Transcript Policy, guidance and training: Improving research data

Robin Rice
Data Librarian, University of Edinburgh
IASSIST 2010, Ithaca, New York
Improving best practice in
research data
management is really
about culture change.
(What’s a librarian doing
trying to change academic
culture?)
Indigenous artwork and
poetry in the information
centre at Petroglyphs
Provincial Park, Ontario,
Canada. CC-attribution
license, zayzayem (flickr)
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Data Library service at UoE
Recent projects and why they pointed us
towards Research Data Management (RDM)
 DISC-UK DataShare
 Data Audit Framework Implementation
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Developing guidance in RDM
Developing policy in RDM
Developing training in RDM
Data Library established out of the Program Library
Unit in early 1980s to provide access to data on
mainframes, e.g. 1981 population census data. Was
part of Computing Service, now in Information
Services.
 Part of long tradition of sharing machine-readable
data for secondary analysis in the social sciences
 Became a national data centre as EDINA in 1993 data library continues University remit
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 celebrated 25th anniversary in 2008 with a few IASSIST
notables and others
EDINA is a JISC-designated national academic
data centre based at the University of Edinburgh.
‘Our mission is to ‘enhance the productivity of
research, learning and teaching’ across all
universities, research institutes and colleges in the
UK.
‘We do this by delivering first-rate online services
… [for bibliographic, geographic and multimedia
data] and by carrying out successful R&D projects.’
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Finding…
“I need to analyse some data for a project, but all I can find are published papers with
tables and graphs, not the original data source.”
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Accessing …
“I’ve found the data I need, but I’m not sure how to gain access to it.”
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Using …
“I’ve got the data I need, but I’m having problems analysing it in my chosen
software.”
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Managing …
“I have collected my own data and I’d like to document and preserve it and make it
available to others.”
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Teaching …
“I need a dataset that teaches X to my students.”
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A forum for data professionals working in UK Higher
Education who specialise in supporting staff and students in
the use of numeric and geo-spatial data.
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DISC-UK’s aims are  Foster understanding between data users and providers
 Raise awareness of the value of data support in Universities
 Share information and resources among local data support staff
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DISC-UK has completed a JISC-funded repository
enhancement project (March 07 - March 09) with the aim of
“exploring new pathways to assist academics wishing to
share their data over the Internet” (hint: repositories!)
With three institutions taking part – the Universities of
Edinburgh, Oxford and Southampton – a range of
institutional data repositories and related services have been
established.
The project was led by the JISC-funded national data centre,
EDINA, at the University of Edinburgh, which also runs the
University’s Data Library service.
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“Live” cloud tag at http://www.disc-uk.org/collective.html
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based on social
bookmarks
The repository submission process can guide the researcher
through the process of data description to create a formal
record of the dataset.
 IRs provide a suitable deposit environment where funders
mandate that data must be made publicly available.
 Deposit in an IR provides researchers with reliable access to
their own data for future use.
 Deposit of data in an IR, in addition to publications, provides
a fuller record of an individual’s research.
 Metadata for discovery and harvesting increases the
exposure of an individual’s research within the research
community.
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Where an embargo facility is available, research can be
deposited and stored until the researcher is ready for the
data to be shared.
 Where links are made between source data and output
publications, the research process will be further eased.
 Where the Institution aims to preserve access in the longer
term, preservation issues become the responsibility of the
institution rather than the individual.
 Time-stamps on submissions provide researchers with proof
of the timing of their work, should this be disputed.
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Gibbs, H. (2007). DISC-UK DataShare: State-of-the-Art Review
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Recommendation to JISC:
“JISC should develop a Data Audit Framework
to enable all universities and colleges to carry
out an audit of departmental data collections,
awareness, policies and practice for data
curation and preservation.”
Liz Lyon (2007). Dealing with Data: Roles, Rights,
Responsibilities and Relationships
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JISC funded five six-month projects:
 DAF Development (DAFD) Project, led by Seamus Ross
(Director), Sarah Jones (Project Manager) HATII/DCC,
University of Glasgow
 Four pilot implementation projects:
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King’s College London
University of Edinburgh
University College London
Imperial College London
Two more conducted by DataShare partners, the
Universities of Oxford and Southampton, as added
deliverables
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See www.data-audit.eu
DAF project reports available (findings)
Appendices with questionnaires, interview
schedules, etc
Methodology document
Online tool ready for others to conduct data
audits
Based on Records Management Audit
methodology. Five stages:
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Planning the audit;
Identifying data assets;
Classifying and appraising data assets;
Assessing the management of data assets;
Reporting findings and recommending change.
Inadequate storage space (reliable, regularly
backed up, secure, easily accessible)
 Lack of awareness and understanding of
research data management
 Lack of formal research data management plans
 Demand for training in research data
management and curation
 Lack of good practice guidance and advice from
support services as and when needed
 Lack of clarity about roles and responsibilities
for research data management by University
research staff
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http://www.ed.ac.uk/is/data-management
Subliminal message: Deposit Your Data!
Ownership and intellectual property rights of research data
assets produced by research staff and students should be
clarified, including multi-institutional collaborations.
Development and compliance with data management plans and
procedures should be implemented at college, school, research
unit and individual project level. These should include:
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the allocation of appropriate roles and responsibilities
documentation/metadata to an identified mininimum standard
arrangements for access and re-use
legal compliance.
storage and backup procedures including provision for business
continuity arrangements.
Data upon which research outputs are published should be
retained by the institution for sufficient time to allow reference.
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Guidance on the assignment of retention
periods for research data should be made
available by the University.
Support and advice should be provided for
researchers who wish to have their research data
curated either after the recommended retention
period, after the close of the research project, or
when the researcher leaves the institution.
A formal procedure for data transfer should be
developed for when staff and students leave the
institution.
Proposal to JISC, May 2010
The project will be a partnership between Information Services, the
Institute of Academic Development, the Graduate Schools of Social and
Political Science and GeoSciences along with the Clinical and Health
Psychology Professional Doctorate in the University of Edinburgh.
Online learning materials in research data management will be created
which are grounded in the best practice of the respective disciplines,
provide examples based on video interviews of senior researchers, and
provide interactive components for postgraduate students, including
data handling exercises in four software analysis packages.
The resulting materials will be embedded in the three participating
postgraduate programmes, ported into a University VLE for use by all
postgraduate and early career researchers and deposited with an open
license in JorumOpen.
CC-attribution license, mayorkoch (flickr)