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Papers by Marinus Swanepoel

Partnership: The Canadian Journal of Library and Information Practice and Research, 2015

Digitization has become quite a buzzword around libraries and library organizations. Conferences,... more Digitization has become quite a buzzword around libraries and library organizations. Conferences, symposia and workshops on digitization are becoming more popular and many general conferences feature a technology or digitization track. A factor contributing to the popularity of digitization is that the technology required for basic digitization is very affordable. It is therefore not uncommon to find an under funded enthusiast doing excellent work, making content available through a free hosting service on the Internet and using only a simple digital camera and/or scanner, bought for a couple of hundred dollars. The proliferation of local digitization initiatives great and small is noticeable, however, sometimes they are brought together to be presented to the internet user as a part of bigger initiatives. There are also the mega projects such as Google Book Search and the Open Content Alliance. When these examples (small localized projects and mega-projects) are viewed as the extremes on a continuum, there are a wide variety of initiatives, varying in scope, which can be found in-between. Questions this paper attempts to answer are: What does the global digitization landscape look like? How well represented are the countries with developing economies? What is being done in non-Roman alphabet languages? The initiatives are generally dealt with in a superficial way; the paper is meant to provide an overview in breadth rather than depth.

Since their initial development in the early 2000s, institutional repositories (IRs) have prolife... more Since their initial development in the early 2000s, institutional repositories (IRs) have proliferated around the globe. Due to low faculty participation, however, content recruitment has often posed a significant challenge for librarians and others promoting their use. Through the last decade, academic social networks (ASNs), such as ResearchGate and Academia.edu, have become popular among scholars as a means to communicate with each other and share their research. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with sixty scholars at six universities in Canada and South Africa to explore their views and practices pertaining to IRs and ASNs. Interviews were transcribed and coded to elucidate trends and themes in the data. The study found that few participants were active supporters of their local IRs. Lack of awareness, time limitations, and concerns regarding copyright remain some of the main obstacles to increased faculty participation. Conversely, more than half of the interviewees we...

International Journal of the Book, 2013

The dependency of academic information services on information technology (IT) is growing, partic... more The dependency of academic information services on information technology (IT) is growing, particularly as IT is the primary infrastructure of a digital library. This is compounded by the fast changing/developing nature of IT and the trend towards digitisation. Academic information services are often under staffed and under funded, practices that makes the management of information technology even more important because IT is expensive to buy and to maintain. Stressing the importance of sound management practice as far as this resource is concerned. Nethertheless, most information workers in academic information services would describe their IT support as mission critical as these services are increasingly reliant thereon for normal operation as the trend towards digital libraries continues to gather momentum. This is underscored by the trend of remote access to electronic information instead of ownership and the emergence of electronic (virtual) information service. This student will address the problem: what is the best way in which IT in academic information services can be managed. In order to solve this problem the management of change as well the management of technology were studied. Eleven variables for the management model were identified. Directors of academic information services in the South African tertiary sector were approached to rank the variables in the South African context.

Online Information Review, 2015

The Journal of Electronic Publishing, 2015

Incubator Model: OA Publication as Process Value derived from authorship, content, and production... more Incubator Model: OA Publication as Process Value derived from authorship, content, and production process Traditional Model: OA Publication as Product Value derived from authorship and content 18 months on Although on the whole the incubator has worked more-or-less as we imagined it would in the eighteen months since it transitioned into its current form, we have discovered some problems and made some refinements. By far the most important discoveries we have made are (a) Copy-editing is too hard for most graduate students to do well (needs to be done by the academic editors) (b) An office manager is essential (c) Students perform best when they have common workspace and worktimes (d) Editors need to be involved in student training. About the Incubator The Lethbridge Journal incubator is an experiment in the sustainability of academic publishing. The incubator attempts to ensure this sustainability by aligning the publishing processes with the research, teaching, and service mission...

There is no reason to believe that libraries, its information carrier as well as its services, an... more There is no reason to believe that libraries, its information carrier as well as its services, and the information profession in general, does not follow this curve.

