Partnering to Visualize Collaborations Using Persistent Identifiers: A Work-Integrated Learning Project

In two undergraduate courses at Mount Allison University, students explored the critical role of persistent identifiers in the research ecosystem through a hands-on, work-integrated learning project with the Canadian Research Knowledge Network (CRKN). Students applied their research, communication, and data science skills to enhance CRKN resources for members of the ORCID Canada Consortium.

One key resource is an R-based project that uses persistent identifiers to build an institutional dataset of research collaborations and visualize publications and collaborations through an interactive dashboard. CRKN introduced the students to persistent identifiers for institutions (ROR), researchers (ORCID), and research outputs (DOI). They explained the data acquisition process and demonstrated the dashboard, including some areas for improvement. They also shared their GitHub workflow and created a dedicated project tracker to facilitate communication.

The students applied their data science skills by reviewing the code and resolving some of the issues described by CRKN. The instructors for the courses, who are also librarians, were able to identify problems and limitations based on knowledge of the local dataset. Students suggested additional changes based on course material, including tidyverse approaches in R and best practices for data management.

This partnership between CRKN and librarians at a member institution was fruitful in terms of learning, relationship-building, and concrete project outcomes. Students selected problems of interest, practiced professional communication using GitHub, and contributed to a meaningful open scholarship project. Librarians gained insight into current usage of ORCID at their institution, gauged student interest in potential ORCID integrations, and discussed ORCID with national leaders. CRKN implemented improvements to their data visualization tool through engagement with future scholars and data professionals.

In this presentation, we will share strategies that made this collaboration successful, the challenges we faced, and lessons learned for future partnerships between academic institutions and national networks.