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Topic: Digital scholarship and data management

Research Report
April 12, 2019

Ithaka S+R US Faculty Survey 2018

The Ithaka S+R US Faculty Survey has tracked the changing research, teaching, and publishing practices of higher education faculty members on a triennial basis since 2000. Our aim in this project is to provide actionable findings and analysis to help colleges and universities as well as relevant support services, such as academic libraries, learned societies, and scholarly publishers, plan for the future.
Research Report
April 11, 2019

When Research is Relational

Supporting the Research Practices of Indigenous Studies Scholars

In 2017 Ithaka S+R launched a project to explore the changing research methods and practices of Indigenous Studies scholars across Canada and the US with the goal of identifying services to better support them in ways that are also beneficial to Indigenous communities more broadly. The project was undertaken by a cohort of research teams at 11 academic libraries with guidance from a group of advisors comprised of Indigenous scholars and librarians. Each research team in the cohort developed findings…
Blog Post
April 9, 2019

What to Watch for at ACRL 2019: Research Data Edition

With the ACRL (Association of College and Research Libraries) 2019 conference less than a week away, there has been some discussion about research data receiving limited attention in this year’s program. Academic libraries are at the forefront of key issues in data management, sharing, and use, so we wanted to make sure to highlight this important topic. Here’s a preview of some of the data-related sessions, lightning talks,…
Blog Post
April 8, 2019

Learning from the Locals

How Local Survey Partnerships Have Enriched the Ithaka S+R US Faculty Survey 2018

In 2012, Ithaka S+R began offering colleges and universities the opportunity to field a customized instance of the US Faculty Survey, which tracks the research and teaching practices, perceptions, and needs of faculty members at four-year colleges and universities on a triennial basis. In more recent years, we began fielding our parallel surveys of undergraduate and graduate students as a means to gain better insight into the needs of these important stakeholders. To…
Blog Post
April 4, 2019

Hot Topics in FAIR Data: An Orientation for the Uninitiated

“Data” has become a watchword in academic circles – not to mention in society writ large. But it can be difficult to stay abreast of data-related developments as a plethora of organizations, initiatives, and technologies emerge. I recently had the privilege of attending and speaking at a CODATA workshop on FAIR data (which I’ll explain momentarily) and responsible research data management. Hosted at Drexel University, the two-day workshop brought together…
Blog Post
February 21, 2019

Reflections on PASIG

Advancing Digital Preservation Through Community Cultivation

From February 12-14, I attended the PASIG Conference where 150 individuals from 12 countries gathered to share experiences and insights on organizational, technical, social, business, and political aspects of digital preservation and archiving. Digital preservation involves the management and endurance of digital objects to ensure the authenticity, accessibility, and usability of content over time in the face of technological and organizational changes. Since 2007, the Preservation and Archiving Special Interest Group (…
Blog Post
February 13, 2019

The Right Tool for the Job

Fostering Strategic Approaches to User Research

In October 2018 we had the opportunity to engage with attendees to at the Digital Library Federation (DLF) conference about fostering strategic approaches to digital library assessment. During the session we briefly presented a framework for thinking through various user research avenues and related methodologies (suggesting that the user survey isn’t the only useful tool libraries could employ even if we use them a lot!) and then invited participants to consider what they…
Blog Post
January 16, 2019

Supporting Civil and Environmental Engineering Research

Recommendations by and for Academic Librarians

In Ithaka S+R’s newest Research Support Services project – highlighted in our capstone report released today – we partnered with teams at 11 academic libraries in the United States and Canada to study the research practices and support needs of civil and environmental engineering scholars. (They join teams at 77 other universities who have participated in similar Ithaka S+R-led projects, including Asian studies and public…
Blog Post
January 16, 2019

Engineering for Impact: Practices of Civil and Environmental Engineering Scholars

The latest installment in Ithaka S+R’s series of Research Support Services projects investigates the research practices and support needs of civil and environmental engineering scholars. Today we are excited to publish the project’s capstone report. The field of civil and environmental engineering tackles pressing issues relating to our built and natural environments – from climate change to urban drinking water, bridge and highway upkeep to natural disaster planning. The need for research solutions to these problems…
Research Report
January 16, 2019

Supporting the Changing Research Practices of Civil and Environmental Engineering Scholars

In 2017 and 2018 Ithaka S+R examined the changing research methods and practices of civil and environmental engineering scholars in the United States with the goal of identifying services to better support them. The goal of this report is to provide actionable findings for the organizations, institutions, and professionals who support the research processes of civil and environmental engineering scholars.
Blog Post
January 9, 2019

