how to build a research database

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Mastering The Art Of Creating A Research Database: A Step-By-Step Guide

Research databases play a crucial role in the world of academia, business, and various other fields. They provide a centralized and organized platform for storing, managing, and analyzing vast amounts of data. In this blog post, we will explore the importance of research databases and discuss the purpose of this article.

Table of Contents

Importance of Research Databases

Research databases are essential tools for researchers, students, and professionals alike. They offer a wealth of information that can be accessed and utilized for various purposes, such as:

Efficient Data Storage : Research databases provide a structured and organized way to store large volumes of data. This ensures that information is easily accessible and can be retrieved quickly when needed.

Data Integration : Databases allow for the integration of data from multiple sources, enabling researchers to analyze and draw insights from diverse datasets. This integration can lead to more comprehensive and accurate research outcomes.

Data Security : Research databases offer robust security measures to protect sensitive information. Access controls, encryption, and regular backups ensure that data remains secure and protected from unauthorized access or loss.

Collaboration and Sharing : Databases facilitate collaboration among researchers by providing a centralized platform for sharing data and findings. This promotes knowledge exchange and accelerates the progress of research projects.

Purpose of the Blog Post

The purpose of this blog post is to guide readers through the process of creating a research database. We will cover the essential steps involved in designing, implementing, and maintaining a database for research purposes. By following these steps, readers will gain a solid understanding of how to create an effective research database that meets their specific needs.

Throughout this article, we will explore topics such as:

Understanding the Basics of Research Databases : We will define research databases, discuss their types, and highlight the benefits of using them. Additionally, we will explore the common features found in research databases.

Step 1: Defining the Research Objectives : This step involves identifying the purpose of the research, determining the scope and focus of the database, and setting clear goals and objectives.

Step 2: Designing the Database Structure : Here, we will delve into choosing the appropriate database management system, creating tables, and establishing relationships between them.

Step 3: Collecting and Organizing Data : This step focuses on identifying relevant sources for data collection, extracting and importing data into the database, and ensuring data accuracy and consistency.

Step 4: Implementing Data Validation and Security Measures : We will discuss the importance of setting up data validation rules, implementing user access controls, and regularly backing up the database to ensure data integrity and security.

Step 5: Querying and Analyzing Data : This step involves writing SQL queries to retrieve specific information, utilizing data analysis tools and techniques, and generating reports and visualizations for data analysis.

Step 6: Maintaining and Updating the Database : We will explore the importance of regularly reviewing and cleaning the database, updating and adding new data as needed, and monitoring performance to optimize the database’s efficiency.

By the end of this blog post, readers will have a comprehensive understanding of the steps involved in creating a research database. They will be equipped with the knowledge and skills necessary to embark on their own database creation journey and master the art of managing research data effectively.

Understanding the Basics of Research Databases

Research databases play a crucial role in the world of academia and scientific research. They provide a centralized platform for storing, organizing, and accessing vast amounts of information. In this section, we will delve into the basics of research databases, including their definition, types, and the benefits they offer. We will also explore the common features that make research databases an indispensable tool for researchers.

Definition and Types of Research Databases

A research database is a structured collection of data that is specifically designed to support research activities. It serves as a repository for various types of information, such as scholarly articles, research papers, datasets, and more. These databases are typically created and maintained by organizations, universities, or specialized institutions.

There are different types of research databases available, each catering to specific research needs. Some common types include:

Bibliographic Databases : These databases focus on providing information about published research articles, including details such as authors, titles, abstracts, and keywords. Examples of popular bibliographic databases include PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science.

Full-Text Databases : These databases contain the complete text of research articles, allowing researchers to access the entire content of a publication. Examples of full-text databases include JSTOR, ScienceDirect, and IEEE Xplore.

Subject-Specific Databases : These databases are dedicated to specific subject areas or disciplines, providing comprehensive coverage of research within those fields. Examples include PsycINFO for psychology research and ACM Digital Library for computer science.

Benefits of Using Research Databases

Research databases offer numerous benefits that significantly enhance the research process. Here are some key advantages:

Access to a Wide Range of Information : Research databases provide access to a vast collection of scholarly resources, enabling researchers to explore a wide range of topics and stay up-to-date with the latest research in their field.

Efficient Search and Retrieval : These databases are equipped with advanced search functionalities, allowing researchers to quickly find relevant articles, papers, or datasets based on specific criteria such as keywords, authors, or publication dates.

Quality and Credibility : Research databases often include peer-reviewed and reputable sources, ensuring the reliability and credibility of the information available. This helps researchers avoid unreliable or biased sources.

Time and Cost Savings : By utilizing research databases, researchers can save valuable time and resources that would otherwise be spent on manually searching for and accessing individual research articles or papers.

Common Features of Research Databases

Research databases typically offer a range of features that facilitate efficient data management and retrieval. Some common features include:

Advanced Search Capabilities : Research databases provide powerful search functionalities, allowing researchers to perform complex queries and refine their search results based on specific criteria.

Filters and Sorting Options : These databases often include filters and sorting options that enable researchers to narrow down their search results based on factors such as publication date, author, or journal.

Citation Management : Many research databases offer citation management tools, allowing researchers to easily generate citations in various citation styles, such as APA or MLA.

Alerts and Notifications : Researchers can set up alerts and notifications to stay informed about new publications or updates in their field of interest.

In conclusion, understanding the basics of research databases is essential for researchers looking to streamline their research process and access reliable and relevant information. By utilizing these databases, researchers can save time, access a wide range of resources, and ensure the credibility of their research findings. The next section will delve into the steps involved in creating a research database, providing a comprehensive guide for researchers to follow.

Step 1: Defining the Research Objectives

In the process of creating a research database, defining the research objectives is a crucial step. This step sets the foundation for the entire database and ensures that it aligns with the goals and purpose of the research. Here are the key aspects to consider when defining the research objectives:

Identifying the purpose of the research

Before diving into the database design, it is essential to have a clear understanding of the purpose of the research. What are you trying to achieve? Are you conducting market research, academic research, or scientific research? Defining the purpose will help you determine the type of data you need to collect and the structure of your database.

Determining the scope and focus of the database

Once you have identified the purpose of your research, it is important to determine the scope and focus of your database. This involves deciding what specific aspects of the research you want to capture in your database. For example, if you are conducting market research, you may want to focus on customer demographics, purchasing behavior, and market trends. Defining the scope will help you narrow down the data you need to collect and organize.

Setting clear goals and objectives

To ensure the success of your research database, it is crucial to set clear goals and objectives . These goals will guide your database design and help you stay focused throughout the process. For example, your goal might be to analyze customer behavior patterns to improve marketing strategies. Your objectives could include collecting data on customer demographics, purchase history, and preferences. Setting clear goals and objectives will help you stay organized and ensure that your database serves its intended purpose.

Defining the research objectives is a critical step that lays the foundation for the entire research database. It helps you understand the purpose of your research, determine the scope and focus of your database, and set clear goals and objectives. By investing time and effort into this step, you can ensure that your research database is designed to effectively capture and analyze the data you need.

