Carol Tenopir

Data Sharing by Scientists: Practices and Perceptions

Background Scientific research in the 21st century is more data intensive and collaborative than in the past. It is important to study the data practices of researchers – data accessibility, discovery, re-use, preservation and, particularly, data sharing. Data sharing is a valuable part of the scientific method allowing for verification of results and extending research from prior results. Methodology/Principal Findings A total of 1329 scientists participated in this survey exploring current data sharing practices and perceptions of the barriers and enablers of data sharing. Scientists do not make their data electronically available to others for various reasons, including insufficient time and lack of funding. Most respondents are satisfied with their current processes for the initial and short-term parts of the data or research lifecycle (collecting their research data; searching for, describing or cataloging, analyzing, and short-term storage of their data) but are not satisfied with long-term data preservation. Many organizations do not provide support to their researchers for data management both in the short- and long-term. If certain conditions are met (such as formal citation and sharing reprints) respondents agree they are willing to share their data. There are also significant differences and approaches in data management practices based on primary funding agency, subject discipline, age, work focus, and world region. Conclusions/Significance Barriers to effective data sharing and preservation are deeply rooted in the practices and culture of the research process as well as the researchers themselves. New mandates for data management plans from NSF and other federal agencies and world-wide attention to the need to share and preserve data could lead to changes. Large scale programs, such as the NSF-sponsored DataNET (including projects like DataONE) will both bring attention and resources to the issue and make it easier for scientists to apply sound data management principles.

Users' interaction with World Wide Web resources: an exploratory study using a holistic approach

Abstract This paper presents the first part of the research on user–Web interaction: a multidimensional model, methodology, and general findings. The objectives of this study are three-fold: (1) to explore factors of user–Web interaction in finding factual information and what happens during this interaction; (2) to develop a conceptual framework for studying user–Web interaction; and (3) to apply a process-tracing method for conducting holistic user–Web studies. The proposed model consists of three components: user, interface, and the World Wide Web. User–Web interaction is viewed as a communication process facilitated through an interface. A process-tracing technique has been designed to capture the processes of user-Web interactions. Twenty-four graduate students participated in this study. Prior to the interaction, each participant was given a questionnaire to report his/her computer and Web experience, the State Trait Anxiety Inventory (form Y1 and form Y2) to measure affective states, and an individually administered Embedded Figure Test to measure cognitive style. Each participant used the Web to find answers to two factual questions. Both the processes (continuous screen shots) and the concurrent verbalizations of thoughts were recorded in synchronized video–audio data. The findings provided rich information on users’ cognitive, affective and physical behaviors. The proposed model is used to present the findings of user behavior in connections with interfaces and the Web.

Electronic Journals and Changes in Scholarly Article Seeking and Reading Patterns

Purpose – By tracking the information‐seeking and reading patterns of science, technology, medical and social science faculty members from 1977 to the present, this paper seeks to examine how faculty members locate, obtain, read, and use scholarly articles and how this has changed with the widespread availability of electronic journals and journal alternatives.Design/methodology/approach – Data were gathered using questionnaire surveys of university faculty and other researchers periodically since 1977. Many questions used the critical incident of the last article reading to allow analysis of the characteristics of readings in addition to characteristics of readers.Findings – The paper finds that the average number of readings per year per science faculty member continues to increase, while the average time spent per reading is decreasing. Electronic articles now account for the majority of readings, though most readings are still printed on paper for final reading. Scientists report reading a higher prop...

Reading behaviour and electronic journals

Studies from 1977 through 2001 demonstrate that scientists continue to read widely from scholarly journals. Reading of scholarly articles has increased to approximately 120–130 articles per person per year, with engineers reading fewer journal articles on the average and medical faculty reading more. A growing proportion of these readings come from e‐prints and other separate copies. Most scientists in a discipline now use electronic journals at least part of the time, with considerable variations among disciplines. Evidence suggests that scientists are reading from a broader range of journals than in the past, influenced by timely electronic publishing and by growth in bibliographic searching and interpersonal communication as means of identifying and locating articles. Although the scholarly journals system has changed dramatically in the past few decades, it is evident that the value scientists place on the information found in scholarly journal articles, whether electronic or print, remains high.

Affective and cognitive searching behavior of novice end-users of a full-text database

Novice end users were given 2 hours of training in searching a full‐text magazine database (Magazine ASAP™) on DIALOG. Subjects searched during three to four sessions in the presence of a trained monitor who prompted them to think aloud throughout the sessions. Qualitative analysis of the transcripts and transaction logs yielded empirical information on user variables (purpose, motivation, satisfaction), uses of the database, move types, and every question users asked during the searches. The spontaneous, naturalistic questions were categorized according to affective, cognitive, and sensorimotor speech acts. Results show that most of the searches were performed for the self and were work‐related. The most common use of the database was to retrieve full‐text articles online and to download and print them out rather than read them on screen. The majority of searches were judged satisfactory. Innovative uses included browsing for background information and obtaining contextualized sentences for language teaching. Searchers made twice as many moves to limit sets as moves to expand sets. Affective questions outnumbered cognitive and sensorimotor questions by two to one. This preponderance of affective micro‐information needs during searching might be addressed by new system functions.

