Publications
Research Report
June 9, 2022
Streaming Media Licensing and Purchasing Practices at Academic Libraries
Survey Results
University instructors and students have a huge appetite for streaming media, and demand is growing apace as the format achieves mainstream market dominance over earlier technologies such as DVDs. University libraries purchase and license the bulk of this content intended for campus-wide (as opposed to personal) consumption and are facing numerous challenges associated with integrating streaming media into their collecting strategies. Pricing models can make it difficult to fully meet patron demands, and some collections feature content that is not…
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Research Report
April 12, 2022
Aligning the Research Library to Organizational Strategy
Ithaka S+R was commissioned by the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) and the Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL) to examine the strategic directions of research universities with the objective of identifying common themes that research libraries can consider in aligning to advance the research and learning mission both individually and collectively. This project draws on interviews and other forms of engagement conducted in 2021 with more than 60 university leaders (presidents, provosts, senior research officers, and chief information officers)…
Research Report
December 1, 2021
Big Data Infrastructure at the Crossroads
Support Needs and Challenges for Universities
Dylan Ruediger, Thea P. Atwood, Neelam Bharti, Bryan Briones, Patrick Campbell, Paula Carey, Daniel Castillo, Karen Ciccone, Cameron Cook, Danielle Cooper, Claire Curry, Justin De La Cruz, Will Dean, E.M. Dragowsky, Tom Durkin, Darnell Epps, Seth Erickson, Jen Ferguson, Erin D. Foster, Moriana Garcia, Zenobie S. Garrett, Ann Glusker, Ben Gorham, Jen Green, Hannah Gunderman, Jacalyn Huband, Jennifer Huck, Susan Ivey, Carolyn Jackson, Kelsey Jordan, Kate Kryder, Stephanie Labou, Mark Laufersweiler, Tracie Lewis, James Macalino, Tobin Magle, David Minor, Lana Munip, Rosaline Odom, Reid Otsuji, Jennifer Patiño, Tyler Pearson, Carissa Phillips, Sara Pugachev, Brian Quigley, David Rachlin, Melanie Radik, Vicky Rampin, Fred Rowland, Laura Sare, Rebecca M. Seifried, Adam Shambaugh, Sarah Siddiqui, Kate Silfen, Iyanna Sims, Bryan Sinclair, Margaret Smith, Gretchen Sneff, Mandy Swygart-Hobaugh, Paria Tajallipour, Julia Unis, John Vickery, Cynthia Vitale, Jeremy Walker, Huajin Wang, John Watts, Christie A. Wiley, Katie Wissel, Nicholas Wolf, Cindy Xuying Xin, Jen-Chien Yu, Roger Zender, Lee Zickel
Ithaka S+R’s Research Support Services program explores current trends and support needs in academic research. Our most recent project in this program, “Supporting Big Data Research,” focused specifically on the rapidly emerging use of big data in research across disciplines and fields. As part of our study, we partnered with librarians from more than 20 colleges and universities, who then conducted over 200 interviews with faculty. These interviews provided insights into the research methodologies and support needs of researchers working…
Research Report
October 18, 2021
COVID-19 and the Future of the Annual Meeting
In February 2020, the Biogen conference in Boston, Massachusetts, became one of the first superspreader events in the United States—one now linked to perhaps 300,000 cases of COVID-19. By mid-March, in-person conferences, a staple of scholarly communication and community, came to an abrupt halt. For the many professional societies for whom a conference is a core offering, the necessity of charting a new path for their annual meeting was among the most difficult organizational challenges created by the pandemic. As…
Research Report
June 22, 2021
What’s the Big Deal?
How Researchers Are Navigating Changes to Journal Access
The dominant mode by which research libraries have provided maximum journal access as cheaply as possible—subscription bundles or “Big Deals”—is giving way to new approaches. This transition is taking place through a combination of negotiations, activism, business modeling, user needs research, and decision support, among other factors. To support these processes, Ithaka S+R partnered with 11 academic libraries to understand researcher perceptions to help inform their ongoing strategic decision making about Big Deal journal subscriptions.
