Research Collections and Support
Libraries are increasingly leveraging the raw materials of scholarship and knowledge formation by emphasizing the creation and curation of institutional research assets and outputs, including digitized special collections, research data, and researcher profiles. Our work informs current thinking about research collections and the emerging services that libraries are offering to support contemporary modes of scholarship. We are encouraging the development of new ways for libraries to build and provide these types of collections and deliver distinctive services. Our efforts are focused in the following three areas:
Publications
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Summary of Research: Findings from the Building a National Archival Finding Aid Network Project
31 May 2023
Chela Scott Weber, Lynn Silipigni Connaway, Brooke Doyle, Lesley A. Langa, Merrilee Proffitt, Bruce Washburn, Itza A. Carbajal
Synthesizes OCLC’s findings for the Building a National Finding Aid Network project. The research investigated end user and contributor needs for finding aid aggregations and evaluated EAD encoded finding aid data quality and consistency from existing regional archival aggregators.
EAD Analysis: Findings from the Building a National Archival Finding Aid Network Project
30 May 2023
Bruce Washburn, Merrilee Proffitt, Chela Scott Weber
Analyzes a corpus of EAD encoded collection descriptions provided by regional finding aid aggregators in the US to assess existing EAD data as raw material for building a national finding aid aggregation.
Focus Group Interviews: Findings from the Building a National Archival Finding Aid Network Project
30 May 2023
Chela Scott Weber, Merrilee Proffitt, Lesley A. Langa, Lynn Silipigni Connaway, Brittany Brannon, Brooke Doyle
Investigates the needs of archivists and others who might contribute to a national archival aggregator through focus group interviews with archivists and archives administrators from across the United States.
Pop-up Survey: Findings from the Building a National Archival Finding Aid Network Project
30 May 2023
Lesley A. Langa, Chela Scott Weber, Lynn Silipigni Connaway
Summarizes OCLC’s findings from a national survey of more than 3300 end users searching for archival materials online for the Building a National Finding Aid Project.
User Interviews: Findings from the Building a National Archival Finding Aid Network Project
30 May 2023
Chela Scott Weber, Itza A. Carbajal, Lesley A. Langa, Lynn Silipigni Connaway, Brooke Doyle, Brittany Brannon, Merrilee Proffitt
Details methods and summarizes findings from semi-structured individual interviews with end users of archival aggregation.
Research Information Management in the United States
11 November 2021
Rebecca Bryant, Jan Fransen, Pablo de Castro, Brenna Helmstutler, David Scherer
This two-part report series provides a first-of-its-kind documentation of research information management (RIM) practices at US research universities, presenting a thorough examination of RIM practices, goals, stakeholders, and system components.
Research Information Management in the United States Part 2 - Case Studies
11 November 2021
Rebecca Bryant, Jan Fransen, Pablo de Castro, Brenna Helmstutler, David Scherer
This two-part report series provides a first-of-its-kind documentation of research information management (RIM) practices at US research universities, presenting a thorough examination of RIM practices, goals, stakeholders, and system components.
Using collective curation to pay data forward in the life cycle
11 June 2021
Ixchel M. Faniel
Drawing from a study of archaeological excavation teams, four collective curation opportunities are proposed to identify and resolve differences in data and documentation practices that arise in team-based research. To create more integrated, well-documented data, the opportunities attend to integrating people rather than technology. The actions people take as data move through the life cycle become the focal point of change.
Total Cost of Stewardship: An Annotated Bibliography for Responsible Collection Building
16 March 2021
Chela Scott Weber, Martha O’Hara Conway, Nicholas Martin, Gioia Stevens, Brigette Kamsler.
The Total Cost of Stewardship framework is a holistic approach to understanding the resources needed to responsibly acquire and steward archives and special collections. Included materials: Research Report, Annotated Bibliography, and Tool Suite, which includes a Manual, Cost Estimators, and Communication Tools.
Total Cost of Stewardship: Responsible Collection Building in Archives and Special Collections
16 March 2021
Chela Scott Weber, Martha O’Hara Conway, Nicholas Martin, Gioia Stevens, Brigette Kamsler.
The Total Cost of Stewardship framework is a holistic approach to understanding the resources needed to responsibly acquire and steward archives and special collections. Included materials: Research Report, Annotated Bibliography, and Tool Suite, which includes a Manual, Cost Estimators, and Communication Tools.