From shadow to light: make data visible. DDI, a collaborative ground for the Library and the Center for Socio-Political Data (CDSP) of Sciences Po

With a catalogue of nearly one million documents and a wide range of digital resources, Sciences Po’s Library is recognized as a reference for the social sciences in Europe.

60% of its references are provided in foreign languages.

Numerous research teams produce actively data each year (wide thematic range: political science, economy, sociology, history,  …).

Until recently, data was “hidden”: no curation, preservation, documentation, management was formally planned by the research teams. From 2015, a new project was set up by Sciences Po, whose purpose is to curate data and add value to them by using metadata (DDI, MODS, METS, etc.) to make them visible and maintained over time.

The CDSP, which is specialized in the curation and dissemination of quantitative and qualitative SHS surveys and datasets, collaborates with the Library on the technical aspects of the set-up of Sciences Po’s institutional repository.

This presentation will focus on three points: How to integrate DDI to an existing metadata schema at the Library? How about the interoperability between DDI and other existing standards and information systems at the library? How to collaborate with the other Sciences Po research and data centers? Is the “library’s DDI” compatible with “CDSP’s DDI”?