Yumma Darruwa Ngunnawal

SIS acknowledges 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.

The ANU Reconciliation lecture will be held on Thursday 18 July from 4-5:30pm. This year’s lecture will be delivered by Ms Selina Walker, a Ngunnawal women, emerging elder and proud granddaughter of Senior Ngunnawal Elder Aunty Agnes Shea OAM. Selina is Co-Chair, of the ACT Reconciliation Council and a member of Victims of Crime Justice Committee. She was awarded 2024 ACT Local hero. You can register here.

The recording of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia and AIATSIS event ‘Exploring Indigenous Research: Conducting ethical research and improving access of research outcomes to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ is now available online.

The Office of the Arts online community engagement session about new legislation to protect First Nations arts and culture was fascinating. The PowerPoint presentation and Fact Sheet are now online, containing information and questions from the session.

ANU COVID-19

COVID inspections are no longer required. If you see supplies are running low of hand sanitiser or masks do 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

Work is continuing on local WHS guidelines for the Division.

Library Staff Consultative Committee

The Committee met last week and discussed a wide range of matters including reports of great work occurring in the Division. There is one vacancy for a member between the levels ANUO1 and ANUO4.

Please let Dinah know if you are interested in nominating.

Minutes are available on the LSCC webpage.

Next SIS staff meetings

#3 Tuesday 3 September

#4 Tuesday 3 December

Both sessions from 9.30 to 11am at the China in the World Auditorium

Buildings

Symonston

Fabulous progress continues. The Risk Assessment has been finalised.

Art & Music Library

The regular update is on the Library news site.

Academic Board

Academic Board met this week. Agenda items discussed included:

·       Reports from VC and DVCs

·       Grades distribution of coursework courses delivered in semester 2 2023

·       Academic Risk Monitoring report

·       Institutional approach to engagement with AI

University Learning and Teaching Committee

The Committee met. Agenda items discussed included:

·       Hail Remediation RE Teaching Spaces – Verbal Update

·       Update on New L&T Website

·       Student Wellbeing in the Classroom – Development of Staff and Student Guidance

·       AI papers

·       Assessment Working Group – Terms of Reference

·       Value Stream Primer – Verbal Update

·       Coursework Grades Distribution Analysis – PSP ANU Employability Framework

Post English Language Assessment project

The Steering Committee held its first meeting.

CAUL & CONZUL

·       Marion Slawson is the new temporary University Librarian for Federation University, replacing outgoing UL Janette Wright.

·       Flinders University Library has published their 2023 Impact Statement which showcases the measurable benefits and outcomes of library initiatives undertaken last year.

·       Rani McLennan is the successful candidate for the recently advertised role of Coordinator, Operations & Engagement at CAUL.

·       CAUL response to Attorney General Departments Copyright and AI Working Group survey submitted.

From the CAUL newsletter:

NEW Publication from CAUL member                                 

Congratulations CAUL Member Roxanne Missingham on the recent Open Access publication of her article "Australian academic libraries and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals"

Image reference: United Nations (2022) Sustainable Development Goals.

Available at: https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sustainable-development-goals/

Copyright

·       Supporting open access publishing by rights retention. Imperial College London’s Ruth Harrison reports on how the team developed and implemented their institutional rights retention policy.

·       The ACCC has released an interim decision to reauthorise APRA. It granted interim authorisation "including the conditions of authorisation C1 to C6 imposed in 2020."

·       From the US: Libraries, Civil Society Push Back on NDAA Copyright Amendment Based on Pro Codes Act – learn more here.

·       AI, machine learning and big data laws and regulations 2024 by Stephenson Harwood LLP

·       Contracts in Publishing: A toolkit for authors and publishers – a new guide from WIPO

·       An update from the University of California: President Drake and Provost Newman affirm the university’s commitment to protect author, researcher and read rights.

·University of California - President Drake and Provost Newman affirm the university’s commitment to protect author, researcher and reader rights

Greetings from our colleagues in AIRU libraries

Some interesting documents and information:

·       Bodleian (Oxford University) Libraries Strategy is available to read online.

·       Cambridge University Library vision is available to read online.

Resource sharing prices to rise by 3.6%

The Interlibrary Resource Sharing Directory (ILRS) code automatically updates charges each year to be increased by CPI from 1 July. The increase that will be applied from 1 July 2024 is based on the rate calculated from April 2023- March 2024 CPI = 3.6%

We will adjust our Document Delivery charges in accordance with the ILRS.

-----

Roxanne Missingham

Director, Scholarly Information Services

Coming events

Open repository – next ‘Getting published, driving impact’ workshop

Thanks to Katy for organising the events.

Getting published, driving impact #3: Publishing strategically for research impact with Clarivate is running on Tuesday 2 July.

IFLA Presidents meeting

When? 9 September and 2 October 2024

Where?  Brisbane

More details. The early notice is available online.