The Council of Prairie and Pacific University Libraries (COPPUL) Scholarly Communications Working... more The Council of Prairie and Pacific University Libraries (COPPUL) Scholarly Communications Working Group (SCWG) surveyed COPPUL member libraries with a short questionnaire in November 2012. The stated purpose of the survey was to inform both the educational efforts of COPPUL with regard to scholarly communications, as well as the agenda of a proposed meeting of scholarly communication practitioners in COPPUL libraries. This paper discusses the

Partnership: The Canadian Journal of Library and Information Practice and Research, 2015

What began life as a tool for retrieving the literature of science, ..., has become, unwittingly,... more What began life as a tool for retrieving the literature of science, ..., has become, unwittingly, the basis of a system for calibrating scientific performance and shaping careers," (Cronin and Sugimoto). This quote will resonate with many academics/researchers. Given the current emphasis on performance and reputation building, as demonstrated by academics' ongoing quest to increase citation rates and h-index, it is easy to lose sight of the original intent of citation indexes; even more so when one discovers that some administrators in academe see a relationship between salaries and citation rates (Jonker and Hicks). This book consists of a representative cross-section of writings published on scholarly metrics between 1955 and 2014 and is meant to serve as a one-stop resource that focuses on the theoretical, conceptual, methodological, and ethical concerns associated with scholarly metrics. It is also a comprehensive and critical reader of the birth and development of scholarly metrics as reflected in the literature. The papers (55 of them) are essentially reprints of the originals as only minimal changes (such as the removal of fax numbers, e-mail addresses and such) were made.

Partnership: The Canadian Journal of Library and Information Practice and Research

Since their initial development in the early 2000s, institutional repositories (IRs) have prolife... more Since their initial development in the early 2000s, institutional repositories (IRs) have proliferated around the globe. Due to low faculty participation, however, content recruitment has often posed a significant challenge for librarians and others promoting their use. Through the last decade, academic social networks (ASNs), such as ResearchGate and Academia.edu, have become popular among scholars as a means to communicate with each other and share their research. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with sixty scholars at six universities in Canada and South Africa to explore their views and practices pertaining to IRs and ASNs. Interviews were transcribed and coded to elucidate trends and themes in the data. The study found that few participants were active supporters of their local IRs. Lack of awareness, time limitations, and concerns regarding copyright remain some of the main obstacles to increased faculty participation. Conversely, more than half of the interviewees we...

Those of us who hope to shape what scholarly communication will become need to understand that sc... more Those of us who hope to shape what scholarly communication will become need to understand that scholarly communication, like the larger research enterprise, is a public good and that, as such, it requires subsidy to maximize its benefit. Subsidy exists in the established system, but we often do not see it because the channels the subsidy travels are longstanding and familiar. As we consider new mechanisms for scholarly communication, we need to look carefully at the established system. We need to follow the money and see where it goes, determine the value provided by those who take the subsidy, and decide whether there are cheaper or better means for providing that value. Changing how this subsidy is channe[l]led will be one of the most important moves we can make in creating new business models for the distribution of scholarly content. [1] [#N1] Abstract The Lethbridge Journal Incubator is a joint project of the University of Lethbridge Library, School of Graduate Studies, and Faculty of Arts and Science. Its goal is to address the issue of the sustainability of gold open access journals by aligning the publication process with the educational and research missions of the public University. In this way, the open access publication, which is more commonly understood as a cost center that draws resources away from a host university's core missions, is transformed into a sustainable, highimpact resource that improves retention and recruitment. It does this by providing graduate students with early experience with scholarly publishing (a proven contributor to in and postprogram student satisfaction and career success), highlysought after research and technical skills, and project 24/06/--aligning-open-access-publication-with-research-and-teaching?rgn=main;view=… 2/20 management experience. This article provides a background to the problem of financing gold open access publication and reports on the experience of the researchers responsible for establishing the incubator as it leaves its experimental phase and becomes a center of the University. that improves the research and teaching capacity of the university, turning what is usually understood by administrators as a cost center into an investment opportunity. Now in its fourth year, the incubator represents a viable method of funding gold open access publications in a way that avoids taking resources away from core activities.

Partnership: The Canadian Journal of Library and Information Practice and Research, 2015

Digitization has become quite a buzzword around libraries and library organizations. Conferences,... more Digitization has become quite a buzzword around libraries and library organizations. Conferences, symposia and workshops on digitization are becoming more popular and many general conferences feature a technology or digitization track. A factor contributing to the popularity of digitization is that the technology required for basic digitization is very affordable. It is therefore not uncommon to find an under funded enthusiast doing excellent work, making content available through a free hosting service on the Internet and using only a simple digital camera and/or scanner, bought for a couple of hundred dollars. The proliferation of local digitization initiatives great and small is noticeable, however, sometimes they are brought together to be presented to the internet user as a part of bigger initiatives. There are also the mega projects such as Google Book Search and the Open Content Alliance. When these examples (small localized projects and mega-projects) are viewed as the extremes on a continuum, there are a wide variety of initiatives, varying in scope, which can be found in-between. Questions this paper attempts to answer are: What does the global digitization landscape look like? How well represented are the countries with developing economies? What is being done in non-Roman alphabet languages? The initiatives are generally dealt with in a superficial way; the paper is meant to provide an overview in breadth rather than depth.

