decision-intensive (where to put it? what to share? what format to share it in?)
scary (what if someone finds a mistake?)
embarrassing (the data isn’t nearly as X as I wish I had the time to make it )
I also get to experience some of the first-hand benefits:
it forces additional organization
it helps me find my own data again later, from any computer!
it makes me feel proud to have made my science transparent (albeit after the fact, rather than as open notebook science)
I’m a firm believer in continual improvement. That means that I’ve shared my data now, in the best way that I have time for, rather than waiting until I can share it the way that I’d ideally like to. There are lots of things I’d like to improve:
Put it somewhere central and permanent (not clear where, for the esoteric dataset types that I have, but there are some neat possibilities)
Put it in a semantic format (!!!)
Document it better
Tag it so people can find it
….
I’ll keep exploring and implementing these things as I get a chance.
If you want to put your data up but have hesitations about it, I say do it to the best of your ability right now given your current constraints. It isn’t perfect? I know, but perfect is the enemy of good enough. ...
The open access movement:
Putting peer-reviewed scientific and scholarly literature
on the internet. Making it available free of charge and
free of most copyright and licensing restrictions.
Removing the barriers to serious research.
I recommend the OA tracking project (OATP) as the best way to stay on top of new OA developments. You can read the OATP feed on a blog-like web page or subscribe to it by RSS, email, or Twitter. You can also help build the feed by tagging new developments you encounter.
