Andrew Cox Research data management

The academic library’s role in research data management

Andrew Cox, [email protected]

Information School, University of Sheffield

Nov-13

Online Information 2013, 20th November, Victoria Park Plaza, London

mailto:[email protected]

1. WHAT IS THE RESEARCH DATA MANAGEMENT CHALLENGE?

What is research data?

• Weather measurements • Photographs • Results from experiments • Government records • GIS data • Simulation data • Log data • Field notes • Software

• 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household survey data) • Historical documents • Moving images • Physical objects: such as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 http://www.sheffield.ac.uk/is/research/projects/rdmrose

Nov-13

Variety

Duffy (2013) on scale of the data issue at University of Birmingham

• 3000 items in institutional repository

• 50,000 items in special collections

• 75,000 publications for REF

• 2,700,000 items in library

• 700,000,000 folders in top 100 accounts

• Perhaps 1,000,000,000 folders for the whole university

Nov-13 Learning material produced by RDMRose

http://www.sheffield.ac.uk/is/research/projects/rdmrose

Volume

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

• Different communities do things differently, eg in terms of file types, tools used

Nov-13

Mandating good RDM

• Funders’ mandates – Research Councils UK Common Principles on Data

Policy: http://www.rcuk.ac.uk/research/Pages/DataPolicy.aspx

– EPSRC principles and expectations: http://www.epsrc.ac.uk/about/standards/researchdata/Pages/default.aspx

• Institutional policies – DCC list, http://www.dcc.ac.uk/resources/policy-and-

legal/institutional-data-policies/uk-institutional-data-policies

Nov-13


Value

Good research practice

Open access

Other priorities

Nature of data

Lack of RDM knowledge & skills

Legal, ethical & commercial exceptions

Good Research Data Management

practices

Academic culture & lack of reuse culture

Force field analysis of RDM

Nov-13

Data preservation

Data storage and security

Compliance

You will want to think about the differing strengths of these forces in your context

2. WHAT IS THE POTENTIAL LIBRARY ROLE IN RDM?



Why do librarians have something to contribute?

• Open access leadership role

• Knowledge of relevant information management principles: resource discovery, collection development, metadata skills and practices, licensing/copyright

• Liaison, negotiation skills and contacts with academics

• Established LIS networks for sharing best practice across the profession

Areas where libraries can contribute to RDM

• Policy • Teaching appropriate literacies to PIs and

early career researchers, PGR and taught students

• Advisory services on RDM; web sites – Awareness of data for reuse; data citation

practices; copyright and licensing of data

• Signposting • Auditing/ asset review of data sets

researchers have • Data curation capacity, e.g. appraisal and

collection management policy, metadata creation/advice

• Specialist roles in data analysis

• In collaboration with other professional services such as computer services, research office and archives/records management staff

• In collaboration with researchers and research administrators

• In collaboration with other stakeholders, internal and external

Involving many library teams: liaison team, metadata specialists, systems team… perhaps embedded roles

Cox AM, Verbaan E and Sen B (2012) Upskilling liaison librarians for research data management. Ariadne 70. Available at: http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue70/cox-et-al (accessed 10 April 2013).

http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue70/cox-et-al





Institutional Stakeholders

Extra-Institutional Stakeholders

Individual professional perspective

The Researcher

Research Office

Computing services

Human resources

Records unit and university archive

PVC research

Funding councils

Other HEIs

Other Researchers In the discipline

Library

Researchers In other disciplines

Data repository manager

Commercial Partners and Customers

The public and wider Society

Perspectives on RDM

Research Project

Department

3. WHAT ARE UK LIBRARIES DOING AND PLANNING TO DO?



RDM in UK HEI libraries survey results

• 83 (c 50%) UK HEIs responded to our survey (with Stephen Pinfield) conducted in November 2012 [paper available from JOLIS OnlineFirst doi:10.1177/0961000613492542 or from WRRO http://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/76107/ ]

• For an international comparison see Corrall et al. (2013)

• Take home finding: Low level of service development; high priority for next 3 years

http://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/76107/

http://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/76107/

Current RDM services

Few well-

developed or

extensive

services currently

being offered by

libraries but

some basic

services

Priorities for the next 3 years

Libraries see

RDM services

as a priority,

with a

particular

emphasis on

advisory, policy

support and

training

services

Rank by current

activity

Rank by top

future priority

Open access and policy 1 1

Copyright 2 8

Data citation 3 7

Awareness of reusable sources 4 5

External data sources 5 11

Early career awareness 6 3

PGR training 7 3

Advisory service 8 2

Licensing 9 14

RDM plan advice 10 11

Web portal 11 9

Data repository 12 5

Metadata 13 10

Audit RDM 14 13

Data analysis 15 17

PGT training 16 15

Data impact 17 15

UG training 18 18

Survey results: challenges

• “The skill set of the library workforce, the costs of RDM and the difficult economic climate.”