Step 2: Designing the Database Structure

Designing the structure of a research database is a crucial step in the process of creating an effective and efficient database. It involves making decisions about the database management system, creating tables, and establishing relationships between them. Let’s delve into the details of this step.

Choosing the Appropriate Database Management System

The first decision you need to make when designing a research database is selecting the right database management system (DBMS). There are various DBMS options available, such as MySQL, Oracle, and Microsoft SQL Server. Choosing the appropriate DBMS is essential as it determines the functionality, scalability, and security of your database.

Consider factors like the size of your dataset, the complexity of your research, and your budget when selecting a DBMS. Each DBMS has its own strengths and weaknesses, so it’s important to evaluate your specific requirements before making a decision.

Creating Tables and Defining Fields

Once you have chosen a DBMS, the next step is to create tables and define fields. Tables are used to organize and store data in a structured manner. Each table represents a specific entity or concept in your research.

When creating tables, you need to identify the different attributes or characteristics that describe the entity. These attributes become the fields or columns of the table. For example, if you are creating a research database for a university, you might have tables for students, courses, and grades. The fields in the student table could include student ID, name, and date of birth.

It’s important to define the data types for each field, such as text, number, date, or boolean. This ensures that the data is stored correctly and can be easily queried and analyzed later on.

Establishing Relationships Between Tables

In a research database, data is often related to each other. For example, in our university database, a student is enrolled in multiple courses, and each course has multiple students. To represent these relationships, you need to establish relationships between tables .

There are different types of relationships, such as one-to-one, one-to-many, and many-to-many. One-to-one relationships occur when each record in one table is associated with only one record in another table. One-to-many relationships occur when each record in one table can be associated with multiple records in another table. Many-to-many relationships occur when multiple records in one table can be associated with multiple records in another table.

To establish relationships, you need to define primary and foreign keys . A primary key is a unique identifier for each record in a table, while a foreign key is a field that refers to the primary key of another table. This allows you to link related data across tables and ensure data integrity.

Designing the database structure is a critical step that lays the foundation for a well-organized and efficient research database. By choosing the right DBMS, creating tables, and establishing relationships between them, you can ensure that your database is capable of handling your research needs effectively.

Remember, careful planning and consideration during this step will save you time and effort in the long run. So take the time to understand your research requirements and design a database structure that aligns with your goals.

Step 3: Collecting and Organizing Data

Collecting and organizing data is a crucial step in creating a research database. It involves identifying relevant sources, extracting and importing data, and ensuring its accuracy and consistency. Let’s delve into the details of this step.

Identifying relevant sources for data collection

To build a comprehensive research database, it is essential to identify the most relevant sources for data collection. These sources can include academic journals, industry reports, government databases, surveys, and more. Thorough research is required to find credible and up-to-date sources that align with the research objectives.

Extracting and importing data into the database

Once the relevant sources have been identified, the next step is to extract and import the data into the database. This process can vary depending on the format of the data and the database management system being used. Data extraction involves retrieving information from the selected sources, while data import involves transferring the extracted data into the database.

It is important to ensure that the data is properly formatted and structured during the import process. This includes organizing the data into appropriate tables and defining the fields accurately. Data normalization techniques can be applied to eliminate redundancy and improve data integrity.

Ensuring data accuracy and consistency

Data accuracy and consistency are vital for the reliability of a research database. It is crucial to implement measures to ensure that the data being collected and organized is accurate and consistent. This can be achieved through various techniques, such as:

Data validation : Implementing validation rules to check the integrity and accuracy of the data being entered into the database. This can include checks for data types, ranges, and constraints.

Data cleansing : Regularly reviewing and cleaning the data to remove any errors, duplicates, or inconsistencies. This can involve techniques like deduplication, standardization, and data profiling.

Data integration : Integrating data from multiple sources to ensure consistency and eliminate discrepancies. This can be done through data matching and merging techniques.

By implementing these measures, researchers can ensure that the data in their research database is reliable and can be used for accurate analysis and decision-making.

Collecting and organizing data is a critical step in creating a research database. It involves identifying relevant sources, extracting and importing data, and ensuring its accuracy and consistency. By following these steps diligently, researchers can build a robust and reliable research database that serves as a valuable resource for their studies.

Step 4: Implementing Data Validation and Security Measures

In the world of research databases, data validation and security measures play a crucial role in ensuring the integrity and confidentiality of the information stored. Implementing these measures is essential to protect sensitive data and maintain the accuracy and reliability of the database. Let’s explore the key steps involved in this process.

Setting up data validation rules

Data validation is the process of ensuring that the data entered into the database meets specific criteria and is accurate. By setting up data validation rules , you can prevent the entry of incorrect or inconsistent data, reducing the chances of errors and improving data quality.

To implement data validation, you need to define rules for each field in the database. For example, you can set rules to ensure that a date field follows a specific format, or that a numeric field only accepts positive values. By enforcing these rules, you can maintain data consistency and integrity.

Implementing user access controls

Protecting the confidentiality and security of your research database is of utmost importance. One way to achieve this is by implementing user access controls . This involves assigning different levels of access to different users based on their roles and responsibilities.

By granting appropriate access privileges, you can ensure that only authorized individuals can view, modify, or delete data within the database. This helps prevent unauthorized access and reduces the risk of data breaches or misuse.

Additionally, implementing user access controls allows you to track and monitor user activities within the database. This audit trail can be valuable in identifying any suspicious or unauthorized actions and helps maintain the overall security of the system.

Regularly backing up the database

No matter how robust your data validation and security measures are, there is always a possibility of data loss or corruption. That’s why it is crucial to regularly back up your research database.

Backing up the database involves creating a copy of the entire database or specific tables and storing them in a separate location. This ensures that even if the original database is compromised or damaged, you can restore the data from the backup.

It is recommended to establish a regular backup schedule, depending on the frequency of data updates and the criticality of the information stored. This way, you can minimize the risk of data loss and ensure business continuity.

Implementing data validation and security measures is an essential aspect of managing a research database. By setting up data validation rules, you can maintain data accuracy and consistency, reducing the chances of errors. Implementing user access controls helps protect the confidentiality and integrity of the database, preventing unauthorized access. Regularly backing up the database ensures that you have a copy of the data in case of any unforeseen events.

Remember, database management is an ongoing process, and continuous improvement is key. Stay updated with the latest security practices and technologies to safeguard your research database effectively. By mastering the art of data validation and security, you can ensure the reliability and trustworthiness of your research database. So, start implementing these measures today and take your research database management to the next level.

Step 5: Querying and Analyzing Data

In the process of creating a research database, Step 5 involves querying and analyzing the data stored within the database. This step is crucial as it allows researchers to extract specific information, gain insights, and make informed decisions based on the data collected. Let’s explore the key aspects of this step in more detail.

Writing SQL queries to retrieve specific information

Structured Query Language (SQL) is a powerful tool that enables researchers to retrieve specific information from the database. SQL queries are used to interact with the database and extract data based on certain criteria. Researchers can write queries to filter, sort, and aggregate data, allowing them to answer specific research questions.

For example, if a researcher wants to analyze the sales data of a particular product, they can write an SQL query to retrieve the relevant information. The query may include conditions such as the product name, date range, and geographical location. By executing the query, the researcher can obtain the desired data for further analysis.

