In this issue:
- Directors’ Message: A new TDL Governing Board
- Board Meetings Held in September
- TDL Spotlight: Preservation Steering Committee
- TDL begins upgrades to member repositories
- TDL welcomes new member Texas A&M International
- Changes to TDL Helpdesk
- Tech Teams Update
- User Group Meetings to be held in October
- Fall Training schedule
- Open Access Week to take place October 24-30
Director’s Message: A new TDL Governing Board
Dear TDL colleagues,
TDL Director Mark McFarland
We have discussed in several previous newsletters the process the TDL is undergoing to set up a governance structure that will take the organization into a new phase of its existence. The new structure provides members a greater opportunity for input and engagement, as well as the mechanism for refreshing the leadership of the TDL from time to time.
One part of this new structure is the Member Board, which consists of the administrative heads of each of our member libraries. The full Member Board held its first meeting this month, during the Texas Council of Academic Libraries annual meeting. At the Member Board meeting, the members elected 3 representatives from within the Tier 2 membership to serve as at-large members of the Governing Board.
I am pleased to announce today that the new Governing Board members to come out of this election are:
- Joan Heath, Texas State University
- Christine Shupala, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
- Laurie Thompson, UT Southwestern Medical Center
These three directors join the four permanent members of the Governing Board (directors from Texas A&M, Texas Tech, University of Houston, and UT Austin) to constitute a new governing body for the Texas Digital Library.
A meeting of this newly constituted Governing Board took place following the elections on September 27. Among other business, the Governing Board elected officers of the board and discussed several proposed amendments to the Texas Digital Library Bylaws. A full review of the meetings will be included in next month’s newsletter.
As we head into a busy fall, we are excited to be led by this group of directors and confident the new structures put in place will provide the structure and member engagement necessary to strengthen our role as a strategic partner in our members’ research, teaching, and service activities.
Sincerely,
Mark McFarland
TDL Director
TDL Member and Governing Boards hold meetings in September
The Member Board of the Texas Digital Library, which consists of the library directors (or their representatives) of all TDL member institutions, met for the first time on September 27 in Austin. The TDL Governing Board also met on that day.
Both meetings were held at the AT&T Executive Education and Conference Center on the UT Austin campus.
According to new Bylaws finalized at the Tuesday meetings, the Member Board will meet once yearly in the fall. Among other business done at the meeting, the Member Board filled three at-large slots on the Governing Board, intended for Tier 2 member representation.
As indicated in the Director’s Message on page 1, the three new members of the Governing Board are Joan Heath (Texas State University), Christine Shupala (Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi), and Laurie Thompson (UT Southwestern Medical Center).
Because the three at-large positions will have staggered two-year terms going forward, Laurie Thompson’s position, chosen by lot, will serve one year and be up for election again in 2012.
These three new members join the four ex officio members of the Governing Board: Don Dyal (Texas Tech University); Charles Gilreath (Texas A&M University); Fred Heath (UT Austin); and Dana Rooks (University of Houston).
TDL Governing Board Meeting
The newly constituted Governing Board met at noon on Tuesday and determined officers of the TDL. They are:
- Chair: Don Dyal, Texas Tech University
- Vice Chair/Chair-Elect: Dana Rooks, University of Houston
- Secretary/Treasurer: Christine Shupala, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi
This group will also serve as an Executive Committee that is empowered to perform TDL business as it arises without calling on the full Governing Board.
Several other items of importance were discussed at the Governing Board meeting:
- New standing committees, outlined in the Bylaws, as well as existing working groups and user groups. As Vice Chair, Dana Rooks, will take on the responsibility of oversight of these groups.
- TDL Bylaws: One amendment adding the provision of services to the list of TDL goals, was ratified by the Governing Board. A second amendment, eliminating the Legislative Committee, was not ratified and language of the Bylaws regarding committees was returned to its original wording. The final version of the TDL Bylaws is available on the TDL website.
- Strategic planning: Under the leadership of the Executive Committee, the Board will initiate a strategic planning process, with a facilitated planning retreat to take place this fall.
