UCL LIBRARY SERVICES Experimenting with the trial of a research data audit: some preliminary...

UCL LIBRARY SERVICES

Experimenting with the trial of a research data audit: some preliminary findings about data types, access to data and factors for long term preservation

Panayiota Polydoratou

e-mail: [email protected]

UCL DAF: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/ls/data-audit


Outline of the presentation

Project’s infoUCL Data Audit Framework - ContextDefinitions – Information audit and primary dataMethodology ResultsSummary


JISC – Digital Repositories programme 2007-2008(http://www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/programmes/

digitalrepositories2007.aspx)

7 months 18 August 2008 – 17 March 2009

Collaboration with the DAF development team HATII, DCC

UCL DAF – project info


UCL – some data

1826 – Research-led institution 4000 academic and research staff 20 Nobel Laureates since 1901

Professor Sir Martin Evans in the field of Physiology of Medicine, in 2007

UCL 9th of the world top 200 universities (THE, 2007) a recent bibliometric study placed UCL in the 2nd place of

most productive research institutions in Europe (van Raan, 2008)


UCL DAF – the context

Research data are important Potential for re-use and sharing Few institutions have formal strategies for curating

research data Need for a method that enables us to quickly and easily

establish an overview of holdings as well as existing data management practices


Information Audit – a definition

‘‘A process for discovering, monitoring and evaluating an organisation’s information resources in order to implement, maintain, or improve the organisation’s management of information’’.

Buchanan, S., & Gibb, F. (1998). The information audit: An integrated

strategic approach. The International Journal of Information Management,

18(1), 29–47.


Primary research data

Primary research data are data produced within the timeframe of a project/research work/lifetime. They are unprocessed (often referred to as raw data), original, generated by machines or humans and are regarded as the core of any research activity.


The methodology

4 stages

Planning the audit. (Appoint auditor, establish business case, research the organisation, set up the audit, etc.)

Identifying and classifying assets (Collect information about the organisation’s holdings, use methods such as surveys and interviews to identify and classify assets, prepare the inventory, set up meetings to assess findings, etc.)

Assessing management of data assets (prepare and conduct interviews to assess vital assets, etc.) and

Reporting and recommendations.


Trialling

Pick your moment Questionnaire survey Interviews The forms for collecting the data The results


The questionnaire

Questionnaire survey: brief characteristics of the participants/nature of research activity data types, characteristics of research, attributes of primary

research data brief description of primary research data to match information

requested in Form 2 of the methodology


25

31

6

14

31

0

4

15

11

3

21

16

18

17

22

11

3

2

17

15

16

26

6

2

21

10

0

42

24

16

6

13

3

1

3

5

7

10

5

22

0

0

0

1

5

3

4

3

4

4

4

4

0

0

5

0 10 20 30 40 50 60

Meaningful mainly in the context of my project

Useful to others outside my project

Access to my data is limited by copyright and/or other restrictions

Could be freely accessible for educational purposes

Retain for a designated period after the end of the project

Dispose straight after the end of the project

Use of GRID technology

Require large storage capacity

The generation of my research data is limited by availability of resources

My research data are stored in means that could quickly become obsolete

Adhere to some disaster recovery measures

Characteristics of research data

TRUE True to some extent FALSE False to most extent (only for IoA) Not sure - N/A N/R


Summary

Yes, primary data are important Yes, they acquire value through context and use Yes, there are potential for re-use Yes, when linked to Information Strategy and embedded in the

research process Yes, complying with legal requirements Yes, through automatic capturing of associated info Yes, with training and support Yes, with a tangible result in mind


Further information

Data Audit Framework Development: http://www.data-audit.eu

DAF methodology: http://data-audit.eu/methodology.html

UCL DAF pilot: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/ls/data-audit


Thank you!


References

Buchanan, S., & Gibb, F. (1998). The information audit: An integrated strategic approach. The International Journal of Information Management, 18(1), 29–47.

Buchanan, S and Forbes Gibb (2007). The information audit: role and scope. International Journal of Information Management, 27, pp. 159-172. doi:10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2007.01.002

Times Higher Education (2007). World University Rankins: top 200 world universities. Information available at: http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/hybrid.asp?typeCode=144


van Raan, A.F.J. (2008). Bibliometric statistical properties of the 100 largest European research universities: Prevalent scaling rules in the science system. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 59(3): p. 461-475. Pre print available at: http://arxiv.org/abs/0704.0889

UCL facts and figures. Information available at: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/research/facts/

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