An Environmental Scan for Data Services

Trends that are shaping today’s environment for data services

Data Providers

Ever increasing number of data providers (governments, IRs, commercial vendors, NGOs, IGOs.)

More providers but harder to find, harder to choose from, poor online interfaces, and duplication of sources

The existence of producers that do not disseminate their data (or do it poorly or apply controls too tightly)

Data Providers

Producers who treat data as commodity Movement to data-sharing and preservation Data repositories recognizing need to

collaborate and to form partnerships between repositories (e.g., Data-PASS)

Emerging national digital information strategies shaping principles for digital access

Producers providing online analysis

Data Providers

Trends in dissemination include mix of open & proprietary formats; lack of standardized metadata; lack of services behind dissemination; questions of provenance

Trends in policies include intellectual property claims over data and copyright continue to create an unsettled state; funder requirements for open access forcing the hands of some data producers

Technology

IT obsolescence continues to be around the 36th month mark

Continued growth of institutional repositories Increased activity around visualization and GIS Migration from the desktop to the cloud (e.g.,

SDA, Nesstar) Open source analytic software (e.g., R) New data collection methodologies (facebook,

web surveys)

Technology

Changing nature of data in the social sciences including mixed methods producing text, audio & visual data, real time data collection

Open data practices and metadata standards Collaborative computing environments (Web 2.0

social networking, collaborative computing, etc.) The gap between haves and have-nots of technology

is not narrowing; persistence of digital divide Face issues of security control over local workstations

in the workplace (IT system admin control)

Technology

Training is essential, continuing and expensive

Not enough staff or technology support Mobile devices (for both data collection and

data dissemination)

Data Profession

Growing number of data service librarian positions, but still have very little specialization training in library schools; “data librarian” not generally understood.

No standard curriculum or professional track Profession is shifting to the life cycle

management of data

Data Profession

Many data services librarians have other significant responsibilities

Data professionals with different credentials Areas of data responsibility may include GIS,

e-science, digitization, etc. Anticipating increase in occupational prestige Involvement in recent trend of IRs and

trusted, certified digital repositories

Educational Sector

A wide variety of users (undergraduate, graduate, faculty)

Widespread digitization (everybody’s doing it!)

Weak economy is hurting the ed. sector Students better prepared and have higher

expectations. Ubiquitous data use Administrators embracing cyberinfrastructure

Educational Sector

Interdisciplinary studies: challenges by students and administrators over traditional disciplinary boundaries

Data in libraries Interest by humanities researchers in data NSF mandate for data management plans

and data deposit

Research community

Increased data demands Growth in interdisciplinary research More quantitative research and repurposing

of data Increased cost of data to support research Need more collaboration between

researchers and data librarians (e.g., data mgmt. plans)

Research community

Chaotic data distribution and sharing Project management help needed New methodologies Funders see value of data e-Science is generating awareness and

funding for data sharing, data preservation, data access, data infrastructure

External/International factors

Trust issues including issues of privacy, confidentiality, abuse of power

Emergence of international standards (e.g., DDI for data documentation)

Discussions occurring internationally about sharing data (e.g, the International Data Forum, CODATA, e-Science initiatives, IHSN)

External/International factors

Barriers created by different information cultures, by swings in political climates, and by uneven IT infrastructure across countries

Open data movement Barriers created by international intellectual

property law Perception of national security risks New availability of reliable international

development data