scholarly journals The Fast and the FRDR: Improving Metadata for Data Discovery in Canada

Publications ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 25
Author(s):  
Clara Turp ◽  
Lee Wilson ◽  
Julienne Pascoe ◽  
Alex Garnett

The Federated Research Data Repository (FRDR), developed through a partnership between the Canadian Association of Research Libraries’ Portage initiative and the Compute Canada Federation, improves research data discovery in Canada by providing a single search portal for research data stored across Canadian governmental, institutional, and discipline-specific data repositories. While this national discovery layer helps to de-silo Canadian research data, challenges in data discovery remain due to a lack of standardized metadata practices across repositories. In recognition of this challenge, a Portage task group, drawn from a national network of experts, has engaged in a project to map subject keywords to the Online Computer Library Center’s (OCLC) Faceted Application of Subject Terminology (FAST) using the open source OpenRefine software. This paper will describe the task group’s project, discuss the various approaches undertaken by the group, and explore how this work improves data discovery and may be adopted by other repositories and metadata aggregators to support metadata standardization.

Author(s):  
Ibraheem Ali ◽  
Thea Atwood ◽  
Renata Curty ◽  
Jimmy Ghaphery ◽  
Tim McGeary ◽  
...  

The Association of Research Libraries (ARL)/Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL) Joint Task Force on Research Data Services (RDS) formed in 2020 with a two-fold purpose: (1) to demonstrate and commit to the roles research libraries have in stewarding research data and as part of institution-wide research support services and (2) to guide the development of resources for the ARL and CARL memberships in advancing their organizations as collaborative partners with respect to research data services in the context of FAIR (findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable) data principles and the US National Academies’ Open Science by Design framework. Research libraries will be successful in meeting these objectives if they act collectively and are deeply engaged with disciplinary communities. The task force formed three working groups of data practitioners, representing a wealth of expertise, to research the institutional landscape and policy environment in both the US and Canada. This report of the ARL/CARL RDS task force’s working group on partnerships highlights library RDS programs’ work with partners and stakeholders. The report provides a set of tools for libraries to use when assessing their RDS partnerships, including assessing partnerships using a partnership life cycle, defining the continuum of possible partnerships, and creating a catalog. Not all partnerships will last the entirety of a librarian’s career, and having clear parameters for when to continue or sunset a partnership can reduce ambiguity and free up resources. Recognizing the continuum of possible partnerships can provide the framework by which librarians can understand the nature of each group. From cyclical to seasonal to sporadic, understanding the needs of a type of partnership can help libraries frame their understanding and meet a group where they are. Finally, creating a catalog of partnerships can help libraries see the landscape of the organization, as well as areas for growth. This approach also aligns with OCLC’s 2020 report on Social Interoperability in Research Support: Cross-Campus Partnerships and the University Research Enterprise, which highlights the necessity of building and stewarding partnerships. Developing and providing services in a decentralized organization relies on the ability to build trusted relationships. These tools will help libraries achieve sustainable growth that is in concert with their partners, generating robust, clearly aligned initiatives that benefit all parties, their campuses, and their communities.


2021 ◽  
Vol 45 (3-4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gilbert Mushi

The emergence of data-driven research and demands for the establishment of Research Data Management (RDM) has created interest in academic institutions and research organizations globally. Some of the libraries especially in developed countries have started offering RDM services to their communities. Although lagging behind, some academic libraries in developing countries are at the stage of planning or implementing the service. However, the level of RDM awareness is very low among researchers, librarians and other data practitioners. The objective of this paper is to present available open resources for different data practitioners particularly researchers and librarians. It includes training resources for both researchers and librarians, Data Management Plan (DMP) tool for researchers; data repositories available for researchers to freely archive and share their research data to the local and international communities.   A case study with a survey was conducted at the University of Dodoma to identify relevant RDM services so that librarians could assist researchers to make their data accessible to the local and international community. The study findings revealed a low level of RDM awareness among researchers and librarians. Over 50% of the respondent indicated their perceived knowledge as poor in the following RDM knowledge areas; DMP, data repository, long term digital preservation, funders RDM mandates, metadata standards describing data and general awareness of RDM. Therefore, this paper presents available open resources for different data practitioners to improve RDM knowledge and boost the confidence of academic and research libraries in establishing the service.


Author(s):  
Johannes Hubert Stigler ◽  
Elisabeth Steiner

Research data repositories and data centres are becoming more and more important as infrastructures in academic research. The article introduces the Humanities’ research data repository GAMS, starting with the system architecture to preservation policy and content policy. Challenges of data centres and repositories and the general and domain-specific approaches and solutions are outlined. Special emphasis lies on the sustainability and long-term perspective of such infrastructures, not only on the technical but above all on the organisational and financial level.


2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 88-105 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sünje Dallmeier-Tiessen ◽  
Varsha Khodiyar ◽  
Fiona Murphy ◽  
Amy Nurnberger ◽  
Lisa Raymond ◽  
...  

