Data Management and the Role of Librarians

‘Research Data Science’ is defined by CODATA-RDA as an ensemble of (1) Open Science principles and practices (FAIR) and research data management and curation skills, (2) the use of a range of data platforms and infrastructures, (3) large scale analysis, (4) statistics, (5) visualization and modeling techniques, (6) software development and annotation, and (7) more.  Data management and the role of librarians must now include developing expertise with and training faculty, students, and staff on “research data science” directly and/or indirectly through collaborative library/faculty partnerships.  To meet this need, librarians at the University of Florida have developed a new research support service called Academic Research Consulting & Services (ARCS) to assist faculty, students, and staff with their data management and research needs.  The library-centered UF Data Management and Curation Working (DMCWG) and ARCS work in collaborative partnerships with the UF Informatics Institute, UF Data Carpentry Club (https://github.com/UF-Carpentry), and UF Data Science & Informatics (DSI) undergraduate student organization to provide support to pre- and post-grant research and teaching.  This new role of librarians is to facilitate library/faculty collaborations and broker resources that contribute to the facilitation of promulgating ‘research data science’ skills at scale for their respective institutions.  The paper will discuss the ongoing outreach activities, inter-departmental collaborations, and future goals or leveraging capacity, infrastructure, and resources to develop and teach research data science at scale within an institution’s current organizational culture. One of the main goals of this paper is to highlight the importance and significance of developing successful library/faculty collaborative relationships built on character, integrity, and humility as the cornerstones for the roles of librarians in promoting good data management and FAIR principles.