Discovery event stuart lee (the humanities researcher)

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+ The Digital Researcher and the Humanities Dr Stuart D Lee Reader in E-learning and Digital Libraries University of Oxford

Transcript of Discovery event stuart lee (the humanities researcher)

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The Digital Researcher and the HumanitiesDr Stuart D LeeReader in E-learning and Digital LibrariesUniversity of Oxford

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+A few words about the researcher in the Humanities …

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+Phases of Research Data Management

Project Planning

ProjectSet up

Data Creation

Local Storage & Retrieval Institution

al Storage

Rediscovery

Mechanism

Retrieval Mechanis

mDocumentati

on

Very long life-span, part of ‘Life’s Work’, compiled, not generated, unbounded/ incomplete / inconsistent / interpreted

Supporting Data Management Infrastructure for the Humanities - SUDAMIH

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+Modern Researcher #1: Accessing Data Idiosyncratic practices > lone

scholar

Print is very important (Reinventing Research, RIN 2011, p.68)

Bibliographies and catalogues which lead to …

… primary and secondary source material

Increasingly researchers just want to find ‘useful stuff’

Many collections are built by academics and libraries/museums

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+Modern Researcher #2: Analysing data

We use tools to find data

We use tools to edit, manipulate, analyse, and compare material

We use tools also for the collection and organisation of the data

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+Modern Researcher #3: Presentation of scholarly work Delivery of argument, work,

combining all primary and secondary source material

Usually in monographs or academic journals

Citation is important, but so is review, prestige, peer ‘recognition’

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+ Modern Researcher #4: Safeguarding and building on knowledge

We require someone to archive and curate scholarly outputs for us to use and build on

We expect our material to be used for a long time

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+So what’s new?Where are the challenges?

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+Opportunities New disciplines: digitization processes and methods, metadata

standards, resource discovery, federated searching, linked data, virtual research environments, digital file formats, annotation and analysis tools, open publishing, linked data, learning resources and objects, IPR, e-repositories, digital preservation, bibliometrics, citation protocols, persistent identifiers …

Achieve the previously impossible – speedy resource discovery and analysis of ‘mass’ quantities of data in all formats, relatively low cost distribution, large scale storage

We can search across data silos fro our desk, with associated resources linked in, allowing new research activities, cross-searching, ‘serendipity’

Better chances for collaboration, sharing best practice – but always within the sub-domain

Better monitoring of data use

Technology advancing

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+Challenges

Who is a researcher?

Lack of awareness of resources, lack of standardisation, inadequate tools, inadequate training (Reinventing Research, 2011, p. 73)

+ Lack of technical expertise, poor backing-up practices, funding and long term sustainability (SUDAMIH project)

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+Challenges 2

Accessing data: - we want more stuff and we want to be the first to look at it- some (worryingly) don’t care where it comes from- better finding tools with cross-searching/linking but Google search mentality dominates- we use all manner of devices at any time- break free of the stranglehold of academic journal publishers- print and digital

Key: Releasing hidden content (material previously unsurfaced in collections, beyond the traditional curators) Openness of data, metadata, and publishing modelsThe library is now in the cl**d

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+Challenges 3

Analysing data: - not all humanities research lends itself to computational analysis- in some areas tools are simply inadequate, or too complicated

Key:data for analysis needs to be readily available and open; concentrate on the problems the researchers actually face, not the areas of interest for librarians or learning technologists

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+Challenges 4

Presentation and safeguarding/building knowledge: - scholars now quite used to working with mixed media for research and to present their arguments- we are now talking to a wider audience, e.g. many scholars now broadcast via YouTube and iTunesU- scholars, departments, and many Universities are not ready to preserve digital material- funding only lasts as long as the project, but web sites, unlike books, need maintaining- danger that research will become hidden in local archives- presentation should allow research collection to grow

Key: rethink the way we disseminate research, and the way we view research as ‘finished’want it to go somewhere that is safe but can easily be found

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+What can we do?

Train our new scholars

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Is there a need for data management training?

What should this training cover?

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+What can we do?

Promote openness – metadata and resources

Provide facilities or services that allow academics to circumvent publishing process

Provide better tools for basic research activities, analysis, presentation (DaaS, CLAROS project)

Embrace relationships outside of the sector

Be less fixated on our interests and more on the needs of our users

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+Thank you

Dr Stuart D LeeReader in E-learning and Digital LibrariesDirector, Computing ServicesUniversity of Oxford

[email protected]