Wake up call for academic libraries

A presentation retweeted by one of my superviors: http://digitaalduurzaam.blogspot.com/2011/06/more-digital-wake-up-calls-for-academic.html?spref=tw.

There is also a paper that this presentation is based off of (written in 2008... and people still haven't heard of this??), called "A New Value Equation Challenge: The Emergence of eResearch and Roles for Research Libraries." This article was used to help justify the new Scientific Data Consultant positions here at UVa.

Digital Forensics and Born-Digital Content in Cultural Heritage Collections

A long read (101 pages), and probably dense, but suggested at JCDL2011.

http://www.clir.org/PUBS/reports/pub149/pub149.pdf

Also suggested: a way to train students on digital forensics: www.digitalcorpora.org/corpora/scenarios

Programming: Unix and Python

• Unix for Poets, Kenneth Ward Church

Really interesting for analyzing the content of plain text files &c. using unix commands. Not sure it's relevant for Windows users, but it should work on Mac & Linux. A lot of the commands have been very useful during my internship.

• A Byte of Python, C M Swaroop

Provides a basic introduction to the Python language, and it is also rather short!

• Dive Into Python, Mark Pilgrim

This is a very thorough introduction to Python, meaning incredibly long. It definitely lives up to the book title.

The Virtual Observatory Meets the Library

Choudhury, G. S. (2008). The Virtual Observatory Meets the Library. Journal of Electronic Publishing, 11(1). doi:10.3998/3336451.0011.111

This article describes one instance of collaboration between a group working on the VO and their library. It has some very interesting examples of dialogue and researcher attitudes.

CURATEcamp

"A series of unconference-style events focused on connecting practitioners and technologists interested in digital curation"

I can't go this year, but maybe next year.... http://curatecamp.org/

ISTL: Spring 2011

Spring issue of Issues in Science and Techology Librarianship. Some very interesting articles in this edition, and past editions look good as well!

http://www.istl.org/11-spring/index.html

Book Recommendations

I chatted with a couple of people with Computer Science backgrounds at JCDL, and they gave me two suggestions for getting our feet wet in programming:

1) Python for Software Design: How to Think Like a Computer Scientist by Allen B. Downey

**edit** found a free PDF of this book from greenteapress! Check it out here: http://greenteapress.com/thinkpython/thinkpython.pdf

2) Anything by Elizabeth Castro

Happy reading! :-)

TED talk: Data Visualization

A large part of what I am doing for my internship is making a recommendation for data visualization.  This TED talk came up in one of our meetings and it is informative and fun!

The Beauty of Data Visualization

Sakai

Sakai: A community effort to create open software that helps to facilitate learning and research. http://sakaiproject.org/

A book was written by one of the developers of Sakai, who is so invested in Sakai that he tattooed its logo on his arm: https://www.createspace.com/3609835.

The skills, role and career structure of scientists and curators: An assessment of current practice and future needs

Technical report.
http://eprints.ecs.soton.ac.uk/16675/

Linking to Data

Linking to Data – Effect on Citation Rates in Astronomy [blog entry]

My supervisor for the internship sent me a link to this last week. This resource shows some proof that articles linking to data receive more citations, which should motivate researchers to include data or data citations more often in their submissions.

Managing and Sharing Data - UK Data Archive

Resource on managing data - best practices for researchers. Includes information on data management, data documentation, data formatting, data storage, ethics & consent, copyright, and strategies for centers.

http://www.data-archive.ac.uk/media/2894/managingsharing.pdf

Sharing Detailed Research Data is Associated with Increased Citation Rate

Article by H. A. Piwowar, R. S. Day, & D. B. Fridsma, mentioned in the previous post, Free Science, One Paper at a Time. This article demonstrates that articles that are available for free to the public garner more citations than their counterparts that require payment or subscription fees.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0000308

Free Science, One Paper at a Time

A very interesting article by David Dobbs on the current nature of scientific publishing, and efforts to make publishing more open access.

