11:00 am
Will Today’s Data Be Here Tomorrow? Measuring The Stewardship Gap
Jeremy York | University of Colorado Boulder | United States
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Authors:
Jeremy York | University of Colorado Boulder | United States
Myron Gutmann | University of Colorado Boulder | United States
Francine Berman | Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute | United States
Stakeholders in scholarly research are paying increased attention to stewardship of digital research data for the purposes of advancing scientific discovery, driving innovation, and promoting trust in science and scholarship. However, little is known about the total amounts, characteristics, and sustainability of data that could be used for these purposes. The Stewardship Gap is an 18-month project funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation to understand issues in defining metrics for and measuring the stewardship gap: the potential gap between the amount of valuable data produced through sponsored projects in the United States and the amount that is effectively stewarded and made accessible. This paper reports on the first phase of the project, which sought to develop an instrument to gather information about research data sustainability from a broad variety of researchers and research disciplines and make progress toward the ultimate goals of 1) shedding light on the size, characteristics, and sustainability of valuable sponsored research data and creative work in the United States, and 2) recommending actions stakeholders can take to address the stewardship gap if one is found to exist.
11:30 am
What Makes a Digital Steward: A Competency Profile Based On The National Digital Stewardship Residencies
Karl-Rainer Blumenthal | Internet Archive | United States
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Authors:
Karl-Rainer Blumenthal | Internet Archive | United States
Peggy Griesinger | George Mason University | United States
Julia Kim | Library of Congress | United States
Shira Peltzman | UCLA Library | United States
Vicky Steeves | New York University | United States
Digital stewardship is the active and long-term management of digital objects towards their preservation for and unencumbered access by future generations. Although the field is rapidly maturing, it still lacks a comprehensive competency profile for practitioners. This is due in part to the relative youth of the field, and to the fact that being an effective steward of digital materials requires highly specialized training that is best acquired through hands-on work. Given the key role that competency profiles play in the design of curricula and job postings, the lack of one hinders the training and education of professionals for these positions. This paper provides a profile of the skills, responsibilities, and knowledge areas that define competency in digital stewardship, based on a close study of the projects undertaken in the National Digital Stewardship Residency program (NDSR). The authors use a triangulated research methodology in order to define the scope of the profile, qualitatively analyze the competencies articulated among NDSR project descriptions, and quantitatively evaluate those competencies’ importance to professional success. The profile that results from this research has implications for current and future digital stewards: training designed with this profile as its basis will focus on the skills most needed to be an effective digital steward, and therefore can guide both graduate and professional development curricula alike.