Transcript RDMRose: Research Data Management for LIS Session 6 Managing Data Session 6.3 Subject repositories Subject repositories Session 6.3 Nov-15 Learning material produced by RDMRose http://www.sheffield.ac.uk/is/research/projects/rdmrose.

RDMRose: Research Data Management for LIS
Session 6 Managing Data
Session 6.3 Subject repositories
Subject repositories
Session 6.3
Nov-15
Learning material produced by RDMRose
http://www.sheffield.ac.uk/is/research/projects/rdmrose
Learning outcomes
• At the end of this session you will be able to:
– Articulate the role of data centres
– Explain the benefits they might have for
researchers
– Reflect upon different ways to promote the use of
data centres by researchers
Nov-15
Learning material produced by RDMRose
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Session overview
• Introducing data centres
• Exploring a data centre
• Advocacy of data centres to researchers
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Introducing data centres
(Collins, 2012)
• There are many subject repositories / data centres world
wide.
• They bring together datasets from a variety of sources in
one place, they curate these collections, and they provide
access to data that is ready to reuse.
• Many data centres provide extra services, e.g. guidance and
training for researchers to help them create data that are
ready for curation and reuse, including metadata, collection
methods, and file formats.
• In the UK the 13 national data centres are funded by one or
more of the research councils and/or JISC, and hosted by
universities, national research centres, or laboratories.
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Coverage
• Coverage includes a wide variety of disciplines
but is very patchy, e.g. the Arts and Humanities
Data Service was closed in 2008.
• Some are designated by the relevant research
council as the repository for their discipline, e.g.
the five data centres mandated by NERC, the
Archaeology Data Service (York) and the UK Data
Archive for the social sciences (Essex).
• Some do not hold any original data, but focus on
providing access, such as the Chemical Database
Service.
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UK National Data Centres
(Collins, 2012, p. 152)
Name
Host
Subject
Archaeology Data Service
University of York
Archaeology
British Atmospheric Data Centre
STFC Rutherford Appleton
Laboratory
Atmospheric science
British Oceanographic Data Centre
National Oceanographic Centre
Marine science
Chemical Database Service
STFC Daresbury Laboratory
Chemistry
EDINA
University of Edinburgh
Various
Environmental Information Data
Centre
Centre for Ecology and Hydrology
Terrestrial and freshwater science
European Bioinformatics Institute
Wellcome Trust Genome Campus
Bioinformatics
Mimas
University of Manchester
Various
Natural Geoscience Data Centre
British Geological Survey
Earth sciences
Nov-15
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UK National Data Centres
(Collins, 2012, p. 152)
Name
Host
Subject
NERC Earth Observation Data
Centre
STFC Rutherford Appleton
Laboratory
Earth observation
Polar Data Centre
British Antarctic Survey
Polar science
UK Data Archive
University of Essex
Social science
UK Solar System Data Centre
STFC Rutherford Appleton
Laboratory
Solar science
• International bibliographies of data centres
are available via http://www.databib.org/ and
http://www.re3data.org.
Nov-15
Learning material produced by RDMRose
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Role of data centres (RIN, 2011)
• Usage of data centres seems to be relatively high with millions of
downloads per data centre.
• But willingness to submit own data varies per data centre /
discipline.
• RIN report conclusion: “Although deposit levels are promising,
researchers need more encouragement to deposit data.”
• Data centres provide various services that are highly rated by their
users, such as:
–
–
–
–
–
–
Nov-15
They hold a large(r) number of datasets in a specific field
This often includes references to the published literature
They provide high quality preservation and presentation
They ensure data and metadata are of high quality
They provide technical assistance when reusing datasets
And they provide training
Learning material produced by RDMRose
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Benefits to researchers (RIN, 2011)
• Research efficiency: data centres help save
time, money and effort, and help to avoid
duplication.
• Research quality: data centres add quality to
both researchers’ own work and the data they
access.
• Research novelty: some feel data centres open
up new types of research questions.
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Exploring a data centre
ACTIVITY 6.3.1
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Activity 6.3.1 Exploring a data centre
• Find a relevant data centre that serves a field
you support in your professional role.
• You could check the data centres mentioned
by RIN, 2011 and Collins, 2012.
• But it may be better to browse or search the
international bibliography of research data
repositories, Databib http://www.databib.org
and re3data.org http://www.re3data.org.
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Activity 6.3.1 Exploring a data centre
• Explore the data centre of your choice, and write down
the following five things researchers should be told:
1. URL
2. Topical scope of the data centre
3. Channels that keep them up-to-date of new content
4. The basic terms of deposit (what can be deposited,
what metadata and other information is required,
how does depositing work)
5. Any advice on planning to deposit, from the beginning
of their project, either provided by the data centre or
by you
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Advocacy of data centres
ACTIVITY 6.3.2
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Activity 6.3.2 Advocacy of data centres
• Consider the following two questions:
– Think about the researchers you currently support.
How aware are they of the existence of data centres?
– What would be the most effective ways to promote
the existence of these data centres?
• You could use the RIN report on Data Centres:
Their Use, Value and Impact to inform your
discussion: http://www.rin.ac.uk/our-work/datamanagement-and-curation/benefits-researchdata-centres.
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REFERENCES
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References
• Collins, E. (2012). The national data centres. In G. Pryor (Ed.).
Managing Research Data (pp. 151-172). London: Facet.
• RIN. (2011). Data Centres: Their Use, Value and Impact. London.
Retrieved from http://www.rin.ac.uk/our-work/data-managementand-curation/benefits-research-data-centres.
• http://datacite.org/repolist and http://www.databib.org.
• http://www.re3data.org.
Nov-15
Learning material produced by RDMRose
http://www.sheffield.ac.uk/is/research/projects/rdmrose