Transcript RDMRose: Research Data Management for LIS Session 2 The Nature of Research and the Need for RDM Session 2.2 Research, information practices.

RDMRose: Research Data Management for LIS
Session 2 The Nature of Research and the Need for RDM
Session 2.2 Research, information practices and data
Research, information practices
and data
Session 2.2
Nov-15
Learning material produced by RDMRose
http://www.sheffield.ac.uk/is/research/projects/rdmrose
Learning outcomes
At the end of the session you will be able to:
• Outline the research process
• Appreciate the range of research methods in
use in different disciplines
• Use the concept of information practices and
their diversity across disciplines/specialities
• Reflect on the nature of research data
Nov-15
Learning material produced by RDMRose
http://www.sheffield.ac.uk/is/research/projects/rdmrose
Session overview
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The research cycle
Complexity
Information practices
Scholarly primitives
Types of data in research
Nov-15
Learning material produced by RDMRose
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The research cycle
(RIN, 2010)
Conceptualising
and networking
Engaging and
translating
Proposal writing
and research
design
Publishing and
reporting
Collecting and
analysing data
Documenting
and describing
Nov-15
Infrastructuring
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Features of research
• Cyclic
• Iterative
• Non-linear
• Complex through collaboration
– Large scale
– Remote
Nov-15
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Complexity of information practices
• Information flow maps for life science
research (RIN, 2009) e.g. in neuroscience
illustrate
– Multiple data sources, of different types
• Visual images, quantitative data, secondary data
– Storage devices
– Multiple analytic tools
• Some requiring grid power
– Supporting complex scholarly communication
Nov-15
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Information practices
• Beyond published outputs / scholarly publishing/
communication
• Beyond “information seeking behaviour”
• “Holistic and materialist” (Palmer & Cragin, 2009,
p. 170) view of research:
– Process
– Material aspects e.g. of Personal Information
Management
– Research data management
– Best studied through ethnographic methods not
survey
Nov-15
Learning material produced by RDMRose
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Scholarly primitives
(Unsworth, 2000)
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Discovering
Annotating
Comparing
Referring
Sampling
Illustrating
Representing
Nov-15
• It may be that research
is composed of a
number of fundamental
elements that are
combined in different
ways
• Unsworth’s (2000)
suggestion is intended
to apply to humanities
scholars
Learning material produced by RDMRose
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Different information uses
(RIN, 2011)
Nuclear physics
• A small group who
know each other
• Importance of National
Nuclear Data Center
• Known journals
• Gradually getting more
data
Nov-15
Particle physics
• ArXiv
• Intense programming in
C++
• Huge collaborations
• Generate huge data
• Need for grid
computing
Learning material produced by RDMRose
http://www.sheffield.ac.uk/is/research/projects/rdmrose
Types of research data
ACTIVITY 2.2
Nov-15
Learning material produced by RDMRose
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Activity 2.2 Types of research data
• Name some types of data
• You have 5 minutes
Nov-15
Learning material produced by RDMRose
http://www.sheffield.ac.uk/is/research/projects/rdmrose
A list we came up with earlier...
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Weather measurements
Photographs
Results from experiments
Government records
GIS data
Simulation data
Log data
Field notes
Software
Nov-15
• Images (e.g. brain scans)
• Quantitative data (e.g.
household survey data)
• Historical documents
• Moving images
• Physical objects: such as
bones or blood samples
• Digitised photos / born
digital photos
• Social media data: tweets
• Metadata
Learning material produced by RDMRose
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What are the characteristics of data?
• Some researchers use other terms, e.g.
“sources”
• Complex: data can be produced from other
data
• Foreground and background data (Wallis et
al., 2012) – background data is taken for
granted and not cited, yet is necessary
• Potentially massive
• Fragile
Nov-15
Learning material produced by RDMRose
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REFERENCES
Nov-15
Learning material produced by RDMRose
http://www.sheffield.ac.uk/is/research/projects/rdmrose
References
• Palmer, C. L., & Cragin, M. H. (2009). Scholarship and disciplinary
practices. Annual Review of Information Science and
Technology, 42(1), 163-212.
• RIN (2011). Collaborative yet Independent: Information Practices in
the Physical Sciences. London. Retrieved from http://rinarchive.jisccollections.ac.uk/our-work/using-and-accessing-informationresources/physical-sciences-case-studies-use-and-discovery-.
• RIN (2010). Open to All? Case Studies of Openness in Research.
London. Retrieved from http://rinarchive.jisc-collections.ac.uk/ourwork/data-management-and-curation/open-science-case-studies.
Nov-15
Learning material produced by RDMRose
http://www.sheffield.ac.uk/is/research/projects/rdmrose
References
• RIN. (2009). Patterns of information use and exchange : case studies
of researchers in the life sciences. London. Retrieved from
http://rinarchive.jisc-collections.ac.uk/our-work/using-andaccessing-information-resources/patterns-information-use-andexchange-case-studie
• Unsworth, J. (2000). Scholarly Primitives: what methods do
humanities researchers have in common, and how might our tools
reflect this? Retrieved from
http://people.lis.illinois.edu/~unsworth/Kings.5-00/primitives.html
• Wallis, J.C., Wynolds, L.A., Borgman, C., Sands, A. and Traweek, S.
(2012). Data, data use and scientific inquiry, Proceedings of the
12th ACM/IEEE-CS joint conference on Digital Libraries, JCDL ’12
(pp. 19–22). Washington, D.C.: ACM.
Nov-15
Learning material produced by RDMRose
http://www.sheffield.ac.uk/is/research/projects/rdmrose