UMass Amherst Libraries Awarded $48,000 To Investigate Disciplinary Repository Development
The UMass Amherst Libraries have received a $48,000 National Leadership Planning Grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) to investigate the development of a disciplinary repository for the Ethical, Legal and Social Implications (ELSI) of nanoscience and emerging technologies research. The Libraries will partner with the Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) and the Centers for Nanotechnology and Society at Arizona State University (CNS-ASU) and at the University of California Santa Barbara (CNS-UCSB) in a planning project to explore future integration of digital services for researchers studying ethical, legal, and social implications associated with the development of nanotechnology and other emerging technologies.
The Nanoscience and Emerging Technologies in Society: Sharing Research and Learning Tools (NETS) project investigates digital resources to advance the collection, dissemination, and preservation of this body of research, addressing the challenge of marshaling resources, academic collaborators, appropriately skilled data managers, and digital repository services for large-scale, multi-institutional and disciplinary research projects. The central activity of this project involves a spring 2013 workshop that will gather key researchers in the field and digital librarians together to plan the development of a disciplinary repository of data, curricula, and methodological tools.
Societal dimensions research investigating the impacts of new and emerging technologies in nanoscience is among the largest research programs of its kind in the United States, with an explicit mission to communicate outcomes and insights to the public. By 2015, scholars across the country affiliated with this program will have spent ten years collecting qualitative and quantitative data and developing analytic and methodological tools for examining the human dimensions of nanotechnology. The sharing of data and research tools in this field will foster a new kind of social science inquiry and ensure that the outcomes of research reach public audiences through multiple pathways.
Filed under: Data Files, Funding, Libraries, Management and Leadership, News, Open Access, Preservation

About Gary Price
Gary Price (gprice@gmail.com) is a librarian, writer, consultant, and frequent conference speaker based in the Washington D.C. metro area. He earned his MLIS degree from Wayne State University in Detroit. Price has won several awards including the SLA Innovations in Technology Award and Alumnus of the Year from the Wayne St. University Library and Information Science Program. From 2006-2009 he was Director of Online Information Services at Ask.com.