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Research Report
March 23, 2021
Teaching with Primary Sources
Looking at the Support Needs of Instructors
Kurtis Tanaka, Daniel Abosso, Krystal Appiah, Katie Atkins, Peter Barr, Arantza Barrutia-Wood, Shatha Baydoun, Catherine Bazela, Cara Bertram, Colleen Boff, Steve Borrelli, Jay-Marie Bravent, Sarah Brennan, Tina Budzise-Weaver, Margaret Burri, Liz Cheney, Cait Coker, Heather Cole, Lisa Conathan, Emily Cook, Danielle Cooper, Joshua Dacey, J. Gordon Daines III, Diana Dill, Carrie Donovan, Lori DuBois, Lisa Duncan, Sarah Evelyn, Mary Feeney, Patricia Figueroa, Rebecca Friedman, Myranda Fuentes, Danielle Gabbard, Eleonora Gandolfi, Chloe Gerson, Kelly Godfrey, Melissa Grafe, Brenda Gunn, Jeanann Haas, Terese Heidenwolf, Heidi Herr, Laura Hibbler, Matthew J. K. Hill, David Hirsch, Stefanie Hunker, Jamie Johnson, Emily Kader, Jessica Keyes, Paula Kiser, Joel D. Kitchens, Maggie Kopp, Andrew Laas, Bill Landis, Christina Larson, David Lewis, Sara Logue, Maureen Maryanski, Jennifer Meehan, Ruthann Miller, Rebecca Miller Waltz, Meg Miner, Sarah Morris, Kevin M. O’Sullivan, Catherine Oliver, Barbara Olson, Anne Peale, Matt Phillips, Roxane Pickens, Julie Porterfield, Sara Powell, Marcus Robyns, Dylan Ruediger, Deirdre Scaggs, Carrie Schwier, Matthew Sheehy, Nicole Shibata, Dainan M. Skeem, Holly Snyder, Linda Stepp, Matthew Strandmark, Morgan Swan, Michelle Sweetser, Gabriel Swift, Jason Tomberlin, Niamh Wallace, Berenika Webster, Ashley Werlinich, Clare Withers, Lijuan Xu
Encounters with primary sources—historical or contemporary artifacts that bear direct witness to a specific period or event—are central to the pedagogy of many disciplines, especially in the humanities and humanistic social sciences. Their use in undergraduate instruction aligns with universities’ commitments to experiential and inquiry-based learning and library initiatives focused on media and information literacy. Reflecting the importance of the topic within higher education, “Supporting Teaching with Primary Sources” attracted the largest cohort of any Ithaka S+R program to date.
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Research Report
March 3, 2021
Student Focused
Fostering Cross-Unit Collaboration to Meet the Changing Needs of Community College Students
Ensuring that community college students have access to academic and student support services requires more than simply understanding students’ needs—it also requires relating those needs to actionable service models and organizational strategies. Community college students navigate ecosystems of services provided and supported by academic affairs departments, student affairs departments, libraries, and faculty. How can these ecosystems best be organized and developed to adapt to changing student needs—particularly amidst the disruptions of the COVID-19 pandemic?…
Research Report
September 9, 2020
Supporting Research in Languages and Literature
Danielle Cooper, Cate Mahoney, Rebecca Springer, Robert Behra, Ian G. Beilin, Guy Burak, Margaret Burri, Paula Mae Carns, Ashley Champagne, Charles J. Cobine, Heather Cole, Angela Courtney, Anne Donlon, Angela Ecklund, Sarah Evelyn, Darby Fanning, Patricia Figueroa, Nancy E. Friedland, Luis A. González, Pamela M. Graham, Emily Guhde, Julian Haller, Pamela Harris, Heidi Herr, Glenda Insua, Melissa Jones, Sara Kearns, Jessica Keyes, Semyon Khokhlov, Samantha Kirk, Triveni Kuchi, Carl Lehnen, Jade Madrid, Jeremiah R. Mercurio, Catherine J. Minter, James P. Niessen, Marie Paiva, Lis Pankl, Katie Rawson, Matthew Roberts, Alla Roylance, Jonathan Sauceda, Margaret Schaus, Sócrates Silva, John L. Tofanelli, Ellen Urton, Roberto Vargas, Julie Frick Wade, Amanda Watson, Sarah S. Witte
Ithaka S+R’s Research Support Services program investigates how the research support needs of scholars vary by discipline. From 2018 to early 2020, Ithaka S+R examined the changing research methods and practices of language and literature 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 language and literature scholars.
