Concept
The concept of an online academic commons has been explored by many academic institutions allowing for collaboration and sharing of works and ideas. The field of Jewish studies is multifaceted and spans across time and space, a project that is Jewish studies specific, as opposed to a general academic commons that may be affiliated with an institution, will allow for greater sharing of data among specialists and interested parties.
An academic commons in the field of Jewish studies will allow for the further cross-pollination of ideas, thoughts and research. A project of this nature can be local, national, or even global - partnerships between academic institutions, organizations and the Association of Jewish Libraries can allow for the deposit of working papers through dissertations which will be searchable (in HTML and PDF formats with fully hyperlinked citations). Most interestingly, although dissertations are often searchable (and available) through several means, academic level research projects and Master's theses often are not available. By presenting and enabling the dissemination of research in this manner the field of Jewish studies can become much richer with newly forged inter-institutional connections and between faculty and students for future projects, panels and research. This successful venture can be the start of various other related projects.
The rationale for the concept of the Jewish Studies Academic Commons is multi-fold: that is there is no one reason for this idea, various experiences have made the need for such a project obvious. Examples of where this project would be helpful - you have heard of an unpublished MA level thesis and have already checked the institution's library catalog to no avail, there does not seem to be a way to find the thesis; an undergraduate student is working on a specialized project in the field of liturgical developments and change in Modern era in Europe and may be utilizing primary sources previously known to few and the individual may simply submit the work for the undergraduate thesis and it will not be further researched -- these types of instances and others highlight the challenges some researchers face.
This project can go beyond the uploaded and searchable documents to include social media platforms that encourage subject specialty collaboration, events planning, research projects and books.
Other academic commons and related information include:
http://commons.gc.cuny.edu —CUNY Academic Commons
http://academiccommons.columbia.edu/ - Columbia University Academic Commons
http://academia.edu/ - academic social media and sharing tool
http://www.academiccommons.org/ - Academic Commons
http://digitalcommons.bepress.com/ - Digital Commons
Based on Poster Session Proposal for the Association of Jewish Libraries Convention 2012 in Pasadena, California.
An academic commons in the field of Jewish studies will allow for the further cross-pollination of ideas, thoughts and research. A project of this nature can be local, national, or even global - partnerships between academic institutions, organizations and the Association of Jewish Libraries can allow for the deposit of working papers through dissertations which will be searchable (in HTML and PDF formats with fully hyperlinked citations). Most interestingly, although dissertations are often searchable (and available) through several means, academic level research projects and Master's theses often are not available. By presenting and enabling the dissemination of research in this manner the field of Jewish studies can become much richer with newly forged inter-institutional connections and between faculty and students for future projects, panels and research. This successful venture can be the start of various other related projects.
The rationale for the concept of the Jewish Studies Academic Commons is multi-fold: that is there is no one reason for this idea, various experiences have made the need for such a project obvious. Examples of where this project would be helpful - you have heard of an unpublished MA level thesis and have already checked the institution's library catalog to no avail, there does not seem to be a way to find the thesis; an undergraduate student is working on a specialized project in the field of liturgical developments and change in Modern era in Europe and may be utilizing primary sources previously known to few and the individual may simply submit the work for the undergraduate thesis and it will not be further researched -- these types of instances and others highlight the challenges some researchers face.
This project can go beyond the uploaded and searchable documents to include social media platforms that encourage subject specialty collaboration, events planning, research projects and books.
Other academic commons and related information include:
http://commons.gc.cuny.edu —CUNY Academic Commons
http://academiccommons.columbia.edu/ - Columbia University Academic Commons
http://academia.edu/ - academic social media and sharing tool
http://www.academiccommons.org/ - Academic Commons
http://digitalcommons.bepress.com/ - Digital Commons
Based on Poster Session Proposal for the Association of Jewish Libraries Convention 2012 in Pasadena, California.