E-Science – What it is ? Issues and Challenges for the Library

Neville Prendergast

Matas Library of the Health Sciences

Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA

February 13, 2012

Tulane University

E-Science defined

• E-Science – A type of scientific research that uses large scale

computing infrastructure to process very large datasets and is enabled by the internet, an advances in data mining techniques.

• E-Research – is the concept of research using digital technology

(computing, networks, digital data) in the fields of science,

social science, and the humanities.

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E-science and E-research

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together

Are driving what is called the

Research Life Cycle

http://www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/campaigns/res3/jischelp.aspx

Demands of the Research Life Cycle

Tulane University

Data Stewardship

Data Curation

Data Management

Data Management

• NSF Data Management Plan

– How will data be collected

– Data access and sharing

– Ethical and privacy issues

– Storage issues

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Data Curation

• Describes the method(s) for preserving and curating data – well managed strategic plan – evolves with technology

• Data Curation Task Force – Purpose – writing mission vision, goals, vetting policies,

creating procedures and guidelines

– Policies- Collection Development, Metadata Standards, Format Standards

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Data Stewardship

• IR – institutional repository(ies)

– Staffing

• Metadata Librarian

• Scholarly Communication Librarian

• Data Curator (IT person)

– Training

• Training university-wide

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Challenges

• Lack of staff – need to retrain or recruit new appropriate staff

• Lack of awareness

• Identifying key folks

• Lack of Funding

• Lack of interest/time

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ARL E-Science Institute the TU experience

Built around 4 Modules:

• Baseline – an institutional self assessment

• Context – interview key stakeholders

• Building Blocks – SWOT analysis, devise potential

services towards a strategic agenda

• Capstone Event – complete strategic agenda

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Questions are welcome!!! Time permitting

Suggested readings:

Transforming Research Libraries: E-Science http://www.arl.org/rtl/eresearch/escien/index.shtml This section of the Association of Research Libraries web site contains reports, articles and events pertaining to the changing roles and training/skill requirements for librarians as they plan and implement e-science and research data curation support services. To Stand the Test of Time: Long-Term Stewardship of Digital Data Sets in Science and Engineering http://www.arl.org/pp/access/nsfworkshop.shtml This report to the National Science Foundation from an Association of Research Libraries workshop examines the role of academic libraries in supporting science and engineering through digital data curation. MIT Libraries -- Data Management and Publishing Guide http://libraries.mit.edu/guides/subjects/data-management/index.html This guide, primarily written for researchers, includes an introduction to research data management, a data planning checklist, guidance on creating a data management plan. Research Data Management and Publishing Support at Cornell https://confluence.cornell.edu/display/datasupp/Home This wiki site serves as a directory to research data services at Cornell and includes details on data management planning, storage and backup services, metadata, intellectual property, data publication, and more. Distributed Data Curation Center: Other Data Repositories http://d2c2.lib.purdue.edu/OtherRepositories.php Managed by Purdue University Libraries, the Distributed Data Curation Center lists of more than 50 open data repositories. MIT Data Management and Publishing: Sharing Your Data http://libraries.mit.edu/guides/subjects/data-management/publishing.html The MIT Libraries' subject guide on data management and publishing includes a list of open data repositories. Data Curation Profiles (DCP) http://datacurationprofiles.org A collaboration between the Distributed Data Curation Center of the Purdue University Libraries and the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, this project investigates the practices and attitudes of researchers regarding the data they produce via research.

Tulane University