Data literacy and research data management in the Netherlands

Similar to most European countries, the Netherlands invests heavily in research data management facilities and support for university personnel. For instance, each university in the Netherlands has its program on these issues which is described in policy documents (e.g., Open Universiteit, 2014). The importance of data literacy and research data management has been acknowledged by the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) and the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO). Together they founded the Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) institute in order to promote sustained access to digital research data (Palaiologk, Economides, Tjalsma, & Sesink, 2012). DANS “… encourages researchers to permanently archive and reuse data, e.g. through the EASY online archiving system and the Dutch Dataverse Network. [It] provides access to thousands of scientific datasets, e-publications and other research information in the Netherlands through the NARCIS portal. It also offers training and advice and researches sustained access to digital information. As a data-driven service provider and participant in Dutch and international projects and networks, DANS is working to improve access to digital research data.” (Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences [KNAW], n.d.). Although facilities and services exist it is not entirely clear how and how much (aspirant) researchers at universities use and appreciate these. In order to extend our knowledge on these issues, we decided to take part in the second phase of a study initiated by Chowdhury, Walton, Kurbanoglu, Unal, and Boustany (2016). Aim of this study is to fully understand the current levels of awareness and gaps in knowledge on research data management which will help us develop (and/or select) appropriate data literacy training for researchers at universities.