InterNano: Serving the Nanomanufacturing Community

Objective: This poster describes the methods by which InterNano, the information service and virtual home of the National Nanomanufacturing Network1 (NNN), supports the information needs of the nanomanufacturing cohort: multi‐institutional and organizational stakeholders across diverse domains. Methods: InterNano2 strives to support the nanomanufacturing research and development community through collection, organization, and dissemination of information on the nanomanufacturing domain. Services include a monthly newsletter and weekly mailer distributed to 4,500 subscribers, a directory of 600 organizations and experts, a nanomanufacturing process database, expert reviews of topical peerreviewed articles, “highlight” articles that contextualize nanomanufacturing trends and news, an eprints research repository, and an events calendar, among other unique features and content. All content is tagged with terms from an original interactive nanomanufacturing taxonomy. Results: Since the internano.org launch in 2008, the NNN core team has seen an increase of user buy‐in and participation; users create and self‐manage directory entries, submit press releases for dissemination, and self‐subscribe to the newsletter. InterNano site traffic continues to increase as the NNN develops more content. Conclusions: The NNN team is currently refining and developing its services to better serve the diverse nanomanufacturing community, with plans underway to build a dashboard interface to better direct users to relevant information and to develop content across the board with a team of new contributing editors. 1 Funded by the National Science Foundation, CMMI‐1025020 2 http://www.internano.org

National Nanomanufacturing Network Events 2011

Nanoinformatics 2011 brought together informatics experts, nanotechnology researchers, and other stakeholders and potential contributors to advance Nanoinformatics 2020 Roadmap goals. The workshop will set a clear path for Nanoinformatics participants through the presentation of projects and research, open discussions, and strategic planning sessions. The Nanomanufacturing Summit 2011 – showcased emerging areas of nanomanufacturing and commercialization of nanotechnology-enabled products by leaders in the field of nanomanufacturing

Challenges of Data Management Training for Graduate Students at a Large Research University

Objective: To describe the challenges and outcomes of the University of Massachusetts Amherst Libraries\u27 Data Working Group\u27s series of training workshops for graduate students on the subject of data management and preservation, with specific regard to the data management requirements of the National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health. Participants: The Libraries\u27 Data Working Group is composed of six members with expertise in project management, systems and web development, scholarly communication, digital archives and metadata, and science and social science librarianship. The Data Working Group is one of three subgroups of the Digital Strategies Group at the University Libraries. Description: The University of Massachusetts Amherst Libraries provides a number of services to faculty and graduate students in support of research at an institution classified as a Research University with Very High research activity (RU/VH) by the Carnegie Foundation[1]. Recognizing a high demand for greater data education, the Libraries\u27 Data Working Group has conducted workshops for graduate students in specific disciplines -- humanities, social sciences, and sciences -- designed to address their data needs and highlight smart data management practices. Graduate students were also guided through the data management requirements of national funding agencies and potential solutions. Results: In its current capacity the Data Working Group provides educational workshops and individual consulting sessions for faculty and graduate students. The Data Working Group observed a significant portion of graduate students who had no prior experience with smart data practices or useful data management resources. This process has identified a clear need for wider, more intensive education for graduate students on data practices and the data management requirements of national funding agencies. [1] http://www.umass.edu/umhome/research.ph

Generalizing the Subject Repository

Subject repositories serve a similar function within their disciplines, but they often evolve in radically different ways from inside their respective fields. When the largest subject repositories such as PubMed Central, CiteSeerX, arXiv, RePEc, SSRN, and AgEcon Search are examined, there are more differences than similarities in terms of sustainability models, software, users, and management. These repositories have developed in relative isolation, all catering to specific disciplinary cultures. While the success of these repositories should be celebrated, there is a great need to develop general best practices and standards for the building and management of subject repositories. According to OpenDOAR, there are over a hundred discipline-based repositories, many of which have a specifically focused scope. Two such repositories are InterNano (Information Clearinghouse for Nanomanufacturing) and ESENCe Beta (Ethics in Science and Engineering National Clearinghouse), which are National Science Foundation-funded projects hosted by the University of Massachusetts Amherst that serve science and engineering disciplines. When building InterNano and ESENCe Beta, the presenters noted a near complete lack of general literature on the management and development of subject repositories. This project briefing will explain how InterNano and ESENCe Beta were developed through focus groups, user surveys, workshops, and other forms of outreach to related research communities. The briefing will also address the challenges involved in developing standards for repositories that serve diverse disciplines, such as catering to specific user groups and managing different types of site content. The primary desired outcome of the briefing is to begin a discussion on standards for subject repositories

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 of practice. The challenges of developing disciplinary repositories as virtual communities include software limitations, community integration and trust building, and identification and acquisition of relevant content in emerging and dynamic fields. Originality/value – InterNano and ESENCe represent the growing long-tail of disciplinary repositories, about which little literature exists. This case study demonstrates the activities and challenges of developing small-scale multi-disciplinary disciplinary repositories into active virtual communities