TDL Spotlight: TDL Preservation Steering Committee update
Led by chair Michelle Reilly of the University of Houston, the TDL Preservation Steering Committee is drafting a working document of principles to guide them and the Texas Digital Library as it continues work on a preservation infrastructure for TDL member assets.
Wendy Martin, Manager of Digitization Services at UT Libraries, serves on the committee and says the group is using the “Ten Principles” for digital preservation repositories set forth by the Center for Research Libraries (see graphic at right) as a framework for their discussions.
“The principles are providing us with guidelines for shaping policy down the road,” she said, “and for forming consensus around how TDL can address these issues.”
The Center for Research Libraries maintains the Trustworthy Repositories Audit & Certification (TRAC) program, a set of criteria for becoming a “trusted repository.” Like TRAC, the CRL’s “Ten Principles” tackle the issue of preservation “in a broad sense,” according to Jennifer Lee, Head Librarian, Preservation and Digitization Services at UT Libraries. “They cover everything from technical infrastructure to metadata to business continuity issues.”
The Preservation Steering Committee will continue its work at a meeting on October 25 at UT Austin. The meeting is one of several user group and working group meetings held over two consecutive days. (See the story on page 5 for more about October Working Group meetings.)
To read the CRL’s “Ten Principles” for Digital Preservation Repositories, go here.
DSpace 1.7.2 upgrade process continues with member repositories
Late this summer, the Texas Digital Library production team began the process of upgrading all TDL-hosted institutional repositories to DSpace 1.7.2, the latest version of DSpace.
After completing the upgrade to the TDL federated repository, the team turned its attention to TDL member institutional repositories. Starting with the hosted repositories that contain the most assets, the team is working in batches to set up staging instances of member institutional repositories in DSpace 1.7.2 for testing.
Currently, the TDL has set up “stage” repositories for UT Southwestern Medical Center, UT Brownsville, the University of Houston, and Texas A&M at Galveston. After repository managers at these institutions have thoroughly tested and are satisfied with the new version, each institution will be placed in a queue to go live with DSpace 1.7.2.
Each staging repository contains a clone of the current production repository database, and the database will be re-synched once testing is complete and the new repositories go live.
The TDL will continue communicating with repository managers as it sets up new staging versions of the repositories.
In August, the team completed the upgrade of the TDL Repository, which contains the TDL’s Federated ETD Collection. The upgrade included all customizations to TDL repositories, such as theming and Shibboleth authentication integration.
About DSpace 1.7.2
Since TDL is currently running DSpace 1.5.2, this upgrade will cover several releases of the repository software. The new DSpace will include performance improvements and bug fixes as well as some exciting new features.
The TDL Wiki contains additional information about some of the new features and improvements in the latest version of DSpace. Please read this documentation and refer to the DSpace Users Manual to learn about new and existing functionality in the new version.
TDL welcomes TAMIU as newest member
The Texas Digital Library is pleased to welcome Texas A&M International University as the newest member of the TDL consortium.
A member of the Texas A&M system, TAMIU is home to the Sue and Radcliffe Killam Library, headed by Library Director Douglas Ferrier. The Library provides a wealth of both print and electronic resources to the university’s nearly 7,000 students.
The TDL is excited to integrate TAMIU into the TDL consortium, and knows the university will be a valuable partner in the TDL community.
Changes to TDL Helpdesk: New staff, new toll free number
| Contact the TDL Helpdesk by:
Phone (toll free): 1-855-495-4317 Website: main.tdl.org/support/helpdesk/ Email: support@tdl.org |
The TDL Helpdesk has moved to Austin and has a new staff member taking helpdesk requests and ensuring that issues get resolved in a timely manner.
Nicholas Mitchell, a graduate student in the UT Austin School of Information, joined the TDL staff in September. Nicholas will be working part-time to provide first-level support to users of TDL services who require assistance and will escalate any problems requiring deeper technical knowledge to the appropriate personnel on the TDL staff.
Additionally, TDL is excited to announce a toll-free phone number for accessing the TDL Helpdesk. The TDL Helpdesk line will be 1-855-495-4317. Users of TDL services who experience problems or need technical help can call the line, talk with a TDL staff member, or leave a message to be returned promptly.
