Rebecca Reznik-Zellen

Informatics and Standards for Nanomedicine Technology

There are several issues to be addressed concerning the management and effective use of information (or data), generated from nanotechnology studies in biomedical research and medicine. These data are large in volume, diverse in content, and are beset with gaps and ambiguities in the description and characterization of nanomaterials. In this work, we have reviewed three areas of nanomedicine informatics: information resources; taxonomies, controlled vocabularies, and ontologies; and information standards. Informatics methods and standards in each of these areas are critical for enabling collaboration; data sharing; unambiguous representation and interpretation of data; semantic (meaningful) search and integration of data; and for ensuring data quality, reliability, and reproducibility. In particular, we have considered four types of information standards in this article, which are standard characterization protocols, common terminology standards, minimum information standards, and standard data communication (exchange) formats. Currently, because of gaps and ambiguities in the data, it is also difficult to apply computational methods and machine learning techniques to analyze, interpret, and recognize patterns in data that are high dimensional in nature, and also to relate variations in nanomaterial properties to variations in their chemical composition, synthesis, characterization protocols, and so on. Progress toward resolving the issues of information management in nanomedicine using informatics methods and standards discussed in this article will be essential to the rapidly growing field of nanomedicine informatics.

Supporting virtual communities through disciplinary repository development

Purpose – This article aims to discuss the implementation of social networking tools onto existing disciplinary repository platforms – both commercial and open source – with the purpose of building enhanced disciplinary repository‐based virtual communities.Design/methodology/approach – This article is a case study. The University of Massachusetts Amherst has served as a test‐bed for two disciplinary repository‐based virtual communities, InterNano and ESENCe, both of which serve as examples for the development of features that facilitate social connections in emerging multi‐disciplinary fields. Two different approaches to the technical implementation of social networking tools onto standard disciplinary repository software platforms are described, as well as the challenges faced by each project.Findings – Although disciplinary repositories are not typically conceived as social spaces, disciplinary repositories can integrate social networking components to act as “knowledge brokers” for emerging disciplines...

Research evaluation support services in biomedical libraries

Objective The paper provides a review of current practices related to evaluation support services reported by seven biomedical and research libraries. Methods A group of seven libraries from the United States and Canada described their experiences with establishing evaluation support services at their libraries. A questionnaire was distributed among the libraries to elicit information as to program development, service and staffing models, campus partnerships, training, products such as tools and reports, and resources used for evaluation support services. The libraries also reported interesting projects, lessons learned, and future plans. Results The seven libraries profiled in this paper report a variety of service models in providing evaluation support services to meet the needs of campus stakeholders. The service models range from research center cores, partnerships with research groups, and library programs with staff dedicated to evaluation support services. A variety of products and services were described such as an automated tool to develop rank-based metrics, consultation on appropriate metrics to use for evaluation, customized publication and citation reports, resource guides, classes and training, and others. Implementing these services has allowed the libraries to expand their roles on campus and to contribute more directly to the research missions of their institutions. Conclusions Libraries can leverage a variety of evaluation support services as an opportunity to successfully meet an array of challenges confronting the biomedical research community, including robust efforts to report and demonstrate tangible and meaningful outcomes of biomedical research and clinical care. These services represent a transformative direction that can be emulated by other biomedical and research libraries.

Open Access Status of Nano ELSI Research: Determining Availability of a Core Collection of Research for a Disciplinary Repository

INTRODUCTION The development and maintenance of a disciplinary repository is a high cost, long-term project; therefore, it is important to investigate the feasibility of the proposed resource. This paper explores whether an emerging discipline can support the development of a disciplinary repository by evaluating the availability of scholarship and scholarly communication trends within the nanotechnology and emerging technology ethical, legal, and societal issues research (Nano ELSI) domain. METHODS In this study, journal articles produced through Spring 2013 by two large National Science Foundation Centers for Nanotechnology and Society at the University of California Santa Barbara and Arizona State University are evaluated for both potential and actual availability through open access publishing and author self-archiving. RESULTS While only 14% of articles in this collection have been published openly in open access or hybrid open access journals, over two thirds (85%) have been published in journals that support author self-archiving of some version of the manuscript in institutional or disciplinary repositories. The actual full-text open availability of 48% of total articles in the set demonstrates that there is a strong inclination among this community to share research products. CONCLUSION The availability of a core collection of materials and an understanding of scholarly communication conventions within the domain support the development of a centralized resource.