Since their initial development in the early 2000s, institutional repositories (IRs) have prolife... more Since their initial development in the early 2000s, institutional repositories (IRs) have proliferated around the globe. Due to low faculty participation, however, content recruitment has often posed a significant challenge for librarians and others promoting their use. Through the last decade, academic social networks (ASNs), such as ResearchGate and Academia.edu, have become popular among scholars as a means to communicate with each other and share their research. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with sixty scholars at six universities in Canada and South Africa to explore their views and practices pertaining to IRs and ASNs. Interviews were transcribed and coded to elucidate trends and themes in the data. The study found that few participants were active supporters of their local IRs. Lack of awareness, time limitations, and concerns regarding copyright remain some of the main obstacles to increased faculty participation. Conversely, more than half of the interviewees we...

International Journal of the Book, 2013

The dependency of academic information services on information technology (IT) is growing, partic... more The dependency of academic information services on information technology (IT) is growing, particularly as IT is the primary infrastructure of a digital library. This is compounded by the fast changing/developing nature of IT and the trend towards digitisation. Academic information services are often under staffed and under funded, practices that makes the management of information technology even more important because IT is expensive to buy and to maintain. Stressing the importance of sound management practice as far as this resource is concerned. Nethertheless, most information workers in academic information services would describe their IT support as mission critical as these services are increasingly reliant thereon for normal operation as the trend towards digital libraries continues to gather momentum. This is underscored by the trend of remote access to electronic information instead of ownership and the emergence of electronic (virtual) information service. This student will address the problem: what is the best way in which IT in academic information services can be managed. In order to solve this problem the management of change as well the management of technology were studied. Eleven variables for the management model were identified. Directors of academic information services in the South African tertiary sector were approached to rank the variables in the South African context.

Online Information Review, 2015

The Journal of Electronic Publishing, 2015

Incubator Model: OA Publication as Process Value derived from authorship, content, and production... more Incubator Model: OA Publication as Process Value derived from authorship, content, and production process Traditional Model: OA Publication as Product Value derived from authorship and content 18 months on Although on the whole the incubator has worked more-or-less as we imagined it would in the eighteen months since it transitioned into its current form, we have discovered some problems and made some refinements. By far the most important discoveries we have made are (a) Copy-editing is too hard for most graduate students to do well (needs to be done by the academic editors) (b) An office manager is essential (c) Students perform best when they have common workspace and worktimes (d) Editors need to be involved in student training. About the Incubator The Lethbridge Journal incubator is an experiment in the sustainability of academic publishing. The incubator attempts to ensure this sustainability by aligning the publishing processes with the research, teaching, and service mission...

There is no reason to believe that libraries, its information carrier as well as its services, an... more There is no reason to believe that libraries, its information carrier as well as its services, and the information profession in general, does not follow this curve.

The Council of Prairie and Pacific University Libraries (COPPUL) Scholarly Communications Working... more The Council of Prairie and Pacific University Libraries (COPPUL) Scholarly Communications Working Group (SCWG) surveyed COPPUL member libraries with a short questionnaire in November 2012. The stated purpose of the survey was to inform both the educational efforts of COPPUL with regard to scholarly communications, as well as the agenda of a proposed meeting of scholarly communication practitioners in COPPUL libraries. This paper discusses the

Partnership: The Canadian Journal of Library and Information Practice and Research, 2015

What began life as a tool for retrieving the literature of science, ..., has become, unwittingly,... more What began life as a tool for retrieving the literature of science, ..., has become, unwittingly, the basis of a system for calibrating scientific performance and shaping careers," (Cronin and Sugimoto). This quote will resonate with many academics/researchers. Given the current emphasis on performance and reputation building, as demonstrated by academics' ongoing quest to increase citation rates and h-index, it is easy to lose sight of the original intent of citation indexes; even more so when one discovers that some administrators in academe see a relationship between salaries and citation rates (Jonker and Hicks). This book consists of a representative cross-section of writings published on scholarly metrics between 1955 and 2014 and is meant to serve as a one-stop resource that focuses on the theoretical, conceptual, methodological, and ethical concerns associated with scholarly metrics. It is also a comprehensive and critical reader of the birth and development of scholarly metrics as reflected in the literature. The papers (55 of them) are essentially reprints of the originals as only minimal changes (such as the removal of fax numbers, e-mail addresses and such) were made.

