Keynote Presentations
Patricia Cruse
Building Communities, Partnerships, Tools, and Services in Order to Thrive in a Dynamic
Information Landscape
Digital information is vital to the research, teaching, and learning mission of academia. However, technical transformations in research, teaching, and learning; adaption of a more business like model for running the institution; decreased budgets; and emergent trends in the information, search, and publishing industries are all creating major changes in today’s research institutions. In addition, the digital environment has fundamentally transformed the way in which information is produced and disseminated within the university, blurring the lines between knowledge creation and formal publication; changing the way users find, access, and use information; and creating new demands for the effective curation of digital content.
In order to respond effectively to these challenges the UC system established the UC Curation Center (UC3) at the California Digital Library (CDL). UC3 is a creative partnership bringing together the expertise and resources of the CDL, the ten UC campuses, and the broader international curation community. We foster collaborative analysis and solutions to ensure the long-term viability and usability of curated digital content. The programmatic imperative of UC3 is to provide a curation environment that is comprehensive in scope, yet flexible with regard to local policies and practices, responsive to requirements of funding agencies for data management and open access, and cognizant of the inevitability of disruptive changes in technology and user expectations. Harnessing the collective energy and innovation of its partners, UC3 provides solutions to the academic communities that are out of the reach of any individual partner.
Patricia Cruse is the founding director of the University of California Curation Center (UC3) and is responsible for all services within UC3. She works collaboratively with the ten UC campuses to develop sustainable strategies for the curation and preservation of digital content that supports the research, teaching, and learning mission of the University. Ms. Cruse has developed and oversees several of CDL's major initiatives, including the NDIIP-funded Web Archiving Service and the Digital Preservation Repository. Trisha serves on the HathiTrust Strategic Advisory Board. Her activities include specifying preservation services for the HathiTrust initiative and working with UC campus stakeholders to develop a set of digital curation micro-services supporting research data. Trisha’s current work focuses on developing tools and services that support broad types of academic output. Finally Ms. Cruse is on the leadership team for the multi-institution, NSF-funded DataONE initiative
Ned Gardiner
The Future is Unwritten: Data and Information for a Transforming World
Generations of humans have demanded that the world wake up, that people stop participating in lifestyles that push us beyond planetary boundaries, and that decision makers come to their senses. We all know this strategy has failed to transform complex, coupled human-natural systems at a scale or rate that will slow the biodiversity crisis, reverse anthropogenic climate change, or return the chemical state of ocean basins to pre-industrial conditions. Any strategy predicated only upon providing information is likely to see similar results, yet good information is essential for human society to collectively explore options for addressing these complex issues while simultaneously providing for upwards of nine billion brothers and sisters on this small planet. This paradox is good news for information managers and the discipline as a whole. Semantic engines, Earth system grids, and other technologies aimed at retrieving and using interconnected assets can and do aid in complex information products designed for audiences around the world. Your skills are essential for the challenges of our age.
Ned Gardiner is the Visualization Manager for NOAA's (the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) Climate Program Office and a producer of www.climate.gov, a flagship web site providing cutting-edge, accurate climate information. For a decade, he has used scientific visualization to help make complex scientific information understandable. Recently, he has focused on helping decision-makers around the country use climate data products make well-informed decisions about climate, climate change, and interactions with living systems. Earlier in his career, Ned advanced the use of satellite data and digital maps to produce biodiversity and Earth science video programming for museums around the world.
