Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
[
and no one else's
]” or else “
my data is mine, and now your data is mine [to use as
I like]
”
More light can be shed on this through the survey results conducted by
PARSE.insight. While a majority of researchers say they would like to make use
of the research data of others, the researcher's survey also shows that a considerable
number of researchers foresee problems in making their own research data avail-
able for others. No more than 25% make their data available for everyone (against
close to 60% who share it within their research group). What are the problems men-
tioned? Over 40% are afraid of misuse, around 40% foresee legal problems (e.g.
breach of privacy, misuse of anonymous surveys, etc), between 25 and 30%mention
technical problems (lack of infrastructure, incompatible data, and access restricted,
etc).
Fig. 24.1
Responses to query “Do you experience or foresee any of the following problems in
sharing your data? (multiple answers available)”
This implies that even when a technical infrastructure is in place for the preser-
vation of research data, the current behaviour patterns may prevent people from
using it. This observation is enforced by another outcome of the survey regard-
ing additional needs to operate in a digital research environment. Many researchers
noted they feel the need for more resources (64%), more digital repositories
(63%), more expertise (60%) and training in how to preserve and share your
information (54%). In addition, they noted that guidelines/manuals on preserva-
tion, workshops, a knowledge platform and user-oriented training sessions are very
important.
Although large scale facilities often have archived copies (backups, held for at
least a little while) of the data they are used to create, the data created by individual
researchers are often treated less well. Institutional repositories have not been great
magnets for such data. Instead, most researchers that responded on the survey still
use their own computer at work to store their research data (81%).
