Showing results for: data communities
Blog Post
August 10, 2022
How Can Data Librarians Support Data Communities? Part Two
An Interview with Amanda Rinehart
Data communities provide social and practical incentives for scientists to voluntarily share and reuse data with colleagues. In order for data communities to emerge and grow, they need support. Information professionals, such as data librarians and research computing specialists, can advise data communities on best practices for data sharing and help them create or improve the required infrastructure, such as online repositories and metadata schemas.
Research Report
August 9, 2022
Leveraging Data Communities to Advance Open Science
Findings from an Incubation Workshop Series
Several recent studies have indicated that large numbers of researchers in many STEM fields now accept the value of openly sharing research data. Yet, the actual practice of sharing data—especially in forms that comply with FAIR principles—remains a challenge for many researchers to integrate into their workflows and prioritize among the demands on their time. In many disciplines and subfields, data sharing is still mostly an ideal, honored more in the breach than in practice.
Blog Post
June 30, 2022
How Can Data Librarians Support Data Communities?
An Interview with Jordan Wrigley
Data communities provide social and practical incentives for scientists to voluntarily share and reuse data with colleagues. In order for data communities to emerge and grow, they need support. Information professionals, such as data librarians and research computing specialists, can advise data communities on best practices for data sharing and help them create or improve the required infrastructure, such as online repositories and metadata schemas. However, research scientists and information professionals rarely have structured opportunities to meet together,…
Blog Post
August 5, 2021
Deadline Extended: Call for Proposals on Leveraging Data Communities to Advance Open Science
Ithaka S+R is currently accepting applications from researchers interested in participating in Leveraging Data Communities to Advance Open Science, an NSF-funded workshop developed in partnership with the Data Curation Network. Participants will receive funding to attend a two-day incubation workshop in 2022, as well as expert guidance from information professionals about how to create sustainable infrastructures to support voluntary data sharing across disciplinary and institutional boundaries. Applications are due October 1, 2021. Please see the following CFP for full…
Blog Post
May 20, 2021
Leveraging Data Communities to Advance Open Science
New NSF-Funded Collaboration between Ithaka S+R and the Data Curation Network
We are excited to announce that Ithaka S+R has been awarded grant funding from the National Science Foundation to support the development of infrastructures for data sharing within data communities in collaboration with the Data Curation Network. “Leveraging Data Communities to Advance Open Science,” will bring together scientists and information technology professionals for focused discussions about initiating and sustaining data communities. A unique opportunity to leverage data communities…
Blog Post
June 1, 2020
Data Communities in the Health Sciences
A Webinar with the Long Island Library Resources Council
Data sharing in the health sciences has never seemed more urgent. The National Institutes of Health, the US’s major health science research funder, has been experimenting with ways to promote data sharing. Additionally, the race to combat COVID-19 has brought the urgency of making patient-level clinical data, as well as other types of health-related data, easily accessible to researchers while still maintaining individual privacy. Against this backdrop, Danielle Cooper and I had the…
Past Event
February 19, 2020
Data Communities: Empowering Researcher-Driven Data Sharing in the Sciences
Danielle Cooper at the International Data Curation Conference
On Wednesday, February 19, Danielle Cooper is presenting on “Data Communities: Empowering Researcher-Driven Data Sharing in the Sciences” at the International Data Curation Conference in Dublin, Ireland. For more information and to register, please see the conference website.
Blog Post
May 13, 2019
Looking at Data Communities
New Issue Brief on STEM Research Data Sharing
There is a growing perception that science can progress more quickly, more innovatively, and more rigorously when researchers share data with one another. Amid a growing array of organizations, initiatives, and policies working toward this vision, there is a pressing need to decide strategically on the best ways to move forward. Central to this decision is the issue of scale. Is data sharing best assessed and supported on an international or national scale? By discipline? On a university-by-university basis? Or…
Issue Brief
May 13, 2019
Data Communities
A New Model for Supporting STEM Data Sharing
As organizations and initiatives designed to promote STEM data sharing multiply – within, across, and outside academic institutions – there is a pressing need to decide strategically on the best ways to move forward. Central to this decision is the issue of scale. Is data sharing best assessed and supported on an international or national scale? By broad academic sector (engineering, biomedical)? By discipline? On a university-by-university basis? Or using another unit of analysis altogether? To the extent that there…
Blog Post
August 9, 2022
Sustaining Scientific Data Sharing Communities
Findings from an Incubation Workshop
The sharing of research data is essential to open science, and major funders have made significant investments in building an infrastructure of domain and generalist data repositories to support data sharing. While barriers to data sharing remain a challenge, many communities of researchers actively and voluntarily share and reuse data to advance science in areas of mutual interest. Understanding the successes and challenges these “data communities” face is important to providing support for their evolving needs as they grow, and…
Blog Post
December 15, 2021
Building Sustainable Data Sharing Communities
Announcing the Participants in an NSF-Funded Incubation Workshop
Across the country and around the world, communities of researchers are voluntarily sharing data across disciplinary and institutional borders. Understanding the motivations, practices, and challenges faced by members of these communities is important to the National Science Foundation (NSF) and other funders seeking to promote and normalize data sharing and reuse. However, questions remain about how to best support data communities as they emerge and mature. Some of the most urgent issues involve documentation,…
Research Report
July 1, 2025
How Researchers Use PSEO Data to Study Postsecondary Outcomes and Inform Policy
A report for the PSEO Coalition from Ithaka S+R
This literature review summarizes key findings from research and practical applications related to PSEO data. By examining how PSEO data has been used in higher education research and policy, this review lays the groundwork for a national research agenda that strengthens understanding of the links between education and workforce connections, student success, and the economic value of postsecondary credentials.
