This conceptual article considers data used in the humanities and the human sciences, which are fundamentally different from data in other disciplines, such as the sciences or medicine. Data in the humanities are, however, equally important to study and understand. Humanists and others studying human artifacts often face the dual challenge of both…

Text and data mining activities -- that is, the automated processing of digital materials to uncover new knowledge -- have become more frequent in all areas of scientific research. Because they require a massive use of copyrighted work, there are evident conflicts with copyright legislation. Countries at the forefront of research and development…

Recent discourse and research in academic and business settings emphasize the growing importance of improving data and information literacy in both settings. This exploratory study examines the relevance of a set of proposed baseline business data literacy competencies for the workplace, developed by librarians for undergraduates. The authors…

Libraries remain one of the last places on campus where the purging of usage data is encouraged and "tracking" is a dirty word. While some libraries have demonstrated the usefulness of analytics, opponents bring up issues of privacy and debate the feasibility of student-generated library data for planning and assessment. Using a study…

Diversity audits are frequently used as an assessment method to measure the diversity of a library collection. Yet, there is not frequent research on the aftermath of diversity audits, especially in the context of comparing data from several audits to assess the difference in the makeup of a library collection. In this article, the author…

Higher education data mining and analytics, like learning analytics, may improve learning experiences and outcomes. However, such practices are rife with student privacy concerns and other ethics issues. It is crucial that student privacy expectations and preferences are considered in the design of educational data analytics. This study forefronts…

The use of text mining tools can help librarians improve the precision of searches, increase search sensitivity, and translate search strategies across multiple research databases. When combined with the intuitive approaches that librarians commonly use, text mining tools help reduce biases by improving the objectivity, transparency, and…

Libraries at academic institutions have been involved in research data management services (RDMS) for more than ten years. Institutions have adapted their service models in response to funder, journal, and federal mandates that have consequently increased RDMS demand. However, institutions that hope to start or grow their services may have…

The intersection of Data Science (DS) and Library and Information Science (LIS) is rapidly developing, with a notable need for ongoing transdisciplinary training between practitioners in these two fields. The LIS Education and Data Science Integrated Network Group (LEADING) fellowship program and its ancillary community of practice (CoP) showcase…

Effective research data management (RDM) is essential to modern scientific investigations. As the volume and complexity of research data increase, researchers, research institutions, and countries are pressured to improve data management practices to ensure transparency, reproducibility, sharing, and reuse of their findings. Researchers and…

Activities using volunteered geographic information (VGI), geospatial data generated by nonprofessionals, provide an instructional approach that allows participants to work with big data--large, complex data sets--in a noncompetitive, cooperative environment. Research suggests that humanitarian mapping activities offer an effective means of…

This study investigates scientists' data needs to provide a basis for professionals in research data management (RDM) to tailor services to meet those needs. Eighty-one participants completed a survey after they had asked a question at a Data Help Desk staffed by data management professionals at one of two science conferences. The qualitative…

In fiscal year 2017, The Ohio State University Libraries in Columbus piloted the purchase of research data sets to explore how to integrate this format into the standard workflows of the collections strategist and electronic resources officer. The pilot project had few restrictions except that one-time money must be used and purchases must be…

This study investigates how article downloads from ScienceDirect changed after Temple University Libraries downsized its all-inclusive Elsevier big deal bundle to a selective custom package. After the libraries lost current-year access to nearly half of Elsevier's active journals, the total downloads from Elsevier journals declined by 16.2 percent…

The ability to interact with and properly manage data in a research setting has become increasingly important in all disciplines. Libraries are attempting to identify their role in providing data management services. However, humanities faculty's conceptions of data and their data management practices are not well-known. This qualitative study…