Utilizing data analysis tools and techniques

In addition to SQL queries, researchers can leverage various data analysis tools and techniques to gain deeper insights from the collected data. These tools provide advanced functionalities for statistical analysis, data visualization, and predictive modeling.

Statistical analysis tools such as R or Python’s pandas library allow researchers to perform complex calculations, hypothesis testing, and regression analysis. These tools enable them to uncover patterns, trends, and correlations within the data.

Data visualization tools like Tableau or Power BI help researchers present their findings in a visually appealing and easily understandable manner. By creating charts, graphs, and interactive dashboards, researchers can effectively communicate their insights to stakeholders.

Furthermore, predictive modeling techniques such as machine learning algorithms can be applied to the data to make predictions and forecasts. These techniques enable researchers to identify patterns and make data-driven decisions based on future trends.

Generating reports and visualizations

Once the data has been queried and analyzed, researchers can generate reports and visualizations to summarize their findings. Reports provide a comprehensive overview of the research outcomes, including key insights, statistical analysis results, and recommendations.

Visualizations, such as charts, graphs, and infographics, help researchers present complex data in a simplified and visually appealing format. Visual representations make it easier for stakeholders to understand the research findings and draw meaningful conclusions.

By combining the power of SQL queries, data analysis tools, and visualizations, researchers can unlock the full potential of their research database. This step allows them to extract valuable insights, identify trends, and make data-driven decisions.

In conclusion, Step 5 of creating a research database involves querying and analyzing the data stored within the database. By writing SQL queries, utilizing data analysis tools and techniques, and generating reports and visualizations, researchers can gain valuable insights from the collected data. This step plays a crucial role in the research process, enabling researchers to make informed decisions and contribute to their field of study.

Step 6: Maintaining and Updating the Database

Maintaining and updating a research database is crucial for ensuring its accuracy, reliability, and optimal performance. In this step, we will explore the key tasks involved in maintaining and updating a database.

Regularly reviewing and cleaning the database

Regularly reviewing and cleaning the database is essential to eliminate any inconsistencies, errors, or outdated information. Here are some important tasks to consider:

Data review : Regularly review the data in your database to identify any discrepancies or inaccuracies. This can be done by comparing the data with reliable sources or conducting periodic audits.

Data cleaning : Clean the database by removing duplicate records, correcting errors, and standardizing data formats. This will help improve data quality and ensure consistency.

Data archiving : Archive old or unused data to free up storage space and improve database performance. This can be done by moving the data to a separate archive database or by creating backups for long-term storage.

Updating and adding new data as needed

To keep your research database up to date and relevant, it is important to regularly update and add new data. Here are some steps to consider:

Data collection : Continuously collect new data from reliable sources to ensure that your database remains current. This can involve manual data entry, data extraction from external sources, or automated data feeds.

Data integration : Integrate new data into the existing database structure by adding new records or updating existing ones. Ensure that the new data is properly mapped to the appropriate fields and tables.

Data validation : Validate the new data to ensure its accuracy and consistency. This can involve running data validation checks, verifying data against predefined rules, or using data profiling techniques.

Monitoring performance and optimizing the database

Monitoring the performance of your research database is essential to identify any bottlenecks or issues that may affect its efficiency. Here are some steps to consider:

Performance monitoring : Regularly monitor the database performance by analyzing key metrics such as response time, query execution time, and resource utilization. This can be done using built-in monitoring tools or third-party performance monitoring solutions.

Database optimization : Optimize the database by fine-tuning queries, indexing frequently accessed columns, and optimizing database configurations. This will help improve query performance and overall database efficiency.

Capacity planning : Plan for future growth by monitoring database usage trends and estimating future data storage requirements. This will help ensure that your database can handle increasing data volumes without compromising performance.

In conclusion, maintaining and updating a research database is an ongoing process that requires regular attention and care. By regularly reviewing and cleaning the database, updating and adding new data, and monitoring performance, you can ensure that your research database remains accurate, reliable, and efficient. Remember, continuous improvement and learning are key to mastering the art of database management. So, start creating your research database and embark on a journey of knowledge discovery and insights.

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How to build a research repository: a step-by-step guide to getting started

Research repositories have the potential to be incredibly powerful assets for any research-driven organisation. But when it comes to building one, it can be difficult to know where to start. In this post, we provide some practical tips to define a clear vision and strategy for your repository.

Done right, research repositories have the potential to be incredibly powerful assets for any research-driven organisation. But when it comes to building one, it can be difficult to know where to start.

As a result, we see tons of teams jumping in without clearly defining upfront what they actually hope to achieve with the repository, and ending up disappointed when it doesn't deliver the results.

Aside from being frustrating and demoralising for everyone involved, building an unused repository is a waste of money, time, and opportunity.

So how can you avoid this?

In this post, we provide some practical tips to define a clear vision and strategy for your repository in order to help you maximise your chances of success.

🚀 This post is also available as a free, interactive Miro template that you can use to work through each exercise outlined below - available for download here .

Defining the end goal for your repository

To start, you need to define your vision.

Only by setting a clear vision, can you start to map out the road towards realising it.

Your vision provides something you can hold yourself accountable to - acting as a north star. As you move forward with the development and roll out of your repository, this will help guide you through important decisions like what tool to use, and who to engage with along the way.

The reality is that building a research repository should be approached like any other product - aiming for progress, over perfection with each iteration of the solution.

Starting with a very simple question like "what do we hope to accomplish with our research repository within the first 12 months?" is a great starting point.

You need to be clear on the problems that you’re looking to solve - and the desired outcomes from building your repository - before deciding on the best approach.

Building a repository is an investment, so it’s important to consider not just what you want to achieve in the next few weeks or months, but also in the longer term to ensure your repository is scalable.

Whatever the ultimate goal (or goals), capturing the answer to this question will help you to focus on outcomes over output .

🔎 How to do this in practice…

1. complete some upfront discovery.

In a previous post we discussed how to conduct some upfront discovery to help with understanding today’s biggest challenges when it comes to accessing and leveraging research insights.

⏰ You should aim to complete your upfront discovery within a couple of hours, spending 20-30 mins interviewing each stakeholder (we recommend talking with at least 5 people, both researchers and non-researchers).

2. Prioritise the problems you want to solve

Start by spending some time reviewing the current challenges your team and organisation are facing when it comes to leveraging research and insights.

You can run a simple affinity mapping exercise to highlight the common themes from your discovery and prioritise the top 1-3 problems that you’d like to solve using your repository.

💡 Example challenges might include:

Struggling to understand what research has already been conducted to-date, leading to teams repeating previous research

Looking for better ways to capture and analyse raw data e.g. user interviews

Spending lots of time packaging up research findings for wider stakeholders

Drowning in research reports and artefacts, and in need of a better way to access and leverage existing insights

Lacking engagement in research from key decision makers across the organisation

⏰ You should aim to confirm what you want to focus on solving with your repository within 45-60 mins (based on a group of up to 6 people).

3. Consider what future success looks like

Next you want to take some time to think about what success looks like one year from now, casting your mind to the future and capturing what you’d like to achieve with your repository in this time.

