Love Data Week 2023 Day 2 – Open Data, Scientific anti-racism, and the Father of American Anthropology 

A graphic for love data Week

Franz Boas’s Immigrant Study 

Open Data, Scientific anti-racism, and the Father of American Anthropology 

Tiffany Grant, PhD, CDE® 

 Franz Boas was a German-American anthropologist who’s work has had him dubbed the “Father of American Anthropology”. In his obituary, published in Science it is written that:  

“Boas’ emphasis on obtaining accurate, detailed knowledge, both intensive and extensive, not only raised the standards of anthropology; it changed its methodology and problems. In phrasing these problems and in insisting that relevant data be used in answering them systematically, he was a great pioneer who led the way into new fields of investigation. He found anthropology a collection of wild guesses and a happy hunting ground for the romantic lover of primitive things; he left it a discipline in which theories could be tested and in which he had delimited possibilities from impossibilities” (1). 

Born in Germany in 1858, Boas immigrated to the  United States in 18962. While in Germany, Boas was exposed to both the human and natural sciences (2), thus the asking and answering of questions based on evidence was a crucial part of the methodologies he instigated in the field of anthropology. Boaz challenged the reigning notions of race during his time and taught his students to do the same (3). During his time, Boas made many enemies as he professed a belief that was antithetical to the notion that culture was something that evolved within societies by stages from lower forms to higher (2). During a time when scientific racism was rampant with many proponents ascribing to the evolutional classification of races, Boas was strongly opposed to the idea that one’s own culture or “race” was superior to others and asserted that this view was not only wrong, but also harmful (3). While scientists and anthropologists believed race to be a biological characteristic that could explain human behavior, Boas’ set out to prove through scientific means that this was faulty thinking.   Continue reading

Love Data Week 2023 Day 1 – Data: Agent of Change 

By Tiffany Grant, PhD, CDE® 

University of Cincinnati Libraries Research & Data Services 

A graphic for love data Week

Love Data Week kicks off today, February 13 and runs through Friday, February 17, 2023. 

Love Data Week is an international event celebrating data and raising global awareness about the importance of data science and management. Typically, this week is used to as an opportunity to convene a community of data scientists and discuss contemporary issues affecting data management, sharing, privacy, preservation, reuse, and delivery. 

The theme this year is Data: Agent of Change. Love Data Week is about inspiring your community to use data to bring about changes that matter. Policy change, environmental change, social change…we can move mountains with the right data guiding our decisions. This year, we are focused on helping new and seasoned data users find data training and other resources that can help move the needle on the issues they care about. 

Members of the University of Cincinnati Libraries Research & Data Services group will be posting blogs with content relevant to the theme of Data: Agent of Change. In an effort multitask while also celebrating Love Data Week, the Research & Data Services Unit is using the week to accomplish several goals. First, we will use the week to highlight the new NIH Data Management and Sharing Policy that went into effect on January 25th. We will release a document entitled “The New NIH Policy for Data Management and Sharing and What it Means for You at the University of Cincinnati” to the UC community. We intend for this comprehensive document to serve as a great resource for those seeking funding from the NIH. Second, we will highlight ICPSR and several datasets that relate to the week’s theme of Data as an Agent of Change. These datasets have been used to create change and to bring awareness to topics/individuals/groups who have been historically marginalized. You can find links to these datasets below. Third, we will discuss how GIS (Geographic Information Systems) can be used for social justice, and we will provide information on two websites with information concerning timely and relevant content relating to the Black Lives Matter and Police Shootings. Lastly, we will have an interactive event in the Health Sciences Library that will engage participants on Scholar and how it can be used to address the new NIH Policy (see Liblog Post). More information on this latter event can be found below. 

Love Data Week LiBlog Post Schedule 

 February 13: NIH Policy Document 

February 14: Franz Boas’s Immigrant Study and the Research Center for Minority Data (ICPSR datasets) 

February 15: Esri Resources, Using GIS for Social Justice 

February 16: ICPSR Transgender Survey 

February 17: Data for Black Lives and Fatal Force Police Shootings Database 

 On February 14th, we will host Scholar@UC and the new NIH Data Management and Sharing Policy Informational and Chat. Faculty, staff, and student researchers are encouraged to interact with Scholar developers and learn how they can simultaneously meet grant and publisher requirements while also contributing to the intellectual output of UC. Participants will receive a free Scholar@UC coffee mug filled with Lindor Truffles (available while supplies last). 

UC Resources to help you navigate the new NIH Policy

The New NIH Policy for Data Management and Sharing and What it Means for You at the University of Cincinnati 

Tiffany Grant and Amy Koshoffer 

Co-leaders UC Libraries Research & Data Services 

NIH Policy UC_Resources document

Introduction 

“Data without context are inert, but data within contexts become information, knowledge (1).” 

