RDMRose 1.6 Research data services

Research data services
May-15 Learning material produced by RDMRose
http://www.sheffield.ac.uk/is/research/projects/rdmrose
Research Data Management
Workshop 1.6

Session 1.6 overview
• Research data services overview
• Professional services involved in RDM
• Research administrators
• Computing services
• Library roles
– Embedded roles
– Hybrid and third space roles
– Job descriptions analysis

Research Data Services
May-15
Learning material produced by RDMRose
http://www.sheffield.ac.uk/is/research/pro
jects/rdmrose

PROFESSIONAL SERVICES INVOLVED
IN RDM

Support
• Library
• IT services
• Research administration office, including
Ethics / research integrity people (if separate
from research administration office)
• Staff development office
• Academics

RESEARCH ADMINISTRATORS

Research administration
• Association of Research Managers and
Administrators (ARMA), founded 1991
– 1600 members by 2011
– 75% female
– 67% in pre-1992 universities
• RA professionals have diverse backgrounds; few
have PhDs – more often new entrants (Shelley,
2010)
• Job titles are various
• The growth of the profession arises from
competition for funding
May-15

Research administration roles
• Research administrators “play an
important part in formulating,
developing, supporting,
monitoring, evaluating and
promoting” university research
(Hockey & Allen-Collinson, 2009, p.
142)
• Shelley (2010) found increasingly
included formerly academics’ roles:
blurring of distinction as “third
space professionals” (Whitchurch,
2012)
• ARMA (2011) roles
– Developing Proposals
– Project Lifetime
– Translation
– Postgraduate Researchers
– Policy and Governance
– Management Information
and Related Functions
– Service Organisation and
Delivery
“I am supposed to be a member of the faculty research committee but I am also the clerk”
quoted by Shelley (2010, p. 58)
May-15

Research support roles in RDM
(RoaDMaP 2012)
• “Adopting a cradle to grave perspective re RDM.
• Pre-award considerations – undertaking research, data
protection
• Data Management Plans and the writing of the plans
• Assisting PIs to write plans
• Asking specific questions i.e. pre-award / referrals to IT
• Database curation once research is underway as not yet
part of mentality or part of their research process.
• Post award troubleshooting and helping to sort out
problems.
• Managing teams of research support who look at
compliance.”
May-15

COMPUTING SERVICES
May-15

Computing services
• Libraries typically work more closely with
computing services than research offices;
some services have a degree of convergence
• Naturally the two professions have different,
hopefully complementary orientations
May-15

Differing and shared values of the two
professions (Creth, 1994)
• Computing professional
– Technical orientation
– Entrepreneurial
behaviour
– Creativity encouraged
• Librarian
– Service orientation
– Consensus approach
– Fiscal responsibility
• Professional orientation
• Focus on global information community
• Concerned with well being of university
May-15

Cultural attributes of computing and
libraries (Favini, 1997)
• “Computing services
– Technology is the main driver of services
offered
– Change in organizational structure is frequent
– Use of formal project management
techniques is common
– Male dominated environment
– ACS under a Vice President of IT with an
emphasis on supporting Administration, Staff
and Faculty
– Salaries vary greatly throughout the industry
– Staff turn-over relatively high
– Team oriented focus to accomplish clearly
defines goals
– Reward system is flexible, based on short-
term performance
– People possessing technical expertise operate
"behind the scenes"
– Pace of change is fast ”
• “Libraries
– Emphasis on contact with people
– Technology used primarily to accomplish
service goals
– Roles of organization members well defined
and agreed upon
– The major functions of library work do not
vary among institutions
– Librarians are products of a shared
educational experience, MLS
– Staff turn-over relatively low
– Female dominated profession
– Organizational power derived by formal job
title
– Reward system is comparable across the
industry
– The acquisition of technology driven by
suppliers of information services rather than
home grown innovation
– Library traditionally under the Academic
Provost with an emphasis on supporting
Students and Faculty”
May-15

LIBRARY ROLES

Possible Library RDM roles
• Leading on local (institutional) data policy
• Bringing data into undergraduate research-based learning, promoting data
information literacy
• Teaching data literacy to postgraduate students
• Developing researcher data awareness
• Providing researcher data advice, e.g. on writing Data Management plans
or advice on RDM within a project
• Explaining the impact of sharing data, and how to cite data
• Signposting who in the institution should be consulted in relation to a
particular question
• Auditing to identify data sets for archiving or RDM needs
• Developing and managing access to data collections
• Documenting what datasets an institution has
• Developing local data curation capacity
• Promoting data reuse by making known what is available
Mar-2015

Why librarians might have an important role
because of
• Their knowledge of and networks within disciplinary
communities; their liaison and negotiation skills
• The strong LIS professional network to copy best practice
across institutions
• Their contact with many students and researchers in a
way other support services do not
• Their generic knowledge of good information
management practices
– Understanding that research data management as a form of
Information Literacy
• Their existing data and open access leadership roles
• Relevance of collection development practices; their
understanding of metadata
Mar-2015

Challenges
• We are already over-taxed!
– Other challenges in supporting research (Auckland, 2012)
– Getting up-to-speed and keeping up-to-date
• How deep is our understanding of research, especially
scientific research and our level of subject knowledge?
• Complexity and scale of issues
– Marked disciplinary differences in information practice
– Goes wide and deep: to every researcher in our institution
• Translating library practices to research data issues
• Will researchers look to libraries for this support? Historic
failure to engage researchers in library services
– Computing services, Research support services
• Resources, infrastructure, management structures have to be
found
Mar-2015

