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Conceptualising Collaboration and Competition in the Changing Ecology of Research Data

Dr Andrew TreloarDirector of Technology

Australian National Data Service

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Why me?

• Information management• Scholarly communication• Institutional repositories• Research data management• ‘Adjunct librarian’• andrew.treloar.net/research

ANDS enables transformation of:Data that are:

UnmanagedDisconnectedInvisibleSingle use

To Structured Collections that are:ManagedConnectedFindableReusable

so that Australian researchers can easily publish, discover, access and use research data.

ands.org.au10/04/2023 3

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Clockwork

CC-BY http://www.flickr.com/photos/arenamontanus/3553313505/

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Jungle

CC-BY http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/47/Jungle.jpg/1280px-Jungle.jpg

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Why an ecological approach?

• Information ecology:o peopleo practiceso valueso technologies

• Way of thinking about the space that offers richer insights

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Ecology elements

• Systems that evolve over time• Environmental factors (constraints,

forcing)• Selection pressures• Biodiversity• Species and individuals• Niches for colonisation/exploitation• Resources• Interactions• Species co-evolution/co-adaptation

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Research data ecology elements

• Researchers• Institutions• Research funders• Data centres (institutional, disciplinary,

national, international)• Disciplines• Research facilities• Libraries• Publishers

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Predator-Prey

CC-BY: http://www.flickr.com/photos/cskk/3974104408/

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Competitor

CC-BY http://www.flickr.com/photos/bata/2463176219CC-BY: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pvk/58685520/

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Parasitism

CC-BY http://www.flickr.com/photos/tony_rodd/2759008143/

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Symbiosis

CC-BY http://www.flickr.com/photos/rling/438038729/

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Co-evolution isn’t necessarily good

• Systems co-evolve• But can also get stuck in a new

stable (not necessarily more desirable) state

• Example: p-journals ➠ e-journalso form and access arrangements largely

unchanged

• #openaccess is now gaining momentum

• But form changing more slowly

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New niches allow for new possibilities

• Internet was new niche for journals

CC-BY http://www.flickr.com/photos/stone-imaginings/3504148642/

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Research data can be new niche for librarians

• New roles within institutions• New way to engage with wider range

of clients• New application of existing skills• New partnerships with Research

Office, IT Services, e-Research folks

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Selection pressures in research data driving change

• Increasingo volumeo varietyo velocity

• Increasing importance of data relative to publications

• Mixed messages from journal publishers

• Outcomes currently unclear

} (Gartner, 2001)

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Role of Publishers

• Is the relationship between the publishers of research and the producers of research symbiotic or parasitic?

• And how will rise of data-intensive research change this?o Protein Data Banko Human Genome Projecto International Virtual Observatory

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Collaboration or competition?

• Symbiotic relationships are often better for both parties than either competition or predator/prey

CC-BY http://www.flickr.com/photos/peternijenhuis/2979063336/

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Conclusions

• Ecology provides a richer way of thinking about scholarly communication than mechanics

• Research data is a new niche for (some) librarianso but it’s a niche undergoing great change

• Look for symbiotic relationships• Critically examine the roles of other

players in the ecosystem

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Further reading

• B. A. Nardi, & V. L. O’Day, “Information ecologies: using technology with heart. Chapter Four: Information ecologies”, First Monday Vol 4 No 5 May 3, 1999. http://www.firstmonday.org/issues/issue4_5/nardi_chapter4.html

• R. J. Robertson, M. Mahey, J. Allinson, An ecological approach to repository and service interactions, v. 1.5 http://ie-repository.jisc.ac.uk/272/1/Introductoryecologyreport.pdf

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Questions?

• andrew.treloar@ands.org.au

• @atreloar

• andrew.treloar.net

• http://www.slideshare.net/atreloar/research-data-ecology