Like many universities, Stanford currently maintains separate systems for tracking researchers, grants and projects, with each overseen by and optimized for individual business concerns (research administration, human resources, finance, faculty affairs, etc.). Stanford also has no comprehensive system for tracking and managing its research output: the tangible artifacts of articles, data and other publications that advance human knowledge. In a cross-campus partnership to build a Research Information Ecosystem (RIE), the Stanford Libraries have begun development on a system, RIALTO, to systematically capture and relate research outputs to people, groups and projects. Working with the Dean of Research, School of Medicine, Office of International Affairs, University IT et al., the effort seeks to create an enterprise-wide scholarly graph, to feed other systems, and to equip the University with research intelligence that may inform decisions ranging from building library collections to grant compliance, from identifying new research opportunities to space planning for interdisciplinary facilities. This presentation will lay out the evolving interdepartmental and technical landscape for the RIE and RIALTO as they take form at Stanford, and explore the implications and opportunities for research institutions, funders, government agencies and the growing set of commercial providers in this space.
