Preparing Librarians and Researchers for the NIH Data Management and Sharing Policy

Background: In October 2020, the National Institutes of Health released the Final NIH Policy for Data Management and Sharing (DMSP), effective January 25, 2023. In June 2022, a group of concerned librarians and data scientists from across the United States joined together and created a virtual working group to share knowledge, expertise, and enthusiasm and to produce open access guidance and educational materials for both librarians and researchers. This program will introduce the working group, outline the group’s self-determined charge and goals, and present an overview of the group’s outputs/final products.

Description: Over 50 stakeholders answered the initial call to action with the idea of reviewing the NIH DMSP and related resources to provide guidance for both researchers and research support staff. While some stakeholders expressed interest but elected to remain “listening” members, 26 stakeholders actively contributed. The contributing stakeholders determined to meet weekly with rotating days and times to accommodate varied and busy schedules, with members taking turns facilitating the weekly meetings. The contributing stakeholders also divided into seven committees, each tasked with a different product to support librarians--especially those with little to no data management knowledge and experience--and researchers. As the committees worked and the products took shape, two committees merged and others refined their targets with the final products including: a glossary of data management terminology for librarians, a DMSP checklist for researchers, a policy readiness checklist for librarians, a collection of example plans (good and bad), an FAQ on the policy, and a tool for finding repositories. In addition to creating these resources, contributing stakeholders provided peer evaluation and advice and publicized the group’s efforts and products.

Conclusion: The products of the working group are now freely accessible via the Open Science Framework and linked from the NNLM NCDS Toolkit. The resources have been well-received: the folder is on track for over 1000 unique visits in the month of January 2023 and over 175 downloads have been completed. While the charge of the working group has been accomplished, the working group is aware that situations may change as the policy officially goes into effect. The group plans to continue to meet, albeit less frequently, to ensure that support for stakeholders, particularly librarians, remains current and correct.