Data Use and Re-Use within an Applied Science Research Cluster May 20, 2018 Data Use and Re-Use within an Applied Science Research Cluster Fletcher T.H. Cole School of Information Systems, Technology and Management Shane Cox UNESCO Centre for Membrane Science and Technology, UNSW Maude Frances Digital Library Development Unit, UNSW Library f.cole@unsw.edu.au

Data Use and Re-Use within an Applied Science Research Cluster May 20, 2018 Data Use and Re-Use within an Applied Science Research Cluster Aims: Outline project Discuss general approach Make some preliminary observations The Aims of the report are to Outline project Report on progress Make some preliminary observations [ In view of short time available, I prefer to take questions at the end. ]

Motivation Resurgence of interest in data management May 20, 2018 Motivation Resurgence of interest in data management Massive volumes of data; increase in complexity Large e-research projects Hopes and claims for re-use and exploitation; better ROI Many assumptions made in management policy and systems design Multiplicity of ideas about data and data vocabularies Data originate in various practice communities and sub-disciplines Problematic when discipline data ("application domain") is represented in computerised info systems (in an "application") Attempts to share data expose the ways in which data is understood Little detailed knowledge of practitioners’ working definitions and actual use of data Much of the writing about data, such as in proposals for large-scale data-management projects in e-science, has little basis in detailed knowledge of practitioners' working definitions and use of data; or if it does, this is not clear. However, there is a small, but growing, body of research that does attempt to report on detailed workplace practices, and it is to this that our study aims to contribute. One occasion which might prompt deeper reflection on the data-concept is when an attempt is made to share data among associates, or to re-use data in a project quite different from that in which it originated.

May 20, 2018 Research questions How is data constituted (recognised and otherwise made intelligible) in the course of day-to-day activities? How is data that did not originate with a practitioner utilised by them? What role in relation to data, and its re-use, is played by data repositories, and information and communication technologies? The research design & analysis is being guided by the following questions: How is data constituted (recognised and otherwise made intelligible) in the course of day-to-day activities? How is data that did not originate with a practitioner utilised by them? What role in relation to data, and its re-use, is played by data repositories, and information and communication technologies? 2:15

Location Discipline areas Affiliations Organizational structure May 20, 2018 Location Discipline areas Applied science and engineering Polymer & analytical chemists, material scientists, computer modelers, chemical & mechanical engineers, data managers Affiliations 9 universities, CSIRO Organizational structure Cluster of research groups Geographically dispersed around Australia Central data repository, also covering fabrication, characterisation, operation and evaluation of systems and materials of interest to the Cluster Characterised by diversity Diverse attitudes and practices Potential to present moments of disjuncture that highlight aspects of data not otherwise noticed An opportunity to explore the topic of data use and re-use has been presented by the collaborative research being undertaken by an Applied Science Research Cluster. Members of the Cluster are located in a number of centres, in different organizations, and represent diverse disciplinary backgrounds, so attitudes and practices with regard to data are likely to be as diverse.

Sources of evidence Documentation Interviews with practitioners May 20, 2018 Sources of evidence Documentation As orientation To identify role of documentation in the constitution of data Interviews with practitioners As commentary on concurrent activity Observation of practitioners Interaction among practitioners, concerning data Data-related procedures May involve commentary also Evidence is being gathered through interviews, examination of documentation, and observation of episodes of interaction. 2:15

Preliminary observations May 20, 2018 Preliminary observations We can look at ‘data’ from static and dynamic points of view Data management policies usually take a static view e.g. documentation of meta-data Data has a natural history Highly contextualised by and through local practice Constituted within a work flow (time & space dimensions) Sequence (temporal order) is fundamental At different stages, different degrees of collaboration and disclosure, different locations Analysis needs to preserve the phenomena Avoid analytical methods which destroy The value of story Some observations Data in motion /process /static view of meta-data, which then needs to be utilized by participants – it it the utilization that should be the focus of our research Sequence important Data are seen to be highly contextualised by and through local practice, some of which can be explicitly documented and some of which cannot, 2:15

May 20, 2018 Some references Borgman, C.L. 2007. Scholarship in the Digital Age: Information, Infrastructure, and the Internet. Cambridge: MIT Press. Cole, F.T.H. 2005. The discourse of data: Exploring data-related vocabularies in geographic information systems description. Journal of Information Science, 31(1), 44-56. Goodwin, C. 2000. Action and embodiment within situated human interaction. Journal of Pragmatics, 32(10), 1489-1522. Heath, C. & Luff, P. 2000. Technology in Action. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Roth, W. M. & Bowen, G. M. 1999. Digitizing lizards: The topology of ‘vision’ in ecological fieldwork. Social Studies of Science, 29(5), 719-764. Zimmerman, A. S. 2008. New knowledge from old data: The role of standards in the sharing and reuse of ecological data. Science, Technology & Human Values, 33(5), 631-652.  

May 20, 2018 Acknowledgements Study program support gratefully received from the ISTM School & the Australian School of Business