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Research Report
May 7, 2020
Advancing Technological Equity for Incarcerated College Students
Examining the Opportunities and Risks
Higher education programs that teach in prisons take on a near impossible task: to provide their students with a high-quality education, equal to anything beyond the prison walls, while working under strict constraints. Incarcerated students rarely have access to learning resources typically taken for granted on the outside—computers, books, and internet access are all heavily restricted by various state Departments of Corrections (DOC)—and instructors must work with and around DOC security protocols while planning and teaching their classes. While innovative…
Research Report
December 12, 2019
Teaching Business
Looking at the Support Needs of Instructors
Kurtis Tanaka, Danielle Cooper, Nora Allred, Natasha Arguello, Brian Bourke, Nicole Branch, Cara Cadena, Danielle Colbert-Lewis, Sarah Edmonds, Preethi Gorecki, Karen Grimwood, Marianne Hageman, John Heintz, Ashley Ireland, Jon Jeffryes, Patricia Kenly, Louise Klusek, Andrea Koeppe, Vera Lux, James Mellone, Ximin Mi, Lauren Movlai, Livia Olsen, Ryan Phillips, Anthony Raymond, Linda Rich, Veronica Rodriguez, Peter Rogers, Erin Rowley, Jenn Sams, Carol Sánchez, Edith Scarletto, Jamillah Scott-Branch, Melanie Sellar, Kendra Spahr, Dana Statton Thompson, Charles Terng, Edward F Wall III, Heather Williamson, Qiong Xu, Ann Zawistoski
Business represents the most popular undergraduate major at American colleges and universities and was seen as the ideal discipline to begin with, especially as the potential number of students to be positively impacted is correspondingly large. The goal of this report, therefore, is to provide actionable findings for organizations, institutions, and professionals who support the teaching practices of business educators. This report describes the teaching practices of business instructors, both those that are common to all college level instruction as…
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Research Report
May 30, 2019
Unbarring Access
A Landscape Review of Postsecondary Education in Prison and Its Pedagogical Supports
Postsecondary education in US prisons is a growing topic in both academic and political circles. While much of the discourse surrounding higher education more broadly focuses on students’ educational and employment outcomes, the conversation around postsecondary education in prisons often centers on the societal benefits of this programming, with a strong focus on reduced recidivism rates – the rates with which formerly incarcerated individuals engage in criminal acts that result in their re-arrest, re-conviction, or re-incarceration. With 1.5 million people…
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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…
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Research Report
April 11, 2019
When Research is Relational
Supporting the Research Practices of Indigenous Studies Scholars
Danielle Cooper, Tanya Ball, Michelle Nicole Boyer-Kelly, Anne Carr-Wiggin, Carrie Cornelius, J. Wendel Cox, Sarah Dupont, Cody Fullerton, MaryLynn Gagné, Scott Garton, Ridie Wilson Ghezzi, Michelle Guittar, Kawena Komeiji, Sheila Laroque, Kayla Lar-Son, Kim Lawson, Deborah Lee, Janice Linton, Julia Logan, Keahiahi Long, Lorisia MacLeod, Shavonn Matsuda, Sara E. Morris, Lisa O'Hara, Rebecca Orozco, Annemarie Paikai, Michael Peper, Michael Perry, Gina Petersen, Verónica Reyes-Escudero, Anthony Sanchez, Kapena Shim, David Smith, Jennifer Sylvester, Jennifer Toews, Niamh Wallace, Amy Witzel, Desmond Wong
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…
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Research Report
January 16, 2019
Supporting the Changing Research Practices of Civil and Environmental Engineering Scholars
Danielle Cooper, Rebecca Springer, Jessica G. Benner, David Bloom, Erin Carrillo, Alexander Carroll, Bertha Chang, Xiaoju Chen, Erin Daix, Emily Dommermuth, Rachel Figueiredo, Jennifer Haas, Carly A. Hafner, Whitney Hayes, Angela Henshilwood, Alexandra Lyn Craig Krogman, Rebecca Zuege Kuglitsch, Sabine Lanteri, Abbey Lewis, Lisha Li, Matthew R. Marsteller, Tom Melvin, Todd Michelson-Ambelang, William H. Mischo, Colin Nickels, Virginia Pannabecker, Fred Rascoe, Mary C. Schlembach, Yi Shen, Erin M. Smith, Michelle Spence, Kris Stacy-Bates, Erin Thomas, Larry Thompson, Mindy Thuna, Christie A. Wiley, Sarah Young, Siu Hong Yu
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.
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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.
