Expertise/Knowledge Tools:Exploring Options

Council of Research Associate DeansApril 2006

Goals

Expressions of need:

Current information about the research interests (and methods, materials, expertise…) of faculty that can be exploited to:

• facilitate collaboration• identify expertise• aid external partnerships

Requirements/Strategies

• Reflect current interests (up to date)• Minimize faculty effort• Recognize multiple purposes• Develop systems that can be extended and integrated

with other relevant systemsStrategies• Self-description & reporting• Utilize intellectual output as representation of interest

Options/Opportunities

• Institutional repositories• Citations: “Minn-ventory”• Integrated systems

Repositories: a brief history

• 1991, pre-web, Paul Ginsparg creates the e-prints archive at LANL

• 1999: Universal preprint services (Santa Fe convention)

• MIT launches DSpace

University Digital Conservancy

• Conserving the intellectual and institutional output of the University.

– Capturing research output– Providing persistent access for the long-term– Keeping objects safe and secure– Providing for the preservation of digital

objects

Citations as Representation

• Exploit significant body of licensed content (journals, reports)

• Develop protocols to extract UMN publications (“Minn-ventory”)

• Develop systems and tools to search and use citation data

Data Sources Providing Input to OSU:pro

Sponsored research data, total award $, project sponsors, PI/CPI, project title, start and end dates.Course data,

course calendar, descriptions.

Degree information, research interest areas, lectures, prior experience, other CV information.

Journal publications

OSURegistrar

OSU HR OSURF

Faculty & Staff Input

OhioLink

OperationalData Store

OSU:pro

Identifying information, current university positions, demographics, contact information.

Possible Outputs of Data from OSU:pro

Outreach &EngagementProject Data

Standard& Custom Reporting

PrintableCustom

CVs

P&TDossier

Data

Data forDepartmentWeb pages

OSU:pro

OSU:pro faculty profile information, can auto-update your departmental webpage.

Data can be utilized in the tenure and promotion process.

Data from OSU:pro information can generate a clean, printable curriculum vitae… on demand.

Administrative reporting for annual reports and custom queries.

Project data in faculty profiles can be tagged as Outreach and then exported.

Benefits to: Administrators

• Streamlining data collection and management of faculty activities.

• Generating reports more easily to showcase University strengths and areas of innovation.

• Facilitating departmental and college tracking of faculty achievements.

Benefits to: Faculty

• Managing and reporting research, teaching and service activities using a one-stop access point.

• Identifying potential collaborators across traditional disciplines.

• Generating curriculum vitae and other administrative materials through the use an easy-to-use Web portal.

Benefits to: Graduate & Undergraduate Students

• Finding faculty advisors and mentors in student areas of interest.

• Advertising faculty scholarship to prospective graduate students.

• Creating opportunities for greater interaction between faculty and undergraduate students including research experiences and seminars.

• Facilitating student recruitment.

Benefits to: Public & Private-sector Partners

• Identifying academic collaborators in areas of interest and industry.

• Finding university professionals who specialize in a particular field.

• Facilitate outreach and engagement activities in surrounding community.

Issues

• Identifying purpose(s)• Assessing potential for adoption• Evaluate contractual limitations on data• Central vs. collegiate systems