eScience Librarianship Research Articles

A Scoping Review: Synthesizing Evidence on Data Management Instruction in Academic Libraries

The present scoping review examines empirical RDM instruction-related studies in academic libraries between 2010 and 2021. We searched three databases (LISTA, ERIC, and MEDLINE Complete) and two journals (Journal of eScience Librarianship and International Journal of Digital Curation) and identified 124 articles for inclusion. Cohen's kappa indicated a strong to perfect inter-rater reliability on the coding between the authors. Overall, the findings indicate an increasing trend in empirical research regarding the topic of RDM instruction across many countries and regions after 2010. Also, faculty, researchers, and librarians in the higher education field were the primary audiences for the RDM instruction with few studies addressing RDM instruction for the undergraduate and graduate levels. In terms of the RDM aspects, RDM needs assessments were investigated the most among the reviewed studies, followed by data sharing and data management plans. Additionally, the face-to-face learning context was the most popular for RDM instruction, followed by online and hybrid contexts. However, few studies used an intervention research design while delivering instruction to the target audience. This study highlights the substantial characteristics and methodological designs of the RDM instruction empirical research and provides implications for approaches and techniques used to study RDM instruction in academic libraries.

Research data management: a bibliometric and altmetric study based on Dimensions

Objective. This study aims to analyze the scientific production on research data management indexed in the Dimensions database.
 Design/Methodology/Approach. Using the term “research data management” in the Dimensions database, 677 articles were retrieved and analyzed employing bibliometric and altmetric indicators. The Altmetrics.com system was used to collect data from alternative virtual sources to measure the online attention received by the retrieved articles. Bibliometric networks from journals bibliographic coupling and keywords co-occurrence were generated using the VOSviewer software.
 Results/Discussion. Growth in scientific production over the period 1970-2021 was observed. The countries/regions with the highest rates of publications were the USA, Germany, and the United Kingdom. Among the most productive authors were Andrew Martin Cox, Stephen Pinfield, Marta Teperek, Mary Anne Kennan, and Amanda L. Whitmire. The most productive journals were the International Journal of Digital Curation, Journal of eScience Librarianship, and Data Science Journal, while the most representative research areas were Information and Computing Sciences, Information Systems, and Library and Information Studies.
 Conclusions. The multidisciplinarity in research data management was demonstrated by publications occurring in different fields of research, such as Information and Computing Sciences, Information Systems, Library and Information Studies, Medical and Health Sciences, and History and Archeology. About 60% of the publications had at least one citation, with a total of 3,598 citations found, featuring a growing academic impact.
 Originality/Value. This bibliometric and altmetric study allowed the analysis of the literature on research data management. The theme was investigated in the Dimensions database and analyzed using productivity, impact, and online attention indicators.

Data Soup Webinar, December 16, 2021: hosted by the Data Curation Network and the Journal of eScience Librarianship

Data Soup is a collaboration between the Journal of eScience Librarianship (JeSLIB) and the Data Curation Networkto host a series of community focused webinars/discussions to exchange practices for curating research data of different formats or subject areas among data curators. The lineup of the inaugural webinar includes the following speakers and topics from the recent JeSLIB Special Issue: Data Curation in Practice: Creating Guidance for Canadian Dataverse Curators: Portage Network’s Dataverse Curation Guide Alexandra Cooper, Michael Steeleworthy, Ève Paquette-Bigras, Erin Clary, Erin MacPherson, Louise Gillis, and Jason Brodeur, https://escholarship.umassmed.edu/jeslib/vol10/iss3/2; Active Curation of Large Longitudinal Surveys: A Case Study Inna Kouper, Karen L. Tucker, Kevin Tharp, Mary Ellen van Booven, and Ashley Clark, https://doi.org/10.7191/jeslib.2021.1210; Data Curation through Catalogs: A Repository-Independent Model for Data Discovery Helenmary Sheridan, Anthony J. Dellureficio, Melissa A. Ratajeski, Sara Mannheimer, and Terrie R. Wheeler, https://doi.org/10.7191/jeslib.2021.1203.

