National Status of Data Management: The DataRes and CLIR/Sloan Research Projects on Data Management Policies and Practices

Constellation C: Tuesday, November 1, 10:30 – 11:15AM

The landscape of scholarship in all disciplines is rapidly evolving toward the production of digital outputs of research such as datasets and electronic publications. New meta-research endeavors are seeking to better understand this evolving landscape and to chart a course forward for institutions attempting to navigate it. This presentation will present two collaborating projects researching emerging policies and practices in data management. These research projects are being undertaken by the Council on Library and Information Resources and the University of North Texas.

The first project, entitled DataRes and funded by a $232K IMLS grant, will investigate how the library and information science (LIS) profession can best respond to emerging needs of research data management in universities. Data management plans and associated institutional policies now being implemented at research institutions in response to federal requirements will be analyzed to identify observable trends. A comprehensive investigation will be undertaken of the expectations of key stakeholders in the research community (including researchers, administrative officials, librarians, funding agency officials, research equipment vendors, and others) concerning the long-term management of research data generated in universities and the role of information professionals in such efforts. Finally, a prescriptive analysis based on the foregoing research activities will identify the skills, infrastructure, training, and other preparation needed for professionals charged with data management responsibilities. A CLIR report summarizing project findings will be published, together with a project website treating with these emerging topics.

The second project, funded through $117K from the Sloan Foundation, will investigate alternative ways to build the professional capacity to handle digital data. This project will build upon an existing successful program that brings scholars into libraries, the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) Postdoctoral Fellowship in Academic Libraries first by studying the effect of their work in the academy, second by developing a rigorous training program in data curation for individuals with domain expertise, and thirdly by proposing back to Sloan next steps in the testing, implementation and evaluation of sound data management curriculum to extend the CLIR postdoctoral program into the area of digital data curation.

The goal of this session is to make the DLF community aware of these two projects, and to engage members of the DLF community in these two research endeavors early on by soliciting feedback, guidance, and participation.

Session Resources

Session Leaders

Martin Halbert (University of North Texas)
Lori Jahnke (College of Physicians)