Data curation is the new black: An explorative look of how researchers' growing needs for data curation services are changing the role of academic libraries
Creators: name: C.Y.M. Gaillard, Renee
Publisher: name: unknown
Year: 2022
Subjects: subject: Academic libraries
subject: Data curation
subject: Library science
subject: Academic librarians
subject: Information science
subject: Research--Management--Data processing

description: Commonly used to indicate a new trend or that something has become suddenly fashionable (Collins English Dictionary, n.d.), the use of phrase 'the new black' in this essay's title, 'Data curation is the new black' intentionally implies the growing trend that data curation has become over the last 10 years, particularly in research and in academic libraries. Rice and Southall confirm that "a number of recent reports have highlighted the need for librarians to be involved with data" and that "the Association of College and Research Libraries identified data curation as a top trend" in 2012 (2016, p.156-7). Data curation is seen as "a necessary response to the increased interest in identifying, preserving, and sharing research data by funders, institutions, publishers, and most importantly researchers" (Rice and Southall, 2016, p.31). This essay explores how researchers' growing needs for data curation services are changing the role of academic libraries. This is conducted through a brief review and analysis of the following library data studies which respectively center library staff's, researchers', and national perspectives on the impact data curation services have had on academic libraries: 

o	Research data management and libraries: Current activities and future priorities (Cox and Pinfield, 2014)
o	How Important is Data Curation? Gaps and Opportunities for Academic Libraries (Johnston et al., 2018)
o	Academic libraries' role in Research Data Management Services: a South African perspective (Chiware and Mathe, 2015)

This essay defines data curation, digital curation, and research data management – terms that will be considered synonyms for the purpose of this essay – to set a foundation of understanding. Then after the studies' review, this essay looks ahead at the changing and emerging role of academic libraries with further viewpoints from additional literature.
description: Commonly used to indicate a new trend or that something has become suddenly fashionable (Collins English Dictionary, n.d.), the use of phrase 'the new black' in this essay's title, 'Data curation is the new black' intentionally implies the growing trend that data curation has become over the last 10 years, particularly in research and in academic libraries. Rice and Southall confirm that "a number of recent reports have highlighted the need for librarians to be involved with data" and that "the Association of College and Research Libraries identified data curation as a top trend" in 2012 (2016, p.156-7). Data curation is seen as "a necessary response to the increased interest in identifying, preserving, and sharing research data by funders, institutions, publishers, and most importantly researchers" (Rice and Southall, 2016, p.31). This essay explores how researchers' growing needs for data curation services are changing the role of academic libraries. This is conducted through a brief review and analysis of the following library data studies which respectively center library staff's, researchers', and national perspectives on the impact data curation services have had on academic libraries: o Research data management and libraries: Current activities and future priorities (Cox and Pinfield, 2014) o How Important is Data Curation? Gaps and Opportunities for Academic Libraries (Johnston et al., 2018) o Academic libraries' role in Research Data Management Services: a South African perspective (Chiware and Mathe, 2015) This essay defines data curation, digital curation, and research data management – terms that will be considered synonyms for the purpose of this essay – to set a foundation of understanding. Then after the studies' review, this essay looks ahead at the changing and emerging role of academic libraries with further viewpoints from additional literature.