| Abstract | At iDigBio, beyond mobilizing data, we’re working with our data providers and the informatics community to enhance museum specimen data and ensure the data and media are fit-for-use. We are engaging researchers and data providers to help them take advantage of ever-growing data sets, and the tools, methods, and apps that support robust data creation and research data use. For the last six years, through our collaborations with NSF bio-centers (NESCent, BEACON, SESYNC, DataONE), Data Carpentry, iDigBio workshops, symposia, surveys, and webinars, we are learning a lot about the computational and data literacy skills needs of our stakeholders. People in our collections data pipeline include: scientists and students collecting future specimens-to-be-accessioned, collection managers, data managers, data aggregators, down-stream researchers, and the general public. As museum collections mobilize to digitize their holdings, contributing more-and-richer data to our community portals -- students, museum staff, and researchers are often finding it’s not a small task to be good custodians of the data. While formal science programs are teaching bioinformatics skills for genomic and metagenomics research, few are strategically teaching the pre-requisite skills to current researchers, students and staff that are necessary to manage data effectively over a lifetime. These skills help insure data is discoverable, and standardized format that supports research analysis reproducibility. This talk provides an overview of the current landscape for biodiversity informatics skills from our experiences at iDigBio. You are invited to share your experiences and insights about what it will take to address these needs into the future. |
