Assessing Data Practices at the University of Utah

Reproducibility is the gold standard of research, but often relies on a series of data management dependencies that are not common scientific practice. Data must be managed and documented to a degree that makes it understandable, meaningful and reproducible to secondary audience depending on their definition of the term ‘reproducibility'. Even small pieces of missing information like an unusual method that wasn't captured or small piece of code used for analysis can render results irreproducible. Data and code (where applicable) must be made available for secondary analysis, preferably in an open repository with supporting documentation, contact information, and clear rights attached. The University of Utah Campus Data Group - comprised of representatives from the Marriott Library, Eccles Health Science Library, Faust Law Library, and Research Computing & Center for High Performance Computing - strives to help researchers meet these dependencies by offering data management, storage, and sharing services and technical infrastructure for our research community. This poster will report on the Campus Data Group's 2016 University of Utah Research Data Services Assessment, which set out to answer three research questions: What types of data and in what quantity are being produced at The University of Utah? How are research data produced by University of Utah researchers currently managed, stored, backed up, described, and shared? What data services can the Marriott Library, Eccles Health Sciences Library, Faust Law Library, and Research Computing & Center for High Performance Computing provide that will best support the needs of our research community? The results of this assessment will shed light on current data practices at the University of Utah and inform the creation of new services and infrastructure to increase research transparency and replicability.

Assessing Data Practices at the University of Utah Rebekah Cummings, Research Data Management Librarian J. Willard Marriott Library, University of Utah [e-mail] OVERVIEW KEY SURVEY FINDINGS KEY FOCUS GROUP FINDINGS (cont.) 3. "Faculty are interested in having a centralized University repository that 1) handles large data files and data sets; 2) ensures that data are available for the long term (10+ years); 3) makes uploading, finding, and accessing data as simple as possible, both within and outside the University." 4. "Faculty want ‘one-stop shopping' when they seek assistance with data management: an identifiable person or office who will answer their questions, ensure that they are in compliance with IRB and federal mandates, and direct them to the most appropriate resources for their project." * Citation: Hawks, M. (2016, October). Data Management Focus Group Report. University of Utah Marriott Library. The University of Utah Campus Data Group conducted a needs assessment in 2016 to determine the data practices and needs of University of Utah researchers and the services that the Libraries and Center for High Performance Computing (CHPC) could provide to meet those needs. This poster summarizes our research questions, methods, key findings, and next steps for helping researchers manage and share their data at the University of Utah. RESEARCH QUESTIONS RQ1: What types of data and in what quantity are being produced at the University of Utah? IMMEDIATE RESPONSE TO DATA ASSESSMENT RQ2: How are research data produced by University of Utah researchers currently managed, stored, backed up, described, and shared? In response to the Data Services Assessment, the Marriott Library is currently (Winter 2016) building a new data repository for campus researchers to archive and share their data. The data repository will: • Provide 10 years of guaranteed storage • Accommodate larger datasets • Accept a variety of file types • Generate digital object identifiers (DOI) • Allow researchers to place a temporary embargo on data until publication • Provide assistance describing datasets and assigning metadata • Provide clear rights statements using Creative Commons licenses • Provide usage statistics for views and downloads • Offer a user-friendly interface that allows for easier data submission and discoverability of data RQ3: What data services can the Marriott Library, Eccles Health Sciences Library, Faust Law Library, and CHPC provide that will best support the needs of our research community? METHODS The Campus Data Group assessed the needs of researchers by: 1. Distributing a survey to campus researchers. The survey received 203 responses from University of Utah graduate students, post docs, faculty, and staff. Nearly 70% of respondents were faculty. 2. Conducting two 90-minute focus groups with eight faculty members from different colleges on campus. FUTURE PLANS Future plans include: • A call for faculty participation in Spring 2017 to test workflows and functionality of the Library's new data repository • Campus outreach to promote new services and infrastructure • Increased data management training opportunities on campus • Creating new policies and documentation including a Data Archiving and Collection Policy, a Data Submission Checklist, a Deposit Agreement, and a Data Management Plan template SURVEY DEMOGRAPHICS KEY FOCUS GROUP FINDINGS* ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 1. "Faculty want to know ‘how to do it right.' They want to comply with regulations, follow best practices, and make their data/research products widely available and reusable." 2. "Faculty view themselves as researchers first and foremost and believe that the University should support their research by providing free, easily accessible, centralized data management services." Thank you to the members of the Campus Data Services Team from the Marriott Library, Eccles Health Science Library, Faust Law Library, and the Center for High Performance Computing for their significant contributions to this work. Special thanks to Melanie Hawks for facilitating the focus group discussions and compiling the Data Management Focus Group Report.