Data Curation as a Form of Collaborative Research

Presents Purdue Libraries’s work with the Data Curation Profiles, and how they’ve helped leverage collaborations with researchers. This includes working heavily in Agricultural, Science and Engineering from which examples are drawn. The topic of sharing research outputs is described in the framework of the changing scholarly communication environment. Presented at: American Libraries Association 2012 Annual Conference & Exhibition, Transforming our Libraries, Ourselves, Anaheim CA, June 21-26, 2012. Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) Science and Technology Section (STS) program: Data Curation as a Form of Collaborative Research, Sunday, June 24, 2012 - 1:30pm to 3:30pm. NOTE: This presentation was presented as a slightly revised version as: Brandt, D. Scott, Research Data Curation, Discovery, and Dissemination (2012). E-Science and Data Curation Symposium, University of Oklahoma School of Library and Information Science, Norman, OK, July 13, 2012. See: http://docs.lib.purdue.edu/lib_fspres/6

Research Data Curation, Discovery, and Dissemination

Presents Purdue Libraries’s work with the Data Curation Profiles, and how they’ve helped leverage collaborations with researchers. This includes working heavily in Agricultural, Science and Engineering from which examples are drawn. The topic of sharing research outputs is described in the framework of the changing scholarly communication environment. Presented as video conference for University of Oklahoma School of Library and Information Science\u27s E-Science and Data Curation Symposium. July 13, 2012 NOTE: This presentation is a slightly revised version of Brandt, D. Scott. Data Curation as a Form of Collaborative Research. American Libraries Association 2012 Annual Conference & Exhibition, Transforming our Libraries, Ourselves, Anaheim CA, June 24, 2012. See: http://docs.lib.purdue.edu/lib_fspres/5

Connecting Researchers to Repositories IMLS Project Report

Abstract: Despite a general consensus that making research data available is beneficial to many stakeholders, data sharing/curation is still not performed as an integrated step in most research lifecycles or common practice in the academic setting. Given many efforts over the last several years, why aren’t repositories used more by researchers? This question was explored in two workshops meant to consider the next steps in developing the Data Curation Profiles (DCP) Toolkit. It identifies a unique approach to help efforts to increase data deposits in research data repositories from an entrepreneurial perspective

Assessing Perceived Usability of the Data Curation Profiles Toolkit Using the Technology Acceptance Model

The Data Curation Profiles Toolkit (DCPT) emerged out of a Purdue University Libraries’ 2004 initiative to engage in multidisciplinary research. It is a tool developed to assist librarians and other information professionals to conduct data interviews and identify needs of researchers in managing, sharing, or curating their data. The DCPT has been widely adopted and applied in various contexts but its usability as a tool has not been formally assessed. To address this need, we have conducted a survey of users of the DCPT. The survey included quantitative measures of potential influencing factors of using the DCPT and its perceived usability (its usefulness as a tool and its ease of use). Open-ended questions about users’ experiences with the DCPT were also included to better understand the strengths and weaknesses of the tool as well as areas that could be improved. Factor analysis of the quantitative results and subsequent regression models revealed several underlying factors that affect the perceived usability of the DCPT. Responses to the open-ended questions revealed several themes of users’ concerns: the amount of time required to use the DCPT, the structure and format of the DCPT, alignment of the DCPT with particular contexts, and the use of the DCPT to engage faculty and the library community. By correlating themes identified from the open-ended questions with the analysis of quantitative data, this paper provides the first set of empirical assessment of the DCPT that could help further improve the toolkit’s usability based on user needs and expectations. The methodology used in the study could readily be applied to assess and improve the utility of other tools used by data and information professionals

An analysis of economic relationships in the U.S. beef industry with emphasis on policy evaluation

June 1992."6/92/500"--Cover.Includes bibliographical references (pages 60-64).Includes bibliographical references (pages 60-64)

A Remark on the Estimation of Angular Power Spectra in the Presence of Foregrounds

