Assessing and improving the National Interoperability Frameworks of European Union Member States: The case of Greece

Interoperability (IOP) is the ability of a product or system – whose interfaces (APIs) are publicly documented – to connect to and operate with other products or systems, without restrictions. Interoperability further enables information and usable data to be properly exchanged and ensures the alignment of different business processes in critical sectors. In addition, is a prerequisite for transparent, domain-agnostic, and sustainable public sector digital services, where Public Administrations (PA) can efficiently interact across borders and domains by using common frameworks, standards, and processes for sharing information and data. The European Interoperability Framework (EIF) enables interoperability with guidelines for digital services. Therefore, the alignment with EIF becomes pivotal for the European Union (EU) countries since different regulations that facilitate and impose the implementation of European policies such as the Single Digital Gateway (SDG) regulation and the Once-Only Principle (OOP) consider the IOP a crucial technical and operational component for government digital services. This article proposes the update of the Greek NIF, with guidelines of EIF, OOP and other technological trends in conjunction with new legal and policy provisions. This proposed assessment methodology can be reused in other countries and can be further adapted for updating the EIF.     

Protecting Museum Collections from Vibrations Due to Construction: Vibration Statistics,Limits, Flexibility and Cooperation

ABSTRACT

Vibrations due to heavy construction work continue to be a major concern for museums. Although there has been an increase in research on the effect of vibrations on objects of cultural heritage in recent years, selecting measures to protect collections and remain open during construction work continues to be difficult because of a lack of data on what objects can actually withstand, the complexity of vibration loads, and the uniqueness of each situation. The major renovation of the Central Library in Liverpool, UK, which shared walls with the World Museum and Walker Art Gallery, both of which belong within National Museums Liverpool, showed how museums and other institutions can successfully deal with such situations. An integral approach was taken, beginning with an extensive risk analysis to determine which objects could remain on display, which needed extra protection and regular condition monitoring, and which had to be removed. The museums then negotiated a vibration protocol and action plan with the contractors, including continuous monitoring, and trigger levels requiring consultation or work stoppage. Vibration data were also stored and used for later analysis. This integral approach was successful in protecting the collections on exhibition, with only two incidents of reported damage directly related to vibrations. A combination of museum staff experience, excellent communications with the contractors, and some flexibility in defining vibration limits provided a successful recipe for both museums. The analysis of the vibration data using the basic engineering concept of the Palmgren-Miner rule, supports a more flexible approach to setting vibration limits based on recently published guidelines.     

Excessively Long Editorial Decisions and Excessively Long Publication Times by Journals: Causes,Risks, Consequences,and Proposed Solutions

Editors have very complex tasks and high responsibilities. In general, they are chosen leaders and experts in a field of study. Thus, they are expected to lead a sector of that scientific community, and their function is to serve as gate-keepers of the quality of submissions to journals whose editorial boards they serve because of their ethical and professional image, and positive and open engagement with their peers. Publishing a scientific paper can be an arduous task and in some cases a lengthy one. However, any delay in this process not only serves as a form of stress for authors, it may also disadvantage them by giving their competition an unfair advantage with a head start in the publishing rat race. Consequently, editors who oversee a process that takes an excessive or unreasonable amount of time should be held accountable. In this paper, we propose some suggested time limits for each stage of the publishing process. These should be carefully monitored by the editors, in close collaboration with the publisher, to ensure a fair and timely process that is realistic and reasonable. With clearer guidelines, authors can thus reduce their stress levels by knowing when to expect decisions, and can thus make their journal selection by keeping such factors in mind, and thus hedge their risks and better manage their time. Authors who wait almost indefinitely, or for excessively long periods of time, are victims of a lack of professionalism. Furthermore, editors who fail to communicate delays, effectively or at all, or who fail to offer any sufficient or heartfelt apology should be characterized as acting with professional negligence, if not misconduct. Only when the rules of engagement are fair, strict, clear and well defined can authors expect the publishing system to progress smoothly and professionally.     

Images of Native Americans

This article summarizes a background study conducted for museum staff planning the National Museum of the American Indian on the National Mall in Washington, DC. Through interviews we identified attitudes of Smithsonian visitors toward Native Americans. Three results stand out: First, although most visitors have had some minimal contact with contemporary Native Americans, imagery of the past dominated their responses. This past is characterized as a period in which Native Americans had freedom of movement, had control over their destiny, and lived in harmony with nature. This peaceful existence was destroyed with the arrival of the Europeans. Second, current Indian life is seen as grim, except in those cases where Native Americans have fully assimilated into urban environments. Implicit is an assumption that traditional life and values can only be maintained on reservations. At the same time, reservations are associated with poverty, alcoholism, unemployment, and poor health care. Third, visitors would like the new museum to emphasize aspects of Native life and culture that are unique or different from their own. Overall, visitors have only a cursory familiarity with Native philosophy, history, or current conditions. Very few express strongly held beliefs or positions about Native Americans.     

