UKOLN is supported by: Reflections on a changing landscape - information as a consumer utility. Dr Liz Lyon, UKOLN, University of Bath, UK JISC Joint Programmes

UKOLN is supported by:

Reflections on a changing landscape - information as a consumer utility.

Dr Liz Lyon, UKOLN, University of Bath, UK

JISC Joint Programmes Meeting

July 2004, Brighton.

www.bath.ac.uk

a centre of expertise in digital information management

www.ukoln.ac.uk

JISC Joint Programmes Meeting 2004 2



Overview

1. Consumers, communities & collaboration

2. Integrated environments

3. Scholarly communications

4. Institutions & transformational change

1. Consumers, communities and collaboration







Access Grid developments• Scientific Workspaces of the Future (Argonne National

Lab ANL)– Shared applications and tools:– Image viewer / Movie / 3D molecule viewer– Mark-up / annotate

• Advanced Biomedical Collaboratory (ANL, Univ Chicago– Surgery, radiology, anatomy– Advanced collaborative visualisation tools– Education and training e.g. surgeons

• Art on the Grid (Arctic Node SC)– Collaborative telematic art– How to modify spaces for performers (not meetings)– Synchronisation issues– New work Interplay: Hallucinations



Collaborative technologies: early days?• What are the ingredients of successful (e-) collaboration?• What are the barriers to take-up?

– Human factors– Usability issues

• Exchange of experience – learning and research?• If we approach human discourse as a resource there are

issues of:– Preservation and curation– Description– Discovery– ??

• Explore the “Sociology of cyberspace” (UCLA course)• Adaptive network spaces (for work groups, meetings,

performances, games, ??)

2. Integrated environments


Towards a common infrastructure

• JISC Information Environment– Technical architecture based on open standards (Web Services,

OAI-PMH, Z39.50, RSS…..) http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/distributed-systems/jisc-ie/arch/

• e-Learning Programme– Technical Framework to support E-Learning

http://www.cetis.ac.uk/members/frameworks/index.html

• Virtual Research Environment– Framework options e.g. CHEF, Chandler, SAKAI, ??

• Common Information Environment– A cross-sectoral vision

• Frameworks Scoping Study– A common model with mapping, visualisation, planning tools


Slide: Steve Tuecke, 2004


Common characteristics?

• Standards-based, service-oriented architecture

• Integrated functionality• Managed / secure / sustainable• Usable and accessible• Personalised• “Agent-assisted” / Intelligent”• Extensible• Collaborative• Portable / ubiquitous access


Different disciplines• Arts and humanities, social

sciences– Lone researcher culture?

• Data– Qualitative, observational– Incomplete, not repeatable– Time dependent– Ethics & data protection– Not always shared

• Tools and methodologies– Partially developed– Legacy tools

• Cognitive styles, browsing, searching– Performing and visual arts

• Skills– Lack of experience of distributed

computing


Different disciplines Different audiences• Arts and humanities, social

sciences– Lone researcher culture?

• Data– Qualitative, observational– Incomplete, not repeatable– Time dependent– Ethics & data protection– Not always shared

• Tools and methodologies– Partially developed– Legacy tools

• Cognitive styles, browsing, searching– Performing and visual arts

• Skills– Lack of experience of distributed

computing

• Applications and tools– Assessment mechanisms for

learners– Data mining algorithms for

researchers

• Level of user experience– Novice or experienced

• Design– Use of colour, graphics,

animations, interactivity

• Cognitive styles– Use of visuals over text

• Degree of personalisation– Use of agent technology

• Presentation and visualisation requirements– Complex datasets– Search results


Sloan Digital Sky Survey

http://www.sdss.org



3. Scholarly communications


Open Access - a global initiative

• US Sabo Bill (“Public Access to Science”)• DAREnet Dutch scientific results• Australian government statement• Berlin Declaration (BOAI)• WSIS Declaration of Principles & Plan of Action • Wellcome Trust statement• JISC FAIR Programme• UK Parliament Science & Technology Committee

Inquiry on Scientific Publications


“The governments of …34 countries…recognising that open accessto….data promotes scientific progress… declare their commitment to work towards the establishment of access regimes for digital research data…in accordance with the following principles….

openness, transparency, legal conformity, formal responsibility, professionalism, protection of IPR, interoperability, quality and security, efficiency, accountability…..”

