Showing posts with label academic libraries. Show all posts

Friday, 23 June 2017

Developments in research data management in academic libraries

Developments in research data management in academic libraries: Towards an understanding of research data service maturity

Cox, Pinfield, Lyon & Kennan (2017)

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/asi.23781/full

Thursday, 25 May 2017

Research data management in academic institutions: A scoping review

Article in PLOS by Laure Perrier et al

Published: May 23, 2017
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0178261

Objective

The purpose of this study is to describe the volume, topics, and methodological nature of the existing research literature on research data management in academic institutions.

Materials and methods

We conducted a scoping review by searching forty literature databases encompassing a broad range of disciplines from inception to April 2016. We included all study types and data extracted on study design, discipline, data collection tools, and phase of the research data lifecycle.

Results

We included 301 articles plus 10 companion reports after screening 13,002 titles and abstracts and 654 full-text articles. Most articles (85%) were published from 2010 onwards and conducted within the sciences (86%). More than three-quarters of the articles (78%) reported methods that included interviews, cross-sectional, or case studies. Most articles (68%) included the Giving Access to Data phase of the UK Data Archive Research Data Lifecycle that examines activities such as sharing data. When studies were grouped into five dominant groupings (Stakeholder, Data, Library, Tool/Device, and Publication), data quality emerged as an integral element.

Conclusion

Most studies relied on self-reports (interviews, surveys) or accounts from an observer (case studies) and we found few studies that collected empirical evidence on activities amongst data producers, particularly those examining the impact of research data management interventions. As well, fewer studies examined research data management at the early phases of research projects. The quality of all research outputs needs attention, from the application of best practices in research data management studies, to data producers depositing data in repositories for long-term use.

Tuesday, 28 February 2017

Curating Research Data - in two volumes

ACRL has posted the open access editions of the two-volume set titled Curating Research Data on their website at http://www.ala.org/acrl/publications/booksanddigitalresources/booksmonographs/catalog/publications!

Edited by Lisa R. Johnston:

Volume 1 is a traditional edited volume with 12 chapters and explores the variety of reasons, motivations, and drivers for why data curation services are needed in the context of academic and disciplinary data repository efforts.
Volume 2 is a how-to handbook of data curation techniques presented in 8 steps (from receive to reuse) and includes 30 case studies written by practitioners at institutional and disciplinary data repositories.

Tuesday, 22 November 2016

http://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/101389/

Developments in research data management in academic libraries: Towards an understanding of research data service maturity

Abstract

This paper reports an international study of research data management (RDM) activities, services and capabilities in higher education libraries. It presents the results of a survey covering higher education libraries in Australia, Canada, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand and the UK. The results indicate that libraries have provided leadership in RDM, particularly in advocacy and policy development. Service development is still limited, focused especially on advisory and consultancy services (such as data management planning support and data-related training), rather than technical services (such as provision of a data catalogue, and curation of active data). Data curation skills development is underway in libraries, but skills and capabilities are not consistently in place and remain a concern. Other major challenges include resourcing, working with other support services, and achieving ‘buy in’ from researchers and senior managers. Results are compared with previous studies in order to assess trends and relative maturity levels. The range of RDM activities explored in this study are positioned on a ‘landscape maturity model’, which reflects current and planned research data services and practice in academic libraries, representing a ‘snapshot’ of current developments and a baseline for future research.

http://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/101389/

Monday, 20 June 2016

Databrarianship: The Academic Data Librarian in Theory and Practice

New book: Databrarianship: The Academic Data Librarian in Theory and Practice

"With the appearance of big data, open data, and particularly research data curation on many libraries' radar screens, data service has become a critically important topic for academic libraries. Drawing on the expertise of a diverse community of practitioners, this collection of case studies, original research, survey chapters, and theoretical explorations presents a wide-ranging look at the field of academic data librarianship.

By covering the data lifecycle from collection development to preservation, examining the challenges of working with different forms of data, and exploring service models suited to a variety of library types, this volume provides a toolbox of strategies that will allow librarians and administrators to respond creatively and effectively to the data deluge.

Edited by Kristi Thompson and Lynda Kellam, Databrarianship: The Academic Data Librarian in Theory and Practice provides advice and insight on data services for all types of academic libraries and will be of interest to library educators".

Available on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Databrarianship-Academic-Librarian-Theory-Practice/dp/0838987990/

Thursday, 5 May 2016

Research Library Associations Endorse Open Data Accord

The International Alliance of Research Library Associations (IARLA)—a global coalition of major research and academic library associations in Australia, Canada, Europe, and the United States—recognizes the importance of working towards a common vision for open data. We firmly believe that open data holds the key to addressing many societal challenges worldwide.

