2009 Annual Conference Session Reports

Summaries of selected sessions from SLA\u27s 2009 Annual Conference

Tradition + Evolution: Providing Scaffolding for Librarians in a Time of Change

Changing technology, evolving research methods and requirements, shifting expectations in teaching and learning, and the ongoing transformation of the scholarly communication landscape have all given libraries more opportunities than ever to participate in the full research life cycle, including areas previously considered outside their scope. As a result, libraries have been seeking ways to evolve the liaison role and its influences on collections, services, and the identity of both libraries and librarians. Some changes have been more fluid while others have been more prescriptive. Some roles have shifted in direct response to a specific need, for example, supporting research data management and funding compliance. In other cases, anticipated needs such as lab-integrated support and grant collaboration are driving the shift. In all cases, libraries are grappling with how best to position their liaisons for success. In this interactive Lively Lunch session, facilitators Mira Waller, Hilary Davis, and Scott Warren provided a brief overview of what is happening in their libraries and posed questions to guide a focused discussion around the changing roles and duties of liaison librarianship. Participants shared lessons learned while gleaning best practices regarding the ways in which changing roles and new paths have simultaneously opened opportunities and posed sticky challenges

Keeping the Momentum: Moving Ahead with Research Data Support

From June 2011 to early 2012 the NCSU Libraries and the UNC Libraries took part in the ARL/DLF E-Science Institute to frame a strategic agenda for supporting research data management and its broader e-science needs at our universities. We conducted an environmental scan, interviewed key researchers and administrators, and participated in capstone meetings with peer institutions. Our two institutions represent two strategies with varying degrees of divergence and convergence. At the NCSU Libraries, with no repository explicitly designed for research data, we are focusing on developing a portfolio of services and partnerships to create a “campus collaborative” of experts, tools, and training to support research data. With limited or unbalanced domain expertise, we are rethinking how subject specialists can be deployed to serve diverse research needs. At the UNC Libraries, we have an institutional repository, but recognize that it cannot serve all data management needs across campus. We, too, are developing a cooperative network of campus partners to guide researchers to various campus services at their point of need. The Carolina Digital Repository, UNC’s institutional repository, is one option among these services as is helping researchers identify disciplinary repositories where appropriate. Both institutions are particularly interested in exploring the long term possibilities of creating cultural shifts in research data stewardship by educating graduate students and early career researchers, and the ways in which regional library consortia can partner in data management support in the same way we’ve partnered on other issues. Reflecting on these two institutions’ goals, we will discuss the opportunities and challenges centered on supporting data-driven research. We’ll share our plans for next steps and invite discussion on how to respond to those opportunities and challenges in practical, achievable, sustainable, and repurposable ways with limited human, technological, and financial resources

Where Do We Go From Here: Choosing a Framework for Assessing Research Data Services and Training

Research data management has become a critical issue for campus researchers, funding agencies, and libraries, who have made substantial investments of time, energy, and resources into support for managing and sharing data. As data management programs proliferate, however, assessment of research data services has become a notorious challenge for libraries. How can we know—and demonstrate—that our efforts are having an impact, and how can we learn to make them even more effective? In this session, we will present a survey of several frameworks for assessing research data management services. We will lead a discussion about the application of different frameworks for assessing or auditing existing skill sets, external facing services, and capacity to support an array of research data services. This discussion will be grounded in a demonstration of how we applied one framework to audit the North Carolina State University (NCSU) Libraries’s “training ground” model, which serves the dual purpose of developing competencies within our librarians and supporting researchers in their needs to manage, preserve, and share research assets. Through an active discussion of our efforts, and the efforts of libraries around the world, we can chart a course for effective research data management that can help guide libraries already deep into the process as well as those just getting their feet wet. Note: This presentation and conference paper is derived in part from the following publication: Davis, H. M., & Cross, W. M. (2015).Using a data management plan review service as a training ground for librarians. Journal of Librarianship and Scholarly Communication, 3(2), eP1243