Abstract: The peer review system is the norm for many publications. It involves an editor and several experts in the field providing comments for a submitted article. The reviewer remains anonymous to the author, with only the editor knowing the reviewer´s identity. This model is now being challenged and open peer review (OPR) models are viewed as the new frontier of the review process. OPR is a term that encompasses diverse variations in the traditional review process. Examples of this are modifications in the way in which authors and reviewers are aware of each other’s identity (open identities), the visibility of the reviews carried out (open reviews) or the opening up of the review to the academic community (open participation). We present the project for the implementation of an Open Peer Review Module in two major Spanish repositories, DIGITAL.CSIC and e-IEO, together with some promising initial results and challenges in the take-up process. The OPR module, designed for integration with DSpace repositories, enables any scholar to provide a qualitative and quantitative evaluation of any research object hosted in these repositories.

Abstract: A band of archivists and IT professionals at Harvard took on a project to convert nearly two million descriptions of archival collection components from marked-up text into the ArchivesSpace archival metadata management system. Starting in the mid-1990s, Harvard was an alpha implementer of EAD, an SGML (later XML) text markup language for electronic inventories, indexes, and finding aids that archivists use to wend their way through the sometimes quirky filing systems that bureaucracies establish for their records or the utter chaos in which some individuals keep their personal archives. These pathfinder documents, designed to cope with messy reality, can themselves be difficult to classify. Portions of them are rigorously structured, while other parts are narrative. Early documents predate the establishment of the standard; many feature idiosyncratic encoding that had been through several machine conversions, while others were freshly encoded and fairly consistent. In this paper, we will cover the practical and technical challenges involved in preparing a large (900MiB) corpus of XML for ingest into an open-source archival information system (ArchivesSpace). This case study will give an overview of the project, discuss problem discovery and problem solving, and address the technical challenges, analysis, solutions, and decisions and provide information on the tools produced and lessons learned. The authors of this piece are Kate Bowers, Collections Services Archivist for Metadata, Systems, and Standards at the Harvard University Archive, and Dave Mayo, a Digital Library Software Engineer for Harvard’s Library and Technology Services. Kate was heavily involved in both metadata analysis and later problem solving, while Dave was the sole full-time developer assigned to the migration project.

Abstract: Digitizing large collections of Cultural Heritage (CH) resources and providing tools for their management, analysis and visualization is critical to CH research. A key element in achieving the above goal is to provide user-friendly software offering an abstract interface for interaction with a variety of digital content types. To address these needs, the Medici content management system is being developed in a collaborative effort between the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Bibliotheca Alexandrina (BA) in Egypt, and the Cyprus Institute (CyI). The project is pursued in the framework of European Project “Linking Scientific Computing in Europe and Eastern Mediterranean 2” (LinkSCEEM2) and supported by work funded through the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF), the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH), the U.S. National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), the U.S. Office of Naval Research (ONR), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as well as other private sector efforts. Medici is a Web 2.0 environment integrating analysis tools for the auto-curation of un-curated digital data, allowing automatic processing of input (CH) datasets, and visualization of both data and collections. It offers a simple user interface for dataset preprocessing, previewing, automatic metadata extraction, user input of metadata and provenance support, storage, archiving and management, representation and reproduction. Building on previous experience (Medici 1), NCSA, and CyI are working towards the improvement of the technical, performance and functionality aspects of the system. The current version of Medici (Medici 2) is the result of these efforts. It is a scalable, flexible, robust distributed framework with wide data format support (including 3D models and Reflectance Transformation Imaging-RTI) and metadata functionality. We provide an overview of Medici 2’s current features supported by representative use cases as well as a discussion of future development directions.

Abstract: At the University of Dayton Libraries, we set out to develop an inexpensive and reasonably easy-to-use method for conducting a library-wide physical item inventory. In this article, we explain a custom built Google Sheets-based library inventory system, along with some code for the implementation of a RESTful API (written in PHP) that interacts with our ILS. We will also explain our use of Google Apps scripts in our Google Sheet, which are crucial to our systems.

Abstract: The Drawings of the Florentine Painters: From Print Catalog to Linked Open Data The Drawings of The Florentine Painters project created the first online database of Florentine Renaissance drawings by applying Linked Open Data (LOD) techniques to a foundational text of the same name, first published by Bernard Berenson in 1903 (revised and expanded editions, 1938 and 1961). The goal was to make Berenson’s catalog information—still an essential information resource today—available in a machine­readable format, allowing researchers to access the source content through open data services. This paper provides a technical overview of the methods and processes applied in the conversion of Berenson’s catalog to LOD using the CIDOC­CRM ontology; it also discusses the different phases of the project, focusing on the challenges and issues of data transformation and publishing. The project was funded by the Samuel H. Kress Foundation and organized by Villa I Tatti, The Harvard University Center for Italian Renaissance Studies. Catalog: http://florentinedrawings.itatti.harvard.edu Data Endpoint: http://data.itatti.harvard.edu

Abstract: The​ ​W3C​ ​Web​ ​Annotation​ ​Data​ ​Model,​ ​Protocol,​ ​and​ ​Vocabulary​ ​unify​ ​approaches​ ​to annotations​ ​across​ ​the​ ​web,​ ​enabling​ ​their​ ​aggregation,​ ​discovery​ ​and​ ​persistence​ ​over​ ​time.​ ​In addition,​ ​new​ ​javascript​ ​libraries​ ​provide​ ​the​ ​ability​ ​for​ ​users​ ​to​ ​annotate​ ​multi-format​ ​content.​ ​In this​ ​paper,​ ​we​ ​describe​ ​how​ ​we​ ​have​ ​leveraged​ ​these​ ​developments​ ​to​ ​provide​ ​annotation features​ ​alongside​ ​Islandora’s​ ​existing​ ​preservation,​ ​access,​ ​and​ ​management​ ​capabilities.​ ​We also​ ​discuss​ ​our​ ​experience​ ​developing​ ​with​ ​the​ ​Web​ ​Annotation​ ​Model​ ​as​ ​an​ ​open​ ​web architecture​ ​standard,​ ​as​ ​well​ ​as​ ​our​ ​approach​ ​to​ ​integrating​ ​mature​ ​external​ ​annotation libraries.​ ​The​ ​resulting​ ​software​ ​(the​ ​​Web​ ​Annotation​ ​Utility​ ​Module​ ​​for​ ​Islandora) accommodates​ ​annotation​ ​across​ ​multiple​ ​formats.​ ​​ ​This​ ​solution​ ​can​ ​be​ ​used​ ​in​ ​various​ ​Digital Scholarship​ ​contexts.

Abstract: In this article, we provide a brief overview of the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) LinkOut service for institutional repositories, a service that allows links from the PubMed database to full-text versions of articles in participating institutional repositories (IRs). We discuss the criteria for participation in NCBI LinkOut for IRs, current methods for participating, and outline our solution for automating the identification of eligible articles in a repository using R and the ‘rentrez’ package. Using our solution, we quickly processed 4,400 open access items from our repository, identified the 557 eligible records, and sent them to the NLM. Direct linking from PubMed resulted in a 17% increase in web traffic.