Skip to Main Content

tag: Research Support Services

Blog Post
December 1, 2021

Supporting Big Data Research

New Report Offers Recommendations for Stakeholders

As “big data” has moved from the margins to the center of a growing number of academic disciplines, how well are universities, funders, and publishers supporting researchers? To better understand how big data research is pursued in academic contexts, Ithaka S+R partnered with librarians at more than 20 colleges and universities, interviewing over 200 faculty members, to explore how researchers work with big data and identify the challenges they face. “Big Data Infrastructure at the Crossroads:…
Research Report
December 1, 2021

Big Data Infrastructure at the Crossroads

Support Needs and Challenges for Universities

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…
Blog Post
April 20, 2021

Emergent Data Community Spotlight

An Interview About Energy Modeling with the Open Energy Modelling Initiative

Fostering data and code sharing among scholars is an important component to fostering a culture of open research—but how can this work be done most effectively? At Ithaka S+R we are exploring the crucial contextual elements that optimize research data sharing. We’ve found that data communities—formal or informal groups of scholars who share a certain type of data with each other regardless of disciplinary boundaries—provide important clues to understanding how research data sharing works. Identifying and supporting scholarly communities…
Blog Post
March 25, 2021

The State of the Humanities

Notes from the National Humanities Alliance Annual Meeting

Each spring, the National Humanities Alliance (NHA) organizes an annual meeting and an accompanying national advocacy day, in which representatives from most states meet with congressional offices to make the case for federal funding of the humanities. In 2020, 184 individuals representing 41 states held 287 meetings with congressional offices on Capitol Hill. Ithaka S+R is committed to supporting humanists in their work, through projects such as measuring the value of a liberal arts education, the analysis of the…
Blog Post
September 9, 2020

Supporting Language and Literature Scholarship in the COVID-19 Era

The latest installment in Ithaka S+R’s series of Research Support Services projects investigates the research practices and support needs of scholars in the field of languages and literature. Today we are excited to publish the project’s capstone report.  The research that underlies this report was conducted prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, we believe our findings resonate now more than ever. The field…
Research Report
September 9, 2020

Supporting Research in Languages and Literature

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.
Blog Post
June 30, 2020

Why Stakeholder Engagement Matters More than Ever

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, academic libraries have experienced unprecedented change. For many libraries, anticipated budget reductions, the realities of remote work, and responsibilities related to rapid campus closures and tentative reopenings have put a strain on resources. At the same time, libraries have new opportunities to play a prominent role on campus in supporting online learning and helping researchers work…
Blog Post
May 14, 2020

Launching Two Projects on Supporting Data Work

Last summer we announced that we were going to begin two new collaborative projects on data, one focused on teaching, and one on research. While we couldn’t have anticipated then the conditions we are facing now, we believe the research is more important than ever. The first project will examine instructors’ support needs teaching with data in the social sciences, while the second project will study the support needs of researchers who work…
Blog Post
January 14, 2020

What Is Humanities Research Now?

Roundtable at the Modern Language Association 2020 Convention

Today, the discipline of modern languages and literatures faces both challenges and opportunities. Although humanities research and the liberal arts education model have come under public scrutiny, new methodologies and ways of disseminating information, including “public humanities” and “digital humanities,” hold out promise for reinvigoration of the discipline. On Friday, January 9, I had the pleasure of joining six participants from Ithaka S+R’s Supporting Research in Languages and Literature project, sponsored by the…
Past Event
January 10, 2020

Rebecca Springer at the Modern Language Association Annual Convention

On Friday, January 10, Rebecca Springer is taking part in a panel discussion on “What Is Humanities Research Now?” at the Modern Language Association Annual Convention in Seattle. She’ll be joined on the panel by Amanda L. Watson (New York U), John Tofanelli (Columbia U), Matthew Roberts (U of Illinois, Urbana), Ashley Champagne (Brown U), Darby Fanning (U of Utah), and Julie Frick Wade (MLA). The Modern Language Association’s Mary Onorato is moderating. For more information, please see the…
Blog Post
August 6, 2019

Inside an Ithaka S+R Training Workshop

In 2016, Ithaka S+R began collaborating with libraries to extend our deep dives into the research needs of faculty in a variety of fields, including, Civil & Environmental Engineering, Asian Studies, Religious Studies, Public Health, and Indigenous Studies. Having partnered with 75 university libraries for these studies, last year, we began using a…
Blog Post
July 29, 2019

