Sharing Data-Rich Research through Repository Layering

Information technology and resources have become thoroughly integral and indispensable to the contemporary conduct of science, as they have in culture, commerce, entertainment, and education. These technological advances have nurtured the development of a new paradigm of data-intensive science. However, far too much scientific activity still takes place in silos, to the detriment of open scientific inquiry and advancement. Data-intensive science is facilitated through the more universal adoption of good data management practices ensuring the ongoing viability and usability of all legitimate research outputs, including data, and the encouragement of data publication and sharing for reuse.

The centerpiece of such data sharing is the digital repository, which acts as the foundation for surrounding value-added services supporting and promoting effective publication, discovery, and dissemination of research data. Any general-purpose repository will not, however, be able to support the same level of specialized user experience that can be provided by disciplinary portals and discovery mechanisms. Thus, a layered model built on a stable repository core is an appropriate division of labor, taking best advantage of the relative strengths of the concerned systems.

The Merritt repository, operated by the University of California Curation Center (UC3) at the California Digital Library (CDL), functions as a foundation repository for several data sharing initiatives. Merritt has been successfully integrated into a number of external data grids and discovery services, including CDL’s eScholarship open access publishing platform, the DataONE network, and the Open Context archaeological data portal. This paper will focus on two recent examples of external integration for purposes of research data sharing: DataShare, an open portal for biomedical data at UC, San Francisco; and Research Hub, an Alfresco-based content management system at UC, Berkeley. These efforts showcase the catalyzing effect that coupled integration of curation repositories and well-known public disciplinary search environments can have on research data sharing and scientific advancement.