news.library.ualberta.ca
  • BLOG HOME
  • About
    • Author Profiles
    • Five Things You Need to Know About the Library
    • Five Things to Know About University of Alberta Library – Online Edition
  • Collections
  • Community
  • Wellness
  • Français
news.library.ualberta.ca
  • BLOG HOME
  • About
    • Author Profiles
    • Five Things You Need to Know About the Library
    • Five Things to Know About University of Alberta Library – Online Edition
  • Collections
  • Community
  • Wellness
  • Français
Tag:

Faculty

    Research Impact at The University of Alberta: A Q & A with Alison Henry

    by Sonya Leung January 17, 2023
    written by Sonya Leung

    This post was originally published on November 20, 2021.

    Register and join the Library’s Research Impact Team in their next workshop “Using the SCOPE framework to deliver responsible research evaluations” on February 16 https://ualberta.libcal.com/event/3715050

    The University of Alberta is home to many established and emerging researchers. The Library’s Research Impact Team offers services to convey the impact of the University of Alberta’s researchers.

    I sat down (virtually) with my long time colleague, Engineering Librarian and member of the Library’s Research Impact Team Alison Henry, to talk and learn more about Research Impact at the University of Alberta.

     

    Screen shot of Alison and Sonya in a virtual meeting.

    What is research impact?

    Traditionally research impact has been used to refer strictly to academic publication counts and looking at the impact factor of journals and the citation counts of articles. Those types of easily countable things only consider one audience — the scholarly audience for this work. The true impact of research goes beyond the academic audience. I think the goal of researchers is to have their research go beyond that audience; to learn more about and improve the world around us. So, we should consider not only that academic impact, but also social and economic impact. 

    This can look different in different fields of research. Perhaps for medicine an important indicator for research would be a change in clinical practice guidelines adopted by one of the medical societies. Maybe you would want to look at the number of inventions being patented by an engineering group; or, contributions to public policy made by researchers in sociology or economics; or changes in learning environments implemented by educators applying research that has been done in the Faculty of Education. There are lots of different ways that the research that has been done at a University can have an impact beyond the walls of that institution. It’s really important to take into account these broader types of impact, but it’s hard to do.

    Why would research impact be important to the University of Alberta?

    Research impact assessments end up being used for lots of decision making: hiring decisions, awarding of merit increments, deciding who gets promoted, who gets an award, who receives research funding. Impact of your previous work comes into play in a lot of these decisions and this happens both within the university and outside the university with funding agencies. So, it is important that these assessments are rigorous and that people have trust in the way in which they are being assessed. It’s also really important that they consider the full range of impact — academic, social and economic.

    Much of our mandate is tied to the fact that we are a public institution and we are supposed to be working for the public good. I think that if we have too narrow an idea of what counts as research impact then we risk some of that relationship with the public. We risk our credibility and sustainability as an institution. A lot of this also comes down to equity issues as well. There are known biases with some of the traditional measures of impact, so that’s another risk if you are relying on some of the old [traditional] measures of impact. You might not be evaluating people fairly.

    What does the Research Impact Team do for the University of Alberta community?

    The work that we do on the Research Impact Team is still relying very heavily on traditional metrics. But, we do try and encourage a responsible use of those metrics — not applying journal indicators to an individual researcher and making sure to use normalized indicators as much as possible. If you’re making comparisons between people in different fields of research there are just certain metrics that aren’t appropriate. So, we try to encourage using the right measure for the right question. 

    Most of our work is in support of groups, and less so for an individual. When we do research impact projects they tend to be for research groups, departments and sometimes for an entire faculty; helping them communicate about the impact of their research. 

    Does the Research Impact Team provide individual consultations for those that just want to learn more about research metrics?

    Yes! We do help individuals for education purposes, and sometimes for grant or award-related applications.

    How can someone learn more about the Research Impact Team?

    Please visit the Research Impact website and the Research Impact Library guide, which has self help tools and links to book an appointment with the team.

