Scales for Evaluating Current Data Services



Collections

1. Do you have a data collections policy?

2. Do you subscribe to the ICPSR?

3. Do you subscribe to more than the ICPSR, e.g., Roper, DataStream, DLI,
other data producers?

4. Do you have a dedicated budget to purchase data files outside of
subscription services?

5. Do you catalogue data files in your OPAC?

6. Do you produce documentation for data files?

7. Do you produce DDI metadata for microdata?

8. Do you belong to the DDI Alliance to support metadata standards?

9. Do you have a collection of data files from local researchers?

10. Do you maintain infrastructure to support a local data file collection?



Access

1. Do you maintain a website describing access to data?

2. Do you have a local link to the ICPSR website?

3. Do you provide access to data through a local website?

4. Does your OPAC include records for data files?

5. Do you provide metadata discovery tools beyond an OPAC, e.g., a Nesstar,
DataVerse or SDA server?

6. Do you provide online data access tools, e.g., an FTP server or a
Nesstar, DataVerse or SDA server?

7. Do you provide online data subsetting tools, e.g., a Nesstar, DataVerse
or SDA server?

8. Do you provide data format translation tools?

9. Do you provide computing applications for processing data, e.g., SPSS,
SAS, STATA or ESRI ArcGIS?

10. Do you provide data visualization tools?



Services

1. Do you order data for local researchers and students?

2. Do you provide literacy training on how to use local data services?

3. Do you advise on or provide instruction on how to cite data sources?

4. Do you assist researchers with preparing Data Management Plans?

5. Do you provide data reference services to help users discover data
sources?

6. Do you interpret data documentation for users?

7. Do you provide in-depth consultation services for data, i.e., provide
advice on the choice of data for specific research purposes?

8. Do you perform data transformations for users, e.g., extract subsets,
merge files, or create new variables?

9. Do you perform data analysis for users, e.g., run tabulations or conduct
regression analyses?

10. Do you perform data visualization for users, e.g., produce a GIS map or
star graphs?



Preservation

1. Does the University have a research records policy that addresses the
preservation and protection of research data assets?

2. Does your department or unit have a mandate to preserve research data?

3. Do you assist researchers with the planning across the research
lifecycle needed to preserve their data?

4. Do you assist researchers with the selection of appropriate standards,
including metadata, for the preservation of data?

5. Do you advise on and help researchers locate an appropriate repository
for their research data?

6. Do you provide assistance in organizing data and documentation for
submission for preservation?

7. Do you assist researchers in obtaining DOI’s for their data files?

8. Does your department or unit support a staging repository for
researchers to deposit data for short-term keeping and subsequent long-term
deposit?

9. Does your department or unit support and prepare research data archival
information packages for long-term preservation?

10. Does your department or unit support and maintain preservation
infrastructure for long-term data preservation?