Presented at Libraries without walls 7
Lesvos, 14-18 September 2007Presentation slides for talk given at the 2007  Libraries without Walls conferenc

Pryor, Graham

Edinburgh Research Archive

Libraries without walls 7Lesvos, 14-18 September 2007Project StORe- expectations, a solutionand some predicted impact from opening up the research data portfolioGraham PryorLibraries without walls 7StORe guide• Libraries and the research agenda• The StORe project– Objectives– Results from a survey• Support and self-determination• The challenge for librarians?Libraries without walls 7Libraries without walls 7Libraries without walls 7£3,000,000,000 current annual investment – UK Research CouncilsLibraries without walls 7Scholarly publications –the visible research outputResearch data –the hidden asset (just melting away?)Libraries without walls 7The pencil is mightier than the pen- Robert M Pirsig, Lila – an inquiry into morals• Science as provisional• Contains a mechanism “whereby new dynamic insight can wipe out old static patterns without wiping out science itself”• Enables continuous evolutionary growthLibraries without walls 7The pencil is mightier than the penThe computer is mightier than the printing pressSo, the next stage in the evolutionary growth of science librarians will be…?Libraries without walls 7Political landscape• Open access movement – the Berlin, Budapest and other declarations• Wellcome Trust– Funding linked to commitment to deposit• UK Research Councils – data policies– Publicly funded research data a public good– Appropriate curation throughout the lifecycle– Need for high quality metadataLibraries without walls 7The StORe mission• Seamless transport from research data to research publications and vice versa• Bi-directional links proven in social science e-research but capable of export to other disciplinesSourceOutputMiddlewareLibraries without walls 7Libraries without walls 7BiochemistryUCLArchaeologyYork University (White Rose)Social Policy & Political ScienceLSEAstronomyEdinburgh UniversityChemistryImperial CollegeBiosciencesManchester UniversityAstronomyJohns Hopkins UniversityPhysicsBirmingham University7 domains surveyed for data management and research processSurvey team: library and domain expertiseLibrary origins of project –experience with generic tools and protocolsLibraries without walls 7New opportunities• Explore a deeper level of detail• Supplement published papers• Validate experiments• Track the use and improvement of research output• Identify collaborators• Confirm completeness of information searchesNew risks• Uncertainty of peer review• Premature dissemination• Subversion of scholarly paper• Scavenging• Lack of interpretative dataLibraries without walls 7StORe survey• 85% approved aims as likely to prove advantageous• Questionable data management practices and a metadata conflict• Tension between open access and data ownershipLibraries without walls 7Data managementCommon practice of storing unique and original research data on the hard drives of PCs and laptops (especially prevalent in chemistry and the biosciences)“Once removed from the computers I hold the only available copies of most of my data”Libraries without walls 7Metadata – researchers identified• The need for improved and universal standards• A need for different metadata for different phases of the research lifecycle (raw, processed, published data and beyond)• A clear link between the condition of metadata used and the level of support from information specialistsLibraries without walls 7 I decide which terms to use and I assign them:  212  Research colleague(s) assign metadata on the team's behalf:  55  Research support staff assign metadata on the team's behalf:  22  Metadata are assigned by library/information services staff:  4  Metadata are assigned by the repository administrators:  37  Metadata are generated automatically:  63  It is not known who assigns metadata:  68  Other (please specify):  37  The assignment of metadataLibraries without walls 7Types of support usedAcademic staffResearch assistantPost-graduateContract researcherIndependent researcher Other TotalsDocumentary support 29 5 16 6 2 8 66Support by intermediary 16 2 7 1 0 3 29Repository-enabled support56 5 7 5 1 9 83No support is provided 60 7 23 4 3 9 106Unknown 31 11 25 1 1 9 78Other 5 1 4 1 0 3 14No Answer 0 0 1 0 0 0 1Totals 197 31 83 18 7 41 377Libraries without walls 7Assistance  by library or IS staff Academic staffResearch assistantPost-graduateContract ResearcherIndependent researcher Other TotalsDocumentary (guidance notes etc.)61 6 24 5 4 9 109Formal training 38 3 27 3 0 3 74Online or telephone 60 5 15 4 0 5 89Help structuring searches13 4 7 1 0 1 26Help in the conduct of searches20 4 11 3 0 4 42Fully managed intermediation (searches and results )3 2 5 0 0 1 11Unknown 83 19 34 8 3 21 168“…my university assigned a librarian to our department but I have not used her services…”Libraries without walls 7The research culture - a broad perspective• Self-reliance and tradition of individual research endeavour– “No assistance required – it’s my responsibility”– “I rely on my own skills”• Protection