June 2020
NISO Virtual Conference:
Changes in Higher Education and The Information Marketplace
Wednesday, June 17, 2020, 12:00 pm Noon - 4:00 pm (Eastern Time)
Pressures on institutions of higher education in the United States became weightier in 2020, as universities and colleges of all sizes dealt with COVID-19. There was a focus on de-densifying campuses and adapting to a different type of pedagogy. Looking ahead to the next academic year, reductions in funding will severely constrict the work of extended state systems. Institutions face a shrinking pool of qualified student applicants. There will be heightened competition for research grants. Donations and endowments must be secured and guarded.
At the same time, there is new familiarity with educational technology, gains made through adoption of new infrastructure. Open educational resources, online learning and deepened digital engagement are positioned to become the norm. How does all of this impact on the long-term strategic planning for libraries and the providers that serve them? This event will gather key decision-makers from a variety of constituencies to address the "new normal" and consider the long-term implications for participating stakeholders.
Confirmed participants include:
- Linda Jones, Provost, Western New England University
- Dean O. Smith, Professor Emeritus, University of Hawaii, & Author of How University Budgets Work (2019, JHU Press)
- Dennis Clark, Dean of the Library, University of Arkansas
- Amy Pawlowski, Interim Executive Director, Ohiolink
- Ralph Youngen, Director, Publishing Systems Integration, American Chemical Society
- Roger Schonfeld, Director, Libraries, Scholarly Communication, and Museums program, Ithaka
NISO Forum:
13th Annual NISO-BISG The Changing Standards Landscape Forum
Wednesday, June 24, 2020, 12:00 pm Noon - 4:00 pm (Eastern Time)
Today, libraries of many types are grappling with an array of opportunities and challenges. These include creating and capitalizing on linked data, maintaining accessible content, managing open access, effectively ingesting and offering digital content, understanding applications of artificial intelligence and the things that make it work, and ensuring privacy in an increasingly connected ecosystem.
For the most part, each of these new developments has required a silo of data inputs, ultimately delivering information in ways that make assessment difficult, incomplete, and expensive. Efforts like the Public Library Data Alliance have committed to streamlining, automating, and improving data collection, but that work is new, and interoperability remains an aspirational goal.
Trends in measurement increasingly drive our need to work together. In this focused workshop, we’ll discuss what’s needed to manage the data we use to assess the impact and effectiveness of linked data, accessible content, open access, and AI in everyday activities. We’ll also look at how more interoperable data sets can help us, as well as what stands in the way. Participants will also be given an opportunity to create their own “interoperability statements” to bring back to their institutions and organizations.
This is the thirteenth BISG-NISO Changing Standards Landscape forum. The event is co-hosted by Todd Carpenter, Executive Director, NISO and Brian O’Leary, Executive Director, Book Industry Study Group.
Confirmed speakers include (among others) Timothy Cherubini, Executive Director, Chief Officers of State Library Agencies, and Kurt Kiefer, Department of Public Instruction, State of Wisconsin; Andrew Pace, Executive Director for Technical Research, OCLC; Jeremy Frumkin, Executive Director of Research Technologies, University of Arizona; Others TBA.
NISO Annual Update:
NISO Annual Members Meeting and Standards Update
Friday, June 26, 2020, 11:00 am - 12:30 pm (Eastern Time)
Join us for our Annual Meeting to learn about the status of the organization, all the work that took place in 2019 and what’s happening now in 2020. The meeting is open to the public and all are welcome to participate. The NISO Update provides the latest news about NISO’s current efforts, including standards, recommended practices, and community meetings covering many areas of interest to the library community. Working group members will provide updates on projects newly underway or recently completed.
July 2020
Rescheduled! NISO Webinar
No More Big Deal? Picking and Choosing Titles for Use
New Date: Monday, July 6, 2020, 1:00pm - 2:30pm (Eastern Daylight, US & Canada)
More than 20 years since it was first introduced, some institutions are moving away from the “Big Deal”, which licenses institutional access to a critical mass of content. There are pros and cons of doing so, and this roundtable discussion will bring together speakers from institutions that have already stepped back from such deals and those for whom taking that step is — for whatever reason—- not yet an option. They will consider questions such as: What do their respective collection budgets permit? Do researcher or departmental needs run the risk of being sidelined or overlooked in either scenario? Is it really possible — or desirable — to go back to selecting content just for your own community’s needs?
This webinar is for everyone who wants to know more about this important topic, whether you work at an institution that is considering making — or has already made — this change, or at a publishing or other organization that is interested in understanding more about the decision-making process.
Confirmed speakers include:
- Keith Webster, Dean of University Libraries, Carnegie Mellon University
- Evviva Weinraub Lajoie, Vice Provost for University Libraries, State University of New York at Buffalo
- Curtis Brundy, Associate University Librarian, Scholarly Communications and Collections, Iowa State University
NOTE: ALL members of NISO automatically receive sign-on credentials for this event as a member benefit. There is no need to register separately. Check your institutional membership status here.
NISO educational events will be on hiatus for the month of July, with the exception of this single, re-scheduled event.
August 2020
NISO Two Part Webinar:
By Faculty and For Students: Supporting Open Educational Resources, Part One
Wednesday, August 12, 2020, 1:00 pm - 2:30 pm (Eastern Time)
Open Educational Resources (OER) might seem like a win/win for students and faculty alike, but adoption isn’t as straightforward as it might seem. For example, some texts may not lend themselves to being printed out — the subject matter may dictate an interactive design, or one that is heavily image-driven. And, while the creation of low-cost textbooks and curriculum support is recognized as important, how is the information community dealing with the challenges of ensuring currency and quality? How do we ensure equal access for all in a world of differing access to technology?
In the first session of this two-part webinar, a panel of experts will address some of the key challenges, including: How can you successfully drive buy-in by your undergraduates? What design elements are most likely to engage them? What indicators of use should you be measuring, how, and why? How can you support faculty members who are interested in developing these materials?
Open Access Monographs: What You Need To Know, Part Two
Wednesday, August 19, 2020, 1:00 pm - 2:30 pm (Eastern Time)
A 2019 article in The Atlantic observed that the current disruption in scholarly book publishing might result in the Great Sorting, what the author saw as a beneficial “matching of different kinds of scholarly uses with the right media, formats, and locations.”
In that context, the second session of this two-part webinar focuses specifically on OA monographs. Which stakeholders are currently delivering them and using them? Which current business models are most likely to represent sustainability for those stakeholders? And, with a population of interested readers of these works that may be far larger than their actual revenues, what can publishers, librarians, vendors, and others do to help drive discovery and usage of high-value OA monographs?
Our panel of expert speakers representing all these key stakeholder communities will share their experiences and expertise, as well as answering your questions about OA monographs.
NOTE: ALL members of NISO automatically receive sign-on credentials for both parts of this event as a member benefit. There is no need to register separately. Check your institutional membership status here.
NISO Virtual Conference:
Transforming Search: What the Information Community Can and Should Build
Wednesday, August 26, 2020, 12:00 pm Noon - 4:00 pm (Eastern Time)
Linked data. Aerial photography. Voice recognition and automated transcription. While none of these alone have transformed the user’s search experience, each plays a part in how users currently think about information retrieval and about the research process. In the coming years, artificial intelligence will have an increasingly important role as well in satisfying the user’s information need. This event will address how search technologies have progressed as well as emerging issues associated with discovery and relevant retrieval.