• “Capacity and workload in a context of shrinking resources”

Challenges

• Librarians are already over-taxed with roles; they operate in a highly dynamic context; organisational change (e.g. embedding) and multi-professional services

• Its part of a fundamental shift to an inside out library • Attitudes needed to operate in fluid, changeable context

are different • They often do not have personal experience of research • Its non trivial to translate library IM skills to research data

issues (eg learning about metadata for data) • Will researchers look to libraries for this support? “Being

taken seriously” • The complexity and scale of issues • Resources, infrastructure, management structures have yet

to be created in most institutions

What librarians need…

• Confidence raising… demystification of a complex social world

• Increased knowledge and competencies

• A change of identity – ability to take risks, operate in undefined contexts

• Prompts to get started with RDM, rather than waiting till policy or infrastructure is clear

Where libraries are starting with RDM

• Collaborate with researchers (Garritano and Carlson (2009) at Purdue)

• Create a web site with generic advice for all researchers • Use the 23 things model to encourage library staff to find

the answers to key questions ( http://blogs.exeter.ac.uk/openexeterrdm/blog/2012/04/11/the-holistic-librarian-open-for-business/ )

• Perform a Data Asset Framework (DAF) survey to explore what data the institution has and how it is managed

• Seek representation on faculty and departmental research committees



http://blogs.exeter.ac.uk/openexeterrdm/blog/2012/04/11/the-holistic-librarian-open-for-business/














4. LEARNING MORE


Nov-13

Key UK resources for further learning

• Pryor, G. (2012). Managing Research Data. London: Facet. contains chapters on key aspects, including an excellent overview by the editor and a chapter by Sheila Corrall on librarians’ roles in RDM.

• Digital Curation Centre (DCC), http://www.dcc.ac.uk/ – Jones, Pryor and White (2013) explains the issues in setting up

RDM service, http://www.dcc.ac.uk/resources/how-guides/

• JISC Managing Research Data programme of research, http://www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/programmes/mrd.aspx

• Auckland (2012) sets challenge of RDM in wider context of need to support research more generally, http://www.rluk.ac.uk/content/re-skilling-research/

• RDMRose



http://www.dcc.ac.uk/

http://www.dcc.ac.uk/resources/how-guides/



http://www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/programmes/mrd.aspx

http://www.rluk.ac.uk/content/re-skilling-research/






The URL…


An Open Educational Resource on RDM tailored for information professionals


How can you use the learning materials?

• Gain a systematic grounding in RDM, through self-directed CPD

• Undertake targeted learning about an RDM topic that is key for your role

• Reuse material or ideas for teaching your library colleagues and others – join an on-going informal RDMRose user group

• Come to Sheffield to take RDM as a module on one of our Masters courses

MSc Data Science

• Data science is an emerging field that seeks to discover and explore new ways of exploiting data to support decision-making

• There is a “Big Data” explosion with a greater demand than ever before to manage, analyse and use data effectively.

• Shortage of trained staff to enable organisations to take advantage of Big Data

• Modules include: Data Analysis, Data Mining and visualisation, Research data Management, Business Intelligence, Information Storage and Retrieval

New for 2014

CLOSING THOUGHTS



RDM as a “social mess”/ “wicked problem”

• Different (perhaps incommensurable) views of the problem and contradictory solutions

• The problem is linked to other problems • Cultural, economic and other constraints on

solutions • Lack of information about current state of

affairs • Numerous possible intervention points • Considerable uncertainty, ambiguity and risk Rittel and Webber (1973); Horn and Weber (2007)

• Implies a different way of operating

• How well is IM able to deal with these types of problems?

• In a globalised world this type of problem is increasing

Nov-13

Leadership in wicked problem spaces

Leadership style: a bricolage • Relationships not structures • Reflection not reaction • Positive deviance not negative acquiescence • Negative capability • Constructive dissent not destructive consent • Collective intelligence not individual genius • Community of fate not a fatalist community • Empathy not egotism Grint (2008)

Nov-13

Design thinking (not so clumsy!)

A type of creative, problem solution orientated thinking, that requires:

• Empathy

• Integrative thinking

• Optimism

• Experimentalism

• Collaboration

(Brown 2008)

Nov-13

But does this fit information professionals’ mind sets and attitudes? (Rylander 2009) Is it at odds with professionalisation?

The clumsy librarian

• We cannot hope for elegant solutions, they fit ordinary problems

• Wicked problems need clumsy solutions and organisations – Have a egalitarian focus on building consensus, a

hierarchical stress on role of experts, an individualist trust in competition and a fatalistic wait and see attitude

• “Why librarians should be clumsy with research data” http://www.infotoday.eu/Articles/ReadArticle.aspx?ArticleID=92231



http://www.infotoday.eu/Articles/ReadArticle.aspx?ArticleID=92231



The clumsy curriculum

• Research based learning – e.g. going and talking to researchers

• Case study work – e.g. group work around a complex scenario of imaginary but realistic institutional context, stakeholder positions and conflicts over RDM

– Need to add “prototyping” element

Nov-13

References

• Corrall, S., Kennan, M.A. and Afzal, W. (2013), “Bibliometrics and research data management: Emerging trends in library research support services”, Library Trends, 61 (3), pp.636-674.

• Cox AM, Verbaan E and Sen B (2012) Upskilling liaison librarians for research data management. Ariadne 70. Available at: http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue70/cox-et-al (accessed 10 November 2013).

• Cox, AM and Pinfield, S. (2013) Research data management and libraries: Current activities and future priorities, Journal of Library and Information Sciene

• Duffy, S. (2013). Managing research data in an open access world. Presentation to RLUK members day, Exeter April 2013, http://www.rluk.ac.uk/content/presentations-and-slides-rluk-members-meeting-exeter

• Garritano, J.R. and Carlson, J.R. (2009). A subject librarian’s guide to collaborating on e-Science projects, Issues in Science and Technology Librarianship, Spring No. 57. Available at http://www.istl.org/09-spring/refereed2.html

• 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-and-accessing-information-resources/patterns-information-use-and-exchange-case-studie.

Nov-13

http://www.rluk.ac.uk/content/presentations-and-slides-rluk-members-meeting-exeter













http://www.istl.org/09-spring/refereed2.html



http://rinarchive.jisc-collections.ac.uk/our-work/using-and-accessing-information-resources/patterns-information-use-and-exchange-case-studie























