University of Calgary hosts meetings as part of national discussion on research data management

As part of a national discussion on research data management, Libraries and Cultural Resources (LCR) hosted meetings on Jan. 18 that included representatives from Canada’s federal research funding agencies, the Portage Network and 10 institutions in Alberta and Saskatchewan. The Tri-Agency, which includes the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), is developing a draft research data management policy and seeking input from key stakeholders on possible policy elements.   

In 2016, the Tri-Agency released a Statement of Principles on Digital Data Management. Currently under consideration are requirements for universities to develop and publish institutional strategies, for researchers to complete data management plans for agency-funded research and for grant recipients to deposit data and code in a public repository to ensure safe storage and preservation.

Taking part in the meetings in the Taylor Family Digital Library were senior research administrators, research services officers, ethics officers and senior librarians from the University of Calgary, University of Alberta, Mount Royal University, Northern Alberta Institute of Technology, Southern Alberta Institute of Technology, University of Lethbridge, MacEwan University, Athabasca University, University of Regina and University of Saskatchewan.

• Photo above: Meetings with Tri-Agency officials took place Jan. 18, 2018, at the University of Calgary. Back: Jeremy Geelen, SSHRC. Front, from left: Shannon Cobb, NSERC; Matthew Lucas, SSHRC; Amanda Crupi, CIHR; John Reynolds, associate vice president (research); Tom Hickerson, vice-provost (libraries and cultural resources); Jeff Moon, Portage Network; Susan Powelson, associate university librarian (Technology, Discovery and Digital Services). 

SSHRC collaborated with Libraries and Cultural Resources in organizing the activity. Presenters included Matthew Lucas and Jeremy Geelen from SSHRC, who discussed Tri-Agency research data management policy development, and Jeff Moon of the Canadian Association of Research Libraries’ Portage Network, who demonstrated how Portage is developing resources and platforms to support researchers and institutions in conducting good data management.

Similar meetings have already taken place with universities in central Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia, with more consultations planned for universities in southern Ontario and Atlantic Canada. While in Calgary, Tri-Agency officials held additional meetings with staff in Libraries and Cultural Resources and with the University of Calgary’s associate deans (research).

“We are pleased to have welcomed colleagues from Alberta and Saskatchewan to our campus and glad to have the opportunity to represent our scholars by having a role in these discussions,” explains John Reynolds, University of Calgary associate vice-president (research). “By taking part in this process, the University of Calgary is able to support Canada’s leading role in the research enterprise.”

“University libraries play a significant role in supporting the work of scholars and we were happy to contribute to this national dialogue,” says Tom Hickerson, vice-provost (LCR) and university librarian.

Reynolds and Hickerson co-chair the university’s Research Data Stewardship Committee.

LCR offers a number of tools to assist campus researchers:

• Support using the data management planning tool created by the Portage Network
• Access to and support using Dataverse, a data repository hosted through Scholars Portal, a service of the Ontario Council of University Libraries
• Regular workshops on creating data management plans

The Tri-Agency plans to launch a consultation on a draft Tri-Agency Research Data Management Policy later this year.