Investigation of Research Data Maturity in Academic Libraries of Developed Countries

Abstract

A major development in academic libraries has been their recog- nition of the need to support research data services (RDS) to ad- vance knowledge and science, augment novel solutions to social and economic impediments, and amplify immense potentials for com- petitiveness, productivity, and livability. This study investigated research data service maturity in academic libraries of developed countries with the intent to provide valuable insights and implica- tions for other academic libraries. The maturity model informed the study. The study used in-depth web analysis and literature re- view to examine research data services in top-rated 100 university libraries of developed countries. Study findings showed a clear and well-developed landscape of research data services in these aca- demic libraries; 81 (94%) of the investigated universities offered a wide array of both informational and technical services. The most common services consisted research data curation and storage ser- vice 81 (94%), research data management and training service 81 (94%), research data management reference service 80 (93%), re- search data introduction service 80 (93%) and data management plan and guidance 79 (92%) respectively. The least common service was the resource recommendation service 64 (74%). Study findings, therefore, suggest that the current services are extensive, robust and mature, signifying an overall maturity of the RDS landscape in academic libraries of developed countries