U of I Professor’s Paper on Research Tools Selected as Best of 2020 by Geoscience Group
January 12, 2021
Jason W. Karl, a professor in the College of Natural Resources, was awarded the 2020 Best Paper Award for a paper published in the Journal of Librarianship and Information Science. In “Mining Location Information From Life- and Earth-Science Studies to Facilitate Knowledge Discovery,” Jason argues that, for many fields including Earth and environmental science, ecology, biodiversity and human health, knowing study locations of previously published research is important, but finding it is labor intensive.
Current search tools do not incorporate where studies were done, therefore discovering place-specific research on a topic usually involves researchers working from their own knowledge, professional networks and tedious searching, “making location-based searches challenging and inefficient.”
Recently developed algorithms that use geography have so far performed well, Jason writes, but they will continue to be of limited use until they are fully developed to rapidly and accurately georeference existing literature.
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The University of Idaho, home of the Vandals, is Idaho’s land-grant, national research university. From its residential campus in Moscow, U of I serves the state of Idaho through educational centers in Boise, Coeur d’Alene and Idaho Falls, nine research and Extension centers, plus Extension offices in 42 counties. Home to nearly 11,000 students statewide, U of I is a leader in student-centered learning and excels at interdisciplinary research, service to businesses and communities, and in advancing diversity, citizenship and global outreach. U of I competes in the Big Sky and Western Athletic conferences. Learn more at uidaho.edu