| Abstract Detail
Recent Topics Posters Heidorn, P. Bryan [1], Palmer, Carole L. [1], Wright, Dan [1], Cragin, Melissa [1].
Information Specialist’s Training in Biology. Botany, like the rest of biology, has become an extremely data-intensive science, with numerous challenges associated with the rate and complexity of data being generated reflecting the complexity of the underlying biology with consummate consequences for scientific discovery. Unfortunately, few scientists are trained in scientific information management. Worse, the data and information challenges can consume a large share of time from practicing scientists, interfering with the conduct of science. Moreover, new discoveries in the biological sciences will increasingly depend on the integration of data across multiple scales – of size, time, and orders of complexity. Researchers will need to draw on data from other disciplines to gain new insights into their own research questions. This situation calls for a new breed of information professional trained in best practices of biological information collection and management, and that is knowledgeable about the differences and commonalities of these practices across domains and can promote interoperability and sharing. To build this kind of professional capacity, we have developed two complementary educational programs at the Graduate School of Library and Information Science (GSLIS) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, a Biological Information Specialist (BIS) master’s degree, and a concentration in Data Curation (DC) within the existing Master of Library Science degree program.
Our approach to BIS and DC education is grounded in the recognition that while the volume of information is escalating in the digital environment, the character of information and research is also changing. We are currently conducting a needs assessment and best practices research to draw on the expertise of practicing data scientists to ensure that the curriculum will meet the data-driven needs for the changing character of biological science. Here we report on preliminary results from that research and their implications for educating information professionals in the plant sciences.
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Master of Science in Biogical Informatics
Master of Science--Concentration in Data Curation
1 - University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Graduate School of Library and Information Science, 501 East Daniel St. MC-493, Champaign, Illinois, 61820-6212, USA
Keywords:
informatics
education
data integration
data curation.
Presentation Type: Recent Topics Poster
Session: P
Location: Exhibit Hall (Northeast, Southwest & Southeast)/Hilton
Date: Sunday, July 8th, 2007
Time: 8:00 AM
Number: P79048
Abstract ID:2728 |
