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Topic: Digital scholarship and data management

Past Event
July 20, 2023

Allocating Resources to Scale and Sustain Digital Learning and Student-Centered Initiatives

AASCU Academic Affairs Summer Meeting

In recent years, there has been a growing interest in leveraging digital learning solutions to promote effective teaching and learning practices, while at the same time use digital technologies to connect with students, building closer ties and establishing a sense of community. These interests has been driven, in part, by concerns around the affordability of a college education, particularly course materials, as well as the need to promote more personalized and engaging learning experiences for students. What is often lacking…
Blog Post
June 29, 2023

Recentering Cultural Heritage with(in) the Community

The Haudenosaunee Archive, Resource and Knowledge Portal

In early June, we sat down for a virtual conversation with three researchers on a recent Mellon grant that brings together several topics of interest for Ithaka S+R: digital archives, preservation, open access, DEIA, and data sovereignty. In the following transcript, we discuss the development of the Haudenosaunee Archive, Resource and Knowledge (HARK) portal at the University of Buffalo with Theresa McCarthy (Principle Investigator (PI), Onondaga Nation Beaver Clan from Six Nations of the Grand River Territory, associate professor…
Past Event
October 17, 2023

Shared Infrastructure for Scholarly Publishing

STM Conference 2023

Shared infrastructure includes everything from discovery services to identifier providers, from editorial management systems and hosting platforms to research integrity services. In one way or another, shared infrastructure is foundational to the work of every publisher. This year, Ithaka S+R is conducting a study about successes, needs, and gaps in the publishing community’s shared infrastructure. The project, which is supported by STM Solutions, will result in a white paper to be published in early October. This session, on Tuesday…
Blog Post
June 15, 2023

Made by Hand

The Case for Manual Data Collection in an Era of Automation

When designing a research study a key consideration is which research method—or methods—will yield the best insights. Here at Ithaka S+R we conduct applied research related to the education and cultural heritage sectors, and so we aim to collect evidence that can be used for immediate social benefit, such as towards improving policies and programs within institutions. Today we describe a method we regularly employ: manually collecting data from public facing websites. The information we can find through public websites…
Blog Post
June 1, 2023

Coordinating Research Data Services

Key Barriers and Questions

This spring, 107 librarians, administrators, and staff from the 29 universities participating in Ithaka S+R’s Building Campus Strategies for Coordinated Data Support project began to identify barriers to streamlining their research data support services. The project’s first two meetings brought together representatives from university units involved in supporting academic researchers: librarians, senior administrators, research officers, and research computing staff. Working primarily in small groups roughly divided by professional capacity, participants described the ways that different university units—and different institutional…
Blog Post
April 25, 2023

Reflecting on Restricted Access to a Chinese Research Lifeline

The rising geopolitical tensions between the United States and China are prompting both nations to restrict exports of technologies with military applications or in areas with significant economic value. Increasingly, these restrictions are calling international commitments to the open sharing of academic research into question. Last month, the Chinese government announced new restrictions on international access to the most important academic database in China, the China National Knowledge Infrastructure Database (CNKI) (中国知网). For researchers in the US the CNKI is…
Research Report
April 24, 2023

Common Scholarly Communication Infrastructure Landscape Review

Scholarly communication is the process through which research products and outputs (such as articles, audiovisual materials, data, code, and research methods) are created, assessed, improved, shared, disseminated, and preserved in a variety of modes including through formal and informal publications, conferences, and other academic networking methods. Shared infrastructure is a key enabler for delivering the services that authors and readers need. It is composed of standards, platforms, technologies, policies, and the communities that enable and support them.
Past Event
March 28, 2023

Connecting the Links

Humanities Researchers and the Digital Infrastructure

At the Research Data Access and Preservation Association (RDAP) 2023 Summit, Ithaka S+R’s Ruby MacDougall presented a session focusing on ways librarians can help humanities researchers better maximize the digital infrastructure. The conference took place from March 28 through the 30th. Learn more about the conference and the schedule of events on the RDAP website.
Blog Post
March 22, 2023

Campus Strategies for Data Support Services

Welcoming the Second Cohort

What research data services do campuses currently offer and are researchers aware of them? What funding models can support the costs of centralized data services? Where in the larger organizational structure should these services reside? How can institutions make informed staffing decisions to ensure the expertise needed to support current and future services? As the need for robust, effective, and coordinated research data services on college campuses grows increasingly acute, these are some of the key questions members in our…
Blog Post
March 6, 2023

The Future of Data Sharing in the Humanities

As the National Endowment for the Humanities updates its policies in response to last year’s announcement of new federal guidelines issued by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) regarding public access to research publications and data, humanists will face urgent questions about how their scholarly practices within the global trends towards mandatory data sharing. When should the evidence humanists collect be considered data, and when is it appropriate to share those data? How might humanists…
Issue Brief
March 6, 2023

Are the Humanities Ready for Data Sharing?

