Updates from the OA eBook Usage Dashboards and Data Trust teams
Christina Drummond
Greetings Everyone:
So far, 2022 has been a year of transitions. The two-year Developing a Pilot Data Trust for Open Access eBook Usage project funded by the Mellon Foundation came to a close, we archived deliverables in Zenodo, and split into two teams to continue the work as separate efforts. To keep you informed, this email includes brief updates on each effort and a note on how to stay engaged going forward.
The OA Book Usage Data Trust (aka OAEBU DT)
Last year’s project Advisory Board and project team defined this effort’s mission “(t)o champion strategies for the improved publication and management of open-access books by exchanging reliable usage data in a trusted, equitable, and community-governed way.” Guided by the core principles and governance documentation created in the last project, an elected Board of Trustees now oversees this effort as it transitions into its next phase. A final invited proposal has been submitted to the Mellon Foundation for a Q3 2022 to Q2 2025 set of work packages focused on developing the governance building blocks needed to launch an operational international data space to exchange OA book usage data in a secure, controlled way. Project PIs Kevin Hawkins (UNT), Paolo Manghi (OpenAIRE), Yannick Legré (OPERAS) and Christina Drummond (OAEBU DT) will advance this project through applied research and community consultation led by a Community Manager currently being hired at OPERAS. Community consultations will inform the development of an OA book usage data exchange and stewardship rulebook, potential revenue models for sustainability, and issues emerging as we look to apply the International Data Space framework to existing standards related to OA Book Usage.
To stay informed and engaged in the OA Book Usage Data Trust, simply stay on this list, follow us via Twitter @OAEBU_project, or visit the project website oabookusage.org. If you would like to participate in the Advisory Board for the Governance Building Blocks project, email Christina...@oabookusage.org.
The Book Analytics Dashboard project
In the last project, we learned an immense amount about usage data reporting infrastructure and need, developing OAEBU data use-cases with our online communities of practice, and developing proof of concepts with dashboard pilot partners Australian National University Press, Wits University Press, University College London Press, University of Michigan Press, Springer Nature, and OAPEN. These efforts resulted in multiple technical deliverables:
GitHub repository of Apache Airflow workflow automation code to fetch, process, and analyze usage data from DOAB, Google Analytics, Google Books, IRUS-UK, OAPEN, ONIX, UCL Discovery
Technical documentation on the ingest, process, output related OAEBU data “telescope” workflows
Proof of Concept OA Book Usage Data Dashboard, made publicly available by the University of Michigan Press
The Mellon Foundation has awarded $750,000 USD to build upon this work by creating a sustainable OA books focused analytics service. Lucy Montgomery (Curtin University), Cameron Neylon (Curtin University/COARD), Niels Stern (OAPEN), and Katherine Skinner (Educopia Institute) will lead this effort to scale the OAEBU data dashboard pilot into an operational service while developing sustainable mechanisms for the hosting, customer support, and ongoing maintenance of such a service for small to medium publishers.
To stay informed and engage with the Book Analytics Dashboard Project, you can follow this link to subscribe to the project’s mailing list, follow @bookanalytics on Twitter, and visit the project website https://openknowledge.community/projects/bad-project/.
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Our understanding of OA book usage data challenges and solutions has advanced immensely since initial conversations in 2015. Yet, our work is not done. With your help, engagement, and advice we will continue to develop solutions that benefit stakeholders across the global scholarly communications ecosystem.
Thanks for all of your contributions thus far and we look forward to collaborating in the years to come.
Christina