Data.gov, an OA warehouse of datasets created by the U.S. federal government, launched yesterday. See, e.g., coverage by the Washington Post. Also yesterday, the Sunlight Foundation launched a new contest for best re-use of data from Data.gov, Apps for America 2. First prize is $10,000. See also our past posts on Data.gov.
In a presentation to the OCLC Members Council on May 18, 2009, Jennifer Younger, chair of OCLC's Review Board on Principles of Shared Data Creation & Stewardship, recommended that OCLC withdraw the proposed policy. See the presentation slides or video. Younger does say that a new policy is needed, but that OCLC should start over in developing one.
Karla Hahn, Achieving the Full Potential of Repository Deposit Policies, Research Library Issues No. 263 , April 2009.
Miguel Helft, Google Book-Scanning Pact to Give Libraries Input on Price, New York Times, May 20, 2009. See also the University of Michigan's press release and the amended agreement.
Digital Culture & Education is a new peer-reviewed OA journal. The inaugural issue is now available.
More than 10,000 Norwegian books will soon be digitized, move online, and be freely accessible at least to Norwegians. See yesterday's announcement from Kopinor, Norway's copyright management agency: Comment. I like that the books will at least be gratis OA for Norwegians and that the project will cover all the books from three decades, including many that are still under copyright.
Jay Walsh, Wikimedia community approves license migration, Wikimedia Blog, May 21, 2009. Update. To be clear, the Foundation board has ratified the outcome of the community vote, and so will proceed with relicensing.
Charles Bailey, The University of Houston Libraries’ “Enrich Support for Scholarly Communication” Strategic Directions Goal Near the Three-Year Mark, DigitalKoans, May 19, 2009.
Leslie Carr, Repositories and Research information, RepositoryMan, May 14, 2009.
The presentations from Digital Repositories Workshop: Tools and Infrastructure (Oxford, April 23, 2009) are now online. (Thanks to Charles Bailey.) See also the workshop report.
The University of Johannesburg launched its IR, UJDigiSpace, on March 24. (Thanks to eIFL.)