Citation of evolving datasets

[Bowie, Roderick C.]

Hi,

 

I was wondering if anyone had looked at ways of citing an evolving dataset?  I realise that ideally things should be static if possible, but with the advent of more fluid digital systems many of our larger datasets are constantly evolving and we are moving away from versioning, as it is expensive in terms of management and space.  Elements of the dataset will change with time ( and this is recorded) . We need to capture this and be able to reference the data at a particular time.  Also in relation to this individuals may have invested considerable effort and IP into elements of the dataset and it would be helpful to be able to have this recognised.

 

Rod Bowie

Records Centre Manager
National Geological Records Centre
British Geological Survey
Keyworth
Nottingham NG12 5GG

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[Neil Chue Hong (SSI)]

I would also be interested in examples of this from different areas.

We've been looking at this issue with regards to citation of software,
which is facing a similar problem as versioning systems become more
distributed and the concept of fixed releases is changing.
Additionally, there isn't the same concept of a "publisher" as for
datasets.

best regards,
neil

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Neil Chue Hong
Director, Software Sustainability Institute
EPCC, University of Edinburgh, JCMB, Edinburgh, EH9 3JZ, UK
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http://www.software.ac.uk/

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[sarah.c...@stfc.ac.uk]

There’s (at least) 3 different cases here.

 

1.       Dataset is extended via addition, but earlier files/records are not changed. For example, temperature measurements taken once a day over a period of years. The way we (in the NERC data centres) have decided to deal with these is to break up the dataset in chunks on a time basis, for example on a yearly or monthly basis, and assign DOIs to those chunks. When the dataset is complete, with no more additions, then a DOI can be assigned to the whole thing.

2.       Datasets which are continuously evolving, i.e. any record can be modified at any point in time. We’ve chosen to take snapshots at a given time, and assign DOIs to those frozen snapshots. It’s not ideal, as you need to balance the number of snapshots you’re taking versus the rate at which the dataset changes. Snapshots can either be extracted and stored in a different repository, or can be generated on the fly by (for example) reverting a database according to a history log (though in that case we’ve got to be very sure that the reversion gives us the same results each time.)

3.       Datasets which are versioned can have DOIs assigned at each major/minor version change, as appropriate.

 

Note that you can cite something that is dynamic by using an appropriate form of words (which doesn’t guarantee that you’ll be able to get back to the exact data as it was at that time), but for a DOI to be assigned the dataset should be frozen (meaning that guarantee is in place).

 

People are also discussing the “movie credits” analogy for data citation, where people who have invested efforts into elements of the dataset will get credit. We’re still in the discussion stage on that one though, so all input is appreciated!

 

Best wishes,

Sarah

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[Pollard, Tom]

Hi Rod,

Thanks for putting this question to the group - I'll be very interested in seeing the responses.

We are planning to hold several more workshops at the British Library over the coming months around data citation. Dynamic/evolving datasets could do with further discussion, so perhaps this should be one of the topics? Let me know if this would be of interest and we will work it into our plans.

All - please let me know if there are other topics that you would like to cover in the workshops and we will do our best to include these areas too.

Best wishes,
Tom
---
Tom Pollard
Datasets Outreach Officer

The British Library
Digital Library Technology
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M: +44 (0) 750 012 6200
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---

________________________________________

From: datacit...@googlegroups.com [mailto:datacit...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Bowie, Roderick C.
Sent: 30 September 2011 16:09
To: datacit...@googlegroups.com
Subject: [datacite-users] Citation of evolving datasets

Hi,

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