Topic: Digital scholarship and data management
Blog Post
July 29, 2019
Counting Data Librarians
How many data librarians does the average research university have? As data science methodologies are embraced by more and more academic fields–and as funders and administrators increasingly prioritize big data projects–academic libraries are staffing up to meet a growing demand. “Research data services” is a term that encompasses a broad range of support functions that help students and scholars conduct research with data. Some of these include: Directing users to…
Blog Post
July 22, 2019
Emergent Data Community Spotlight
An Interview with Dr. Vance Lemmon on Spinal Cord Injury Research
Encouraging scholars to share research data with one another promises to increase research efficiency, reproducibility, and innovation. In a recent issue brief, Danielle Cooper and I argued for a new conceptual framework for understanding and supporting research data sharing: data communities. Data communities are formal or informal groups of scholars who share a certain type of data with each other, regardless of disciplinary…
Blog Post
July 17, 2019
Gearing Up for the Ithaka S+R National Library Director Survey
This fall, we will field the triennial Ithaka S+R Library Survey for the fourth time. The survey examines strategy and leadership issues from the perspective of academic library deans and directors, and through this project, we aim to understand the opportunities and challenges they face in leading their organizations. This project serves as a strong complement to our work with a variety of other communities of academic librarians and is intended to ensure…
Blog Post
June 6, 2019
Legacy Missions in Times of Change
New Issue Brief on Library Collections
Regardless of the rapidly changing information and technology landscape, collections continue to be at the heart of academic libraries, signifying their role in providing access to our cultural heritage. But in an increasingly networked, distributed, licensed environment, how do we define the library collection? What do collections imply? What is involved in building a collection? The purpose of the brief…
Issue Brief
June 6, 2019
What’s a Collection Anyway?
In 1953, Kenneth J. Braugh stated that the mission of Harvard’s library was to collect and preserve everything. Those days are long gone. For the last couple of decades, given the rapid expansion of scholarly content sources and types, even the best-funded research libraries have become cognizant that a comprehensive collection is an unattainable vision. Nevertheless, many research library mission statements continue to give prominence to their role in making the world’s knowledge accessible to a wide range of user…
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
May 8, 2019
The Usability of Research Data: If We Curate, Will They Reuse It?
During the last seven years, Ithaka S+R has conducted in-depth qualitative analyses of the research practices of academics in several fields. While the studies have highlighted disciplinary differences in research data sharing and reuse decisions in various academic communities, it is striking to observe that most of the scholars described similar requirements and roadblocks when it comes to reusing data. For instance, in their recent report on the changing research…
Past Event
May 23, 2019
What Key Faculty Findings Reveal for Libraries
Melissa Blankstein and Christine Wolff-Eisenberg Present at Library Connect Webinar
On Thursday, May 23, from 11:00 am – noon (EST), Melissa Blankstein and Christine Wolff-Eisenberg are presenting on the findings from the US Faculty Survey for Elsevier’s Library Connect. To register, please see the Library Connect website. About the webinar Would you like to explore opportunities to evolve or shape new library services based on quantitative data? Join us for a presentation of the Ithaka S+R Faculty Survey. The presenters will share insights into faculty research, teaching and publishing…
Past Event
June 14, 2019
Roger Schonfeld to Deliver Keynote Address at METRO Library Council Symposium
On Friday, June 14, Roger Schonfeld is delivering the morning keynote address at the METRO Library Council’s Symposium, “If We Build It…: Sustainable Funding in Libraries and Archives.” Roger’s talk, “Sustaining and Sunsetting Innovation and Collaboration,” begins at 10:00 am, and the symposium is being held at the METRO Library Council offices in New York City. For more information and to register, please see the symposium’s event page. …
Past Event
May 21, 2019
Rebecca Springer at FAIRification of External Data Workshop
On Tuesday, May 21, Rebecca Springer is presenting a poster on “Data Communities: Understanding How and Why Scholars Share Data.” Her poster is part of the 2019 P-D-R Workshop, “FAIRification of External Data: Breaking down the Data Silos,” taking place at the Heathrow Marriott Hotel in the United Kingdom. For more information about the program, please see the event press release. …
Blog Post
May 7, 2019
CNI Spring Meeting Presentation on Scholars as Collectors
Video Recording Now Available
At CNI’s Spring Meeting in April, we had the pleasure of presenting some of the highlights from the recent Ithaka S+R brief on scholars as collectors and discuss the implications, benefits, trade-offs, and other key questions that must be taken into account when considering different models for supporting scholarly collecting. It was one of the talks selected for recording and is now available on CNI’s…
Past Event
May 20, 2019
National Survey: Local Findings
Join Us for a Webinar on May 20
Last month, we published the US Faculty Survey 2018, a national survey that tracks the research, teaching, and publishing practices of higher education faculty members at four-year colleges and universities. Thirteen libraries fielded a local version of the Ithaka S+R faculty survey concurrently with the national survey, and we are pleased to be hosting a webinar featuring librarians from two of these institutions. National Survey, Local Findings: Two Librarians Share the Impact of the Ithaka S+R…
Blog Post
April 29, 2019
You Asked, We’ve Answered
Ithaka S+R US Faculty Survey 2018 FAQs
Earlier this month, we were thrilled to release the Ithaka S+R US Faculty Survey 2018 at the ACRL 2019 conference in Cleveland in a standing-room-only session with 200+ conferences attendees. We subsequently had the opportunity share results from the survey via webinar on April 17th with 250+ attendees (the webinar recording is available here). We received so many thoughtful questions and comments during these presentations and wanted to take the…
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…
Blog Post
April 12, 2019
The Research, Teaching, and Publishing Practices of Faculty
US Faculty Survey 2018
This morning we published the US Faculty Survey 2018. Through this national survey, we have tracked the research, teaching, and publishing practices of higher education faculty members at four year colleges and universities 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,…
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…