Nov. 1, 2018
Transforming the role of academic libraries in the research enterprise
Seven research projects led by U荔枝视频 scholars have received sub-grants.
John Brosz
Seven teams of 荔枝视频 scholars are receiving funding through a project to develop a new model for the role of libraries in multidisciplinary research. In March 2017, the 荔枝视频 received US$750,000 (C$1M) from to enhance the role of libraries in offering leading-edge technologies, collaboration spaces and new designs in research services.
$400,000 is being devoted to funding 荔枝视频 research projects selected through a competitive process. Five projects were funded last year, and seven new projects have been announced.
In 2015, a planning study involving 50 researchers from 15 different disciplines identified a number of principal components of a multidisciplinary research platform: analytics and visualization, data curation and sharing, digitization, metadata services, expertise and training, and collaborative spaces.
鈥淭his exciting project will strengthen scholarship by exploring ways for all academic libraries to develop additional capacity in support of today鈥檚 research,鈥 explains the project鈥檚 principal investigator, Tom Hickerson. 鈥淲e need to think creatively. Academic libraries must continually evolve with the changing nature of scholarship.鈥
Seven new projects have been awarded funding:
- Mapping and Visualizing Victorian Literary Sociability
- Karen Bourrier and Dan Jacobson - Are Smart Cities Healthy?
- Jenny Godley and Seok-Woo Kwon - Visualizing a Canadian Author Archive: Alice Munro
- Murray McGillivray, Noreen Humble, Michael Ullyot, Jagoda Walny, and Jason Wiens - Soper鈥檚 World: A Journey into the Canadian Arctic Through Art
- Maribeth Murray, Steve Liang, Michael Moloney, and Shannon Christoffersen - Making Specialized Natural History Collections Accessible to Diverse Users: A Case Study Involving the Bees of Alberta
- Mindi Summers, Lincoln Best, Marjan Eggermont, Paul Galpern, John Swann, Jessica Theodor, Jana Vamosi, and Jess Vickruck - Preserving and Disseminating Maker Skills with Mixed-Reality Videos
- Anthony Tang, Jason Johnson, Lora Oehlberg, and Jennifer Adams - SmartCampus: Interactive Visualizations for Data-driven Design
- Wesley Willett, Angela Rout, Frank Maurer, John Souleles, and Andrew Szeto
The 29 participants are from the Faculty of Arts, Schulich School of Engineering, Haskayne School of Business, Werklund School of Education, Faculty of Environmental Design, Faculty of Science, and the Arctic Institute of North America.
鈥淚t is great to see the library working so closely with scholars and providing opportunities to support research collaborations,鈥 says Dr. Penny Pexman, PhD, associate vice-president (research). 鈥淭his project is having a significant impact on the work of faculty members across campus, and it will strengthen multidisciplinary research in general.鈥
Dr. Mary-Jo Romaniuk, PhD, vice-provost and university librarian, observed, 鈥淭his project provides a model for academic libraries as energetic partners in the research enterprise.鈥
Details about the projects and the research teams are listed on the project鈥檚 website.