Understanding Methodological and Disciplinary Differences in the Data Practices of Academic Researchers

This article is copyrighted by Emerald Group Publishing and permission has been granted for this version to appear here. Emerald does not grant permission for this article to be further copied/distributed or hosted elsewhere without the express permission from Emerald Group Publishing Limited. - See more at: http://www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/authors/writing/author_rights.htm#sthash.A75S798F.dpufPurpose– The purpose of this paper is to better understand the data practices, influences and needs of researchers at a major public research institution. Design/methodology/approach– This paper is based on the results of a pre-tested, web-based survey of University of Kansas faculty, staff, researchers and graduate students. Findings– Influences on data practices and data needs vary with the research methodology and academic discipline of the researcher. Practical implications– Academic libraries may need to adjust the services they offer to meet the varying needs of researchers in differing disciplines using differing methodologies. Originality/value– This study adds to the developing literature describing research data management. Keywords Research, Academic libraries, University libraries, Assessment, Data management Paper type-Research pape

Local Citation Analysis of National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health Grant Applications: Meeting the Needs of Researchers

Supporting and meeting the research needs of faculty members is a priority at the University of Kansas because of the necessity for external grant-funding. For this study, the authors analyzed the citations from successful NIH and NSF grant applications submitted between 2005 and 2013. The purpose was to identify the types of resources used by researchers and determine if KU Libraries are currently providing access. In addition to access, the authors analyzed the age, format, whether journals were provided in a journal package or aggregator, subject area, and open access status. Overall, the authors found KU Libraries’ collection provides substantial support for researchers who submitted successful NSF and NIH grant applications

‘Off With Their Heads’: British Prime Ministers and the Power to Dismiss

The British prime minister’s power to appoint and dismiss ministers is probably his most important single power. This article explores how prime ministers from Macmillan to Blair have used that power. The article considers the criteria that prime ministers use when choosing to appoint or dismiss individuals from office before examining the calculations and miscalculations that prime ministers have made in practice. Finally, the article analyses the way that prime ministers have exercised, in particular, their power to dismiss and finds that Thatcher was far more likely than others to sack cabinet colleagues on ideological or policy grounds. The article emphasizes that prime ministers’ relationships with especially powerful ministers – ‘big beasts of the jungle’ – are crucial to an understanding of British government at the top.</jats:p

The role of the urban landscape on species with contrasting dispersal ability: insights from greening plans for Barcelona

With the expansion of urban areas, promoting urban biodiversity is now a priority. Many municipalities are implementing greening strategies to improve and increase green space within city boundaries. The effectiveness of these strategies, while rarely assessed, likely depends on the landscape and on relevant species intrinsic traits such as dispersal ability. Using a spatially explicit individual-based model, we evaluated the effect of the urban landscape on the projected distribution of three butterfly species with contrasting dispersal abilities, and assessed the effectiveness of the Barcelona greening strategy as a case study. Species distribution (in terms of patch occupancy) and effectiveness (in terms of population size and number of occupied gardens) were analysed using generalised linear models. The percentage of (semi) natural source area around each urban green space (garden hereafter) was the most important variable for the distribution of all three types of species, followed by the percentage of neighbouring gardens and by the garden carrying capacity, although the effect of neighbouring gardens was negative in the early phase of colonisation. The planned Barcelona greening strategy increased the number of gardens occupied by high and medium, but not by low dispersive species. Increasing the carrying capacity of the gardens improved colonisation for all three species types. While the best strategies can be context dependent, our results indicated that increasing garden area might be more effective in the long term but it can be overridden by garden capacity in the short term, especially if there are constraints to increasing garden area

Environmental effects of ozone depletion, UV radiation and interactions with climate change : UNEP Environmental Effects Assessment Panel, update 2017

Peer reviewe

Perspectives on emergent wind band literature: Understanding the views of band directors in high school instrumental settings

Directors of school concert bands continue to program new and emergent works alongside pieces considered to be part of the core and traditional repertoire. The purpose of this dissertation was to discover what criteria directors consider important in their review of new and emergent concert band works for use in rehearsal and performance. A secondary objective examined if director experience and educational background influenced the evaluation of this music used in high school instrumental settings. In order to evaluate this recent repertoire, the Concert Band Repertoire Evaluation Criteria (CBREC) was developed by the researcher, and reviewed by a panel of collegiate directors. The review of the CBREC revealed it to be a reliable tool for the purposes of the study. An independent panel of experts in concert band repertoire selected three works to be reviewed by participants. Invited participants comprised band directors who hold membership in an international band fraternity. The teaching responsibilities of these directors included conducting concert bands at American senior high schools. Participant directors rated each work using the CBREC after viewing an image of the music score and listening to an audio recording of the piece. The participant directors had the option of rating their familiarity with each piece used and answering three open-ended questions regarding repertoire selection. Data collected from the participants indicated favorable mean ratings for the works used in the study. When the participant data were analyzed in sub-groups, several statistically significant findings were reported. Sub-groups including older directors, directors teaching only one ensemble, and directors who answered open-ended questions in the study demonstrated more stability in their ratings of the repertoire used in the study than did younger directors, directors teaching multiple ensembles, and directors who did not respond to open-ended questions. Results suggested participant directors reached a consensus regarding several aspects of the pieces used in the study, indicated by the CBREC Ratings and open-ended comments. The correlational analysis of CBREC Items demonstrated that directors are considering multiple aspects of a work during the evaluation process. Data supported that melodic material, pedagogical use, as well as timbre and orchestration influence how this group of directors estimate the longevity of new concert band works

Differences in the Data Practices, Challenges, and Future Needs of Graduate Students and Faculty Members

Objective: In light of academic libraries expanding the data services they offer, this article hopes to improve the understanding of data practices, challenges and future needs of academic library user groups. Setting, Design and Method: In the fall of 2013, librarians and campus grant specialist conducted an institution wide web-based survey at the University of Kansas, a major public research institution, with several hundred respondents. Results: Graduate students and faculty members report differences in their data practices, research challenges and data-related needs. Conclusions: Academic libraries should target data services to the interests and needs of their distinct user groups

Empirical Legal Research Support Services: A National Survey of Law Libraries

This poster was presented at the American Association of Law Libraries annual meeting and conference held July 18-21, 2015 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The survey instrument used in the study can be found in KU ScholarWorks at http://hdl.handle.net/1808/17461

Empirical Legal Research Support Services: A Survey of Academic Law Libraries

This is the survey instrument distributed on the law library directors listserv in January and February 2015. The poster that resulted from this research is available in KU ScholarWorks at http://hdl.handle.net/1808/18266.Empirical legal research is a significant and growing portion of legal scholarship, however it has received little attention in the law library literature. In the forthcoming paper, we share and discuss the results of a nationwide survey on the extent and nature of empirical research services provided by academic law libraries