• airfares for the dependant to accompany the staff member

For further information and how to apply visit the website. Please direct any queries about this grant opportunity to HRD.Development@anu.edu.au.

Kind regards,

Pip Cantrall
Deputy Chief People Officer (Talent & Capability)

The Australian National University, Canberra | CRICOS Provider : 00120C | ABN : 52 234 063 906

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