National Taiwan University: NTU Library and RDMLA Team Launch Chinese Research Data Management Course
Research Data Management (RDM) is an important way of making open science a reality. By systematically collecting, interpreting, and storing data gathered in the research process, RDM conforms to research theories and enhances the effectiveness of research collaboration before proceeding to permanently archiving, disclosing, and sharing its accessibility. It enhances research transparency and achieves the benefits of research reproducibility, as well as expanding academic influence.
NTU Library has taken positive action in support of open science. Besides providing preferential plans for Open Access journal submissions, an international cooperation program for RDM courses was launched in June 2020. The series of carefully structured Chinese RDM online courses has laid the foundation for the RDM services of Chinese academic libraries around the world, and they are expected to provide researchers with ever more professional academic support in the future.
Jointly launched by such prominent international academic institutions as Harvard Medical School, Harvard Library, and Simmons University, the Research Data Management Librarian Academy (RDMLA) is a free open course that covers the basic concepts of RDM, promotes service design, and introduces analytical tools, while acting as a collection platform. In addition to librarian training, academic researchers can also utilize the course as self-learning resources to achieve RDM information literacy in a short time. Officially launched on Canvas on November 19, 2021, the Chinese version of the RDMLA online course includes 11 units.
To complement the launch, NTU Library hosted an online workshop on research data management practice in November 2021. Scholars and librarians from Taiwan and overseas were invited to share their experience in learning about and working with RDM. Nearly 230 people participated in the exchange. In the meantime, learning resources, tools or platforms in both Chinese and English are actively organized and classified based on the life cycle of research data to build a learning hub. This allows academic librarians and researchers to systematically obtain RDM-related knowledge, learning, and service resources. NTU Library holds an open attitude towards sharing and invites all sectors to realize and practice open science together.