Special Issue: 2021 Research Data Access and Preservation Summit

The Journal of eScience Librarianship has partnered with the Research Data Access and Preservation (RDAP) Association for a fourth year to publish selected conference proceedings. The fully-virtual 2021 Research Data Access and Preservation (RDAP) Summit focused on the theme of Radical Change and Data. This editorial introduces the 2021 RDAP Special Issue of the Journal of eScience Librarianship.

Authorship Trends of Research Articles Published in Seven Scientific, Technical, Engineering, and Medical (STEM) Library Journals: Analysis of STEM Library Research from 2016 to 2019 Update

ABSTRACT Authorship patterns of research articles published in seven Scientific, Technical, Engineering, and Medical (STEM) library science journals have been examined previously for the five years from 2011 to 2015 by using bibliometric techniques. This study has now been updated for the years from 2016 to 2019 by analyzing 590 research articles. The same journals: Science & Technology Libraries, Issues in Science & Technology Librarianship, Journal of eScience Librarianship, Journal of Hospital Librarianship, Journal of the Medical Library Association, Medical Reference Services Quarterly, and Health Information and Libraries Journal, were studied. Some of the variables we have examined in both samples include (1) authorship, (2) affiliation, (3) country of origin, and (4) topic of the research articles. The findings presented a unique opportunity to determine the current state of art in STEM librarianship research by using the most recent data gathered from seven prominent STEM library science journals.

Special Issue: 2020 Research Data Access and Preservation Summit

The Journal of eScience Librarianship has partnered with the Research Data Access & Preservation (RDAP) Association for a third year to publish selected conference proceedings. This issue highlights the research presented at the RDAP 2020 Summit and the community it has fostered.

Special Issue: 2018 Research Data Access and Preservation Summit

The <em>Journal of eScience Librarianship</em> partners with the Research Data Access & Preservation (RDAP) Association to publish selected conference proceedings. This issue highlights some of the novel ideas, programs, and perspectives presented at the RDAP 2018 Summit.

Open Access, Open Data, and Open Scholarship

The <em>Journal of eScience Librarianship</em> is in the “business of scholarship” and dedicated to <em>openly </em>disseminating the theory and practice of librarians who are active in data-driven research, open access, science, and data. This issue’s authors write about developing programs, tools, and frameworks in support of open data and data management.

A Brief History of Data Visualization (and the role of libraries and librarians)

Graphics, illustrations, charts, and tables have accompanied scientific works for as long as people have been reporting findings and publishing papers. Once the purview of researchers and graphic illustrators, today finds libraries and librarians involved in many aspects of data including access, management, preservation, and visualization. This illustrated timeline traces the history of data visualization from generations of hand-drawn images to today’s exploding arena of data production and visualization tools, highlighting the efforts and opportunities for information professionals and introducing this special issue of <em>Journal of eScience Librarianship</em> devoted to data visualization.

In Honor of Peer Reviewers

There is ongoing debate in the scholarly community on the challenges and changes to peer review in an open access environment. The <em>Journal of eScience Librarianship</em> is monitoring these discussions, as well as being proactive in recognizing peer reviewers for their service to data science librarianship.

Authorship Trends of Research Articles Published in Seven Scientific, Technical, Engineering, and Medical (STEM) Library Journals: Analysis of STEM Library Research from 2011–2015

ABSTRACTThe purpose of this study is to examine the authorship patterns of research articles published in seven Scientific, Technical, Engineering, and Medical (STEM) library science journals. The following journals—Science & Technology Libraries, Issues in Science & Technology Librarianship, Journal of eScience Librarianship, Journal of Hospital Librarianship, Journal of the Medical Library Association, Medical Reference Services Quarterly, and Health Information and Libraries Journal—were studied by using bibliometric techniques for the five years from 2011 through 2015. Some of the variables we have examined include (1) authorship, (2) affiliation, (3) country of origin, and (4) topic of the research articles. The findings presented a unique opportunity to determine the current state of art in STEM librarianship research by using the data gathered from seven prominent STEM library science journals.

Charting a New Path: The Evolution of the Journal of eScience Librarianship

The <em>Journal of eScience Librarianship</em> (<em>JeSLIB</em>) has been successful in providing quality and timely scholarship in the area of data science and library services. However, it is a wise strategy to gather feedback and suggestions from readership when planning future changes and initiatives.

