Digital Scholarship Needs Assessment

The development of robust support for digital scholarship--work that focuses on the juncture of technology and traditional humanities and social science scholarship--is an increasingly important role of academic libraries. UW students and faculty have been and are doing innovative work in this area, but鈥╯upport from the library and other campus groups has been inconsistent. In consultation with the UW鈥↙ibraries' Digital Scholarship Task Group, we conducted a needs assessment of faculty and graduate鈥╯tudents working on digital projects. Through a series of focus groups, interviews, and reviews of鈥╯uccessful programs at other institutions, we have identified key needs as well as potential training and鈥╰ools to meet those needs. Our key recommendations include: dedicated physical space for scholars and faculty to do their work, centralized and visible support for those seeking guidance, project matchmaking to pair scholars with ongoing projects, front-loading programs early in the academic year, and institutional and leadership consistency.
Becky Ramsey
MLIS
Abigail Darling
MLIS
