A centre of expertise in digital information management UKOLN is supported by: Transition or Transform? Repositioning the Library for the Petabyte Era Dr Liz Lyon, Director, UKOLN, University of Bath, UK Associate Director, UK Digital Curation Centre ARL / CNI Forum, Washington DC, October 2008 This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Licence Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0

Perspectives 1.Disciplines and Practice : a diverse landscape 2.Institutions and Assets : emerging initiatives 3.People and Skills : building capacity Robot CERN tends 5PB data (Nature July 2008)

Disciplines and Practice

Immersive case studies Disciplinary factors in curating Architectural Research (Colin Neilson) Curating Brain Images in a Psychiatric Research Group (Angus Whyte) Curating MST radar data at STFC (Esther Conway) Roles and reusability of video data in social research (Angus Whyte)

Neuro-imaging Case Study Report due October 2008 Division of Psychiatry, Univ. of Edinburgh 9Tb MRI images + demographic data shared in Neurogrid/NeuroPsygrid and multi-centre studies 10 year longitudinal studies data is continually re-analysed: new analytic techniques add value to older data Data integration: multiple scanner image normalisation, shared terminology needed

Interdisciplinary team roles: clinicians, imaging researchers, psychologists, scanner engineers, sys-admin Heedful interaction: team weekly meetings provide a human infrastructure for curation, based on trust Data-sharing as a form of trade or gift exchange: give to get rather than give away – implications for research funder data access policies: research funders should think global & act local Ethics, confidentiality, privacy issues: skull- stripping software & anonymisation, potential for prediction of psychiatric disorders DRAMBORA Risk assessment, mitigation steps identified; data policy + core metadata set, data documentation, phased development

eCrystals Curation & Preservation Study Working with the Digital Curation Centre Examined four main areas 1.Audit and certification (TRAC, DRAMBORA, NESTOR, ISO International repository audit and certification BOF Group) 2.The Open Archival Information System (OAIS) and Representation Information (RI) 3.eBank-UK application profile and preservation metadata 4.ePrints.org repository platform Recommendations uk/curation/eBank3-WP4-Report%20(Revised).pdf

eCrystals Federation: Preservation & sustainability Recommendations Data repositories Use DRAMBORA Interactive Vs 1.0 for self- assessment Add PREMIS preservation metadata Collect eCrystals representation information Examine repository platform conformance to OAIS Reference Model Survey partner preservation policies Digital Curation Centre partnership

Interviews & analysis of a discipline: crystallography Findings: Diverse lab practice Laboratory Information Management Systems (LIMS) & proprietary formats Data policy should reflect lab practice & institutional model Data quality criteria/validation Prior publication problem We need scalable assignment of terms for data discovery No discipline preservation model Recommendations (7), commentary May 2008 UKOLN and University of Southampton Scaling Up Report

Practice challenges? 1.Understanding the risks, awareness 2.Community consensus, advocacy 3.Data management plans 4.Appraisal: selection criteria 5.Data documentation: metadata, schema, RepInfo, semantics 6.Data formats: applying standards 7.Instrumentation: proprietary formats 8.Data provenance: authenticity 9.Data citation & versions: persistent IDs 10.Data validation and reproducibility 11.Data access: embargo policy 12.Data linking: text, images, software

***Open Science Experiment*** With thanks to Simon Coles, Univ Southampton Blogging results data

1. Transition or Transform? the Library Remote research support or integrated team science? Passive observation or proactive participation? Is your library fully embedded in research practice? How do you acquire a deeper understanding of disciplinary data curation approaches? Models of engagement? –Immersive case studies –Joint R&D projects –New service offerings –Role extension (Faculty / subject / liaison librarians) –Secondments Library supports human infrastructure for curation

Institutions and Assets

Shared Research Data Service Feasibility Study HEFCE award £255K to SERCO Objectives: –Develop understanding of UKs current and future research data service needs –Work with other UK stakeholders to identify priorities for action –Develop a number of scenarios/options for the shared service from do nothing to a managed national service –Develop a detailed business plan for the preferred option(s) –Include assessment of costs and benefits in options appraisal –Indicate both scale of investment required & an estimate of likely ROI –Present outline governance and management proposals for the preferred option(s) 4 case study volunteers: Bristol, Leeds, Leicester, Oxford Report January 2009, Interim Report published July 2008

State-of-the Nation Analysis Research funder policies Data centres and facilities International comparators Options analysis and appraisal Baseline for Costs Stakeholder analysis, Success criteria Emerging survey themes: Advocacy, Co-ordination and information, Coherence, Data Depository, Skills and training, Seeding the Data Commons October 2008: Development of Models

University of Oxford case study 37 interviews with researchers + Workshop Report published July 2008

Background A recommendation to JISC: JISC should develop a Data Audit Framework to enable all universities and colleges to carry out an audit of departmental data collections, awareness, policies and practice for data curation and preservation Liz Lyon, Dealing with Data: Roles, Rights, Responsibilities and Relationships, (2007)

