Research Data Services at the University of Colorado Boulder

Abstract

While research funders and journal publishers now encourage or mandate data management and sharing, researchers are often not formally trained in these practices. As a result, many universities have begun to develop programs to assist faculty, staff and students with these needs. One such effort, Research Data Services (RDS) at the University of Colorado Boulder (CU-Boulder), is a collaborative activity between research computing (RC), a division of the Office of Information Technology, and the University Libraries. Similar to other institutions, the range of data services provided includes assistance with writing data management plans (DMPs), data storage and repository advice, data processing and other needs related to research data management. In addition, RDS has experimented with a variety of novel approaches to outreach and engagement across all disciplines at CU-Boulder and with affiliated institutions in the surrounding area. The history, services, outreach and education efforts of the RDS program at CU-Boulder are described in the sections that follow. HistoryRDS was developed in 2011 in response to the National Science Foundation (NSF) requirement for DMPs to be included with all grant proposals [1]. To meet the new requirements, the original RDS was developed initially to help with DMP writing by repurposing existing positions in RC and the libraries. In addition to providing DMP templates via the DMPTool [2], RDS would meet with campus personnel to help them understand the components of the DMP. As a result of a campus-wide Data Management Task Force report [3], a governance structure and additional services were added to RDS to expand offerings, while keeping the primary mission intact.

Implementing Research Data Management Services in a Canadian Context

“…By educating faculty, students, and library staff, such assumptions may be corrected. Educating researchers on the disciplinespecific repositories has also proven beneficial in reducing the initial inflow of data into an institutional data repository (Knuth, Johnson, & Hauser, 2015). Researchers with no previous knowledge of discipline-specific repositories may be more inclined to use them once they know about them and therefore reduce load stress on institutional repositories that are just starting out.…”

“…Workshops on data transfer and storage are not the only possibilities for workshops. Knuth et al (2015) lists the workshops provided at the University of Colorado that range from best practices in data management to learning the differences between specific data formats. Workshops can also extend beyond faculty and principal investigators.…”

The Center for Research Data and Digital Scholarship at the University of Colorado‐Boulder

“…Research Data Management. The Research data management initiative of CRDDS builds off the existing research data services (RDS) group at CU Boulder [1]. This group, the first formal collaboration between the libraries The aim is to provide a full range of data services, from analytics and visualization through curation, storage and preservation, in addition to education and consultation for both university and community members.…”

“…RDS provides support for compliance with data management planning and data sharing requirements for federal funding agencies and journal publishers. RDS offers one-on-one consultations, seminars and workshops to assist researchers, with about 40 consultations and 10 workshops per year [1]. RDS also administers the DMPTool (http://dmptool.org)/ [2], creating 240 data management plans as of September 2016.…”

“…This infrastructure includes storage, big-data analytics approaches and data management and curation software and applications. The PetaLibrary, the largest storage infrastructure at CU Boulder, is managed by research computing and is, in conjunction with the CU Boulder ScienceDMZ, the core of the current research data infrastructure of CRDDS [1]. CRDDS-affiliated research staff will work with researchers to provide consultation surrounding this and other storage services across campus.…”