Mar 27, 2015
Jane Greenberg, Associate Professor
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Overview
Motivation for studying change Theories of evolution and cultural
diffusion The Dryad Repository Explore application of theories of
change via the Dryad Repository Conclusions
Confessions….
Not an expert on the theory evolution or cultural diffusion
iSchool Conference is perfect venue to present novel ideas
Motivation for studying change
Motivation for studying change
Increase in access to a wide-variety of systems for organizing information
- NSDL Metadata Registry
Ongoing development Folksonomies formalized ontologies
- National Center for Biomedical Ontology, BioPortal repository
Remarkable growth in the diversity of individuals using these systems for organizing information
More evidence of change
Social computing environment (Flickr, MySpace, and Connetea ) tagging/Folksonomies
Formal schemes in social networks: Flickr: Image File Format (EXIF), iTunes and Windows Media Player ID3 for MP3 audio files
Repository environment requiring author generated metadata
KOS (knowledge organization systems) relating to the Semantic Web
Motivation for studying change
How might we explain or make sense of this change?
What theoretical constructs may help us to understand the organizing information changes found in our evolving information systems?
- Understanding change, we can more positively embrace change, facilitate effective change greater productivity
- Contextualizing change can help us to identify significant research questions, solving important problems, and advancing our field
Theories of evolution and cultural diffusion
Theories of evolution and cultural diffusionEvolution- Grounded in biological
sciences- Natural selection
Darwin’s Origin of the Species
- AdaptationPhysique of people Alaska and
Siberia, compared to the ancient ancestors in warmer climates
- Phenotype*- Genotype
Genetic algorithms, life-cycle
Cultural Diffusion- Spread of ideas,
material objects, behaviors (Schaefer, 1974; Berry, 1979)
- Transfer of discrete culture traits via migration, trade, war, etc. (Winthrop, 1991)
- Diffusion of innovation theory (Rogers, 1995)
The Dryad Repository
1. One-stop deposition and shopping for data objects supporting published research…
~ 180 data objects, 40 pubs; American Naturalist, Evolution,…
2. Support the acquisition, preservation, resource discovery, and reuse of heterogeneous digital datasets
3. Balance a need for low barriers, with higher-level data synthesis
The Dryad Repository
A hierarchy of goals
Synthesis
Sharing
Discovery
Preservation
The Dryad Repository
The application of theories of change via the Dryad Repository
1. Can aspects of evolutionary theory be observed…, and can they explain changes in organizing information practice?
2. Can aspects of cultural diffusion be observed..., and can they explain changes in organizing information practice?
Evolutionary Theory
Metadata standards– Natural selection: Metadata functionalities
supporting search/retrieval continue to play an important role: subject, including standardized vocabulary
– Inheritance: Metadata application profile, drawing from Dublin Core, DDI, EML, PREMIS ( perhaps also an adaptation)
Evolutionary Theory
Annotation and Folksonomy indicative of adaptations
– Extend organizing information tasks beyond the province of the information professional; the less formalized approaches permit new inroads
Concept of a “work” via natural selection and adaptation (2 first class objects: journal article and data objects) (Smiraglia, 2001, 2008)
– Data object reuse = the process of natural selection– Modified data objects = adaptations
Cultural Diffusion
A team of mixed expertise allowing for direct diffusion (Evolutionary biologists, computer scientists, and information/library scientists)
– Authority control for scientists’ names– Specificity and exhaustivity in subject indexing
Cultural Diffusion
Moving forward via indirect diffusion (generally, something in the way, but diffusion takes place anyhow)
- Ontologies mimicking structure thesauri
Evolutionary biologists are more:
- Accustomed to working with digital repositories, data deposition via Genbank, and journal repositories
- More technologically competent (Connotea, Flickr) and potentially anticipating change/new organizing information features, “tagging” and “annotation”
Phase 3, Dryad development plan/Web2.0
Conclusions
Within the construct of evolutionary theory, aspects of natural selection, inheritance, and adaptation were observed
Dryad exhibits elements of direct cultural diffusion, less clear at this time are aspects of “indirect” diffusion
Work provides examples, showing application, and…invites new questions about how to further study change
– Prove applicability via empirical evidence– Studying the topics in other repositories or other information
systems
Jane [email protected]
=SILS Metadata Research Center <MRC>http://ils.unc.edu/mrc/ [email protected]
SILS Metadata Research Center <MRC>http://ils.unc.edu/mrc/ [email protected]