Project CRADLE (Curating Research Assets and Data using Lifecycle Education), sponsored by the Institute of Museum and Library Services, began in 2013 with the goal of creating comprehensive and accessible educational resources for librarians, archivists, Information and Library Science (ILS) students, and data creators that focus on issues of data management, preservation, and archiving. The need for such initiatives has grown exponentially over the last 20 years and doesn’t show any signs of slowing down. The CRADLE team has already hosted workshops in response to this increased demand, but on March 1, 2016, CRADLE will take it one step further.

The School of Information and Library Science, the University Libraries, and the Odum Institute at the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill and the MANTRA team at the University of Edinburgh are pleased to announce the forthcoming Coursera MOOC (Massive Open Online Course), Research Data Management and Sharing.

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The MOOC uses the Coursera on-demand format to provide short, video-based lessons and assessments across a five-week period, but learners can proceed at their own pace. Although no formal credit is assigned for the MOOC, certificates will be available to any learner who completes the course for a small fee. For those who wish to take the MOOC but not to receive the certificate, the course is free!

The Research Data Management and Sharing MOOC will launch March 1, 2016, and enrollment is open now. Subjects covered in the 5-week course follow the stages of a research project. They are:

  • Understanding Research Data
  • Data Management Planning
  • Working with Data
  • Sharing Data
  • Archiving Data

Dr. Helen Tibbo from the School of Information and Library Sciences (SILS) at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill delivers four of the five sets of lessons, and Sarah Jones, Digital Curation Centre, delivers the University of Edinburgh-developed content in Week 3 (Working with Data). Quizzes and supplementary videos add to the learning experience, and assignments are peer reviewed by fellow learners, with questions and answers handled by peers and team teachers in the forum.

Staff from both organizations will monitor the learning forums and the peer-reviewed assignments to make sure learners are on the right track, and to watch for adjustments need in course content.

The course is now open to enrollment and will go live on March 1, 2016. Go here to enroll.

Hashtag: #RDMSmooc

Please join us in this data adventure!