Digital Project Planning & Data Curation: IU Bloomington Libraries' Scholars' Commons

Analysis of Digital Project Planning Consultations, Fall 2014 & Spring 2015: by Meridith Beck Sayre, CLIR Data Curation Postdoc for the Humanities and Michelle Dalmau, Head of Digital Collections Services, 7/15/2015This report provides an overview of digital project planning and data curation needs demonstrated by Indiana University Bloomington faculty, students and staff as well as preliminary recommendations for ongoing successful support of activities in digital project planning and data curation. Based on the analysis of consultation log data and notes captured during the Fall 2014 and Spring 2015 semesters, we have developed a better understanding of digital scholarship requirements, including discipline-­‐specific needs and stages of project development. Of the 45 total consultations focusing on digital project planning, 40 were unique individuals concerned with 35 discrete projects. We have identified three project stages: 1) conceptual, 2) beginning (early design and planning), and 3) advanced (some level of implementation has been achieved). Of the 35 discrete projects assessed, 54% of these are in the conceptual stage; 31% in the beginning stage and 14% are in the advanced stage. Further analysis revealed a set of recurring questions and needs per project stage as explained in the “Analysis of Common Questions and Needs” section of this report (p. 6). Although the data set for this analysis is relatively small and impacted by external factors associated with the opening of a new space and the re-­grouping and re-presentation of existing services in support of scholarship, three primary recommendations emerged: 1) expand digital project planning documentation for scholars including templates for project charter and data management and partnership agreements, 2) adopt a suite of commonly requested tools and technologies, including more dedicated technical support and development for these tools and technologies, and 3) ramp up data curation awareness as part of the Scholars’ Commons programming