Seeking and sharing datasets in an online community of data enthusiasts

Abstract

This study examined discussions of the r/Datasets community on Reddit. It identified three activities in which the community engaged: question answering, data sharing, and community building. Members of the community used 21 types of data and information sources in their activities. The findings of this research enhance our understanding of the activity structures, data and information sources used, and challenges and problems encountered when users search for, share, and make sense of datasets on the web, outside the traditional information and data ecosystems. Data librarians and curators can use the findings of this study in the design of their data management and reference services. The typology of data sources and the metadata model developed through this study can be used in annotating and categorizing data sources and informing the design of metadata schemas and vocabularies for datasets.