| Martin Halbert Dean of Libraries University of North Texas |
William Moen Associate Dean of Research University of North Texas |
| Rachel Frick Director, Digital Library Federation Council on library and Information Resources |
Spencer D. C. Keralis Postdoctoral Research Associate University of North Texas |
The demands of big data pose significant challenges for research institutions and academic libraries. This panel features project updates from three interrelated projects examining the data management ecosystem to determine requirements and emerging best practices in policy, graduate education, and professional enrichment. The University of North Texas (UNT) Libraries’ DataRes project, funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), is examining the policy landscape at top research institutions across the nation. It is conducting a comprehensive investigation of the concerns of key stakeholders in the research lifecycle (including researchers, administrative officials, librarians, funding agency officials, research equipment vendors, and others) with regard to data management plan mandates from funding agencies, the long-term management of research data generated in universities, and the role of information professionals in such efforts.
The UNT College of Information’s iCAMP project, also funded by the IMLS, is developing a four course, competency-based, online graduate academic certificate program in data curation and data management for a hybrid audience of information professionals and disciplinary researchers and scholars. The Council on Library and Information Resources’ (CLIR) Sloan Foundation-funded research on scholarly practitioners in data curation has conducted an environmental scan of the state of data curation education in and out of the academy, and an anthropological study of the development needs of research professionals thrust into data curation roles. This project builds upon an existing successful program that brings scholars into libraries, the CLIR Postdoctoral Fellowship in Academic Libraries, to develop a rigorous training program in data curation for individuals with domain expertise, and to propose back to Sloan next steps in the implementation of a sound data management curriculum to extend the CLIR postdoctoral program into the area of data curation. Together these three projects offer both a snapshot of the current landscape of data management policy and education, and offer prescriptive insights on best practices for this rapidly evolving field.
http://txcdk-v22.unt.edu/icamp/content/icamp-project
http://datamanagement.unt.edu/
http://www.clir.org/initiatives-partnerships/data-curation
http://research.library.unt.edu/datares/
Presentation (iCamp)
Presentation (DataRes)