The History, Nature, and Future of Markup and Markdown

• Link: Available only to active RDAP membersView Recording 
• Date: 2024-04-18
• Speaker: Greg Janée
• Description: Are you someone who has heard terms like "markup" and "markdown"? Who has encountered acronyms like XML, JSON, and YAML and would like to learn more? This webinar will cover the development, essential characteristics, major usages, and history of these technologies. We'll look at usage paradigms, the embracement of XML by metadata standards, and the unique role played by HTML. We'll also look at some of the shortcomings of XML, and how those gave rise to a new generation of simpler languages that are more amenable to both processing by machines and authoring by humans. And we'll close with a prediction for what the future holds in this area.

Universities@DataCite - Revisited

• Link: Available only to active RDAP membersView Recording 
• Date: 2024-02-14
• Speaker: Ted Habermann
• Description: During June, 2022 I wrote the blog Universities@DataCite describing insights into DataCite usage in over 450 universities. I discussed resource types overall and in specific repositories, affiliations, connectivity, and collaboration. Since that time, capabilities of the global research infrastructure have increased significantly with the introduction of the DataCite Commons – the first interactive viewer for the PID Graph. I will revisit that work in this webinar, exploring how universities are currently using the Global Research Infrastructure and focusing on connectivity for universities and university researchers, including results from the DataCite Commons. I will also describe repository re-curation processes and how they might be used to improve this connectivity.

Assessing Data Services for Methodological Inclusiveness

• Link: Available only to active RDAP membersView Recording 
• Date: 2024-01-25
• Speakers: Jessica Hagman and Hilary Bussell
• Description: Information professionals build infrastructures and engage with researchers to facilitate preservation of and access to research data. While data services are relevant to researchers across disciplines - particularly in light of the growing expectation that publicly-funded research produce publicly accessible data and scholarship - how these services are structured and presented may prioritize some modes of scholarship while excluding others. In this workshop, we identify ways that data-related services are developed and communicated in relation to a variety of research methodologies and paradigms. Specifically, we focus on how the language around the very definition of data and the rationale for data management often exclude research data produced through qualitative, interpretive, and critical approaches. Using their own organization’s data-related services, participants will examine the language used to promote resources and programming aimed at scholars. Participants will be asked to assess how the services offered and the language used to promote those services communicate implicit or explicit ideas about the nature of research. We’ll also discuss alternative ways of describing data work that is more intentionally inclusive of the variety of research methodologies used by the range of scholars at each organization.

How to Describe Research Activities without Saying "Lifecycle": A Conversation with RADS

• Link: Available only to active RDAP membersView Recording 
• Date: 2023-06-21
• Speakers: Shawna Taylor, Cynthia Hudson Vitale, Joel Herndon, and Alicia Hofelich Mohr
• Description: While some may say that the Research Lifecycle is overhyped or over, we still need to do and support the work it describes. How can we accurately talk about and assess this work, particularly in the context of describing the cost of data sharing? The RADS team has drafted a set of activities that are a starting point for describing research data services. We’re using these terms to collect information about cross campus services and expenses for research data. They may not be complete or may not reflect your experience. We want to hear from you to create a shared understanding in the research community! Share your expertise and your experience - what is correct, what is missing, and what could be improved in this list. This session was dedicated to introducing the data sharing activities - discussing in small groups each phase or section of the activities and the extent to which they align with your organization.

Using Cloud File Storage Platforms for Research

• Link: Available only to active RDAP membersView Recording 
• Date: 2023-05-10
• Speakers: Tobin Magle and Deb McCaffrey
• Description: Cloud file storage platforms have started imposing data limits on storage where previously storage was unlimited. This has caused many universities to change platforms or reduce storage in current platforms. Our presentation will discuss how these choices and migrations affect research data management. While the platforms are similar at a high level, the nuances of using them mean that they aren’t interchangeable. Migrations become non-trivial and researchers must consider many characteristics of their data when choosing a platform, should they have the luxury of a choice.

Assessing Research Data Services Through Client Interaction Records

• Link: Available only to active RDAP membersView Recording 
• Date: 2023-04-12
• Speaker: Jon Petters
• Description: In this presentation, speaker Jonathan Petters reviewed an internal assessment of consulting reach and effectiveness for Data Services provided by the University Libraries at Virginia Tech using client records from 2016 to 2020. Through this assessment, they explored how service growth and reach across Virginia Tech has evolved with time. This presentation demonstrated the utility of detailed client management records for periodic formative and summative assessment of research data services.