This issue brief suggests that one key perspective that humanists can bring to larger debates about data sharing and open access research outputs is their uniquely well-developed infrastructure for the public sharing of knowledge creation, exemplified in the many public humanities initiatives that are a highly visible and vibrant part of humanities scholarship. Many recent public humanities projects emphasize community-driven, collaborative data generation efforts, in which knowledge is co-created with community participants not for the community.
Blog Post
March 1, 2023

Supporting Shared Infrastructure for Scholarly Communication

Developing, maintaining, and sustaining fit-for-purpose community infrastructure is a challenge in the higher education and research sectors, particularly when the technology and policy environments are in flux. Ithaka S+R has conducted a variety of projects and studies touching on these issues over several years. Today, I’m pleased to share that we are launching a new study focusing on shared infrastructure in support of scholarly communication, with support from STM Solutions. The Project For some time, shared infrastructure has been a…
Past Event
March 9, 2023

A Library for All

University of Michigan, Google, and the Importance of Having a Copy

On Thursday, March 9 at 7 pm ET, Ithaka S+R’s Roger Schonfeld will serve as a panelist on a University of Michigan event focused on library digitization, digital archiving, and the idea of a universal library, speaking on his book Along Came Google: A History of Library Digitization, co-authored with Deanna B. Marcum. Other panelists will include University of Michigan Edward M. Gramlich Distinguished University Professor Emeritus of Economics and Public Policy Paul Courant, former University Librarian and…
Past Event
February 15, 2023

Creating Digital Collections with and for Indigenous Communities

NISO Plus 2023 Conference

On Wednesday, February 15 at 9:30 – 10:45 am at the NISO Plus 2023 Conference, Ithaka S+R’s Oya Y. Rieger has organized a session to discuss the increasing recognition of the value of Indigenous knowledge and how it is being supported by the current research infrastructure. The session will look at best practices for working with Indigenous communities to create digital collections that meet their needs. This includes, for example, consideration of data sovereignty, privacy issues, and other acknowledgements…
Blog Post
February 2, 2023

Building Campus Strategies for Data Support Services Project Kicks Off

With 2023 coined the “year of data” by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, and data-intensive research methods growing across disciplines, campuses throughout the US and Canada are recognizing the strategic need to build a centralized approach to providing data support services to researchers. These services are often provided by the library, in addition to other campus units scattered across the university. Developed over time and with minimal coordination, data support services tend to exist in silos,…
Past Event
March 22, 2023

Journals and Public Access to Research Data

Session at the 2023 NAS Journal Summit

Ithaka S+R’s Dylan Ruediger will present at the 2023 National Academy of Sciences Journal Summit in a session focusing on US OSTP federal policy to require public access to the data underlying published papers. The panel will discuss the implications of the new policy for journals, research infrastructure, and research culture. Other participants include Brian HItson, Jasna Markovac, Jennifer Gibson, Brooks Hanson, Anita de Waard, and Andrew Ewald. See the 2023 NAS Journal Summit Agenda to learn more.
Past Event
March 22, 2023

Impact of New Public Access Requirements for US Federally Funded Research

Session at the 2023 NAS Journal Summit

On March 22, Roger Schonfeld will present in a National Academy of Sciences Journal Summit session on the impact of new public access requirements for US federally funded research. The session will focus on the US federal agency implementation plans, the strategies publishers, libraries, and universities are putting in place in anticipation of those plans, as well as the impacts on global equity in scientific publishing, and more. See the agenda to learn more about the event.
Blog Post
December 5, 2022

Coordinating Research Data Support Services Across Campus

Announcing a Second Cohort

This fall, Ithaka S+R announced a new cohort-based research and consulting project to help universities coordinate research data support services across campus. Demand for the first cohort has been overwhelming, making it clear just how timely and important this topic is to university leaders. For this reason, we are pleased to announce that we are organizing a second cohort so that more universities can participate in this project.
Past Event
November 15, 2022

Best Practices, Challenges, and Solutions for Virtual Conferencing

Keystone Symposia Reimagining Scientific Conferences

On Tuesday, November 15, Ithaka S+R’s Dylan Ruediger will participate in a panel discussion on Best Practices, Challenges, and Solutions for Virtual Conferencing, hosted by Keystone Symposia as part of Reimagining Scientific Conferences. The virtual event will explore lessons learned from the pandemic in how to engage audiences online, the benefits of virtual formats, and the challenges of replicating networking opportunities and catalyzing collaborations. Learn more about the event and register here.
Past Event
October 27, 2022

Perspectives on the Nelson Memo

Mandating Public Access to the Outputs of Federally-Funded Research in the US

On Thursday, October 27 at 11:00am – 12:30pm ET, the Council of Science Editors is hosting a webinar that will bring together experts in scholarly publishing to discuss the possible implications of the Nelson Memo for publishers, authors, and the scientific community more broadly. The panel will be moderated by Brooke LaFlamme, with speakers Jennifer Griffiths, James Butcher, Angela Cochran, and Ithaka S+R’s Dylan Ruediger.