Research Data Management and the Canadian Academic Library: An Organizational Consideration of Data Management and Data Stewardship

Abstract

Research data management (RDM) has become a professional imperative for Canada's academic librarians. Recent policy considerations by our national research funding agencies that address the ability of Canadian universities to effectively manage the massive amounts of research data they now create has helped library and university administrators recognize this gap in the research enterprise and identify RDM as a solution. RDM is not new to libraries, though. Rather, it draws on existing and evolving organizational functions in order to improve data collection, access, use, and preservation. A successful research data management service requires the skills and knowledge found in a library's research liaisons, collections experts, policy analysts, IT experts, archivists and preservationists. Like the library, research data management is not singular but multi-faceted. It requires collaboration, technology and policy analysis skills, and project management acumen. This paper examines research data management as a vital information, technical, and policy service in academic libraries today. It situates RDM not only as actions and services but also as a suite of responsibilities that require a high level of planning, collaboration, and judgment, thereby binding people to practice. It shows how RDM aligns with the skill sets and competencies of librarianship and illustrates how RDM spans the library's organizational structure and intersects with campus stakeholders allied in the research enterprise.

Bibliotecas acadêmicas e gestão de dados de pesquisa: uma revisão bibliográfica

“…Já no Canadá, Steeleworthy (2014) destacou que a gestão de dados de pesquisa tornou-se uma prática exigida às bibliotecas acadêmicas, principalmente devido a exigências presentes em políticas estabelecidas por agências nacionais de financiamento à pesquisa. Por conseguinte, foi necessário que tais bibliotecas ampliassem o rol de serviços que já desempenhavam, incorporando atividades relacionadas à coleta, à catalogação, ao acesso, ao arquivamento, à preservação e à referência de dados de pesquisa.…”

“…Por esta razão, Steeleworthy (2014) ressaltou a importância das bibliotecas acadêmicas estabelecerem parcerias com pesquisadores, conselhos de ética de pesquisa, grupos de pesquisa e outras bibliotecas. Nesse sentido, é fundamental uma postura multifacetada do bibliotecário na qual reiteram-se ações e serviços colaborativos entre bibliotecários de diversos campus das universidades (Steeleworthy, 2014).…”

Research data management policies in USA, UK and Australia universities: An online survey

“…Policy formulations and institutional road maps such as sharing data curation centres and services and the management of project data in archives and repositories such as copyright were also found. Steeleworthy (2014) examined RDM policy services in academic libraries in Canada. The findings revealed that the organisational structure, collection development, preservation, archives, reference, and research as key components.…”

Research data management in Turkey: A survey to build an effective national data repository

“…For academic institutions, university libraries play a critical role not only in managing research data but also in training the next generation of researchers to be well versed in data management practices (Koltay, 2019; Tenopir et al, 2016). There exists a knowledge gap among scientists that can easily be addressed by these professionals (Steeleworthy, 2014; Strasser and Hampton, 2012; Tenopir et al, 2017; Verbakel et al, 2013).…”