Librarians needed to facilitate Open Data

Tim Poisot’s recent blog post on facilitating open data in ecology illustrates a desire to make ecology data open, while admitting that “there are so many peculiarities attached to datasets that sharing them is by nature a difficult task.” Mr. Poisot goes on to offer some interesting solutions to enhance the current practices in data formatting. Perhaps most interestingly, though, he does not mention engaging those who are specifically trained in the organization of information–librarians. This should provide further incentive for our efforts to effectively communicate the breadth of our value to our faculty.

In advocating for Open Access, we often focus on educating our colleagues to the benefits of making their research open, but how well are we supporting those who already want to make their research, or data in this case, open, but are unsure of how to share it effectively?