New Website Aligns Research Data Services

A first-of-its-kind campus collaboration is providing researchers easy access to expertise, education, and infrastructure to support their data needs. 

“The launch of the data portal website is the culmination of years of cooperative work by multiple units to align the university’s data resources to better serve scholars and share Iowa State research with the world,” said James Reecy, associate vice president for research.  

The website, led by the University Library, Office of the Vice President for Research, and Information Technology Services, provides resources and training in data: 

• planning and sharing, 
• collection and management, 
• analyzing and computing, 
• storage and safeguarding, and  
• policies and compliance. 

“There are a lot of people here on campus that can and want to help researchers,” said Megan O’Donnell, research data services lead for the University Library. “The website is a one-stop shop for early career and experienced professionals to learn what’s available and how to access it.”  

The Campus Data Sharing Task Force developed the concept for the data portal website in 2020 as part of their recommendations following a three-year review of Iowa State’s research data services and policies. The multidisciplinary task force was created with two goals in mind: enable open science and reproducibility and help researchers comply with federal policies. 

“Good data management promotes scientific rigor and reproducibility, speeds scientific discovery, and enables new research opportunities,” said O’Donnell. 

The other outcomes of the task force are DataShare (2019) and a new research data policy (2021). With the creation of the data portal website the task force’s recommendations are fully realized.  

“This new website is an innovative tool, built from collaboration,” said Chief Technology Officer Mike Lohrbach. “It will foster further collaboration and innovation among researchers by connecting them with needed data services.” 

Researchers are encouraged to bookmark dataservices.iastate.edu or add to their Sign On Dashboard, refer to the website for answers to data-related questions, and encourage their students to do the same.  

Feedback is welcome and can be addressed to data@iastate.edu.  

DataShare 

Since going live January 2019, DataShare has made data from over 175 university research projects publicly accessible, and the service continues to grow. DataShare is jointly funded by the Office of the Vice President for Research, University Library, and Information Technology Services and is administered by the University Library.  DataShare: 

• Is free for Iowa State affiliated research and researchers and supports data that stands on its own, as well as data that support publications.  
• Meets or exceeds funder and publisher policies for making data publicly available and accessible over the long-term.  
• Uses a unique data disclosure and curation process to ensure data sets from Iowa State researchers can be publicly shared and meet quality assurance standards. The review involves multiple campus units including the Office of Intellectual Property and Technology Transfer (OIPTT); University Library; and the Office for Responsible Ethics (ORE).