Kenning Arlitsch

Invisible institutional repositories: Addressing the low indexing ratios of IRs in Google Scholar

Purpose – Google Scholar has difficulty indexing the contents of institutional repositories, and the authors hypothesize the reason is that most repositories use Dublin Core, which cannot express bibliographic citation information adequately for academic papers. Google Scholar makes specific recommendations for repositories, including the use of publishing industry metadata schemas over Dublin Core. This paper aims to test a theory that transforming metadata schemas in institutional repositories will lead to increased indexing by Google Scholar.Design/methodology/approach – The authors conducted two surveys of institutional and disciplinary repositories across the USA, using different methodologies. They also conducted three pilot projects that transformed the metadata of a subset of papers from USpace, the University of Utahs institutional repository, and examined the results of Google Scholars explicit harvests.Findings – Repositories that use GS recommended metadata schemas and express them in HTML m...

Aggregating distributed digital collections in the Mountain West Digital Library with the CONTENTdmTM multi‐site server

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to describe the creation of the Mountain West Digital Library (MWDL), a cooperative regional program distributed throughout Utah and Nevada. Its metadata are aggregated at a single web site. Six digitization centers at the largest universities in both states digitize their own collections and support partner institutions in their geographic regions. Each center runs a CONTENTdm server, and an aggregating server at the University of Utah harvests metadata into a single searchable index. Local control and identity of collections are hallmarks of the MWDL.Design/methodology/approach – This paper describes the technical structure of the MWDL, focusing on the multi‐site server aggregating software from DiMeMa Inc.Findings – The MWDL was the first cooperative digital project to implement this software, and inspired the same infrastructure for a nine‐state project known as the Western Waters Digital Library. In 2005 the MWDL will also become the first in the nation to aggre...

Managing Search Engine Optimization: An Introduction for Library Administrators

Column Editor’s Note. This JLA column posits that academic libraries and their services are dominated by information technologies, and that the success of librarians and professional staff is contingent on their ability to thrive in this technology-rich environment. The column will appear in oddnumbered issues of the journal, and will delve into all aspects of libraryrelated information technologies and knowledge management used to connect users to information resources, including data preparation, discovery, delivery and preservation. Prospective authors are invited to submit articles for this column to the editor at kenning.arlitsch@montana.edu.

Undercounting File Downloads from Institutional Repositories

ABSTRACT A primary impact metric for institutional repositories (IR) is the number of file downloads, which are commonly measured through third-party Web analytics software. Google Analytics, a free service used by most academic libraries, relies on HTML page tagging to log visitor activity on Googles servers. However, Web aggregators such as Google Scholar link directly to high value content (usually PDF files), bypassing the HTML page and failing to register these direct access events. This article presents evidence of a study of four institutions demonstrating that the majority of IR activity is not counted by page tagging Web analytics software, and proposes a practical solution for significantly improving the reporting relevancy and accuracy of IR performance metrics using Google Analytics.

From Acquisitions to Access: The Changing Nature of Library Budgeting

Column Editors Note This JLA column posits that academic libraries and their services are dominated by information technologies, and that the success of librarians and professional staff is contingent on their ability to thrive in this technology-rich environment. The column will appear in odd-numbered issues of the journal, and will delve into all aspects of library-related information technologies and knowledge management used to connect users to information resources, including data preparation, discovery, delivery and preservation. Prospective authors are invited to submit articles for this column to the editor at kenning.arlitsch@montana.edu. The cost of building library collections continues to increase, forcing librarians to think differently about their budget models. Increasing costs of IT infrastructure needed to connect to information resources also adds to budget concerns. The idea of changing the emphasis of collections budgets to one of broader access is not new, but formally acknowledging the need to support local technology infrastructure and other means of access may offer a new way of promoting the collections budget to university administrators. We propose a budget model that acknowledges these broader requirements and includes concepts of surfacing and discovery, provision, creation, and acquisition.

Being Irrelevant: How Library Data Interchange Standards Have Kept Us Off the Internet

Column Editor’s Note. This JLA column posits that academic libraries and their services are dominated by information technologies, and that the success of librarians and professional staff is contingent on their ability to thrive in this technology-rich environment. The column will appear in odd-numbered issues of the journal, and will delve into all aspects of library-related information technologies and knowledge management used to connect users to information resources, including data preparation, discovery, delivery and preservation. Prospective authors are invited to submit articles for this column to the editor at kenning.arlitsch@montana.edu.

Demonstrating Library Value at Network Scale: Leveraging the Semantic Web With New Knowledge Work

Demonstrating Library Value at Network Scale: Leveraging the Semantic Web With New Knowledge Work Kenning Arlitsch, Patrick Obrien, Jason A. Clark, Scott W. H. Young & Doralyn Rossmann a Dean of the Library, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT, USA b Semantic Web Research Director, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT, USA c Head of Library Informatics and Computing, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT, USA d Digital Initiatives Librarian, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT, USA e Head of Collection Development, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT, USA Published online: 30 Aug 2014.

Staying Safe: Cyber Security for People and Organizations

Column Editor’s Note. This JLA column posits that academic libraries and their services are dominated by information technologies, and that the success of librarians and professional staff is contingent on their ability to thrive in this technology-rich environment. The column will appear in odd-numbered issues of the journal, and will delve into all aspects of library-related information technologies and knowledge management used to connect users to information resources, including data preparation, discovery, delivery and preservation. Prospective authors are invited to submit articles for this column to the editor at kenning.arlitsch@montana.edu.

Making Sense of Researcher Services

ABSTRACT Researcher services have proliferated in recent years and numerous free or fee-based sites now promise increased visibility and impact for authors or contributors of publications and other research products. Not all services have the same goals, however, and it can be difficult to know with which services researchers should engage. In this article we establish three categories (author/researcher identification, academic/professional networking, and reference/citation management) and examine nineteen services that fit into those categories. Column Editors Note This JLA column posits that academic libraries and their services are dominated by information technologies, and that the success of librarians and professional staff is contingent on their ability to thrive in this technology-rich environment. The column will appear in odd-numbered issues of the journal, and will delve into all aspects of library-related information technologies and knowledge management used to connect users to information resources, including data preparation, discovery, delivery and preservation. Prospective authors are invited to submit articles for this column to the editor at kenning.arlitsch@montana.edu

Heeding the signals: applying Web best practices when Google recommends

ABSTRACT Google is the single largest driver of traffic to library Web sites and digital repositories, and librarians would do well to listen when the search giant reveals information about its practices or makes recommendations. Recently, Google announced that it would begin to favor Web sites that use the secure hypertext transfer protocol (HTTPS) in its search results rankings. HTTPS encrypts data transmission and one of Googles stated reasons for this change is to help make the Web safer and minimize data theft. Similar announcements by Google have sometimes been ignored by librarians, to the peril of the visibility and use of library products and services on the Web.