Topic: Libraries
Research Report
July 19, 2018
Library Acquisition Patterns: Preliminary Findings
Several years ago, we set out to better understand how both library acquisition practices and the distribution patterns of publishers and vendors were evolving over time.[1] Within the academic publishing community, there is a sense that academic libraries are acquiring fewer and fewer books and that university presses are struggling amid declining sales. The latter may certainly be true—a recent UK study found that between 2005 and 2014, retail sales of academic books dropped by 13 percent…
Blog Post
July 5, 2018
Strengthening Library Education
New Report from IMLS
Last November, the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) convened experts to explore how to strengthen the formal education component of the Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian grant program to best support library and information science programs to meet the needs of students and libraries while increasing diversity within the library and archives professions. I’m excited to share that this report which I coauthored, “Positioning Library and Information Science Graduate Programs for 21st Century…
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…
Blog Post
June 21, 2018
The Limits of Area Studies: Studying Scholars of Asia
From 2015-2017, Ithaka S+R partnered with 29 researchers at 11 academic libraries in the U.S. to study the research activities and support needs of scholars in Asian Studies. Today we are excited to release the project’s capstone report, Supporting the Changing Research Practices of Asian Studies Scholars, which provides actionable findings for organizations, institutions, and professionals who support these research activities. Our report is complemented by the local findings (see below) that have…
Blog Post
June 21, 2018
Leveraging the Asian Studies Project Locally
Lafayette College’s Perspective
In the spring of 2017, Lafayette College joined eleven other institutions to participate in Ithaka S+R’s qualitative study of Asian Studies scholars (Ithaka S+R’s capstone report, which includes links to the reports authored by the participating institutions, can be found here). As part of the project, Michaela Kelly and I conducted one-on-one semi-structured interviews with our faculty members on their research focus and methods, information access and discovery, dissemination practices, and the state…
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
June 1, 2018
Employing Cognitive Interviews for Questionnaire Testing
Preparing to Field the US Faculty Survey
Ithaka S+R is gearing up to field our seventh national US Faculty Survey on the research and teaching practices, perceptions, and needs of scholars at four-year colleges and universities. The questionnaire for this upcoming cycle has been designed to continue tracking critical trends in higher education from previous cycles while at the same time introducing new questions to address issues of current strategic importance. Having gathered…
Blog Post
May 2, 2018
Amplifying the Student Voice
The Community College Libraries & Academic Support for Student Success Project
Borough of Manhattan Community College I have had the opportunity this spring to speak with students about their educational objectives, their academic and information usage practices, and the barriers they face as a part of the first phase of the Community College Libraries & Academic Support for Student Success (CCLASSS) project. Through this project, we and seven other partner colleges, aim to explore (1) how student success can be defined in a way that is inclusive of…
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…
Blog Post
April 3, 2018
Joining Together to Support Undergraduate Instruction
A New Program from Ithaka S+R
For over five years Ithaka S+R has successfully developed large-scale research projects through our Research Support Services program to study the research support needs of scholars in disciplines including history, art history, chemistry, religious studies, agriculture and public health. We are now launching…
Blog Post
April 2, 2018
Oya Y. Rieger to Join Ithaka S+R
I am thrilled to announce that digital preservation expert and scholarly communications leader Oya Y. Rieger will be joining Ithaka S+R as a Senior Advisor on our Libraries & Scholarly Communication team on July 1. Oya has worked at Cornell University for over 25 years and currently is the Associate University Librarian for Scholarly Resources & Preservation Services. When Oya joins Ithaka S+R, she will continue her affiliation with Cornell, staying on as…
Blog Post
March 16, 2018
The Services Portfolio of an Academic Library: A Framework
Academic libraries have been rethinking their strategic directions and services portfolios. I have argued recently that academic libraries face certain essential transformations, as they move beyond print general collections towards a variety of other roles. In a current project, Ithaka S+R and OCLC Research have been developing a typology of higher education institutions to explore the different ways that libraries are evolving at a service level. An essential…
Blog Post
March 13, 2018
New Thematic Areas for the 2018 US Faculty Survey
Ithaka S+R is preparing to field our seventh national US Faculty Survey on the research and teaching practices, perceptions, and needs of scholars at four-year colleges and universities. Over the past month, we have had the opportunity to speak with four outstanding project advisors who have helped inform our focus for this upcoming survey cycle. The 2018 US Faculty Survey will be designed to continue tracking critical trends in higher education…
Blog Post
February 20, 2018
Nicole Betancourt Joins Ithaka S+R
New Assessment Associate Will Support Growing Surveys Work
We are thrilled to announce that Nicole Betancourt has joined Ithaka S+R as our assessment associate to support our surveys work. Nicole was most recently the assistant project director at Clarion Research, where her work focused on managing market research projects within the transportation, media and entertainment, and technology sectors. At Ithaka S+R, Nicole will be leading the day-to-day operations of our Local Surveys Program–an area where we have seen…
Blog Post
February 15, 2018
The Humanities Digital Divide
On Friday, February 9th I attended the celebration of the 10th anniversary of the Office of the Digital Humanities at the National Endowment of the Humanities. It was a jam-packed, vivid testimony to the ODH’s vision and work, featuring a keynote by Kate Zwaard, Chief of National Digital Initiatives at the Library of Congress, and John Unsworth, University Librarian and Dean of Libraries at the University of Virginia, shorter remarks from leaders in the digital humanities (…
Blog Post
February 13, 2018
Gearing Up for the 2018 US Faculty Survey
Notes from ALA Midwinter
Ithaka S+R is gearing up for our seventh national US Faculty Survey on the research and teaching practices, perceptions, and needs of scholars at four year colleges and universities. Last week at ALA Midwinter, we had the opportunity to meet with library deans and directors and past local survey participants to discuss the evolution of this national survey and gather feedback on possible directions for future coverage.
Blog Post
January 12, 2018
Essential Transformations
The academic library is transforming. This diagram illustrates some of what I see as its most essential transformations. Libraries are transforming in terms of their collections – towards electronic collections, towards shared collections, towards open access, and towards distinctive holdings. Complexities abound for discovery, access, processing, and preservation. And libraries are also transforming beyond collections, towards a partnership with scholars and students in support of research, teaching, and learning workflows. This…
Blog Post
January 10, 2018
Research Infrastructure and the Strategic Decisions of Universities
For the past several years, I have been writing about the turn to research workflow tools. These tools reach deeply into the laboratory and are increasingly important to scientists and other scholars, and they impact the university research office and scholarly communications programs. Scholars need seamless end-to-end research solutions. Major publishers are making substantial investments in this area as they seek to pivot their businesses beyond content licensing. The strategic choices that universities make today…
Issue Brief
January 4, 2018
Big Deal: Should Universities Outsource More Core Research Infrastructure?
Research universities have developed in symbiosis with a robust set of commercial providers that serve their needs. From food service providers to run dining halls to private equity firms to manage parts of the endowment, outsourcing has allowed universities to remain more focused on their core educational and research functions. But universities have also at times elected to outsource academic infrastructure. Commercial firms have developed a major role in several significant university functions, including scientific publishing, library management systems, and…
Blog Post
December 14, 2017
Workflows and the Highly Collaborative Public Health Scholar
Today Ithaka S+R is publishing the report Supporting the Changing Research Practices of Public Health Scholars, which provides actionable findings for organizations, institutions, and professionals who support the research activities in this dynamic field. Our research was undertaken collaboratively with research teams at seven academic libraries in the U.S., six of which have also made their local findings publically available as companion publications. This work is part of an ongoing effort at Ithaka S+R through our Research Support…