A helpful exercise is to imagine the headline quotes for an internal company-wide newsletter talking about the impact that your new research repository has had across the business.

The ‘ Jobs to be done ’ framework provides a helpful way to format the outputs for this activity, helping you to empathise with what the end users of your repository might expect to experience by way of outcomes.

💡 Example headlines might include:

“When starting a new research project, people are clear on the research that’s already been conducted, so that we’re not repeating previous research” Research Manager

“During a study, we’re able to quickly identify and share the key insights from our user interviews to help increase confidence around what our customers are currently struggling with” Researcher

“Our designers are able to leverage key insights when designing the solution for a new user journey or product feature, helping us to derisk our most critical design decisions” Product Design Director

“Our product roadmap is driven by customer insights, and building new features based on opinion is now a thing of the past” Head of Product

“We’ve been able to use the key research findings from our research team to help us better articulate the benefits of our product and increase the number of new deals” Sales Lead

“Our research is being referenced regularly by C-level leadership at our quarterly townhall meetings, which has helped to raise the profile of our team and the research we’re conducting” Head of Research

Ask yourself what these headlines might read and add these to the front page of a newspaper image.

You then want to discuss each of these headlines across the group and fold these into a concise vision statement for your research repository - something memorable and inspirational that you can work towards achieving.

💡Example vision statements:

‘Our research repository makes it easy for anyone at our company to access the key learnings from our research, so that key decisions across the organisation are driven by insight’

‘Our research repository acts as a single source of truth for all of our research findings, so that we’re able to query all of our existing insights from one central place’

‘Our research repository helps researchers to analyse and synthesise the data captured from user interviews, so that we’re able to accelerate the discovery of actionable insights’

‘Our research repository is used to drive collaborative research across researchers and teams, helping to eliminate data silos, foster innovation and advance knowledge across disciplines’

‘Our research repository empowers people to make a meaningful impact with their research by providing a platform that enables the translation of research findings into remarkable products for our customers’

⏰ You should aim to agree the vision for your repository within 45-60 mins (based on a group of up to 6 people).

Creating a plan to realise your vision

Having a vision alone isn't going to make your repository a success. You also need to establish a set of short-term objectives, which you can use to plan a series of activities to help you make progress towards this.

Focus your thinking around the more immediate future, and what you want to achieve within the first 3 months of building your repository.

Alongside the short-term objectives you’re going to work towards, it’s also important to consider how you’ll measure your progress, so that you can understand what’s working well, and what might require further attention. 

Agreeing a set of success metrics is key to holding yourself accountable to making a positive impact with each new iteration. This also helps you to demonstrate progress to others from as early on in the process as possible.

1. Establish 1-3 short term objectives

Take your vision statement and consider the first 1-3 results that you want to achieve within the first 3 months of working towards this.

These objectives need to be realistic and achievable given the 3 month timeframe, so that you’re able to build some momentum and set yourself up for success from the very start of the process.

💡Example objectives:

Improve how insights are defined and captured by the research team

Revisit our existing research to identify what data we want to add to our new research repository

Improve how our research findings are organised, considering how our repository might be utilised by researchers and wider teams

Initial group of champions bought-in and actively using our research repository

Improve the level of engagement with our research from wider teams and stakeholders

Capture your 3 month objectives underneath your vision, leaving space to consider the activities that you need to complete in order to realise each of these.

2. Identify how to achieve each objective

Each activity that you commit to should be something that an individual or small group of people can comfortably achieve within the first 3 months of building your repository.

Come up with some ideas for each objective and then prioritise completing the activities that will result in the biggest impact, with the least effort first.

💡Example activities:

Agree a definition for strategic and tactical insights to help with identifying the previous data that we want to add to our new research repository

Revisit the past 6 months of research and capture the data we want to add to our repository as an initial body of knowledge

Create the first draft taxonomy for our research repository, testing this with a small group of wider stakeholders

Launch the repository with an initial body of knowledge to a group of wider repository champions

Start distributing a regular round up of key insights stored in the repository

You can add your activities to a simple kanban board , ordering your ‘To do’ column with the most impactful tasks up top, and using this to track your progress and make visible who’s working on which tasks throughout the initial build of your repository.

This is something you can come back to a revisit as you move throughout the wider roll out of your repository - adding any new activities into the board and moving these through to ‘Done’ as they’re completed.

⚠️ At this stage it’s also important to call out any risks or dependencies that could derail your progress towards completing each activity, such as capacity, or requiring support from other individuals or teams.

3. Agree how you’ll measure success

Lastly, you’ll need a way to measure success as you work on the activities you’ve associated with each of your short term objectives.

We recommend choosing 1-3 metrics that you can measure and track as you move forward with everything, considering ways to capture and review the data for each of these.

⚠️ Instead of thinking of these metrics as targets, we recommend using them to measure your progress - helping you to identify any activities that aren’t going so well and might require further attention.

💡Example success metrics:

Usage metrics - Number of insights captured, Active users of the repository, Number of searches performed, Number of insights viewed and shared

User feedback - Usability feedback for your repository, User satisfaction ( CSAT ), NPS aka how likely someone is to recommend using your repository

Research impact - Number of stakeholder requests for research, Time spent responding to requests, Level of confidence, Repeatable value of research, Amount of duplicated research, Time spent onboarding new joiners

Wider impact - Mentions of your research (and repository) internally, Links to your research findings from other initiatives e.g. discovery projects, product roadmaps, Customers praising solutions that were fuelled by your research

Think about how often you want to capture and communicate this information to the rest of the team, to help motivate everyone to keep making progress.

By establishing key metrics, you can track your progress and determine whether your repository is achieving its intended goals.

⏰ You should aim to create a measurable action plan for your repository within 60-90 mins (based on a group of up to 6 people). ‍ ‍

🚀 Why not use our free, downloadable Miro template to start putting all of this into action today - available for download here .

To summarise

As with the development of any product, the cost of investing time upfront to ensure you’re building the right thing for your end users, is far lower than the cost of building the wrong thing - repositories are no different!

A well-executed research repository can be an extremely valuable asset for your organisation, but building one requires consideration and planning - and defining a clear vision and strategy upfront will help to maximise your chances of success.

It’s important to not feel pressured to nail every objective that you set in the first few weeks or months. Like any product, the further you progress, the more your strategy will evolve and shift. The most important thing is getting started with the right foundations in place, and starting to drive some real impact.

We hope this practical guide will help you to get started on building an effective research repository for your organisation. Thanks and happy researching!

‍ Work with our team of experts

At Dualo we help teams to define a clear vision and strategy for their research repository as part of the ‘Discover, plan and set goals’ module facilitated by our Dualo Academy team.  If you’re interested in learning more about how we work with teams, book a short call with us to discuss how we can support you with the development of your research repository and knowledge management process.

Nick Russell

I'm one of the Co-Founders of Dualo, passionate about research, design, product, and AI. Always open to chatting with others about these topics.

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Writing a Research Paper

Library research guide.

• Choose Your Topic
• Evaluate Sources
• Organize Your Information
• Draft Your Paper
• Revise, Review, Refine

How Will This Help Me?

