Science and Technology Studies Commons^™

Research Data Sharing: Practices And Attitudes Of Geophysicists, Carol Tenopir, Lisa Christian, Suzie Allard, Josh Borycz

DataONE Sociocultural and Usability & Assessment Working Groups

Open data policies have been introduced by governments, funders, and publishers over the past decade. Previous research showed a growing recognition by scientists of the benefits of data-sharing and reuse, but actual practices lag and are not always compliant with new regulations. The goal of this study is to investigate motives, attitudes, and data practices of the community of Earth and planetary geophysicists, a discipline believed to have accepting attitudes toward data sharing and reuse. A better understanding of the attitudes and current data-sharing practices of this scientific community could enable funders, publishers, data managers, and librarians to design systems …

A Story Of Data Won, Data Lost And Data Re-Found: The Realities Of Ecological Data Preservation, Alison Specht

DataONE Sociocultural and Usability & Assessment Working Groups

This paper discusses the process of retrieval and updating legacy data to allow on-line discovery and delivery. There are many pitfalls of institutional and non-institutional ecological data conservation over the long term. Interruptions to custodianship, old media, lost knowledge and the continuous evolution of species names makes resurrection of old data challenging. We caution against technological arrogance and emphasise the importance of international standards.

We use a case study of a compiled set of continent-wide vegetation survey data for which, although the analyses had been published, the raw data had not. In the original study, publications containing plot data collected …

Pursuing Best Performance In Research Data Management By Using The Capability Maturity Model And Rubrics, Jian Qin, Kevin Crowston, Arden Kirkland

DataONE Sociocultural and Usability & Assessment Working Groups

Objective: To support the assessment and improvement of research data management (RDM) practices to increase its reliability, this paper describes the development of a capability maturity model (CMM) for RDM. Improved RDM is now a critical need, but low awareness of – or lack of – data management is still common among research projects.

Methods: A CMM includes four key elements: key practices, key process areas, maturity levels, and generic processes. These elements were determined for RDM by a review and synthesis of the published literature on and best practices for RDM.

Results: The RDM CMM includes …

Understanding Scientific Data Sharing Outside Of The Academy, Danielle Elaine Pollock

DataONE Sociocultural and Usability & Assessment Working Groups

Sharing and reuse of scientific data, which can enhance the transparency and reproducibility of research and lead to the creation of new knowledge from existing data, is both a growing scholarly communication practice and an expanding area of interest in information science. However, much of the literature to date has focused on the data practices of scientists working in academic environments, with less research done on understanding the practices of scientists working in other types of environments, such as government or industry. This poster presents the results of a study in which data from a worldwide survey of scientists were …

Data Management Education From The Perspective Of Science Educators, Carol Tenopir, Suzie Allard, Priyanki Sinha, Danielle Elaine Pollock, Jess Newman, Elizabeth D. Dalton, Mike Frame, Lynn Baird

DataONE Sociocultural and Usability & Assessment Working Groups

In order to better understand the current state of data management education in multiple fields of science, this study surveyed scientists, including information scientists, about their data management education practices, including at what levels they are teaching data management, which topics they covering, and what barriers they experience in teaching these topics. We found that a handful of scientists are teaching data management in undergraduate, graduate, and other types of courses, as well as outside of classroom settings. Commonly taught data management topics included quality control, protecting data, and management planning. However, few instructors felt they were covering data management …

Research Data Services In Academic Libraries: Data Intensive Roles For The Future?, Carol Tenopir, Dane Hughes, Suzie Allard, Mike Frame, Ben Birch, Lynn Baird, Robert J. Sandusky, Madison Langseth, Andrew Lundeen

DataONE Sociocultural and Usability & Assessment Working Groups

Objectives: The primary objectives of this study are to gauge the various levels of Research Data Service academic libraries provide based on demographic factors, gauging RDS growth since 2011, and what obstacles may prevent expansion or growth of services.

Methods: Survey of academic institutions through stratified random sample of ACRL library directors across the U.S. and Canada. Frequencies and chi-square analysis were applied, with some responses grouped into broader categories for analysis.

Results: Minimal to no change for what services were offered between survey years, and interviews with library directors were conducted to help explain this lack …

“Personas” To Support Development Of Cyberinfrastructure For Scientific Data Sharing, Kevin Crowston

DataONE Sociocultural and Usability & Assessment Working Groups

Objective: To ensure that cyberinfrastructure for sharing scientific data is useful, system developers need to understand what scientists and other intended users do as well as the attitudes and beliefs that shape their behaviours. This paper introduces personas — detailed descriptions of an “archetypical user of a system” — as an approach for capturing and sharing knowledge about potential system users.

Setting: Personas were developed to support development of the ‘DataONE’ (Data Observation Network for Earth) project, which has developed and deployed a sustainable long-term data preservation and access network to ensure the preservation and access to multi-scale, multi-discipline, and …

Perceived Discontinuities And Continuities In Transdisciplinary Scientific Working Groups, Kevin Crowston, Alison Specht, Carol Hoover, Katherine M. Chudoba, Mary Beth Watson-Manheim

DataONE Sociocultural and Usability & Assessment Working Groups

We examine the DataONE (Data Observation Network for Earth) project, a transdisciplinary organization tasked with creating a cyberinfrastructure platform to ensure preservation of and access to environmental science and biological science data. Its objective was a difficult one to achieve, requiring innovative solutions. The DataONE project used a working group structure to organize its members. We use organizational discontinuity theory as our lens to understand the factors associated with success in such projects. Based on quantitative and qualitative data collected from DataONE members, we offer recommendations for the use of working groups in transdisciplinary synthesis. Recommendations include welcome diverse opinions …