    January 17, 2023 0 comment
    0 FacebookTwitterEmail
  • Copyright 101: Core Concepts

    by Guest Author October 25, 2022
    by Guest Author October 25, 2022

    This post was written by Copyright Office Director, Adrian Sheppard, and Copyright and Scholarly Communications Librarian, Amanda Wakaruk What is copyright? Copyright is a set of legal rights established by the federal government and the courts through legislation and case law. Penalties for copyright infringement can be significant, so it is important to have some familiarity with how copyright might apply to you. What does copyright apply to? Copyright is governed by…

  • The Problem with Predatory Publishers & How to Avoid Them

    by Guest Author October 6, 2022
    by Guest Author October 6, 2022

    This post was written by Librarian, Janice Kung Predatory publishing, also known as deceptive publishing or questionable publishing, is an exploitative academic publishing business model that takes advantage of the open access model by charging publication fees (article processing charges, or APCs) to authors when manuscripts are accepted for publication. While this is a regular practice with open access journals, predatory journals forgo the quality peer-review and editorial processes that are expected…

  • Introducing Aviary

    by Erin Sanderman May 10, 2022
    by Erin Sanderman May 10, 2022

    Those who make regular use of UAlberta Library’s online repository of video and audio materials might have noticed that the interface looks different. That change is Aviary, which takes the place of our former platform ERA A+V. Aside from the updated look, Aviary has several useful features like automated captioning tools, improved object discoverability, the ability to include supplemental files and more. Like ERA A+V it supports Open Access sharing of the…

  • Library Course Materials & Reading List Service – Create Your List Today

    by Guest Author August 3, 2021
    by Guest Author August 3, 2021

    This post was written by Access Services Coordinator, CJ de Jong Check out the Library’s Reading List Service and start your list in minutes! A carefully curated reading list aids your students accessing authoritative and useful information for your lectures. Now, create a list with books, articles, videos, webpages, and other online content that can easily integrate into your eClass course and connect to library resources where available.  These lists can: measure…

  • Library Remotely: Starting Points for Ebooks and Teaching

    by Guest Author July 20, 2020
    by Guest Author July 20, 2020

    By Sarah Polkinghorne I’m a librarian in the Library’s Collection Strategies Unit (CSU), and a lecturer in the School of Library and Information Studies. I’d like to offer some things to consider around ebooks. As instructors work to adapt courses for a mainly-online Fall term, Library staff support this work, in part by fielding questions about all sorts of publications. This post shares key information about ebooks in particular, ie., books existing…

  • Data Physicalization

    by Guest Author May 13, 2020
    by Guest Author May 13, 2020

    Written By Abbie Schenk When we think of data visualizations, we often think of charts, maps and other forms of expressing data in digital ways. But humans have visualized data for thousands of years, long before computer screens were invented. Some of the earliest data visualizations go back to 5500 BC when Mesopotamians used clay tokens to visualize data. Today, representing data in a physical manner is called data physicalization. The Digital…

  • How To Search Library Streaming Music Databases to Find Your Blue Note

    by Guest Author May 5, 2020
    by Guest Author May 5, 2020

    Are you the type of person  who constantly has music on in the background? Do you play an instrument or have an interest in music theory or history? Do you like diving through the unknown corners of the digital space in search of a hidden musical jewel? If the answer is yes to any of these questions, what you find below will be the ticket to your next great musical journey!  The…

  • Five Streaming Video Databases to Wander Through at Anytime

    by Guest Author April 8, 2020
    by Guest Author April 8, 2020

    Since the majority of us are stuck inside and online, we all have to find ways to work, learn, stay connected, shop, exercise or entertain ourselves… well… online. Even though the internet has been part of our world for a while now, and most of us take advantage of it already, ‘social distancing’ has resulted in significantly more time spent in front of our screens and a higher demand for quality streaming…

  • Researching While the Library is Closed: Recommendations from Digital Initiatives

    by Emily Zheng March 25, 2020
    by Emily Zheng March 25, 2020

    This is a challenging time for students and researchers alike, as we all adapt to working without many of the resources essential to our daily work. On the U of A Library Digital Initiatives team, staff has been working for years to build robust and interesting online research collections. Although we can’t wander among the shelves in person, we did ask our team to recommend some online collections that offer a similar…

Newer Posts
Older Posts

Instagram Corner

No any image found. Please check it again or try with another instagram account.

Categories

  • Collections (186)
    • Borrowing (41)
    • Collection Connection (5)
    • Digital Collections (75)
    • Special Collections (5)
  • Community (345)
    • Awards (13)
    • Events (17)
    • Exhibits (11)
    • News (11)
    • Staff (53)
  • Digital Scholarship Centre (12)
  • Français (116)
  • Wellness (27)
    • Dogs in the Library (4)

BLOG ARCHIVES

About Me

  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Youtube

@2020- University of Alberta Library
The University of Alberta is situated on traditional Treaty 6 territory and homeland of the Métis peoples. Amiskwaciwâskahikan / ᐊᒥᐢᑲᐧᒋᕀᐋᐧᐢᑲᐦᐃᑲᐣ / Edmonton


Back To Top