Category: Data Curation, Open Data, and Research Data Management

Open Science Commons

The European Grid Infrastructure has released Open Science Commons.

Here's an excerpt:

With this paper, the European Grid Infrastructure (EGI) proposes the Open Science Commons as a new approach to digital research, tackling policy challenges and embracing open science as a new paradigm for knowledge creation and collaboration. EGI invites organisations from the research landscape to join it in this journey to develop these concepts, and through them to advance the implementation of the European Research Area.

Digital Scholarship | "A Quarter-Century as an Open Access Publisher"

Guideline for Preservation Planning: Procedural Model and Implementation (English Translation)

Nestor has released an English translation of version 2.0 of its Guideline for Preservation Planning: Procedural Model and Implementation.

Here's an excerpt:

The guideline for preservation planning describes a procedural model for the long-term archiving of digital objects and provides information on possible forms of implementation. It serves above all as a theoretical and practical implementation of the "Preservation Planning" functional unit of the OAIS reference model. Other key concepts introduced in the last 15 years have been included and brought together.

Digital Scholarship | "A Quarter-Century as an Open Access Publisher"

"Building Support for Research Data Management: Biographies of Eight Research Universities"

Katherine G. Akers et al. have published "Building Support for Research Data Management: Biographies of Eight Research Universities" in the International Journal of Digital Curation.

Here's an excerpt:

Academic research libraries are quickly developing support for research data management (RDM), including both new services and infrastructure. Here, we tell the stories of how eight different universities have developed programs of RDM support, focusing on the prominent role of the library in educating and assisting researchers with managing their data throughout the research lifecycle. Based on these stories, we construct timelines for each university depicting key steps in building support for RDM, and we discuss similarities and dissimilarities among universities in motivation to provide RDM support, collaborations among campus units, assessment of needs and services, and changes in staffing.

Digital Scholarship | "A Quarter-Century as an Open Access Publisher"

Registering Researchers in Authority Files

OCLC Research has released Registering Researchers in Authority Files.

Here's an excerpt from the announcement:

Registering researchers in some type of authority file or identifier system has become more compelling as both institutions and researchers recognize the need to compile their scholarly output. The report presents functional requirements and recommendations for six stakeholders: researchers, funders, university administrators, librarians, identity management systems and aggregators (including publishers). It also provides an overview of the researcher identifier landscape, changes in the field, emerging trends, and opportunities.

Digital Scholarship | "A Quarter-Century as an Open Access Publisher"

UNC SILS Gets $750,000 Mellon Foundation Grant for BitCurator Access Project

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's School of Information and Library Science has been given a$ 750,000 grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation for its BitCurator Access Project.

Here's an excerpt from the announcement:

The BitCurator Access project will develop open-source software that supports the provision of access to disk images through three exploratory approaches: (1) building tools to support web-based services, (2) enabling the export of file systems and associated metadata, (3) and the use of emulation environments. Also closely associated with these access goals is redaction. BitCurator Access will develop tools to redact files, file system metadata, and targeted bitstreams within disks or directories.

Digital Scholarship | "A Quarter-Century as an Open Access Publisher"

DataONE Gets $15 Million NSF Grant

DataONE has received a $15 million grant from the NSF.

Here's an excerpt from the announcement:

Founded in 2009 by the National Science Foundation (NSF), DataONE was designed to provide both the tools and infrastructure for organizing and serving up vast amounts of scientific data, in addition to building an engaged community and developing openly available educational resources.

Accomplishments from the last five years include making over 260,000 publicly available data and metadata objects accessible through the DataONE search engine and building a growing network of 22 national and international data repositories. DataONE has published more than 74 papers, reached over 2,000 individuals via direct training events and workshops and connects with over 60,000 visitors annually via the website.

Digital Scholarship | "A Quarter-Century as an Open Access Publisher"

"Codifying Collegiality: Recent Developments in Data Sharing Policy in the Life Sciences "

Genevieve Pham-Kanter et al. have published "Codifying Collegiality: Recent Developments in Data Sharing Policy in the Life Sciences " in PLOS ONE.

Over the last decade, there have been significant changes in data sharing policies and in the data sharing environment faced by life science researchers. Using data from a 2013 survey of over 1600 life science researchers, we analyze the effects of sharing policies of funding agencies and journals. We also examine the effects of new sharing infrastructure and tools (i.e., third party repositories and online supplements). We find that recently enacted data sharing policies and new sharing infrastructure and tools have had a sizable effect on encouraging data sharing. In particular, third party repositories and online supplements as well as data sharing requirements of funding agencies, particularly the NIH and the National Human Genome Research Institute, were perceived by scientists to have had a large effect on facilitating data sharing. In addition, we found a high degree of compliance with these new policies, although noncompliance resulted in few formal or informal sanctions. Despite the overall effectiveness of data sharing policies, some significant gaps remain: about one third of grant reviewers placed no weight on data sharing plans in their reviews, and a similar percentage ignored the requirements of material transfer agreements. These patterns suggest that although most of these new policies have been effective, there is still room for policy improvement.