The Role Of Federal Libraries And Federal Librarians In Research Data Services (Rds): An Exploratory Study, Kimberly L. Douglass, Carol Tenopir, Ben Birch, Suzie Allard, Carol Hoover, Lisa Zolly, Mike Frame

DataONE Sociocultural and Usability & Assessment Working Groups

This study explores the roles federal (government) libraries and librarians play in scientific (international) knowledge development within federal agencies and in the larger scientific enterprise. In particular, this research looks at libraries’ and librarians’ facilitation of scientific inquiry through the application of research data services (RDS). Currently, librarians’ research and data consultation activities with administrators and researchers typically involve creating citations and finding datasets; less frequently, librarians are engaged in data management planning and other RDS activities. However, federal libraries and librarians have been identified as key stakeholders in collaborative science generally and specifically in scientific data cyberinfrastructures, such as …

Agriculture And Natural Resource Scientists' Biodiversity Information Needs: Barriers And Facilitators To Use And Access In The Us Southeast, Miriam Davis, Carol Tenopir, Suzie Allard

DataONE Sociocultural and Usability & Assessment Working Groups

In a study funded by the United States Geological Survey, a leading provider of biodiversity information, the University of Tennessee Center for Information and Communication Studies assessed the biodiversity information needs of south eastern US agriculture, natural resource management and other life scientists. Results reveal that 30% of agriculture and resource management scientists describe finding the biodiversity information they need as difficult. In addition, while agriculture and resource management scientists are better than other life scientists at searching for, finding and knowing where to find the biodiversity information they need to do their work, they experience significantly greater difficulty accessing …

Toward A New Understanding Of Virtual Research Collaborations: Complex Adaptive Systems Framework, Arsev U. Aydinoglu

DataONE Sociocultural and Usability & Assessment Working Groups

Virtual research collaborations (VRCs) have become an important method of conducting scientific activity; however, they are often regarded and treated as traditional scientific collaborations. Their success is measured by scholarly productivity and adherence to budget by funding agencies, participating scientists, and scholars. VRCs operate in complex environments interacting with other complex systems. A holistic (or organicist) approach is needed to make sense of this complexity. For that purpose, this study proposes using a new perspective, namely, the complex adaptive systems theory that can provide a better understanding of a VRC’s potential creativity, adaptability, resilience, and probable success. The key concepts …

The Future Of Citizen Science: Emerging Technologies And Shifting Paradigms, Greg Newman, Andrea Wiggins, Alycia Crall, Eric Graham, Sarah Newman, Kevin Crowston

DataONE Sociocultural and Usability & Assessment Working Groups

Citizen science creates a nexus between science and education that, when coupled with emerging technologies, expands the frontiers of ecological research and public engagement. Using representative technologies and other examples, we examine the future of citizen science in terms of its research processes, program and participant cultures, and scientific communities. Future citizen‐science projects will likely be influenced by sociocultural issues related to new technologies and will continue to face practical programmatic challenges. We foresee networked, open science and the use of online computer/video gaming as important tools to engage non‐traditional audiences, and offer recommendations to help prepare project managers for …

Academic Libraries And Research Data Services: Current Practices And Plans For The Future, Carol Tenopir, Ben Birch, Suzie Allard

DataONE Sociocultural and Usability & Assessment Working Groups

The report highlights the need and imperative for research data services in colleges and universities. Academic libraries may be ideal centers for research data service activities on campuses, providing unique opportunities for academic libraries to become even more active participants in the knowledge creation cycle in their institution.

Dataone: Facilitating Escience Through Collaboration, Suzie Allard

DataONE Sociocultural and Usability & Assessment Working Groups

Objective: To introduce DataONE, a multi-institutional, multinational, and interdisciplinary collaboration that is developing the cyberinfrastructure and organizational structure to support the full information lifecycle of biological, ecological, and environmental data and tools to be used by researchers, educators, and the public at large.

Setting: The dynamic world of data intensive science at the point it interacts with the grand challenges facing environmental sciences.

Methods: Briefly discuss science’s “fourth paradigm,” then introduce how DataONE is being developed to answer the challenges presented by this new environment. Sociocultural perspectives are the primary focus of the discussion.

Results: DataONE …

Beyond The Low Hanging Fruit: Archving Complex Data And Data Services At University Of New Mexico, Robert Olendorf, Steve Koch

DataONE Sociocultural and Usability & Assessment Working Groups

Open data is becoming increasingly important in research. While individual researchers are slowly becoming aware of the value, funding agencies are taking the lead by requiring data be made available, and also by requiring data management plans to ensure the data is available in a useable form. Some journals also require that data be made available. However, in most cases, “available upon request” is considered sufficient. We describe a number of historical examples of data use and discovery, then describe two current test cases at the University of New Mexico. The lessons learned suggest that an instituional data services program …

Technology Adoption And Use: Theory Review For Studying Scientists Continued Use Of Cyber-Infrastructure, Youngseek Kim, Kevin Crowston

DataONE Sociocultural and Usability & Assessment Working Groups

In this paper, we seek to identify factors that might increase the likelihood of adoption and continued use of cyberinfrastructure by scientists. To do so, we review the main research on Information and Communications Technology (ICT) adoption and use by addressing research problems, theories and models used, findings, and limitations. We focus particularly on the individual user perspective. We categorize previous studies into two groups: Adoption research and post-adoption (continued use) research. In addition, we review studies specifically regarding cyberinfrastructure adoption and use by scientists and other special user groups. We identify the limitations of previous theories, models and research …