Checklist for technical review

The technical review of submitted Data Collections pending for publication is among the core duties of the Curators. The following checklist might be helpful in assessing whether the respective Data Collection is qualified to be published on Discuss Data - or whether it needs improvements, before it can be accepted for publication.

Legal issues

• Does the granted license permit the desired use of the data?
• Is the data subject to a confidentiality agreement?
• Is, if necessary for the kind of data, informed consent provided
• Is the data collection free of violations of personal data protection?
• Is the data collection free of violations of copyrights?

Metadata

• Is a correct and preferably long-term reachable e-mail address registered as contact?
• Is the metadata complete, sufficient to understand, find and use the dataset?

Files

• Is the data stored in an open and/or common and/or interoperable file format?
• Are the Data files named in a self-explanatory manner (e.g. "Interview-transcripts.pdf)?
• Is the data prepared appropriately for submission?
• Is the data readable/executable?
• Is it comprehensible what the data can be used for?

Documentation of data collection

• Is the Documentation of Data Collection written in an understandable language?
• Is the Documentation of Data Collection drafted according to Best Practices for the Documentation of Data Collection and the suggested checklist?

Communication with community

The key responsibility of a Curator is to engage with his/her respective research community and keep the communication process alive. This includes, among other tasks:

• Send (ready-made) Emails to verify Email address of new users and to welcome them
• Send automated acknowledgement of receipt for Emails
• Delete inappropriate comments (“Your comment has been deleted due to …”) and refer to the Netiquette
• Respond to questions and requests timely. The aim should be to attempt to answer requests/questions within five working days (in case of absence/unavailability, please organise a substitution)

To make your communication more efficient, you can create standardised email templates for certain events/situations to inform the users about the further procedure:

• “We received your message and we will get back to you within a few days.”
• “Thank you very much for your Data Collection. We will check it now for technical and legal compatibility. If your Data Collection is accepted for publication, you will be automatically notified and can finish the publication process.”
• Thank you very much for your Data Collection. After the technical review, your submission was declined due to...[provide exact reasons and suggest solutions]. Please re-submit the Data Collection after your improvements."
• “Your comment has been deleted due to …”
• “Your Data Collection has been deleted due to violation of copyright regulations.”
• “Your account has been suspended due to …”
• etc.

Communication style

As a Curator, there are two core goals when you communicate with the community you will want to meet: (1) Keep everyone satisfied and engaged and (2) reduce the amount of back and forth messaging you do with each member. Here are some tips that can help you to design the best practices for communicating with your community.

Be pleasant, but not too conversational

Time management is essential and using too relaxed a tone can encourage a casual, conversational interaction. Acknowledge this by structuring your answers as letters, and not conversational messages. Getting into a drawn out back-and-forth wastes time and can prevent you from responding promptly to all of your inquiries.

Be clear that you are there to help, but you are not tech support

Write a Knowledge Base to help members to self-service solutions or redirect them to the right contact person or our FAQs.

Only give good answers

When you offer them, your solutions need to be rock solid in order to avoid frustration. If you cannot help them, redirect them to someone who can right away.

Invite Participation (=> comments)

Integrate comments to readers that will invite others to participate. Simple phrases like “I am anxious to see if you agree with me?” or “What do you think about my ideas? Is it practical enough?” can let readers know that you are really interested in their opinions.

Practice what you preach

Check your own messages for attitude, tartness or condescension. It is easier than you think to accidentally be curt with your users. So double-check your messages and do your best to empathize with your users. Maintain professionalism and do not be overly casual but at the same time do not sterilize your messages.