CNI Fall Meeting Presentation on the State of Digital Preservation

Video Recording Now Available

At CNI’s Fall Meeting in December, we had the pleasure of presenting some of the highlights from the recent Ithaka S+R brief on the state of digital preservation. It was one of the talks selected for recording and is now available on CNI’s YouTube and Vimeo channels. At CNI, we shared some of what we have learned to gather feedback and additional perspectives…
Past Event
April 12, 2019

US Faculty Survey 2018: First Release of Key Findings

Christine Wolff-Eisenberg and Roger Schonfeld at ACRL

The Ithaka S+R Faculty Survey has tracked the attitudes and behaviors of US faculty members since 2000 to provide regularly updated snapshots on key issues and trend analysis of changes across survey cycles. Christine Wolff-Eisenberg and Roger Schonfeld will unveil key findings from the Faculty Survey 2018 which we plan to publish in conjunction with the ACRL 2019 conference. In this survey cycle, we have continued our coverage of faculty research workflows, teaching practices, and perceptions of the role of…
Blog Post
November 28, 2018

New Issue Brief on Scholars as Collectors

Today we publish an Ithaka S+R issue brief that is aimed at reframing how academic research support is conceptualized to better address scholars’ needs. Research support services in university settings are currently focused on aiding scholars as they work on specific research tasks or content, which is largely diffuse and often insufficiently funded. We contend that research support services would be more effective if designed to holistically reflect how scholars work. Looking to scholarly practices in a…
Issue Brief
November 28, 2018

Scholars ARE Collectors: A Proposal for Re-thinking Research Support

After fifteen years of digging into the research practices of scholars at Ithaka S+R, it is clear that scholars are collectors. We have found that they are creating and amassing increasingly complex personal collections of information over the course of their careers. These collections vary widely depending on the discipline and take many forms.
Blog Post
October 29, 2018

Perspectives on the Changing Ecology of Digital Preservation

New Issue Brief

A significant portion of our educational, cultural, and communication activities take place online, as the web has become the primary hub for information, inspiration, entertainment, and social interactions. But digital information is both pervasive and ephemeral at the same time–by some estimates the average lifespan of a website is between 44 and 100 days–and in dire need of preservation. The challenge is not only preserving the bits of digital objects but also being able to transition over time…
Issue Brief
October 29, 2018

The State of Digital Preservation in 2018

A Snapshot of Challenges and Gaps

Our cultural, historic, and scientific heritage is increasingly being produced and shared in digital forms. The ubiquity, pervasiveness, variability, and fluidity of such content raise a range of questions about the role of research libraries and archives in digital preservation in the face of rapid organizational and technological changes and evolving organizational priorities. Ithaka S+R is interested in exploring the current landscape of digital preservation programs and services in order to identify research and policy questions that will contribute to…
Blog Post
September 17, 2018

From 101 Innovations to a Roadmap for Collaboration

Open Source Tools for Scholarly Workflow Support

Last month, I participated virtually in the Joint Roadmap for Open Science Tools (JROST) workshop as 86 individuals from 58 different organizations gathered in Berkeley on August 27-28 to explore the growing category of open source scholarly workflow tools, to compare notes, and to identify areas of cooperation and integration.The event program includes all the background information and presentations so I’ll try to highlight…
Blog Post
June 27, 2018

New Questionnaire for the US Faculty Survey 2018 Now Available

I am thrilled to announce that we have completed our updates for the upcoming Ithaka S+R US Faculty Survey 2018. As in previous cycles, the survey will explore the research and teaching practices, perceptions, and needs of scholars at four-year colleges and universities. This year, we have developed new thematic areas of coverage on research dissemination, open educational resources, and learning analytics, which we believe are vital emergent strategic issues for higher education institutions and their…
Research Report
June 21, 2018

Supporting the Changing Research Practices of Asian Studies Scholars

Executive Summary Ithaka S+R’s Research Support Services Program investigates how the research support needs of scholars vary by discipline and includes reports on history, chemistry, art history, religious studies, agriculture, and public health. In 2017-2018, Ithaka S+R examined the changing research methods and practices of Asian studies scholars conducting research through U.S. institutions. This project was undertaken collaboratively with research teams at 11 academic libraries with the goal of identifying services to better support Asian studies scholars. This report…
Blog Post
April 24, 2018

Now Available: Dataset for Library Survey 2016 at ICPSR

Last year we published findings from the Library Survey 2016. We have been running this survey on a triennial basis since 2010 to examine the attitudes and behaviors of library deans and directors at not-for profit four-year academic institutions across the United States. The Library Survey report aims to provide academic librarians and higher education leaders with information about the important issues and trends that are shaping the purpose, role, and viability of…