The Fast and the FRDR: Improving Metadata for Data Discovery in Canada

Abstract

The Federated Research Data Repository (FRDR), developed through a partnership between the Canadian Association of Research Libraries’ Portage initiative and the Compute Canada Federation, improves research data discovery in Canada by providing a single search portal for research data stored across Canadian governmental, institutional, and discipline-specific data repositories. While this national discovery layer helps to de-silo Canadian research data, challenges in data discovery remain due to a lack of standardized metadata practices across repositories. In recognition of this challenge, a Portage task group, drawn from a national network of experts, has engaged in a project to map subject keywords to the Online Computer Library Center’s (OCLC) Faceted Application of Subject Terminology (FAST) using the open source OpenRefine software. This paper will describe the task group’s project, discuss the various approaches undertaken by the group, and explore how this work improves data discovery and may be adopted by other repositories and metadata aggregators to support metadata standardization.

Computational Reproducibility: A Practical Framework for Data Curators

“…The most significant barrier to reproducibility for researchers, according to Borgman (2012), is the lack of demand for reusable datasets. In Canada, the federal government and the research community are actively responding to Borgman's (2012) "Conundrum of Sharing Research Data" with interventions both at the level of policy and research infrastructure (Government of Canada 2016; Turp et al 2020). The Federated Research Data Repository (FRDR) is one project that enhances the discoverability of research data in Canada by harvesting and standardizing metadata from individual repositories (Turp et al 2020).…”

“…In Canada, the federal government and the research community are actively responding to Borgman's (2012) "Conundrum of Sharing Research Data" with interventions both at the level of policy and research infrastructure (Government of Canada 2016; Turp et al 2020). The Federated Research Data Repository (FRDR) is one project that enhances the discoverability of research data in Canada by harvesting and standardizing metadata from individual repositories (Turp et al 2020). This repository, in concert with the newly released RDM policy from the Tri-Agencies, can dramatically increase the demand for shared datasets (Turp et al 2020).…”

“…The Federated Research Data Repository (FRDR) is one project that enhances the discoverability of research data in Canada by harvesting and standardizing metadata from individual repositories (Turp et al 2020). This repository, in concert with the newly released RDM policy from the Tri-Agencies, can dramatically increase the demand for shared datasets (Turp et al 2020). With increased demand comes the challenge of curation.…”

Scientific Semantic Metasearch (SSM)

“…Garnett [44] discutiu os processos e resultados obtidos pelo grupo Portage's Data Discovery Metadata Working Group (MWG) no desenvolvimento de um repositório de dados científicos federais (FDRD) no Canadá. O Portage é responsável pela criação e gestão de repositórios de dados de pesquisa em todo aquele país.…”