Expanding the table: The role of library data professionals in data governance

Abstract

As research data management and sharing has become ubiquitous, the need for data governance — coordinated decision-making around research data across all levels of an institution — has come to the forefront. Data governance is needed to address immediate and changing issues such as emerging funder policies as well as the ongoing challenge of researchers leaving an institution.

Data governance often falls under the purview of information technology units. However, this technocentric approach may conflict with the values and real world aims of university research, resulting in policies and practices that create additional barriers. Due to the traditionally hierarchical nature of research institutions, there is a need for broader engagement and representation in governance structures. Currently, data governance typically reflects the priorities and perspectives of those who are white, able-bodied, and male. While this is evolving, there is a specific need to identify and include the communities who have been previously excluded from decision-making and to ensure their participation in order to anticipate potential governance problems across a range of scenarios.

Due to their familiarity with working across disciplines and throughout their organizations and expertise in areas like data sharing and preservation, library data professionals should be key partners in data governance processes. At our institutions, each of us has observed common challenges and witnessed the need for more participatory data governance practices. Seeing these issues, as librarians working with data, we’ve raised our voices and used our established credibility to bring together the disparate groups and to ensure library expertise is utilized when policy and practice decisions are being made.

This presentation will explore current challenges in research data governance stemming from the dominant technocentric approach. We seek to extend the conversation and to identify opportunities for our community to advance more transparent and collaborative data governance practices.