An Evaluation of a structured training event aimed at enhancing the Research Data Management Knowledge and Skills of Library and Information Science Professionals in South African Higher Education Institutions

Abstract

Research Data Management (RDM) has received a lot of attention recently. In South Africa, the importance of RDM has amplified since the release of the National Research Foundation‟s (NRF) open access statement. According to the statement, researchers who receive funding from the NRF must deposit their research output in an open access (OA) repository. In addition, the data supporting the research should be deposited in an accredited OA repository with a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) for future citations (NRF, 2015: online). The mandate, along with other drivers such as research data re-use, increased impact and validation of research findings has forced institutions to investigate the possibility of offering RDM services in their institutions (Ashley, 2012). It is expected that libraries and Library and Information Science (LIS) professionals will initiate and support RDM in their institutions. LIS professionals will need to upgrade or obtain new skills and knowledge to fulfil their new roles and responsibilities. Various training opportunities are available to interested professionals to improve their knowledge and skills related to RDM. These can be as simple as a workshop or as complex as a university degree. The objective of this research was to identify and evaluate a RDM training intervention to determine whether the training intervention could enhance the knowledge and skills of LIS professionals in South African (SA) Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). An embedded research design was used to investigate whether an RDM workshop, hosted by the Network for Data and Information Curation Communities (NeDICC), could enhance the LIS professional‟s (participants) perception of their RDM understanding, knowledge and skills. The research found that the RDM workshop was highly successful in enhancing the participant‟s perception of their RDM understanding and knowledge. The RDM workshop was less successful in enhancing the participant‟s perception of their RDM skills. It was recommended that LIS professionals (1) take advantage of the online RDM training material available to enhance their understanding and knowledge of RDM; (2) attend face-to-face training interventions to enhance or develop their RDM skills and (3) enrol in university level educational programmes to gain a qualification in RDM if they qualify. It was also recommended that institutions that provide RDM training should focus on specific aspects of RDM instead of offering a general overview. This research can be used to inspire larger studies or studies that compare two or more RDM training interventions.