Researchers submitting for funding through the National Institutes of Health (NIH) on or after January 25, 2023, should be aware of the requirement to submit a Data Management and Sharing Plan (DMSP) for any NIH-funded or conducted research that will generate scientific data. Previously, the NIH only required grants with funding of $500,000/year or greater in direct costs to provide a short explanation of how and when data resulting from the grant would be publicly shared. However, this new mandate requires all grant applications or renewals to include a detailed plan for data management and sharing for the funded period. This requirement is mandated through the Final NIH Policy for Data Management and Sharing that emphasizes the importance of good data management practices and establishes the expectation for maximizing the appropriate sharing of scientific data generated from NIH-funded or conducted research. The NIH defines scientific data as the recorded factual material commonly accepted in the scientific community as of sufficient quality to validate and replicate research findings, regardless of whether the data are used to support scholarly publications. The NIH has long championed the proper management and sharing of scientific data to accelerate biomedical discovery through the promotion of data reuse for future research studies.  

The NIH encourages data management and sharing that is consistent with the FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable) Data Principles. The FAIR Data Principles are a concise set of principles designed by representatives from academia, industry, funding agencies, and publishers, that serve to support and enhance reuse of data (2). In the first formal paper documenting the FAIR Principles, the authors suggest that good data management is critical not only for knowledge, discovery, and innovation, but also for the integration and reuse of data post-publication. The FAIR principles refer very specifically to data that is “open”. Open data is simply defined as “data that anyone can access, use, and share (3)”. The NIH has a long-standing commitment to open data to increase the utility of data produced by federal funding and has done so through mandating data management and sharing initiatives. Proper management and sharing of research data have numerous benefits to researchers. Authors found that articles that include statements that link to data in a repository were associated with an up to 25% higher citation impact (4). In another study, the authors showed a 69% increase in citations when data was made publicly available, and this increase was independent of impact factor, publication date, or the author’s country of origin (5). Citations are a type of currency in the scholarly community, as they can be directly tied to research funding, promotion, and notoriety in the respective field by facilitating increased visibility of the author’s works. Moreover, allowing for greater access to data can foster collaboration opportunities, increase transparency in research, and maximize the reuse of data all while meeting funder and publisher requirements.  

 This document will serve as a single resource for researchers at the University of Cincinnati to learn about the new NIH Data Management and Sharing Policy that went into effect on January 25, 2023. Researchers can use this document and the embedded links to find information on what is required of them as they prepare to submit NIH grant proposals and what resources UC has available to them to facilitate the process. Throughout this document, researchers will find links to information and tools that will aid them as they prepare Data Management and Sharing Plans as well as information about available data repositories for data sharing.  

Continue reading

Xin Gu Joins RDS Team as GIS Research Consultant

The UC Libraries Research and Data Services Unit is pleased to welcome Xin Gu to our team as the GIS Research Consultant.

Xin Gu is a doctoral candidate from the Department of Geography and GIS at the University of Cincinnati (UC). Before joining UC, he received master’s degrees in Criminal Justice and GIS, respectively. His current research examines the impact of business closure and mobility reduction during COVID-19 on crime. Xin has several research papers published in Cities, Social Science Computer Review, Computers, Environment and Urban Systems, and ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information. He also serves as a research fellow for the Institute for Research in Sensing and a GIS research consultant for the Geology-Mathematics-Physics library at UC, enabling him to spread geographical knowledge to the rest of the campus and beyond. In his spare time, he likes to play badminton and practice Yoga.

His consultation hours will be Tues, Wed and Thurs from 10:30 to 5 pm. Xin is here to help you understand how to use GIS software, think about project plans, and find data for your project.  He can share information, offer advice, and even partner on certain projects (on a case by case basis). Please come by the Data & GIS Collab, located in the Geology Math and Physics Library (240 Braunstein Hall).

Image of Man standing next to a sign.  The sign reads Data and GIS Collab

Journey to Challenger Deep

Have you ever wondered what it really looks like at the bottom of the ocean? Few people in the world can answer this question, and Dr. Dawn Wright (@deepseadawn) is one of them. In the summer of 2022, she ventured to the deepest point on Planet Earth known as Challenger Deep in a two-person submersible. Through this historic journey, Dr. Wright became the first Black person and only the fifth woman to travel so deep in the ocean. The purpose of the journey was to collect data to add to the efforts to map the entire ocean floor. Currently, researchers have only mapped 24% of the ocean floor.

To learn about the journey and Dr. Wright, visit the Geology-Mathematics-Physics Library, 240 Braunstein Hall, and explore the exhibit on the expedition and Dr. Wright.

 a diorama of Challenge Deep, the deepest point in the ocean.

A representation of the depth of Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench by John Nelson

Seeing the Story in the Data Series – Frank Elavsky

logo for the Data and Computational Science Series 20200

JOIN us for the third in a four part data visualization series entitled:

Seeing the Story in the Data

A well thought out and designed visualization can convey meaning and deep insight into vast amounts of data.  In this four part lecture series, data visualization researchers and experts will discuss visualizations from different disciplines and highlight choices made to find the “so what”.

This series is a part of the Data and Computational Science Series.

