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
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.
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Identifying Opportunities for Collective Curation during Archaeological Excavations
6 August 2020
Ixchel Faniel, Anne Austin, Sarah Whitcher Kansa, Eric Kansa, Jennifer Jacobs, Phoebe France
Archaeological excavations are comprised of interdisciplinary teams that create, manage, and share data as they unearth and analyse material culture. These team-based settings are ripe for collective curation during these data lifecycle stages. However, findings from four excavation sites show that the data interdisciplinary teams create are not well integrated. Knowing this, we recommended opportunities for collective curation to improve use and reuse of the data within and outside of the team.
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Beyond the Archive: Bridging Data Creation and Reuse in Archaeology
3 May 2018
Ixchel Faniel, Anne Austin, Eric Kansa, Sarah Whitcher Kansa, Phoebe France, Jennifer Jacobs, Ran Boytner, and Elizabeth Yakel
The Secret Life of Data (SLO-data) project traces the lifecycle of data in archaeology to make recommendations to improve data management and better align data creation and reuse. It proposes a “slow data” approach to emphasize curation, contextualization, and communication to streamline data collection for reuse.