Research Data Management at Edinburgh: Effecting Culture Change

Stuart MacdonaldAssociate Data LibrarianEDINA & Data LibraryUniversity of Edinburgh

[email protected]

RECOLECTA Online Seminar on Research Data Management and Curation, 24 November 2011

Research Data Management at Edinburgh: Effecting Culture Change

Overview

IASSIST Latin Engagement Strategic Action Group

Research Data Management at University of Edinburgh

Research Data MANTRA

An international organisation of professionals working with IT and data services to support research

and teaching in the social sciences. Its 320 members work in a variety of settings, including data archives, statistical agencies, research

centers, libraries, academic departments, government departments, and non-profit organisations.

International Association for Social Science Information Services and Technology – IASSIST

IASSIST Latin Engagement

Strategic Action GroupCo-Chairs:

Luis Martínez-Uribe Instituto Juan March, Madrid

Stuart MacdonaldEDINA & Data Library, University of Edinburgh

Mission :To propose a set of activities that IASSIST could undertake to further engage with data professionals from Ibero-american institutions

Identify data infrastructures and resources from Spanish & Portuguese speaking countries to further the establishment of collaborative data networks.

Reach out to Spanish/Portuguese speaking academic and support communities that could benefit from the existing network of expertise, guidance and knowledge that is the IASSIST community

Benefits

IASSIST Latin Members• Two members from Spain in 1993 and 2001

• One member from Mexico 2009

• Representation in 2011 from Spain and Portugal  

Phase I: Spain

Desk research (navigating institutional websites, annual reports, mailing lists)

Combination of online survey questionnaire & telephone interviews (with script)

3 areas of interest: traditional data library role; research data management & curation; IASSIST

Responses from library & support services from national & regional universities, Data Centres

Findings: traditional data library

Findings: research data management

• Growing area of interest in repository community

• Some institutions have started to deposit data in IRs - others are conducting scoping & requirement

gathering exercises

• New skills needed – unclear about whose responsibility

• Only one 'traditional' data library

• Libraries provide training courses and support for subscription data services

• Minimal data cataloguing!

Half of respondents knew of IASSIST

Perceived benefits that IASSIST can offer:

• Information about data support / data libraries • Basic skills to handle social science data  • Links to free social science data resources• Data analysis and visualisation tools• Tools to manage and share research data • A peer to peer support network• Access to IASSIST online facilities• Help to raise awareness and share knowledge about RDM issues (remove duplication of effort)

IASSIST

The Latin Engagement Action Group have come up with a number of outreach activities aimed at supporting data professionals from Spanish and Portuguese speaking educational institutions, namely:

In addition to conductingsimilar scoping exercises in Portugal & Latin-America

Participation in Research Data Management Webinars forSpanish/Portuguese data specialists

Preparation of a Latin-American session in next IASSIST annual conference

in collaboration with outreach committee

Spanish and Portuguese translation of the main pages of the IASSIST site

Research Data Management at

University of Edinburgh

EDINA & Data Library (EDL)

• EDINA and University Data Library (EDL) together are a division within Information Services of the University of Edinburgh.

• EDINA is a JISC-funded National Data Centre providing national online resources for education and research.

• The Data Library assists Edinburgh University users in the discovery, access, use and management of research datasets.

• Mission statement: “..to enhance the productivity of research, learning and teaching in UK higher and further education..”

• Networked access to a range of online resources for UK FE and HE

• Services free at the point of use for use by staff and students in learning, teaching and research through institutional subscription

• Focus is on service but also undertake R&D (projects services)

• delivers about 20 online services • has about 10 major projects (including services in

development)• employs about 75 staff (Edinburgh & St Helens)

EDINA National Data Centre

What is a Data Library?

A data library refers to both the

content and the services that foster use of collections of numeric, audio-visual, textual or geospatial data sets for secondary use in research.

Focus on re-use of data

• Data Library & consultancy

• Edinburgh DataShare

• JISC-funded projects – DISC-UK DataShare

(2007-2009)– Data Audit Framework

Implementation (2008)– Research Data

MANTRA (2010-2011)

Data Library services and projects

Data Library & Consultancy

Building relationships with researchers via postgraduate teaching activities, research support projects, IS Skills workshops, Research Data Management training and through traditional reference interviews.

• finding…• accessing …• using …• teaching …• managing

Edinburgh DataShare was built as an output of the JISC-funded DISC-UK DataShare project (2007-

2009)

Edinburgh DataShare

An online institutional repository of multi-disciplinary research datasets produced at the University of Edinburgh, hosted by the Data Library

Researchers producing research data associated with a publication, or which has potential use for other researchers, can upload their dataset for sharing and safekeeping. A persistent identifier and suggested

citation will be provided.

DataShare is a customised DSpace instance with a selection of standards-compliant metadata fields useful for discovery of datasets, through Google and other search engines via OAI-PMH.

