As we analyzed the stories, we identified a number of challenges around data management and sharing. Many of these conflicts are especially difficult because they are the result of personal assumptions, differences in personal data management styles, and other situational challenges which may be difficult to address with technical solutions.

In Their Own Words: Researchers’ Stories of Challenges and Triumphs in Data Management and Sharing  

Stacy Rebich Hespanha1, Sarah M. Menz2, Jessica Bragg3

Storytelling and Data Culture

(In regards to data management planning) •  Have you ever written a data management plan? •  If so, what difficulties did you encounter when writing your first plan? •  Did you use any information resources or get help from any people

during this process? •  What do you think could have helped make the process easier? •  Has the process of writing a data management plan influenced the way

you manage your data? If so, how?

Sample Interview Questions

SRH designed and supervised the project; SMM collected, transcribed, wrote, and integrated stories; JB drafted the IRB application and data management plan, and collected, transcribed, and wrote stories. DataONE (NSF OCI-0830944) provided postdoctoral support for SRH and internship stipends for SMM and JB; NCEAS provided facilities and technical support. Special thanks to CEE Working Group members Stephanie Hampton (for mentoring), Cliff Duke, Heather Henkel, and John Porter (for help with drafting interview questions), and Wendy Gram and Kristin Vanderbilt (for reviewing story drafts); and the interview participants who provided rich insights and colorful commentary about their data experiences.

In  addi'on  to  their  entertainment  value,  storytelling  and  narra've  structure  have  been  used  historically  to:    

convey information rich in meaning, context, and nuance; provide patterns of positive behavior that may be emulated; impart wisdom and lessons in a more memorable and exciting manner

With  these  benefits  in  mind,  the  Data  Stories  project  organized  complex  experiences  in  data  management  and  sharing  into  brief  and  highly  readable  narra'ves  for  the  benefit  of  the  data  community.    

Next Steps

1. National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS), University of California, Santa Barbara; 2. School of Sustainability and the Environment, Chatham University, PA; 3. Department of Communication, University of California, Santa Barbara

Contributions and Acknowledgements

Participants and Methods Through our professional networks, we recruited scientific researchers, librarians, educators, and data managers to participate in audio-recorded interviews about their experiences related to data management and sharing.

To date, we have conducted 30- to 60-minute semi-structured interviews or focus groups with 24 researchers in person or via telephone/Skype. Questions address such topics as data management planning; metadata creation, curation, and use; data protection, sharing, and reuse; and source citation. Transcripts based on audio recordings of these meetings are used to reconstruct stories in narrative form.

“Stories  are  the  crea've  conversion  of  life  itself  into  a  more  powerful,  clearer,  more  meaningful  experience.  They  are  the  currency  of  human  contact.”                                -­‐Robert  McKee  

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

Below: Side by side comparison of condensed stories in presenter and reader versions (respectively) of DataONE education modules.

New Resources for Data Management Education To maximize reader impact and interaction with the data stories, all interviews were transformed into personal narratives. Highly readable, these narratives resisted the urge to instruct, instead providing a framework for understanding the complexities and real world challenges of data management and sharing. Completed stories were then formatted into three different DataONE education products:

Education Module Supplements Full-length PDF versions of stories and discussion questions are also being prepared. These ‘reader’ versions will facilitate integration of stories into data management training even when stories are not included as part of lecture presentations.  

Each story was integrated into a “presenter” version and a “reader” version. Presenter versions required a concise introduction appropriate for a short lecture on the given module; reader versions were designed for web users to read the entire story within the module. The former invited viewers to read the story at a later date by providing a link to its online location, while the latter encouraged a deeper, more immediate interaction with the text.

Manuscript In a composing a manuscript describing our findings, we will provide a thorough analysis of our collection of data success stories and challenges. We will also suggest pathways to overcoming these challenges based on the data stories and figures shown above. Finally, we will demonstrate how these solutions can expand on existing DataONE recommendations for best practices.

As the benefits of best practices for data management and sharing become more widely realized, significant challenges still exist where technical solutions fall short. Alternative solutions are needed to bridge the gap between current and potential data application. The Data Stories project sought to collect and record both satisfying and challenging experiences with data in fields of Earth and environmental science. Emerging patterns were recorded in the form of personal narratives and then integrated into DataONE products. These products share first-hand experiences and encourage discussion among researchers with regard to the complex challenges of data management and sharing.

Data Stories Project

Education Modules Stories are also being integrated into DataONE Education Modules. Stories are presented in abridged versions that fit the module in both space and content and accompanied by discussion questions.

Blog Posts Stories first debut as blog posts on DataONE Research and Other Notes. These posts are accessible to the public, but geared towards the website’s target audience. notebooks.dataone.org/data-stories/

•  Social and interpersonal dynamics play an underappreciated role in difficulties researchers encounter when sharing and re-using data.

•  The dynamic nature of science problematizes data sharing and reuse. •  Institutional norms provide strong disincentives to individual

investments in data management planning and sharing.

•  Poor communication habits and skills key obstacles to acquiring and understanding data for re-use.

•  Humans are inherently prone to overestimating their ability to remember what they’ve done, and technical systems still lack needed capabilities for storing details about decisions made during the research process.

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