Data services and the librarian: Supporting early career researchers and online learners via the library

Abstract

Library aid in research data creation and usage is an important component in preparing researchers for ethical careers. Librarians as research guides, curators and advocates for open access information have been a long-established practice for some academic libraries, and while the topic of data in libraries is frequently discussed, libraries are often without guidance on how to launch these services. This paper explores data services available to online learners offered by R1 and R2 university libraries that academic libraries investigating the inclusion of data services may consider for their own research communities. While the investigator is unable to identify a common framework among these research institutions, study results demonstrate a higher proportion of services and information available in online formats by R1 institutions over R2 institutions.