A panel of experts at the US' National Academies of Science recently discussed the role of libraries in the curation and preservation of, and access to, research data. The talks were held under the auspices of the National Research Council's Board on Research Data and Information. The Board held its first meeting last year to carry out its mission 'to improve the management, policy, and use of digital data and information for science and the broader society'. It is sponsored by the Library of Congress along with the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health and the Defense Technical Information Center.
At the meeting on June 3-4, 2010, members and guests examined issues relating to those subjects. The Board heard presentations from leaders of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) and the American Society for Information Science and Technology as well as the Coalition for Networked Information. Presenters noted progress toward public access for publicly-funded research. As the volume and complexity of research data grows, it is clear that libraries and librarians will continue to play a role in managing this information, the panel observed.
The Board meeting also included a symposium on the 'Changing Role of Libraries in Support of Research Data Activities'. Deanna Marcum, Associate Librarian of Congress, discussed LOC's efforts on data preservation and access. Betsy Humphreys, Deputy Director of the National Library of Medicine, reviewed NLM's work on curating and providing access to health data. Joyce Ray, Associate Deputy Director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services, talked about IMLS' funding programmes to support digital research content in libraries. Karla Strieb, Assistant Executive Director of ARL, discussed the experiences and current situation of ARL member libraries. Michael Goodchild, Professor of Geography at the University of California, Santa Barbara, talked about the evolution of map libraries and geospatial data. Christine Borgman, Professor of Information Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles, discussed training data librarians.
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