1 Use Instruction as a Starting Point
Many steps need to be taken prior to initiating an RDS project in order to lay the foundation for a positive and successful outcome. For people beginning an RDS project, it is important to understand the current situation at your institutional library in order to tailor the project to best meet the needs of your faculty, staff, and fellow librarians. It’s entirely possible that some workshops have recently been done that you can build on, or that there are regular professional development sessions being taught which already address some of the needs of the RDS project. Understanding the current instructional practices can help you create an RDS solution that builds on current offerings, fills in gaps and missing pieces, and addresses the critical needs that are not currently being filled.
If you don’t know where to begin, start by talking with your department head and other Library personnel who can help you get a better understanding of what types of workshops and trainings have been done in the past few years or are currently being planned. Take note of some basic information such as the title of the training, who led it, how many people attended, and other data points that you can use to help get a sense of what these sessions were all about. This will help ensure that your RDS project will build on current knowledge and address any deficiencies, and not re-teach what has already been taught.
Start by creating a list of library workshops taught in the last two years. Then find information that answers questions such as:
- What data and research relevant topics were taught?
- How many workshops have been taught in each category?
- Can you identify any gaps from this information?
- Are there particular instructional needs on your campus?
Know the Current Situation
The goal with this process is to find out the current situation at your Library so you can build an RDS program that addresses needs and deficiencies, rather than overlapping with what is already being done. There might already be workshops and instruction modules in place that address some RDS topics, and you can either build on those or incorporate some of those lessons into your RDS program. It helps to use a spreadsheet so this information is organized, readable, and easy for you and other stakeholders to understand. Your chart could contain information such as the following.
- Category – software tools, coding, data management, research methods, reproducibility, other
- Workshop title or topic
- Instructor name and department
- Number registered
- Do you have names and emails for participants?
One example of how this could be done is shown below.
| Carpentry Basics | Working with Stata | |
| Category | Data Carpentry | Software Training |
| Date Taught | June 2021 | January 2022 |
| Instructor Name | Dr. Berhane Dubaku | Finn Odran |
| Instructor Department | RDS | Maps and Spatial Data |
| Participants | 17 | 22 |
| Contact Info | Yes | No |
When you are finished collecting this information you should have a good understanding of what the current situation is and how your Research Data Services program can build on what already exists, fill in the pieces that are missing, and who you can contact to help you along the way.