Defining data librarianship: a survey of competencies, skills, and training
Objectives: Many librarians are taking on new roles in research data services. However, the emerging field of data librarianship, including specific roles and competencies, has not been clearly established. This study aims to better define data librarianship by exploring the skills and knowledge tha...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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University Library System, University of Pittsburgh
2018-07-01
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| Series: | Journal of the Medical Library Association |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://jmla.pitt.edu/ojs/jmla/article/view/306 |
| _version_ | 1828531623246692352 |
|---|---|
| author | Lisa Federer |
| author_facet | Lisa Federer |
| author_sort | Lisa Federer |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Objectives: Many librarians are taking on new roles in research data services. However, the emerging field of data librarianship, including specific roles and competencies, has not been clearly established. This study aims to better define data librarianship by exploring the skills and knowledge that data librarians utilize and the training that they need to succeed.
Methods: Librarians who do data-related work were surveyed about their work and educational backgrounds and asked to rate the relevance of a set of data-related skills and knowledge to their work.
Results: Respondents considered a broad range of skills and knowledge important to their work, especially “soft skills” and personal characteristics, like communication skills and the ability to develop relationships with researchers. Traditional library skills like cataloging and collection development were considered less important. A cluster analysis of the responses revealed two types of data librarians: data generalists, who tend to provide data services across a variety of fields, and subject specialists, who tend to provide more specialized services to a distinct discipline.
Discussion: The findings of this study suggest that data librarians provide a broad range of services to their users and, therefore, need a variety of skills and expertise. Libraries hiring a data librarian may wish to consider whether their communities will be best served by a data generalist or a subject specialist and write their job postings accordingly. These findings also have implications for library schools, which could consider adjusting their curricula to better prepare their students for data librarian roles.
This article has been approved for the Medical Library Association’s Independent Reading Program. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-11T22:41:19Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-5c0065ea47654d7a976bad825cf91590 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1536-5050 1558-9439 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-11T22:41:19Z |
| publishDate | 2018-07-01 |
| publisher | University Library System, University of Pittsburgh |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of the Medical Library Association |
| spelling | doaj.art-5c0065ea47654d7a976bad825cf915902022-12-22T00:47:48ZengUniversity Library System, University of PittsburghJournal of the Medical Library Association1536-50501558-94392018-07-01106310.5195/jmla.2018.306266Defining data librarianship: a survey of competencies, skills, and trainingLisa Federer0NIH Library, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MDObjectives: Many librarians are taking on new roles in research data services. However, the emerging field of data librarianship, including specific roles and competencies, has not been clearly established. This study aims to better define data librarianship by exploring the skills and knowledge that data librarians utilize and the training that they need to succeed. Methods: Librarians who do data-related work were surveyed about their work and educational backgrounds and asked to rate the relevance of a set of data-related skills and knowledge to their work. Results: Respondents considered a broad range of skills and knowledge important to their work, especially “soft skills” and personal characteristics, like communication skills and the ability to develop relationships with researchers. Traditional library skills like cataloging and collection development were considered less important. A cluster analysis of the responses revealed two types of data librarians: data generalists, who tend to provide data services across a variety of fields, and subject specialists, who tend to provide more specialized services to a distinct discipline. Discussion: The findings of this study suggest that data librarians provide a broad range of services to their users and, therefore, need a variety of skills and expertise. Libraries hiring a data librarian may wish to consider whether their communities will be best served by a data generalist or a subject specialist and write their job postings accordingly. These findings also have implications for library schools, which could consider adjusting their curricula to better prepare their students for data librarian roles. This article has been approved for the Medical Library Association’s Independent Reading Program.http://jmla.pitt.edu/ojs/jmla/article/view/306Data ManagementData ScienceData Librarianship |
| spellingShingle | Lisa Federer Defining data librarianship: a survey of competencies, skills, and training Journal of the Medical Library Association Data Management Data Science Data Librarianship |
| title | Defining data librarianship: a survey of competencies, skills, and training |
| title_full | Defining data librarianship: a survey of competencies, skills, and training |
| title_fullStr | Defining data librarianship: a survey of competencies, skills, and training |
| title_full_unstemmed | Defining data librarianship: a survey of competencies, skills, and training |
| title_short | Defining data librarianship: a survey of competencies, skills, and training |
| title_sort | defining data librarianship a survey of competencies skills and training |
| topic | Data Management Data Science Data Librarianship |
| url | http://jmla.pitt.edu/ojs/jmla/article/view/306 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT lisafederer definingdatalibrarianshipasurveyofcompetenciesskillsandtraining |