8th BRDI Board Mtg Symposium, Feb 26, 2013

"One of the problems recognized by experts and casual data users alike has been the inability to find the full array of research databases or factual compilations that are needed to support any given query. As data continue to proliferate and research becomes more data intensive, the discoverability of factual references also grows in importance. For research funders and policymakers, there is a need to better understand data productivity and trends in science, both quantitatively and qualitatively. Yet the deluge of information and the diversity of the datasets makes the task for all users of data and facts that much more difficult.   The importance of the problem is not hard to grasp, but the solutions to the better discoverability online of data are not necessarily straightforward or obvious. Libraries have traditionally grouped literature by topic, using tools such as controlled vocabularies and onotologies, and also developed systems of other identifiers, such as call numbers and shelf lists to help the user locate them in the print context. However, physical collocation is not always a necessary or practical strategy for digital datasets. As with literature, the creation of registries, catalogs, and directories may be part of the solution, but we also need to consider online search engines, persistent identifiers and associated metadata, as well as better citation and reference practices in order to enable visibility of and access to digital data. Ontologies created for literature may not always adapt well for use with data sets, particularly if we are to tap the rich potential of unanticipated reuse of data by researchers in other disciplines different from those of the original creators. Links to and  between different information sources and objects may be important mechanisms for improving the “findability” of data too.   Despite the proliferation of models and solutions in various disciplines and sectors, there is a recognized need for a pervasive infrastructure, standardization of approaches, and the usual questions of who does what, where, and how? This symposium therefore seeks to highlight some of these different approaches, providing examples that are both broadly interdisciplinary as well as discipline-specific to finding the right data at the right place in the right time. Although we will not offer any common solutions to this set of problems, we do hope to shed some light on the underlying issues and provide an opportunity for experts working in this area to interact, both among each other and with the audience.   The co-chairs of the Board on Research Data and Information, Clifford Lynch of the Coalition on Networked Information, and Francine Berman of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, will lead the symposium discussion, beginning at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, February 26. The event will continue for 2 ½ hours in a mix of short presentations and discussion. The entire proceedings will be recorded and an audio-tape will be archived on the Board’s website. The symposium is free and open to the public, but advance registration is requested. The meeting will be followed by a reception outside the main auditorium."