Past Events

Open Data and the Future of Funded Research

November 12, 2009

Open Data and the Future of Funded Research

Are researchers ready to share their data? The panelists discuss the advantages of sharing data openly as well as the practical implications for researchers, particularly those who work with confidential information or who plan to mine a data set for years to come. Panelists: John Wilbanks is the Vice President for Science at Creative Commons, where he runs the Science Commons project. Robert Chen is director of CIESIN (Center for International Earth Science Information Network), a research unit of the Earth Institute at Columbia. He is currently Secretary-General of the Committee on Data for Science and Technology (CODATA) of the International Council for Science (ICSU), and a member of the ICSU ad hoc Strategic Coordinating Committee on Information and Data. Andrew Rundle is an Associate Professor of Epidemiology at the Mailman School of Public Health and runs several research projects studying how built and social environments of neighborhoods in New York City influence health. To a large degree his research relies upon access to data generated by New York City governmental agencies. View the complete video using the link below, or watch highlights on YouTube.

This event was cosponsored by CIESIN, the Center for International Earth Science Information Network.

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The Future of Learned Societies

October 22, 2009

The Future of Learned Societies

James O'Donnell, Georgetown University Provost and Vice President for Publications of the American Philological Association, discusses the future of scholarly publishing and learned societies. Columbia University Physics professor Erick Weinberg, editor of the American Physical Society journal Physical Review D, responds. Learned societies have published the work of their members for over three hundred years and do it very well. Now, we are surrounded with huge quantities of digital information, and societies are challenged to consider afresh their motives, means, and opportunities. What should scholars do? View the complete video using the link below, or watch highlights on YouTube.

This event was cosponsored by the Office of the Provost.

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A Blog of Her Own: Scholarly Women on the Web

September 21, 2009

A Blog of Her Own: Scholarly Women on the Web

Hear from the women behind the popular blogs Bitch Ph.D., Tenured Radical, Easternblot.net, and Expression Patterns. The speakers discuss the interplay between their blogging and scholarship, attitudes towards blogging among their colleagues, how blogging should be valued in the academy, and blogging as a feminist act. The panelists: Bitch Ph.D. author Tedra Osell is a writer, former English professor, mother, and sometime public intellectual; Claire Potter blogs as Tenured Radical and is a professor of history and American Studies at Wesleyan University; Eva Amsen blogs at Easternblot.net and Expression Patterns and recently completed her Ph.D. in biochemistry at the University of Toronto. Columbia University English and Comparative Literature professor Jenny Davidson moderates. View the complete video using the link below, or watch highlights on YouTube.

Alexandra Vazquez, one of the bloggers for Oh! Industry, also participated in this discussion, but declined to appear in the video.

This event was cosponsored by the Institute for Research on Women and Gender.

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Know Your Rights: Who Really Owns Your Scholarly Works?

April 8, 2009

Know Your Rights: Who Really Owns Your Scholarly Works?

In this panel discussion, experts on copyright law and scholarly publishing discuss how scholars and researchers can take full advantage of opportunities afforded by digital technology in today's legal environment, and suggest ways to advocate for positive change. The panelists are Heather Joseph, who has been Executive Director of the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition (SPARC); Michael Carroll, Visiting Professor of Law at American University's Washington College of Law and a founding member of the Board of Directors of Creative Commons; and Director of the Columbia University Copyright Advisory Office Kenneth Crews, whose research focuses on copyright issues, particularly as they relate to the needs of scholarship at the university. View the complete video using the link below, or watch highlights on YouTube.

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Scholarship in the Digital Age: Information, Infrastructure, and the Internet

March 24, 2009

Scholarship in the Digital Age: Information, Infrastructure, and the Internet

Today’s research and scholarship is data- and information-intensive, distributed, interdisciplinary, and collaborative. However, the scholarly practices, products, and sources of data vary widely between disciplines. Some fields are more advantaged than others by the array of content now online and by the tools and services available to make use of that content. UCLA Professor of Information Studies Christine Borgman provides an overview of new developments in scholarly information infrastructure, including policy issues such as open access and intellectual property, and addresses the implications of e-science for cyberlearning. Borgman is the author of more than 180 publications in the fields of information studies, computer science, and communication, including two widely praised books on digital technology and scholarship. She is a lead investigator for the Center for Embedded Networked Systems (CENS) at the National Science Foundation (NSF) and chaired the NSF’s Task Force on Cyberlearning. View the complete video using the link below, or watch highlights on YouTube.

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Open Science: Good For Research, Good For Researchers?

February 19, 2009

Good For Research, Good For Researchers

Open science refers to information-sharing among researchers and encompasses a number of initiatives to remove access barriers to data and published papers, and to use digital technology to more efficiently disseminate research results. Advocates for this approach argue that openly sharing information among researchers is fundamental to good science, speeds the progress of research, and increases recognition of researchers. Panelists: Jean-Claude Bradley, Associate Professor of Chemistry and Coordinator of E-Learning for the School of Arts and Sciences at Drexel University; Barry Canton, founder of Ginkgo BioWorks and the OpenWetWare wiki, an online community of life science researchers committed to open science that has over 5,300 users; Bora Zivkovic, Online Discussion Expert for the Public Library of Science (PLoS) and author of "A Blog Around the Clock." View the complete video using the link below, or watch highlights on YouTube.

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Future of the Book: Can the Endangered Monograph Survive?

November 11, 2008

Future of the Book

Panelists Helen Tartar, Editorial Director at Fordham University Press; Sanford Thatcher, Director of Penn State University Press and past President of the Association of American University Presses; and Ree DeDonato, Director of Humanities and History and Acting Director of Union Theological Seminary's Burke Library of Columbia University Libraries/Information Services discuss the economics and process of scholarly publishing and the future of the monograph. Columbia's Deputy University Librarian and Associate Vice President for Digital Programs and Technology Services Patricia Renfro introduces the panel, which is followed by a question-and-answer session. View the complete video using the link below, or watch highlights on YouTube.

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Final Impact: What Factors Really Matter?

October 30, 2008

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A panel discussion on the debate about the best way to rank the importance and influence of scholarly publications. Panelists: Marian Hollingsworth, director of Publisher Relations at Thomson Reuters and former assistant director of the National Federation of Abstracting and Information Services; Jevin West, an Achievement Awards for College Scientists Fellow at the University of Washington's Biology Department and head developer for Eigenfactor.org; and Johan Bollen, a staff researcher at Los Alamos National Laboratory and the principal investigator of the MESUR project. Columbia University Librarian Jim Neal introduces the talk. View the complete video using the link below, or watch highlights on YouTube.

This event was cosponsored by the Mailman School of Public Health.

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The Harvard Open Access Initiatives

October 8, 2008

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Stuart Shieber, James O. Welch, Jr. and Virginia B. Welch Professor of Computer Science and Director of the Office for Scholarly Communication at Harvard University, discusses open access at Harvard. Columbia University Librarian James Neal introduces the talk and a question-and-answer session follows. View the complete video using the link below, or watch highlights on YouTube.

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