Topic: Collections and preservation
Research Report
January 31, 2023
A*CENSUS II: Archives Administrators Survey
Seven hundred and forty-six archives administrators representing academic institutions, government agencies, nonprofit organizations, for-profit organizations, and community archives across the United States shared information about their organizations and their perspectives on key issues in the field by completing the A*CENSUS II Archives Administrators Survey. This report shares findings on archives’ budget and collection sizes, staff recruitment and retention, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility practices.
Blog Post
January 30, 2023
A Librarian’s Perspective on Streaming Video in Educational Contexts
Almost exactly one year ago, I added “Streaming Video Coordinator” to my portfolio at Cornell University Library, a role which includes looking strategically at our streaming media offerings. In this capacity I started thinking about what a collection policy focused on streaming video might look like. In fact, libraries don’t collect streaming video at all, but rather prioritize timely access to films needed to support course instruction.
Blog Post
January 26, 2023
Teaching with Streaming Video
A New Report from Ithaka S+R Provides Insights from Instructors
Instructors from all disciplines have incorporated video into their syllabi, and—unsurprisingly—streaming video is now the dominant format to which they turn. Faculty and students appreciate the flexibility of streaming video, which students can access on a variety of platforms ranging from YouTube to subscription services licensed by university libraries. Libraries are now making significant investments to license streaming content for educational use and anticipate that their spending in this area will double over the next five years. As the…
Research Report
January 26, 2023
Teaching with Streaming Video
Understanding Instructional Practices, Challenges, and Support Needs
Ithaka S+R launched a project in collaboration with a cohort of libraries to identify challenges and develop strategies for streaming media acquisitions. We published the findings from the first part of this project—a comprehensive national survey that tracked the streaming media strategies libraries are adopting and the challenges they are facing—in June, 2022. This second report draws on a qualitative study of faculty practices and support needs with streaming video. Understanding these practices can guide libraries to make strategic acquisitions…
Blog Post
January 17, 2023
Re-Assessing the “Big Deal”
Views from Cornell University and Georgia Southern University
As publishers shift their business strategies to meet higher education’s open access priorities, universities must continually re-assess the extent to which their readers still require access to content behind paywalls, and by extension, whether the bundled subscription packages that provided a discount to that content still constitute a “big deal.” Understanding the costs of these subscriptions to institutions relative to the benefits to its readers is made complicated by the uneven pace of open access uptake across disciplines as well…
Blog Post
January 12, 2023
Preserving Their Stories: Archiving Mass Incarceration
A New NEH-Funded Project
We’re thrilled to announce that the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), through its Research and Development Program, has granted funding to a new Ithaka S+R project to explore how the stories of people who are justice impacted can best be preserved and develop strategies to make these first-hand experiences of mass incarceration accessible. In partnership with the Justice Arts Coalition (JAC), “Preserving Their Stories” will explore how creative works generated by people in prison circulate beyond prison…
Issue Brief
January 5, 2023
Copyright and Streaming Audiovisual Content in the US Context
Copyright law includes special rights for research and teaching, including the fair use right, which can help address gaps between the educational activities that technology facilitates and the exclusive rights copyright grants to authors. In this brief, we review how US copyright law currently applies to streaming content for educational and research purposes and explore the opportunities for academic libraries.
Blog Post
December 19, 2022
Collaborative Collection Development
A New IMLS-Funded Partnership
Ithaka S+R is proud to announce our participation in a new multi-institutional partnership to facilitate the cross-industry development of collaborative library collections. The project is generously funded through the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) National Leadership Grant for Libraries, awarded to the National Information Standards Organization (NISO), the Partnership for Academic Library Collaboration & Innovation (PALCI), Lehigh University Libraries, and Ithaka S+R, along with 27 other partner organizations.
Playbook
November 9, 2022
Leading by Diversifying Collections
A Guide for Academic Library Leadership
Academic libraries build collections in the context of their parent institutions—primarily to support the institution’s research, teaching, and learning mission. They also build collections that document and preserve the cultural and scientific heritage of our society to represent a wide range of perspectives. In these efforts, universities and their libraries are developing approaches that address calls for greater diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) with a focus on creating space for and the perspectives of historically marginalized groups.
Past Event
November 3, 2022
Licensing and Learning
What New Research Suggests About How Streaming Video Can Support Student Learning
In a session at the 2022 Charleston Conference, Ithaka S+R’s Dylan Ruediger will share findings from large-scale research Ithaka S+R conducted this spring regarding instructors’ use of streaming video in pedagogical contexts, and libraries’ decision making regarding streaming media licensing. The mixed-method research project raises important questions about the necessity for alignment across campus around how video can meet pedagogical goals. Dr. Adam Frost and Lisa Forrest will also present, and the panel will be moderated by Michael Carmichael. The…
Blog Post
September 15, 2022
Community Reflections on Ithaka S+R’s report about Digital Preservation and Curation Systems
In July 2022, we shared our findings from a broad examination of the digital preservation and curation systems landscape, drawn in part from deep dives into a number of third-party preservation platforms. Along with this research, we’ve held a series of online forums to gather feedback on the report from the community. Here, we synthesize what we heard during five invitation-only and three open webinars with 253 people, including preservation service providers, curation specialists, technologists, and more.
