Data Management Training (DMT) Working Group Update: Clearinghouse Project, Role-Based Data Management Topic Development, and the Next Installment of the Training Modules
During this session, the Data Management Training (DMT) Working Group (under the auspices of the ESIP Data Stewardship Committee) will share the current status of the following projects and invites anyone interested to get involved.
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Clearinghouse Project: The Data Management Clearinghouse project proposal was submitted in October 2015 in response to the Request for Proposal (RFP) from U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Community for Data Integration (CDI). CDI awarded funds to the Clearinghouse project for work between June 1st and September 30th, 2016. The Clearinghouse project is focusing efforts on collecting and annotating learning resources and, eventually, training events related to data management for Earth sciences. At the session, the DMT Working Group will demonstrate the web interface to the DMT Clearinghouse which is designed to include search & discovery of learning resources on data management training, a submission form for crowd-sourced additions to the Clearinghouse and an administrative view that will allow reviewers & editors of the Clearinghouse to add or correct any metadata not included at the time of submission for quality control purposes. We will be soliciting feedback on the web interface and functionality of the metadata input forms and the content management system that is being implemented on the ESIP Commons for the Clearinghouse project.
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Role-Based Data Management Training Topic Development: As part of the development for the Clearinghouse project and the next data management training modules, the DMT Working Group has approached the task of topic development from the point of view of the information needs of different types of people involved with data management, such as data producers, data managers, and data librarians. Consequently, the DMT Working Group is working to understand the categories of users that should be included within the above projects and determine how the content of the Clearinghouse and the training modules could be structured to support the needs.
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Next Installment of the Training Modules: The current versions of the modules within the “ESIP Data Management for Scientists Short Course” were originally created and published between 2011 and 2013. While the extant 35 modules still provide valuable training information for their respective topics, the DMT Working Group is interested in producing the next set of training modules to address the current and emerging data management training areas. During the session, the DMT Working Group would like to discuss the topics, format and process of creating and/or updating learning resources that have been suggested for the next installment of the training modules, and solicit additional topic suggestions, marketing strategies, and funding opportunities for the next edition.
The DMT Working Group’s wiki and listserv can be accessed using the following links:
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Data Management Trainning Wiki: http://wiki.esipfed.org/index.php/Data_Management_Training
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Data Management Training Listserv: http://lists.esipfed.org/mailman/listinfo/esip_dmtraining
- The presentation of this session is attached.
- Nancy provided a background and overview of the ESIP Data Management Training Clearinghouse, including:
- Project objectives
- Funding source
- Current participants/contributors of the project.
- Key features considered, planned, and implemented for the Clearinghouse
- Project timeline
- David provided the status of the Clearinghouse prototype:
- Link to prototype: http://test.dmtclearinghouse.esipfed.bluedotapps.org
- Full prototype will eventually include demonstrative functions for the following:
- Search interface
- Submission
- Homepage
- About pages, glossaries and documentation
- Currently, the four roles considered for the prototype are:
- Searcher
- Submitter
- Reviewer
- Editor
- Through the prototype, the project team would like to test out the features and the workflows of the Clearinghouse.
- There are also three wireframes that are open for comments (two for representing mobile/tablet uses and one for representing desktop uses).
- The project team would like to invite anyone who is interested in helping out with the testing of the prototypes/wireframes to contact the project team.
- Question: What would be the granularity used for the organizing the resources?
- Answer: For the current setup of the project, the project team will create the initial sets of vocabularies and terms. The Clearinghouse will also employ a review/editing process, so that the resources could be added to the Clearinghouse’s collection accordingly. The project team envisions an iterative process where users and additional community members could help in providing testing/feedback to allow further refinement and improvement of the Clearinghouse structure.
- Nancy added that there is additional information that the Clearinghouse project has created, including the current controlled vocabularies and terms, that are available for the community to review.
- Question: What is the relationship to/status of the Research Data Alliance’s effort in terms of collecting data management training resources?
- Answer: The Clearinghouse project team is leveraging and integrating Research Data Alliance’s output wherever appropriate, including the Subject Discipline and potential sources for the training/education resources to be added into the Clearinghouse.
- Nancy also presented other activities that the Data Management Training Working Group is undertaking:
- Role-based topic generation:
- The goal is to broaden and deepen the topics by focusing on specific responsibilities.
- The current roles that the group is considering are:
- Early career scientists
- Science Data Librarians
- College Educator
- The topics that might be relevant to these roles for the purpose of data management training is organized per the Data Information Literacy Competencies (Carlson, Johnson eds.) - http://www.thepress.purdue.edu/titles/format/9781612493527
- Sophie provided an overview of the initial draft of training syllabus designed specifically for academic subject librarians.
- The key characteristic of the syllabus is that the training topics should be “actionable” or be structured so that the training attendees could “learn from doing”.
- The current syllabus is available at the following link: http://wiki.esipfed.org/index.php/Data_Management_Training_Syllabus
- Nancy shared with that the Data Management Training Working Group is also interested in developing “core skills” requirements for data management professionals.
- There are several related efforts, including “Developing Curriculum for Earth Data Scientist” by Professor Wade Bishop at University of Tennessee at Knoxville and DataONE/NCEAS.
- Basically, these efforts are interested in collaborating and initiating the discussion, especially including whether there is a differentiation (and how to differentiate) between the different titles, such as data scientists, data manager, data curator, etc.
- Question: What are the terms that people who are responsible in hiring look for when reviewing candidates for data stewardship-related positions?
- Answer: It is an existing concern, and it is potentially a great opportunity for the ESIP community to help enable and facilitate the discussion.
- Finally, the Data Management Training Working Group would still like to continue the next development phase of the “Data Management Short Course for Scientists”.
- The workflow used for generating the current modules includes using consistent template, having reviewers, and adopting specific metadata/controlled vocabularies.
- One thing to consider when moving forward is whether the same workflow is still applicable. If it is not, we need to determine how the process can be updated.
- Additionally, how could establish the criteria for deprecating, updating, and deleting?
- Question: Has the usage of the modules been analyzed?
- Answer: Short answer is no; this needs to be considered as the audience believe this could help in guiding the decision and structure of the next development.
- Question: How about including/leveraging lessons learned from disciplines outside of Earth/geosciences regarding data management development?
- Answer: This would be welcomed.
- Role-based topic generation:
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