DSS: A model for digital scholarship in new report

Skillman Library’s Digital Scholarship Services (DSS) features prominently in the Coalition for Networked Information (CNI)’s latest report “Digital Scholarship Centers: Trends & Good Practice.” The report is the result of an invitational workshop held at CNI’s spring meeting in St. Louis this past April. There, participants from digital scholarship teams representing 24 institutions including Lafayette met to discuss their own experiences in conceptualizing a digital scholarship center and in defining best practices in the field.

From this conversation along with a survey issued prior to the conference, CNI identified Lafayette’s DSS as a model for creating and promoting the growth of digital scholarship at a small liberal arts college. According to the report, “liberal arts colleges are committed to having students learn by doing, and to providing ways for students to engage with faculty doing research; [DSS] lends itself to the interplay of teaching and research that, in part, define institutions like Lafayette.” Placed alongside of much larger research institutions, DSS has earned a reputation for innovation and ingenuity in the digital scholarship community.

At CNI’s fall meeting held in Washington D.C. earlier this month, Executive Director Clifford Lynch, provided a review of this report and announced that CNI will follow up these findings with a new workshop this spring. There institutions will draw on the knowledge gained from models like Lafayette to build their own Digital Scholarship Centers. Lafayette’s librarians are pleased to have such opportunities to share their experience in the company of other leading colleges and universities and look forward to participating in the continued development of digital scholarship in higher education.

For more information on starting a digital project with DSS or applying for an internship opportunity contact us at digital@lafayette.edu, or call (610) 330-5796.