New Center for Digital Scholarship helps faculty leverage data, showcase their publications, and use the latest AI
The Library's New Center for Digital Scholarship on Regenstein’s first floor engages faculty and students conducting research with evolving technology. The Center offers expertise, software, and facilities that help researchers and instructors to leverage data, technology, and tools to create and share innovative academic work.
Already a popular gathering space for students and faculty collaborating on digital projects since opening in April, the Center welcomed over 500 patrons this summer alone. The Center is open 9 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. Monday to Friday.
Research Data Support
Managing research data effectively is critical to producing high-quality, reproducible results. Librarians such as Lisa Chinn, the new Head of Research Data Services at the Center, provide robust research data support, including assistance with developing Data Management Plans (DMPs) that comply with funding agency requirements. Faculty can receive guidance on best practices for organizing, storing, and sharing research data using tools like the Open Science Framework (OSF), ensuring that their work remains accessible and sustainable for future use.
Scholarly Communications
For faculty looking to disseminate their research, the Center offers services that streamline the publication and sharing process. Through Knowledge@UChicago, faculty can deposit and showcase their scholarly outputs, ensuring long-term preservation and broad visibility within and beyond the academic community. This online repository delivered 1,439,956 downloads of UChicago scholarship in FY2024.
The Library’s partnership with DataCite facilitates the creation of Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs) for datasets, making them easier to find, cite, and share. To prevent broken links in academic citations, scholars can create unique, permanent copies of online articles and other sources using Perma.cc, provided by the Center.
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
As AI continues to transform research across disciplines, the Center supports faculty with both instruction and consultation on integrating AI into their research. Whether through natural language processing or machine learning, faculty can explore new ways of analyzing and interpreting data with expert guidance from Library staff.
Flexible Studio and Digital Project Labs
The Center invites instructors to request training sessions in the Trial & Train Studio for their classes on a range of topics, such as AI literacy, creating digital collections and exhibits, introduction to geographic information systems (GIS), copyright, and data cleaning and management. From hosting seminars to conducting hands-on workshops, faculty can make use of this flexible space for both training and research activities. Instructors can also introduce their students to GIS tools and concepts through the GIS Hub. The Center also houses two Digital Project Labs, which are equipped with large monitors and Zoom devices to facilitate working on digital projects.
Co-working Space with Specialized Software & Equipment
The Center offers co-working space where faculty can work alongside colleagues, use specialized software provided by the Library, and request help from Library experts. These workspaces are designed to support a wide range of digital scholarship activities, from data analysis to digital publishing, helping faculty take their projects from concept to completion in a collaborative setting. Examples of software include ABBY FineReader for making scanned documents machine readable and QGIS for spatial data analysis. Researchers looking to digitize materials for text mining, digital exhibits, or personal archiving with guidance from Center staff can use the Center’s DIY Digitization Lab.
Faculty are encouraged to explore all the resources the Center for Digital Scholarship has to offer. For more information or to schedule a consultation, visit https://www.lib.uchicago.edu/cds.
