Monday, October 31, 2016

Research Data Needs from Academic Libraries: The Perspective of a Faculty Researcher

Guzman, Laura
Fall 2016

Keil, D. E. (2014). Research data needs from academic libraries: The perspective of a faculty researcher. Journal of Library Administration, 54(3), 233-240.

Summary:
In this article a faculty researcher explains what she ideally would like from a modern university library.  Keil (2014) starts the article by talking about how her work has been easier since she no longer needs to haul heavy journals to her office to do research.  She can find everything she needs for her research on the databases.  Despite this convenience, Keil says that she has come to realize that libraries are much more than just a source for books and journal subscriptions.

The rest of the article centers around the growing phenomenon of “big data.” Keil says that faculty researchers have a growing problem of managing, preserving, and sharing their data.  She would love for university libraries to assist in this process.  She encourages libraries to partner with researchers in order to deposit this raw data into manageable repositories.  More funding agencies are requiring that raw data be available via open access.  The emerging trend requires raw data to be included with the manuscript for medical journal submission.  This data can be linked in online appendices to data repositories supported by the journal or an academic library.

Kiel believes that a large part of future academic libraries should be involvement with “big data.” She urges more university libraries to “step it up” and help faculty researchers with this issue.  She says that valuable data is being left behind. 

Evaluation: 
I agree that we are moving past the era where libraries primarily collect articles and books for faculty.  "Big data" is a new area of information and it will only continue to grow as the Internet and research grows.  It would be ideal for all academic libraries to study the areas of linked data, digital repositories, and scholarly communication.  
   
 

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