Libraries for Research Data (L4RD) Interest Group Meeting
Wednesday, 20 September, 2017
Breakout #4 - 11:00-12:30
Location: International 1
Topic: The Realities of RDM and Assessment of Library Data Services
We seek to improve our understanding of the realities of research data management, and in particular, to share and report current practices for assessing library-based research data services. The session may result in a briefing paper in a similar fashion to previous L4RD IG sessions.
Agenda
- Introduction to the Libraries for Research Data Interest Group (5 min)
- The Realities of Research Data Management (20 min)
- Assessment of Library Data Services Panel (30 min)
- Mapping the Maturity of Research Data Services
- Research Infrastructure Self-Evaluation (RISE): A Lightweight Approach to Self-assessing Your Institution’s Research Data Service Capabilities
- Self Assessment of Research Data Services and 4TU.Centre for Research Data Services with RISE
- Group discussion (20 min)
- Library Carpentry (10 min)
* Detailed Program *
1. Introduction to Libraries for Research Data IG
Michael Witt, L4RD co-chair and Head, Distributed Data Curation Center, Purdue University, USA
A introduction of the interest group and quick overview of its activities will be presented to orient newcomers to the group.
2. The Realities of Research Data Management
Lorcan Dempsey, Vice President, Membership and Research, Chief Strategist, OCLC Research, USA
In recent years, research data management (RDM) has assumed an increasingly prominent place in scholarly communication, funder requirements, codes of academic practice, university research strategy and even national policy. This presentation will share the findings of The Realities of Research Data Management, an OCLC Research project, which explores the context and choices research universities face in building or acquiring RDM capacity. Findings are derived from detailed case studies of four research universities in four distinct national contexts: University of Edinburgh (UK), University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (US), Monash University (Australia), and Wageningen University and Research (Netherlands). Our first report, A Tour of the Research Data Management Service Space, provides background on RDM’s emergence as an important new service area supporting 21st century scholarship, and offers a model for understanding the RDM service space today. Three forthcoming reports in fall 2017 will explore specific aspects of RDM capacity acquisition: scoping the local RDM service bundle, incentives for acquiring RDM capacity, and sourcing and scaling RDM solutions – all in the context of our four case study partners. This presentation synthesize findings from all four reports, and will provide attendees with insight on the practical realities of research data management, focusing on the key inflection points in the RDM capacity acquisition process: deciding to act, deciding what to do, and deciding how to do it.
3. Assessment of Library Data Services Panel
Moderator: Birgit Schmidt, L4RD co-chair and Scientific Manager/Project Coordinator, Göttingen State and University Library, Germany
As data services in libraries are beginning to mature, how are their effectiveness being measured in practice? Who is measuring what, and how? How are libraries and their organizations setting goals and accounting for gaps and successes?
a) Mapping the Maturity of Research Data Services
Liz Lyon, Boyce Chair and Visiting Professor, University of Pittsburgh, USA
A brief description of the findings of a research study conducted by a team drawn from iSchools in the UK, US and Australia will be shared. The research involved the design and implementation of an international survey to assess the status of a broad range of research data services (RDS) in academic libraries. The survey results will be presented and have informed the development of a maturity model for mapping RDS. Finally, information will be given on the latest work by the team to update the RDS analysis, using a new survey instrument.
b) Research Infrastructure Self-Evaluation (RISE): A Lightweight Approach to Self-assessing Your Institution’s Research Data Service Capabilities
Angus Whyte, Senior Institutional Support Officer, Digital Curation Centre, UK
RISE (Research Infrastructure Self-Evaluation) is intended to help research data service planning at the institutional level by working through a framework for relevant stakeholders to take stock of their current support service provision and identify areas for future development. RISE will be outlined and feedback invited on the Digital Curation Centre’s approach to developing it.
c) Self Assessment of Research Data Services and 4TU.Centre for Research Data Services with RISE
Wilma van Wezenbeek, Director, TU Delft Library, NETHERLANDS
The Library of Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) offers Research Data Services (RDS) as one of the research support services. As a host of the 4TU.Centre for Research Data (4TU), the team focusses on research data management support and data archiving. The RISE framework offered the team the chance to measure itself and to identify areas for improvement (e.g. ‘training’, ‘security, legal and ethical risk assessment’). The evaluation results are published openly on the team's digital blog and contain the agreed maturity rating of the standard RISE set of questions. Additionally, a second annotated version is made available to give insights on the endeavour of finding consensus in certain sections, such as active data management.
4. Group Discussion
Moderator: Andi Ogier, L4RD co-chair and Associate Director, Data Services, Virginia Tech Libraries, USA
Members of the interest group will be encouraged to share and discuss each others' current assessment practices and challenges.
5. Library Carpentry
John Chadocki, Director of the University of California Curation Center, California Digital Library, USA; Juliane Schneider, Lead Data Curator, Harvard Catalyst, USA; Tim Dennis, Director of the Social Sciences Data Archive, University of California Los Angeles, USA
Library Carpentry is a hands-on, low pressure, community-based, librarian-led, train-the-trainer approach to learning a wide range of data and software skills. This presentation will give a general overview, talk through the Carpentry pedagogy, discuss ways Library Carpentry assesses its impact, and how all librarians can get involved.
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A short introduction describing the activities and the scope of the L4RD:
Research Data have become a primary research asset that often requires continued access in the dynamic environment of mobile researchers, volatile repositories, transient products and short-lived standards. Libraries have looked after written research assets for centuries and now tackle the challenge of adapting their function to making data reliably accessible and re-usable. The topic of assessing data services was given by previous IG participants as an important and relevant topic to address. More information about the Libraries for Research Data (L4RD) Interest Group, see https://www.rd-alliance.org/groups/libraries-research-data.html.
Target audience:
Librarians and other information professionals engaged in providing or studying research data services
Additional links to informative material related to the group i.e. group page, Case statement, working documents etc:
Libraries for Research Data (L4RD) IG wiki, https://www.rd-alliance.org/groups/libraries-research-data/wiki/librarie...
The Realities of Research Data Management, OCLC Research, http://www.oclc.org/research/publications/2017/oclcresearch-research-dat...
Group chair serving as contact person: Michael Witt
Type of meeting: Informative meeting
Session Room: International 1
Session Time: Wednesday 20 September, Breakout 4, 11:00 - 12:30
Collaborative session notes:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ywOlfih1Q7SndcSLl4LQKzXQ0jy1lgvPSiG-...
Session slides and materials: