In fiscal year 2017, The Ohio State University Libraries in Columbus piloted the purchase of research data sets to explore how to integrate this format into the standard workflows of the collections strategist and electronic resources officer. The pilot project had few restrictions except that one-time money must be used and purchases must be available to the entire campus community. This pilot enabled the libraries to purchase several large-scale data sets while exploring issues around licensing, technical deployment, support, and assessment in an organization without a data librarian. This article details the pilot process and outlines the resulting considerations for future purchases of data sets.
Acquiring research data by university libraries is a difficult process to manage. It involves difficulties in identifying data available for purchase, funding data purchases, and getting acceptable licensing terms. During fiscal year 2017, the administration of The Ohio State University Libraries issued a strategic focus collection area mandate to acquire research data sets that could be used by the entire university population for various research needs. This article describes the institutional background that led to this strategy mandate, how the Libraries responded, and a pilot purchase program for research data sets developed through a collaboration between the Libraries' Collections Strategist and Electronic Resources Officer. It will also discuss potential workflows for collection development and acquisitions for potential future purchases of research data sets.
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