Abstract
A need was identified by the Department of Population Health (DPH) for an academic medical center to facilitate research using large, externally funded datasets. Barriers identified included difficulty in accessing and working with the datasets, and a lack of knowledge about institutional licenses. A need to facilitate sharing and reuse of datasets generated by researchers at the institution (internal datasets) was also recognized. The library partnered with a researcher in the DPH to create a catalog of external datasets, which provided detailed metadata and access instructions. The catalog listed researchers at the medical center and the main campus with expertise in using these external datasets in order to facilitate research and cross-campus collaboration. Data description standards were reviewed to create a set of metadata to facilitate access to both externally generated datasets, as well as the internally generated datasets that would constitute the next phase of development of the catalog. Interviews with a range of investigators at the institution identified DPH researchers as most interested in data sharing, therefore targeted outreach to this group was undertaken. Initial outreach resulted in additional external datasets being described, new local experts volunteering, proposals for additional functionality, and interest from researchers in inclusion of their internal datasets in the catalog. Despite limited outreach, the catalog has had ~250 unique page views in the three months since it went live. The establishment of the catalog also led to partnerships with the medical center’s data management core and the main university library. The Data Catalog in its present state serves a direct user need from the Department of Population Health to describe large, externally funded datasets. The library will use this initial strong community of users to expand the catalog and include internally generated research datasets. Future expansion plans will include working with DataCore and the main university library.
Highlights
A need was identified by the Department of Population Health at NYU School of Medicine to facilitate research using large, externally funded datasets (e.g. U.S Census data, public health survey data)
The creation of the Data Catalogue has provided a tool for researchers to find information about available datasets, how to access them and who is available locally to guide them
The homepage of the Data Catalogue provides a simple interface where researchers can locate datasets either by using the search bar, browsing and refining results with the filters located along the left side of the page, or using a combination of searching and filtering
Summary
A need was identified by the Department of Population Health at NYU School of Medicine to facilitate research using large, externally funded datasets (e.g. U.S Census data, public health survey data). The Health Sciences Library subsequently partnered with the Department of Population Health to create a catalogue of these datasets to address the identified barriers. This Data Catalogue provided detailed metadata, access instructions, and information about researchers at the institution with expertise in a given dataset. Library plans included expansion of the Catalogue to include datasets generated by the institution’s researchers (internal datasets), with the goals of facilitating data sharing and reuse; and strengthening collaboration within the medical center, between the medical center and the university’s other campuses, and with researchers beyond the institution. This paper will outline the strategy used to create the initial Catalogue for external datasets, and describe steps for expanding the Catalogue to include internal datasets
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