Understanding databases will help you:

• Identify peer-reviewed articles
• Effectively perform a search

You can find articles, books, and more in Search It . 

Understand Peer-Reviewed Articles

Select a Database

On the databases page you will find more than 300 different databases. To determine which one is best for your project, you can use the menu in the top left corner to search for databases by Subject.

For example, if you are doing research for Sociology, you might want to look in databases just for Sociology. Choosing this option will lead you to a listing of the best databases to use when conducting sociology research. 

A few general guidelines:

• If you're doing research for an introductory course, such as ENGL 100, try ProQuest Central or Academic Search Premier . They're great places to start.
• If you need recent newspaper articles, try ProQuest Global Newstream . 
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Design Work

My Design Systems

My design articles, my design system.

Building a Research Database

Introduction

Designers are faced with the constant challenge of keeping track of research and data for projects. Without a proper system in place, it can become overwhelming and disorganized. A research database is an essential tool for designers, allowing them to store, organize, and retrieve data quickly and efficiently. In this article, we'll be discussing the importance of a research database and providing a step-by-step guide for building one for your team.

As a designer, I've always struggled with keeping track of all the research and data I've collected for projects. It was a disorganized mess, and I found myself constantly searching for information I knew I had but couldn't find. That's when I decided to create a research database for my team. It wasn't easy, but with the help of this guide, we were able to streamline our process and improve our efficiency.

A research database is a central location where all of a company's research and data is stored and organized. It allows for easy retrieval of information, improves team collaboration, and streamlines the design process. When building a research database, it's important to consider the type of data you'll be storing, how it will be organized, and who will have access to it.

How To's

Step 1: Understand Your Data

• Assess the type of data you'll be storing and how it will be used. This will help determine the structure of your database and how it will be organized.

Step 2: Choose a Platform

• Decide on a platform for your research database. There are several options available, such as Excel, Airtable, or a custom-built solution.

Step 3: Organize Your Data

• Create a clear and consistent structure for your data. This will make it easier for team members to find and access the information they need.

Step 4: Set Access Permissions

• Determine who will have access to your research database and what level of access they will have. This will ensure that sensitive information is protected and only accessible by authorized individuals.

Step 5: Maintain and Update Your Database

• Regularly review and update your research database to ensure that it remains accurate and relevant.

A research database is an essential tool for designers, allowing them to store, organize, and retrieve data quickly and efficiently. By following the steps outlined in this guide, you can create a research database that will streamline your design process and improve your team's efficiency. Remember to regularly review and update your database to ensure that it remains accurate and relevant.

• "Design Research Techniques" by Steven Heller and Elinor Portnoy

Thank you for taking the time to read this article

Thank you for reading this article. If you found it helpful, please follow me on social media and provide feedback. I encourage you to start implementing these steps in your own design process to improve your work and grow as an industry professional.

Monday Master Class: How to Build a Paper Research Database

How a Pulitzer Prize Winner Writes

A few years back, I watched a CSPAN2 interview that changed the way I write major papers. The program was Booknotes , and the guest was Pulitzer Prize winner, Taylor Branch. What I like about Booknotes is that they sometimes venture into the author’s office to get a feel for how he or she actually tackles the grimy business of research.

Branch did not disappoint. To research his three-volume biography of Martin Luther King Jr., he made use of a massive Microsoft Access database. In one table, he had a row for every source he read. The row contained all of the relevant bibliographic information and was labeled with a unique source identifier number .

In another table, he entered every quote from these sources that he thought provided insight. These might include, for example, a few lines from a letter he found in the Martin Luther King Jr. archives, or a provocative conclusion made in one of the myriad existing biographies. Each quote got its own row in the table. The whole text of the quote was entered, along with the date it was made on (or referred to), and, most important, the source identification number that links the quote to the relevant source in the source table. (This is called a relational database because the different tables connect on specific columns. Click here for a tutorial.)

When Branch finished his research, he had over 18,000 quotes and hundreds of sources. When it came time to write, he sorted his quote table by date. This allowed him to move chronologically through Dr. King’s life. During important periods, Branch sometimes found that he had dozens of insider quotes for each day!

The key here is that the writing process had been simplified. It was just Branch and his database. As he moved through the important periods of Dr. King’s life, he could efficiently and comprehensively consult every last relevant piece of information about that period, and then, with this background solidly in mind, begin to weave together his own, highly informed version of the story.

From a Pulitzer Prize Winning Book to Your Term Paper

This is how you win a Pulitzer Prize. Imagine, then, what this technique would do for an undergraduate research paper or your senior honors thesis. In this article, I’m going to teach you how to build a simplified Branch-style Paper Research Database using Microsoft Excel. I’ll tell you how to format it, populate it, and use it to structure your writing. Throughout, I will use the case study of an Art History research paper I wrote last spring to illustrate the process.

When to Use a Paper Research Database

A paper research database is an advanced tactic. For small papers, it’s too time consuming. You are better off with the standard advice from the Straight-A method.

If, on the other hand, the assignment is a major research paper, then this technique becomes relevant. You can identify these papers because, typically, they are assigned in upper level courses, they are the only paper you have to write in the class, and they are worth a significant portion of your grade. This technique is also well-suited for senior honors theses.

In general, if you expect to work more than two weeks, and read more than 3-6 sources, consider this approach.

Step 1: Construct a Source Table

Most students don’t have Microsoft Access. But they do have Excel. So that’s what we will use.

The first step is to create a table for the sources you consult. Create a new workbook for the project. On the first worksheet label the following columns:

• ID :: A unique number you use to label each source.
• Year :: The year the source was published.
• Type :: The type of source; e.g., book, journal article, interview.
• Citation :: If possible, add the full citation for the source in the style required for your paper. This will save time down the line when you’re writing the paper as you won’t have waste an afternoon formatting citations.

The screen shot included here is of my source table from an Art History research paper I wrote last spring about the husband and wife artist/designer team, Charles and Ray Eames.

Step 2: Quote Tables

Taylor Branch had one giant table for all of his quotes. This is fine. I found it more useful, however, to have one worksheet in Excel for each major type of information I needed to look up during my research. For example, in my paper on the Eames, I had a worksheet for quotes about a particular installation piece I was focusing on. I had another worksheet for quotes on chronology of the Eames involvement with the film world (which was relevant to the paper). Etc.

You should label each quote worksheet with the following columns:

• Date :: What date does this quote refer to, or, depending on the information, what date was it made on.
• Pages :: The pages where the quote was found.
• Type :: It’s helpful to describe what type of quote it is. Does it clarify chronology? Is it a primary source? Is it a secondary source doing an interpretation? As you’ll notice in the screen shot to the right, I introduced a numeric coding system for the relevant types.
• Quote :: The information itself.

The screen shot included in this section shows the headers used in one of the quote worksheets from my Eames paper.

Step 3: The Research Process

The research process begins with the construction of a source queue . This is a list of sources you need to review for your paper. At first, this list will be small. Maybe a few obvious books and articles that popped up from a simple search.

The process proceeds as follows:

• Begin processing the source. As you read through the relevant sections, mark quotes that seems important. After each section, go back and enter these quotes into the relevant quote worksheet.
• As you read, you will probably come across new sources that seem like they will be relevant. Add these to your source queue.
• Repeat until the source queue empties.

