This poster investigates the opportunities and current challenges involved in using persistent identifier (PID) metadata to understand organizational research activity. A 2022 project led by the ORCID US Community (administered by Lyrasis) in partnership with the Drexel University LIS Education And Data Science Integrated Network Group (LEADING) program resulted in a suite of open tools that reduce the barrier to accessing and using ORCID data in meaningful ways. The LEADING fellows created an R script that can be used to retrieve information about publishing collaborations between researchers at a home organization and other organizations across the globe based on metadata from researchers’ ORCID profiles and publication DOI metadata. The resulting dataset can be imported into a Tableau Public dashboard template, resulting in data visualizations that may be shared with stakeholders to demonstrate researcher activity and start a conversation about impact. Despite gaps in the ORCID and DOI metadata, such as authors with no ORCID profile or an incomplete ORCID profile, the data and visualization tools can be used to advance research connections in several ways. The tools allow viewers to explore an organization’s collaborative reach and show opportunities for improving global partnerships. The suite also allows individuals to filter to their own data and could provide support for highly and widely collaborative researchers’ tenure and promotion. This democratized access to aggregated PID data can help individuals and under-resourced organizations without in-house technical staff to retrieve ORCID API data and create custom visualizations. This poster will give viewers ideas on how they can visualize PID and collaboration data for their own organizations to better understand their global footprint and to show opportunities for expanding and diversifying their research partnerships.

This poster presents research on the impact of a biophilic design element of the Charles Library, specifically the green roof views, on student preferences for a study space in the building. The results of a student survey indicate that three factors, quiet, outlets, and favorite location, are higher in importance than "view of library green roof". Based on the survey results and student comments, a case can be made that biophilic design elements in library buildings promote student health and wellness.

Temple University Libraries received a Knight Foundation Grant, “Knight News Challenge on Libraries” to lead an exploratory research project, Future Proofing Civic Data, investigating the challenges of long-term preservation for open civic datasets. The project team interviewed over a dozen stakeholders about their use cases and needs and looked at several open civic data initiatives in Philadelphia, Boston, San Francisco, and the Pittsburgh area, to compare practices and examine real-life examples. We found that there is still much to do in the community to develop systematic best practices in regard to the long-term preservation of datasets. In this white paper we explore 10 important factors that need to be taken into consideration to tackle this challenge successfully. We also look at how libraries could take the lead, or at least participate in the process. First, awareness of existing digital preservation frameworks is key when putting in place a data curation and preservation plan and developing relevant workflows and budget. The library community has developed strong “best practices” in that realm, and models such as OAIS (Open Archival Information System), TRAC (“Trustworthy Repositories Audit & Certification”), and LOCKSS (“Lots of Copies Keep Stuff Safe) provide robust guidelines that apply to all types of digital materials. We then looked at the selection process for deciding what datasets should be archived. Selection decisions are made based on various criteria, such as the known or expected users of datasets and their needs, what datasets can be archived and made available more easily, and what datasets represent a city or state’s activities more comprehensively. Among other things, single file objects such as CSV or KML files are much easier to archive than more complex formats or API-mediated content. Next we considered concerns related to the description of datasets, examining current metadata practices from a number of open civic data initiatives, and gave suggestions on possible improvements. We then turned our attention to the notion of dataset reliability and authenticity, that is, how do users know that an archived dataset has the same content as the original and can be trusted? We found that datasets require careful stewardship at several levels to remain complete and reliable over time. The loss of reliability or authenticity could be due to a multitude of unintentional causes, or derive from a more intentional temptation to “rewrite history” by one of the parties involved. Versioning is another important factor, as datasets may evolve over time and several versions might be generated for a single dataset, either through regularly scheduled harvests or occasional data restructuring. Versioning may require the development of policies and procedures to ensure that the collection of successive versions is done in an orderly and systematic manner, and that change requests and deletions are handled uniformly. To enable the successful discovery of archived datasets, we need to answer two questions: (1) how will users searching for open civic data know that preserved historical copies of the data exist?, and (2) how can they distinguish between the current active copy of a dataset and the archived versions? The software interface must facilitate a seamless navigation between active copy and archived versions. We looked at intellectual property rights and other legal issues, and the potential need to develop agreements between data creating agencies and archiving agencies in order to clarify the rights to preserve and provide long-term access to a dataset. The organizational model and governance structure chosen for the overall civic data initiative also have consequences for the ability to ensure successful long-term preservation functions. In particular, involving a multiplicity of partners and stakeholders is the best way to ensure that diverse voices are heard and that the project is run with a maximal level of transparency. Furthermore, open communication flows are also essential to ensure that preservation-related policies are applied optimally. This includes communication among the archiving agencies, the civic data creators, and the civic data portal managers. One more important notion when looking at digital preservation endeavors is that technology is only a small part of successful long-term digital preservation, and thinking proactively about organizational commitment and economic sustainability is essential. Finally, we described two prototypes that we developed to explore concrete technical solutions to archive datasets, using OpenDataPhilly as a testbed. Archive-It, or Prototype 1, uses the Internet Archive’s web crawling platform, which takes scheduled virtual captures of websites over time. Dat, or Prototype 2, is a secure and distributed package manager that does versioning of datasets locally, or shares and syncs dataset versions through a peer-to-peer network. Each prototype has pros and cons. We believe that there are clear and advantageous opportunities for libraries, both academic and public, to take a role in supporting the long-term preservation of open civic data, especially given libraries' pre-existing expertise and collection practices. It comports with libraries’ commitments to serve its users, provide research resources, and provide access to information. Furthermore, libraries can also get involved meaningfully in open civic data initiatives in other capacities, such as helping with outreach and community engagement, developing metadata standards and providing search optimization techniques for discovery.

