Getting to Know TS Librarians: Ryan Tamares

1. Introduce yourself (name & position). 

Hello, I’m Ryan Tamares, Head of Collection Services, Robert Crown Law Library, Stanford Law School. I began my work at the library as Lead Cataloging Specialist in 2004, and was promoted to the role of Catalog Librarian in 2013. I have held the title of Head of Collection Services since 2016. My experiences in technical services roles have been so helpful, providing much background from where the collection has been as well as informing on how the library might proceed in the future.

2. Does your job title actually describe what you do? Why/why not?

This is not inaccurate, but doesn’t tell very much about what I do. Officially I oversee the cataloging, processing, and preservation of my library’s collection. I collaborate with my colleagues in other departments as well as the main campus library to make sure library users are able to find and access resources, regardless if they are physical or otherwise.

3. What are you reading right now?

I began reading Pamela Druckerman’s There are no grownups (Penguin Press, 2018) on my flight to AALL Annual in Baltimore, and am nearly done with the book. On professional readings, I am taking a look at two new titles: Elevating customer service in higher education : a practical guide / Heath Boice-Pardee, Emily Richardson, Eileen Soisson (Academic Impressions, 2018), and Reengineering the library : issues in electronic resources management / edited by George Stachokas (ALA Editions, 2018).

4. If you could work in any library (either a type of library or a specific one), what would it be? Why?

Given the choice, I would love to work in a music library, as that is in part my training—my undergraduate degree is in music education, and I earned a Master of Music in bassoon performance. Having a background in performing and teaching music has truly informed me about working with others as well as training people. These are skills that have helped me greatly as a librarian.

Revised RDA Toolkit workshop

Recently I was able to attend a workshop at the American Library Association Annual Meeting, sponsored by the RDA Steering Committee, providing an introduction to the beta revised RDA Toolkit. The RDA Steering Committee (RSC)  initiated the RDA Toolkit Restructure and Redesign (3R) project in 2017, redesigning the toolkit to align with the IFLA Library Reference Model.

The beta Toolkit is available at https://beta.rdatoolkit.org/rda.web/ and users are encouraged to explore and provide feedback. Presentations from the workshop are available on the RSC's presentation site, http://www.rda-rsc.org/node/560.

What do I think the takeaways are? An understanding of the IFLA LRM is essential to navigating the revised toolkit as all instructions are organized in accordance with this model. The toolkit is very much a work in progress, so it is difficult to tell how it will be to work with, examples are incomplete and some navigational aids have yet to be developed. While the language used is very consistent, it is also somewhat opaque. The new version will be reliant on "application profiles" to provide guidance to catalogers for use of the recording options presented for each data element. It is anticipated that communities of practice, e.g. music catalogers, law catalogers, will develop best practices for catalogers working in these areas.

The RSC has not determined a date for transition to the revised toolkit; they must first agree that the 3R project is complete. The RDA Board must unanimously approve the determination. A transition date will then be announced; the original site will remain available for one year beyond that date so users can move to the new toolkit.

Stanford Libraries Awarded Grant to Implement LD Environment

The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation has awarded Stanford Libraries a $4 million grant to lead an effort to integrate library data into the greater Web via linked data. Stanford will be partnering with Cornell, Harvard, and the University of Iowa to implement a prototype environment and tools over the next two years. A deliberate partnership with the Program for Cooperative Cataloging (PCC) and the Library of Congress has been included in the project, allowing for an expansion of the number of libraries that will be able to implement linked data.

More details can be found in the press release on Library Technology Guides at https://librarytechnology.org/pr/23584.

Getting to Know TS Librarians: Jason LeMay

1. Introduce yourself:
I am Jason LeMay, Assistant Law Librarian for Cataloging and Metadata at Emory University’s Hugh F. MacMillan Law Library in Atlanta, Georgia.

2. Does your job title actually describe what you do? Why/why not?
Most of the time, yes. My primary role is cataloger, and during normal times I spend a substantial amount of my time at work cataloging more complex materials that need original cataloging. I also spend a fair amount of time cataloging rare materials, with a large backlog of early modern European dissertations to guarantee that I’ll be busy for quite a long time.

