Research Data Management
Realities of Research Data Management
The Realities of Research Data Management is a series of four reports looking at the context, influences, and choices research universities face in building or acquiring RDM capacity. The findings are derived from detailed case studies by OCLC researchers of four research universities: the University of Edinburgh (UK), the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (US), Monash University (Australia), and Wageningen University & Research (the Netherlands). In addition to the report series, the research resulted in a webinar series and planning guides institutions can use to begin or continue their involvement in research data management.
Read the Reports View the Webinars & Planning Guide
The Secret Life of Data (SLO-data)
In January 2016, The Alexandria Archive Institute launched a three-year project funded by a Research and Development grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (#PR-234235-16). The project involves a longitudinal study of practices of creation, management, and reuse of archaeological data drawn from three geographical areas (Africa, Europe, and South America) to investigate data quality and modeling requirements for re-use by a larger research community.
The Secret Life of Data (SLO-data) project will improve the quality of information collected during archaeological excavations across the globe, preserve this information, and share it with the public. Outcomes include exemplary open datasets, an expansion of Open Context’s data publishing services, and online educational modules. The project team includes researchers at Stanford University, OCLC Research, the University of Michigan, and the Institute for Field Research.
Dissemination Information Packages for Information Reuse (DIPIR)
DIPIR is a joint, IMLS-funded project with the University of Michigan. Together with partners at the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research, the University of Michigan Museum of Zoology, and Open Context, the team is studying data reuse in three academic disciplines to identify how contextual information about the data that supports reuse can best be created and preserved. The project focuses on research data produced and used by quantitative social scientists, archaeologists, and zoologists.
The intended audiences for this project are researchers who reuse data and the digital curators, digital repository managers, data center staff, and others who collect, manage, and store digital information. Knowledge gained from the study will help guide current and future international practices for curating and preserving digital research data.
E-Research and Data: Opportunities for Library Engagement
With the increase in e-Research, federal funding agency mandates and policies, and the SHared Research Ecosystem (SHARE) initiative, academic libraries have begun to envision new ways to better serve their campus communities' need for the management, curation, and preservation of research data. Many believe that librarians are uniquely suited to support scholars throughout the entire research cycle—from the inception of the research through the dissemination of the results. Some academic libraries have begun to create and offer such research data services. The aim of this project is to examine early responses to opportunities for library engagement that can serve to inform practical and effective approaches within the larger academic community.
Team Members
Rebecca Bryant, Senior Program Officer
Ixchel Faniel, Senior Research Scientist
Brian Lavoie, Senior Research Scientist
Planning Guide
A three-part set of resources, which includes webinars and guides, to support planning and decision making at institutions considering and developing RDM services. View the Planning Guide.