MANAGING THE DIGITAL DATA DELUGEAn issue facing special libraries F.A.Sharr Medal Presentation

by Vanessa Johnson

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Digital data: items held in computer files which describe or represent an object, idea, condition or situation, which can then be organised for analysis.

(Johnson, 2011)

Johnson, V.E. (2011). The role of information professionals in geoscience data management: a Western Australian perspective (Master of Information project report). Curtin University, Bentley Western Australia. http://

tinyurl.com/cwyqquw

Core library business? “the right information from

the right source to the right client at the right time in the form most suitable for the use to which it is to be put and at a cost that is justified by its use”

(Mason, 1990, p.125)

the right data from the right source to the right client at the right time in the form most suitable for the use to which it is to be put and at a cost that is justified by its use

Mason, R. O. (1990). What is an information professional? Journal of Education for Library and Information Science, 31(2), 122-138

Non-digital geoscience data held by organisations showing proportion managed by information professionals

Digital geoscience data held by organisations showing proportion managed by information professionals

Are we losing ground?

Drill / w

ell lo

gsFil

es

Geophysi

cal lo

gsMap

s

Notebooks

Other

Photographs

Publications

Reports

Seism

ic data

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

Managed by Information professionalsNot managed by information professionals

Non-digital data type

Num

ber o

f org

anisa

tions

hold

ing

data

type

Drilling /

well

Geoch

emist

ry

Geophysi

cs GIS

Imag

es

Interpret

ations

Maps, p

lans

Mine & m

ineral d

eposit

Models

Other docu

ments

Palaeo

ntological

Publications

Reports

Seism

ic data

Tenem

ent/p

ermit

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

Managed by Information professionalsNot managed by information professionals

Digital data type

Num

ber o

f org

anisa

tion

hold

ing

data

type

(Johnson, 2011 pp.79, 82)

Data deluge• Volume of datasets• Variety of datasets• Poor metadata• Complexity of datasets• Confidentiality• Legacy data - digitisation

las dlis eoi lis SEGY SEGD Western- Velf vsh ascii ascii-Esso tar Ukooa txt cgm Landmark Landmark-

Brick

Landmark-Emerald-City

OpenWorks Petrel Techlog Gocad Mores Netvault Kingdom Sapphire 123ndi Dynamo Excel pdf jpeg tiff Word

Instability of digital data Media instability and

obsolescence Software obsolescence Ephemeral – can be moved,

renamed, altered Untainted datasets can be difficult

to maintain & locate

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9 Track tape library

Corporate structure & culture- the biggest challenge

Perception that information professionals not qualified to handle technical data – a job for IT

Ownership of the data Attitudes toward data management

Cross-professional engagement

Collaboration between three domains is vital – geoscience, IT & LIS

Within organisations Across professional

associations e.g. ALIA, AGIA, PPDM

Corrall, S. (2008, November). Research data management: Professional education and training perspectives. PowerPoint presented at the RDMF2: Roles and Responsibilities for Effective Data Management, Manchester, UK. Retrieved from

http://www.dcc.ac.uk/sites/default/files/documents/RDMF/RDMF2/07%20Corrall.pdf

Professional development Within the LIS discipline Keep up with changes in technology Understand the data A role for ALIA’s specialist PD program?

Advocacy Choose your champion carefully Promote your skills Identify opportunities (pick winners)

Education programs Management – standards, confidentiality Description & access Preservation Big picture, long term view

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The incentive to engage with digital data?“in library-driven initiatives, libraries retain authority and ownership over the content, services and infrastructure they jointly create and maintain”

(Walters and Skinner, 2011, p.13)

Walters, T., & Skinner, K. (2011). New roles for new times: Digital curation for preservation. Retrieved from the Association of Research Libraries website:

http://www.arl.org/bm~doc/nrnt_digital_curation17mar11.pdf

Fail to engage, fail to survive