February 22, 2019

The University honored 119 authors and editors during this year’s 7^th annual Celebrating Drexel Authors event, held February 18, 2019.

The event, co-hosted by the Drexel Libraries and the Office of the Provost, drew an audience of 76 faculty, staff, students, family and friends to the A. J. Drexel Picture Gallery for the program and reception to honor the University’s authors and editors who published their work during the 2018 calendar year.

As in the past, the event recognized monograph authors and editors, as well as authors of journal articles and conference proceedings papers. Publications recognized during the 2019 event covered a wide range of topics, from works of poetry and fiction, to textbooks on environmental engineering, to books about mobility studies, celebrity philanthropy studies and much more.

This year, the Libraries and the Provost recognized a new group of authors: Drexel “data authors”—researchers who deposited datasets into professionally managed repositories in 2018.

“Research data are now considered part of a scholarly publication, and they are an important institutional asset, just like monographs, journal articles and conference proceedings,” Danuta A. Nitecki, Dean of Libraries, explained during her opening remarks on Monday. “When an author’s data are easily discoverable and accessible, other researchers can utilize that data to foster new research and share new insights. Universities can attract more external funding, and they can leverage their research management systems to lower the costs of meeting and defending compliance and research funding regulations.”

That is why the Libraries, along with numerous campus stakeholders, have made it a priority to recognize these “authors” and to create an effective system for managing Drexel-generated research data and other scholarly output, something Drexel currently lacks.

Drexel researchers currently maintain their individual research output in dispersed systems, through separate repositories or through informal protocols. Even so, Libraries staff identified 18 Drexel “data authors” using sheer librarian-power and within a short deadline for inclusion in the authors event. They acknowledged that there likely are many more Drexel-generated datasets online that need to be discovered.

Drexel Provost Brian Blake also acknowledged the barriers of identifying all Drexel-generated research output during the program.

“We continue to face quite a few challenges to comprehensively identify Drexel’s research outputs… and we are pursuing some innovative and exciting approaches to collecting, organizing and ensuring access to your scholarship,” the Provost said during his remarks. “The Libraries is leading a campus-wide effort to influence the global development of a research services platform [called Esploro] that promises to make it easier to identify your research output. We have made great strides in this area, and I am truly excited to see how our ability to capture and share evidence of Drexel’s research improves in the years to come.”

Since 2013, Drexel has recognized 370 authors and editors from every college and school during this annual event. Donated copies of the 2018 publications recognized this year will be on display in the case outside the Provost's Office in Main Building. Following their exhibition there, copies will be moved to the Faculty Authors Collection in the University Archives.

Missed the event?  complete list of authors and editors recognized at this year's event is available online or view photos from the celebration on the Libraries' Flickr page.

Did you publish in 2019? We want to know about it. Send your name and publication information to Stacy Stanislaw, Communications Manager, at svs22@drexel.edu.