Up to $22,500 in Resources Available from Digital Partners Grants

Are you a UNCG faculty member working on a research project for which you would like to create a freely shared, open access digital component? If so, consider applying for a Digital Partners Grant of $22,500 worth of resources from the University Libraries, which will assist you in building an online scholarly product and making it broadly available for the long term

To apply, simply fill out a short one-page online form by January 12.  The Selection Committee will review submissions and announce recipients by the end of February. We are happy to help you with the form! All you need is a good idea and we'll guide you through the application process. The awards' funding period is March 2016 - February 2017.

Applicants must be UNCG faculty members. The digital project must be hosted on the Library's servers, and must be Open Access and freely shared.  The Faculty member must resolve any copyright or intellectual property issues (but we can help with that).

Selection of the funded project will be based on the following criteria:

1. Projects that build on the strengths of the Libraries' extant digital projects
2. Projects that develop a library of resources that support a range of scholarly activities in general rather than creating teaching applications or custom-designed web sites for a specific course. 

For more information including examples of previous projects and details, please review the Library/Faculty Digital Initiatives Partnerships websitehttp://library.uncg.edu/research/support/ or contact Assistant Dean of the University Libraries Tim Bucknall (bucknall@uncg.edu) for more information.

What are the Options? What are my Rights? Understanding Copyright and Open Access in Modern Scholarly Publishing

The Faculty Senate Scholarly Communications Forum will be held on October 28^th from 3:30 – 5:00pm in the EUC Alexander Room

There are many reasons why faculty and researchers publish their work:

·         - to share their discoveries

·         -to make an impact in their field

·         -to meet institutional and professional expectations

·         -to foster learning and discovery

How these objectives are achieved is affected by where you publish and the agreements you enter into with publishers about the ownership and use of your intellectual output.

Come join our guest speaker Christine Fruin, J.D., MSLIS from the University of Florida to gain a better understanding of the legal relationships between author, publisher and reader and how to better preserve the rights not only of information producers but also information consumers through licensing and open access. This talk will also explore how quality and impact is measured in the modern scholarly publishing system and the new ways for discovering and distributing scholarship.

Digital Partners Grants Available to Faculty to Create Open Access Components to Research Projects

Are you a UNCG faculty member working on a research project for which you would like to create a freely shared, open access digital component? If so, consider applying for a Digital Partners Grant of $22,500 worth of resources from the University Libraries, which will assist you in building an online scholarly product and making it broadly available for the long term

To apply, simply fill out a short one-page online form by January 12.  The Selection Committee will review submissions and announce recipients by the end of February. We are happy to help you with the form! All you need is a good idea and we'll guide you through the application process. The awards' funding period is March 2016 - February 2017.

Why work with the University Libraries on your digital project?  The University Libraries has considerable expertise in collaborating with faculty on long-term web hosting, web design, user interface development, programming, database design, metadata, usability testing, and digitization.  We’re here on campus, and we’re committed to serving you and the broader scholarly community for the long term.

Here are some examples of our previous projects:

·        English Professor Jennifer Keith worked with the Libraries to create an online, open access critical edition to accompany her book about early English poet Anne Finch. Her work was further supported by an NEH grant.

·        Historian Loren Schweninger and the University Libraries created a searchable database of the materials in his Race and Slavery Petitions Project.  Even with Dr. Schweninger’s retirement, the database remains available and has been expanded into the Digital Library on American Slavery developed and maintained by the University Libraries.

Perhaps you are interested in a scanning project to make materials searchable and available on the web, an online map putting a graphic element on data or research materials, processing of oral histories, or a web-based interface to large research data sets.    The University Libraries are open to creative ideas, and are happy to consult with you about yours.

Examples of other Library collaborative digital projects may be found here.

The recipient(s) will receive up to $22,500 worth of resources (most likely from the Library IT department, but that depends on the needs of the applicant). The Library will provide its appropriate, existing hardware and software at no cost (but will not make expensive new purchases on behalf of the faculty).

Applicants must be UNCG faculty members. The digital project must be hosted on the Library's servers, and must be Open Access and freely shared.  The Faculty member must resolve any copyright or intellectual property issues (but we can help with that).

