I agree with your sentiments, but would like to make it clear that
neither Simon (who posted the message to this list) nor Joy (whose
message Simon forwarded) are responsible for the wording.

It's a press release from the British Library and, in the nature of
these things, does a great deal to stress the role of the BL at the
expense of many others. The BL have been doing a good job as a UK
focus for Datacite activity, but it would clearly be pointless if others
had not been capturing and making research data available for many years
beforehand. UKDA are one of a number of organisations who have been doing
so here in the UK.

The BL have an important part to play and they are rising to the challenge.
Perhaps they should avoid letting their press office describe how they
are doing so in future! (Though these things can happen to all of us...)

You've got lots of great examples in the US as well; from ICPSR to
sterling work happening within the University of California system.

On 31/10/12 18:00, Libbie Stephenson wrote:
> Re: British Library leads the way for sharing research data in the UK
>
> I would have thought that the UK Data Archive would have been seen as leading
> the way in data sharing since they have been at it for far longer than any
> library.  The UKDA has the largest collection of data covering all fields of
> social and economic research and they celebrated their 40th anniversary in
> 2007.  The UKDA is a known and respected leader in promoting data sharing and
> best practices in preservation of data.  It is unfortunate that this
> announcement omits recognition of their work and their place in the evolution of
> data services.  I don't mean to ruffle any feathers, but this announcement does
> not acknowledge the full scope of work that is expertly carried out in the UK; I
> only wish things were as well functioning here on the other side of the pond.
>
>
> On Wed, Oct 31, 2012 at 3:36 AM, Simon HODSON <[log in to unmask]
> <mailto:[log in to unmask]>> wrote:
>
>     This announcement from the British Library may be of interest to list
>     followers.  Apologies for any cross posting.
>
>     Best,
>
>     Simon.
>     ________________________________________
>     From: [log in to unmask]
>     <mailto:[log in to unmask]>
>     [[log in to unmask]
>     <mailto:[log in to unmask]>] On Behalf Of Joy Davidson
>     [[log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]>]
>     Sent: 30 October 2012 16:11
>     To: [log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]>
>     Subject: [dcc-associates] British Library leads the way for sharing research
>     data in the UK as five major institutions sign up to DataCite
>
>     British Library leads the way for sharing research data in the UK as five
>     major institutions sign up to DataCite
>     http://pressandpolicy.bl.uk/Press-Releases/British-Library-leads-the-way-for-sharing-research-data-in-the-UK-as-five-major-institutions-sign-up-to-DataCite-5d5.aspx
>
>     Five major research centres have expanded their commitment to make data more
>     accessible through the British Library's DataCite service, a global
>     initiative which addresses the problem of how to find, access and re-use the
>     results of research. The Archaeology Data Service, the UK Data Archive, the
>     Natural Environment Research Council, the Science & Technology Facilities
>     Council and the Chinese genomics institute BGI have signed up to the service
>     and are the first institutions to work with the British Library on this
>     initiative.
>
>     Data from the participating organisations, which spans information derived
>     from ice cores to gene sequences, cultural heritage to current populations,
>     will be marked with DOIs (Digital Object Identifiers) to enable it to be
>     identified and cited, a system which has been widely used to provide
>     persistent links to academic journal articles. This initiative provides a
>     practical solution to one of the most significant challenges facing
>     researchers today - access to data - an issue highlighted by the Royal
>     Society in a report published in June this year, 'Science as an open
>     enterprise', which recommended that scientists should communicate the data
>     they collect in fieldwork and research more widely.
>
>     The benefits for researchers include:
>
>     ■ Confidence that the link to the data (or information about the data) will
>     be persistently and uniquely identified
>     ■  Increased ease of citing data which will, in turn, increase its discovery
>     and access, enabling others to verify the results and validate their own
>     research
>     ■ Access to a myriad of new research opportunities which have been
>     out-of-reach until now
>     ■ Acknowledgement and credit for sharing data and having it cited
>
>     "Enabling researchers to cite data, along with journal articles and other
>     references, is becoming increasingly important, and DataCite has the
>     potential to transform the way scientists communicate their research." said
>     Dr Lee-Ann Coleman, Head of Science, Technology and Medicine at the British
>     Library. "As an institution dedicated to providing information, as well as
>     practical support to researchers, we believe that the British Library
>     DataCite service is addressing some of the barriers to data sharing. We hope
>     that the decision of these five institutions to participate will attract
>     others to become involved, and will mark an important step towards changing
>     community norms about sharing resources."
>
>     Professor Julian Richards, Director of the Archaeology Data Service, one of
>     the newly signed-up data centres, said: "Digital archives are the primary
>     record of many archaeological sites now destroyed, but researchers seeking
>     to verify interpretations have been faced with a mountain of unpublished
>     grey literature fieldwork reports and archives, which it has been impossible
>     to access and reference. The decision to use DataCite is a significant step
>     forward to resolving this problem, and will be transformational in getting
>     archaeological research out to more people."
>
>     Joy Davidson
>     Associate Director
>     Digital Curation Centre (DCC)
>     HATII, University of Glasgow
>     11 University Gardens
>     Glasgow
>     G12 8QJ
>     Tel: 0141 330 8592
>     Email: [log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]>
>     http://www.dcc.ac.uk
>     http://www.gla.ac.uk/hatii
>
>
>     *****
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>     Dr Simon HODSON
>     Programme Manager – Managing Research Data
>     JISC Executive
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>
>
>
> --
> Libbie Stephenson
> Distinguished Librarian
> Director, UCLA Social Science Data Archive
> University of California, Los Angeles
> Box 951484
> Los Angeles, CA. 90095-1484
> 310-825-0716
> Skype:  libbie.stephenson
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>
> "Be single-minded. Love what you are doing and make it the centerpiece of your
> life." /Donald Cram/