Topic: Scholarly communication
Past Event
November 6, 2019
Library Collections: Creatively Adjusting Budgets to Invest in Open Content
Roger Schonfeld at the Charleston Conference
On Wednesday, November 6, from 2:00 – 3:10 pm , Roger Schonfeld will join Barbara Dewey (Penn State University), Julia Gelfand (University of California, Irvine), and Dan Cohen (Northeastern University) for a panel discussion, “Library Collections: Creatively Adjusting Budgets to Invest in Open Content,” at the Charleston Conference. For more information and to register, please see the conference website. About the panel Building on the 2019 ACRL/SPARC Forum on Collective Reinvestment in Open Infrastructure, this program will explore how…
Past Event
November 7, 2019
The Future of Subscription Bundles: Big Deal, No Deal, or What’s the Deal?
Roger Schonfeld at the Charleston Conference
On Thursday, November 7, from 4:30 – 5:15 pm, Roger Schonfeld will present on “The Future of Subscription Bundles: Big Deal, No Deal, or What’s the Deal?” as part of a Charleston Conference panel. Beth Bernhardt (Oxford University Press), Tim Bucknall (the University of North Carolina at Greensboro), and Mark McBride (SUNY System Administration) are also presenting. For more information and to register, please see the conference website. About the panel In light of well-publicized negotiations around journal deals…
Past Event
November 6, 2019
Resolved: Preprint Servers Have Improved the Scholarly Communication System
Oya Rieger at the Charleston Conference
On Wednesday, November 6, from 4:45 – 5:45 pm, Oya Y. Rieger is taking part in a “Hyde Park Debate” at the Charleston Conference. Oya will argue in favor of the proposition: Resolved: Preprint servers have improved the scholarly communication system.” Taking the opposing side is Kent Anderson (Caldera Publishing Solutions). Rick Anderson will serve as moderator and timekeeper. For more information and to register, please see the conference website. From the conference website The structure of the event…
Blog Post
September 3, 2019
Ithaka S+R Student Surveys: 2020 Edition
Ithaka S+R is gearing up to update our local student surveys and we are now accepting expressions of interest from libraries to field the surveys in the spring 2020 semester. Our student surveys, which have been fielded at dozens of institutions since 2014, were developed to complement our local faculty survey. They cover the perspectives of undergraduate and graduate students on their objectives for pursuing higher education, their coursework activities, and their use…
Blog Post
August 27, 2019
Powerful Partner Questions
Survey Design Strategies from the Ithaka S+R US Faculty Survey
When responding to a survey, do you ever have a sense of déjà vu, as though you already answered a very similar question a minute before? There might be a very good reason for the repetition. Across seven cycles of the US Faculty Survey and in our implementation of this instrument with more than 100 institutions across the globe, we have often found great value in approaching the…
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 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 12, 2019
(PR)EBLIP
Gearing up for EBLIP10
I’m looking forward to learning and sharing research next week at the Evidence Based Library and Information Practice (EBLIP) Conference being held in Glasgow, Scotland. This is an international, biennial conference that aims to promote the use of best available evidence to improve library and information practices within all types of libraries, and this year’s theme is “using evidence in times of uncertainty.” The conference is held over two and a half days with…
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
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
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
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…