About this Toolkit
This toolkit for collaborative, interdisciplinary groups provides an overview of tools and resources for each stage of the group process. The toolkit is currently in development, and we appreciate any feedback or suggestions for additions. Comments can be sent to jmcburne@umn.edu.
The toolkit is created and maintained by the University Libraries in collaboration with the Graduate School's Office of Interdisciplinary Initiatives and the Institute for Advanced Study.
Develop a Group ProposalInvestigating Potential Group Hosts: Campus Programs for Interdisciplinary Groups
- Institute for Advanced Study’s Research and Creative Collaboratives
- Institute for Advanced Study’s 5x5 Initative: 5 People, 5 Perspectives, 5 Meetings
- Graduate School’s Interdisciplinary Graduate Groups
- College of Liberal Arts’ Humanistic Commons Graduate Research Groups
- College of Liberal Arts/College of Science and Engineering’s C3: Curiosity, Community, and Collaboration
- University Libraries’ Digital Arts Science + Humanities (DASH) project
- Office for Public Engagement’s Issue Area Networks
- MnDRIVE, the "partnership between the university and the state of Minnesota that aligns areas of university strength with the state’s key and emerging industries to advance new discoveries that address grand challenges."
- Big Ten Academic Alliance Geoportal, a collaborative project connecting users to digital geospatial resources, including GIS datasets, web services, and digitized historical maps from multiple data clearinghouses and library catalogs.
Finding Potential Collaborators
- Experts@Minnesota, the University-wide expertise database.
- College of Liberal Arts' Expertise Database
- Campus networking events:
Finding Grant Opportunities and Assistance
- Grant Funding: Search Tools & Resources, including
- Tutorials: Search Tools for Grant Funding
- Sponsored Projects Administration (SPA), the office that assists in submitting proposals and getting grants and mediates the grant process
- Grant-writing services available for Institute for Advanced Studies affiliates (pdf)
- IonE Mini Grants encourage new collaborations for interdisciplinary groups of faculty, staff and students from across U of M disciplines, units and campuses
- Grand Challenges grants and research opportunities for collaboration across disciplines
Forming New GroupsLearning How to Work as a Team
- Team Dynamics videos by Professor Kirk Froggatt: Part 1 (8 min.) Part 2 (7 min.)
- National Cancer Institute's Team Science Toolkit
- University of Washington's Research Toolkit: Building Collaborations
- A method for promoting successful integration across disciplines: Eigenbrode, Sanford D., et al. “Employing Philosophical Dialogue in Collaborative Science.” BioScience 57, no. 1 (January 1, 2007): 55–64.doi:10.1641/B570109
Setting Up an Online Collaborative Space
- Request a Google Group of your group members
- Set up a Google Site (Set editing permissions for your Group. Set viewing permissions for the public.)
- Set up a folder in Google Drive (Set editing and viewing permissions for your Group.)
- Create a shared bibliography in Zotero to enable a collaborative bibliography on your topic
- Request a facilitated Researchathon: The U Libraries will help host a group event to build your collaborative bibliography.
- Set up Alerts and Feeds for future articles in your area of interest
Finding Meeting Space
- Schedule a meeting through Office of Classroom Management
- Reserve a Group Study Space at the Libraries
- OIT Computer Classroom Reservations
- Consult individual departments/centers about their meeting rooms
Group Management Resources
- Assign group roles, such as blog moderator
- "Seven Keys to Successful Collaboration" [pdf]
- Tips for facilitating and leading group discussions
Creating and Managing Group ProjectsManaging Your Data
- Plan your your Data Management strategy using Recommended Data Management Practices
- Tutorials and Workshops on Data Management
- Documentation Tips and Directory Organizational Tips handouts from LATIS and the Libraries
Writing Collaboratively
- Create Google Docs in your Group's shared Google Drive folder or investigate other group productivity tools
- Explore annotation tools for collaboration, such as Hypothes.is or Genius Web Annotator
- Share your code with the U of M GitHub Server
Managing Your Group's Academic Identity
- Choose a standard group/grant designation to brand all group research products
- Create/use each author's ORCID identifier to ensure accurate credit for grant applications/paper submissions/etc.
Managing Your Group's Intellectual Property
- Copyright Information and Resources: Can I Use This? and What Do I Own?
- University of Minnesota Ownership Policies for employees and students
- Manage the rights to your scholarship
- University of Minnesota Open Access Policy
- Request a copyright consultation
- Get help choosing a publication venue and managing your author rights:
Sharing, Archiving, and Preserving Your Group's ResearchChoosing an Archive or Data Repository
- Share and preserve your group's papers, reports, and other research products in the University Digital Conservancy (UDC) or a discipline-based archive
- Share and preserve your group's research data in the Data Repository for U of M (DRUM) or a discipline-based data repository
- End-stage data management issues & best practices
Documenting Your Group's History
- Save a clear summary of the group's history and activities
- Submit any necessary personnel or financial records
- Make sure that control of webpages/accounts/files/equipment/other research artifacts has been properly transferred
- Check for reporting requirements from your sponsoring department/program/center
- Check with University Archives for guidelines on whether records should be retained and transferred
Publishing Your Work
- Set up a consultation with the U of MN Libraries Publishing for support at all stages of content creation