A decision making and planning tool for institutions with digital repositories in existence or in development that are considering adding research data to their digital

collections

Downloadable as PDF

A JISC-funded pilot project produced 6 case studies from research units across the

University in identifying research data assets and assessing their management, using DAF methodology developed by the Digital Curation Centre.

Edinburgh Data Audit Framework (DAF) Implementation(May – Dec 2008)

4 main outcomes:

• Develop online RDM guidance

• Develop university research data management policy

• Develop services & support for RDM (in partnership IS)

• Develop RDM training

Research Data Management Web Guidance

Online suite of web pages for IS website developed in 2009 (will be revamped early 2012)

Downloadable PDF handbook

Championed by Vice-Principal & Chief Information Officer Professor Jeff Haywood the policy for management of research data was approved by the University Court on 16 May, 2011.

Along with University of Oxford, the first RDM policies in the UK

“The University adopts the following policy on Research Data Management. It is acknowledged that this is an aspirational policy, and that implementation will take some years.”

21* Quote from University of Edinburgh website

University Research Data Management Policy

In spring 2010, a review commenced at the University of Edinburgh to address the issue of managing the rapidly expanding volume and complexity of data produced by researchers.

The Review was overseen by the IT & Library Committee and had twin tracks to look at Research Data Storage, and Data Management, Curation and Preservation.

The Review looked at current practice in the University and assessed current practice in peer universities and internationally

Review Committee responsible for drafting policy to support the University’s mission for ‘the creation, dissemination and curation of

knowledge’

1. Research data will be managed to the highest standards throughout the research data lifecycle as part of the University’s commitment to research excellence.

2. Responsibility for research data management through a sound research data management plan during any research project or programme lies primarily with Principal Investigators (PIs).

3. All new research proposals must include research data management plans or protocols that explicitly address data capture, management, integrity, confidentiality, retention, sharing and publication.

4. The University will provide training, support, advice and where appropriate guidelines and templates for the research data management and research data management plans.

5. The University will provide mechanisms and services for storage, backup, registration, deposit and retention of research data assets in support of current and future access, during and after completion of research projects.

The 10 Policy Principles

6. Any data which is retained elsewhere, for example in an international data service or domain repository should be registered with the University.

7. Research data management plans must ensure that research data are available for access and re-use where appropriate and under appropriate safeguards.

8. The legitimate interests of the subjects of research data must be protected.

9. Research data of future historical interest, and all research data that represent records of the University, including data that substantiate research findings, will be offered and assessed for deposit and retention in an appropriate national or international data service or domain repository, or a University repository.

10. Exclusive rights to reuse or publish research data should not be handed over to commercial publishers or agents without retaining the rights to make the data openly available for re-use, unless this is a condition of funding.

IS Implementation group established

Led by Director, Library and Collections

Research Data Management Policy Implementation Project

Working group was set up to define a

research data storage strategy

Vice Principal has promised a half terabyte per researcher, storage

Next Steps

Research Data MANTRA

Partnership between:

Edinburgh University Data Library

Institute for Academic Development

Funded by JISC Managing Research Data programme (Sept. 2010 – Aug. 2011)

Why manage research data?

Data Deluge – exponential growth in the volume of digital research

artifacts created within academia

Data management is one of theessential areas of responsible conduct of research.

By managing your data you will:

• Meet funding body grant requirements.

• Ensure research integrity and replication.

• Ensure research data and records are accurate, complete, authentic and reliable.

• Increase your research efficiency.• Enhance data security and

minimise the risk of data loss.• Prevent duplication of effort by

enabling others to use your data.

Grounded in three disciplinary contexts: social science, clinical psychology and geoscience

Aim was to develop online interactive open learning resources for PhD students and early career researchers that will:

• Raise awareness of the key issues related to research data management & contribute to culture change

• Provide guidelines for good practice

Project overview

Selling RDM as a Transferrable Skill (voluntary participation)

The FRUIT principles:

FunFeedbackRelevantRealUsefulInterestingTimely

Eight units with activities, scenarios and videos:

• Research data explained• Data management plans• Organising data• File formats and transformation• Documentation and metadata• Storage and security• Data protection, rights and access• Preservation, sharing and licensing

Four data handling practicals:SPSS, NVivo, R, ArcGIS

Video stories from researchers in variety of settings

Xerte Online Toolkits – University of Nottingham

Online learning module

Online learning module• Delivered online – self-paced, available ‘anytime, anyplace’• Emphasis on practical experience and active engagement via

online activities• One hour per unit• Read and work through scenarios & activities (incl. videos etc)• CC licence to allow manipulation of content for re-use with

attribution• Portable content in open standard formats (e.g. SCORM)

• Deposit learning materials with an open licence in JorumOpen and Xpert

• Learning materials to be embedded in three participating postgraduate programmes and made available through IAD programme for use by all postgraduate students and early career researchers: This academic year

• Public Website launch: http://datalib.edina.ac.uk/MANTRA

• Download/re-brand/re-purpose materials from JorumOpen in standards compliants formats (forthcoming)

• Software modules – data handling practicals (MS Word)

MANTRA dissemination

Image courtesy of the periodic table printmaking project – http://azuregrackle.com/periodictable/table/58.html

Time – underestimated!