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Research Report
June 21, 2018
Supporting the Changing Research Practices of Asian Studies Scholars
Danielle Cooper, Katherine Daniel, Jade Alburo, Deepa Banerjee, Tomoko Bialock, Hong Cheng, Su Chen, Sanghun Cho, Karen Stoll Farrell, Ralph Gabbard, Judith A. Henchy, David Hirsch, Michael Hopper, Michael J. Hughes, Ramona Islam, Michaela Kelly, Richard Lesage, Xiang Li, Carrie Marsh, Kuniko Yamada McVey, Mary Rader, Bonnie Brown Real, Zhijia Shen, Cynthia Sorrell, Meng-fen Su, Azusa Tanaka, Yukako Tatsumi, Brian Winterman, Lijuan Xu, Hyokyoung Yi, Xiuying Zou
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…
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Research Report
December 14, 2017
Supporting the Changing Research Practices of Public Health Scholars
Danielle Cooper, Katherine Daniel, Caitlin Bakker, Jaime Blanck, Chris Childs, Ann Gleason, Rosie Hanneke, Shanda Hunt, Janna Lawrence, Jeanne Link, Annabelle Nuñez, Sarah Safranek, Kay Hogan Smith, Claire Twose, Sue Woodson
Ithaka S+R’s Research Support Services Program investigates how the research support needs of scholars vary by discipline. In 2016-2017 Ithaka S+R examined the changing research methods and practices of public health scholars conducting research through U.S. institutions. This project was undertaken collaboratively with research teams at seven academic libraries with the goal of identifying services to better support public health scholars. This report aims to provide actionable findings for the organizations, institutions, and professionals who support the research process of…
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Issue Brief
July 26, 2017
Rethinking Liaison Programs for the Humanities
For generations, most research libraries have had employees with deep subject expertise. Once known as bibliographers, these scholars and librarians originally focused their efforts on selection for collection building. Today, there is real anxiety about the role of subject expertise and academic liaisons in research libraries. We argue that evidence about scholars’ practices and needs should be a key input into reorganizing library subject expertise.[1] Librarian subject expertise and liaison roles At many research libraries, the role of…
Research Report
June 7, 2017
Supporting the Changing Research Practices of Agriculture Scholars
Danielle Cooper, Sarah Bankston, Marianne Stowell Bracke, Beth Callahan, Hui-Fen Chang, Leslie M. Delserone, Florian Diekmann, Andrea L. Dinkelman, Diana Farmer, Shannon L. Farrell, Sharon Giovenale, Charlotte Glennie, Scott Hanscom, Inga Haugen, Liz Holdsworth, Marei Houpert, Claudine Arnold Jenda, Erin Kerby, Megan Kocher, Adam Kriesberg, Emily Marsh, Alesia McManus, Nan McMurry, Sarah Milligan, Carolyn Mills, Valrie Davis Minson, Jim Morris-Knower, Mary Ochs, Livia Olsen, Necia Parker-Gibson, Cynthia Parr, Hannah Gascho Rempel, M. Brooke Robertshaw, Ashley Shea, Megan Sheffield, Laura I. Spears, Suzanne Cady Stapleton, Sarah C. Williams, Jane Yatcilla, Sarah Young
For America’s land-grant universities, agriculture is a field of bedrock historical importance and vital current relevance. While it is sometimes perceived by the general public as a field to help small farmers modernize, today it also includes advanced genetic research, economic and policy issues around food security, and deep engagement with climate change. As a rich interdisciplinary field at the heart of so many research universities, the practices and needs of agriculture are of interest to many. For that reason,…
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Research Report
February 8, 2017
Supporting the Changing Research Practices of Religious Studies Scholars
Danielle Cooper, Roger C. Schonfeld, Richard Adams, Matthew Baker, Nisa Bakkalbasi, John G. Bales, Rebekah Bedard, Chris Benda, Beth Bidlack, Sarah Bogue, Trisha Burr, Gillian Harrison Cain, Ina Cohen, Wesley Custer, Virginia Dearborn, Gerrit van Dyk, Suzanne Estelle-Holmer, Kathryn Flynn, Jenifer Gundry, Trevan Hatch, Justin Hill, Bill Hook, Thad Horner, Hye-jin Juhn, Andrew Keck, Michael Kohut, Gloria Korsman, Graziano Krätli, Ryan Lee, Rebecca Lloyd, Reed Lowrie, Margot Lyon, Jean McManus, John Meeks, Christine Pesch Richardson, John Robinson, Kay Roethemeyer, Robert Roethemeyer, Ramona Romero, Fred Rowland, Veronica Simms, Kate Skrebutenas, Jacqueline Solis, Steven Squires, Maria Stanton, Naomi Steinberger, Chris Strauber, Elka Tenner, Amanda Thomas, Paul Allen Tippey, Nancy Turner, Nicholas Weiss
Ithaka S+R’s Research Support Services Program is a series of projects that investigate the research support needs of scholars by their discipline. In 2016 Ithaka S+R examined the changing research methods and practices of academic religious studies scholars in the United States, with the goal of identifying services to better support them. The project was undertaken collaboratively with research teams at 18 academic libraries and the American Theological Library Association with guidance from an advisory committee. The goal of this…
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