Data Services at Purdue


With the advent of technology driven e-research, access to data sets is now an important component of research and scholarship. Increasingly researchers are expected to make their data available to others as supplementary files in their publications or by depositing data into a repository. Many funding agencies are now requiring that submitted proposals include a data management plan describing how data will be administered, shared and preserved for long-term access, as a precondition for review.

The Purdue University Libraries and the Distributed Data Curation Center (D2C2) both provide a variety of services designed to help researchers navigate through the complexities of managing, sharing, curating and preserving data. Librarians are available to provide short-term consultation and guidance in managing and curating data across the full data lifecycle. The Libraries’ D2C2 research center investigates and devises innovative solutions to the technical and cultural challenges of managing and curating data sets. D2C2 personnel undertake longer-term and more complex initiatives, typically working in close collaboration with faculty to diagnose and address real-world problems in data curation.

Resources at Purdue

Consulting on Data Management

For reference questions or consultations on data management plans, please contact your department’s subject librarian. Services include:

  • Consulting on developing a data management plan
  • Identifying relevant data repositories and guidance on preparing data for deposit
  • Finding and making use of metadata standards, ontologies or other tools & resources for managing, sharing or curating data.

Collaborating on Data Management

For situations or questions that require a greater degree of involvement, contact one of the D2C2’s Data Services Specialists. Services offered by D2C2 include:
  • Working with researchers to integrate data management, dissemination or curation into research workflows.
  • Identifying and implementing data management and curation solutions that are tailored to the needs of a lab or research project.
  • Increasing the discovery and utility of data through the design and application of metadata.
  • Enhancing the dissemination of data through the application of standards as OAI-PMH and Linked Data.
  • Adding value to data to be cited by others through the use of DataCite’s Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs)

Tools

Data Curation Profiles (DCP) – The DCP is a tool to assist librarians in identifying the data management, sharing, curation and preservation needs of researchers.

The Data Management Plan Self-Assessment Questionnaire – This tool is designed to be used by faculty to help them consider the issues they may face in managing their data and guide them in developing a data management plan to submit to funding agencies.

Purdue University Research Repository (PURR) – In partnership with OVPR and ITaP, the Libraries are developing PURR as a resource for researchers seeking to enhance their data management and sharing activities (e.g., for dissemination, requirements of funding agencies, etc.)