The final day of LOVE YOUR DATA week and it all comes together. Well documented and organized data kept safe and shared with researchers continue the scientific conversations. A brilliant example of this is the Human Genome Project. This 13-year project funded by public and private efforts opened access to genetic data that led to the discovery of 1800 disease genes and over 2000 tests for human conditions. Countless research projects can get off the ground because their time and resources can focus on next steps instead of reinventing the already sequenced wheel. What is really going on is DATA REUSE.
Another great reuse of data is the formation of new businesses. Based on census data, entrepreneurs can identify strategic locations to place their business. It is handy to know where to place your jewelry store to maximize its success. That is true LOVE YOUR DATA day.
To be available for reuse, data need to be in an accessible location. The data from the Human Genome Project is available through the National Center for Biotechnology Information Human Genome Resource page https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/genome/guide/human/ and the many NCBI databases. Census data is available through the US Census Bureau http://www.census.gov. Databases or data repositories facilitate finding and access to data. There are many discipline specific databases and you can search the Registry of Data Repositories http://www.re3data.org/ to identify a subject specific or general repository.
At UC we have a next generation institutional repository available to the whole UC community. Scholar@UC provides a sustainable solution for scholarly digital content preservation including data.
UC data submitter using Scholar can give their data descriptive metadata and a digital object identifier and will know their data will be preserved for years to come. You can learn more about Scholar at https://www.uc.edu/news/NR.aspx?id=22818 or visit the website at http://Scholar.uc.edu .
Scholar has provided data for reuse. Recently Dr. Nan Niu’s requirement engineering class used Scholar use cases as the basis for a class project. You can read the details of the project and the process in this blog post: https://libapps.libraries.uc.edu/liblog/2016/01/scholaruc-goes-to-class/.
Big or small, data reuse benefits many by saving time and valuable resources. And it can lead to your having impact in areas you might not have imagined.
For others to reuse your data we recommend following these 9 guidelines
(White et al.):
- Share your data
- Provide Metadata
- Provide an unprocessed form of the data
- Use standard data formats
- Use good null values
- Make it easy to combine your data with other datasets
- Perform basic quality control
- Use an established repository
- Use an established and open license
Informationist at UC Libraries are available for consultation to help you share and reuse data, as well as support to help you LOVE YOUR DATA.
- Tiffany Grant PhD, is the research informationist located at HSL library
- Don P. Jason III MLIS, MS is the clinical informationist located at HSL library
- Amy Koshoffer MLIS, MS is the science informationist located at GMP library
We looking forward to working with you.
Happy LOVE YOUR DATA Week.
References:
- NIH Factsheet – Human Genome Project https://report.nih.gov/NIHfactsheets/ViewFactSheet.aspx?csid=45
- Image from Census.gov http://www.census.gov/newsroom/facts-for-features/2016/cb16-ff02.html downloaded 2016-02-12
- Scholar Website – http://Scholar.uc.edu
- White et al. Nine simple ways to make it easier to (re)use your data (2013) doi:10.4033/iee.2013.6b.6.f