Emerging Data Management Roles for Health Librarians in Electronic Medical Records

&lt;p&gt;Objective: To examine current and developing data management roles and opportunities for health librarians&lt;br /&gt;to become involved in electronic medical record (EMR) initiatives. This paper focuses on the Canadian context but has implications farther afield. Methods: To accomplish a state-of-the-art review, searches were conducted in the library and information science databases (LISTA, LISA), biomedical databases (MEDLINE, CINAHL, EMBASE), and on the web for grey literature. Keywords included: clinical librarian, health science librarian, medical librarian, hospital librarian, medical informationist, electronic medical record, EMR, electronic health record, EHR, data management, data curation, health informatics, e-science, and e-science librarianship. MeSH subject headings used were: Medical Records Systems, Computerized/, Electronic Health Records/, and libraries/. Results: There is little evidence of Canadian health librarians’ current involvement in EMR initiatives, but examples from the United States indicate that health librarians’ participation is primarily in system implementation, creating links to the medical literature, and using EMRs to provide patient health information. Further roles for health librarians are emerging in this area as health librarians draw on their core competencies and learn from e-science librarianship to create new opportunities. Data management examples from e-science librarianship, such as building data dictionaries and data management plans and infrastructure, give further direction to health librarians’ involvement in EMRs. Conclusion: As EMRs gradually become more popular in Canada, Canadian health librarians should seek further opportunities for education and outreach to become more involved with these EMR initiatives.&lt;/p&gt;

Mentoring for Emerging Careers in eScience Librarianship: An iSchool – Academic Library Partnership

Objective: Cornell University Library and the School of Information Studies at Syracuse University established a partnership to offer a mentorship program to students enrolled in the eScience Librarianship program at Syracuse. We assessed the success of the program in meeting intended program outcomes.

JESLIB: Evolution of eScience Librarianship in the New England Region and Beyond

JESLIB: Evolution of eScience Librarianship in the New England Region and Beyond

Building an e-Science Portal for Librarians: A Model of Collaboration

The e-Science Portal for New England Librarians (http://esciencelibrary.umassmed.edu) is an openly accessible website targeted specifically for librarians working in research institutions that generate, share, store and/or use data for basic scientific research in the health, biological, and physical sciences. The portal provides links to information on e-Science, e-Science librarianship, current practices, and science disciplines. The portal’s e-Science Community blog http://esciencecommunity.umassmed.edu serves as a bulletin and discussion forum for the latest news, upcoming events, and commentaries. While the portal was originally developed to provide e-Science information to New England Librarians, its openly accessible content is relevant to librarians interested in networked science worldwide. Content for the e-Science Portal for New England Librarians is contributed by a team of nine content editors who are science and medical librarians from diverse New England research libraries. Each content editor identifies, annotates, and aggregates links to resources for a designated focus area of the portal and submits them to the portal’s project coordinator for further review. Following this review, the project coordinator and the portal development team plan the organization and layout of the content in the relevant subject web pages of the portal. The effective collaboration among the content editors and the portal design team has been crucial to the development of an e-Science Portal that provides the essential resources and tools needed by librarians engaging in networked science. The focus of this paper is the model of collaboration adopted by the portal’s design team and content editors.

An Assessment of Needed Competencies to Promote the Data Curation and Management Librarianship of Health Sciences and Science and Technology Librarians in New England

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate health sciences and science and technology librarians’ needed data curation and management (DCM) competencies to support nascent and future patron and institutional eScience research endeavors. The data from this research will be used to align a data curation and management curriculum with the educational needs of an online eScience portal community of users, and create relevant future professional development for librarians interested in data curation and eScience librarianship.

On the Horizon of eScience Librarianship

On the Horizon of eScience Librarianship

E-Science Librarianship: Field Undefined.

The potential of librarians working in e-science, a term for using the Internet and other digital tools to facilitate scientific data collection, management, and sharing, has been the cause of much discussion. Many professionals agree that librarians could participate in or facilitate e-science tasks. This article explores what e-science librarianship is by examining the skills and requirements from job advertisements for e-science related library positions. After reflecting on the sample of job advertisements, the analysis of the sample, and the use of the word e-science itself, the authors conclude that e-science librarianship is at present not a defined field and that the role of librarians in e-science is nebulous. Reprinted by permission of the publisher.