See - http://www.arl.org/news/arl-news/3999-research-library-associations-endorse-open-data-accord

Friday, 14 August 2015

Griffith Research Hub: Connecting an entire University's research enterprise

Natasha Simons, Arve Solland, Jan Hettenhausen

Book chapter in: Linked Data and User Interaction

IFLA publication, deGruyter 2015

Abstract: Universities are operating in a knowledge environment characterised by competition, collaboration, a diversification of research outputs and rapid technological change. Thus the use of linked data is rapidly gaining momentum, typically for educational resources with research as a subset of this content. The Griffith Research Hub is focused specifically on exposing linked data for research. It provides a publicly accessible, single comprehensive view of Griffith University’s research output and activities, including research publications, projects, datasets, centres, researchers and their collaborators. The Hub serves an ambitiously wide audience including higher degree research students, researchers, industry and the media. Built in-house on open source semantic web technologies, the Hub draws data automatically from multiple enterprise systems and includes an edit interface for manual correction and enrichment of data. The Hub is the product of a partnership between Griffith University and the Australian National Data Service. Benefits of the Hub include powerful yet simple search and browse tools, generation of substantial web traffic, linked data that allows users to seamlessly discover related information in other services and databases including at the National Library of Australia, visualisation features, and the development of a shared ontology to describe research activities.

Librarians as partners in research data service development at Griffith University

Samantha Searle, Malcolm Wolski, Natasha Simons, Joanna Richardson

Program 2015 49:4

The purpose of the paper is to describe the evolution to date and future directions in research data policy, infrastructure, skills development and advisory services in an Australian university, with a focus on the role of librarians.

The authors have been involved in the development of research data services at Griffith, and the case study presents observations and reflections arising from their first-hand experiences.

Griffith University's organisational structure and 'whole-of-enterprise' approach has facilitated service development to support research data. Fostering strong national partnerships has also accelerated development of institutional capability. Policies and strategies are supported by pragmatic best practice guidelines aimed directly at researchers. Iterative software development and a commitment to well-supported enterprise infrastructure enable the provision of a range of data management solutions. Training programs, repository support and data planning services are still relatively immature. Griffith recognises that information services staff (including librarians) will need more opportunities to develop knowledge and skills to support these services as they evolve.

This case study provides examples of library-led and library-supported activities that could be used for comparative purposes by other libraries. At the same time, it provides a critical perspective by contrasting areas of good practice within the University with those of less satisfactory progress. While other institutions may have different constraints or opportunities, some of the major concepts within this paper may prove useful to advance the development of research data capability and capacity across the library profession.

Thursday, 25 June 2015

DataQ launched

One to watch ...

A collaboration platform for community development around research data for academic librarians (US)

More at: http://researchdataq.org/index.html

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Have a data management question, but not sure who to ask for help? Ask DataQ!

DataQ is a collaborative platform and community aimed at addressing research data questions in academic libraries. As we approach the launch of the DataQ site this summer, the DataQ editorial team is interested in hearing your research data questions and the questions of your constituents.

Does the number of potential domain repositories make your head spin? Not sure how to help with a data management plan? Unclear on the nuances of DOIs, Handles, ARKs, and all that? Ask DataQ - we can help!

Submit your questions to DataQ at ResearchDataQ.org and our editorial team of experts will craft a response to share with the community.

Look for another message once the site is live and the community’s questions and answers are posted.

The DataQ project was made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services Sparks! Ignition Grant for Libraries SP-02-14-0020-14.

Have a question about asking questions at DataQ? A project update can be found at the ResearchDataQ.org site.

Monday, 9 March 2015

Research data management services in academic research libraries and perceptions of librarians

The emergence of data intensive science and the establishment of data management mandates have motivated academic libraries to develop research data services (RDS) for their faculty and students. Here the results of two studies are reported: librarians' RDS practices in U.S. and Canadian academic research libraries, and the RDS-related library policies in those or similar libraries. Results show that RDS are currently not frequently employed in libraries, but many services are in the planning stages. Technical RDS are less common than informational RDS, RDS are performed more often for faculty than for students, and more library directors believe they offer opportunities for staff to develop RDS-related skills than the percentage of librarians who perceive such opportunities to be available. Librarians need opportunities to learn more about these services either on campus or through attendance at workshops and professional conferences.

Full article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.lisr.2013.11.003

North American libraries do not frequently offer RDS, but many are being planned.

Technical (hands-on) RDS are less common than informational (consulting) RDS.

Many librarians in academic research libraries feel the need for more RDS training.