Relying on electronic journals: Reading patterns of astronomers

Surveys of the members of the American Astronomical Society identify how astronomers use journals and what features and formats they prefer. While every work field is distinct, the patterns of use by astronomers may provide a glimpse of what to expect of journal patterns and use by other scientists. Astronomers, like other scientists, continue to invest a large amount of their time in reading articles and place a high level of importance on journal articles. They use a wide variety of formats and means to get access to materials that are essential to their work in teaching, service, and research. They select access means that are convenient - whether those means be print, electronic, or both. The availability of a mature electronic journals system from their primary professional society has surely influenced their early adoption of e-journals.

Participatory design of DataONE—Enabling cyberinfrastructure for the biological and environmental sciences

Abstract The scope and nature of biological and environmental research are evolving in response to environmental challenges such as global climate change, invasive species and emergent diseases. In particular, scientific studies are increasingly focusing on long-term, broad-scale, and complex questions that require massive amounts of diverse data collected by remote sensing platforms and embedded environmental sensor networks; collaborative, interdisciplinary science teams; and new approaches for managing, preserving, analyzing, and sharing data. Here, we describe the design of DataONE (Data Observation Network for Earth)—a cyberinfrastructure platform developed to support rapid data discovery and access across diverse data centers distributed worldwide and designed to provide scientists with an integrated set of familiar tools that support all elements of the data life cycle (e.g., from planning and acquisition through data integration, analysis and visualization). Ongoing evolution of the DataONE architecture is based on participatory, user-centered design processes including: (1) identification and prioritization of stakeholder communities; (2) developing an understanding of their perceptions, attitudes and user requirements; (3) usability analysis and assessment; and (4) engaging science teams in grand challenge exemplars such as understanding the broad-scale dynamics of bird migration. In combination, the four approaches engage the broad community in providing guidance on infrastructure design and implementation.

Changes in Data Sharing and Data Reuse Practices and Perceptions among Scientists Worldwide

The incorporation of data sharing into the research lifecycle is an important part of modern scholarly debate. In this study, the DataONE Usability and Assessment working group addresses two primary goals: To examine the current state of data sharing and reuse perceptions and practices among research scientists as they compare to the 2009/2010 baseline study, and to examine differences in practices and perceptions across age groups, geographic regions, and subject disciplines. We distributed surveys to a multinational sample of scientific researchers at two different time periods (October 2009 to July 2010 and October 2013 to March 2014) to observe current states of data sharing and to see what, if any, changes have occurred in the past 3–4 years. We also looked at differences across age, geographic, and discipline-based groups as they currently exist in the 2013/2014 survey. Results point to increased acceptance of and willingness to engage in data sharing, as well as an increase in actual data sharing behaviors. However, there is also increased perceived risk associated with data sharing, and specific barriers to data sharing persist. There are also differences across age groups, with younger respondents feeling more favorably toward data sharing and reuse, yet making less of their data available than older respondents. Geographic differences exist as well, which can in part be understood in terms of collectivist and individualist cultural differences. An examination of subject disciplines shows that the constraints and enablers of data sharing and reuse manifest differently across disciplines. Implications of these findings include the continued need to build infrastructure that promotes data sharing while recognizing the needs of different research communities. Moving into the future, organizations such as DataONE will continue to assess, monitor, educate, and provide the infrastructure necessary to support such complex grand science challenges.

Trends in Scientific Scholarly Journal Publishing in the United States

Scientific scholarly publishing has experienced dramatic economic change over the past few decades. Unfortunately, there has been little documentation concerning details of such change, other than reported price increases. In mid-I995 the University of Tennessee School of Information Sciences/Center for Information Studies was awarded the Special Libraries Association Steven 1. Goldspiel Memorial Research Grant. The purpose of this grantis to produce relevant data and information to examine the scholarly journal publishing system in order to better understand what has happened and to help authors, publishers, librarians, readers, and library funders avoid mistakes of the past when dealing with emerging electronic journals and article distribution. This paper describes current scientific journal publishing in the United States, trends over the past twenty years, and data that help explain the price and demand relationship involving individual and institutional subscriptions.

How Electronic Journals Are Changing Patterns of Use

SUMMARY Surveys of faculty, students, and scientists in non-university settings over time show that journals and journal articles continue to be a valued resource. Scientists today read from a variety of sources including print journals, electronic journals, e-print servers, and full-text databases; the amounts for each vary with subject discipline and library collection decisions. Scientists expect the library to provide resources and electronic journals that are designed to meet the needs of their specific discipline.