More than data repositories: perceived information needs for the development of social sciences and humanities research infrastructures

Introduction. The digitalization of social sciences and humanities research necessitates research infrastructures. However, this transformation is still incipient, highlighting the need to better understand how to successfully support data-intensive research. Method. Starting from a case study of...

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Main Authors: Anna Sendra, Elina Late, Sanna Kumpulainen
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: University of Borås 2023-12-01
Series:Information Research: An International Electronic Journal
Subjects:
Online Access:https://informationr.net/infres/article/view/598
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author Anna Sendra
Elina Late
Sanna Kumpulainen
author_facet Anna Sendra
Elina Late
Sanna Kumpulainen
author_sort Anna Sendra
collection DOAJ
description Introduction. The digitalization of social sciences and humanities research necessitates research infrastructures. However, this transformation is still incipient, highlighting the need to better understand how to successfully support data-intensive research. Method. Starting from a case study of building a national infrastructure for conducting data-intensive research, this study aims to understand the information needs of digital researchers regarding the facility and explore the importance of evaluation in its development. Analysis. Thirteen semi-structured interviews with social sciences and humanities scholars and computer and data scientists processed through a thematic analysis revealed three themes (developing a research infrastructure, needs and expectations of the research infrastructure, and an approach to user feedback and user interactions). Results. Findings reveal that developing an infrastructure for conducting data-intensive research is a complicated task influenced by contrasting information needs between social sciences and humanities scholars and computer and data scientists, such as the demand for increased support of the former. Findings also highlight the limited role of evaluation in its creation. Conclusions. The development of infrastructures for conducting data-intensive research requires further discussion that particularly considers the disciplinary differences between social sciences and humanities scholars and computer and data scientists. Suggestions on how to better design this kind of facilities are also raised.
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spelling doaj-art-6931a82b38764b38be4fb3eba6926d472025-02-03T10:10:35ZengUniversity of BoråsInformation Research: An International Electronic Journal1368-16132023-12-012848310110.47989/ir284598595More than data repositories: perceived information needs for the development of social sciences and humanities research infrastructuresAnna Sendra0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7069-1378Elina Late1Sanna Kumpulainen2Tampere UniversityTampere UniversityTampere UniversityIntroduction. The digitalization of social sciences and humanities research necessitates research infrastructures. However, this transformation is still incipient, highlighting the need to better understand how to successfully support data-intensive research. Method. Starting from a case study of building a national infrastructure for conducting data-intensive research, this study aims to understand the information needs of digital researchers regarding the facility and explore the importance of evaluation in its development. Analysis. Thirteen semi-structured interviews with social sciences and humanities scholars and computer and data scientists processed through a thematic analysis revealed three themes (developing a research infrastructure, needs and expectations of the research infrastructure, and an approach to user feedback and user interactions). Results. Findings reveal that developing an infrastructure for conducting data-intensive research is a complicated task influenced by contrasting information needs between social sciences and humanities scholars and computer and data scientists, such as the demand for increased support of the former. Findings also highlight the limited role of evaluation in its creation. Conclusions. The development of infrastructures for conducting data-intensive research requires further discussion that particularly considers the disciplinary differences between social sciences and humanities scholars and computer and data scientists. Suggestions on how to better design this kind of facilities are also raised.https://informationr.net/infres/article/view/598digital humanitiescomputational social sciencesresearch infrastructureinformation needinformation behaviour
spellingShingle Anna Sendra
Elina Late
Sanna Kumpulainen
More than data repositories: perceived information needs for the development of social sciences and humanities research infrastructures
Information Research: An International Electronic Journal
digital humanities
computational social sciences
research infrastructure
information need
information behaviour
title More than data repositories: perceived information needs for the development of social sciences and humanities research infrastructures
title_full More than data repositories: perceived information needs for the development of social sciences and humanities research infrastructures
title_fullStr More than data repositories: perceived information needs for the development of social sciences and humanities research infrastructures
title_full_unstemmed More than data repositories: perceived information needs for the development of social sciences and humanities research infrastructures
title_short More than data repositories: perceived information needs for the development of social sciences and humanities research infrastructures
title_sort more than data repositories perceived information needs for the development of social sciences and humanities research infrastructures
topic digital humanities
computational social sciences
research infrastructure
information need
information behaviour
url https://informationr.net/infres/article/view/598
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AT elinalate morethandatarepositoriesperceivedinformationneedsforthedevelopmentofsocialsciencesandhumanitiesresearchinfrastructures
AT sannakumpulainen morethandatarepositoriesperceivedinformationneedsforthedevelopmentofsocialsciencesandhumanitiesresearchinfrastructures