In this chapter, we examine the relationship between open pedagogical practices and critical information literacy and how they intersect when Wikipedia is introduced in the classroom. Specifically, we discuss the collaboration between a librarian and a course instructor on iterations of Wikipedia assignments across three years and two classes. We unpack the importance of existing infrastructures, such as edit-a-thons and the WikiEdu dashboard, to support bringing Wikipedia assignments into the classroom. We also explore how we worked to connect course content to the renewable assignments and brought larger discussions of representation and community on Wikipedia into the classroom and assignments. Finally, we outline the lessons we learned through this collaboration. In sum, scaffolded projects allowed students to practice their contributions to Wikipedia in a supportive space and fostered critical engagement with course content. In their end-of-semester reflections, students stated that contributing to Wikipedia felt more meaningful and elicited feelings of pride that traditional, disposable assessments did not. They saw themselves as knowledge creators and scholarship creation as part of an ongoing conversation rather than an “end product.” By engaging in peer-review assignments, participating in edit-a-thons, and discussing the assignments with librarians who were not their professors, students also saw their work as part of a broader academic conversation. Through Wikipedia assignments, students can appreciate their own information privilege in terms of access to costly resources and become proactive in sharing that knowledge and their own growing expertise with a wider public.

By overviewing a collaborative project between Temple University’s Charles L. Blockson Afro-American Collection, the Loretta C. Duckworth Scholars Studio, and local Philadelphia educators, this essay explores how experimentation with immersive technology can enhance the work of librarians and teachers seeking to teach primary source literacy. As a recreation of the space and the experience of visiting the Blockson Collection through interactive game-play and multimedia 3D content, the Virtual Blockson aims to combat black erasure from the historical record and school curricula, introducing students to the roles they can play in history’s creation and preservation. This essay will highlight the Virtual Blockson’s design for integrating the Society of American Archivists’ Guidelines for Primary Source Literacy, as well as the Common Core standards for historical understanding and critical thinking. Digital humanities projects that remediate special collections with interactive spatial simulations can offer promising opportunities to contextualize and explore the imbrication of primary source and digital literacies for marginalized communities.