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

When? 15–18 October 2024

Where?  Canberra

More details. Under the 2024 Conference theme of Artificial Intelligence in the future of work in GLAMs (Galleries, Libraries, Archives, and Museums), the four-day event will facilitate exploration of the current state and potential futures of artificial intelligence and generative AI within the GLAM sector, through the lenses of history, language, and culture in relation to place, particularly in an Australasian context. Find out more.

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 online.

From the CFO

We are moving to automate and streamline the annual plant and equipment stocktake, with an improved process, utilising our existing PeopleSoft application combined with scanners.

What this means in the short-term

·       Reduce the amount of manual data entry required during stocktake, improving efficiency and saving time.

·       Eliminate the need to manage stocktake using Excel worksheets and enable the real-time update of the Asset Management System as stocktake progresses thereby improving the accuracy and control of stocktake.

·       Given the enhanced control arrangements that accompany the new tools, it is also no longer considered necessary for two staff to be involved in asset sighting. Asset custodians will complete the scanning without the requirement for a second person. 

What this means in the longer-term

·       Asset custodians will be able to manage asset stocktake activities within their own timing (within broad policy parameters and overall time requirements).

·       Asset custodians will be able to align asset stocktake activities with other review activities that need to be managed (such as safety audits).

Next steps

The ANU manages over 7,000 capital plant and equipment assets and the implementation of these new tools is an important first step in modernising and simplifying asset management for the University.

Should you have any questions in relation to this project, the point of contact with F&BS is Luna Taing finance.transformation@anu.edu.au     

ARDC

New Major Infrastructure Initiative for Social Data and Digital Platform Research in Australia

The Australian Internet Observatory is now in development as part of the ARDC's HASS and Indigenous Research Data Commons. Read more on the website.

Powering Research Through Skills: Highlights from the ARDC Digital Research Skills Summit 2024

Read a recap and watch recordings from the 2024 ARDC Digital Research Skills Summit. Read more on the website.

ANU Press and open access

BookPeople conference

Over the weekend Nathan and Elouise attended the BookPeople conference and trade exhibition. It was an amazing opportunity for the Press to showcase our new titles and connect with booksellers and publishers around Australia.

There were many scholarly publishers in attendance including University of Queensland Press, Cambridge University Press and MUP. And we were in good company with other large publishers including BlackInc., Wiley, Allen & Unwin, Magabala Books, Hardie Grant and Hachette.

We also met with many independent booksellers that already stock some of our titles, Australian distributors and publishing magazines/journals.

It was an extremely positive and worthwhile experience for shared knowledge on what we are doing right, and what we can do better to communicate with booksellers.

JSTOR Path to Open

300 titles have been selected for the Path to Open pilot program this year. Titles span 43 disciplines, including Cultural Studies, Health Sciences, and History of Science & Technology.

Path to Open is supported by more than 40 university presses that have contributed content from eight countries. Masaryk University Press, Melbourne University Press, and Bristol University Press, have recently joined the program. The 2024 list, which includes 100 titles selected in 2023, gives users access to 400 titles on JSTOR. Read more here.

An Open Dataset of Article Processing Charges from Six Large Scholarly Publishers (2019–2023) (preprint)

From University of Ottawa, Scholarly Communications Lab (ScholCommLab), Bielefeld University, Iowa State University, Simon Fraser University, and Université du Québec à Montréal via arXiv.

See also: 

·       The dataset (ScholCommLab’s Dataverse)

·       Article Processing Charges Explorer (ScholCommLab)

NIH (US) developments

The National Institute of Health (NIH) released a draft of its updated Public Access Policy. The draft policy implements the 2022 OSTP Memorandum, Ensuring Free, Immediate, and Equitable Access to Federally Funded Research for public comment.  

To accompany the draft policy, NIH also released supplementary Draft Guidance on Government Use License and Rights and Publication Costs. The guidance is included at the end of the Federal Register link after the draft policy. 

Time to bin all REF open access rules, say Oxford research chiefs

Jack Grove in THE reports that ‘Excessively bureaucratic’ and ‘unaffordable’ rules on open access proposed for the next Research Excellence Framework (REF) should be discarded, according to university executives. “The 2021 edition is estimated to have cost £471 million, double the price of the 2014 iteration”.

“In a blog published by the Higher Education Policy Institute on 11 June, Patrick Grant, Oxford university’s pro vice-chancellor for research, Tanita Casci, director of Oxford’s research strategy and policy unit, and Stephen Conway, director of research services, criticise what they call “unaffordable” and “excessively bureaucratic” proposed new requirements to make all research outputs eligible for assessment free-to-read”.

Martin Eve’s view

Martin’s blogpost on open access is thoughtful – it begins: A few personal notes on the clamour around OA for books (written from the perspective of an author of 10 books that are all openly accessible).

