This document discusses data curation roles and education. It outlines a study to identify key responsibilities of data curators through a content analysis of job descriptions and interviews. The study aims to develop a glossary to better define the profession and support curriculum development. It finds that data curation skills are evolving rapidly, outpacing higher education. While some library and information science programs provide data curation education, challenges include traditionally attracting humanities students rather than those with science backgrounds needed for the field.

1. Data curator: who is s/he?
Anna Maria Tammaro
IFLA

2. Outline
• Role definition and evolving set of competencies and skills
• Curriculum frameworks
• Is the theoretical foundation and knowledge base of LIS able to
provide frameworks for data curation education?
• Is a librarian role? An IFLA investigation first findings

3. Methodology
The study included two phases of data collection and was designed using a mixed-method strategy:
Phase I: Content Analysis of Job Announcements
• Quantitative: Job descriptions
Phase II: Interviews with Data Curators
• Qualitative: Interviews and feedback from academia, industry and the Data curation community in
different Areas
• Literature and documentary review

4. Aims and objectives
Goal
• to identify key responsibilities of data curators
Objectives
• to develop a glossary that should help to better define the profession
• and to support education and training teachers/professionals to develop
appropriate educational curricula.

5. The role definition and competencies
gap
● Data curation has emerged rapidly within professional and research
practice
● Lifecycle management of data, researcher workflow
● Evolving more rapidly than higher education curricula or professional
training
● Skill requirements for professionals in data curation continues to be defined (Kim,
Warga, & Moen, 2013; Osswald, 2013)
● It is an area of inter-disciplinary research and practice
Copenhagen, AIS&T October 18th, 2016 5

6. How, when, where, by whom?
Is the theoretical foundation and knowledge base of LIS able to provide
frameworks for data curation education?
What are the educational qualifications and competencies required of data
curators in your country?
How has LIS education supported professional preparation of data curators so
far?
Copenhagen, AIS&T October 18th, 2016
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7. Curriculum Frameworks
Comprehensive curriculum frameworks
● Digital Curator Vocational Education Europe project (DigCurV)
● Digital Curation Curriculum Project (DigCCurr)
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8. Higher Education curricula
New data curation programs
• Open Science
• Data curation
• Digital scholarship
Expanded programs
• archival studies,
• library and information science (LIS)
• computer science
Certificate programs
• Units, Modules with a focus on specific domains

9. Level of qualifications
• Bachelor education
• computer science,
• engineering,
• health sciences,
• and history.
• Masters in library and information science (MLIS)
• PhD

10. Is a librarian role?
Different position titles including
• coordinator of data curation and scholarly communications,
• data curation librarian,
• data librarian,
• data curation scientist,
• digital curation coordinator,
• e-research project officer, project scientist,
• research data management librarian, and research services coordinator.

11. Conclusion
There are challenges in educating data curators in the LIS programs:
• LIS traditionally attracts students with humanities backgrounds, while more people
with science education are needed to meet the needs of this new field;
• Weak technical background
• Low image of librarians