New Paper from OCLC Research: “Starting the Conversation: University-wide Research Data Management Policy”
Here’s a new “call to action” paper from OCLC Research.
Title
Starting the Conversation: University-wide Research Data Management Policy
Author
Ricky Erway
OCLC Research
Source
OCLC Research Web Site
Digital Curation Working Group
Role of Libraries in Data Curation, OCLC Research Partnership
From the Introduction
Starting the Conversation: University-wide Research Data Management Policy is a call for action that summarizes the benefits of systemic data management planning and identifies the stakeholders and their concerns. It suggests that the library director proactively initiate a conversation among these stakeholders to get buy-in for a high-level, responsible data planning and management policy that is proactive, rather than reactive. It also addresses the various topics that should be discussed and provides a checklist of issues to help the discussion result in a supportable and sustainable policy.
The intended audience for this call for action is library directors, not only because their libraries may be recipients of data in need of curation and of requests for guidance, but—more importantly—because library staff have significant skills and experience to contribute to the discussion. This is an opportunity for the library director to play an entrepreneurial role in furthering the mission of the larger enterprise.
Direct to Full Text (24 pages; PDF)
See Also: Additional Papers from the Role of Libraries in Data Curation Group
- Keeping Research Data Safe; Phase 1 [pdf] and Phase 2 [pdf]
- Erway and Lavoie’s Economics of Data Integrity Paper Describes Data Curation Sustainability
- Managing Research Data—from Goals to Reality Webinar
Filed under: Data Files, Journal Articles, Libraries, Management and Leadership, News

About Gary Price
Gary Price (gprice@gmail.com) is a librarian, writer, consultant, and frequent conference speaker based in the Washington D.C. metro area. He earned his MLIS degree from Wayne State University in Detroit. Price has won several awards including the SLA Innovations in Technology Award and Alumnus of the Year from the Wayne St. University Library and Information Science Program. From 2006-2009 he was Director of Online Information Services at Ask.com.