Michael Parker (Biology)’s research group studies domestic biosecurity policy, focusing on the regulation of dangerous biological agents. During the process of developing a collection of documents that they hoped to make available to colleagues and the public, they realized that the challenges inherent in developing online resources would hamper their efforts.
Parker applied to the DRI program for support in creating a professional, sustainable digital repository. Using Omeka with the assistance of GU Library staff, Parker’s research team built COBRA, an online archive of biosecurity documents that can be used by scholars all over the world to identify, track, and evaluate historical decisions and trends in biothreat risk assessment.
Parker explained, “as part of [our] work, we kind of blend historiography, philosophy, and technical elements to better understand policy decisions that are made. And, retrospectively inform current decision-making. So what we were trying to do with this project was to make available to more people a repository of risk assessments that had been done by the biosecurity policy community, which had never really been done before…we were trying to find risk assessments, and we were struggling to do so in a manner that was easy or systematic or logical. So, we decided to create the world’s largest repository of these such documents.”
The site is hosted on GU Domains and has been built using Omeka because of its developer-friendly tools, user-friendly design, and ability to accept community document submissions.
“I think my primary learning experience personally, was how to envision a project within the greater university landscape, and the value that it brings. I have a clearer appreciation of what other people around the University have done and continue to do, building resources like the one we built.”
The work has already led to an accepted peer-reviewed journal article and will become a part of Parker’s teaching and syllabi in the future.
The Digital Research and Innovation (DRI) program is a partnership between CNDLS and Georgetown University Library.
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