Feb 26 Symposium on Discovering Research Data

The US National Research Council Board on Research Data and Information (BRDI) will be holding a public symposium on the afternoon of Feb 26, 2013 on Strategies for Discovering Research Data in conjunction with the February 26-27 meeting of the Board.

I’ve reproduced the invitation to the symposium below. While the symposium is free and open to the public, you do need to register in advance to attend in person. The symposium will also be webcast.

For more information about the Board, and the upcoming meeting, see www.nas.edu/brdi

DIsclosure: I am the current co-chair of the BRDI board.

Clifford Lynch
Director, CNI
***************************

Finding the Needle in the Haystack:

A Public Symposium on
Strategies for Discovering Research Data Online

Organized by the
Board on Research Data and Information

National Research Council
(http://www.nationalacademies.org/brdi)
Tuesday, February 26, 2013 from 3:00 pm – 5:30 pm

National Academy of Sciences Auditorium
2100 C Street NW, Washington, DC

One of the problems recognized by experts and casual data users alike has been the inability to find the full array of research databases or factual compilations that are needed to support any given query. As data continue to proliferate and research becomes more data intensive, the discoverability of factual references also grows in importance. For research funders and policymakers, there is a need to better understand data productivity and trends in science, both quantitatively and qualitatively. Yet the deluge of information and the diversity of the datasets makes the task for all users of data and facts that much more difficult.

Despite the proliferation of models and solutions in various disciplines and sectors, there is a recognized need for a pervasive infrastructure, standardization of approaches, and the usual questions of who does what, where, and how? This symposium therefore seeks to highlight some of these different approaches, providing examples that are both broadly interdisciplinary as well as discipline-specific to finding the right data at the right place in the right time. Although we will not offer any common solutions to this set of problems, we do hope to shed some light on the underlying issues and provide an opportunity for experts working in this area to interact, both among each other and with the audience.

The co-chairs of the Board on Research Data and Information, Clifford Lynch of the Coalition on Networked Information, and Francine Berman of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, will lead the symposium discussion, beginning at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, February 26. The event will continue for 2 1Ž2 hours in a mix of short presentations and discussion. The entire proceedings will be recorded and an audio-tape will be archived on the Board’s website. The meeting will be followed by a reception outside the main auditorium.

The symposium is open to the public, but advance registration is requested (contact: Cheryl Levey, clevey

Tuesday, February 26, 2013 from 3:00 pm – 5:30 pm

National Academy of Sciences Auditorium
2100 C Street NW, Washington, DC

The symposium is free and open to the public, but advance registration is requested.
RSVP to Cheryl Levey at clevey@nas.edu

For additional information about the program, please visit http://www.nationalacademies.org/brdi
or contact Paul Uhlir, the Board Director, at puhlir