Analysis and news
Digitised content has changed from being a preservation medium to the primary access point. Could it be the norm that an e-textbook or virtual library tour become the learning materials of the future?
Accelerating research and study Covid-19 has, indeed, been a catalyst for change. Staff and researchers have had to make content digitally available. Students had to switch to fully learn online, and they required instant access to digital content, digitised artefacts, raw data and more, to be able to continue with their studies or research projects. Institutions and organisations have had to upskill and accept a new way of working, learning, teaching and, of course, living. And these are just a few cases in point. There’s no doubt that we are living in a digital age. It’s also incredibly likely that technology will continue to become ever more sophisticated, with the benefits realised over the last 18 months continuing to build on the foundation created to accelerate research and study. The expanded use of the repository has enabled greater amounts of research to be placed into the world. Differing institutions, researchers, students and teachers have been able to search and access citeable materials and
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create a collaborative community in the process.
One such example is the Open Data
Workshop Arkivum, held with CERN in the second half of last year. The event sought to build on several years’ work, to improve access to, and the use of, data released through the CERN Open Data Portal. The workshop demonstrated the value
in making research data openly accessible for scientists from different institutes. Rather than expecting participants to download the data and software themselves (not a practical approach due to the large data volumes involved) or needing CERN to provide remote access to their infrastructure, the approach was to allow scientists to run CERN scientific software in Google Cloud Platform (GCP) against the archived CMS data. This one example showcases how a
traditional approach can be evolved to enable progressive sharing of research data. Additionally, this workshop reflects the shift to ‘bring applications to the data’ so it can be processed ‘in-situ’, rather than relying on individuals to download vast volumes of data to their local compute environments. More open, accessible and
collaborative means of data use can evolve the process to be less time consuming and inefficient.
Who knows? Maybe by looking beyond individualised study and research will unlock the potential for future discoveries.
What will the new normal look like? While we don’t know for certain what things will look like, it seems increasingly likely there will be a blended approach between face-to-face interaction and online consumption. Looking ahead, as individuals and institutions have accepted the use of technology to improve efficiencies and boost collaboration, this will likely continue to increase, and remain an integral part of the future educational landscape. The expanded use of the repository and subsequent evolution of OA, digitised processes, upskilling and sharing of materials will equip institutions with the ability to bounce back better, stronger and more resilient against future upheavals. However, it’s worth noting that
appropriate long-term management of data and digital assets will be essential in ensuring the robustness of an institution’s data management strategy, whether that be through a digital archiving or digital preservation solution.
Harriet Clark is content manager at Arkivum
August/September 2021 Research Information 25
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