Announcing Two New S+R Projects on Supporting Data Work

Evolving data practices are re-shaping the academic landscape. Here at Ithaka S+R we’ve been tracking how scholars’ data support needs are evolving more widely through our triennial U.S. faculty survey and through deep dives into specific disciplinary practices, such as our recent report on Civil and Environmental Engineering. We’ve also uncovered how scholars’ work in data communities challenges the traditional disciplinary and institutional siloing…
Blog Post
July 9, 2019

To Seek Knowledge Together

How Libraries in Hawaiʻi Can Better Support Indigenous Studies Scholars

In 2017, the University of Hawaiʻi (UH) was invited to participate in an international qualitative study organized by Ithaka S+R that sought to examine the research needs of Indigenous scholars. Our research team—Kawena Komeiji, Keahiahi Long, Shavonn Matsuda, Annemarie Paikai, and Kapena Shim—focused on how libraries can better support the research and teaching activities of Hawaiian Studies scholars whose scholarship contributes to the advancement and well-being of the Indigneous people of Hawaiʻi. There were several reasons…
Blog Post
June 4, 2019

Reflections on the Society for Scholarly Publishing 2019 Conference

I had the opportunity last week to attend the Society for Scholarly Publishing 2019 conference, which seeks to not only bring together academic publishers, but also others in higher education, such as scholars and librarians, to discuss the latest developments and trends in the scholarly communication landscape. This goal is reflective of SSP’s ongoing mission to bring together diverse voices, as reflected in the code of conduct, invited keynotes…
Blog Post
June 3, 2019

Three questions for Carrie Corneilus, Sara Morris, Rebecca Orozco, and Michael Peper

Participants Reflect on the Indigenous Studies Research Support Services Project

For our quarterly newsletter, we interviewed Carrie Corneilus, a librarian at Haskell Indian Nations University, and Sara Morris, Rebecca Orozco, and Michael Peper, librarians at the University of Kansas (KU), about their participation in the Research Support Services project on Indigenous Studies. The two universities collaborated in a unique partnership to  interview Indigenous Studies scholars. 1. Why did you want to participate in this study? Carrie Corneilus: I am a tribal librarian of students and faculty…
Blog Post
April 16, 2019

When Research is Relational

New Report on Supporting the Research Practices of Indigenous Studies Scholars

I am excited to announce the publication of the capstone report from Ithaka S+R’s Indigenous Studies project, which brought together teams at eleven academic libraries to study the research support needs of Indigenous Studies scholars. Indigenous Studies places Indigenous perspectives at the center of inquiry, with unique protocols for defining, describing, sharing, and preserving information. The project provided a unique opportunity for academic librarians to come together, learn from Indigenous…
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
March 15, 2019

Two New Ithaka S+R Analyst Job Openings

Are you passionate about evidence-based approaches to improving higher education and the arts? Ithaka S+R has two new positions to support our dynamic research on libraries, scholarly communication, and museums. Our work helps these organizations better support scholarship, instruction, community engagement, and student success by empowering them to gather and effectively utilize evidence that supports strong decision-making about strategic direction and service offerings. Our new analyst positions provide unique opportunities to conduct and publish major research…
Past Event
May 31, 2019

Danielle Cooper and Rebecca Springer at SSP

The Great Divide: Communicating Scholarly Research to Practitioners

On Friday, May 31, Danielle Cooper and Rebecca Springer will speak on “The Great Divide: Communicating Scholarly Research to Practitioners” at the Society for Scholarly Publishing Annual Conference in San Diego, California. Danielle and Rebecca will be joined on the panel by Angela Cochran (American Society of Civil Engineers), Amy Rechenmacher (University of Southern California), and Ingrid Tomac (University of California San Diego). The panel will run from 11:15 am to 12:15 pm. For more information and to register, please see the…
Past Event
April 13, 2019

When Enough Isn’t Enough: Rethinking Research Support in the Sciences

Danielle Cooper and Rebecca Springer at ACRL

On Saturday, April 13, Danielle Cooper and Rebecca Springer will present “When Enough Isn’t Enough: Rethinking Research Support in the Sciences” at the ACRL Conference in Cleveland, Ohio. Their talk is scheduled for 8:30 am. For more information and to register, please see the conference website. About the presentation What would it take for university libraries to develop the same kind of buy-in with scientists as they often have with humanists? A major challenge is that how libraries offer…