OCLC Research Library Partnership (RLP) : Addressing Bias in Research Analytics

A conversation on the challenges of bias in research metrics and how libraries could respond.

IBM 704 mainframe at NACA in 1957. Public Domain. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_mainframe 

Today’s universities and scholars increasingly rely upon an array of indicators about research activities to support institutional decision making, competitive analysis and economic development, impact assessment, and individual and institutional reputation management. But increasing reliance on big data also brings the responsibility of asking questions about how biases may be baked into frequently used research metrics resources.

For instance:

  • What do researchers and institutional leaders need to know to use research analytics responsibly?
  • What is the role of the library?
  • Who can libraries partner with?
  • How can we support scholars who may be affected by bias?
  • And how can these biases negatively impact institutional climate?

We will explore these questions in this RLP event. Sheila Craft-Morgan will kick off out conversation by sharing her perspective as the research impact librarian at Ohio State, with extensive experience in institutional research. Allegra Swift will follow sharing about the Library’s collaboration with the Office of Compliance and Integrity and Research Ethics Programs at UC San Diego. We will then have ample time for discussion and sharing among all participants.

Participants are encouraged to come prepared to listen, contribute, and participate, including sharing about your own institutional efforts (even if these are still emerging). This is a rich opportunity for us to learn from each other and to find mutual support for efforts that challenge us all.
This discussion will not be recorded or shared after the fact, but we summarized the discussion in a blog post in the OCLC Research blog, Hanging Together, as part of their blog series on bibliometrics and research impact.

Dates (two sessions available)

Thursday, 16 February 2023 | 11:00 am – 12:00 pm EST (UTC -5) (Europe/North American East Coast friendly time)
Thursday, 16 February 2023 | 6:00 – 7:00 pm EST (UTC -5) (North American West Coast/Asia Pacific friendly time)

All affiliates of OCLC Research Library Partnership organizations are invited to participate. Registration page.

Join the UCSD Rady School for a virtual OER Webinar on June 4th

In partnership with the Library and UCSD CALPIRG Affordable Textbooks Campaign, the UC San Diego Rady School of Management will host a webinar next Friday, June 4th at 11 AM PST titled, Adapt Your Course Materials and Save Students Money. While business-flavored, the content is cross-disciplinary as we’ll learn about UCSD student body textbook costs and access concerns, introduce quality open-access material tailored to the varying fields of business & management, and offer options for publishing your own materials.

We hope this webinar will serve as a starting point for establishing affordable and equitable course materials across your departments and campuses. We look forward to seeing you next Friday for this impactful learning opportunity! Zoom registration Link

Can’t make it? The recording and slides will be posted here.

This past year, in an effort to lower course material costs for our students, members of our faculty implemented various resources available to them to offer their materials… I thank those who have adapted … and helped students by lowering their out-of-pocket costs. However, in order to advance in this collective effort, I believe we need the involvement of campus partners. 

Estefania Perez
UC San diego rady school of management Undergraduate Education Program Assistant

Supporting OER at Your Institution – ALCTS webinar & Library Presentation

When & Where: Wednesday, December 11, 2019 in the Biomedical Library Bldg Events Room
Webinar 11 am -12 pm
Campus progress update 12 – 12:30 pm

The UC San Diego Library’s Scholarly Communication and the BES Training and Organizational Development are hosting a webinar on Open Educational Resources #OER . Directly following the webinar, we will share the progress we have made with campus partners and give an update about upcoming faculty education workshops.

Webinar description : Open Educational Resources (OER) initiatives in higher education are increasingly led by academic libraries. A lot of these projects are overseen by librarians who may or may not have OER as part of their job responsibilities yet they make it work because of their strong commitment to making education accessible to all learners.
Questions? Contact us on twitter or through email (linked here)

Open Access Week 2019

International Open Access Week

During Open Access Week, the UC San Diego Library will be kicking off our scholarly communication awareness campaign to engage the campus in issues related to knowledge production and information access. We’ll have content displayed on our digital signage as well as physical swag and fact sheets at information desks in the library. As always, contact your librarian (or us) with questions or if you are interested in taking action! Follow us on Twitter for more info or just to engage!

EVENTS AT THE UC SAN DIEGO LIBRARY

9am – 10 am on Tuesday 22 Oct 2019 in the Geisel Library Dunst Classroom: webinar “ACRL DSS Open Research Discussion Group: Open Data Activism in Search of Algorithmic Transparency: Algorithmic Awareness in Practice

The ALA (American Library Association and its units) and the ALA-APA (Allied Professional Association) (collectively “ALA”) use the personal data you provide to the ALA to process membership, inform you of products, services, conferences, education opportunities, events and for other purposes which are within the Association’s mission. To accomplish these actions, ALA contracts with third-parties who gather and process personal data to complete interactions such as online purchases, conference registration, and fulfillment. The personal data as provided is processed and stored as a legitimate Interest to the ALA in order to fulfill your requests for information and services from ALA.

11 am – 12 pm on 22 Oct 2019 in the Geisel Library Dunst Classroom : ACRL webinar: “Open for Students and Educators: Open Educational Resources Level the Playing Field

Open educational resources (OERs) are not usually a hard sell for students. But what about educators? How do they benefit from having access to resources that are licensed openly? And how can we, as librarians, guide faculty in adopting and adapting OERs? This free webcast will cover essential OER questions and topics, including:
• What does OER mean?
• How is OER helpful not only to students, but to educators as well?
• Locating and adapting OER (or how to interpret Creative Commons licensing attached to OERs)

9 am – 10:00 am on 24 Oct 2019 in the Biomed Library Bldg Events Room: “How the University of California Libraries Drive the Open Access Movement”

This International Open Access Week our guest, Anneliese Taylor, Head of Scholarly Communication, Library at the University of California San Francisco, joins the F1000 team to share key tactics that she and her team have deployed to promote Open Access publishing in the UC system. We’ll follow Anneliese’s presentation by opening the floor to a Q&A and also share the latest updates across F1000Research, F1000Workspace, and F1000Prime. 

OpenAIRE

Join OpenAIRE for a series of webinars (and more) during Open Access Week 2019!

The 2019 International Open Access Week will be held October 21-27, 2019. This year’s theme, “Open for Whom? Equity in Open Knowledge,” builds on the groundwork laid during last year’s focus of “Designing Equitable Foundations for Open Knowledge.”
As has become a yearly habit, OpenAIRE will organise a series of webinars during this week, highlighting OpenAIRE activities, services and tools and reaching out to the wider community with relevant talks. For registration or more info, see the OpenAIRE page

On the programme this year:

– Monday October 21st at 11 AM CEST: OpenAPC – cost transparency of Open Access publishing by Christoph Broschinski and Andreas Czerniak (UNIBI)
– Monday October 21st at 2 PM CEST : Research Data Management by S. Venkataraman (DCC) and Thomas Margoni (CREATe)
– Tuesday October 22nd at 10 AM CEST: Horizon 2020 Open Science Policies and beyond by Emilie Hermans (OpenAIRE)
– Friday October 25th at 11 AM CEST: Plan S compliance for Open Access Journals’. Can we make it: ‘Plan S compliance for Open Access Journals – what we know so far and where we think we’re heading’ by Dominic Mitchell (DOAJ)
– Friday October 25th at 2 PM CEST: From Open Science to Inclusive Science by Paola Masuzzo