The screen shot to the right shows the population of one of my quote worksheets during my research process. At first, this process can be frustrating. Your source queue will grow faster than you can process its elements. But, eventually, you’ll stop encountering sources you haven’t seen before and the queue will, slowly, drain to empty. At this point you’ll have gained comprehensive coverage of the field.

This is time consuming! So start early. This work is best accomplished in little 1-2 hour chunks spread over multiple weeks. I know it’s a pain. But it’s a prerequisite for writing an outstanding research paper.

Step 4: Writing

When you write, it’s just you, your word processor, and your paper research database. The big advantage this tool gives you is a comprehensive understanding of all the relevant issues. You’ll be astonished by how this legwork will change the feel of your writing process. You’ll approach the page with confidence — which is a novel sensation for most non-professional writers. This confidence allows you to write strong, declarative sentences. It removes that sense of straining to connect paragraphs and eat up space that plagues undergrad papers and disappoints professors. And it allows you to make well-reasoned, original arguments.

In Conclusion

This is how real non-fictions writers work. If you follow their lead, you can produce writing that will blow away your professors. For research papers that matter, give this advanced tactic some serious consideration.

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51 thoughts on “Monday Master Class: How to Build a Paper Research Database”

As a scientist, I use another combination.

All my papers/sources are in a bibdesk file, and I take notes in the note field. Then I can sort them by keywords while writing the paper.

For OS X users, TetxCite is a great piece of software

A good clarification. This approach is really for undergraduate level liberal arts papers. Science papers change things. Me and my collaborators at MIT, for example, tend to use a common BibTex file held under CVS or subversion…

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Zotero appears to provide all this functionality in a tool that can capture as you work. It is an evolving tool, however, so my goal is to help it further evolve into something that essentially does all this online and without my having to retype quite so much information.

I’m intrigued by Zotero and think it has a good chance of making me a convert at some point. Right now, however, I’m not sure that it’s a full replacement for an old-fashioned research database.

What’s nice about these databases is that you can do more advanced “queries.” For example: quickly scan, in chronological order, all quotes from secondary sources about a specific thread of your argument.

Also, I tend to defer toward simple solutions with known technologies (i.e., Microsoft Office) over new technologies, until the advantage of the new becomes overwhelming. Otherwise, I spend too much time installing and learning software.

All that being said, the more I hear about Zotero, the more my ears perk up. So, if you’re listening out there Mr. Zotero representative, contact me . An interview about your product might make a nice addition to Study Hacks…

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Cal — thank for this great article. I may be overthinking this, but I’m wondering if there’s a step missing or assumed. You create separate quote worksheets for each theme or section of the paper. Do these themes arise naturally as you do the research, or did you decide on the themes first after you’ve developed a spine for your ‘story’ of the paper? Or did you create them after compiling lots of quotes and then parcel them out to separate sheets? I’m thinking that as I’m processing sources, I may not know how some of the quotes may apply until later in the process.

I’m more of a Word-man than an Excel-jockey, but I like the low-barrier to entry for this technique. It occurs to me that I could leave the ‘theme’ column blank until I’ve compiled the list of quotes, and then enter in unique numeric ids for each quote after I’ve processed them all. I could then use Excel’s very simple data filtering command to only show the quotes specific to that theme.

I would miss printing out the quotes/annotations, though. I’ve not had much success with printing out Excel sheets that have lots of text; it works excellently as an online resource, however.

I’m also intrigued by Zotero, as it’s clearly more flexible and powerful than Refworks, but I fear I’ll have to spend a little too much time on just understanding its basics before I could use it effectively.

Thanks for the great blog. I always look forward to it.

Hi Michael,

Great question. The last time I used a quote database, I started with a single worksheet corresponding to the first direction I knew I would follow with my research. As I did this initial research, and populated this worksheet, I began to come across quotes that needed a different theme — so I would create new themes on the fly.

Another thing I did, relatively early in the process, was to get 2 -3 real general sources on the artists I was studying and read through them quickly. As I went along, it gave me good ideas of themes to look into, and, therefore, what worksheets to create.

I like your idea about adding a theme column, and then just having one giant sheet that you sort. I think that’s another great way to go.

– Cal

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Hi, Great post. I was wondering if you could explain how it is that the source id number is related to the source in an Excel workbook such as this. If I’m looking at my quotations in the quotations worksheet, how do I know a particular quotation refers to a particular source, without, say, manually flipping back to the source list and finding the id number. Is there some relation or link that will bring me there? I like the idea of a separate source page. I just wasn’t clear how this would work.

There may be a way to do that. But I just flip. (Fitting my philosophy that a more complicated solution is only worth it if it save significant time.)

Specifically, I print the source list (it’s compact) to reference while I extract quotes during the writing process.

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Sigh . . . Since early on [the 1980s] I began, and kept working on –

1. A FileMakerPro [old version] self-created database of Bibliographic information – over one thousand entries. FileMakerPro does have a kind of unique identifier.

2. A massive multitude of WORD table files for a time period with columns for DATE/DAY OF WEEK/TIME OF DAY/QUOTATION/KEY WORD TO SOURCE w/page number. There are no unique identifiers.

I too was fascinated how Taylor Branch handled a multitude of sources, and saw the CSPAN interview. I actually took away from the program that it was EXCEL he used.

I foresee me writing a history of Grenada 1970-1983 – someday – when I stop collecting – smiles.

And with the WORD tables, there I can go full speed, writing history in chronological order.

Databases are non-fiction building blocks.

Still, I would love to find a way to automatize everything with sources at the end of the book like Branch has, and David Levering Lewis for that matter.

Any ideas how to tie things together?

and how to learn easiest/clearest about EXPORT/IMPORT?

I am retired and a history detective junkie for this period of Grenada’s history. So you see, you students, studying history can stick with you for years. You might find yourself being a history detective for life and not making one red cent off of anything you do. And love the processing of it.

I don’t know exactly how they Branch does his end of book source export. Though for a database as massive as yours, I can imagine the time spent figuring out such a feature in FileMaker is well worth it compared to the time required to manually format those citations.

Thanks for the response.

Unless I learn how to Export the author line, the title line and so on into one of the many citation formats, I will be doing them by hand – smiles – but I won’t let that happen.

Glad to learn about Zotero from your site. Downloaded it. On the fly, I went to my site bibliographical list – thought hard about Zotero recognizing an entry and shooting up a little icon in the URL line – nada. Sigh. Another learning curve.

I am going to watch your site to see if it is worth going on with Zotero. I can imagine it doing everything . . . giggles . . . but guess I will have to wait for the head honchos to bring us a well-developed software gift.

I was also a little alarmed about Zotero lifting a whole page from my website potentially, but tried not to think about the implications of this.

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The availability of documents in electronic form has plagiarism easier than ever. The cut and paste paragraphs, or even revolutions in everything you can with a few mouse clicks. The strategies can be discussed, which helps to combat some believe is an increasing amount of plagiarism on scientific work. Through the use of these strategies can help encourage students to the use and benefits of their own work.

