We just can’t get enough – talking about data
On 8 May 2013 3TU.Datacentrum launched its partnership with DANS. The establishment of the coalition Research Data Netherlands will bring together knowledge and expertise about research data. And above all it has the intention to unite research libraries, archives or other organisations that keep (trustworthy) data repositories.
Open Access has been around us for quite some time, but the past months more and more one pagers, position papers, network sessions, hearings have been written and organised.
One reason, amongst many others, of the current increased attention to Open Access, is that is has the potential to provide all stakeholders with evidence of the high standards of quality and integrity which the scientific system has traditionally imposed on itself.
That is why I quote the position paper undersigned by five Dutch universities to seriously consider the positive impact of Open Access on the use, re-use, and citations of scientific data. These five universities (Delft University of Technology, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Leiden University, TU Eindhoven and University of Twente) cooperate in multidisciplinary research that covers all societal challenges as mentioned in Horizon 2020. Universities want their research to be shared with society, so that it is available for new research, insights and innovation.
“In order to bridge the innovation divide in Europe, Open Access to data should be actively pursued, as sharing data can foster the advancement of excellent researchers, with due respect, however, for the legitimate commercial, national security and privacy interests. Open Access to research data must be encouraged to combat scientific misconduct and to foster the professionalization of researchers. Also in this Age of Big Data the rich universe of research data could be accessible,”
The momentum for this position paper, and others, was provided by the EC public consultation on Open Research Data.
For me personally it is essential that research data created in the public domain should be kept there. As publishers are changing their business and expanding it to the current research domain and evaluation metrics, we Libraries should also step up.
It is not just about finding that one apple in the jungle (citing a post a researcher and chair of one of our library committees brought to my attention), but also to bring the university “fruits” back for easy pickings 😉