Digital Scholarship | "A Quarter-Century as an Open Access Publisher"

"The Research Data Alliance: Globally Co-Ordinated Action against Barriers to Data Publishing and Sharing"

Andrew Treloar has published "The Research Data Alliance: Globally Co-Ordinated Action against Barriers to Data Publishing and Sharing" in a special issue of Learned Publishing on data publishing.

Here's an excerpt:

This article discusses the drivers behind the formation of the Research Data Alliance (RDA), its current state, the lessons learned from its first full year of operation, and its anticipated impact on data publishing and sharing. One of the pressing challenges in data infrastructure (taken here to include issues relating to hardware, software and content format, as well as human actors) is how best to enable data interoperability across boundaries. This is particularly critical as the world deals with bigger and more complex problems that require data and insights from a range of disciplines. The RDA has been set up to enable more data to be shared across barriers to address these challenges. It does this through focused Working Groups and Interest Groups, formed of experts from around the world, and drawing from the academic, industry, and government sectors.

Digital Scholarship | "A Quarter-Century as an Open Access Publisher"

"Developing Professional Skills in STEM Students: Data Information Literacy"

Lisa D. Zilinski et al. have published "Developing Professional Skills in STEM Students: Data Information Literacy" in Issues in Science and Technology Librarianship.

Here's an excerpt:

Undergraduate STEM students are increasingly expected to have some data use skills upon graduation, whether they pursue post-graduate education or move into industry. This project was an initial foray into the application of data information literacy competencies to training undergraduate students to identify markers of data and information quality. The data consumer training appeared within two courses to help students evaluate data objects, including databases and datasets available on the Internet. The application of the Data Credibility Checklist provides a foundation for developing data reuse competencies. Based upon the initial presentation of the content, it became obvious that students need very basic introductions to data concepts, including definitions for database and dataset, and the process of data object discovery.

Digital Scholarship | "A Quarter-Century as an Open Access Publisher"

"Library of Congress Recommended Format Specifications: Encouraging Preservation Without Discouraging Creation"

Theron Westervelt has published "Library of Congress Recommended Format Specifications: Encouraging Preservation Without Discouraging Creation" in D-Lib Magazine.

Here's an excerpt:

The Library of Congress has a fundamental commitment to acquiring, preserving and making accessible in the long term the creative output of the nation and the world. The Library has devised the Recommended Format Specifications to enable it to identify what formats will most easily lend themselves to preservation and long-term access, especially with regard to digital formats. The Library has done this to provide guidance to its staff in their work of acquiring content for its collection, but also seeks to share this with other stakeholders, from the creative community to vendors to other libraries, each of which has a need and interest in preservation and access. To ensure ongoing accuracy and relevancy, the Library of Congress will be reviewing and revising the specifications on an annual basis and welcomes feedback and input from all interested parties.

Digital Scholarship | "A Quarter-Century as an Open Access Publisher"

"How Many Citations Are There in the Data Citation Index?"

Daniel Torres-Salinas et al. have self-archived "How Many Citations Are There in the Data Citation Index?."

Here's an excerpt:

Descriptive analysis on the citation distribution of the Thomson Reuters' Data Citation Index by publication type and four broad areas: Science, Engineering & Technology, Humanities & Arts and Social Sciences.

Digital Scholarship | "A Quarter-Century as an Open Access Publisher"

Current Quality Assurance Practices in Web Archiving

Brenda Reyes Ayala, Mark E. Phillips, and Lauren Ko have self-archived Current Quality Assurance Practices in Web Archiving.

Here's an excerpt:

This paper presents the results of a survey of quality assurance (QA) practices within the field of web archiving. To understand current QA practices, the authors surveyed 54 institutions engaged in web archiving, which included national libraries, colleges and universities, and museums and art libraries.

Digital Scholarship | "A Quarter-Century as an Open Access Publisher"

"Going Beyond Data Management Planning: Comprehensive Research Data Services"

Katherine G. Akers has published "Going Beyond Data Management Planning: Comprehensive Research Data Services" in College & Research Libraries News.