Authoring content – not an easy task...

• Re-using existing materials vs writing from scratch

• Copyright – images, videos (where possible open or CC-licensed materials)

• Consistency in style, terminology, tempo

Setting up Xerte Online Toolkits (XOT) on the server

• Security issues

• Issues with the software

Lessons learned

Lessons learned

Working with a default XOT template• Limitations of the template

Use ‘reward’ to engage volunteers for user testing

Issues with data handling practicals:

• Tension between data handling and data analysis in terms of actual content

• Ensuring clear explanation of software specific jargon/technical terminology/process-specific language

• Retaining consistency across four data handling practicals in terms of look and feel, flow, content, audience

Links

IASSIST: http://www.iassistdata.org/

Data Library services: http://www.ed.ac.uk/is/data-library

EDINA: http://edina.ac.uk/

Research data management guidance pages:http://www.ed.ac.uk/is/research-data-management

Edinburgh University data policy:http://www.ed.ac.uk/is/research-data-policy

Policy-making for Research Data in Repositories - A Guide: http://www.disc-uk.org/docs/guide.pdf

Edinburgh Data Audit Framework (DAF) Implementation: http://ie-repository.jisc.ac.uk/283/

Research data MANTRA course: http://datalib.edina.ac.uk/mantra

Acknowledgements

image on Flickr - Green bird by Rakka - CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 - http://www.flickr.com/photos/rakka/28994058/ Image on Flickr – green butterfly abstract with a heart! By David Gunter - CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 http://www.flickr.com/photos/dg_pics/2458460009/Image on Flickr - abstract vector background by Vectorportal – CC BY 2.0 - http://www.flickr.com/photos/vectorportal/4929541221/IASSIST Images courtesy of IASSIST websiteImage on Flickr – Magpie by you get the picture – CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 - http://www.flickr.com/photos/bycp/5594086104/Image on Flickr by Philippe Put – CC BY-ND - http://www.flickr.com/photos/34547181@N00/4203882645/sizes/z/in/photostream//Image on Flickr – Apple retro by kyz – CC BY 2.0 - www.flickr.com/photos/kyz/3233710827/Image on Flickr by FindYourSearch - CC BY-SA 2.0 - http://www.flickr.com/photos/findyoursearch/4646256692/ Image on Flickr by miuenski - CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 - http://www.flickr.com/photos/miuenski/2189144407Image on Flickr - DNA by Mark Cummins - CC BY-SA 2.0 - http://www.flickr.com/photos/artimagesmarkcummins/300173269/ Image on Flickr - by Melissa Venable CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 - http://www.flickr.com/photos/melissavenable/5472100524/ Image on Flickr – by victorfe - CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 - http://www.flickr.com/photos/viktor86/4080925567/Image on Flickr – by RRCA_again – CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 - http://www.flickr.com/photos/30233682@N00/244221726/Image on Flickr by Jason Verwey - CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 - http://www.flickr.com/photos/94382772@N00/5210633416/ Image on Flickr by laszlo-photo - CC BY 2.0 - http://www.flickr.com/photos/laszlo-photo/1899390628/ Image on Flickr by Malkav - CC BY 2.0– http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2370/2262952280_0b03c07db9_o.jpgImage on Flickr by M. M. Alvarez, T. Shinbrot, F. J. Muzzio, Rutgers University, Center for Structured Organic Composites - CC BY 2.0 –http://www.flickr.com/photos/11304375@N07/2326596014/Image on Flickr by monkeyc.net - CC BY-NC-SA 2.0– http://www.flickr.com/photos/monkeyc/216415962/ Image on Flickr by Sean McGrath – CC By 2.0 – http://www.flickr.com/photos/mcgraths/3597037843/ Image on Flickr by ecstaticist -CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 - http://www.flickr.com/photos/ecstaticist/1337749333/ Image by Flickr by libraryman - CC BY-NC-ND - http://www.flickr.com/photos/libraryman/111606778/ Image on Flickr by Gideon Burton - CC BY-SA 2.0 - http://www.flickr.com/photos/wakingtiger/4097835586/Image on Flickr by mhobl - CC BY-NC 2.0 - http://www.flickr.com/photos/87106931@N00/1757023307/ Image on Flickr by karen horton - CC BY-NC 2.0 - http://www.flickr.com/photos/karenhorton/4456129248/Image on Flickr by incurable_hippy – CC BY-NC 2.0 - http://www.flickr.com/photos/hippie/2556161507/

THANK YOU!

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