Understanding data search as a socio-technical practice

Kathleen M. Gregory; Helena Cousijn; Paul Groth; Andrea Scharnhorst; Sally Wyatt

doi:10.1177/0165551519837182

Understanding data search as a socio-technical practice

Kathleen M. Gregory^*, Helena Cousijn, Paul Groth, Andrea Scharnhorst, Sally Wyatt

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

Open research data are heralded as having the potential to increase effectiveness, productivity and reproducibility in science, but little is known about the actual practices involved in data search. The socio-technical problem of locating data for reuse is often reduced to the technological dimension of designing data search systems. We combine a bibliometric study of the current academic discourse around data search with interviews with data seekers. In this article, we explore how adopting a contextual, socio-technical perspective can help to understand user practices and behaviour and ultimately help to improve the design of data discovery systems.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	459-475
Number of pages	17
Journal	Journal of Information Science
Volume	46
Issue number	4
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1177/0165551519837182
Publication status	Published - Aug 2020

Keywords

Data retrieval
data reuse
data search
information seeking
research data
INFORMATION
KNOWLEDGE
SYSTEMS
USERS

Access to Document

10.1177/0165551519837182Licence: CC BY

Cite this

@article{e5222cb8256043dfbf2bcb27ca7acc58,

title = "Understanding data search as a socio-technical practice",

abstract = "Open research data are heralded as having the potential to increase effectiveness, productivity and reproducibility in science, but little is known about the actual practices involved in data search. The socio-technical problem of locating data for reuse is often reduced to the technological dimension of designing data search systems. We combine a bibliometric study of the current academic discourse around data search with interviews with data seekers. In this article, we explore how adopting a contextual, socio-technical perspective can help to understand user practices and behaviour and ultimately help to improve the design of data discovery systems.",

keywords = "Data retrieval, data reuse, data search, information seeking, research data, INFORMATION, KNOWLEDGE, SYSTEMS, USERS",

author = "Gregory, {Kathleen M.} and Helena Cousijn and Paul Groth and Andrea Scharnhorst and Sally Wyatt",

year = "2020",

month = aug,

doi = "10.1177/0165551519837182",

language = "English",

volume = "46",

pages = "459--475",

journal = "Journal of Information Science",

issn = "0165-5515",

publisher = "SAGE Publications Inc.",

number = "4",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Understanding data search as a socio-technical practice

AU - Gregory, Kathleen M.

AU - Cousijn, Helena

AU - Groth, Paul

AU - Scharnhorst, Andrea

AU - Wyatt, Sally

PY - 2020/8

Y1 - 2020/8

N2 - Open research data are heralded as having the potential to increase effectiveness, productivity and reproducibility in science, but little is known about the actual practices involved in data search. The socio-technical problem of locating data for reuse is often reduced to the technological dimension of designing data search systems. We combine a bibliometric study of the current academic discourse around data search with interviews with data seekers. In this article, we explore how adopting a contextual, socio-technical perspective can help to understand user practices and behaviour and ultimately help to improve the design of data discovery systems.

AB - Open research data are heralded as having the potential to increase effectiveness, productivity and reproducibility in science, but little is known about the actual practices involved in data search. The socio-technical problem of locating data for reuse is often reduced to the technological dimension of designing data search systems. We combine a bibliometric study of the current academic discourse around data search with interviews with data seekers. In this article, we explore how adopting a contextual, socio-technical perspective can help to understand user practices and behaviour and ultimately help to improve the design of data discovery systems.

KW - Data retrieval

KW - data reuse

KW - data search

KW - information seeking

KW - research data

KW - INFORMATION

KW - KNOWLEDGE

KW - SYSTEMS

KW - USERS

U2 - 10.1177/0165551519837182

DO - 10.1177/0165551519837182

M3 - Article

SN - 0165-5515

VL - 46

SP - 459

EP - 475

JO - Journal of Information Science

JF - Journal of Information Science

IS - 4

ER -