Areas where libraries can contribute to
RDM
• Policy
• Teaching appropriate literacies to PIs and
early career researchers, PGR and taught
students
• Advisory services on RDM; web sites
– Awareness of data for reuse; data citation
practices; copyright and licensing of data
• Signposting
• Auditing/ asset review of data sets
researchers have
• Data curation capacity, e.g. appraisal and
collection management policy, metadata
creation/advice
• Specialist roles in data analysis
• In collaboration with
other professional
services such as
computer services,
research office and
archives/records
management staff
researchers and
research
administrators
other stakeholders,
internal and external
Involving many library teams: liaison team, metadata
specialists, systems team… perhaps embedded roles
Mar-2015

Roles in RDM (See sources section for sources)
Role Alignment with existing library roles Competencies required
Policy and advocacy
Lead on institutional data policy Advocacy role e.g. in the area of
open access
Support and training
Bring data into undergraduate
research-based learning, promoting
data information literacy
Information literacy training
Teach data literacy to postgraduate
students
Develop researcher data awareness
Provide an advice service to
researchers (and research
administrators), e.g.: Advice on
writing Data Management Plans,
RDM within a project, licensing
data, on data citation and on
measurement of impact of data
sharing.
Reference and enquiry roles;
producing print and web based
guides; copyright advice.
Mar-2015

Provide advice as above through a
web portal
Library web site
Signpost who in the institution
should be consulted in relation to a
particular question
Role of library as point of enquiry
and the reference interview
Promote data reuse by making
known what is available internally
and externally; explaining data
citation
Marketing of library resources
Data asset assessment and
repository management
Audit to identify data sets for
archiving, create a catalogue of
materials or to identify RDM needs
Cataloguing and metadata creation
Develop and manage access to data
collections
Collection development, digital
library management and metadata
management
Develop local data curation
capacity
Open access role. Preservation
role.
Mar-2015

EMBEDDED ROLES
Mar-2015

Attributes needed
• Corrall et al. (2013) – in order
– Data curation skills
– Knowledge of research processes
– Technical and ICT skills
– Knowledge of research methods
– Required subject and/or disciplinary knowledge
• Mindsets
– Flexibility
– Creativity
– Collaboration skills
– Change management skills
Mar-2015

HYBRID AND THIRD SPACE ROLES
Mar-2015

Hybrid roles
• Sheila Corrall (2010) has
written about hybrid
information workers,
mixing skills from 3 areas
of specialism
– Conduit specialists –
Information technology
and media
– Content specialists –
Library and Information
Science
– Context specialists –
Academic and professional
disciplines
• Hybrid Conduit/content =
digital librarian / e-
content specialists
• Hybrid Content/context =
data scientists, subject
librarians
• Hybrid Conduit/context =
learning technologists

Third Space (Whitchurch 2012)
• Neither academic or purely support roles
• Exciting, demanding, creative
• Vulnerable to change
Mar-2015

JOB DESCRIPTIONS ANALYSIS
Mar-2015

Job description analysis
• Content analysis of job adverts in a particular
job sector over a specific time period
– Job titles
– Qualifications
– Skill sets needed
• Could be complemented by survey of
employers in a sector
Mar-2015

Issues with job description analysis
• Job adverts are fishing expeditions
• Element of advertising of employer
• Only represents types of role being newly
recruited to
• Non-standard terminology
• Increasingly fugitive data
Mar-2015

Job roles
• Is it a data creator, data manager, data scientist or data librarian role? (or none of
these?)
• What professional qualifications are required?
• Is this (or could this be) a hybrid or third space role?
• Where does the role sit in the organisation? Is it a project role?
• Is it a techie or managerial role?
• What technical knowledge is required?
• What soft skills and mindset are needed?
• Any further reflections about what might be significant about the role described in
this job description?
Mar-2015

Images
• Slide 3:
– http://www.dcc.ac.uk/resources/how-
guides/how-develop-rdm-services
• Slide 10:
– https://www.arma.ac.uk/professional-
development/PDF/explore-the-PDF (with kind
permission)
Mar-2015

References
• ARMA (2011). A Professional Development Framework for Research
Managers and Administrators. Retrieved from
http://www.arma.ac.uk/pdf/index.xhtml
• Corrall, S., Kennan, M.A., & Afzal, W. (2013). Bibliometrics and research
data management services: emerging trends in library support for
research. Library Trends, 61(3), 636-674.
• Creth, S.D. (1994). Creating a virtual information organization:
Collaborative relationships between libraries and computing centers.
Journal of Library Administration, 19(3-4), 111-132
• Favini, R. (1997). The Library and Academic Computing Center: Cultural
Perspectives and Recommendations for Improved Interaction (ACRL
whitepaper). Retrieved from
http://www.ala.org/acrl/publications/whitepapers/nashville/favini
Mar-2015

References
• Corrall, S. (2010). Educating the academic librarian as a blended
professional: A review and case study. Library Management, 31(8/9), 567-
593.
• Hockey, J. & Allen-Collinson, J. (2009). Occupational knowledge and
practice amongst UK university research administrators. Higher Education
Quarterly, 63(2), 141-159. doi:10.1111/j/1468-2273.2008.00409.x
• RoaDMaP (2012). Breakout 3 Summary – Professional area perspective.
Retrieved from
http://library.leeds.ac.uk/downloads/file/290/white_rose_rdm_event_bre
akout_3_summary
• Shelley, L. (2010). Research managers uncovered: Changing roles and
“shifting arenas” in the academy. Higher Education Quarterly, 64(1), 41-64.
doi:10.1111/j/1468-2273.2009.00429.x
• Whitchurch, C. (2012). Reconstructing Identities in Higher Education: The
Rise of Third Space Professionals. London: Routledge.
Mar-2015

RDMRose 1.6 Research data services

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