Co-designing, Co-developing, and Co-implementing an Institutional Data Repository Service

Abstract

In January of 2011, the National Science Foundation began requiring that all proposals for research funding include data management plans. At the time of the mandate, Purdue University's libraries and campus information technology units had been collaborating on enhancements to the HUBzero virtual research environment. These efforts were parlayed into the development of an institutional, digital data repository and service with the support of the campus research office. In the process, local library science practices have been extended to facilitate research data curation and cyberinfrastructure on campus. Librarians are consulting on data management plans, conducting data reference and instruction, advising on data organization and description, and stewarding collections of data within an evolving library service framework.

Research data and metadata curation as institutional issues

“…Second, many organizations support research across the disciplinary board, and thus need to develop support mechanisms that span disciplinary categories. Data curation infrastructures, for example, developed in the context of cross-disciplinary organizations should either be discipline agnostic, or highly customizable (Mayernik, Choudhury et al, 2012;Witt, 2012). Third, studies of data and metadata practices and standards suggest that many relevant issues are independent of discipline (Mayernik, 2011;Willis, Greenberg, & White, 2012), and that intradisciplinary data practices can be as variable as interdisciplinary practices, as illustrated in studies of astronomy (Norris et al, 2006;Wynholds, Fearon, Borgman, & Traweek, 2011), ecology , and the quantitative social sciences (Pienta, Alter, & Lyle, 2010).…”

The researcher's view: context is critical

“…Research offices and graduate schools have emerged as key partners for libraries delivering innovative higher--end research support, along with information compliance units and research computing teams in campus technology services (Carroll, 2011;Lyon, 2012;Corrall, Kennan and Afzal, 2013). The presence of staff from such units will provide complementary expertise and credibility for librarians moving into areas such as calculations of research impact indicators and guidance on data management planning for grant applications or peer review of online scholarship and publication advice for digital datasets after project completion (Williford and Henry, 2012;Witt, 2012). University presses, which are increasingly library--based operations, could also have a presence here, along with knowledge transfer and innovation units.…”

“…At Purdue University, subject librarians are dealing with data in their collection, instruction and reference activities (Witt, 2012), and also partnering three other research libraries, all working with experienced researchers, to develop training in data information literacy for science and engineering research students (Jahnke, Asher and Keralis, 2012). Librarians and researchers have both spotted the opportunity for spaces freed up by collections going virtual to be repurposed for research collaboration and computing facilities (Michener, 2012), particularly for research students and early career researchers who may not have their own labs (Jahnke, Asher and Keralis, 2012).…”

“…Mandates from research funders for open access to datasets mean that institutional repositories and data curation are now required elements of university infrastructure that need professional management by a central service, and the library is the obvious candidate for this stewardship role. Data--intensive science is giving libraries the opportunity for a more visible role as a partner in the knowledge creation process, by contributing to obligatory data management plans, data description and preservation (Tenopir, Birch and Allard, 2012;Witt, 2012). As data management becomes the 'new statistics', students will need training in all aspects of the data life cycle so they can handle massive volumes of complex data and use new analytical and visualization tools to interpret underlying patterns and processes (Michener, 2012, 50).…”

Analyzing Data Management Plans: Where Librarians Can Make a Difference

“…Johns Hopkins University, for example, offers services to support data management and curation across the lifecycle of a data set, from consulting on DMPs to archiving the data using an institutional repository. 20 Purdue University has also developed an institutional repository that is dedicated solely to disseminating and curating research data 21 and have engaged in direct partnerships with faculty to address their distinct data needs. 22,23 Several libraries are now offering data information literacy programming designed to teach students how to manage and curate the data they produce more effectively.…”