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

Thinking Critically About Data Consumption: Creating the Data Credibility Checklist

ABSTRACT As STEM areas increasingly rely on pre-existing data, either to validate or extend the scientific body of knowledge, students who have baseline knowledge of how to find, evaluate, and access data will have an advantage. Accordingly, undergraduate STEM curricula is increasingly focused on research-based group projects that develop professional skills, building the professional portfolio needed for early career scientists, technologists, and engineers. This project works to develop new tools to implement basic data skills within the undergraduate disciplinary curricula. The first step in this process was to identify the competencies that are likely to be needed by those seeking data for reuse. Using competencies identified in the literature and via brainstorming, formatted similarly to the traditional model used by librarians to teach assessment of publication quality, a data credibility checklist was developed as the first tool in an emerging toolkit. Keywords Data reuse, data information literacy, data consumers, data management. INTRODUCTION The literature on data management education competencies is relatively new, emerging just in the past five years. In these initial forays into data competencies, the primary groups investigated have been faculty and graduate students from a variety of disciplines The Data Credibility Checklist was developed and applied as part of two sessions on teaching data to undergraduate students in engineering and technology. DEVELOPING DATA REUSE COMPETENCIES Using the data competencies proposed in The authors discussed data management in the context of reuse and sharing and brainstormed the following attributes of data objects that were positive and leant credibility to the data content or were negative and detracted from the credibility of the data, as the case may be. The competencies we came up with mirror existing information literacy tools that teach evaluation of information resources, such as the one hosted by the Purdue University Libraries (http://bit.ly/1rVmU6K). For instance, many universities ask undergraduates to consider the factors that indicate that a journal article is scholarly. Following a similar logic, we wanted students to identify what indicates that a data object is of good quality for reuse. Positive attributes of data objects that were brainstormed included: Once we identified the attributes of a data object that a student would look for to evaluate its suitability for reuse, we developed a logical model to explain the concepts and how they are considered and applied to critical evaluation of databases. The result of this attempt to apply logical consistency to this topic was the Data Credibility Checklist. DATA CREDIBILITY CHECKLIST As we began designing a newly created data session for a technical communications course for nuclear engineering students, we started from the idea that the students would be searching out new and unfamiliar data sources. We wanted to provide the students with tools that would help them learn how to recognize a quality database. The first set of competencies we discussed included: From here, we wanted to outline specific tasks that could be completed in-class that would guide the students in defining the need(s) for specific data from a dataset: Ask a question and find a dataset that will have the data required Develop a question based on the data in a dataset Know what the databases contain Based on our vision of introducing data information literacy concepts to the students in the session, we brainstormed the following five factors as important in recognizing quality in a database: 1. Content map -What is covered? What is not covered? Is it (or how is it) relevant to my research question

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

Collaboration and tension between institutions and units providing data management support

A panel of speakers from three universities explored their challenges and progress in building programs to support research data management, whether within the library system or with research offices or computing groups. Since 2012 Oregon State University has partnered with its research office and graduate school, helping students prepare data for preservation and sharing and developing a graduate course for credit in research data management. Based on needs identified through an environmental scan, the University of Washington hired a data services coordinator to promote the services provided and to increase collaborations, visibility and support. Purdue University pairs data services specialists with subject liaison librarians to reach disciplinary faculty and researchers. The connections identify champions, lead to successful collaborations and, most importantly, provide the opportunity to show data services specialists as peers and collaborators. With basic services established, each institution looks forward to strengthening relationships and expanding services, skills and staffing

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

<p>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.</p