Research data management

There's a lot of talk in our Library lately about research data management. Our institution is in the process of creating policy around research data and the question in the Library is "How will we support research data management?"

A look at the literature tells me this isn't a new topic. Academic libraries overseas have already tackled the issue of data management and some have created libguides and web pages about it. The support provided by these institutions seems to focus on assisting with the writing of a data management plan and consulting on steps within the data management process, like file format conversion, metadata creation and the choosing of an appropriate repository to archive the data.

I'm interested in how we will approach this topic. What skills already exist in our Library to support research data management, and how much training will be required so that we are able to meet this challenge? My sense is that there is a handful of librarians who are aware of the issues and who have enough of a foundation to begin to support data management. But the roles need to be thought through: will this become another aspect of the subject- or liaison-librarian's job? Or will it be a specialist task, reserved for staff in a new "Digital Scholarship" centre in the Library?
 

Are librarians partners in research?

In a post I published in February this year, I asked whether librarians are indeed partners in research. I didn't get any responses, which either means my blog isn't read, or other librarians are also not quite sure where we stand on this topic.

I'm writing an assignment this week on digital scholarship and came across this interesting talk by Martin Weller. 

I found it telling that he refers to librarians and research assistants in the same breath: as "people who do stuff for you". 

So maybe we're not seen as partners in research yet. 

Librarians are partners in research. Discuss.

There's a lot of talk these days that academic librarians should be partners in the research process with academics and students. How this is carried out differs from institution to institution, but it can include things like helping with reference management and citation, finding appropriate journals in which to publish and assisting with the writing and/or formatting process. My question during a presentation this morning was: are academics and students on board with this? Do they accept this new role of librarians? Do they see them as more than just people behind a desk who can help them find a particular reference? The answer from the podium was that it differs from department to department. Some are more accepting than others. I'm not sure. What do you think?