This book is an edited collection of chapters on research data management (RDM). The authors of the chapters are national and international experts in the field, and provide input from a range of perspectives: digital libraries, digital curation, digital preservation, research, e‐science, e‐social science, information management, records management, information technology. The aim of the book is “to introduce and familiarize the library and information professional with the principal elements of research data management” p. vii, with the thought that it would also be of interest to a wider range of stakeholders. The authors are well placed to do this. The editor also sees RDM as a new role for library and information professionals “not only to sustain the profession but also to ensure that the research community can benefit more completely from is centuries‐old reserve of knowledge management acumen” p. 2.
The chapters comprise:
- 1.
“Why manage research data?”, by Graham Pryor.
- 2.
“The lifecycle of data management”, Sarah Higgins.
- 3.
“Research data policies: principles, requirements and trends”, by Sarah Jones.
- 4.
“Sustainable research data”, by Brian F. Lavoie.
- 5.
“Data management plans and planning”, by Martin Donnelly.
- 6.
“Roles and responsibilities: libraries, librarians and data”, by Sheila Corrall.
- 7.
“Research data management: opportunities and challenges for HEIs”, by Rob Proctor, Peter Halfpenny and Alex Voss.
- 8.
“The national data centres”, by Ellen Collins.
- 9.
“Contrasting national research data strategies: Australia and the USA”, by Andrew Treloar, G Sayeed Choudhury and William Michener.
- 10.
“Emerging infrastructures and services for research data management and curation in the UK and Europe”, by Angus Whyte.
The content of the book is authoritative, and provides a wealth of further reading and resources. It very clearly outlines that research data is an important resource that needs long term management if its value is to be realised through access and reuse. I would recommend HE libraries purchase this book. However, the coverage of the book – with a strong focus on policies, strategies and infrastructure at organisational and national levels – is more appropriate for the HE research manager, library manager, information management (IM) academic or IM student than it is for the practising IM professional. It would also be of interest to the wider records management/archivist community. Chapter 2 on the data management lifecycle and chapter 5 on data management plans are the most practical, but the IM professional would also need to read other guidance to be able to implement such activities. Though the book does give coverage to JISC's Managing Research Data Programme it does not provide sufficient links to all the individual projects conducted under this programme. These projects were charged with placing their findings and the materials and tools they developed into the public domain, and the training projects also placed their training materials in JORUM. These projects would provide very practical guidance for IM professionals. This is not a book that I would recommend to a researcher seeking to improve their day‐to‐day RDM practice. Once again, some of the JISC projects would be useful for such an audience.
Chapter 6 looks at the various roles librarians and library services could play in research data management, and the scope for including coverage of RDM in the LIM curricula. The roles include: senior library staff leading on local data policy within institutions; developing institutional repositories to include research data; including RDM in information literacy programmes offered by library staff to undergraduate and postgraduate students; extending library reference and advice services and support to include RDM. This is a chapter that library managers, librarians and all IM academics, not just LIM academics, could read with benefit. However, more IM professions have roles in RDM than just LIM professions. Libraries and librarians do have a role to play in RDM awareness raising for undergraduate and postgraduate students. However, I feel that the main place for such awareness raising is in research methods and dissertation modules and should be taught by academics, with library back up support. To fully support researchers in RDM needs knowledge and experience of research, and this opens up the new role of the data scientist, e‐science librarian etc. which is discussed in this chapter. This chapter could also have highlighted that record managers and archivists have particular skills that are highly relevant to RDM. Appraisal is one such skill, and I note that in a number of places in the book the need for appraisal is discussed, e.g. in chapter 2 (p. 28) and chapter 4 (p. 3). Records managers/archivists also have the skills needed for the long‐term curation of research data.
In conclusion, I think this book makes a valuable contribution to the RDM literature. It should be purchased/read by anyone with a particular interest in that topic.