Blog Post
March 27, 2025
What Challenges Do Academic Researchers Experience and How Do Campus Data Service Providers Assist Them?
New Report Shares Findings from a Qualitative Study of Researchers at 29 Higher Ed Institutions
In recent years, as funders have increased their expectations for data sharing and machine learning use cases have multiplied, the need to develop an efficient infrastructure of research support services has become a strategic priority for many colleges and universities. To inform university decision making, Ithaka S+R has collaborated over the past two years with 29 US and Canadian institutions to develop strategies for improving the coordination of research data support services offered across different campus offices.
Research Report
March 27, 2025
Researcher Challenges and Experiences with Data Services
While there is general consensus that institutions should provide a coordinated research data services support infrastructure to their researchers, determining the most effective way to do this has proven more difficult, especially in light of the fast-paced technological changes that have precipitated new forms of research collaborations, methodologies, and discoveries. In this report, we share findings from interviews with researchers that provide information about their data management needs and their current level of engagement with campus data services.
Blog Post
November 15, 2024
How the American Talent Initiative Is Using Communities of Practice to Advance Student Success in Higher Education
The American Talent Initiative (ATI) is dedicated to addressing longstanding disparities in bachelor’s degree attainment for low- and moderate-income students by fostering collaboration among research, philanthropy, and educational entities. Since 2016, ATI membership has grown to include over 135 high-graduation-rate institutions, enrolling more than 18,000 additional Pell Grant students since the project began. A key strategy in ATI’s approach has been the adoption of Communities of Practice (CoPs) to assist member colleges and universities in achieving their socioeconomic diversity…
Past Event
November 20, 2024
Lessons Learned from the Kessler Scholars Collaborative to Support FGLI Students from Rural Communities
Support systems and resources for first-generation, limited-income (FGLI) college students have steadily increased, but the distinct needs and challenges of rural FGLI students are often overlooked. These students bring unique experiences and face challenges that can be minimized with tailored support to enhance their college experiences. Recognizing these students’ diverse and intersecting identities is crucial in our efforts to create inclusive and affirming spaces where all FGLI students can thrive. During an interactive session at the 2024 FGLI Consortium…
Blog Post
March 14, 2024
An Emerging Framework for Data Services for Indigenous Data
As part of our ongoing project, Building Campus Strategies for Coordinated Data Support, we completed a national inventory of research data services offered at higher education institutions across the US and Canada. While conducting the inventory, we observed an uneven approach to the topic of Indigenous research data sovereignty and governance at libraries and other units involved in research support and facilitation. Some schools provided robust information about the imperative for Indigenous groups and scholars to have control over…
Blog Post
March 14, 2024
Mapping Research Data Support Services
A New Report from Ithaka S+R Shares Findings from an International Inventory
The complexity of contemporary research practices have created significant demand for a wide range of support services within university research communities. Libraries and other campus units have responded by developing an array of research data support services to help researchers learn new tools, improve their skill sets, and manage their data across the research lifecycle. Because these services often evolved without central oversight or cross-unit coordination, it can be difficult for users to understand exactly what is available to them…
Research Report
March 14, 2024
The Research Data Services Landscape at US and Canadian Higher Education Institutions
While many universities have made substantial investments in research data services and are likely to continue to make further investments, obstacles such as decentralization and inefficiency, insufficient staffing, lack of technical expertise, and ambiguity about the needs of researchers continue to limit the impact of these investments. In light of these persistent challenges, Ithaka S+R revisited our 2020 inventory of data services and expanded our scope to include Canadian universities.
Blog Post
December 7, 2023
How Can Universities Create AI Tools for their Communities?
An Interview with the Creators of UC San Diego’s TritonGPT
Following the commercial release of tools like ChatGPT, it has become clear that generative AI technology will have a marked impact on higher education. In the midst of widespread discussions on how generative AI can best be leveraged in teaching and research contexts, universities are exploring how they can provide secure access to this technology for faculty, staff, and students. In our recent blog post on university custom AI platforms, we highlighted three institutions—the University of Michigan, Harvard University,…
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.
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…
Past Event
August 31, 2022
Collaboration Between Researchers and Information Professionals to Promote Data Sharing
Long-term collaborations between research communities and information professionals are relatively rare: yet, the expertise data librarians and other information professionals bring to the table can accelerate FAIR data sharing efforts. Drawing on findings from our recent NSF-funded workshop on promoting data sharing in STEM fields, Ithaka S+R and the Data Curation Network will host "Collaboration Between Researchers and Information Professionals to Promote Data Sharing" on August 31, 2022, from 2:00 - 3:30 pm Eastern. The webinar will bring together information…
Past Event
March 17, 2022
Data Support Services Needs in the DIY Era
Dylan Ruediger at the RDAP Summit
On March 17th, from 12:45 – 1:45 PM, Dylan Ruediger will moderate a panel on “Data Support Services in the DYI Era” at the RDAP Summit. For more information about the Summit, please see the RDAP website. Abstract This panel will highlight findings from a recent national study of the research practices of fresearchers working with big data. Our findings suggest that many researchers prefer to learn new skills and tools using internet resources and tutorials rather than…