Communicate the value

When people receive an invitation to join Discuss Data, and if they visit it for a look-see, it is critical that the value be immediate and obvious. Among the greatest values of Discuss Data are academic visibility and feedback on the quality of Data. However, Discuss Data has much more to offer. Here are some highlights, which you could build upon in your communication with potential Discuss Data users:

• Visibility: Easy discovery of your data through online catalogue
• Feedback: Get unbiased, valuable and constructive criticism from peers
• Citations: Make your data findable and permanently citable with a DOI
• Secure long-time archiving: Long-term archiving of your research data in a secure environment
• Secondary research: Make your data available to others for secondary research
• Full control over access & licensing: Easy access and licensing procedure clarifies access, copyrights, and re-usage of your data
• Efficiency: No researchers negotiating access with you directly – saves time & effort
• Fame: Mention the leaders and stars by name who have already joined
• Networking: Connect with your research community
• etc.

Advertise

In order to attract new users to Discuss Data you might want to consider the following forms of advertisement:

• Advertising in your email sign-off signature
• Posting on appropriate newsgroups or in other communities
• News releases (of your university, institute)
• Notices or links on your personal home page
• Registering with forum or community directories
• Networking among those who you know would be interested
• Present Discuss Data at conferences, workshops, etc.
• Cite your Discuss Data-Data Collection in your journals articles and edited volumes
• Print advertising (flyers for conferences, etc.)
• etc.

Curation calendar strategy

As it cannot be expected that the community takes off of its own accord, or even when you give it a nudge, it might be helpful to employ an ‘curation calendar’. This is a pre-set schedule of topical content, a widespread technique, which can be employed when planning the conversations in your community. For each time frame (e.g., one per month), identify a topic and several people that agree in advance to participate in a conversation on that topic. For example:

Month 1:

Questioner: Jane Smith

Responders: John Doe, Mary Poppins

Topic: The use and misuse of country rankings (Freedom House, Transparency International etc.)

Month 2:

Questioner: Harold Lloyd

Responders: Winnie Pooh, Wanda Wong

Topic: How to find different representative polls asking the same or similar questions (to compare between countries and over time)?

In this example, there are topics for two months that are pre-planned, with specific people identified and recruited to start and participate in those conversations. Moreover, recruit additional people to agree to respond to the person who starts the conversation. By ensuring that someone responds to every conversation started, you encourage the rest of your membership to start their own conversations, confident that there is an active community around them that will leap in and join. Eventually, you may be able to retire the calendar and the community will keep its own momentum.

Facilitation and outreach

Communities start small and grow organically over time; users stay to maintain a web of relationships. Use feedback loops to grow the community – personal e-mails, surveys, etc. As the community grows, there will be different roles and increasing influence over time. At first, there is a lot of energy at the launching of a platform – provide ground rules for etiquette, and host events to attract new members.

Bringing members from watching into a more visible, participatory role often takes some form of offline or personal outreach. Many times, community managers are too focused on the public forum interactions and forget to reach out to the silent members. This can mean offering direct personal encouragement and support while each individual makes the transition into an active online participant:

• Discover members: Introduce yourself and email them short overviews of the group. Give members a go-to resource (you and eventually peers)
• Involve members proactively: Ask individuals for data, documents, opinions, posts and interviews to share with the community
• Reward members: Reinforce community-enhancing behaviours by thanking members, featuring members, inviting to become a reviewer/ curator

Then eventually empower members to curate a subsection of Discuss Data, run events, and greet and mentor new members.

Capitalize “star power”

Identify the well-known members of your community and recruit them early. When the first user arrives at the site for your online community, the important people should already have joined and have public profiles set up. This will add the perception of value and credibility to your platform that will create a positive feedback loop.

Important people tend to be busy people, so make sure that your stars get the value proposition of participation:

• Expose them: Many people get involved because of the exposure it offers them. In your invitation messaging, make clear that involvement in the community is not just a responsibility; it is an opportunity to be seen
• Flatter them: Make sure your stars “feel the love”. Invite them in early because they are special and important, and make sure they know you have invited them in early because they are special and important
• Twist their arms: When all else fails, you may use friendly reminders (conscience of the scientist, promise of support in the past)