Shared Stewardship of Research Data
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2016-02-09
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Abstract
Data and its computation have become daily news topics. The Globe and Mail February 3 article on Canada’s inadequate big data computing capacity, and a recent announcement by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) proposing that all authors share the de-identified individual-patient data underlying the results in their articles, are only 2 of many examples. The editors of the New England Journal of Medicine responded to ICMJE with an editorial on "research parasites," stating that the culture of data sharing is far from being universally embraced. Underlying this news is the importance of research data management and the importance of Research Libraries in implementing Research Data Management strategies.
Chuck will speak about developments in research data management services and infrastructure across Canada and about the support Portage will provide Canadian higher education institutions. He will discuss collaborative initiatives between the library community and other research stakeholders, including the January 27th announced memorandum of agreement with Compute Canada and emerging data policies from funding agencies. Time will be included for a good discussion.
Portage aims to coordinate and expand existing library-based expertise, services and infrastructure so that Canadian researchers will have access to the support they need for research data management (RDM). Portage will have two major components: a network of expertise to provide access in both English and French to a comprehensive set of resources, tools and experts; and a preservation and discovery system to connect the various infrastructure and service components needed for national preservation and discovery of data.
Chuck Humphrey has supported data services at the University of Alberta since 1992, and has worked on numerous regional, national and international initiatives to increase access to data for teaching and research purposes. He was involved in OECD Global Science Forums on Data and Research Infrastructure for the Social Sciences in 2010-2011 and on Ethics and Big Data in 2014-2015. Chuck was the lead investigator on a University of Alberta Libraries’ successful application for a data centre in the Canadian International Polar Year (IPY) Data Assembly Centres Network, which has now become the Canadian Polar Data Network. He currently serves on the Steering Committee of Research Data Canada; is a Board member of the Consortia Advancing Standards in Research Administrative Information; and has been a key participant in CARL’s Project ARC working group, which developed the vision and framework for Portage.