Browsing by Subject "Research data"

Now showing 1 - 6 of 6
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    Data curation: A guide to what and how
    (Data Curation Network, 2024) Narlock, Mikala R.
    Presented October 16, 2024 virtually to the National Cancer Institute Annual Data Sharing Symposium, this presentation provides a high-level overview of data curation with helpful resources for data stewards and researchers.
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    Institutional data repositories are vital
    (Science, 2024-09) Darragh, Jen; Narlock, Mikala R.; Burns, Halle; Cerda, Peter A.; Cowles, Wind; Delserone, Leslie; Erickson, Seth; Herndon, Joel; Imker, Heidi; Johnston, Lisa R.; Lake, Sherry; Lenard, Michael; Hofelich Mohr, Alicia; Moore, Jennifer; Petters, Jonathan; Pullen, Brandie; Taylor, Shawna; Wham, Briana
    As funding agencies and publishers reiterate research data sharing expectations, many higher-education institutions have demonstrated their commitment to the long-term stewardship of research data by connecting researchers to local infrastructure, with dedicated staffing, that eases the burden of data sharing. Institutional repositories are an example of this investment. They provide support for researchers in sharing data that might otherwise be lost: data without a disciplinary repository, data from projects with limited funding, or data that are too large to sustainably store elsewhere. The staffing and technical infrastructure provided by institutional repositories ensures responsible access to information while considering long-term preservation and alignment with international standards. To ensure continued access to invaluable research data, it is essential that publishers and funding agencies recognize institutional repositories as responsible and reliable data sharing solutions.
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    Peer Compare Preservation Practices Benchmark Report
    (2022) Data Curation Network
    DCN members participated in a pilot project in early 2022 in which partner representatives were invited to individual meetings with then DCN Assistant Director, Mikala Narlock, to share and discuss their current preservation practices, specifically with regards to research data. This report details the background, project methodology, results, shared challenges and opportunities, and potential future projects for the DCN and similar peer organizations. These conversations revealed that many members share challenges, such as creating and managing preservation metadata, drafting and sharing retention and review policies, or collaborating on the complex preservation of blended software and code. The overall sentiment of interviews is that each institution is preserving content to the best of their abilities now, while watching research data preservation best practices develop. This report should be understood as a snapshot in time and a benchmark of current practices.
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    Think Globally, Act Locally: The Importance of Elevating Data Repository Metadata to the Global Infrastructure
    (2022) Taylor, Shawna; Wright, Sarah; Narlock, Mikala R.; Habermann, Ted
    Inconsistent and incomplete applications of metadata standards and unsatisfactory approaches to connecting repository holdings across the global research infrastructure inhibit data discovery and reusability. The Realities of Academic Data Sharing (RADS) Initiative has found that institutions and researchers create and have access to the most complete metadata, but that valuable metadata found in these local institutional repositories (IRs) are not making their way into global data infrastructure such as DataCite or Crossref. This panel examines the local to global spectrum of metadata completeness, including the challenges of obtaining quality metadata at a local level, specifically at Cornell University, and the loss of metadata during the transfer processes from IRs into global data infrastructure. The metadata completeness increases over time, as users reuse data and contribute to the metadata. As metadata improves and grows, users find and develop connections within data not previously visible to them. By feeding local IR metadata into the global data infrastructure, the global infrastructure starts giving back in the form of these connections. We believe that this information will be helpful in coordinating metadata better and more effectively across data repositories and creating more robust interoperability and reusability between and among IRs.
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    We're all in this together: Readying IRs to support federally funded research
    (2023) Carlson, Jake; Narlock, Mikala R.
    In 2023, during the Year of Open Science, the Data Curation Network will host collaborative workshop series to prepare US academic institutional repositories to align with the Desirable Characteristics of Data Repositories for Federally Funded Research (DC-DR). Issued by the National Science and Technology Council in May 2022, these guidelines promote a set of consistent attributes for researchers and funding agencies in selecting a suitable repository for sharing and preserving their data, findings and other research outputs. The release of the DC-DR and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Memo, “Ensuring Free, Immediate, and Equitable Access to Federally Funded Research,” is an opportunity to develop a common set of policies, standards and practices to better connect all types of data repositories. Both are important documents but neither provide a clear direction for repositories to implement the high-level guidance they provide. This is especially important for Institutional Repositories (IRs), which serve many disciplines and may be tasked with demonstrating alignment with different federal agencies’ requirements for federally funded research. IRs are critical infrastructure in supporting researchers who do not yet have disciplinary based repositories to use in meeting federal data sharing requirements. In order to ready US-based academic IRs to demonstrate alignment with the characteristics, the DCN hosted a series of virtual learning opportunities and an in-person workshop. In this presentation, we will report out on our progress thus far and invite feedback from participants. Presented to the Digital Library Federation 2023 Forum.
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    “We’re all doing the best we can with what we’ve got": Preservation practices of Data Curation Network members
    (2022) Luong, Hoa; Narlock, Mikala R.; Petters, Jonathan
    Over the course of six weeks, members of the Data Curation Network were interviewed by then Assistant Director to discuss their research data preservation practices. Through these semi-structured interviews, several commonalities emerged, including key challenges that will need to be addressed to ensure the long-term reusability of research data as well as the similar mentality many institutions expressed: that they are doing the best they can with what they have. The authors conclude by identifying areas of potential future research as well as practical collaboration opportunities. This presentation was presented at iPRES (the International Digital Preservation Conference) in Glasgow, Scotland, September 2022.