Did you ever wonder what goes on behind the scenes when Dryad curators review data files submitted by authors?  There are no wizards behind our curtains, just real live information specialists and trained data curators.

by Kaptain Kobold via Flickr

Dryad’s curation process is intentionally lightweight, so it doesn’t delay the availability of the data. Curators don’t review the scientific merit of the files – that is left to peer reviewers and the scientific community. Instead, we rely on our curators’ expertise in library and information science to ensure the integrity and preservation of the data.

Curators perform basic checks on each submission (can the files be opened? are they free of copyright restrictions? do they appear to be free of sensitive data?). The completeness and correctness of the metadata is checked and the DOI is officially registered. During their work, Dryad curators encounter thousands of data files in any number of file formats. Our team examines all of these data files to ensure they do, in fact, include data, and not manuscripts, or pictures of kittens.

Curators may communicate directly with submitters to address issues and/or to make suggestions about enhancing the description and reusability of the data package. They can also create new versions of data packages should corrections or additions be needed after archiving. Ultimately, the responsibility for the content of the files rests with the submitters, but Dryad’s curators can help to catch and fix many common problems – and some rare ones, too.

Since Dryad’s inception, curation operations have been led by the Metadata Research Center (or MRC) directed by Dr. Jane Greenberg, initially at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and now at Drexel University. The team is supervised by Senior Curator Erin Clary, and currently includes all students in, or graduates of, Library and Information Science (LIS) or Informatics Master’s programs.

So, (wizard) hats off to all our behind-the-curtains data curators, whose vital contributions ensure that the data in the repository is findable and usable. If you have a question about Dryad curation or need advice on preparing your data for archiving, don’t hesitate to email us at curator@datadryad.org.