e-Strategy“Creating an e-Environment for Scholarship”
Dr Heila Pienaar
Deputy Director: e-Information Strategy & e-Research Enablement
Department of Library Services
University of Pretoria, South Africa
Content
• e-Information Strategy
• Governance
• e-Research
• Web 2 / Library 2
Why an e-Information Strategy?
• Can be seen as a high-level Innovation Strategy for any organisation
• Integrate e-Information applications within a broad framework
• Help to focus the organisation • Keep the organisation on the cutting edge of
new developments • Establish a framework for capacity e.g. staff, IT
to implement the strategy• Actually just another term for a focused
corporate Knowledge Management strategy
Objective: Creating an e-Environment for Scholarship
e-Research e-Learning
Digitisation
Open Scholarship
Repositories
Library web
Web / Library 2
e-Resources
e-Information Strategy
Governance• Deputy-director: e-Information Strategy &
e-Research Enablement is responsible for the development & implementation of the strategy
• e-Service unit is responsible for the research, development, implementation & maintenance of e-products & services that support the strategy
• e-Steering committees (matrix teams) are responsible for co-ordination and development of their respective areas
Subject librarians
Project or matrix teams
e-Steering committees chairs
• Library e-Service steering committee: Heila Pienaar• e-Research steering committee: Heila Pienaar• e-Learning steering committee: Christelle Steyn• Digitisation / Digital Collections steering committee:
Ria Groenewald• Open Scholarship steering committee: Monica
Hammes / Elsabe Olivier• Repositories steering committee: Christelle Steyn• Library web steering committee: Christelle Steyn• Web / Library 2 steering committee: Christelle Steyn• e-Resources steering committee: Soekie
Swanepoel
Roles & responsibilities of steering committees
• Chairs are responsible for the establishment of their steering committees
• Steering committees are responsible for their own strategic & implementation plans
• Steering committees to co-ordinate with one another
• Steering committees to discuss progress etc with the e-Service steering committee on a regular basis
• Steering committees are responsible for good communication and interfaces between line and project perspectives
e-Research – a new paradigm The invention and exploitation of advanced IT
- to facilitate previously impossible effective gains- Gain access to multidisciplinary tools & outputs- Connect networks of researchers to solve major problems e.g. global
warming, poverty- to allow research efficiency improvements
- Optimising the research process- to generate, curate and analyse research data
- From experiments, observations, simulations, surveys, field work etc - Quality management, preservation and reliable evidence
- to develop and explore models and simulations - Computation and data at extreme scales - Trustworthy, economic, timely and relevant results- to enable dynamic distributed virtual organisations
- Facilitating collaboration with information and resource sharing - Security, reliability, accountability, manageability and agility
Aim of e-Research is:-
to do faster, better and different interdisciplinary research
eResearch Support Service for SA
eResearch Development & Innovation
eResearch Service Delivery
Usually sub-contracted to competent agents in the system
Future eResearch activities
•Research Portal (incl global searching)
•Data Transfer and Sharing (processes and protocols, 3As, helpdesk)
•Open Access (Standards, common software, institutional repositories)
•The eResearch Librarian (Training and re-orientation)
•Digital Curation Services (Standards, software, marketing & training services)
•Portable & access constraints
Immediately
•SASLI+
•National Research and Education Network
•Centre for High Performance Computing
Activities
Function
Governance & Management
Innovative services move to Service Delivery
eResearch Board
Lead Users Forum
Advocacy: e-Research Seminar May 2009
Welcome: Prof Robin Crewe, VC Research, University of Pretoria, South Africae-Research in the United Kingdom: Mathew J. Dovey, Programme Director (e-Research), JISC Executive, UKe-Research and MS Research: Lee Dirks, Director, Education & Scholarly Communication, Microsoft Corporation – External Researche-Research and digital preservation: Dr Dawid L. Giaretta (MBE), Associate Director, Digital Curation Centre, UK & Project leader: CASPAR, PARSE. Insight, ISO standard for audit and certification of digital repositoriese-Research in South Africa: Prof Colin J Wright, Head: Research, Centre for High Performance Computing (CHPC), dr Martie van Deventer, Portfolio Manager CSIR’s Information Services, South Africa & Wim Hugo, Managing Director, MBV Equsys/Consulting.
