Collaboration in Maine at the Margaret Chase Smith Library

Richards, David. “The Margaret Chase Smith Library: A Unique Collection Fostered by a History of Collaboration.” Maine Policy Review 22.1 (2013) : 62 -64, http://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/mpr/vol22/iss1/13.

Maine is a small state with a long history of scarce resources, of “making do,” and of “helping your neighbor.” The state’s libraries are a prime example what can be achieved to maximize resources through partnerships and collaboration. David Richards discusses the Margaret Chase Smith Library in Skowhegan, Maine, which he terms “a unique collection fostered by a history of collaboration.” Richards describes the vital role collaborations with multiple kinds of partners have played in helping the library fulfill its four functions: archives, museum, education, and public policy.

More threats to policing the open access model

Publisher Threatens to Sue Blogger for $1-Billion from the [The Chronicle of Higher Education]

For more information, check out a previous newspost entry: “Predatory Open Access Publishers.”

“In 2012, Jeffrey Beall, a librarian at the University of Colorado at Denver, told The Chronicle that he keeps a list of “predatory” open-access publishers, whose main goal is to generate profits. Such publishers, says Mr. Beall, “add little value to scholarship, pay little attention to digital preservation, and operate using fly-by-night, unsustainable business models.””

http://scholarlyoa.com/individual-journals/

Networking, collaboration and law–From the LawSync blog

The British Law blog called LawSync from the Sheffield Hallam University mentioned the #SLATalk Twitter Chat on collaboration that recently occurred.

A recent Special Libraries Association Twitter-talk took collaboration as its theme; it is evidently an idea of interest to librarians. Peter Griffith and Pete Smith will be presenting a paper to the British and Irish Association of Law Librarians (BIALL) 2013 conference, discussing their experiences of networking and collaboration in the context of LawSync. They’ll be thinking about some of the issues that have arisen- planning, process, and so on- as well as talking about the benefits of collaboration.

Presenting a paper- and attending conferences- is a well established form of networking, and we certainly hope to catch up with existing contacts and make new ones.

Online networking is the ‘new normal’ of collaboration, and not just for librarians. It’s interesting to note that the recent Riverview Law / DMH Stallard alliance started life on Twitter, but equally interesting to note Jon Busby’s point that this should be no more astonishing that they made contact by phone.

Thanks to Sarah for retweeting and Pete for also noting.

From the NLM–Disaster Health Information Outreach and Collaboration Project

Disaster Health Information Outreach and Collaboration Project 2013 (RFQ No. NIHLM2013697-KB)

The National Library of Medicine (NLM) is pleased to announce for the third year the solicitation of proposals from organizations and libraries to design and conduct projects that will improve disaster medicine and public health information access for health professionals, first responders, and others (paid or volunteer) that play a role in health-related disaster preparedness, response, and recovery.

Projects must involve two or more of the following information access categories:

• Information needs assessment;
• Roles in providing disaster health information;
• Practices and methods in information sharing;
• Skills development;
• Information retrieval;
• Resource development; and/or
• Document access.

Emphasis is on providing information or access to health and medical information in a way useful to all-hazards preparedness, response and recovery workers, and increasing the awareness and utilization of high-quality, all-hazards, and emergency topics. The purpose is also to promote new and creative collaborations on disaster health information needs among and to the mutual benefit of librarians, information specialists, or informationists and the disaster workforce.

Eligible projects will be based on a partnership or collaboration that includes at least one library or information center and at least one non-library organization that has disaster-related responsibilities.

Awards are offered for a minimum of $15,000 to a maximum of $30,000 for a one-year project.

Proposals are due to NLM on June 20, 2013 by 2 pm ET.

Higher education collaboration and digital humanities

The Chronicle of Higher Education has a new article.

“Cultivating Partnerships in the Digital Humanities: What teaching colleges and research universities have to gain from collaboration.”

…I want to argue that teaching-focused institutions have much to gain from partnerships with research universities on the digital humanities, and vice versa.

Beyond liberal-arts training, the 21st-century workplace increasingly demands that graduates demonstrate technological competence and entrepreneurial ability. Instead of engaging in escalating, unsustainable, and destructive competition, colleges and universities could develop mutually supportive relationships, combining our complementary strengths to benefit the overlapping and distinct communities that we serve.

III’s New CEO Calls for Greater Collaboration

Library Journal Excerpt: “Without deprecating the company’s past, Massana sent a clear message that the culture of III is shifting toward greater accountability and client focus, and he also said the company is moving away from its black box reputation and embracing, as a corporate imperative, greater openness and collaboration.”  read more: http://lj.libraryjournal.com/2013/05/technology/iiis-new-ceo-calls-for-greater-collaboration/

Chronicle ProfHacker piece on scholarly collaborative writing platforms

Wish List for a Powerful Collaborative Writing Platform
By Konrad Lawson

In my last posting, I imagined what it might look like to fork the academy, that is, to create a space within the world of academic writing and publishing where we could directly reuse, adapt, and expand each other’s work. I also discussed some of the most significant obstacles that stand in the way, both at the disciplinary level and the kinds of personal concerns I have seen raised from friends and colleagues I have discussed the idea with.