Purpose: This poster demonstrates the procedures and tools developed to deposit datasets in an Institutional Repository (IR) and assign Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs).

Setting/Participants/Resources: This research is being conducted by a team of librarians, data managers and scientists that are collaborating with representatives from the Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research (SCOR) and the International Oceanographic Data and Information Exchange (IODE) of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC). The goal is to identify best practices for tracking data provenance and clearly attributing credit to data collectors/providers.

Description: Current literature on the topic of data publication suggests that success is best achieved when there is a partnership between scientists, data managers, and librarians. The Marine Biological Laboratory/Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (MBLWHOI) Library and the Biological and Chemical Oceanography Data Management Office (BCO-DMO) have developed tools and processes to automate the ingestion of metadata from BCO-DMO for deposit with datasets into the Institutional Repository (IR) Woods Hole Open Access Server (WHOAS). The system also incorporates functionality for BCO-DMO to request a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) from the Library. This partnership allows the Library to work with a trusted data repository to ensure high quality data while the data repository utilizes library services and is assured of a permanent archive of the copy of the data extracted from the repository database.

While the WHOI Data Library and Archives has long been recognized as a valuable local resource, this project is an example of an important new role for the facility in providing the essential service of scientific data publication. The diversity and volume of modern research data sets precludes their publication in the peer reviewed journals that are the currency of scientific research. The process of developing the initial publication system required active engagement of the research community and the working system provides a valuable resource that supports networked science by improving access to data, enabling accurate reuse of data and facilitating proper citation of data resources.

Results/Outcome: The assignment of persistent identifiers enables accurate data citation. The Library can assign a DOI to appropriate datasets deposited in WHOAS. A primary activity is working with authors to deposit datasets associated with published articles. The DOI would ideally be assigned before submission and be included in the published paper so readers can link directly to the dataset, but DOIs are also being assigned to datasets related to articles after publication. WHOAS metadata records link the article to the datasets and the datasets to the article.

The assignment of DOIs has enabled another important collaboration with Elsevier, publisher of educational and professional science journals. Elsevier can now link from articles in the Science Direct database to the datasets available from WHOAS that are related to that article. The data associated with the article are freely available from WHOAS and accompanied by a Dublin Core metadata record.

In addition, the Library has worked with researchers to deposit datasets in WHOAS that are not appropriate for national, international, or domain specific data repositories. These datasets currently include audio, text and image files.

Related Publications:

http://www.iode.org/index.php?option=com_oe&task=viewDocumentRecord&docID=2457

http://www.iode.org/index.php?option=com_oe&task=viewDocumentRecord&docID=5437

http://www.iode.org/index.php?option=com_oe&task=viewDocumentRecord&docID=8098

http://tw.rpi.edu/proj/portal.wiki/images/3/3b/JewettSummary.pdf