The Value and Impact of Data Sharing and Curation, by Neil Beagrie and John Houghton

Neil Beagrie and John Houghton. The Value and Impact of Data Sharing and Curation: A Synthesis of Three Recent Studies of UK Research Data Centres. (Jisc, 2014).

This was a very interesting study of three data centers to determine their value and impact in relation to their cost. The authors identified data centers in three disciplines: the humanities, social sciences and science. They were the Economic and Social Data Service, the Archaeology Data Service, and the British Atmospheric Data Centre. Key findings include that use of the data centers resulted in a significant increase in research, teaching, and studying efficiency; the value of the data centers exceeded the investments made in them; and the data centers increase the measurable returns on investment.

Their recommendations include (p. 23):

• Continue support for the data centers
• Develop the methods used to study them further
• Promote the standardization of usage statistics
• Study the value and impact of other aspects of the research data curation infrastructure
• Conduct more granular analysis
• Track changes longitudinally
• Study the broader value and impact of data collections

 This study will be of interest to any organization looking to establish a data management service, in particular to universities that are looking to provide justification for funding requests. A link to the report can be found here.