If I understand what you want to do, you can set up that functionality using an Excel List.

More information is available in About.com’s How to Create Lists in Excel article. (Note that there are eight pages, so be sure to read them all.)

Steven Says: January 19th, 2008 at 6:50 pm [Gravatar image] Hi, Great post. I was wondering if you could explain how it is that the source id number is related to the source in an Excel workbook such as this. If I’m looking at my quotations in the quotations worksheet, how do I know a particular quotation refers to a particular source, without, say, manually flipping back to the source list and finding the id number. Is there some relation or link that will bring me there? I like the idea of a separate source page. I just wasn’t clear how this would work.

Thanks. I was wondering about how to do that…

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I’m curious what you think about OneNote now that all 2007 Office users should have it. Also, I believe Excel allows more than 200-some-odd characters (maybe 246 from memory) when typing, but when copying, Excel will only copy the first 246 characters…this could be a problem if data needs to be moved around, which I expect most people to do some of the time. Great post!

I’m curious what you think about OneNote now that all 2007 Office users should have it. Also, I believe Excel allows more than 200-some-odd characters (maybe 246 from memory)

I don’t know much about OneNote. I’ve had a couple people sing it’s praises, but I’m yet to investigate. (I tend to avoid new technology unless it looks like it will provide a significant advantage.)

That’s a good note about Excel. I’ve used the DB a few times without problems, and I think I’ve had some long quotes, but maybe none past the limit?

Have you tried the program Nota Bene? http://www.notabene.com It does everything.

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I recently downloaded Office 2007 for the upcoming school year, and was fairly surprised to see a sort of research database tool inside of Word 2007. It allows you to build a database and cite directly from it in several different formats. I think this native support sufficiently fills the gap between the research database you outline and a sufficient system for citations and bibliographies on a smaller level. Just an idea I thought you might want to look into further because I know I would of loved to have had this support in my paper writing in the past.

Really nice information about when to use a paper research database. Thanks for sharing

Thanks, really enjoying your posts.

Would just like to say that I use Zotero and like it.It lives in Firefox, automatically adds info it can glean (URL, title, sometimes author) and you just manually add any other info you want for your bibliography. If you use the snapshot option, you can highlight and annotate articles. You can add just a selection of text, the whole page, links, etc. Not that long ago, a sync capability was added, which I’ve been loving seeing as I alternate between two computers. You just click this refresh button and it updates your library (Obviously you’d need an internet connection). Hmm, what else? Oh, and you can get a little toolbar for MS Word or Open Office so that you can add references or a complete bibliography list straight into your essay, etc.

Having said all that, I can see that some doing assignments with massive amounts of quotes would baulk. So I guess the long and the short of it is, check it out if you’re interested, as its undergone a fair bit of change over the last few years.

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After I attended a one-hour Zotero workshop, I quickly realized the indispensability and simplicity of reference software management. Two of my graduate research groupmates, plus my adviser, use Papers which is MacOSX-only. Thankfully, our research goals are discrete enough.

I like the idea of the excel sheet. I have also added another sheet to the database for quotation and paraphrasing. Please have a look and let me know how we can improve it.

https://www.4shared.com/file/cxgK8KWu/Sample_Quotes_Tool_for_Researc.html

the Taylor Branch interview was part of the In Depth Series. https://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/191032-1 He speaks about his research database around 01:18:00 and his writing routine at 02:13:27

Its well worth listening to the whole 3 hours interview – insightful profile to Dr King, the continuing legacy of the Civil Rights Movement and Branch’s work as a biographer.

Thank you for introducing me to Taylor Branch!

oh! apologies he speaks about his writing routine and 5am start at 02:03:00

I am assuming the information is still accurate, seven years later…

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Hi Cal, Thank you so much for writing this and for your brilliant books as well – your advice has been incredibly helpful throughout my college years. I was just wondering, for longer research papers, how would you approach the writing process once you have constructed your research database? Would you follow the method you talked about in your book ‘How to Become a Straight-A Student’, and take a week or so after constructing the research database to craft a powerful story, and then form a topic-level outline with all your quotes in it? I have a 40-page thesis due in 3 weeks, I have all my research, and am wondering if I should outline the entire paper before beginning writing. Thank you so much again, All the best, Madeleine

Hi, as Alan Luo, I’m also interested do you have some new insights about this topic now seven years after. Also, as fellow academic, I’m interested in your tips and tricks for making writing of scientific articles more easy. Thanks in advance 🙂

I actually stumbled across the notetaking method (also called the Zettelkasten method by its inventor, Niklas Luhmann) a few months ago and coded one up in MS Access in my free time over a week or two.

Relational databases are unquestionably the best tool for this, and worth learning if one is or must be serious.

The main entities are notes, topics, and sources/works. The tricks are arranging the relationships, navigating on-screen, and reporting (printing or getting the information out).

Eric, I landed here by looking for exactly that- a true relational database to capture research paper notes. Are you willing to share a sample query/report or anything about your structure? I am new to databases and my creativity is limited by my minimal understanding of the full capabilities. Thanks in advance!

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Digitizing, organizing, and contextualizing primary sources from libraries and archives presents unique challenges and rich opportunities.

Online databases have transformed the ways researchers use materials, in particular primary sources. Publishers’ approaches to gathering and organizing online collections are diverse, but all require forming relationships with libraries and archives and considering how researchers use their platforms. LJ spoke to several publishers about how recent database projects came to fruition.

GALE ARCHIVES OF SEXUALITY AND GENDER

The Gale Archives of Sexuality and Gender present millions of documents that reflect LGBTQ history and the history of research into sex, sexuality, and gender. Documents have been sourced from numerous libraries and archives, including the New York Public Library, the Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives, and the Lesbian Herstory Educational Foundation. The latest addition to the archives, Sex and Sexuality in the 16th Through 20th Centuries, is an expansive collection of books, monographs, and manuscripts, many of which were previously unavailable for public view. From conception to quality control, the development of the latest addition to the Archives of Sexuality and Gender has been going on for the better part of two years.

According to Phil Virta, acquisitions editor of the Archives of Sexuality and Gender, coming up with an idea for a database that resonates with customers is just one element. Identifying potential institutions and archival collections to populate it is important, too, he says. “It involves a lot of creativity, because you really want to find something that tells a story.” Editors must identify more material than they need, since “not every one of them is going to come through and sign an agreement. What comes through is what actually builds the archive.”

Gale had already formed a relationship and developed a collection with the Kinsey Institute, known for decades as the leading research institution on human sexuality and relationships. Virta knew the Kinsey Institute collection should be the basis of the latest archive installment, and so pursued other collections that would be complementary: the New York Academy of Medicine’s collection of rare and unique books on gender, sex, and sexuality, and the British Library Private Case Collection, consisting of books removed from the library’s public collection on grounds of obscenity.

There are more than 5,000 books in the resulting collection: 2,500 from the British Library, around 1,500 from the New York Academy of Medicine, and about 1,000 from the Kinsey Institute. None of these materials were previously digitized or widely accessible to scholars.

“In general, the collections I work with are hard-bound paper, periodicals, magazines,” says Virta.

