Open Data Button Aims to Set Data Free – ProfHacker - Blogs - The Chronicle of Higher Education

This week, the people who brought you the Open Access Button have released the beta version of their new “Open Data Button,” a browser add-on with a simple but powerful purpose:

Download the Open Data Button for your browser. Next time you’re reading a research paper and you want to investigate the data behind it, push the Open Data Button. The Open Data Button will try to find you the data you need. If that doesn’t work, it’ll start a request to the author asking them to share their data. Authors will be able to share their data with you and the world. When you get the data you need, you can make progress with your work. Your story will be used to encourage researchers to make their data available, making progress to more transparent and reproducible research.

To learn how to install and use this plugin, read these directions.

You can follow the project on Twitter (@OA_Button), Facebook, and their blog. If you’re a developer who would like to have a look at (or contribute to) what’s behind the bookmarklet, the code is available on GitHub.

Have you given the Open Data button a test drive? If so, what are your thoughts? Please share in the comments!