Harvard Central Administration and University Research Centershttps://nrs.harvard.edu/1/38744882024-03-19T06:11:08Z2024-03-19T06:11:08ZInvesting in Prevention: Collections Emergency Training at the Harvard LibraryAnderson, PriscillaTelepak, Laurenhttps://nrs.harvard.edu/1/373777892024-02-23T20:21:50Z2018-09-28T04:00:00ZInvesting in Prevention: Collections Emergency Training at the Harvard Library
Anderson, Priscilla; Telepak, Lauren
Harvard University’s network of over seventy libraries experiences an average of ten collection emergencies each year. To prevent collection loss, reduce staff stress, and improve recovery outcomes, we have created broad-based emergency training for library staff at all levels. Our dynamic and comprehensive training program supports a centralized response team that is highly effective, and a community of library staff who are comfortable with initial response procedures and emergency planning. Bi-annual intensive, hands-on training consists of a mock water emergency with a variety of de-accessioned collection materials in which participants learn first-hand how to be aware of their own safety, communicate to initiate response action, take preemptive action to prevent further damage, and set up a salvage operation. Other training components include a collections emergency preparedness bench-marking workshop for library administrators and managers, hands-on collections salvage for curators and collection managers, format-specific identification and salvage for staff working with audiovisual materials, a one-hour basic emergency training for student workers, and tabletop exercises for local emergency teams to practice their emergency plans.
Harvard Library Preservation Services staff coordinate the training sessions, and have created a number of publicly available resources to complement the training. We collaborate with a number of Harvard groups to ensure that sound best practices are employed, that communication and roles are as clear as possible, and that everyone is at the table to improve the content of the training. Library managers contribute deep understanding of the collection priorities and library staff needs. Harvard’s operations and facilities staff help us understand building response methods and how they coordinate emergency responders and contractors. Environmental health and safety staff inform best practices for safe emergency response. And everyone shares wisdom gained through experience, both the successes and the lessons learned. We hope this paper will allow other emergency teams to benefit from our mistakes and discoveries.
2018-09-28T04:00:00ZBrief of Amici Curiae Nine Library Organizations and 218 Librarians In Support of Defendant-Appellant Internet ArchiveZiskina, JuliyaCourtney, Kylehttps://nrs.harvard.edu/1/373775752024-01-05T15:52:03Z2023-12-22T05:00:00ZBrief of Amici Curiae Nine Library Organizations and 218 Librarians In Support of Defendant-Appellant Internet Archive
Ziskina, Juliya; Courtney, Kyle
CDL is based in copyright law and respects the rights of copyright holders by acquiring the works legally, while also broadening access to the books that library systems purchase to build their collections. CDL is a well-established practice in the library community. It is a programmatic tool that represents a reasonable, productive, and viable pathway for libraries to focus on their traditional and well-established role in providing access to their acquired collections. The district court’s finding that books loaned via CDL would replace the market for commercially licensed eBooks was flawed. Books loaned via CDL have distinct features and purposes and are not a substitute for commercially licensed eBooks.
The district court also erred in its finding that the Internet Archive’s Open Libraries program is a “commercial activity” for purposes of fair use. Instead, a library is a non-profit organization that provides access to knowledge and cultural heritage, which is the distinctly non-commercial mission of all libraries.
2023-12-22T05:00:00ZRethinking Digital Preservation: Conceptual FoundationsAbrams, Stephenhttps://nrs.harvard.edu/1/373775642023-12-20T19:55:19Z2023-09-20T04:00:00ZRethinking Digital Preservation: Conceptual Foundations
Abrams, Stephen
In support of a multi-year initiative to revitalize its core digital preservation infrastructure, the Harvard Library is engaged in an open-ended exploration of an ideal system solution. The individual components of that ideal cohere into abstract functional and informational reference models, which act as aspirational benchmarks for requirements and subsequent procurement and deployment activities. The models are derived through the logical refinement of a small set of high-level axiomatic principles. These reflect a conceptualization of digital preservation as an inherently communicative enterprise with an ultimate goal of complementing the persistence of authentic digital information objects with that of opportunities for legitimate information experiences.
2023-09-20T04:00:00ZFast and slow at the same timeSuber, Peterhttps://nrs.harvard.edu/1/373771362023-09-28T20:47:34Z2023-09-27T04:00:00ZFast and slow at the same time
Suber, Peter
Open-access advocates should pursue fast and slow strategies at the same time. The primary long-term strategy discussed here is the reform of research culture to the point where institutions and individuals care more about the quality of research than where it is published.
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2023-09-27T04:00:00Z