The NIH Data Management and Sharing Policy for non-data librarians: An introduction*

The NIH Data Management and Sharing (DMS) Policy went into effect at the start of this year. That means that the policy that so many medical data librarians have been talking about is finally in place and affecting researchers. Any organization that receives research grant funds from the National Institutes of Health will need to add a new “Data Management and Sharing Plan” to grant proposals, and then follow that plan. Libraries are being mentioned by many organizations as the place to find expertise and support for this new data policy.

But can librarians that don’t usually do data still help their research community with the policy? Absolutely! Libraries do not need a data expert or an institutional repository to get started with supporting NIH grants with this new policy. Reference interviewing skills and a basic knowledge of the NIH DMS Plan format can be combined to walk researchers through the basics. In this session, librarians who are new to the NIH DMS Policy will learn the essentials: what is the NIH DMS policy, who is affected, and how do researchers incorporate it into an NIH grant application. Participants will learn the six sections of a DMS Plan, with tips for the reference interview and advice on what is still being developed at the NIH. Participants will also learn about the essential role of data repositories in the new Policy. This will lead to practicing how to search the NLM’s “NIH-Supported Data Sharing Resources” list of select key data repositories, in order to be ready to advise researchers how to address the issue of where to preserve and share their data.

If you have heard of the new NIH Data Management and Sharing Policy but are unsure what it is, yet still may want to inform researchers how to apply it, then this session is for you! Join this virtual CE to move from “we don’t do that” to “I can help with the basics” if you are asked about library support for NIH-funded researchers.

This course is an approved elective for the Level I Data Services Specialization.

Resource URL: [Pending] 

Learning Objectives

Learning objectives: By the end of this webinar, attendees will be able to:

• Identify at least two ways that the new NIH data management and sharing (DMS) Policy is different from the previous policy
• Name the six elements of an NIH DMS Plan
• Use the NLM’s repository search page to identify appropriate domain-specific and generalist repositories for researchers to use in complying with the DMS Policy

Agenda

Time    Cue      (Length)

0:00     Opening, intro, logistics. Start recording (3 min)

0:03     Overview of the NIH DMS Policy: Background, applicability, future  (10 min)

0:13     Prompt: Is this researcher affected? (2 min)

0:15     DMS Plan overview: what are the six elements (5 min)

0:20     Data type section, including metadata and documentation (10 min)

0:30     Code and Standards sections (5 min)

0:35     Data Access section and repositories (10 min)

0:45     Repository search practice and activity: which of these might fit? (5 min)

0:50     Considerations section           (5 min)

0:55     Oversight section – ask your Grants Office    (1 min)

0:56     Wrap up (4 min)

MLA CE Credit: 1.0