Knowledge and Attitudes Towards Scientific Data Practices & Preservation Among Turkish Environmental Scientists and Information Scientists

Climate change is a grand challenge of science whose environmental impact touches societies across the globe (UN, 1987). Challenges such as climate change and related studies such as biodiversity require new approaches to science (Kelling et al., 2009). Scientific research is increasingly becoming more complex (Lynch, 2008), including data-intensive science, which gains new insights through data-driven approaches (Newman, Ellisman & Orcutt, 2003). Grand challenges such as global climate change are studying complex systems (Rind, 1999) that require collaborative and interdisciplinary scientific approaches (Allard & Allard, 2009). We must understand more than simply technical issues; we must also have an understanding of the socio-cultural, economic, ethical, and political issues that influence scientists’ data practices on the global stage. This qualitative study explores the knowledge and attitudes of information science and environmental researchers in Turkey towards scientific data and information particularly in regards to sharing data and preservation of these data. The study also explores the potential for collaboration with a virtual organization for data intensive work in the environmental sciences. This poster reports on preliminary results from two groups of participants in Turkish universities and research institutions: (1) environmental scientists; and (2) scholars of library and information sciences who are interested in database management, dissemination of information, information architecture, and knowledge management.