Data Roadmap

Dig In to Data

At this road stop you will roll up your sleeves and get some hands-on experience using data and incorporating data into your work through tutorials. Think of this stop as using data with training wheels. You will learn about tools, strategies and resources. You can plug in your own data and start exploring, or use the resources to design instruction! The resources below are organized by core skills identified for data science and open science librarians In April 2019 at the National Library of Medicine’s Office of Strategic Initiatives workshop.

New resources will be regularly posted. At this third stop on the Data Roadmap you will begin to 'dig into' data. Try out some new tools, take some data courses, or play with your own data, and email your questions and recommendations about data literacy and data management topics to help us to continue to build the Data Roadmap.

Data Skills

The Data Skills links below will introduce you to some hands-on resources to help you get started with research data management.

• DataONE Primer on data management: A primer discussing the fundamentals of data management practices that will enable you to develop a data management plan as well as how to effectively create, organize, manage, describe, preserve and share data.
• MANTRA modules: An online course for those who manage data as part of their job, from data management plans, to licensing.
• New England collaborative data management curriculum: A set of 7 modules from NECDMC on research data management, sharing and preserving data.
• DMPTool presentations and press: Presentations and webinars form DMPTool on a variety of topics related to the using DMPTool effectively.
• CARDIO: a benchmarking and evaluation tool for data management strategy development, typically applied at the departmental or research group level.

Computational Skills

Interested in learning some data tools? These links provide some jumping in points for learning about data visualization and programming tools.

• Library Carpentry: Workshop that focuses on building software and data skills within the library and information-related community, for using software and data in their own work.
• Fundamentals of visualization with tableau: Free Coursera course that introduces visualization and the tools of Tableau.
• Beginner’s guide to R: An introductory guide to the R programming language.
• The Collections as Data Open Science Framework site presents another way to think about how research data and data practices can integrate with liaison librarian roles and responsibilities and how library collections can be thought of as research data.

Traditional Library Skills

Brushing up on knowledge and skills related to some basic library skills will help you enhance your data skills too! These links related to Traditional Library Skills will introduce you to learning more about Google Analytics, usability testing, and provide additional information on information literacy topics.

• Usability evaluation basics: A brief introduction to user evaluation basics.
• Google Analytics: Look at data on how others are using your resources.
• Really really ridiculously good-looking: Best practices for creating LibGuides: A primer on creating good-looking LibGuides.
• Finding Grey Lit for Systematic Reviews: An MLA webinar describing a framework for grey-literature decision making.
• ACRL Framework for Information Literacy Toolkit: A resource that can be used and adapted to foster understanding and use of the ACRL Framework.
• Literature searching explained: A guide to literature searching.

Skills for Developing Programs & Services

We can always learn more about library liaison skills that can help us improve how we design, develop and promote our library programs. Use the links under this core skill for Developing Programs and Services to learn strategies for better communication and communicating value!

• Reimagining the Library Liaison: Resources from the Library Liaison Institutes hosted by ARL.
• “Just one thing” A webinar on the “just one thing” outreach program.
• Liaison Librarian Toolkit: A website hosted by the University of Toronto Libraries and populated with information related to liaison involvement in teaching and learning.

Research & Subject Matter Knowledge

One way to be a more efficient teacher-researcher is to integrate your teaching and research practice. There is a body of literature around the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL), both inside library world and outside in the more general higher education context. These links may give you some strategies for how to teach, do research, and improve practice at the same time!

• Teaching as research: The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) and Librarianship.
  • The Grounded Instruction Librarian Book with a variety of SoTL case studies.
• Article: The Librarian‐Student‐Faculty Triangle: Conflicting Research Strategies?
• Article: From practice to publication: A path for academic library professionals.

Interpersonal Skills

Developing communication skills are really important for librarians working with faculty and researchers, whether around the topic of data management and data support or in our teaching roles. Information for continuing to learn new strategies for communication can be gleaned from a variety of public or academic librarian sources.

• The Status of Librarians’ Communication Skills and the Effective Factors in Public Libraries.
• ALA presentation skills: Numerous resources for effective presentations.

Skills for Lifelong Learning

In this Dig into Data Roadmap level, the provided links look at our roles as instructional designers and how we design instruction as well as online reources and programming.

• Librarians as online course designers and instructors: Explores how librarians can apply research-based practices for instructional design and online pedagogy when designing and delivering instruction for fully online learning settings.
• Course design guide: Free reference for designing a course form the George Washington University.