OECD Declaration on access to research data from public funding.

January 2004



Research & e-Science workflows

Aggregator services: national, commercial

Repositories : institutional, e-prints, subject, data, learning objects

Data curation: databases & databanks

Validation

Harvestingmetadata

Data creation / capture / gathering: laboratory experiments, Grids, fieldwork, surveys, media

Deposit / self-archiving

Peer-reviewed publications: journals, conference proceedings

Publication

Validation

Data analysis, transformation, mining, modelling

Searching , harvesting, embedding

Presentation services: subject, media-specific, data, commercial portals

Resource discovery, linking, embedding

Linking

The scholarly knowledge cycle.

Liz Lyon, eBankUK article. Ariadne, July 2003.


Learning & Teaching workflows



Institutional presentation services: portals, Learning Management Systems, u/g, p/g courses, modules

Harvestingmetadata



Validation



Learning object creation, re-use


Quality assurance bodies

Validation



Learning & Teaching workflows

Research & e-Science workflows



Data curation: databases & databanks

Institutional presentation services: portals, Learning Management Systems, u/g, p/g courses, modules

Validation

Harvestingmetadata

Data creation / capture / gathering: laboratory experiments, Grids, fieldwork, surveys, media




Publication

Validation

Data analysis, transformation, mining, modelling



Learning object creation, re-use


Quality assurance bodies

Validation



Linking


Potential longer term impact

1. Track data, information and workflows in e-research and scholarly communications – knowledge audit??

2. Validate the accuracy and authenticity of derived works – ideas audit??

3. Facilitate explicit referencing and acknowledgment of original contributors – intellectual integrity??

4. Raise standards associated with publication of research outputs – academic publishing rigour??

5. Implement open access to and dissemination of data and information – enhance the research process??

6. Give students links to original data underpinning published works – enhance the learning process??

4. Institutions & transformational change


Issues for our organisations• External drivers

– Economic and political (Lambert Review Dec 2003)– Innovation and knowledge transfer– Collaborations, mergers, federations

• Intra-institutional– Grid client problem– Digital asset management– Audit processes

• Human resources– Awareness-raising and skills development– Engagement and (hybrid) roles– Managing workflows

• Legal– IPR, consent, privacy

• Cultural change

"The talk you hear...about adapting to change is not only stupid, it's...dangerous. The only way you can manage change is to create it. By the time you catch up to change, the competition is ahead of you."

Peter Drucker


Transformational change

• Alters the culture (beliefs and values) of the institution by changing – select underlying assumptions and

institutional behaviours– processes and products

• Is deep and pervasive affecting the whole institution

• Is intentional• Occurs over time


Looking at the future? (US NITRD Grand Challenges)1. Knowledge environments for science & engineering2. Improved patient safety & health quality3. Informed strategic planning for long-term regional climate

change4. Anticipate consequences of universal participation in a

digital society5. Collaborative intelligence: integrating humans with intelligent

technologies6. Generating insights from information at your fingertips7. Managing knowledge-intensive organisations in dynamic

environments8. Virtual lifetime tutor for all9. ……


IT hard problem areas (some of them..)• Scalability of tools & environments as the number of users & sites

increase• User interfaces that provide prompts, alerts and reminders at the point of

(medical) decision-making• Public support for open source electronic health records• Data warehousing, data mining & knowledge management of multi-

decade, multi-disciplinary datasets• Interfaces that let users interact in ways that are natural to each group• Universal participation will be over the grid• Reconfigurable networking to support ad-hoc alliances• Automated tools to analyse information & identify causal relationships• Analyse & present information in multiple languages• Collaborative knowledge discovery, retrieval, representation &

integration to make inferences• Context-aware information delivery………





Thank you.

Documents

UKOLN is supported by: Reflections on a changing landscape - information as a consumer utility. Dr Liz Lyon, UKOLN, University of Bath, UK JISC Joint Programmes