From Data Creator to Data Reuser: Distance Matters
Christine Borgman
Sharing research data is complex, labor-intensive, expensive, and requires infrastructure investments by multiple stakeholders. Open science policies focus on data release, yet reuse is also difficult and may never occur. Investments in data management could be made more wisely by considering who might reuse data, how, why, for what purposes, and when.
Drawing upon empirical studies of data sharing and reuse, we develop the theoretical construct of distance between data creator and data reuser, identifying six distance dimensions that influence the ability to transfer knowledge effectively: domain, methods, collaboration, curation, purposes, and time and temporality. These dimensions are primarily social in character, with associated technical aspects that can decrease — or increase — distances between creators and reusers. We identify ways that data creators, data reusers, data archivists, and funding agencies can make data sharing and reuse more effective.
See also: Borgman, C. L., & Groth, P. T. (2024). From Data Creator to Data Reuser: Distance Matters (arXiv:2402.07926).
This reports joint work with Paul Groth, head of the Intelligent Data Engineering Lab at the University of Amsterdam.
This seminar will be held both online & in person. You are welcome to join us either in South Hall or via Zoom.
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Speaker
Christine Borgman is a distinguished research professor in information studies at the University of California, Los Angeles. She is recognized internationally for her research in information and computer science, data science, communication, digital humanities, privacy, and law. Her current research focuses on knowledge infrastructures, scientific data practices, and open science.
Professor Borgman’s publications include three books: Big Data, Little Data, No Data: Scholarship in the Networked World (2015); Scholarship in the Digital Age: Information, Infrastructure, and the Internet (2007); and From Gutenberg to the Global Information Infrastructure: Access to Information in a Networked World (2000).
She is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and of the Association for Computing Machinery. Among her current professional activities, she serves on the Library of Congress Scholars Council and the board of directors of the Electronic Privacy Information Center.
Contact
If you have questions about this event, please contact Michael Buckland.
