NEW YORK, March 21, 2013 –

Computational approaches to scholarship have revolutionized how research is done but have at the same time complicated the process of disseminating the results of that research. Conclusions may be produced using mathematical models or custom software that are not easily accessible to, or reproducible by, those outside the research team. And in some fields, a lack of understanding of computational approaches may lead to skepticism about their use. Join us for a panel discussion of this increasingly prominent issue titled “The Challenge of Communicating Computational Science.” This event will take place on Thursday, April 4, at noon in Columbia’s Faculty House. It is free and open to the public.

Across the range of academic disciplines, researchers face urgent questions. How can scientists and social scientists address the lack of access to the software and code used to produce many research results, which has led to a crisis of verifiability and concern about the accuracy of the scientific record? How can digital humanists approach discussions of computational methods, which may not fit into traditional forms of scholarship and can be viewed with suspicion in disciplines that prize the art of scholarly analysis? Computational researchers are examining communication practices, policies, and tools that promise to more effectively convey their research process and the results it produces.

The panelists:

Neil Chue Hong is Director of the Software Sustainability Institute. He is responsible for representing the Institute and the interests of UK researchers at the national and international level. Within the organization, he oversees operations, leads policy development, develops and manages collaborations, and acts as the principal liaison with stakeholders. Neil has worked with researchers from across the UK and internationally to address barriers to the use of e-Infrastructure in research domains such as  biosciences, chemistry, digital humanities, Earth systems modelling, medicine, and the social sciences.

Matthew Jockers is an Assistant Professor of English at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. Prior to his position at Nebraska, he was a Lecturer and “embedded” Academic Technology Specialist in the Department of English at Stanford University. During that time he co-founded and directed the Stanford Literary Lab. His research and teaching are focused on computational text analysis, specifically an approach that he calls “macroanalysis.” His forthcoming book is titled Macroanalysis: Digital Methods and Literary History.

Daniel P. W. Ellis is an Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering at Columbia University. His Laboratory for Recognition and Organization of Speech and Audio (LabROSA) is concerned with all aspects of extracting high-level information from audio, including speech recognition, music description, and environmental sound processing. He also runs the AUDITORY email list of 1700 worldwide researchers in perception and cognition of sound.  

This is the fourth and final event this academic year in the speaker series Research Without Borders: The Changing World of Scholarly Communication. It is co-sponsored by the Scholarly Communication Program and the Augustus C. Long Health Sciences Library at Columbia University Medical Center. Follow the discussion live on Twitter at http://twitter.com/ScholarlyComm or by using the hashtag #rwob. To watch a live webcast of the event, and for more information about Research Without Borders, visit the Scholarly Communication Program website at http://scholcomm.columbia.edu/.
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The Scholarly Communication Program (SCP) supports the global reach and impact of research produced at Columbia University. Its mission is to explore and raise awareness about new research tools, methods, and support services that are available to Columbia faculty, students, and staff. In pursuit of this mission, the SCP hosts events and workshops, curates news and resources on our Web site, and engages in innovative scholarly communication initiatives on campus and in the wider academic community. The SCP is an initiative of the Center for Digital Research and Scholarship, which is part of Columbia University Libraries/Information Services.

Augustus C. Long Health Sciences Library (HSL) is the primary library for faculty, students and staff for professional schools, centers and institutes on the Columbia University Medical Center campus (CUMC). It is the HSL’s mission to enable biomedical discovery by connecting people with knowledge. HSL provides and supports access to an extensive print and digital collection in clinical medicine, biomedicine, and public health, including 335,556 print volumes, 5,300 digital journal titles, 12,579 eBooks, over 700 Databases, 27,000 books and several hundred journal titles relating to the history of the health sciences dating from 1476 into the 20th century, and archival holdings that include 100,000 images relating to the history of the health sciences and 3,800 cubic feet of historical records for the health sciences schools and personal papers of men and women who have had distinguished careers in medicine, nursing, dentistry or public health.

Columbia University Libraries/Information Services is one of the top five academic research library systems in North America. The collections include over 11 million volumes, over 150,000 journals and serials, as well as extensive electronic resources, manuscripts, rare books, microforms, maps, and graphic and audio-visual materials. The services and collections are organized into 22 libraries and various academic technology centers. The Libraries employs more than 500 professional and support staff. The website of the Libraries is the gateway to its services and resources: library.columbia.edu.

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