Sharing the load – librarians and research data support services

Stephen Grace, Research Services Librarian

M25 Conference, Wellcome Collection, 23 April 2013

Outline

1. Context at UEL2. Why librarians, and the skills gap3. Learning resource “supportDM”4. Setting up an RDM support service

UEL and data management

• Identified RDM as issue in 2009 following ‘Keeping Research Data Safe’ report

• Recruited Research Services Librarian with prior expertise in digital curation

• Responded to EPSRC letter by drafting a policy adopted March 2012

• Bespoke support under DCC’s Institutional Engagement

UEL and data management - 2

• Training covered in Jisc-funded project called TraD – Training for Data Management at UEL – with four strands:– Reuse MANTRA for Psychology profdocs– Create a course for Geoinformatics MSc– Run workshops on good RDM practice– Devise “supportDM” course for those

supporting researchers, tested with subject librarians at UEL

Why are libraries leading RDM?

• Most of the Jisc RDM projects are library-led – not all, and often working in conjunction with IT and/or Research Office

• Close to researchers as library users• Data are a form of information – and who

is better at managing information?• Libraries are trusted partners committed to

long-term scientific/scholarly endeavour

Sheila Corrall, Univ. of Pittsburgh

“Powerful synergies exist between the longstanding library commitment to open access and the philosophy of open science, between the principles underpinning library collection management and emerging protocols for curating digital data, between the track record of libraries in technology adoption and systems development and the complex demands for integrated infrastructure and novel workflows, and between the teaching mission of librarians and the educational agenda for e-research.”

Corrall, Sheila (2012), "Roles and responsibilities: libraries, librarians and data", In: Pryor, G. (ed.),

Managing research data. Facet Publishing, ISBN 978-1-85604-756-2.

Skills gap for librarians• Ability to advise on preserving research outputs• Knowledge to advise on data management and curation, including

ingest, discovery, access, dissemination, preservation, and portability • Knowledge to support researchers in complying with the various

mandates of funders, including open access requirements• Knowledge to advise on potential data manipulation tools used in the

discipline/ subject • Knowledge to advise on data mining• Knowledge to advocate, and advise on, the use of metadata• Ability to advise on the preservation of project records e.g.

correspondence• Knowledge of sources of research funding to assist researchers to

identify potential funders• Skills to develop metadata schema, and advise on discipline/subject

standards and practices, for individual research projects

Taken from Auckland, Mary (2012), Reskilling for Research. RLUK.

Help yourself with supportDM

• Xerte training course of 5 modules1. Introduction to RDM2. Guidance and support to researchers3. Data Management Plans4. What data to keep, and why5. Cataloguing and sharing data

• Supporting materials – presentations, exercises, tasks, videos, Xerte modules – for blended or self-learning

Online: Roles and players

Exercise: Matching data

RDM Website review

University of Leicester

supportDM Module 2

Task: Review an RDM website

What the site coversThe site is split into the following sections:Data management supportCreating dataOrganising dataKeeping dataFinding and sharing dataTrainingAdvice, support and feedback

The tone, language, look

Tone and language

Formal approach but easily understandable

Layout and presentation

Very clear sections which follow logically the data management processAs the sections are clear it is easy to go straight to the required part of the process Contact details visible on the front page

What we could use/copy at UEL

All of it!

Allegedly

Beg, steal or borrow

• Other support websites• Existing university RDM policies • DCC publications• Tools and techniques from Jisc-funded

MRD projects• Training material for librarians from

supportDM, RDMRose and MANTRA • Videos

Websites

RDM policies

DCC publications

Tools and techniques

Training materials

Exercise1. Offer research data

management support2. Provide metadata services for

research data3. Develop professional staff skills

for data librarianship4. Institutional research data policy5. Interoperable infrastructure for

data access, discovery and sharing

6. Services for storage, discovery and permanent access

7. Promote research data citation by applying persistent identifiers to research data

8. Provide an institutional Data Catalogue or Repository

9. Get involved in subject-specific data management practice

10. Storage for dynamic and static research data in co-operation with IT

LIBER (2012), Ten recommendations for libraries to get started with research data management. http://www.libereurope.eu/sites/default/files/The%20research%20data%20group%202012%20v7%20final.pdf

Feedback from exercise

• Things we could do • Things we can’t – or shouldn’t

Summary

• Libraries are ideal partners to share the data load of researchers

• Plenty of existing material will help you get started, and gain researchers’ confidence

• Your university needs data curators (data managers, data librarians)

• And so does the one down the road…

TraD is a Jisc-funded project of Library and Learning Services at the University of East London. The supportDM course was developed by UEL and the Digital Curation Centre.

Stephen Grace

Email s.grace@uel.ac.uk Web www.uel.ac.uk/trad/

Blog datamanagementuel.wordpress.com

Thank you