Defining the Libraries' Role in Research: A Needs Assessment  Case Study

Defining the Libraries' Role in Research: A Needs

Assessment Case Study

Michael Crumpton Kathryn Crowe

UNC Greensboro LAUNC-CH Conference 2014

Why survey?

• Assess faculty needs re: storing and sharing data

• Determine priorities and resources

• Respond to federal and university policies for data sharing

What is research?

• Information recorded in any form, and includes any materials needed to validate research findings, such as laboratory notebooks, biological specimens, video, photographs, and environmental samples

Collaborators

• University Libraries

• Information Technology Services

• Office of Research and Economic Development

How about Your Campus?

• Has there been needs assessment for data storage and sharing on your campus?

• Who did the assessment?

____________________________________

Priorities for Support Query

• Information about best practices developing a data management plan (both short term & long term)

• Assistance with cost estimates for data storage and retrieval • Assistance meeting data sharing or storage requirements (e.g. funding

agencies, IRB) • Assistance storing data with third-party archives (e.g. ICPSR; ODUM at

UNC Chapel Hill; BIRN at NIH) • Routine data storage & backup services • Tools for sharing research data • Digitizing data from older formats • Assistance applying metadata to research data (descriptive information for

accessibility, e.g. title, date, creator, keywords) • Assistance preparing data sets for public access (e.g. de-identifying data) • Data disposal/destruction • Other (please specify)

Methodology

• Developed survey fall 2012

• Tested late 2012 and early 2013

• Distributed to all faculty, research and post-doctoral staff (1,193)

• 160 completed (13% response rate)

Who responded

• 73% tenure track faculty

• 38% had external funding

Research Data Formats

TextSpreadshe

etPDF

Statisticalsoftware

notes/sketches/figure

s

Digitalimages

Raw textdata

Consentforms

Digitalaudio

Web

Number 147 113 91 89 82 75 70 62 61 54

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160Top 10 Research Data Formats

Number

Document and Text Formats

Portable documentformat

Spreadsheet TextHand-written

notes/ sketches/figures

Non-digital text Web

Number 91 113 147 82 30 54

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

Document and Text Formats

Number

Visual Formats

Non-digital audiorecordings

Digital audio Digital video CAD Digital images Artistic products

Number 7 61 46 4 75 22

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Audio/Video/Images Formats

Number

Science Specific

GISGene sequences or samples or

specimens

Number 15 9

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

Science Formats

Number

Storing data

• 68% use CD/DVD,USB, external hard drive

• 58% use computer hard drive

• 27% network file space

• 28% cloud

• Only 16% automatically generate backup files

Sharing data

• 75% did not anticipate sharing data!

• Use cloud services (e.g. Dropbox, Google Docs)

• CDs, file transfer

Barriers to sharing

• Size of datasets

• Confidentiality and copyright

• Easily accessible access to central storage on campus

• Lack of knowledge about sharing- what can be shared and how to do it

• Compatibility across systems

Participation

• Who assists faculty and researchers on your campus with Data Management Plans?

– Library

– Research office

– Both

– Other (we’ll ask you to explain!)

________________________________

Data Management Plans

• 40% (of 97 respondents that currently have plans)

Required by IRBRequired by thefunding agency

Required by unitor Research

CenterGood practice Other

Number 47 39 8 64 10

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70Reason for Data Management Plan

Number

Priorities for support (summary)

• Storage and backup

• Meeting data storage and sharing requirements

• Data Management Plans

Conclusions

• Storage and automatic backup greatest need

• Assistance w/ sharing data 2nd greatest need

• Most faculty back up data but are not following best practices

• Many faculty not aware of data sharing requirements or assume final publication suffices

Follow up

• Wrote report and shared on campus

• ITS launched a hosting service and Box Cloud storage

• Libraries provide social science data through the Odum Institute

• OSP provides DMP assistance

• ORED survey

• Libraries and OSP collaborating on DMPTool

• Research Coordinator position

ACRL Midwinter Forum

• Possible roles for librarians

– Consultation on DMP

– Curation

– Long term preservation of data

– Clearinghouse (knowledge banks)

– Extending Sc Comm tools to include data mgmt

– Data literary

– Advocacy

Changes to Liaison Responsibilities

• Coordination and referral for library services

– Data management support

– DMP

– Grant writing support

– Training and instruction on resources

– Technology support for web design, database development, digitization services, application hosting

– Data curation activities

UNCG Libraries Research Support

• Liaison services

• Data services

• NC Docks/Odum

• Scholarly Communication program

• Open Journal Systems

• Open Access fee

• Copyright web site

What about YOU?

• What Data Management Services does your library offer?

– Help with DMP’s

– Help with Grant Writing

– Data Storage options

– Data Curation support

– Supporting policies on use, archiving, access and copyright