August 3, 2005
The US National Committee for CODATA and its subgroup on Permanent Access to Scientific Data met on July 13 and 14 at the National Academies in Washington, D.C. I [Gretchen Gano] was invited to participate as a guest. Below are links, a background on the committee, and some meeting highlights from my perspective with proposed follow-on IASSIST activities. I will forward a list of the proposed activities to the conference-planning list!
June 27, 2005
The ESRC Social Science Week was celebrated from June 20-24, 2005 in the UK. As part of the event, several specialists were invited to write articles about how the Internet has changed the ways in which research is done in the social sciences. Three IASSIST members were the contributing authors on Wednesday, June 22nd, which had a focus on access to data. Alastair Allan wrote about e-government information and its challenges; Robin Rice addressed issues of access and the uses of open access publishing and digital repositories; and Melanie Wright described the many changes in delivering data using the Internet and this impact on data services.
June 21, 2005
The final report of the Canadian National Consultation on Access to Scientific Research Data has just been released containing eighteen recommendations to improve open access to research data in Canada. While some of these recommendations are unique to the Canadian context, others share a close relationship with the recommendations of the International Council for Science report, Scientific Data and Information. Supported by the National Research Council of Canada, a task force was established in June 2004 to provide advice about improving access to scientific research data.
June 15, 2005
Two sessions at the Edinburgh conference helped formulate in my mind some concerns that I have about the future of data archives. Together, the plenary session in which John Curtice described his research about postmodern values and Session G3 on Transforming Data Archives unified for me (i) ideas about anti-institutional values expressed in postmodernism and (ii) current organizational threats to data archives. I have been troubled by the struggles we have confronted in Canada to establish a national institution to preserve data.
June 14, 2005
A session at the Edinburgh conference addressed a topic that arose earlier in the year on the IASSIST email discussion list about how people prepare and enter the profession of data librarianship. In general, is there a profession of data librarianship?An interesting question was presented on the IASSIST email discussion list earlier this year asking how one becomes a data librarian. Several people replied by relating personal accounts about their entry into this profession.
June 13, 2005
Ernie Boyko began his first term as the incoming President of IASSIST in Edinburgh. A little less than a year since his retirement with Statistics Canada, Ernie Boyko took the reigns of IASSIST as their new President. Having retired at the end of June 2004, Ernie has kept himself busy in the world of data as a VP with Nesstar Americas Inc. He has also remained active as an external adviser with the Data Liberation Initiative’s (DLI) External Advisory Committee and as an instructor in the DLI training programme.
June 13, 2005
Ann Green completed her second term as President of IASSIST during the conference in Edinburgh. A long-standing member of IASSIST, Ann served as Vice-President from 1997 to 2001 before serving as President from 2001 to 2005. She has been a excellent leader achieving many accomplishments during her tenure. She brought in a new strategic planning process into 2003, which resulted in a Strategic Plan released in May 2004. This Plan is now being integrated into the directions of our Standing Committees and Action Groups.
June 9, 2005
IASSIST 2005, hosted in Edinburgh from May 24-27, was a rousing success with over 200 participants attending over the four days of conference and workshops. There were many highlights, including a record number of presentations, an earth-shattering reception at Our Dynamic Earth, a joyful conference banquet and ceilidh at the Roxburghe Hotel, a maze of outstanding posters and demonstrations, two thought-provoking plenary sessions and a new conference wrap-up song by Melanie.
June 7, 2005
The IASSIST Communiqué is a place for discussions and news about all aspects of research data and the professionals responsible for collecting, preserving and providing access to such data. As such, this site welcomes comments on issues that promote preservation and access to data as well as material about best practices in data archiving and data services. While the content of this site does not necessarily represent official positions of IASSIST, we hope that the ideas in these discussions will provoke further debate and will eventually lead to positive outcomes.
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