When Online Instruction Doesn’t Measure Up: How Can You Tell,and What Should You Do?

At Duquesne University, freshmen are required to take a one-credit information literacy course. This course has traditionally been offered mostly face-to-face, but has expanded into more online offerings. Unfortunately, the experience for students and instructors online was not as positive as those involved with the face-to-face version of the course. Assessment results on a variety of levels and anecdotal evidence indicated that students did not work as well together to learn as those did in the face-to-face version of the course. Not only did instructors receive lower student evaluation scores, but students did not perform as well on their final, collaborative project. While there will be barriers to learning online, especially when students work together in a group, instructors and instructional designers can take distinct steps to make the experience a positive one. Instructors must use particular interventions to increase student-to-student interaction that leads to learning.     

Governance of artificial intelligence: A risk and guideline-based integrative framework

This study addresses the growing challenge of governing artificial intelligence (AI) arising from the risks that it increasingly poses to the public sector and society. Based on an in-depth literature analysis, we first identify AI risks and guidelines and classify them into six categories, including technological, data, and analytical risks and guidelines, informational and communicational risks and guidelines, economic risks and guidelines, social risks and guidelines, ethical risks and guidelines, as well as legal and regulatory risks and guidelines. These risks and guidelines are then elaborated and transferred into a four-layered conceptual framework for AI governance. The framework interrelates AI risks and AI guidelines by means of a risk management and guidance process, resulting in an AI governance layer depicting the process for implementation of customised risk mitigation guidelines. The framework constitutes a comprehensive reference point for developing and implementing AI governance strategies and measures in the public sector.     

Garbage In,Gospel Out: Twelve Reasons Why Librarians Should Not Accept Cost-per-Download Figures at Face Value

The ease with which journal usage statistics can now be collected and ingested into e-resources management systems encourages librarians to make renewal and cancellation decisions based on a simple cost-per-download metric. However, to avoid basing decisions on erroneous data it is important to consider the reliability of this metric. There are many reasons why the cost-per-download of one journal is not as directly comparable with that of another journal as might be expected. Nevertheless there are steps that libraries can take to identify and to apply corrections to misleading usage statistics. A balance needs to be struck between usage analyses being rigorous but time consuming, and being pragmatic but “good enough.”     

Silent or Stealth Retractions,the Dangerous Voices of the Unknown,Deleted Literature

Retractions serve as one perspective of the publishing process, and can offer vast insight into the problems associated with basic research, with the traditional publishing platform, or with policies. Some established retraction guidelines exist, such as those established by the Committee on Publication Ethics, or COPE. This essay provides a perspective of stealth or silent retractions within the broader concept of retractions, and within the framework of the COPE retraction guidelines. The issue of opaque retraction notices, especially in the case of COPE members, as well as the prominence of questionable retraction policies among select “predatory” open access publishers, is emphasized. Select clear examples are provided.     

ISSUES SESSION I

Abstract

The CONSER Program has been a leader in developing standards for cataloging electronic resources. Members from several CONSER institutions will discuss their experiences with the Program's interim guidelines for cataloging remote-access versions of print serials which allow the option of creating separate records for online and print versions or, alternately, of identifying the online version on the print record. Pro's and con's of each approach will be examined from the point of view of the cataloger as well as public service staff. Long-term directions will also be explored. Since the guidelines are still very much a work-in-progress, the session is designed to include input and questions from the audience.     

Getting the best out of data for open access monograph presses: A case study of UCL Press

This study of UCL Press sought to identify the extent to which data available to open access (OA) monograph presses can be combined with low‐cost analysis tools to provide insight into development and strategy. An additional goal was identifying practical steps that monograph publishers can take to ensure that they make the most of the data they have access to. The project team carried out an analysis of downloaded figures from platforms providing access to UCL Press monograph titles, social media activity, and sales patterns. Patterns of engagement with the books were cross‐referenced against key marketing and dissemination events in order to identify relationships between marketing approaches and awareness or use of a title. This study shows that it is possible to gain valuable insights into the uses of OA books by collating and analysing usage and social media data. It also identifies a series of relatively straightforward steps that can be taken by presses to maximize the richness of the data captured. These include proactively gathering and storing data; providing best practice advice to those engaging in promotion, particularly when promotion is via social media; and making it easier to track specific efforts to publicize books by using tagged links.     

Delay between online and offline issue of journals: A critical analysis

Journals, which were earlier published in print-only version, are now published in both the online and print versions. It has been established that online versions, free or not, have greater impact over the print version. But there is a difference between the dates of publication of the online and print version of the same journal. This is called the delay measured in terms of days. The purpose of this study is to find the average time delay. For this, data for more than 200 journals of various subjects from different publishers have been manually acquired for publications during the first 6 months of year 2005. Further subject-wise investigation was made during the last month of the year 2005. The average delay is found to be nearly 3 months, but it varies for different publishers. Also, the issue of large deviation from the average delay – as noted in some journals – will be discussed here.     

