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  • 1.  Practice research and repositories

    Posted 03-26-2022 08:26
    Hi Everyone,

    I wanted to bring your attention to some work we are doing in the UK in relation to capturing practice research and making it more discoverable based on the work we have done here at the University of Westminster to develop the Haplo (and now Cayuse) Repository.

    Some definitions in case you are unfamiliar with the term:

    Practice research

    "An umbrella term that describes all manners of research where practice is the significant method of research conveyed in a research output. This includes numerous discipline-specific formulations of practice research, which have distinct and unique balances of practice, research narrative and complementary methods within their projects."

    Research narrative

    "In a practice research output, a research narrative may be conjoined with, or embodied in, practice. A research narrative articulates the research enquiry that emerges in practice."

    Bulley, James and Şahin, Özden. Practice Research – Report 1: What is practice research? P1. London: PRAG-UK, 2021. https://doi.org/10.23636/1347.


    Practice research outputs are often made up of multiple components, and can include non-text and text outputs and a narrative statement.

    We have currently got two surveys out - one aimed researchers and practitioners and one aimed at institutional and organisational support teams.

    If you or colleagues would be interested in finding out more and/or filling in our surveys - please take a look at our Practice Research Voices (PR Voices) project blog and this PR Voices survey blog post.


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    Jenny Evans
    Research Environment and Scholarly Communications Lead
    University of Westminster
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  • 2.  RE: Practice research and repositories

    TEAM CAYUSE
    Posted 03-30-2022 12:21
    Thank you for sharing this, @Jenny Evans! I hope folks will take a look at the project and participate.​

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    Simon Helton
    He/him
    Community Manager
    Cayuse
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    Original Message


  • 3.  RE: Practice research and repositories

    This message was posted by a user wishing to remain anonymous
    Posted 03-31-2022 07:12
    This message was posted by a user wishing to remain anonymous

    I am feeling a little dense, because I do not understand what is meant by "practice research" (despite looking thru the referenced article that purports to define it).  Is it equivalent to pilot studies, where one is trying to come up with a new way of addressing a hypothesis but isn't sure the methodology they've devised will work, and intends to tweak it until it does?
    Original Message


  • 4.  RE: Practice research and repositories

    Posted 03-31-2022 09:08
    Hi - thanks - I really appreciate your honestly.

    The term is very UK focussed at this point in time - the related work going on in North America at least from what I understand - is called something a bit different.

    As a starting point - we are looking at multi-component research outputs that are created by creative arts, architects, musicians where their research outputs are not necessarily represented as a single, text-based output but a collection of research outputs (often non-text - such as exhibitions, artefacts, objects, documentation - which could be called research data) that are connected together with a narrative which evidences the research method. So it isn't just about making a representation of the object (e.g. a video or image) openly available but the surrounding evidence. This is one example: https://doi.org/10.34737/qqvqz

    Does this help at all?




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    Jenny Evans
    Research Environment and Scholarly Communications Lead
    University of Westminster
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    Original Message


  • 5.  RE: Practice research and repositories

    This message was posted by a user wishing to remain anonymous
    Posted 04-01-2022 06:32
    This message was posted by a user wishing to remain anonymous

    Thanks, Jenny.  I think I get it now. "Practice" in this context does not mean working at something to improve one's performance, but instead refers to a professional focus--medical practice being one option, but it also encompasses the practice of other sciences or arts.  And the outcomes/outputs of each practice are not necessarily written narratives, but the goal of your project is to figure out how to use written narratives to holistically represent such outputs?
    Original Message


  • 6.  RE: Practice research and repositories

    Posted 04-24-2022 03:52
    Hi,

    Apologies for such a late response - I had some time off over Easter.

    Using narratives is definitely one element of this work - but in the context of connecting together / documenting the research processes underpinning/aligning with the different research outputs created as part of the practice. And the other element is around making sure that this is not only captured but is preserved and made discoverable.

    And this approach isn't very well supported by the existing metadata / persistent identifier landscape which not only means researchers creating this type of work do not benefit from improved discoverability - but they don't have the time saving mechanisms that exist for researchers that create more traditional research outputs (e.g. journal articles). It also makes it harder for this research to be recognised.

    Please do feel free to get in touch with me directly if you have any follow up questions. If I/we are not being clear about what we are trying to achieve (possibly due to the UK-specific context) it would be incredible helpful to understand where the disconnect is!

    In case it helps - here are a few links to what I understand is related work going on in the U.S. https://expansive.pubpub.org/, https://www.acls.org/digital-commission-sustaining-diverse-scholarship/ and the Just Futures initiative

    Thanks,

    Jenny
    (J.Evans2@westminster.ac.uk)


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    Jenny Evans
    Research Environment and Scholarly Communications Lead
    University of Westminster
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    Original Message


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