of research profile or status– “Data archives would become the preserve of the scavengers, unable to generate their own research ideas”– “The most important factors are those that would benefit my research profile”• Conflict between a competitive environment and the aspiration to collaborate– “The competition for publication is intense and would not be aided by making data freely available”– “It should be a requirement for publicly funded research that data be made available”Libraries without walls 7The threat of loss of ownership  202 Risks to an established research niche  104 Risk of premature broadcast of research   findings  235 Subversion of intellectual property rights, including copyright  163 Ethical constraints relating to my research  58 Consideration of data protection and other confidentiality issues  115 The time/effort required to enable sharing  193 Risk of diversion from principal objectives through the generation of additional work  144 Risk to commercialisation opportunities  59 Increased competition for funding  77  Factors that discourage the sharing of research dataLibraries without walls 7The StORe team concluded that• Data sharing is a fundamental principle of research, but…• It is conducted mainly through private networking, with >50% through the personal exchange of e-mails or portable media• Bureaucratic processes and organisations are anathema to researchers• Both standards and simplicity are sought for research data management (esp. for metadata)• Assisted self management is preferred to overt intermediationLibraries without walls 7Design for the StORe middleware• Web 2.0 approach, similar to services like Flickr or MySpace, gives control to the researcher– Researchers determine which items are public / private– Researchers form collaborations with colleagues / ‘friends’– Researchers select items for deposit and for publication• Based on federations of institutional repositories and data archives• Permanent links created between publications and underlying data• Simple process for assignment of metadata– Searchable metadata assigned at collection level inherited by items within the collection– Collection owners add individual items plus minimum additional metadata (e.g. titles)Libraries without walls 7The StORe pilot federationLibraries without walls 7Libraries without walls 7Libraries without walls 7Roles, Rights, Responsibilities, Relationships - 1•Institutional Repositories tend to be managed by ‘generalists’ located in libraries and information services, and usually lacking data skills•Subject repositories are staffed by domain experts with well-developed data handling skills•Data sets tend to be unique – are deposited without multiple copies– are not self-describing and may– require interpretation, particular competencies and domain knowledge•Representation information, which may include software programs, is required to assist with interpretation•Closer partnerships between institutional and subject repository staff  will be essential to building engagement with the designated communityDealing With Data, Dr Liz Lyon, UKOLN, June 2007Libraries without walls 7Roles, Rights, Responsibilities, Relationships - 2•Institutional repositories have a fundamental argument for sustainability because of their position within an institution•They are frequently located in departments with a persistent service orientation - i.e. libraries or information services - whose main role is the management of information•Many scholars care primarily about their discipline or domain, before their institution•Scholars who have hybrid skills in domain science and data/information handling will be a valuable resource in the futureDealing With Data, Dr Liz Lyon, UKOLN, June 2007Libraries without walls 7The next stage in the evolutionary growth of  librarians…Re-emergence of the scholar librarian?Libraries without walls 7ConclusionThank you

Project StORe: expectations, a solution and some predicted impact from opening up the research data portfolio

A fundamental role of the university library has long been recognised as the provision of safe custody and the assurance of measured access to the wealth of published scholarship.  Traditionally, the library has been synonymous with a collection of books, although an effective twenty-first century library service is more likely to be defined by the extent to which it enables access to information in non-print formats, particularly that which is accessible by electronic means.  Yet, whilst the utility of the university library has extended conspicuously to the provision – and interpretation – of digital resources, including most recently the installation of repositories for the preservation and dissemination of research papers, its principal focus has remained upon items or objects that one may consider in some way to have been published, whether in printed or electronic form

https://era.ed.ac.uk/bitstream/1842/2068/2/CERLIM%20Paper.pdf

Project StORe: expectations, a solution and some predicted impact from opening up the research data portfolio

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