Data Audit Framework Launch: 1 st October Benefits: Prioritisation of resources Capacity development and planning Efficiency savings – move data to more cost- effective storage Manage risks associated with data loss Realise value through improved access & re-use Positioned as a self-audit tool Scale: departments, institutions

Methodology

Workflow and tasks

Detailed assessment ID Data creator(s) Title Description Subject Date Purpose Source Updating frequency Type Format Rights and restrictions Usage frequency Relation Back-up and archiving policy Management to date

School of GeoSciences pilot audit 80 academics, 70 research fellows, 130 PhD students Annual research grant and contract income of £4-6M Staff contribute to >1 of five Research Groups Involvement in inter-University Research Consortia and Research Centres 15Tb data on main server Audit led by Information Services staff Interviews with 35 Faculty staff Create Inventory of 25 datasets and classify them Assess most significant assets in detail, collect basic set of data elements based on Dublin Core Draft Report and Recommendations to the School of GeoSciences and to Information Services

GeoSciences pilot: lessons learned Time needed is longer than initially anticipated (for interviews etc.) but still manageable - Plan well in advance Inventory doesn't have to be comprehensive but could be a representative sample Little documentation/knowledge of what exists:a nightmare There are no standards in creating & managing data assets Define the scope and granularity carefully Ensure appropriate timing (avoid exams, field trips, Boards…) Get support from senior management (VP level) Collect as much information as possible in interviews/surveys Variable openness of staff and their data

GeoSciences pilot: some outcomes Preliminary but positive Requirement for institution-wide data policy and guidelines Requirement for researcher training IPR issues associated with data ownership: individual or institution? Requirement for training for auditors Scaling up audits: 6 further data audits in process (including Physics, Biol Sci., Education, History, Classics & Archaeology, Biomedical Sciences)

2. Transition or Transform? Librarians There are lots of opportunities for action Leadership by senior managers –Data policy development - with PVC / VP research –Storage infrastructure provision – with IT Director Faculty audit co-ordination (DAF tool) Advocacy, awareness-raising workshops, training –Data literacy programmes –Curation Lifecycle management Inform data management plans Data documentation best practice Repository assessment (DRAMBORA tool) Deliver new integrated support services

People and Skills

Background Recommendations to JISC: A study is needed to examine the role and career development of data scientists and the associated supply of specialist data curation skills to the research community. JISC should fund a study to assess the value and potential of extending data handling curation and preservation skills within the undergraduate and postgraduate curriculum. Liz Lyon, Dealing with Data: Roles, Rights, Responsibilities and Relationships, (2007)

The role of the Library in data-intensive research is important and a strategic repositioning of the Library with respect to research support is now appropriate. there are…not enough specialised data librarians yet Recommendation: The research library community in the UK should work with universities and research institutes to define properly and to formalise the role of data librarians, and to develop a curriculum that ensures a suitable supply of librarians skilled in data handling.

CILIP Update June 2008 Only 5 in the UK??? Accidental data librarians

Research Data Forum Bringing diverse communities together Data centre managers, IR managers, librarians, funders & policy makers Aims & Objectives: –Facilitate co-operation between organisations and individuals –Exchange experience and best practice November 2008, Manchester UK 2 nd joint DCC – RIN event

Day 2 (Thursday 27 th November) 09.00Identifying roles : JISC reportDr Alma Swan, Key Perspectives 09.30Data creatorProfessor Stephen Lawrie, Dept of Psychiatry, University of Edinburgh 09.50Data scientistHelen Parkinson, EBI 10.10Data librarianRobin Rice, EDINA, 10.30Data managerSam Pepler, BADC 10.50Coffee 11.15Professional education and training perspectives Professor Sheila Corrall, Dept of Information Studies, University of Sheffield 11.45Discussion: Identifying core data skillsFacilitator: Liz Lyon 13.00Lunch 13.45Introduction to Breakout Groups 1) Do librarians have the right skills? 2) Ways to up-skill the research community? 3) Sharing skills from data scientists and data managers Graham Pryor, DCC (Chair) Facilitators: 1)tbc 2)tbc 3)Stuart Jeffrey, ADS 15.00Feedback Session 15.30Discussion 16.00Way forward and next stepsGraham Pryor, DCC Roles and responsibilities for effective data management

DCC Digital Curation 101 Curation summer school 6-10 October NeSC Lectures + hands-on Target participants: bench scientists, LIS professionals Focussed around the DCC Curation Lifecycle Model Conceptualise, Create and/or Receive, Appraise & select, Ingest & Store, Preserve, Access, Use & Re-Use, Data Management Plan

Open Science

A centre of expertise in digital information management

3.Transition or Transform? the Role Multidisciplinary teams, multidisciplinary people Domain + ICT + library + archiving knowledge New roles: data librarians, data scientists Skills shortage: capacity building needed What core data skills are required? Not in LIS school curriculum? Radical change! Recruit different people to the LIS team Re-brand the LIS career From Librarianship to Informatics

Thank you. Slides will be available at :