Users can continue to reach the Helpdesk via web form or email.
For more information about TDL support, please visit our website at http://main.tdl.org/support/.
Tech Teams Update
The Tech Teams Update highlights the work of the TDL technical staff, which is divided into three groups: a software development team, a production team, and a first-line support team.
Software Development
- The software development team devoted several weeks to fixing a bug in the Vireo ETD Management student interface related to the birth year field. Additionally, the team is improving Vireo to produce enhanced error logs.
Production
- The TDL production team continued the process of upgrading all TDL-hosted repositories to the latest version of DSpace. (see story on page 3).
- The ICM team also assisted with website support issues and second-level support issues escalated from the Helpdesk.
- The support team resolved or helped resolve16 requests for assistance in September.
Support /Helpdesk
- The support team resolved or helped resolve16 requests for assistance in September.
TDL Working Groups and User Groups to meet in October in Austin
This October, the TDL will convene its user groups and working groups for two days of meetings in Austin. The meetings will take place October 25-26 at the Perry-Castañeda Library on the campus of UT Austin. (See full schedule below.)
A new TDL user group will meet for the first time during the two-day session: The TDL Services User Group, led by Mira Green (UTMB) and Sarah Sutton (Texas A&M-Corpus Christi), will meet October 26th. The mission of the group is to serve as a community for librarians and library staff responsible for implementing TDL scholarly communication services, including Open Journal Systems, Open Conference Systems, WordPress, MediaWiki, and DSpace.
TDL Group Meetings Schedule:
| DATE | MEETING | TIME | LOCATIONS |
| Tuesday, October 25 | Metadata Working Group | 8 AM – 12 PM | PCL 1.124 |
| Preservation Working Group | 1 PM – 5 PM | PCL 4.102 | |
| Wednesday, October 26 | Vireo Users Group | 8 AM – 12 PM | PCL 1.124 |
| TDL Services Users Group | 1 PM – 5 PM | PCL 1.124 |
Two TDL training courses will be held at UT Austin in the days following these meetings (see training schedule below).
Anyone interested in joining the TDL Services User Group, or in attending the other TDL Group meetings, should email the TDL Program Coordinator at info@tdl.org.
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TDL Training Program holds courses in Austin, College Station this fall
Starting this fall, the TDL Training Program is on the move!
In response to members’ needs for training opportunities closer to home, the Texas Digital Library will offer courses at two new locations this fall.
October 27, 2011
UT Austin
Perry-Castañeda Library Room 1.202
9:00 AM – 4:00 PM
October 28, 2011
ETD Submission & Management with Vireo
UT Austin
Perry-Castañeda Library Room 1.202
9:00 AM – 4:00 PM
November 17, 2011
Creating and Managing Electronic Journals with OJS
Texas A&M University
Room TBD
9:00 AM – 4:00 PM
November 18, 2011
Online Conference Management with OCS
Texas A&M University
Room TBD
9:00 AM – 4:00 PM
Registration for these classes is FREE. To sign up, please email the TDL Program Coordinator at info@tdl.org.
Anyone wishing to host a training session on their campus, please contact the TDL at info@tdl.org.
Open Access Week, October 24-30, promotes free access to research
This year, Open Access Week will take place October 24-30.
The week is a global event that promotes the benefits of Open Access – the free immediate online access to the results of scholarly research — for the academic community.
According to the Open Access Week website, OA “has the potential to maximize research investments, increase the exposure and use of published research, facilitate the ability to conduct research across available literature, and enhance the overall advancement of scholarship.” The week is organized by SPARC.
The Texas Digital Library provides tools and services to its members that enable Open Access to scholarship, including:
- Open-access digital repositories
- ETD management software that facilitates the publication of theses and dissertations in institutional repositories
- Peer-reviewed open access journals hosted on the TDL Electronic Press
- Conference management software with online publication tools
- Blogs, wikis, and websites for easy publication of research
These services are free for faculty and staff at member institutions, as part of their membership in the TDL.
The TDL encourages all members to use the week as an opportunity to reach out to faculty, staff, and students on their campuses.
The TDL website and the Open Access Week website have resources available for planning events and promoting Open Access.