Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

"We're Working On It:" Transferring The Sloan Digital Sky Survey From Laboratory To Library, Ashley E. Sands, Christine L. Borgman, Sharon Traweek, Laura A. Wynholds

Library Faculty & Staff Publications

This article reports on the transfer of a massive scientific dataset from a national laboratory to a university library, and from one kind of workforce to another. We use the transfer of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) archive to examine the emergence of a new workforce for scientific research data management. Many individuals with diverse educational backgrounds and domain experience are involved in SDSS data management: domain scientists, computer scientists, software and systems engineers, programmers, and librarians. These types of positions have been described using terms such as research technologist, data scientist, e-science professional, data curator, and more. The …