The presentation how librarians can contribute to the emerging field of E-Science and establish relevancy to information institutions. An overview of the field, resource links, Science Boot camps, and other opportunities are covered.
1. Elaine R. Martin, DA
Director of Library Services
University of Massachusetts Medical School
December 6, 2011
2. Highlights
Librarian Needs Assessment
Researcher and Student Interviews
NER Program Descriptions
Challenges
Lessons Learned
New Projects in Progress
Future Planned Educational Opportunities
3. E-Science Role Definition
Questions
What roles can librarians play in helping researchers
and students manage and preserve data?
What knowledge and skills do practicing librarians
need?
What are the new competencies for librarians in e-
science roles?
What are the new jobs?
How can we create a community of E-Science
librarians in the New England Region (NER)?
How can NER help?
4. NER Librarian Needs
Assessment
Brainstorming session at regional E-Science
symposium in April 2009
Follow-up Survey Monkey regional needs assessment
conducted summer 2009
“What are the biomedical and science librarians E-
Science web portal user needs and web 2.0
preferences in order to support the development and
strengthening of libraries’ E-Science initiatives and
collaborations?”
5. Researchers and Students Needs:
Data Interview Questions
How are data in the lab or research environment
used?
How do researchers manage, preserve and store data?
How easy would it be to share the data with another
researcher who needed or wanted access (e.g. data
sharing plan)?
What is the role for the library? IT? Other groups on
campus?
Case study development
6. Student and Researcher
Findings
Data were scattered and poorly managed
Curriculum needed to teach data management to
researchers and their students
Assistance with NSF data management plans
7. Librarian Needs: Education and
Collaboration
Online tutorials for both E-Science related tools and
background/content knowledge for librarians
Continuing education (science disciplines as well as
with respect to data management) for librarians
Support from the library community (University of
Massachusetts, Boston Library Consortium, and
NN/LM,NER) for librarian sharing of role definition
Source: JMLA 99(2):153-56, Apr 2011
8. Regional Program Response
Initiatives bringing health sciences and science
librarians together:
E-Science Bootcamp focused on building science
discipline knowledge
One day workshops on scientific or data management
topics based on existing research at campuses (stem
cell; nanotechnology; data curation and management)
E-Science Symposium (4th
annual)
NER Portal Project
E-Science Librarian Community of Interest (COI)
9. E-Science Web Portal Project
esciencelibrary.umassmed.edu
Regional Initiative with UMass Med in the lead
Build a one stop shopping website for librarians to
learn about science and data management
10. E-Science Web Portal Project
esciencelibrary.umassmed.edu
•Educate Librarians about Science (tutorials)
http://esciencelibrary.umassmed.edu/biochemistry-
video
11. E-Science Web Portal Project
esciencelibrary.umassmed.edu
Include current news and initiatives
Highlight current projects and best practices
Create collaborative using advisory and editorial
boards to identify, link to existing and create original
content
Engage the librarians in New England (blog) to foster
a community of learning
12. Data Management Curriculum
Development
IMLS grant to bring data management skills to
student researchers (UMass and WPI); develop
learning objectives and lesson plans for data
management curriculum
Identify data repository requirements for student
projects (student data repository)
Develop tutorials for web-based case-based data
management curriculum
13. Data Management Course
Module 0: Introduction and Need
Module 1:Data: Types, Stages, and Formats
Module 2: Metadata
Module 3: Data Backup, Storage
Module 4: Legal and Ethical Considerations
Module 5: Data Sharing and Reuse Policies
Module 6: Archiving and Preservation
http://library.umassmed.edu/imls_grant.cfm
14. NSF Data Management Plan:
Library Impact
Foster discussion around the implications for libraries
and librarians
Share model services in plan development
Data Management Curriculum development
Track changed librarian job descriptions
Provide information on the portal, at the symposium
and other NER venues
NER creates opportunities for sharing plans, lessons
learned, etc.
15. Challenges for E-Science
Librarians
Debate: How much science do librarians working
with researchers need to know?
For NER-How do you manage the collaboration?
How do you teach data management? How do you
engage the research community? Faculty? Students?
Clinical Researchers?
NSF Data Management Plan—impact on grant
funding? What kind of assistance can the library
provide?
16. Lessons Learned
We need to partner (with science majors, science
librarians, main campus computing centers, library
schools, health science librarians, researchers, IT,
etc.)
We need to re-tool our staff with new skills in science
(basic science knowledge and scientific process)
We need to develop staff with skills in data
management, preservation, metadata, etc.
We need new kinds of staff – new job descriptions
NN/LM, NER can create venues for collaboration and
education
17. NER Research Projects (In –
Progress)
What are the librarian competencies needed to work
in E-Science?
What are the educational programs available to train
E-Science librarians? Where are the gaps? Where can
NER fill those gaps?
What is the vocabulary for E-Science librarianship?
(What are the knowledge domains?)
Follow-up and response to the article E-Science
Librarianship: Undefined; Can we define it?
How will data management instruction take place?
18. Upcoming Regional Activities
and Events
Seek regional partners for implementation of data
management curriculum
Launch the Journal of E-Science Librarianship
(anticipated January 2012)
Assist NER Network members in creating a new
professional identity focused on data management
and preservation via educational offerings
21. E-Science Professional Days
Spring 2012 and Fall 2012
Introduction to Metadata (May 9, 2012)
Examples of uses of metadata by local area librarians
Keynote speaker: Diane Hillman, Director of
Metadata Initiatives, Syracuse
Institutional Repositories (November 2012)
22. Journal of E-Science
Librarianship
First issue –symposium papers and posters
Open call for papers
Editors are UMMS librarians
Reviewers are members of E-Science COI
B-Press online publishing and reviewer system
Coming soon!