Digital Futures Task Force Report on Research Data

1. Digital Futures Task Force Report on Research Data • Jim Siedow • Duke University • CASC • September 8, 2011

2. Questions DFTF addressed • What can/should Duke do to help researchers to better manage, archive, and share their data? • Where should these services and support be placed on campus, and how should it be funded? • What parts of this need to be local at Duke, and what parts should be in disciplinary or national/international spaces, or in commercial services? • How do we create services and incentives to promote better and longer term management of research data, and more sharing of it as appropriate?

3. Aren’t we doing this already? • Currently, most management of research data is informal or ad hoc; most data is not shared, not archived. • A lot of money being spent on lightly managed storage, with little understanding of what’s being stored, how to find or use it later, what should be kept or disposed of, who should have access to it. • There are risks to Duke and to researchers, and cost inefficiencies to everyone doing it on their own. • While many researchers claim they will share data upon request, in practice only about 10% to 25% of data requests are fulfilled. • Nonresponse to data sharing requests http://researchremix.wordpress.com/2007/05/22/nonresponse-to-data-sharing-requests/ • Savage CJ, Vickers AJ, 2009. Empirical Study of Data Sharing by Authors Publishing in PLoS Journals. PLoS ONE 4(9): e7078. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0007078

4. What DFTF did • Explored needs and current practices at Duke • Meetings and interviews with faculty, IT managers, grant managers, and data managers in schools and institutes, librarians, OIT, ORS • Regular meetings with DFTF and RDSPG (Research Data Services Planning Group) • Explored how peer institutions are working on these issues • Researched studies about these issues - best practices, user needs, etc. • Developed a set of recommendations for elements of a program, and crafted them into a report

5. DFTF recommendations 1. Consulting services - critical element • expert assistance for data management planning; infrastructure selection; application of relevant standards, policies, practices; training 2. Managed storage - critical element • managed and supported storage that is cost-competitive with what people are provisioning for themselves, but better supported • need incentives to encourage use of shared resources • could be managed in a centralized or distributed way, but more standardization will get us economies of scale, communities of practice 3. Management systems for data and research workflows • “virtual research environments” • systems and support for better day-to-day data management and collaboration in research projects, for efficiency and knowing better what you have and where it is • more consistent management from the beginning of a project will make handoff for publication/archiving easier when needed

6. DFTF recommendations 4. Data repositories for publication and archiving – critical element • repository services for permanent storage and delivery at the completion of a project • includes services to help transition from researcher-managed to institutions-managed 5. Data registry • registry of data produced by Duke research, whether stored at Duke or elsewhere • permalinks that can be included in citations, and repointed if the resource moves (or have a “tombstone” if it goes away) • Search service for discovery of data • mechanisms to track and report on downstream use and citation of data 6. Ongoing governance – critical element • a group with a focus on data issues that sets priorities, develops and interprets policy, champions the program, and oversees its implementation

8. Potential organizational models for support • Build on existing campus-wide services, and broaden scope • Perkins Library Data/GIS Services • Research Computing/Scalable Computing Support Center • Build on existing discipline-specific services, and broaden scope • IGSP Express Data Repository and related services • DTMI Duke Research Data Services (DRDR) unit • SSRI Data Services Core • NESCent Dryad repository program • Create a new unit with specific focus on data management services • Would coordinate and provide additional support for units mentioned above

9. In the meantime… • Library, OIT, ORS, school & institute staff planning for how to improve support now with existing resources (RDSPG – Research Data Services Planning Group) • A web site with guidance on data management planning and data archiving • http://guides.library.duke.edu/dukedata (in process of being migrated to a more user-friendly design) • Some experiments are underway • deposit and sharing of lichen herbarium data via DukeSpace • development of sample data management plans • Organizing events and learning opportunities for PIs, grant staff, librarians, IT staff, students, etc. around data management planning and best practices - trying to build a network of peer support • Working with Franklin Humanities Institute on models for preservation of outputs from digital humanities projects