Scholarship in New Media
Final presentation of the day, from Dan Schnaidt, below the fold.
“Repositioning the Academic Media Studio”
– background: 2000, pilot faculty digitization project, development of media database (oracle-based, worked with librarians on metadata schemes); 2001, reorganized a/v services — digitization, e-classrooms, special events; 2002, member of new media centers, $280K from davis foundation for learning objects
– the learning object vision: learn anytime, anywhere; object-oriented; reuse and repurpose content; cost effective
– learning object taxonomy; ranges of granularity, most reusable to least, least context to most: raw data media elements, information objects, application objects, aggregate assemblies, collections
– learning object studio organization: roles = project manager, designer(s), programmer, librarian, digitization specialist, content expert; step-by-step process/workbook; assessment using tlt flashlight evaluation protocols
– elaborate process diagram: request and proposal, design and conceptualization, prototype, production, testing, publish and evaluate
– cost $5-50K per learning object; additional grant funding; other staff time contributed; faculty not paid to participate
– faculty participation: mostly tenured faculty trying new ways to communicate and teach; no tenure-track faculty; one visiting fellow; scientists, social scientists, artists, and humanists
– made simulations and animations (tidal action, theater blocking, color mixing, genetic mutation); interactive games and tools (ricardian explorer, lightbox); collections and exhibitions (virtual instrument museum, scroll singers of naya, ukiyo-e technique); field research (palenque, afghan north and others)
– turned into web publications of field research from many disciplines
– website: learningobjects.wesleyan.edu
– problems of slowing production
– assessment: mix of hard and soft metrics; results: poor faculty response, significant external use, insufficient internal use; faculty motivation was a problem
– the case against internal funding: too expensive, not enough use
– had become a publishing unit, without traditional supports — editors, peer review, permissions, distribution channels
– wanted to build on successes: learning object studio was ambitious, inventive, won an NMC center of excellence award, developed in-house expertise
– reorganizing as “academic media studio”: smaller projects with faster turnaround; large projects grant-funded; charge-back all non-academic work; collaboration with library and press
– wesleyan university press goals: digital imprint; partner with library and its; ownership of (some) learning objects; new publishing models; online revenue streams
– the press can bring prestige/credentialing, peer review, distribution, editorial support, market discipline, relationship with authors
– library as key partner: unique content, organize collections (metadata), central to university mission, understand usability and access, good at preservation
– framework for collaboration: scholarly communications committee (academic media studio, library, press) — includes repository, etc
– first collaborative project: “accelerated motion: towards a new dance literacy in america” — nea funding for CD, support from press, university, nitle, neh
– improvements in new system: professional editor (to manage relationships with authors and provide editorial guidance), centralized management of process
– ongoing challenges: faculty follow-through, maintaining strict deadlines
– beginning to pay faculty ($2K per project); assists in creating contractual relationship, to manage follow-through
– academic media studio mission: engage new technologies, lightweight teaching modules, conference support, support for digital publications (incl. blogs, wikis, publishing platforms), digitization, grant-funded projects, post-production for podcasts
– staff: manager, programmer (flash/actionscript, php, javascript, etc), designer, two more
– priorities: no charge for classroom use, academic use; charge for non-curricular or conference use — cost-recovery
– new models for scholarship: book on Scholarship in the Digital Age (2007)
– academic blogs
– kate hayles quote from MLA presentation on scholarship in new media
– focus on publishing — a part of the core mission of every school (see ithaka report)
– acrl scholarly communications institute
