Reconceptualizing VIVO as an IR: challenges and opportunities in thinking outside of the 'box'

2015-11-16T21:56:18Z (GMT) by Annie Gaines
In 2012, the University of Idaho Library began implementing VIVO, an open-source Semantic Web application, both as a database to describe, visualize, and report university research activity as well as a discovery layer for its fledgling institutional repository. 

The poster will detail some of the challenges librarians encountered developing this resource, while discussing the tools (such as OpenRefine, née Google Refine) and techniques they used for obtaining, editing, and uploading institutional data into the RDF-based VIVO system. Included will be hard-won tips on developing similar resources: such as "how NOT to anger entire academic departments in one email” and “Explaining RDF without sounding like a Martian.” 

The focus on using VIVO as a front-end for an institutional repository created unique difficulties for the team, and this poster will describe the challenges and opportunities inherent in using VIVO in this manner.