Virta notes that “librarians and archivists shape projects like Archives of Sexuality and Gender by identifying the collections that are most consulted at their institutions, or that have the most research impact. I rely on the knowledge and expertise of librarians and archivists to help me select collections that are the best representatives of a particular subject or theme.”

For instance, Donald McLeod, head of book and serials acquisitions at the University of Toronto Libraries, who was part of the advisory board of the Archives of Sexuality and Gender from 2015 to 2019, encouraged Gale to include more international content, in particular from a Canadian archive, to make the collection “a much more wide-ranging and useful product for scholars.”

Bringing together diverse collections means that the process for bringing each institution’s materials onto the Gale platform will be different. Says Seth Cayley, vice president of Gale Primary Sources, “We see ourselves as partners with these institutions—we talk to the libraries about their needs, and how physical objects are going to be treated after digitization. Digitization often creates a lot of interest in patrons seeing the physical objects.”

For example, the Searchlight Archive at the University of Northampton, a partner in Gale’s Political Extremism collection, posted on Twitter that the archive had “seen a big increase in overseas usage this year, perhaps in part due to that exposure we got” from digitization. Cayley notes that such a surge in interest can be “a double-edged sword if a library isn’t equipped to deal with it.” He adds, “In some libraries, digitization is the reason for them to take something off shelves, if it is too delicate.”

After an agreement that works for both Gale and the materials’ home institution is finalized, the next step is to arrange a schedule with a scanning or digitization vendor. Gale scans on site in some cases, and ships materials off site in others. Scans go to another party for quality assurance. Next, the Gale content team ensures that metadata is applied. The final result has a similar look and feel to other Gale Primary Sources archives so that researchers will be confident in searching across archives.

BLOOMSBURY FASHION CENTRAL

Bloomsbury’s situation in creating Bloomsbury Fashion Central was different because the content it was combining was its own, not held in an academic library’s collection. The company acquired and combined four products: Berg Fashion Library, the Fashion Photography Archive, Fairchild Books Library, and Bloomsbury Fashion Business Cases. After purchasing Fairchild Books (an industry leader in fashion and design) and the Fashion Photography Archive, the publisher had material “covering virtually the entire spectrum of scholarship in fashion,” says Kevin Ohe, director of Academic Publishing for Digital Resources. It was a natural evolution to use those resources to create something digital, he says, “bringing all of our various fashion content together onto a single platform, indexing it across a single taxonomy…creating something that is larger than four databases.”

With the content already in hand and a vision for a comprehensive fashion platform, Bloomsbury’s major challenge was working with technology vendors to develop the database, as well as an e-commerce platform for Fairchild Books.

“We had to educate the software developer in what we do, and explain the usage of it to them,” says Director of Product Management Matt Kibble. In the earliest phases of developing Fashion Central, Bloomsbury created a plan for how the platform should appear and had vendors pitch for the work. Kathryn Earle, managing director for Bloomsbury Digital Resources, notes that planning and providing as much detail as possible are crucial when working with a third-party developer, because there are “lots of downstream cost implications if something goes wrong.”

In addition, vendor goals may not always perfectly align with publisher goals. Earle notes that technology vendors may aim to “quickly get something out of the door that meets minimum expectations,” while the publisher wishes to develop “the best possible product, even if it requires more work.” Since the project’s original development, Bloomsbury has made an effort to bring more development in house, to streamline the process.

In many ways, the creation of Fashion Central broke new ground for the company, as it was the publisher’s first major foray into placing digitized versions of its materials into a comprehensive database. “We’re trying to reinvent ourselves,” says Earle. “Our background is really in book publishing, [which] is quite straightforward and linear. With digital, you’re always having to think in 3-D, and reprogramming yourself to think in a different way, which is a challenge.”

Kibble added that, “A book goes out, and until the second edition you can forget about it. A subscription database needs new content and attention and fixes.”

Left photo ©Lacma; center photo ©Niall McIerney, Bloomsbury Publishing, PLC; right photo ©Fashion Museum, Bath

American indian newspapers and service newspapers of wwii.

Relationships with archives and libraries are key for the team working on archival databases with Adam Matthew Digital as well. Two collections—the American Indian Newspapers and the Service Newspapers of WWII—showcase the ways that the publisher has brought unique primary sources to light. The American Indian Newspapers collection compiles publications from communities across the United States and Canada, published from 1828 to 2016. The Service Newspapers collection presents a range of wartime publications, from numerous nations and theaters of war.

With both collections, Adam Matthew Digital began with newspapers that had “as complete runs as possible,” according to Louise Hemmings, senior publisher with Adam Matthew Digital. The publisher’s relationship with the Sequoyah National Research Center at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock—the leading repository for these newspapers—shaped the development of the American Indian Newspapers, which was also supplemented with materials from the Newberry Library in Chicago.

According to Erin Fehr, an archivist with Sequoyah, the greatest benefit of this collaboration was exposing more resources to a wider audience and making the collections available to researchers—something Sequoyah couldn’t do on its own because of limited staff time and money. Fehr has used the digitized collections herself to answer research queries that would have previously required time-consuming research in print.

The company decided to create the Service Newspapers collection after learning about scholarly interest in wartime journalism. Their key partners for this collection were the British Library and the Imperial War Museum.

Any professional who has worked with archival newspapers knows that these materials can be quite delicate. The Adam Matthew Digital approach to digitizing materials involves visiting the archives and taking detailed accounts and assessments of materials. Some archives prefer to digitize their collections themselves, while for other projects, the publisher will work with a separate scanning vendor.

For the newspaper collections, Hemmings says that the publisher “hit challenges in terms of conservation to make sure they were stable enough to be digitized” and to identify “what might need treatment.” Close collaboration with the archives tied in with the projects’ mission to preserve digital copies and safeguard archival collections. From there, a project management team at Adam Matthew Digital oversaw all aspects of the digitization process, including quality checking final images.

The in-house team also ensures that these are discoverable, accessible collections, and builds upon existing metadata, enhancing it where possible in consultation with curators and an editorial board. With the Service Newspapers collection, for example, the database includes notation of military units and theaters of war, as well as an interactive map for users to gain a sense of the geographic spread of materials. For the American Indian Newspapers, the team commissioned specialists to provide additional indexing for the newspapers in Indigenous languages.

Says Hemmings, “relationships with archives are at the center of what we do. That’s why we have projects where we return to work with our key archival partners again and again. It’s a massive privilege to look after this precious material.”

These databases also offer publishers an opportunity to hone relationships with the communities that produced or will use the materials. For the American Indian Newspapers project, Adam Matthew Digital “aimed to give back to those communities,” says Hemmings. To build trust with the newspaper publishers and secure necessary copyright clearance and permissions, the team visited tribal councils and publishers; Fehr initiated many conversations with publishers to build on established relationships and trust. The database has also been made available for free to all tribal colleges and universities in the United States—a decision that, Fehr said, distinguished Adam Matthews from other publishers.

These databases compile unique materials and presented unique challenges. For each of them, however, the publishers have made an effort to bring to light what makes these materials special and ensure they are available to a wider community of researchers.

Jennifer A. Dixon is Collection Management Librarian, Maloney Library, Fordham University School of Law, New York.

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