Beyond Big or Little Science: Understanding Data Lifecycles in Astronomy and the Deep Subseafloor Biosphere

Darch, Peter T.; Sands, Ashley E.

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/73655 Copy

Description

Title

Beyond Big or Little Science: Understanding Data Lifecycles in Astronomy and the Deep Subseafloor Biosphere

Author(s)

• Darch, Peter T.
• Sands, Ashley E.

Issue Date

2015-03-15

Keyword(s)

• data science including digital curation and big data
• knowledge management
• infrastructure studies

Abstract

For decades, the big science and little science dichotomy has served as a starting point for many analyses of scientific research and data practices, including studies used to inform the construction of scientific knowledge infrastructures. We challenge this dichotomy by presenting findings from longitudinal, qualitative case studies of data lifecycles in two scientific domains, each centered around a large, distributed scientific collaboration. One is astronomy and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). The other is the deep subseafloor biosphere and the Center for Dark Energy Biosphere Investigations (C-DEBI). We show that some critical stages of the data lifecycle in each domain unfold in big science contexts while other critical stages occur in little science contexts. Furthermore, these big and little science contexts shape each other dynamically. This challenging of the big and little science dichotomy has implications for the building of scientific knowledge infrastructures, including those supporting data management.

Publisher

iSchools

Series/Report Name or Number

iConference 2015 Proceedings

Type of Resource

text

Language

English

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http://hdl.handle.net/2142/73655

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Copyright 2015 is held by the authors. Copyright permissions, when appropriate, must be obtained directly from the authors.

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