Here's an excerpt:

We should keep in mind that DMP requirements impact only a small proportion of academic researchers and, furthermore, that such requirements are only one factor motivating researchers to share their data. Just as many, if not a greater number of, researchers might face expectations from journal publishers to share the data underlying their research articles. Some researchers receive funding from federal agencies that have data sharing policies but that do not require a DMP. Also, many researchers may desire to make their data available to a wide audience for personal or altruistic reasons, such as to permit others to replicate their methods and analysis, to allow others to re-purpose their data in new ways, or to increase the visibility and impact of their work.

Digital Scholarship | "A Quarter-Century as an Open Access Publisher"

"Steal This Idea: A Library Instructors’ Guide to Educating Students in Data Management Skills"

Lisa Johnston and Jon Jeffryes have published "Steal This Idea: A Library Instructors' Guide to Educating Students in Data Management Skills" in College & Research Libraries News.

Here's an excerpt:

This article provides a big-picture overview of the work conducted by UM to meet the data literacy needs of our graduate students. We've adapted our instructional approach to data management over the years.

Digital Scholarship | "A Quarter-Century as an Open Access Publisher"

"Integrating Approaches to Privacy Across the Research Lifecycle: Long-Term Longitudinal Studies"

Alexandra Wood et al. have self-archived "Integrating Approaches to Privacy Across the Research Lifecycle: Long-Term Longitudinal Studies."

Here's an excerpt:

The defining characteristics of a long-term longitudinal study—that such a study follows a large number of individuals over extended periods of time and collects vast quantities of sometimes very sensitive personal information from subjects—create a number of challenges for researchers working with longitudinal data. Over the course of a longitudinal study, data collection, uses of data, privacy expectations, and laws may change, leaving the scope of subjects' consent unclear. The use of contractors for data collection and the need to retain administrative data linked to records to recontact subjects over time may increase the risk of disclosure.

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"Dealing with Data: Science Librarians’ Participation in Data Management at Association of Research Libraries Institutions"

Karen Antell et al. have published "Dealing with Data: Science Librarians' Participation in Data Management at Association of Research Libraries Institutions" in College & Research Libraries.

Here's an excerpt:

This study, a survey of science librarians at institutions affiliated with the Association of Research Libraries, investigates science librarians' awareness of and involvement in institutional repositories, data repositories, and data management support services at their institutions. The study also explores the roles and responsibilities, both new and traditional, that science librarians have assumed related to data management, and the skills that science librarians believe are necessary to meet the demands of data management work.

Digital Scholarship | Research Data Curation Bibliography, Version 4

"Research Data Management Case Studies"

LIBER's Steering Committee on Scholarly Communication and Research Infrastructures has released "Research Data Management Case Studies."

Here's an excerpt from the announcement:

These studies describe policies and strategies that pave the way for the creation, institutional integration and the running of support services and underlying infrastructures. In addition, challenges and lessons learned are described, and ways-forward outlined.

Digital Scholarship | Research Data Curation Bibliography, Version 4

Preserving eBooks

The Digital Preservation Coalition has released Preserving eBooks.

Here's an excerpt from the announcement:

Written by Portico's Amy Kirchhoff and Sheila Morrissey, and published in association with Charles Beagrie Ltd., this report discusses the current developments and issues with which public, national and higher education libraries, publishers, aggregators and preservation institutions must contend to ensure long-term access to eBook content.

Digital Scholarship | "A Quarter-Century as an Open Access Publisher"

Research Data Curation Bibliography, Version 4

Digital Scholarship has released version 4 of the Research Data Curation Bibliography. This selective bibliography includes over 320 English-language articles and technical reports that are useful in understanding the curation of digital research data in academic and other research institutions.

The "digital curation" concept is still evolving. In "Digital Curation and Trusted Repositories: Steps toward Success," Christopher A. Lee and Helen R. Tibbo define digital curation as follows:

Digital curation involves selection and appraisal by creators and archivists; evolving provision of intellectual access; redundant storage; data transformations; and, for some materials, a commitment to long-term preservation. Digital curation is stewardship that provides for the reproducibility and re-use of authentic digital data and other digital assets. Development of trustworthy and durable digital repositories; principles of sound metadata creation and capture; use of open standards for file formats and data encoding; and the promotion of information management literacy are all essential to the longevity of digital resources and the success of curation efforts.

Most sources have been published from January 2009 through June 2014; however, a limited number of earlier key sources are also included.

The bibliography includes links to freely available versions of included works. If such versions are unavailable, links to the publishers' descriptions are provided.

It is available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 United States License.

For broader coverage of the digital curation literature, see the author's Digital Curation Bibliography: Preservation and Stewardship of Scholarly Works,which presents over 650 English-language articles, books, and technical reports, and the Digital Curation Bibliography: Preservation and Stewardship of Scholarly Works, 2012 Supplement, which presents over 130 additional sources.

