Since attending the Biomedical and Health Research Data Management for Librarians course earlier this year, I have been working on launching research data services at my institution. The first step was completing the needs assessment that I chose to do for my Capstone Project as part of the course. This study revealed that researchers on my campus would benefit from assistance with developing data management plans (DMPs). So my plan is to offer DMP consultations to researchers, and use those conversations to segue into other aspects of RDM.
I arrived at this plan back in May, but I have yet to take any concrete actions towards making it a reality. I’ve been dragging my feet a little, and here’s why: one of the comments from the needs assessment implied that the idea of asking the library for help with research data was absurd. This was tough to read for a couple of reasons. For one thing, I usually receive a positive response from faculty regarding my more traditional library duties like reference consults and class instruction; I’m not accustomed to hearing negative things about my work, which I suppose is a good problem to have.
But perhaps a bigger reason for my bad feelings about this comment is because it highlights my insecurities about my ability to provide this kind of service at all. So far, everything I’ve done in research data management has been theoretical, with class exercises, online resources, and readings. I’ve never helped a researcher with their DMP, or even conducted a simple data consultation. In the back of my mind, I’m afraid that I’ll finally get someone to use these research data services that I’m creating and then completely blow it. At the same time, I know that I’ll never feel more confident about this until I actually start putting myself and these services out there.
That being said, I’m determined to get these research data services off the ground, and I’ll have the perfect opportunity to start building relationships with researchers at the research symposium being held on my campus next month. I have never attended an event like this, but I’m imagining it being something like a science fair. My plan is to use the symposium as an excuse to introduce myself to people, ask about their research, and suggest ways that the library can help with their research data. I even made up little postcards to hand out to folks if they seem interested in following up with these services (inspired by Yasmeen Shorish from James Madison University, whom I met at the Capstone Summit during the RDM course mentioned above).
If all goes well, I’ll have two or three people interested in working with me to improve their research data management practices. Maybe I’ll even run into the person who left that comment and change their mind about the library and research data services!
Kathryn Vela 