Caprice 1-2
Not Your Mother’s Library: Integration of Data Services in an Academic Library (304881)
*Marieke Kester Jones, University of VirginiaKeywords: academic library, data services, statistics consultations
Libraries have always been about knowledge, and today knowledge is in many formats, including data. The Health Sciences Library at the University of Virginia is at the forefront of a trend, modernizing the library to provide statistics and data analytics support. Different from cost-recovery centers, libraries are centrally funded and can provide services to patrons at no cost to them. Our data services began in Fall 2015 with a single staff member. Today, two data specialists with training in biostatistics and computer science provide consultations, teach workshops, and participate in campus outreach. Since October 2017, we have consulted with >100 researchers at all levels and have taught 30 workshops impacting >500 patrons. Workshops teaching R skills had highest attendance. Examples of consultations include determining sample size in cell culture experiments and using GraphPad Prism to conduct ANOVA. We consistently see increasing interest, suggesting that this could be a successful model at other institutions. Hiring experts in statistics and data science is imperative for the library of the future and to provide critical services currently missing at most universities.