Scholarly Communication at Texas A&M

At the recent Annual External Funding Conference of the American Association of State Colleges & Universities, an NSF representative shared some details about the soon-to-be-implemented Data Management Plan requirement. Jean Feldman, Head of the NSF Policy Office, Division of Institution & Award Support, presented the following information (Original source available here)

• The DMP is a change in implementation of NSF’s existing data sharing policy, which requires awardees to share their data within a reasonable length of time, as long as the cost is modest
• The DMP requirement is the first step in what will be a more comprehensive approach to data
• The changes are designed to address trends and needs in the modern era of data-driven science
• NSF wants to avoid a one-size-fits-all apporach to data sharing
• The DMP is a supplement to the proposal document, and should describe how the proposal will conform to NSF Policy on the dissemination and sharing of research results
• The DMP will be reviewed as an intergral part of the proposal, falling under Intellectual Merit or Broader Impacts or both, as appropriate for the community of relevance
• NSF FastLane will automatically check for compliance with the DMP requirement, in the same way it currently handles mentoring plans
• (and, perhaps most interestingly, an apparent opt out provision for the DMP): A valid DMP may include only the statement that no detailed plan is needed, as long as the statement is accompanied by a clear justification

On a related note, Texas A&M’s VPR Office is establishing, through the Council of Principal Investigators, an NSF Data Management Plan Committee to “review and address NSF requirements for data management plans; and implement and establish services and guidelines to the faculty when developing plans”.

Additionally, representatives from the Texas Digital Library will also be attending a Fall meeting of VPs for Research at all TDL schools to discuss data management requirements of federal grants.

A hot-off-the-press announcement [sent yesterday as a detailed email to graduate schools; today available as an official press release on their website] from ProQuest reveals that they will no longer charge institutions for uploading electronic theses and dissertations to the ProQuest digital database. This cataclysmic change will go into affect on September 27, 2010 for all clients who use the ProQuest ETD Administrator tool to handle the transfer of ETD files and metadata to the company. This means a savings of $65/$55 per dissertation or thesis, respectively.

For institutions not using the proprietary upload tool, fees will still apply. Also, the option of publishing the ETD via Open Access will still cost $95. per document, regardless of submission method.

Once the shock wears off over this announcement, an analysis on what this development means for scholarly publishing, libraries and the ETD community will be forthcoming. I promise! For now, it’s enough to celebrate this windfall reduction in cost for graduate students.

Some additional information about the National Science Foundation’s requirements for Data Management Plans (DMP) is available on the website for the agency’s Directorate for Engineering. An excerpt from this blurb follows:

Beginning in January 2011 (actual implementation date to be announced), a Data Management Plan (DMP) will be required for all new NSF proposals. FastLane will be updated to enable its upload as a separate Supplementary Document. Proposals that do not include the requisite DMP will be stopped from submission. Specific guidance will be included in an upcoming revision to the NSF Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide. Please note, the Engineering Directorate (ENG) will have additional guidance for proposals submitted to ENG programs. Detailed instructions, including responses to Frequently Asked Questions will be provided at the time of implementation.

An accompanying document, Data Management for NSF Engineering Directorate Proposals and Awards, provides very helpful details about their expectations for the DMP. According to these guidelines, we can expect the following components to be required:

Expected data

- Describe the types of data, samples, physical collections, software, curriculum materials, and other materials to be proced in the course of the project.

- Describe the expected types of data to be retained

Period of data retention

- Minimum retention of research data is 3 years after the conclusion of the award or three years after public release, whichever is later.

- Additional guidelines on data retention provisions with respect to publication, patents, student research, etc. are provided in the document.

Data formats and dissemination

- Describe specific data formas, media, and dissemination approaches used to share the data and metadata with others

- Describe policies for public access, including provisions for protecting privacy, confidentiality, security, intellectual property, other rights or managing other restrictions.

- Describe how data are to be shared and managed with partners, if applicable, or other major stakeholders or user communities.

- Clearly indicate publication delay policies, if applicable

Data storage and preservation of access

- Describe physical and cyber resources and facilities used for preservation and storage of research data.

For Principal Investigators in the Texas A&M community, please feel free to contact the Libraries’ Digital Services & Scholarly Communications staff at digital@library.tamu.edu for assistance in preparing your DMP. We have a range of services and facilities you may wish to take advantage of, including metadata consultation, hosting of digital resources via the Texas A&M Digital repository, and a robust preservation facilitiy managed by the Texas Digital Library and hosted at the Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC).

There are currently 12,623 items in the Repository http://repository.tamu.edu. Overall, there were 94,571 downloads (called “bitstream views”) in July.

The number following each URL is the number of times the item was viewed last month.
The topics represented demonstrate the diversity and relevance of research supported by Texas A&M.

1. Introduction to vectors and tensors, Vol 1: linear and multilinear algebra  (1969.1/2502) <http://repository.tamu.edu/handle/1969.1/2502> 207
2. Introduction to vectors and tensors, Vol 2: vector and tensor analysis  (1969.1/3609) <http://repository.tamu.edu/handle/1969.1/3609> 141
3. Cotton Worms – I.D. Guide  (1969.1/87419) <http://repository.tamu.edu/handle/1969.1/87419> 125
4. Introduction to continuum mechanics for engineers  (1969.1/2501) <http://repository.tamu.edu/handle/1969.1/2501> 112
5. Process and reliability assessment of plasma-based copper etch process  (1969.1/ETD-TAMU-2902) <http://repository.tamu.edu/handle/1969.1/ETD-TAMU-2902> 85
6. The Mica shipwreck: deepwater nautical archaeology in the Gulf of Mexico  (1969.1/311) <http://repository.tamu.edu/handle/1969.1/311> 68
7. Evaporative Roof Cooling – A Simple Solution to Cut Cooling Costs  (1969.1/6787) <http://repository.tamu.edu/handle/1969.1/6787> 51
8. Application of Multizone HVAC Control Using Wireless Sensor Networks and Actuating Vent Registers… <http://repository.tamu.edu/handle/1969.1/6214> 50
9. Ancient ships of Japan  (1969.1/4415) <http://repository.tamu.edu/handle/1969.1/4415> 48
10. Managed pressure drilling techniques and tools  (1969.1/3884) <http://repository.tamu.edu/handle/1969.1/3884> 46

The Texas A&M Digital Repository has limited usage statistics available; if you wish to see them, go to http://repository.tamu.edu/statistics. Monthly statistics are available from the left navigation. The number following each URL is the number of times the item was viewed last month.

The Texas A&M Digital Repository has been in the news lately! The story about how the Libraries cataloged more than 2300 ETDs was picked up by both the Texas Digital Library blog and newsletter, and by the Duraspace blog.
Read all about us!

Texas A&M Adds 2300+ ETDs to DSpace Repository

Texas A&M Libraries catalogs 2300+ ETDs

And don’t forget to the visit the repository! http://repository.tamu.edu