Digitizing a Research Legacy

by Mattilyn Mortensen

The open access or open science movement is an effort to get data and information out from behind paywalls so anyone can use it. University libraries play an essential role in this work.

In the case of the Patagonia right whale project, librarians at the U's J. Willard Marriott Library are helping digitize photos and creating a public repository of data that anyone will be able to access- from researchers to school children. This process includes ensuring any data that was already digital is stored in a format that will be accessible for years to come.

Lowing the barrier to data access has many benefits, including allowing for other researchers to add to the data set and for more research to be reproduced.

Librarians can also assist researchers by helping develop visualization tools that make data easier to understand.

"If you really want to reach the people who the research is going to impact, you have to think about the best way to present the information," said Kaylee Alexander, a data librarian at the Marriott Library. "Is it creating a series of data visualization dashboards? Is it curating a digital exhibition?"

Victoria Rowntree is excited when she think about who will be able to access her data.

"It's my dream for a group of eight graders learning how to ask questions of a data set to be able to use this information," she said. "They can ask questions like, how many times was this whale seen with a calf? How many calves were born this year? A lot of calves died this year, what may have happened? The library's interface is what will allow people to ask quesitons like this and learn from the data set."