Abstract
INTRODUCTION Research Data Management (RDM) offers opportunities and challenges at the interface of library support and researcher needs. Libraries are in a position of balancing the capacity to provide support at the point of need while also implementing training for subject liaison librarians grounded in the practical issues and realities facing researchers and their institutions. DESCRIPTION OF PROGRAM/SERVICE The North Carolina State University (NCSU) Libraries has deployed a Data Management Plan (DMP) Review service managed by a committee of librarians with diverse experience in data management and domain expertise. By rotating librarians through membership on the committee and by inviting subject liaisons librarians to participate in the DMP Review process, our training ground model aims to develop needed competencies and support researchers through relevant services and partnerships. AUDIT OF PROGRAM/SERVICE This article presents an audit of the DMP Review service as a training ground to develop and enhance competencies as identified by the Joint Task Force on Librarians’ Competencies in Support of E-Research and Scholarly Communication. NEXT STEPS AND CONCLUSIONS The DMP Review service creates opportunities for librarians to learn valuable skills while simultaneously providing a time-sensitive service to researchers. The process of auditing competencies developed by participating in the DMP Review service highlights gaps needed to more fully support RDM and reinforces the capacity of the DMP Review service as a training ground to sustain and iterate learning opportunities for librarians engaged in research support and partnerships.
Highlights
Research Data Management (RDM) offers opportunities and challenges at the interface of library support and researcher needs
The process of auditing competencies developed by participating in the Data Management Plan (DMP) Review service highlights gaps needed to more fully support RDM and reinforces the capacity of the DMP Review service as a training ground to sustain and iterate learning opportunities for librarians engaged in research support and partnerships
In this article we describe the roles that librarians play in the DMP Review service offered by the NCSU Libraries to the North Carolina State University (NC State) campus community
Summary
Data management has been a critical skill for both researchers and librarians throughout the history of these professions, the rise of open data practices and funding agency mandates has driven a significant body of new practice around research data (Antell, Foote, Turner, & Shults, 2014). For the DMP Review service, we invite the subject liaison librarian relevant to each particular DMP draft to participate in the review, even if they are not part of our committee This approach creates a training ground for librarians to learn from peers with diverse expertise, share information about best practices, and quickly develop hands-on experience through work with actual data management plans. By adopting this training ground model, we aim to develop needed competencies, empower researchers, and demonstrate our role as a valued partner in the research process. We examine the impact and outcomes of the DMP Review service as a training mechanism for librarians within the context of a set of competencies needed to support research data management (RDM)
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