The library’s role in Research Data Management

Practices and experiences at

University of Amsterdam (UvA) &

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU)

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Sofia Piet (UvA) & Tycho Hofstra (VU)

Erasmus+ exchange week, Amsterdam

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6 October 2022

Introduction

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Sofia Piet

RDM specialist

Research data

“[…] collected, observed or created for the purpose of analysis, to produce and validate original research results.” (Crossley 2014)

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For example

•Experiment results

•Field notes

•Observations captured in photo, film or audio

•Scraped websites

•Interviews

….and all data about the data

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What’s the role of the library?

What are the problems around research data?

How can the library help?

What relevant knowledge does the library have?

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Building Research Data Management support with lego

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Activity: Represent RDM support elements with lego (25 minutes + 15 discussion)

• Form two groups
• Each group member picks at least one lego piece
• Which element should be part of a RDM support department?
• Explain how the lego piece represents this element and why this element is important according to you
• Build a lego construction with all the pieces from your group
• At the end, one or two people from the group will show the construction and explain the elements the construction consists of

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HAVE FUN!

RDM support at UvA and VU

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Policy UvA & VU

• General policy at central level, approved by Executive Board
• Each faculty and/or research institute has its own discipline-specific version
• Contents discussed with various stakeholders, e.g. researchers, policy officers, deans, IT, privacy officers

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UvA (https://rdm.uva.nl/en/planning/uva-policy/uva-and-auas-policy.html)

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VU (https://vu.nl/en/about-vu/more-about/policy-guidelines)

• Plan to evaluate and update every two years

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Central support desk UvA

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• Provided by the library
• RDM Support team, members have different specialisations
• Second line of contact
• Involved in improving RDM(-related) services at all levels
• Contact: rdm-support@uva.nl

Erasmus+ exchange week, Amsterdam

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Central support desk VU

• Core team in library
• Core team is first line of contact; they give an answer or forward question to relevant expert or the data steward
• Faculty data stewards (no wrong door)
• Website: https://vu.nl/en/about-vu/more-about/find-support

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• Contact

rdm@vu.nl

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Erasmus+ exchange week, Amsterdam

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RDM courses UvA

• On request: workshops about RDM in general, GDPR and/or related subjects
• Introductory courses for PhD students at two faculties (Humanities, Economics & Business)
• Two parts: introduction to RDM and discussion of DMPs
• Homework in between: PhD students write DMP and get feedback
• RDM Support developed the workshop, data stewards take over

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RDM courses VU

• For PhDs: course ‘Writing a Data Management Plan’
• Tailored to each faculty, in collaboration with graduate schools and PhD coordinators
• ±20 times a year
• 2 workshops, participants read materials beforehand
• Participants write DMP and get feedback
• Obligatory in some faculties, optional in others
• Participants receive 1 EC upon completing all obligatory components
• More courses in development

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Erasmus+ exchange week, Amsterdam

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Website UvA

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rdm.uva.nl/en

Website VU

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vu.nl/rds

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http://libguides.vu.nl/researchdata

Online DMP tool UvA & VU

• DMPonline

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• UvA
• Implemented in 2018
• Institutional template(s)
• Guidance
• VU
• Implemented in September 2019
• Institutional templates (v1.3)
• Guidance

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Collaboration with data stewards UvA

• 13 data stewards, faculty and/or institutional level
• Combination of roles, e.g. policy advisor is data steward as well
• First port of call for researchers
• Provide RDM support, e.g. DMP review, privacy questions, etc.
• Can fall back on RDM Support at Library
• RDM Support organises regular meetings of all data stewards

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Erasmus+ exchange week, Amsterdam

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Collaboration with data stewards VU

• Data stewards, faculty and/or institutional level
• Research support office
• Data steward
• Privacy Champion
• Data managers
• Software engineers

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• Help with DMP courses and reviewing the DMPs

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Collaboration with other services UvA &VU

• ICT Services, IT departments at faculties
• Academic Affairs (policy department)
• Legal Affairs (mainly GDPR)
• Grants desk, IXA (Innovation Exchange Amsterdam 🡪 valorisation office)

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VU

• Network of Privacy Champions in faculties

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Institutional repository UvA

• UvA/AUAS figshare (uvaauas.figshare.com)
• Two-factor authentication
• Data publishing and/or archiving
• Working on digital preservation

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3 October 2019

Institutional repository VU

• For data publishing:
• DataverseNL
• OSF
• Yoda (in development)
• For data verification:
• Yoda (in development)

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Thank you!�Questions?

UvA

Sofia Piet

rdm-support@uva.nl

RDM website:

https://rdm.uva.nl/en

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VU

Tycho Hofstra

rdm@vu.nl

Research Data Support Portal:

vu.nl/rds

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LibGuide Research Data Management: http://libguides.vu.nl/researchdata

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