The data curation community has long encouraged researchers to document collected research data during active stages of the research workflow, to provide robust metadata earlier, and support research data publication and preservation. Data documentation with robust metadata is one of a number of steps in effective data publication. Data publication is the process of making digital research objects ‘FAIR’, i.e. findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable; attributes increasingly expected by research communities, funders and society. Research data publishing workflows are the means to that end. Currently, however, much published research data remains inconsistently and inadequately documented by researchers. Documentation of data closer in time to data collection would help mitigate the high cost that repositories associate with the ingest process. More effective data publication and sharing should in principle result from early interactions between researchers and their selected data repository. This paper describes a short study undertaken by members of the Research Data Alliance (RDA) and World Data System (WDS) working group on Publishing Data Workflows. We present a collection of recent examples of data publication workflows that connect data repositories and publishing platforms with research activity ‘upstream’ of the ingest process. We re-articulate previous recommendations of the working group, to account for the varied upstream service components and platforms that support the flow of contextual and provenance information downstream. These workflows should be open and loosely coupled to support interoperability, including with preservation and publication environments. Our recommendations aim to stimulate further work on researchers’ views of data publishing and the extent to which available services and infrastructure facilitate the publication of FAIR data. We also aim to stimulate further dialogue about, and definition of, the roles and responsibilities of research data services and platform providers for the ‘FAIRness’ of research data publication workflows themselves.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Safat Mushtaq Misgar ◽  
Ajra Bhat ◽  
Zahid Ashraf Wani

Purpose In the present era, research data is a concern for researchers, as they are trying to find new ways to communicate their research findings and conclusions to other researchers in order to increase visibility and credibility. BRICS nations are fast emerging economies and contribute significantly in research output. This study makes an effort to analyze and explore the role of BRICS nations towards open access research data repository registered with Registry of Research Data Repositories. Design/methodology/approach The data were gathered from re3data repository, and the search was limited to BRICS nations. The data were further analyzed and tabulated as per set parameters, namely, country-wise distribution, types of contents, subject coverage and language diversity. Findings The findings depict that in terms of strength, India has the highest number of data repositories, thereby achieved the first rank among BRICS nations, and South Africa has the least number of data repositories, whereas in terms of content type and subject coverage, India again is leading among BRICS nations. The English language is used by repositories as the main language of the interface. Practical implications The study helps to understand the development of research data repositories by BRICS nations. The study is further beneficial to researchers, as Registry of Research Data Repository provides a single platform to access repositories from various disciplines. Readily available data saves time, money and efforts of researchers and helps the researcher in completing their research activity in a very short span of time. Originality/value The paper has investigated open access data repositories of BRICS nation that has not been attempted earlier. This gives readers comprehensive overview of research data repositories developed in fast emerging economies of the global. The paper can be very helpful for information managers, OA promoters and education and research policy makers to devise plans and policy bearing in mind the evolving research channels in emerging economies.


Author(s):  
Charles Humphrey

Portage is the research data management initiative of the Canadian Association of Research Libraries and its story has been very much about establishing partnerships in a complex environment to advance research data management services and infrastructure in Canada. Many jurisdictions make up the space in which research data management takes place. A variety of legal, political, cultural, economic, technological, and scientific factors are at play and how they fit together depends on the connections between a number of stakeholders. The levels at which these stakeholders operate and the transient nature of research data itself made the development of partnerships a complex undertaking for Portage. This article describes the building of partnerships in a multi-jurisdictional environment, discusses challenges in operating in Canada's digital research ecosystem, and highlights the importance of working with Canada's regional academic library associations in laying the foundations for digital research infrastructure to support data management. 


KWALON ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
René van Horik

Summary Nowadays, research without a role for digital data and data analysis tools is barely possible. As a result, we see an increasing interest in research data management, as this enables the replication of research outcomes and the reuse of research data for new research activities. Data management planning outlines how to handle data, both during research and after the research is completed. Trusted data repositories are places were research data are archived and made available for the long term. This article covers the state of the art concerning data management and data repository demands with a focus on qualitative data sets.


2013 ◽  
Vol 74 (6) ◽  
pp. 560-572 ◽  
Author(s):  
Selinda Adelle Berg ◽  
Heidi LM Jacobs ◽  
Dayna Cornwall

Within the literature exploring the role of research in academic librarianship, very little attention has been paid to the perspectives of upper library administrators. This perspective is critical because library administrators play a key role in hiring, evaluating, supporting, promoting, and tenuring professional librarians. As a way of bringing the administrative perspective to these discussions, our study examines how library administrators within the Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL) view the role of research in their own libraries and within academic librarianship, as well as how they perceive the current and future climate for librarians’ research. Our study reveals key areas in need of further research and identifies several issues that librarians and upper administrators would benefit from exploring together to advance discussions about research.


2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heinz Pampel ◽  
Paul Vierkant ◽  
Frank Scholze ◽  
Roland Bertelmann ◽  
Maxi Kindling ◽  
...  

Researchers require infrastructures that ensure a maximum of accessibility, stability and reliability to facilitate working with and sharing of research data. Such infrastructures are being increasingly summarized under the term Research Data Repositories (RDR). The project re3data.org – Registry of Research Rata Repositories has begun to index research data repositories in 2012 and offers researchers, funding organizations, libraries and publishers an overview of the heterogeneous research data repository landscape. Information icons help researchers to easily identify an adequate repository for the storage and reuse of their data. This article describes the RDR landscape, outlines the practicality of re3data.org as a service, and shows how this service helps to find research data.


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