A biologist studying the way chemotherapy interacts with a tumor at the cellular
level works years to develop the expertise needed to assess those changes. Meanwhile,
advances in technology that enable the biologist to store, retrieve, manipulate and
analyze the large amounts of data she collects are developing at a rate faster than she
can keep up.
Likewise, international researchers working in Switzerland on the world's largest and
most advanced particle physics lab, CERN, need to send new data, access their
previous research, and collaborate with colleagues back in their home countries. But
again, their expertise is not in developing the technical infrastructure to ensure this
process happens smoothly.
Who are the experts? Researchers at the School of Information Studies at Syracuse
University (iSchool) are hoping to define this new group of workers that they're
calling cyberinfrastructure facilitators, or CI-facilitators.
Funded by a two-year, $244,000 grant from the National Science Foundation's Office
of CyberInfrastructure, the iSchool team will investigate "CI-Facilitators: Information
Architects across the STEM Disciplines." The team is headed by Associate Dean for
Research Jeff Stanton, Dean Elizabeth D. Liddy, professor SU Chief Information
Officer Paul Gandel, and professors Derrick L. Cogburn, R. David Lankes and
Megan Oakleaf.
"The rapid pace in the development of information infrastructure implies that only
individuals who dedicate their professional lives to it can truly keep up," Stanton
says. "Our proposal hopes to define the education and training of a new breed of
information professionals called CI-facilitators. These individuals will ensure that
researchers in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM)
disciplines can utilize the large-scale datasets, images, databases and other
information collections they need to advance their work."
The team will design an educational program at the graduate and undergraduate
levels that will teach a set of focused skills, knowledge and capabilities. This program
will include current courses, new courses, internships, technical training and a variety
of other learning modules.
These students will graduate knowing how to:
The iSchool researchers believe this skill set will shorten the time it takes to achieve a
goal. "We see CI-facilitators excelling in the three 'I's'-information, infrastructure
and improvisation," Stanton says. "They will have the research skills to discover the
needs of information users and will be able to adapt available technology to satisfy
those needs."