SAGE Research Methods Datasets: A Data Analysis Educational Tool

ABSTRACT

SAGE Research Methods Datasets (SRMD) is an educational tool designed to offer users the opportunity to obtain hands-on experience with data analysis. Users can search for and browse authentic datasets by method, discipline, and data type. Each of the datasets are supplemented with educational material on the research method and clear guidelines for how to approach data analysis.     

Do You See the Signs? Evaluating Language,Branding, and Design in a Library Signage Audit

Signage represents more than directions or policies; it is informational, promotional, and sets the tone of the environment. To be effective, signage must be consistent, concise, and free of jargon and punitive language. An efficient assessment of signage should include a complete inventory of existing signage, including an analysis of the types of signs, its location, language, and its design. This article outlines the steps involved in a comprehensive signage audit, which along with a literature review, provides the foundation for creating a signage policy, best practices guidelines, and a branding strategy for future signage.     

Data,disciplines, and scholarly publishing

Data are becoming an essential product of scholarship, complementing the roles of journal articles, papers, and books. Research data can be reused to ask new questions, to replicate studies, and to verify research findings. Data become even more valuable when linked to publications and other related resources to form a value chain. Types and uses of data vary widely between disciplines, as do the online availability of publications and the incentives of scholars to publish their data. Publishers, scholars, and librarians each have roles to play in constructing a new scholarly information infrastructure for e‐research. Technical, policy, and institutional components are maturing; the next steps are to integrate them into a coherent whole. Achieving a critical mass of datasets in public repositories, with links to and from publisher databases, is the most promising solution to maintaining and sustaining the scholarly record in digital form.     

The scientific and clinical literature of AIDS: development,bibliographic control and retrieval

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Two time series,their meaning and some applications

Introducing and studying two types of time series, referred to as R1 and R2, we try to enrich the set of time series available for time dependent informetric studies. In a first part we focus on mathematical properties, while in a second part we check if these properties are visible in real data. This practical application uses data in the social sciences related to top Chinese universities. R1 sequences always increase over time, tending relatively fast to one, while R2 sequences have a decreasing tendency tending to zero in practical cases. They can best be used over relatively short periods of time. R1 sequences can be used to detect the rate with which cumulative data increase, while R2 sequences detect the relative rate of development.The article ends by pointing out that these time series can be used to compare innovative activities in firms. Clearly, this investigation is just a first attempt. More studies are needed, including comparisons with other related sequences.     

The footprint and the stepping foot: archival records, evidence, and time

This paper provides an analysis of the archival concepts of “record” and “evidence” as socio-cultural constructs arising out of a particular view of time. Archival records are usually characterized as having certain relationships to evidence in its temporal aspects—specifically, the requirement for a temporal disconnect between creation and use. This disconnect also necessitates a break between knowledge and the knower in which the record must be externalized and set aside from its creator in order to have “recordness”. This paper explores how Western concepts of time impact concepts of records and archival evidences and proposes an alternative framing. Since records have such power in our lives and societies, practitioners must begin to work with an expanded concept of record and sensitivity to differing time frames and worldviews. The paper proposes a new definition of “record” as an intentional, stable, semantic structure, which is used to identify three broad categories of record types, based on event-orientation or object-orientation, that are flexible enough to account for differing cultural and spiritual understandings of time.     

Emerging roles for biomedical librarians: a survey of current practice,challenges, and changes

Objective:

This study is intended to (1) identify emerging roles for biomedical librarians and determine how common these roles are in a variety of library settings, (2) identify barriers to taking on new roles, and (3) determine how librarians are developing the capacity to take on new roles.

Methods:

A survey was conducted of librarians in biomedical settings.

Results:

Most biomedical librarians are taking on new roles. The most common roles selected by survey respondents include analysis and enhancement of user experiences, support for social media, support for systematic reviews, clinical informationist, help for faculty or staff with authorship issues, and implementation of researcher profiling and collaboration tools. Respondents in academic settings are more likely to report new roles than hospital librarians are, but some new roles are common in both settings. Respondents use a variety of methods to free up time for new roles, but predominant methods vary between directors and librarians and between academic and hospital respondents. Lack of time is the biggest barrier that librarians face when trying to adopt new roles. New roles are associated with increased collaboration with individuals and/or groups outside the library.

Conclusion and Implications:

This survey documents the widespread incorporation of new roles in biomedical libraries in the United States, as well as the barriers to adopting these roles and the means by which librarians are making time for them. The results of the survey can be used to inform strategic planning, succession planning, library education, and career development for biomedical librarians.