Selection of the funded project will be based on the following criteria:

    Projects that build on the strengths of the Libraries' extant digital projects

    Projects that develop a library of resources that support a range of scholarly activities in general rather than creating teaching applications or custom-designed web sites for a specific course.

Please review the Library/Faculty Digital Initiatives Partnerships website or contact Assistant Dean of the University Libraries Tim Bucknall (bucknall@uncg.edu) for more information.

Open Educational Resources Grant Winners Start Saving Their Students Money This Fall

Last spring the Office of the Provost and the University Libraries announced that they are joining together to support faculty interested in providing their students with a less expensive yet educationally rewarding alternative to expensive commercial textbooks.  Ten $1000 stipends were granted to faculty as an incentive to encourage the faculty to use low-cost or free alternatives to expensive course materials; these can include open-access scholarly resources, library-licensed and owned resources, and learning objects and texts that faculty create themselves.
                                                                                       OER Logo 2012 J. Mello, used under a Creative Commons license CC-BY

The winners of the grants are: 

•         Robert Anemone , Professor and Department Head, Anthropology
•         Heather Helms, Associate Professor, Human Development and Family Studies 
•         Channelle D. James, Lecturer, Marketing, Entrepreneurship, Hospitality and Tourism
•         Liz McNamara, Lecturer, Political Science
•         Carrie A. Wachter Morris, Associate Professor, Counseling and Educational Development 
•         Nancy Myers and Brenta Blevins, College Writing Program Director and Asst. Director, English
•         Terence A Nile, Professor, Chemistry and Biochemistry
•         Elizabeth Perrill, Associate Professor, Art
•         Jennifer Reich, Associate Director/Lecturer, College of Arts and Sciences Advising/Art 
•         Kelly L Wester, Associate Professor, Counseling and Educational Development.

The faculty used their time this summer to research and create resources that their students could use in class without having to purchase an expensive textbook. Grant recipient Jennifer Reich says, “The resources I found are much better than the textbooks and the students can do more with them.”  

At the end of the fall semester the University Libraries and the grant winners will assess the effectiveness of this initiative in their classes.  

Senate Committee approves the Fair Access to Science and Technology Research (FASTR) Act

HSGAC approves Fair Access to Science and Technology Research (FASTR) Act, which would ensure that public access to research articles becomes the law of the land
Washington, DC –The Senate Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs Committee (HSGAC) today passed S. 779, the Fair Access to Science and Technology Research (FASTR) Act, unanimously by voice vote and moved it to the full Senate for consideration. This marks the first time the Senate has acted on a government-wide policy ensuring public access to the results of publicly funded research, and is an important step towards codifying the progress made by the 2013 White House OSTP Directive.
FASTR calls for federal agencies with extramural research budgets in excess of $100 million to establish consistent, permanent public access policies for articles reporting on their funded research making articles freely available to the public no later than twelve months after publication – and preferably sooner.
“SPARC is encouraged by today’s bipartisan action by the Senate Homeland Security Committee, which signals strong support for the principle of public access to taxpayer funded research,” said Heather Joseph, Executive Director of the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition (SPARC). “The ultimate passage of FASTR will ensure a stable path for greater innovation and economic growth by opening up access to publicly funded research, regardless of the position any given Administration.”
“FASTR represents the next step forward in the competitiveness agenda, while protecting classified research and royalty generating works.  It harnesses the Internet allowing us to take advantage of the digital environment to disseminate the results of publicly funded research.”
“While we recognize this is just the first step in a long process, it is a significant one. We call on all Members of Congress to follow the Committee’s lead and will work closely with them as FASTR progresses.”
Background
Every year, the federal government funds tens of billions of dollars in basic and applied research.  Most of this funding is concentrated within 11 departments/agencies (e.g. National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Science Foundation (NSF), Department of Energy) and the research results in a significant number of articles being published each year – approximately 100,000 papers are published annually as a result of NIH funding alone.  Because U.S. taxpayers directly fund this research, they have a right to expect that its distribution and use will be maximized, and that they themselves will have access to it.
The government funds research with the expectation that new ideas and discoveries resulting from that research will advance science, stimulate innovation, grow the economy, and improve the lives and welfare of Americans.  The Internet makes it possible to advance these goals by providing public online access to federally funded research, and has revolutionized information sharing by enabling prompt sharing of the latest advances with every scientist, physician, educator, entrepreneur and citizen.
One of the critical challenges faced by industry today is gaining quick access to research for commercial application, to spur investment in development of new innovative products.  Businesses – small and large – need faster access to this information to be competitive in the global marketplace.

