Data Curation: A New Frontier in Faculty-Librarian Collaboration Presenter: John Potter, Librarian ITT Technical Institute/Grand Rapids, MI

What is Data Curation? Protocols and tools to… Provide descriptive analysis of digital collections & objects In order to augment their discovery, management, use, reuse, and preservation Usually through standardized metadata, developing middleware

Protocols and tools to…

Provide descriptive analysis of digital collections & objects

In order to augment their discovery, management, use, reuse, and preservation

Usually through standardized metadata, developing middleware

Why data curation? Faculty researchers are Not sure how or whether to share data Lack time to organize data sets Need help describing data for discovery Would like new way to manage data Need help archiving data D Scott Brandt, Purdue University

Faculty researchers are

Not sure how or whether to share data

Lack time to organize data sets

Need help describing data for discovery

Would like new way to manage data

Need help archiving data

D Scott Brandt, Purdue University

Benefits of data curation Facilitates data mining (to make data more accessible) Shared data can be used, reused and validated by others Helps secure grant funding (through assurance in preservation) Saves researchers time, allows for greater focus on research

Facilitates data mining (to make data more accessible)

Shared data can be used, reused and validated by others

Helps secure grant funding (through assurance in preservation)

Saves researchers time, allows for greater focus on research

What do Librarians actually do? Follow uniform metadata practices => promotes interoperability recreate & reorganize data from old software => into new file formats Build ontologies, hierarchical structures, & interactive thesauri Help acquire or license datasets for researchers, users

Follow uniform metadata practices => promotes interoperability

recreate & reorganize data from old software => into new file formats

Build ontologies, hierarchical structures, & interactive thesauri

Help acquire or license datasets for researchers, users

Other possible services: Create and organize documentation related to data (IR) Offer digital preservation services

Create and organize documentation related to data (IR)

Offer digital preservation services

Where is this happening: University of Illinois MS/LIS has a Data Curation Concentration (2007) Purdue’s Distributed Data Curation Center (D2C2) For ‘small science’ with unorganized, disparate, heterogeneous, & distributed data Currently working with biologists and engineers

University of Illinois MS/LIS has a Data Curation Concentration (2007)

Purdue’s Distributed Data Curation Center (D2C2)

For ‘small science’ with unorganized, disparate, heterogeneous, & distributed data

Currently working with biologists and engineers

Implications: New orientation for libraries, library profession can speak of added value Faculty more apt to support library appropriations (see themselves as stakeholders) View librarianship more on par with faculty status, less clerical

New orientation for libraries, library profession can speak of added value

Faculty more apt to support library appropriations (see themselves as stakeholders)

View librarianship more on par with faculty status, less clerical

Future: Collaboration to clarify roles and responsibilities of data management players Create data publication standards– as in workflow, linking schemes, etc And data curation prototypes (data integration, analysis, visualization) Expect competition from Google through http://research.google.com

Collaboration to clarify roles and responsibilities of data management players

Create data publication standards– as in workflow, linking schemes, etc

And data curation prototypes (data integration, analysis, visualization)

Expect competition from Google through http://research.google.com