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"The ‘Digital’ Scholarship Disconnect"

Clifford Lynch has published "The 'Digital' Scholarship Disconnect" in EDUCAUSE Review.

Here's an excerpt:

Still, in all of these examples of digital scholarship, a key challenge remains: How can we curate and manage data now that so much of it is being produced and collected in digital form? How can we ensure that it will be discovered, shared, and reused to advance scholarship? We are struggling through the establishment of institutions, funding models, policies and practices, and even new legal requirements and community norms—ranging from cultural changes about who can use data (and when) to economic decisions about who should pay for what. Some disciplines are less contentious than others: for example, astronomy data is technically well-understood and usually not terribly sensitive. Reputation, rather than commercial reward, is wrapped up in astronomical discoveries, and there is no institutional review board to ensure the safety and dignity of astronomical objects. On the other hand, human subjects and their data raise an enormous number of questions about informed consent, privacy, and anonymization; when there are genetic markers or possible treatments to be discovered or validated, serious high-value commercial interests may be at stake. All of these factors tend to work against the free and convenient sharing of data.

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"The University Library as Incubator for Digital Scholarship"

Bryan Sinclair has published "The University Library as Incubator for Digital Scholarship" in EDUCAUSE Review.

Here's an excerpt:

The campus of the future will be increasingly connected and collaborative, and the library can be the community center and beta test kitchen for new forms of interdisciplinary inquiry. Libraries have always been in the business of knowledge creation and transfer, and the digital scholarship incubator within the library can serve as a natural extension of this essential function. In an age of visualization, analytics, big data, and new forms of online publishing, these central spaces can facilitate knowledge creation and transfer by connecting people, data, and technology in a shared collaborative space.

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"Developing a Research Data Management Service—A Case Study"

Jeff Moon has published "Developing a Research Data Management Service—A Case Study" in Partnership.

Here's an excerpt:

Publicly-funded, researcher-generated data has been on the front burner lately, driven by a variety of factors, including evolving funding-agency policies and journal publisher requirements. In this context, Queen's University Library (QUL) developed and implemented a Research Data Management (RDM) Service to meet researchers' needs. This process is described here, framed around four main themes: planning, building, educating, and doing.

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"Research Data Sharing: Developing a Stakeholder-Driven Model for Journal Policies"

Paul Sturges et al. have self-archived "Research Data Sharing: Developing a Stakeholder-Driven Model for Journal Policies."

Here's an excerpt:

The Journal Research Data (JoRD) Project was a JISC (Joint Information Systems Committee) funded feasibility study on the possible shape of a central service on journal research data policies. The objectives of the study included, amongst other considerations: to identify the current state of journal data sharing policies and to investigate the views and practices of stakeholders to data sharing. The project confirmed that a large percentage of journals do not have a policy on data sharing, and that there are inconsistencies between the traceable journal data sharing policies. Such a state leaves authors unsure of whether they should deposit data relating to articles and where and how to share that data. In the absence of a consolidated infrastructure for the easy sharing of data, a journal data sharing model policy was developed. The model policy was developed from comparing the quantitative information gathered from analysing existing journal data policies with qualitative data collected from the stakeholders concerned. This article summarises the information gathered, outlines the process by which the model was developed and presents the model journal data sharing policy in full.

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"PLOS Data Policy: Catalyst for a Better Research Process"

Emma Ganley has published "PLOS Data Policy: Catalyst for a Better Research Process" in College & Research Libraries News.

Here's an excerpt:

PLOS is seeking to ensure the ongoing utility of research, as making a paper openly accessible is enhanced enormously if that paper is linked seamlessly to the data from which it was constructed. In a time when post-publication peer review is more prevalent and data frequently come under intense public scrutiny, with whistle-blowers, blogs, and websites dedicated to investigating the validity and veracity of scientific publications, requiring access to the relevant data leads to a more rigorous scientific record.

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"PyRDM: A Python-Based Library for Automating the Management and Online Publication of Scientific Software And Data"

Christian T. Jacobs et al. have self-archived "PyRDM: A Python-Based Library for Automating the Management and Online Publication of Scientific Software And Data."

Here's an excerpt:

The recomputability and reproducibility of results from scientific software requires access to both the source code and all associated input and output data. However, the full collection of these resources often does not accompany the key findings published in journal articles, thereby making it difficult or impossible for the wider scientific community to verify the correctness of a result or to build further research on it. This paper presents a new Python-based library, PyRDM, whose functionality aims to automate the process of sharing the software and data via online, citable repositories such as Figshare. The library is integrated into the workflow of an open-source computational fluid dynamics package, Fluidity, to demonstrate an example of its usage.

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