Andrew Sallans
Head of Strategic Data Initiatives, Library; Co-Lead on DMPTool Project
University of Virginia
Carly Strasser
Data Curation Specialist
California Digital Library
There is a large gap between the data management skills needed by modern researchers and their current abilities, and there is not yet a clear way to bridge this gap. In an effort to address this lack of skills, several institutions collaborated to create the DMPTool. Collaborators included the California Digital Library, DataONE, the Digital Curation Centre, the Smithsonian Institution, the University of California at Los Angeles Library, the University of California at San Diego Libraries, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library and Office of Cyberinfrastructure, and the University of Virginia Library. The result is a freely available web service with two principal goals: 1) allow researchers to quickly and easily produce a quality data management plan, and 2) inform researchers of relevant resources and support services across the community and within their institution. The tool clearly identifies what funders want grant applicants to address, and it allows users to edit, save, share, print and download their data management plans.
Following on prior Coalition for Networked Information briefings, this presentation will begin with an overview of data management planning for newcomers, with emphasis on the DMPTool. The session will include an update on current data management policies and, and it will also include discussion of the present landscape of data management planning. The history of the project will be described (a collaborative effort of eight institutions), its uptake and success, and plans for new functionality, grant funding, and governance. A brief demonstration of the DMPTool will be provided to seed a facilitated discussion on the future of the DMPTool, what services it could and should provide, and how these services and materials will better enable good data stewardship practices among researchers.