Datashare:exploring the potential of reusing data for third sector organisations to support their collaboration

This paper describes a Participatory design case study on how the reuse of existing data can support cooperative work of Third Sector Organisations in a local context. While many Third Sector Organisations collect data about their own services and local communities’ needs, this data is rarely reused by the organisation or shared with others, due to a lack of resources and funding. To explore this issue, we have engaged in Participatory Design research with six locally based social organisations from Scotland. As an outcome of this research, the organisations have imagined the concept of the “Datashare” platform. This is a platform that would allow reusing and sharing of their data by exchanging it widely through the sector and beyond. The paper contributes to knowledge by bringing reflections on the role of the PD process in fostering open data culture for collaboration for Third Sector Organisations highlighting the potential impact of the designed solution

Rsquared: researching the researchers. A study into how the researchers at the University of New South Wales use and share research data

This paper presents a research study of data usage, creation and sharing within different research communities at UNSW. The study identifies emerging data usage and management needs within the e-research life cycle of diverse research communities. Comparison is made with the outcomes of other studies that have examined e-researcher work practices in relation to their data. The paper examines the findings to understand what role researchers see libraries having, and discusses the development of a framework that libraries can use to support the curation and management of data and the development of tools and library support services that can be used across disciplines

Research Data Management Initiatives at University of Edinburgh

During the last decade, national and international attention has been increasingly focused on issues of research data management and access to publicly funded research data. The pressure brought to bear on researchers to improve their data management and data sharing practice has come from research funders seeking to add value to expensive research and solve cross-disciplinary grand challenges; publishers seeking to be responsive to calls for transparency and reproducibility of the scientific record; and the public seeking to gain and re-use knowledge for their own purposes using new online tools. Meanwhile higher education institutions have been rather reluctant to assert their role in either incentivising or supporting their academic staff in meeting these more demanding requirements for research practice, partly due to lack of knowledge as to how to provide suitable assistance or facilities for data storage and curation/preservation. This paper discusses the activities and drivers behind one institution’s recent attempts to address this gap, with reflection on lessons learned and future direction

A new role for academic librarians: data curation

Academic libraries are facing a range of new challenges in the 21st century, be it the pace of technological change, budgetary constraints, copyright and licensing, or indeed changes in user behavior and expectation. Models of scholarly communication are experiencing a revolution with the advent of Open Access with libraries adopting a lead role in self-archiving their institutional outputs in digital repositories. In addition, researchers are taking advantage of the computational power at their disposal conducting research in innovative and collaborative ways using and producing vast amounts of data. Such research-generated data underpins intellectual ideas which in turn propagates new methodologies, analysis and ultimately knowledge. It is crucial that we preserve such mechanisms and output for future generations. Thus with the experience gained from traditional cataloguing, indexing and organizational skills coupled to those acquired in developing, establishing and maintaining institutional repositories, the time is ripe for academic librarians to explore their role as data curators

Roles and responsibilities: Libraries, librarians and data.

Reviews opportunities and challenges for libraries and librarians in the research data arena, with reference to published reports and case studies of emerging practice, supplemented by evidence from university and library websites. Looks at connections between research data management (RDM) and established library roles and responsibilities to explore whether RDM represents an incremental step in professional practice or a paradigm shift in collection development and service delivery requiring fundamental rethinking of roles, responsibilities, and competencies to create “next-generation librarianship,” drawing on experiences and opinions of practitioners in the field. Also discusses professional education and continuing development needs for library engagement with research data, referring particularly to initiatives in the USA