Scenario Description

An aerospace engineering professor approaches the library because she is interested in obtaining a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) for a data set, and she heard from a colleague at another institution that her library might be able to help with this. During your initial follow up with this researcher, you discover that she is using this data set as the basis for an article in the journal PLOS ONE. You also learn that the data set is relatively small (1 GB) and does not have any issues that would require restricted access to the data. Your institution does not have the ability to register DOIs, but it does have an institutional repository that accepts research data.

As you prepare for a follow up consultation, you are concerned that the faculty member may not fully understand the purpose or value of DOIs for data sets as well as the data sharing policy of the journal. You are unsure about how to approach this discussion without sounding condescending. You also feel pressure to promote your library’s repository when an external solution might be a better fit for this data set.

Discussion Questions

  1. The patron’s context
    • Their prior knowledge is:
    • Their motivation is:
  2. Your context
    • Your prior knowledge is:
    • Your motivation is:
  3. How might you approach your consultation with this faculty member? Are there colleague(s) you could see yourself asking to join?
  4. How might your approach to this consultation be similar to or different from how you would approach a reference interview?
  5. What follow up questions would you ask to learn more?
  6. Are there any referrals you could make (inside or outside the library)?