1. Data Use and Re-Use within an Applied Science Research Cluster
May 20, 2018
Data Use and Re-Use within an Applied Science Research Cluster
Fletcher T.H. Cole School of Information Systems, Technology and Management
Shane Cox UNESCO Centre for Membrane Science and Technology, UNSW
Maude Frances Digital Library Development Unit, UNSW Library

2. Data Use and Re-Use within an Applied Science Research Cluster
May 20, 2018
Data Use and Re-Use within an Applied Science Research Cluster
Aims:
Outline project
Discuss general approach
Make some preliminary observations
The Aims of the report are to
Outline project
Report on progress
Make some preliminary observations
[ In view of short time available, I prefer to take questions at the end. ]

3. Motivation Resurgence of interest in data management
May 20, 2018
Motivation
Resurgence of interest in data management
Massive volumes of data; increase in complexity
Large e-research projects
Hopes and claims for re-use and exploitation; better ROI
Many assumptions made in management policy and systems design
Multiplicity of ideas about data and data vocabularies
Data originate in various practice communities and sub-disciplines
Problematic when discipline data ("application domain") is represented in computerised info systems (in an "application")
Attempts to share data expose the ways in which data is understood
Little detailed knowledge of practitioners’ working definitions and actual use of data
Much of the writing about data, such as in proposals for large-scale data-management projects in e-science, has little basis in detailed knowledge of practitioners' working definitions and use of data; or if it does, this is not clear. However, there is a small, but growing, body of research that does attempt to report on detailed workplace practices, and it is to this that our study aims to contribute.
One occasion which might prompt deeper reflection on the data-concept is when an attempt is made to share data among associates, or to re-use data in a project quite different from that in which it originated.

4. May 20, 2018
Research questions
How is data constituted (recognised and otherwise made intelligible) in the course of day-to-day activities?
How is data that did not originate with a practitioner utilised by them?
What role in relation to data, and its re-use, is played by data repositories, and information and communication technologies?
The research design & analysis is being guided by the following questions:
How is data constituted (recognised and otherwise made intelligible) in the course of day-to-day activities?
How is data that did not originate with a practitioner utilised by them?
What role in relation to data, and its re-use, is played by data repositories, and information and communication technologies?
2:15

5. Location Discipline areas Affiliations Organizational structure
May 20, 2018
Location
Discipline areas
Applied science and engineering
Polymer & analytical chemists, material scientists, computer modelers, chemical & mechanical engineers, data managers
Affiliations
9 universities, CSIRO
Organizational structure
Cluster of research groups
Geographically dispersed around Australia
Central data repository, also covering fabrication, characterisation, operation and evaluation of systems and materials of interest to the Cluster
Characterised by diversity
Diverse attitudes and practices
Potential to present moments of disjuncture that highlight aspects of data not otherwise noticed
An opportunity to explore the topic of data use and re-use has been presented by the collaborative research being undertaken by an Applied Science Research Cluster. Members of the Cluster are located in a number of centres, in different organizations, and represent diverse disciplinary backgrounds, so attitudes and practices with regard to data are likely to be as diverse.

6. Sources of evidence Documentation Interviews with practitioners
May 20, 2018
Sources of evidence
Documentation
As orientation
To identify role of documentation in the constitution of data
Interviews with practitioners
As commentary on concurrent activity
Observation of practitioners
Interaction among practitioners, concerning data
Data-related procedures
May involve commentary also
Evidence is being gathered through interviews, examination of documentation, and observation of episodes of interaction.
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7. Preliminary observations
May 20, 2018
Preliminary observations
We can look at ‘data’ from static and dynamic points of view
Data management policies usually take a static view
e.g. documentation of meta-data
Data has a natural history
Highly contextualised by and through local practice
Constituted within a work flow (time & space dimensions)
Sequence (temporal order) is fundamental
At different stages, different degrees of collaboration and disclosure, different locations
Analysis needs to preserve the phenomena
Avoid analytical methods which destroy
The value of story
Some observations
Data in motion /process /static view of meta-data, which then needs to be utilized by participants – it it the utilization that should be the focus of our research
Sequence important
Data are seen to be highly contextualised by and through local practice, some of which can be explicitly documented and some of which cannot,
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8. May 20, 2018
Some references
Borgman, C.L Scholarship in the Digital Age: Information, Infrastructure, and the Internet. Cambridge: MIT Press.
Cole, F.T.H The discourse of data: Exploring data-related vocabularies in geographic information systems description. Journal of Information Science, 31(1),
Goodwin, C Action and embodiment within situated human interaction. Journal of Pragmatics, 32(10),
Heath, C. & Luff, P Technology in Action. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Roth, W. M. & Bowen, G. M Digitizing lizards: The topology of ‘vision’ in ecological fieldwork. Social Studies of Science, 29(5),
Zimmerman, A. S New knowledge from old data: The role of standards in the sharing and reuse of ecological data. Science, Technology & Human Values, 33(5),

9. May 20, 2018
Acknowledgements
Study program support gratefully received from the ISTM School & the Australian School of Business