Partnership: The Canadian Journal of Library and Information Practice and Research

Since their initial development in the early 2000s, institutional repositories (IRs) have prolife... more Since their initial development in the early 2000s, institutional repositories (IRs) have proliferated around the globe. Due to low faculty participation, however, content recruitment has often posed a significant challenge for librarians and others promoting their use. Through the last decade, academic social networks (ASNs), such as ResearchGate and Academia.edu, have become popular among scholars as a means to communicate with each other and share their research. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with sixty scholars at six universities in Canada and South Africa to explore their views and practices pertaining to IRs and ASNs. Interviews were transcribed and coded to elucidate trends and themes in the data. The study found that few participants were active supporters of their local IRs. Lack of awareness, time limitations, and concerns regarding copyright remain some of the main obstacles to increased faculty participation. Conversely, more than half of the interviewees we...

Those of us who hope to shape what scholarly communication will become need to understand that sc... more Those of us who hope to shape what scholarly communication will become need to understand that scholarly communication, like the larger research enterprise, is a public good and that, as such, it requires subsidy to maximize its benefit. Subsidy exists in the established system, but we often do not see it because the channels the subsidy travels are longstanding and familiar. As we consider new mechanisms for scholarly communication, we need to look carefully at the established system. We need to follow the money and see where it goes, determine the value provided by those who take the subsidy, and decide whether there are cheaper or better means for providing that value. Changing how this subsidy is channe[l]led will be one of the most important moves we can make in creating new business models for the distribution of scholarly content. [1] [#N1] Abstract The Lethbridge Journal Incubator is a joint project of the University of Lethbridge Library, School of Graduate Studies, and Faculty of Arts and Science. Its goal is to address the issue of the sustainability of gold open access journals by aligning the publication process with the educational and research missions of the public University. In this way, the open access publication, which is more commonly understood as a cost center that draws resources away from a host university's core missions, is transformed into a sustainable, highimpact resource that improves retention and recruitment. It does this by providing graduate students with early experience with scholarly publishing (a proven contributor to in and postprogram student satisfaction and career success), highlysought after research and technical skills, and project 24/06/--aligning-open-access-publication-with-research-and-teaching?rgn=main;view=… 2/20 management experience. This article provides a background to the problem of financing gold open access publication and reports on the experience of the researchers responsible for establishing the incubator as it leaves its experimental phase and becomes a center of the University. that improves the research and teaching capacity of the university, turning what is usually understood by administrators as a cost center into an investment opportunity. Now in its fourth year, the incubator represents a viable method of funding gold open access publications in a way that avoids taking resources away from core activities.

The development of digital repositories has been a relative recent one, gathering momentum only i... more The development of digital repositories has been a relative recent one, gathering momentum only in late 2000 with the release a software package called E-Prints. Factors such as the falling costs for online storage and the increase of broadband networking technologies have contributed to their current popularity. The status of institutional repositories is investigated in the context of the Gartner Hype Curve. The available numbers on institutional repositories are reviewed with a view of establishing its current position on the Gartner Hype Curve. Its role in changing the scholarly communication process and the contribution it makes to the open access movement is referred to. In tracking the development and growth of institutional repositories data was harvested from one of the international registries: the Registry of Open Access Repositories (ROAR), which indicates that there are more than11 million records in more than 900 institutional repositories worldwide. Similar information was gathered from the Directory of Open Access Repositories (DOAR). Data covering the period up to 2005 from the Institutional Archives Registry also helped to complete the picture. The data was analyzed to determine the growth over the last decade or so with a view of determining its position on the Product Life Cycle and Diffusion of Innovation Curve as well. A review of the data shows that institutional repositories are healthy and growing exponentially. It also shows that the majority of records contained within institutional repositories represent traditional research reports and scientific articles. It also indicates that e-theses and e-journals have been part of the repositories almost from its inception and is still part of the backbone as far as content is concerned. According to the numbers, demonstration material, teaching and learning objects, databases, and abstracting and indexing files are relative new types of content types. It is clear that the open access movement is contributing to the use and growth of institutional repositories but it is unclear what the future holds in this regard. Institutional repositories are no longer just hype. It is a mainstream technology supported by the increasing popularity of the open access movement. Even so, institutional repositories need to be nurtured if its potential to enhance e-scholarship is to be realized. 2