Google Scholar. Occasionally we are asked about using Google Scholar and Google Scholar data to populate VIVO. Is there an API? Are there open source tools for harvesting Google Scholar data? Are there licensing restrictions? Google Scholar does a good job of scanning the web looking for authors' works and uses sophisticated heuristics to assemble collections of works for authors. Many faculty curate their Google Scholar collection, thereby enriching the data. Google has a global Terms of Service document that covers all of its services. In that document it says "Do not misuse our services." The key questions then are what constitutes a service, and what constitutes misuse? We asked Google representatives specifically about the use of Google Scholar data in VIVO. Their answer was very clear. The Google Scholar service can only be used by an end user using a browser. Google Scholar data can not be harvested by software, or repurposed in VIVO or other systems. This is unfortunate, but at the present time, Google Scholar is not a source of data for VIVO.
VIVO Financial Support. We are sometimes asked questions about the VIVO project's finances. Where does the money come from to support the VIVO project? The answer is very simple. VIVO is a member-supported project of Duraspace. This means that the financial support for VIVO comes from Duraspace members supporting the VIVO project. Each year, Duraspace member institutions provide financial support to the VIVO project. Without Duraspace members, VIVO is unable to operate. VIVO has a fabulous set of members – they contribute financial resources, and in return participate in VIVO governance, and have the satisfaction of knowing they help support an important open source project for the world of scholarship. You can find a list of Duraspace members and corporate sponsors supporting the VIVO project here: http://vivoweb.org/membership We would not exist without them.
Last year, 94% of the VIVO project revenue came from its members and corporate sponsors. 6% came from other sources. The VIVO conference is an independent financial entity – it does not receive funds from the VIVO members and it does not provide funds to the VIVO project. Duraspace supports the VIVO project through its membership. It does not have other assets with which to support VIVO or its other projects. The projects exist in a sustainable way if enough members financially support the project.
The support of Duraspace members drives the success of the project. Because of the Duraspace members, we are able to have a technical lead, travel to represent VIVO, organize events such as the user group meeting, provide a wiki, a web site, and other project infrastructure. In the past year, the VIVO project released version 1.8.1, providing a significant improvement in end user performance, and created OpenVIVO, a demonstration of a hosted VIVO, using ORCiD sign on, collecting metadata from multiple sources in real-time, and publishing its data to an open web site every hour.
VIVO needs your institution to become a member. If you are a member, we are most grateful for your continued support. If you are not a member, you will be hearing more about membership in the coming months, from additional material to be posted here, from direct mailings, and from personal contacts by members of the VIVO community. Please consider this information and consider how your institution may be able to financially support VIVO by becoming a Duraspace member. We need your support.
Becoming a member is very simple. You can find all the materials you need at http://vivoweb.org/membership. Membership benefits are described in the VIVO Project Charter v 1.1.
Please give membership some thought.
VIVO meet-up at Symplectic Meeting. Symplectic will hold its annual conference September 13-14 at Duke. Interested in having a VIVO meet-up or other activity in conjunction with the Symplectic conference? Contact Julia Trimmer with any ideas you may have.
Wiki Updates. The VIVO wiki home page had some updates this week, improving some language, updating entries and fixing links. Take a look at the VIVO wiki. Please update anything you find that could be improved. It's your wiki and its open for editing!
Apps and Tools call this Thursday. The Apps and Tools Interest Group will have its call this Thursday at 1 PM US Eastern time. All are invited to hear about tools and applications regarding VIVO.
See OpenVIVO at Open Repositories. Graham Triggs and I will be at Open Repositories, Trinity College, Dublin, June 13-16. Stop by the OpenVIVO poster. We'd love to meet you!
Go VIVO!
Mike
Mike Conlon
VIVO Project Director