Most recently, I’ve been spending the bulk of my time performing my now-retired supervisor’s duties – paying invoices, dealing with vendors, and general administrative technical services tasks. Now that this position has been filled, I anticipate being able to return to my growing backlog of cataloging.

3. What are you reading right now?
I actually just finished my latest book yesterday, The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank. I’m finally getting around to my list of “books everyone should read,” and Anne Frank’s diary was up near the top. I’ll probably keep with the theme and start on Wiesel’s Night next.

4. You suddenly have a free day at work, what project would you work on?
I would probably tackle some rare books that have been getting neglected. I have a few bound-withs that are waiting that would probably top my list. I generally dislike cataloging bound-withs, so they tend to get left until I truly have time to work on them.

LawArXiv One Year Anniversary Report

It hardly seems like it's been over a year since we posted about the launch of LawArXiv. LawArXiv now houses nearly 700 open access legal articles. The organization has published a One Year Anniversary Report.

Some of the highlights from the report:

• 89% of the submissions to the repository are from Cornell, one of the developers of the platform
• The majority of the submissions deal with intellectual property law
• A process for batch uploading of articles was developed in April 2018

Goals for the coming year included:

• Adding the ability for institutions to use their branding on their submissions
• Setting up subject-based email alerts
• Adding a data field for the institution of the article author

Getting to Know TS Librarians: Elizabeth Outler

1. Introduce yourself (name & position).

I am Elizabeth Outler, Assistant Director for Technical Services at Oliver B. Spellman Law Library, Southern University Law Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

2. Does your job title actually describe what you do? Why/why not?

I think my job title is pretty accurate, though my experience in the TS field is only a couple of years at this point, so I may be mistaken about what is typical. I have recently arrived at Southern and my first task has been working on a cataloging and processing backlog that has stacked up while they waited for hiring to be approved. In the past my role focused on acquisitions, so this is different territory for me. I’m also getting to be in charge of Systems, which again, isn’t really in my training background, but I like it. I really enjoy learning new skills and solving problems, so I am having a pretty good time, and I think I have a great job.

3. What are you reading right now?

I am sort of an abomination – a librarian who does not read. The only explanation for this phenomenon that I have been able to come up with is that law school, and studying for the bar examination, scarred all my reading brain cells and I just don’t want to do it anymore. I do have a book on my nightstand that I have been creeping through when I make myself pick it up: Gifts of the Crow: How Perception, Emotion and Thought Allow Smart Birds to Behave Like Humans, by John Marzluff & Tony Angell. I like birds, and am particularly interested in crows, so this was a birthday present a few years ago. It is a fascinating book.

4. If you could work in any library (either a type of library or a specific one), what would it be? Why?

I am totally in love with my undergraduate alma mater, Smith College, so if I could work in any library, it would be Neilson Library, which is currently undergoing a major renovation designed by Maya Lin. (See https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/17/arts/design/maya-lin-unveils-redesign-of-smith-college-library.html) 

Linked data for librarians - new online tutorial

Drexel University's College of Computing and Informatics and the Institute for Library and Museum Services have recently released an online course, Linked Data for Librarians. The course provides an accessible, free and open access introduction to linked data concepts. 

The first part of the course is designed to provide introductory material, part two covers more advanced material and hands on exercises. Each module requires a relatively brief time commitment concluding with a series of questions designed to check the user's understanding of the material presented.

The course is designed and presented by Seth van Hooland, Associate Professor, Département des Sciences de l'Information et de la Communication, Université libre de Bruxelles, and Ruben Verborgh, professor of Semantic Web Technology at IDLab, a group of Ghent University/imec.

As of this writing, I have completed the first three units of Part 1. The material is well organized, examples are well thought out, and the topics are presented in what seem to be new and creative ways. I am looking forward to completing the balance of the material.

Course citation: van Hooland, S. and Verborgh, R. (2017) “Linked Data for Librarians.” Available at http://course.freeyourmetadata.org/

Course outline:

Part 1

• Introduction
• Understanding data modesl
• Possibilities and limitations of RDF
• Data quality
• Data profiling and cleaning

Part 2

• Vocabulary reconciliation
• Metadata enriching
• REST
• Decentralization and federation
• Conclusions