Science Advisory Group meeting – Fall 2013

2013, November 25

Agenda:

Curricular Technologies – Joe Antonioli
Updates:
1. Data Management – Wend Shook
2. Computer Labs & Web Help Desk
3. New citation guide (go/citation)

Curricular Technologies – Joe Antonioli
1. Joe presented recent statistics showing faculty use of web resources to support their teaching, as well as web resources use by course. Moodle and WordPress offer a wide range of activities and functionality, but file sharing is by far the dominant activity (more than 16000 files in Fall ‘13). Faculty are asked: why just file sharing? Faculty comments included not knowing the range of what is available, whether other services would better fit their needs, and how to get training instruction with their already full schedules. LIS/CTLR would be interested in feedback on why faculty do or do not use curricular technologies
2. One interesting statistic showed that not all syllabi are posted on the course hub, despite this being used by nearly every student on campus (particularly at the beginning of semester). Faculty are urged to put syllabi on Course Hub as a more efficient and consistent means of reaching more students, and those present will bring it to he attention of their departments.
Updates:
1. Data Management – Wendy Shook
  1. Wendy is ready to do a soft release of a pilot data repository. I have a web interface with
    1. visual links to browse the collection,
    2. a DMP information tab,
    3. a supporting policies tab (to simplify DMP writing), and…
    4. a data submission form. At this point, it only collects basic metadata, and there is not a file upload button because there are size restrictions (and initially I want to have a good look at the data types and formats before I put them into the collection so I can fine tune the process). Data that goes into the repository will be assigned a DOI – we have that capability now – that you can associate with your research (and if the published research has a DOI I can add that to the data’s metadata) so academics reading your research can find your data.
  2. The content will evolve incrementally, but the overall structure will stay the same.
  3. I am looking for datasets to put into the repository. If you have data that you would like archived, preserved, and made accessible, please send Wendy an email.
2. Computer Labs & WHD [channelling Mary Backus]
  1. We are actively compiling usage reports for the public labs, and it is clear that some are under-utilized – possibly because so many students simply use their own. Question: what would be the impact of decreasing the number of computers supported in the labs? We will also cross-reference those statistics with class schedules before any conclusions are drawn. Question: what would be the impact of decreasing the number of computers supported in the labs? This is not the plan, but merely the spark to begin a longer conversation. What would faculty reaction be, for instance, if MBH116/117 no longer had computers, just to spark a discussion of the impact of that kind of decision.
  2. Reminder that there is a new(ish) WebHelpDesk (go/whd). Faculty can submit their own help requests/fault reports, which will automatically be routed to the appropriate work team. Many of the bugs have been ironed out, but steady use will improve the process, and, of course, feedback is welcome!
3. New citation guide (go/citation) [channeling Stacy Reardon & Richard Jenkins]

Librarians have put together a new citation guide for students. The guide provides an in-depth overview of why, when, and how to cite, as well as specific advice on how to cite in APA, Chicago, MLA, and other styles. The guide was also designed as a resource for the new first year Academic Honesty Tutorial. Because the guide is new, we are seeking student and faculty feedback on how the guide can be improved. Please send suggestions to Wendy. You can add the link ‘go/citation’ to your course syllabus or website to encourage your students to use it

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