Alma Swan's weblog, OptimalScholarship, can be found here.
Doing things with data
Research data are receiving lots and lots and lots of attention and rightly so. Not only will data outputs likely become the main form of research output in fairly short order - and already are doing so in many fields - but they present a host of new issues with which the research community has to grapple. To continue reading this discussion of our recent research findings, click here. Data scientists and curators
The skills, role and career structure of data scientists and curators: an assessment of current practice and future needs
Data science is a topic attracting growing attention around the world. The need for professionals to guide the process of data creation and the curation of datasets is evident, yet the current pool of people with relevant skills is insufficient to meet the increasing demand. Funded by JISC, Key Perspectives has undertaken an assessment of current practice and future needs and produced a report with recommendations. The study includes an assessment of the important role libraries have to play in terms of supporting data-intensive research. The 30-page report may be downloaded by clicking here.
Sharing research data (or not)
Publication and quality assurance of research data outputs
There is now significant interest in the creation and sharing of datasets produced by researchers in the course of their work. Research funders are reviewing and developing their policies to move towards a position where the use and value of data is optimised. A recent report commissioned by the Research Information Network (RIN), NERC and JISC contributes to this policy development process. The study, conducted by Key Perspectives, reports the attitudes of researchers across eight subject areas towards the creation and sharing of data. You may access a briefing paper, the executive summary or the full report from the RIN's website by clicking here.
2008 Open Access Calendar
Free to download now
A 2008 Open Access calendar, created by Alma Swan, is available on this website. Alma says "I hope you like it and that it will help to inspire you during the next year." We invite you to print and staple it together for your own use. Please feel free to download the pdf version here.
The business of digital repositories
In A DRIVER'S Guide to European Repositories (2007)
A book published by Amsterdam University Press, edited by Weenink, K., Waaijers, L. and van Godtsenhoven, K., is designed to help research-based institutions in Europe and those intending to participate in the forthcoming EU FP7 programme. A DRIVER's Guide to European Repositories addresses all the practical aspects of planning, establishing and operating research repositories and associated services. Alma Swan of Key Perspectives has contributed a chapter covering topics to do with the business aspects of digital repositories - such as making a business case, costs, staffing requirements, managing growth and change and other sustainability issues. A number of repository case studies across Europe were used to derive data to inform the study. You are welcome to download a copy of her contribution here. The book was published at the end of 2007.
Exploring scholarly communications
Key concerns within the scholarly communications process
Last year a study undertaken by JISC identified and ranked the issues that most concern scolars in the UK. Key Perspectives was given the task of investigating scholars' top four concerns in more detail. The project delved into concerns to do with accessibility, quality assurance, costs and copyright and considered them within the overall context of the current scholarly communciations landscape. The final report can be accessed here.
How researchers use libraries
REPORT on researchers' use of academic libraries and their services
*** This report has been downloaded 14,000 times since April 2008 ***
This is an important moment in the relationship between researchers and research libraries in the UK. The foundations of the relationship are being tested by shifts in the ways that researchers work. The rise of 3-research, interdisciplinary work, cross-institution collaborations and the expectation of massive increases in the quantity of research output in digital form all pose new challenges. These challenges are about how libraries should serve the needs of researchers as users of information sources of many different kinds, but also about how to deal with the information outputs that researchers are creating.
The study, conducted by Key Perspectives, was designed to provide an up-to-date and forward-looking view of how researchers interact with academic libraries in the UK. The final report synthesises empirical data provided by more than 2250 researchers and 300 librarians and qualitative inputs from an extensive programme of focus groups and telephone interviews. The co-sponsors - RIN and CURL (now known as RLUK) - believe that the results will be useful in informing the debate about the future development of academic libraries and the services they provide to researchers.
This report has been tremendously popular, attracting interest from around the globe. You may download a free copy of the final report by clicking here.
Open Access and the Progress of Science
ARTICLE published by American Scientist. Download your copy here
For many years Key Perspectives has been contributing to the debate about the evolution of scholarly communication. Recently Alma Swan was invited to write about Open Access for American Scientist. We invite you to download the article from our Open Access Archive by clicking here.
Validating Repository Content
A new project designed to highlight differences between article versions gets under way
The VALREC (Validating Repository Content) project got under way in May. This exciting and timely project aims to develop software tools to discover and certificate the differences between versions of a document in digital repositories and the final published pdf. This will be an important step forward in the evolution of respositories, providing users with an effective and reliable means of validating the articles they download.
The system of validation will perform three essential tasks: first, it will verify the basic facts of publication against the publication claims made in the repository metadata; second, it will identify any differences between the repository version of an article and the publisher's pdf; third, it will provide an authoritative digital certificate that attests to the publication of the postprint and any differences in content. This project is funded by JISC and will be conducted by Key Perspectives in partnership with the School of Electronics & Computer Science at the University of Southampton, UK. The project is scheduled to take 18 months to complete.
There is an overview of the VALREC project on Alma's blog, and further information about the project, together with periodic updates, can be found on the project website.
EMBED
Embedding the institutional repository function within researchers' normal workflow routines
The EMBED project is investigating and testing a prototype service model for the accelerated development of institutional repositories. The idea is to design and cost an "optimised" service which embeds the institutional repository function within researchers' normal workflow routines.
The study has already ascertained what academic staff and researchers require from the service and will go on to assess the service implications for libraries in terms of human and technical resources. At the same time a prototype service will be developed to determine what is required to provide such a service . The project will report on the gaps between the prototype and optimised services, and will make recommendations on what libraries can do to ensure the rocess of populating and using institutional repositories is as closely aligned to researchers' normal ways of working as possible.
The project is being conducted by a team which includes Cranfield University, Robert Gordon University and Key Perspectives. Funding for the project is being provided by JISC.
An interview by the journalist Richard Poynder with Alma Swan about Open Access may be accessed here. A subsequent interview can be located here.
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