Data and Graduate Students: Less Naked and Less Afraid, or Giving Graduate Students the Clothes and Confidence for Data Success

This chapter from Transforming Libraries to Serve Graduate Students focuses attention on graduate students’ data needs, presenting the following: (1) an overview of the services the Georgia State University Library’s Research Data Services Team provides to help social science graduate students with their data needs; and (2) an examination of one year’s data services consultations with graduate students that further elucidates their pressing data needs and how the Georgia State University Library is endeavoring to meet those needs. This close look at Georgia State University Library\u27s experience of providing data services demonstrates the potential for academic librarians to push the boundaries of their traditional roles and become embedded in graduate researchers’ processes throughout the research life cycle

Library Consultation Assessment: Examining Time and Difficulty Across Patron Type, Format, and Location

Patron consultations, ranging from simple directions to complex research inquiries, are a notable component of librarians’ work. Research has examined different facets of these consultations, such as topic, skill development, and location, however, fewer studies have examined the duration and difficulty of those library consultations. We examine both the time and difficulty of library consultations across patron type (e.g. community member, undergraduate student), format (e.g. email, in person), as well as campus location (e.g. Atlanta, Decatur, Clarkston). Data used for this analysis is from the Patron Transaction log for Georgia State University Library which contains over 150,000 consultations

Research Support Service Model of Academic Library: Case Study at Eastern University, Sri Lanka

Academic libraries have an innovative service called ‘Research Support Service’ to support institutional research. Under the research support service, the worldwide academic libraries provide a range of services. The library of Eastern University, Sri Lanka provides research support services since 2014. This paper investigates the research support service model of the library of Eastern University, Sri Lanka (EUSL). This investigation analysed the documents such as official correspondence, pamphlets, library home page and students\u27 feedback. The research support service of EUSL library focused more on training the undergraduates in research related aspects by organising a series of sessions on students’ requests. As an extension of the research support service, the library also has introduced the individual research consultation service, where the researchers as an individual or group meets the library professionals to get personal assistance on research. The feedback analysis showed that the undergraduates highly appreciated the service on its usefulness. Moreover, the service was commended by programme review of the university grants commission of Sri Lanka. There are challenges to implementing this service, such as lack of skills and capacity among library professionals, lack of human resources and physical facilities, the conventional mindset of library professionals and lack of proper marketing of library services. However, this was a successful service, and increased the recognition of the library and library professionals among students and faculty. In turn, library professionals were invited to higher-level committees to contribute to the institutional research

Grassroots Professional Development via the New England Research Data Management Roundtables

Objectives: To meet the changing needs of our campuses, librarians responsible for research data services are often tasked with starting new endeavors with new populations without much support. This paper reports on a collaborative effort to build a community of practice of librarians tasked with addressing the research data needs of their campuses, describes how this effort was evaluated, and presents future opportunities. Methods: In March of 2015, three librarians found themselves in a situation of serendipitous professional development: one was seeking to provide a new method of mentorship, and two more were working on an event, hoping to broadcast it to a wider community. From these two disparate goals, the Research Data Management (RDM) Roundtables were created. The RDM Roundtables planning committee developed a low-cost professional development day divided into two parts: a morning session that detailed an idea or solution relevant to our practice, and an afternoon roundtable discussion on practical aspects of research data services. Evaluations from these events were coded in NVivo and we report on the common themes. Results: Participants returned sixty-one evaluations from four events. Five themes emerged from the evaluations: learning, sharing, format, networking, and empathy. Conclusion: The events provide a valuable professional development experience for attendees, and the authors hope that by providing a description of the events’ development, others will establish their own local communities of practice

"One size fits none": quels services pour la gestion des données de la recherche à la bibliothèque de l'IHEID

Les données de la recherche sont devenues depuis quelques années une préoccupation majeure du monde académique. Les chercheurs sont soumis à de nouvelles obligations, sans forcément avoir les connaissances ou pratiques nécessaires pour y répondre. Les bibliothèques académiques développent en conséquence des services pour les soutenir dans ces démarches. Après une présentation du contexte et un aperçu des pratiques actuelles de quelques chercheurs de l’IHEID, ce travail étudie les services existant dans les bibliothèques d’autres institutions académiques proches, ainsi que les compétences qui devraient être développées pour proposer de tels services. La conclusion de l’auteur du travail est qu’il faudra des services adaptés aux besoins spécifiques des chercheurs des différentes disciplines, ce qui paraît possible malgré des ressources limitées

Концептуализация научного сервиса на основе развития мультикомпетентности в сфере сбора и обработки научной информации в библиотечном деле

The author examines the role of libraries in science support. He conceptualizes multicompetence of library undergraduate students in science information acquisition and processing; specifies librarians’ professional role within modern science information infrastructure; and compares the competences required under the Federal Standards of Higher Professional Education (FGOS VPO) to those needed for efficient science support. The author concludes that future librarians have to get specific knowledge and skills at universities so they could be successful in the labor market. It is emphasized that the existing government standards of higher professional education specify only frame requirements to graduates’ competences.Рассмотрены место и роль библиотеки в научном сервисе. Автором концептуализирована мультикомпетентность студентов библиотечных специальностей в сфере сбора и обработки научной информации, формализованы профессиональные роли библиотекарей в современной информационной инфраструктуре науки. Проведено сравнение компетенций по ФГОС ВПО с компетенциями, необходимыми для успешной работы с научной информацией, на основе концептуальных разработок и осмысления мирового опыта в сфере поиска, обработки и распространения научной информации. Сделан вывод: для успешной деятельности библиотекарей в информационном мире необходимо уже на этапе обучения в вузе прививать навыки, которые позволят им успешно конкурировать на рынке труда. Отмечено, что современные государственные стандарты ВПО оговаривают только рамочные требования к уровню компетенций выпускников

