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.
