Sarah Pritchard
University Librarian
University of California, Santa Barbara
Smiti Anand
Information Analyst
University of California, Santa Barbara
The UCSB Libraries, with a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, are investigating the current state of campus informatics initiatives and the potential for collaboration. In an environment where academic computing is largely decentralized, we are seeing a flowering of discipline-specific applications and tools that involve the integration of large and disparate forms of data (numeric, textual, image, spatial) for synthesis, modeling, analysis, mapping, and image processing.
Our main objective in this study is to explore the data management and analysis needs that have led to the systems developed by various technologically innovative faculty members, primarily – although not exclusively – in the sciences. Specific questions include whether these various informatics schema include provisions for metadata creation, long-term digital archiving, intellectual property rights management, data exchange and adherence to technical standards. An important facet of this project is to focus on commonalities, weaknesses, and strengths of the programs, to seek potential efficiencies in technical support or areas for collaborative development of new tools. It is hoped that the research findings will help advance discussions of the current state of informatics needs and uses among faculty at UCSB. We hope to explore the roles of the academic departments, the information technology units, the library, and even disciplinary societies in providing the support for these issues and the impetus to move forward campus-wide.
This briefing will discuss the project specifics, methodology used, the trends that have been observed, and strategies that are emerging on campus as a result of this study.
Handout:
UCSB Campus Informatics (DOC)
Presentation:
UCSB Campus Informatics (PPT)