research data: what can libraries do?

Zaven Akopov | “Research Data: What can libraries do? | Helmholtz Open Access Workshop June 11, 2013 |

Zaven Akopov Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY

Research data: what can libraries do?


Contents

• Data preservation as an intrinsic part of Open Data • HEP Data: challenges and specifics • Requirements for documentation and long-time storage • Types of documents • high-level (secondary) data • Assignment of metadata and long-time storage in Inspire


Data Preservation as an intrinsic part of Open Data

• Data management cycle in HEP • data taking – initial storage – data processing – storage of processed data (high level data) – physics analysis (software) – publication of papers (interpretation)

• initially not planned for open access – but limited lifetime of experiments …

• providing infrastructure for data preservation might be paving the path to sustainable (open) access to data


HEP Research Data: Motivation • Accelerators, Detectors • Unique experimental data, usually not reproducable in other labs • A lot of resources and investments to build detectors, provide for manpower for data analysis • By the end of experimental data taking still substantial amount of data not analyzed • The data can also be processed and analyzed using eventually new methods and models which developed over time; new approaches. • Bottomline: the HEP data should be made accessible and be preserved


Efforts and models

• DPHEP Working group active since 2009: www.dphep.org

• 4 “levels” of HEP Research data and its preservation

have been identified

http://www.dphep.org/�


Efforts and models

• Most collaborations and labs plan the “Level 4 preservation” (raw data)

• The requirements of “Level 1” and partially, of “Level 2”

can and should be fulfilled using a high-end bibliographic system, with metadata assignment, etc.

• This is where the Library can help to close the gap in

the complete data preservation cycle: • Identifiable data

• Focus data access: preservation is an integral part of

data management.


Specific cases • To provide the necessary know-how for re-use: not only

the (primary) data itself and analysis software needed, but also the associated documentation related to data taking and analysis (technical guides, internal notes,…)

• … which provide basis for the corresponding

publications – but also substantially more additional information, e.g.: • Details of the data analysis methods (software,

simulation, …) • Detectors and their components (pedestals,

operating parameters, …)

• Need to preserve: secondary data (tables, root scripts, codes, plots) - simplified Data from Level 2


Long-time storage

• Example HERA (DESY): • By the end-of-running, storage on collaboration/IT

structures (servers run by the staff or IT)

• Websites, AFS space, propietary structures, etc.

• Lack of real bibliographic system (metadata, complex search engine, …)

• No consistent strategy and no sustainability: these structures would not be preserved by the DESY/IT

-> provide infrastructure


Why INSPIRE?

• Ingestion of the technical documents and analysis notes - possibility to interlink them with the actual publications (based on…, superceded by…)

• The documents are preserved and are not

dependent on the life expectancy of the specific experiment and it‘s IT infrastructure

• Many Inspire features like fulltext search, data

object citation, etc. • The secondary data (high-level data) provide

added value to the existing publications


INSPIRE Features

• Google-like speed for up to 2M records • Combined search of Metadata, References,

Fulltext • Scalability • Flexible metadata (multimedia, secondary data) • Personalisation (claim your paper) • One-stop-shop for HEP information • Fulltext repository • Integration of research data


Long-term access

• The documents (Notes) Access Control • Working together with the labs to develop

effective access control strategies (short/long-term)

• Simple user accounts are live • Curator accounts live • Further options

• Flexible user accounts (based on author lists, external authentification SSO), e.g. arXiv account


Summary

• Collaboration of DESY Library (Inspire) with DPHEP • HERMES, ZEUS, H1, ZEUS Experiments • Internationally – DØ, CDF (Fermilab), BaBar

(Stanford) • First stage completed for all HERA experiments and

D0 (Fermilab): all of the internal documentation are stored in Inspire

• Second Stage comleted: Collaboration curator accounts with modification rights are also live and a success

• Test phase: ZEUS and BaBar preliminary notes harvested; the rest should follow;

• High-level Data in Inspire: HEPData, Plots, etc. – Inspire provides longtime preservation.

Z. Akopov

research data: what can libraries do?

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