Sustaining Knowledge Infrastructures: Asking the Right Questions and Listening for Answers

Fuente: arXiv
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Autores principales: Gregory, Kathleen, Zurbach, Jonathan, Shankar, Kalpana, Mayernik, Matthew, Verduyn, Malcolm Campbell, Bezuidenhout, Louise, Treloar, Andrew
Formato: Preprint
Publicado: 2025
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author Gregory, Kathleen
Zurbach, Jonathan
Shankar, Kalpana
Mayernik, Matthew
Verduyn, Malcolm Campbell
Bezuidenhout, Louise
Treloar, Andrew
author_facet Gregory, Kathleen
Zurbach, Jonathan
Shankar, Kalpana
Mayernik, Matthew
Verduyn, Malcolm Campbell
Bezuidenhout, Louise
Treloar, Andrew
contents Sustaining knowledge infrastructures remains a persistent issue that requires continued engagement from diverse stakeholders as new questions and values arise in relation to KI maintenance. We draw on existing academic literature, practical experience with KI projects, and our discussions at a 2024 workshop for researchers and practitioners exploring KI evaluation to pose five questions for KI project managers to consider when thinking about how to make their KIs evolve sustainably over time. These questions include reflecting on sustainability throughout the life cycle of KIs, communicating evolving visions and values, engaging communities, right sizing a KI, and developing an iterative process for decision-making. Reflecting on these themes, we suggest, can support KI stakeholders to evolve, not necessarily grow, to meet the needs and values of their communities. How these themes are discussed will necessarily vary by funding sources, disciplines, governance, communities, and other contextual factors. However, adopting a deliberate and strategic approach to KI sustainability and aligning the invisible infrastructural work of KI maintenance with the outward-facing institutional work is, we argue, relevant to all KIs.
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id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2502_19360
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publishDate 2025
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spellingShingle Sustaining Knowledge Infrastructures: Asking the Right Questions and Listening for Answers
Gregory, Kathleen
Zurbach, Jonathan
Shankar, Kalpana
Mayernik, Matthew
Verduyn, Malcolm Campbell
Bezuidenhout, Louise
Treloar, Andrew
Digital Libraries
Sustaining knowledge infrastructures remains a persistent issue that requires continued engagement from diverse stakeholders as new questions and values arise in relation to KI maintenance. We draw on existing academic literature, practical experience with KI projects, and our discussions at a 2024 workshop for researchers and practitioners exploring KI evaluation to pose five questions for KI project managers to consider when thinking about how to make their KIs evolve sustainably over time. These questions include reflecting on sustainability throughout the life cycle of KIs, communicating evolving visions and values, engaging communities, right sizing a KI, and developing an iterative process for decision-making. Reflecting on these themes, we suggest, can support KI stakeholders to evolve, not necessarily grow, to meet the needs and values of their communities. How these themes are discussed will necessarily vary by funding sources, disciplines, governance, communities, and other contextual factors. However, adopting a deliberate and strategic approach to KI sustainability and aligning the invisible infrastructural work of KI maintenance with the outward-facing institutional work is, we argue, relevant to all KIs.
title Sustaining Knowledge Infrastructures: Asking the Right Questions and Listening for Answers
topic Digital Libraries
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2502.19360