Conceptual framework for a Malaria VRE (virtual research environment) in South Africa: timeline of investigation
• South African Research Information Services (SARIS) project – 2004
– Identified virtual research environments (VRE’s) as an important component of current global research – no national initiative was forthcoming
• Utilising the SERA relationship between CSIR & UP
– SERA – Southern Education Research Alliance
– Our aim was to establish a conceptual framework for a VRE
– Needed research area with much data generation
– African Centre for Gene Technologies’ South African Malaria Initiative (ACGT SAMI) was identified by Executives
• Malaria VRE investigation – 2006 / 2007– ACGT management agreed to participate– Completed ‘a day in the life’ & research tools
via semi-structured interviews with 20 malaria researchers in the SAMI network to establish their readiness to move to an integrated VRE
• Building of a Malaria VRE demonstrator (not a prototype) – 2007
• Final Report – July 2008 (including feedback to researchers). This investigation identified the following as priorities for our future work:
– The activities carried out to perform scientific experiments i.e. the experimental workflow needs more investigation.
– The wider context in which the research is conducted needs to be taken into consideration.
– The current tools used by the SAMI researchers have to be embedded for all before they are expanded and enhanced by new tools.
– The collaboration needs of this specific group needs to drive the priorities for their VRE’s development
• The next step should be to build a prototype Malaria or generic VRE that can function on top of the South African NREN with the support of key South African stakeholders and by using software elements of other international VRE-type developments e.g. the British Library’s RIC, University of Purdue’s HUBzero, JISC’s myExperiment and Australia’s ARCHER e-Research toolkit
Pienaar, H., Van Deventer, M. 2009. To VRE or not to VRE? Do South African malaria researchers need a virtual research environment? Ariadne, 59, April 2009. http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue59/pienaar-vandeventer/
A day in the life• Researchers
– Start the day with e-mail– Largest chunk of day spent in
wet lab– Articles are written by teams– Management of research data:
majority of files only traceable via the paper lab book
– The value of electronic lab books and managing their data and information properly is understood by all … but is not currently done in any coherent fashion
– Much time spent on report writing ….
– Whatever ‘assistance’ is added should not contribute to their administrative burden
• Managers– Days are planned around
scheduled meetings
– Face-to-face their preferred mode of communication
– Spend “alone time” looking at research agendas, trends and opportunities
– Understand that the ‘big problems’ associated with malaria could only be resolved by multi-disciplinary teams ….
Consolidated SAMI VRE components
Project management
Project management system
Proposal writing
Document management system
Generic software e.g. MS / Open Office
Real time communication
Skype, smart board, video conferences
Training / mentoring etcE-learning
system for researchers
Identification of funding sources
Identification of research area
Literature review & indexing
Identification of collaborators
Internal shared database of indexed articles
Dissemination & artifacts
Web/wiki/blog: search engines, databases; researchers & topics; funders, portals, communication, projects
Repositories: research results; experiments; literature & documents
Red: noneOrange: someYellow: all
Scientific workflow
(Collaborative) Electronic Lab book
Sophisticated instruments that generate digital information and data
Servers with data files
(Free) Data analysis software
Integrated data management system
Access to research networks & super computers; access to labs with in silico screening +
Mathematical modelling tools; numerical algorithm tools; simulation software; in silico experiments
Demonstrator interface
Access and authentication
Alerts and RSS feeds – may help with info overload
Library resourcesInternet resources
BL / MS RIC: Manage-ment of published info
ResearchGate: research collaboration
OPENWETWARE: Lab Notebook on Blog
myexperiment: scientific workflows
archer e-Research toolkit: data management
nanoHUB: subject gateway built on
HUBzero platform
HUBzero: access to interactive simulation
tools
Web 2 / Library 2
• Objectives:– Develop a Web / Library 2 strategy & implementation plan– Enhance the clients’ e-Environment with Library 2 services and
products (“go where the users are”) / Invite clients to participate in library content / Increase engagement of library staff on social sites
• Value creation process:– Mission: To deliver current and new services via these social
software tools– Values: Creativity; making mistakes; learning from each other;
future-orientated; experimentation; open-ended; innovation– Vision: We want to be part of the second wave of the Web
(person-to-person connection). The first wave can be seen as information-to-information connection via search engines etc
– Strategy: To integrate these tools in our service offering
http://www.flickr.com/photos/42538191@N00/113222147/
What is social software? Social software encompasses a range of
software systems that allow users to interact and share data. (This computer-mediated communication has become very popular with social sites like MySpace and Facebook, media sites like Flickr and YouTube, and commercial sites like Amazon.com and eBay.) Many of these applications share characteristics like open APIs, service oriented design, and the ability to upload data and media. The terms Web 2.0 and (for large-business applications) Enterprise 2.0 are also used to describe this style of software.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_software
YouTube channel for UP Libraryhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sy0f-qHSHM4
Video clips on the Library’s FBhttp://www.facebook.com/pages/Pretoria-South-Africa/UP-Library-Services/34563526704
Facebook: Information specialists available in the student environment
Business Facebook for UP Libraryhttp://www.facebook.com/pages/Pretoria-South-Africa/UP-Library-Services/34563526704
I think this is the best library I've been in so far... I really don't mind the fact that some of the computers don't have editing capabilities on some levels because I the end of the day, most students are registered for at least 2 other computer labs plus the library... Anyway, I like the fact that they have the reserved collection. Some of us don't have the budget for expensive textbooks... I just enjoy the humanities level because they have a collection of French books that I always wanted to read when I was a kid back in DRC…
Embedded slideshare on Special Collections
Download our blog on your phone http://merensky1.mofuse.mobi/
Games developed for information literacy: general & catalogue
Some articles & papers on our Web 2 activities ….
• Penzhorn, C., Pienaar, H. 2009.The use of social networking tools for innovative service delivery at the University of Pretoria Library. Innovation: journal of appropriate librarianship and information work in Southern Africa. 38, June 2009: 66-77. http://www.innovation.ukzn.ac.za/innovationbase.htm
• Pienaar, H., Smith, I. 2008. Development of a library 2.0 service model for an African library. Library Hi Tech News, 25(5): 7-10. http://www.emeraldinsight.com/Insight/viewContainer.do;jsessionid=78A376CF81DB520E7A35DEC90D1DB231?containerType=Issue&containerId=6013282
• Pienaar, H. Librarians speak up: How is your library using 2.0 to reach users? 2007. Library Connect Newsletter, October 2007, 5 (4): 8. http://libraryconnect.elsevier.com/lcn/0504/lcn050407.html
• Pienaar, H. Libraries on the move - shifting barriers, going places, sharing spaces . Stellenbosch University Library 10th annual symposium, 6-7 November 2008. Stellenbosch. https://www.up.ac.za/dspace/handle/2263/7877 ; http://www.slideshare.net/heila1/stellenbosch08social-presentation/
• Pienaar, H., Smith, I. Development of a Library 2.0 service model for an African library. World Library and Information Congress (WLIC): 73rd IFLA General Conference and Council, Durban, 21 August 2007. https://www.up.ac.za/dspace/handle/2263/3335
• Van Wyk, J. Engaging academia through Library 2.0 tools: a case study: Education Library, University of Pretoria. Presentation at the African Digital Scholarship and Curation Conference held from 12-14 May 2009 at the CSIR Conference Centre, Pretoria, South Africa.2.
• Van Wyk, J. E-Newsletters: a step ahead: using Blogs as newsletters. Presentation at Library 2 Workshop held on 25 November 2008 during the 3rd National Conference of the Health Information Community of South Africa, 24-25 November 2008 at University of Pretoria, Onderstepoort, South Africa.
