World Data System and Canadian CoreTrustSeal Cohort Members Needs Assessment - Reviewer Instrument and Supplemental Information

From July 2022 to December 2022, the World Data System (WDS) International Technology (ITO) and International Program (IPO) Offices conducted a review of strategic plans and technical roadmaps of all current WDS members and the set of Canadian repositories that participated in the Digital Research Alliance of Canada's CoreTrustSeal Certification Support and Funding Pilot (Digital Research Alliance of Canada, 2022). The purpose of this review was to test out a new organizational assessment method designed to identify needs and challenges faced by the WDS and Canadian CoreTrustSeal (CTS) Cohort members. Additionally, incorporated into this assessment were criteria from the Global Biodata Coalition (GBC), which is an initiative created to support funders by identifying and prioritizing fundamental data resources.

This report serves as a supplemental file to the primary assessment, tentatively titled “Research Analysis: A World Data System and Canadian CoreTrustSeal Cohort Needs Assessment,” which will be published at a later date. This report includes the reviewer instrument, a list of criteria used when reviewing strategic plans, technical roadmaps, and additional types of documentation by the WDS research team. Included are all 98 questions that comprised the reviewer instrument, including qualitative and quantitative questions designed to capture as much information as possible about the reviewed organization. Additionally, this report provides the Global Biodata Coalition (GBC) Indicators that were used in conjunction with additional prioritized criteria to create the reviewer instrument. Finally, incorporated into this report is a list of specific standards, policies, and practices mentioned and utilized by the reviewed WDS and Canadian CoreTrustSeal Cohort members. The primary intention behind this list is to demonstrate the varying standards and protocols used by the organizations included in this assessment. While also reflecting the type and variety of information the World Data System was able to glean from the review of strategic plans and technical roadmaps utilizing this organizational assessment method.