Increasing availability of databased information online means that researchers are presented with quantities of data that might be applicable to their own research. In discussions of big data, shareability is at once both one of the great opportunities and one of the limiting factors we face.

How do we know if and when to share data, and how do we find and use other people’s data (in an ethical manner)? Shawn Graham, Ian Milligan, and Scott Weingart speak of a “third wave” (26-30) on the web, one consisting of big data; they link this to issues of “the open source and open access movements, copyright, and what we mean by textual analysis [or content]” (38). Doug Cooper talks about “shy data” in this context, noting issues of restricted, unfinished, and semi-accessible data and the need for APIs. In this session we would like to continue this conversation, exploring it both from the standpoints of data producers and consumers.

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