Past Event
October 20, 2022
Streaming Video in the Classroom: Connecting Acquisitions and Instruction
2022 Annual Video Trust Conference Session
In a virtual session at the 2022 Annual Video Trust Conference, taking place on October 17 – 20th, Dylan Ruediger and Makala Skinner will share updates from an Ithaka S+R project studying the evolving landscape of streaming educational video. The session will share data from a survey released in June and present a preview of the next phase of the project, which will involve semi-structured interviews with over 200 instructors about their experiences teaching with video. The event takes place…
Past Event
September 29, 2022
Selecting and Implementing Digital Preservation Systems
A Two-Part Workshop Hosted by LYRASIS
In a two-part workshop hosted by LYRASIS and designed for heritage organization staff, Oya Y. Rieger will present strategies for assessing local preservation needs and implementing digital preservation and curation systems and tools, drawing on Ithaka S+R’s recent report, “The Effectiveness and Durability of Digital Preservation and Curation Systems.” The sessions will meet on September 29 at 2-3:30 pm ET and on October 13 at 2-3:30 pm ET. Learn more about the workshop and register here.
Blog Post
August 23, 2022
Understanding Archivists
Insights from the A*CENSUS II: All Archivists Survey Report
Earlier this week, we published the findings from the A*CENSUS II: All Archivists Survey, the first national survey in 17 years designed to gather information about the demographics, education levels, job placement, salaries, and student loan debt of archivists and community memory workers. The survey also explored the extent to which this community views the archival profession as inclusive, equitable, and diverse. Nearly 6,000 archivists took the time to share their experiences through the survey.
Past Event
November 14, 2022
The Effectiveness and Durability of Digital Preservation and Curation Systems
Association of Southeastern Research Libraries Webinar
On November 14 at 2:00 – 3:00 pm ET, Oya Rieger and Roger Schonfeld will share an overview of key findings from a recent Ithaka S+R report on the changing landscape of digital preservation and the sustainability of digital preservation and curation systems, funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). Learn more about the event, hosted by the Association of Southeastern Research Libraries.
Past Event
August 27, 2022
A*CENSUS II Forum
2022 Society for American Archivists Annual Meeting
On Saturday, August 27, at 11:00 am, Makala Skinner will discuss the A*CENSUS II All Archivists Survey Report at the Society for American Archivists Annual Meeting. Joining Makala at the A*CENSUS II Forum are Beth Myers, Director of Special Collections at Smith College, Jacqualine Price Osafo, Executive Director of the Society of American Archivists, and Erin Passehl Stoddart, Michigan State University.
Research Report
August 22, 2022
A*CENSUS II All Archivists Survey Report
Five thousand, six hundred and ninety-nine archivists and memory workers across the United States took the time to share their experiences within the archives profession by completing the A*CENSUS II All Archivists Survey. The All Archivists Survey, fielded 17 years after the original A*CENSUS collected foundational data for the field, provides a measure of how far the field has come in nearly two decades as well as introduces new or expanded areas of exploration.
Blog Post
July 19, 2022
Supporting the Future Discovery and Use of Digital Content
New Report
Regardless of their size, location, or the communities they serve, all heritage organizations are involved in curating digital content, whether that content is born-digital or reformatted from physical materials. There are a range of risks involved in managing this content, including technical malfunctions, media obsolescence, and organizational failures—just to name a few. In light of such threats, digital preservation to enable the discovery, access, and use of content by designated user communities over time…
Research Report
July 19, 2022
The Effectiveness and Durability of Digital Preservation and Curation Systems
In August 2020, with funding from the Institute of Library and Museum Services (IMLS), Ithaka S+R launched an 18-month research project to examine and assess the sustainability of these third-party digital preservation systems. In addition to a broad examination of the landscape, we more closely studied eight systems: APTrust, Archivematica, Arkivum, Islandora, LIBNOVA, MetaArchive, Samvera and Preservica.
Blog Post
July 14, 2022
Tracking the Research, Teaching, and Publishing Practices of Faculty Members Nationally
US Faculty Survey
We are excited to announce the publication of the US Faculty Survey 2021. Through this national survey, we have been able to track the changing research, teaching, and publishing practices of faculty members within higher education triennially since early digital transformation at the turn of the century. Against the backdrop of the global pandemic and its numerous impacts on many different facets of higher education, this eighth cycle of the survey illuminates how earlier research and instructional trends…