The Association of Research Libraries has issued an excellent survey of programs that major research libraries in the United States and Canada are putting in place to meet the demands of E-science. I’ve reproduced the announcement below.
This document will be very helpful for higher education leadership and for policymakers as they try to get a sense of how extensively and aggressively research libraries are responding to these challenges, and the level of maturity of the programs in place. Two caveats: The focus of the survey was strongly centered on e-science, as opposed to work in other important areas of e-science such as digital humanities. And readers of the survey should not assume that non-respondents are inactive in the e-science area; we know that schedule and workload constraints made it impractical for some institutions that are deeply engaged in such efforts to respond to the survey and the follow-up interviews.
Clifford Lynch
Director, CNI
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August 12, 2010
For more information, contact:
Karla Strieb
Association of Research Libraries
202-296-2296
karla
E-Science and Data Support Services, Published by ARL
Washington DC-The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) has published E-Science and Data Support Services: A Study of ARL Member Institutions, which synthesizes data collected in a 2009 survey with subsequent interviews of several responding libraries. Authored by Catherine Soehner, Catherine Steeves, and Jennifer Ward, the study was sponsored by the ARL E-Science Working Group to build an understanding of how libraries can contribute to e-science activities in their institution and identify organizations and institutions that have similar interests in e-science to leverage research library interests.
The study draws on data from 57 of 123 ARL member libraries (a 46% response rate for the survey). Over 75% of survey respondents reported that their institution either provides infrastructure or support services for e-science or is planning infrastructure for such activities. This finding demonstrates research libraries’ rapid engagement in e-science in recent years. Both the survey and the authors’ interviews detail how institutions are quickly rising to meet the challenge of managing data and their diverse strategies for doing so in the face of significant challenges regarding infrastructure, funding, and staff resources.
The report presents the findings of the survey of ARL member libraries and also includes six case studies compiled by the authors to elaborate library e-science activities and collaborations. Strategies for resourcing e-science services, staffing patterns, and the influence of institutional culture are explored. In addition to the case studies and survey findings, the report includes a bibliography of related articles, reports, and Web sites, along with the survey instrument and a selection of recent research library position descriptions with significant e-science support components. A free and open webcast is being planned for the fall.
To view the free report, please visit http://www.arl.org/bm~doc/escience_report2010.pdf