In February 2013, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) issued a Directive, that requires the results of taxpayer-funded research – both articles and data – be made freely available to the general public with the goal of accelerating scientific discovery and fueling innovation.  To date, 13 agencies and departments have released their initial plans.  However, as is always the case, the OSTP Directive can be overturned by a subsequent Administration.

Deciding on next year’s textbook adoption? Learn about ways to save your students money

Are you interested in bringing down the cost of textbooks for your students?  The high cost of commercial textbooks (print and electronic) is a major concern for both students and their parents. A new program at UNCG encourages you to do something about that concern.

The Office of the Provost and the University Libraries are joining together to support UNCG’s Open Education “Mini-Grants” initiative to encourage instructors to use low-cost or free alternatives to expensive course materials; these can include open-access scholarly resources, library-licensed and owned resources, and learning objects and texts that faculty create themselves.

Ten $1000 “mini-grants” will be available this spring, and are meant to offer an incentive for the time it will take faculty to identify new resources, adjust syllabi, and modify assignments and can also be used to cover any actual expenses you incur.

If you are interested in applying for these “mini-grants”, you are encouraged to attend one of the Open Education Initiative information sessions to be held April 14 and April 15^th from 12 pm to 1 pm in Jackson Library Room 216.  Please RSVP prior to the workshop or direct your questions to Beth Bernhardt at brbernha@uncg.edu.

Additional literature on open educational resources is available at http://uncg.libguides.com/oer

See what UNCG students think about textbook costs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIza8rp79-w&feature=youtu.be

The deadline to apply for the “mini-grants” is April 24^th.  You can apply at http://tinyurl.com/o2xck9j

HHS Releases Public Access Plans for 5 Agencies

On Friday, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released a comprehensive set of plans outlining the steps that its five largest Agencies will take to create policies expanding public access to the results of their funded research.  The policies are expected to go into effect by the end of this year.

The HHS release includes plans to update existing policies at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as well as plans for new policies at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).  Additionally, the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) is also voluntarily developing a plan for its portfolio of funded research.

Because each Agency created a separate plan, there is a lot of information packed into this single release. The plans relating to articles are relatively homogenous across the five Agencies;  all five will use the NIH Manuscript Submission System to deposit articles into the PubMed Central database, which will serve as the focal point for compliance.  

Of particular note: the discussion of HHS’s proposed mechanism to allow stakeholders to petition to change the embargo period centers on providing mechanisms to shorten the embargo period, underscoring that in all cases, across all operating divisions, the 12-month embargo is a guideline, and the rights holder can set an embargo period of less than that at any time.

Also of note is that while the individual Agencies indicate that their copyright and license provisions will be aligned with currently those in use by PubMed Central,  the NIH plan contains language which points to a possible shift in the Agency’s thinking on this crucial element.  The NIH plan notes: that the Agency is exploring the possibility of using the government use license specified to help make papers public. Such a move would greatly expand the utility of articles in the PMC database. 

The HHS blueprint for the sharing of digital research data are not as tightly defined as the plans to deal with research articles.  In particular, unlike in the article arena, HHS does not have a common repository for research data -- though it is envisioned that ultimately the operating divisions will utilize the health.gov portal to serve as the mechanism for the public to locate and access HHS-funded research data sets.  

This does not indicate a lack of commitment on the part of the department to move towards making the open sharing of research data a priority. Researchers across all HHS Agencies  will be required to provide plans for data access and sharing as part of the grant proposal process, or explain why their data cannot or should not be shared -- effectively setting a new default mode for sharing research data across HHS.

With the five operating divisions in different states of readiness, HHS's strategy for proceeding with data policy development is by necessity, quite pragmatic. The Department will first conduct an assessment of data holdings across its agencies, and create an enterprise-wide data inventory. It will also create common metadata elements for use by all of its agencies.