Our next Speaker is Frank Elavsky from Carnegie Mellon University.  The talk is entitled Dat Visualization Accessilibilty and will focus on making data visualizations accessible to all users especially people with disabilities.  This is a headshot of Frank Elavsky. They are standing against a brickwall. They are wearing glasses

Title: The Role of Data Visualization in Science and Computational Science

Date: September 1, 2022

Time: 9:30 pm – 11:00 am EST

Venue: The Visualization Lab in GMP Library (240H Braunstein Hall)

Registration: link to faculty one stop

This free event is hosted by UC Libraries Research and Data Serivces and the Office of Research – Research Computing and Data and funded by the Office of the Provost Universal Provider Grant and is open to all.

Changes to information display in Faculty One Stop

Over the past two years, the term “zoom bombing” became prevalent in discussions about our remote work experience.  Zoom bombing means a situation where unauthorized individuals gain access to a virtual meeting and cause disruption.  To deal with this very disruptive practice, IT@UC made changes to the Faculty One Stop and Compliance Training systems in effect from Monday 02/21/2022.

Moving forward, meeting links will not display on the main information page for workshops.  Instructors should enter the meeting URL in the “other information” section and only those individuals logged in and who register for a workshop will be able to see this section in the workshop description.  This will help ensure that only UC credential holders and individuals who had an account created for them will have access to this information after registration.

For instructors – where to enter this information

screenshot of instructor information

 

For workshop registrants – where to find this information.screen shot to show how to enter in additional information

 

 

For technical support with Faculty One Stop, please call 513-558-2101 or email web.central@uc.edu

Seeing the Story in Data Series – Kick off Talk – Vetria Byrd PhD

logo for the Data and Computational Science Series 20200

 

JOIN us for the first in a four part data visualization series entitled:

Seeing the Story in the Data

A well thought out and designed visualization can convey meaning and deep insight into vast amounts of data.  In this four part lecture series, data visualization researchers and experts will discuss visualizations from different disciplines and highlight choices made to find the “so what”.

This series is a part of the Data and Computational Science Series.

Our first speaker will be Vetria Byrd PhD Assistant Professor of Computer Graphics Technology at Purdue University.  Dr. Byrd is interested in interdisciplinary research topics such as uncertainty visualization (it’s role and impact on reasoning in decision-making), big data, and high performance visualization.

Title: The Role of Data Visualization in Science and Computational Science

Date: March 2, 2022

Time: 3:00 pm – 4:00 pm EST

 Please register https://ce.uc.edu/FacDev/Workshops/Details/17323 for the zoom link

This free event is hosted by UC Libraries Research and Data Serivces and the Office of Research – Research Computing and Data and funded by the Office of the Provost Universal Provider Grant and is open to all.

Data Day 2021 Wrap

Authored by Amy Latessa (OoR Advanced Research Computing team) and Mark Chalmers (UC Libraries – Science and Engineering Libraries)

On November 5th, UC Libraries with collaboration from the OoR Advanced Research Computing team, hosted the 6th annual UC Data Day. The theme of this year’s virtual event was Bias, Miscommunication, and Equity in Data and featured a Keynote by Heather Krause, two interactive panel sessions, and a weeklong virtual screening of the documentary film Coded Bias.  This year’s event had 145 attendees and 29 views of the film. 

Following the opening remarks of Xuemao Wang, Vice Provost for Digital Scholarship and Dean and University Librarian of UC Libraries, Data Day commenced with the keynote by Heather Krause, PStat, and Founder of We All Count. Heather challenged the traditional notion of data’s objectivity, reminding attendees that researchers must make choices and these choices are not objective. Heather also walked participants through several examples of research questions and demonstrated how the questions could be better designed with equity in mind and the onus of change on systems.   She emphasized to participants that there is no “silver bullet” against bias, prejudice, and injustice, and we all must remain vigilant and consider who’s lived experiences are being centered, even at the onset of a project such as when formulating a research question. Heather was engaging and took many thought-provoking questions from the audience.   Continue reading

3C GIS Day(s) Registration is open

Celebrate National GIS Day

GIS stands for Geographic Information Systems.  It is a powerful research tool to create, manage, analyze, and map data based on spatial attributes.

As in 2020 and again in 2021, UC is participating in the statewide 3C GIS Day and there are several ways for you to join the celebration:

1) Register to watch all the virtual events including the Keynote by Chris Fisher of the Earth Archive Project: Register for 3C GIS Day(s).

2) On Nov 17th @ 11 am in 400TUC, watch the Keynote over lunch with your UC Colleagues: Register for in person viewing event Deadline 11/8/2021

3) Showcase your own GIS work by giving a Lightning Talk: Lightning Talk Submission Form – Deadline 10/27/2021

4) Participate in the Map Gallery showcase:  Map Gallery Submission Form – Deadline 11/10/2021

Find more in-depth information on each part of the GIS Day celebration, please visit the event website – https://3cgisday.github.io/.

 

The event is free and open to all.  Registration is required.

Questions

For general event questions, please contact geospatial@osu.edu.

For the UC specific event, please contact Amy.Koshoffer@uc.edu