Re: the value of IRs

[Sandy Thatcher <sgt3@psu.edu>]

I expect you're right, Greg, but then my follow-up question is: 
why is there a need for an IR as opposed to departmental or unit 
web sites, which provide the requisite information to targeted 
audiences such as the ones you mention? This is another variation 
of the question whether disciplinary web sites do not better 
serve the interests of most faculty than general, all-inclusive 
IRs.  Are IRs established as umbrellas with very specific 
departmental or unit sites included within them as subsections? 
If they are not, then I don't see how they could serve the 
functions you point out here.

Sandy Thatcher
Penn State University Press


> Sandy, this is a good, provocative question: to whom does the IR 
> actually make an institution visible?  I suspect this audience 
> goes beyond legislators and other governmental officials. 
> Among the other constituencies an IR targets:
>
> - Private donors.  The IR can serve as a valuable marketing tool 
> for alumni associations.  It can demonstrate the vibrancy of a 
> particular research unit, department, center, institute, lab, or 
> program.  A graduate of Berkeley's Boalt Hall School of Law, for 
> example, might be more inclined to send an annual donation if 
> she were easily able to see the ongoing scholarly output from 
> her alma mater.
>
> - Prospective students, graduate students, postdocs, and new 
> faculty hires.  The IR, by rendering visible the scholarship 
> associated with a specific unit, can serve as a valuable marker 
> for individuals potentially interested in intersecting with that 
> unit.  What is the focus of a lab's research?  What types of 
> dissertations are being authored in a department? Understanding 
> the output of a given unit helps folks make informed decisions 
> regarding the suitability of the fit between institution and 
> individual.
>
> It is true that one might reasonably ask whether IRs are 
> resonating with these audiences any more effectively than with 
> legislators. It does seem likely, at the very least, that these 
> constituencies are better equipped to, as Sandy wrote, "pass 
> judgment as to the quality or 'relevance' of such research".
>
>
> Best, Greg
>
> Greg Tananbaum
> Consulting Services at the Intersection of Technology, Content, & Academia
> (510) 295-7504
> gtananbaum@gmail.com
> http://www.scholarnext.com