archaeological training in an open access world: lessons from the reward project (researchers using...

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UCL LIBRARY SERVICES INSTITUTE OF ARCHAEOLOGY 75 YEARS OF LEADING GLOBAL ARCHAEOLOGY 2012

Archaeological Training in an Open Access World:

Anastasia Sakellariadi (UCL Institute of Archaeology & Ubiquity Press) Brian Hole (UCL Institute of Archaeology & Ubiquity Press)

Lessons from the REWARD Project (Researchers using Existing Workflows to Archive Research Data)


Overview:

• The case for REWARD

• REWARD and its aims

• The case studies

• Methodology

• Findings from the case studies

• The UCL Institute of Archaeology online survey

• Findings from the survey

• Discussion


The case for REWARD

• Researchers highly value re-analysis of existing data for:

its potential for future validation purposes

its role in the advancement of science

Its potential for stimulating interdisciplinary collaborations

especially appealing in a tight funding environment

• However,

81% of researchers store their data on a PC at work

66% use portable storage

51% use a PC at home

only 20% use a digital archive

(PARSE.Insight 2010, Insight into Digital Preservation of Research Output in Europe: Insight Report.

RIN 2011, Reinventing Research? Information Practices in the Humanities. RIN)


REWARD and its aims

• Greater culture change can be achieved by coupling data archiving with existing research

workflow for research paper publication and associated incentives, such as citation tracking,

and rewards.

• Publishing papers existing workflow only needs to be slightly tweaked to include data

archiving.

Pilot project at the UCL Institute of Archaeology (10/2011 – 03/2012):

• To establish best practices for data archiving, dissemination and reuse at the UCL Institute of

Archaeology

• To introduce data management planning and the use of the Digital Curation Centre (DCC)

DMP Online tool

• To pilot infrastructure integration


The case studies:

1. Spatial Approaches to the Political and Commercial Landscapes of the Old Assyrian Colony

Period – GIS

2. Spatial and Temporal Models of Jomon Settlements – GIS

3. The Relationship Between Popular Science and Public Archaeology in Early Nineteenth

Century Britain – History of Archaeology

4. Tourism and the Economic Capital of Archaeology: Measurement and Management for

Preservation – Cultural Heritage

5. From Plastic Drain Pipes and Satellite Dishes to Coastal Flooding: Archaeological Heritage

within Standing Buildings: Why Do People in England not Comply with the Legislative and

Regulatory Framework for the Protection of Archaeological Heritage in Listed Buildings and

Conservation Areas – Cultural Heritage /Visual Data

6. The Muisca Metallurgist in Context – Archaeological Material Science

7. Communicating Archaeology: Public Perceptions and Experience in a Changing Media

Environment – Cultural Heritage /Quantitative Data


• Initial interview

• Use of the DCC DMP Online Tool and logbook for monitoring of use

• Provision of research-specific information as well as information on UCL’s Open

Access Mandate and Code of Conduct for Researchers

• Review of DMP Online plan

• Final interview

• Data paper and data deposition walk-through

• Further support during data paper submission to the Journal of Open Archaeology

Data and data deposition to UCL Discovery

Methodology:


Findings from the case studies:

• Creation and Use

• Documentation

• Protection and Storage

• Assessment

• Ownership

• Preservation

• Re-use

• Licensing

• Sharing

• Management

• Citation

• Other Requirements


The UCL Institute of Archaeology online survey

• In Google Docs form

• Emailed to members of the ioa-staff and ioa-mphil mailing lists

• 15 closed questions (yes/no, multiple choice and tick-box ones)

• Open for nine days

• 32 responses (very low response rate, not stratified sample, therefore not

representative)


1. What is your gender?

Male 53% Female 47%

2. What is your age group?

Bigger groups of responses: 1. 38% 25-34 years old 2. 28% 35-44 years old 3. 19% 45-54 years old


3. What is your current academic role?

Bigger groups of responses: 1. 44% Research students 2. 13% Lecturers 3. 9% Senior lecturers 4. 9% Professors

4. What is your primary research area?

Bigger groups of responses: 1. 38% World Archaeology 2. 31% Archaeological Sciences 3. 24% Heritage


5. How important do you think the following reasons for preserving digital data are? It will stimulate the advancement of science (new research can build on existing knowledge).

75% Very important 25% Important 0% Slightly important 0% Not important


5. How important do you think the following reasons for preserving digital data are? It allows for re-analysis of existing data.



5. How important do you think the following reasons for preserving digital data are? It may serve validation purposes in the future.



5. How important do you think the following reasons for preserving digital data are? If research is publicly funded, the results should become public property.



5. How important do you think the following reasons for preserving digital data are? It may stimulate interdisciplinary collaborations.



5. How important do you think the following reasons for preserving digital data are? Data is unique.



5. How important do you think the following reasons for preserving digital data are? It potentially has economic value.



6. Have you ever shared data through...

Bigger groups of responses: 96% - has shared data through email contact. 43% - have made it available online. 21% - Research Data Centre 14% - Institutional repository


7. Have you experienced or would you expect to experience any of the following problems in sharing your data?

Bigger groups of responses: 63% - Lack of time to prepare data properly 50% - Incompatible data types 41% - Lack of technical infrastructure 34% - Misuse of data 31% - Restricted access to data archive 28% - Legal issues 25% - Lack of financial resources 22% - Loss of competitive advantage 6% - No problems foreseen


8. To which of the following facilities would you be willing to submit digital research data in the near future?

Majorities of responses: 81% - Research Data Centre 78% - Institutional repository 75% - Publisher 44% - External web service


9. Have you ever used data from other sources?

84% Yes 13% No

10. Have you ever requested data from another researcher?

75% Yes 22% No


11. Have you ever published in an open access journal?

84% No 13% Yes

12. Do journals to which you typically submit your work require you to include relevant digital research data (i.e. data used to create tables, figures, etc.)?

72% No 22% Yes


13. Would you want to be credited when your digital research data was used by others?

97% Yes 0% No

14. Would other incentives such as course reductions, additional sabbatical leave dedicated to research, financial support for research related travels, and support for seminars and financial incentives motivate you to share research data?

88% Yes 9% No


Findings from the survey:

• Career stage divide

• Confirmation of ‘digital divide’ between subfields

• Importance of making data public rated on scientific criteria

• Little valuation of economic value of research and data

• Good practices in DM to overcome expected problems

• While experienced in requesting and using other data, very few with open access

publications or in journals with data requirements

• Participants confirmed that citation and other incentives would motivate them to share their

research.


Discussion:

• Tweaking of workflow: overall existing workflows already close to good practices

• Incentives: open to data sharing, and while wary of time and cost constraints, did consider a

citable data paper as adequate incentive to do so.

• Training:

o Issues: data preservation, licensing and citation, institutional and funders’ requirements

in regard to open access, research codes of conduct and data management.

o ‘Digital’ divide between subfields

o ‘Sharing cultures’

o ‘Career stage’ divide

o DM based on: validity, ease of access, familiarity and convenience


Thank you!

For further information, please, visit: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/reward Or contact us at: Dr Anastasia Sakellariadi REWARD Research Data Scientist Email: [email protected] Brian Hole REWARD Project Manager Email: [email protected]

http://www.ucl.ac.uk/reward

http://www.ucl.ac.uk/reward

mailto:[email protected]



archaeological training in an open access world: lessons from the reward project (researchers using...

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research data

digital data

data archiving

data deposition

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public archaeology

world archaeology

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