Sharing the load – librarians and research data support services

1. Sharing the load – librarians and research data support services Stephen Grace, Research Services Librarian M25 Conference, Wellcome Collection, 23 April 2013

2. Outline • Context at UEL • Why librarians, and the skills gap • Learning resource “supportDM” • Setting up an RDM support service

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. Help yourself with supportDM • Xerte training course of 5 modules • Introduction to RDM • Guidance and support to researchers • Data Management Plans • What data to keep, and why • Cataloguing and sharing data • Supporting materials – presentations, exercises, tasks, videos, Xerte modules – for blended or self-learning

9. Online: Roles and players

10. Exercise: Matching data

11. Task: Review an RDM website RDM Website review University of Leicester supportDM Module 2

12. What the site covers The site is split into the following sections: Data management support Creating data Organising data Keeping data Finding and sharing data Training Advice, support and feedback

13. The tone, language, look Tone and language Formal approach but easily understandable Layout and presentation Very clear sections which follow logically the data management process As the sections are clear it is easy to go straight to the required part of the process Contact details visible on the front page

14. What we could use/copy at UEL All of it! Allegedly

15. 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

16. Websites

17. RDM policies

18. DCC publications

19. Tools and techniques

20. Training materials

21. Exercise • Offer research data management support • Provide metadata services for research data • Develop professional staff skills for data librarianship • Institutional research data policy • Interoperable infrastructure for data access, discovery and sharing • Services for storage, discovery and permanent access • Promote research data citation by applying persistent identifiers to research data • Provide an institutional Data Catalogue or Repository • Get involved in subject-specific data management practice • 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

22. Feedback from exercise • Things we could do • Things we can’t – or shouldn’t

23. 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…

24. Thank you 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