25 Oct Data Sharing: A Problem of Supply or of Demand?
Christine Borgman (Information Studies, UCLA)
Friday, October 25 / 2:00 PM
SSMS 2135
Knowledge sharing in science includes sharing research data. Research funding agencies have focused on increasing the supply of data by requiring data management plans and data sharing. Policy makers have paid surprisingly little attention to the demand for data. It stands to reason that if scholars actively sought data for reuse, then more data would be shared. The few studies that exist on the demand for extant data suggest that researchers rarely are asked for their data and rarely seek data from other investigators. Many investigators have difficulty imagining who might want their data or for what purposes they might be useful. The talk will explore the supply and demand for scientific data reuse, drawing on studies in astronomy and sensor networks, and will discuss implications for science policy.
Sponsored by the IHC’s Machines, People, and Politics RFG and the Center for Information Technology and Society (CITS).