Measuring the Global Research Environment:
Information Science Challenges
for the 21st Century
Caryn Anderson
Gabriele Bammer
Graduate School of Library
and Information Science
Simmons College
National Centre for Epidemiology
and Public Health
Australian National University
Hauser Center for Nonprofit Organizations
Harvard University
Measuring the Global Research Environment:
Information Science Challenges for the 21st Century
Our Question:
What does the global research environment look like?
Particularly global research production?
Measuring the Global Research Environment:
Information Science Challenges for the 21st Century
“…no nation that wants to shape
informed policies and take effective action …
can afford to be without its own
independent capacity in science
and technology.”
Kofi Annan
Secretary-General
United Nations
Science, 2004
Annan calls for global cooperation in developing
“a large collective reservoir of knowledge and expertise.”
Measuring the Global Research Environment:
Information Science Challenges for the 21st Century
Why global research production?
• assumed (mistakenly) that data would be readily
available
• a sense of global research production would
provide a useful context for development of new
field of Integration and Implementation Sciences
Measuring the Global Research Environment:
Information Science Challenges for the 21st Century
Integration and Implementation Sciences
Developing theory and methods needed for the crossdisciplinary research that supports tackling large-scale,
complex, social problems and for the use of that
research in informing effective policy and action.
Combines:
• Systems Thinking & Complexity Science
• Participatory Methods
• Knowledge Management & Information Science
Measuring the Global Research Environment:
Information Science Challenges for the 21st Century
Global Research Environment as Case Study
Inquiry into the nature of the global research environment
highlights potential information science responses
to challenges in the management, exchange and
implementation of knowledge globally.
Measuring the Global Research Environment:
Information Science Challenges for the 21st Century
Two Dimensions Relevant to Information Science
• Data Collection Process
– challenges in gathering, integrating and presenting data
– activities central to the work of information science
• Research Capacity
– inequalities in capacity evident in the results
– information needs and knowledge-sharing capacities of specific
populations are the concern of information scientists
Measuring the Global Research Environment:
Information Science Challenges for the 21st Century
The Investigation
• UNESCO Research & Development Data (1996-2002)
• Institute of Scientific Information publications listings
(Jan 98 – Mar 03)
• World of Learning 2002 Reference Volume
Measuring the Global Research Environment:
Information Science Challenges for the 21st Century
UNESCO Research & Development Data (1996-2002)
R&D Expenditures Per Capita
$1,200
PPP$
$1,000
18.9 (Austria) –
1,083 (Sweden)
$800
$600
$400
$200
0.1 (Zambia)
– 19.7 (India)
2 (Honduras) –
86.8 (South Africa)
Median
1 (Trinidad &
Tobago) – 193
(Czech Republic)
$0
Low -Incom e
Low er-MiddleIncom e
Upper-MiddleIncom e
Economies
High
Low
Upper-Incom e
Measuring the Global Research Environment:
Information Science Challenges for the 21st Century
Institute of Scientific Information publications listings
Authors (Median)
Country Affiliations of Authors of Papers Listed in
Web of Science (Jan. 1998 - Mar. 2003)
25,000
20,000
15,000
10,000
5,000
0
High:
104,865 (India)
Median: 236
Low-Income
High:
153,753 (Russian
Federation)
Median: 737
High:
60,207 (Poland)
Median: 1,375
Lower-MiddleIncome
Upper-MiddleIncome
Economies
High:
2,060,522 (USA)
Median: 19,169
Upper-Income
Measuring the Global Research Environment:
Information Science Challenges for the 21st Century
World of Learning 2002 Reference Volume
Median Number of
Organizations per Country
Institutes/Organizations of Higher Learning
18
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
Learned Societies
Research Institutes
Universities & Higher Ed
Low -Incom e
Low erMiddleIncom e
UpperMiddleIncom e
Economies
UpperIncom e
Measuring the Global Research Environment:
Information Science Challenges for the 21st Century
Limitations of Data Sources
• UNESCO Research & Development Data (1996-2002)
–
–
–
–
only 91 countries (38% of 241 listed by ISO)
data not available for all countries in all years
some countries calculated data differently
3 related reports difficult to re-combine and analyze
• Institute of Scientific Information publications listings
(Jan 98 – Mar 03)
– author country affiliations had to be searched manually
– variations and typos complicated process
• World of Learning 2002 Reference Volume
– no indication of size, reputation or influence of the institutions
– structural differences among research institutions
Measuring the Global Research Environment:
Information Science Challenges for the 21st Century
Research Production Boundary Issues
• Beyond the scope of information scientists
– poor compliance with standards in primary data collection
– lack of local resources
– political issues restricting/prohibiting release of data
• Where information science can contribute
– improved information retrieval systems, technologies and
policies
– simple ways for combining and analyzing diverse
information from multiple resources
Measuring the Global Research Environment:
Information Science Challenges for the 21st Century
Information Science Strategies
• Access and Exchange strategies
– RSS, OAI-PMH, OpenURL, Open Access Publishing
• Integration Strategies
– standardized data transfer standards customized for
domains and cultures (XML, RDF, TEI, EAD, IABIN,
EST, etc.)
Measuring the Global Research Environment:
Information Science Challenges for the 21st Century
Research Capacity Boundary Issues
• Beyond the scope of information scientists
– lack of infrastructure
– lack of local resources
– political issues restricting/prohibiting investment in research
• Where information science can contribute
– improved information retrieval systems, technologies and
policies
– cultural and domain-specific knowledge sharing processes
Measuring the Global Research Environment:
Information Science Challenges for the 21st Century
Information Science Strategies
• Taxonomies and Ontologies
– development of semantic structures for cross-disciplinary
and cross-language retrieval
• Information Needs, Seeking Behavior and Use
– position information needs and dissemination strategies
for specific populations into larger global framework
• Information Visualization
– non-text-based communication methods aid crosslanguage and cross-disciplinary information sharing
Measuring the Global Research Environment:
Information Science Challenges for the 21st Century
Conclusion
• Global Research Environment as Framework
– Assessment of the the global research environment
highlights the contributions that information scientists
can make to strengthening local research capacity in
developing nations.
• Theory, Methods, and Best Practices Exist
– Many information scientists are already working on
relevant strategies in the areas discussed.
• Conversation & Action
– We hope our investigation will fuel conversation and
action in coordinating existing and future information
science activity around this global research sharing
framework.
Measuring the Global Research Environment:
Information Science Challenges
for the 21st Century
Caryn Anderson
Caryn.Anderson@simmons.edu
Global Research Environment
Discussion
http://www.ils.unc.edu/asist2005/wiki/
Gabriele Bammer
Gabriele.Bammer@anu.edu.au
Integration & Implementation
Sciences
http://www.anu.edu.au/iisn/
Global Research Data
http://vidlib.simmons.edu/projects/iis/globalresearch/