One great quote in there from PLoS co-founder Patrick Brown: "What seemed an impossible ideal in 1836, when Antonio Panizzi, librarian of the British Museum, wrote, ‘I want a poor student to have the same means of indulging his learned curiosity, … of consulting the same authorities, … as the richest man in the kingdoms,’ is today within reach. With the Internet, we have the means to make humanity’s treasury of knowledge freely available to scientists, teachers, students and the public around the world.”

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/05/free-science-one-paper-at-a-time-2/

DataCite

Keeps popping up.... we might want to keep our eyes on this resource. Not-for-profit, member of the International DOI Foundation.

http://datacite.org/

Harnessing the Power of Digital data for Science and Society

One of those trendy names. Another long report, from the Interagency Working Group on Digital Data, published in 2009. Covers the current data landscape, the legal and policy landscape, the data life cycle, seven guiding principles, and offers a section on strategic framework, recommendations, and goals.

http://www.nitrd.gov/About/Harnessing_Power_Web.pdf

Revolutionizing Science and Engineering Through Cyberinfrastructure

Hooray! Cyberinfrastructure! Published in 2003 by the NSF's Blue-Ribbon Advisory Panel Another big report split into sections. Includes: Vision for an advanced cyberinfrastructure program, trends and issues (how trendy can something from 2003 be?), achieving the vision, partnerships for advanced computational infrastructure, budget recommendations, and a few appendices for further reading.

http://www.nsf.gov/od/oci/reports/atkins.pdf

The Fourth Paradigm: Data-Intensive Scientific Discovery

Have you read it? It's a very serious piece of business. Like, what we should be striving for, or something.

http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/collaboration/fourthparadigm/default.aspx

Long-Lived Digital Data Collections Enabling Research and Education in the 21st Century

From the National Science Board, published in 2005.

The introductions always say the same thing, so I am skipping them for the most part. Other than an introduction that repeats everything that we already know, there are four more chapters, including: elements of the digital data collections universe, roles and responsibilities of individuals and institutions (including a blurb on the data quality act), perspectives on digital data collections policy, and findings and recommendations.

http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2005/nsb0540/

A Capability Maturity Model for Scientific Data Management

Proposal for a capability maturity model (CMM) for scientific data management (SDM) practices.

http://crowston.syr.edu/content/capability-maturity-model-scientific-data-management-0

To Stand the Test of Time

To Stand the Test of Time: Long-term Stewardship of Digital Data Sets in Science and Engineering

Presented in 2006, an weird compilation of PowerPoint slides and articles on the role libraries will play in data curation and management. Lots and lots information....

http://www.arl.org/bm~doc/digdatarpt.pdf

Data Curation and Libraries: Short Term Developments, Long Term Prospects

Paper from Anna Gold on the role libraries play in data curation.

http://works.bepress.com/agold01/9/

Data Interview Initiative

The Data Interview Initiative is a service available from University of Virginia. Offers an overview of the goals and benefits of the resource, as well as interview questions for researchers to fill out.

http://sites.google.com/site/bseldata/interview-questions

Digital Curation and Preservation Bibliography

Selection of books, articles, and technical reports on digital curation and preservation. Mostly a collection of resources published from 2000 and on. Available in a PDF or for purchase as a paperback. Offers a table of contents with many, many links to relevant resources, and is also searchable.

http://digital-scholarship.org/dcpb/dcpb.htm

We Need Publishing Standards for Datasets and Data Tables

OECD White Paper, written by Toby Green, examining current issues in data discoverability and citation standards and offers a solution through creating industry standards.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/603233448430

Companion web site: http://www.oecd.org/document/25/0,3343,en_21571361_33915056_42600857_1_1_1_1,00.html

Registry of Open Access Repositories (ROAR)

"The aim of ROAR is to promote the development of open access by providing timely information about the growth and status of repositories throughout the world. Open access to research maximises research access and thereby also research impact, making research more productive and effective."

Searchable by content, country, type, software, as well as a more general search.

http://roar.eprints.org/

List of Data Repositories

A list of data repositories from OAD: http://oad.simmons.edu/oadwiki/Data_repositories