Research Data Management Readiness at Uganda Cancer Institute

The study explored research data management readiness at the Uganda Cancer Institute. Its objectives were to; establish the state of research data and the institutional readiness for research data management practices. The case study applied a survey method using a questionnaire modified from the Data Asset Framework and the Community Capability Model Framework. The respondents were 60 staff members at different professional levels purposively selected. The findings show massive data generated from clinical trials, and routine cancer clinics at the institute. The business processes are mainly manual except for the funded research projects which are hybrid. The existing data sets could not be quantified, but all patient-related physical data are permanently archived in the institute’s registry. The electronic research data from funded projects is under the responsibility of the System Administrator and the Data Officers of respective projects. Research data management readiness assessed through collaborations was taking place and beneficial to the institute, and the technical infrastructure was robust. Findings indicate the absence of an institute-wide legal/policy framework and a substantive skills training program for staff research data management competence development. Research data management practices were intuitively executed in funded projects, the ethical requirements were embedded in the research cycle and adhered to. The study recommended emphasizing a written localised Data Management Plan for all projects submitted for approval; initiating a tailor-made RDM training program; a comprehensive RDM policy, and creating RDM awareness and interest among staff at the institute

Data services at the academic library: a natural history of horses and unicorns

Objective: Increases in data-intensive research at colleges and universities is driving demand for data services provided by academic libraries. The current work investigates the distribution of library data services, how such services are offered, and the effect of resourcing on the amount of services offered by a library. Methods: We used a web-based inventory of 25 academic libraries at U.S. Research 1 (R1) Carnegie institutions to assess the state of data services at university libraries. We categorized and quantified services, and tested for an effect of library resourcing on the size of library data service portfolios.Results: Support for data management and geospatial services was relatively widespread, with increasing support in areas of data analyses and data visualization. There was significant variation among services in the modality in which they were offered (web, consult, instruction) and library resourcing had a significant effect on the number of data services a library offered.Conclusions: While a core subset of these data services are offered at most academic libraries, more specialized topics are restricted to well-resourced libraries. In light of the influence of resource scarcity on the number of services a library can offer, intra- and inter-campus partnerships will be critical to ensure campus support for data service needs

Developing research data management services in a regional comprehensive university: The case of Central Washington University

This study aims to analyze the needs of researchers in a regional comprehensive university for research data management services; discuss the options for developing a research data management program at the university; and then propose a phased three-year implementation plan for the university libraries. The method was to design a survey to collect information from researchers and assess and evaluate their needs for research data management services. The results show that researchers’ needs in a regional comprehensive university could be quite different from those of researchers in a research-intensive university. Also, the results verify the hypothesis that researchers in the regional comprehensive university would welcome the libraries offering managed data services for the research community. Therefore, this study suggests a phased three-year implementation plan. The significance of the study is that it can give some insights and helpful information for regional comprehensive universities that are planning to develop a research data management program

Dane badawcze – usługi europejskich bibliotek akademickich

Research data is an essential part of the scholarly record, and management of research data is increasingly seen as an important role for academic libraries. This article presents the results of a survey of directors of the Association of European Research Libraries (LIBER) academic member libraries to discover what types of research data services (RDS) are being offered by European academic research libraries and what services are planned for the future. Overall, the survey found that library directors strongly agree on the importance of RDS. As was found in earlier studies of academic libraries in North America, more European libraries are currently offering or are planning to offer consultative or reference RDS than technical or hands-on RDS. The majority of libraries provide support for training in skills related to RDS for their staff members. Almost all libraries collaborate with other organizations inside their institutions or with outside institutions in order to offer or develop policy related to RDS. We discuss the implications of the current state of RDS in European academic research libraries, and offer directions for future research.Dane badawcze są istotną częścią pracy naukowej, a zarządzanie danymi naukowymi jest coraz częściej postrzegane jako ważna rola bibliotek akademickich. W niniejszym artykule przedstawiono wy­niki ankiety przeprowadzonej wśród dyrektorów bibliotek akademickich zrzeszonych w organizacji LIBER (Stowarzyszenie Europejskich Bibliotek Naukowych) w celu sprawdzenia, jakiego typu usługi (RDS - rese­arch data services) oferują europejskie biblioteki naukowe oraz jakie są planowane w przyszłości. Ankieta pokazała, że dyrektorzy bibliotek zdecydowanie zgadzają się co do znaczenia RDS. Jak stwierdzono we wcześniejszych badaniach bibliotek akademickich w Ameryce Północnej, większa liczba bibliotek europejskich oferu­je obecnie lub planuje doradztwo oraz informowanie w zakresie danych badawczych niż pomoc techniczną lub praktyczną. Większość bibliotek zapewnia wsparcie szkoleniowe dla swoich pracowników w zakresie umiejętności związanych z RDS. Prawie wszystkie biblioteki współpracują z innymi organizacjami wewnątrz swoich instytucji lub z instytucjami zewnętrznymi w celu oferowania lub opracowywania polityki związanej z RDS. Omawiamy implikacje obecnego stanu usług RDS w europejskich bibliotekach naukowych i proponujemy kierunki przyszłych badań