GRIT3770/JAN2015

ands.org.au

Better Data for Australian Research

National and global big problems need rich data and partnerships – beyond a single discipline or institution. ANDS works to help establish major research data collections that deliver high value.

Data Collections: better research through richer data assets

Research data collections may become more valuable over time or in new contexts, but this does not happen by chance. Research data are increasingly being seen as an asset in their own right:

• Funders: The Australian Research Council has moved to require an outline of plans for the management of data upon applying for its grants, and strongly encourages researchers to make their data available

• Data Publishing: Research data are being published in their own right across disciplines – from humanities to the sciences

• Data Citation and Metrics: Standard citation practices applied to published research data enable collection of citation metrics as well as download and usage tracking

• Research Collaboration: Research data are attracting new research collaborations. For example, CSIRO’s creation of a Pulsar Data Archive generated collaboration between it and Peking University

• Open Data: New research is being based on existing research datasets. According to Heather Piwowar and Todd Vision in their article Data reuse and the open data citation advantage (2013, 10.7717/peerj.175), every 100 papers with open data prompted 150 ‘data reuse papers’ within five years

Why manage data?

ANDS and data managementANDS has a range of tools and expertise to support efficient, effective and sustainable data management. The ANDS website has a wealth of information containing Australian and international exemplars of best practice in data management, applicable to all disciplines and adaptable to all types of research institutions.

ands.org.au/datamanagement

The deluge of complex data being produced by research is of greater value if the data are effectively managed and described. This:

• Ensures the value of the data collection

• Allows data access to be managed

• Assists researchers to reduce the risk of data loss

• Preserves the integrity of the research

CSIRO is committed to make all Parkes Radio Telescope data available within 18 months of observation. The fully automated Parkes Observatory Pulsar Data Archive, established with the support of ANDS, has enabled CSIRO to meet that commitment.

Data from the Archive are used as a major resource in an international search for the gravitational waves predicted by Einstein in his General Theory of Relativity.

IMAGE BY CSIRO

ANDS and data connections

The Australian National University dataset Monthly drought data for Australia 1890–2008 using the Hutchinson Drought Index (Hanigan, Ivan; 2012, DOI: 10.4225/13/50BBFD7E6727A) has good connections. Published in Research Data Australia, this dataset is connected to its associated publications, software and derived datasets, and has a Digital Object Identifier (DOI).

The benefits of connecting the various research outputs in this way include: contextualising both the data and associated journal articles and presentations; ensuring veracity of the data through transparency; and enabling potential reusers and collaborators to understand how these data can be used in new ways and within different disciplines.

ANDS has developed tools and methodologies that enable your data to be connected with persistent identifiers for: data, people, institutions, citations, publications, grants, projects and more. These connections use international standards to ensure maximum exposure.

Publishing a data collection through ANDS automatically links it to an international network of valuable research connections.

Why connect data?Creating connections between research data makes them more valuable because it:

• Interlinks data to people, projects, tools and publications

• Improves the discoverability of data

• Ties data to research achievements

• Provides richer context for data value

IMAGE BY KWEST/SHUTTERSTOCK.COM

ANDS and data discoveryJames Cook University created the Tropical

Data Hub (tropicaldatahub.org) to bring together diverse datasets from multiple Australian research institutions on all things tropics-related, from ecology to industry to human health.

The Hub aids in the discovery and reuse of these datasets to help tackle the unique challenges of the tropics.

ANDS has established Research Data Australia (RDA), an internet-based discovery service that draws data records from more than 90 institutions to aggregate and showcase Australian data nationally and internationally. RDA is syndicated to Trove (the National Library of Australia’s repository), DataCite and Ex Libris. RDA is also tailored for easy internet search engine indexing.

ANDS can also provide advice on metadata, data citation and long-term data identifiers.

Why make data discoverable?

researchdata.ands.org.au

Making data more discoverable:

• Enables researchers to reuse existing data rather than creating them at large expense

• Allows researchers to explore beyond their discipline

• Provides the ability to assemble data resources to solve big problems

IMAGE BY JOHN MILNES/SHUTTERSTOCK.COM

ANDS and data reuse

Collecting scientific data from the Antarctic and Southern Ocean is expensive and difficult. The 1959 Antarctic Treaty requires investigators to ensure data are adequately managed for long-term reuse.

The Australian Antarctic Data Centre was established in 1996 as the primary facility for this purpose and currently lists 2,300 records in its metadata catalogue. These records are syndicated into Research Data Australia and to other repositories internationally.

Data reuse requires well-managed, highly connected and easily discoverable data. ANDS offers services to support reuse such as advice, data licensing guidelines, discovery (Research Data Australia), attribution (Cite My Data Digital Object Identifiers), and identifiers to grants and people.

Why reuse data?Reusing data allows:

• New discoveries from existing data

• Integration of datasets for new analysis

• Verification of research claims

• Re-analysis of expensive, rare or unrepeatable investigations

• The reduction of duplicated effort

IMAGE BY THE AUSTRALIAN ANTARCTIC DIVISION

Unmanaged Managed

Disconnected Connected

Invisible Findable

Single Use Reusable

ANDS is enabling the transformation of:

Datathat are:

StructuredCollections that are:

to

ANDS works collaboratively with data providers and publicly funded research institutions within Australia. ANDS is also engaged internationally through the Research Data Alliance, and has strong relationships with global research data infrastructure projects and organisations, such as DataCite, and ORCID.

ANDS partners with research institutions to enhance research data assets. ANDS provides:

• Advice on all aspects of research data management across all disciplines; ANDS has so far worked with more than 50 Australian research institutions to improve their data management capabilities

• Resources, such as guides, training and online materials

• Online services, such as Cite My Data, Identify My Data, Register My Data and Research Data Australia

• Publishing and syndication of research data assets

• Data citation and Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs)

• Workshops, webinars, and facilitates communities of practice

• Skills and expertise to help strengthen institutional data management capabilities

To talk to ANDS, simply call +61 (0)3 9902 0585 or email contact@ands.org.au

ANDS is enabling the transformation of:

Partnering with ANDS

Talk to us about working with you to achieve your data ambitions: contact@ands.org.au

Together, ANDS and our partners across Australia are building strong and vibrant research data communities. To get involved:

• Join our workshops and webinars held throughout the year: ands.org.au/events

• Join the ANDS General Google group by emailing: contact@ands.org.au

• Subscribe to our e-newsletter andsUP: ands.org.au/subscribe.html

• Follow @andsdata on Twitter

ANDS Project Partners:

ands.org.auTelephone: +61 (0)3 9902 0585

ANDS is supported by the Australian Government through the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy Program. Monash University leads the partnership with the Australian National University and CSIRO.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Australia License creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/au G

RIT3770/JAN2015

Contact us