Assessment results indicate that participants found the structure and content of the workshop valuable to work involving research data. The learning outcomes of the DataDay workshop resulted in several benefits within the organization. Immediately following the workshop and in the 3-month follow-up, participants reported many positive outcomes compared to the pre-assessment, including increased knowledge, confidence, skills, and awareness around research data issues and resources.

We believe that involving potential trainees in the design process of the workshop helped meet the training needs of the organization while increasing participants’ engagement in and receptivity to training.

Survey results revealed that participants were:

• 35% more likely to report that they understand the basic stages of the research data lifecycle immediately after participating in the DataDay Workshop

• 31% more likely to report understanding the stages of the research data lifecycle 3 months after the workshop than before the training

• 35% more likely to report feeling confident in their ability to assist researchers with their data immediately after the workshop

• 30% more likely to report feeling confident in their ability to assist researchers with their data 3 months after the workshop than prior to the training

Participants reported a number of learning outcomes from the workshop in the 3-month follow-up survey. When asked to list the most important thing that they learned in the workshop, participants listed the following most frequently:

Understanding models for creating services with an awareness of what others in the region are already doing (40%)

Identifying researcher needs in departments with which they liaise (25%) Developing practical strategies for offering research data support to researchers in

the immediate future (25%)

DataDay: Participant-driven training for library research data services

Megan BresnahanScience & Engineering Librarian

Andrew JohnsonResearch Data & Metadata Librarian

Introduction

Workshop Design

Outcomes & Conclusions

Participant Input in Training Design

Overall indicator of training need for survey topics

Preferred training formats (# of responses)

Exercise 1: -Identify researcher needs in each stage of data lifecycle

-Brainstorm library roles based on these needs

Exercise 2: -Examine actual data sets

-Come up with advice for researcher that produced data

-Identify resources for these researchers

-Compare/contrast this experience with a “traditional” reference question

Exercise 3: -Develop an outreach tool for marketing data services to faculty

Exercise 4: -Apply workshop content to a five-minute paper on a novel situation (request for help with a data management plan)

Preliminary Workshop Assessment Results

POST

-

P

RE -

What do you imagine your role will be in supporting researchers with their data?

Future Directions

Contact Information

Many libraries interested in offering research data services must train current personnel to engage in new roles and to extend existing services to research data. Even libraries with dedicated positions and/or technical infrastructure for research data management and curation may find greater success if others within the organization understand these new efforts and can incorporate relevant aspects into their duties.

At the University of Colorado Boulder (CU-Boulder), local demand for training around research data issues emerged from a broader assessment of training needs for subject librarians. This assessment involved potential trainees in the identification of areas of training need as well as in the design of training opportunities. The results of the assessment led to the development of a hands-on workshop on research data services.

In the summer of 2012, we distributed a survey to all subject librarians at CU-Boulder. This instrument was designed to assess the training needs of subject librarians related to a number of emerging and established roles for librarians in areas like scholarly communication and research data. Specifically, questions attempted to identify levels of anxiety and knowledge, as well as perceived professional relevance, associated with each topic.

The results of this needs assessment revealed that subject librarians reported high levels of anxiety and lack of knowledge associated with the survey topics related to research data. Taking all factors into account (e.g., anxiety, knowledge, relevance), we created an overall indicator of training need for each survey topic. As shown below, a comparison of these indicators suggested that training for research data topics should be prioritized.

Strongly Agree

Strongly Disagree

In response to the training needs assessment results, we developed an interactive workshop called DataDay that allowed participants to explore strategies for meeting research data needs through their reference work and liaison activities with researchers on campus. Participants examined potential library roles in research data support and applied skills associated with familiar and existing liaison duties to research data services. The workshop incorporated hands-on exercises with panel presentations and informal discussions, and participants also received a print handout with tips, resources, and tools.

Participants were also asked to indicate preferences for training formats. Participants reported a strong desire for practical training around research data topics. As shown below, participants preferred formats such as one-day workshops, panel presentations, print handouts, and informal discussions.

Workshop Learning Goals

Participants will be able to:

Articulate basic stages of the data lifecycle Define the library’s potential role in research

data services Apply skills from workshop to novel data

situations Develop customized outreach plans for

promoting new services to their departments Feel comfortable discussing the issues

associated with new research data services Effectively engage with researchers when

advocating for how the library can support their research

Assessment Tools

Several assessment tools were used to evaluate the effectiveness of the DataDay workshop:

Pre-Workshop Survey Post-Workshop Survey 5-Minute Paper Exercise (participants were

asked to apply skills from the workshop to a novel situation)

3-Month Follow-up Survey

Survey results for knowledge and confidence

DataDay Workshop: December 11, 2012

We plan to analyze the workshop assessment results in greater depth, including a detailed content analysis of survey and 5-minute paper responses, in order to further evaluate the effectiveness of the workshop and to identify areas in need of additional training for CU-Boulder subject librarians. We will also conduct another broad training needs assessment as part of the iterative process of helping those librarians who work most closely with researchers develop the knowledge and skills necessary to provide support for research data.

Megan BresnahanScience & Engineering Librarian(303) 492-4679megan.bresnahan@colorado.edu

Andrew JohnsonResearch Data & Metadata Librarian(303) 492-6102andrew.m.johnson@colorado.edu

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License