On being a university research data service provider

This video is a talk from the Data Steward Stories session at the CaSDaR Townhall Launch event on the 18th September 2025, in person at the Library of Birmingham and online. 

The presentation speaker was Robert Darby from the University of Reading. 

Speaker Bio: After completing a PhD in modern languages and an MA in library and information studies, Robert worked as a librarian at STFC for several years before transferring to the University of Reading in 2014 to run the Research Data Management service. Alongside his role in supporting in data management, Robert has made substantial contributions to the University’s open research culture, through outputs such as the Open Research Handbook, alongside working with the UK Reproducibility Network on their OR4 project. 

This talk will give a brief overview of my experience providing a university research data management service over the last 11 years and counting. I will discuss how I entered the world of research data management and came to work at the University of Reading, and will highlight and reflect on some of the things I have done over the years. 

More information on the event can be found here: https://casdar.ac.uk/event/careers-and-skills-for-data-driven-research-casdar-hybrid-event-launch/ 

A recording of the session is available on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/Zvi1k-3DwFg

This video is an output from the Careers and Skills for Data-driven Research (CaSDaR) initiative, a 4-year UKRI funded dRTP initiative, UKRI grant number UKRI739.