Student textbooks

A new report released by the Student PIRGs, which is entitled Automatic Textbook Billing: Limited Choice, Uncertain Savings. The report examines the fine print of 171 contracts between higher education institutions and vendors of automatic textbook billing services, looking at pricing structures, quotas, and commission payments. Overall, the report finds that many automatic textbook billing practices may not be in students’ best financial interests.

According to the report’s executive summary, key findings about automatic textbook billing contracts include:

• Savings in contracts with publishers, third-party bookstore operators and digital platforms are difficult to evaluate, and some contracts may provide no savings.
• Many contracts with publishers require that a very high percentage of students participate in automatic billing programs or the school risks losing promised discounts. This may discourage schools from promoting used or rental textbooks that might save money for students or from making reasonable efforts to ensure students can opt out.
• Most contracts between bookstores and schools include commissions and incentive payments from bookstores to the college or university. These payments – often based, in part, on sales through the automatic textbook billing program – may discourage schools from supporting the development and adoption of free open educational resources that would save money for students and build a more competitive textbook market.

New ANU Press titles

Salish Archipelago Environment and Society in the Islands Within and Adjacent to the Salish Sea

Edited by: Moshe Rapaport

East Asia Forum Quarterly: Volume 16, Number 2, 2024

A Team of Five Million? The 2020 ‘Covid-19’ New Zealand General Election

Edited by: Jennifer Curtin , Lara Greaves , Jack Vowles 

New research resources

·       Eradication of neuroblastoma by suppressing the expression of a single noncoding RNA [MEETING ABSTRACT]

·       3D characterisation of carbon fibre reinforced composite microstructure via x-ray computed tomography

·       Named entity recognition for novel types by transfer learning

·       Building Capacity to Cope with Ethical Dilemmas in Legal Practice Through Teaching 'Giving Voice to Values' Techniques

Keeping up to date

Why you might struggle to find this year’s International Booker winner in UK libraries – and why publishing suffers as a result

A fascinating article about the issues leading to the under-representation of translated literature – including the problem with library catalogues. Thanks for this Colin!

Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL) Releases Digital Literacy Framework

The CARL Digital Literacy Framework has been created for use by Canadian academic and research libraries to define our role and objectives in an increasingly complex digital world and is informed by CARL’s mission to enhance capacity to advance research and higher education.

Digital libraries: storage for now and forever (IFLA)

Here is the recording to the Digital libraries: storage for now and forever that was held by the IFLA's Preservation and Conservation Centre Europe conference in the National Library of Poland in May. More information on this and past IFLA’s PAC Europe webinars can be found online.

Generative AI in Higher Education: The ChatGPT Effect

Well worth reading! “Chan and Colloton’s book is one of the first to provide a comprehensive examination of the use and impact of ChatGPT and Generative AI (GenAI) in higher education. Since November 2022, every conversation in higher education has involved ChatGPT and its impact on all aspects of teaching and learning. The book explores the necessity of AI literacy tailored to professional contexts, assesses the strengths and weaknesses of incorporating ChatGPT into curriculum design, and delves into the transformation”. And it’s OA!

Digital Oxford podcast with Richard Ovenden

Bodley's Librarian and Head of Gardens, Libraries, & Museums (GLAM) Richard Ovenden, OBE, and Pro-Vice-Chancellor Professor Anne Trefethen, feature in this month's Digital Oxford Podcast. They discuss Oxford’s digital transformation and the challenge of preserving information in the digital era. Listen on Apple, Amazon, Spotify.

IFLA newsletter

The Climate issue is out now.

IthakaS+R report on generative AI

To gain insight into how instructional practices are evolving, Ithaka S+R fielded a national survey of post-secondary instructors with a section dedicated specifically to generative AI. The report is online -  findings from the survey, with responses from 2,654 college instructors across a wide range of disciplines and institutions. The report provides a snapshot of instructional practices two semesters after the dramatic advent of generative AI. The findings show that the majority of faculty are familiar with the new technologies and have experimented with using generative AI as an instructional tool. Familiarity, however, is not necessarily associated with enthusiasm. They are hopeful that results from our survey can guide colleges and universities as they navigate a new technological environment and support faculty, staff, and students in the midst of ongoing change. This is one piece in a larger portfolio of projects on generative AI that they are currently pursuing.

The Audiovisual Metadata Platform and AI/ML Tools for Metadata

Jon Dunn (Assistant Dean for Library Technologies) and Emily Lynema (Head, Digital Media Software Development) manage the digital repository and access systems for audio and moving image collections at Indiana University Bloomington Libraries and in this webinar they will discuss the Mellon-funded Audiovisual Metadata Platform (AMP) project. The AMP project is exploring the integration of artificial intelligence/machine-learning-based tools into workflows for the creation of metadata for audio and moving image collections. Questions from the audience of the speakers will be facilitated by Basil Dewhurst (Senior ICT Project Manager) from the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia. AI4LAM webinars are published on YouTube. You can find more information online.

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