Services, policy, guidance and training: Improving research data management at one institution

Robin RiceData Librarian, University of EdinburghIASSIST 2010, Ithaca, New York

The more things change…

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)

Overview

Data Library service at UoE Recent projects and why they

pointed us towards Research Data Management (RDM) DISC-UK DataShare Data Audit Framework Implementation

Developing guidance in RDM Developing policy in RDM Developing training in RDM

EDINA and Data Library at UoE

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 celebrated 25th anniversary in 2008 with a few

IASSIST notables and others

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EDINA and Data Library at UoE

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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Edinburgh Data Library services … distilled

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.”

Accessing …“I’ve found the data I need, but I’m not sure how to gain access to

it.” Using …“I’ve got the data I need, but I’m having problems analysing it in my

chosen software.” Managing …“I have collected my own data and I’d like to document and preserve

it and make it available to others.” 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.

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.

9“Live” cloud tag at http://www.disc-uk.org/collective.html based on social bookmarks

Project Keywords

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Benefits to data deposit in an IR 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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Benefits to data deposit in an IR

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.

Gibbs, H. (2007). DISC-UK DataShare: State-of-the-Art Review

Enter Data Audit Framework

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

Data Audit Framework (DAF) Projects 2008 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:▪ 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

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

Methodology

Based on Records Management Audit methodology. Five stages:

Planning the audit; Identifying data assets; Classifying and appraising data

assets; Assessing the management of data

assets; Reporting findings and recommending

change.

Findings from 5 DAF ‘case studies’

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

Web Guidance for Researchers

http://www.ed.ac.uk/is/data-management

Subliminal message: Deposit Your Data!

Towards a University Data Policy 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:

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.

Towards a University Data Policy 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.

Research Data MANTRA (MANagement TRAining) 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.

How to effect culture change??

CC-attribution license, mayorkoch (flickr)