Status and Outlook for University of Michigan Research Profile Data Strategy

Natsuko Nicholls has self-archived Status and Outlook for University of Michigan Research Profile Data Strategy in Deep Blue.

Here's an excerpt:

My investigation into various faculty expertise efforts and activities across institutions shows that many universities have not yet developed or adopted a centralized, comprehensive university-wide system for expertise data collection and activity reporting. There is still substantial variation in procedures across departments and colleges within institutions and considerable duplication of effort across campus units. However, it is indeed the recent trend that many institutions—including the University of Michigan—have actively engaged in campus-wide discussions about research profile data curation needs, concluding that a more centralized system would provide incentives for timely data-entry, guarantee currency of the expertise data, and increase overall efficiency and data quality. This study also sheds light on the role of the academic library as an important stakeholder in expertise data collection and management. My findings suggest that various attributes of an academic library make it an ideal driver for research profile data management. The academic library is a strong resource for information technology expertise as well as information management and dissemination at any institution. Further, it tends to be a neutral and trusted entity, especially with employees who regularly engage with researchers and have a good understanding of the academic landscape and the needs of the research community. In addition to providing an overview of the research landscape where profiling needs are quickly rising and where benefits from a well-managed profile data system are widely understood, this study also illuminates the conventional use of expertise databases and research networking/discovery tools as well as Current Research Information Systems (CRIS).

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