It is common practice to estimate the errors on the angular power spectrum which could be obtained by an experiment with a given angular resolution and noise level. Several authors have also addressed the question of foreground subtraction using multi-frequency observations. In such observations the angular resolution of the different frequency channels is rarely the same. In this report we point out how the ``effective'' beam size and noise level change with ell in this case, and give an expression for the error on the angular power spectrum as a function of ell.Comment: 3 pages, no figures, to appear in Phys Rev

X-ray Insights into the Nature of Quasars with Redshifted Broad Absorption Lines

We present $Chandra$ observations of seven broad absorption line (BAL) quasars at $z=0.863$-2.516 with redshifted BAL troughs (RSBALs). Five of our seven targets were detected by $Chandra$ in 4-13 ks exposures with ACIS-S. The $\alpha_{\rm ox}$ values, $\Delta\alpha_{\rm ox}$ values, and spectral energy distributions of our targets demonstrate they are all X-ray weak relative to expectations for non-BAL quasars, and the degree of X-ray weakness is consistent with that of appropriately-matched BAL quasars generally. Furthermore, our five detected targets show evidence for hard X-ray spectral shapes with a stacked effective power-law photon index of $\Gamma_{\rm eff}=0.5^{+0.5}_{-0.4}$. These findings support the presence of heavy X-ray absorption ($N_{\rm H}\approx 2 \times 10^{23}$ cm$^{-2}$) in RSBAL quasars, likely by the shielding gas found to be common in BAL quasars more generally. We use these X-ray measurements to assess models for the nature of RSBAL quasars, finding that a rotationally-dominated outflow model is favored while an infall model also remains plausible with some stipulations. The X-ray data disfavor a binary quasar model for RSBAL quasars in general.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figures, and 3 table

Assessing Perceived Usability of the Data Curation Profile Toolkit Using the Technology Acceptance Model

The Data Curation Profiles Toolkit (DCPT) emerged out of a Purdue University Libraries’ 2004 initiative to engage in multidisciplinary research. It is a tool developed to assist librarians and other information professionals to conduct data interviews and identify the needs of researchers when managing, sharing, or curating their data. The DCPT has been widely adopted and applied in various contexts but its usability as a tool has not been formally assessed. To address this need, we have conducted a survey of users of the DCPT. The survey included quantitative measures of potential influencing factors of using the DCPT and its perceived usability (its usefulness as a tool and its ease of use). Open-ended questions about users’ experiences with the DCPT were also included to better understand the strengths and weaknesses of the tool, as well as areas that could be improved. Factor analysis of the quantitative results and subsequent regression models revealed several underlying factors that affect the perceived usability of the DCPT. Responses to the open-ended questions revealed several themes of users’ concerns: the amount of time required to use the DCPT, the structure and format of the DCPT, alignment of the DCPT with particular contexts, and the use of the DCPT to engage faculty and the library community. By correlating themes identified from the open-ended questions with the analysis of quantitative data, this paper provides the first empirical assessment of the DCPT that could help further improve the toolkit’s usability based on user needs and expectations. The methodology used in the study could readily be applied to assess and improve the utility of other tools used by data and information professional

Runaway Massive Binaries and Cluster Ejection Scenarios

The production of runaway massive binaries offers key insights into the evolution of close binary stars and open clusters. The stars HD 14633 and HD 15137 are rare examples of such runaway systems, and in this work we investigate the mechanism by which they were ejected from their parent open cluster, NGC 654. We discuss observational characteristics that can be used to distinguish supernova ejected systems from those ejected by dynamical interactions, and we present the results of a new radio pulsar search of these systems as well as estimates of their predicted X-ray flux assuming that each binary contains a compact object. Since neither pulsars nor X-ray emission are observed in these systems, we cannot conclude that these binaries contain compact companions. We also consider whether they may have been ejected by dynamical interactions in the dense environment where they formed, and our simulations of four-body interactions suggest that a dynamical origin is possible but unlikely. We recommend further X-ray observations that will conclusively identify whether HD 14633 or HD 15137 contain neutron stars.Comment: Accepted to ApJ, 11 page