Blogs

ICPSR to Participate in Project to Certify Digital Archives

By Ann

September 15, 2005

ICPSR will be taking part in the RLG-NARA Digital Repository Certification project to identify the criteria repositories must meet for reliably storing, migrating, and providing access to digital collections.ICPSR has been selected to serve as a “test subject” in the Center for Research Libraries (CRL) project to develop an audit checklist for certification of trusted digital repositories. Funded by the Mellon Foundation, this project builds on the work of a Task Force consisting of members from the Research Libraries Group (RLG) and the U.

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The Practice of User Registration to Access Data

By administrator

September 14, 2005

I am writing to address an issue that is coming up at UCLA with increasing frequency. More and more data distributors (agencies, archives, individuals) require a user to “register” before downloading data from a web site. These registrations take many forms and there is a continuum in terms of levels of detail and responsibility assigned to the user. It makes it hard for me to be of service to users when each study requires every individual to perform the registration task.

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Papers from First E-Social-Science Conference Online

By San

August 29, 2005

The papers from the first conference on e-social science, which was held in late June of 2005 in Manchester, England, are now online. -Contributed by Jim Jacobs

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Data versus Conventional Wisdom: A Book Review

By Chuck

August 16, 2005

Freakonomics by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner provides an economist’s analysis of some social issues not normally associated with economics, such as, the causes of crime, the impact of parenting on child development, and the power of information in combating racial discrimination. This review identifies four common themes running throughout the book and offers a critical assessment of the strenghts and weaknesses of this book from one data librarian’s perspective.Following the suggestion of two IASSIST friends, I added Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything by Steven Levitt and Stephan Dubner to my vacation reading list, although I must admit that this was the only non-mystery that I read this summer.

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CODATA meeting notes

By San

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!

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IASSIST Members Participate in Social Science Week

By San

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.

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Report on Access to Scientific Research Data

By Chuck

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.

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Postmodern Values that Threaten National Data Archives

By Chuck

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.

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Discovering a Profession: the accidental data librarian

By Chuck

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.

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Ernie Boyko Begins First Term as Incoming President

By administrator

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.

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ICPSR to Participate in Project to Certify Digital Archives

The Practice of User Registration to Access Data

Papers from First E-Social-Science Conference Online

Data versus Conventional Wisdom: A Book Review

CODATA meeting notes

IASSIST Members Participate in Social Science Week

Report on Access to Scientific Research Data

Postmodern Values that Threaten National Data Archives

Discovering a Profession: the accidental data librarian

Ernie Boyko Begins First Term as Incoming President

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